Chapter Summaries

Luo Chen declined to join the Grand Pill Institute as Danyangzi finally refined a Dustfall Pill and Tao Wan rose to first place in the rankings. As the True Disciple Sword Competition began, Luo Chen was summoned to the Sky Palace by an Immortal.

• Luo Chen decided not to enter the Grand Pill Institute because he wanted to keep his freedom and oversee the Luo Tian Association.
• Fu Huai, Xuan Yunzi, Huang Hezi, and Master Lingzhi refined Dustfall Pills before Danyangzi finally succeeded after Red Cauldron Immortal challenged his choices.
• Pill Dust Master took first place overall in the second round, while Fu Huai placed second and Tao Wan's platform rose to first among the Great True Disciples.
• Shangguan Yan approached Luo Chen to discuss Alchemy Dao, but Tao Wan intervened and drove her away.
• As the Sword Competition Platform was prepared, a disciple told Luo Chen that an Immortal in the Heavenly Palace wanted to see him.

Luo Chen attended the Heavenly Palace as Pill Dust Master and drew competing recruitment offers from several sects before Heartless Immortal revealed his connection to Ice Fortress and gave him a new Profound Ice Talisman. He watched the True Disciple Sword Competition, where Du Changfeng lost after his spiritual energy faltered, and the chapter ended as Fu Li faced He Yuanqing.

• Luo Chen received respectful treatment from the Golden Core Immortals, and Red Cauldron Immortal, Ailao Mountain Immortal, and Fragrance Master of Hundred Flowers Palace offered him enticing terms to join their sects.
• Heartless Immortal declared that Luo Chen belonged to Ice Fortress, and Luo Chen showed the Esteemed Fox Pill Explanation that linked him to Shang Hu.
• Heartless Immortal took back the Profound Ice Talisman made for Tantai Jin and gave Luo Chen a new one containing her protective power.
• Luo Chen watched the True Disciple Sword Competition from the Heavenly Palace and heard the Golden Core Immortals criticize Foundation Establishment disciples for relying too heavily on Magic Treasures.
• Du Changfeng gained the advantage over Shangguan Yan but lost when his spiritual energy faltered and Shangguan Yan seized the opening.
• Fu Li's match against He Yuanqing began as Luo Chen watched to see whether Fu Li would help Tao Wan.

Fu Li defeated He Yuanqing through careful strategy, then challenged Danyangzi for the Dao Seed position despite their alliance with Tao Wan. Danyangzi overcame Fu Li’s Dragon Binding Stake with Purple Zenith Skyfire, leaving his undefeated record intact.

• Fu Li used Spirit Binding Pearls and a carefully timed sword attack to disrupt He Yuanqing’s killing move, win the match, and advance.
• Golden Core Immortals explained that Fu Li had exploited He Yuanqing’s eagerness to conserve strength, while Tao Wan realized Fu Li also wanted the Dao Seed position for himself.
• After an hour of recovery, Fu Li faced Danyangzi, who was low on spiritual power and fought with a Top-Grade Magic Tool rather than his usual Flying Sword Magic Treasure.
• After a hundred rounds, Fu Li deployed the Dragon Binding Stake, but Danyangzi sent Purple Zenith Skyfire along its chains and defeated him.
• The disciples celebrated Danyangzi’s victory as Luo Chen continued thinking about the Purple Zenith Skyfire.

Danyangzi and Tao Wan fought for the Azure Pill Valley Dao Seed position, while Luo Chen watched and realized how weapon-based spellcasting could improve his own combat methods. Tao Wan overcame Danyangzi’s Purple Zenith Skyfire and won, becoming the new Dao Seed.

