Recaps

Chu Tianshu visited Feng Jianhua’s building, watched him recreate the killing aura in his paintings of the ghost-market battle, and learned that Chu Tianshu’s grandfather had fought there too. Feng Jianhua lit candles to form the character for “kill,” and Chu Tianshu decided the gathered killing aura was enough for cultivation.

• Feng Jianhua showed Chu Tianshu the building’s feng shui design, while Chu Tianshu watched Bai Mei demonstrate the Bone-Shrinking Art and tested Palm Thunder on the cat’s tail.
• Feng Jianhua hung paintings depicting his life and the battle to destroy the ghost markets, and Chu Tianshu recognized his grandfather, Chu Guodong, among the wounded fighters.
• Feng Jianhua explained the people and events shown in the paintings, revealing the radiant yet incomplete quality of the killing aura he had gathered from those memories.
• Feng Jianhua used internal force to arrange and light candles so their reflection formed the character for “kill,” then opened the doors to let the wind stir the paintings and flames.
• Chu Tianshu stood between the open doors and the mirror to protect the candlelit character, judged the killing aura sufficient for cultivation, and resolved that the work would continue.

Yuan Chongxiao used the Snow Grain Art to dissolve Li Guangzong’s cold poison and internal cultivation while the martial arts school arranged a ghost-market sting at the Eastern Suburb Science and Technology Park. The operation’s targets spotted Feng Jianhua among the disguised group, leaving the planned interception at risk.

• Yuan Chongxiao told Li Guangzong that he was removing the cold poison and dissolving his internal cultivation, and Li Guangzong regretted not confessing earlier.
• Yuan Chongxiao, Yuan Zhonglü, and Feng Jianhua used Li Guangzong’s account to arrange a meeting at the Eastern Suburb Science and Technology Park.
• Feng Jianhua split the martial arts school’s ten-person team into a visible delivery group and a hidden group to catch both the contacts and anyone watching.
• Feng Jianhua and Yuan Zhonglü found the park crowded with visitors attending the finals of a robotics competition and searched for suspicious people.
• A short-haired man’s team used a mechanical spider to scan the area, reconstructed the faces of suspicious people, and recognized Feng Jianhua.

Wang Bo of the Ghost Market decided to raid the Golden Saber Martial Arts School while its leaders were away, unaware that Chu Tianshu had sensed his approach. The chapter ended as Chu confronted Wang Bo in the principal’s bedroom and Wang Bo launched an attack.

• Wang Bo rejected his subordinate’s suggestion to abandon the Ghost Market’s deal and ordered him to investigate the Golden Saber Martial Arts School.
• Chu Tianshu practiced with the Sanqi Divine Sword, strengthening his body and absorbing the killing intent in the school’s paintings.
• After sensing someone climb over the school wall, Chu Tianshu went to investigate while Wang Bo used snow and stealth techniques to enter the principal’s bedroom.
• Wang Bo approached the wardrobes to search for hidden valuables, but Chu Tianshu appeared on the windowsill and confronted him.
• Wang Bo attacked Chu Tianshu.

Chu Tianshu defeated Wang Bo in the school doctor’s room and discovered a car waiting outside to help the robber escape. He disabled the car and landed on its roof, using Mind Power to knock everyone inside unconscious.

• Chu Tianshu entered the room and countered Wang Bo’s flexible-sword attack with silver needles before shattering the sword.
• Chu Tianshu fought Wang Bo through the bed quilt, overwhelmed him, and pinned him to the wall with injuries that left him unable to move.
• Chu Tianshu restrained Wang Bo with silver needles and identified himself as the school doctor.
• Chu Tianshu spotted a car beyond the school wall and kicked a box into its rear tire, causing the car to spin out.
• Chu Tianshu landed on the car roof and used Mind Power to make everyone inside faint.

Chu Tianshu and the martial arts school teachers interrogated a captured Ghost Market manager, but a bone-white Gu worm killed him before he could reveal much. They identified the creature as a White Bone Centipede and learned that a discontinued research project involving centipedes may have been led by someone surnamed Du.

