Chapter Summaries

Chu Tianshu reviewed evidence of the Southern Heaven organization’s crimes and plans to seize power during the cities’ reunification, then decided to break through in his tent. On the way back, he met Mao Shanwei and grew suspicious of him, ordering Yu Wanzhuo to have him watched.

• Chu Tianshu and Yu Nanfeng reviewed evidence that Southern Heaven had abducted people, conducted human experiments, and plotted to control the coming joint government.
• Yu Nanfeng explained that Southern Heaven had tried to control Landform No. 7’s Forerunner of Ghosts and Gods, while Pan Ting said key intelligence remained locked on Song Changle’s laptop.
• Chu Tianshu announced that he would attempt a breakthrough in his tent and take the unconscious Song Changle with him.
• On the drive back, Chu Tianshu and Yu Wanzhuo encountered Mao Shanwei by the river and discussed Song Changle’s crimes and conscience.
• After Mao Shanwei left, Chu Tianshu told Yu Wanzhuo to ask Yu Nanfeng to send reliable people to watch Mao until Chu finished secluded cultivation.

Zhao Qinglang and the Demon Hunting Corps arrived in Jinling searching for an escaped escort carrying the Soul-Locking Amethyst, which could control Forerunners of Ghosts and Gods. As Jinling prepared to find the escort and face the threat, Chu Tianshu successfully broke through to Taboo, and Zhao Qinglang confronted him across the river.

• Zhao Qinglang led the Demon Hunting Corps to Jinling, where they stopped outside the defenses and asked whether anyone had seen a man carrying a large amethyst.
• Zhao Qinglang told Yu Nanfeng that the escort they had pursued carried the Soul-Locking Amethyst, which could nurture fragments of Forerunners of Ghosts and Gods and might be used to unleash them on Jinling.
• Yu Nanfeng decided to mobilize everyone to search for the escort, while Zhao Qinglang asked whether Zhang Tao was available to help.
• After two days of preparation and meditation, Chu Tianshu used the Sky-Spanning Divine Art to break through to Taboo, manifesting figures from his paintings and absorbing a drop of heaven and earth's essence.
• Yu Wanzhuo reported that Chu Tianshu had successfully broken through, and Zhao Qinglang tightened his grip on the reins as he met Chu Tianshu's gaze.

Chu Tianshu joined Zhao Qinglang and the Demon Hunting Corps to pursue the villain seeking the Soul-Locking Amethyst, but their arrival at the Beast Arena exposed a staged ambush. As Chu Tianshu spotted Ye Liren and moved to attack, Zhao Qinglang suddenly struck at his back.

• Chu Tianshu crossed the river with Yu Nanfeng and met Zhao Qinglang and the Demon Hunting Corps.
• Zhao Qinglang explained that the Soul-Locking Amethyst needed aberrant bloodlines and led the group toward the Beast Arena.
• At the Beast Arena, Ye Liren and Mao Shanwei prepared an ambush, while Yu Nanfeng's combat unit closed in.
• Chu Tianshu spotted Ye Liren hiding behind a pillar and warned the others with Secret Sound Transmission.
• Chu Tianshu leaped toward Ye Liren, but Zhao Qinglang rose from his horse and thrust a palm at Chu Tianshu's back.

Chu Tianshu stopped Zhao Qinglang’s surprise attack and exposed the betrayal behind Southern Heaven’s plot. After Mao Shanwei revealed he had poisoned the hidden insects, Chu Tianshu confronted Zhao Qinglang and launched an attack.

• Chu Tianshu blocked Zhao Qinglang’s sneak attack with Sanqi and landed on the third floor.
• Zhao Qinglang revealed that he had founded Southern Heaven and led the Demon Hunting Corps from the beginning.
• A girl reported that the many-winged venomous insects beneath the Beast Arena had all died, and Mao Shanwei admitted he had poisoned them.
• Mao Shanwei challenged Zhao Qinglang over the violence and deaths he had ordered, but Zhao Qinglang condemned his conscience as weakness.
• Chu Tianshu broke Zhao Qinglang’s resonant attack with his voice, mocked him, and charged down from the roof with a palm strike.

