Chapter Summaries

Chen Ning spoke words of a sage that dispelled the demonic sound, strengthened the Dragon-Seeking Sect disciples, and stirred all of Spirit Province. The Ninth Elder was exposed and captured, leaving his fate to Chen Ning and the First Elder.

• Cang Yue worried that the demonic sound would corrupt the disciples, but Chen Ning spoke a grand vow wishing for every Dragon-Seeking Sect disciple to become a dragon.
• Chen Ning's words echoed across Spirit Province, astonishing cultivators and prompting the Heavenly Lake Holy Land's Holy Lord to predict that Spirit Province would become a blessed land.
• Auspicious radiance descended on the training grounds as the disciples overcame their demonic obstructions and broke through to higher realms.
• The disciples revered Chen Ning for his words, which strengthened their Dao hearts and gave them a shared sense of belonging.
• The Heart Demon Scripture shattered, and the Ninth Elder suffered a severe backlash; the Third Elder bound him and left his fate to Chen Ning and the First Elder.

After the Ninth Elder was captured and tortured, Chen Ning was summoned to meet Cang Yue, who was eager to be near him. Chen Ning feared she might use a Gu on him and activated a Protective Talisman, which Cang Yue mistakenly took as a lesson in talisman study.

• Cang Yue ordered the Ninth Elder tortured with venomous insects and poisonous ants until he was barely alive, and Chen Ning left, relieved that an undercover agent had been caught.
• Ying Wu escorted Chen Ning to meet Cang Yue despite his attempt to decline.
• Cang Yue prepared for Chen Ning's visit and worried that Xiao Mei had grown closer to him during their trip to Gold and Iron City.
• Cang Yue welcomed Chen Ning as her Master, then moved closer and massaged his shoulders while he tried to end the meeting.
• Fearing Cang Yue might secretly put a Gu on him, Chen Ning activated a transcendent first-grade Protective Talisman.
• Cang Yue saw the talisman and assumed Chen Ning was demonstrating its power to teach her.

Cang Yue studied Chen Ning’s transcendent first-grade talismans, but her jealousy over Xiao Mei stirred confusing feelings toward her master. Chen Ning escaped to Vermilion Bird Peak, where the disciples’ reverence showed how deeply his sacred words had affected them.

• Cang Yue studied the talismans while Chen Ning secretly used Protective Talismans to guard against her persistent shoulder massage.
• Cang Yue stopped, pleased with the improvement in her inscription skills, then grew jealous of Xiao Mei and took Chen Ning’s hand.
• The sunrise bell triggered a system reward for thwarting the Ninth Elder’s plot, and Chen Ning hurried away from Cang Yue’s room.
• Cang Yue suppressed her wavering thoughts and blushed as she realized she saw nothing wrong with giving herself to Chen Ning.
• Chen Ning returned to Vermilion Bird Peak and overheard disciples discussing his sacred words on Verdant Peak.
• The disciples spotted Chen Ning and bowed to him with unusual reverence.

Chen Ning led a hundred Dragon-Seeking Sect disciples into the Forest of the Dead for a ten-day trial assigned by the system. After saving a disciple from a mutated Thorny Wild Boar, he rebuked the group for underestimating the danger.

• Chen Ning accepted the system's Disciple Trial mission and ordered Lu Ping to gather the sect's top hundred disciples for the expedition.
• Lu Ping organized the disciples, and Chen Ning rested before the group set out the following morning.
• Chen Ning and the disciples entered the eerie Forest of the Dead, where they soon encountered Thorny Wild Boars.
• When a mutated boar charged a disciple, Chen Ning killed it with an arrow of Essence Power, revealing that it was a third-tier spirit beast.
• Chen Ning warned the disciples that the forest was a trial, not a sightseeing trip, and criticized them for being careless.

Chen Ning led the Dragon-Seeking Sect disciples through the Forest of the Dead, where they gained combat experience without losing anyone. After welcoming a group of injured hunters to camp, he learned that their wounded companions had run out of healing pills.

• Chen Ning urged the disciples to take the trial seriously and continued studying the Heaven-Slaying Bow and his Holy Light Arrows.
• Over five days, the disciples fought spirit beasts, improved their skills, and broke through minor realms while Chen Ning intervened only when they faced certain death.
• Chen Ning called camp as night fell, and Lu Ping organized the disciples while they shared food around a fire.
• Luo Pan and six other hunters approached the camp, and Chen Ning welcomed them and introduced himself as Red Scarf.
• Luo Qingqing told Luo Pan that the two badly injured hunters might not survive the night without healing pills, so he considered asking Brother Red Scarf for some.