• Qingyunzi explained that Danyangzi had obtained the Purple Zenith Skyfire himself and that the fire remained too weak to be useful in ordinary combat.
• Luo Chen inferred that several Azure Pill Valley peaks were competing to recruit Danyangzi, who had accepted harsh restrictions to continue pursuing the Dao Seed position.
• Danyangzi and Tao Wan began their final battle, exchanging attacks as Tao Wan used her Flowing Cloud Flying Sleeves and Swanflight Art to evade his sword strikes.
• Danyangzi used the Blazing Sun Spell through his sword and injured Tao Wan, then baited her into approaching while he prepared a lethal strike.
• Tao Wan froze Danyangzi’s Purple Zenith Skyfire with the Ice Fortress’s Ice Soul Cold Marrow, then stopped him with a finger strike between his brows.
• The Dragon Head Peak elder declared Tao Wan the winner and promoted her to Azure Pill Valley Dao Seed.

After Tao Wan won Azure Pill Valley’s Dao Seed Competition, Luo Chen stayed at Ink Lotus Garden while she recovered and prepared for her ceremony. He studied Nanshan Old Man’s Core Formation insights, recognized that his Dragon Phoenix Tribulation Secret Technique followed the Lower Method, and resumed cultivation as his realm began to rise.

• Shi Lan revealed that she had profited by running a betting pool against Luo Chen, and Luo Chen gave her a bottle of Mid-Grade Jade Dew Pills.
• Heartless Immortal invited Luo Chen to Sky Wave Peak, but he said he would wait until Tao Wan’s Dao Seed ceremony concluded.
• Tao Wan thanked Luo Chen for helping her win and said he could receive High-Grade Rising Dragon Pills after she became the Azure Pill Dao Child.
• Tao Yisheng delivered Luo Chen’s purchased resources, but Luo Chen returned the Spirit Stones Tao Yisheng had paid for them.
• Tao Wan and Tao Yisheng agreed to maintain their relationship with Luo Chen, believing there were other ways to win his goodwill.
• Luo Chen studied Nanshan Old Man’s Core Formation insights, identified his secret technique as Lower Method Core Formation, and resumed cultivating until his stalled realm began to rise.

Luo Chen received the Magic Treasure Autumn Water and attended Tao Wan’s Dao Seed Ceremony, where she became Azure Pill Valley’s Dao Child. Tao Wan showed him the sect’s ranks and invited him to stay in her exceptionally rich cultivation grounds, and he began cultivating there.

• He Liancheng traded the Nine Ring Tin Staff for the Magic Treasure flying sword Autumn Water, which Luo Chen planned to give to Sima Hui Niang.
• Tao Yisheng invited Luo Chen to Tao Wan’s Dao Seed Ceremony, where Tao Wan was formally named Azure Pill Valley’s Dao Child.
• Tao Wan explained the hierarchy of cultivation factions and brought Luo Chen to her Cave Mansion, whose spiritual energy was maintained at a weak third-order concentration.
• Tao Wan told Luo Chen that Danyangzi had lost his position after leaking a sect secret technique and said she would investigate its recovery.
• Tao Wan invited Luo Chen to stay in Dao Child Hall, and he accepted the cultivation benefits before entering the Cultivation Room to practice the Ageless Evergreen Scripture.

During his stay at Azure Pill Valley, Luo Chen cultivated rapidly in the Dao Child Hall and gained alchemical knowledge at the Grand Pill Institute, though its elders decided he lacked the talent to help refine a Nascent Soul Pill. He planned to leave within half a year, whether or not he reached Foundation Establishment Sixth Layer.

• Tao Wan stayed busy learning sect affairs and building her influence, while Luo Chen practiced spells and cultivated in the Dao Child Hall.
• Senior alchemists at the Grand Pill Institute discussed Luo Chen’s abilities and concluded that his solid foundation could not make up for his ordinary talent in alchemy.
• Qing Danzi decided to retrieve Danyangzi from Dragon Head Peak to help gather the alchemists needed to refine the Nascent Soul Pill, keeping Mu Yunyan as a last resort.
• Luo Chen left the Grand Pill Institute with the Star Plucking Hand and three incomplete Primordial Pill Recipes, while noticing that its elders had grown less welcoming.
• Luo Chen saw that his cultivation had reached Foundation Establishment Fifth Layer 55/100 and resolved to leave Azure Pill Valley within half a year.

