Chapter Summaries

Ling Pengyun helped Wind Shadow Peng break through from the peak of the Qi Training Sixth Layer to the Seventh Layer using spirit fruits and a Spirit Gathering Array. After testing its new flying speed, he returned to Lingxiao Mountain and left the peng to stabilize its cultivation.

• Wind Shadow Peng asked Ling Pengyun for help breaking through, and he gave it three First Rank High Grade spirit fruits and set up a Spirit Gathering Array.
• Wind Shadow Peng absorbed the spirit fruits and the array's spiritual qi, endured a painful half-day breakthrough, and entered the Qi Training Seventh Layer.
• Ling Pengyun rode Wind Shadow Peng through a flight test and estimated that it could travel at least six thousand li a day, potentially reaching seven thousand li once its cultivation stabilized.
• Ling Pengyun returned to Lingxiao Mountain, put away the array, and gave Wind Shadow Peng a First Rank High Grade spirit fruit to stabilize its cultivation.
• Ling Pengyun returned to his quiet room and noticed three Earth-Turning Spirit Earthworms sleeping in the corner.

Ling Pengyun assessed the promising Earth-Turning Spirit Earthworm he was raising, then Yang Changxing broke through to Foundation Establishment Ninth Layer and proposed hunting a powerful demon beast to obtain materials for Small Hundred Spirits Water. The Yang Clan leaders accepted the plan after he explained that Ling Yunhong, a newly advanced Ling Clan cultivator, and Yang Changxing’s perfected technique would help make the hunt possible.

• Ling Pengyun judged that his gifted Earth-Turning Spirit Earthworm could strengthen its body enough to break through within a year and later improve the Yang Clan’s high-grade spirit fields.
• Yang Changxing consumed a hundred-year-old Evergreen Spirit Fruit at Red Leaf Mountain and advanced to Foundation Establishment Ninth Layer.
• Yang Changxing returned to Level Cloud Mountain and told Yang Mingquan and Yang Mingtian that he planned to hunt a Foundation Establishment Completion demon beast for its inner core.
• Yang Mingquan and Yang Mingtian warned that the hunt could endanger the Yang Clan and leave its territory vulnerable to rival families.
• Yang Changxing said Ling Yunhong, a newly advanced Ling Clan Foundation Establishment cultivator, and Ling Yunhong’s spirit crane would assist him, and that he had perfected the Flame Fire Return to Ruin Technique.
• Yang Mingquan and Yang Mingtian agreed not to oppose the expedition after hearing Yang Changxing’s preparations.

At the Ling Clan’s year-end council, Ling Pengyun was appointed the clan’s second Supreme Elder, and Ling Yunhong proposed sending him on a dangerous expedition to hunt a Foundation Establishment Completion demon beast for valuable resources. Ling Yunhong chose Ling Pengyun to accompany him and the Yang Clan, while Ling Peng Xing was assigned to guard the clan.

• Ling Ruxian met Ling Pengyun at the summit barrier and escorted him into the Council Hall for the year-end council.
• Ling Yunhong appointed Ling Pengyun the clan’s second Supreme Elder, and Ling Pengyun received his token and instructions for using it.
• Ling Yunhong described the Yang Clan’s offer of Small Hundred Spirits Water and discounted Meridian Protecting Pills in exchange for help hunting a Foundation Establishment Completion demon beast in the Serpent Dragon Lake region.
• Ling Ruxian warned that Ling Pengyun and Ling Peng Xing were inexperienced, but Ling Yunhong argued that the rewards could help five promising clansmen obtain Foundation Establishment.
• Ling Yunhong asked Ling Pengyun to join the expedition, and Ling Peng Xing offered to take his place.
• Ling Yunhong explained that Ling Pengyun’s Mixed Rock Shield would help him defend the group, while Ling Peng Xing needed to remain behind to protect the clan.

Ling Pengyun received Second Rank spells, a new set of Azure Spirit Swords, and a Primal Water Talisman in preparation for the spring expedition to Serpent Dragon Lake. He also arranged for Ling Rushui to return from Cloud Mist Market and began training in two defensive and movement spells.

