Chapter Summaries

Yang Tianyou and the Immortal Dao forces destroyed all three Black Sha Sect towers, turning the battle decisively in their favor. After Yun Zhan killed a Foundation Establishment Devil Cultivator, he confronted the remaining Devil Cultivators.

• The Immortal Dao cultivators rallied after a tower fell, while the Yang and Liu Households defeated the Black Sha Sect fighters facing them and helped surround the remaining Devil Cultivators.
• Yang Tianyou saw Yuan Ba struggling against a swift fox Fierce Beast and joined the fight.
• Yuan Ba drove the fox Fierce Beast back with Scarlet Bright Demon Fire, and Yang Tianyou killed it with his blade.
• Yang Tianyou destroyed the Black Tower, collected its Blood Pool and Sha Qi Crystals, then joined Fengling, who had killed the boar Fierce Beast, and destroyed the final tower.
• Yun Zhan killed a Foundation Establishment Devil Cultivator with a lightning attack, collected his spoils, and challenged the remaining Devil Cultivators.

Yun Zhan and the Immortal Dao cultivators broke the Black Sha Sect’s resistance, while Yang Haoyu’s Soul-Swaying Bell helped Yun Zhan kill their strongest fighters. Huang Chunhua first let fleeing Devil Cultivators pass, then used his Spatial-Sealing Orb to help contain them, and the battle ended with every Devil Cultivator dead.

• Yun Zhan and Yang Haoyu combined the Thunder Dragon and Soul-Swaying Bell to kill a Foundation Establishment Great Perfection Devil Cultivator, breaking the Black Sha Sect’s morale.
• The Devil Cultivators fled in all directions, and three of them charged toward Huang Chunhua, who deliberately missed them with his Law Artifact.
• Yang Haoyu used the Soul-Swaying Bell to stun the three fleeing Devil Cultivators, allowing Yun Zhan to strike them down.
• Huang Chunhua activated his Spatial-Sealing Orb to slow the remaining Devil Cultivators after Yun Zhan promised him credit for helping.
• Yun Zhan and the Immortal Dao cultivators killed every remaining Devil Cultivator within a quarter of an hour.

Yun Zhan and the others joined Fairy Yunhua’s battle with Elder Guikong, whose attacks failed to overcome her Ice-Spirit Divine Light or the Iron-Black Warship’s defenses. Yunhua revealed her Ice-Spirit Pearl to trap the retreating Devil Cultivator, leaving Elder Guikong fleeing after realizing she had been scheming to kill him.

• Yun Zhan led the cultivators aboard the Iron-Black Warship and brought them to Fairy Yunhua’s fight with Elder Guikong.
• Fairy Yunhua used Ice-Spirit Divine Light to freeze and destroy the ghosts Elder Guikong sent against her.
• Elder Guikong redirected a ghostly claw at Yun Zhan and the others, but they joined their Spiritual Power to activate the warship’s defensive Formation and withstand it.
• Yun Zhan began preparing the Iron-Black Warship’s attack, prompting Elder Guikong to withdraw his ghosts and attempt to flee.
• Fairy Yunhua released her middle-grade Third Tier Ice-Spirit Pearl, revealing that she had been waiting for the others to arrive so they could kill Elder Guikong.
• Elder Guikong cursed Yunhua for scheming against him and fled.

Fairy Yunhua and the Iron-Black Warship’s crew cornered Elder Guikong in Galewind Rift Valley and defeated him after he detonated his ghostly giant to try to escape. Elder Guikong died beneath Yunhua’s sword, while Yang Tianyou was inspired by the power of the Golden Core battle.

• Fairy Yunhua trapped Elder Guikong in her frost domain as he summoned a giant ghost with Myriad Ghosts Devouring the Heart.
• Yun Zhan rallied the cultivators to fire the Iron-Black Warship’s Formation beam, and Yunhua struck the wounded giant ghost.
• Elder Guikong detonated the giant ghost to blast through the frost and escape, but Yunhua stopped him with a hidden Formation of ice chains.
• Yang Tianyou and the others used the warship’s Formations to assist Yunhua as she wore down Elder Guikong.
• Fairy Yunhua killed Elder Guikong with an icy-blue sword strike, and Yang Tianyou resolved to reach the Golden Core Realm himself.