Tao Wan supported Luo Chen with valuable cultivation resources while he stayed at Azure Pill Valley, and he returned to the Luo Tian Association with pills, formulas, and a breakthrough to Foundation Establishment Sixth Layer. After learning that Gu Cai Yi had failed to establish her foundation and was severely injured, Luo Chen examined her and promised she could recover, while she wept and held his hand.

• Tao Wan learned Luo Chen had been cultivating relentlessly, arranged yearly supplies of High-Grade Rising Dragon Pills, and sent him Tier 2 High-Grade Meridian Protection Pills; Luo Chen thanked her with Youth Preservation Pills.
• After a year and a half at Azure Pill Valley, Luo Chen left with new alchemical knowledge, pills, and a cultivation breakthrough, then returned to Danxia Peak and learned Murong Qinglian had established her foundation.
• Luo Chen congratulated Murong Qinglian and offered foundation-establishment supplies, but she told him Gu Cai Yi had failed her breakthrough and remained badly injured.
• Luo Chen visited Gu Cai Yi, examined her damaged meridians and nearly shattered Dantian, and told her he could cure her within a year.
• Gu Cai Yi doubted Luo Chen's reassurance, but when he tried to leave, she caught his hand and silently wept.

Luo Chen learned that Gu Cai Yi’s failed Foundation Establishment had left her gravely injured, and realized the Jade Dew Pills he had given her may have contributed to the disaster. He promised to heal her and took her to his cave mansion, where he planned to treat her himself.

• Gu Cai Yi told Luo Chen that fear and doubt had caused her to lose control during Foundation Establishment, leaving her Dantian shattered and her meridians damaged.
• Luo Chen reassured Gu Cai Yi that she would recover, then met Sima Hui Niang, who explained the care and treatment arranged for Gu Cai Yi.
• Luo Chen realized that the Jade Dew Pills he had given Gu Cai Yi had made her spiritual power dangerously pure, and suspected his good intentions had worsened her injuries.
• Sima Hui Niang gave Luo Chen an Autumn Water Longsword, and he told her that waiting three years for an Azure Sea Pill was too long.
• Luo Chen took Gu Cai Yi from her secluded courtyard to his cave mansion, promising to heal her and help her establish her foundation afterward.
• Gu Cai Yi confessed her love to Luo Chen and admitted her jealousy toward Sima Hui Niang, while Luo Chen resolved to use the Third-Order Rebirth Pill to treat her.

Luo Chen returned to Sky Wave Peak and devised a yearlong treatment plan to heal Gu Cai Yi without destroying her cultivation. He then reviewed the Luo Tian Association’s growth and approved plans to open a trade route to Mount Tai Market, ending with Sima Hui Niang handing him two years of earnings.

• Luo Chen brought the injured Gu Cai Yi to her room, treated her meridians, and learned that Bai Mei Ling had made progress solidifying her ghost body.
• After reviewing Sun Saint’s prescriptions, Luo Chen planned to stabilize and repair Gu Cai Yi’s meridians before using the Rebirth Pill, estimating that the treatment would take a year.
• Luo Chen chaired a meeting where the Luo Tian Association’s hall masters reported the organization’s growth, including its thousand-plus disciples, expanding industries, and thriving pill production.
• Yuan Xiaoyue reported on Danxia Hall’s branches and proposed opening one in Mount Tai Market, while Sima Hui Niang recommended preparing to secure the trade route and confront the Bai Family if necessary.
• Luo Chen praised Sima Hui Niang’s management and approved her decisions, then accepted a Storage Bag containing two years of earnings from her.

Luo Chen reviewed the Luo Tian Association’s profits and his own cultivation progress while helping Gu Cai Yi recover through medicinal baths and healing spells. He planned to stabilize his Foundation Establishment Sixth Layer cultivation and focus on alchemy, but Shi Lan arrived with an invitation from her master, Jueqing.