• Feng Jianhua and the others returned to the martial arts school with captured Ghost Market members and discovered that their equipment had been used to scout the teachers.
• Yuan Chongxiao suppressed Wang Bo's internal force while Chu Tianshu used needles and a mantra to interrogate him.
• Wang Bo began to name his superiors, but a bone-white Gu worm burst from his neck and killed him; Chu Tianshu found the same kind of worm in another captive, who also died when it was removed.
• Chu Tianshu identified the creature as a White Bone Centipede from the Spirit Realm, which could boost human potential and link its host's life to its own.
• Feng Jianhua called Guan Ya, who explained that a government centipede research project had been shut down because the creatures could make implanted people obey ancient objects.
• Guan Ya said the project leader had probably been surnamed Du, and Feng Jianhua noted that the name matched the Ghost Market member Wang Bo had begun to mention.

Feng Jianhua and the others linked the Ghost Market’s new gu insects to the White Bone Centipede project and identified Du Chen as a likely culprit, but they could not locate him. The local martial artists rallied to investigate the Ghost Market, while Chu Tianshu asked to borrow an internal cultivation manual.

• Yuan Chongxiao questioned the captives and learned that their new gu insects enhanced their abilities, while Wang Bo’s frightening behavior had worsened since the snow began.
• Yuan Chongxiao and the others connected the cold disaster and disturbances in the Spirit Realm to the centipedes’ dangerous effects, realizing the Ghost Market might have become more violent and unstable.
• Feng Jianhua reported that Du Chen, who had led the centipede project, was missing after evading a phone call and failing to appear at his home.
• Feng Jianhua urged the local Metaphysics Association members to use their connections alongside the Jianghuai Special Investigation Bureau to pursue the Ghost Market, and the teachers set out to act.
• Chu Tianshu warned that some contacts might be Ghost Market plants, then asked Feng Jianhua to lend him an internal cultivation manual.

Chu Tianshu learned that his martial arts had brought him close to cultivating Yellow Sprout True Qi, so Feng Jianhua warned him not to study other internal cultivation manuals yet. As Feng prepared for the ghost market, Du Chen heard that Wang Bo was dead.

• Chu Tianshu asked Feng Jianhua about internal cultivation, and Feng tested his strength in a handshake.
• Feng concluded that Chu Tianshu had reached a level where he could begin internal cultivation immediately, but warned that his fist art already contained its beginnings.
• Feng explained how Qi refiners cultivated Yellow Sprout True Qi by pushing physical training to its limit, and Chu realized he needed to seek Samadhi Power without studying manuals.
• Feng decided against giving Chu the school's Heaven-Hating Art and considered recommending that he buy a high-grade manual from the Special Investigation Bureau.
• Feng picked up his saber as the sun set, while Du Chen trimmed his beard and heard that Wang Bo was dead.

Du Chen and the Mo brothers prepared to spread White Bone Centipedes under the influence of a Spirit Realm ghost god. After learning that authorities could soon discover the Ghost Market’s base in Guangling, Mo Shengyi ordered them to launch their ritual that night.

• Du Chen recalled how he had helped the Ghost Market hatch White Bone Centipedes and how he used a ghost god’s influence to persuade the Mo brothers to promote them.
• Du Chen said the Chang'an Institute of Science and Technology had contacted him, but he was confident in his plans and support.
• Mo Shengyi reviewed a document connecting the Ghost Market’s suppliers and Wang Bo’s group, and warned that investigators could identify Guangling as their headquarters.
• Mo Shengyi ordered the plan moved forward, and Du Chen agreed to launch it that night.
• Mo Shengyi prepared the stockpiled goods for a ritual to summon Mirror Ape, the God of Vengeance.

Ma Dengwan investigated the Ghost Market and discovered foul things gathering across Guangling, while the Ghost Market began releasing resentful spirits and preparing White Bone Centipedes. As the disturbances spread toward the Golden Saber Martial Arts School, Chu Tianshu spotted evil spirits approaching.

