Chapter Summaries

Su Bai returned to Heavenly Star City after Old Ancestor Heavenly Star rescued him and the other alchemists from Demon King Fu Kong. After thanking the Old Ancestor and learning about the Shadowless Bat Race, Su Bai returned to Number Nine Pill Shop as his reputation and value to the city’s powerful factions soared.

• Su Bai went to the Star Tower to thank Old Ancestor Heavenly Star for saving the group from Fu Kong.
• Su Bai asked about Fu Kong and learned that the Shadowless Bat Race was an ancient Demon Race clan skilled in concealment and assassination.
• Old Ancestor Heavenly Star warned Su Bai that the Demon Race would target him and urged him to cultivate carefully.
• Su Bai returned to Number Nine Pill Shop, where news of his alchemy victory and Fu Kong’s assassination attempt stirred Heavenly Star City’s powerful factions.
• The major families sent visiting cards and gifts to Number Nine Pill Shop, seeking to recruit Su Bai.

Su Bai returned safely to Number Nine Pill Shop after his trip to the South Sea and learned that Profound Pill Market had stalled without its high-grade pill makers. He cultivated in seclusion and advanced the Tidal Song Sacred Vein to twenty percent, reaching the Demon General level.

• Su Bai reunited with Zhang Ying and Zhang Haoran, ignored Wei Chun's flattery, and gave Zhang Ying a Storage Bag of magic swords to sell.
• Zhang Ying told Su Bai that business at Profound Pill Market had nearly stopped because its pill makers were away in the South Sea.
• Su Bai reported his safe return to True Man He, dismissed Wei Chun, and entered the Cultivation Room to cultivate.
• Su Bai used the Spirit Gathering Pill and his insights from the South Sea to break through the Tidal Song Sacred Vein's next stage.
• Su Bai raised the vein's development from ten percent to twenty percent and advanced from peak Essence Condensation to Demon General, gaining the power to fight an ordinary Early Golden Core Cultivator.

After returning to Heavenly Star City, Su Bai learned that Star Luo Pill Pavilion had not delivered the Yingning Pill ingredients Lu Yue needed and went to investigate. He found the Profound Pill Market suffering a widespread shortage of spirit medicines and pills, leaving cultivators across the city in crisis.

• Lu Yue congratulated Su Bai on his recent achievements and asked about the remaining Yingning Pills he had promised to refine for a junior.
• Su Bai discovered that Star Luo Pill Pavilion had sent no Yingning Pill ingredients while he was away, and he promised Lu Yue he would investigate.
• Su Bai hurried to Star Luo Pill Pavilion's headquarters and noticed that the Profound Pill Market was unusually quiet, with many shops out of stock.
• Cultivators in the market complained that shortages had delayed their breakthroughs and left even Golden Core cultivators without cultivation pills.

Su Bai learned that the Demon Race had crippled Heavenly Star City’s spirit medicine supply by purging the dealers who traded with humans. He recognized the crisis as a possible opportunity to break the deadlock, but the shortage threatened the strength of the entire Heavenly Star Alliance.

• Su Bai arrived at the Star Luo Pill Pavilion and asked Director Fang Yuan why high-grade spirit medicines and materials for the Yingning Pill had stopped arriving.
• Fang Yuan explained that the Demon Race had shifted tactics after Demon King Fu Kong’s failed assassination and was attacking the Heavenly Star Alliance’s economic lifeline.
• The Demon Race’s crackdown and executions nearly severed the centuries-old spirit medicine trade route, leaving the Star Luo Pill Pavilion’s stores nearly empty.
• Fang Yuan warned that Gaosong Spirit Plain could not meet Heavenly Star City’s needs and that cultivators across the Alliance faced shortages of cultivation pills.
• Su Bai considered the Demon Race’s strategy and resolved that the spreading crisis might offer a way to break the deadlock.

As Heavenly Star City struggled with a spirit herb shortage engineered by the Demon Race, Su Bai remained calm and completed the Thundercloud Sword Array to strengthen his ability to survive the crisis. The shortage continued to disrupt cultivation and halt True Man He's Nascent Soul Breakthrough Pill research as Su Bai received a message.

