Chapter Summaries

Luo Chen reached Qi Refining Eighth Layer and met Steward Miao, whose insight into Wang Yuan’s body cultivation and Luo Chen’s alchemy impressed the Mountain Shattering Gang. After discussing the Blood Burning Pill, Wang Yuan revealed that he was in a hurry because he feared he could not attain immortality.

• Luo Chen broke through to Qi Refining Eighth Layer, concealed his new realm, and attended a Mountain Shattering Gang meeting where Mi Shuhua was absent.
• Luo Chen and Wang Yuan met Mi Shuhua and Steward Miao, who recognized Wang Yuan’s near-Foundation Establishment physique and praised Luo Chen’s Pill Qi.
• After Steward Miao left, Wang Yuan resisted Mi Shuhua’s Foundation Establishment Spiritual Sense with his tempered will, then recovered and explained that yielding could permanently break his resolve.
• Wang Yuan told Luo Chen that tests showed the Blood Burning Pill boosted a human cultivator’s strength without causing loss of reason, but he wanted to use it to break through.
• Luo Chen urged Wang Yuan not to use the battle pill for cultivation and offered to devise a suitable pill; Wang Yuan admitted he was in a hurry because Steward Miao had said it was a pity he could not attain immortality.

Luo Chen learned why body refinement offered no reliable path to longevity, then focused on strengthening his combat skills as Great River Market grew increasingly violent and the Profound Unity Society expanded its influence. The chapter ended with him buying a large supply of Dust Transformation Pills and Soul Calming Incense to keep his cultivation on track amid the looming unrest.

• Wang Yuan explained that modern body-refinement methods could not extend human lifespans, but he planned to use rapid physical growth to gain the strength needed to compete for a Foundation Establishment Pill.
• Luo Chen decided to refine Blood Burning Pills in secret for sale through auctions and black markets, then noticed that crime and disorder were spreading through Great River Market as the Enforcement Team neglected public security.
• Luo Chen raised his Attraction Art to Great Perfection and sparred repeatedly with Qin Liangchen, while learning that the Profound Unity Society was expanding into the mountain trade and might challenge the Mountain Shattering Gang.
• Luo Chen and his companions witnessed a pursuit and attack in the Outer City, reinforcing his fear that chaos was approaching and prompting him to protect his cultivation from disruption.
• Luo Chen visited Liu He Cai at the Spirit Medicine Pavilion and bought twenty bottles of Dust Transformation Pills and ten boxes of Soul Calming Incense.

Luo Chen bought cultivation supplies amid Great River Market’s worsening chaos, then improved his pill output and secured dividends from the Mountain Shattering Gang. After his Wind Riding Art fused with Carefree Wander into Carefree Wind Riding, the Dao Discussion Stage closed for half a year, leaving the market’s small businesses facing an uncertain future.

• Luo Chen bought Dust Transformation Pills and Soul Calming Incense from Liu He Cai, who said the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect would eventually quell Great River Market’s disorder.
• Luo Chen increased his pill-refining efforts, counted a record batch of Jade Marrow Pills, and persuaded Mi Junping to pay his dividends early in Mid-Grade Spirit Stones.
• Luo Chen reached Great Perfection in the Wind Riding Art, which fused with Carefree Wander into Carefree Wind Riding and let him fly at Foundation Establishment speed.
• Luo Chen received further dividends as Great River Market grew more dangerous, while his snack shops earned less and pill and Magic Tool prices rose.
• Feng Xia told Luo Chen that the Dao Discussion Stage had closed for half a year while a Golden Core Immortal cultivated at Fallen Phoenix Mountain, threatening the shops’ income.
• Luo Chen reassured Feng Xia about keeping the shops open and asked Duan Feng what he planned to do next.

After the Dao Discussion Stage closed, Luo Chen faced rising robber attacks and then learned that Golden Core Remains had been discovered in the Ancient Origin Mountain Range. As cultivators rushed toward the ruins, he kept his Pill Hall focused on making and selling Grain Avoidance Pills, while several members left to seek treasure.

