Chapter Summaries

Ling Pengyun learned that a Qi Refining Demon Serpent in Azure Stone Lake had killed several villagers and guards, then found no sign of it around the lake. He agreed to help lure it out with Ling Dong and stayed in the village while they prepared.

• Ling Pengyun cleared weeds from his Spirit Fields and expected his spirit plants to mature within two months.
• Ling Dong told Ling Pengyun that a Demon Serpent in Azure Stone Lake had killed villagers and two Lingxiao Guards.
• Ling Pengyun searched the lakeshore with his Divine Sense but found no trace of the Demon Serpent and suspected it had emerged from the lake’s Underground River.
• Ling Pengyun proposed using children to lure the Demon Serpent out, but Ling Dong volunteered to serve as bait instead.
• Ling Pengyun postponed the plan for two days, asked Ling Dong to warn the villagers, and agreed to stay at Ling Dong’s home.

Ling Pengyun and Ling Dong lured the Azure Scale Water Python into an ambush at Azure Stone Lake, where Ling Pengyun wounded it with his sword and three Fire Arrow Talismans. The serpent escaped into the lake, and Ling Pengyun resolved to pursue it despite the danger.

• Ling Pengyun had Ling Dong pretend to fish in Azure Stone Lake while he hid nearby, waiting for the Demon Serpent to appear.
• Ling Dong spotted a shadow approaching and kept fishing until Ling Pengyun’s Black Iron Flying Sword struck the serpent’s head.
• Ling Pengyun trapped the Azure Scale Water Python with Ice Spikes, but it broke free and attacked him with a water arrow.
• Ling Pengyun used three Fire Arrow Talismans and his Black Iron Flying Sword to inflict grave wounds on the serpent.
• The Azure Scale Water Python escaped into the depths of Azure Stone Lake, and Ling Pengyun decided to pursue it despite the risk.

Ling Pengyun tracked the wounded Azure Scale Water Python through an underground river and killed it after drawing it out of its nest. He then turned his attention to the nest, where faint spiritual qi suggested it might hold a treasure or Spirit Vein.

• Ling Pengyun followed the Black Iron Flying Sword’s aura into the underground river beneath Azure Stone Lake, suspecting the Azure Scale Water Python had escaped through it.
• Ling Pengyun found the sword’s aura and a blood-scented hole in a cliff wall, and detected faint spiritual qi coming from the Python’s likely nest.
• Ling Pengyun protected himself with two Water Shields and fired a Water Thorn into the nest, provoking the Azure Scale Water Python to emerge.
• Ling Pengyun struck the charging Python with water spells and recalled the Black Iron Sword to attack alongside them.
• Ling Pengyun killed the Python with repeated Water Thorn attacks, lamented that its ruined hide and scales could no longer be made into a Daoist Robe, and looked toward its nest.

Ling Pengyun discovered a rich Mystic Water Iron Mine in the Azure Scale Water Python’s nest and chose to report it to the Ling Clan rather than spend years mining it himself. After killing the serpent and securing Azure Stone Village and his mountain, he hurried to Lingxiao Mountain to notify the lineage in person.

• Ling Pengyun explored the serpent’s nest and found a vein of Mystic Water Iron Ore extending throughout the area he could sense.
• Ling Pengyun weighed keeping the mine’s profits against the time it would cost him and decided to report the discovery to the Ling Clan.
• Ling Pengyun collected a hundred jin of ore and left the nest with the Azure Scale Water Python’s corpse.
• Ling Pengyun reassured the villagers that the serpent was dead, rewarded Ling Dong with five jin of its flesh and blood, and ordered stronger patrols.
• Ling Pengyun froze the serpent’s corpse, watered his Spirit Fields, activated the mountain’s protective formation, and set out for Lingxiao Mountain to report the mine.

Ling Pengyun returned to Lingxiao Mountain and reported a Mystic Water Iron Mine near Azure Stone Mountain to Ling Yunhong. After investigating it, Ling Yunhong discovered that it was a rich small-scale vein, leaving the Ling Clan with a major opportunity and Ling Pengyun expecting a share of the profits.