• Ling Yunhong persuaded Ling Pengyun to join the spring hunt for a Foundation Establishment Completion demonic beast and promised him five Spirit Gathering Pills for taking part.
• Ling Ruxian reported that the family had ended the year more than a thousand spirit stones in debt after buying Second Rank magic artifacts for Ling Pengyun and Ling Pengxing.
• Ling Yunhong gave Ling Pengyun books containing the Melt Word Swordplay Secret and the clan's three Second Rank spells, eighteen Azure Spirit Swords, and a Primal Water Talisman.
• Ling Pengyun asked Ling Ruxian to transfer Ling Rushui back from Lingxiao Rice Hall in Cloud Mist Market, and Ling Ruxian said the transfer was likely to be arranged.
• Ling Pengyun collected his stipend and eleven Spirit Gathering Pills, refined the new swords in less than three days, and focused his training on the Primal Water Technique and Wind Control Technique.

Ling Pengqiu took over the duty of guarding Chaotic Stone Post while Ling Yunlang went to manage the Lingxiao Rice Hall and arrange Ling Rushui’s retirement. Ling Pengyun arrived at Cloud Mist Market, where Wen Ruoli recognized his reputation but did not realize he had reached Foundation Establishment, and worried about the Ling Clan’s growing strength.

• Ling Ruxian sent Ling Pengqiu to replace Ling Yunlang at Chaotic Stone Post and gave him supplies, a map, and a letter for Ling Yunlang.
• Ling Yunlang handed Chaotic Stone Post over to Ling Pengqiu and accepted the clan’s offer to manage the Lingxiao Rice Hall in Cloud Mist Market.
• Ling Yunlang took over the shop from Ling Rushui and arranged for him to wait for a clan escort home because his cultivation and lifespan were failing.
• Ling Pengyun arrived at Cloud Mist Market with Wind Shadow Peng and entered after showing Wen Ruoli his market token.
• Wen Ruoli reflected on the Ling Clan’s rising talents and feared that it might eventually threaten the Cloud Mist Wen Clan.

Ling Pengyun returned to the Ling Clan after reaching Foundation Establishment, then joined Ling Yunhong on Yang Changxing’s expedition into Serpent Dragon Lake to hunt a powerful demonic snake. The chapter ended as the group approached the snake den and its inhabitants launched an attack.

• Ling Pengyun brought Ling Rushui back to the clan mountain, celebrated his return, and later secluded himself to study two second-rank spells.
• Yang Changxing met Ling Yunhong and Ling Pengyun, recognized Ling Pengyun as his maternal grandson, and gave him three bottles of Spirit Gathering Pills.
• Ling Yunhong agreed that the Ling Clan would help Yang Changxing kill a Foundation Establishment Completion demonic beast, provided the Ling cultivators could withdraw if circumstances changed.
• Yang Changxing led Ling Yunhong and Ling Pengyun into Serpent Dragon Lake and offered them the loot from the den’s lesser snakes in exchange for helping kill its strongest snake.
• After resting overnight, Ling Yunhong and Ling Pengyun took to the air on the Immortal Spirit Crane King and joined Yang Changxing in approaching the snake den.
• As the group came within half a li of the den, Qi Refinement demon snakes emerged and attacked them with earth-element spells.

Ling Yunhong, Ling Pengyun, Yang Changxing, and the Immortal Spirit Crane King attacked the Rock Scale Snake Den and fought its Foundation Establishment snake demons. With the strongest snake demon’s inner core threatening the crane, Ling Yunhong intercepted it and urged Yang Changxing to finish the weakened beast.

