Chapter Summaries

Yuan Ming visited Hundred Pills Workshop with Xu Che to obtain Pill Washing Spirit Liquid, but the workshop had previously refused Xu Che. After Yuan Ming used illusion and fear to subdue Steward Huo, the workshop’s master, Yan Sijing, agreed to meet the supposed Nascent Soul Stage guest and emerged from the fourth floor.

• Xu Che told Yuan Ming that Hundred Pills Workshop supplied Pill Washing Spirit Liquid to powerful factions and had claimed it was out of stock when he tried to buy it.
• Yuan Ming took Xu Che to Hundred Pills Workshop, where Steward Huo refused to report their arrival to Yan Sijing.
• Yuan Ming used illusion and Emotional Stirring to make Steward Huo weep and lose control of himself, then waited as the steward hurried away.
• Steward Huo reported that a guest at the Nascent Soul Stage wanted the liquid, and Yan Sijing decided to meet him rather than refuse him outright.
• Yan Sijing emerged from the side hall on the fourth floor, appearing to be a young girl dressed in pale yellow.

Yuan Ming secured a chance to buy Pill Washing Spirit Liquid by agreeing to escort Hundred Pills Workshop’s shipment to Black Moon City. After learning that Yan Sijing’s sister suspected he was the powerful Nether Moon God, Yuan Ming began possessing Yan Sijing but chose to study her alchemy instead of investigating the mission.

• Yan Sijing met Yuan Ming and offered him Pill Washing Spirit Liquid at half price if he escorted the workshop’s goods to Black Moon City, and Yuan Ming agreed.
• Yan Sijing consulted her blind elder sister, Yan Siyun, who connected Yuan Ming to the Nether Moon God suspected of robbing Guiyuan Sect’s Flame Scale Ore mine.
• Yan Siyun judged that Yuan Ming’s strength and involvement would benefit the mission, then gave Yan Sijing instructions to adjust their arrangements.
• Yuan Ming settled into an inn and prepared to possess Yan Sijing with Black Incense.
• Seeing Yan Sijing refine pills with her own spiritual flame, Yuan Ming decided to use another Split Soul to investigate the escort mission and focused on learning her alchemy instead.

Yuan Ming joined Hundred Pills Workshop’s caravan escort to Black Moon City, where each escort carried a sealed pouch that might contain the valuable pill order. After days of slow travel and growing doubts about the workshop’s explanation, Flower Branch detected eight approaching cultivators led by a Core Formation cultivator, while Elder Chai stood outside Yuan Ming’s tent.

• Yuan Ming watched Yan Sijing refine five powerful scarlet pills and memorized their process and ingredients before returning his attention to the escort mission.
• Yuan Ming arrived at Hundred Pills Workshop and met Elder Ai, Elder Chai, Gan, and Young Master Bei Yan, then learned the caravan would carry decoy pouches alongside the pills intended for Sand Dye Valley.
• Yan Sijing explained that the caravan was bound for Black Moon City and that each escort would protect one sealed pouch without knowing which held the real order.
• Yuan Ming questioned the caravan’s unusually slow pace, and Elder Ai blamed its losses in a previous robbery and a shortage of experienced personnel.
• Yuan Ming grew suspicious of the workshop’s circumstances, and Flower Branch reported eight cultivators approaching from the northeast, led by a Core Formation cultivator.
• Yuan Ming stepped out to warn the others and saw Elder Chai standing nearby beneath the stars.

Yuan Ming detected a bandit attack on the caravan, then exposed Elder Guo’s attempt to trap the group in a formation. After Chai Jiujin escaped and the young bandit leader pursued him, Yuan Ming remained trapped with Young Master Bei Yan and the others and calmly prepared to break out.

• Yuan Ming warned the camp that eight underground cultivators were approaching, but Gan Tan’s Earth Solidifying Technique failed to stop them from emerging.
• The bandits’ arrogant young leader revealed his grudge against Hundred Pills Workshop and attacked Chai Jiujin with a Purple Lightning Sword.
• Yuan Ming fought a bandit while secretly watching the young leader and Elder Guo, then spotted Elder Guo activating a formation and warned Chai Jiujin.
• Chai Jiujin escaped with a talisman before the formation closed, and the young leader pursued him while ordering Elder Guo to kill the remaining caravan guards.
• Elder Guo trapped Yuan Ming and the others inside the formation, but Yuan Ming told Young Master Bei Yan’s group to prepare to escape once he broke it.

