Chapter Summaries

Lin Zhiying considered whether a demonic holy son had engineered the ghost-ship incident and thought of asking the Underworld Bureau for help. Meanwhile, Hu Mang expelled the last of his hidden injuries and gained an insight into refining essence into Qi, leaving him eager to continue his cultivation.

• Lin Zhiying and Ao Tianhai discussed rivalries among the demonic holy sons and possible ways their opponent had controlled a Ghost Dragon Vein.
• A team member suggested consulting the Underworld Bureau, and Lin Zhiying remembered that Hu Mang was a Bureau consultant trained by Eighth Master Hui.
• Hu Mang used Sea Eye Spirit Liquid and careful cultivation to expel the congealed blood and impurities from his five viscera, restoring himself to his peak.
• After noticing his renewed, youthful appearance, Hu Mang connected Subduing the White Tiger with the relationship between essence and Qi.
• Hu Mang circulated innate primordial essence through the Ren and Du meridians, but the essence dispersed into his limbs and bones before completing the process.

Hu Mang analyzed how to reverse Subduing the White Tiger and received a call from Major Lin Zhiying, who questioned him about a devil-path Holy Son and the Ghost Dragon Vein. After Jiang Kuisha confronted him over a Dragon Vein creature, Hu Mang fought her on the beach and watched her transform into a scale-covered, snake-like form.

• Hu Mang concluded that mastering Subduing the White Tiger could help him evolve innate essence back into Innate Qi and cultivate the Flower of Qi.
• Major Lin Zhiying asked Hu Mang about the devil-path Holy Son’s escape, Ghost Dragon Vein treasures, and Underworld Bureau records; Hu Mang said he needed his superiors’ permission to answer.
• Jiang Kuisha approached Hu Mang through Old Sha and demanded to know who had received the Dragon Vein creature, but Hu Mang refused to tell her.
• Hu Mang and Jiang Kuisha clashed with their mental fields as they walked to the beach, and his Heavenly Devil Field repeatedly broke down her body while she regenerated.
• Jiang Kuisha followed Hu Mang onto the sea, shed her skin and red gauze, and revealed a pale, scale-covered body without facial features.

Hu Mang destroyed Jiang Kuisha’s Brain-Eating Worm illusion and discovered that she was a corpse ghost grown from Dragon Sha. Jiang Kuisha revealed the real cyber city, where countless copies of her were embedded in its buildings and used to produce a brain-like substance.

• Hu Mang used his lightning spear to split the Brain-Eating Worm and burned the neon city illusion with Profound Yin Devil Fire.
• Jiang Kuisha’s apparent corpse melted into corpse water, revealing a deformed Private Dragon that Hu Mang caught with a ghostly claw.
• The little snake begged Hu Mang to spare her and promised to show him the real Jiang Kuisha, then absorbed the corpse water and transformed back into Jiang Kuisha.
• Jiang Kuisha explained that she was a corpse ghost raised with Dragon Sha and opened her face to reveal a real cyber city built from countless copies of herself.
• Hu Mang saw the copies of Jiang Kuisha embedded throughout the city and remarked that his Fifth Aunt seemed saintly by comparison.

Hu Mang learned that Jiang Kuisha was an incarnation of a sleeping Sinful Dragon and that becoming one could extend a cultivator’s life, while the Heavenly Gate’s industrial Spiritual Qi could not. He let Jiang Kuisha go after demanding compensation, and considered using demonic methods to exploit her sleeping true body.

• Hu Mang questioned Jiang Kuisha and learned that she was one of many incarnations whose memories would return to her sleeping true body if she died.
• Jiang Kuisha explained that Sinful Dragons merged with Dragon Veins to gain long life, while the Heavenly Gate’s industrial Spiritual Qi could not extend cultivators’ lifespans.
• Hu Mang rejected Jiang Kuisha’s offer to cooperate, but let her go after demanding dual-cultivation toys as compensation.
• After Jiang Kuisha left, Hu Mang learned that the Flesh and Blood Golden Core would eventually let another Sinful Dragon possess anyone who used it to form a Nascent Soul.
• Hu Mang considered using the Nine Child-Mother Heavenly Devils and the Three Yin Life and Death Talisman to target the sleeping Sinful Dragon.

Hu Mang returned to Demon-Subduing City to refine Three Yin Life and Death Talismans from ancient devil corpses, then traveled to Port Surumai. There, locals recognized him as the Blood Python and welcomed him as “Brother Heavenly Python.”