After the Iron-Black Warship’s crew celebrated killing Elder Guikong, the battle at the Dragon Valley Sect Stronghold turned in Qi Yulong’s favor. He revealed that he had perfected the Transmigration Devil Body and charged at the Three Rivers Sect’s Golden Core cultivators.

• Fairy Yunhua returned to the Iron-Black Warship, declared victory, and ordered it back.
• Qi Yulong’s devilish light swallowed the attacks of Raging Tide True Person and Red Cloud True Person, preventing them from reaching him.
• Raging Tide True Person realized Qi Yulong had used the Transmigration Devil Body to dispel the sect’s curse and suspected he had obtained High Person Transmigration’s inheritance.
• Qi Yulong revealed he had endured two centuries of pain while cultivating the Devil Body and completed it after copying the Divine Ability Stele from Jin Lianri.
• Qi Yulong unleashed the nearly perfected Transmigration Devil Body and charged at the two Three Rivers Sect Golden Core cultivators.

Qi Yulong defeated Raging Tide True Person in a brutal battle, forcing Red Cloud True Person to retreat with Three Rivers Sect disciples and treasures. After ordering his forces to withdraw from Dragon Valley County, Qi Yulong faced a mysterious youth in the Huafeng Mountain Range.

• Qi Yulong used his Transmigration Devil Body, Chaos Grotto, and Wheel-Turning Great Hand Seal to withstand attacks from Raging Tide True Person and Red Cloud True Person.
• Qi Yulong overwhelmed the two Three Rivers Sect cultivators, smashed Raging Tide True Person's arm, and drove them to consider retreat.
• Raging Tide True Person activated the sect's Life-Taking Technique, gave Red Cloud True Person the Three Rivers Bowl and their Storage Ring, and charged Qi Yulong to cover his escape.
• Red Cloud True Person fled with a dozen promising disciples, while Qi Yulong killed Raging Tide True Person and devoured their Golden Core.
• Qi Yulong ordered his forces to withdraw from Dragon Valley County, wary of Taihao True Person and the Immortal Dao faction's mobilization.
• In the Huafeng Mountain Range, a red-eyed young man called out a hidden presence, and a youth in a Qixing Daoist robe appeared and mocked the Heavenly Corpse Sect.

Xuan Ning, a Dao Protector of the Seven Stars Sacred Land’s Tianyuan Lineage, battled and defeated a red-eyed member of the Heavenly Corpse Sect’s Drought Demon Lineage. He discovered that the demon’s soul had escaped, but believed the loss of its body would keep it from causing trouble for a hundred years.

• Xuan Ning confronted the red-eyed young man over the Drought Demon Lineage’s lawless ways, then revealed his Heaven and Earth Manifestation and identified himself as a Tianyuan Lineage Dao Protector.
• The red-eyed young man ignited his drought demon fire and attacked, but Xuan Ning’s punch sent him flying despite a burn on Xuan Ning’s palm that quickly healed.
• When the red-eyed young man tried to flee, Xuan Ning struck him with a thunderous Daoist mantra and repeatedly pummeled him.
• After nearly half a shichen of one-sided combat, Xuan Ning killed the red-eyed young man and examined his body.
• Xuan Ning used his dharma eye to discover that the young man’s soul had escaped, then took away the body and departed, judging that the demon could not recover for a hundred years.

Huang Fen escaped into a hidden cavern to rebuild his soul and vowed revenge on Xuan Ning, while Xuan Ning and his junior brother searched for people bearing Fortune. After Qi Yulong escaped into the Savage Wilderness Great Domain, the Iron-Black Warship’s survivors gathered to tally Merit under the Luochuan Sect’s richer exchange system.

• Huang Fen found a Soul-Gathering Land and planned to restore his soul before refining the Drought Demon Body anew and taking revenge on Xuan Ning.
• Xuan Ning learned that Yang Tianjiu of the Purple Moon Yang Household was a person bearing Fortune, then left Yellowstone Market with his junior brother to search for more.
• Taihao True Person learned that Qi Yulong had killed Raging Tide True Person and set out to kill Qi Yulong, but discovered he had already fled into the Savage Wilderness Great Domain.
• Red Cloud True Person accepted that Taihao True Person would not pursue Qi Yulong and remained dependent on the Luochuan Sect for support.
• The Iron-Black Warship’s survivors began tallying Merit, with the Luochuan Sect’s exchange ranking offering far more rewards, including Golden Core Formation Pills.

