Chapter Summaries

Yannian examined Yu Wanzhuo, the critically ill son of South Wind Building’s leader, Yu Nanfeng, and used medicinal wine to cleanse his blood and begin healing his wound. He warned that the poison had reached Yu Wanzhuo’s marrow and brain, then requested vital marrow blood from a borderland monster; as it arrived, Sanqi’s Weapon Soul stirred excitedly in Chu Tianshu’s mind.

• Pan Ting asked to take the attackers’ bodies for South Wind’s investigation, then invited Yannian to treat an important member who had been ill.
• Yannian traveled with Chu Tianshu, Hou Jian, and Tan Xiaoying to South Wind Building, where Yu Nanfeng welcomed them and introduced her critically ill son, Yu Wanzhuo.
• Yannian mixed medicinal wine and powders, used the mixture to cleanse Yu Wanzhuo’s blood, and watched his severe chest wound begin to heal.
• Yannian explained that poison had spread into Yu Wanzhuo’s marrow and brain, leaving him uncertain he could cure him completely.
• Yu Nanfeng ordered vital marrow blood from a borderland monster, and Chu Tianshu sensed Sanqi’s Weapon Soul react joyfully when the samples arrived.

Yannian used marrow blood from boundaryland species to temporarily revive Yu Wanzhuo, but warned that the treatment could not cure his poisoning. Chu Tianshu then used his seals and Vajra Samadhi to rouse Yu Wanzhuo and guide him through a vigorous fist routine.

• Yannian explained that boundaryland species possessed Lesser Yang Qi and selected golden-maned horse and iron-tusked parrot essence blood for Yu Wanzhuo's treatment.
• Yannian inserted needles into seventy-three acupoints and applied the prepared essence blood, restoring Yu Wanzhuo's color and briefly improving his condition.
• Yannian warned Yu Nanfeng and Pan Ting that Yu Wanzhuo's toxins would return after he regained strength, and that repeating the treatment would become less effective.
• Chu Tianshu stepped forward, invoked the Four-Leaf Seal and Vajra Samadhi, and commanded Yu Wanzhuo to get up.
• Yu Wanzhuo sprang from the bed and followed Chu Tianshu's movements, performing the Storming Shaolin fist routine.

Chu Tianshu helped Yu Wanzhuo exercise and begin recovering from his poisoning, then negotiated with Yu Nanfeng over housing and supplies for Yannian’s people. Yu Nanfeng offered to investigate where the great catastrophe began, while Chu Tianshu requested essence blood from many kinds of boundary region species for Sanqi’s Weapon Soul.

• Chu Tianshu used the Vertical and Horizontal Simple Seal to make Yu Wanzhuo perform Storming Shaolin, giving his body and mind a slight detoxifying effect before he fell asleep.
• Yannian examined Yu Wanzhuo and advised that he recover by practicing the fist technique outdoors and reclaiming his internal power.
• Yu Nanfeng offered Yannian’s people a new residential area, but Yannian asked instead for building materials and suitable foundations so they could build their own homes.
• Yu Nanfeng agreed to Yannian’s proposal and offered firearms and ammunition at fair prices for three years.
• Chu Tianshu asked Yu Nanfeng where the great catastrophe first broke out, and she promised to investigate.
• Chu Tianshu asked Yu Nanfeng for small amounts of essence blood from as many kinds of boundary region species as possible for Sanqi’s Weapon Soul.

Chu Tianshu left the South Wind Building with his companions after sampling its unfamiliar dishes and learning that the attackers who targeted Yannian were linked to a local conspiracy. Pan Ting described Food Is Heaven’s ambitions against South Wind and its connection to Yu Wanzhuo, while Chu Tianshu remained cautious about taking her account at face value.

