Chapter Summaries

After Tie Liuyun scattered the beast hordes and killed Senior Brother Wu’s Golden-Clawed Hou, the woman in the tiger-skin coat and her companions fled. Jiang Qing intercepted her, identified her as an attacker on Chongming Market, and their fight ended with his sword facing a powerful counterattack.

• The woman in the tiger-skin coat reunited with her junior brothers, and Junior Brother Qian reported that Tie Liuyun had killed Senior Brother Wu’s Golden-Clawed Hou after destroying the beast horde.
• The group decided to flee in pairs toward the Feng Prefecture Ge Household and disguise themselves as Rogue Cultivators.
• Jiang Qing caught up with the woman as she fled and questioned her about her origins and the juniors he had lost.
• Jiang Qing attacked the woman and accused her of driving Demon Beasts to destroy Chongming Market on behalf of the He Household.
• Jiang Qing used a feint to draw the woman into lowering her guard, then activated all four restrictions on the Seven Luminaries Heart-Slaying Sword.
• The woman’s beast-bone banner smothered Jiang Qing’s attack in black Qi, and Jiang Qing cried out in alarm.

After Chongming Market was devastated by Demon Beasts, Kang Dabao checked on the survivors and mourned Ye Pinglin’s death. Jiang Qing brought him clues linking the attack to the Three Incense Cult of Pu Prefecture, and Kang made Ye Zhengwen Chongming Sect’s new elder before leaving.

• Kang Dabao learned that Pei Yi and Yuan Jin had rescued Jin Shilun and Zhou Xinran from a Wind Eagle, though Jin Shilun remained badly injured.
• Kang Dabao visited the Ye Household shop and learned that Ye Pinglin had been killed when a Red-Maned Mountain Boar broke through his defense.
• Kang Dabao and Ye Zhengwen discussed the suspicious attack, the missing Yue Household, and the difficulty of learning who was responsible.
• Jiang Qing gave Kang Dabao a Storage Bag containing clues and said he had killed a female cultivator carrying a token from the Three Incense Cult of Pu Prefecture.
• Kang Dabao warned Jiang Qing not to reveal what happened in front of Ye Zhengwen, then handed Ye Zhengwen an ironwood plaque naming him an elder of Chongming Sect.

Tie Liuyun told Kang Dabao that the Three Incense Cult had attacked markets across Cloud Horn Prefecture, killing several Foundation Establishment cultivators and destroying Chongming Market. Back at the Chongming Sect, Kang Dabao faced heavy financial and political losses, then remembered he had forgotten to sell four heads to Tie Liuyun.

• Tie Liuyun reprimanded Kang Dabao, then explained that the Three Incense Cult had attacked markets across Cloud Horn Prefecture with second-tier Beast-Luring Incense, killing four or five Foundation Establishment cultivators.
• Tie Liuyun told Kang Dabao that Sun Bingdou had died when Gold-Devouring Rats overran a Spirit Stone mine, and advised him to wait before acting on Chongming Market's destruction.
• Tie Liuyun left with the Xiezhi Iron Guard, while Yuan Jin brought the Chongming Sect survivors back with Ye Zhengwen and Ye Yaoling.
• Ye Zhengwen agreed to return to the Chongming Sect as an elder, and Ye Yaoling joined her younger brother Ye Pingshui there.
• Pei Yi calculated the Chongming Sect's losses, and Kang Dabao realized the attacks had ruined his market plans and weakened his standing with nearby households.
• Kang Dabao remembered that he had forgotten to take four heads from his Storage Bag and exchange them for Spirit Stones with Tie Liuyun.

The Chongming Sect formally welcomed several new members, including Ye Zhengwen, and settled the roles and tutelage of its recruits. As Kang Dabao worried about the sect’s finances and considered his next move, a letter from Huo Bing forced him to face an unexpected official matter.

• Pei Yi agreed to marry the Kuai Household’s youngest daughter, leaving the He Household alliance behind to protect Dantong Cliff.
• The Chongming Sect formally admitted Ye Zhengwen, Wei Gu, Mo Ku, Ye Yaoling, and Ye Pingshui, assigning the Ye siblings new mentors.
• Kang Dabao appointed Ye Zhengwen external affairs elder and distributed duties among the sect’s external affairs disciples.
• Kang Dabao assessed the sect’s growing membership and resources, then worried about paying stipends after the Chongming Market’s destruction.
• Kang Dabao opened a message bearing Huo Bing’s signature and grimaced after reading the governor’s official document.

