Chapter Summaries

Half a year after the Demon Beast Uprising, Zhu Wen improved his Fireball Talisman success rate and used the achievement to secure a chance to make better-paid Fire Arrow Talismans for the Ling Clan. The chapter left him beginning the new work, hoping the earnings and a promised pill would help him advance his cultivation and protect himself.

• Zhu Wen confirmed that he could draw Fireball Talismans with a fifty-percent success rate and submitted forty-five to Ling Ruxian.
• Ling Ruxian checked the courtyard’s recording array and confirmed Zhu Wen’s claim.
• Ling Ruxian offered Zhu Wen one hundred sheets of First Rank Middle Grade talisman paper for Fire Arrow Talismans, promising ten spirit stones for each and warning of a stipend cut if Zhu Wen drew fewer than five.
• Zhu Wen accepted the terms and received the new talisman paper from Ling Ruxian.
• Zhu Wen began drawing Fire Arrow Talismans, hoping to earn enough to advance and eventually claim the Ling Clan’s promised Miasma Breaking Pill.

Ling Yunhong and Ling Ruxian discussed recruiting Zhu Wen and other independent cultivators into the Ling Clan, while keeping the clan’s Dark Ice Spirit Water pool secret. Ling Pengliang failed his Foundation Establishment breakthrough but received treatment and encouragement to try again.

• Ling Ruxian told Ling Yunhong that Zhu Wen’s Fireball Talisman success rate had reached fifty percent, and Ling Yunhong proposed finding him a Ling Clan bride to secure his loyalty.
• Ling Ruxian proposed recruiting independent cultivators as spouses for clan members, and he described using the Shadowless Illusory Movement Formation and Rainbow Cloud Spirit Butterflies to test their character.
• Ling Yunhong revealed that Ling Pengyun had found a Dark Ice Spirit Water pool in Tiger's Roar Liu Clan territory and asked Ling Ruxian to keep it secret.
• After a month and a half in seclusion, Ling Pengliang emerged covered in blood and said his Foundation Establishment attempt had failed.
• Ling Yunhong gave Ling Pengliang a Spring Return Pill, reassured him that the clan would support another attempt, and asked him to resume managing clan affairs after recovering.

Ling Pengyun broke through to the Foundation Establishment Third Layer, then helped his Natal Spirit Plant, Thorn Vine, advance to Foundation Establishment. He used Thorn Vine’s spiritual power and Evergreen Spirit Water to break through again, reaching the Fourth Layer Foundation Establishment.

• Ling Pengyun refined twenty-three bottles of Dark Ice Spirit Water and broke through to the Foundation Establishment Third Layer, gaining divine sense comparable to a Fifth Layer cultivator and spiritual power comparable to a Fourth Layer cultivator.
• After stabilizing his cultivation, Ling Pengyun gave Thorn Vine the Hundred Spirits Water and helped it refine the water and condense its first drop of Liquid Spiritual Power.
• Ling Pengyun guided Thorn Vine through Qi Infusion and its Foundation Establishment breakthrough, increasing its strength, Yi Wood Essence, and intelligence.
• Ling Pengyun had Thorn Vine feed its spiritual power back to him and drank three bottles of hundred-year Evergreen Spirit Water to support his own breakthrough.
• After nearly half a day of assaulting the bottleneck, Ling Pengyun entered the Fourth Layer Foundation Establishment, with spiritual power and divine sense reaching the level of a Foundation Establishment Sixth Layer cultivator.

After the Thorn Vine broke through to Foundation Establishment, Ling Pengyun tested its powerful defensive Wood Armor and considered seeking a second Natal Spirit Plant. He made plans to profit from his improved spirit-farming skills, then spent a month refining demon-beast materials and improved his weapon-refining success rates, bringing him closer to acquiring Mystic Yuan Heavy Iron.