• Ling Yunhong and the Immortal Spirit Crane King killed the first wave of Qi Training Rock Scale Snake Demons as Ling Pengyun raised defensive screens around them.
• Yang Changxing trapped the Foundation Establishment Completion snake demon in flames while Ling Yunhong and the Immortal Spirit Crane King attacked the Early-Stage Foundation Establishment snake demon and killed the remaining Qi Training demons.
• Ling Yunhong combined his eighteen swords into a great sword, then used the Azure Sea Icy Cold Flying Sword to cleave the Early-Stage Foundation Establishment snake demon in two.
• Ling Yunhong and the Immortal Spirit Crane King joined Yang Changxing’s assault on the Foundation Establishment Completion snake demon, which raised Protective Yuan Qi and launched its inner core at the crane.
• The snake demon’s inner core shattered Ling Pengyun’s Primal Water Light Screens and damaged the Mixed Rock Shield’s screen, but Ling Pengyun raised another barrier and Ling Yunhong used two flying swords to intercept the returning core.
• Ling Yunhong held off the inner core with his two swords and called on Yang Changxing to use his Returning Ruins Flame to kill the weakened snake demon.

Yang Changxing and the Ling cultivators explored the Snake Den after the Rock Scale Snake Demon escaped, discovering a Second Grade Middle Rank Spirit Vein. Yang Changxing persuaded the Ling Clan to help occupy it, and Ling Pengyun agreed to guard the site in exchange for Spirit Gathering Pills.

• Yang Changxing burned away the Snake Demon's Protective Yuan Qi with Returning Ruins Flame, but the demon escaped underground using Earth Escape and abandoned its inner core.
• Yang Changxing claimed the inner core under his agreement with Ling Yunhong, and the group agreed to leave the region together before searching the Snake Den.
• Ling Yunhong and Ling Pengyun harvested materials from the dead snakes, then joined Yang Changxing in exploring the den and discovered a Second Grade Middle Rank Spirit Vein.
• Yang Changxing proposed that the Yang and Ling Clans occupy the spirit vein, arguing that arrays, nearby scarcity of demon beasts, and future Hundred Spirits Sect expansion would make the plan viable.
• Ling Yunhong negotiated a forty-percent share for the Ling Clan in exchange for sending a Foundation Establishment cultivator to guard the site, while Yang Changxing offered two Spirit Gathering Pills each year.
• Ling Pengyun agreed to guard the spirit vein, and Ling Yunhong promised him two additional pills annually and the Immortal Spirit Crane King as support.

Yang Changxing, Ling Yunhong, and Ling Pengyun secured the snake den’s spirit vein and developed spirit fields there. They planted the fields’ seeds, while Ling Pengyun prepared to remain at the dangerous site with improved protection.

• Ling Yunhong agreed that the Ling Clan would help occupy the spirit vein and cultivate spirit plants, and Yang Changxing installed an Aura Concealing Array and a Geng Metal Needle Splitting Array.
• Ling Yunhong gave the formation control disks to Ling Pengyun, who was to guard the site; Yang Changxing offered to sell him a Second Grade offensive artifact on credit, and Ling Yunhong approved.
• Ling Yunhong and Ling Pengyun assessed the spirit vein’s remaining energy and planned thirty-five mu of spirit fields, then worked with Yang Changxing to expand and reinforce the snake den.
• Ling Yunhong and Ling Pengyun used the Spirit Nurturing Art to develop fifteen mu each of First Rank Middle Grade and High Grade fields and five mu of Second Rank Low Grade fields.
• Yang Changxing returned from the Yang Clan with seeds and the promised artifact, and Ling Yunhong and Ling Pengyun planted the seeds and watered them with Spirit Rain.

Yang Changxing, Ling Yunhong, and Ling Pengyun lured and killed the Rock Scale Snake Demon that threatened their spirit fields in the Snake Den. Ling Yunhong returned to the clan, while Ling Pengyun and the Immortal Spirit Crane King remained to guard the fields and cultivate.