• Zhang Ying told Su Bai that Number Nine Pill Shop had run out of Core Condensation Pills, and Su Bai suggested raising their price.
• Zhang Haoran described how Cultivators were crowding Star Luo Pill Pavilion, while Su Bai recognized that the Demon Race's spirit herb blockade had plunged Heavenly Star City into crisis.
• Su Bai used fourteen top-grade Lightning Attribute spirit swords to complete the Thundercloud Sword Array, powerful enough to threaten Golden Core Cultivators.
• Su Bai reflected that the shortage had halted True Man He's Nascent Soul Breakthrough Pill research and focused on strengthening himself.
• A Transmit Message passed through the formation and flew before Su Bai.

True Man He summoned Su Bai to address the Demon Race’s blockade, which threatened to exhaust Heavenly Star City’s spirit herb reserves within a month. He proposed developing a new pill system from Sea Spirit Plants, leaving Su Bai with a major task tied to the Heavenly Star Alliance’s survival.

• True Man He called Su Bai to the Star Luo Pill Pavilion’s inner pavilion, where Qian Lu and Tong Liu were gathered with the core stewards.
• Qian Lu reproached Su Bai for staying at his Number Nine Pill Shop while the city faced a crisis, and Su Bai replied that he had no spirit herbs to work with.
• True Man He explained that the Demon Race had cut off trade routes, leaving the alliance’s spirit herb reserves enough for only another month.
• Li Xuandao warned that the shortage would cripple Heavenly Star City’s alchemy system and weaken the Heavenly Star Alliance.
• True Man He proposed traveling by sea and establishing a new pill system that used Sea Spirit Plants to make Sea Spirit Pills.

True Man He assigned Su Bai to negotiate with the Merfolk Race in Sea Star City for Sea Spirit Plants, a key step in developing a new alchemy system. Backed by Old Ancestor Heavenly Star, Su Bai accepted the envoy mission and prepared to depart.

• True Man He explained that Old Ancestor Heavenly Star had approved the plan to create a new alchemy system.
• True Man He named Sea Star City as the source of the Sea Spirit Plants needed for Sea Spirit Pill experiments.
• True Man He assigned Su Bai to represent the Heavenly Star Alliance and negotiate a cooperation pact with the Merfolk Race.
• True Man He said Old Ancestor Heavenly Star would issue Su Bai an envoy writ and escort him to the outskirts of Sea Star City.
• Su Bai accepted the mission, resolving to use the crisis as an opportunity.

Su Bai traveled to Sea Star City to negotiate a trade agreement with the Merfolk Race, where his old friend Cang Mingxiao had become a Demon King. After they signed the contract, Cang Mingxiao invited Su Bai to stay for his heir-apparent ceremony, giving Su Bai a chance to meet the Sea Tribes’ powerful figures.

• Ancestor Tian Xing escorted Su Bai near Sea Star City, and Su Bai used Cang Mingxiao’s conch token to enter the Merfolk base.
• Cang Mingxiao welcomed Su Bai warmly and hosted a banquet before their negotiations.
• Cang Mingxiao agreed to trade the Merfolk Race’s Sea Spirit Plants for the Heavenly Star Alliance’s spirit pills and magic artifacts, overruling the Elders’ objections.
• Su Bai and Cang Mingxiao signed a contract establishing the trade terms and annual supplies for the Merfolk imperial family.
• Cang Mingxiao invited Su Bai to attend his Positioning Ceremony in Senhai, and Su Bai accepted.

Su Bai learned that True Man He already possessed a Second-tier Low-grade Sea Spirit Pill formula, giving the Heavenly Star Alliance a foundation for developing Sea Spirit Pills. As the Merfolk Positioning Ceremony began, Su Bai presented one hundred Spirit Pills and drew the Sea Tribe Demon Kings’ attention.

