Chapter Summaries

Ren Qing explored Doushuai Palace, salvaged its ruined bronze cauldron, and discovered that the surviving disciples had been trapped and driven to consume Heavenly Dao Worms. He uncovered Heavenly Demon Bone and a bloodstained note from Huang Qi that hinted at a restored pill formula.

• Ren Qing entered Doushuai Palace with Ghost Shadow and dragged its ruined bronze cauldron back to Prison Within the Stomach to smelt it.
• Ren Qing found the remains of disciples who had died inside Doushuai Palace and discovered that every pill there was a Life-Ending Pill.
• Ren Qing burned the skeletons in the Flesh and Blood Furnace and obtained Heavenly Demon Bone, which strengthened souls but caused Aberration.
• Ren Qing realized that Son of Heavenly Dao had likely imprisoned the surviving disciples and that the pills were designed to nourish Heavenly Dao Worms.
• Ren Qing found pill formulas in a hidden compartment and uncovered Huang Qi's bloodstained note claiming to have restored a pill formula.

Ren Qing studied Huang Qi's Demon Transformation Pill formula and went to the West City outskirts, where the Eerie Infant's birth was nearing. As the Forbidden Guards tried to contain a sudden outbreak of goat-like aberrations, they realized the Eerie Infant could anticipate their attacks.

• Ren Qing learned that Huang Qi had developed the Demon Transformation Pill to restore Son of Heavenly Dao's sanity, then moved Doushuai Palace's resources into the Prison Within the Stomach.
• Son of Heavenly Dao appeared as a Black Goat, and Ren Qing left the Dao of Non-action Dojo before heading to the West City outskirts after reading Li Tiangang's warning about the Eerie Infant.
• Ren Qing concealed himself in an unused house while Zhang Qiu and Xu Shilin discussed the growing danger and the aberrations among the Forbidden Guards.
• Goats across the farmstead began bleating, and Zhang Qiu ordered the Forbidden Guards to attack an upright goat with Blood Poison Mist.
• Dozens of upright goats emerged, and Zhang Qiu realized the Eerie Infant seemed able to foresee the Forbidden Guards' actions.

Ren Qing and the Forbidden Guards faced the Eerie Infant as it emerged from Yue Kun and transformed into a Black Goat. Ren Qing drove the Black Goat back, but its Heavenly Demon aura threatened his soul until the Flesh and Blood Furnace burned it away at the cost of greatly increased Firewood King consumption.

• The goats became human-like, and Zhang Qiu’s delay in contacting Jailer Hall ended when the Eerie Infant began parasitizing Yue Kun.
• Ren Qing used Ghost Shadow to protect Yue Kun as the Eerie Infant tore its way out and transformed into the Black Goat.
• The Black Goat raised an army of Skin Peeler Goats and attacked the Forbidden Guards, while Ren Qing used Dragon Snake Spine to save Yue Kun and pull the others’ souls back into their bodies.
• Ren Qing ordered Zhang Qiu and the Forbidden Guards to withdraw, then bound the Black Goat and struck it with a powerful blow.
• The Black Goat’s Heavenly Demon aura threatened Ren Qing’s Split Soul until the Flesh and Blood Furnace burned it away, sharply increasing the Firewood King’s consumption.

Ren Qing extracted the Black Goat’s remnant soul and prepared for the Ksitigarbha King soul summoning as the Jailer Hall moved Sanxiang City into Abhidi Hell. The Ghost Market opened for three days, giving Ren Qing time to gather resources and an opportunity to profit from Forbidden Guards seeking stronger artifacts.

• Ren Qing used the Dragon Snake Spine and Flesh and Blood Furnace to subdue the Black Goat, endured the chaos in its Niwan Palace, and extracted its remnant soul.
• Li Tiangang sealed the Black Goat and told Ren Qing that the Jailer Hall would soon handle the Eerie Infants, leaving at most twenty days before the soul summoning.
• Ren Qing recovered from his soul injuries in seclusion while Zhang Qiu recognized that the battle’s traces pointed to Ren Qing’s Lifebound Artifact.
• Li Tiangang’s paper Art moved Sanxiang City and nearby villages into Abhidi Hell, while the Jailer Hall restricted outsiders from leaving the city.
• Ren Qing reached the Ghost Market and heard Great Dream True Person announce that it would remain open for three days.

