Chapter Summaries

Ling Yunhong inspected the Ling Clan’s Mystic Water Iron mine and searched An Yang County for more resources, while Azure Stone Village completed its rice harvest. Ling Pengyun celebrated improving his Azure Bamboo Sword refinement and mastering the second level of the Lingxiao Ripening Technique, then considered how to accelerate his cultivation.

• Ling Yunhong learned that ten Mining Puppets had extracted over six thousand jin of Mystic Water Iron Ore and told Ling Ruxian to deliver only the required five thousand jin to the Hundred Spirits Sect at year’s end.
• Ling Yunhong searched An Yang County for additional mines and Spirit Veins but found none.
• Azure Stone Village’s villagers finished harvesting ten thousand mu of rice fields in mid-October and held a Harvest Feast.
• Ling Pengyun refined an Azure Bamboo Sword after thirty-two failures and comprehended the second level of the Lingxiao Ripening Technique.
• Ling Pengyun planned to delay the Thorn Vine’s advancement until after he reached the Qi Training Sixth Layer so he could use its spiritual power feedback to attempt a breakthrough.
• Ling Pengyun judged that reaching the Qi Training Sixth Layer would take at least three years and considered seeking more cultivation resources.

Ling Pengyun visited Cloud Mist Market to buy spirit fruits and a flying magical item, while reconnecting with Ling Rushui and showing him his weapon-refinement progress. Ling Rushui returned with the purchases, leaving Ling Pengyun with enough spirit fruits to support his cultivation for some time.

• Ling Pengyun arranged extra protection for Azure Stone Village before traveling to Cloud Mist Market.
• Ling Rushui scolded Ling Pengyun for not visiting, then learned he had become a weapon refinement prospect and inspected his Azure Bamboo Sword.
• Ling Pengyun asked Ling Rushui to sell three Azure Bamboo Swords and buy spirit fruits and a Green Travel Leaf for him.
• Ling Rushui gave Ling Pengyun five Azure Silk Peaches from the clan and bought all the available spirit fruits from the market’s other four shops.
• Ling Rushui returned with the Green Travel Leaf, thirteen additional spirit fruits, and eighteen remaining spirit stones.

Ling Pengyun visited Ling Rushui at Cloud Mist Market, then left for Azure Stone Mountain while Shen Hu pursued him after receiving a false-seeming tip. Wen Xianren revealed that he had sent the message to arrange Ling Pengyun’s death out of jealousy toward the Ling Clan.

• Ling Pengyun thanked Ling Rushui for the spirit fruit and green leaf, stayed the night, and told him about recent dangers and the Mystic Water Iron Mine.
• Ling Pengyun bought talismans, bid Ling Rushui farewell, and quietly left Cloud Mist Market; Ling Rushui hoped he would visit again after his five-year assignment.
• Shen Hu, a Rogue Cultivator seeking a Barrier Breaking Pill, received a Message Talisman identifying Ling Pengyun as a wealthy Ling Clan member and verified its claims at the market shops.
• Shen Hu chased after Ling Pengyun, believing that killing him would provide enough wealth to buy a Barrier Breaking Pill.
• Wen Xianren revealed that he had sent Shen Hu the Message Talisman and intended to use him to kill Ling Pengyun because he envied the Ling Clan’s growing strength.

Ling Pengyun encountered a demonic cultivator pursuing a Cloud Mist Wen Clan cultivator and fled toward Cloud Mist Market rather than intervene. After the demonic cultivator killed the Wen Clan cultivator, he turned his attention to Ling Pengyun and gave chase.

• Ling Pengyun smelled human blood near a Wen Clan village and spotted a black-clad pursuer chasing a Wen Clan cultivator toward Cloud Mist Market.
• Ling Pengyun recognized the pursuer’s flying boat and banner as Demonic Items and fled toward Cloud Mist Market.
• The pursued Wen Clan cultivator called to Ling Pengyun for help, but Ling Pengyun ignored him and continued running.
• The demonic cultivator caught and killed the Wen Clan cultivator with nine evil ghosts, then drew his soul into his banner.
• The demonic cultivator decided to kill Ling Pengyun to strengthen his banner and pursued him on his Demon Boat.

