Chapter Summaries

Luo Chen prepared the Luo Tian Association for a swift attack on the weakened Flame Alliance by recruiting help and equipping Wang Yuan and Chu Kui for battle. After setting his allies to cultivate and await his message, he left Sky Wave Peak to gather further support and resources.

• Luo Chen wrote a letter to Cang Long Immortal and sent Xu Xiaoliu to deliver it through Heartless Forefather.
• Luo Chen asked Wang Yuan and Chu Kui to help him attack the Flame Alliance, and Wang Yuan agreed while Chu Kui hesitated.
• Luo Chen persuaded Chu Kui to join by offering him a Weak Third Order Spirit Land and ten Magic Treasures to use as battle consumables.
• Luo Chen gave Wang Yuan Blood Increasing Pills and a Tier 3 Profound Armor Talisman to strengthen his cultivation and defense.
• Luo Chen told Wang Yuan and Chu Kui to cultivate in Skybillow and await his message, then left Sky Wave Peak to pursue further preparations.

Luo Chen visited Azure Pill Valley, warned Tao Wan that the Sword Sect and Fallen Cloud Sect were using one another to threaten her sect, and argued that Azure Pill Valley faced disaster. Tao Wan asked him for a way to save the sect, and Luo Chen revealed that he had three plans.

• Luo Chen arrived at Azure Pill Valley and asked to meet its Daoist, Tao Wan, while observing the damage to Yuanhua Mountain and the alarm among the sect's cultivators.
• Azure Pill Valley's Golden Core elders argued over how to respond to the Sword Sect, but they reached no agreement beyond repairing Yuanhua Mountain and restoring the Five Peaks Cover Valley layout.
• Tao Wan left the elders' meeting and went to Dragon Head Peak after learning that Luo Chen had requested her.
• Luo Chen warned Tao Wan that the Sword Sect and Fallen Cloud Sect might be borrowing one another's power to weaken Azure Pill Valley and seize its resources.
• Tao Wan asked Luo Chen how he could save her sect, and he said he had three plans: a best option, a middling option, and a last resort.

Tao Wan presented Luo Chen’s three strategies to Azure Pill Valley’s elders, who decided to pursue them in parallel while keeping their Golden Core Immortals out of the fighting. Dissatisfied with the limited support, Luo Chen traveled to Sky Fire Immortal City to seek other allies against the Flame Alliance.

• Tao Wan explained Luo Chen’s plans to attack the Flame Alliance, seek an Outer Domain patron, and provoke a Founding War, prompting Azure Pill Valley’s elders to debate the risks and benefits.
• Qing Danzi recognized Bai Ye Palace as the means to involve Mingyuan Sect and concluded that the three strategies should be carried out in parallel.
• Qing Danzi ordered Tao Wan to lead Azure Pill Valley’s vassals against the Flame Alliance without deploying the sect’s Golden Core Immortals, and Qingyunzi gave her the sect leader’s token.
• Luo Chen lamented Azure Pill Valley’s caution, accepted its limited aid, and redirected his flying vessel toward Sky Fire Immortal City.
• Luo Chen arrived outside Sky Fire Immortal City, received an investigation report from an associate, and produced an embroidered ball to contact someone.

At Ice Fortress, Canglong and the Heartless Immortal discussed recruiting Luo Chen and the threat of internal strife, while the Heartless Immortal suspected Canglong was nearing the Nascent Soul stage. In Sky Fire Immortal City, Luo Chen’s Hundred-Year Thunder Essence drew Golden Core bidders to the Zhenlong Auction, and Tian Xingzi visited him.

