Chapter Summaries

Zhang Xuezhou and Wang Haoran escaped a tiger they could not pierce through its Resistance Layer and discussed recruiting Zhao Tianhua for a future hunting party. They encountered Cai Guoli in the mountains, struggling with old-age confusion as a Ferocious Beast approached, and Zhang Xuezhou tried the Highest Clarity True Technique to calm him.

• Zhang Xuezhou and Wang Haoran fled the enraged tiger after Wang Haoran's flying blade failed to penetrate its eye.
• Wang Haoran and Zhang Xuezhou discussed the difficulty of hunting Ferocious Beasts alive and decided a future party needed someone who could break through tough defenses.
• Zhang Xuezhou suggested Zhao Tianhua as a candidate, and Wang Haoran asked him to recruit Zhao for the next hunting party.
• Wang Haoran and Zhang Xuezhou found Cai Guoli sitting exhausted, with fangs showing and his speech faltering as old-age confusion set in.
• Zhang Xuezhou began chanting the Highest Clarity True Technique to try to calm Cai Guoli while listening for the approaching Ferocious Beast.

Cai Guoli began losing control to his beast nature as a hairless, tiger-striped Ferocious Beast approached. Zhang Xuezhou used his mental abilities to suppress Cai Guoli and drive the beast back, discovering that it also possessed mental powers.

• Cai Guoli began transforming and warned Zhang Xuezhou and Wang Haoran to retreat as the Ferocious Beast appeared.
• Zhang Xuezhou urged Wang Haoran to draw the Ferocious Beast away so he could use the Highest Clarity True Technique again.
• Wang Haoran hid among the rocks with his flying blade ready while Zhang Xuezhou prepared to attack.
• The Ferocious Beast launched a mental attack, leaving Wang Haoran dazed and sending Cai Guoli hurtling toward their hiding place.
• Zhang Xuezhou used successive mental attacks to drive back the Ferocious Beast and pin Cai Guoli to the ground.
• Zhang Xuezhou realized that the Ferocious Beast had mental abilities like his own and might have worsened Cai Guoli’s loss of control.

Zhang Xuezhou and Wang Haoran faced a hairless, tiger-skinned Ferocious Beast whose mind-affecting ability left Cai Guoli confused. They discovered the beast was physically vulnerable and drove it off, then turned their attention to Cai Guoli.

• Zhang Xuezhou questioned whether Qinmeng’s Ferocious Beasts had always possessed unusual abilities or were continuing to evolve.
• Wang Haoran regained control of himself and joined Zhang Xuezhou in confronting the hairless, tiger-skinned Ferocious Beast.
• Wang Haoran’s flying blade and Zhang Xuezhou’s advance frightened the beast into fleeing.
• Wang Haoran struck the fleeing beast, cutting a deep wound in its backside before it escaped into the forest.
• Wang Haoran turned back to Cai Guoli, who was still confused and struggling to recover.

Zhang Xuezhou struggled to use the Highest Clarity True Technique to wake Cai Guoli from twilight-years chaos while Wang Haoran restrained him and Qin Zhong guarded the area. After repeated failures, Zhang finally struck Cai Guoli with purple light, and Cai Guoli began speaking normally.

• Zhang Xuezhou had Wang Haoran bind Cai Guoli, then agreed to Wang severing the tendons in Cai Guoli’s hands and feet to prevent him from escaping.
• Cai Guoli briefly regained his senses from the pain before falling back into chaos, and Wang Haoran pinned him down as Zhang attempted the Highest Clarity True Technique.
• Qin Zhong returned after drawing away the Ferocious Beasts and learned that Cai Guoli had fallen into twilight-years chaos.
• Zhang Xuezhou repeatedly failed to cast the technique while Wang Haoran told Qin Zhong that Zhang was summoning the Tuer God.
• Zhang Xuezhou finally cast the Highest Clarity True Technique, and purple light struck Cai Guoli and brought him back to a more lucid state.

