Recaps

Du Renxing’s attempt to comprehend Golden Nature during a livestream nearly produced a breakthrough, but he abruptly stopped it and the Spiritual Qi phenomenon vanished. After the crowd dispersed, the injured internet celebrity revealed he had secretly kept a small fragment as a trump card.

• Hu Mang realized Du Renxing’s extensive Divine Sense networking and huge audience made him an ideal candidate for the experiment, while a faint wisp of Golden Nature formed above him.
• Gu Yunshu and the others were shaken by Du Renxing’s progress, and Hu Mang recognized that the experiment was aimed at forming a Golden Core.
• Du Renxing’s newly formed Golden Nature began to tremble, and he broke off the attempt, causing the Spiritual Qi vortex and sky phenomenon to disperse.
• Minister Hong told his companions to record the information on Du Renxing as the crowd fled, while the cultivators marveled at the unusual event.
• In the operating room, Du Renxing stopped pretending to cry and revealed a hidden fragment he had kept as a trump card.

Hu Mang recounted witnessing an internet celebrity’s breakthrough to Spirit Transformation while considering a possible business venture with Old Fourth and Old Fifth. Meanwhile, Minister Hong investigated Hu Mang’s background and questioned whether he had been one of the infants targeted in a demonic-path refinement incident.

• Hu Mang told a Flying Sword Gang member that he had witnessed the internet celebrity reach Spirit Transformation in Peace District.
• Hu Mang thought about investing in Old Fourth and Old Fifth’s plan to develop artificial Spirit Stones.
• Minister Hong reviewed a detailed file on Hu Mang at Heavenly Gate’s Dragon Vein oversight department.
• Minister Hong noticed that Hu Mang’s birth and adoption overlapped with a demonic-path infant-refinement incident and wondered how he could have escaped the documented rescue and registration process.
• Minister Hong considered the involvement of Ghost Lord and Lord Mao in the unresolved questions surrounding Hu Mang.

Xiao Hu recruited Hu Mang and his father to test Human-Sword Unity with a heavily modified flying sword. Hu Mang stabilized the unstable sword by incorporating Gold Nature, then warned that the modification required too much power.

• Minister Hong ordered Xiao Ji to return from leave and go north to handle a mission involving someone she had investigated.
• Xiao Hu explained that black-market flying swords used unofficial modifications, including sword spirits, artificial intelligence, and Sword Realm slots.
• Xiao Hu invited Hu Mang and his father to try Human-Sword Unity with a modified flying sword, and Hu Mang agreed.
• Hu Mang resonated with the sword, but the door-sized blade began to wobble and shake as its power drained.
• Hu Mang used Gold Nature to reduce the drain to a tenth and steady the sword, then told Xiao Hu to warn the swordsmith that the modification would fail if it required a high-quality Golden Core.

Hu Mang returned to Pine Peak Blessed Land and ran into his childhood acquaintance Huang Jiayou, who caught him up on their old companions. The two continued down the street together, with Huang Jiayou explaining that the Bai family was thriving while Liu Manqing had returned home after failing to find work.

• Hu Mang arrived at Pine Peak Blessed Land after a draining private flight and headed home to contact his mother.
• Huang Jiayou recognized Hu Mang, and the two tested their yao Qi; Hu Mang stood firm while Huang Jiayou stumbled backward.
• Hu Mang walked off, and Huang Jiayou caught up and complained as they bought fried cakes and talked.
• Huang Jiayou told Hu Mang that Liu Manqing had returned from Demon Metropolis and that their mothers wanted to arrange a match between them.
• Huang Jiayou said the Bai family had expanded its businesses and was investing in medicine, artificial blessed lands, and a possible stock-market listing.

Hu Mang intervened when Pine Peak Security members tried to force Huang Jiayou to honor a share deal, then brought Huang and Brother Li to his family home. After Mama Hu rejected their business appeal, Hu Mang sent Huang away and was caught trying to evade a blind date with the Liu Household.

