Chapter Summaries

Ling Pengyun negotiated with Dragon Abyss Flood Dragon King to exchange territory for help strengthening the Ling Clan’s flood dragon bloodlines, then traveled to the Serpent Dragon Lake Branch to visit its Dragon Vein. He entered the Dragon Cave with Ling Mo, whose cultivation and prospects made him a promising disciple of Spirit Talisman Old Ancestor.

• Dragon Abyss Flood Dragon King asked Ling Pengyun for territory in the White Shadow Secret Realm in exchange for the five hundred demonic veins his clan had received in the Profound Pearl Secret Realm.
• Ling Pengyun offered Dragon Abyss Flood Dragon King two hundred and fifty spirit veins and asked him to train the Ling Clan’s flood dragons until their bloodlines reached Fourth Grade within ten years.
• Dragon Abyss Flood Dragon King agreed to train the Ling Clan’s flood dragons, and Ling Pengyun released him from the obligation to act for him a third time.
• Ling Pengyun left Dragon Abyss Flood Dragon King to watch over White Cloud City and traveled to the Serpent Dragon Lake Branch beneath the Hundred Spirits Sect.
• Ling Mo guided Ling Pengyun into the Dragon Cave, where Ling Pengyun noted that the Dragon Vein’s spiritual energy had grown denser and might soon reach Third Rank Middle Grade.

Ling Pengyun visited Hundred Spirits Sect’s Dragon Cave and learned how the sect and the Ling Clan shared its Dragon Qi and used a captive Golden Core earth flood dragon’s blood to cultivate Dragon Transformation Grass. He summoned his family’s flood dragons and earthworms, who were training in the cave to strengthen their bloodlines before seeking breakthroughs.

• Ling Mo welcomed Ling Pengyun and explained that Hundred Spirits Sect valued the Dragon Vein for the Dragon Qi that nourished its guardian Blue Jade Water Flood Dragon.
• Ling Pengyun saw the captive, weakened Yellow Scale Earth Flood Dragon and learned that the sect and the Ling Clan had maintained its cultivation to harvest its blood for Dragon Transformation Grass.
• Ling Pengyun observed Blue Jade’s progress and noted that it had reached the Golden Core Fifth Layer over the past century.
• Ling Pengyun called the Ling Clan’s Golden Flood Dragons, Jin Da and its mate, and a nearly Golden Core Pseudo Earth-Turning Dragon Earthworm out of their caves.
• Ling Pengyun’s flood dragons and the earthworm continued cultivating Dragon Qi to strengthen their bloodlines before attempting independent Golden Core breakthroughs.

Ling Pengyun brought the Ling Clan’s flood dragons to the Dragon Abyss Flood Dragon King for guidance, then the three-year Demon Beast Uprising ended and peace returned to the Northern Wilderness. After the Ling Clan assessed its meager gains and planned to revive its markets, Ling Pengyun welcomed three familiar Golden Core cultivators arriving at White Cloud City.

• Ling Pengyun asked the Dragon Abyss Flood Dragon King to guide the clan’s flood dragons in cultivating the Hundred Treasures Dragon Profound Art, and the King agreed.
• Two years later, the demon beasts withdrew to the Boundless Great Swamp, and the Nascent Soul powers declared the Demon Beast Uprising over.
• Ling Pengyun and the Ling Clan’s Golden Core cultivators tallied their meager battle profits and decided to place precious spirit items in their markets to attract customers.
• Ling Pengyun sensed three familiar Golden Core cultivators approaching White Cloud City and led the Ling Clan cultivators out to welcome them.
• The three visitors greeted the Ling Clan, and Ling Pengyun asked whether they had come to rent the city’s cave dwellings again.

Ling Pengyun welcomed three former Golden Core Guest Elders back to the Ling Clan and bought the demon beast corpse they brought. The three resumed their posts in White Cloud City and returned to their former cultivation abodes.

• Zhou Daoyou offered Ling Pengyun a Golden Core Initial Stage demon beast corpse and asked to rejoin the Ling Clan as a Guest Elder with his two companions.
• Ling Pengyun agreed to buy the corpse for fifty thousand spirit stones and invited the three to serve as Guest Elders in White Cloud City again.
• Ling Pengyun left the matter of their appointment to Ling Penglin and departed to handle postwar affairs.
• Ling Penglin gave Zhou Daoyou and the other Guest Elders tokens to their former cultivation abodes and led them back into the city.
• The three Guest Elders settled into their abodes, and Zhou Daoyou warned his companions to protect White Cloud City's interests so the Ling Clan would not expel them.