Ling Pengyun fled toward Cloud Mist Market with a demonic cultivator close behind, but Shen Hu attacked him for his valuables. When the demonic cultivator caught up, Shen Hu and Ling Pengyun set aside their hostility and agreed to fight together.

• Ling Pengyun warned Shen Hu that a demonic cultivator was pursuing him, but Shen Hu ignored the warning and attacked him for his spiritual items.
• Ling Pengyun blocked Shen Hu’s Golden Flying Sword and needle, then used his Black Iron Sword to hold off the attack while trying to avoid being delayed.
• The demonic cultivator caught up and revealed his Demonic Item Flying Boat and demonic banner, frightening Shen Hu.
• Shen Hu apologized to Ling Pengyun and proposed that they join forces against the approaching demonic cultivator.
• Ling Pengyun agreed to Shen Hu’s proposal because fleeing separately would leave them vulnerable.

Ling Pengyun and Shen Hu joined forces against a demonic cultivator and killed him with coordinated spells, talismans, vines, and a flying needle. Ling Pengyun remained wary afterward, knowing Shen Hu was still an enemy.

• Ling Pengyun and Shen Hu prepared spells and weapons as the demonic cultivator approached on his Demonic Item Flying Boat.
• The demonic cultivator blocked their attacks with a Magic Tool Round Shield and sent evil ghosts and a Blood-Red Shuttle against them.
• Ling Pengyun killed two evil ghosts with Fire Arrow Talismans, then used a Flame Blade Talisman to cut down five more.
• Ling Pengyun bound the demonic cultivator's shield arm with Thorn Vines, giving Shen Hu the opening to pierce the cultivator's head with the Armor-Piercing Needle.
• After the demonic cultivator died and the evil ghosts returned to the banner, Ling Pengyun stayed alert because Shen Hu remained nearby.

Ling Pengyun killed Shen Hu after they defeated a demonic cultivator, looted both corpses, and escaped to Azure Stone Mountain. Wen Xianren discovered his grandson Wen Nianqing’s death and the massacre of a village, while Ling Pengyun destroyed the demonic artifacts and began replenishing his spiritual power.

• Ling Pengyun attacked Shen Hu with Water Arrows, overcame his defenses with talismans and Thorn Vines, and killed him with a water spike.
• Ling Pengyun searched Shen Hu and the demonic cultivator, took their Storage Bags and artifacts, burned their corpses, and fled toward Azure Stone Mountain.
• Wen Xianren found the battlefield and Wen Nianqing’s corpse, then reached the village and discovered that two thousand mortals had been slaughtered.
• Ling Pengyun returned to Azure Stone Mountain with four Storage Bags and several artifacts, but set the bags aside because their divine sense imprints prevented him from opening them.
• Ling Pengyun destroyed the demonic artifacts, kept Shen Hu’s golden sword, and ate a spirit pear to restore his depleted spiritual power.

Ling Pengyun recovered from his battle, opened the four Storage Bags, and assessed his gains and losses. Meanwhile, the Wen Clan uncovered Old Devil Li’s threat, joined forces with Huai River County’s four other great clans, and drove him into retreat.

• Ling Pengyun spent half a month clearing the spiritual sense imprints from four Storage Bags, then found Shen Hu’s belongings, demonic cultivator supplies, and useful magic tools among the contents.
• Ling Pengyun burned the demonic pills, kept the Soul Gathering Bottles, and prepared to refine the Armor Piercing Needle.
• Wen Xianyun told the Wen Clan elders that Old Devil Li planned to use Wen Clan cultivators and tens of thousands of mortals to refine a demonic artifact, and urged the clan to seek aid.
• The Five Great Clans of Huai River County joined a campaign against Old Devil Li and his hundred or so demonic cultivators.
• The five Foundation Establishment experts grievously wounded Old Devil Li, who fled, while nearly ninety percent of his subordinates were slain.

Ling Pengyun received his half-year stipend and harvested a large crop of spirit plants from Azure Stone Mountain, earning enough Spirit Stones to prepare for better equipment. Ling Rufan departed to visit his great-grandson Ling Pengcheng, while Ling Pengyun kept the sealed Storage Bag from Ling Ruda, which he suspected contained Azure Bamboo Sword Weapon Refinement Materials.