• Luo Chen invited Duan Feng to join the Mountain Shattering Gang's Pill Hall, and Duan Feng said he would think about it.
• As the Dao Discussion Stage's closure left independent cultivators without work, robbers attacked Luo Chen repeatedly, and he awarded Liu Qiang a High-Grade Flying Sword and Dongfang Liang a Mid-Grade Magic Tool.
• Sikong Shoujia explained that the newly discovered ruins belonged to Ghost God Valley's Supreme Elder, and reports of valuable spirit herbs and cultivation resources drew cultivators from across Great River Market.
• Luo Wudi recruited Medicine Hall cultivators for an expedition, while Luo Chen refused to stop Pill Hall members from leaving and warned them not to return.
• Luo Chen ordered the Pill Hall to make Grain Avoidance Pills in bulk so the gang could sell supplies to cultivators heading into the mountains.

Luo Chen helped Duan Feng open a Magic Tool repair and resale shop near Azure Grain Mountain, then discovered that Azure Grain Sprites improved his Blood Burning Pill yield. As the struggle over the Golden Core Remains intensified, Luo Chen entered the Zhenlong Black Market in disguise and realized he had stumbled into an elite gathering.

• Luo Chen persuaded Duan Feng to sell and repair Magic Tools instead of risking his life for the relic, then funded and outfitted the Feng Hai Forging Family shop with help from Feng Xia.
• Duan Feng opened the shop at Azure Grain Mountain, where Luo Chen learned that burning Azure Grain Sprites produced adjustable Demon Fire and later used it to refine seven Blood Burning Pills from a successful batch, two more than before.
• Luo Chen heard that Mi Shuhua had deployed a five-hundred-person force to the Ancient Origin Mountain Range, where three Foundation Establishment families backed the Profound Unity Society with Foundation Establishment-level methods.
• Luo Chen learned that Sikong Shoujia's son had entered the ruins, then disguised himself and used a Zhenlong token to enter the Zhenlong Black Market.
• Luo Chen put on a Zhenlong Mask and entered the market, where the gathered cultivators' attention made him realize he had arrived at a high-end black market.

Luo Chen attended the Zhenlong Black Market, where he learned its rules and watched a top-grade magic tool sell to a forceful outsider. As the auction grew heated over Life Restoration Water, Luo Chen entered the bidding.

• Luo Chen discovered that the Zhenlong Black Market was filled with Qi Refining Ninth Layer cultivators and three Foundation Establishment Cultivators.
• Tian Xingzi introduced the market’s auction and appraisal rules, including the Five Colors Treasure Compass crafted by Hu Yanzhuo.
• Tian Xingzi auctioned the Azure Musk Gathering Dragon Flag, but Luo Chen could not afford the bids once a Black Tiger-masked cultivator drove up the price and won it with Spirit Stones and spirit materials.
• The Black Tiger-masked cultivator left quickly with the flag, and Tian Xingzi remarked that black-market bidding depended on one's eye, wealth, and nerve.
• When Tian Xingzi began auctioning three bottles of Life Restoration Water, Luo Chen shouted a bid of one thousand Spirit Stones.

Luo Chen secured Life Restoration Water and a Tier 2 Fire Element spell at the Zhenlong Black Market auction, but the Eight Hundred Year Heaven and Earth Root went to Foundation Establishment Cultivators. He then offered his Blood Burning Pills for appraisal, and Tian Xingzi claimed a bottle and agreed to pay the highest auction price.

• Luo Chen won a bottle of Life Restoration Water for one thousand Spirit Stones, while the other two bottles sold for higher prices.
• Luo Chen bought the Mountain Collapse spell manual for nine hundred Spirit Stones and watched Foundation Establishment Cultivators claim the Eight Hundred Year Heaven and Earth Root.
• An independent female cultivator sold the Lotus Hiding Carp, a Magic Tool that needed to be worn and nurtured by a female cultivator, for seven hundred Spirit Stones.
• Luo Chen recognized the value of the Lustrous Pearl Liquid but refrained from bidding when no one else showed interest.
• Luo Chen offered his Blood Burning Pills, and Tian Xingzi tasted one, kept a bottle, and promised to settle at the highest auction price.

