Chapter Summaries

Ling Pengyun reunited with his parents for the New Year and joined the Yang Clan for Yang Siling’s wedding to Wu Yan. The chapter ended with the wedding feast underway at the Hundred Spirits Sect.

• Ling Pengyun and Ling Xiaoshun reunited with Yang Qiuyun, and Ling Pengyun told her about his progress as a spirit planter.
• Yang Qiuyun comforted Zhao Hong'e, who worried that Yang Siling might be mistreated after marrying far away, while Yang Siling shared her Foundation Establishment insights with Ling Pengyun.
• Ling Pengyun’s family celebrated New Year’s Eve with Yang Siling, Yang Sitong’s family, and Yang Minghua.
• Wu Yan arrived at Level Cloud Mountain aboard the Golden Cloud Boat to escort Yang Siling to the Hundred Spirits Sect.
• Wu Tian welcomed the wedding party, and Wu Yan and Yang Siling completed the wedding rites before guests began the lavish feast.

At Wu Yan's wedding feast, Spirit Talisman True Person ordered the Hundred Spirits Sect's territory to join an invasion of Serpent Dragon Lake before the next Demon Beast Uprising. Ling Pengyun realized his family would likely send him and planned to master the Earthly Fiend Sword Formation before the campaign began.

• Spirit Talisman True Person ordered Qi Training families, Foundation Establishment Families, and independent cultivators to gather at Huai River Market Town within three months and threatened to kill anyone who fled.
• Ling Pengyun suspected Wu Yan's marriage announcement had been arranged to gather cultivators for the sect's campaign and anticipated that his family would send him.
• Ling Pengyun resolved to learn how to operate the Earthly Fiend Sword Formation before the invasion.
• Spirit Talisman True Person displayed a list of spiritual objects available for Contribution Points earned by killing demon beasts.
• The gathered cultivators considered how many demon beasts they would need to hunt to earn Foundation Establishment Pills and other rare rewards.

Ling Pengyun weighed which rare resources to pursue before the Hundred Spirits Sect’s Demon Extermination War and agreed to join the clan’s force. Ling Yunhong gave him twelve Azure Bamboo Swords for the Earthly Fiend Sword Formation, and Ling Pengyun left with him for Lingxiao Mountain.

• Ling Pengyun considered exchanging Contribution Points for Hundred Spirits Water, a Meridian Protecting Pill, or Cloud Forest Spirit Water to aid his Foundation Establishment prospects and the Thorn Vine’s growth.
• The Spirit Talisman True Person ended the Wedding Feast, while the Yang Clan members and Ling Pengyun’s family were asked to stay for three days before returning to Level Cloud Mountain.
• Ling Yunhong told Ling Pengyun that the clan had to send thirty cultivators to the Demon Extermination War in three months and that his participation would spare his father from serving.
• Ling Pengyun agreed to join the battle and told Ling Yunhong he would master the Earthly Fiend Sword Formation before the war.
• Ling Yunhong gave Ling Pengyun twelve First Rank High Grade Azure Bamboo Swords, and Ling Pengyun accepted them as he prepared to use the formation.
• Ling Pengyun informed his parents of his decision, received their warnings to take care, and departed with Ling Yunhong aboard the Immortal Spirit Crane King.

The Hundred Spirits Sect’s three Golden Core True Persons discussed the coming demon extermination campaign and the Sect Leader’s assignment to garrison White Cloud City. After returning to Lingxiao Mountain, Ling Pengyun began secluded cultivation to prepare for the war three months away.

• Chen Fu said he would go to White Cloud City, leaving Mo Congxin and Wu Tian to lead the campaign to seize territory around Serpent Dragon Lake.
• Wu Tian worried that the two Golden Core flood dragons would overwhelm them, but Mo Congxin said one dragon was still weakened by injuries from their last battle and outlined how they could defeat both.
• Mo Congxin reminded Chen Fu that he had promised the Evergreen Spirit Fruit to Mo Qianqiu, and Chen Fu reaffirmed his promise.
• Ling Pengyun and Ling Yunhong informed Ling Rucong that Ling Pengyun would postpone taking over his mountain-guarding post, and Ling Pengyun entrusted his spiritual creatures to Ling Rucong.
• Ling Pengyun returned to Lingxiao Mountain and entered secluded cultivation to study a sword formation and Water Blade Technique and refine twelve Azure Bamboo Swords.

