Chapter Summaries

Yuan Ming reunited with his parents in the capital and learned that Changchun Temple was monitoring the Yuan residence. After receiving Liu Tianming’s coded meeting instructions, Yuan Ming evaded the surveillance and reached the secret chamber beneath Tianming Bookstore, where Liu Tianming greeted him.

• Yuan Ming returned home and tearfully reunited with his mother.
• Miao Qing reported Yuan Ming’s return to Elder Zha, who ordered tighter surveillance and summoned Yuan Ming to meet her.
• Yuan Ming contacted Liu Tianming with a sound-transmission talisman and received the code phrase “Mountains and Rivers Eventually End” and the meeting place, Tianming Bookstore.
• Yuan Ming put off Miao Qing’s visit and instructed Fu Qing not to let him disturb his parents.
• Yuan Ming disguised himself, evaded Changchun Temple’s watchers, and used the code phrase to enter Tianming Bookstore’s underground chamber, where Liu Tianming came out to greet him.

Yuan Ming reunited with Liu Tianming, learned how Cha Yancai had pursued Zuo Qinghui’s case and tortured Hu Tu and the others, and admitted that he had killed Zuo Qinghui. The chapter ended with Yuan Ming refusing to back down from the possibility of killing Cha Yancai, despite Liu Tianming’s warning that Changchun Temple might then hunt him.

• Liu Tianming welcomed Yuan Ming and explained that he had helped prevent Changchun Temple from using Yuan Ming’s parents as leverage over Zuo Qinghui’s disappearance.
• Yuan Ming admitted that he had killed Zuo Qinghui after a fight, then recounted part of his experience inside the Asura Palace while concealing what happened afterward.
• Liu Tianming revealed that Cha Yancai had traced Yuan Ming through his incense shop clerks, tortured Hu Tu and the others, and left them crippled.
• Yuan Ming grew angry after hearing what had happened to Hu Tu and the others and asked who Changchun Temple would send if Cha Yancai died.
• Liu Tianming warned Yuan Ming that killing Cha Yancai could put him on Changchun Temple’s wanted list, but Yuan Ming said he was ready to face anyone who came for him.

Yuan Ming refused Changchun Temple’s demand to answer questions about Zuo Qinghui and planned to move his parents to the Eastern Sea. After Miao Qing misrepresented their encounter to Cha Yancai, she became convinced Yuan Ming had taken Zuo Qinghui’s inheritance and set out to confront him.

• Liu Tianming urged Yuan Ming to spare Cha Yancai for now and suggested moving his parents to the Eastern Sea, where they could live under Thousand Dragon Island’s protection.
• Yuan Ming agreed to discuss the move with his parents and spent the rest of the night drinking and reminiscing with Liu Tianming.
• Yuan Ming rejected Miao Qing’s demand to accompany him to meet Cha Yancai, insisting Changchun Temple provide evidence linking him to Zuo Qinghui’s disappearance.
• Miao Qing injured himself and claimed Yuan Ming had attacked him, then returned to the Imperial Advisor’s Mansion and reported the story to Cha Yancai.
• Cha Yancai concluded that Yuan Ming had ambushed Zuo Qinghui and taken his inheritance, then vanished from the mansion to seek him out.

Yuan Ming killed Cha Yancai when she attacked him at the Yuan residence, then decided to move his parents to the Eastern Sea before Changchun Temple could retaliate. At Changchun Temple, elders debated how to respond to Cha Yancai’s death, with many calling for Yuan Ming to be killed.

• Yuan Ming reassured his parents that they would leave the capital together, then ordered Ghost Slaves to guard them when he sensed danger.
• Cha Yancai accused Yuan Ming of attacking temple disciples and murdering Elder Zuo, but Yuan Ming killed her with the Soul Annihilation Sword when she struck first.
• Liu Tianming arrived too late to stop the fight and warned Yuan Ming that Changchun Temple would retaliate, so Yuan Ming agreed to hasten his parents’ departure for the Eastern Sea.
• Changchun Temple’s ancient bell tolled three times to mark the death of a Core Formation elder, unsettling the disciples after a Nascent Soul elder had died months earlier.
• Qu Liang led a meeting of eleven Core Formation elders, where many called for Yuan Ming to be surrounded and killed, while four elders remained silent.