• Su Bai contacted True Man He, who revealed that he had received a Sea Spirit Pill formula from a mysterious senior and had refined the pill before.
• Su Bai realized the formula could serve as the basis for developing Sea Spirit Pills across several grades.
• Cang Mingxiao briefly visited Su Bai before the Positioning Ceremony, then hurried away to attend to preparations.
• Su Bai cultivated in the Imperial Palace for three days as Sea Tribe guests gathered for the ceremony.
• Demon Kings from the Giant Whale Tribe and other tribes presented congratulatory gifts, and Su Bai presented one hundred Spirit Pills on behalf of the Heavenly Star Alliance.

At the Merfolk Race's Positioning Ceremony, Su Bai met Yuan Cang, an Elder of the Ancient Turtle Tribe, who sought to trade spirit medicines for Human Race spirit pills. The two secretly reached an agreement, and Su Bai left with an Alliance Contract bearing Yuan Cang's blood seal.

• Yuan Cang introduced himself to Su Bai and invited him to sit together during the Positioning Ceremony.
• Yuan Cang learned that Su Bai was a Golden Core alchemist barely over fifty and realized he had influence within the Heavenly Star Alliance.
• Yuan Cang proposed that the Ancient Turtle Tribe trade spirit medicines for the Alliance's spirit pills, and Su Bai weighed the terms while pretending to consult his master and Old Ancestor.
• Yuan Cang raised a barrier around himself and Su Bai to negotiate privately, while a Blood Shark Tribe Demon King mocked the Ancient Turtle Tribe.
• Su Bai and Yuan Cang concluded their deal in secret, and Su Bai put the Alliance Contract bearing Yuan Cang's blood seal into his Storage Bag.

At Cang Mingxiao’s Positioning Ceremony, the Merfolk totem confirmed him as imperial heir and revealed a power that could revive him if he died. Su Bai discovered that the ceremony’s Origin Spiritual Essence nourished his Tidal Song Sacred Vein, and its development began rising beyond twenty percent.

• The Merman Emperor activated the ancient totem, which responded to Su Bai’s Tidal Song Sacred Vein.
• Cang Mingxiao offered his Blood Essence and declared his vow, turning the totem crimson and establishing him as imperial heir.
• Yuan Cang told Su Bai that a dead Sea Tribe heir could be reborn using the previous emperor’s life force and soul, and that the other Demon Kings had come to absorb the totem’s Origin Spiritual Essence.
• Su Bai sensed azure motes of Origin Spiritual Essence and secretly absorbed them through his Tidal Song Sacred Vein.
• After half an hour, Su Bai’s Tidal Song Sacred Vein development began visibly rising past twenty percent.

After completing the Merfolk Race's Positioning Ceremony and securing a trade agreement, Su Bai asked Ancestor Tian Xing to take him to Demon Star City to seek spiritual herbs for Heavenly Star City. The chapter ended with Ancestor Tian Xing warning him that the trip would be dangerous because Demon Star City had banned supplies to Heavenly Star City.

• Su Bai absorbed Origin Spiritual Essence from the Merfolk Race totem, raising his Tidal Song Sacred Vein bloodline development to twenty-three percent without drawing the Sea Tribe Demon Kings' attention.
• After Cang Mingxiao became the Merfolk Race's true heir, he kept Su Bai drinking through the night, and Su Bai later woke to find High-grade Spirit Stones among the merfolk women's scattered clothing.
• Su Bai collected the Spirit Stones, bid Cang Mingxiao farewell, and met Ancestor Tian Xing outside Sea Star City after completing his mission to arrange a trade agreement with the Merfolk Race.
• Su Bai asked Ancestor Tian Xing to take him to Demon Star City so he could seek spiritual herbs from an Elder of the Moon Wolf Tribe while the Pill Pavilion worked on the Sea Spirit Pill.
• Ancestor Tian Xing agreed to take Su Bai north to Demon Star City and warned him that the journey would be dangerous because the city had banned spiritual herb supplies to Heavenly Star City.

