Chapter Summaries

The selection finals ended with six disciples joining the Hidden Hall as reserve Hidden Guards, while Song Changsheng broke through to the Purple Mansion Mid-stage after four years of secluded cultivation. He learned that Song Qingyun had grown close to Su Xiaoxiao and that the family had prospered, but remained in hiding because the Golden Crow Sect still posed a threat.

• Song Qingshi and Song Changxue agreed that Qin Yu’s use of Joyous Powder had been a risky but valid display of his own abilities, while Qin Ze punished Qin Yu and warned him to fight fairly in the finals.
• Jiang Ling, Qin Ze, Qin Yu, Chen Yu, Li Heng, and Wu Chi won the six arenas and qualified for the Hidden Hall.
• Song Qingshi introduced the six victors to the Hidden Hall as reserve Hidden Guards, explaining that they would become official guards after reaching Foundation Establishment.
• After four years of secluded cultivation, Song Changsheng broke through to the Purple Mansion Mid-stage and read messages about Song Qingxing and Song Qingyun.
• Song Changsheng learned that Song Qingyun had developed feelings for Su Xiaoxiao and sent a message asking him to bring her home to meet.
• Song Changsheng learned that six new Foundation Establishment Cultivators had joined the family, but chose to remain in hiding amid concern over the Golden Crow Sect.

Song Qingyun and Su Xiaoxiao fled demon beasts while searching for ingredients to refine a Lesser Restoration Pill, then were swept into a deep pool after a Giant-Toothed Savage Bear overwhelmed them. Song Changsheng, newly emerged from seclusion according to his message, sensed something wrong from afar as the pair lost consciousness.

• Song Qingyun used his Sword Pill to wound the Swift Wind Demon Wolves, and he and Su Xiaoxiao escaped into a ravine with the Wind-Breath Bell Orchid.
• Song Qingyun received Song Changsheng's message, learned his father had emerged from seclusion, and invited Su Xiaoxiao to meet his family.
• Song Qingyun and Su Xiaoxiao encountered a Second-Tier High Grade Giant-Toothed Savage Bear and fled through the ravine.
• Song Qingyun trapped the bear in an illusion and struck it with a golden talisman, but the enraged beast sent both cultivators into a deep pool.
• Song Qingyun and Su Xiaoxiao were swept into a whirlpool and lost consciousness as Song Changsheng felt his brow twitch while cultivating on Vast Peak.

Song Changsheng emerged from seclusion to pay respects at Wang Wanzhou’s grave and offered the struggling Wang Clan the Song Clan’s support for developing land in Tuo Province. After Wang Qingquan reported growing tremors and strange sounds in the Wutong Secret Realm, Song Changsheng agreed to investigate it immediately.

• Song Changsheng learned that Wang Wanzhou had died, left Vast Peak, and traveled to the Wang Clan’s ancestral graveyard to perform memorial rites.
• Song Changsheng visited Wang Qingquan and offered the Wang Clan help, including a Foundation Establishment Pill if needed.
• Wang Qingquan asked to join the Song Clan’s development of Tuo Province, and Song Changsheng promised the Wang Clan would keep the land it developed.
• Wang Qingquan reported that tremors and strange sounds in the Wutong Secret Realm had grown more intense over the past year.
• Song Changsheng agreed to go with Wang Qingquan to investigate the secret realm at once.

Song Changsheng investigated the Wutong Secret Realm after violent tremors devastated it and discovered that a chaotic surge of the Powers of Law had transformed the world. As he searched for the cause, a meteorite streaked toward him and exploded, leaving his fate unknown.

• Song Changsheng opened the Wutong Secret Realm and Wang Shijie volunteered to enter, returning injured with news that an earthquake had ruined the land and destroyed its Spiritual Herbs.
• Wang Shijie reported that the Spatial Tunnel remained stable but that a powerful, chaotic force inside the Secret Realm had eroded his body.
• Song Xianming examined the Spatial Tunnel and approved a test, after which Song Changsheng sent the Silver Flood Dragon Mace through safely and entered the Secret Realm himself.
• Song Changsheng sensed that the Secret Realm was filled with dense, disordered Powers of Law, which had surged alongside its original Law of Life and made the world unsuitable for Spirit Plants.
• A streak of light hurtled toward Song Changsheng, and its thunderous explosion swallowed him in blinding brilliance.