• Hu Mang reached the ruins of Demon-Subduing City and chose to refine Three Yin Life and Death Talismans from the surviving ancient devil corpses.
• Hu Mang used the Soul-Splitting Technique to draw out devil souls and condensed the corpses’ essence into three talismans.
• Hu Mang spent seven days refining talismans aboard the ship and arrived at Port Surumai with three Three Yin Life and Death Talismans.
• Hu Mang bought crescent cakes and ate by the docks, where an older foreigner recognized him and spoke of the Blood Python and Snake God.
• Hu Mang offered incense at a Datuk Gong shrine, and a crowd of headscarf-wearing men shouted, “Brother Heavenly Python!!”

Hu Mang returned to Port Surumai and reunited with Sun Hu, then was taken to Liang Household Garden to meet Liang Yanqiu, Zheng Qingbo’s wife. After she revealed documents hidden behind a Bodhisattva statue, Hu Mang began reading them, leaving the purpose of their meeting unresolved.

• Hu Mang reunited with Sun Hu and was greeted by the men who worked with him at the port.
• Sun Hu told Hu Mang that Boss Zheng wanted to see him, then took him to Liang Household Garden.
• Hu Mang found Liang Household people guarding the estate and learned that Liang Yanqiu had arranged his visit; Sun Hu said he had always been on her side.
• Liang Yanqiu welcomed Hu Mang and led him through the estate, wearing a white hairpin that suggested her husband had died.
• Liang Yanqiu worshipped at the shrine, discussed the local custom of making deals before the Buddha with Hu Mang, and handed him documents she had hidden behind the statue.

Hu Mang learned from Liang Yanqiu that Zheng Qingbo had arranged for assassins to push him toward awakening his dormant Seven Absolutes Devil Meridians, while seeking to seize the Liang Household’s seat in the Autonomous Association. Hu Mang agreed to stay at the Liang Family Garden, and Zheng Qingbo’s men debated his return as a dangerous newcomer challenged his reputation.

• Hu Mang read Liang Yanqiu’s file on Zheng Qingbo’s crimes, rise to power, and plan to claim both a new Autonomous Association seat and the Liang Household’s seat.
• Liang Yanqiu told Hu Mang that Zheng Qingbo had repeatedly put him in mortal danger but secretly ensured he survived, leading Hu Mang to suspect Zheng Qingbo wanted to awaken his dormant Seven Absolutes Devil Meridians.
• Hu Mang agreed to stay at the Liang Family Garden for a few days while Liang Yanqiu investigated Zheng Qingbo’s other connections.
• At the Zheng Family Garden, mid-level cadres worried that Hu Mang had stayed with Liang Yanqiu, but Jiacha relayed Zheng Qingbo’s order not to interfere with Hu Mang’s choices.
• A towering new recruit mocked the cadres for fearing Hu Mang and offered to deal with him.

Hu Mang trained at the Liang Household and refused to mentor its descendants, then sought Liu Manqing’s help researching Ghost Dragon Veins. The chapter ended when Chen Xiaosan called from a strange, ash-covered realm beneath a blood-red sky, where a gate marked Fengdu stood in the distance.

• Hu Mang practiced boxing in the Liang Household’s training ground, using his Heavenly Devil Field to merge techniques and deepen his cultivation.
• Liang Jinchuan and Liang Shuyao brought five other Liang Household descendants to ask Hu Mang for cultivation guidance, but he dismissed them for arriving empty-handed.
• Hu Mang called Liu Manqing to discuss Lin Zhiying’s requests and the Dragon Blood Tide, then asked for the Underworld Bureau’s information and the Liu Household’s research on Private Dragons.
• Liu Manqing agreed to trade research on Ghost Dragon Veins for a list of rare beauty and health-preserving treasures, so Hu Mang asked Old Sha to help find them.
• Chen Xiaosan called Hu Mang in distress and urged him to turn on Divine Sense Communication, revealing a gloomy place with a blood-red celestial body and a gate bearing the name Fengdu.

Hu Mang discovered that Old Third had been assigned as a delivery worker in Fengdu and supplied him with a Ten-Thousand-Year Yin Pearl to help him form a high-quality Golden Core. After sending the supplies through the Ghost Dragon Vein, Hu Mang wondered whether it could locate Jiang Kuisha, while Elder Min confronted Zheng Qingbo about a test subject.

