Chapter Summaries

Ling Pengyun learned how the Ling Clan’s Yin Pearl Secret Realm sustained its spirit, demonic, and ghostly resources, and praised Ling Pengliang for managing it. He left after offering resources and guidance, while Ling Pengliang remained resolved not to risk the clan’s Golden Core resources on his own advancement.

• Ling Pengcheng chose to take Ling Chenghou to the Boundless Sea Region while Ling Chengchang agreed to remain in the Northern Wilderness and face the coming turmoil.
• Ling Pengyun and Ling Chenghou visited the eastern part of the Yin Pearl Secret Realm, where Ling Pengliang explained its spirit-herb production and the clan’s plans to raise a Third Rank Spirit Vein outside the realm.
• Ling Pengliang described how the clan used demonic veins, ghost veins, corpse refiners, and spirit-plant specialists to cultivate resources for demonic corpses and ghost creatures.
• Ling Pengyun praised Ling Pengliang’s management and heard that Ling Chengxia had grown more capable of handling responsibilities.
• Ling Pengyun asked whether Ling Pengliang intended to attempt the Golden Core Realm, but Ling Pengliang said he would not risk wasting the clan’s Golden Core Spirit Objects.
• Ling Pengyun stayed several more days, left resources, guided Ling Pengliang and other Spirit Plant Farmers, and then departed the secret realm.

Ling Pengyun visited the Ling Clan’s branches in the Wood Origin and Misty Water Sea Regions, checking on his relatives and their progress. After hearing about the Fire Serpent Sect’s prosperity and receiving its accumulated spirit stones for the clan, he continued his travels.

• Ling Pengyun visited Ling Pengshan, Ling Chengxia, and Ling Chengshi at the Qian Clan branch, praised their cultivation progress, and gave them guidance.
• Ling Chengxia learned that the clan was safe and Black Flood Dragon Lake was not expected to emerge soon, renewing his resolve to grow strong enough to protect the clan.
• Ling Pengyun left resources for the branch, visited Jia Mu Zhenren, and spent nearly half a month catching up with him.
• Ling Pengyun traveled to the Fire Serpent Sect branch, where Ling Pengqiu reported his own cultivation progress and described the Fire Serpent’s advancement and its offspring with Wang Ying’s Wood Flood Dragon.
• Ling Pengqiu told Ling Pengyun that the Fire Serpent Sect had become self-sustaining and handed him more than four hundred thousand spirit stones accumulated for the Ling Clan.

Ling Pengyun arranged for the Lingxiao Life Extension Art to be passed to Ling Pengqiu’s three loyal disciples if needed, then visited Lin Luo and Ling Liqin in the Azure Sea Secret Realm. He learned that Lin Luo had become a Third Rank Talisman Crafter and that their son, Ling Renye, was advancing in both cultivation and talisman crafting, leaving him pleased by the clan’s prospects.

• Ling Pengqiu asked Ling Pengyun to let him pass the Lingxiao Life Extension Art to three personal disciples raised to serve the Fire Serpent Sect, and Ling Pengyun agreed.
• Ling Pengyun left Ling Pengqiu cultivation guidance and resources before departing.
• Months later, Ling Pengyun arrived at Azure Water Island and found Lin Luo and Ling Liqin playing the zither and composing poetry together.
• Lin Luo told Ling Pengyun that he had become a Third Rank Talisman Crafter and could reliably draw three types of third-rank talismans.
• Ling Pengyun learned that their son Ling Renye had reached the peak of Early-Stage Foundation Establishment, advanced to Second Grade Middle Rank in talisman crafting, and was in seclusion attempting a breakthrough.

Ling Pengyun sought Azure Water True Lord’s help finding a way to replenish spirit roots, hoping to aid Yan Siyi and talented Ling Clan members. Azure Sea True Lord agreed to provide the sect’s divine ability in exchange for a suitable offering, and Ling Pengyun presented the Fire Cloud Treasure Tome.