• Brother Li explained that Huang Jiayou had promised to sell his founding shares in Pine Peak Company to Aunt Bai but had avoided signing the contract.
• Hu Mang stopped Brother Li from striking a young man and used his demonic pressure to silence him, then chose to take Huang Jiayou home.
• Hu Mang brought Huang Jiayou and Brother Li to the Hu Household, where Mama Hu said she had only invited them for a meal and would not get involved in the shares.
• Brother Li left after the meal, and Hu Mang threw Huang Jiayou out of the courtyard.
• Mama Hu grabbed Hu Mang by the ear and accused him of bringing outsiders home to avoid his blind date with the Liu Household.

Hu Mang told Mama Hu about his Golden Nature, his Cyber Dharma scheme, and the Ghost Lord who had resurrected him. Mama Hu revealed that the Ghost Lord had ended the resurrection mission years earlier and deceived her about whether Xie Xianyu could be brought back.

• Mama Hu questioned how Hu Mang had brought his stolen father over, then accepted his explanation and sent Father Hu to wash dishes.
• Hu Mang told Mama Hu he had repaired his foundation and cultivated Golden Nature, and she recalled the danger of condensing a Golden Core in ancient times.
• Hu Mang described how he and his father had comprehended the Cyber Dharma, only for the Electronic Wooden Fish to sell them out for fifty million; Mama Hu urged him to sue.
• Mama Hu asked how Hu Mang had become skilled in Dharma, and he claimed the Ghost Lord had been present when he was resurrected.
• Mama Hu said the Ghost Lord had ended the resurrection mission years ago, after which she left the Five Great Households to resurrect Xie Xianyu, only to learn that it was impossible.

Mama Hu explained why her attempt to resurrect Xie Xianyu had failed and what the Ghost Lord believed might make his return possible. She also revealed the true cost of her resurrection technique to Hu Mang, who learned that her rebirth had reset its toll.

• Mama Hu told Hu Mang that the Moon Fox Life-Bearing Instruction and Six Paths Pearl had failed to revive Xie Xianyu, whom the Ghost Lord believed might have joined the Dragon Vein after studying its transformations.
• Mama Hu said Xie Xianyu might still return if a system capable of communicating with heaven and earth could find and restore the sliver of his will, but the Ghost Lord crashed whenever she asked about his memories.
• Mama Hu recalled that Xie Xianyu's swordsmanship had broken free of form and explained that modern Dragon Veins were far stronger than ancient ones because Spiritual Qi had increased greatly.
• Hu Mang confronted Mama Hu for repeatedly using a technique she had claimed could only be used once, and she admitted that it consumed Moon Fox bloodline and shortened the user's life.
• Mama Hu explained that resurrection refreshed her life and also reset the Moon Fox Life-Bearing Instruction's cooldown.

Mama Hu explained how she had passed through the Xi-Yi state after returning to life and described Pine Peak Security’s history and decline. She revealed that the Liu Household had agreed to treat Hu Mang’s illness in exchange for his engagement and marriage to Liu Manqing.

• Mama Hu told Hu Mang that she had once existed between Xi and Yi, and that the state had gradually faded as she returned to being a ghost and then a yao.
• Mama Hu explained that the five Households had created Pine Peak Security to manage revived people, but the organization later fell into decline and its members turned to questionable business.
• Mama Hu said Aunt Bai was trying to seize the Huang Household’s shares because she had lost money and needed to balance the company’s accounts.
• Mama Hu told Hu Mang that Old Woman Liu had served as a medical officer to emperors of the Yu Dynasty and had agreed to treat his illness.
• Mama Hu revealed that the agreement required Hu Mang and Liu Manqing to become engaged and marry, and Hu Mang protested that the arrangement was a feudal remnant.

Hu Mang accompanied his mother and Huang Jiayou to the wealthy Liu Household, where Liu Wuniang welcomed him as a prospective son-in-law. The visit began with a warm reunion, though Liu Wuniang immediately objected to Huang Jiayou tagging along.

• Mama Hu took Hu Mang to visit the Liu Household, and Huang Jiayou joined them in his flying shuttle.
• Hu Mang saw corpses hanging among the ghost willows, but the Yin-Suppressing Marks in his eyes made them dissolve into Yin Qi.
• A girl in red escorted the visitors into the Liu Residence, where Mama Hu and Liu Wuniang greeted each other affectionately.
• Liu Wuniang praised Hu Mang’s appearance and recalled his achievements, while he remarked that he was now unemployed.
• Liu Wuniang turned cold toward Huang Jiayou and asked why he had come, but he pleaded that she spare him for his late father’s sake.