• Old Third told Hu Mang that his assessment had placed him in Fengdu as a delivery worker, and admitted he had spent half his Yin Virtue Qi cheating during the tests.
• Hu Mang showed Old Third the Ten-Thousand-Year Yin Pearl, which Old Third recognized as pure enough to support a high-quality Golden Core.
• Hu Mang assembled the pearl and other supplies, then approved their transfer through the Ghost Dragon Vein to Old Third in Fengdu.
• Hu Mang wondered whether the Ghost Dragon Vein could locate Jiang Kuisha and whether the Heavenly Gate was pursuing a larger plan.
• On Java Island, Jiacha led Zheng Qingbo to meet Elder Min, who said he had come because his test subject had appeared.

Hu Mang studied the Netherworld Record and learned about Underworld Bureau lore, ghost technology, and the dangers of industrial Spiritual Qi. Liang Xiaoqiu then brought him Master A Pei, a demonic-path weaponsmith, to discuss forging him a spear, and Hu Mang offered to cure the fire poison that had cost the old man his arm.

• Liu Manqing sent Hu Mang the Underworld Bureau’s Netherworld Record, which detailed ghosts, Underworld officials, Ghost Dragon Veins, and Bureau technology.
• Hu Mang read that most ancient Ghost Veins were swallowed by underground Turbid Qi, though some ghosts became unexplained anomalies.
• Hu Mang worried that industrial Spiritual Qi might fail to extend lifespans and that Heavenly Gate’s leaders could become Sinful Dragons.
• Liang Xiaoqiu brought the drunken Master A Pei to Hu Mang, explaining that she had guessed he needed a spear after seeing him practice.
• Hu Mang offered to remove Master A Pei’s fire poison, and the weaponsmith revealed that he had lost his arm forging a Fire Element Law Treasure and replaced it with a demonic Law Artifact prosthesis.

Hu Mang arranged for Master A Pei to forge a ghost spear and possibly Law Treasure-grade armor from materials he had recovered from the Dragon Blood Tide. Liang Yanqiu then asked him to help kill Zheng Qingbo, but Hu Mang refused to act without evidence and left her to continue investigating.

• Hu Mang explained to Liang Xiaoqiu that the Heavenly Gate avoided human modifications because they could damage the meridians needed for Core Formation, and learned that she had dual water and fire Spirit Roots.
• Hu Mang showed Master A Pei his forging materials, and the smith chose what he needed for a ghost spear and offered to attempt Law Treasure-grade armor with the rest.
• Hu Mang questioned whether he could trust Master A Pei with the valuable materials, but Liang Yanqiu vouched for the smith and sent Liang Xiaoqiu to see him out.
• Liang Yanqiu asked Hu Mang to kill Zheng Qingbo, claiming Zheng had dealt with a Heavenly Gate undercover operative and opposed the Heavenly Gate's proposed presence in Nanyang's maritime market.
• Hu Mang connected Zheng's opposition to his alleged human smuggling and cooperation with the demonic path, but demanded evidence before considering action and went to cultivate.

Hu Mang learned that a modified cultivator from the Zheng Family Garden had crippled Liang Jinchuan, but refused to take revenge on the Liang Household’s behalf. He began a breakthrough to master the True Intention of Subduing the White Tiger, and a fearsome tiger demon appeared in his vision.

• After combining Golden Nature Perfection, Inner Alchemy, and the True Meaning of Subduing Demons, Hu Mang developed the True Intention of Subduing the White Tiger and agreed to study Liang Xiaoqiu’s cultivation method.
• Liang Yanqiu and Hu Mang learned that a modified Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivator from the Zheng Family Garden had crippled Liang Jinchuan while demanding to see the Heavenly Blood Python.
• Liang Jinchuan described the attacker’s Demonic Machine Hall modifications and Golden Core-level methods, while Hu Mang declined to lead the Liang Household’s retaliation.
• Liang Xiaoqiu told Hu Mang that people mocked him for not fighting back, but he said he had no obligation to risk his life for the Liang Household.
• Hu Mang sent Liang Xiaoqiu away and began using Daoist Inner Alchemy to subdue the essence Qi within his Dantian.
• As Hu Mang turned the essence Qi upward through his governing vessel, he envisioned a white-browed tiger demon emerging from a volcanic crater.