Zhang Xuezhou awakened Cai Guoli from twilight confusion and advised him to use Mental Strengthening and medical technology to stabilize his mind. Qin Zhong realized X432 treatment could be a shortcut to improving Mental Strengthening, and he wondered how to make use of Zhang Xuezhou’s healing power.

• Zhang Xuezhou used a special force to bring Cai Guoli back to his senses after Cai Guoli succumbed to twilight confusion.
• Qin Zhong watched Cai Guoli awaken and began to believe Zhang Xuezhou possessed a divine healing ability that could be vital to Twilight Years Mansion.
• Zhang Xuezhou advised Cai Guoli to advance the Mental Strengthening Chapter and mentioned X432 treatment and X864 Gene Medicine as possible aids.
• Cai Guoli regained hope when Zhang Xuezhou explained that familiar medical technology might help him resist the confusion.
• Qin Zhong questioned Zhang Xuezhou about X432 treatment, and Zhang Xuezhou said it could help Mental Strengthening at low levels.
• Wang Haoran explained that few people had access to high-end X432 treatment, and Qin Zhong realized they might have overlooked a shortcut to improving Mental Strengthening.

Zhang Xuezhou used Cai Guoli’s recovery to build Twilight Years Mansion’s interest in X432 treatment and the Highest Clarity True Technique. As the group returned from the hunt, they found Qimeng Haige facing a huge spider-type Ferocious Beast at the heavy-truck parking area.

• Zhang Xuezhou reasoned that Twilight Years Mansion’s demand for X432 treatment could lead them to pursue X864 Gene Medicine and better medicines, making them reliant on his help.
• Zhang Xuezhou warned Qin Zhong that Cai Guoli’s condition could mean the others were also at risk of mental confusion, so the hunt might have to end after this batch of Ferocious Beasts.
• Cai Guoli credited the Tuer God with guiding Zhang Xuezhou to save him and spoke with Qin Zhong about his wish to visit Tuer District and pay his respects.
• Qin Zhong and the others hurried out of the mountains and saw a giant eight-legged spider attacking the heavy trucks while Qimeng Haige leapt around it.
• Qin Zhong noticed the spider’s long black-and-gold hairs and feared that what he knew about genetic evolution was about to collapse.

Qin Zhong, Wang Haoran, and Qimeng Haige subdued an eight-legged spider while Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng treated the injured Zhou Rihui. After comparing their encounters with the unusual beasts, Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng suspected a dangerous gathering near a snake den might conceal something beyond Qinmeng Secret Stones.

• Qin Zhong and Wang Haoran fought the eight-legged spider, and Qimeng Haige warned them not to kill it after it had lost six legs.
• Qin Zhong used his Flying Wheels to snare the spider's feet, and the beast tangled itself in its silk and earth.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng treated Zhou Rihui's spider-hair wounds while Cai Guoli appeared badly injured.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Ren Yisheng that he could barely control an upright-walking tiger and could not control a hairless tiger, prompting Ren Yisheng to conclude the beasts were unusually powerful.
• Ren Yisheng guessed the beasts came from the Qinmeng Empire's capital, and Zhang Xuezhou revealed that his Treasure-Seeking Technique had reacted near a snake den packed with thousands of venomous snakes.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng decided to investigate the snake den, suspecting it held something besides Qinmeng Secret Stones.

Ren Yisheng and Zhang Xuezhou suspected the tiger-striped Ferocious Beasts were organized under a powerful leader, while worrying about Changkong Luo’s group and their retreat. After Zhang Xuezhou vanished to scout, Zhou Rihui considered strengthening his defenses and reflected that Zhang Xuezhou might be protecting him instead.