Kang Dabao went to the Pingrong County yamen and learned that Governor Huo Bing had assigned him to gather two thousand Skin Refining laborers for the Spirit Stone mine. He left with Tie Xishan to inspect the laborers, whose helplessness stirred his sorrow before a thought about his clothing restored his spirits.

• Kang Dabao arrived at the yamen and saw Luo Heng grieving the deaths of his household cultivators and Sun Bingdou, whose loss had destroyed his political support.
• Luo Heng silently resented Kang Dabao, while Kang Dabao recalled how Luo Heng’s scheming had led to his dangerous expedition and vowed to repay their grudge if he got the chance.
• Tie Xishan told Kang Dabao that Governor Huo Bing had personally selected him to replace Sun Bingdou and lead another two thousand laborers to the mine.
• Kang Dabao considered the rivalry between Huo Bing’s local faction and the outsiders serving the Earl of Nan'an, then left the hall with Tie Xishan without acknowledging Luo Heng.
• Kang Dabao and Tie Xishan inspected two thousand bare-chested martial artists gathered in the cold, and Kang Dabao mourned their loss of dignity and freedom.
• Little Qi poked out of Kang Dabao’s sleeve, prompting him to realize he might not be wearing short trousers beneath his robe and dispelling his despondency.

Kang Dabao supervised laborers at the Gao Li Mountain Spirit Stone mine, organizing them humanely while remaining wary of the Tanggu magistrate’s claims about dangers in the tunnels. After three months, Pingrong County’s workers had mined more than twice as much as other counties with few deaths, and Kang Dabao broke through to the Qi Refining Seventh Layer.

• Kang Dabao transported the Pingrong County laborers to Gao Li Mountain, where the Tanggu magistrate described the Demon Beasts remaining in the mine.
• Kang Dabao distrusted the magistrate’s assurances that the western tunnels were relatively safe and settled into a cave abode to cultivate.
• Kang Dabao arranged the laborers into ten teams led by Martial Ancestors, using rewards and clear rules to encourage mining.
• Kang Dabao occasionally killed Demon Beasts that entered the workers’ area while the Martial Ancestor overseers offered additional incentives.
• After three months, the mine supervisor found that Pingrong County’s laborers had mined more than twice as many Spirit Stones as other counties, with few deaths.
• Kang Dabao broke through to the Qi Refining Seventh Layer and realized that Foundation Establishment was within reach.

After breaking through to the Qi Refining Seventh Layer, Kang Dabao rewarded the mine laborers and tried to enlist the Huo Household overseer in secretly increasing their Spirit Stone profits, but the overseer refused. As Kang Dabao reconsidered how to handle the mine, another Huo Household cultivator arrived and offered to take the deal.

• Kang Dabao emerged from seclusion as a Qi Refining Seventh Layer cultivator and learned the mine had suffered fewer than a hundred laborer deaths in three months.
• Kang Dabao released the top twenty miners and supervisors of the most productive teams, then gave the top hundred remaining laborers ten days off.
• Kang Dabao demonstrated his Delusion-Breaking Golden Eyes by blasting apart a huge boulder, silencing the laborers.
• Kang Dabao proposed that the Huo Household mine overseer help him profit from increased mining, but the overseer refused, fearing Huo Bing.
• Kang Dabao considered reducing the laborers' work hours, but another Huo Household cultivator arrived and said he would accept the deal.

Kang Dabao joined Huo Chun in a scheme to increase Spirit Stone production by consolidating the laborers and overseers from thirteen counties. Their output rose sharply, but the chapter ended with the vein’s manager dead during the latest monthly count.