Huang Jiayou proposed using the Hu and Liu families’ engagement to gather Pine Peak Security’s old associates and surrender his underworld authority in exchange for protection. Hu Mang visited Liu Manqing, interrupting her dungeon game and meeting her awkwardly.

• Huang Jiayou told Liu Wuniang that he would offer his underworld authority to the Hu and Liu families in front of Pine Peak Security’s old associates, hoping they would protect him from the Bai Household’s fourth aunt.
• Liu Wuniang appeared tempted by Huang Jiayou’s proposal, while Mama Hu and Hu Mang worried that inviting a crowd would worsen the engagement dispute.
• Hu Mang noticed the enormous ghost willow in the Liu residence’s grove and considered what he knew about Liu Manqing.
• Hu Mang entered Liu Manqing’s room after she invited him in and found her playing a dungeon game online.
• Liu Manqing’s willow branch disconnected her from the game, leaving Hu Mang to meet her while she was embarrassed.

Hu Mang tried to break off his engagement to Liu Manqing after healing his Dantian, but Huang Jiayou’s underworld authority scheme left him caught up in the betrothal again. Liu Manqing asked Hu Mang to take her with him, while Huang Jiayou defended his deception by claiming he had meant to save her from marrying into the Bai Household.

• Liu Manqing met Hu Mang and learned he had come to break off their engagement because he had healed his Dantian and no longer needed to marry into her family.
• Hu Mang told Liu Manqing that Huang Jiayou had offered her mother his family’s share of underworld authority as a betrothal gift, making the engagement seem necessary.
• Liu Manqing insisted Hu Mang take her with him so she could avoid being engaged to a second-generation heir from the Bai Household.
• Hu Mang used a great hand seal to drag Huang Jiayou into his true form after confronting him about the deception.
• Huang Jiayou admitted he had hidden the truth because he feared Hu Mang would leave, and claimed he had also been trying to protect Liu Manqing from the Bai Household.

Huang Jiayou revealed that overseas Devil Dao cultivators had secretly tested infants’ Root Bones in Pine Peak and used Bone-Molding Pills to alter children’s potential, implicating several local households. Hu Mang was left wondering whether his Seven Absolutes Devil Meridians were connected to the pills.

• Huang Jiayou told Hu Mang that he suspected Aunt Bai of working with overseas Devil Dao smugglers and showed him several black pills.
• Huang Jiayou explained that twenty-five years earlier, overseas cultivators had used investment and charity as cover to test infants and take promising children overseas.
• Huang Jiayou suspected the Liu Household had modified the Bone-Molding Pill formula, the Bai Household had contacted the overseas Devil Dao, and the Hui Household had resumed smuggling.
• Liu Manqing asked whether her mother had been involved, and Huang Jiayou said he did not know but believed she might have improved the pill formula.
• Hu Mang realized Huang Jiayou had avoided reporting the suspected crimes because his own household had connections at Pine Peak Security and the local government might be compromised.
• Hu Mang wondered whether his Seven Absolutes Devil Meridians had anything to do with the Bone-Molding Pills.

Hu Mang discovered that his awakened devil meridian could refine Devil Qi from Bone-Molding Pills, and he used the opportunity to propose a business alliance with Liu Manqing against the Bai Household. Liu Manqing agreed only to consider it, while Hu Mang suspected her mother had an undisclosed plan of her own.

• Hu Mang swallowed a Bone-Molding Pill and sensed its Devil Qi being refined by his Cauldron-Boiling Devil Meridian.
• Hu Mang ate an entire box of Bone-Molding Pills and realized the experience might help him open another devil meridian.
• Hu Mang asked Liu Manqing to supply semi-finished Bone-Molding Pills for him to process, promising they would not reach the market.
• Hu Mang brought out Spirit Stones worth roughly ten million as a deposit to persuade Liu Manqing's mother to cooperate against the Bai Household.
• Liu Manqing declined to choose a side but agreed not to inform on Hu Mang and Huang Jiayou.
• Hu Mang suspected Fifth Aunt Liu had her own reason for agreeing to help his mother, and the younger generation's planned challenge meant the engagement could not yet be called off.