• Ren Yisheng and Zhang Xuezhou compared the Ferocious Beasts’ strength with human Sequences and considered whether an earlier Fire Meteor or Qinmeng’s destruction was connected to them.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng worried that Changkong Luo’s group might encounter trouble while withdrawing from the battlefield.
• Ren Yisheng went to speak with Qimeng Haige while Zhang Xuezhou advised Zhou Rihui to acquire a steel shield.
• Zhou Rihui decided to have an alloy shield and glove made, then went to test the spider hairs with refined-steel pincers.
• Zhou Rihui discovered that Zhang Xuezhou had disappeared and wondered whether he still needed to protect him.

Zhang Xuezhou surveyed the Ferocious Beasts’ territory from the sky and found a Twilight Years team member trapped among them. After weighing the team’s losses and the beasts’ injuries, he realized they might recover using the Qinmeng Secret Stone and concluded that the team needed to act quickly.

• Zhang Xuezhou practiced flying in reality and considered improving his physical defenses before exploring Qinmeng further.
• Zhang Xuezhou flew over the Ferocious Beasts’ territory and spotted a person trapped among them, though he could not identify who it was.
• The Ferocious Beasts roared at Zhang Xuezhou and hurled stones at him, but he dodged their attacks and landed on a nearby stone pillar.
• Zhang Xuezhou assessed the trapped person and the beasts, noting that one beast had been killed, five were wounded, and six remained unharmed.
• Zhang Xuezhou suspected the Ferocious Beasts might be using the Qinmeng Secret Stone to heal and decided that a swift attack was necessary.

Zhang Xuezhou’s group waited for Changkong Luo’s team to return from a fight with the Ferocious Beasts, while Ren Yisheng worried about the dangers of a coming night raid. After Zhang Xuezhou healed the badly injured Li Qi, Qimeng Haige realized that his restorative power resembled the control ability of an Eighth Sequence Holder.

• Zhang Xuezhou reported that Changkong Luo’s group had not returned, and Ren Yisheng concluded they would come back to camp for treatment.
• Qimeng Haige argued for summoning the Tuer God to heal the captured eight-legged spider, but Zhang Xuezhou refused to spend his healing power on it.
• Changkong Luo and his team returned after nightfall with serious injuries, including Li Qi’s internal bleeding and Changkong Yinglian’s embedded feathers.
• Zhang Xuezhou used his own power to heal Li Qi while Ren Yisheng forced nutritional supplements into him.
• Qimeng Haige recognized Zhang Xuezhou’s healing as a form of control resembling his own Eighth Sequence ability and wondered whether it could reveal a path beyond the sequence barrier.

While the hunting party prepared a nighttime raid on the Ferocious Beasts, Zhang Xuezhou stayed at the heavy-truck camp, where he reassured the confused Cai Guoli and examined a captured spider-beast’s tiger-like transformation. As the raid approached, Zhang Xuezhou left with Ren Yisheng under cover of darkness.

• The hunting party set out at night, and Cai Guoli worried that the exhausted elders would not withstand another intense battle.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Cai Guoli he could not support the raid with Divine Grace and discouraged him from seeking help from the Tuer God.
• Cai Guoli gave up his hopes of divine intervention and returned to practicing the Mental Strengthening Chapter.
• Zhang Xuezhou inspected the captured eight-legged spider Ferocious Beast, watched it transform its head into a tiger’s, and compared the change with his Aging Technique.
• As early morning approached, Zhang Xuezhou set out with Ren Yisheng into the dark.

Zhang Xuezhou found that the snakes had poured out of their cave and clashed with the Ferocious Beasts, leaving a path inside. He entered the cave to search for the Qinmeng Secret Stone, while Zhong Rang remained missing.

• Zhang Xuezhou detected a foul stench near the stone forest and stayed away from the snake cave while investigating the area.
• He found snakes scattered outside the cave and realized they might have left it open enough to enter.
• After hearing a tiger-shaped Ferocious Beast roar, Zhang Xuezhou concluded the snakes and beasts had clashed and descended toward the cave.
• Zhang Xuezhou found the ground covered in snake corpses and could not locate Zhong Rang.
• He put on a breathing mask, rode the wind through the cave, and spotted a familiar jade glow on its ceiling.