• Huo Chun proposed that he and Kang Dabao secretly unite the thirteen county teams, raise their mining output, and divide the remaining Spirit Stones after paying off officials and the Huo Household.
• Huo Chun recruited the overseers from the other twelve counties and brought the vein’s manager into the scheme, while Kang Dabao organized the laborers using his methods.
• The Jin County registrar used Gu worms to force laborers to meet quotas, killing or injuring many; after the laborers rebelled and nearly killed him, Huo Chun beat the registrar to death.
• Kang Dabao found a litter of live Fire Boar young, summoned Zhou Yixiu and Duan Anle to take them back, and sent them away quickly because the mine remained dangerous.
• Spirit Stone output climbed to 1,600 in the third month, 2,100 in the fourth, and 2,452 in the fifth; on the first day of the sixth month, the vein’s manager was found dead.

After Gold-Devouring Rats wiped out Tanggu County’s officials and laborers, the prefectural court took control of the Spirit Stone vein and ordered a survey. Kang Dabao led a team into the damaged mine tunnel, equipped with extra message talismans and lightning talismans from Gun Shide.

• Gold-Devouring Rats killed the Tanggu magistrate, the mine supervisor, and thousands of other people, prompting the prefectural court to take over the Spirit Stone vein.
• Three true Foundation Establishment cultivators arrived, questioned local officials, and recruited cultivators to investigate the mines.
• Kang Dabao encountered Kuai En, who begged him to save the Kuai Household, while Ming Yue joined another team.
• Gun Shide took charge of the survey and ordered the cultivators to form teams to search different mine tunnels.
• Kang Dabao gathered twenty cultivators he considered honest and upright, and Gun Shide gave his team an extra message talisman and a stack of lightning talismans.
• Kang Dabao led his team into the damaged tunnel previously worked by laborers from Pingrong County.

Kang Dabao led the cultivators through the damaged mine tunnels, where a pack of Purple Fire Jackals ambushed them. The pack’s leader evaded Kang Dabao’s attacks and killed Cultivator Jing, leaving the battle in progress.

• Old Xia guided Kang Dabao and the cultivators toward the pit where workers had previously encountered a jackal-like Demon Beast.
• Kang Dabao sent Cultivator Jing’s wolfhound puppet ahead to scout, but it found nothing unusual.
• As Old Xia and his grand-disciple grew weak from the foul air, Kang Dabao sent them back and Little Qi alerted him to danger.
• A first-tier superior-grade Purple Fire Jackal attacked, revealing a pack of twenty or thirty jackals that began separating and overwhelming the cultivators.
• Kang Dabao’s Delusion-Breaking Golden Eyes killed one jackal, but the pack leader avoided him and disrupted the cultivators’ defenses.
• The jackal leader used a companion as a shield against Kang Dabao’s attack, then tore out Cultivator Jing’s windpipe and continued fighting.

Kang Dabao and the cultivators fought the Purple Fire Jackal pack in the mine, but the Three Incense Cult drove the beasts into a renewed frenzy and sent more jackals into the tunnels. As two Purple Fire Jackal leaders attacked Kang Dabao from behind, he summoned a figure steeped in deathly Qi to defend him.

• The Purple Fire Jackals killed the cultivator surnamed Jing, but Kang Dabao and the cultivators rallied and began cutting down the pack.
• Kang Dabao used the White Bear Fang Banner to restore the cultivators' stamina and spiritual power, then wounded the Purple Fire Jackal leader with his short blade.
• A bone whistle and colorless fragrance drove the jackals into a fresh frenzy, and Kang Dabao recognized the Three Incense Cult's involvement.
• More jackals poured from the mine shafts, while Kuai En joined a formation master and two cultivators in a Four Symbols Origin-Guarding Formation.
• Kang Dabao blasted approaching jackals with a lightning talisman and repelled a Purple Fire Jackal leader with his shield and short blade.
• Two more Purple Fire Jackal leaders leaped at Kang Dabao from behind, and he summoned a figure steeped in deathly Qi to intercept them.

Kang Dabao and the formation master fought off the Purple Fire Jackals while Kang Dabao tracked down the cultivator directing them. Gun Shide killed the fleeing cultivator, then urgently warned Kang Dabao to run.

• Kang Dabao used Zhao Gu's refined corpse to fight the Purple Fire Jackal leaders while the formation master trapped and burned a group of jackals with the Four Symbols Origin-Guarding Formation.
• After the formation master left the main formation, a potbellied cultivator was torn apart, and the refined corpse rescued Kuai En before frightening the remaining jackals.
• When a bone whistle revived the jackals, Kang Dabao used Little Qi to block a flame and killed the Purple Fire Jackal leader with his short blade.
• Kang Dabao located the short, thin Three Incense Cult disciple who had been directing the jackals, struck him with the Delusion-Breaking Golden Eyes, and took his beast-shaped cauldron.
• The short, thin cultivator escaped into a concealed pit, where Gun Shide seized and killed him, then told Kang Dabao to run.