Ren Qing sold skull Artifacts to Forbidden Guards preparing for the Ksitigarbha King soul summoning, then used his newly gained lifespan to advance to the Golden Core stage and develop the Yellow Springs Immortal Bone. He returned to Great Dream Artifact Forging, where demand remained high as the Jailer Hall prepared for the coming crisis.

• Lu Xiaoyu met Ren Qing after advancing to the Ghost Envoy Realm, and told him that Lin Cheng's outward Aberration had faded while Huang Ziwang remained in seclusion.
• Ren Qing opened Great Dream Artifact Forging to multiple customers at once and sold skull Artifacts to Forbidden Guards seeking protection from soul attacks.
• After discovering that his lifespan had reached seventy-nine years, Ren Qing closed the shop and advanced the Heavenly Dao Method to the Golden Core stage in a secluded cave.
• Ren Qing endured the replacement of his bones with Yellow Springs Immortal Bone, gaining greater compatibility with Nether Essence and the ability to merge more deeply with Ghost Shadow.
• Ren Qing returned to the Ghost Market and reopened Great Dream Artifact Forging, easing unrest among the Forbidden Guards while the Jailer Hall prepared for the Ksitigarbha King soul summoning.

Huang Ziwang emerged from seclusion with a new poison ability and learned that the Forbidden Guards were forging Artifacts amid the Ksitigarbha King soul summoning. Ren Qing completed three Eerie Transformations that turned Dream Seeds into soul-protecting and soul-controlling artifacts, then considered where to nurture the last one.

• Huang Ziwang gained Poison Source, letting him turn anything he touched with his palms into venom and replenish his poison more easily.
• Huang Ziwang learned that the Forbidden Guards had gathered at the Ghost Market to forge Artifacts and hurried there.
• Ren Qing used Dream Seed to absorb Heavenly Demon aura and strengthen his soul while testing a defense against its corruption.
• Ren Qing chose Soul Robe as his Second Eerie Transformation, making his Dream Seeds into soul-protecting artifacts.
• Ren Qing completed the Dream Artifact transformation, which let Dream Seeds attach to souls and use dream-entering to influence and control their owners.
• Ren Qing set aside Dream Seeds to contain Heavenly Demon aura and to be nurtured by the Yellow Springs Immortal Bone, then looked toward the King of Kindling.

Ren Qing placed his three Dream Seeds and joined the Forbidden Guards assigned to protect the site where Sanxiang City had stood while Eerie Infant souls gathered. As he helped prepare defenses, Li Tiangang released strange dust into the soil, and the chapter left the purpose of the growing fungi unexplained.

• Ren Qing placed Dream Seeds in his spine and Flesh and Blood Furnace, then left seclusion and saw that most Forbidden Guards wore skull artifacts.
• The Ghost Market transformed into the mission grounds, where the Great Dream True Person arrived and entered Abhidi Hell; Ren Qing was assigned to help with matters concerning the Shore Flower.
• Ren Qing gave Huang Ziwang Eerie Dust and told him to seek protection from Li Fangtan before Huang headed to the Stomach within Stomach.
• Ren Qing reached the camp outside the vanished Sanxiang City, asked Jiang Feng to assign Lin Cheng to his group, and heard Li Tiangang explain their mission to guard against wild beasts while Eerie Infant souls gathered.
• Li Tiangang divided the Forbidden Guards into groups and ordered them to build a city wall; Ren Qing swiftly cut, moved, and assembled stones to form it.
• Li Tiangang opened a Glazed Bottle and released blackish-gray dust into the soil, where fungi began to grow.

Ren Qing learned that the Tai Sui Forest concealed the Eerie Infants’ aura, then watched the Jailer Hall use the infants and Shore Flowers to draw beasts into a battle. As the beasts transformed into goat-like creatures and attacked the walls, they suddenly fled back into the forest.

• Ren Qing touched the spreading fungi and learned they were Tai Sui, formed from a cultivator’s collapsed soul, and that the Winter Worm Art involved pathogenic fungi.
• Li Tiangang explained that the Jailer Hall had made a Tai Sui Forest to conceal the Eerie Infant’s aura, and Ren Qing realized the plan might involve more than reviving the Ksitigarbha King.
• After the walls were completed, Li Tiangang released Eerie Infants into the forest while Song Zongwu fed them Shore Flowers and forced them to fight.
• The Eerie Infants’ cries drew beasts toward the walls, where the animals transformed into malformed humanoid goats and attacked.
• The Forbidden Guards fought the beasts, which soon turned around and fled into the forest.