• Ma Dengwan met Uncle Nan at a chicken farm, prepared chicken blood and cinnabar, and went looking for clues about the Ghost Market.
• Ma Dengwan repelled a foul thing with a cinnabar-coated punch, then sensed other foul things and learned they were appearing across Guangling.
• Ma Dengwan realized a foul thing was heading toward East Gate Street, where his family lived, and ran home while trying to contact Teacher Sha.
• Du Chen and the Three Mo Brothers watched the Mirror Ape release resentful souls and waited for divine power to descend upon the White Bone Centipede eggs.
• Mo Shengyi ordered the Ghost Market members to confront those obstructing the spirits as ice-blue points of light appeared across Guangling.
• Chu Tianshu saw transparent shadows flying near the martial arts school and warned the teachers that evil spirits were coming.

As evil spirits flooded Guangling, Chu Tianshu and the martial artists, soldiers, and Special Investigation Bureau teams fought them while trying to find the opening to the Spirit Realm. The blind Ghost Owl attacked Liu Suran’s group with a deadly qin, and its familiar music drew Yuan Chongxiao toward it as Mo the Second’s sword flashed at Feng Jianhua.

• The school and city warned residents to stay indoors and use blood, light, and electrical appliances against the supernatural threat, while Uncle Nan was possessed by a water ghost and Chu Tianshu pulled it out and destroyed it.
• Chu Tianshu told Uncle Nan to identify stable evil spirits that could be used to trace their route to the Spirit Realm, then raced across the city to fight more spirits.
• Soldiers armed with cinnabar shotguns and talisman-water injections cleared Belly Stone Ghosts from Hide Market Street, and residents gathered cinnabar to help defend themselves.
• Lin Baisui and Liu Suran’s team freed a possessed martial artist and destroyed a bridal-robed ghost with copper rings and silver needles.
• Ghost Owl appeared on a traffic light and attacked Liu Suran’s group with Yin Qi blades carried by his qin music; Yuan Chongxiao recognized the sound and rushed toward it.
• After Feng Jianhua destroyed fire ghosts at a fireworks shop, Mo the Second’s sword light swept toward him.

Feng Jianhua fought Mo the Second and a pack of evil spirits surrounding him, using snow to counter a weakness in his cultivation. After revealing that he needed water rather than sugar, Feng Jianhua swallowed a mouthful of snow and prepared to continue the battle.

• Mo the Second revealed that he and his brothers had rebuilt the Ghost Market and offered Feng Jianhua a chance to join them.
• Third Brother Mo summoned more than a dozen evil spirits to surround Feng Jianhua while Mo the Second attacked.
• Feng Jianhua disclosed that his apparent need for sugar water concealed a weakness that could be managed with water, then used falling snow to launch an attack.
• Feng Jianhua struck the evil spirits with his Bagua Saber, wounded the largest one, and knocked Mo the Second back.
• Feng Jianhua swallowed a large amount of snow to replenish himself as the evil spirits charged again, and he prepared to fight them alongside Mo the Second.

Chu Tianshu fought Mo Shengyi, whose altered body and desire to empower the ghosts had driven him into battle. After killing an attacking evil spirit, Chu Tianshu unleashed a Vajra strike that left Mo Shengyi defeated, then spotted Third Brother Mo watching from a rooftop.

• Chu Tianshu captured a ghost at the children's welfare home, escaped an ambush by a subterranean evil spirit, and destroyed it with a spell.
• Chu Tianshu recognized Mo Shengyi, who explained that a White Bone Centipede and the ghosts and gods had filled him with the desire to expand his kind.
• Chu Tianshu and Mo Shengyi traded vicious blows, each injuring the other as Mo Shengyi used his Kunwu Iron Palm Art.
• An arrow-wielding evil spirit attacked Chu Tianshu, and Mo Shengyi used it to press his advantage by condensing it into a deadly projectile.
• Chu Tianshu embraced his killing intent and struck through the evil spirit into Mo Shengyi, then slammed Mo Shengyi's head against the street.
• Chu Tianshu sensed Third Brother Mo on a rooftop more than two hundred meters away and looked toward him.