Changchun Temple’s elders argued over whether and how to hunt Yuan Ming, then chose to offer a bounty and seek information before deploying their own people. Knowing the pursuit was coming, Yuan Ming prepared to flee the capital with his parents and accepted Liu Tianming’s help toward Thousand Dragon Island.

• Elder Hua and Elder Liu exchanged accusations over Yuan Ming’s ties to Changchun Temple and the imperial branch until the old man in black robes stopped their dispute.
• Qu Liang asked who should be sent after Yuan Ming, but the elders avoided volunteering, so the bearded elder proposed a bounty and reconnaissance before an encirclement.
• Qu Liang moved the meeting on to support for Guiyuan Sect in the Qin Kingdom and Western Regions, requiring at least ten Core Formation elders.
• Yuan Ming gave his parents Bigu Pills, put them to sleep with his soul power, and stored them in the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron so he could leave quickly.
• Liu Tianming gave Yuan Ming a jade pendant for Thousand Dragon Island, and the two friends exchanged a playful fist bump before parting.

Yuan Ming left Qujiang City and discovered that the Beast Core in Cha Yancai’s Storage Ring was drawing her Nascent Soul master, Ancestor Mingquan, toward him. He used the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron and his disguises to evade Mingquan, then reconsidered how to travel safely.

• Yuan Ming gave Fu Qing a storage pouch of valuables, warned him about Changchun Temple, and flew out of Qujiang City while Miao Qing reported his escape to the sect.
• Yuan Ming examined Cha Yancai’s Storage Ring and found a Thunder-Gaze Beast Core whose lightning revealed a distant pursuit; he dampened its arcs and headed northeast.
• Ancestor Mingquan used Yan Guo to track the Beast Core, while Yuan Ming’s Split Soul watched and planned to avoid confronting him.
• Ancestor Mingquan searched Rainpeace City Market but failed to find Yuan Ming, and he severed the city lord’s arm when the man tried to speak with him.
• Yuan Ming, disguised as a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, remained hidden in the market after placing the Storage Ring in the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron to cut the Beast Core’s connection to Yan Guo.

Yuan Ming reached Dragon King City while evading Ancestor Mingquan and discovered that Yan Sijing, Yan Siyun, and Xi Ying had also arrived with the Hundred Pills Workshop. He reunited with them, learned Xi Ying had located the materials he needed, and left with a Jade Slip of Yan Siyun’s East Sea information.

• Yuan Ming traveled to Dragon King City by ship to avoid Ancestor Mingquan’s search and entered the cultivator inner city in disguise.
• Yuan Ming sensed Yan Sijing’s prayers and found her staying at an inn with Xi Ying, Yan Siyun, and members of the Hundred Pills Workshop.
• Yuan Ming met Yan Sijing and learned that Xi Ying had helped relocate the workshop to the East Sea, where they planned to join the Mingyue Cult.
• Yan Siyun and Xi Ying reunited with Yuan Ming, and Xi Ying told him she had found the materials he sought but would need about a year to obtain them.
• Yuan Ming asked Yan Siyun for her information about the East Sea, and she handed him a Jade Slip.

Yuan Ming learned about the Eastern Sea’s islands, powerful factions, and rare Fusang Divine Wood, while Flower Branch urged him to infiltrate Fusang Island. After reviewing Yan Siyun’s detailed intelligence, he paid her five hundred thousand spirit stones, giving Hundred Pills Workshop urgently needed funds.

• Yuan Ming read Yan Siyun’s Jade Slip and learned about the Eastern Sea’s island grades, the powerful Fusang Island, and its Golden Crow spirit bird.
• Flower Branch explained that Yuan Ming’s Hundred Ghosts Night March Scroll frame was made from Fusang Divine Wood and urged him to seek the Fusang Tree’s energy.
• Yan Siyun warned Yuan Ming that Fusang Island guarded the tree with restrictions, Nascent Soul cultivators, and the Golden Crow, while Xi Ying recalled seeing the demon beast there.
• Yuan Ming learned about the Eastern Sea’s merman, Snake Person, and Water Ape clans and praised Yan Siyun for compiling detailed intelligence.
• Yuan Ming kept the Jade Slip and gave Yan Siyun five hundred thousand spirit stones to help Hundred Pills Workshop recover its funds.

