Chapter Summaries

Wei Tu and Lüqiu Qingfeng’s delegation reached the Inner Ruins Sea, where a missing-person notice for Luo Mingzhen raised suspicions about the Extreme Mountain Sect’s internal politics. As Lüqiu Qingfeng weighed her options, Lüqiu Qing pursued Wei Tu, and Lüqiu Qingfeng resolved to kill her and agreed to let Wei Tu use her corpse for his niece’s cultivation.

• Wei Tu read Lüqiu Qingfeng’s secret intelligence about the Inner Ruins Sea, learning of the Lyuqiu Clan’s ties to the Extreme Mountain Sect and Lesser Vast Palace and considering the purpose of the Radiant Sun Sect’s Divine Ascension Token.
• Two months later, the delegation arrived in the Inner Ruins Sea, and Lüqiu Qingfeng chose to pay tribute to the Extreme Mountain Sect first.
• Lüqiu Qingfeng and Wei Tu found a notice seeking Luo Mingzhen, whose father was Extreme Mountain Sect Law Enforcement Hall elder Luo Guzhuo, and Lüqiu Qingfeng suspected her disappearance might be tied to sect infighting.
• Wei Tu advised Lüqiu Qingfeng not to rush into acting on the notice, and she decided to gather more information before choosing how to approach Luo Guzhuo.
• Lüqiu Qing told Wei Tu she had admired him for years and had asked Lüqiu Yeming for a marriage grant, while Lüqiu Qingfeng grew increasingly cold at her sister’s advances.
• Lüqiu Qingfeng said she would kill Lüqiu Qing, and Wei Tu asked for her corpse for his niece Kou Hongying’s cultivation; Lüqiu Qingfeng agreed and taught him a blood-refining secret art.

Wei Tu and Lüqiu Qingfeng sought Hall Master Luo’s help after discovering that Feng Han likely arranged the abduction of Luo Mingzhen, whose rescue could disrupt the Extreme Mountain Sect’s hostility toward the Lüqiu Clan. After hearing where his daughter was, Hall Master Luo prepared to act, and Wei Tu offered to guide and assist him.

• Wei Tu and Lüqiu Qingfeng concluded that the Extreme Mountain Sect’s cold treatment stemmed from the Lüqiu Clan’s ties to Venerable Tong and decided to approach Hall Master Luo, whose daughter Luo Mingzhen had vanished.
• Wei Tu found that Feng Han had a longstanding grudge against Hall Master Luo and had descended the mountain shortly before Luo Mingzhen disappeared, making him their prime suspect.
• Wei Tu persuaded Lüqiu Qingfeng to tell Hall Master Luo about his daughter’s whereabouts and let him lead the rescue, so the abduction would be exposed and force him to confront the sect’s leadership.
• Lüqiu Qingfeng summoned Hall Master Luo, who secretly met her and Wei Tu despite the Extreme Mountain Sect’s order to treat the delegation coldly.
• Lüqiu Qingfeng told Hall Master Luo that Luo Mingzhen was in the Yin Ghost Sect, and he reacted with suppressed rage before preparing to leave and rescue her.
• Wei Tu offered to guide Hall Master Luo and help him rescue Luo Mingzhen.

Wei Tu agreed to help Hall Master Luo rescue Luo Mingzhen from the Yin Ghost Sect, and the two traveled there while Lüqiu Qingfeng stayed behind to watch the Extreme Mountain Sect's leaders. After learning Luo Mingzhen was in danger, Wei Tu proposed a way to help her escape her restrictions, but Hall Master Luo chose to trust his daughter and asked Wei Tu to support a riskier plan.

• Hall Master Luo initially refused Wei Tu's offer to join the rescue, but Wei Tu revealed his late-stage Five-Element Nascent Infant, and Hall Master Luo accepted his help.
• Wei Tu and Hall Master Luo secretly traveled to the Yin Ghost Sect while Lüqiu Qingfeng remained behind to monitor Feng Han and the sect's other leaders.
• Hall Master Luo warned Wei Tu that they had to rescue Luo Mingzhen quickly before the Yin Ghost Sect could call on the Nethergod Cult for reinforcements.
• Huang You told Wei Tu that Heart Bone Adept had secluded himself and that Luo Mingzhen, called Madam Ru, was being drained through harvesting and supplementation.
• Wei Tu proposed sending Luo Mingzhen the Grand Marvel Treasure Mirror so she could break the restrictions on her body, but Huang You could not contact her directly.
• Hall Master Luo gave Wei Tu the Bloodsound Technique and his blood essence, then insisted that they tell Luo Mingzhen where to find the treasure; Wei Tu reluctantly agreed.