Yuan Ming escaped the trapping formation with King Kong’s help, but Elder Guo pursued him until Yuan Ming used his Soul Crow to stun him and attack. Elder Guo recognized Yuan Ming as a soul cultivator, while the battle over Hundred Pills Workshop’s scheme continued elsewhere.

• Yuan Ming’s Blood Transformation Knife killed one of Elder Guo’s cultivators, while Flower Branch poisoned another and joined Yuan Ming beside King Kong.
• Elder Guo attacked with his Bronze Small Cauldron, but King Kong’s Hundred Steps Divine Fist destroyed the fireballs and shattered the trapping formation.
• Yuan Ming recalled King Kong and Flower Branch, escaped on Thunder Rain, and fled southwest; Elder Guo pursued him with a cyan talisman and repeated fireball attacks.
• Chai Jiujin and the Hundred Pills Workshop cultivators cornered the young cultivator, who used a Body Double Talisman before fighting back against their attacks.
• Yuan Ming’s Soul Crow struck Elder Guo with a sound wave, letting Yuan Ming close in and attack with his blood knife; Elder Guo blocked the strike and identified Yuan Ming as a soul cultivator.

Yuan Ming killed Elder Guo and learned that the desert bandits were tied to Yu Hong of the Five Thunder Sect, while the Yan sisters’ trap ended with Yu Hong’s death. After Yuan Ming reached the others, Yan Siyun revealed she knew his hidden identity, and he confronted her with Yu Hong’s real affiliation.

• Yuan Ming deceived Elder Guo with the Soul Crow Formation, then killed him with the Blood Transformation Knife and searched his memories.
• Yuan Ming learned Elder Guo served Yu Hong, who had arranged the caravan attacks and targeted Yan Sijing.
• Yan Siyun and Yan Sijing killed Yu Hong after Chai Jiujin and Elder Zhen defeated him.
• Yuan Ming arrived and showed the group Elder Guo’s corpse, then Yan Siyun hinted that she knew his identity as the Nether Moon God.
• Yuan Ming asked whether Yan Siyun knew Yu Hong was from the Five Thunder Pavilion in Purple Thunder City.

Yuan Ming revealed that the sand bandit he killed was Yu Hong, a favored grandson of a Five Thunder Sect Nascent Soul ancestor, and accepted compensation from Yan Siyun in exchange for keeping the incident quiet. On his way back to Purple Thunder City, he examined his spoils and learned about Body Cultivator realms and techniques from a book found in Elder Guo’s storage pouch.

• Yuan Ming persuaded Yan Siyun to verify Yu Hong’s identity, and Elder Zhen found a Five Thunder Sect elder token in the dead man’s storage pouch.
• Yan Siyun gave Yuan Ming Pill Washing Spirit Liquid and pills as compensation, and they agreed to conceal each other’s involvement in the battle.
• Yan Siyun rejected Elder Zhen’s suggestion to detain Yuan Ming and told Yan Sijing to treat him with courtesy in the future.
• Yuan Ming inspected Elder Guo’s storage pouch on the flight back, finding spirit stones, cultivation materials, Earthwalking Boots, and a book titled "Body Forging Lectures."
• Yuan Ming read about the five Body Cultivator realms, their techniques, and their weaknesses before reaching Purple Thunder City.

Yuan Ming left Purple Thunder City and cleared out his residence in Sand Trap City before seeking a safe place to attempt Core Formation. He chose Lingfeng City for its rich spiritual energy and relaxed rule over rogue cultivators, and arrived to obtain a residence permit.

• Yuan Ming told Xu Che to spread the Nether Moon Divine Cult among mortals in the Black Wind Desert and gave him supplies and Earthwalking Boots for the task.
• Yuan Ming returned to Sand Trap City, had Zuo Qinghui remove everything from his residence, and erased all traces before leaving without contacting Hu Ji.
• Yuan Ming considered where to attempt Core Formation and chose Lingfeng City, whose dense spiritual energy and loose oversight suited his needs.
• Yuan Ming arrived in Lingfeng City and received a six-month residence permit from a Spirit Talisman Sect cultivator.