• Yang Changxing proposed waiting three days before hunting the escaped Snake Demon so Ling Yunhong and Ling Pengyun could recover and Pengyun could refine the Azure Steel Mother-Child Swords.
• Yang Changxing feigned serious injuries to lure the Snake Demon into attacking, then trapped it on an expanse of ice with an Ice Seal Talisman and attacked it with the Returning Ruins Flame.
• Ling Yunhong, Ling Pengyun, and the Immortal Spirit Crane King joined Yang Changxing's assault, exhausted the Snake Demon's spiritual power, and killed it.
• Yang Changxing claimed most of the Snake Demon's corpse to compensate for the Ice Seal Talisman, and Ling Yunhong and Ling Pengyun accepted their smaller share.
• Ling Yunhong and Yang Changxing rested, then returned to their clans, leaving Ling Pengyun and the Immortal Spirit Crane King to guard the Snake Den and tend its thirty-five mu of spirit fields.
• Ling Pengyun planned a daily cultivation schedule, while Ling Yunhong took responsibility for the spirit beasts left on Lingxiao Mountain.

Ling Yunhong reported the Ling Clan’s joint claim of the Snake Den Spirit Vein with the Yang Clan and argued that the clan could eventually resist being pushed out. After the clan meeting, he tested Ling Chengxin’s aptitude for alchemy and artifact refining; four months later, Ling Pengyun’s Thorn Vine reached Qi Training Ninth Layer, and he considered how to obtain a Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object for it.

• Ling Yunhong told the clan elders about the spirit vein agreement with the Yang Clan, then argued that the Ling Clan’s strength and future Stone Spirit Walnuts could let it stand against them.
• Ling Yunhong and Ling Ruxian agreed that Peng Liang would succeed Ling Ruxian as Grand Elder within three years, and they discussed testing Ling Chengxin’s aptitude for alchemy or artifact refining.
• Ling Yunhong gave Ling Chengxin materials and a pill furnace so he could try refining mortal-world pills and ironware.
• Four months later, Ling Pengyun’s Thorn Vine absorbed his Liquid Spiritual Power and advanced to Qi Training Ninth Layer.
• Ling Pengyun estimated the Thorn Vine could reach Qi Training Completion within five years and considered buying Hundred Spirits Water or using the clan’s share of Small Hundred Spirits Water to help it establish its foundation.

Ling Pengyun continued cultivating and refining Golden Scale Inner Armor while Ling Chengxin broke through to the Qi Training Third Layer and raised his Qi Refining Pill success rate to thirty percent. Ling Yunhong praised Ling Chengxin’s progress and gave him ten more sets of pill materials to practice with.

• Ling Pengyun stripped scales and bones from a Qi Training Completion snake killed by the Immortal Spirit Crane King, then successfully refined one of two batches of First Rank High Grade Golden Scale Inner Armor.
• Ling Chengxin broke through to the Qi Training Third Layer and successfully refined two Qi Refining Pills from his first batch of materials, though his next two batches failed.
• Ling Chengxin visited Ling Yunhong and reported that his success rate for refining Qi Refining Pills had reached thirty percent.
• Ling Yunhong had Ling Chengxin refine three more batches; one batch succeeded and produced three pills.
• Ling Yunhong praised Ling Chengxin, returned the pills, gave him ten sets of Qi Refining Pill materials, and began correcting his alchemy mistakes.

Ling Pengxing failed to break through to the second level of Foundation Establishment and focused on mastering his Geng Metal Destruction Sword spell while preparing for the coming Centennial Demon Beast Riot. Six months later, the Ling Clan’s Stone Forest Walnut Tree began advancing its fifty-eight spirit fruits to the Second Rank, and Ling Yunhong intervened to assist them.

• Ling Pengxing failed to break through his Foundation Establishment bottleneck despite months of cultivation and reflected that battle had helped him advance during Qi Training.
• Ling Pengxing stayed away from Serpent Dragon Lake because he feared leaving the Ling Clan exposed ahead of the Centennial Demon Beast Riot.
• Ling Pengxing devoted himself to perfecting the Geng Metal Destruction Sword spell so he could use it as an instant killing move.
• Six months later, the Second Rank Low Grade Stone Forest Walnut Tree absorbed spiritual qi and began advancing its fifty-eight First Rank High Grade walnuts to the Second Rank.
• Ling Yunhong sensed the tree’s breakthrough, hurried to the spirit fields, and used the Spirit Breakthrough Assistance Technique to aid the fifty-eight walnuts.