Wei Tu and Hall Master Luo stormed the Yin Ghost Sect after Huang You died, hoping to rescue Luo Mingzhen before the sect could react. Hall Master Luo raced toward his daughter while Wei Tu faced Ancestor Yin Demon, whose cautious attacks left their battle looking like a staged contest.

• After Huang You's soul plaque shattered, Hall Master Luo and Wei Tu attacked the Yin Ghost Sect's barrier and broke it before it could reform.
• Hall Master Luo used bloodline resonance to rush toward Luo Mingzhen, while Yin Demon ordered the sect's Nascent Soul cultivators to pursue him and chose to confront Wei Tu himself.
• Wei Tu blocked Yin Demon's ghost-claw strike with Myriad-Lifting Mountain and a tortoiseshell shield, then used the Five-Element Nascent Infant to sever the demon's claw.
• Yin Demon questioned Wei Tu's origins and purpose, suspecting that his treasures and hidden strength could make him dangerous to provoke.
• Wei Tu recognized that Yin Demon was holding back and continued the fight cautiously, conserving his strength rather than exposing his full abilities.

Hall Master Luo rescued Luo Mingzhen from the Yin Ghost Sect, while Yin Demon revealed Luo Guzhuo’s identity and allowed him to escape with Wei Tu. After Luo Mingzhen recovered, Hall Master Luo offered Wei Tu a retainer elder position in the Extreme Mountain Sect and asked him to help oppose Feng Han and the sect’s other leaders.

• Yin Demon revealed that Madam Ru was Luo Mingzhen and that Hall Master Luo was Luo Guzhuo, then allowed Luo Guzhuo, Wei Tu, and Luo Mingzhen to flee without pursuit.
• Wei Tu and Hall Master Luo traveled more than ten thousand li with Luo Mingzhen and waited while she used the Grand Marvel Treasure Mirror to break her bodily restrictions.
• Luo Mingzhen thanked Wei Tu and explained that her suffering had strengthened her Dao heart, while Hall Master Luo revealed that she had fully cultivated the emotion-dulling Reincarnation Profound Art.
• Hall Master Luo offered to recommend Wei Tu as an Extreme Mountain Sect retainer elder, and Wei Tu accepted in hopes of gaining access to Spirit Transformation cultivation knowledge and a powerful backer.
• Hall Master Luo said Venerable Han Yue owed him a favor and agreed to support Wei Tu’s appointment, then admitted he also wanted Wei Tu’s help opposing Feng Han and the other sect leaders.

Wei Tu agreed to help Hall Master Luo safeguard Luo Mingzhen against the effects of her Reincarnation Profound Art and became an Extreme Mountain Sect guest elder. After declining Lüqiu Qingfeng’s personal and political overtures, he left her to regret that he had joined the sect instead of pledging himself to her.

• Hall Master Luo gave Wei Tu Heart Bone Adept’s corpse and asked him to use it to help Luo Mingzhen if the Reincarnation Profound Art dulled her emotions and Hall Master Luo could no longer assist her; Wei Tu agreed.
• Wei Tu, Hall Master Luo, and Luo Mingzhen returned to the Inner Ruins Sea, where rumors of the rescue had left the Extreme Mountain Sect tense and wary.
• As the Lyuqiu Clan’s diplomatic standing improved, Lüqiu Qingfeng thanked Wei Tu and tried to recruit him to help govern the Eastern Glory Demon Kingdom, even hinting that she could offer herself as his Dao companion; Wei Tu declined.
• Wei Tu returned to his temporary cave abode, and Lüqiu Qingfeng learned that he had become an Extreme Mountain Sect guest elder, leaving her regretting that she had not tried harder to win him over.