• Ling Rufan visited Azure Stone Mountain and learned that Ling Pengyun’s spirit plants had produced an unusually abundant, spiritually potent harvest, suggesting his Spirit Plant skills were nearing First Rank Middle Grade.
• Ling Rufan delivered Ling Pengyun’s stipend, New Year compensation, and gifts from his parents, along with a sealed Storage Bag from Ling Ruda that Ling Pengyun suspected held the promised Azure Bamboo Sword Weapon Refinement Materials.
• Ling Pengyun and Ling Rufan harvested all six mu of spirit plants and measured yields of 1,053 jin and 1,105 jin of Yellow Jade Spirit Rice from the two mu of rice fields.
• Ling Pengyun sold his 215-jin share of the rice to the lineage for forty-three Spirit Stones, bringing his total savings to 293 Spirit Stones.
• Ling Pengyun considered buying spirit fruits and replacing his Black Iron Shield, while Ling Rufan warned him to stay safe and flew off to visit Ling Pengcheng.

Ling Pengyun discovered that an Earth-Turning Earthworm was nearing the Qi Refinement Realm and that his share of the Mystic Water Iron Mine dividends would secure funds for a Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object. He planned to use his remaining income to improve his cultivation and successfully refined another Azure Bamboo Sword.

• Ling Pengyun found that one mu of Spirit Soil had reached Grade B and identified a larger Earth-Turning Earthworm that was likely to enter the Qi Refinement Realm within three months.
• Ling Pengyun sent the Earth-Turning Earthworms back to the fields, completed his farming chores, and returned to his cave.
• Ling Pengyun opened Ling Rufan's Storage Bag and read Grand Elder Ling Ruda's letter explaining that the four hundred Spirit Stones were his annual mine-dividend share.
• Ling Pengyun decided that the dividends would cover an inferior Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object, while his other earnings could go toward cultivation resources such as high-grade spirit fruits.
• Ling Pengyun used one set of materials to successfully refine an Azure Bamboo Sword, then consumed a Spirit Tangerine to cultivate.

Ling Pengyun’s year passed with routine clan duties and cultivation, while Ling Ruxian handled the mine’s tribute to the Hundred Spirits Sect. The chapter ended with an Earth-Turning Earthworm breaking through to the Qi Training realm, prompting Ling Pengyun to consider using his newly condensed Yin Yang Primordial Qi to improve its aptitude.

• Zhong Ming of the Hundred Spirits Sect collected the Ling Clan’s required Mystic Water Iron Ore from Ling Ruxian.
• Ling Pengyun tested Azure Stone Village’s children for spirit roots, but none of the two or three hundred children had one.
• Ling Ruxian and Ling Pengyun began meeting regularly for conversation and instruction after celebrating the new year together.
• Ling Pengyun condensed a second mouthful of Yin Yang Primordial Qi after nine years of absorbing the sun and moon’s essence.
• An Earth-Turning Earthworm successfully broke through into the Qi Training realm, and Ling Pengyun considered using his Yin Yang Primordial Qi to improve its aptitude.

Ling Pengyun infused Yin Yang Primordial Qi into an Earth-Turning Earthworm, greatly increasing its intelligence and cultivation potential. Months later, strange and powerful bees attacked villagers and Lingxiao Guards in Azure Stone Village’s orchard, prompting Ling Dong to seek Ling Pengyun’s help.

• Ling Pengyun used Yin Yang Primordial Qi to transform the Earth-Turning Earthworm, which awoke with enhanced intelligence and the ambition to become a clan king.
• At the spring equinox, Ling Yang and nine villagers tending Azure Stone Village’s orchard were attacked by Acquired Realm bees, and two men were stung unconscious.
• Village Chief Ling Dong led the Lingxiao Guards into the orchard with smoke-producing torches, but ten hornet-sized Qi Training Stage bees wounded them and drove them away.
• Ling Dong fled the orchard and hurried to Azure Stone Mountain to ask Ling Pengyun for aid.

Ling Pengyun investigated the Strange Bees attacking Azure Stone Village’s guards and discovered a swarm of rare Fruit Flower Bees in the orchard. He captured and subdued their Bee King, then ordered the colony to gather outside the hive so he could count its members.