Ren Qing fought the evolving goatmen and absorbed their Heavenly Demon aura, discovering that they were forming tribes and recovering memories from it. He realized the goatmen could not be killed cleanly as he approached one of their settlements.

• Ren Qing examined an Aberrated goatman and found that its enlarged brain and persistent head suggested the goatmen were becoming more intelligent and soul-centered.
• The goatmen returned at dawn wearing hides and wielding stone weapons, but Ren Qing and the Forbidden Guards drove them back.
• Yan Feng was nearly transformed after goatmen exploded into flesh that clung to him, so Ren Qing cut down the attackers and pulled the corrupting flesh away.
• The goatmen released a surge of Heavenly Demon aura, but Ren Qing absorbed it with the Heavenly Demon Dream Seed and then harvested more goatmen with the Dragon Snake Spine.
• Ren Qing entered the forest and found goatmen living in tribal villages and worshiping black goatmen, then concluded that they were recovering memories from the Heavenly Demon aura and could not be killed cleanly.

Ren Qing watched the sheepmen’s siege worsen as the Black Goat became increasingly monstrous, until a colossal blood-formed Sheepman threatened the city. With the defenders struggling to hold, Ren Qing revealed his Ghost Wolf form and joined the fight.

• Ren Qing learned that captured sheepmen originated from Heavenly Demon aura and would turn to ash as they degenerated, then returned to the city wall as the Forbidden Guards prepared their defenses.
• Yan Feng apologized to Ren Qing, but a deranged Black Goat appeared near Taishui Forest, and Lin Cheng reported that the sheepmen’s numbers had rapidly grown.
• The sheepmen launched repeated assaults over the next three days, growing more deformed until they began slaughtering one another in the forest.
• Jiang Feng warned the defenders as a sea of blood surged toward the city, reassembling corpses into Skin Peeling Sheepmen that resisted the Forbidden Guards’ Arts.
• Li Tiangang released the Black Goat to battle the other monster, while the bloodwater formed a gigantic Sheepman and the Black Goat devoured its defeated rival.
• Song Zongwu called on Ren Qing for help, and Ren Qing appeared as an enormous Ghost Wolf beneath a Blood Moon, with the Kindling Fire blazing inside him.

Ren Qing and Song Zongwu fought the Skin Peeling Sheepman and Black Goat while Li Tiangang prepared to seal the Black Goat. After the Eerie Infant was subdued, the Forbidden Guards gathered at Jailer Hall as the Ksitigarbha King soul summoning proceeded.

• Ren Qing and Song Zongwu attacked the Skin Peeling Sheepman and Black Goat, while Ren Qing’s apparent firestorm was revealed to be an Illusion.
• Yan Feng and Lin Cheng approached the Skin Peeling Sheepman, but Ren Qing evaded its attack and drove them back to the city wall.
• Ren Qing fought the Skin Peeling Sheepman and burned it with Kindling Fire, then stored its collapsing corpse in the Prison Within the Stomach.
• Song Zongwu and Li Tiangang used the Shore Flowers to weaken the Black Goat and sealed it inside Li Tiangang, who had transformed into a book.
• Song Zongwu announced that the Eerie Infant had been subdued and led the Forbidden Guards to Jailer Hall, while the souls in Abhidi Hell struggled toward the stomach wall and ribs.

Ren Qing used the Black Goat’s remnant soul to transform the Heavenly Demon Dream Seed into a black third eye, then joined the Forbidden Guards as they began the Ksitigarbha King soul summoning. As Song Zongwu and Li Tiangang carried the altar toward Netherfeather Land, a Forbidden Guard began showing signs of possession, suggesting a Pseudo Soul had already infiltrated their ranks.

• Ren Qing fed the Black Goat’s remnant soul to the Heavenly Demon Dream Seed, which transformed into a black pupil and briefly made his Split Soul take on the Black Goat’s traits.
• Li Bai enlarged the sacrificial altar, and Song Zongwu used Bone Ash to activate Abhidi Hell as the Pseudo Souls began rioting.
• Song Zongwu released the Black Goat onto the altar and forced it into the central depression while Li Tiangang prepared to suppress it.
• Li Tiangang covered the Black Goat with his paper-like flesh, and Song Zongwu carried the altar toward Netherfeather Land to confine the Pseudo Souls.
• A Forbidden Guard vomited filth and whispered to another guard before his body swelled and black water seeped from his face.

Ren Qing and the Forbidden Guards fought the De-filth Soul and Fushi Soul as their altar arrived in Abhidi Hell. The altar reached the Flesh and Blood Plain, where Ren Qing saw fungi covering the Brain Tree and Sun flying toward it.

