Chapter Summaries

Two years after discovering a ghost vein in Chen Country, Ling Pengxing learned that his lamp was the exotic treasure Ghost Yin Lamp and decided to become a ghost cultivator. With Ling Pengyun and Ling Yunhong’s help, he successfully changed paths and began cultivating at the hidden ghost vein.

• Ling Pengyun identified Ling Pengxing’s lamp as a rare exotic treasure that could help ghost cultivators advance.
• Ling Pengxing explained that his damaged Dao foundation and dwindling lifespan left him no choice but to turn to ghost cultivation, and Ling Pengyun and Ling Yunhong agreed to escort him to the ghost vein.
• Ling Pengyun and Ling Yunhong helped conceal and fortify the ghost vein, then guarded Ling Pengxing as he cultivated the Ink Ghost Profound Origin Treasure Canon.
• After half a month, Ling Pengxing became an Innate Realm ghost cultivator, and Ling Pengyun bound Wang Shi and Wang Yu to him with their life-bound souls.
• Ling Pengxing sent Wang Shi and Wang Yu into the Ghost Yin Lamp to cultivate.

Ling Penglin repaired the control token Lin Fan had found, and the token led her, Lin Fan, and Ling Pengyun to a damaged Third Rank High Grade Array Formation deep underground. Ling Pengyun dismissed Ling Penglin’s caution and led the group through an opening into the formation, where the secret within remained unknown.

• Ling Penglin refined a Second Rank High Grade formation and spent six months repairing Lin Fan’s black control token, revealing its Third Rank Array Formation aura.
• Ling Penglin showed the repaired token to Lin Fan on Spirit Beast Island, and they set out to find the formation it indicated.
• Ling Pengyun joined Ling Penglin and Lin Fan, and the three followed the token underground to a Third Rank High Grade defensive formation.
• Ling Penglin warned that the formation could conceal another Third Rank Array Formation and suggested they return for Ling Yunhong, but Ling Pengyun insisted they enter.
• Ling Penglin used the token to open a person-sized gap, and Ling Pengyun entered first, followed by Ling Penglin and Lin Fan.

Ling Pengyun discovered a damaged Third Rank High Grade Single-Person Teleportation Array and questioned Lin Fan about the token that controlled it. Lin Fan confessed that he had hidden a cache of Third Rank inheritances and treasures from the cave abode where he found the token, and he promised to hand them over to the Ling Clan.

• Ling Pengyun and Ling Penglin activated the control token and revealed a damaged Third Rank High Grade Single-Person Teleportation Array.
• Ling Pengyun questioned Lin Fan about how he had obtained the token, and Lin Fan described finding a Foundation Establishment cultivator’s corpse in a cave abode years earlier.
• Ling Pengyun threatened Lin Fan with soul-searching unless he revealed everything he had found in the cave abode.
• Lin Fan confessed that the cave abode contained a cultivation technique, a Third Rank Alchemy Inheritance, a Third Rank High Grade Pill Furnace, a Late-Stage Foundation Establishment flood dragon corpse, and a Third Rank Beast Taming Inheritance.
• Lin Fan said he had hidden the treasures in the Serpent Dragon Lake region and swore to hand them over to the Ling Clan.

Ling Pengyun learned that Lin Fan possessed numerous valuable inheritances and made him swear lifelong loyalty to the Ling Clan in exchange for sparing him. After considering the origins and risks of the teleportation array, Ling Pengyun left it in place and assigned Ling Penglin to study and control its defensive formation.

• Ling Pengyun offered to spare Lin Fan if he swore loyalty to the Ling Clan and married into it, and Lin Fan agreed and swore an oath.
• Ling Pengyun decided to keep and cultivate Lin Fan for his Beast Taming talent, while warning him to keep the inheritances secret.
• Ling Pengyun reasoned that the cave dwelling owner had likely fled from another Cultivation World through the teleportation array, and considered repairing it in the future to explore and repay the owner's former force.
• Ling Pengyun ordered Ling Penglin and Lin Fan to swear secrecy about the expedition.
• Ling Pengyun instructed Ling Penglin to remain at the array, study its Third Rank High Grade Defense Array, and make a formation plate to control it.
• Ling Pengyun took Lin Fan to retrieve his hidden treasures, brought the Third Rank inheritances back to the clan, and returned Lin Fan to the Ling Clan.

Half a year after an expedition to find array formations, Ling Yunhong successfully refined four Third Rank Low Grade Gathering Yuan Pills and heard Ling Pengyun’s account of the expedition. Ling Pengyun gave him a Third Rank High Grade Alchemy Furnace and asked him to use a flood dragon’s remains to refine pills for his demon beast.