Ling Yunhong warned the clan elders that Hundred Spirits Sect’s war summons would leave the Ling Clan without a Foundation Establishment guard and give Old Devil Li a chance to retaliate. As the Council Hall fell silent, Ling Yunqian asked whether the county’s Foundation Establishment Cultivators could kill Old Devil Li if given another chance.

• Ling Yunhong gathered Ling Ruda, Ling Yunxi, and Ling Yunqian and explained Hundred Spirits Sect’s demand that the Ling Clan send one Foundation Establishment Cultivator and thirty Qi Training cultivators to war.
• Ling Ruda warned that the clan would have to send five young Peng Generation members, while Ling Yunhong named the seven he had selected and ordered better supplies for the clan’s fighters.
• Ling Yunhong said he planned to coordinate with the other four families to avoid the front lines and target second-tier spiritual veins instead.
• Ling Yunhong warned that Old Devil Li might attack the Five Great Clans while their Foundation Establishment Cultivators were away, and the elders realized the danger.
• Ling Yunqian asked Ling Yunhong whether he and the other families’ Foundation Establishment Cultivators could kill Old Devil Li if they had another chance.

Ling Yunhong sought Wu Yan’s help to borrow Illusion Masks so the Five Great Clans of Huai River County could secretly guard against Old Devil Li. Wu Yan agreed to assist in exchange for five thousand catties of Mystic Water Iron Ore, but limited the plan to two Foundation Establishment Cultivators, and Ling Yunhong returned to Huai River County and crushed a special token.

• Ling Yunqian proposed using borrowed Illusion Masks to disguise cultivators and ambush Old Devil Li while the clans appeared to join the Demon Extermination War.
• Ling Yunhong traveled to Level Cloud Mountain and asked Wu Yan to lend Illusion Masks and help impersonate the Five Great Clans’ Foundation Establishment Cultivators.
• Yang Siling urged Wu Yan to help because the Ling Clan’s safety affected her maternal Yang Clan, and Ling Yunhong explained the clans’ feud with Old Devil Li.
• Wu Yan demanded five thousand catties of Mystic Water Iron Ore and agreed to let only two Foundation Establishment Cultivators leave, with himself and Yang Siling wearing the masks.
• Ling Yunhong paid Wu Yan one thousand catties of ore and returned to Huai River County, where he crushed a special token in a concealed mountain cave.

The five clans of Huai River County planned to ambush Old Devil Li during the Demon Extermination War, choosing Ling Yunhong and Luo Minghui to carry out the attack. Meanwhile, the Ling Clan recalled its cultivators for the coming campaign, and Ling Penglin prepared to join the fighting despite her fear.

• Ling Yunhong told the four other clan heads about his plan to ambush Old Devil Li with help from Wu Yan and his wife, and the five clans chose Ling Yunhong and Luo Minghui for the mission.
• The five clans agreed to share the cost of the Mystic Water Iron Ore needed for Wu Yan and his wife to use the Illusion Masks, then planned to avoid the front lines and fight smaller demon-beast groups.
• Ling Yunxi and other Ling Clan members recalled more than seventy percent of the clan's outside Qi Training Middle Stage and Late Stage cultivators to prepare for the campaign.
• Ling Yunxi told Ling Penglin that she had to join the war against Demon Python Lake, and Ling Penglin accepted her duty despite being afraid.
• Ling Penglin asked to borrow Ling Yunxi's Yellow Rock Bell and Azure Water Sword, and Ling Yunxi agreed on the condition that she return them.

Ling Pengliang accepted a summons to join the Demon Extermination War, while Ling Pengyun’s Wind Shadow Peng broke through to the Qi Training Stage and displayed its powerful innate wind blade. The chapter left Ling Pengyun impressed by the bird’s exceptional aptitude and potential.

• Ling Pengliang eagerly agreed to join the demon beast extermination, and Ling Yunqian gave him a Mystic Water Sword and Mystic Water Shield before arranging his return to the clan.
• Ling Ruda left a young man’s courtyard, and the young man resolved to seek demon beasts as opponents to deepen his sword intent and form a sword seed.
• After Ling Pengyun fed it a Spirit Feeding Pill, Little Wind Shadow Peng broke through to the Qi Training Stage, grew larger, and gained spiritual power and divine sense.
• Ling Pengyun let Wind Shadow Peng fly over Lingxiao Mountain, where it found that its increased size had made it several times faster.
• While Ling Pengyun refined the Azure Bamboo Swords, Wind Shadow Peng formed its innate wind blade and pierced a huge boulder, impressing Ling Pengyun with its potential.