Wei Tu entered the Extreme Mountain Sect as an offering elder and was drawn into the conflict between Luo Guzhuo and Feng Han. Sect Master Zhu revealed that he favored Luo Guzhuo’s victory, and Wei Tu agreed to serve as bait in a plan to eliminate Feng Han in exchange for a place in Venerable Han Yue’s lineage and Feng Han’s position as Merit Hall master.

• Lüqiu Qingfeng informed the Lyuqiu Clan that Wei Tu had become an offering elder, while Extreme Mountain Sect leaders learned that Venerable Han Yue had personally nominated him.
• Feng Han learned that Wei Tu was allied with Luo Guzhuo and considered winning him over or secretly killing him if he refused.
• Wei Tu met Sect Master Zhu, who recognized his connection to Luo Guzhuo and asked how the sect’s internal struggle should end.
• Wei Tu said the conflict would end when one side won, and Sect Master Zhu admitted he favored Luo Guzhuo and proposed using Wei Tu as bait against Feng Han.
• Sect Master Zhu offered Wei Tu entry into Venerable Han Yue’s lineage and the Merit Hall master position after Feng Han’s death, and Wei Tu agreed to the plan.
• Wei Tu completed his initiation ceremony and received Exquisite Peak, a valuable spiritual peak formerly controlled by Luo Guzhuo’s Dao companion.

Wei Tu joined the Extreme Mountain Sect as an honorary elder, chose the Sourcewood True Scripture to guide his path toward Spirit Transformation, and spent years converting his cultivation. He emerged close to the Nascent Soul Late Stage and sought Hall Master Luo’s help obtaining ingredients for a breakthrough pill.

• Lüqiu Qingfeng sent Wei Tu congratulations and gifts, and Wei Tu assured her their friendship would not change with their changing power.
• Wei Tu told Hall Master Luo that he cultivated the wood-attributed Divine Wood Origin Art, and Hall Master Luo recommended the Sourcewood True Scripture as a compatible path toward Spirit Transformation.
• Wei Tu obtained the Sourcewood True Scripture from the Technique Hall, studied its method for forming a Sourcewood Dharma Form, and began converting his cultivation in seclusion.
• During Wei Tu’s seven years in seclusion, Lüqiu Qingfeng visited Exquisite Peak before departing for the Lesser Vast Palace, while conflict between Hall Master Luo and Hall Master Feng intensified.
• Wei Tu emerged with his Nascent Soul close to six inches seven and realized he could suppress his breakthrough for no more than twenty years.
• Wei Tu went to Hall Master Luo for help gathering the Qi-Shaping Pill’s supplementary ingredients, and Hall Master Luo was astonished that Wei Tu planned to use it to reach the Nascent Soul Late Stage.

Wei Tu obtained the ingredients for the Qi-Shaping Pill, refined three pills, and used them to reach the Nascent Soul Late Stage after pushing his Nascent Soul to the Middle Stage limit. He concealed his breakthrough and returned to acting as bait for Feng Han, who had taken the bait by the chapter’s end.

• Wei Tu told Hall Master Luo that his rapid cultivation came from his excellent Spiritual Roots, and Hall Master Luo agreed to procure the Qi-Shaping Pill ingredients for thirty spirit crystals.
• Luo Mingzhen delivered the ingredients to Exquisite Peak, paid respects at her mother’s grave, and asked Wei Tu about Ruyi Tower; Wei Tu declined to share what little intelligence he had and sent Hall Master Luo a warning about her desire for revenge.
• Wei Tu refined the Qi-Shaping Pill and obtained three pills, then swallowed them to push his Nascent Soul to the utmost limit of the Middle Stage.
• Wei Tu broke through to the Nascent Soul Late Stage and reached eight inches two in Nascent Soul height, while Hall Master Luo kept the breakthrough secret.
• Wei Tu removed the closed-door cultivation plaque, received Feng Han’s secret letter, and realized Feng Han had taken the bait.

Wei Tu accepted Feng Han’s invitation and played the role of a potential traitor while gathering information about the feud between Feng Han and Hall Master Luo. At the banquet, Feng Han tried to bind Wei Tu to his cause with a promised spirit pill and a proposed engagement, but Wei Tu refused the marriage offer and remained wary of Sect Master Zhu.