• Ling Pengyun recognized that the Foundation Establishment Thorn Vine could become a strong defensive ally and stored it in his dantian to recover after testing its Wood Armor.
• Ling Pengyun used his Second Rank Spirit Plant Farmer techniques to accelerate growth in the Snake Cave's spirit fields and planned to sell extra harvests to the clan.
• Ling Pengyun cultivated until his progress slowed, then turned to the clan's commission to refine magic items from demon-beast materials.
• Ling Pengyun spent about a month refining several hundred portions of materials, improving his success rates across several types of magic items.
• Ling Pengyun looked forward to earning spirit stones faster so he could obtain Brother-in-law Wu Yan's eighty jin of Mystic Yuan Heavy Iron and make a Lifebound Magic Item.

Ling Pengyun brought the completed batch of magic tools to the Ling Clan’s shop in Tu Yuan Market Town, where Ling Yunfu confirmed he had met the commission and explained that the clan’s veteran weapon refiner, Ling Yun’an, was recovering from injuries. Ling Yunfu offered Ling Pengyun another refinement commission with spirit-stone payment, and the chapter ended with him asking whether Ling Pengyun would accept.

• Ling Pengyun entered Tu Yuan Market Town after registering with a Hundred Spirits Sect Foundation Establishment cultivator at the city wall.
• Ling Pengyun met Liu Qing, Ling Yunfu’s concubine, recognized her as his Tenth Grandma, and gave her a protective jade pendant.
• Ling Pengyun handed Ling Yunfu three Storage Bags containing the refined magic tools, which Ling Yunfu counted and praised as meeting the clan’s required success rate.
• Ling Yunfu told Ling Pengyun that Ling Yun’an’s old injuries had flared up from overwork, but that healing medicines were helping him recover in seclusion.
• Ling Yunfu offered Ling Pengyun materials for refining First Grade Middle Rank and First Rank High Grade magic tools, promising spirit-stone payment and asking whether he was willing to take the commission.

Ling Pengyun agreed to refine magical artifacts for the clan and learned about a new Golden Core Demon Beast before returning to the Rock Scale Snake Den. A month later, the Ling Clan learned of an ownerless Sand Soil Mine and decided to contest it against the Falling Dusk Luo Clan and Tiger's Roar Liu Clan, leaving Ling Yunhong and Ling Pengxing to set out first while reinforcements were assembled.

• Ling Pengyun accepted Ling Yunfu's offer to refine magical artifacts, attended a welcoming feast, and heard that a fire python in Serpent Dragon Lake had become a Golden Core Demon Beast.
• Ling Pengyun learned that Liu Qing was pregnant, then bought materials for ten inner armor magical artifacts and returned to the Rock Scale Snake Den.
• Ling Pengliang received news that the Falling Dusk Luo Clan and Tiger's Roar Liu Clan were disputing ownership of an ownerless First Rank High Grade Sand Soil Mine.
• Ling Yunhong and Ling Pengxing agreed with Ling Pengliang to claim the mine for the Ling Clan, whose four Foundation Establishment combat forces gave it a strong position.
• Ling Yunhong ordered Ling Pengliang to gather clan reinforcements and summon Ling Pengyun and the Immortal Spirit Crane King, then departed with Ling Pengxing.
• Ling Pengliang began preparing for the expedition, hoping the mine's profits would eventually fund a Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object for him.

Ling Pengyun arrived at the Sand Soil Mine and learned that Huai River County’s five great families would divide its enormous reserves through a martial duel. With the contest beginning, Ling Yunhong stepped forward to lead the Ling Clan’s bid for first place.

• Yang Mingtian asked Yang Changxing whether the Yang Clan should seize the mine, but Yang Changxing refused because it lay in Huai River County and the clan was ill-suited to using its ore.
• Ling Ruxian sent Ling Pengyun to support the Ling Clan members at the mine, and Ling Pengyun traveled there with the Immortal Spirit Crane King and Wind Shadow Peng.
• Ling Yunhong recognized that Ling Pengyun had reached Foundation Establishment Fourth Layer after his Thorn Vine advanced to the Second Rank and praised the benefits this would bring the clan.
• Ling Yunhong explained that the five Huai River County families had agreed to divide the mine by a best-of-three martial duel and sell three portions to the Hundred Spirits Sect.
• Ling Yunhong told Ling Pengyun that the mine held at least 120,000 jin of ore, while the Hundred Spirits Sect had claimed thirty percent and would arrange protection for it.
• Five days later, the five families gathered for the martial duel, and Ling Yunhong stepped forward first to challenge the Falling Dusk Luo Clan for first place.