• Ling Pengyun learned that Azure Water True Lord and Azure Sea True Lord were cultivating on Azure Sea Mountain, then went there to seek his master.
• Azure Water True Lord failed to detect Ling Pengyun’s Five Elements Golden Core, and Ling Pengyun asked about spirit objects or methods to replenish spirit roots.
• Ling Pengyun explained that he hoped to help Yan Siyi and gifted clansmen improve their chances of condensing Five Elements Nascent Souls and Golden Cores.
• Azure Water True Lord said the sect possessed a precious divine ability to replenish spirit roots and sent a message to Azure Sea True Lord for approval.
• Azure Sea True Lord offered to give Ling Pengyun the divine ability in exchange for an item, so Ling Pengyun presented the Fire Cloud Treasure Tome.
• Azure Sea True Lord asked whether the Fire Cloud Treasure Tome was the technique created by Huo Yun True Lord of the ancient Fire Cloud Sect.

Ling Pengyun negotiated with Azure Sea True Lord for the Mystic Origin Root Repairing Method and the Five Elements Pure Yang Profound Lightning, agreeing to serve Azure Sea Sect if he reached Nascent Soul. He received both inheritances and began checking their contents.

• Azure Sea True Lord identified the Fire Cloud Treasure Tome as a valuable but incomplete cultivation method and said it alone could not buy the root-repairing divine power.
• Azure Sea True Lord offered the divine power in exchange for Ling Pengyun killing a Saint Demon Sect Nascent Soul cultivator, continuing as a Guest Elder, and helping reclaim the sect's mountain gate if he reached Nascent Soul.
• When Ling Pengyun hesitated, Azure Sea True Lord added the Five Elements Pure Yang Divine Lightning, persuading Ling Pengyun to accept and swear a Heavenly Dao Oath.
• Azure Sea True Lord handed Ling Pengyun the Mystic Origin Root Repairing Method and the Pure Yang Five Elements Profound Lightning, and Ling Pengyun began examining the inheritances.

Ling Pengyun received the Five Elements Pure Yang Profound Lightning and the Mystic Origin Root Repairing Method from Azure Sea True Lord, who also guided him in cultivating them. After returning to the Ling Clan, Ling Pengyun resumed cultivation at Ice Snow Valley, preparing for the next Demon Beast Uprising.

• Azure Sea True Lord warned Ling Pengyun to keep the two divine powers' manuals secret, then joined Azure Water True Lord in a month-long Dao Discussion with him.
• Azure Sea True Lord's guidance helped Ling Pengyun shorten his expected comprehension time for the Five Elements Pure Yang Profound Lightning, and he learned that repairing Ling Chengxia's roots would conflict with his cultivation technique.
• Azure Sea True Lord told Azure Water True Lord that Ling Pengyun's unusual fate and formidable opportunities might allow him to reach the Nascent Soul Realm.
• Half a year later, Ling Pengyun returned to the clan with Ling Chenghou and later escorted him back to the Yin Pearl Secret Realm.
• Ling Pengyun returned to Ice Snow Valley and entered seclusion to refine the Foundation Establishment chapter of the Lingxiao Five Elements Treasure Tome and cultivate the Five Elements Pure Yang Profound Lightning.
• Four years passed as Ling Pengyun continued cultivating and condensing Yin Yang Primordial Qi.

Yan Siyi emerged from seclusion after reaching the Golden Core Late Stage, and Ling Pengyun shared the Mystic Origin Root Repairing Method and his plan to help her temper her Golden Core. Fifteen years later, he completed the Foundation Establishment chapter of the Lingxiao Five Elements Treasure Tome and created three Lifebound spells and three Lifebound Magic Items.

• Yan Siyi emerged from decades of seclusion after breaking through to the Golden Core Late Stage with help from a Great Fortune Purple Cloud Treasure Pill.
• Ling Pengyun gave Yan Siyi the Mystic Origin Root Repairing Method and explained that completing her Five Spirit Roots could let him help transform her Golden Core into a Five Elements Golden Core.
• Ling Pengyun told Yan Siyi that the opportunity came from his mysterious treasure, and she worried it might be an object from the upper realm before taking comfort in its concealment.
• Over the next fifteen years, Ling Pengyun perfected the Foundation Establishment chapter of the Lingxiao Five Elements Treasure Tome to a top-tier superior grade.
• Ling Pengyun created the Five Elements Obliteration Ball, Five Elements Spirit Shield, and Five Elements Spirit Mist, along with the Five Elements Hundred Treasure Water, Five Elements Primordial Chaos Bell, and Five Elements Illusion Mist Bottle.