As the Ling Clan prepared to leave White Cloud City after the Demon Beast Uprising, Ling Pengyun warned its promising Foundation Establishment cultivators to focus on reaching the Golden Core Realm before Black Flood Dragon Lake emerged. Ling Pengcheng asked permission to condense a false core because his age and fading vital blood made further delay dangerous, but Ling Pengyun proposed that he first attempt a breakthrough using Golden Core Spirit Objects.

• The Ling Clan announced a grand auction in White Cloud City, prompting most independent cultivators gathered there to stay for the event.
• The Ling Clan assembled its Golden Core Ancestors and Foundation Establishment leaders as clan members prepared to leave the city and return to their posts.
• Ling Pengyun warned that Black Flood Dragon Lake would soon emerge and ordered the clan's Foundation Establishment Completion cultivators to set aside their duties and prepare for Golden Core breakthroughs.
• Ling Pengcheng told Ling Pengyun and the other Ancestors that his advanced age and declining vital blood made him want to condense a false core.
• Ling Pengyun advised Ling Yunhong to let Ling Pengcheng first attempt a Golden Core breakthrough with three non-conflicting Golden Core Spirit Objects, keeping false-core condensation as a fallback.

Ling Pengyun secured clan support for Ling Pengcheng to attempt forming a Golden Core, then arranged preparations against the future crisis at Black Flood Dragon Lake. The clan also approved resources for Lin Fan’s Immortal Spirit Crane and decided to focus its beast-raising efforts on spirit beasts with better aptitude.

• Ling Pengyun persuaded the clan’s Golden Core cultivators to provide Ling Pengcheng with three ordinary Golden Core spirit objects, and Ling Pengcheng departed for Cloud Stepping Valley to attempt his breakthrough.
• Ling Pengyun urged the clan’s Golden Core cultivators to study divine abilities and secret arts in preparation for the danger from Black Flood Dragon Lake.
• The clan assigned Lin Fan, Ling Chengping, and her husband to watch over White Cloud City, while Ling Penglin returned to the clan grounds to gather spirit veins and build up its defenses.
• The clan approved one ordinary and two inferior Golden Core spirit objects for Lin Fan’s Immortal Spirit Crane to attempt forming a Golden Core once its meridians matured.
• Ling Pengyun and the other Golden Core cultivators decided to reduce resources for poorly qualified spirit beasts and prioritize the stronger ones, entrusting the work to Lin Fan.

After the Demon Beast Uprising, the Ling Clan resumed its normal activities, and Ling Pengyun brought three Golden Core spirit objects to Cloud Stepping Valley for Ling Pengcheng’s breakthrough attempt. There, he learned that Ling Li Hu was continuing his work on a mutation method for Winged Shadow Tigers, and he left Ling Li Hu with a warning not to neglect his own cultivation.

• The Ling Clan escorted the clan members who had fought in White Cloud City back to their territories and resumed its usual operations.
• Ling Pengyun delivered three ordinary-grade Golden Core spirit objects to Ling Pengcheng, who entered Cloud Stepping Valley to attempt a breakthrough.
• Ling Pengyun met Ling Li Hu and learned that he had stayed in the valley to perfect the Thunder Winged Shadow Tiger Mutation Method.
• Ling Li Hu explained how his method had produced thirty Thunder Winged Shadow Tigers, though the mutation remained risky and the tigers’ lifespans were short.
• Ling Li Hu said he was seventy percent confident he could perfect the method within five years, and Ling Pengyun told him to keep studying the clan’s divine sense and Meridian Tempering Techniques.

Ling Pengyun rewarded Ling Li Hu for developing the Thunder Winged Shadow Tiger Mutation Method, then sealed the secret of his gift with a restriction. Ling Li Hu gained confidence that he could improve the method within three years, while Ling Pengyun promised a greater reward if it reached mid-grade Golden Core-level quality.

• Ling Li Hu explained that he would delay mutating his Lifebound Winged Shadow Tiger because the current method had only a one-percent success rate and failure could leave the beast injured for nearly a century.
• Ling Pengyun assured Ling Li Hu that the clan’s investment of one hundred thousand spirit stones was worthwhile and offered continued support for his research.
• Ling Pengyun infused Ling Li Hu with a seven-colored qi that strengthened his meridians, purified his spiritual power, and improved his comprehension.
• Ling Pengyun placed a restriction in Ling Li Hu’s Sea of Consciousness to keep the gift secret and prevent unauthorized soul-searching from revealing it.
• Ling Li Hu promised to refine the mutation method within one to three years, and Ling Pengyun offered a chance to pursue the Great Dao if he raised it to mid-grade Golden Core-level quality.