• Ling Pengyun returned from Azure Stone Mountain and privately told Ling Ruda and Ling Yunhong that he had found a Mystic Water Iron Mine.
• Ling Yunhong examined Ling Pengyun’s ore sample, believed his report, and hurried with him to investigate the mine.
• Ling Yunhong and Ling Pengyun rode an Immortal Spirit Crane King to Azure Stone Lake and entered the mine through the Azure Scale Water Python’s nest.
• Ling Yunhong surveyed the vein and found it extended more than four hundred and eighty zhang, with enough ore to yield nearly eight or nine thousand jin of Mystic Water Iron.
• Ling Yunhong asked whether Ling Pengyun expected ten percent of the mine’s profits, and Ling Pengyun nodded.

Ling Yunhong rewarded Ling Pengyun for discovering a Mystic Water Iron Mine, promising him a chance at a Foundation Establishment Pill or other support, and warned him to keep the mine secret. Ling Pengyun returned to Azure Stone Mountain and found his neglected spirit plants suffering from water shortage.

• Ling Yunhong praised Ling Pengyun for reporting the mine and promised him a Foundation Establishment Pill if he reached Qi Training Completion before Ling Pengxing, or other aid if he did not.
• Ling Pengyun accepted the promise, while privately doubting that he could surpass Ling Pengxing.
• Ling Yunhong warned Ling Pengyun to keep the mine secret from rival families and said he would return after consulting the clan elders.
• Ling Yunhong and Ling Pengyun left the mine, parted at Azure Stone Lake, and Ling Pengyun returned to Azure Stone Mountain.
• Ling Pengyun inspected his six mu of Spirit Fields and realized that the Yellow Jade Spirit Rice and other spirit plants had suffered after going nearly three days without Spirit Rain.

Ling Pengyun harvested the Azure Scale Water Python’s valuable remains and used its meat to aid his cultivation. Meanwhile, Ling Yunhong proposed trading part of the Ling Clan’s newly discovered Mystic Water Iron Mine to the Hundred Spirits Sect for powerful inheritance, leaving the clan elders to consider how to secure the opportunity.

• Ling Pengyun watered and tended the spirit fields before returning to his cave and dissecting the frozen Azure Scale Water Python.
• Ling Pengyun salvaged the python’s blood, hide, bones, fangs, and gallbladder, then fed its unused organs to the Yellow-Feathered Sparrow, which had advanced to the Innate Sixth Layer.
• Ling Pengyun ate the python meat with spirit rice and repeatedly refined the spiritual energy to strengthen his cultivation.
• Ling Yunhong summoned Ling Ruda, Ling Ruxian, and Ling Yunxi and told them that Ling Pengyun had found a Mystic Water Iron Mine stretching more than four hundred and eighty zhang.
• Ling Ruxian urged Ling Yunhong to guard the mine against rival lineages, while Ling Yunhong proposed trading part of its profits to the Hundred Spirits Sect for valuable cultivation and crafting inheritances.

The Ling Clan decided to trade part of its Mystic Water Iron mine to the Hundred Spirits Sect for valuable hundred arts inheritances and a gold-aspected Foundation Establishment technique. Ling Ruxian arrived at Azure Stone Mountain to guard the mine and explained the plan to Ling Pengyun.

• Ling Ruda agreed that the Ling Clan should exchange mine ore for rare inheritances and a Foundation Establishment cultivation technique, noting Peng Xing’s future potential.
• Ling Yunhong proposed obtaining a gold-aspected technique to suit Peng Xing and complement the clan’s Sword Formation, and Ling Ruxian and Ling Yunxi agreed to trade part of the mine.
• The clan meeting ended, and Ling Yunhong and Ling Ruxian departed Lingxiao Mountain in different directions.
• Ling Pengyun stopped cultivating when he heard an Immortal Spirit Crane and found that Ling Ruxian had arrived instead of Ling Yunhong.
• Ling Ruxian told Ling Pengyun that Ling Yunhong was traveling to the Hundred Spirits Sect to arrange the exchange and that he had come to guard the mine; Ling Pengyun accepted his advice about strengthening the clan’s long-term foundation.

Ling Ruxian gave Ling Pengyun the Earthly Fiend Sword Formation sword formula after learning how powerful his divine sense was, binding the gift to a promise to protect the Ling Clan. Ling Pengyun began studying the incomplete formula and considered how his Nameless Daoist Scripture and Thorn Vine might help him keep pace with Third Brother.