• Wei Tu accepted Feng Han’s invitation to the Merit Hall and sent a reply as part of the plan to lure Feng Han into acting against Hall Master Luo.
• Feng Han told Feng Yuxiang that he had truly arranged for Luo Mingzhen to be sold, and explained how Hall Master Luo’s past treatment of Feng Han’s son had fueled their feud.
• Feng Yuxiang affirmed her loyalty to the Feng Family after learning why Feng Han hated Hall Master Luo.
• At the banquet, Wei Tu learned that Venerable Han Yue’s descendant had once escaped punishment through Hall Master Luo’s Law Enforcement Hall, and he considered how that history shaped the feud and Sect Master Zhu’s motives.
• Feng Han promised Wei Tu a spirit pill for reaching the Nascent Soul Late Stage and offered him an engagement with Feng Yuxiang to secure his loyalty.
• Wei Tu declined the engagement, unwilling to deepen his apparent allegiance to Feng Han or invite suspicion from Sect Master Zhu.

Wei Tu accepted Feng Han’s Golden Cauldron Talisman method and supplies while preparing for the coming conflict, as Ding Lezheng attained Spirit Transformation and set out to hunt him. Ding Lezheng failed to find Wei Tu, who had fled with his allies, and left Wei Xiuwen and Wei Changshou imprisoned as leverage.

• Wei Tu rejected Feng Yuxiang’s marriage proposal, then accepted Feng Han’s Golden Cauldron Talisman method and ten sets of high-grade talisman materials.
• After leaving the Merit Hall, Wei Tu planned to draw Golden Cauldron Talismans before Feng Han’s conflict with Hall Master Luo began.
• Ding Lezheng succeeded in attaining Spirit Transformation, comforted Situ Yang, and traveled to the Yingding Tribe to search for Wei Tu.
• Ding Lezheng searched Wei Xiuwen’s memories and used the Blood-Guiding Secret Art, but could not locate Wei Tu or his relatives.
• Ding Lezheng learned that Wei Tu, Kou Hongying, Cao Mi, and other allies had disappeared, then decided to search the Great Yan Cultivation Realm while leaving Wei Tu’s relatives in Kang State.
• Wei Xiuwen awoke in prison beside his unconscious son, Wei Changshou, and trusted that Wei Tu would return or avenge them.

Wei Tu successfully drew Golden Cauldron Talismans and agreed to help Feng Han lure Hall Master Luo into an ambush, while secretly working with the sect leadership against Feng Han. He departed for Boulder Mine with Hall Master Luo, Zhuang Shou, and the Law Enforcement Hall cultivators, carrying talismans and unaware of how the confrontation would unfold.

• Wei Tu completed his first-layer Golden Cauldron Talisman practice and raised his success rate above sixty percent.
• Feng Han asked Wei Tu to lure Hall Master Luo into a trap near Three-Snake Island, and Wei Tu demanded additional compensation and assurances.
• Feng Han agreed to provide Wei Tu with a breakthrough spirit pill and another item of equivalent value, while privately resolving to kill him afterward.
• Wei Tu used Feng Han's gifted materials to draw seven Golden Cauldron Talismans and prepared additional fourth-grade talismans.
• Zhuang Shou joined Wei Tu, Hall Master Luo, and the Law Enforcement Hall cultivators as they left for Boulder Mine, accompanied by an incarnation of Venerable Han Yue.

Wei Tu helped lure Hall Master Luo into Feng Han’s ambush, then turned against Feng Han’s allies and revealed his exceptional talent as a top-grade fourth-rank talisman master. The battle left Feng Han alive but surrounded, while Wei Tu greatly strengthened his standing with the Extreme Mountain Sect.

• Wei Tu met Feng Han near Three-Snake Island, received a Pure Clarity Pill and Flame-Burning Wood, and learned that Feng Han had gathered five experts to kill Hall Master Luo.
• Wei Tu lured Hall Master Luo into Feng Han’s formation, escaped its bounds, and called for Zhuang Shou’s aid as Feng Han’s group trapped Luo.
• Zhuang Shou arrived with Venerable Han Yue’s dharma body, broke the formation, and gravely wounded Feng Han and his allies; Wei Tu fled before returning to join the fight.
• Wei Tu bypassed Feng Han and fought a masked, portly Nascent Soul Late Stage cultivator, using talismans alongside his other abilities.
• Wei Tu unleashed seven Golden Cauldron Talismans against his opponent, astonishing Feng Han, Zhuang Shou, Hall Master Luo, and the other cultivators with his talisman-crafting talent.