• Chu Tianshu ordered and sampled more than a dozen Borderland Species dishes, found most of them unimpressive, and finished the meal before joining Yannian and Tan Xiaoying.
• Pan Ting arranged for the requested essence blood to arrive at noon and told Chu Tianshu that Wanzhuo would sleep until the afternoon; Chu Tianshu chose to leave the South Wind Building.
• Pan Ting said the two attackers were beast fighters from the Beast Arena, but South Wind had not identified the power behind them and suspected a deeply rooted local faction.
• Pan Ting explained that Yu Wanzhuo had injured himself after shaking off his guards, then described Xia Ningning’s rise in Food Is Heaven and its growing conflict with South Wind.
• Pan Ting accused Food Is Heaven of using underhanded schemes to take over South Wind, while Chu Tianshu withheld judgment and considered asking the group about the disaster.

Chu Tianshu settled in at the migrant camp and saw how life in Jinling offered the newcomers better supplies and shelter. After warning Yannian that the assassins might retaliate, he proposed teaching him new moves, and Yannian agreed to try.

• Chu Tianshu returned an umbrella to an old woman and learned that the migrants had traded dried meat for food and other supplies in the city.
• Hou Jian showed Chu Tianshu a large, well-equipped tent prepared for him at the camp.
• Chu Tianshu and Yannian discussed the assassination attempt and the likelihood that their enemy would strike again.
• Chu Tianshu offered to teach Yannian new moves, and Yannian agreed to learn.

Yannian mastered Refining Spirit into Qi and unexpectedly gained the ability to float, inspiring Chu Tianshu to cultivate his Weapon Soul with Borderland Species' essence blood and sword intent. As Chu Tianshu cultivated, an unseen attacker struck Yannian near the riverside, leaving him bleeding while he protected a child.

• Yannian used the Vertical and Horizontal Simple Seal to turn Mind Power into inner power and discovered that his deep meditation let him float.
• Chu Tianshu realized Borderland Species' essence blood could support his Weapon Soul as it cultivated the Kalpa Ash Sword Intent.
• Chu Tianshu swallowed essence blood, drew Meteor's Weapon Soul into his body, and began cultivating it through the Tribulation Ash Sword Manual.
• Yannian and Pan Ting walked along the riverbank while Chu Tianshu remained sealed inside his tent cultivating.
• When Xie Qi fell near a tent, Yannian rushed over and an unseen attacker wounded his left shoulder as he shielded the child.
• Yannian retreated onto the river with Xie Qi in his arm, but another cut appeared on the back of his neck.

Chu Tianshu and Yannian fought off a bodyless assassin that attacked through its shadow. The shadow escaped, but Yannian could still sense which direction it had fled.

• A black shadow attacked Chu Tianshu inside his tent, and he countered its saber with his arm before striking it with Sword Intent.
• Chu Tianshu sent his Weapon Soul to Yannian, helping him detect the shadow assassin near the riverbank.
• Yannian used his inner-sage technique to see the shadow clearly and halt its attack on him and Xie Qi.
• Chu Tianshu trapped the shadow in a circle of saber strikes and broke it apart with his Saber Intent.
• Yannian told Chu Tianshu that the assassin had escaped, but he could still track the direction it fled.

Chu Tianshu and Yannian pursued an assassin to a hill near Jinling, where they met Zhang Tao, the mute leader of Food Is Heaven. Zhang Tao attacked the hidden facility and returned with the assassin alive, leaving Chu Tianshu and Yannian to identify him.

• Chu Tianshu carried the wounded Yannian away from the camp as Pan Ting called Yu Nanfeng and noticed a distant gaze had raised static-charged strands of her hair.
• Yannian pointed out a facility inside a hill amid the ruins, while Chu Tianshu learned that the people nearby had gathered there after elite troops withdrew.
• A golden-maned white horse brought Zhang Tao to the bunker, where he introduced himself in writing and learned that Chu Tianshu was waiting for support before entering the hill.
• Zhang Tao charged into the hillside and fought the hidden enemy while Chu Tianshu stayed back, wary that the encounter might be a lure.
• Zhang Tao returned with a skinny man, and Yannian recognized him as the assassin while Chu Tianshu confirmed that he was alive.

Chu Tianshu, Zhang Tao, and Yu Nanfeng captured a shadow-controlling assassin and used Yannian’s interrogation technique to question him. The assassin revealed that he and his brother had been raised in jars and had been ordered to investigate the growth of the forerunner of ghosts and gods in Jinling Spirit Realm Landform No. 7.