Hu Mang’s yao nature seized the chance to devour the Unraveled Rope Devil Meridian’s vital essence, disrupting his attempt to subdue the white tiger. He used a Thunder Net and the power of a divine tiger to suppress the yao fox, leaving a red-furred tiger in the white tiger’s place and completing the subjugation.

• Hu Mang’s Crimson Blood Fox Bloodline erupted while he was subduing the white tiger, and a yao tiger rampaged through his meridians.
• Hu Mang realized the yao tiger wanted to devour the Devil Meridian’s vital essence to strengthen his fox bloodline, but he refused to risk losing his Seven Absolutes Devil Meridians.
• Hu Mang recognized that the conflict between his yao and devil bloodlines would recur, and decided he could turn their struggle into an opportunity by harmonizing them.
• Liang Yanqiu’s silver bracelet grew hot, and people resting in the Liang Household Garden dreamed of a red divine tiger fighting a giant white tiger.
• Hu Mang wove a Thunder Net through his meridians and used his Thunder God Evolution to suppress the yao tiger.
• The yao tiger reverted to a four-tailed fox and vanished, while a red-furred tiger took the white tiger’s place and Hu Mang completed the subjugation.

Hu Mang helped Liang Xiaoqiu improve her cultivation before accompanying Liang Yanqiu to a vote at the Autonomous Association, where he encountered a gathering of powerful, heavily modified cultivators. The chapter ended as he assessed the dangerous crowd and the Demonic Machine Hall’s influence in Java.

• Liang Xiaoqiu told Hu Mang that Liang Yanqiu had used a hidden treasure to cripple the modified cultivator who had injured Liang Jinchuan and leave him at the Zheng Family Garden.
• Hu Mang examined Liang Xiaoqiu’s cultivation and adjusted three of her meridian paths, helping her advance from Foundation Establishment Early Stage to Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.
• Liang Yanqiu told Liang Xiaoqiu to choose a treasure from the Lineage treasury and took Hu Mang to attend the Autonomous Association’s vote.
• Hu Mang and Liang Yanqiu traveled by sedan chair carried by Flood Dragon Pythons to the Autonomous Association’s island headquarters.
• Hu Mang sensed more than twenty Golden Cores at the headquarters and noticed that many attendants had undergone extensive Law Artifact modifications.

Hu Mang studied how Law Artifact prosthetics increased cultivators’ combat power at the cost of permanently limiting their cultivation, then refused Zheng Qingbo’s invitation to meet privately. He considered establishing his own power in Nanyang and received a call from the person who had hired him to investigate the demonic path’s Holy Son.

• Hu Mang examined a modified cultivator and sensed how his prosthetic Law Artifact linked to his meridians, enabling stronger and faster attacks while damaging his cultivation prospects.
• Hu Mang concluded that extensive modifications were costly and left most cultivators unable to advance beyond their current realm, though they greatly increased combat power.
• Jiacha approached Hu Mang and said Zheng Qingbo wanted to meet and clear things up, but Hu Mang insisted Zheng Qingbo come speak to him in public.
• After Jiacha left, Hu Mang decided he could build a Hu Household Garden of his own because neither Liang Yanqiu nor the Zheng Family Garden treated him as an equal.
• Spirit Pivot No. 1 rang, and Hu Mang saw that the caller was the person who had asked him to investigate the demonic path’s Holy Son.

After advising Lin Zhiying on investigating the Ghost Dragon Vein, Hu Mang learned that Elder Min had helped make him a Holy Son candidate and hoped to use him to restore the old cult masters. Hu Mang rejected the offer and suspected Zheng Qingbo had another power behind him, while Zheng Qingbo and Elder Min privately discussed Hu Mang's suitability.

• Hu Mang advised Lin Zhiying to investigate the Turbid Dragon's corpse and its Yin-Yang nodes to locate and classify the Ghost Dragon Vein.
• Elder Min revealed that he had arranged for Hu Mang to be tested as a Sealed Holy Son and offered him a place in the Holy Son Cult, along with help forming a Golden Core and Nascent Soul.
• Elder Min explained that the cult intended to restore the consciousnesses of five old cult masters through Sea Dragon Veins and a refined Nascent Soul, but Hu Mang rejected the offer.
• After Elder Min left, Hu Mang suspected he was only Zheng Qingbo's partner and that another force stood behind Zheng Qingbo.
• Liang Yanqiu told Hu Mang that the Autonomous Association had rejected a Heavenly Gate presence but approved the Yu Household's entry into the new sea market on Zheng Qingbo's proposal.
• At the Zheng Family Garden, Zheng Qingbo asked Elder Min whether Hu Mang qualified as a Holy Son candidate, and Elder Min called him ordinary.