Chen Ning gave Luo Pan’s injured companions precious pills, but Luo Pan later revealed himself as the leader of the Hurricane Hunting Alliance and turned against his benefactors. He and his hunters prepared to rob and kill Chen Ning’s group.

• Chen Ning lent Luo Pan’s companions high-grade healing pills, saving the two badly injured men.
• The next morning, hundreds of hunters arrived at the camp looking for their alliance leader, Luo Pan.
• Luo Pan reunited with his men and learned their hunt had gone poorly, with no high-grade spirit beasts found and many casualties.
• Luo Pan told Chen Ning that he led the Hurricane Hunting Alliance and claimed his thousand-odd hunters wanted to test him and his disciples.
• Luo Pan drew his sword and announced that his men would rob Chen Ning’s group and leave no survivors.

Luo Pan betrayed Chen Ning and the Dragon-Seeking Sect disciples, ordering the Hurricane Alliance to kill them and seize their supplies. As the battle began, Chen Ning turned the betrayal into lessons about survival and strength, while the disciples fought back and advanced toward Luo Pan.

• Luo Qingqing protested Luo Pan’s plan to rob and kill the people who had saved them, but Luo Pan ordered her to stay out of the fight.
• Luo Pan explained that he wanted the disciples’ pills and feared their sect would seek revenge if any survived; Chen Ning told his disciples to remember the dangers of trusting others.
• Luo Pan ordered the Hurricane Alliance to attack, and Chen Ning taught the disciples that strength could overcome shameless enemies.
• Lu Ping killed a hunter, then defeated two Fifth Level Spirit Martial Realm opponents, while another disciple used Lesser Essence Pills to replenish his strength.
• Several disciples fought through the outnumbering hunters toward Luo Pan, and Lu Ping restored his Essence Power after leaving the hunters afraid to confront him.

Chen Ning destroyed Luo Pan’s Blood Devil Puppet with the Star-Picking Finger, then killed Luo Pan after he tried to surrender. The Dragon-Seeking Sect disciples wiped out the Hurricane Alliance hunters, while Luo Qingqing was spared.

• The Dragon-Seeking Sect disciples defeated the hunters without losing anyone, and Luo Pan decided to attack Chen Ning and take him hostage.
• Luo Pan summoned his Blood Devil Puppet, but Chen Ning used the Star-Picking Finger to reduce it to dust.
• Luo Pan realized Chen Ning was a Spirit Martial Realm Peak expert and begged for mercy, but Luo Qingqing refused to plead for him.
• Chen Ning burned Luo Pan to death with a Fire God Seal and ordered the disciples to leave no hunters alive.
• The disciples killed the remaining hunters and spared Luo Qingqing at Chen Ning’s instruction.

Chen Ning and the disciples finished their trial but became lost in the Forest of the Dead as its miasma thickened and their Spirit Stones stopped working. A round-faced youth offered to guide them and brought Chen Ning into a vast underground settlement, while the disciples waited outside.

• Chen Ning helped the disciples recover after they killed many enemies, and the group continued their trial for three more days without losing anyone.
• On the final day, Chen Ning and the disciples realized they were lost in the Forest of the Dead and could not contact their sect.
• As they moved cautiously through the thickening miasma, a disciple fell into a pit and disturbed a creature in an opening below.
• A round-faced youth emerged, offered to lead the group out, and invited them to eat with his people underground.
• Chen Ning chose to enter first and left Lu Ping to guard the disciples outside.
• The youth led Chen Ning through the narrow opening into a spacious underground world where his people had lived for hundreds of years.

Chen Ning met the Black Dragon Clan, a kind people who had lived in the Forest of the Dead for generations. Elder Long explained that an ancient departed soul had cursed them, leaving the clan trapped inside the forest.

• Xiao Yuan introduced Chen Ning to Elder Long, who welcomed him and offered to have Xiao Yuan escort him out the next day.
• The Black Dragon Clan gathered around Chen Ning to ask about the outside world, and he learned they had fewer than a thousand members and hundreds of Spirit Martial Realm cultivators.
• Chen Ning learned that Xiao Yuan had trusted him despite the clan’s history of outsiders harming its people, and he felt guilty for suspecting them.
• Chen Ning asked why the clan did not leave the forest, and Elder Long explained that eight hundred years earlier they had been cursed by the departed soul of a battle-dead expert.
• Elder Long said the departed soul had drained the Black Dragon Clan’s life force for centuries in its attempt to return from the dead.