Ling Yunhong challenged Luo Minghui in the mine competition, but Luo Minghui secretly tried to kill him after gaining the upper hand. Ling Pengyun and Ling Pengxing tried to intervene, only to be blocked by Luo Minghui’s family, and Ling Pengyun appealed to the Wen, Wang, and Liu Clans for help.

• Luo Minghui accepted Ling Yunhong’s challenge while resolving that the Ling Clan’s rising strength had to be checked.
• Ling Yunhong unleashed his sword techniques, but Luo Minghui defended with his Small Flame Fire Annihilation Formation and counterattacked with the Crimson Flame Sword.
• Ling Yunhong broke through Luo Minghui’s formation with the Nine Stars Needles and used a Spirit Burst Pill to strengthen his attacks, but Luo Minghui destroyed Ling Yunhong’s Golden Cloud Shield.
• Ling Yunhong admitted defeat, but Luo Minghui ignored him and continued attacking with killing intent.
• Ling Pengyun and Ling Pengxing rushed to help Ling Yunhong, but Li Xia and Luo Qiuming blocked them.
• Ling Pengyun called on the Wen, Wang, and Liu Clans to stop the Luo Clan from violating the duel’s rules.

Ling Pengyun challenged Luo Qiuming after Luo Minghui nearly killed Ling Yunhong, and the two Foundation Establishment cultivators fought over the Sand Soil Mine. Ling Pengyun survived Luo Qiuming’s hidden Purple Star Long Awl and destroyed one of his array flags, leaving Luo Qiuming injured and his formation weakened.

• Wen Xianyun and Wang Changming joined Liu Daozhou in stopping Luo Minghui from killing the surrendered Ling Yunhong, who returned to his clan with a damaged magic shield and lingering injuries.
• Ling Yunhong warned Ling Pengyun and Ling Peng Xing to show no mercy in their duels with the Luo Clan, and Ling Pengyun challenged Luo Qiuming.
• Luo Qiuming used his Yellow Sand Erosion Grand Array against Ling Pengyun’s Azure Spirit Sword formation, water serpents, and Azure Steel Mother-Child Flying Swords.
• Luo Qiuming launched the hidden Purple Star Long Awl, but Ling Pengyun blocked it with defensive spells and the Mixed Rock Shield, then knocked it beyond Luo Qiuming’s control.
• Ling Pengyun used the Melt Word Swordplay Secret to combine his attacks and destroy one of Luo Qiuming’s array flags, injuring Luo Qiuming and weakening the Yellow Sand Erosion Grand Array.

Ling Pengyun and Ling Pengxing defeated the Luo Clan in the martial duel, securing first place for the Ling Clan in the Sand Soil Mine shares. After the clans settled their rankings, the Ling Clan leaders discussed refining the ore and using the clan’s spirit stones to strengthen Ling Yunhong’s magic item.

• Ling Pengyun destroyed three of Luo Qiuming’s lifebound array flags before Luo Qiuming personally conceded, and Ling Pengxing then defeated Li Xia to win the duel for the Ling Clan.
• The Liu, Wang, and Wen Clans declined to challenge the Ling Clan, while the clans ranked the Ling Clan first, the Luo Clan second, the Liu Clan third, the Wang Clan fourth, and the Wen Clan fifth.
• Ling Yunhong told Ling Pengyun that he would be entrusted with refining much of the Ling Clan’s share of Sand Soil Ore, and urged him to broaden his weapon-refining skills.
• Ling Yunhong proposed spending the Ling Clan’s eight thousand spirit stones from the mine shares on a defensive magic item and materials to improve his Icy Cold Azure Sea Flying Sword, and Ling Pengyun, Ling Pengxing, and Ling Yunqian agreed.