Wei Tu helped defeat Feng Han’s forces, then returned to the Extreme Mountain Sect and secured his promised rewards. He and Zhuang Shou arrived to confiscate the Merit Hall, where its cultivators resisted under Feng Han’s influence.

• Wei Tu killed Li Donghai, a Ruyi Tower deputy tower master, after Li fled in Nascent Soul form, and learned that Ruyi Tower’s true organization was far more powerful than its Red Algae Sea branch.
• Feng Han and his companion self-destructed against Zhuang Shou and Hall Master Luo, injuring Hall Master Luo before the survivors returned toward the Extreme Mountain Sect.
• Zhuang Shou and Wei Tu flew ahead of the vessel and reached the sect, where Sect Master Zhu welcomed Wei Tu warmly after hearing of his Golden Cauldron Talismans.
• Sect Master Zhu confirmed Wei Tu’s promised positions and assigned him twenty percent of the spoils from the Merit Hall, with Zhuang Shou receiving ten percent after the treasury’s share.
• Wei Tu and Zhuang Shou used Sect Master Zhu’s confiscation warrant to seize the Merit Hall, but its cultivators activated Spirit Deer Peak’s protective formation and resisted.

Wei Tu and Zhuang Shou crushed the Merit Hall’s resistance, searched its treasury, and took treasures with Sect Master Zhu’s approval. After improving his body cultivation and testing the Five-Element Demon-Exterminating Ring, Wei Tu received Lüqiu Qingfeng’s invitation to attend her ascension as a nation’s ruler.

• Zhuang Shou used a Venerable’s decree to break Spirit Deer Peak’s formation, and Wei Tu’s forces killed the Merit Hall cultivators who charged them.
• Wei Tu ordered proper burials for the dead, including Feng Yuxiang, and he and Zhuang Shou searched the Merit Hall.
• Wei Tu and Zhuang Shou used Sect Master Zhu’s token to take the Purple Jade Cauldron and each claim a treasure from the treasury.
• Wei Tu used Purple Gold Ginseng to advance his body cultivation, then secluded himself and tested the Five-Element Demon-Exterminating Ring, which consumed much of his vital blood.
• After recovering, Wei Tu received a talisman letter from Lüqiu Qingfeng inviting him to attend her ascension as a ruler of a nation.

Wei Tu learned that the Lesser Vast Palace planned to bind the Lyuqiu Clan to it through Lüqiu Qingfeng’s marriage, and Sect Master Zhu sent him to persuade her or use a token signaling the Extreme Mountain Sect’s willingness to act. When Wei Tu returned to Sovereign Island, he learned that Bai Zhi had died and accepted her former apprentice, Xu Yuqi, as his soul servant.

• Wei Tu consulted Sect Master Zhu about Lüqiu Qingfeng’s succession ceremony and learned that Venerable Tong planned for Dugu Tian to marry her.
• Sect Master Zhu gave Wei Tu a crimson token that could signal the Extreme Mountain Sect to take action if persuasion failed.
• Wei Tu traveled to Sovereign Island and greeted the Lyuqiu Clan’s consecrated guests, giving Second Mountain Master his talisman-making insights.
• Wei Tu returned to his cave abode and learned from Xu Yuqi that Bai Zhi had passed away four years earlier.
• Wei Tu gave Xu Yuqi a soul contract, and she signed it, placing herself under his control.

Wei Tu visited Lüqiu Qingfeng to persuade her to abandon her marriage alliance with Dugu Tian, but their argument revealed that she saw the alliance as the Lüqiu Clan’s best chance at Spirit Transformation. After Wei Tu displayed his Nascent Soul Late Stage strength, Lüqiu Qingfeng said she might reject Venerable Tong’s offer because she feared Wei Tu would kill her if she accepted.