Ling Pengyun refined the theory behind the Lingxiao Five Elements Treasure Tome’s lifebound spells and magic items, then helped Ling Li Ming reach Foundation Establishment. The chapter ended with Ling Pengyun instructing him to study the Foundation Establishment chapter and its lifebound methods while beginning to deduce a Golden Core cultivation technique.

• Ling Pengyun reviewed the Five Elements Hundred Treasure Water, Five Elements Primordial Chaos Bell, and Five Elements Illusion Mist Bottle, noting that their full power depended on a cultivator using the Lingxiao Five Elements Treasure Tome.
• Ling Li Ming advanced to Qi Training Completion after Ling Pengyun supplied second-rank spiritual fruits to purify his spiritual power.
• Ling Pengyun prepared a Foundation Establishment Pill and rare spiritual objects for Ling Li Ming, who successfully reached Foundation Establishment at age twenty-nine.
• Ling Li Ming knelt to thank Ling Pengyun, who gave him Foundation Establishment resources and the perfected Foundation Establishment chapter of the Lingxiao Five Elements Treasure Tome.
• Ling Pengyun told Ling Li Ming to study the chapter, its three lifebound spells, and the methods for refining its three lifebound magic items, then returned to deduce a Golden Core cultivation technique.

Ling Pengyun paused his Golden Core cultivation-method deduction and traveled to the Boundless Sea Region as the once-every-three-hundred-years Demon Beast Uprising approached. After learning that Ling Pengshan and Ling Pengqiu had been sent to the front lines with thousands of cultivators, he stayed on Mountain Sea Island to protect the clan branches and resume his research.

• Ling Pengyun slowed his deduction of the Golden Core cultivation method and suspended it to oversee the clan branches before the Demon Beast Uprising.
• A Wood Origin Immortal Sect Golden Core Elder informed Qian Feng and Ling Pengshan that Mountain Sea Island had to provide three thousand cultivators and one Golden Core combatant for the coming conflict.
• The Mountain Sea Qian Clan and Fire Radiance Lin Clan each sent five hundred cultivators, while the Qiu Family supplied two thousand; Ling Pengshan went as the Golden Core combatant.
• The Darkwater Sect likewise summoned three thousand cultivators and one Golden Core combatant from the Fire Serpent Sect, and Ling Pengqiu led the contingent along with the clan's Golden Core Demon Beast.
• Ling Pengyun arrived on Mountain Sea Island, learned what had happened from Ling Chengxia, and felt reassured that both branches had prepared for the danger.
• Ling Pengyun stayed on Mountain Sea Island to protect the Qian Clan branch, continue deducing the Golden Core technique, and remain ready to reach the Fire Serpent Sect through the nearby Teleportation Array.

During the three-hundred-year Demon Beast Uprising, a vast horde besieged the Qiu Family’s White Cloud Island, threatening the Mountain Sea Island Qian Clan’s territory. Ling Chengshi led Qian Clan and Fire Radiance Lin Clan reinforcements to the island, where they joined the Qiu Family in defending against a Golden Core Mystic Ice Giant Whale and the surrounding beasts.

• Demon beasts and devil cultivators spread through the Boundless Sea Region, and attacks reached the spirit veins around Mountain Sea Island.
• Ling Chengshi received the Qiu Family’s plea for aid after demon beasts overran its spirit veins and besieged White Cloud Island.
• Ling Chengshi persuaded Fire Radiance True Person to support the Qiu Family, and each clan assembled five hundred cultivators.
• The Qian Clan and Fire Radiance Lin Clan forces traveled to White Cloud Island and found tens of thousands of demon beasts attacking its defensive array.
• A Golden Core Mystic Ice Giant Whale attacked the reinforcements, but Ling Chengshi’s array and Fire Radiance True Person’s defense helped them reach White Cloud Island, where the three forces united.