• Three female Ice Fortress disciples discussed Jade Dew Pills and noticed Xu Xiaoliu cultivating at a Second-Order Cave Estate before approaching him.
• Canglong told the Heartless Immortal that Fallen Cloud Sect could not be trusted to help seize the Great Snow Mountain and urged her to support Luo Chen, who had offered to refine one thousand Jade Dew Pills each year.
• The Heartless Immortal agreed to visit Luo Chen, then suspected Canglong’s plans implied that she was close to reaching the Nascent Soul stage.
• Luo Chen received a Zhenlong Auction invitation listing Hundred-Year Thunder Essence, prompting Golden Core cultivators from outside the Jade Cauldron Seven Sects to hurry to Sky Fire Immortal City.
• Tian Xingzi visited Luo Chen and remarked on his boldness in entering a city built by the Flame Alliance despite their grudge.

Luo Chen used Hundred-Year Thunder Essence to draw the Fallen Cloud Sect and other powers into a plan against the Flame Alliance, while gathering allies and intelligence. As the black-market auction began, a furious voice erupted from deep within Sky Fire Immortal City.

• Luo Chen refused Tian Xingzi's request to buy Thunder Essence privately and proposed using an auction and rumors of more Thunder Essence to draw enemies toward the Flame Alliance.
• Luo Chen offered Tian Xingzi another Hundred-Year Thunder Essence in exchange for Locked Pearl Curtain core-formation insights, intelligence on the Fallen Cloud Sect's attack, and an auction announcement about a coming enemy at Incense Burning Valley.
• Danyangzi, Qiu Daochun, and Che Xiang met Luo Chen, who said he had gathered allies to storm Incense Burning Valley; afterward, Qiu warned that Luo Chen was dangerous and should not be drawn in too deeply.
• Tian Xingzi agreed to trade core-formation insights and intelligence for the Thunder Essence, the Heartless Immortal arrived to protect Luo Chen, and Xing Zonghan provided news that Ailao Mountain was taking over Flame Alliance territory.
• Luo Chen anticipated that the Zhenlong Black Market auction would deliver the final blow to the Flame Alliance, but a furious voice rang out as powerful Mana exploded in Sky Fire Immortal City.

Luo Chen’s plan to attack the weakened Flame Alliance unfolded as he gave the alliance a month to prepare, while Qin Tairan and Xuyang Shangren struggled to restore their defenses and secure allies. When the month ended, Luo Chen arrived at Incense Burning Valley as the leader of a vast force gathered against the Flame Alliance.

• Luo Chen accepted the auction proceeds from Tian Xingzi and confirmed that he would move against the Flame Alliance in one month, despite the chance that it might prepare.
• At Incense Burning Valley, Qin Tairan learned from Xuyang Shangren that Fallen Cloud Sect’s puppets had wounded him with dangerous Bone-Entwining Threads, then dismissed warnings about the rumored attack.
• Xuyang Shangren urged Qin Tairan to recall scattered disciples, rebuild the valley’s defenses, and seek help from Jade Cauldron Sword Sect, but Qin Tairan returned from that visit without support.
• As cultivators gathered around Incense Burning Valley, Qin Tairan, Xuyang Shangren, Wang Elder, and Xiao Lian debated whether to resist or abandon the Flame Alliance, then chose to unite and prepare.
• When the month ended, Fei Ming arrived with a large coalition outside Incense Burning Valley, and Xiao Lian activated the Fire Burning Grand Array.
• Fei Ming revealed that Pill Dust Master had summoned the gathered forces, and Luo Chen announced his arrival at the head of the attack.

Luo Chen led a coalition against the Flame Alliance, broke the Fire Burning Grand Array, and launched an attack on Incense Burning Valley. As the battle spread through the valley, Luo Chen’s strikes began turning the uneven melee in his side’s favor.