Chu Tianshu and Zhao Qinglang fought with their full strength until an axe wounded Zhao Qinglang’s horse and forced him to pursue the battle into an unfinished building. Yu Nanfeng transformed her car into a giant battle armor and faced the twelve swordsmen as they formed an array and attacked.

• Chu Tianshu used Myriad Qi Returning to Origin to gather cyan cloud Qi and assault Zhao Qinglang, whose hair turned white as he blocked the shifting attacks.
• The one-eyed elder threw a red-lacquered axe that wounded Zhao Qinglang’s horse, which charged into the unfinished building with Zhao Qinglang and the pursuing cyan tornado.
• Yu Nanfeng transformed her car into a five-meter mechanical giant and struck the horsemen, killing several mounts and disarming the hammer wielder.
• The one-eyed elder recognized the Seventy-Two Hands of the Mirror Sea, urged the Demon Hunting Corps to form an array, and led twelve swordsmen into position.
• The mechanical giant assumed its palm stance as the twelve swordsmen converged to attack, and two women’s voices rang out from within its chest.

Chu Tianshu fought Zhao Qinglang after Zhao unleashed the Yama Musters Soldiers Finger Technique and tried to kill him to protect a larger conspiracy. Chu Tianshu survived Zhao’s lethal strike, killed him, and collected the souls of four precursor creatures.

• Zhao Qinglang trapped Chu Tianshu’s saber with soul-bearing skulls and attacked him with the Yama Musters Soldiers Finger Technique.
• Chu Tianshu recited a mantra that released azure light and destroyed the purple skulls, while Zhao Qinglang hurled broken columns at him.
• The two fighters unleashed their martial intent, and Zhao Qinglang struck Chu Tianshu’s middle finger through the makeshift wall of column sections.
• Chu Tianshu used his muscles to blunt the force spreading through his bones, then struck a hole through Zhao Qinglang’s chest with his left hand.
• Chu Tianshu drew the souls of four precursor creatures from Zhao Qinglang, who spat blood and fell dead.

After defeating Zhao Qinglang, Chu Tianshu used his Four-Leaf Seals to defeat Ye Liren and helped end the battle against the Demon Hunting Corps. Mao Shanwei died by poison after admitting he had long known about the corps’ experiments on living people, while the city’s gathered elites remained safe.

• Chu Tianshu sensed Ye Liren’s spirit eye approaching and destroyed it with two Four-Leaf Seals.
• Ye Liren tried to block the seals with his crystal skull, but Chu Tianshu reflected sunlight into a strike that grievously wounded his soul and knocked him unconscious.
• Yu Nanfeng’s damaged mechanical giant pinned the one-eyed elder, then accidentally crushed him when he weakened while trying to speak.
• Mao Shanwei revealed that he had poisoned himself and confessed he had known about the Demon Hunting Corps’ experiments on living people for ten years before dying.
• Chu Tianshu told Mao Shanwei that his change of heart had been his own karmic affinity, then closed his eyes with a stream of azure finger wind.
• Chu Tianshu saw that the gathered city elites were safe and smiled as the sun began to set.

The wolf-headed swordsman rescued the big-headed freak from Dharma Corpse refinement and began transferring his Precursor identity to him so they could face Zhang Tao together. As the wolf fled with his new disciple, Zhang Tao received an urgent message from Xia Ningning relaying that Chu Tianshu had broken through and wanted to join the hunt.

• The wolf-headed swordsman fed the big-headed freak bear gall and explained that monster essence and his own bodily remnants had kept him alive.
• The wolf-headed swordsman said he would transfer his Precursor identity and its Ghost God Dharma Aspect shackles to the big-headed freak, whose transformation was already underway.
• The wolf-headed swordsman and the big-headed freak fled up the cleft as Zhang Tao arrived and found the black bear they had left behind.
• Zhang Tao received a message through the white jade cicada urging him to send his location.
• Xia Ningning relayed that Chu Tianshu had broken through and wanted to meet Zhang Tao to help track the wolf-headed swordsman.

The wolf-headed swordsman taught the big-headed freak to wield a living transparent fish as a saber and sent him downstream to hide. Elsewhere, Chu Tianshu explained how to move with the continuous gravity changes, while the wolf-headed swordsman was confronted by Mute and an attack of razor-sharp leaves.