Ling Ruda organized thirty Ling Clan cultivators for the Hundred Spirits Sect’s Demon Extermination War, assigning them formations and supplies before they traveled to Huai River Market Town. Ling Pengyun saw the enormous crowd gathered there and wondered how large the coming war would be.

• Ling Ruda explained the five formations available and assigned formation plates and flags to the expedition’s cultivators.
• The Ling Clan cultivators formed teams, received their formation flags, and practiced using the arrays.
• In mid-April, Ling Yunhong led the thirty cultivators out of Lingxiao Mountain after the clan supplied them with talismans, medicine, and pills.
• The Ling Clan party traveled for five days and waited in a long line to pass the Demon Mirror and enter Huai River Market Town.
• Ling Pengyun saw the crowded market town and estimated that the Hundred Spirits Sect had gathered more than ten thousand cultivators.

Ling Pengyun observed Ling Yun'an forge a superior-quality First Rank High Grade Mystic Water Shield at Huai River Market Town. Delighted by Ling Pengyun’s congratulations, Ling Yun'an offered him the shield, and Ling Pengyun hesitated to accept it.

• Ling Yunhong settled the thirty Ling clansmen in the clan’s shops before joining the other four Huai River County clan leaders to receive a Demon Extermination War mission.
• The Five Great Clans accepted a mission to capture a spirit vein occupied by Stone Armor Apes in exchange for Sect Contribution Points.
• Ling Yunhong sent Ling Pengyun to observe Ling Yun'an refining weapons at Peaceful Residence Inn while Ling Yun'an and Ling Yunfeng stocked the clan’s shops.
• Ling Yun'an forged a superior-quality First Rank High Grade Mystic Water Shield and celebrated his achievement.
• Ling Yun'an offered the shield to Ling Pengyun, who wanted it but hesitated to accept.

Ling Pengyun prepared for the Demon Extermination War while Ling Yunhong and Luo Minghui secretly used Illusion Masks to leave Huai River Market Town. The armies departed for their targets, and Chen Dong reported that the clan leaders had left, unaware that Luo Minghui had evaded his inspection.

• Ling Yun'an gave Ling Pengyun a superior-quality Mystic Water Shield and had him refine it before departure; he later gave another shield to Ling Pengxing.
• Ling Yunhong and Luo Minghui exchanged disguises with Wu Yan and Yang Siling, then used a token to leave Huai River Market Town under cover of night.
• On the first day of May, the family teams and the Hundred Spirits Sect's main force departed to seize territory and a Second Rank High Grade spirit vein.
• Chen Dong used the Purple Extreme Illusion Breaking Art to inspect the five clan leaders and sent a talisman reporting that they had left with their true faces.
• Luo Minghui glanced toward Chen Dong with killing intent, though Chen Dong had not detected his disguise.

Old Devil Li emerged from hiding and slaughtered the people of a mortal town to restore his power and take revenge on the Cloud Mist Wen Clan. When the Wen Clan’s distress token shattered, Ling Yunhong and Luo Minghui headed to its territory to confront him.

• Old Devil Li learned that the five Foundation Establishment Cultivators had left Huai River Market Town, emerged from his cave, and set out to attack the Cloud Mist Wen Clan.
• Old Devil Li sent a hundred Blood Red Small Swords into a mortal town, killing its inhabitants and the Wen Clan cultivator who came to answer the Village Chief’s plea.
• Old Devil Li absorbed the dead cultivator’s and mortals’ souls into his Thousand Ghost Banner, refined their corpses into a Blood Red Pill, and traveled toward another village.
• Wen Ruofei discovered that Wen Ruoshi’s Life Tablet had shattered and, after another Wen Clan cultivator died, crushed the clan’s distress token.
• Ling Yunhong and Luo Minghui saw the Wen token shatter, recognized Old Devil Li’s attack, and flew toward the Cloud Mist Wen Clan’s territory.

Ling Yunhong and Luo Minghui killed Old Devil Li after chasing him through the Cloud Mist Wen Clan’s territory, then returned toward the five families’ camp near the Stone Armor Ape mountain. They learned that Wu Yan and Yang Siling had impersonated them to lure Old Devil Li, while Ling Pengyun discovered his cousin had been disguised as Ling Yunhong.