Yuan Ming secured half of Hundred Pills Workshop and asked Xi Ying to manage the shares, then brought her into the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron to treat his sleeping parents. Xi Ying taught him a soul-nurturing art and revealed the Golden Crow origin and power of her divine soul transformation.

• Yan Siyun offered Yuan Ming fifty percent of Hundred Pills Workshop, and he accepted the share transfer before handing the contract to Xi Ying.
• Xi Ying refused to take the shares, but Yuan Ming completed the blood contract and explained that he was looking for a safe place to settle his parents.
• Xi Ying offered her family’s Soul Nurturing and Origin Returning Secret Art for Yuan Ming’s parents, then used it to regulate their bodies and divine souls.
• Xi Ying punished Flower Branch with her Divine Soul Severing Technique after it teased her, and Yuan Ming shielded it from the attack’s effects.
• Xi Ying gave Yuan Ming the secret art’s incantations and revealed that her Golden Crow transformation used blood from a Fifth-level Golden Crow and possessed the Soul Burning Divine Ability.
• Xi Ying summoned her Three-Legged Golden Crow Soul, whose soul force far surpassed Yuan Ming’s Soul Crow.

Yuan Ming settled his parents on Evergreen Island and tried to secure their peaceful retirement, though they declined his offers to extend their lives through cultivation. He stayed to care for them for a year while continuing his cultivation and protecting their new home.

• Yuan Ming chose Evergreen Island, traveled there, and bought a courtyard in Gu Town for his parents.
• Yuan Ming altered the townspeople’s memories with the Void Void Gloves so they believed his family had lived in town for years.
• Yuan Ming offered his mother a path into soul cultivation and his father help with Foundation Establishment, but both said they preferred an ordinary life.
• Yuan Ming gave his parents spirit wine and agreed to stay with them for a year, after his mother urged him to bring home a wife and grandchildren.
• Yuan Ming set up the Five Elements Illusion Array around the residence, practiced the Auspicious Elephant Bone Forging Technique, and refined wishpower with the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron.

Yuan Ming perfected an illusion formation and helped Thunder Rain advance to the third rank inside the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron. As the day of his promised meeting with Xi Ying approached, he began splitting his soul, but the procedure left him writhing in agony.

• Yuan Ming combined the Dream of All Beings Rune with the Crow Formation, creating a concealed, sturdy illusory space that could trap even the Sleep Shaman.
• Yuan Ming brought Thunder Rain out of its Spirit Beast Bag and used the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron's space and a peak third-rank lightning-attribute Demonic Core to support its breakthrough.
• Thunder Rain advanced to the third rank, gained golden lightning and greatly increased abilities, and demonstrated escape speed that Yuan Ming said nearly matched lightning escape.
• Yuan Ming spent another half year with his parents on Evergreen Island, then prepared to leave as his agreed day with Xi Ying drew near.
• Yuan Ming used the Soul Splitting Core Merging Art taught by Asura Venerable, but the split caused such intense pain that he collapsed and screamed as both divine souls trembled.

Yuan Ming returned to Dragon King City after splitting off a third soul to guard his parents on Evergreen Island, and reunited with Xiying at the Hundred Pills Workshop. Xiying revealed that they would seek a Crimson Mulberry Immortal Fruit at the upcoming Immortal Fruit Convention, where Yuan Ming would have to fight for an island’s qualification.

• Yuan Ming used the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron to stabilize his third split soul and left it in Zuo Qinghui’s body on Evergreen Island to protect his parents.
• Yuan Ming bid farewell to Yuan Zuochong and his mother, then returned to Dragon King City and found that the Hundred Pills Workshop had expanded but attracted few customers.
• Yuan Ming suggested that Yan Sijing hire trustworthy workers and sell spirit incense alongside spirit pills to distinguish the shop.
• Yuan Ming met Xiying, who said they could set out the next day to obtain a Crimson Mulberry Immortal Fruit from the Fusang Divine Tree.
• Xiying explained that the Immortal Fruit Convention awarded fruits to the top sixteen islands, with cultivators other than Nascent Soul Cultivators fighting once each on their islands’ behalf.