• The wolf-headed swordsman caught a transparent fish and gave it to the big-headed freak to use as a living saber.
• The wolf-headed swordsman explained that the fish’s swimming skill and the Dharma Aspect’s flowing gravity changes could help the big-headed freak improve his saber techniques.
• Chu Tianshu explained to Zhang Tao that gravity changes continuously between measured intervals and advised visualizing Landform No. 7 as a vast sea and adapting to its flow.
• The big-headed freak made the shadow of his saber move with him, and the wolf-headed swordsman kicked his body into the river to conceal him.
• The wolf-headed swordsman spotted Mute approaching, but a volley of steel-hard leaves swept toward him from the jungle.

Chu Tianshu confronted the wolf-headed swordsman while Zhang Tao fought the Shadow Assassin, who had become the new Precursor. Chu and the wolf traded powerful saber techniques until the wolf unveiled his Overbearing Saber and swung a strike that threw wind, water, and light into disarray.

• Chu Tianshu attacked the wolf-headed swordsman with a barrage of leaves, and the wolf blocked them with walls of water before recognizing Chu and his breakthrough.
• Zhang Tao and Chu realized that the Shadow Assassin had become the new Precursor, and Zhang lured him into the jungle to fight among its shadows.
• Chu challenged the wolf over his dangerous influence and drew him into a saber duel, while Zhang and the Shadow Assassin continued fighting in the jungle.
• The wolf launched leaves with immense force, and Chu split them before countering with a scorching saber strike; the wolf responded by raising wolf-shaped fangs of water.
• Chu pressed the wolf back with his lifeblood-infused saber, destroying the wind, water, and other makeshift blades the wolf formed.
• The wolf seized the mountain's weight and unleashed his Overbearing Saber, sending a chaotic strike of wind, water, and light toward Chu.

Chu Tianshu used the Heavenly Heart Sorrowful Demon Slash to turn the pain of his dreams into real wounds and defeat the wolf-headed swordsman. After recovering from the technique’s effects, he followed a lingering trace downstream.

• The wolf-headed swordsman used his gravity-controlling Overbearing Saber to disrupt Chu Tianshu’s blade and tried to pull him from the cliff by catching his shadow.
• Chu Tianshu recalled the pain of his dreams and unleashed the Heavenly Heart Sorrowful Demon Slash, spreading a dark realm across the water and summoning spectral beasts.
• The wolf-headed swordsman’s attacks wounded him as he acknowledged the pain, while Chu Tianshu pressed forward with successive saber strikes.
• Chu Tianshu passed through the wolf-headed swordsman and reached the bank as the enemy’s body burst apart.
• Chu Tianshu’s dark realm receded, and after recovering from the lingering discomfort, he raced downstream following a trace in the water.

Chu Tianshu and Zhang Tao defeated the big-headed freak and decided the danger of his shadow arts outweighed the value of keeping him alive. As they returned toward Jinling, Zhang Tao resolved to leave home and help build a force worthy of the ideals the Demon Hunting Corps claimed to represent.

• Chu Tianshu drew the big-headed freak's blood, forcing the Shadow Assassin to withdraw, and learned that the freak had attacked Zhang Tao at the wolf-headed swordsman's order.
• The big-headed freak begged for his life and confessed, but Chu Tianshu and Zhang Tao chose to kill him rather than risk waiting for his transformation to lure the Ghost God Dharma Aspect.
• Chu Tianshu killed the big-headed freak, reviewed his shadow-manipulation traits and other spirit materials, and considered how close he was to meeting the requirements for his first deduction of the Sun-Chasing True Art.
• Zhang Tao buried the freak and suggested returning to Jinling for a proper meal, then asked whether the city was peaceful and revealed that he wanted to travel rather than remain at home.
• Chu Tianshu agreed to travel with Zhang Tao for a while and said the world could have many genuine heroes, not just one.

Captain Hong learned that Zhou Bancheng’s crimes had been exposed and that Chu Tianshu and Zhang Tao had gone to hunt a nearby Precursor Creature. While they chased a butterfly-like creature into the wilderness, Yu Nanfeng shared research suggesting plant-associated Ghost God Dharma Aspects had triggered the Cataclysm, which first broke out in East Asia at Busan.