• Luo Chen gathered forces from Ice Fortress, Azure Pill Valley, Ailao Mountain, and other allies, then directed Fei Ming and the Golden Core Immortals to attack the Fire Burning Grand Array.
• Fei Ming, Heartless Immortal, Qiu Daochun, and Che Xiang shattered the array, and the two sides began fighting inside Incense Burning Valley.
• Luo Chen used Mountain Collapse to bring down the surrounding mountains, destroying the Flame Alliance’s Qi Refining formation and killing nearly a thousand disciples.
• Xiao Lian led Flame Alliance Foundation Establishment cultivators toward Luo Chen, but Danyangzi intercepted him while Wang Yuan and Chu Kui entered the melee.
• Luo Chen swept across the battlefield, killing Flame Alliance cultivators and breaking enemy sieges, while the watching Golden Core Immortals recognized that his tactics were changing the battle’s balance.

Luo Chen devastated the Flame Alliance’s forces at Incense Burning Valley, then used a Thunder Immortal Pearl and his Heavenly Peng transformation to defeat Qin Tairan. Badly injured and refining a powerful flame beneath the valley, Luo Chen was taken by Heartless Immortal to the Ice Fortress for treatment.

• Luo Chen killed more than thirty Flame Alliance Foundation Establishment cultivators and wiped out ten pursuers with his Great Perfection Blazing Sun Spell.
• Qin Tairan charged at Luo Chen, who transformed into a winged giant and unleashed Blazing Fire Miasma before detonating the Thunder Immortal Pearl.
• Luo Chen shattered Qin Tairan’s Taiyang Furnace and crushed his body, but Qin Tairan’s Golden Core struck Luo Chen and blasted him deep beneath Incense Burning Valley.
• Fei Ming pursued Qin Tairan’s fleeing Golden Core while Heartless Immortal ordered the Flame Alliance’s remaining disciples wiped out and went to find Luo Chen.
• Heartless Immortal found Luo Chen badly wounded in a fiery pit with Min Longyu, calmed him with an Ice God Talisman, and carried him away in an ice coffin to the Ice Fortress.

After the Flame Alliance’s defeat, rumors about Luo Chen’s injuries helped Ice Fortress deflect dangerous attention while he recovered in its Ice Prison. Cang Long Immortal revealed that she had reached Golden Core Great Perfection, and Luo Chen finally awoke after three years of refining the Wither Bloom Fire.

• Cultivators across the Jade Cauldron Domain praised Luo Chen’s battle record, prompting Ice Fortress to spread false news that his injuries had left his life and cultivation uncertain.
• Cang Long Immortal told Heartless Immortal that Luo Chen was safe and that Ice Fortress had fabricated the rumors to protect itself from praise meant to attract hostile attention.
• Cang Long Immortal and Heartless Immortal suspected Azure Pill Valley had spread the praise to divert the Nascent Soul Upper Sects’ attention toward Ice Fortress, but Cang Long Immortal chose not to respond.
• Cang Long Immortal revealed that she had reached Golden Core Great Perfection and said she was waiting for the right time, a person, and an opportunity to form her Nascent Soul.
• Deep within Ice Fortress’s Ice Prison, Luo Chen suppressed the Wither Bloom Fire after three years of meditation and opened his eyes.

After refining the Wither Bloom Fire, Luo Chen realized his rapid cultivation and reckless pursuit of revenge had led him into a Heart Demon, while the fire had cost him one hundred years of lifespan. He accepted the loss, regained his composure, and prepared to receive an expected guest with Qin Tairan's inheritance in hand.

• Luo Chen refined the Wither Bloom Fire after three years in the Arctic Ice Prison, gaining Source True Fire but turning his hair ash-white.
• Luo Chen recognized that rapid cultivation and a growing desire for revenge had made him reckless and drawn him into a Heart Demon.
• Luo Chen recalled that Han Zhan Zhenren's intelligence had led him to a Wither Bloom Fire that had advanced to the fourth order and drained life force from anyone who refined it.
• Luo Chen realized the fire had consumed one hundred years of his lifespan, leaving him with a hundred years remaining.
• Luo Chen recovered his composure, dressed neatly for an expected guest, and took out Qin Tairan's Storage Treasure.