Yuan Ming and Xi Ying arranged to attend the Immortal Fruit Convention while Yuan Ming planned to introduce spiritual incense at the Hundred Pills Workshop. As they sailed toward Fusang Island, Xi Ying explained the Outer Sea and the Tide Riders, and Yuan Ming agreed to explore the Outer Sea after the convention.

• Xi Ying told Yuan Ming they would represent Hongzhi Island at the Immortal Fruit Convention and aim to reach the top sixteen.
• Yuan Ming explained his Incense Making methods to Yan Siyun, and they agreed to prepare the Hundred Pills Workshop to sell spiritual incense.
• Yan Siyun said she planned to bring workshop members to Fusang Island, and Yuan Ming invited her group to travel with them.
• Several days later, Yuan Ming and Xi Ying sailed through a storm toward Fusang Island, where Xi Ying explained the Inner Sea and the dangerous Outer Sea.
• Xi Ying described the Tide Riders and the lost Tide Rider Rogue Alliance, and Yuan Ming agreed to explore the Outer Sea with her after the convention.

Yuan Ming and Xi Ying traveled to Fusang Island, where Yuan Ming replenished the Thunder God's Hammer during a thunderstorm and the group encountered the powerful Snake Person clan. They arrived in Xiaguang City to meet Bishui Rou and learn about the situation on the island.

• Yuan Ming absorbed lightning from a thunderstorm into the Thunder God's Hammer while Xi Ying sheltered aboard the flying boat.
• Yuan Ming and Xi Ying reached Fusang Island and saw its fiery red clouds, the Fusang Divine Tree, and bustling Fusang City.
• Xi Ying explained that flight was forbidden near the red clouds, but a Heaven Serpent Tower Ship from Thousand Snake Island ignored the restriction and swept the nearby vessels with its gale.
• Yuan Ming noticed that a powerful Spiritual Sense from the tower ship had scanned their group, while Yan Siyun warned everyone to avoid the Snake Person clan.
• Xi Ying took the group to Xiaguang City instead of Fusang City and brought them to meet Bishui Rou, the island lord of Hongzhi Island.

Yuan Ming and Xiying prepared with Bi Shui Rou for the Immortal Fruit Convention, then traveled with the Hongzhi Island group to Fusang City and settled in its assigned residence. With the convention still several days away, the others gathered intelligence and pursued trade while Yuan Ming entered the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron space.

• Bi Shui Rou questioned Yuan Ming's strength and tested him with her concealed Shadowless Plum Blossom Needle, but he detected and stopped it.
• Bi Shui Rou shared intelligence about the convention's 128 islands and three rounds of matches, while Xiying explained why she had chosen Hongzhi Island and how Fusang Island enforced its authority over the Crimson Mulberry Immortal Fruits.
• Yuan Ming and the others spent a day organizing their intelligence in Xiaguang City, then traveled to Fusang City.
• Fusang Island assigned the Hongzhi Island group a residence in the Right Wing District, and the group began gathering intelligence while Yan Siyun and the others sought business partners in Crow's Foot District.
• Xiying returned to her room to cultivate, while Yuan Ming set up restrictions and entered the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron space using the Silver Token.

Yuan Ming ordered Xu Che to abandon the Black Wind Desert and move the Mingyue Cult to the Jin Kingdom as the Wuyue Cult’s return threatened to destabilize the region. While exploring Fusang Island through Miao Xian, Yuan Ming discovered its hidden treasures and powerful inhabitants, then pierced the fire clouds above the Fusang Divine Tree.

• Yuan Ming learned from Xu Che that the Wuyue Cult had returned to the Northern Desert and ordered him to evacuate the Mingyue Cult from the Black Wind Desert to the Jin Kingdom.
• Yuan Ming told Xu Che to bring willing mortal believers and Qiao Saibei’s villagers, and to sell the stored ores amid the regional turmoil.
• Yuan Ming used Miao Xian’s faith anchor to survey Fusang City, finding five Nascent Soul Realm cultivators and a hidden chamber containing thirty-six Crimson Mulberry Immortal Fruits.
• Yuan Ming examined the visiting Snake Person, merman, and Water Ape cultivators, then found that five layers of formations protected the Fusang Divine Tree.
• Yuan Ming told Flower Branch that the formations thwarted its planned infiltration, then pierced the fire clouds and reached the space above them.