• Captain Hong arrived at the Zhou estate and learned that evidence of the Zhou family’s human experiments had been sent from Zhou Bancheng’s phone.
• The factions confirmed the evidence by finding experimental bases, and an elder told Captain Hong that Chu Tianshu and Zhang Tao had gone after the nearby Precursor Creature.
• Chu Tianshu and Zhang Tao found a butterfly Precursor Creature and drove it toward a desolate area while Chu Tianshu fought off monsters with objects from the surroundings.
• Yu Nanfeng called Chu Tianshu and shared the capital’s research linking the Cataclysm to plant-associated Ghost God Dharma Aspects.
• Yu Nanfeng told Chu Tianshu that Busan was the first place in East Asia where the Cataclysm broke out.

After returning from the wasteland, Chu Tianshu transcribed the technical documents and cultivation art he had memorized, then gave the technical information to Helai and asked for help traveling to Busan discreetly. He learned that Yuan would also be going to Busan and could accompany him.

• Chu Tianshu returned home, recalled the difficult three days he had spent memorizing documents and transcribing the Drifting Tumbleweed Sun-Chasing True Art, and began writing out the technical information.
• Chu Tianshu told Helai that he had found scientific documents in a mountain ravine and sent him information on modified mech armor and electrical External Elixir technology.
• Helai recognized that the documents resembled the Special Investigation Bureau's research and warned Chu Tianshu that his secret and its risks seemed greater than he had expected.
• Chu Tianshu asked Helai for information about Busan and help entering the country without attracting attention, and Helai agreed to arrange genuine documents and an identity.
• When Chu Tianshu asked his relatives to meet, Lin Baisui said they were both occupied, and Feng Jianhua told him that Yuan was also traveling to Busan and knew the city well.

Chu Tianshu practiced the Drifting Tumbleweed Sun-Chasing True Art, enduring the strain of forming its Tianshan patterns and using his familiar fist techniques to guide his power. After several days, Helai sent him travel documents and translation equipment, leaving him prepared to travel abroad.

• Chu Tianshu learned that Principal Feng Jianhua was preparing to break through to the Taboo realm and decided not to distract him with his own breakthrough method.
• Chu Tianshu made pig's trotter soup and Spirit Realm black rice, then practiced the Sun-Chasing True Art in his yard.
• Chu Tianshu formed more than eight hundred mountain patterns and used the Palm Thunder and Storming Shaolin fist techniques to ease the strain as his True Qi and essence began to change.
• Chu Tianshu practiced late into the night and, over the following days, waited for a package Helai had arranged to send.
• Helai explained that the package contained documents and a watch, earpiece, and throat patch that translated between sixty-seven languages.
• Chu Tianshu put on the watch and counted the translator, documents, and knife as his three essentials for traveling abroad.

Chu Tianshu sailed to Busan, helped Choi Su-ju with her seasickness, and met Yuan Zhonglü at a cat café. After checking Yuan Zhonglü’s pulse, he heard that her trouble sleeping worsened when she traveled.

• Chu Tianshu used Sanqi’s hidden appearance on the ship and fed it a little of his blood to help stabilize its reserves.
• Chu Tianshu treated Choi Su-ju’s seasickness with acupuncture after meeting her and her sister, Choi Dong-ju, on deck.
• Chu Tianshu learned that Choi Dong-ju had trained in martial arts and was looking for Lü Red Fist lessons.
• Chu Tianshu sensed that the islands along the route differed from the wasteland’s information and considered whether his world would face a corpse-transformation outbreak.
• Chu Tianshu reached Busan and met Yuan Zhonglü at a cat café, where she explained that her longstanding sleep problem became more noticeable when she traveled.

Chu Tianshu examined Yuan Zhonglü’s strange dreams, then accompanied her to Mount Shenyue to look for signs of the calamity described in the wasteland’s information. At the hotel, Yuan Zhonglü fell asleep and a flame-like apparition emerged from her forehead, forming a cold-faced female Daoist.