Chu Tianshu defeated Third Brother Mo’s Gu insect resentful spirits and killed him, then joined Feng Jianhua after he subdued Mo the Second. Feng Jianhua proposed using Mo the Second’s internal force to stabilize a captured evil spirit so Chu Tianshu could trace its altar.

• Third Brother Mo burned his Gu insects with a forbidden human-fat art, unleashing their resentful spirits against Chu Tianshu.
• Chu Tianshu used Vajra Samadhi boxing to destroy the spirits, then kicked Third Brother Mo to death and crushed the White Bone Centipede in his neck.
• Chu Tianshu reached the western block and found Feng Jianhua had knocked Mo the Second unconscious and trapped a fat monk evil spirit in his internal force.
• Feng Jianhua suggested putting the evil spirit inside Mo the Second to stabilize its presence, allowing Chu Tianshu to cast a spell and trace the altar.
• Chu Tianshu agreed that Feng Jianhua’s plan might work.

Du Chen defended the Mirror Ape ritual with Yin Qi and Medicinal Mercury while Feng Jianhua and Chu Tianshu attacked the altar. Chu killed Du Chen, destroyed the statue, and prepared to hunt more evil spirits.

• Du Chen questioned why evil spirits were still being obstructed and blamed officials for ending his Spirit Realm research project.
• Feng Jianhua broke through the ceiling and attacked the altar’s shield, but Du Chen used specters and Yin Qi to reinforce it.
• Chu Tianshu crashed through the shield and repelled Du Chen’s Medicinal Mercury before killing him with a palm strike.
• Chu Tianshu struck the Mirror Ape statue again, destroying it after its threatening presence made him retreat from his first punch.
• Chu Tianshu sensed his Fist Intent frightening the remaining ghosts and White Bone Centipedes, then declared that he would kill more evil spirits.

After fighting through the night in Guangling, Chu Tianshu helped Lin Baisui treat the wounded and brought food to the injured at the Golden Saber Martial Arts School. As people discussed the upheaval ahead, they found comfort in supporting one another.

• Chu Tianshu returned to the Golden Saber Martial Arts School with a large haul of evil spirit materials and found the school crowded with wounded fighters and residents.
• Chu Tianshu used his force to diagnose patients while Lin Baisui needled them, and together they treated the remaining wounded.
• Lin Baisui told Chu Tianshu that Vice Principal Yuan and several team leaders were investigating the Mo brothers’ businesses, then discussed how authorities might respond to the supernatural crisis.
• Ma Dengwan reunited with his wife and child, while Uncle Nan and other injured residents discussed supporting one another through the coming upheaval.
• Chu Tianshu brought soy milk and buns to the injured, and Uncle Nan recognized him as the man who had saved his life.

Chu Tianshu refined Feng Jianhua’s flawed Heaven-Hating Art into the Sky-Spanning Divine Art, then heard from Yuan Chongxiao about a dangerous Supreme Yin Form Refinement chamber at Mo Shengyi’s villa. The chapter ended when a talking red-crowned crane arrived at the martial arts school.

• Chu Tianshu asked Feng Jianhua to show him the Heaven-Hating Art and used his token to improve it into the Sky-Spanning Divine Art, removing its dehydration flaw.
• Chu Tianshu considered how internal cultivation might dull his senses and decided to study his current bodily abilities before cultivating the new art.
• Yuan Chongxiao told Chu Tianshu that his group had destroyed a room prepared for Supreme Yin Form Refinement at Mo Shengyi’s villa, but they could not yet destroy its Yin-gathering iron coffin.
• Yuan Chongxiao said a visitor was coming to the martial arts school, and a red-crowned crane landed at the window and spoke to Chu Tianshu.

Mr. Helai, possessing an immortal crane, offered Chu Tianshu support to establish a grand pharmacy, and Chu agreed to begin with the paperwork and certificates. He then discussed the approaching Spirit Realm and dangerous cultivation breakthroughs with Feng Jianhua, who was promised help suppressing the flaw in his cultivation.