Cang Long visited Luo Chen in the Ice Prison, explained why his Five Spirit Root aptitude could yield an exceptionally strong foundation, and invited him to Ice Fortress's upcoming Core Formation Ceremony. Luo Chen declined and chose to remain in seclusion to stabilize his cultivation.

• Cang Long asked Luo Chen to call her Senior Sister, and he accepted, deepening his bond with Ice Fortress.
• Cang Long explained that Luo Chen's Five Spirit Root aptitude could support all five elements and that his powerful physique, meridians, acupoints, blood, and balanced spiritual power were building a formidable foundation.
• Cang Long found Luo Chen's Wither Bloom Fire fully refined, his injuries healed, and his cultivation close to the Foundation Establishment Eighth Layer.
• Cang Long invited Luo Chen to attend Ice Soul Fairy's Core Formation Ceremony, but Luo Chen declined to avoid drawing attention as the Fire Spirit Lord.
• Cang Long advised Luo Chen to use the Arctic Ice Prison to stabilize his cultivation, and he agreed before she left.

While confined at Ice Fortress, Luo Chen studied Core Formation methods and watched the sect prepare for Ice Soul Fairy’s ceremony. His completed Qingyuan Wonderful Pill Method suddenly drew all his spiritual power into his Qi Sea, leaving him on the verge of forming a core.

• Luo Chen gave up refining pills because Ice Fortress supplied poor-quality and incomplete medicinal herbs, then cultivated until his Divine Soul Foundation reached Great Perfection.
• Luo Chen studied four Core Formation secret techniques and read Linghu Jie’s cultivation insights on the Locked Pearl Curtain method.
• Dantai Jin delivered Luo Chen his official Ice Fortress Guest Elder token and robes, explaining that the sect would hold Ice Soul Fairy’s Core Formation Ceremony in three months.
• Luo Chen considered Ice Fortress’s strained resources as it prepared for Ice Soul Fairy’s ceremony, while Jade Cauldron Sword Sect sent an envoy to Frost Ice Immortal City.
• The Qingyuan Wonderful Pill Method reached completion, and its vortex drew Luo Chen’s spiritual power together into a vague pill as he realized he was about to form a core.

After the Qingyuan Wonderful Pill Method triggered a Core Formation phenomenon, Luo Chen halted the attempt and realized the technique was a powerful Middle Method Core Formation Secret Technique, while advancing to the Foundation Establishment Eighth Layer. He decided to leave Ice Fortress and return to Sky Wave Immortal City, where new prospects for improving Spirit Communication Pills awaited him.

• Luo Chen stopped the reverse spiritual vortex from forming a Golden Core and broke through to the Foundation Establishment Eighth Layer, then recognized the Qingyuan Wonderful Pill Method as a Core Formation Secret Technique.
• Luo Chen considered pursuing Fallen Cloud Sect's Locked Pearl Curtain and decided to return to Sky Wave Immortal City after nearly three and a half years at Ice Fortress.
• Gu Cai Yi visited Luo Chen in Ice Prison, reunited with him, and discussed arranging a stable supply of demon fox blood and Second-Order Snow Foxes for Luo Tian Association.
• Luo Chen attended Ice Soul Fairy's Core Formation Ceremony and told Canglong he planned to leave Ice Fortress; Canglong warned him to keep a low profile.
• Luo Chen departed Ice Fortress by flying boat toward Sky Wave Immortal City, and an unidentified figure leaped aboard along the way.

Luo Chen returned to Danxia Peak and learned that Luo Tian Association had prospered under Sima Hui Niang’s leadership while he was away. He continued to feign weakness to deter challengers, arranged for the association to gather herbs and pill materials, and promised to personally guide Qu Lingjun.