• Luo Chen received 150,000 Spirit Stones in net profits from Sima Hui Niang and praised her management of the Luo Tian Association.
• After spending the night with Sima Hui Niang, Luo Chen hurried to care for Gu Cai Yi, bathing and treating her damaged meridians while promising to repair her Dantian over time.
• Luo Chen concluded that frequent use of the Healing Spell was helping him refine his spiritual power and expected to stabilize his cultivation within half a year.
• Luo Chen examined his Attribute Panel, noted his gains in spells, pill arts, and physician skills, and decided to practice Mountain Collapse and Soul Subduing Art while making Jade Dew Pills.
• Shi Lan appeared outside Luo Chen’s cave mansion and told him that her master wanted to see him.

Luo Chen learned that the war between the two Nascent Soul Upper Sects had resumed and that Heartless Immortal had ordered the Luo Tian Association to join it. Unable to accept sending his people into battle, he returned to his cave mansion and began looking for a way to understand the crisis and respond before the forces departed in a month.

• Luo Chen explained to Heartless Immortal that he had delayed visiting her to care for Gu Cai Yi, and she gave him the damaged Shangshu Cauldron and the Azure Serpent Bracelet for Gu Cai Yi.
• Heartless Immortal told Luo Chen that the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect could be driven from its Third-Order Cave Mansion if the Luo Tian Association joined the war, and ordered everyone at Qi Refining Seventh Layer or above to mobilize.
• Luo Chen left Sky Wave Peak in despair, saw Chu Kui celebrating his breakthrough to Foundation Establishment Ninth Layer, and agreed that the women of Ice Fortress were fickle and moody.
• Luo Chen resolved that he could not accept sending the Luo Tian Association into the war and decided to learn what had happened during his year away before the forces departed in a month.

Luo Chen studied the Jade Cauldron Civil War and learned that Ice Fortress had ordered the Luo Tian Association to send its Qi Refining Seventh Layer and higher members to fight, leaving only one Foundation Establishment True Cultivator behind. As Sima Hui Niang planned for the association’s wartime changes, Luo Chen insisted she would not go in his place and began considering how his status as an Alchemy Grandmaster might protect him.

• Luo Chen read the Web’s dossiers tracing the Jade Cauldron Civil War from its beginnings through the battles in Soaring Sky Secret Realm, Black Water Swamp, and Accumulated Thunder Nine Mountains.
• Luo Chen concluded that the failed meeting between Han Zhan and Jade Cauldron True Person meant the war would continue and that Ice Fortress had joined the Fallen Cloud Sect’s side.
• Luo Chen told Sima Hui Niang that Ice Fortress Jueqing had ordered everyone in the Luo Tian Association at Qi Refining Seventh Layer or above to war, with only one Foundation Establishment True Cultivator permitted to stay at Danxia.
• Sima Hui Niang proposed closing or scaling back branches, suspending agency partnerships, revising business arrangements, and canceling the plan against the Bai Family of Flowing Light Market.
• Sima Hui Niang volunteered to coordinate the battlefield and suggested Luo Chen remain behind, but Luo Chen refused to let her risk her life and invoked his standing as an Alchemy Grandmaster.
• Luo Chen began to wonder whether his reputation as an Alchemy Grandmaster could keep him from being sent to the battlefield.

Luo Chen learned that the Jade Cauldron Civil War was drawing vassal forces toward the Accumulated Thunder Nine Mountains battlefield and sought to keep the Luo Tian Association from being used as expendable troops. He offered the Heartless Immortal a supply of powerful pills in exchange for the association’s cultivators, and she asked him to name his terms.