Kang Dabao fled through the mine tunnels as a vast swarm of Gold-Devouring Rats pursued him, repeatedly using lightning talismans to hold them back. He reached the other cultivators and led them toward the entrance, where the swarm began devouring those who fell behind.

• Gun Shide shouted for everyone to run, and Kang Dabao fled as the Gold-Devouring Rat swarm thundered through the mine.
• Kang Dabao used lightning talismans to kill waves of rats, but the swarm quickly caught up and forced him to keep running.
• Kang Dabao reached the cultivators after the Purple Fire Jackals scattered and warned them to flee with him.
• The Gold-Devouring Rats overwhelmed the fleeing group and devoured several cultivators who fell behind.
• Kuai En said he could not run anymore, so Kang Dabao gave him pills and pressed him onward; after hearing a cultivator's screams, Kuai En insisted he could keep running.

Sect Leader Kang Da and Kuai En reached the mineral vein’s exit, only to find it guarded by a second-tier Gold-Devouring Rat while another attacked from behind. A disguised Foundation Establishment cultivator rallied the survivors and used a Buddhist technique to hold the rats back while the formation master tried to prepare a formation.

• Sect Leader Kang Da and Kuai En used scent pills and Divine Movement Talismans to push toward the exit as Gold-Devouring Rats overwhelmed the fleeing cultivators and beasts.
• A second-tier Gold-Devouring Rat at the exit killed the eyebrowless cultivator, while hundreds of smaller rats blocked the way out.
• A second second-tier Gold-Devouring Rat attacked from behind, and a burly man urged the survivors to keep charging toward the exit.
• The burly man revealed himself as a Foundation Establishment cultivator and fought the rat at the exit with his monk’s staff, aided by Sect Leader Kang Da and other cultivators.
• The Foundation Establishment cultivator divided the survivors between fighting the rats on both sides, gave the formation master formation plates, and raised a wall of Sanskrit characters to hold off the swarm.
• As the rats pressed against the Buddhist barrier, the Foundation Establishment cultivator demanded that the formation master hurry, threatening to cut him down if he died.

Gun Shide was forced by Daoist Black Shoes to return to the Spirit Stone vein, where the trapped cultivators were fighting a Second-Tier Gold-Devouring Rat. The beast killed several cultivators, including Ming Yue, as the Sanskrit wall collapsed and the swarm surged toward the survivors.

• Gun Shide warned Daoist Black Shoes that more than ten thousand Gold-Devouring Rats infested the vein, but Daoist Black Shoes ordered him to turn back.
• The fat Foundation Establishment cultivator's golden alms bowl and Sanskrit wall failed to stem the growing swarm, while Sect Leader Kang, Kuai En, Ming Yue, and the others fought the Second-Tier Gold-Devouring Rat.
• A bare-chested cultivator wounded the rat with a Heavenly Thunder Seed, and Ming Yue drove his yin-yang flying sword into the wound.
• The rat killed the bare-chested cultivator and a red-haired cultivator, shattered Kang Dabao's Garrison Earth Azure Origin Shield, and wounded Kang Dabao.
• The rat destroyed Ming Yue's flying sword, then killed him by biting off his head.
• The fat Foundation Establishment cultivator's Sanskrit wall collapsed, and the rat swarm surged toward the surviving cultivators.

A Gold-Devouring Rat swarm overwhelmed the cultivators in the mine as Sect Leader Kang faced a Second-Tier Gold-Devouring Rat. Daoist Black Shoes arrived just in time to kill the beast and save Kang Dabao.

• The fat Foundation Establishment cultivator killed the Second-Tier Gold-Devouring Rat with a Buddhist seal, but the swarm continued to wound him and devoured the Qi Refinement cultivators, including the formation master.
• The surviving Gold-Devouring Rats turned on Sect Leader Kang after Ming Yue was killed, and the Second-Tier Gold-Devouring Rat broke through Kang Dabao’s defenses and nearly bit off his head.
• Daoist Black Shoes burst through the blocked exit with a sword strike and killed the Second-Tier Gold-Devouring Rat.
• Daoist Black Shoes checked Kang Dabao and was relieved to find his martial nephew alive.