• Zhang Tao restrained the big-headed assassin with thunder Qi after the man tried to kill himself, and Yu Nanfeng arrived to thank him.
• Yannian used silver needles to mark a Wang Lingguan image on the assassin’s back, awakening him and making him speak openly.
• The assassin confessed that his younger brother had injured Yu Wanzhuo and that a masked figure he called Daddy had ordered their missions.
• The assassin said he and his brother had been born in jars and sent to different places after growing to five feet tall.
• The assassin revealed that his latest mission was to enter Jinling Spirit Realm Landform No. 7 and investigate the growth of the forerunner of the gods, prompting Yu Nanfeng and Yannian to identify it as the forerunner of ghosts and gods.

Chu Tianshu and Yu Nanfeng learned that a hidden Ghost God Dharma Aspect had arrived in Jinling No. 7 three years earlier and that a Spirit Realm monster was transforming into its Forerunner. Unable to guide them to the monster because of his severe injuries, the big-headed freak was brought to Xia Ningning, where Zhang Tao asked her to turn him into a Dharma Corpse.

• Yannian explained that a Forerunner could lead a Ghost God Dharma Aspect through a city, and the big-headed freak revealed that one had appeared in Jinling No. 7 three years earlier.
• Yu Nanfeng confronted the big-headed freak over his master's failure to warn Jinling and learned that the Forerunner had not completed its transformation.
• Chu Tianshu proposed capturing or killing the transforming monster before it gained the protection of the landform's monsters, but the big-headed freak could not release his shadow because of his injuries.
• Yannian said the big-headed freak had only a little over half an hour to live, and Zhang Tao carried him toward the food wholesale market.
• Zhang Tao brought the big-headed freak to Xia Ningning and asked her to turn him into a Dharma Corpse.

Xia Ningning used physiognomy and borrowed karmic ties to begin refining the big-headed freak into a spell corpse, which would take seven days and seven nights. After the group buried him by the river, Yu Nanfeng brought Yu Wanzhuo to the camp, where he recognized Xia Ningning.

• Xia Ningning used a rooster’s blood and Zhang Tao’s blood to seal the big-headed freak and prepare him for corpse refinement.
• Xia Ningning explained that the freak’s remaining luck was insufficient, so Zhang Tao lent him luck to help preserve his abilities in death.
• After learning about the freak’s history, Xia Ningning determined that his ties had begun to break by the river and said he had to be buried there for seven days and seven nights.
• Zhang Tao buried the freak upright in the riverbank, and Xia Ningning lit a strand of crimson hair that would burn until the spell corpse was ready.
• Xia Ningning joined Chu Tianshu, Zhang Tao, and Yannian at their camp to keep watch, while Yu Nanfeng arrived with Yu Wanzhuo.
• Yu Wanzhuo saw Xia Ningning and called out to her as Sister Ningning.

After Chu Tianshu treated Yu Wanzhuo, Yu asked to become his disciple, and Chu accepted despite warning that his travels might limit the time he could teach. As rain fell over the buried Dharma Corpses, the group discussed the exposed conspirators behind the big-headed freak and whether they would strike again.

• Yu Wanzhuo thanked Chu Tianshu and Yannian, then Chu used the Four-Leaf Seal to make him practice a fist art that helped treat him.
• Zhang Tao recognized the Nine-Syllable Mantra in Chu's technique and invited him to spar, but Chu declined.
• Yu Nanfeng offered Chu more essence blood, and Xia Ningning proposed supplying bird essence blood through Food Is Heaven.
• Yu Wanzhuo rejected Xia Ningning's offer to take him as a disciple and asked Chu Tianshu to become his master; Chu agreed, though he warned he might not be able to teach him for long.
• As rain began falling near the Dharma Corpses, Xia Ningning and Yu Nanfeng discussed the New Energy Association's response to the incident at Jinling No. 7, while Chu wondered if the conspirators would act again within seven days.

