Chapter Summaries

Ling Chengyuan proposed abandoning a Golden Core breakthrough to form a Pseudo-Core, but Ling Pengyun refused and urged him to continue cultivating his divine sense and meridians. Ling Pengyun then began preparations for the Demon Beast Uprising and discovered the Small Ten Thousand Jade Blood Jade Fruit Tree had produced a spirit seed.

• Ling Chengyuan told Ling Pengyun he lacked confidence in reaching the Golden Core Realm and asked him to find a Demon Beast Golden Core so he could form a Pseudo-Core.
• Ling Pengyun refused to help Ling Chengyuan pursue a Pseudo-Core and advised him to keep improving his divine sense and meridians before reconsidering a Golden Core breakthrough.
• Ling Pengyun ordered Ling Chengyuan to summon the Foundation Establishment Elders and prepare the clan's Strategic Spiritual Objects for a Clan Meeting about the Demon Beast Uprising.
• Ling Pengyun inspected the Small Ten Thousand Jade Blood Jade Fruit Tree and found it had advanced to the Qi Training Sixth Layer, with its fruit reaching First Rank Middle Grade.
• The Small Ten Thousand Jade Blood Jade Fruit Tree completed a spirit seed, which emerged from its trunk and landed before Ling Pengyun.

Ling Pengyun contracted the third-generation Ten Thousand Jade Blood Jade Tree spirit seed, which rapidly grew into a Qi Training Seventh Layer sapling and granted him increased vitality and a way to draw on its spiritual power. He planted it beside its second-generation parent and ordered it to absorb demon beast flesh and souls to stabilize and advance its cultivation.

• Ling Pengyun used his essence blood and Natal Spirit Plant Contract Technique to bind the rebellious Ten Thousand Jade Blood Jade Tree spirit seed, suppressing its blood power with his divine sense.
• The spirit seed grew into a seven-foot sapling at the Qi Training Seventh Layer and returned blood power to Ling Pengyun, strengthening his vitality and extending his lifespan by at least ten years.
• Ling Pengyun discovered that he could draw on the tree's future spiritual power, and considered how its ability to refine flesh and souls could support its rapid cultivation.
• Ling Pengyun planted the new sapling beside the second-generation Small Ten Thousand Jade Blood Jade Tree because it needed space to absorb abundant nourishment.
• Ling Pengyun ordered the second-generation tree to absorb demon beast flesh and soul power from a Second Rank Ghost Control Long Banner so it could stabilize and advance.

Ling Pengyun gathered the Ling Clan’s Foundation Establishment cultivators to prepare for the Demon Beast Uprising expected in a year. Ling Chengyuan’s report revealed the clan’s vast population, forces, and stockpiled supplies, leaving the elders astonished.

• Ling Pengyun returned to the Council Hall and reassured the worried Foundation Establishment cultivators that the Ling Clan would not fall while he was present.
• Ling Pengyun confirmed that he had summoned the elders to prepare for the Demon Beast Uprising one year away.
• Ling Chengyuan reported that the clan had 14,704 cultivators, including 158 Foundation Establishment cultivators, along with thousands of spirit beasts and extensive combat resources.
• Ling Chengyuan detailed the clan’s reserves of spirit rice, pills, flying boats, talismans, and Foundation Establishment resources.
• The elders reacted with astonishment at the scale of the Ling Clan’s forces and preparations.

Ling Pengyun organized the Ling Clan’s resources and garrisons for the coming Demon Beast Uprising, offering a valuable artifact to elders who volunteered for the dangerous front lines. Ling Wanchuan, Ling Wanxu, Ling Wanduo, and Ling Li Hu volunteered to defend the White Cloud Mountain Range Territory.

• Ling Pengyun ordered Ling Chengyuan to recruit unaffiliated cultivators using the clan’s vast stock of spiritual items.
• Ling Pengyun assigned garrisons across the clan’s five territories, placing the largest force in the exposed White Cloud Mountain Range Territory and offering volunteers for dangerous posts a Second Grade Middle Rank spiritual artifact.
• Ling Wanchuan volunteered to serve at the White Cloud Mountain Range front line, and Ling Wanxu agreed to go with him.
• Ling Wanduo volunteered after suspecting that the choice of garrison could affect future Golden Core Opportunities, and he urged Ling Wanliang to join him.
• Ling Li Hu also volunteered to fight the Crimson Gold Bear Race at the White Cloud Mountain Range Territory.

As the Ling Clan prepared to defend the White Cloud Mountain Range, Ling Li Hu, Ling Li Bing, Ling Chengping, and Lin Fan volunteered for the front lines. Ling Chengxia then ordered the Outer Affairs Hall’s Foundation Establishment elders to join the fight, leaving them afraid to refuse.