Song Changsheng and Song Xianming discovered that meteorites had devastated the Wutong Realm but also filled it with valuable ores and unusually dense Power of Laws. They decided to keep the realm’s treasures secret, use it as a cultivation ground, and reserve its richest deposits for the Song Clan’s future.

• Song Changsheng survived a meteorite impact and found that it was exceptionally pure Second Tier Peak-Grade Crimson Blood Gold.
• Song Xianming entered the Wutong Realm, and Song Changsheng warned him not to bring other cultivators in while meteorites continued to fall and the Power of Laws remained dangerous.
• Song Changsheng and Song Xianming realized the chaotic, dense Power of Laws could help cultivators comprehend laws and improve their chances of advancing.
• Song Changsheng proposed compensating the Wang Clan with half the output of a First-Tier Wood Spirit Vein after the realm’s herb fields were destroyed.
• The two discovered a vast plain packed with valuable meteorites and ores, then agreed to seal it off and sell only small amounts through the Black Market when needed.

Song Changsheng and Song Xianming recovered the Essence of Earth from the Wutong Secret Realm, then concealed its ruin and compensated the Wang Clan for its losses. Meanwhile, Song Qingyun awoke injured in a deep cave with Su Xiaoxiao and carried her toward a possible exit.

• Song Changsheng sensed the Essence of Earth and, with Song Xianming, fought the Earth Spirit Giant protecting it.
• Song Changsheng used Violet Void Divine Fire to force the Essence of Earth out of the giant, captured it with Star Plucking Hand, and stored it in the Yin-Yang Spirit Severing Gourd.
• Song Changsheng and Song Xianming told Wang Qingquan that the Wutong Secret Realm was ruined, ordered it sealed and its condition kept secret, and granted the Wang Clan half the herbs from a Wood Spirit Vein as compensation.
• Song Changsheng returned to Vast Peak to refine the Essence of Earth and had Wind Whisper Hall search for a yang-attributed wood Heaven and Earth Spiritual Object.
• Song Qingyun woke in a cave with severe injuries and found Su Xiaoxiao unconscious; after treating her, he carried her deeper into the cave to avoid the Giant-Toothed Savage Bear.
• Song Qingyun followed growing vegetation toward a light and reached a man-high cave entrance.

Song Qingyun obtained a Jade Fruit to heal Su Xiaoxiao, but after she recovered, she disappeared while using a mysterious power to save him. He stayed in the valley waiting for her, eventually realizing she would never return.

• Song Qingyun concealed Su Xiaoxiao in the valley and followed a strange fragrance to a mature Jade Fruit surrounded by Demon Beasts.
• Song Qingyun used the Illusion God Ring to trick the Demon Beasts, steal the Jade Fruit, and bring it back to Su Xiaoxiao.
• After Song Qingyun gave Su Xiaoxiao the Jade Fruit, he fainted, and she used a green glow to save him before leaving the cave.
• Song Qingyun awoke healed but could not find Su Xiaoxiao, and he convinced himself she had gone to seek help.
• Song Qingyun built a hut and waited for Su Xiaoxiao until winter snow fell and he accepted that she would not return.

At the Jiazi Clan Meeting, Song Changsheng heard how rapidly the Song Clan had grown and approved Song Luzhou’s proposal to divide authority among its halls. He reorganized the clan’s leadership and established a Family Inner Treasury, leaving Song Yulong wondering what would happen to his own family’s financial authority.

• Song Luzhou reported the clan’s population, cultivation strength, and territorial expansion, then proposed dividing authority to improve management.
• Song Luzhou revealed that discipline had deteriorated in the Law Enforcement Hall, and Song Changsheng ordered its restructuring and appointed new Left and Right Elders.
• Song Changsheng assigned assistants to the other halls and narrowed the Hall of Hundred Arts’ responsibilities to cultivation arts.
• Song Changsheng established a Family Inner Treasury under his own oversight, with Song Yushi and Song Qinghong assisting.
• Song Yushi accepted the appointment, and Song Yulong realized it raised a question about his own family’s financial authority.

Song Changsheng and the clan elders restructured the Song Clan’s elder ranks and reviewed its growing income. Song Yushi proposed building the Spirit Wine business around Xia Yunxue’s reputation and distinctive wines, and Song Changsheng approved the plan before turning to the clan’s direction for the next sixty years.