After selling six Blood Burning Pills at the Zhenlong Black Market, Luo Chen bought Lustrous Pearl Liquid and learned that the market operated across multiple marketplaces. Following a warning about post-auction ambushes, he watched a fight in which Qiu Bai and Liu Han attacked the Sima Three Cultivators, then seized the Azure Musk Gathering Dragon Flag when Liu Han killed Qiu Bai; Luo Chen escaped with the flag while Liu Han discovered the other loot was gone too.

• Luo Chen sold six Blood Burning Pills for six hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones and bought five bottles of Lustrous Pearl Liquid from Sima Hui Niang, who offered to help sell more pills through her brothers' trading routes.
• A black-clothed cultivator gave Luo Chen a Zhenlong Embroidered Ball and warned him about dangerous routes after black-market auctions, so Luo Chen headed toward North Street under concealment.
• Luo Chen watched Qiu Bai trap and attack the Sima Three Cultivators with the Azure Musk Gathering Dragon Flag, while the eldest brother used a Blood Burning Pill and Sima Hui Niang fought to protect her siblings.
• Liu Han emerged as Qiu Bai's accomplice, and Qiu Bai used the flag to overwhelm the Sima Three Cultivators before Liu Han killed him with an Unorthodox Magic Tool.
• Luo Chen snatched the Azure Musk Gathering Dragon Flag and fled, while Liu Han found Qiu Bai's Storage Bag but discovered that the Sima siblings' bodies and their Storage Bags had vanished.

After escaping the auction battle with the Azure Musk Gathering Dragon Flag, Luo Chen returned to Great River Market and investigated its black markets and Mountain Shattering Gang businesses. As demon beasts rampaged through Azure Grain Mountain and drove fleeing cultivators toward the city, Luo Chen recognized that the struggle over the Golden Core Remains had reached a critical stage and ordered everyone back.

• Sima Hui Niang used her Life Restoration Water to treat Sima Xian after he was gravely injured, then collapsed from the power of the Top-Grade Magic Tool; Sima Wenjie rushed to find medicine for her.
• Luo Chen hid in a concealed cellar, reviewed his escape from Qiu Bai and Liu Han, and claimed and refined the Azure Musk Gathering Dragon Flag.
• Luo Chen entered the Inner City, returned to his courtyard, and later learned from the bodyguards that the Mountain Shattering Gang ran several black markets and had helped build his reputation as Pill Dust Master.
• Luo Chen made the bodyguards loudly advertise Duan Feng's Feng Hai Forging Family shop, then learned that Duan Feng had earned two thousand Spirit Stones by repairing and reselling used Magic Tools.
• A wave of cultivators fled Azure Grain Mountain, reporting that the demon beasts had gone berserk and that the Heavenly Craft Spirit-Seizing Array had contracted and expelled cultivators below Foundation Establishment.
• Luo Chen saw demon beasts hunting cultivators in the mountain and ordered his companions to return to the city.

Luo Chen returned to Slanting Moon Valley after the brief Beast Tide and explored Ever Yin Mountain, where he discovered a valuable wolf territory guarded by a Second-Order Frost Giant Wolf. The struggle in the Ancient Origin Mountain Range left many dead, and the chapter ended with news that Luo Wudi had been killed.

• Luo Chen divided the magic-tool business earnings with Duan Feng before suspending their work amid the unrest.
• Luo Chen learned that the Beast Tide had retreated and returned to Slanting Moon Valley to keep the Pill Hall operating.
• Sikong Shoujia told Luo Chen that thousands of cultivators were fighting over the Golden Core Remains and that Luo Erduo had died.
• Luo Chen explored a Frost Giant Wolf territory in Ever Yin Mountain and found Cold Cinnamon, valuable herbs, Cold Iron, and a pool containing Ice Soul Cold Qi guarded by an aged Second-Order Demon Wolf.
• Zeng Wen returned with only some of the Medicine Hall cultivators and told Murong Qinglian that Luo Wudi and his nephew had died under siege by independent cultivators.