Daoist Black Shoes, Gun Shide, and Buse fought through the Gold-Devouring Rat swarm while Kang Dabao and the surviving Qi Refinement cultivators escaped the ore vein. Ying Bi revealed himself as the force behind the swarm and used a bone whistle to drive the rats into a frenzy, but Daoist Black Shoes defeated his strengthened beasts and shattered his Dantian.

• Daoist Black Shoes carved open the Gold-Devouring Rat swarm, giving Buse a chance to escape its attack, while Gun Shide joined the fight with his plum blossom technique.
• The bone whistle sounded again, driving the rats back into a charge, and Daoist Black Shoes ordered Kang Dabao and the surviving Qi Refinement cultivators out of the ore vein.
• Daoist Black Shoes cut a path through the swarm and confronted Ying Bi, whom Gun Shide identified as a grand elder of the Three Incense Cult.
• Ying Bi shattered his Second-Tier Spirit Artifact bone whistle, sending the rats into a frenzy and forcing five of them to advance to the Second Tier.
• Daoist Black Shoes trapped and killed the five newly advanced rats, then defeated Ying Bi and shattered his Dantian.

After Daoist Black Shoes captured Ying Bi and helped Kang Dabao recover from his injuries, he took Kang Dabao to the Kuai Household's Dantong Cliff to rest. The Prefecture Court sent over the mine's recovered valuables for them to choose from, and Kang Dabao began inspecting them.

• Daoist Black Shoes stripped Ying Bi of his valuables and handed the captive to Buse, who had offered the better price.
• Daoist Black Shoes dispersed the Demon Power in Kang Dabao's leg wounds and advised him to rest before traveling.
• Kuai En invited Daoist Black Shoes and Kang Dabao to the Kuai Household's Dantong Cliff and arranged an elaborate welcome.
• Kuai En told Kang Dabao that Gun Shide and Buse had sent the valuables recovered from the mine for them to choose from.
• Kang Dabao took the Storage Bag and began examining its contents.

Kang Dabao examined the cave survivors’ belongings, received the Long Breath Art from Kuai En, and began recovering from his injuries. Daoist Black Shoes interrupted his treatment by the maids and told him they would leave the next day.

• Kang Dabao kept the array master's damaged notes for Wei Gu, returned Ming Yue's Jinxian cap to Kuai En to take to the Ming Household, and claimed the Clear Eyes Treasured Liquid as the gift from the Foundation Establishment cultivators.
• Kang Dabao gave Kuai En the remaining belongings, and Kuai En presented him with the Long Breath Art Jade Slip and described its benefits and difficulty.
• Kuai En sent two maids to change Kang Dabao's dressings, and Kang Dabao fondled them as they treated him.
• Daoist Black Shoes entered, warned Kang Dabao against bedchamber matters while recovering from severe yang poison, and told him to rest before they left the next day.

Kang Dabao and Daoist Black Shoes traveled home while Daoist Black Shoes explained the Three Incense Cult’s history and the borrowed power behind its recent strength. The Earl of Nan'an intercepted their flying boat and asked Daoist Black Shoes to speak with him privately.

• Kuai En held a noisy send-off for Kang Dabao and Daoist Black Shoes, and the Kuai Household's youngest sister gave Kang Dabao a letter for Pei Yi.
• Kang Dabao piloted the Second Tier flying boat and discussed the Three Incense Cult with Daoist Black Shoes, who explained that its Beast Incense had empowered Ying Bi and his allies.
• Daoist Black Shoes described how the Three Incense Cult had served the Immortal Dynasty before changing allegiance after the dynasty abandoned Shannan Circuit.
• The Earl of Nan'an, Kuang Liuting, landed before the flying boat, greeted Daoist Black Shoes as a fellow Daoist, and exchanged pleasantries with Kang Dabao.
• Kuang Liuting asked Daoist Black Shoes to speak somewhere quiet, and Daoist Black Shoes told Kang Dabao to wait where he was.