• Ling Ruxian learned that Ling Pengyun's divine sense could cover sixty-five zhang and explained that it was nearly strong enough to cultivate the Earthly Fiend Sword Formation.
• Ling Ruxian gave Ling Pengyun the sword formula manual after Ling Pengyun vowed to protect the Ling Clan for life.
• Ling Pengyun led Ling Ruxian unseen into the Mystic Water Iron Mine beneath Azure Stone Lake, where Ling Ruxian stayed to guard the vein.
• Ling Pengyun returned to his cave and read that the incomplete manual contained only the first four levels of the Earthly Fiend Sword Formation, which could command twelve flying swords.
• Ling Pengyun struggled to understand the sword formula and reflected that his Nameless Daoist Scripture and Thorn Vine might help him keep up with Third Brother.

Ling Pengyun added sword-art study to his crowded cultivation routine while Azure Stone Village celebrated its first rice harvest with a feast. The village later sold much of its grain and used the proceeds to buy livestock, fish fry, fruit trees, and supplies for winter and future growth.

• Ling Pengyun resolved to work hard at cultivation and began comprehending sword art every day alongside his other duties.
• After the villagers harvested their rice, Ling Dong proposed an annual Harvest Festival and announced that the village would provide more than ten thousand jin of beast meat for the feast.
• More than three thousand villagers celebrated through the night at a feast featuring hundreds of tables and eighteen dishes each.
• The villagers dried the harvested grain, then Ling Dong led the Lingxiao Guard and a large convoy carrying nearly one hundred thousand jin of rice to Xia Zhi Town to sell it.
• The convoy returned with money and supplies, and the village used most of its earnings to purchase young cattle and sheep, fish fry, fruit tree saplings, and vegetable seeds.

Ling Pengyun assessed his ripening Yellow Jade Spirit Rice and calculated that his mine dividends would not be enough to buy a Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object, so he resolved to advance as a Spirit Plant Farmer. On the winter solstice, Ling Ruguo arrived to harvest the spirit plants, and Ling Pengyun saw how badly his Third Grandfather’s cultivation and health had declined.

• Ling Pengyun inspected the Yellow Jade Spirit Rice and estimated that each mu would yield around nine hundred jin, bringing him a future dividend.
• Ling Pengyun calculated that his Mystic Water Iron Mine dividends would arrive too slowly to fund a second-rate Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object before he turned sixty, so he decided to pursue greater earnings as a Spirit Plant Farmer.
• Ling Pengyun increased the spiritual power he used to nourish the injured Thorn Vine, hoping to restore it and raise its cultivation to the Qi Training Middle Stage.
• On the winter solstice, Ling Ruguo rode an Immortal Spirit Crane to Azure Stone Mountain to harvest its ripened spirit plants.
• Ling Pengyun noticed that Ling Ruguo’s cultivation had fallen to the Qi Training Middle Stage and worried that his one-hundred-and-ten-year-old Third Grandfather had little time left.

Ling Pengyun received New Year supplies and money from the Ling Clan, including a large gift from his parents that made him worry about their sacrifices for his cultivation. After helping harvest spirit plants on Azure Stone Mountain, he sold his share of Yellow Jade Spirit Rice to the clan and received thirty-eight spirit stones.

• Ling Ruguo gave Ling Pengyun his New Year provisions, his parents' one hundred spirit stones and six Azure Silk Spirit Peaches, plant seeds, Exploding Poison Pearls, and Antidote Pills.
• Ling Pengyun realized his parents had given up much of their own yearly stipends to support him and felt longing and concern for them.
• Ling Ruguo and Ling Pengyun harvested Yellow Jade Spirit Rice, Qi Training Grass, and Sword Star Grass from six mu of Spirit Fields.
• Ling Ruguo measured the harvest and told Ling Pengyun that his share was one hundred and eighty-eight jin of Yellow Jade Spirit Rice.
• Ling Pengyun sold his rice share to the clan for thirty-eight spirit stones and gave the rice stalks to the clan's Mountain-Opening Oxen.

Ling Pengyun planted the clan’s spirit seeds and resumed nourishing his recovered Thorn Vine, while Ling Dong considered finding a wife and returning his branch to the clan mountain. On the first day of the new year, Ling Pengyun began testing Azure Stone Village’s children for spirit roots.