Chen Ning and the disciples said goodbye to the Black Dragon Clan, but the evil soul appeared as they were leaving and demanded Xiao Yuan's life. Chen Ning confronted it, asking it to die again.

• The disciples spent the night sharing food and heartfelt conversations with the Black Dragon Clan, then prepared to leave the next morning.
• A young girl named Nini tearfully asked a female disciple to visit again, and the Black Dragon Clan gathered to see the group off.
• As Xiao Yuan led Chen Ning and the disciples out of the forest, the sky darkened and the evil soul appeared.
• Elder Long begged the evil soul to spare the visitors, but it demanded Xiao Yuan's death instead.
• Black Dragon Clan members offered to die in Xiao Yuan's place, and Chen Ning told the evil soul he wanted it to die one more time.

Chen Ning used the Heaven-Slaying Bow and a Holy Light Arrow to destroy the evil soul that had imprisoned the Black Dragon Clan. The freed clan recognized the little black dragon as their revered Lord Black Dragon, while Chen Ning prepared to leave and Elder Long asked him to grant a request.

• Chen Ning saw through the black shadow’s claim to be Venerable Slaughter and identified it as a remnant soul.
• The black shadow attacked Chen Ning with black radiance, and Chen Ning summoned the Heaven-Slaying Bow despite the little black dragon sleeping on it.
• Chen Ning fired a Holy Light Arrow, which purified the black shadow and freed the Black Dragon Clan from its shackles.
• Elder Long and the Black Dragon clansmen bowed to the little black dragon, whom Elder Long recognized as Lord Black Dragon.
• Chen Ning urged the clan to stop bowing so they could leave, but Elder Long asked him to agree to a request.

Chen Ning accepted the Black Dragon Clan’s oath of loyalty and gained the Pill God Canon plus two powerful buffs for completing the sect trial. He strengthened the hundred disciples with one buff as the Black Dragon Clan prepared to join him.

• Elder Long asked to follow Chen Ning alongside the Little Black Dragon, and Chen Ning accepted the Black Dragon Clan under his protection.
• Chen Ning told Elder Long and the Black Dragon Clan to return to the Dragon-Seeking Sect with him after they packed up.
• The system awarded Chen Ning the Pill God Canon, Unyielding Tenacity, and Berserk Blade for completing the trial without losing any disciples.
• Chen Ning decided to use Unyielding Tenacity on the hundred disciples and Berserk Blade on the Black Dragon Clan’s three hundred Spirit Martial Realm clansmen.
• Chen Ning released Unyielding Tenacity over the disciples, who discovered that blades and swords could no longer injure them while they defended themselves.

Chen Ning returned from the Forest of the Dead with the Black Dragon Clan and learned that Su Ling'er remained in the imperial capital amid trouble for her clan. Cang Yue then told him that the Emperor of Great Yan had invited him to a palace banquet.

• Chen Ning bestowed Berserk Blade on three hundred young adults of the Black Dragon Clan, who swore loyalty to him as the Dragon Lord.
• Chen Ning led the group out of the Forest of the Dead and settled the Black Dragon clanspeople at Vermilion Bird Peak.
• Chen Ning contacted Su Ling'er and suspected that the Shi Clan was facing pressure after the Marquis Who Guards the North lost his cultivation.
• Chen Ning decided to return to the imperial capital to bring Su Ling'er back.
• Cang Yue told Chen Ning that the Emperor of Great Yan had invited him to a banquet to thank him for blessing Spirit Province.

Chen Ning agreed to attend the Great Yan Emperor’s banquet and traveled to the imperial capital with Cang Yue, Ying Wu, Xiao Yuan, and another Black Dragon clansman. The group arrived at the Hall of Stars, where the emperor awaited them alongside representatives of other prominent sects.

• Chen Ning accepted Cang Yue’s invitation and arranged to leave for the imperial capital the following evening.
• Chen Ning chose Xiao Yuan and another Black Dragon clansman to accompany him, while Cang Yue and Ying Wu joined the party at the teleportation formation.
• Chen Ning told Cang Yue he had a stronger talisman technique to teach her, intending to use talismans to keep her from harming him in the capital.
• The group teleported to the Great Yan Imperial Capital and rode in imperial carriages to the Hall of Stars for the banquet.
• The Great Yan Emperor surveyed the capital and reflected on his dynasty’s power and the blessing of Spirit Province’s rising fortune.

Chen Ning attended the Yan Emperor’s banquet, where True Person Qingyang presented the emperor with a top-quality Earth Spirit Pill. Chen Ning warned that the pill’s refinement had a dangerous flaw, leaving the guests stunned as Qingyang finally looked at him.