• Ling Li Hu and Ling Li Bing agreed to fight on the front lines and prove themselves after years of rumors that they were too cowardly to leave the clan.
• Ling Chengping volunteered to defend the White Cloud Mountain Range, and Lin Fan agreed, hoping to earn Ling Pengyun’s future support for obtaining a Golden Core Spirit Object.
• Ling Chengxia rose and ordered the Outer Affairs Hall’s Foundation Establishment elders to stand up and repay the clan by fighting.
• Ling Chengxia threatened any elder who feared battle with expulsion from the Outer Affairs Hall, and the elders were too afraid of their powerful, ruthless Hall Master to protest.

Ling Chengxia persuaded the Outer Affairs Hall Foundation Establishment Elders to volunteer for the White Cloud Mountain Range front line by threatening them and promising cultivation resources, prompting Ling Clan cultivators to join as well. Ling Chengyuan then resolved to reduce the stipends of marriage-alliance cultivators who refused to volunteer.

• Ling Chengxia threatened the Outer Affairs Hall Elders with the loss of their cultivation unless they agreed to fight at the White Cloud Mountain Range front line.
• Ling Chengxia promised outstanding volunteers priority for cultivation resources, and the Elders pledged to fight for the clan.
• The Ling Clan Foundation Establishment cultivators, stung by the Outer Affairs Hall Elders volunteering first, began declaring their willingness to join the battle.
• Ling Chengyuan told Ling Chengxia that he had arranged the events, and Ling Chengxia modestly credited him.
• Ling Chengyuan noticed that most Foundation Establishment practitioners of the hundred arts who had married into the clan refused to volunteer, and decided to cut their generous stipends.

Ling Chengyuan and Ling Pengyun organized the Ling Clan’s defenses against the approaching Demon Beast Uprising, assigning Foundation Establishment forces across the front lines and clan territories. They also arranged for the clan’s millions of mortals to be relocated to sixteen fortified cities, while the Elders continued planning supplies.

• Ling Chengyuan assigned fifty Foundation Establishment Cultivators to the White Cloud Mountain Range front line, thirty to Purple Scorpion Ridge, and the remaining forces to protect other clan regions.
• The Ling Clan Sons-in-law and Family Daughters-in-law who had declined the front line were left with safer assignments, while Ling Chengyuan stayed at the clan grounds to oversee affairs and resources.
• Ling Pengyun instructed the selected Foundation Establishment Elders to choose Qi Refinement cultivators for each location.
• Ling Chengxia warned that the clan’s scattered mortals faced danger from demon beasts and demonic cultivators, and proposed gathering them for protection.
• Ling Pengyun ordered the sixteen or seventeen million mortals relocated to sixteen cities, each guarded by a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, combat auxiliaries, and one hundred Qi Refinement cultivators.
• The Elders adopted several additional defense proposals and continued discussing supplies into the night.

Ling Wanchuan and Ling Wanxu tried to bid farewell to Ling Pengxing before leaving for the dangerous White Cloud Mountain Range front lines, but his servants hid that he had already left. Ling Wanchuan then visited his parents in Lingxiao City and shared a meal with them before his journey.

• Ling Wanchuan urged Ling Wanxu to pay respects to Ling Pengxing before they left for the front lines, fearing they might not return.
• Ling Wanchuan and Ling Wanxu visited Ghost Star Valley but learned from Wang Shi's grandfather and grandson that Ling Pengxing was still in seclusion.
• The two cultivators left disappointed and visited relatives near the clan grounds.
• Ling Wanchuan returned to his parents' home, where his father rebuked him for neglecting cultivation and his mother asked about his journey.
• Ling Wanchuan warned his parents not to overwork themselves, then helped his mother prepare lunch while his father went to catch a hen.

Ling Chengxia delegated preparations for relocating mortals and deploying the Outer Affairs Hall’s cultivators before entering seclusion to comprehend a spell. Ling Chengping coaxed more defensive treasures from Ling Pengyun for the coming Demon Beast Uprising, leaving him exasperated as she and Lin Fan departed with their new talismans.