Luo Chen heard how Luo Wudi and many other Mountain Shattering Gang cultivators died in the Golden Core Remains, then worried when Wang Yuan failed to return. Wang Yuan finally appeared at Qi Refining Ninth Layer and gave Luo Chen several valuable items, including a sealed Wave Swallowing Sea Gathering Pot that shocked him when its scent escaped.

• Zeng Wen told Luo Chen that Luo Erduo and Luo Wudi died after secretly taking a Second-Order Spirit Herb and being attacked by Profound Unity Society and independent cultivators.
• Zeng Wen warned Luo Chen that the Mountain Shattering Gang had suffered heavy losses in the ruins, and Luo Chen later learned that several hall masters and many cultivators had died or returned injured.
• Luo Chen noticed that Wang Yuan had not returned from the ruins and began to worry about his missing friend.
• After refining Blood Burning Pills, Luo Chen encountered Wang Yuan, who had reached Qi Refining Ninth Layer and said his gains would fund his cultivation until Qi Refining Completion.
• Wang Yuan gave Luo Chen a large Storage Bag, Monkey Wine, and a Wave Swallowing Sea Gathering Pot; when Luo Chen opened the pot slightly, its fragrance made him cry out, "Bro Wang, are you crazy?"

Wang Yuan proposed using cultivators’ essence blood to refine Blood Fiend Pills, but Luo Chen warned that the supply could not support their cultivation and might lead them into slaughter. After Wang Yuan revealed that Mi Shuhua had returned, Luo Chen was summoned to the Mi Family Residence, where Mi Shuhua offered him access to a powerful cultivation chamber and placed a Foundation Establishment Pill before him.

• Wang Yuan showed Luo Chen a pot containing essence blood from over a hundred cultivators and proposed refining Blood Fiend Pills to strengthen Luo Chen’s body.
• Luo Chen challenged the plan, arguing that the limited essence blood would yield few pills and could not sustain them without attracting the major sects; Wang Yuan took the pot away and agreed to reconsider.
• Wang Yuan told Luo Chen that Mi Shuhua had returned early, and Luo Chen kept the news to himself while continuing his daily cultivation and pill refining.
• Three days later, Zhou Yuanli summoned Luo Chen to the Mi Family Residence, where Mi Junping warned him that Mi Zifan resented him over the Small Spirit Gathering Array and might target Duan Feng.
• Mi Shuhua showed Luo Chen a chamber whose Second-Order Spirit Gathering Array created a rich cultivation environment, then revealed that he knew Luo Chen had reached the Qi Refining Eighth Layer.
• Mi Shuhua discussed Luo Chen’s prospects for Foundation Establishment and placed a Foundation Establishment Pill before him.

Mi Shuhua exposed Luo Chen’s concealed alchemy skill and pressured him into swearing to refine Mid-Grade Jade Marrow Pills in exchange for a sealed Foundation Establishment Pill. After realizing the pill was bait and weighing his options, Luo Chen suspected Mi Shuhua’s sudden urgency stemmed from serious injuries.

• Mi Shuhua confronted Luo Chen with Pill Hall records showing he had hidden his alchemy skill and embezzled Jade Marrow Pills, then demanded that he work wholeheartedly for the Mountain Shattering Gang.
• Luo Chen confessed to concealing his ability, and Mi Shuhua gave him a Foundation Establishment Pill sealed inside a jade box until he reached Qi Refining Completion.
• Luo Chen swore to refine as many Mid-Grade Jade Marrow Pills as possible while he remained in the Mountain Shattering Gang, and Mi Junping escorted him home.
• Luo Chen discovered that the jade box’s restrictions made the pill inaccessible and concluded Mi Shuhua had used it to manipulate him and drive a wedge between him and Qin Liangchen.
• Luo Chen considered escaping but decided he first needed to earn enough Spirit Stones and gather cultivation resources, then wondered whether Mi Shuhua’s urgent tactics meant he had suffered serious injuries.

Luo Chen realized Mi Shuhua was badly injured and nearly out of resources, so he prepared for the possibility of fleeing while refining Jade Marrow Pills for the Mountain Shattering Gang. After half a month, he tested his Great Perfection Aura Concealing Spell against a Tier 2 Demon Wolf and gained confidence that he could escape detection, but he stayed to collect his share of the profits and explain things to Wang Yuan.