• Ling Pengyun planted seeds across his six mu of spirit fields, cast Spirit Rain over them, and returned to his cave to refine the Yellow Sprout Pill’s remaining medicinal power.
• Ling Ruguo visited Ling Dong, urged him to marry and have a child with spirit roots, then continued on his journey; Ling Dong watched him leave and longed for his branch to return to the clan mountain.
• Ling Pengyun’s Thorn Vine recovered from its injuries, allowing him to resume nourishing it with spiritual energy.
• On the first day of the new year, Ling Pengyun opened the spirit-root testing at Azure Stone Mountain’s Ancestral Hall.
• Ling Pengyun checked the first child’s age, placed the Spirit Root Testing Stone against his hand, and began testing for spirit roots.

Ling Pengyun tested Azure Stone Village’s children and found that Ling Shan possessed a spirit root. After Ling Yunhui brought another spirit-rooted child, Ling Qing, to the village, he confirmed Ling Shan’s talent and told Pengyun that the clan would reward him; then he shared troubling news about Ling Ruguo’s injuries.

• Ling Pengyun tested more than two hundred children before the Spirit Root Testing Stone reacted to Ling Shan.
• Ling Pengyun told Ling Shan’s parents their son would leave for the clan mountain, and Ling Yunhui arrived with Ling Qing from Xia Zhi Town.
• Ling Yunhui retested Ling Shan, confirmed his spirit root, and praised Ling Pengyun for finding him.
• Ling Pengyun said he would give Ling Shan half of the clan’s reward, and Ling Yunhui reported that Ling Ruguo had lost most of his cultivation after a battle with a Peng bird.

Ling Peng Yun secured his sprouted spirit plants with the help of a subdued Gray-Feathered Peng Bird, while Ling Yunhong finalized a deal with the Hundred Spirits Sect over the Mystic Water Iron Mine. The mine was protected by a Second-Order formation, and Ling Ruxian remained to guard it and oversee mining.

• Ling Peng Yun captured and subdued a Gray-Feathered Peng Bird to help the Yellow-Feathered Sparrow guard the sprouted spirit plants on Azure Stone Mountain.
• Ling Yunhong brought Zhang Li to inspect the Mystic Water Iron Mine, where Ling Ruxian met them.
• After confirming the mine’s size, Zhang Li and Ling Yunhong signed a contract exchanging fifty thousand jin of Mystic Water Iron Ore for four inheritances, while the Hundred Spirits Sect lent the Ling Clan ten mining puppets.
• Zhang Li secretly took ore while installing the Second-Order Low-Grade Water Accumulation Curtain Formation, but Ling Yunhong confronted him and secured his promise to treat the Ling Clan well.
• Ling Yunhong gave Ling Ruxian the formation disk, mining puppets, and five hundred Spirit Stones, and Ling Ruxian agreed to continue guarding the mine.

Ling Yunhong reported that the Ling Clan had acquired several hundred arts inheritances from the Hundred Spirits Sect and selected Peng Lin as an array formation seedling. With no suitable weapon refining candidate, Ling Yunhong proposed training Ling Pengyun, leaving the decision to Pengyun himself.

• Ling Pengyun met Ling Yunhong and Ling Ruxian at Azure Stone Lake, then discussed the Earthly Fiend Swordplay Secret with Ling Ruxian for several hours.
• Ling Yunhong told Ling Ruda and Ling Yunxi that the Ling Clan had exchanged fifty thousand jin of Mystic Water Iron Ore for a Second Rank Alchemy Inheritance, a First Rank Weapon Refining Inheritance, a First-Order Array Master Inheritance, and the Geng Metal Sword Classic.
• Ling Yunhong approved Ling Yunxi's recommendation of Peng Lin as the clan's array formation seedling, provided she reached First Rank Low Grade before turning eighteen.
• Ling Ruda reported that Xiao Hua was the only apparent weapon refining candidate, but his limited talent and age made him unsuitable as a key seedling.
• Ling Yunhong proposed training Ling Pengyun in weapon refining, arguing that his comprehension and Divine Sense made him a strong candidate and that the clan needed another Weapon Refiner.
• Ling Ruda reluctantly agreed to the proposal on the condition that Ling Pengyun would not be forced if he refused.

After rumors about Azure Stone Lake brought outside cultivators to investigate, Ling Yunhong urged Ling Pengyun to become the Ling Clan’s next weapon refiner. Ling Pengyun accepted the challenge and resolved to master weapon refinement to earn resources for his cultivation.