• Song Changsheng and Song Luzhou proposed limiting the number of senior clan posts while preserving current elders’ positions and raising the stipends of other Foundation Establishment Cultivators; the gathered elders agreed.
• Xia Yunxue reported the Song Clan’s income from mines, artifacts, pills, market shops, and Spirit Wine, noting that the loss of the Wutong Secret Realm and half the Wood Spirit Vein would reduce annual revenue.
• Xia Yunxue urged the clan to expand its profitable Brewing Workshop, and the elders showed support for increasing production.
• Song Yushi advised building the wine business gradually, first investigating new markets and developing a distinctive Spirit Wine that competitors could not imitate.
• Song Yushi urged Xia Yunxue to promote her Third-Tier Brewmaster reputation by selling prized wines and auctioning Bamboo Leaf Green; Song Changsheng approved the plan and moved on to discuss the clan’s next sixty years.

Song Changsheng led the Song Clan in setting its direction for the next sixty years, rejecting a reckless seizure of Xiang Province in favor of staged development in Ling, Yang, Tuo, and beyond. The council then approved a new stipend schedule for clan members and leaders.

• Song Qingqian urged the Song Clan to seize Xiang Province after Rong Mingtao died, but Song Changxue and Song Luyun warned that the Golden Crow Sect and stronger neighboring powers could intervene.
• Song Changsheng judged that the Song Clan was not strong enough to occupy Xiang Province and proposed gradual encroachment while avoiding conflict with the Heavenly Sword Sect and Heavenly Meridian Sect.
• Song Changsheng divided the next sixty years into three stages: encouraging childbirth and developing the economy for twenty years, expanding into Tuo Province for ten years, and opening trade routes while extending Wind Whisper Hall's intelligence network for thirty years.
• The council refined Song Changsheng's development plan over four days and three nights, then reviewed higher annual stipends and cultivation benefits for clan members, seeds, elders, and leaders.

Song Yushi laid out plans for expanding the Song Clan’s Spirit Wine business across several provinces, and Song Changsheng chose measured competition over coercive control. After Song Yushi took wine to promote the clan, Song Changsheng asked Little Nine for brewing knowledge and learned she had records of ancient sweet wine.

• After the Jiazi Assembly, Song Changsheng asked Xia Yunxue and Song Yushi to discuss expanding the Brewing Workshop’s output.
• Song Yushi proposed taking the Ling Province market first, then entering Yang Province with lower-priced wine rather than forcing the Shangguan Clan to surrender its trade.
• Song Changsheng planned to leave the Shangguan Clan part of the market and explained that sustainable treatment of affiliated forces protected the lineage from future unrest.
• Song Yushi recommended sending Deacons to Xiangzhou, investing in shops in Tuo Province, and developing unique high-quality wines for Bianzhou.
• Song Yushi took Bamboo Leaf Green, Hundred Fruit Brew, and aged wine from Xia Yunxue to promote the Song Clan, but no further news came from her.
• Song Changsheng asked Little Nine for brewing texts, and Little Nine offered records of ancient sweet wine and agreed to retrieve them.

Song Changsheng studied spirit-wine brewing and proposed that Xia Yunxue use ancient methods and modern techniques to make rice wine from third-tier spirit rice. After a month of brewing, Xia Yunxue presented a fragrant green batch and asked Song Changsheng to taste it, leaving its success uncertain.

• Song Changsheng read the lineage's brewing books and concluded that high-yield spirit-rice wine could fill a gap in the spirit-wine market.
• Song Changsheng arranged for Green Pearl Rice and Qing Province Rice to be sent to the Brewing Workshop for experiments.
• Song Changsheng gave Xia Yunxue his rice-wine brewing notes, and she approved the idea and began brewing with the third-tier spirit rice and spirit spring water.
• Xia Yunxue spent a month in the Brewing Workshop, then showed Song Changsheng a vat of verdant rice mash with emerald-green wine in its center.
• Song Changsheng asked whether the brew had failed, and Xia Yunxue gave him a wine dipper and told him to taste it.