Hu Mang changed his mind about the betrothal and asked Mama Hu to return to where she had found him. At the Soul-Binding Willow, Liu Wuniang revealed the five households’ connection to the Dragon Veins and identified the vast vein beneath them as a Ghost Dragon Vein, exposing Hu Mang’s Tribulation Eye.

• Hu Mang told Mama Hu he wanted to revisit the place where she had found him, after revealing that he had comprehended the Seven Absolutes Devil Meridians.
• Mama Hu wondered whether Hu Mang had inherited any power from the fox demon bloodline she had given him.
• Liu Wuniang brought Liu Manqing and the Hu Household to the Soul-Binding Willow and explained that the five households had revived first because each had encountered a Dragon Vein in a different way.
• Mama Hu recognized the dragon-spine ridges beneath the ground as a Ghost Vein, and Liu Wuniang revealed that it was a Ghost Dragon Vein.
• Liu Wuniang pointed out Hu Mang’s knowledge of the vein, and his Tribulation Eye opened, shocking Mama Hu.

Liu Wuniang revealed her Ghost Dragon Vein and explained to Mama Hu that she had studied Dragon Veins in hopes of extending her life. As she accused Mama Hu of secretly transforming Hu Mang through Dragon Veins, the two denied it in unison while praising her insight.

• Liu Wuniang led Mama Hu and Hu Mang into the Dragon-Locking Grotto, where they saw her Soul-Binding Willow and the snakes surrounding its millstone.
• Liu Wuniang revealed her snake lower body and summoned a headless Ghost Dragon Vein from the millstone’s Yin Qi.
• Mama Hu recognized the grotto’s underworld passages and discussed her past work exploring Ghost Dragon Veins with Liu Wuniang.
• Liu Wuniang said she had studied Dragon Veins to prolong her life, noting that even the long-lived Huang had died despite the era’s abundant Spiritual Qi.
• Hu Mang used his Tribulation Eye and saw Liu Wuniang’s aged, decaying appearance beneath her cultivated looks.
• Liu Wuniang accused Mama Hu of seeking to study Dragon Veins and sending Hu Mang overseas to undergo a transformation, and both denied her suspicions while complimenting her knowledge.

Hu Mang and Mama Hu bluffed Liu Wuniang into believing their household was researching Dragon Veins, then negotiated an alliance and a share of the Bone-Molding Pill business. After they agreed to an engagement banquet, Hu Mang returned home with an item that could expose the danger of their bluff.

• Liu Wuniang mistook Hu Mang and Mama Hu's actions for secret Dragon Vein research, and Mama Hu played along to avoid being killed.
• Hu Mang used his Tribulation Eyes to disperse Liu Wuniang's ghost dragon, prompting her to reveal that she had experimented with snake-body possession and could possess her daughter, Liu Manqing.
• Hu Mang demanded a share of the Bone-Molding Pill business and proposed removing the Hui Household and the New Demonic Cult from the deal by claiming his household had overseas demonic connections.
• Hu Mang and Liu Wuniang's households agreed to hold an engagement banquet in three days, with the Five Great Households and Pine Peak Security acquaintances invited.
• Back at their courtyard, Mama Hu worried about Liu Wuniang and asked whether they should report the criminal business; Hu Mang said their Dragon Vein bluff made that dangerous, then brought an item from his Storage Bag to show her.

Hu Mang weighed the danger surrounding the Dragon Vein research and decided to keep the Liu Household close while seeking evidence of the overseas Devil Dao. He failed to open Daoist Xuanyin’s Storage Bag, then prepared to study Golden Nature as Huang Jiayou arrived to discuss their plan and the girl surnamed Ji and Qian Xiao Long reached the regulatory department.

• Mama Hu and Hu Mang agreed that reporting the Dragon Vein research could expose them to the authorities or the Ghost Lord.
• Hu Mang reasoned that the Liu Household needed their research materials and that Eighth Master Hui might be connected to smuggling Devil Dao drugs.
• Hu Mang used Golden Nature against the Divine Sense restriction on Daoist Xuanyin’s Storage Bag, but its backlash stopped him from opening it.
• Hu Mang read Boss Gu’s Golden Nature notes by lamplight, hoping to break the restriction within three days.
• Huang Jiayou arrived at Hu Mang’s room in disguise to discuss their plan.
• The girl surnamed Ji and Qian Xiao Long arrived at Pine Peak Blessed Land’s regulatory department.