• Ling Yunhong refined four Gathering Yuan Pills, bringing his success rate to forty percent and stabilizing his yield at four pills per successful batch.
• Ling Yunhong gave two pills to Ling Pengyun and asked what he and his companions had found on their expedition half a year earlier.
• Ling Pengyun described their discoveries, including a Third Rank High Grade Array Formation, a damaged teleportation array, valuable inheritances, and Lin Fan’s fortune, then handed Ling Yunhong the inheritances and a Third Rank High Grade Alchemy Furnace.
• Ling Yunhong celebrated that the Ling Clan now had four Third Rank Hundred Arts inheritances and two Golden Core cultivation techniques, and praised Ling Pengyun’s plan to bring Lin Fan into the clan as a live-in son-in-law.
• Ling Pengyun showed Ling Yunhong a Late-Stage Foundation Establishment earth flood dragon corpse and asked him to refine Serpent Blood Pills and Transformation Dragon Pills from its remaining flesh and blood.

Ling Pengyun obtained pills refined from an earth serpent and arranged for Ling Chengxia’s four Golden Armor Pythons to be cultivated as the clan’s Guardian Spirit Beasts. He encouraged Chengxia to keep strengthening his divine sense before attempting Foundation Establishment, then entered the War Spirit Hall and rang a bell.

• Ling Yunhong refined twelve Serpent Blood Pills and four Transformation Dragon Pills from the Late-Stage Foundation Establishment earth serpent and agreed with Ling Pengyun to nurture Chengxia’s four Golden Armor Pythons as Guardian Spirit Beasts.
• Ling Pengyun brought the pills to Ling Chengxia on War Spirit Island and told him about the clan’s plan for his pythons.
• Ling Chengxia said he expected to need four or five more years to advance the Explosive Tempering God Art to its Fifth Layer before attempting Foundation Establishment.
• Ling Pengyun reassured Chengxia that his cultivation prospects were strong and reminded him that the Yin Yang Transformation Profound Diagram could greatly increase his cultivation speed.
• Ling Pengyun entered the War Spirit Hall, sat on the foremost Meditation Mat, and rang a Second Rank High Grade artifact bell.

Ling Wanxu and Ling Wanduo defeated a Gale Wolf and hurried to hear Ling Pengyun preach the Dao, while Ling Chengxia injured himself repeatedly trying to cultivate the Yin Yang Transformation Profound Diagram. Ling Pengyun stabilized Ling Chengxia’s injuries with spiritual water and returned to his lecture.

• Ling Wanxu and Ling Wanduo killed a Qi Training Ninth Layer Gale Wolf and rode Immortal Spirit Cranes back to War Spirit Island.
• Ling Wanxu described his progress in divine sense and sword formations as he and Ling Wanduo discussed the Ling Clan’s Five Sons and Five Tigers.
• Ling Pengyun preached the Qi Training path to the gathered War Hall members, advising them to build a solid foundation rather than rush their cultivation.
• Ling Chengxia gave Serpent Blood Pills to his four Golden Armor Pythons and then repeatedly attempted to condense the Yin Yang Transformation Profound Diagram.
• Ling Chengxia’s attempts caused his inner core to crack, and he collapsed after his injuries worsened.
• Ling Pengyun examined Ling Chengxia, treated him with Second Rank spiritual water, and returned to the War Spirit Hall.

Ling Chengxia watched his four Golden Armor Pythons transform into Jiaos, with Jin Da sacrificing its essence blood to help its brothers complete their transformations. The four Jiaos then revealed a fusion spell powerful enough to challenge a Foundation Establishment Third Layer expert.

• Ling Chengxia fed the four Golden Armor Pythons Transformation Dragon Pills and guarded them as they began transforming into Jiaos.
• Jin Da transformed fully into a Jiao, while Jin Er, Jin San, and Jin Si remained Half-Jiaos.
• Jin Da gave three drops of its true Jiao essence blood to its brothers, sacrificing much of its future strength and cultivation speed.
• Jin Er, Jin San, and Jin Si consumed the essence blood and completed their transformations into Jiaos within three days.
• The four Jiaos combined their incantations into a Golden Flood Dragon Phantom with the power to fight a Foundation Establishment Third Layer expert, delighting Ling Chengxia.

During the Ling Clan’s Spring Festival reunion, Ling Chengyuan reported the clan’s growth over the past five years, and Ling Yunhong rewarded its members with extra spirit fruits. Ling Chengping wondered where Ling Penglin had been assigned, while an unnamed young cultivator reacted to the news that she was guarding a secret location.