A secret conference decided to wait for the Shadow Assassins’ transformation before acting, while Chu Tianshu’s group guarded the riverbank. Before the seven days were up, a wolf-faced Spirit Realm creature appeared and revealed itself as the Forerunner of Ghosts and Gods.

• The ethereal voice rejected an immediate attack and ordered the group to wait seven days for the Shadow Assassins to become Dharma Corpses, while watching Chu Tianshu for signs of a breakthrough.
• Song Changle joined Chu Tianshu and the others at the riverbank, where the group strengthened defenses and kept only a small number of people nearby.
• Xia Ningning and Yu Wanzhuo discussed the likely timing of the enemy’s attack as they watched the red hair growing from the buried Dharma Corpse.
• A strange, scavenger-like man approached and challenged Yu Wanzhuo’s remarks about pursuing an unreachable goal.
• Yu Nanfeng caught the man’s iron hat, but he vanished and emerged from the river with a wolf’s face.
• Xia Ningning recognized the smiling wolf-faced figure as a Spirit Realm species and the target of Jinling Spirit Realm Landform No. 7.

Lang Dao, a wolf who had secretly learned human combat techniques and become a Forerunner of Ghosts and Gods, confronted the group by the river. As Chu Tianshu’s mantra united the fighters against him, Song Changle disrupted their rhythm and attacked.

• Lang Dao’s past revealed that he had transformed into a wolf-headed human, learned fighting techniques from humans, and developed his own Overbearing Saber style.
• After discovering the Shadow was missing, Lang Dao followed a powerful scent to the riverbank, where Yu Nanfeng caught his thrown hat and he launched a saber attack at Xia Ningning.
• Zhang Tao struck Lang Dao with lightning from his iron whip, but Lang Dao’s saber technique shattered the attack.
• Lang Dao introduced himself and named his saber technique Overbearing Saber as Chu Tianshu began a mantra that coordinated the group’s attacks.
• Song Changle disrupted Chu Tianshu’s rhythm and attacked Lang Dao, furious that the wolf was too strong to leave him an opportunity.

Yu Nanfeng and Chu Tianshu fought Song Changle, who revealed that he had learned the secret of her cultivation and had entered the Taboo realm. After Zhang Tao chased the wolf-headed swordsman away, Chu Tianshu wounded Song Changle, but fiery rain then targeted him.

• Song Changle struck Yu Nanfeng from behind, and Chu Tianshu intervened as Yu Nanfeng redirected their combined power and forced Song Changle back.
• Song Changle froze Yu Nanfeng’s hat and fan, then revealed that he knew the secret of her Seventy-Two Hands of the Mirror Sea and suspected one of her disciples had betrayed her.
• A thunderclap disoriented the fighters as Zhang Tao pursued the wolf-headed swordsman across the river, leaving Song Changle behind.
• Chu Tianshu charged Song Changle and cut off his hand despite the protective watchband, then dodged Song Changle’s icy palm strike.
• Song Changle realized that the Taboo realm did not make him invulnerable, just as fiery rain descended toward Chu Tianshu.

Chu Tianshu turned the New Energy Association’s airborne raiders against one another and defeated Song Changle, leaving him captured and gravely injured. Yu Nanfeng exposed her charm technique and broke Song Changle’s arm as he lost consciousness.

• Song Changle’s signal sent hundreds of New Energy Association deathsworn into the air, where they attacked Chu Tianshu and South Wind’s snipers.
• Chu Tianshu used his seals and Saber Intent to disrupt the raiders, then rode a deathsworn sniper’s flight pack through their formation and killed many of them.
• Song Changle tried to escape toward the river after calling for the deathsworn to land, but Yu Nanfeng intercepted him and drew him into a trap with Chu Yannian’s golden needles aiding her.
• Chu Tianshu struck Song Changle with his saber hilt, captured him by the river, and reported that his ribs, organs, and meridians were badly damaged.
• Song Changle accused Yu Nanfeng of using a charm technique, and she broke his left arm before he fainted.