Fairy Yunhua began tallying the households’ Merit, while Yang Tianyou considered how the exchange system balanced rewards, death compensation, and the sect’s control over subordinate lineages. The Huang Household received 2,460 Merit, much of it for its battle losses, and the tally showed how profitable the campaign could be for those who survived.

• Fairy Yunhua invited the crowd to begin exchanging Merit, and Huang Chunhua volunteered first.
• Yang Tianyou recalled the Merit rules and considered why the Foundation Establishment Lineages accepted their rewards and how superior sects restricted their growth.
• Huang Chunhua itemized the Huang Household’s Merit, repeatedly emphasizing its twenty Qi Refining cultivators and one Foundation Establishment Cultivator killed in battle.
• Fairy Yunhua tallied 2,460 Merit for the Huang Household, including compensation for its dead and recognition of Huang Chunhua’s Spatial-Sealing Orb.
• Yang Tianyou and the others noted that the Huang Household’s Merit represented substantial resources, while weaker households risked being wiped out in war.

The Yang Household received the most battle merits after the operation, with Yang Tianyou drawing attention for his strength. The Yang and Liu Households chose resources to exchange, and the Yang Household spent most of its merits on pills, materials, and alchemy knowledge.

• Huang Chunhua collected the Huang Household's battle merits and dreamed of buying a Golden Core Formation Pill, while Liu Changsheng mourned Liu Lingyu and collected the Liu Household's 3,268 merits.
• Yunhua awarded the Yang Household 5,050 battle merits for its kills and other contributions, the highest total among the three great Foundation Establishment Lineages.
• The cultivators admired or envied Yang Tianyou after his combat prowess was revealed, but he remained unmoved.
• Yunhua offered the exchange list, and the Yang and Liu Households decided to spend some of their merits while Huang Chunhua chose to save his.
• After discussing the list, the Yang Household spent 3,920 battle merits on three Foundation Establishment Pills, a Red-Wing Flying Eagle corpse, half a trunk of Fire Cedar Wood, and Jingfeng's Alchemy Insights.

Yang Tianyou collected supplies for the Yang Household and learned that the Foreign Races were withdrawing after the Devil Cultivators suffered heavy losses. He and Yang Haoyu favored ending the war and strengthening the Lineage, though the Immortal Dao leaders had not yet decided.

• The Yang and Liu Household cultivators exchanged Merit for supplies, including materials for a Tier 2 Supreme-Grade Flying Boat, and traveled to Yellowstone Market.
• Yang Tianyou reunited with Jinge and spent the night catching up over wine.
• After returning to Yang Haoyu, Yang Tianyou learned that the Foreign Races were withdrawing and heard how badly the Devil Cultivators had fared.
• Yang Tianyou and Yang Haoyu realized Qi Yulong's strength had made Purple Moon Mountain vulnerable and resolved to be more cautious.
• Yang Haoyu explained that she preferred stability over further war, and Yang Tianyou agreed that the Yang Household should focus on building its strength.

After the Foreign Races withdrew, Taihao True Person chose a truce, frustrating the Feng Household’s plans to exploit the war against the Three Rivers Sect. The sides formalized a sixty-year peace, and Yang Tianyou returned to Crouching Ox Pass.

• The Foreign Races withdrew from Dragon Valley County, and Taihao True Person chose a truce instead of a counterattack.
• Feng Yuezhi told Feng Qingyang to focus on winning over the Foundation Establishment Lineages, including the Yang, Liu, and Huang Households, and advised him to approach them cautiously.
• Taihao True Person negotiated with the Windfire Eagle King, and the Foreign Races agreed to pay compensation, cede three hundred li of territory, and avoid war for sixty years.
• The truce became a Heaven and Earth Contract, and Yang Tianyou returned to Crouching Ox Pass three days later.

After the Cold Tide ended, Crouching Ox Pass was rebuilt as both a frontier stronghold and a trading hub, and local powers gathered to decide how its districts would be divided. The conference began with Taihao True Person outlining the factors for evaluating each faction, while the Yang Household kept its plans to seek independence from the Feng Household and Three Rivers Sect secret.