While waiting at home for an investigation, Hu Mang studied Gu Yunshu’s sword principles and found that his Three Yin Flowers could satisfy the requirements of the Life-Taking Continuous Three Immortals Sword. He used spear principles to combine the Three Yin Flowers’ powers into a precise strike against the Divine Sense restriction sealing his Storage Bag.

• Qian Xiao Long and Xiao Ji arranged a formal investigation of Hu Mang, preparing to contact the local blessed land magistrate and relevant departments.
• Hu Mang stayed calm at home, studied Boss Gu’s notes, and made progress researching how to unseal his Divine Sense.
• Hu Mang discovered the Life-Taking Continuous Three Immortals Sword theory in Gu Yunshu’s notes and realized his Three Yin Flowers could fulfill its requirements despite his lack of swordsmanship.
• Hu Mang awakened Black Water, Red Lotus, and Sha Palace, then used spear principles to braid their forces into a concentrated strike.
• Hu Mang thrust the three-colored force at the Divine Sense restriction on his Storage Bag.

Hu Mang looted Wei Fotuo’s Storage Bag and found Spirit Stones, Devil Dao artifacts, and Profound Yin teachings. He began cultivating Profound Yin Devil Fire, but the flame was pulled into his Cauldron-Boiling Devil Meridian, which suddenly caught fire.

• Hu Mang accidentally burst the high-grade Storage Bag, releasing Void Spiritual Qi and a vast trove of Spirit Stones.
• He collected the Spirit Stones, Devil Dao Law Artifacts, cultivation methods, Divine Abilities, and other items inside the bag.
• Hu Mang examined the Profound Yin teachings, rejected the Black Sha Asura Cultivation Method, and chose to learn Profound Yin Devil Fire.
• He compressed Profound Yin Devil Qi in his Dantian and used a thread of Yang fire to kindle it into a small black flame.
• When Hu Mang drew more Devil Qi to nurture the flame, it was sucked into his Cauldron-Boiling Devil Meridian, which caught fire.

Hu Mang visited the abandoned factory where his mother had found him and discovered evidence that a powerful devil cultivator had been there. He waited for the visitor and confronted a heavily reconstructed man, whose appearance led Hu Mang to call this a new devil path.

• After the Profound Yin Devil Fire unexpectedly reached great perfection, Hu Mang asked Mama Hu about 14 Shougang Street and left to investigate.
• Fourth Aunt Bai worried that Huang Jiayou might unite with the Hu and Liu Households, and she sent her sons to strengthen their alliances and block the Hu Household from attending the Liu Household's engagement banquet.
• At the abandoned steam factory, Hu Mang found over a hundred External Spirit Roots and noticed oversized footprints and a lingering trace of powerful Devil Qi.
• Hu Mang hid in the factory for a day, then confronted a huge stranger carrying two cases when he returned at night.
• The stranger revealed that much of his body had been replaced with machinery, and Hu Mang remarked that the new devil path was advanced.

Hu Mang defeated a heavily modified demonic cultivator from the Sinful Earth Sect in an old factory and reported the body to the Demon Suppression Guard. Qian Xiao Long and local officials investigated the scene, but the surveillance footage showed the victim and not his killer.

• Hu Mang identified his opponent’s grave-soil cultivation and Sinful Earth Sect ties as the demonic cultivator powered himself up with conduits and factory boilers.
• Hu Mang used Unity of Heaven and Man to pierce the cultivator’s armor and head, then sealed his body’s signaling channels with Profound Yin Devil Fire and took his metal Dantian.
• Hu Mang called the Demon Suppression Guard from a public phone booth to report the body, then slipped away.
• Qian Xiao Long examined the factory and hypothesized that the cultivator had forced a breakthrough during a fight before dying to a spear attack.
• The head of the Demon Subjugation Bureau told Qian Xiao Long that surveillance had captured the cultivator but not the killer because local cameras covered only main routes and major roads.