Ling Pengyun urged Ling Li Hu to perfect the Thunder Winged Shadow Tiger Mutation Method, hoping it would prepare him to improve the clan’s powerful but incomplete Azure Scale Snake mutation method. Ling Li Hu then asked Ling Pengyun to intervene in a plan to assassinate a rival Thunderbolt Rat, and Ling Pengyun agreed that the allied Lei Yuan Rat Demon needed a warning.

• Ling Pengyun explained that he had given Ling Li Hu the Yin-Yang Primordial Beginning opportunity to encourage him to perfect his mutation method and prepare him to improve the Three-Headed Mutation Method.
• Ling Pengyun and Ling Li Hu discussed Lei Yuan’s history, its rise within the Thunderbolt Rat Race, and its secret cooperation with the Ling Clan.
• Ling Li Hu reported that Lei Yuan wanted the Ling Clan to kill a newly emerged Golden Core genius rat demon guarding a treasure land, but Ling Pengxing remained in seclusion.
• Ling Li Hu said Lei Yuan had tried to reduce the assassination payment and had been pressing the clan for action.
• Ling Pengyun criticized Lei Yuan’s conduct and said it seemed the little mouse wanted a beating.

Ling Pengcheng successfully formed a Middle Grade Golden Core, then awakened a latent Spirit Body that strengthened and purified his spiritual power. Ling Pengyun and Ling Li Hu celebrated his newfound potential, though the Spirit Body’s exact type remained unknown.

• Ling Pengyun promised Ling Li Hu he would make a trip after Ling Pengcheng finished attempting to form his Golden Core, then guided Ling Li Hu’s cultivation.
• Two months later, Ling Pengcheng formed a Middle Grade Golden Core in Cloud Stepping Valley, while the Lightning Destruction Grand Array absorbed most of his tribulation lightning.
• Ling Pengyun and Ling Li Hu saw Ling Pengcheng surrounded by mysterious golden radiance and suspected he was experiencing an Acquired Spirit Body Awakening.
• After three days, Ling Pengcheng awoke and told Ling Pengyun that unusual qi was autonomously strengthening and purifying his spiritual power and making it circulate nearly thirty percent faster.
• Ling Pengyun concluded that Ling Pengcheng had gained a powerful Spirit Body, and Ling Li Hu congratulated him on the opportunity.

Ling Pengyun identified Ling Pengcheng’s newly awakened spirit body as the Moral Golden Saint Spirit Body and explained how its qi could strengthen cultivation and improve his chance of reaching the Nascent Soul Realm. He warned Pengcheng to keep the spirit body secret and cultivate within the clan, then asked which technique he was currently practicing.

• Ling Pengcheng thanked Ling Pengyun for the three Golden Core Spirit Objects that had helped him enter the Golden Core Realm.
• Ling Pengyun examined Ling Pengcheng’s special qi and identified it as Moral Golden Saint Qi from the Moral Golden Saint Spirit Body.
• Ling Pengyun explained that the spirit body could increase cultivation speed and, after forming nine strands of qi, raise Pengcheng’s chance of reaching the Nascent Soul Realm by around ten percent.
• Ling Pengyun warned Ling Pengcheng that revealing the spirit body could attract Nascent Soul cultivators and instructed him to remain within the clan and cultivate with family support.
• Ling Pengcheng agreed to keep the spirit body secret and focus on cultivation, while Ling Li Hu also agreed to guard the secret.
• Ling Pengyun placed restrictions in their Seas of Consciousness and asked Ling Pengcheng what technique he was cultivating.

Ling Pengyun brought Ling Penglin to a hidden Thunderbolt Rat mine in the Boundless Great Swamp and launched a carefully prepared array assault. The Thunderbolt Rat guardian realized the humans had known the mine’s defenses in advance and feared a traitor inside its clan.

• Ling Pengyun learned that Ling Pengcheng cultivated the Zhen Yuan Wood Qian Technique and promised to find him a wood-attributed Nascent Soul technique.
• Ling Pengyun returned to the clan, took Ling Penglin from the treasury, and followed a map to a hidden Black Star Spirit Iron mine in Thunderbolt Rat territory.
• Ling Penglin set up a trapping formation and the Ling Clan’s shielding array around the mine’s Third Rank Middle Grade Vein Protecting Grand Array.
• The Thunderbolt Rat guardian tried to summon help with a Mother-Child Token, but the shielding array blocked it.
• Ling Pengyun’s Earth Overturning Grand Array shook the ground and destabilized the mine’s defenses, convincing the Thunderbolt Rat that the humans had prepared to attack and that a clan traitor had revealed the mine.