• Ling Chengping asked Ling Pengqiu why Ling Penglin had missed another collective Spring Festival, and Ling Pengqiu said he could not contact her but her Life Tablet remained intact.
• Ling Pengqiu speculated that Ling Penglin had been assigned by Ling Pengyun or Ling Yunhong to guard an undisclosed important location, and an inconspicuous young cultivator listened closely.
• Ling Pengyun, Yan Siyi, and Ling Yunhong arrived at the Ancestral Hall and were welcomed by more than five hundred gathered Ling Clan cultivators.
• At Ling Yunhong’s request, Ling Chengyuan reported that the clan had grown to 858 cultivators and more than a million mortals, with 538 members attending the reunion.
• Ling Yunhong gave every clan member five additional spirit fruits, and the gathered clansmen performed ancestral rites before sharing a Spring Festival feast.

Ling Pengyun reviewed the Ling Clan’s finances and six halls, then directed the clan to save for a major auction and strengthen its forces ahead of the next Demon Beast Uprising. The report revealed new talent in Commerce Hall and Corpse Hall, while Shadow Hall’s intelligence suggested Ten Thousand Beasts True Person might help Liu Nian attempt a Golden Core breakthrough.

• Ling Chengyuan reported that the clan had retained about 210,000 spirit stones over five years and could mobilize roughly 400,000 from the Clan Repository.
• Ling Pengyun ordered the clan to save more for the Wood Origin Immortal Sect’s medium-scale auction in three years.
• Ling Chengyuan praised Ling Wanbo’s profitable shop, where brothel women served as attendants, and Ling Pengyun approved promoting the business method.
• Ling Chengyuan reported that Beast Hall held over 2,100 spirit beasts, Lin Fan had become a Second Rank Low Grade Beast Tamer, and Ling Li Bing had created an imperfect Mystic Ice Corpse Refining Method.
• Ling Chengyuan told the elders that Shadow Hall suspected Ten Thousand Beasts True Person was preparing to help Liu Nian try for Golden Core again.
• Ling Pengyun and Ling Yunhong urged the clan to develop its spirit beasts and demon corpses quickly before the next Demon Beast Uprising.

Yan Siyi broke through to Golden Core Realm divine sense after years of cultivating the Explosive Tempering God Art. Ling Pengyun offered her all three of the clan’s Golden Core Spirit Objects, and she resolved to attempt the Golden Core breakthrough despite the danger.

• Yan Siyi cultivated the Explosive Tempering God Art to its seventh layer and broke through to Golden Core Realm divine sense.
• Ling Pengyun told Yan Siyi that her stable Foundation Establishment Completion cultivation made her ready to attempt the Golden Core Realm breakthrough.
• Yan Siyi offered to use only one Golden Core Spirit Object so that Ling Pengqiu could have the others, but Ling Pengyun said he and Ling Yunhong had agreed to give her all three.
• Ling Pengyun told Yan Siyi that he would soon condense another aptitude-enhancing opportunity for their son Cheng Xia.
• Yan Siyi weighed the dangers of the Golden Core Tribulation against the chance to extend her life and continue the Dao Path with Ling Pengyun, then declared she would attempt the breakthrough without regret.

Ling Pengyun told Yan Siyi about the Ling Clan’s ties to a powerful force in the Boundless Sea Region and planned to take her there to use its tribulation array for her Golden Core breakthrough. He then heard Li Bing’s proposal for improving the Mystic Ice Demon Corpse and urged him to keep researching while prioritizing cultivation.

• Ling Pengyun agreed to help Yan Siyi find a way through her Golden Core lightning tribulation and said they would visit the Boundless Sea Region’s auction.
• Ling Pengyun explained that the Ling Clan could borrow a fourth-rank tribulation array from a major force with ancestral ties to the clan, and warned Yan Siyi to keep the connection secret.
• Ling Pengyun told Yan Siyi to rest for half a month before they set out, then went to the study where Li Bing was researching corpse refinement.
• Li Bing proposed strengthening demon-beast bodies like puppets and adding stabilizing weapon-refining spirit patterns before refining them into Mystic Ice Demon Corpses.
• Ling Pengyun said an Adaptation spirit pattern might resolve the conflict between the patterns, but first needed to be reduced from third rank and would take years to develop.
• Ling Pengyun told Li Bing to continue improving the existing method, explore other approaches, and cultivate diligently; Li Bing promised to pursue a stronger corpse-refining method.

Ling Chengxia used his strengthened dantian and divine sense to attempt the Yin Yang Transformation Profound Diagram again, enduring repeated failures until he succeeded. He left with a new cultivation aid and a vow to surpass Ling Pengyun and beat him, while Ling Pengyun sensed his son’s intentions and called him unfilial.