• Ling Dong ordered Azure Stone Village witnesses to keep the Azure Stone Lake anomaly secret, but a few villagers sold information to outsiders and were executed after causing trouble.
• Cultivators from other Foundation Establishment Families investigated Azure Stone Lake, and Ling Ruxian killed several infiltrators before revealing the spirit iron mine and Hundred Spirits Sect’s share of its rights.
• Ling Yunhong told Ling Pengyun that the clan needed him to replace Ling Yun An as a weapon refiner and promised the clan’s support if he agreed.
• Ling Pengyun weighed the risk of dividing his time between cultivation and weapon refinement, then agreed to pursue two of the Hundred Arts.
• Ling Yunhong gave Ling Pengyun weapon-refinement inheritances, materials, a furnace, and recordings, and set a test for him to refine a magic artifact after six months of study.
• Ling Pengyun resolved to succeed at weapon refinement so he could earn cultivation resources and reach Qi Training Completion before age sixty.

Ling Pengyun studied the Lingxiao Refining Treasure Tome and prepared to learn artifact refinement, encouraged by his strong comprehension and the supplies Ling Yunhong had provided. After refining the Black Flame Refining Furnace, he began practicing by making mundane farming tools and planned to use the remaining Mortal Iron to supply Azure Stone Village.

• Ling Pengyun memorized and studied the Lingxiao Vessel Fusion Method and Sharpness Spirit Inscription, estimating he could grasp both within half a year.
• He examined Ling Yunhong's Refining Furnace, Kindling Wood, Mortal Iron, and Image Recording Discs, then began refining the Black Flame Refining Furnace while following his packed daily schedule.
• On the tenth day, Ling Pengyun finished refining the Black Flame Refining Furnace and replaced his furnace practice time with practice making mundane tools.
• He followed Ling Yunhong's recorded method to melt Mortal Iron and shape it into a sturdy hoe, then refined several kitchen knives, sickles, and other farming tools.

Ling Pengyun began his first attempt to refine a magical artifact under Ling Yunhong’s guidance after demonstrating his progress in weapon refinement. His first Azure Bamboo Sword attempt failed when the materials repelled each other, but he remained confident with forty-nine sets of materials left.

• Ling Dong led Azure Stone Village’s households to buy rice seeds, and the villagers planted and tended their expanded farmland and other crops.
• Ling Rufan delivered Ling Pengyun’s half-year stipend, and Ling Yunhong arrived to check his progress in the Lingxiao Vessel Fusion Method and weapon refinement.
• Ling Pengyun reported that he had used all the Mortal Iron and barely comprehended the Sharpness Spirit Inscription, which caused mundane tools to collapse when it formed.
• Ling Yunhong gave Ling Pengyun fifty sets of materials for Azure Bamboo Swords and explained that one successful refinement would earn him the Ling Clan’s support.
• Ling Pengyun prepared himself and successfully formed a Sharpness Spirit Inscription in a Mortal Iron hoe, then began refining an Azure Bamboo Sword.
• The Azure Spirit Bamboo and Azure Profound Iron liquids repelled each other and blasted open the Refining Furnace before Ling Pengyun could shape the sword.

Ling Pengyun successfully refined two low-grade Azure Bamboo Swords after many failures, and Ling Yunhong praised his potential while identifying weaknesses in his technique. Before returning to the clan, Ling Yunhong gave him materials for two hundred more attempts, leaving Ling Pengyun resolved to improve under the clan’s heavy investment.

• After forty-three failed attempts, Ling Pengyun refined his first Azure Bamboo Sword, though Ling Yunhong judged it too impure and fragile for more than limited use.
• Ling Pengyun studied Ling Yunhong’s advice and refined another sword among his final six attempts, succeeding twice in fifty batches of materials.
• Ling Yunhong praised Ling Pengyun’s potential and said the clan would keep him at Azure Stone Mountain to cultivate spirit plants and study weapon refinement.
• Ling Yunhong gave Ling Pengyun one hundred batches of Azure Bamboo Sword materials for the year and promised another hundred the following year, then returned to the clan.
• Ling Pengyun felt the weight of the clan’s investment, resolved to improve his success rate, and meditated to restore his spiritual power.