A Mystic Ice Giant Whale and a Saint Demon Sect cultivator destroyed the Fire Radiance Lin Clan's territory and attacked the Mountain Sea Qian Clan, but Ling Pengyun killed them with powerful Profound Lightning. The Qian Clan was left wondering who had intervened, while Ling Pengyun reflected on his growing command of the Five Elements Pure Yang Profound Lightning.

• The Mystic Ice Giant Whale and a black-clad Saint Demon Sect cultivator attacked Fire Radiance Island while Fire Radiance True Person was away, then slaughtered the Lin Clan's mortals at its other rented spirit veins.
• The pair attacked Mountain Sea Island, where Geng Metal Profound Lightning and Bing Fire Profound Lightning burst from Mountain Sea Mountain and killed them in moments.
• The Qian Clan cultivators saw the charred corpses fly through the island array and speculated that Ling Pengshan or a Spirit Talisman Cave had saved them.
• Ling Pengyun regretted that the lightning had ruined the corpses and resolved not to use such lethal techniques against Golden Core cultivators of comparable strength.
• Ling Pengyun reviewed how he had learned Geng Metal, Bing Fire, Jia Mu, and Wu Earth Profound Lightning, bringing his knowledge of the five mid-grade Five Elements Pure Yang Profound Lightning nearly to completion.

Ling Pengyun investigated the Saint Demon Sect’s attacks in the Wood Origin Sea Region and learned that the sect had grown stronger and was targeting the Wood Origin Immortal Sect. He returned to the Azure Sea Secret Realm with this news, where the chief steward explained the sect’s motives and why the Azure Sea Sect had not yet mobilized.

• Ling Pengyun and Ling Chengxia suspected something was unusual when a Saint Demon Sect cultivator attacked near the Mountain Sea Small Sea Region.
• Ling Pengyun found a Golden Core demonic cultivator bearing the Saint Demon Sect’s aura attacking a nearby Golden Core Force alongside Demon Race members.
• Ling Pengyun sensed the Resentful Ghost Demon Lord battling near the Wood Origin Immortal Sect’s headquarters and left without approaching.
• Ling Pengyun entered the Azure Sea Secret Realm and questioned the Sundries Hall’s chief steward about the Saint Demon Sect’s invasion.
• The chief steward said the Mountain Puppet Demon Lord had advanced to Nascent Soul Late Stage and the Saint Demon Sect had recruited Yin Poison Demon Lord, enabling it to target the Wood Origin Immortal Sect while easing pressure on the Blazing Sun Immortal Sect.

Ling Pengyun learned that the Saint Demon Sect had grown powerful enough to threaten the balance of the Boundless Sea Region, though the Azure Sea Azure Sky Sect planned to support the Blazing Sun Immortal Sect if it faced a crisis. After visiting Azure Water Island, he agreed to take Ling Renye back to the clan, and they left the secret realm together.

• Ling Pengyun learned that Yin Poison Demon Lord had joined the Saint Demon Sect, which now had seven Nascent Soul cultivators, and worried that the sect would soon be impossible to restrain.
• The Sundries Hall's elderly chief deacon told Ling Pengyun that the Azure Sea Azure Sky Sect would likely support the Blazing Sun Immortal Sect if it came under threat from the Saint Demon Sect.
• Ling Pengyun visited Azure Water Island and met Wang Ying, Lin Luo, and Ling Renye, learning of Wang Ying's Golden Core breakthrough and Ling Renye's progress in cultivation and talisman crafting.
• Ling Renye told Ling Pengyun that he wanted to return to the clan, and Ling Pengyun agreed to take him with him after confirming his parents knew of the plan.
• Ling Renye wrote a letter for his parents, then left Azure Water Island and the secret realm with Ling Pengyun.

Ling Pengyun checked on the Fire Serpent Sect branch, then returned to the Mountain Sea Island branch and learned Golden Core demons and devil cultivators had been investigating nearby. He urged Ling Chengxia to continue preparing to cleanse his wood spirit root, and they entered seclusion as the next Centennial Demon Beast Calamity approached.