• Chen Ning and Cang Yue took seats beside the Yan Emperor at a banquet attended by the Heavenly Extremity Pavilion, the Profound Yin Sect, and the Longevity Hall.
• Dongfang Shao praised Chen Ning insincerely, while Duan Feng toasted him and True Person Qingyang remained silent.
• True Person Qingyang’s disciple presented the Yan Emperor with an Earth Spirit Pill, which the guests identified as a rare top-quality pill with seven pill patterns.
• Chen Ning quietly told Cang Yue that the pill had a problem and might kill whoever ate it, but the room fell silent when everyone heard him.
• The Yan Emperor’s expression stiffened, and True Person Qingyang opened his eyes and looked at Chen Ning.

Chen Ning examined the Earth Spirit Pill and declared that the pill itself had been refined properly, but True Person Qingyang’s Death Qi was contaminating the pills he made. The revelation stunned the gathering, leaving the Longevity Hall disciple silent and the others wondering whether Chen Ning was right.

• Dongfang Shao mocked Chen Ning for questioning a pill refined by True Person Qingyang, while True Person Qingyang asked Chen Ning to explain his doubts.
• Chen Ning clarified that the Earth Spirit Pill might be dangerous, prompting the Yan Emperor to ask him to speak plainly.
• Chen Ning inspected the pill and confirmed that its formula, ingredients, and refining process were all correct.
• Chen Ning told True Person Qingyang that Death Qi had gathered in his body and warned that his pills could become life-claiming poison.
• The gathering reacted with disbelief, but True Person Qingyang’s personal disciple fell silent, making the others suspect Chen Ning might be right.

True Person Qingyang realized his pills carried death Qi and was near death, so Chen Ning offered to save him in exchange for making Longevity Hall a vassal of the Dragon-Seeking Sect. Chen Ning began refining a Life-Continuing Golden Pill, but his first attempt went wrong as Dongfang Shao mocked him.

• True Person Qingyang confessed that he was unworthy of being an Alchemist after learning death Qi had tainted his pills, and his disciple revealed that he had only one breath left.
• The Yan Emperor ordered the mahogany box removed, while Duan Feng and the others marveled at Chen Ning's ability to detect the problem.
• Chen Ning offered to save True Person Qingyang if Longevity Hall became a vassal of the Dragon-Seeking Sect, and Qingyang accepted.
• Chen Ning asked for a medicine cauldron and ingredients, and the Yan Emperor supplied the missing Heavenly Heart Lotus.
• Chen Ning began refining a Life-Continuing Golden Pill, accidentally burning Heart-Concentrating Grass, and Dongfang Shao laughed and offered to control the fire.

Chen Ning refined a nine-mark Life-Continuing Golden Pill that restored True Person Qingyang and extended his life by thirty years. True Person Qingyang pledged Longevity Hall to Chen Ning’s command, while Dongfang Shao was left regretting his insults.

• Chen Ning completed the pill, and the cauldron split apart as its powerful fragrance revealed the refinement had succeeded.
• The onlookers discovered the pill had nine markings, astonishing the guests and leaving Dongfang Shao fearful that he had offended Chen Ning.
• A Longevity Hall disciple gave the pill to True Person Qingyang, who recovered and gained thirty years of life.
• True Person Qingyang bowed to Chen Ning and pledged that Longevity Hall would serve under his command.
• Duan Feng congratulated Chen Ning, while Dongfang Shao watched in anger as the Profound Yin Sect leader offered his support.

Chen Ning impressed the Yan Emperor with a supreme-quality first-grade pill and agreed to stay in the palace before visiting the Marquis Who Guards the North's residence. He learned that Zhou Ye was trying to seize the Shi Clan's command of three hundred thousand troops, and set out to deal with an attack on the residence.

• The Yan Emperor personally poured Chen Ning wine and invited him to remain in the palace, hoping to befriend him and obtain a Life-Continuing Golden Pill.
• Chen Ning took Xiao Yuan to the Marquis Who Guards the North's residence, where Su Ling'er joyfully clung to him and wept.
• The Thief God explained that Zhou Ye was using ambushes and attacks to force the Shi Clan to surrender its military command, with an imperial family member backing him.
• Chen Ning reassured Su Ling'er that the Shi Clan's troubles were being orchestrated by someone seeking control of its three hundred thousand troops.
• When flames and fighting erupted outside the residence, Chen Ning offered to handle the attackers, while the Marquis Who Guards the North doubted he could interfere in imperial affairs.