• Luo Tian Association’s leaders reported its growth, new operating rights over the Thousand-Li Bamboo Sea, and the recent death of Elder Sun Sifang, whose medical scripture had been added to the Skill Transmission Hall.
• Luo Chen thanked his subordinates and friends for sustaining the association, while they expressed concern over his gray hair and presumed injuries from the battle at Incense Burning Valley.
• Luo Chen decided to keep appearing weak so that proud Foundation Establishment cultivators would not challenge him, and planned to rely on pills rather than a Third-Order Spirit Land for his cultivation.
• Luo Chen gave Sima Hui Niang authority over major association decisions and asked the Spirit Medicine Hall to gather herbs for several pills and materials for further pill-recipe experiments.
• Luo Chen told Qu Lingjun to visit his cave mansion monthly so he could check his cultivation and pill-refinement progress.

After returning to the Luo Tian Association, Luo Chen resumed pill refining, taught Qu Lingjun to make Dustfall Pills, and advised him on cultivation. He weighed three possible methods for his future Core Formation cultivation but postponed choosing and began testing Blood Increasing and Dustfall Pills together.

• Luo Chen refined high-grade Dustfall Pills with Qu Lingjun watching and explained why a pill's value depended on who could use it and when.
• Luo Chen examined Qu Lingjun's cultivation and recommended that he borrow the Blazing Sun True Scripture for use after Foundation Establishment.
• Luo Chen considered the Blazing Sun True Scripture, Flourishing Green One Heart Art, and incomplete Burning Wood True Art, then stored all three without deciding which to cultivate.
• Luo Chen refined more pills, studied the Spirit Communication Pill recipe, and took a high-grade Blood Increasing Pill together with a high-grade Dustfall Pill to test their combined effect.

After three years of pill refinement and cultivation, Luo Chen doubled his cultivation speed and considered how to advance his body-tempering method and strengthen his techniques. He learned that the Heavenly Mountain Alliance Meeting had set a Founding War for fifty years later, halted the Luo Tian Association’s expansion, and received an invitation from He Lianyunqi to discuss alchemy.

• Luo Chen reached Foundation Establishment Eighth Layer and doubled his cultivation speed by refining Top-grade Blood Increasing Pills and Dustfall Pills, while his body-tempering progress stalled without Thunder Force.
• Luo Chen considered using Fourth-Order Wither Bloom Fire to temper his body but postponed testing the idea until after Core Formation, and he decided to acquire higher-grade Baleful Qi to improve Blazing Fire Miasma.
• Sima Hui Niang told Luo Chen that the Heavenly Mountain Alliance Meeting had set a Founding War for fifty years later, with five Nascent Soul Upper Sects and thirteen Golden Core Great Sects initially joining.
• Luo Chen ordered the Luo Tian Association to stop expanding, and later learned that more sects had joined the war while Golden Core and higher life-and-death battles were forbidden during the preparations.
• He Lianyunqi invited Luo Chen to meet with friends interested in the Alchemy Dao, and Luo Chen decided the invitation was worth considering.

Luo Chen met He Lianyun and three cultivators at Connecting Cloud Tower, where they revealed a pill recipe that could greatly improve the chances of Core Formation. After examining it, Luo Chen agreed to consider refining the medicine, and the group claimed they could gather its rare ingredients.

• Luo Chen visited Connecting Cloud Tower and was personally welcomed by He Lianyun.
• He Lianyun introduced Fu Jiusheng, Xiao Sanren, and You Ruolan, whose husband Ming Sha had died in Bai Ye Cave Mansion.
• After refusing to swear a Dao Oath, Luo Chen agreed to keep the opportunity secret when the others appealed to his reputation as Fire Spirit Lord.
• You Ruolan revealed that a black Bamboo Slip recovered from Bai Ye Cave Mansion contained a pill recipe that could raise the chance of Core Formation by twenty percent.
• Luo Chen examined the recipe and found that it required three rare Third-Order primary materials; Fu Jiusheng said they were confident they could gather all the ingredients.