Yuan Ming rented the highest available cave abode in Lingfeng City and prepared it for Core Formation. After arranging guards and supplies, he entered life-or-death seclusion, determined not to leave until he succeeded.

• Yuan Ming studied Lingfeng City's districts and rented cave abode number twelve in the upper district for ten years.
• Yuan Ming spotted Yan Sijing entering Lingfeng Hall but decided not to involve himself and flew to his cave abode.
• Yuan Ming inspected the cave abode and set up three protective arrays.
• Zuo Qinghui returned with the items needed for Core Formation, and Yuan Ming assigned King Kong, Flower Branch, and Thunder Rain to guard him.
• Yuan Ming set up a Spirit Gathering Array, prepared the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron and spirit incense, and began life-or-death seclusion.

After five years in seclusion and two failed attempts, Yuan Ming successfully formed a golden core and began stabilizing his new cultivation. He turned to refining the Soul Annihilation Sword as his Lifebound Magic Treasure, but first experimented with refining Zuo Qinghui’s Golden Sun Ruler.

• After five years of waiting, Flower Branch, King Kong, and Thunder Rain sensed a huge spiritual energy vortex around Yuan Ming’s cave and realized he had succeeded in forming a core.
• Cultivators in Lingfeng City detected the phenomenon, and Elder Pi identified Cave Dwelling Number Twelve as Yuan Ming’s residence.
• Yuan Ming revealed that his first two Core Formation attempts had failed, while the third succeeded and produced a five-colored golden core.
• After stabilizing his mana, Yuan Ming decided to refine the Soul Annihilation Sword as his Lifebound Magic Treasure, though he remained uncertain about its final rune and his artifact-refining skill.
• Yuan Ming began refining Zuo Qinghui’s Golden Sun Ruler and discovered its rune array contained a soul imprint that would take months to remove at his current pace.

Yuan Ming refined several seized magic treasures and finally broke through the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron’s restriction, discovering that he could enter its mysterious interior. There, the White Jade Lotus Platform drew him in and began channeling power of aspiration toward him, leaving him struggling to protect himself from its emotions.

• Yuan Ming used his Soul Crow to remove the soul imprint from the Golden Sun Ruler, tested its power, and then refined Elder Hai’s white bone blade and Elder Guo’s Bronze Small Cauldron.
• Yuan Ming refined the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron for three days, breaking its golden restriction and receiving its image in his soul.
• Yuan Ming discovered that the cauldron’s pure power of aspiration restored his spent soul power, but could not increase it.
• Yuan Ming followed a mysterious summons into the cauldron’s misty interior and found a jade altar topped by a White Jade Lotus Platform that refined emotional impurities from power of aspiration.
• The White Jade Lotus Platform pulled Yuan Ming onto it and sent streams of power of aspiration toward him, so he tried to use his first Split Soul to refine them.

Yuan Ming discovered that the white lotus dais let him borrow immense soul power and use the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron to sense distant believers. He healed a worshipper’s sick child from afar, leaving the family convinced that the Nether Moon God had answered their prayers.

• Yuan Ming borrowed the lotus dais’s stored power of faith, briefly raising his soul power tenfold, but found he could not absorb the current permanently.
• Yuan Ming traced a golden strand of faith to a family in Fierce Fang City and discovered that their son Doggy had a damaged, weakened soul.
• Yuan Ming used refined power of faith to repair Doggy’s soul and projected a Wood Attribute recovery spell through the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron to restore his body.
• Yuan Ming told the woman that her child had recovered, and Doggy woke as his parents rushed to his bedside.
• The woman and her husband accepted that the Nether Moon God had saved Doggy, and she took him to worship before the memorial tablet.

Yuan Ming answered his believers’ prayers and discovered that the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron’s item-transmission array had run out of energy. He found a damaged sword fragment containing three powerful runes, then reached out to Yan Sijing with overwhelming spiritual pressure and asked if she was from the Hundred Pills Workshop.