• Luo Chen concluded that Mi Shuhua had returned gravely wounded and was pressuring him to refine Jade Marrow Pills because he was desperate for resources.
• Luo Chen bought supplies, warned Feng Xia and Yuan Xiaoyue to prepare for danger, and told them to flee if the situation became too risky.
• Luo Chen refined fourteen batches of Jade Marrow Pills with a fifty-percent success rate, producing 140 Mid-Grade pills, and Sikong Shoujia went to report the results to Mi Shuhua.
• Luo Chen spent the next half month improving his combat skills and learning the functions of the Azure Musk Gathering Dragon Flag, then easily killed a Unicorn Qian Sheep with one summoned Azure Flood Dragon.
• Luo Chen used his Great Perfection Aura Concealing Spell to imitate a Frost Demon Wolf and approached within five hundred meters of a Tier 2 Demon Wolf without being detected.
• Luo Chen decided not to flee yet because he still needed to collect his share of the pill profits and give Wang Yuan an explanation.

Luo Chen’s plans to leave Slanting Moon Valley were interrupted when a large force attacked, forcing him to activate the defenses and expose infiltrators among the returning cultivators. He captured several suspects and began torturing one for information, who finally offered to answer questions.

• Luo Chen planned to bid Wang Yuan farewell and escape after finishing his Jade Marrow Pills, but Zhou Yuanli warned that two scouts had stopped responding.
• Zhou Yuanli activated the Earthen Soil Array, and Murong Qinglian returned with the badly injured Gu Cai Yi, reporting that numerous enemies, including at least four Qi Refining Ninth Layer experts, had ambushed them.
• Luo Chen ordered the returning cultivators to show their identity tokens and submit to questioning, then identified two disguised infiltrators and ordered restrictions placed on everyone who entered.
• When seven cultivators outside fled, Luo Chen killed them with Jade Marrow Scrap Beads and secured the remaining survivors inside the formation.
• Luo Chen interrogated a captive with Silver Needles and Bright Spirit Breaking Evil until the man, overwhelmed by pain, begged him to ask questions.

Luo Chen prepared Slanting Moon Valley for a Great River Gang siege and realized the attackers were mostly trying to contain its cultivators rather than kill them. Mi Shuhua emerged from seclusion and ordered reinforcements, but learned that the other halls were also under attack.

• Zhou Yuanli reported that Gao Tingyuan led more than a hundred Great River Gang cultivators, including five at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer, against Slanting Moon Valley, and Luo Chen ordered defenses raised and spies killed.
• Sikong Shoujia returned after being pursued by Dan Xiu and accused Luo Chen of provoking the siege, but Luo Chen reasoned that the attackers intended to trap the valley’s cultivators rather than seize it outright.
• Gao Tingyuan restrained Dan Xiu and told the Great River Gang leaders to maintain the encirclement while privately conferring with a silent companion.
• Mi Shuhua emerged from seclusion after receiving word of the siege and ordered Wang Yuan, Zeng Wen, and Chou Wu to reinforce Slanting Moon Valley instead of going himself.
• Mi Junping returned in alarm and told Mi Shuhua that the Mountain Shattering Gang’s other halls were also under fierce attack.

Mi Shuhua learned that the Mountain Shattering Gang faced coordinated attacks and sent Sikong Yuanhong to reinforce Slanting Moon Valley, while other Mi Family members received separate orders. As the siege escalated, Luo Chen identified signs that the Fu Family had joined the enemies and calmly prepared tea, leaving Sikong Shoujia stunned by his lack of worry.