Yuan Ming explored the Fusang Divine Tree, found Beautiful Face Flowers at a market stall, and reunited with Wulu, who had also reached Core Formation. They planned to compete in the Immortal Fruit Convention for different islands, and Wulu said his conflict with the Guiyuan Sect had effectively ended.

• Yuan Ming saw the Fusang Divine Tree's empty nest of Phoenix Perch Wood and sensed a Nascent Soul Middle Stage cultivator enter Fusang City.
• Yuan Ming bought what appeared to be Red Core Flowers and discovered they were Beautiful Face Flowers, the main ingredient for Yumeiren Incense.
• Yuan Ming recognized Wulu at a market stall by the aura of the Hidden Yuan Art and invited him to a teahouse.
• Yuan Ming and Wulu revealed their identities and discussed their plans to represent Hongzhi Island and Blood Swallow Island at the Immortal Fruit Convention.
• Wulu told Yuan Ming that Elder Niu had disappeared and that his old conflict with the Guiyuan Sect was no longer a threat.

Yuan Ming attended Fusang Island’s large-scale auction with the Yan sisters, where he bought a Wood Attribute demonic core and a formation while Yan Siyun acquired supplies for her pill workshop. The auction continued with Yan Siyun bidding on an Apricot Wood Azure Fire seed flame, whose gentle Wood Attribute made it suitable for pill refinement.

• Wulu toasted Yuan Ming for helping change the fates of people liberated from the mines, and the two spent the evening sharing stories.
• Yan Siyun and Yan Sijing invited Yuan Ming to the auction, and Bi Shui Rou gave him a token for entry to a private room.
• At the Golden Feather Auction House, Yuan Ming recognized Wu Yuezhi entering a nearby private room, but Wu Yuezhi concealed himself with Black Mist.
• Yuan Ming won a Wood Attribute demonic core for Flower Branch and a Wood Gathering Spirit Array, while Yan Siyun bought spiritual materials and demonic cores for Hundred Pills Workshop.
• When the Apricot Wood Azure Fire seed flame came up for auction, Yan Siyun immediately began bidding on it.

At the Fusang City auction, Yuan Ming learned that Yan Siyun and Yan Sijing needed the Apricot Wood Azure Fire to improve Hundred Pills Workshop’s alchemy, but Venerable White Scale outbid them. After winning the fire, White Scale recognized Yuan Ming and the Yan sisters and instructed Green Pupil to act on his behalf.

• Yan Siyun explained that a restored Two-Orifice Pill Furnace could use the Apricot Wood Azure Fire alongside Yan Sijing’s Ice Bud Yin Fire to refine purer pills from demonic beast flesh and blood.
• Yuan Ming offered to cover any shortfall in the bidding, and Yan Siyun promised to increase Hundred Pills Workshop’s profits if they secured the fire.
• Yan Siyun’s bid of eighty thousand spirit stones was surpassed by Venerable White Scale, who raised the price to one hundred and twenty thousand.
• Yuan Ming advised Yan Siyun to stop bidding, and Venerable White Scale won the Apricot Wood Azure Fire.
• Venerable White Scale recognized Yuan Ming and the Yan sisters through his ocular art and beckoned Green Pupil to carry out an unspecified task.
• Yuan Ming overheard auction guests identify the winner as Venerable White Scale and discuss his repeated pursuit of true fire.

The auction’s final item, the Tide Rising Misty Sea Ring, drew bids from powerful Nascent Soul cultivators after its abilities were revealed. The mysterious Jia Sifang was identified as the legendary Tide Rider, and he urged the auction to continue.

• The auctioneer presented the Tide Rising Misty Sea Ring, an undamaged imitation spirit treasure with twelve runes and three powerful abilities.
• Queen Mingkong, Venerable White Scale, and True Man Jinhua debated whether the ring suited them as the auctioneer explained its water-energy absorption, water-body transformation, and concealment abilities.
• A pale, beardless cultivator bid five hundred thousand spirit stones and used his baleful intent to repel the Spiritual Senses of Queen Mingkong and the others.
• True Man Jinhua recognized the bidder as Jia Sifang, the Tide Rider, prompting an uproar among the auction attendees.
• Lord of Qionghai Island welcomed Jia Sifang, who told him to continue the auction.