• Yang Tianyou and Yang Tianwang looked out over Crouching Ox Pass and spoke of the Household’s future after the Cold Tide.
• Taihao True Person led the rebuilding of Crouching Ox Pass’s defenses and infrastructure, preparing it to serve as a base and marketplace for frontier trade.
• Foundation Establishment representatives gathered for the conference, and Huang Chunhua took the Feng Household’s side instead of standing with the Three Rivers Sect’s forces.
• Yang Tianyou and Yang Haoyu agreed to remain noncommittal toward the Feng Household while keeping their plan to help Yang Haoyu reach Golden Core Formation secret.
• Jin Lianri, Zheng Qiufeng, Red Cloud True Person, Feng Yuezhi, Feng Qingyang, Taihao True Person, Fairy Yunhua, and Song Xuhui arrived, and Taihao True Person opened the conference by explaining how districts would be allocated.

The factions debated how to divide Crouching Ox Pass’s three districts, with Feng Yuezhi challenging the Three Rivers Sect’s claim to the Eastern District. Fairy Yunhua unexpectedly supported leaving the district with the weakened sect, shifting the balance of the discussion.

• Taihao True Person assigned the Northern District to Rogue Cultivators and told the factions to decide how to divide the other three districts.
• Red Cloud True Person claimed the Eastern District for the Three Rivers Sect, but Feng Yuezhi argued that its losses weakened its claim.
• Feng Yuezhi called on the Foundation Establishment Lineages to state their positions, and Huang Chunhua and several other households opposed the Three Rivers Sect.
• Yang Haoyu and two other lineages supported the Three Rivers Sect, while Jin Lianri offered the Yang Household additional bargaining power through the Gold and Silver Alliance.
• Fairy Yunhua argued that the Three Rivers Sect’s sacrifice in defending Dragon Valley County justified leaving its occupation of the Eastern District unchanged.

Yunhua’s support helped settle the Eastern District dispute in favor of dividing it between the Three Rivers Sect and the Feng Household, while the Yang Household gained influence as the lineages divided the remaining territories. The chapter ended with Huang Chunhua accepting the only territory left after the Feng Household’s allies had claimed theirs.

• Yunhua denied that she was speaking for the Luochuan Sect, and her support prompted wavering lineages to back the Three Rivers Sect.
• Feng Yuezhi agreed that the Three Rivers Sect would keep the Eastern District and the Feng Household would take the Western District.
• Yang Haoyu and Yang Tianyou discussed their strained relationship with the Three Rivers Sect and the need for Yang Haoyu to break through to Golden Core first.
• Yang Haoyu, Liu Changsheng, Zhuang Beisheng, and other lineages claimed territory in the Southern District, while no one took the Huang Household’s former area.
• The lineages under the Feng Household divided the remaining territories, leaving Huang Chunhua to accept the sole portion that remained.

Yunhua became the garrison commander of Crouching Ox Pass as the first step toward separating herself from the Luochuan Sect. True Person Beigong learned that the Grand Elder intended to use Yunhua to obtain an inheritance when the Guanghan Realm opened in thirty years.

• Taihao True Person appointed Yunhua garrison commander of Crouching Ox Pass for sixty years.
• Yunhua prepared to leave the Luochuan Sect’s influence because of her family’s deaths, the Yun Household’s changed attitude, and the Grand Elder’s interest in her Six-Yin Spirit Body.
• Song Xuhui reacted grimly to Yunhua’s appointment because he coveted the benefits tied to her Nascent Soul Formation Pill and spirit body.
• True Person Beigong urged the Grand Elder to let Yunhua choose her own path, but the Grand Elder insisted that the inheritance must be handed over.
• The Grand Elder told True Person Beigong that the Guanghan Realm would open in thirty years and ordered him to prepare Yunhua.

Taihao True Person announced that Luochuan Commandery’s forces would meet their Luochuan Pass obligations by supplying requisitioned goods, then departed Dragon Valley County with Luochuan Sect’s Formation masters. As Crouching Ox Pass recovered and Yang Haoyu and Yang Tianyou secured twelve shops for the Yang Household, Yang Tianyou and Yunhua became a couple, and Yunhua glimpsed a mysterious vision of them together beneath a red maple tree.