Chu Tianshu realized a crude method for breaking through the Taboo after observing Song Changle’s injured body, then learned that Xia Ningning’s spell had located the Dharma Corpse but was being disrupted. The group suspected the wolf-headed saber wielder was trying to prevent Zhang Tao from tracking him, while golden characters appeared on the white cicada.

• Chu Tianshu studied Song Changle’s unconscious body and worked out how to combine a secret method with extreme releases and retractions to improve his chance of breaking through the Taboo.
• Chu Tianshu reassured Yannian that his laughter came from a happy discovery, and Yu Nanfeng asked where Yu Wanzhuo was.
• Chu Tianshu and the others found Yu Wanzhuo and Xia Ningning inside the tent, where Xia Ningning was completing a spell to locate the Dharma Corpse.
• Xia Ningning’s paper figure became distorted and split apart, and she concluded that the wolf-headed saber wielder had disrupted her tracking spell.
• Chu Tianshu reasoned that the wolf-headed saber wielder was likely trying to stop Zhang Tao from sensing the Dharma Corpse’s location, and Yu Nanfeng questioned how he had repeatedly escaped Zhang Tao.
• Tiny golden characters began appearing on the back of the white cicada.

Zhang Tao pursued the wolf-headed swordsman through a Spirit Realm landform, where an anomalous force disrupted his movements and helped the swordsman escape. After learning that Song Changle had been captured, Zhang Tao asked Xia Ningning to send detailed information about the New Energy Association, while Chu Tianshu and Yu Nanfeng prepared to move against its leadership.

• Zhang Tao chased the wolf-headed swordsman into a jungle, where an anomalous force pulled him down as the swordsman launched a powerful slash.
• Zhang Tao stopped the slash with his iron whip, but the wolf-headed swordsman escaped and later hid the Dharma Corpse inside a boar before sending a bloody finger downstream as a decoy.
• Zhang Tao recognized that a Ghost God Dharma Aspect was causing the interference and used a white cicada to contact his disciple, Xia Ningning.
• Xia Ningning told Zhang Tao that Song Changle had been captured, and Zhang Tao asked her to investigate the New Energy Association and send him detailed information.
• Chu Tianshu, Yu Nanfeng, and Yannian decided to move against the New Energy Association's leadership and key members, and Chu Tianshu asked Yu Nanfeng to lead him to its headquarters.

Chu Tianshu stormed the New Energy Association to stop its senior members from escaping with documents and evidence of secret human experiments. He captured the invisible drug users and learned that Song Changle answered to the Southern Heaven Organization, then chose to attempt a breakthrough.

• Chu Tianshu arrived at the New Energy Association and used marbles to knock down fleeing senior members across the grounds.
• Chu Tianshu attacked the library and found syringes containing a dangerous invisibility drug made from Nightfall Dragonfly genes.
• Chu Tianshu used the Four-Leaf Seal and Gang Qi to reveal and pin four invisible people hiding on the library's fourth floor.
• One captive began to disclose the Southern Heaven Organization, but Chu Tianshu knocked him unconscious before he could finish.
• Yu Nanfeng reported that the perimeter defenses were in place, and Chu Tianshu asked her to handle the documents before deciding to attempt a breakthrough.

After the New Energy Association was exposed for human experimentation, Mao Shanwei agreed to help hunt its fugitives while privately reporting to a hidden chief. The chief ordered him to cooperate with an incoming plan to seize influence in Jinling, and Mao grew unsettled as the radio praised Chu Tianshu.

• The Beast Arena’s security captain told Mao Shanwei that Food Is Heaven and South Wind had exposed the New Energy Association, arrested Song Changle, and taken over its key businesses.
• Mao Shanwei agreed to screen for hidden association members and sent his security captain to help catch fugitives as public anger spread through Jinling.
• At home, Mao contacted his secret chief, admitted that Song Changle was guilty, and proposed taking over matters in Jinling using his Soul-Locking Art.
• The chief told Mao that an incoming group would need his cooperation and rejected his claim that he could control the Taboo-level creature at Jinling Number Seven.
• Mao heard a broadcast praising Chu Tianshu, stopped cooking, and went outside after the program ended.