• Yuan Chongxiao explained that Mr. Helai had sent his soul into an immortal crane to reach Guangling after the cold disaster disrupted air travel.
• Mr. Helai offered to arrange Chu Tianshu's pharmacy paperwork, a research institute as a supplier, and a location allowance, and Chu accepted the help with the paperwork.
• Mr. Helai promised Chu a discount on common medicinal ingredients if he met the required order volume.
• Mr. Helai joined Feng Jianhua and said he planned to use the approaching Spirit Realm's lifted restrictions to attempt dangerous sorcerer cultivation.
• Mr. Helai encouraged Feng Jianhua, saying they would find a way within a few years to suppress the flaw that kept him from advancing.

Chu Tianshu trained his control over the Martial Stove God’s Qi and blood, drawing students and wounded martial artists to practice beneath his overwhelming pressure. After demonstrating that he could propel a ball of water more than ten meters, he shared ideas for completing the Heaven-Hating Art, leaving Feng Jianhua convinced the approach could work.

• Chu Tianshu arranged for Qi Lianyong to supervise Bai Mei’s electrical training and help him recognize when he should practice in cat form.
• Chu Tianshu trained on the sports field, blending his Qi and blood while his pressure forced nearby students and wounded people to struggle through their fist techniques.
• Feng Jianhua watched Chu Tianshu’s pressure and compared it to a martial artist’s bearing, noting that Chu’s power spread like a great umbrella.
• Chu Tianshu gathered water into a ball through physical force and launched it more than ten meters, then concluded he was ready to begin practicing internal arts.
• Chu Tianshu proposed ideas for filling in the missing parts of the Heaven-Hating Art, and Feng Jianhua realized the approach could work.

Chu Tianshu experienced his consciousness separating from his body and emerged into a strange world, where he sat by a road outside a city. When wokou attacked fleeing villagers, he killed their leader and faced the remaining raiders.

• Chu Tianshu steadied his thoughts amid the colorful mists and used the Vertical and Horizontal Mantra to bring his consciousness back into alignment with his body.
• By evening, Chu Tianshu sat up in the grass beside a road, delighted to see his body and the surrounding scenery from the outside.
• Villagers fled toward the nearby city, warning Chu Tianshu that pirates were coming, while soldiers spotted wokou pursuing the crowd and struggled to control the gate.
• As Chu Tianshu started toward the woods, the wokou leader slashed at him from horseback, but Chu Tianshu appeared behind him and killed him.
• Chu Tianshu stood on the horse and confronted the remaining wokou, sensing their malice grow as they faced him.

Chu Tianshu, acting as his master’s Weapon Soul, killed the wokou and waited in the woods until Yongchun’s magistrate found him. He accepted food in the city and watched displaced townspeople receive help, then sat quietly as they thanked him.

• Chu Tianshu killed the wokou, washed by a stream, and waited as his master's consciousness grew clearer.
• Magistrate Wang found Chu Tianshu and invited him to the city, offering a banquet and rewards for saving Yongchun.
• Chu Tianshu followed Magistrate Wang into the city and ate shaobing at a shop.
• When constables drove displaced townspeople away, Magistrate Wang ordered them to find work for the able-bodied men and women.
• The tall, thin youth returned with the townspeople, who kowtowed to Chu Tianshu in gratitude as he waited for his master to return.

Xu Zhicheng and Xu Ben were hunted by the Three Yin Wind Sha for a Fire God Gully weapons secret, and Chu Tianshu intervened when Xu Zhicheng begged him for help. After the Weapon Soul drew the secret from a basket, Chu Tianshu returned to awareness amid a crowd of armed enemies and wondered how he had already made so many foes.

• Xu Ben and Xu Zhicheng forged hand cannons in a blacksmith shop while discussing the dangers of their pursuers and whether to reveal their distinctive skills.
• The Three Yin Wind Sha used a strange bat to track the pair and attacked them, but Xu Ben fought back with his hand cannons while Xu Zhicheng escaped with their baskets.
• Xu Zhicheng reached Chu Tianshu and offered him the Fire God Gully weapons secret in exchange for saving Xu Ben.
• The Three Yin Wind Sha arrived carrying Xu Ben, but Chu Tianshu unleashed his presence and hurled a piece of bench wood that shattered one attacker's arm and freed Xu Ben.
• Chu Tianshu pulled hidden bamboo strips containing the secret from the basket, then returned to awareness and found himself surrounded by enemies.