• Ling Pengyun encouraged Ling Li Bing to create a mid-grade Corpse Refining Method and promised to help him reach the Late-Stage Foundation Establishment Realm if he succeeded.
• After receiving a fortuitous aid that strengthened his dantian and divine sense, Ling Chengxia decided to try condensing the Yin Yang Transformation Profound Diagram again.
• Ling Chengxia repeatedly drew in spiritual energy and tried to fuse the yin and yang power, damaging his dantian when his divine sense failed to hold the two forces together.
• On his sixth attempt, Ling Chengxia successfully formed the diagram, which could refine spiritual energy into purer Yin Yang Grand Profound Power and strengthen his foundation.
• Ling Chengxia vowed to catch up to Ling Wu Hong and eventually surpass Ling Pengyun so he could beat his father for punishing him as a child.
• Ling Pengyun sensed Ling Chengxia’s intentions while flying with Yan Siyi and complained that his son was itching for a beating.

Ling Pengshan and Liu Mengting feared their son Ling Shi would lack spirit roots and be sent to the mortal world, but his test revealed Metal and Earth Dual Spirit Roots. That night, Ling Pengyun and Yan Siyi arrived at Turtle Spirit Island and met the family.

• Ling Shi asked Ling Pengshan and Liu Mengting whether they would send him away if he lacked spirit roots, and Ling Pengshan took his family to the Han Clan Ancestral Shrine for the test.
• Ling Pengshan activated the Spirit Root Testing Array, which lit two pillars and revealed Ling Shi had Metal and Earth Dual Spirit Roots.
• Ling Pengshan, Liu Mengting, and Han Feng celebrated Ling Shi's result.
• Ling Pengyun and Yan Siyi secretly entered the courtyard and asked Ling Pengshan and Liu Mengting about their celebration and the child beside them.

Ling Pengyun offered to take Ling Chengshi, who had exceptional Gold and Earth Dual Spirit Roots, back to the Ling Clan for cultivation. After learning that the Turtle Spirit Island branch was losing territory to the Liu Clan, Ling Pengyun set out to deal with a nearby sea demon race, while Ling Chengshi learned his family’s true identity and prepared to leave his parents.

• Ling Pengshan introduced his son Ling Shi as Ling Chengshi after the boy tested with Gold and Earth Dual Spirit Roots, and Ling Pengyun offered to bring him back to the Ling Clan.
• Ling Pengshan told Ling Pengyun that the Han Clan branch had fifty-three cultivators but was losing spirit veins and marketplace business to the Liu Clan.
• Ling Pengyun asked whether the Rapid Seahorse Race still occupied the Fireball Shrimp Race’s former territory, gave Ling Pengshan cultivation resources, and departed with Yan Siyi to gather the branch’s manpower.
• Ling Pengshan revealed to Ling Chengshi that he belonged to the powerful Lingxiao Ling Clan and explained that his parents had established the branch as a safeguard for the clan.
• Ling Chengshi asked his parents to return with him, but Ling Pengshan said he had to manage the branch and unify Turtle Spirit Island, so Ling Chengshi resolved to cultivate diligently and return to help him.

Ling Pengyun used the Rapid Seahorse Race’s invasion to kill a Liu Clan Foundation Establishment cultivator and disguise the murder, weakening the Liu Clan. A month later, he and Yan Siyi reached a secret realm entrance in the Dragon Scale Shark Sea Region and entered with Yuan Jin True Person’s permission so Yan Siyi could use the sect’s tribulation array.

• Ling Pengyun killed a Liu Clan Foundation Establishment cultivator with a Dharma treasure and planted the remains beside two unconscious Foundation Establishment seahorses to frame them.
• Ling Pengyun told Ling Pengshan that he had slain a Liu Clan cultivator, while Ling Pengshan resolved to target the Liu Clan after the invasion ended.
• Ling Pengyun and Yan Siyi left Han Clan Mountain, and Ling Pengyun said they would return within six months to three years to bring Cheng Shi back.
• A month later, Ling Pengyun and Yan Siyi met Yuan Jin True Person at the Dragon Scale Shark Sea Region secret realm entrance, where Yuan Jin explained that Kui Shui had left to seek successors.
• Ling Pengyun explained that Yan Siyi was his wife and invoked Senior Lei Yun’s promise about the tribulation array, and Yuan Jin welcomed them into the secret realm.

Yan Siyi visited Azure Water Island with Ling Pengyun, then borrowed Core Breaking Peak’s tribulation array and successfully formed a Golden Core. After the tribulation, Lei Yun True Person invited her to join the Azure Sea Azure Sky Sect as a Guest Elder, and she asked for a third-rank Spirit Chef inheritance.