• Old Devil Li fled from Ling Yunhong and Luo Minghui, but their array flames and sword formation overwhelmed his defenses and burned him to death.
• Ling Yunhong and Luo Minghui returned toward the front lines, wary of leaving their clansmen with Wu Yan and Yang Siling.
• At the barren valley, the disguised Ling Yunhong gave Ling Pengyun three Golden Light Talismans and a Fire Crow Talisman, warning him to be careful before leaving with the disguised Luo Minghui.
• Ling Pengyun realized that his cousin had been wearing an illusion mask as Ling Yunhong and wondered where the real Ling Yunhong had gone.
• In a nearby forest, Wu Yan and Yang Siling removed their illusion masks and met the real Ling Yunhong and Luo Minghui, who confirmed Old Devil Li was dead and returned the masks.

After confirming that Old Devil Li had been killed, Luo Minghui assigned the five families' Foundation Establishment Cultivators their opponents for an assault on the Rock Armor Ape spirit vein. The ape pack discovered the approaching human force and charged, leaving the battle about to begin.

• Ling Yunhong told Wen Ruojing and the other clan heads that Old Devil Li had died in Luo Minghui's Flame Fire Annihilation Formation.
• Luo Minghui warned the clan heads that they had two days to capture the Second Rank spirit vein and assigned them opponents among the four Foundation Establishment Rock Armor Demon Apes.
• Ling Yunhong told Ling Yunqian that the plan had succeeded, while Ling Pengyun overheard and realized why Yang Siling had impersonated his grandfather.
• The next morning, the Huai River County cultivators advanced toward Rock Armor Ape Mountain, where the demon apes detected their approach.
• The four Foundation Establishment Rock Armor Demon Apes gathered their kin, and more than seven hundred Qi Training demon apes charged the human cultivators.

The five clans of Huai River County prepared for battle and attacked a Rock Armor Ape troop led by four Foundation Establishment demon apes. The fight continued as Ling Yunqian’s Azure Wood Binding Demon Array restrained one of the Middle-Stage Foundation Establishment apes.

• Luo Minghui warned the cultivators that the Rock Armor Ape troop was approaching, and the five clans formed battle lines and prepared their weapons and arrays.
• Four Foundation Establishment Rock Armor Demon Apes and more than seven hundred Qi Training apes charged out, and the five clan heads and the Flame Cloud Tiger killed nearly three hundred Qi Training apes.
• The Ape King and the other Foundation Establishment demon apes attacked, prompting the five cultivators to redirect their magic artifacts and divide the demon ape opponents among themselves.
• Ling Yunhong directed Ling Yunqian to trap a Middle-Stage Foundation Establishment ape with the Azure Wood Binding Demon Array.
• The ape tore through many of the array’s vines, but Ling Yunqian and the other array users poured in more spiritual power and bound it again.

Ling Yunhong and the other Foundation Establishment cultivators battled the demon apes while the Ling Clan’s Qi Training cultivators used coordinated formations against their attackers. The Ling Clan held off a second wave of demon apes for the moment, but Ling Penglin warned that the defensive formation could not last long.

• Ling Yunhong’s eighteen flying swords shattered the Middle-Stage Foundation Establishment demon ape’s stone armor, forcing it to activate Protective Yuan Qi.
• Ling Pengyun’s squad trapped forty-five Qi Training demon apes in the Binding Demon Array, and Ling Penglin’s squad raised a defensive curtain around the Ling Clan cultivators.
• Ling Xiaohua and Ling Pengxing used the Blazing Fire Array and Golden Needle Array to kill more than twenty Early-Stage Qi Training demon apes.
• The surviving demon apes attacked the defensive curtain with spells as more than fifty others charged the Ling Clan’s formation.
• Ling Penglin strengthened the Earthen Soil Curtain Formation with a secret technique, then urged Ling Xiaohua, Ling Pengxing, and Ling Pengyun to finish the trapped apes before the second wave broke through.

Ling Pengyun used his Earthly Fiend Sword Formation to help the Ling Clan defeat the first group of trapped Rock Armor Apes, then joined the clan’s assault on a second wave. Ling Pengxing empowered his own sword formation with sword intent, and the second group began falling rapidly.