• Ling Wanxu reunited warmly with his niece and family in a courtyard in Lingxiao City.
• Ling Chengxia entrusted Zhang Qianyu and Ling Pengcheng with relocating mortals and deploying seven thousand Outer Affairs Hall cultivators, then gave each a Quasi-Third Rank Protective Magic Treasure before going into seclusion.
• Zhang Qianyu offered to manage the relocation, while Ling Pengcheng took responsibility for dispatching the cultivators and urged Zhang Qianyu to cultivate toward a breakthrough.
• Ling Chengping pleaded with Ling Pengyun for another Near Third Rank protective treasure, citing her low strength and her work raising Earth Silk Spirit Silkworms, but he pointed out how many defenses she already had.
• Ling Pengyun gave Ling Chengping a Third Rank Low Grade Defensive Spirit Talisman, then blasted her out of his cave abode when she demanded more.
• After Lin Fan cautioned Ling Chengping against pestering Ling Pengyun, Ling Pengyun sent out two Third Rank Middle Grade Defensive Spirit Talismans for her and ordered the couple off Lingxiao Mountain.

Ling Pengxing returned to Ghost Star Valley after a year away, revealed that he had reached the Golden Core Realm, and ordered Wang Shi and Wang Yu to join him in guarding the White Cloud Mountain Range front line during the Demon Beast Uprising. He learned that Ling Wanchuan and Ling Wan Xu had visited and read Ling Wanchuan's letter, which described his gratitude and fears that they might never meet again.

• Ling Pengxing returned to Ghost Star Valley, and Wang Shi and Wang Yu sensed that his aura had become impossible to detect.
• Wang Shi asked whether Ling Pengxing had reached the Golden Core Realm, then he and Wang Yu knelt after Ling Pengxing rebuked him for asking.
• Ling Pengxing ordered Wang Shi and Wang Yu to accompany him to guard the White Cloud Mountain Range in half a year and gave them Soul-Gathering Bottles containing souls of Late-Stage Foundation Establishment demon beasts.
• Ling Pengxing revealed that he had entered the Golden Core Realm and promised to protect Wang Shi and Wang Yu if they encountered danger.
• Wang Shi told Ling Pengxing that Ling Wanchuan and Ling Wan Xu had visited, left letters, and gone to see their parents in mortal cities.
• Ling Pengxing read Ling Wanchuan's letter, which thanked him for his sword-cultivation guidance and said that the coming front-line deployment might leave them with no chance to meet again.

Ling Pengxing emerged from seclusion as a Golden Core cultivator and reunited with Ling Wanchuan and Ling Wanxu, preparing to guide their Sword Dao before they departed for the White Cloud Mountain Range front lines. As the coming Demon Beast Uprising drew near, Wang Shi gave his demon beast souls to Wang Yu to improve her chances of survival, while the families of Ling Wanchuan and Ling Wanxu quietly feared for their safety.

• Ling Pengxing read Ling Wanxu's letter, sent two Message Talismans, and gave Wang Shi and Wang Yu three Late-Stage Foundation Establishment demon beast souls each.
• Wang Shi gave his three souls to Wang Yu, urging her to grow stronger and survive the coming Demon Beast Uprising so she could one day advance toward the Golden Core realm.
• Ling Wanchuan and Ling Wanxu returned to Ghost Star Valley, where Ling Pengxing revealed that he had reached the Golden Core realm and would train them in Sword Dao for half a year before taking them to the front lines.
• Ling Wanchuan's parents worried about the danger of his journey but kept their fears to themselves, knowing the clan's affairs could not be delayed.
• Ling Wanxu's family watched him leave, while his young niece Ling Jia innocently asked when he would return with the promised white fox fur robe.

Ling Pengyun met with Liang Mingtu and Yang Siqi to arrange a joint defense of Purple Scorpion Ridge Territory against the coming Demon Beast Uprising. Both clans agreed to contribute resources and help garrison the territory alongside Ling Clan forces.

• Liang Mingtu and Yang Siqi arrived at the Ling Clan Guest Hall and thanked Ling Pengyun for his past help in advancing their clans.
• Ling Pengyun explained that the Ice Snow White Lion Race might invade Purple Scorpion Ridge Territory during the uprising and outlined the Ling Clan’s planned garrison forces.
• Ling Pengyun asked the Yang Clan to provide pills worth fifty thousand spirit stones and the Liang Family to surrender thirty percent of the demon beasts it killed after the war.
• Yang Siqi and Liang Mingtu agreed to join the defense, and Liang Mingtu asked whether their clans also had to garrison the White Cloud Mountain Range.
• Ling Pengyun said the two clans only needed to help defend Purple Scorpion Ridge Territory, and the three forces discussed the defense arrangements.

Ling Pengyun secured Liang Mingtu and Yang Siqi’s commitment to defend Purple Scorpion Ridge during the coming Demon Beast Uprising and offered them a chance to claim its Third Rank spirit vein afterward. After they departed, he revealed that he had noticed an elderly cultivator named Zhao hiding nearby, who came to meet him.