Ling Pengyun returned to the Ling Clan after helping secure a share of the Sand Soil Mine, then resumed guarding the Rock Scale Snake Den. When Yang Siling emerged from seclusion, she arranged for him to meet three Foundation Establishment female cultivators, and he traveled to the Hundred Spirits Sect to meet them.

• Ling Yunhong agreed to send Ling Xiao Hua to supervise the Sand Soil Mine, and the Hundred Spirits Sect installed mining puppets and a defensive array before departing.
• Ling Pengyun escorted the Ling Clan's spirit stones and clansmen home, then returned to the Rock Scale Snake Den, where Ling Ruxian handed over the formation plate and left to join Ling Yun'an.
• A year later, Zhang Yan delivered Yang Siling's letter telling Ling Pengyun she had recovered and arranged introductions with three Foundation Establishment female cultivators.
• Ling Yunhong approved of the matchmaking and arranged for himself to guard the Snake Den while Ling Pengyun traveled to the Hundred Spirits Sect.
• Ling Pengyun reached the Hundred Spirits Mountain Range on the Wind Shadow Peng and passed through the sect's patrols to arrive at its mountain gate.

Ling Pengyun visited the Hundred Spirits Sect to meet potential Dao Companions, but his first meeting with Pei Xue ended when she insisted on remaining with the sect after marriage. He declined to meet the other candidates, then learned that Yang Siling’s cultivation foundation had been damaged by a childbirth secret technique.

• Yu Fu tried to bribe Ling Pengyun for help obtaining a better assignment, but Ling Pengyun refused and went to visit Yang Siling.
• Yang Siling and her family showed Ling Pengyun recordings of three Foundation Establishment female cultivators, and he asked to meet them.
• Pei Xue met Ling Pengyun and said she would marry him only if she could remain in the Hundred Spirits Sect to pursue cultivation; Ling Pengyun declined the match.
• Ling Pengyun asked Yang Siling to stop arranging further meetings, and she arranged for him to stay in a guest room.
• Ling Pengyun privately asked Yang Siling about her condition, and she revealed that her damaged foundation would likely keep her at Early-Stage Foundation Establishment for life.

Ling Pengyun visited Spirit Plant Hall to reunite with Yan Cang and exchange insights on spirit plants, then met Yan Cang’s granddaughter Yan Siyi, a skilled Spirit Chef. After more than ten days of discussion, Ling Pengyun asked Yan Cang for help with another matter, leaving his request unknown.

• Ling Pengyun reached Spirit Plant Hall and used Yan Cang’s token to arrange a meeting with the Hall Master.
• Yan Cang welcomed Ling Pengyun, discussed their progress in improving spirit rice, and took him to his private residence.
• Ling Pengyun met Yan Siyi, Yan Cang’s Foundation Establishment granddaughter, while she prepared spirit food, and shared a meal with them.
• Ling Pengyun and Yan Cang exchanged insights on spirit plants and spirit rice for more than ten days while Yan Siyi cleared the meal.
• Ling Pengyun thanked Yan Cang for the discussion, then revealed that he had come to seek help with another matter.

Ling Pengyun asked Yan Cang to find Ren Water Blue Cloud Grass seeds for his second Natal Spirit Plant, but the Hundred Spirits Sect had none available. After selling Yan Siyi Foundation Establishment demon beast meat, Ling Pengyun left the sect, while Yan Cang warned his granddaughter against accumulating favors and considered finding her a dao companion.