Zhang Xuezhou explored the snake den and found a Qinmeng Secret Stone, where he encountered Zhong Rang, who had been trapped inside. They could not move the massive stone, and the nearby snake king threatened to return before the group could reach them.

• Zhang Xuezhou followed his Treasure-Seeking Technique through the snake-filled chambers and found signs that the cavern might have formed around a Fire Meteor.
• Zhang Xuezhou followed the technique to a milky-white stalagmite identified as a Qinmeng Secret Stone.
• Zhang Xuezhou found Zhong Rang nearby, covered in snake blood and leading three injured pythons.
• Zhong Rang explained that the Qinmeng Secret Stone had helped heal him and the pythons, but the six-to-eight-ton stone was intertwined with the rock and difficult to remove.
• Zhang Xuezhou said their companions were still two and a half kilometers away, while Zhong Rang warned that the enormous snake king and its nest could return before they secured the stone.

Zhang Xuezhou discovered a patch of potentially potent medicinal plants growing near the Qinmeng Secret Stone in the snake cave. Unable to take the stone, he suggested covering it with blood and filth to suppress its effects, leaving him and Zhong Rang to hope the snake king would not find it.

• Zhang Xuezhou found a medicinal garden in the cave and harvested three plants he suspected were Solomon's seal.
• Zhong Rang failed to break the Qinmeng Secret Stone and said they would have to leave before the snake king returned.
• Zhang Xuezhou suggested coating the stone, and Zhong Rang smeared it with python blood and snake droppings.
• Zhong Rang saw that the wounded pythons' injuries were no longer healing and hoped the covering would keep the snake king from finding the stone.
• Zhang Xuezhou said Zhou Xin had told him about coating Qinmeng Secret Stones, and Zhong Rang waited to see what would happen when the snake king returned.

Zhang Xuezhou gave Zhong Rang a potent medicinal tuber to counter snake venom, but its effects made Zhong Rang’s blood surge and drove him into a delirious charge toward the snake battle. Zhang Xuezhou pursued him into the dangerous fighting zone, where Zhong Rang joined the chaotic struggle.

• Zhang Xuezhou and Zhong Rang escaped the snake den while pursued by swarms of snakes, and Zhong Rang suffered multiple bites.
• Zhang Xuezhou gave Zhong Rang a sharp-scented medicinal tuber, which quickly reduced the venomous swelling but caused intense pain and a violent surge of Qi and Blood.
• Zhong Rang ran in the wrong direction toward the snake battle, dragging three strange snakes, and Zhang Xuezhou hurried after him.
• Zhang Xuezhou reached a battlefield where snake kings and tiger-shaped Ferocious Beasts fought amid the swarms.
• Zhong Rang charged into the battle, wielding the dead strange snakes as a whip and fighting with bloodshot eyes.

Zhang Xuezhou met Changkong Luo and the others as Zhong Rang charged into a battlefield where Ferocious Beasts and snakes were fighting. The group saw the enormous Snake King and several Ferocious Beasts, while Ren Yisheng focused on finding a beast compatible with his genes.

• Zhang Xuezhou watched Zhong Rang fight through the snakes and waved a flashlight to guide Changkong Luo’s group toward him.
• Changkong Luo and the others reached Zhang Xuezhou, and Zhou Rihui demonstrated how far he could fly after taking genetic medicine.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Changkong Luo that Zhong Rang had charged toward the Ferocious Beasts, and Changkong Luo saw him approach a dying giant beast on the slope.
• Changkong Luo’s searchlight revealed a huge Snake King battling a tiger-cub-sized Ferocious Beast and other creatures.
• Ren Yisheng spotted a white elephant with half its trunk missing and considered whether its genes could help him enter the Eighth Sequence.

Zhang Xuezhou gave the group a small dose of stem-tuber medicine that blocked snake venom, allowing them to move through the snake swarm. Ren Yisheng realized the medicine gave the elderly Sequence Holders a chance to intervene in the battle, while Zhong Rang’s much larger dose explained his reckless charge.