Ling Pengyun used three Spirit Treasure Prototypes to destroy the Thunderbolt Rat Race’s formation and defeat its Golden Core guardian. He and Ling Penglin took part of the mineral vein before leaving, while Ling Pengyun considered how to strengthen the Illusory Flood Dragon Banner’s phantom dragon.

• Ling Pengyun summoned the Three Yuan Pure Yang Crown, Golden Scale Mountain, and Illusory Flood Dragon Banner, then bombarded the Thunderbolt Rat Race’s Vein Protecting Grand Array.
• After half a day, Ling Pengyun broke the formation and entered, while Ling Penglin’s trapping formation prevented the Golden Core Initial Stage Thunderbolt Rat from escaping.
• Ling Pengyun’s phantom flood dragon killed the Thunderbolt Rat and thousands of other demon beasts, absorbing their souls and growing slightly stronger.
• Ling Pengyun recalled the phantom dragon, stored the Thunderbolt Rat’s soul, and asked Ling Penglin whether they could remove the mineral vein.
• Ling Penglin used the Vein-Turning Earth-Overturning Grand Array to take roughly one-tenth of the vein, and Ling Pengyun left with him before nearby Golden Core Demon Kings could arrive.

Ling Pengyun continued developing the Lingxiao Five Elements Treasure Tome after delivering a Golden Core Thunderbolt Rat soul to Ling Pengxing. After decades of seclusion, he completed a preliminary Foundation Establishment chapter and sought out Ling Chengyuan to find a cultivator who could test the technique.

• Ling Pengyun gave the soul of a Golden Core Thunderbolt Rat to ghost cultivators at the clan’s Near Third Rank Ghost Nurturing Ground for Ling Pengxing.
• Ling Pengyun returned to Ice Snow Valley and perfected the Qi Refinement chapter of the Lingxiao Five Elements Treasure Tome to peak high-grade quality over ten years.
• Ling Pengyun spent thirty years deducing the Foundation Establishment chapter, which remained low-grade and lacked methods for refining natal spiritual artifacts.
• Ling Pengyun decided the technique needed practical testing, left seclusion, and went to seek out Ling Chengyuan.

After emerging from forty years of seclusion, Ling Pengyun learned that Ling Wanduo and Ling Wanxu had successfully reached the Golden Core Realm, while Ling Wanliang had failed and needed decades to recover. He reviewed the clan’s progress and summoned Li Ming, along with Ling Wanxu and his Dao Companion if they were available.

• Ling Chengyuan told Ling Pengyun that Ling Wanduo, Ling Wanxu, and Ling Wanliang had attempted to form Golden Cores, with only Ling Wanduo and Ling Wanxu succeeding.
• Ling Wanduo reached the Golden Core Realm with help from his daughter Ling Liqin and son-in-law Lin Luo, who obtained Golden Core Spirit Objects for him.
• Ling Wanxu formed a Middle Grade Golden Core, while Ling Wanliang survived his failed attempt but suffered severe injuries.
• Ling Chengyuan reported that Ling Li Hu had improved the Thunder Winged Shadow Tiger Mutation Method, raising its mutation chance to 0.7 percent and the mutated tigers’ lifespan to one hundred years.
• Ling Pengyun consulted the clan genealogy and asked Ling Chengyuan to summon Li Ming and, if available, Ling Wanxu and his Dao Companion.

Ling Pengyun asked Ling Li Ming to test his new Five Elements Technique, offering three Golden Core Spirit Objects in return. Li Ming volunteered despite the danger, and Ling Pengyun took him away to begin the test.

• Grand Elder Ling Chengyuan brought Duan Die and her son, Ling Li Ming, to meet Ling Pengyun, who gave the boy second-tier Fruit Flower Honey.
• Ling Pengyun explained that he wanted Ling Li Ming to test his theoretical Five Elements Technique and offered three Golden Core Spirit Objects if the boy remained unharmed.
• Duan Die hesitated and asked to consult Ling Wanxu, but Ling Li Ming insisted he was willing to take part.
• Duan Die reluctantly agreed, and Ling Pengyun promised to protect the boy before taking him away.
• Ling Chengyuan reassured Duan Die that Ling Pengyun had chosen Ling Li Ming carefully, and she began to see the test as a possible opportunity for her son.

Ling Pengyun gave Ling Li Ming a powerful cultivation environment and the Qi Refinement section of the Lingxiao Five Elements Treasure Tome, hoping to test whether the technique was safe. He then visited his family and learned of Ling Chengxin’s successful creation of Star Origin Spirit Rice, whose improvement method she and Ling Chengyuan planned to auction.