• Ling Pengyun asked Yan Cang to reserve Ren Water Blue Cloud Grass seeds for him, and Yan Cang promised to set some aside if any appeared.
• Yan Siyi bought a thousand jin of Ling Pengyun's Foundation Establishment demon beast meat, but Yan Cang stopped her from asking him to reserve more.
• Yan Cang warned Yan Siyi about owing favors and told her to focus on cultivation until she reached the Middle-Stage Foundation Establishment.
• After Yan Siyi entered seclusion, Yan Cang considered finding her a reliable dao companion before leaving to tend the spirit plants.
• Ling Pengyun stayed in the Hundred Spirits Sect for two more days with his mother, then left while Yang Qiuyun and Zhao Hong'e remained to help care for Little Wu Hong.

Zhu Wen raised his Fire Arrow Talisman success rate to thirty percent and earned an additional monthly outing from the Ling Clan. During his visit to Ling Xiaoying, he gave her a valuable birthday gift, and Ling Yunhan urged her daughter to consider accepting his affection.

• Zhu Wen told Ling Pengliang that his Fire Arrow Talisman success rate had reached thirty percent and agreed to accept commissions from the Ling Clan.
• Zhu Wen asked Ling Pengliang for another chance to leave his courtyard, and Ling Pengliang granted him two outings per month.
• Zhu Wen visited Ling Xiaoying in the Spirit Beast Garden, told her about his increased freedom, and gave her a First Rank Middle Grade hairpin as a belated birthday present.
• Zhu Wen cleaned demon beast dung while Ling Xiaoying fed the Gale Wolves, then returned to his courtyard when his outing ended.
• Ling Xiaoying discovered the hairpin's value and considered returning it, but Ling Yunhan stopped her and encouraged her to accept Zhu Wen as a potential dao companion.

Ling Xiaoying and Zhu Wen married after Ling Pengyun and Yang Qiuyun approved their union, while the Ling Clan strengthened its ties with the Wen Clan and Ling Pengxing set out to hunt demon beasts. At the Rock Scale Snake Den, Ling Pengyun harvested Yellow Sprout Grass, improved a new spirit rice seed, and received payment from Ling Yunhong.

• Ling Xiaoying asked Ling Pengyun and Yang Qiuyun for their views on Zhu Wen, and both approved; she and Zhu Wen became a couple and married.
• The Ling Clan and Wen Clan matched cultivators into couples, and the Ling Clan welcomed more than ten independent cultivators while assigning them simple work.
• Ling Pengxing broke through to the Foundation Establishment Third Layer, gained Ling Yunhong's permission to hunt demon beasts near Serpent Dragon Lake, and received an escort for part of the journey.
• Ling Pengyun harvested his second batch of Yellow Sprout Grass and calculated that his earnings could help him buy Mystic Yuan Heavy Iron from Wu Yan.
• Ling Pengyun combined the Yi Wood Essence of Autumn Cloud Spirit Rice and Azure Jade Spirit Rice with help from his Thorn Vine, creating a new spirit rice seed.
• Ling Yunhong collected the Yellow Sprout Grass, paid Ling Pengyun two thousand spirit stones, and gave him six Spirit Gathering Pills.

Ling Pengyun’s Azure Cloud Spirit Rice matured successfully, and he created the Azure Cloud Secret Method to produce its seeds reliably before planting a test field. After traveling to Tu Yuan Market Town to sell refined magical artifacts, he encountered Yan Siyi returning from the Serpent Dragon Lake region with an injured group and worried about her safety.

• Ling Pengyun watched his Azure Cloud Spirit Rice ancestor plant mature and judged its spiritual energy and yield superior to Azure Jade Spirit Rice.
• Ling Pengyun named the new variety Azure Cloud Spirit Rice and created the Azure Cloud Secret Method, confirming it reliably improved Autumn Cloud Spirit Rice and Azure Jade Spirit Rice seeds.
• Ling Pengyun planted one mu of Azure Cloud Spirit Rice to test its yield before reporting the variety to the Ling Clan.
• Ling Pengyun traveled to Tu Yuan Market Town and noticed the market held far more cultivators than usual.
• Yan Siyi arrived with four Hundred Spirits Sect cultivators, several of them battered and one seriously injured, and Ling Pengyun asked whether Yan Cang knew she had gone to the Serpent Dragon Lake region.