• Ling Pengyun traveled to the Misty Water Sea Region, found the Fire Serpent Sect branch stable, and gave its Golden Core Second Layer fire serpent life-preserving items.
• Ling Pengyun returned to the Mountain Sea Island branch, where Ling Chengxia reported Golden Core demons and devil cultivators had been seen nearby but had not attacked.
• Ling Pengyun told Ling Chengxia that the Mountain Sea Island branch could remain cautious as long as no one provoked it.
• Ling Chengxia said he expected to cleanse his wood spirit root in about thirty years, while Ling Pengyun noted that the next Centennial Demon Beast Calamity would also be approaching.
• Ling Pengyun and Ling Chengxia entered separate cave residences on Mountain Sea Island to cultivate.

After the Boundless Sea Region's great chaos ended, Ling Pengyun returned from Mountain Sea Island to his clan, having learned that the war had badly weakened the Wood Origin Immortal Sect. He reunited with his father, Ling Xiaoshun, and discovered that Ling Xiaoshun had reached the Golden Core realm.

• Over nine years, Ling Pengyun protected Mountain Sea Island from demons and devils, mastered Five Elements Pure Yang Profound Lightning, and killed two Golden Core Middle Stage Demon Kings with one strike.
• The invading Demon Race and Saint Demon Sect forces withdrew, ending the great chaos, while the Wood Origin Immortal Sect suffered severe losses and Azure Origin Old True Lord's lifespan was greatly shortened.
• Ling Pengyun told Ling Pengshan to guard the Mountain Sea Island Branch and urged Ling Chengxia to cultivate before departing for the clan.
• Ling Pengyun reached the clan after several months and learned from Ling Chengyuan that no major events had occurred during his absence.
• Ling Pengyun returned to Ice Snow Valley, where he found that his father, Ling Xiaoshun, had entered the Golden Core realm.

Ling Xiaoshun recounted how Ling Pengyun’s support helped him reach the Golden Core Realm, and the Ling Clan held a grand ceremony to celebrate. Gifts and honored visitors from powerful sects drew attention to the clan’s growing influence and its possible rise to greater standing.

• Ling Xiaoshun told Ling Pengyun that Yan Siyi had brought him to Cloud Stepping Valley with four compatible Golden Core Spirit Objects, helping him condense a low-grade Golden Core five years earlier.
• Ling Pengyun decided to hold a Golden Core Ceremony for Ling Xiaoshun, while Yang Qiuyun continued polishing her Foundation Establishment cultivation before attempting her own breakthrough.
• Three months later, tens of thousands of cultivators and representatives from across Yan Kingdom attended Ling Xiaoshun’s ceremony in the Ling Clan Territory.
• The Heavenly Star Sect sent a Golden Core cultivator with a Third Rank Low Grade grand array as a congratulatory gift, prompting guests to discuss the Ling Clan’s strength and standing.
• Yuan Hua, a Golden Core Completion disciple of Sea Cloud True Lord, arrived on behalf of the Sea Cloud Immortal Sect, stirring further speculation about the Ling Clan’s future.

Sea Cloud Immortal Sect sent Yuan Hua to congratulate Ling Xiaoshun on reaching the Golden Core realm, and its lavish gift drew the attention of the ceremony guests. Fu Yun Immortal Sect and Cold Moon Immortal Palace also sent representatives, leaving the Ling family wondering why all three great immortal sects had come.

• Ling Pengyun and his family left the guest hall to welcome Yuan Hua, Sea Cloud Immortal Sect’s third disciple.
• Yuan Hua praised Ling Pengyun’s apparent cultivation, presented Ling Xiaoshun with a gift, and joined the family for celebratory wine.
• Grand Elder Ling Chengyuan announced that Yuan Hua had gifted ten Third Rank High Grade cultivation pills, astonishing the guests.
• Fu Chen of Fu Yun Immortal Sect and Luo Xi of Cold Moon Immortal Palace arrived to congratulate Ling Xiaoshun.
• Ling Pengyun, Yan Siyi, Ling Xiaoshun, and Yang Qiuyun wondered why representatives of all three great immortal sects had attended.