• Ling Pengyun, Yang Siqi, and Liang Mingtu agreed to seize Purple Scorpion Mountain and use a Ling Clan Third Rank array to defend against the Ice Snow White Lion Race.
• Liang Mingtu warned that Crimson Kite Bear Empress might invade Yan Kingdom, and Ling Pengyun said his clan and allied sects would handle her while demanding that the Liang and Yang clans stand their ground.
• Ling Pengyun promised that either the Yang Clan or Liang Family could obtain Purple Scorpion Ridge’s Third Rank spirit vein by earning three hundred thousand battle merits.
• Liang Mingtu and Yang Siqi pledged to defend Purple Scorpion Ridge and then left the Guest Hall.
• Ling Pengyun called out an unseen cultivator, and Daoist Zhao emerged from concealment to meet him.

Zhao Yuanqian proposed that the Ling Clan join the Black Mountain Zhao Family in destroying the weakened Ice Snow White Lion Race, while warning that the Thunderbolt Rat Race had grown stronger and might support the lions. Ling Pengyun agreed in principle, but said the Ling Clan could only help after Yan Kingdom’s forces dealt with the Crimson Kite Bear Empress’s retaliation.

• Zhao Yuanqian explained the Zhao Clan’s long feud with the Ice Snow White Lion Race and its plans to coordinate with the Ling Clan against them.
• Ling Pengyun learned that the Thunderbolt Rat Race had gained four Golden Core Demon Kings, including one at Golden Core Completion, and inferred that its rat stationed in Cloud Stepping Valley had been exiled and kept uninformed.
• Zhao Yuanqian offered the Ling Clan forty percent of the Ice Snow White Lion Race’s resources in exchange for Golden Core support for the Quasi Fourth Rank Prairie Fire Array.
• Ling Pengyun said the Ling Clan could spare cultivators only after Yan Kingdom’s forces blocked the Crimson Kite Bear Empress’s retaliation, and Zhao Yuanqian agreed to wait.
• After Zhao Yuanqian departed, Ling Pengyun gave Ling Chengyuan a few instructions and left the clan grounds.

Qiu Baiyun failed a second time to refine a Demon Beast Golden Core, leaving the Mountain Sea Qiu Family without a clear path to preserve its power. Qiu Zhongtian agreed to sell the clan’s last usable Third Rank artifact to fund another attempt, while the family’s future remained at risk.

• Qiu Baiyun emerged from seclusion after failing to refine the Demon Beast Golden Core, then vowed to recover and attempt a breakthrough through his own strength.
• Qiu Zhongtian warned that his remaining lifespan was short and that the clan might have to surrender Mountain Sea Island to a rogue cultivator Golden Core friend for protection.
• Qiu Baiyun argued that losing Mountain Sea Island would strip the family of its defenses, spirit veins, and vital income, and asked to try condensing a Golden Core before deciding its fate.
• Qiu Zhongtian agreed to give Qiu Baiyun another chance and proposed selling the ancestral Mystic Yuan Treasure Sword to obtain resources for another Pseudo-Core attempt.
• Qiu Baiyun objected that selling the sword would weaken Qiu Zhongtian and leave the family vulnerable, but Qiu Zhongtian insisted that he had made up his mind.

Qiu Zhongtian sent Qiu Baiyun to the Qian Clan’s Golden Core Grand Banquet to learn the intentions of the newly powerful clan. At the banquet, Qian Feng agreed to consider a marriage alliance with the Qiu Family’s enemy, the Golden Scale Huang Family, after receiving a mysterious instruction.

• Qiu Zhongtian learned that the Qian Clan’s Wind Shadow Peng had reached the Golden Core Realm and ordered Qiu Baiyun to represent the Qiu Family at its banquet.
• Qian Feng hosted the crowded banquet, where the Qiu, Huang, Bai, and Wood Origin Immortal Sect representatives presented gifts.
• Huang Yongquan mocked the Qiu Family for sending Qiu Baiyun instead of Qiu Zhongtian, and Qian Feng defended the Qiu Family’s absence.
• Huang Yongquan proposed a marriage alliance between the Huang and Qian Families, and Qian Feng heard a voice in his Sea of Consciousness telling him to agree.
• Qian Feng said the clans’ younger members could meet and that he would support a marriage alliance if the Huang women agreed.

Qian Feng accepted marriage alliances with the Huang Family, the Bai Family, and the Qiu Family, placing the Qian Clan between three rival powers. At the Golden Core banquet, the Wind Shadow Peng revealed its formidable strength, while Ling Pengshan and his son remained away from the guests and gathered with Ling Pengyun instead.