Ling Yunhong used his two Natal Spirit Plants to help fifty-eight Stone Spirit Walnuts break through, then harvested them after thirty-three reached Second Rank. He left the Second Rank Low Grade tree tended and cast a Fertility Spell on it before leaving the spirit field.

• Ling Yunhong ordered the Ren Water Blue Cloud Grass and Nine Curves Spirit Ginseng to lend Yi Wood Essence to the Stone Spirit Walnut Tree, weakening both plants but helping it refine violent spiritual energy.
• After three days, thirty-three of the fifty-eight Stone Spirit Walnuts had reached Second Rank, while the other twenty-five remained First Rank High Grade without suffering backlash.
• Ling Yunhong celebrated the thirty-three breakthroughs, noting that after giving twenty walnuts to the other four Foundation Establishment Families, he would keep thirteen to aid his cultivation.
• Ling Yunhong harvested all fifty-eight walnuts, stored them in Spirit-Locking Jade Boxes, and used Cloud Rain and Lingxiao Ripening techniques to nourish the tree.
• Ling Yunhong regretted that he had not raised the tree from a seed and cast a Fertility Spell on it before leaving the spirit field.

Ling Yunhong distributed the Stone Spirit Walnuts harvested from the tree and arranged for Ling Pengliang to succeed Ling Ruxian as Grand Elder. He then left to use thirteen Second Rank Low Grade walnuts in secluded cultivation and attempt a breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment Sixth Layer.

• Ling Yunhong told Ling Ruxian that thirty-three of the tree’s fifty-eight walnuts had advanced to the Second Rank and set aside twenty-five First Rank walnuts for the clan.
• Ling Yunhong allocated twenty Second Rank walnuts to the other four Huai River County families and kept the remaining thirteen for his cultivation, charging their cost to his clan account.
• Ling Yunhong appointed Ling Pengliang temporary Grand Elder and granted Ling Ruxian the title of Lifetime Grand Elder with his stipend unchanged.
• Ling Yunhong left for his Cultivation Abode to consume the thirteen walnuts and seek a breakthrough.
• Ling Ruxian warned Ling Pengliang against embezzling clan resources and took him to gather the clan members to witness the handover.

Ling Pengliang smoothly succeeded Ling Ruxian as Grand Elder, while hundreds of thousands of li away the White-Haired Immortal Crane raided a Red Phosphorus Python clan for food. The Red Phosphorus Python King secretly followed the crane to its cave, where it sensed a faint snake-demon aura.

• Ling Ruxian retired and named Ling Pengliang as Grand Elder, and Ling Pengliang’s cultivation silenced the remaining doubters.
• The White-Haired Immortal Crane attacked the Red Phosphorus Demon Pythons, broke through their defenses, and killed a Late-Stage Qi Training python for its meal.
• The Red Phosphorus Python King used Aura Concealment and ordered its uninjured clan members to follow the crane and prepare an ambush.
• The Red Phosphorus Python King tailed the White-Haired Immortal Crane to its cave and sensed a faint aura of a fellow snake demon inside.

Ling Pengyun and the Immortal Spirit Crane King discovered that the Red Phosphorus Python King had followed the crane to their hidden cave, so they attacked it before it could find the spiritual vein. They killed the Python King with the Geng Metal formation, the crane’s feather-arrows, and Ling Pengyun’s flying swords.

• Ling Pengyun detected an aura-concealing Early-Stage Foundation Establishment demon beast approaching the snake den and learned that Xianling had encountered one while hunting.
• Ling Pengyun asked the Immortal Spirit Crane King to fight beside him, and it agreed.
• Ling Pengyun activated the Geng Metal Needle Splitting Array, trapping the Red Phosphorus Python King and piercing its body with golden needles.
• The Immortal Spirit Crane King and Ling Pengyun attacked the wounded Python King with feather-arrows and flying swords, forcing it to defend itself with its Protective Yuan Qi.
• Ling Pengyun summoned the Geng Metal Cloud Splitting Needle, which pierced the Python King's defensive curtain, and the Azure Steel Mother-Child Flying Swords severed its head.