• Ling Pengyun gave Ling Li Ming the Lingxiao Five Elements Treasure Tome, a token, and access to a five-element cultivation room until he reached Foundation Establishment.
• Ling Li Ming entered the room, marveled at its dense spiritual energy, and began studying the technique with fierce determination.
• Ling Pengyun visited Ling Xiaoshun, Yang Qiuyun, Ling Chengxin, and Ling Lihao, while Yan Siyi remained in seclusion.
• Ling Xiaoshun and Yang Qiuyun had both reached the peak of the Foundation Establishment Ninth Layer, and Ling Pengyun planned to provide each with three Golden Core Spirit Objects for a future breakthrough attempt.
• Ling Chengxin had advanced to the Foundation Establishment Sixth Layer and raised her spirit plant rank to Second Rank High Grade.
• Ling Chengxin developed superior-quality First Rank High Grade Star Origin Spirit Rice, and she and Ling Chengyuan decided to auction its improvement method.

Ling Chengxin shared the wealth from selling her Star Essence Spirit Rice Improvement Method with her family, while Ling Pengyun learned how astonishingly far Ling Lihao had advanced in cultivation and talisman-making. Ling Pengyun considered further enhancing Ling Lihao’s talent with Yin Yang Primordial Qi.

• The Peace Cloud Yang Clan bought Ling Chengxin’s Star Essence Spirit Rice Improvement Method for more than 110,000 spirit stones, leaving her with over 100,000 after the clan’s handling fee.
• Ling Chengxin gave spirit stones to Ling Pengyun and said she had also shared them with Ling Xiaoshun and Yang Qiuyun, prompting her family to tease her about marriage.
• Ling Pengyun privately asked Ling Lihao about his progress, and Ling Lihao revealed that he had reached the peak of Foundation Establishment Ninth Layer and advanced both his Spirit Talisman Cave Path and Spirit Plant Path to Near Third Rank.
• Ling Lihao told Ling Pengyun that he had comprehended two secret arts to the Golden Core level and was close to drawing genuine Third Rank spirit talismans.
• Ling Pengyun was astonished by Ling Lihao’s achievements and considered giving him another strand of Yin Yang Primordial Qi to enhance his talent.

Ling Pengyun improved Ling Lihao’s aptitude with Yin Yang Primordial Qi and discussed his plans for becoming a Third Rank Talisman Crafter and preparing for the Golden Core realm. He then decided to save Yin Yang Primordial Qi to make Yin Yang Primordial Essence for Yan Siyi, while considering how to help her gain the spirit roots needed for a Five Elements Golden Core.

• Ling Pengyun gave Ling Lihao a wisp of Yin Yang Primordial Qi, resolving his cultivation difficulties, and sealed his Sea of Consciousness to keep the secret.
• Ling Lihao said he had a thirty percent chance of becoming a Third Rank Talisman Crafter and planned to strengthen his divine sense and meridians before attempting the Golden Core realm.
• Ling Lihao revealed that he hoped to cultivate Golden Core Late Stage divine sense in advance and condense a top-tier Middle Grade Golden Core.
• Ling Pengyun spent three days with his family before he and several relatives returned to seclusion.
• Ling Pengyun decided to save nine wisps of Yin Yang Primordial Qi to form Yin Yang Primordial Essence for Yan Siyi, who was attempting to reach the Golden Core Seventh Layer.
• Ling Pengyun considered transforming Yan Siyi’s two ordinary roots into spirit roots so that she might later condense a Five Elements Golden Core.

Ling Pengyun sought a way to supplement his family’s spirit roots and traveled to the Boundless Sea Region to investigate the Ghost Immortal Sect’s method. He entered a hidden realm and found his descendant Ling Chenghou guarding the Lingxiao Ling Clan’s mountain gate, then promised to take him back to visit his father.

• Ling Pengyun considered the Ghost Immortal Sect’s Ghost Root Heaven Mending Technique but learned it could only supplement ghost cultivators’ roots.
• Ling Pengyun set out for the Boundless Sea Region, hoping to improve his family’s foundations so they could pursue Five Elements Golden Cores.
• Several months later, Ling Pengyun used a Yin Pearl token to enter a hidden realm between the Boundless Sea and Central Province regions.
• Ling Chenghou explained that he guarded the Lingxiao Ling Clan’s mountain gate because of his limited aptitude and the clan’s need for guards.
• Ling Pengyun gave Ling Chenghou five Second Rank High Grade spirit peaches and promised to take him to visit his father, Ling Pengcheng, after finishing his affairs.