• Yuan Zhonglü told Chu Tianshu that her dreams featured a blurry Daoist reciting scriptures from the Zhonglü Anthology on Transmitting the Dao, and explained her family’s history with the strange dreams.
• Chu Tianshu sensed a subtle trace in Yuan Zhonglü’s mind and agreed to examine it again while she slept; they went sightseeing at Mount Shenyue first.
• Chu Tianshu and Yuan Zhonglü found crowds, shops, and Buddhist sites on the mountain, but he detected no sign of the evil faction or the Longhua Treasure Tree.
• Chu Tianshu bought traditional snacks as they descended, and Yuan Zhonglü took him to the hotel suite she had booked.
• Yuan Zhonglü fell asleep on the sofa, and Chu Tianshu saw an illusory flame emerge from her forehead and take the form of a cold-faced female Daoist.

Chu Tianshu and Yuan Zhonglü learned that Chen Ying was one of seven ancient po souls competing to inherit a revived heavenly grotto treasure ship. With the hundred-day contest beginning after Yuan Zhonglü formed the final bond, Chu Tianshu resolved to find the other contestants and bring the treasure back to their country.

• Chu Tianshu pulled Chen Ying's projection into reality, and she introduced herself as a Golden Elixir Southern School disciple who had chosen Yuan Zhonglü as her incense-bearing attendant.
• Chen Ying explained that she had taught Yuan Zhonglü the True Person Foundation Establishment method, while Yuan Zhonglü described the Wind of Dao Dissolution and how it blew many heavenly grottoes away.
• Yuan Zhonglü revealed that the Big Dipper Soul-Returning Dao's treasure ship had revived and that one of its seven po souls had to win a hundred-day contest to inherit it.
• Yuan Zhonglü said some po souls might have become evil spirits, and explained that the contest would begin after all seven bonds were formed and would be confined to the city.
• Chu Tianshu asked Chen Ying to return the heavenly grotto to their country if she won, then declared that he wanted to meet the other contestants.

Takagi met Sect Leader Yeming, the Luo Patriarch Sect leader, and discussed their plans to find the other rivals bonded to the Seven Po Cave-Heaven. Yeming proposed provoking a conspicuous incident to test for enemies and signal that they were seeking allies.

• Takagi praised Sect Leader Yeming’s history and cultivation, and Yeming explained that the Cave-Heaven had drawn him away before he could support Prince Lian’s failed bid against Yongzheng.
• Yeming refused to use Bat Demonic Poison on Takagi because its Spirit Realm taint would weaken Takagi’s ability to sustain him in battle.
• Takagi admitted he envied the Divine Bat Envoys’ youth, and Yeming promised to help him advance if they won and Yeming became the Cave-Heaven’s soul.
• Yeming sensed that a seventh person had formed a bond, while Takagi concluded that several pairs of rivals were already active in the city.
• Yeming proposed creating a conspicuous disturbance to test for rivals and signal that they were seeking allies.

After sparring with Chen Ying, Chu Tianshu discussed the Seven Souls contest while Yuan Zhonglü recovered through sleep cultivation. A bombing at Shinsegae Mall, apparently tied to the Seven Stars and Seven Po Souls, prompted Chu Tianshu to head to the scene while Chen Ying stayed behind with Yuan Zhonglü.

• Chu Tianshu and Chen Ying sparred in the suite, leaving their power marks moving within the coffee table's glass and exhausting Yuan Zhonglü.
• Chen Ying explained how she could borrow Yuan Zhonglü's bond to fight at Taboo-level strength, and Yuan Zhonglü used the Living Dead Method to fall asleep and recuperate.
• Chu Tianshu and Chen Ying discussed evil Qi among the Grotto-Heaven's Qi souls, then heard sirens after an explosion nearby.
• Chu Tianshu found a video showing a pale, red-eyed man driving gas cylinders into Shinsegae Mall, shouting "Seven Stars, Seven Souls," and setting them alight.
• Chen Ying prepared to use a paper umbrella to listen in on the investigation, but Chu Tianshu warned that an evil spirit might detect her method.
• Chu Tianshu left to inspect the scene while Chen Ying stayed with Yuan Zhonglü, who described him as a fierce, ruthless pillar of the righteous path.