• Mi Junping reported attacks on the Gang’s halls and headquarters, and Mi Shuhua suspected the Great River Gang had allied with the Connecting Cloud Commerce Alliance.
• Mi Shuhua sent Sikong Yuanhong and selected Mi Family cultivators to reinforce Slanting Moon Valley, while Mi Junping stayed behind and Mi Zifan went to notify Qin Liangchen.
• At Lancang Wharf, Wang Yuan faced Xu Renke, Yang Rusheng, and Chen Haoran, then countered Chen Haoran’s flying sword and charged at him.
• Luo Chen gave the injured Gu Cai Yi a Moon Laurel Pill and learned that Sikong Yuanhong’s reinforcements lacked Qi Refining Ninth Layer experts and that Wang Yuan would not arrive.
• Luo Chen concluded the attacks were coordinated, recognized Fu Zhang among the forces involved, and calmly asked Gu Cai Yi to make tea as Sikong Shoujia worried over the scale of the threat.

Luo Chen remained calm as Slanting Moon Valley was surrounded, trusting that his reputation as a pill refiner made him valuable to the attackers. Gao Tingyuan ordered repeated assaults on the valley’s protective array, ostensibly to wear down its defenders and draw out reinforcements, but Lan Tianyun suspected he also wanted to weaken the valley enough to avenge his younger brother.

• Luo Chen reasoned that the attackers would spare him and the valley’s productive cultivators, then brewed tea as the defenders took confidence from his composure.
• Dan Xiu demanded a harsher attack, while Fu Zhang explained the Fu Family’s interest in claiming the Mountain Shattering Gang’s demon beast hide, fur, and blood industries.
• Gao Tingyuan ordered more than sixty Middle Stage Qi Refining cultivators to bombard Slanting Moon Valley’s Tier 1 Earthen Soil Array, which held but consumed over a hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones in one assault.
• Gao Tingyuan revealed messages saying Li Ao had gone to Horse Drinking Beach to intercept the Mi Family and Nangong Qin was waiting at Green Hemp Forest for Qin Liangchen.
• Gao Tingyuan ordered another, stronger barrage, and Lan Tianyun realized he was trying to exhaust the valley’s Spirit Stones and might be seeking revenge for his younger brother’s death.

The Li Family’s attack devastated the Mountain Shattering Gang, while Mi Shuhua learned that his forces were collapsing and flew toward Slanting Moon Valley to save Luo Chen. Realizing the attacks were a trap meant for him, he fled back to the Mi Family Residence, where a hidden sword struck at him as he arrived.

• The Li Family looted the battlefield at Horse Drinking Beach after destroying the Mi Family’s forces, and Li Ao pursued the wounded Sikong Yuanhong until he reached Severing Cloud Mountain.
• Mi Shuhua learned that the Mountain Shattering Gang’s halls had fallen or gone silent, and that Wang Yuan had died alongside Xu Renke in the Lancang River.
• Messages reported that the Great River Gang was battering the Mi Family’s Earthen Soil Array and that the Fu Family had joined the assault, so Mi Shuhua decided to intervene personally.
• Mi Shuhua flew toward Slanting Moon Valley to protect Luo Chen, then recognized that the attacks were designed to draw him out and rushed back to his residence.
• A sword tip appeared from the void as Mi Shuhua approached the residence, and an unseen attacker apologized to him.

Mi Shuhua was cornered by five Foundation Establishment cultivators who demanded the Storage Ring from the Golden Core Remains and his Magic Treasure. His attempts to bargain and stall failed, leaving him to unleash his treasures and fight back against the assault.

• Duan Qiankun revealed that Elder Zhou had persuaded him to betray Mi Shuhua, while Wang Haichao, Nangong Jin, and the hidden Li Yixian joined the attack.
• Mi Shuhua offered the others profits, Spirit Vein land, hunting grounds, and a Foundation Establishment Pill to spare his life, but Elder Zhou pointed out that his promises conflicted.
• Mi Shuhua offered Luo Chen and his Pill Dust Master reputation as a reason for the Connecting Cloud Commerce Alliance to protect him, but Elder Zhou still demanded his Storage Ring and Magic Treasure.
• Mi Shuhua realized the others would not let him go and laughed as they surrounded him.
• Elder Zhou recognized Mi Shuhua was stalling and ordered an attack, so Mi Shuhua unleashed his offensive and defensive Magic Treasures, swallowed a pill, and summoned a giant tower to destroy part of the Mi Family Residence.