• Bai Qinglang offered a marriage alliance with the Qian Clan, and Qian Feng accepted, unsettling Huang Yongquan.
• At noon, the Golden Core Wind Shadow Peng swept over the feast with thousands of spirit birds, announced that the banquet had begun, and revealed an aura comparable to a Golden Core Second Layer demon beast.
• Qian Feng led Huang Yongquan, Bai Qinglang, Qiu Baiyun, and the Wood Origin Immortal Sect cultivator to the central table and explained that Ling Pengshan and Ling Chengshi had gone traveling.
• Huang Yongquan and the other guests grew displeased at Ling Pengshan's absence, while the Wood Origin Immortal Sect cultivator suspected he was avoiding entanglement with the three clans.
• At Tortoise Spirit Mountain's summit, Ling Pengshan, Liu Shi, and Ling Chengshi chatted with Ling Pengyun as the Wind Shadow Peng meekly crouched at Ling Pengyun's feet.

Qiu Baiyun returned to Turtle Spirit Island after the Golden Core banquet and offered the Qian Clan Mountain Sea Island and most of his family’s spirit veins in exchange for long-term protection. Qian Feng accepted a valuable piece of azure steel iron but deferred the proposed agreement to the Wind Shadow Peng.

• Qian Feng told Qiu Baiyun that the Qian Clan planned to leave Turtle Spirit Island because its resources could not support the clan’s growth.
• Huang Yongquan and Bai Qinglang separately visited Qian Feng after Huang Yongquan observed his conversation with Qiu Baiyun.
• Qiu Baiyun secretly left Turtle Spirit Island, then returned nearly half a month later after the banquet had ended.
• Qiu Baiyun apologized to Qian Feng with near third rank azure steel iron and offered the Qian Clan Mountain Sea Island and seventy percent of his family’s spirit veins.
• Qiu Baiyun asked the Qian Clan to protect his family for a thousand years and support a future Golden Core cultivator in exchange for the land and resources.
• Qian Feng said the Wind Shadow Peng had to decide the matter and went up the mountain to find him.

Qiu Baiyun agreed to let the Qian Clan’s Wind Shadow Peng protect the Qiu Family in exchange for most of its spirit veins, and the Peng drove off rival clans when they attacked. After the Qian Clan settled on Mountain Sea Island and rented excess veins back to the Qiu Family, Qiu Zhongtian brought Fire Radiance True Person to negotiate for spirit veins.

• Qiu Baiyun accepted the Wind Shadow Peng’s offer to protect the Qiu Family for five hundred years in exchange for Mountain Sea Island and seventy percent of its spirit veins.
• The Golden Scale Huang Family and Wild Goose Mountain Bai Family attacked the Qiu Family during its relocation, but the Wind Shadow Peng and Qiu Zhongtian drove them back.
• The Qiu Family resettled on an island with a Quasi-Third Rank Spirit Vein and retained control of five hundred low-order spirit veins.
• The Qian Clan moved to Mountain Sea Island and rented its excess spirit veins to the Qiu Family in exchange for a share of the spirit plants.
• Qiu Zhongtian introduced Fire Radiance True Person to Ling Pengshan and asked to rent spirit veins for the family Fire Radiance planned to establish.

Fire Radiance True Person secured a hundred spirit veins for his clan by agreeing to serve as a Qian Clan vassal and signing a Soul Contract. After the nearby families stopped making moves, Ling Pengyun prepared to return to the clan with the Wind Shadow Peng, leaving Qian Feng instructions to keep the branch quiet during the Northern Wilderness Demon Beast Uprising.

• Fire Radiance True Person gave Ling Pengshan a belated congratulatory gift and accepted Ling Pengshan’s terms to lease a hundred spirit veins in exchange for a share of the harvest and discounted alchemy services.
• Fire Radiance True Person signed a Soul Contract pledging not to harm the Qian Clan branch, then left with Qiu Zhongtian and a Qian Clan guide.
• Ling Pengshan told Ling Pengyun that the Golden Scale Huang Family and Wild Goose Mountain Bai Family had made no further moves, so the group could return to the clan.
• Ling Pengyun gave Qian Feng a communication jade, instructed him to keep the branch quiet, and arranged for word to spread that the Wind Shadow Peng had entered seclusion.
• Ling Pengyun took the Wind Shadow Peng and departed with Ling Pengshan and Ling Chengshi, while Qian Feng returned to his cave and studied a Sword Dao tome written by Ling Pengxing.