• Ling Dong told Ling Pengyun that Strange Bees had attacked people in Azure Stone Village’s thousand-mu orchard, and Ling Pengyun hurried there to investigate.
• Ling Pengyun stealthily reached the orchard’s depths and identified the hive and its giant guards as Fruit Flower Bees, whose honey could provide valuable cultivation resources.
• Ling Pengyun used Divine Sense to discover that five Qi Training Fruit Flower Bees guarded the hive while their Bee King laid eggs inside.
• Ling Pengyun restrained the guards and Bee King with Wind Binding, then imposed a Recognition of Ownership Restriction on the Bee King.
• The Bee King initially resisted but submitted after Ling Pengyun repeatedly defeated it, allowing him to control the swarm.
• Ling Pengyun ordered the Bee King to prevent the guards from attacking him and summon every bee outside the hive.

Ling Pengyun discovered that a large fruit bee swarm had migrated to his orchard from a remote wilderness, where a Spirit Mandarin Tree and a Spirit Eye had caused many bees to advance. He decided the tree and Spirit Eye should be protected by the Ling Clan, and the chapter ended with him preparing to report the discovery to the clan.

• Ling Pengyun learned that the swarm included nineteen Fruit Flower Worker Bees and a Fruit Flower Bee King, promising a yearly harvest of spirit honey.
• The bee king explained that the swarm had migrated from a wilderness after pollen from a miraculous mandarin tree helped many bees advance.
• Ling Pengyun instructed the bee king to keep the swarm from attacking people, reassured Azure Stone Village, and flew with it to the tree's former home.
• Ling Pengyun discovered that the mandarin tree was a First Rank Spirit Mandarin Tree growing alongside a Spirit Eye.
• Ling Pengyun concluded the tree could not be transplanted and decided the Ling Clan should establish an array and settlement to protect the Spirit Eye and tree.

Ling Pengyun secured the Spirit Mandarin Tree site for the clan and returned to manage the Fruit Flower Bee swarm and its honey. He left the orchard’s expansion to Ling Dong and the people of Azure Stone Village.

• Ling Pengyun killed an Innate Perfection tiger guarding the Spirit Mandarin Tree and stored its corpse for food.
• Ling Pengyun told Ling Ruxian about the spiritual eye and Spirit Mandarin Tree, and Ling Ruxian returned to the clan to find an Array Formation Master.
• Ling Pengyun ordered the Fruit Flower Bee King to reserve nineteen jin of Fruit Flower Honey for him each year and promised to double the orchard’s fruit trees annually.
• Ling Pengyun harvested a small piece of spiritual Fruit Flower Honey and warned the bee king to grow the number of Qi Training Stage Fruit Flower Bees to more than thirty before it reached the Qi Training Third Layer.
• Ling Pengyun instructed Ling Dong to sell surplus farm tools and use the proceeds to buy fruit tree saplings for Azure Stone Village, with the trees belonging to the village.

Ling Pengyun accompanied Ling Yunxi and Ling Penglin as Ling Yunxi advanced a newly discovered spirit spring into a First Rank Low Grade Spirit Vein and Ling Pengyun reclaimed two mu of Spirit Fields. They named the site Fruit Bee Ridge, and Ling Yunxi stayed behind with Ling Penglin while Ling Pengyun and Ling Ruxian returned to their garrison.

• Ling Yunxi rewarded Ling Pengyun for discovering the spirit spring and Spirit Mandarin Tree, and Ling Penglin joined them to guard the site.
• Ling Yunxi used the Spirit Raising Array and hundreds of spirit stones to advance the spring into a First Rank Low Grade Spirit Vein.
• Ling Pengyun used the Spirit Nurturing Art to reclaim two mu of Spirit Fields, finishing by noon the following day.
• Ling Pengyun named the site Fruit Bee Ridge, and Ling Yunxi gave him the first thirteen spirit mandarins from the tree.
• Ling Yunxi asked Ling Pengyun and Ling Ruxian to protect Ling Penglin if danger arose, then stayed behind to instruct her and clear wild beasts from Fruit Bee Ridge.

Ling Pengyun cultivated on Azure Stone Mountain, broke through to the Qi Training Sixth Layer, and improved his weapon-refining skill. After planning to use the Thorn Vine’s spiritual power feedback to help him reach the Seventh Layer, he completed another Azure Bamboo Sword.