• Sima Hui Niang told Luo Chen that the Luo Tian Association’s members were panicking, other forces were mobilizing for war, and Peach Mountain remained inactive.
• Luo Chen concluded that the Golden Core Sects planned to preserve their own strength by using their vassals as expendable troops, while his pill-refining skills could help reduce casualties.
• Luo Chen showed the Heartless Immortal a High-Grade Jade Dew Pill and offered to provide at least one hundred bottles a year if he received enough help preparing ingredients.
• Luo Chen presented his own Top-Grade Blood Burning Pill and offered to make more for the Heartless Immortal, arguing that the pills could save Foundation Establishment cultivators and strengthen her standing.
• The Heartless Immortal accepted the value of Luo Chen’s proposal and asked him to name his terms.

Luo Chen sent Wang Yuan, Duan Feng, Xu Huanzhen, and over a hundred Battle Hall cultivators to the Accumulated Thunder Nine Mountains battlefield on relatively safe assignments, then spent half a year refining pills and stabilizing his cultivation. After guiding Gu Cai Yi’s recovery, he revealed a Third-Order Rebirth Pill and promised to restore her cultivation path.

• Luo Chen gave Wang Yuan, Duan Feng, and Xu Huanzhen Blood Burning Pills, assigned Wang Yuan to lead the expedition, and urged all three to return alive.
• Luo Chen rallied the Battle Hall cultivators with the promise that battlefield merit could earn them Foundation Establishment Pills, and they departed for the Accumulated Thunder Nine Mountains.
• Luo Chen met Sima Hui Niang aboard the Ice Fortress vessel, learned Tantai Jin would try to arrange relatively safe assignments, and then returned to Sky Wave Peak to refine pills.
• After half a year of pill refining, Luo Chen stabilized his cultivation at Foundation Establishment Sixth Layer and guided Gu Cai Yi in practicing the Five Viscera Nourishing Fist.
• Luo Chen showed Gu Cai Yi a Third-Order Rebirth Pill that could rebuild her Dantian and repair her meridians, and promised to restore her cultivation path.

Luo Chen used the Rebirth Pill and his medical techniques to rebuild Gu Cai Yi’s dantian, though she remained unconscious and would need time to recover. He then considered using the damaged Ghost God Heart Questioning Mirror to help Gu Cai Yi and other Luo Tian Association cultivators establish their foundations, leaving him eager to test the idea after resting.

• Luo Chen prepared Gu Cai Yi for the Rebirth Pill by casting Spring Breeze Rain Spells and reassuring her that he would protect her.
• Gu Cai Yi swallowed the pill and endured the destruction and reconstruction of her dantian while Luo Chen spread the pain across her acupoints and guided spiritual energy into the new dantian.
• Luo Chen carried the unconscious Gu Cai Yi from the Cultivation Room, confirmed to Bai Mei Ling that the procedure had succeeded, and asked her to watch over Gu Cai Yi as she recovered.
• Luo Chen realized that the thick walls of Gu Cai Yi’s rebuilt dantian could make her Foundation Establishment breakthrough difficult.
• Luo Chen considered using the Ghost God Heart Questioning Mirror with the Rotten Ke Black Chess Piece to simulate Foundation Establishment, potentially helping Gu Cai Yi and other Luo Tian Association cultivators break through.
• Luo Chen imagined producing Foundation Establishment cultivators in large numbers and then went to sleep.

Gu Cai Yi recovered enough to resume cultivation after Luo Chen reshaped her Dantian, and Luo Chen discussed the Luo Tian Association’s battlefield support and business strategy with Sima Hui Niang. The chapter ended with Gu Cai Yi and Sima Hui Niang sharing an awkward dinner before Hui Niang left.

• Gu Cai Yi woke to find her spiritual energy gathered and her Innate Cultivation Method working again, then reunited with Luo Chen and agreed to focus on recovery while helping Yuan Xiaoyue at the Golden Hall.
• Sima Hui Niang brought news that the Heartless Lineage had been assigned a dangerous outer area at Seventh Mountain, while the Luo Tian Association received a safer mountain-guarding duty.
• Luo Chen approved sending Min Longyu to provide formation support, but said he should wait until conditions settled and travel with a garrison rotation.
• Sima Hui Niang asked whether the Luo Tian Association should take over the Zheng Family’s failing pill business, and Luo Chen ordered her not to seize competitors’ vacant markets for now.
• Luo Chen pointed out that the Black Water Swamp and Accumulated Thunder Nine Mountains battlefields offered better business opportunities, then Gu Cai Yi invited Sima Hui Niang to dinner.
• Gu Cai Yi and Sima Hui Niang ate in strained silence, and Luo Chen felt relieved when Hui Niang left.