Chu Tianshu read a secret method for improved firearms on the bamboo slips, then faced an attack from the gathered martial artists. He defeated them with overwhelming skill and preserved the writing on the slips.

• Chu Tianshu realized the Weapon Soul had been stirred by the desire connected to the firearm secret and studied the method on the bamboo slips.
• The old man in blue urged the others to attack Chu Tianshu, then led three fighters into a coordinated assault.
• Chu Tianshu destroyed the spear and killed the tall, thin man with the bamboo slips as he broke out of the encirclement.
• Chu Tianshu killed the concealed old man and old woman with silver needles, then struck down the old man in blue and the burly man.
• Chu Tianshu swept through the Three Yin Wind Sha and left them fallen among the broken roof tiles, then flicked the blood from the bamboo slips.

Chu Tianshu killed the Giant Whale Gang and Sea Sand Sect leaders, rescued Xu Ben and Xu Zhicheng, and left Yongchun with them after receiving a bounty and carriage. He gave Xu Zhicheng a pinwheel to conceal his scent and revealed that he intended to help Xu Ben seek revenge rather than simply sail overseas.

• Chu Tianshu killed Shui Kongqi and Zhou Yan with silver needles and saw colored specks of emotion rise from their bodies.
• Chu Tianshu treated Xu Zhicheng and Xu Ben, then led them over the county yamen wall and told Magistrate Wang that he had dealt with pirates.
• Chu Tianshu declined Magistrate Wang's offer of an official post and said he would take Xu Ben and Xu Zhicheng to sea.
• Magistrate Wang gave Chu Tianshu's group a generous bounty and a carriage, and the three left the county seat.
• Xu Ben and Xu Zhicheng told Chu Tianshu that corrupt soldiers had repeatedly plundered people fleeing Fire God Gully instead of protecting them.
• Chu Tianshu gave Xu Zhicheng a pinwheel that concealed his scent, acknowledged Xu Ben's desire for revenge, and told him to drive the carriage.

Chu Tianshu traveled by boat toward Southern Shaolin while cultivating the Sky-Spanning Divine Art and considering how the temple’s influence and ambitions could serve his plans. He arrived near the temple and hinted that he might help Southern Shaolin strengthen itself, comparing his approach to a medical technique for lengthening bones.

• Chu Tianshu practiced the Sky-Spanning Divine Art aboard the boat, using acupoint-striking techniques to make his internal force surge and change course.
• Xu Ben told Chu Tianshu that Southern Shaolin was close, and Chu Tianshu reviewed the temple’s history and its influence among ordinary people.
• Xu Ben and Xu Zhicheng recalled Southern Shaolin’s past business conflict with Fire God Gully and questioned whether the monks would manufacture firearms on a large scale.
• Chu Tianshu argued that Southern Shaolin’s connected lay disciples could make the sect more useful than its small number of monks suggested.
• Chu Tianshu said he would see whether he could use his methods to help Southern Shaolin grow stronger, then explained a medical technique that could lengthen bones while treating deformities and disabilities.

Chu Tianshu visited Southern Shaolin’s reclaimed fields and examined the boulder Abbot Miaofan had unearthed, then confronted the abbot about the temple’s precarious situation. He left Miaofan startled by identifying himself as a successor of the School of Diplomacy.

• Chu Tianshu watched Southern Shaolin monks tend their fields and considered how farming and other labor supported their martial arts.
• Chu Tianshu inspected the rocks at the woodland boundary and studied the cracks and palm print left by Abbot Miaofan’s internal power.
• Abbot Miaofan approached Chu Tianshu, introduced himself, and recognized the young man’s extraordinary bearing.
• Chu Tianshu challenged Miaofan’s explanation for reclaiming land and warned that Southern Shaolin faced imminent peril.
• Chu Tianshu told Miaofan that he was a successor of the School of Diplomacy.