• Taihao True Person announced monthly supply quotas for the forces under Luochuan Commandery and concluded the Crouching Ox Pass assembly without opposition.
• Luochuan Sect’s Formation masters repaired Crouching Ox Pass’s city Formation, then departed with Taihao True Person, Song Xuhui, and the cultivators of the Duke of Ying Zhang Household.
• Yang Haoyu and Yang Tianyou settled the locations of twelve shops promised to the Yang Household, creating a commercial district with its existing southern-district shops.
• Yang Tianyou began visiting Yunhua at the city lord’s manor each day, and they became a couple beneath a red maple tree.
• Yunhua briefly saw a vision of herself and Yang Tianyou beneath a similar tree as thunder and divine light filled the sky, but she did not tell him about it.
• Yang Tianyou told Yunhua he would break through to Golden Core in thirty years and enter the Guanghan Realm with her, and she said she believed in him.

The Yang Household held its first Lineage Meeting after the Cold Tide, appointing Yang Tianyou Inheritance Elder and choosing three cultivators to receive Foundation Establishment Pills. The meeting ended with plans to recruit Rogue Cultivators, expand the merchant caravan, and monitor the Zhao Household Remnants in Silver River County.

• Yang Haoyu opened the meeting by urging the elders to honor the fallen Yang Dangxu, Yang Qiongqing, and Yang Qiongqi, then appointed Yang Tianyou Inheritance Elder with unanimous support.
• The elders selected Yang Tianyun, Yang Tianshi, and Yang Tiankang to receive the remaining Foundation Establishment Pills.
• Yang Dangkai proposed recruiting fifty Rogue Cultivators through an Attendant Hall, and Yang Tianyou urged the Lineage to establish the hall officially; Yang Haoyu assigned Dangkai to investigate applicants using the Heart-Questioning Grand Formation.
• Yang Tianxue reported that the Yang Household lacked enough people to expand its merchant caravan, so Yang Haoyu ordered Dangkai to establish the Attendant Hall promptly and sent Yang Tianyou to help oversee it.
• Yang Qiongye reported that the Zhao Household Remnants remained in the same general area of Silver River County, and Yang Haoyu ordered him and Yang Qiongchuan to track them without alerting them.

The Yang Household reorganized its duties and plotted to exploit the Huang Household’s turmoil to seize the Spirit Peach Grove. Half a month later, Yang Tiankang, Yang Tianyun, and Yang Tianshi had all successfully advanced to Foundation Establishment, and Yang Tianyou assigned Yang Tiankang to oversee Wolf Pool.

• Yang Haoyu and Yang Tianyou discussed buying a Golden Core Formation Pill for three hundred thousand Spirit Stones and concluded that the Three Rivers Sect might move against Huang Chunhua, giving the Yang Household a chance to claim the Spirit Peach Grove.
• The Yang Household elders resumed their duties, with Yang Qiongchuan and Yang Qiongye sent to Silver River County to track the Zhao Household Remnants and other members assigned to guard, recruit, and manage trade.
• Yang Tianjiu carried a Foundation Establishment Pill and a one-use Divine Ability he had received from an old man, and his Wealth Qi was expected to finish accumulating within a month.
• Half a month later, Yang Tiankang successfully reached Foundation Establishment after two failed attempts and thanked Yang Tianyou for supporting his breakthrough.
• Yang Tianyou told Yang Tiankang that Yang Tianyun and Yang Tianshi had also reached Foundation Establishment, bringing the Lineage three new cultivators, and appointed Yang Tiankang master of Wolf Pool.

The Yang Household reorganized its departments and assigned new leaders after the Lineage Meeting. At Bianhe Mountain, the Yang and Liu Households faced pressure from rival Foundation Establishment Lineages seeking a share of its resources.

• The Yang Household established specialized halls and appointed Yang Tianyun, Yang Tianshi, Yang Dangmo, Yang Tianyou, and other clansmen to lead them.
• The elders divided the Attendant Hall into inner and outer halls, setting different stipends, benefits, and opportunities for advancement.
• Three days after Yang Tiankang became master of Wolf Pool, a second-tier Flying Boat departed Purple Moon Mountain for Bianhe Mountain.
• Yang Tianshi and Liu Linghui guarded Bianhe Mountain while tending its Formation, spirit vein, and Spirit Fields.
• Li Yuanfeng and Sun Jianying demanded that the Yang and Liu Households surrender mineral veins and half of Bianhe Mountain.