Luo Chen learned Mirror Flower Water Moon to control the Ghost God Heart Questioning Mirror, helped Gu Cai Yi establish her foundation, and prepared to head to the Accumulated Thunder Nine Mountains battlefield as the war widened. After realizing the mirror’s simulations could endanger him, he set it aside and went to spar with Chu Kui.

• Luo Chen learned the three spells required for Mirror Flower Water Moon and used the illusion to gain control of the Ghost God Heart Questioning Mirror.
• Gu Cai Yi successfully established her foundation, while the war spread across the Jade Cauldron Domain and the Jade Cauldron Seven Sects joined in full force.
• Luo Chen was told that a vital Luo Tian Association position had been devastated, and he set out for Accumulated Thunder Nine Mountains because Ice Fortress could not send aid.
• Luo Chen realized the Heart Questioning Mirror had pulled him into another simulation and decided to limit its use after recognizing how it affected his mind and pill refining.
• Luo Chen went to the Jade Cauldron Sword Pavilion to train with Chu Kui, who had recently reached Foundation Establishment Ninth Layer.

Luo Chen sharpened his combat skills and prepared Gu Cai Yi for her Foundation Establishment attempt, while Chu Kui explained Core Formation methods and announced he was leaving for the Accumulated Thunder Mountain battlefield. The chapter ended with Luo Chen reflecting that the spreading war might eventually draw everyone in the Jade Cauldron Domain into its turmoil.

• Chu Kui praised Luo Chen's weapon-control techniques but warned that Luo Chen relied too heavily on fire spells despite his Wood Element spiritual power, and advised him to develop his strengths rather than rush to change paths.
• Luo Chen prepared an array of Foundation Establishment resources for Gu Cai Yi, encouraged her before her attempt, and left her inside the cave mansion as the Dragon Severing Stone sealed the entrance.
• Chu Kui explained Upper Method and Lower Method Core Formation, including how failed Lower Method attempts could leave cultivators in the Pseudo-Core Realm, and Luo Chen tried unsuccessfully to combine his Spiritual Liquid.
• Chu Kui told Luo Chen he was going to the Accumulated Thunder Mountain battlefield to seek resources for Core Formation, and said he would fight for whichever side offered the better terms.
• Luo Chen joked with Chu Kui before he departed, then worried that the war might eventually engulf the entire Jade Cauldron Domain.

Luo Chen sent more Foundation Establishment cultivators to the Accumulated Thunder Nine Mountains as the war intensified, then welcomed Gu Cai Yi after she established her foundation. While Gu Cai Yi and Sima Hui Niang reorganized the Luo Tian Association’s businesses for the battlefield, Luo Chen sought help from Hundred Refinements Mountain to commission a Magic Tool for a technique that could quickly strengthen him.

• Luo Chen dispatched Min Longyu to establish formations and Li Yingzhang to reinforce the defenses, advising Li to reserve the Chi Dragon Sword and giving both men three Top-Grade Blood Burning Pills.
• Luo Chen welcomed Gu Cai Yi from seclusion, and the two spent a day together in Sky Wave Immortal City before returning to the association.
• Gu Cai Yi resumed command of the Luo Tian Gold Hall, and she and Sima Hui Niang consolidated businesses and sent a new team into the Accumulated Thunder Mountain battlefield.
• Sima Hui Niang arranged further recruitment and a magic robe partnership while Luo Chen focused on cultivating spells and strengthening himself.
• Luo Chen decided a technique from a Beast Skin could rapidly increase his strength but required an external item, so he went to Hundred Refinements Mountain to commission a Magic Tool from Gongsun.