• The Black Goat and the hidden De-filth Soul killed several Forbidden Guards, so Ren Qing used an illusion to expose the soul’s presence among them.
• Ren Qing made Li Bai the De-filth Soul’s target, located it inside his body, and had Ghost Shadows seal it away.
• Ren Qing put the Forbidden Guards into the Prison Within the Stomach while Ghost Shadows and Li Tiangang restrained the De-filth Soul.
• The Corpse Dog Soul broke out of Knot Cave, but Mu Yi and the Forbidden Guards restrained it as Water Gourd took the Fei Du Soul toward the stomach wall.
• The Fushi Soul emerged from the altar’s black mud and attacked Li Tiangang, but Ren Qing bound it with Dragon Snake Spines.
• Song Zongwu carried the altar into the Flesh and Blood Plain, where Sun seized it and flew toward the fungus-covered Brain Tree as Ren Qing noticed Temple Priestesses beneath it.

Ren Qing followed Song Zongwu to the Brain Tree, where the Jailer Hall prepared Pseudo Souls for burial and used Taishui-infused fungi to merge them with the Flesh and Blood Plain. Song Zongwu revealed that Taishui and the unexplored Heavenly Eerie Realm were linked, leaving Ren Qing to consider the origins of the Arts he cultivated.

• Ren Qing reached the Brain Tree with Song Zongwu and learned that Temple Priests were planting disease seeds in the Pseudo Souls before burial.
• Song Zongwu carried the Pseudo Souls to a fungal tree, and Ren Qing recognized Tu Di and Jiang Ge’s faces growing in its bark.
• Ren Qing touched the tree and discovered that Tu Di had become a memory-bearing creature after the Jailer Hall buried it, while Taishui roots began merging with the De-filth Soul.
• Song Zongwu questioned whether Ren Qing would still regard his Arts as the Great Dao if he encountered other Arts beyond Xiangxiang.
• Song Zongwu explained that the Jailer Hall had never reached the Heavenly Eerie Realm and that only an ancient grain of Taishui had offered a clue to it.

Ren Qing and Song Zongwu worked to fuse the Pseudo Souls with the fungal tree while Song explained how Xiangxiang was threatened by Marsh and surrounding dangers. The Brain Tree and fungal tree began fighting, so the Jailer Hall prepared to accelerate the soul summoning.

• Song Zongwu explained that merging the Pseudo Soul with the Land might help resurrect the Ksitigarbha King, then revealed that Marsh and Wraith-controlled Beast Pen and Jingzhou were closing in on Xiangxiang.
• Ren Qing and Song Zongwu buried Pseudo Souls beneath the fungal tree, whose growth stirred the Brain Tree and strained the Temple Priests.
• Ren Qing faced unwanted attention from the Forbidden Guards, while Li Bai apologized and Water Gourd withdrew after Sun challenged him.
• Song Zongwu had Luo Niang stop the Temple Priests' chanting and buried the Fei Du Soul, prompting the fungal tree and Brain Tree to clash.
• The Tai Sui giant restrained the Brain Tree and shielded the fungal tree, so Song Zongwu and Ren Qing retreated as the fungal tree absorbed more souls.
• Song Zongwu told Li Tiangang to speed up the soul summoning, and Li Tiangang ordered the camp moved and the altar set up.

Ren Qing and Jailer Hall summoned the Seven Spirits from Black Goat and fed it Wraith flesh to stabilize it, while the fungal tree absorbed Pseudo Souls. A mass Wraith attack and the fungal tree’s flight left Ren Qing fearing it might escape Abhidi Hell before Jailer Hall could use it to replace the Brain Tree.

• Li Tiangang loosened Black Goat’s seal, and the Tun Zei soul appeared before splitting into the Que Yin soul as well.
• The Forbidden Guards fed Wraith flesh to Black Goat and sent Pseudo Souls to the Brain Tree, which absorbed them and grew more intelligent.
• Ren Qing fought Wraiths, refined some into Wraith Blood, and warned Song Zongwu that Water Gourd had suspiciously probed his Ghost Shadow.
• The fungal tree pulled its roots free and fled as the Brain Tree’s blood scent drew millions of Wraiths into an attack on the camp.
• The Forbidden Guards retreated and defended the camp while Ren Qing worried the fungal tree might break away from Abhidi Hell after absorbing the Three Souls and Seven Spirits.