• The group assessed how to reach Zhong Rang and the Serpent King, but dense snakes blocked their way into the battle.
• Zhang Xuezhou handed out small portions of stem-tuber medicine and warned everyone about its stimulating effects.
• The group took the medicine, and Zhou Rihui recognized its body-stimulating effect from a drug Zhou Yueyan had researched.
• Several people tested the medicine against snake venom and found that it stopped the venom from spreading.
• Ren Yisheng learned that Zhong Rang had taken around one hundred and fifty grams, far more than the two grams given to each person.
• Ren Yisheng concluded that the medicine qualified the elderly Sequence Holders to intervene in the battle, and wondered how Changkong Luo and Qimeng Haige would fare after taking it.

Zhang Xuezhou’s medicine proved to restore vitality and heal hidden injuries while leaving the users’ minds clear, easing the group’s fears about taking it before fighting the Ferocious Beasts. Changkong Luo and others tried it, and Changkong Yinglian felt strong enough to consider hunting for Ferocious Beast extract.

• Qimeng Haige declined to take the medicine, while Changkong Luo questioned whether it would leave users clear-minded enough to survive a fight.
• Zhou Rihui took three pieces and reported that he felt clear-headed, energized, and as if old injuries were healing.
• Li Qi took the medicine and felt his hidden injuries improve and his vitality return, prompting Changkong Luo to reconsider and try it himself.
• Changkong Luo inspected a piece under a searchlight and nearly vomited after seeing its filth, while Zhang Xuezhou continued cutting the plant for the group.
• Changkong Yinghao and Changkong Yinglian took the medicine, and Yinglian felt her strength and Gene Power return.

Zhang Xuezhou gave the others medicine from the snake den, then watched them organize a charge toward Zhong Rang while he stayed behind with Wang Haoran. As the battle between the snakes and tiger-shaped Ferocious Beasts came into view, Zhang Xuezhou realized the winged tiger was directing the beasts and identified it as their leader.

• Zhang Xuezhou held back from taking the snake-den medicine himself, while the others accepted it and reported feeling increased vitality.
• Bi Dazhi, Qin Zhong, and the others assigned roles for a group charge toward Zhong Rang, while Wang Haoran stayed behind to protect Zhang Xuezhou.
• Qimeng Haige led the group into the tide of snakes, eager to maintain good relations with the Scarlet Alliance State's people.
• Wang Haoran asked Zhang Xuezhou about the medicine and the snake den's secrets, and Zhang Xuezhou mentioned the Qinmeng Secret Stone and the possibility of more great medicines.
• Bi Dazhi and Qin Zhong lit up the battlefield, revealing the snake king and the tiger-shaped Ferocious Beasts fighting among the stone pillars.
• Zhang Xuezhou noticed that the winged tiger was directing the battle and concluded that Song Xianzhong's first attack had targeted the Ferocious Beast leader.

Zhang Xuezhou and Wang Haoran watched the Ferocious Beasts and the Snake King battle in the darkness, while Changkong Luo's group used searchlights to influence the fight. A tiger leader then spoke through its roars to the Snake King, revealing that an unfamiliar civilization existed in the Qinmeng Ruins.

• A sudden burst of light revealed the upright tiger striking the Snake King with a blood-red weapon, badly injuring it despite the distance.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained to Wang Haoran that the weapon was controlled rather than merely launched, and speculated that the Ferocious Beast used a method like cultivating a Life Artifact.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Wang Haoran to wait while Changkong Luo's group joined Zhong Rang and attacked the pythons and Ferocious Beasts under the searchlights.
• The wounded white elephant trumpeted as Changkong Luo's group helped turn the battle against the tiger-shaped Ferocious Beasts.
• The tiger leader roared to Huang Snake that they needed to stop fighting because a third force controlled the light and threatened to devour them, revealing that a civilization unlike humanity's existed in the Qinmeng Ruins.