Qian Xiao Long uncovered evidence that officials and the Underworld Bureau had concealed the origins of criminal yaoguai, while Hu Mang prepared for his engagement. On the way to the Liu Household, Brother Li betrayed Hu Mang and his family, leaving them surrounded by yaoguai and Shi Gandang.

• Qian Xiao Long deduced that the killer used a surveillance Law Artifact to avoid cameras, questioned Director Xu about Pine Peak Security’s undocumented yaoguai, and exposed his connection to Bai Siniang.
• Director Sun told Qian Xiao Long that the Underworld Bureau had erased yaoguai’s memories of their origins after examining them at the Evil-Subduing Chuma Battalion headquarters.
• Qian Xiao Long called his colleague, who was investigating a team of female cultivators, while Huang Jiayou confirmed his family owned twenty percent of Pine Peak Security.
• Hu Mang returned home, reflected on his impending engagement, and the next morning rode with his mother, Old Xie, and Brother Li toward the Liu Household.
• Brother Li diverted the flying shuttle to an old forest and helped Eighth Master Hui’s allies surround Hu Mang and his family.
• Shi Gandang stepped forward, and Hu Mang recognized him as a stone yao descended from Shi Polu’s essence Qi.

Hu Mang fought Brother Li and Shi Gandang, using his devilish sense to disrupt their ancient military formation before Shi Gandang turned on Brother Li. After Mama Hu spared the defeated Brother Li, Shi Gandang thanked her for the Xie Clan Military Treatise she had given him.

• Hu Mang fought through the coordinated ancient military formation, using Unity of Heaven and Man to identify its formation disks and disrupt its rhythm with his devilish sense.
• Brother Li and Shi Gandang confronted Hu Mang, but Shi Gandang used the formation's Qi and Blood to suppress Brother Li and struck him down.
• At the Liu residence, Liu Wuniang welcomed Fourth Aunt Bai, who disparaged the spiritual tea while waiting for Hu Mang and the others.
• Hu Mang asked Mama Hu whether to kill the defeated Brother Li, and she chose to leave his fate alone and not return.
• Shi Gandang switched sides, bowed to Mama Hu, and thanked her for the Xie Clan Military Treatise she had once given him.

Hu Mang enlisted Shi Gandang to obstruct Fourth Aunt Bai’s allies while traveling to the Liu Household, where the engagement gathering brought him face-to-face with Ji Xiaodao, an official who said she cracked down on pornography. The chapter ended as Hu Mang questioned why an anti-pornography officer was spending time with Huang Jiayou.

• Hu Mang gave Shi Gandang a list of Fourth Aunt Bai’s allies and ordered him to keep them from reaching the Liu Household; Shi Gandang accepted the task.
• Hu Mang revealed that he had paid Shi Gandang ten million Spirit Stones, prompting Mama Hu to grab his ear and demand an explanation.
• At the Liu Household, Liu Manqing welcomed guests and joked with Huang Jiayou about whether she would have to return engagement red envelopes if she and Hu Mang broke up.
• Ji Xiaodao noticed Hu Mang’s arrival at the engagement banquet and prepared to take care of business.
• Huang Jiayou warned Hu Mang that an official was present, and Ji Xiaodao identified herself as someone who cracked down on pornography.

Hu Mang agreed to cooperate with Ji Xiaodao as authorities investigated the Ghost Dragon Vein and related conspiracies, while a major operation gathered at Old Mountain. At the wedding banquet, Hu Mang revealed his Golden Core strength and terrified Bai Chengwan into reverting to a hedgehog and wetting himself.

• Hu Mang told Ji Xiaodao he would cooperate with the investigation, and she said their discoveries had tied their fates together before leaving.
• Ji Xiaodao reported that the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda operation at Old Mountain would target remnants of the Five Dynasties, while Qian Xiao Long learned Minister Hong would personally take charge of the arrests.
• Hu Mang chatted with Liu Manqing at the banquet as Ji Xiaodao watched from the corner and the guests eyed the strangers at the main table.
• Bai Chengwan demanded that Hu Mang greet his elders, and Hu Mang insulted him and pinned his raised arm with Golden Core Divine Sense.
• Hu Mang's pressure forced Bai Chengwan to revert into a white hedgehog, and Bai Chengwan wet himself in fear.