• Ling Pengyun and Yan Siyi visited Wang Ying on Azure Water Island, exchanged gifts, and left after learning Azure Water True Person was in seclusion.
• Lei Yun True Person agreed to let Yan Siyi use Core Breaking Peak’s Lightning Guiding Tribulation Crossing Grand Array, and she meditated for several days before compressing her spiritual power.
• Yan Siyi used three Golden Core spirit objects to refine the surging spiritual qi, condensed a fiery-red Golden Core, and drew tribulation clouds over the peak.
• The Thunder Spirit Tree intercepted the first eight bolts of tribulation lightning, while Yan Siyi endured the ninth and completed her breakthrough.
• Ling Pengyun congratulated Yan Siyi, and Lei Yun True Person invited her to become a Guest Elder; Yan Siyi accepted and requested a third-rank Spirit Chef inheritance.

Ling Pengyun received the incomplete Locking God Chain divine sense technique, while Yan Siyi received a Third Rank Low Grade Spirit Chef inheritance after reaching the Golden Core Realm. The chapter ended with Ling Pengyun, Yan Siyi, and Jia Mu Zhenren attending the finale of the Wood Origin Marketplace auction.

• Thundercloud True Person gave Yan Siyi a Third Rank Low Grade Spirit Chef inheritance and Ling Pengyun the incomplete Locking God Chain technique, asking him to complete it.
• Ling Pengyun and Yan Siyi told Wang Ying of Yan Siyi's successful Golden Core breakthrough, celebrated with her, and then left the sect's secret realm for Wood Origin Marketplace.
• Azure Water True Person refined a Quasi Fourth Rank Spirit Talisman and learned from a message that Yan Siyi had entered the Golden Core Realm.
• Jia Mu Zhenren invited Ling Pengyun and Yan Siyi to the final day of the Wood Origin Marketplace auction, and they joined him in a third-floor private room.
• Jia Mu Zhenren said fifteen Golden Core cultivators had come to the auction and expected his Third Rank medicinal pills to sell well before the auction began.

Ling Pengyun and Yan Siyi bought the powerful Double Dragon Overturning Sea Array for the Ling Clan, spending nearly all their available spirit stones. At the auction’s end, they recognized Spirit Array Old Ancestor bidding on a Wood Origin Spirit Fruit and learned how he had established the Mo Family in the Boundless Sea Region.

• Ling Pengyun and Yan Siyi waited through the finale auction while avoiding unnecessary spending, though Jia Mu Zhenren used his earnings to buy spirit herbs.
• Ling Pengyun outbid the remaining contenders and won the Double Dragon Overturning Sea Array for 780,000 spirit stones, then taunted Jia Mu Zhenren about the money he had earned from the sale.
• Jia Mu Zhenren explained that Spirit Array Old Ancestor, also known as Xuan Zhen, had killed a fellow Hundred Spirits Sect member while coveting a Golden Core Spirit Object and had been driven from the sect.
• Jia Mu Zhenren told Ling Pengyun and Yan Siyi that Xuan Zhen had slain a Golden Core Middle Stage demon beast, earned a spirit vein through service to the Wood Origin Immortal Sect, and founded the Mo Family.
• Spirit Array Old Ancestor bid 330,000 spirit stones for the Wood Origin Spirit Fruit, and Ling Pengyun speculated that he wanted it for his descendants.

After the auction, Fire Yang Zhenren held an exchange meeting and traded Wood Origin Pills for spirit plants, including an arrangement with Ling Pengyun. Jia Mu Zhenren explained that Fire Yang was preparing to establish a family, prompting a conversation about the hopes Golden Core cultivators placed in their descendants.

• After the auction ended, Fire Yang Zhenren invited the remaining Golden Core cultivators to exchange spirit objects.
• Fire Yang Zhenren offered six fine-quality Third Rank Middle and High Grade Wood Origin Pills for living Third Rank spirit plants, and a Golden Core Sixth Layer cultivator agreed to trade a Flame Cloud Pine and one hundred thousand spirit stones for them.
• Fire Yang Zhenren offered ordinary Third Rank Low Grade Wood Origin Pills for Second Rank spirit plants, and Ling Pengyun arranged to trade twenty plants for two pills within three years.
• Other Golden Core cultivators exchanged Second Rank spirit trees for Fire Yang Zhenren's remaining Wood Origin Pills.
• Jia Mu Zhenren told Ling Pengyun and Yan Siyi that Fire Yang had obtained a spirit vein and was likely preparing to establish a family, then reflected that he might do the same if he lost hope of reaching Nascent Soul.