Ling Pengyun met Yan Siyi and her companions in Tu Yuan Market Town, then agreed to help them hunt three Black Armor Turtle Demons. He also realized that the Hundred Spirits Sect was gathering strength around a coming struggle over the Evergreen Spirit Fruit, leaving the sect and its territory vulnerable.

• Yan Siyi explained that her grandfather had sent her to Tu Yuan Market Town to gain combat experience and strengthen her foundation by hunting demon beasts.
• Yan Siyi introduced Ling Pengyun to Li Chuan, Qin Shi, Xue Chao, and Ye Yu, whose influential connections shaped their cautious and friendly reactions to him.
• Yan Siyi asked Ling Pengyun to join her group in hunting a Late-Stage Foundation Establishment Black Armor Turtle Demon, two Middle-Stage Foundation Establishment turtle demons, and their Qi Training followers.
• Yan Siyi explained that most of the Hundred Spirits Sect's Foundation Establishment cultivators had left Tu Yuan Market Town and offered Ling Pengyun one Middle-Stage Foundation Establishment demon core for his help.
• Ling Pengyun inferred that Spirit Array True Person Mo had withdrawn cultivators to secure the Evergreen Spirit Fruit for his grandson and shielded Yan Siyi and her companions from the sect's coming turmoil.
• Ling Pengyun accepted Yan Siyi's invitation, agreeing to help hunt the turtle demons this once.

Ling Pengyun joined Yan Siyi and her companions in a hunt for three Foundation Establishment Black Armored Turtles, then traveled with them to Serpent Dragon Lake after Xue Chao recovered enough to fight. The group engaged the turtles, with Ling Pengyun holding off the two weaker demons while Qin Shi trapped them on the ice and attacked the strongest one.

• Yan Siyi and her companions agreed to hunt the three Black Armored Turtles with Ling Pengyun, and they scheduled the expedition for half a month later so Xue Chao could recover.
• Ling Pengyun returned to Tu Yuan Market Town at the appointed time, and the group chose to proceed despite Xue Chao having only eighty percent of his strength.
• Qin Shi led the group deep into Serpent Dragon Lake territory, where he used a Second Rank Aura Concealment Array to hide their auras while they rested.
• The group approached the turtles' lake, and the three Black Armored Turtles surfaced and attacked them with enormous water balls.
• Ling Pengyun used his Azure Steel Mother-Child Flying Swords and Water Snake Techniques to counter the water balls and hold off the two Middle-Stage turtles.
• Qin Shi used a white jade bottle to freeze the lake, then attacked the Late-Stage turtle with his iron staff, cracking its shell after it withdrew its head.

Qin Shi, Zhang Chuan, Xue Chao, Yan Siyi, and Ye Yu killed three Black Armored Turtle demons with Ling Pengyun’s help, then agreed to search the clan’s lake nest before returning to Tu Yuan Market Town. The group began diving into the lake in search of treasure.

• Zhang Chuan, Xue Chao, Yan Siyi, and Ye Yu used powerful magic items and talisman formations to help Qin Shi kill the Late-Stage Foundation Establishment turtle demon while Ling Pengyun held off two others.
• After Ye Yu’s Purple Star Long Awl broke the demon’s Protective Yuan Qi, Qin Shi and the others killed it, then joined Ling Pengyun to slay the remaining two Middle-Stage Foundation Establishment turtles.
• Qin Shi gave Ling Pengyun the inner core of one turtle, and the group divided the three corpses for storage.
• Yan Siyi, Zhang Chuan, Xue Chao, and Ye Yu favored returning to Tu Yuan Market Town after searching the nest, so Qin Shi agreed to their plan.
• Yan Siyi promised Ling Pengyun and the others second-rank spirit-food feasts if her cooking skills advanced, and Qin Shi removed the ice covering the lake.
• Qin Shi, Ling Pengyun, Yan Siyi, and the others cast water shields and followed Qin Shi underwater to search the Black Armored Turtle nest.