• Yuan Ming calmed the grieving mortal Xu Da Niu with a Calming Mantra, strengthening the old man’s devotion and power of aspiration.
• Yuan Ming tried to send pills to Xu Che, but the transmission failed; he discovered the array’s depleted Silver Crystal and removed it.
• Yuan Ming found a Sword Blade Fragment hidden in the array and saw that its three intricate runes still retained traces of spiritual energy.
• Yuan Ming sensed Yan Sijing reading his travelogue in Lingfeng City and learned that she and Yan Siyun were hiding from Ancestor Lei Ming after the destruction of the Hundred Pills Workshop.
• Yuan Ming enveloped Yan Sijing in immense soul pressure and asked whether she was Yan Sijing of the Hundred Pills Workshop.

Yuan Ming used the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron’s power to make Yan Sijing pledge herself to the Nether Moon God, then returned from the cauldron and explored its potential. After consolidating his Core Formation, he received a visit from Pi Xiu, who tried to recruit him as a Guest Elder of the Spirit Talisman Sect, but Yuan Ming refused.

• Yuan Ming appeared to Yan Sijing as the Nether Moon God and made her promise to devote herself to him, while she mistook Yuan Ming for an emissary of the god.
• Yan Sijing went to check on her sister, and Yuan Ming discovered that wielding the cauldron’s immense soul power exhausted him even though it did not deplete his reserves.
• Yuan Ming returned to his secret chamber, used the Five Elements Illusion Array to confirm that he had entered the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron, and considered having someone carry it to hide himself.
• The next morning, Flower Branch, King Kong, and Thunder Rain congratulated Yuan Ming on his successful Core Formation.
• Pi Xiu visited Yuan Ming, offered him membership as a Guest Elder of the Spirit Talisman Sect, and waived his rent, but Yuan Ming declined to join.

Yuan Ming learned how to forge magic treasures and chose three mysterious runes for the Soul Annihilation Sword, intending to create a seven-rune formation. After a year of practice and gathering materials, he began upgrading the sword inside the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron.

• Yuan Ming attended gatherings and trade fairs through Pi Xiu’s introductions, met Core Formation Cultivators, and traded away items for rare treasures.
• Yuan Ming studied magic-treasure forging and decided to add the runes Curse, Annihilate Consciousness, and Frenzied Blood to the Soul Annihilation Sword.
• Yuan Ming practiced engraving the three runes for a year, gathered the required materials, and prepared himself to upgrade the sword.
• Yuan Ming entered the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron’s mysterious space, sat on the White Jade Lotus Platform to strengthen his soul power, and placed the Nether Iron Gourd in the furnace.
• Yuan Ming released Pill Fire and began smelting the Nether Iron Gourd.

Yuan Ming reforged the Soul Annihilation Sword with the Nether Iron Gourd and struggled through a dangerous engraving process to add the Curse rune. The fifth rune succeeded, and Yuan Ming began binding the sword to himself before its new rune faded.

• Yuan Ming melted the Nether Iron Gourd and compressed its material together with the Soul Annihilation Sword, making the blade larger and heavier.
• After recovering from the lengthy refinement, Yuan Ming began engraving the Curse rune, which drew in his Dharma power and soul power as it was inscribed.
• The sword trembled and cracked as Yuan Ming continued engraving, and its suction intensified until it drained his soul power while the lotus platform replenished it with power of faith.
• The Curse rune was completed, the sword's cracks vanished, and all five runes glowed on the blade.
• Yuan Ming sprayed essence blood onto the sword, fused it with Pill Fire, and drew it into his body to nurture it.

Yuan Ming successfully refined the Soul Annihilation Sword into a magic treasure and later joined Feng Qi, Ya Xian, and Fang You Ting on an expedition to retrieve herbs guarded by Poison Blade Locusts. The group reached the locusts’ nest near Soul Burial Abyss and prepared to approach cautiously.