• Lüqiu Qingfeng challenged Wei Tu for questioning her marriage plans and reminded him that she had once hinted at wanting him as her Dao companion.
• Wei Tu unleashed Nascent Soul Late Stage pressure, revealing his breakthrough and forcing Lüqiu Qingfeng to reconsider her confidence in confronting him.
• Wei Tu asked Lüqiu Qingfeng to abandon the marriage alliance for his future in the Extreme Mountain Sect, while she argued that the Lüqiu Clan needed the Spirit Transformation opportunities Venerable Tong could offer.
• Wei Tu considered using Sect Master Zhu’s token to kill Lüqiu Qingfeng when she refused to give up the alliance.
• Lüqiu Qingfeng told Wei Tu that she believed he might one day offer the Lüqiu Clan hope of Spirit Transformation and feared he would kill her if she married Dugu Tian.

Wei Tu and Lüqiu Qingfeng negotiated her refusal of the marriage alliance with Dugu Tian, and she proposed spending a night with Wei Tu so that Dugu Tian would have reason to break the engagement. Wei Tu recognized that she also wanted to become his woman rather than his subordinate, but warned that his current identity could not accommodate a Dao companion from the Lüqiu Clan.

• Wei Tu reasoned that Lüqiu Qingfeng had changed her attitude because she saw him as a possible path to Spirit Transformation and a way to refuse the marriage alliance.
• Wei Tu offered to help Lüqiu Qingfeng after he achieved Spirit Transformation, as circumstances allowed, and she accepted while raising another condition.
• Lüqiu Qingfeng asked what reason she should give for declining her marriage to Dugu Tian, and Wei Tu told her to state her own condition.
• Lüqiu Qingfeng proposed spending a night with Wei Tu so Dugu Tian would have cause to break the engagement, explaining that this would minimize the consequences for her.
• Wei Tu understood that Lüqiu Qingfeng also wanted to become his Dao companion rather than his subordinate, but said his identity could not accommodate a Dao companion from the Lüqiu Clan.

Wei Tu agreed to pursue intimacy with Lüqiu Qingfeng only after openly speaking with Dugu Tian, and required her to be ready to give up her rule if they faced the consequences together. He then visited Five Elders Mountain, where he discovered Fu Zhizhou had reached Nascent Soul Middle Stage and decided to give him Pingchen's pure demonic qi.

• Lüqiu Qingfeng proposed sharing one night of intimacy with Wei Tu without seeking formal status.
• Wei Tu said he would speak with Dugu Tian before proceeding and asked Lüqiu Qingfeng to be ready to relinquish her position as ruler if necessary.
• Lüqiu Qingfeng swore that she was willing to pay that price, and the two agreed to face the consequences together.
• Wei Tu left Lüqiu Qingfeng and traveled to Five Elders Mountain to visit his allies and descendants.
• Wei Tu sensed that Fu Zhizhou had recently reached Nascent Soul Middle Stage and decided to give him Pingchen's pure demonic qi as a potential aid to his cultivation.

Wei Tu learned that Ding Lezheng had reached Spirit Transformation and resolved to wait one hundred and fifty years before returning to avenge Wei Xiuwen and Changshou. At Sovereign Island, he confronted Dugu Tian over his marriage to Lüqiu Qingfeng, but Dugu Tian stalled for five days to consult the Lesser Vast Palace.

• Fu Zhizhou told Wei Tu that Ding Lezheng had broken through to Spirit Transformation, and Wei Tu chose to endure rather than attempt a rescue, promising to return in one hundred and fifty years.
• Wei Tu calculated that reaching Spirit Transformation would take at least one hundred and fifty years and decided Lüqiu Qingfeng's primal yin was essential to speeding his cultivation.
• Wei Tu returned to Sovereign Island, praised Xu Yuqi's Foundation Establishment progress, and read Lüqiu Qingfeng's letter reporting Dugu Tian's arrival with Xu Wansun.
• Wei Tu and Lüqiu Qingfeng visited Dugu Tian to discuss ending their engagement, but Dugu Tian mocked them and resisted withdrawing from the marriage.
• Wei Tu argued that the Lesser Vast Palace had improperly arranged a marriage alliance with the Lyuqiu Clan without informing the Extreme Mountain Sect, and Dugu Tian asked for five days to provide an answer.