Hu Mang cultivated in the ruined mechanism courtyard of Demon-Subduing City, using Subduing the White Tiger to purify the violent lightning Spiritual Qi and refine the Flower of Qi. Zheng Qingbo ordered Jiacha to sell Elder Min and Hu Mang to the Demonic Machine Hall, while Hu Mang completed the Flower of Qi and left his next step unresolved.

• Zheng Qingbo told Jiacha to find buyers among the new demonic cults for Elder Min and to offer Hu Mang to the Demonic Machine Hall for research.
• Hu Mang left Liang Yanqiu's carriage, used lightning Qi to travel to the Dark Lightning Puppet-Control Hub, and began cultivating at the ruined mechanism courtyard's formation core.
• Hu Mang used Subduing the White Tiger to filter the violent lightning Spiritual Qi and draw purified Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi into his body.
• Hu Mang guided his innate primordial essence into the Shanzhong acupoint and used Reversing the River Chariot to refine it.
• The Dragon-Suppressing Stake's dragon roar and Subduing the White Tiger's tiger howl purified the Qi further, and Hu Mang formed the Flower of Qi in his Crimson Palace.

After condensing the Flower of Qi, Hu Mang collected a ghost-slaying spear and faced an ambush by modified cultivators from the Demonic Machine Hall. Meanwhile, Liang Yanqiu prepared to lead the Liang Household against the Zheng Family Garden instead of rescuing him.

• Hu Mang examined his new Innate True Qi and concluded that his strength made him nearly unbeatable on Java Island.
• Hu Mang collected the finished spear from Master A Pei and learned it could suppress practitioners connected to Nanyang's Evil Dao.
• Modified cultivators from the Demonic Machine Hall surrounded Hu Mang, including a Golden Core opponent whose limbs he had once broken.
• Hu Mang said the attackers' incomplete energy circulation made them especially vulnerable to him.
• Liang Xiaoqiu told Liang Yanqiu that her people were ready to rescue Hu Mang, but Liang Yanqiu ordered them to attack the Zheng Family Garden and settle their scores with Zheng.

Liang Yanqiu’s attack on the Zheng Family Garden was blocked by forces allied with Zheng Qingbo, while Hu Mang discovered his spear could neutralize the Salty Smoke Worms. Zheng Qingbo’s apparent confidence faltered when the worms fell asleep.

• Master Chao and Java Island’s royal guard leader confronted Liang Yanqiu, whose forces were overwhelmed and divided by the defending gangs.
• Wu Luosuo found the Demonic Machine Hall’s implanted Law Artifacts had exploded, and Chen Yaxing explained that the Heavenly Blood Python had disabled them merely by approaching or looking at them.
• Hu Mang entered the Zheng Family Garden and used the Devil-Breaking Needle against a cloud of Salty Smoke Worms, but the flies recovered.
• Hu Mang swept the worms with his spear, leaving them unable to fly despite surviving the attack.
• Zheng Qingbo watched the battle and declared the Liang Household finished, but an old Nanyang man’s finger turned into a fly as the Salty Smoke Worms fell asleep.

Hu Mang confronted Zheng Qingbo after Zheng had mobilized Nanyang sorcerers and a Golden Core elder against the Liang Household. He killed the two foreign sorcerers and faced Zheng’s Human-Body Buddha, revealing that he understood both demonic arts and Buddhist Divine Abilities.

• Zheng Qingbo summoned two foreign sorcerers to attack the Liang Household’s Seal Ghosts and sent Elder Zheng to investigate.
• Hu Mang arrived at Zheng Qingbo’s residence and killed the two foreign sorcerers before they could use their curse arts.
• Hu Mang reminded Zheng Qingbo that he had learned from him to crush sorcerers completely, then challenged him over his tangled network of allies.
• Zheng Qingbo revealed his Human-Body Buddha and explained that he had offered it a demonic path art to gain power.
• Hu Mang recognized the offering as Elder Min’s blood demon transformation and said he had waited for the right moment because he knew both demonic arts and Buddhist Divine Abilities.