Su Bai traveled to Demon Star City in disguise to ask Eight-Foot Madam for spirit herbs, while Ancestor Tian Xing gave him a Jade Slip that could withstand three Demon King strikes. Eight-Foot Madam supplied him with herbs and asked him to stay for another month, and Su Bai prepared to face her playful challenge.

• Ancestor Tian Xing gave Su Bai a Jade Slip and warned him to prioritize his life if his plans failed.
• Su Bai disguised himself as a Moon Wolf Tribe cultivator and reached Eight-Foot Madam’s residence, where he waited for her to wake.
• Eight-Foot Madam recognized Su Bai as Lu Jiu and pulled him into her arms as he explained that he needed spirit herbs.
• Eight-Foot Madam gave Su Bai a Storage Bag full of spirit herbs and offered to gather another batch in a month if he stayed.
• Eight-Foot Madam tried to seize the initiative, and Su Bai prepared to test their strength against each other.

Su Bai disguised himself as an Azure Fish Hall assassin and attacked the Nightmare Rat Clan’s Three Feet Market to create an opening for taking its stockpiled spiritual herbs. He escaped Demon Star City with a Black Sky Talisman while Old Nightmare Rat pursued him and maintained an aura lock.

• Su Bai left the Moon Wolf Tribe territory in disguise and traveled to Three Feet Market in Demon Star City’s western district.
• Su Bai changed into an imitation Azure Fish Hall assassin outfit and killed three of the Nightmare Rat Clan chief’s four sons in the market hall.
• Old Nightmare Rat roared from within the clan’s territory and pursued Su Bai as he fled toward the city’s outskirts.
• Su Bai activated a high-grade Black Sky Talisman to cross beyond Demon Star City, but Old Nightmare Rat’s aura still remotely locked onto him.

Su Bai lured Old Nightmare Rat away from Demon Star City and defeated him with a trap of Purple Thunder Sword Lights. Meanwhile, Old Nightmare Rat returned to find his three eldest sons dead, spared Tu Huan, and ordered him to prepare for a breakthrough and arrange the funerals.

• Su Bai used successive high-grade Black Sky Talismans to widen the gap, then led Old Nightmare Rat underground while pretending to run out of Spiritual Power.
• Old Nightmare Rat pursued Su Bai underground, where thirteen concealed Purple Thunder Sword Lights struck him and left him seriously injured.
• Tu Huan found his three elder brothers dead in Three Feet Market and feared Old Nightmare Rat would blame him for hiring the Azure Fish Hall assassin.
• Old Nightmare Rat returned with the assassin's bloodstained robe, accused Tu Huan, then concluded a Golden Core Cultivator had lured him out and that someone was targeting the Nightmare Rat Clan.
• Old Nightmare Rat ordered Tu Huan to gather the clan's spiritual herbs for his cultivation site and handle the funerals of his three elder brothers.

Su Bai disguised himself as Old Nightmare Rat and used the ruse to secure a large supply of spirit herbs from the Nightmare Rat Clan while avoiding the Demon Kings’ attention. After copying Old Nightmare Rat’s Mountain Spirit’s Gift, he tested his new ability to move through earth and sense spirit herbs.

• Su Bai returned to Demon Star City in Old Nightmare Rat’s guise, sealed the cave abode, and waited to ensure no Demon Kings were watching the clan.
• Tu Huan suppressed unrest over his brothers’ deaths, gathered the clan Elders’ support, and delivered thirty percent of the clan’s spirit herbs to Su Bai.
• Su Bai collected the spirit herbs, which amounted to more than three times the supply gathered by Eight-Foot Madam, and judged them sufficient to support cultivators below the Golden Core Stage.
• Su Bai copied Old Nightmare Rat’s Mountain Spirit’s Gift and gained an affinity with earth veins and an enhanced ability to absorb spirit herbs.
• Su Bai tested the talent, moved freely underground, sensed spirit herbs communicating through the earth veins, and returned to the cave abode.

Su Bai took the Nightmare Rat Clan's spirit herbs and left Demon Star City under the guise of Old Nightmare Rat, intending to deliver them to Ancestor Tian Xing. After eliminating an elder who followed him, he reached Ancestor Tian Xing and handed over the herbs.