• Yuan Ming confirmed that the Soul Annihilation Sword’s five runes harmonized after Spirit Infusion, completing its upgrade into a magic treasure.
• At the Spirit Tea Tower, Yuan Ming reunited with Feng Qi and learned that Ya Xian had been injured while they fought demonic beasts for spiritual herbs.
• Feng Qi invited Yuan Ming to help retrieve the herbs, explaining that four Poison Blade Locusts guarded them and that one was already badly wounded.
• Yuan Ming agreed to join Feng Qi, Ya Xian, and Fang You Ting, and they traveled to Soul Burial Abyss.
• Feng Qi distributed talismans and medicinal pills, then led the group toward the Poison Blade Locusts’ nest beneath the sand.

Yuan Ming and his companions cleared Poison Blade Locusts from a hollow and found Sand Spring Flowers, but a Three-Eyed Crow interrupted their wait. After the group wounded it and it fled deeper into the Soul Burial Abyss, Fang You Ting insisted on pursuing it despite Yuan Ming’s warning.

• Yuan Ming used his white bone blade and an illusion to kill a Poison Blade Locust while Feng Qi, Ya Xian, and Fang You Ting helped eliminate the others.
• Feng Qi and Fang You Ting agreed to wait a few days for the remaining Sand Spring Flowers to mature, but Yuan Ming sensed approaching demonic beasts.
• A Three-Eyed Crow swooped into the hollow, and Yuan Ming, Feng Qi, Ya Xian, and Fang You Ting attacked it.
• Yuan Ming’s illusion briefly confused the Three-Eyed Crow before its third eye broke free, while the group’s attacks wounded it.
• The Three-Eyed Crow escaped deeper into the Soul Burial Abyss, and Fang You Ting pursued it despite Yuan Ming’s warning.

Yuan Ming and his companions pursued a Three-Eyed Crow into a cavern filled with powerful Ghostly Entities, where two members of their group were killed. Fang You Ting recognized two Core Formation ghosts as the vanished lords of Dihe City, revealing that the city’s murderer was likely behind the cavern’s horrors; Yuan Ming struck at a hidden presence as the chapter ended.

• Fang You Ting, Feng Qi, Ya Xian, and Yuan Ming followed the Three-Eyed Crow into an underground cavern and found themselves surrounded by nearly a thousand Ghostly Entities.
• The group tried to escape, but the Three-Eyed Crow attacked with ash-gray yin fire while a powerful ox-headed ghost confronted Yuan Ming.
• Yuan Ming killed the ox-headed ghost with the Soul Annihilation Sword and helped Fang You Ting break through the surrounding horde.
• A Soul-Snaring Ghost Sound disrupted Fang You Ting, Feng Qi, and Ya Xian, while a red-dressed female ghost and a white-robed male ghost killed Feng Qi and Ya Xian.
• Fang You Ting recognized the two ghosts as the former city lords of Dihe City, which had mysteriously vanished years earlier.
• The two ghosts carried off Feng Qi and Ya Xian’s corpses, and Yuan Ming sent Sword Qi toward a hidden spot after sensing a presence there.

Yuan Ming and Fang You Ting faced the Green Robe Old Man, who had lured them into the cavern to seize their souls. Fang You Ting was killed, and Yuan Ming fought the old man with his soul-based abilities and magic treasures; the battle continued with neither side gaining a clear advantage.

• The Green Robe Old Man revealed that he had used the Three-Eyed Crow to lure Yuan Ming and Fang You Ting into the cavern, then attacked them with Ghostly Entities and a hidden Wraith Ghost.
• Yuan Ming broke through the Ghostly Entities while Fang You Ting was trapped in an illusion and attacked by the Three-Eyed Soul Dove, which struck him with blood light.
• Yuan Ming destroyed the Three-Eyed Soul Dove with the Soul Annihilation Sword, but the Green Robe Old Man's Three-Eyed Crow killed Fang You Ting and carried away his corpse.
• Yuan Ming revealed that he was a soul cultivator and tried to negotiate, but the Green Robe Old Man attacked him with soul-powered green threads.
• Yuan Ming used the Soul Annihilation Sword to sever the threads and attacked with the white bone saber and Golden Sun Ruler, while the Green Robe Old Man countered with his transformed black cane.
• After fighting for more than a quarter of an hour, Yuan Ming showed no sign of exhausting his soul power, and the battle remained unresolved.