Li Tiangang and the Forbidden Guards drove their camp through the fungal mist toward the Brain Tree, using Water Gourd’s power and then turning the camp into a crawling, insect-legged platform. As Ren Qing guided them past the Brain Tree’s branches, the Black Goat’s Earth Soul emerged, and Song Zongwu seized it just as it attacked Li Tiangang.

• Ren Qing located Water Gourd, and the Head in a Jar possessed him so he could propel the camp toward the Brain Tree.
• Li Bai raised the camp into an island, while the Head in a Jar and the Forbidden Guards used water vapor and wind to drive it forward through the Wraiths.
• After Water Gourd’s power was spent, Li Yaoyang transformed the camp with insect legs, and Li Tiangang sealed Water Gourd into paper.
• Ren Qing used his Double Pupils, enhanced by the Heavenly Demon Dream Seed, to guide the camp around the Brain Tree’s deadly branches.
• The Black Goat’s Earth Soul, You Jing, emerged as a beautiful serpent and began entering Li Tiangang’s mouth.
• Song Zongwu seized You Jing and pierced it below the head, causing the Brain Tree to fall silent.

Ren Qing and the Forbidden Guards struggled to survive the Brain Tree’s attack while the fungal tree fought it, and Ren Qing used Heavenly Demon Bones to revive the failing Black Goat. After the wraiths unexpectedly withdrew and the two trees reached a stalemate, Ren Qing volunteered to use his soulless Ghost Shadow to summon the next soul.

• Song Zongwu threw the Ghostly Soul toward the Brain Tree, whose roots smashed through the camp and forced the Forbidden Guards to flee as the two trees began fighting.
• Ren Qing gave the dying Black Goat several Heavenly Demon Bones, strengthening it enough to begin forming a new Main Soul.
• Li Tiangang led the repaired camp to fight wraiths and slow the destruction of the land, while Ren Qing and his Ghost Wolf defended the northern wall.
• The wraiths suddenly withdrew from the Brain Tree, allowing the exhausted Forbidden Guards to rest as the fungal tree and Brain Tree returned to a stalemate.
• After the group discussed who should escort the next soul, Ren Qing offered his soulless Ghost Shadow for the summoning, saying it would face no risk.

Ren Qing helped the Jailer Hall capture the Taiguang Soul and embed his Heavenly Dao Dream Seed within it, allowing the fungus tree to claim it. As the final Shuangling Soul neared completion, Ren Qing discovered that Great Dream True Person had secretly influenced the fungus tree, while strange fungal mists gathered over Netherfeather Land and hinted at an approaching threat.

• Ren Qing sent his Heavenly Dao Dream Seed into the Ghost Shadow and used it to help contain the Taiguang Soul summoned from the Black Goat.
• Ren Qing dragged the Taiguang Soul away from camp, and after the Brain Tree and fungus tree fought over it, the fungus tree carried it off amid a sudden spread of Tai Sui.
• Li Tiangang explained that the Dream Pearl could awaken the land's memories, but Ren Qing found traces of Great Dream True Person's dream Art affecting the fungus tree's soul.
• Ren Qing sensed the fungal mist gathering over Netherfeather Land and suspected an outside force was driving it as the Shuangling Soul finished gestating.

Ren Qing and the Forbidden Guards used the Shuangling Soul and Dream Pearl to draw the Fungal Tree into consuming the Brain Tree, while Great Dream True Person awakened within the spreading dreams. The newborn Brain Tree was destroyed, and Great Dream True Person reached the Yang God Realm by making the long-dead Grandmaster Tai Sui dream.

• Ren Qing and the Forbidden Guards nurtured the Shuangling Soul inside the Black Goat, and the Fungal Tree absorbed it along with the Dream Pearl.
• Taishui spread across Netherfeather Land as the Fungal Tree drained the Brain Tree, and Ren Qing contained the Fungal Tree’s completed Pseudo Soul.
• Opossums emerging from the Fungal Tree’s human face formed a sprout that Jailer Hall had intended to grow into a replacement Brain Tree.
• Great Dream True Person appeared beside the sprout and destroyed it, then vanished as the fungal mist began revealing Grandmaster Tai Sui.
• The Brain Tree turned to ashes, and Li Tiangang recognized that Great Dream True Person had achieved the Yang God Realm.
• Ren Qing realized Great Dream True Person had used Taishui to make the corpse of Grandmaster Tai Sui dream, potentially setting the stage for a terrifying future transformation.