• Tu Huan delivered another thirty percent of the Nightmare Rat Clan's spirit herbs, and Su Bai told him to manage the clan while he sought a place to break through.
• Su Bai left Demon Star City openly with half the clan's spirit herbs, making the elders believe Old Nightmare Rat was pursuing a breakthrough.
• Su Bai detected a Nightmare Rat elder following him, lured him far from the city, and revealed his human identity.
• Su Bai killed the elder with his Thunder Element Sword Array and searched his soul, learning that the elder had seen his feigned injuries near Three Feet Market.
• Su Bai reached Ancestor Tian Xing and handed over several Storage Bags of spirit herbs, asking him to take them to the Heavenly Star Alliance and exchange them for Spirit Stones.

Su Bai supplied Eight-Foot Madam with Spirit Stones and pills while secretly acquiring spirit herbs from the Nightmare Rat Clan, as tensions between the Heavenly Star Alliance and Demon Star City escalated. After more than half a month, Yinyue returned to the clan and eagerly asked whether Su Bai was there.

• Su Bai bought spirit herbs from Eight-Foot Madam and disguised himself as the Nightmare Rat Clan Chief to seize the clan's accumulated stock.
• Su Bai returned with High-grade Spirit Stones to compensate Eight-Foot Madam and learned that the old Wolf Emperor had gone to visit the old Wolf Venerable.
• Eight-Foot Madam told Su Bai that Yinyue had reached the Condensing Origin Stage, and Su Bai gave her Blue Origin Pills for him.
• Su Bai gathered and reported intelligence about Demon Star City's plans to target the Heavenly Star Alliance and the Southern Sea Cultivation World.
• Yinyue returned from training, received the pills from Eight-Foot Madam, and asked where his Adoptive Father was.

Yinyue returned to the Moon Wolf Tribe after sensing that his bloodline connection to the old Wolf Emperor had broken, and Su Bai and Eight-Foot Madam realized the emperor had likely died. Demon King Cang Zhu confirmed Yin Cang’s death and promised to protect the tribe until Yinyue reached the Demon General realm, while Su Bai suspected Cang Zhu was secretly monitoring them.

• Yinyue told Eight-Foot Madam that his bloodline connection to Imperial Father had broken while he was fighting in the Jade Call Secret Realm.
• Su Bai told Yinyue to keep the severed connection secret, and he transformed into an inconspicuous mouse beneath the encampment.
• Demon King Cang Zhu arrived and told Eight-Foot Madam and Yinyue that Yin Cang had died after sensing his time had come.
• Cang Zhu said Yin Cang had asked him to protect the Moon Wolf Tribe until Yinyue reached the Demon General realm, then appeared to leave.
• Eight-Foot Madam stopped Yinyue from questioning Cang Zhu, and Su Bai returned after Cang Zhu had monitored the encampment for a quarter of an hour.

Su Bai investigated the suspicious circumstances of the old Wolf Emperor’s death, then left Demon Star City with Ancestor Tian Xing and returned to Heavenly Star City. He was taken to meet Old Ancestor Heavenly Star, while the Alliance concealed Su Bai’s role in securing spirit herbs to protect him from Demon Race retaliation.

• Su Bai learned that the old Wolf Emperor’s alleged burial in the Wolf Tribe Sacred Coffin did not fit the timing of his death, and suspected a third party had traded for his life.
• Su Bai gave Yinyue second-tier pills, soothed Eight-Foot Madam, and kept his suspicions to himself.
• After a month in Demon Star City, Su Bai met Ancestor Tian Xing and returned with him aboard the Spirit Boat to Heavenly Star City.
• Ancestor Tian Xing brought Su Bai directly to the Star Gazing Platform to await a meeting with Old Ancestor Heavenly Star and a decision on his reward.
• Ancestor Tian Xing spread misleading rumors about the Alliance’s spirit herb reserves to hide Su Bai’s role and protect him from the Demon Race.