Ling Pengyun and the Immortal Spirit Crane King killed a Foundation Establishment Red Phosphorus Demon Python, then wiped out its unguarded clan and collected their skins. After refining the skins into Gather Fire Daoist Robes, Ling Pengyun planned to sell his artifacts to earn the spirit stones he needed for Hundred Spirits Water and save the Foundation Establishment python’s inner core for pills.

• Ling Pengyun recovered the Red Phosphorus Demon Python’s inner core and divided the corpse with the Immortal Spirit Crane King, keeping the core and scales while the crane took the flesh.
• After learning the slain python was the only Foundation Establishment member of its clan, Ling Pengyun persuaded the Immortal Spirit Crane King to lead him to the clan’s mountain.
• Ling Pengyun and the Immortal Spirit Crane King slaughtered the mountain’s Qi Training Red Phosphorus Fire Pythons and collected their skins and several low-grade spirit plants.
• Ling Pengyun refined the python skins over a month into nine First Rank Low Grade, three First Rank Middle Grade, and one First Rank High Grade Gather Fire Daoist Robes.
• Ling Pengyun planned to sell the robes and his Golden Scale Inner Armors to fund Hundred Spirits Water for the Thorn Vine, while keeping the Foundation Establishment python’s skin and inner core for future refining and pills.

Ling Yunhong broke through to the Foundation Establishment Sixth Layer, collected the clan’s mature Yellow Sprout Grass, and learned that a Centennial Demon Beast Riot might be approaching. After warning Ling Yunfu to prepare the Treasure Pavilion’s supplies, Ling Yunhong continued toward the Snake Den Spirit Vein.

• Ling Yunhong consumed Stone Spirit Walnuts to break through to the Foundation Establishment Sixth Layer and gave one remaining walnut to Ling Pengxing.
• Ling Yunhong received Yang Changxing’s letter and six medium-quality Spirit Gathering Pills, then prepared to harvest the mature Yellow Sprout Grass and deliver Peng Yun’s wages and spirit stones.
• Ling Yunhong encouraged Ling Pengliang to reach Qi Training Completion for a chance to receive Small Hundred Spirits Water and a Meridian Protecting Pill, prompting Ling Pengliang to plan to buy Stone Spirit Walnuts.
• Ling Yunhong visited the Lingxiao Treasure Pavilion and asked Ling Yunfu about the Centennial Demon Beast Riot; Ling Yunfu reported that demon beast herds had recently grown unusually numerous in Serpent Dragon Lake.
• Ling Yunfu gave Ling Yunhong stored herbs for refining Second Rank Low Grade Spirit Gathering Pills and explained that he had begun buying supplies and sending warnings to the clan’s other market-town shops.
• Ling Yunhong urged Ling Yunfu to prepare more supplies and reminded him to have children who could carry on his branch before leaving the pavilion.

Ling Pengyun told Ling Yunhong about the slain Red Phosphorus Fire Python and asked him to refine its inner core into Spirit Gathering Pills. As the Centennial Demon Beast Calamity approached, Ling Yunhong refined four pills, paid Pengyun his accumulated salary, and led him and the Immortal Spirit Crane King back toward the clan.

• Ling Pengyun reported that he and the Immortal Spirit Crane King had killed an Early-Stage Foundation Establishment Red Phosphorus Fire Python, then asked Ling Yunhong to refine its inner core.
• Ling Yunhong agreed to refine the inner core for a share of the pills, and he and Ling Pengyun harvested and replanted the mature Yellow Sprout Grass.
• Ling Yunhong gave Ling Pengyun his three years of salary and rewards, warned that the Centennial Demon Beast Calamity was near, and ordered him to dismantle the Geng Metal Splitting Needle Grand Array before returning to the clan.
• Ling Yunhong used Foundation Establishment True Fire to refine the inner core and supplementary ingredients, producing four Spirit Gathering Pills; he kept one and gave Ling Pengyun the other three.
• Ling Pengyun dismantled the killing formation while Ling Yunhong recovered his spiritual power, then the two left with the Immortal Spirit Crane King and collapsed the snake den's entrance.