At Ling Xiaoshun’s Golden Core Ceremony, representatives of the Three Great Immortal Sects offered Ling Pengyun support for a future attempt at the Nascent Soul realm in exchange for possible affiliation and service. Ling Pengyun was astonished by the offer and recognized that it could solve his difficulty finding an array to withstand tribulation lightning.

• Ling Pengyun and Yuan Hua welcomed Fu Chen of the Fu Yun Immortal Sect and Luo Xi of the Cold Moon Immortal Palace, who delivered valuable sect gifts.
• Representatives from the Maple Leaf Li Family and the Spirit Treasure Academy arrived, completing the attendance of the major Northern Wilderness forces.
• After the banquet, the Three Great Immortal Sects’ representatives arranged for the other guests and Ling Xiaoshun, Yan Siyi, and Yang Qiuyun to leave the hall.
• Yuan Hua told Ling Pengyun that the Three Great Immortal Sects could lend him a tribulation-resisting array and sell him a Nascent Soul Spirit Object, in return for possible future affiliation and reasonable service.
• Ling Pengyun was surprised by the offer and considered how it could resolve his lack of access to a suitable tribulation array.

Ling Pengyun agreed to the Three Great Immortal Sects’ terms and asked whether they could provide Nine Heavens Profound Qi or Earth Essence Soul for his plan to condense a Five Elements Nascent Soul. After the visitors left, Ling Xiaoshun gave Ling Pengyun the valuable gifts from his Golden Core banquet, helping restore some of the wealth Ling Pengyun had spent.

• Ling Pengyun accepted the Three Great Immortal Sects’ conditions and asked whether their sects possessed Nine Heavens Profound Qi or Earth Essence Soul.
• Yuan Hua, Fu Chen, and Luo Xi said they would ask their sects about the two Nascent Soul Spirit Objects and report back to Ling Pengyun.
• Ling Pengyun reflected on the long time required for the Gather Vein Gather Soul Array to collect Earth Essence Soul and on the arrangement to divide its yield with Azure Sea Azure Sky Sect.
• Yuan Hua and the other immortal sect cultivators departed after exchanging a few more words with Ling Pengyun.
• The Heavenly Star Sect, the Maple Leaf Li Family, and the Spirit Treasure Academy remained until Ling Xiaoshun’s Golden Core banquet ended.
• Ling Xiaoshun handed Ling Pengyun the banquet gifts, worth at least one million spirit stones, to help replenish the wealth spent on Golden Core Spirit Objects.

After the Ling Clan gained protection from the Three Great Immortal Sects, Sea Cloud, Fu Yun, and Cold Moon competed to secure the clan’s allegiance by offering Nascent Soul Spirit Objects. Ling Pengyun chose Sea Cloud’s offer of Nine Heavens Profound Qi, leaving Cold Moon’s representative unwilling to concede.

• The Three Great Immortal Sects pledged to intervene if demonic forces or the Demon Race attacked the Ling Clan, raising its standing across the righteous path.
• Sea Cloud True Lord, Fu Yun True Lord, and Cold Moon True Lady wagered over which sect Ling Pengyun would choose, staking rare cultivation treasures.
• Yuan Hua, Fu Chen, and Luo Xi visited Ling Pengyun to present their sects’ offers: a Heavenly Astral Spirit Focusing Talisman, Earth Essence Soul, and Nine Heavens Profound Qi.
• Ling Pengyun chose Sea Cloud’s Nine Heavens Profound Qi and promised to heed the sect’s commands if he entered the Nascent Soul realm.
• Yuan Hua said Ling Pengyun could purchase the Nine Heavens Profound Qi when ready to attempt the Nascent Soul realm, and that Sea Cloud had also prepared a formation to withstand Nascent Soul Tribulation Lightning.
• Luo Xi felt unwilling to lose Ling Pengyun to Sea Cloud after bringing Cold Moon’s Earth Essence Soul to win him over.