• Ling Xiaohua and the others strengthened the Blazing Fire, Golden Needle, and Binding Demon Arrays to keep the trapped demon apes under attack.
• Ling Pengyun summoned the Wind Shadow Peng and ordered it to strike the bound apes with wind blades.
• Ling Pengyun unleashed the Earthly Fiend Sword Formation, breaking the apes’ weakened stone armor and helping kill the first group of more than twenty.
• Ling Pengyun redirected the Binding Demon Array to capture the more than fifty apes attacking the Earthen Soil Curtain Formation.
• Ling Xiaohua and Ling Pengxing brought the Blazing Fire and Golden Needle Arrays against the second wave, while Ling Pengxing summoned twelve Azure Bamboo Swords and infused them with sword intent.
• Ling Pengxing’s Sword Light Torrent joined the other attacks, rapidly cutting down the trapped demon apes.

Ling Pengyun and the Ling Clan helped wear down a Middle-Stage Foundation Establishment demon ape’s defenses so Ling Yunhong could kill it with the “Melt” word swordplay secret. The ape fell, and Ling Yunhong’s eighteen swords returned to him nearly drained of power.

• Ling Pengyun and Ling Pengxing helped the Ling Clan slay the second wave of Qi Training Demon Apes, giving the formation operators time to recover.
• After seeing the demon ape’s Protective Yuan Qi block the Binding Demon Array, Ling Pengyun ordered the formation withdrawn and joined the clansmen in attacking the barrier.
• For two incense sticks, Ling Yunhong and thirty Ling Clan Qi Training cultivators bombarded the demon ape’s Protective Yuan Qi until it weakened.
• Ling Yunhong merged his eighteen flying swords into one and used the “Melt” word swordplay secret to shatter the demon ape’s Protective Yuan Qi.
• The demon ape blocked the giant sword with its inner core, but Ling Yunhong strengthened the sword’s radiance and blasted the core aside.
• Ling Yunhong’s giant sword smashed the demon ape’s rock mask and head, killing it before splitting back into eighteen swords.

Ling Yunhong killed a Middle-Stage Foundation Establishment demon ape with the Earthly Fiend Sword Formation, while the five clans continued fighting the remaining demon apes. After seeing the Flame Cloud Tiger help Liu Daozhou kill an Early-Stage Foundation Establishment demon ape, Ling Yunhong resolved to exchange demon beast corpses for Hundred Spirits Water; the chapter ended with Wen and another cultivator asking him and Liu Daozhou for help.

• Ling Pengyun and Ling Pengxing were shocked by Ling Yunhong’s Fusion Word Swordplay Secret, while Ling Yunqian reflected on how close the Azure Wood Binding Demon Array had come to failing.
• Ling Yunhong stored the slain demon ape and its inner core, and Ling Clan members gathered the corpses of more than ninety Qi Training demon apes.
• The Ling Clan watched as the other clans continued their battles; Luo Minghui and the Luo Clan used the Endless Flame Fire Formation against the Late-Stage Foundation Establishment Ape King.
• The Flame Cloud Tiger killed two Rock Armor Apes and helped Liu Daozhou slay an Early-Stage Foundation Establishment demon ape, frightening the surviving Qi Training demon apes.
• Ling Yunhong decided to seek a bottle of Hundred Spirits Water from the Hundred Spirits Sect to help the Immortal Spirit Crane King reach Foundation Establishment.
• A cultivator asked Liu Daozhou and Ling Yunhong to help fight a Middle-Stage Foundation Establishment demon ape, offering them its inner core.

After defeating the Rock Armor Ape troop, the five families searched its mountain range and found young apes and an unidentified spirit tree near the spirit vein. Ling Yunhong and Luo Minghui recognized the tree, but its ownership had not yet been decided.

• Ling Yunhong, Liu Daozhou, Wang Changming, and Wen Xianyun killed the Middle-Stage Foundation Establishment demon ape, and Liu Daozhou paid Ling Yunhong to claim its inner core for his Flame Cloud Tiger.
• The Huai River County cultivators defeated the Ape King and agreed to search the mountain range together, splitting the spirit medicines and spirit plants evenly.
• The five families gathered immature spirit plants from the mountain range's outskirts and transplanted them for later cultivation.
• In a valley near the spirit vein, the cultivators found unranked young Rock Armor Apes and a five-zhang-tall spirit tree that Ling Yunhong and Luo Minghui recognized.