• Ling Pengyun used Fruit Flower Honey to restore his spiritual power, then spent the following months cultivating and teaching Ling Penglin spirit-plant care.
• At the beginning of June, Ling Pengyun broke through the bottleneck to the Qi Training Sixth Layer, increasing his divine sense’s range to eighty-five zhang.
• Ling Pengyun decided to stabilize his new cultivation before letting the Thorn Vine break through, so he could use its spiritual power feedback to advance toward the Seventh Layer.
• Ling Pengyun nourished the Thorn Vine, practiced his daily arts, and refined Azure Bamboo Swords until his success rate reached thirty percent and his work qualified as First-Order Low-Grade weapon refinement.
• Ling Pengyun used the Refining Furnace to make an Azure Bamboo Sword, completing the process without difficulty.

Ling Pengyun returned to Cloud Mist Market to buy supplies and learned that his earlier fight with a demonic cultivator had helped expose Old Devil Li’s plot against the Cloud Mist Wen Clan. After promising to care for Ling Rushui in his old age, he went with him to Cloud Mist Weapon Refinement Hall to buy magic items.

• Ling Pengyun informed Ling Dong and Ling Ruxian that he would leave for Cloud Mist Market, inspected the mining puppets, and flew west on his Green Travel Leaf.
• At the market entrance, Ling Pengyun showed Wen Ruoli his passage token and then visited Ling Rushui at Lingxiao Rice Hall.
• Ling Rushui told Ling Pengyun that the Wen Clan had discovered Old Devil Li’s plan, joined the other four great Foundation Establishment Families to wound him, and lost Wen Xianren in the conflict.
• Ling Pengyun realized that the demonic cultivator he had killed had triggered the chain of events, and he promised to support Ling Rushui in his old age.
• Ling Pengyun gave Ling Rushui three inferior-quality Azure Bamboo Swords to sell, received thirty spirit stones from his previous sale, and shared news of his breakthrough to Qi Training Sixth Layer.
• Ling Rushui offered to help Ling Pengyun haggle, and the two went to Cloud Mist Weapon Refinement Hall to buy a defensive magic item and a Spirit Storage Magic Item.

Ling Pengyun visited Cloud Mist Weapon Refinement Hall with Ling Rushui to buy two magic tools, and Ling Rushui bargained with Wen Ruojing on his behalf. They agreed on a reduced price for the Turtle Spirit Shield, while Ling Pengyun recognized Ling Rushui’s personal sacrifice in securing the deal.

• Wen Ruojing welcomed Ling Rushui and noticed the young cultivator accompanying him, while pretending not to recognize Ling Pengyun.
• Ling Pengyun asked whether the Turtle Spirit Shield and Jade Hairpin he had admired two years earlier were still available, and Wen Ruojing brought both out.
• Wen Ruojing priced each magic tool at 150 spirit stones, and Ling Rushui negotiated the Turtle Spirit Shield down to 135 spirit stones.
• Ling Rushui promised Wen Ruojing a 30 percent discount on up to fifty jin of White Jade Spirit Rice, making up the difference in value.
• Ling Pengyun understood that Ling Rushui had taken a loss for his sake and kept the favor in his heart.

Ling Pengyun purchased artifacts, commissioned water-gathering Dharma shoes, and spent most of his remaining spirit stones on crafting materials, talismans, and spirit fruits. Wen Nianling arrived at Cloud Mist Market and successfully forged the shoes before dawn.

• Ling Pengyun paid Wen Ruojing for a Turtle Spirit Shield and Jade Hairpin, then commissioned Condensed Water Spiritual Energy Dharma Shoes using Azure Scale Demon Python Skin for forty spirit stones, with a free future forging promised if the attempt failed.
• Ling Pengyun bought materials for Azure Bamboo Swords and Round Iron Shields, then purchased Water Arrow Talismans, Water Shield Talismans, and spirit fruits, leaving only one spirit stone in his Storage Bag.
• Wen Nianling arrived at Cloud Mist Market after Wen Ruojing summoned her to forge the commissioned shoes, and she agreed to complete them before sunrise.
• Wen Nianling added auxiliary materials to the four pieces of Demon Serpent skin and forged a radiant pair of Dharma shoes in two hours before leaving the market.