Luo Chen agreed to refine the Nether Origin Pill after negotiating a safety pact and demanding the largest share of the pills. The group planned to set out in nine years to harvest the final ingredient, while Fu Jiusheng asked Xiao Sanren whether he had discerned Luo Chen’s condition.

• He Lianyun explained that the group could gather most of the Nether Origin Pill materials, while Xiao Sanren possessed the Galan Thunder Flower and Luo Chen could seek Heavenly Mountain Returning Yang Water from the Ice Fortress.
• Fu Jiusheng revealed that he knew where the Nine-Striped Snake Saliva Fruit grew and relied on Luo Chen’s Simple Heart Hand to harvest it safely.
• Luo Chen agreed to refine the pill, then required an Essence Blood Pact to ensure the others protected him until the refining was complete.
• Luo Chen demanded that his needs be met first and claimed the pill shares Madam You Sha had proposed for herself; after heated negotiations, the group accepted his terms and agreed to set out in nine years.
• He Lianyun promised to send Luo Chen a box of Tier 3 Bodhi Tea, and the four cultivators complained about his greed after he left.
• Fu Jiusheng asked Xiao Sanren whether he had discerned Luo Chen’s current condition.

Luo Chen’s partners concluded that his strength was limited and agreed to prepare for a Nether Origin Pill expedition in nine years, unaware that he had secretly marked them and tracked their movements. After learning they had separated, Luo Chen planned to improve his combat methods, study the pill recipe, and secure Heavenly Mountain Returning Yang Water, then summoned cultivators from the Luo Tian Association.

• Xiao Sanren assessed Luo Chen as weakened and no stronger than most Foundation Establishment Ninth Layer cultivators, and the others discussed the limits of his past victories and Body Tempering.
• Xiao Sanren noticed footprints Luo Chen had left beneath the doorway pressure and concluded that Luo Chen had feigned weakness to control their negotiations.
• Madam You Sha, Fu Jiusheng, He Lianyun, and Xiao Sanren agreed to gather materials and prepare for their expedition in nine years, with Xiao Sanren planning to pursue Foundation Establishment Great Perfection.
• Luo Chen used his transformed Water Mirror Art to track the four through Pill Scent Identification and saw that they had gone their separate ways.
• Luo Chen resolved to strengthen his combat methods, study the Nether Origin Pill recipe for a possible substitute ingredient, and ask the Ice Fortress for Heavenly Mountain Returning Yang Water.
• Luo Chen cultivated through the night and sent a voice transmission the next day, bringing cultivators of the Luo Tian Association to his cave abode.

Luo Chen perfected Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers, restored Blazing Fire Miasma with Tier 3 Earth Fire Fiend Qi, and spent six years preparing his cultivation and alchemy for a journey. He joined He Lianyun, Fu Jiusheng, Xiao Sanren, and Madam You Sha, then took charge of their travel plans as they set out to refine the Nether Origin Pill.

• Luo Chen practiced with seven newly made concealed weapons and brought Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers to Great Perfection in seven days.
• Gu Cai Yi reported that the Sunken River Ghost Fire Fiend had gone to a Fallen Cloud Sect elder, but she acquired Tier 3 Earth Fire Fiend Qi for Luo Chen instead.
• Luo Chen obtained Heavenly Mountain Returning Yang Water from Ice Fortress and repaid Canglong by refining Jade Dew Pills, while also preparing Spirit Communication Pills and testing Nether Origin Pill substitutes.
• Luo Chen spent the next six years focusing on Blazing Fire Miasma and Divine Soul techniques, then perfected Blazing Fire Miasma before departing Skybillow Immortal City.
• Luo Chen met He Lianyun, Fu Jiusheng, Xiao Sanren, and Madam You Sha a thousand miles from the city, demanded the Nether Origin Pill ingredients, and assigned them roles aboard his flying boat.
• Madam You Sha piloted the flying boat eastward after supplying the Spirit Stones Luo Chen had not prepared.