Song Changsheng confirmed that the Brewing Workshop’s latest rice wine left no impurities, then rejected his mother’s attempt to persuade him to take concubines while Zhuang Yuechan remained asleep. He inspected the rebuilt Law Enforcement Hall, uncovered widespread corruption, and ordered clan rules enforced while resolving to establish oversight.

• Song Changsheng found that the failed rice wine had little spiritual qi but left no impurities, and he authorized one hundred thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones for further brewing experiments.
• Xia Yunxue urged Song Changsheng to take concubines and presented candidate scrolls, but he refused and reaffirmed his commitment to waiting for Zhuang Yuechan.
• Song Changsheng visited the rebuilt Law Enforcement Hall and heard Song Changxuan report its new staff and stricter punishments for future misconduct.
• Song Changxuan revealed that dozens of former law enforcers and deacons had bullied clansmen, accepted bribes, or enforced rules unjustly.
• Song Changsheng accepted responsibility for the clan’s oversight failures, ordered the Law Enforcement Hall to be supervised, and directed that the guilty be punished according to clan rules.

After punishing corrupt law enforcers, Song Changsheng recognized that the Song Clan’s growing comfort and size threatened its unity amid looming external dangers. He established a secret Inspection Department under his direct command and selected eight Hidden Guards as its first Inspection Envoys.

• Song Changxuan sentenced the law enforcers who had abused their authority, accepted bribes, or neglected their duties, and Song Changsheng ordered their punishments carried out publicly.
• Song Changsheng reflected on the dangers facing the Song Clan, including the Blood Demon Sect, the Vast Righteousness Alliance, the Golden Crow Sect, and the Thunder King Hall.
• Song Changsheng visited the Underground Palace and selected Jiang Ling, Chen Yu, Li Heng, Chen Qingzhou, Shen Yuan, Liu Jixian, Sun Ying, and Wang Hao for a new assignment.
• Song Changsheng established an Inspection Department that answered directly to him and appointed the eight Hidden Guards as its first Inspection Envoys.
• Song Changsheng said he would personally instruct the new Inspection Envoys, then began working alone in the Artifact Forging Room while the clan remained unaware of their presence.

In Sunset City, Li Yi and Zhang Sheng discovered that Bamboo Leaf Green, a rare spirit wine credited to a mysterious Master Song, could help purge pill toxins and improve cultivation. After learning the wine had sold out and hearing of more bottles at auction, they set out to investigate the Song Clan.

• Li Yi and Zhang Sheng went to Jade Food Pavilion after Sunset City's curfew ended and drank heavily.
• Li Yi tried Bamboo Leaf Green and found it exceptionally potent, then persuaded Zhang Sheng to taste it.
• After refining the wine's spiritual energy, Li Yi and Zhang Sheng realized it had neutralized some of Li Yi's accumulated pill toxin.
• The two learned Bamboo Leaf Green had sold out and bore the character for Song, but the waiter could not identify its maker.
• Li Yi and Zhang Sheng heard that Bamboo Leaf Green had sold for more than a thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones per jug at Sunset Auction House.
• Zhang Sheng proposed investigating the Song Clan, and Li Yi agreed to go there first.

Song Changsheng organized secret inspections of the Song Clan’s businesses, then entered the Wutong Realm to cultivate amid its growing Power of Laws. At Vast Peak, Song Luzhou received two visitors from the Great Yu Cultivation World who claimed they had an important business deal to discuss.

• Song Changsheng gave Jiang Ling and the others Recording Orbs and ordered them to inspect the Song Clan’s businesses in secret, directing them to report urgent problems and await his response.
• Song Changsheng visited the Wutong Secret Realm, assessed its denser Power of Laws, and set up a defensive array before beginning to cultivate.
• Li Yi and Zhang Sheng arrived at Vast Peak seeking the wine-brewing Master Song, but the mountain guards did not recognize the name.
• Zhang Sheng identified himself as a disciple of True Lord Zhaoming and asked to meet Song Luzhou about a major business deal on behalf of the Heavenly Firmament Sect.
• Song Luzhou welcomed Li Yi and Zhang Sheng to the Hall of General Affairs and asked them to explain their proposal and prove their identities.

Li Yi and Zhang Sheng negotiated an annual spirit wine contract with the Song Clan, while Song Yushi expanded the Clan’s trade through several other buyers. Zhan Tianxia sent Niu Dazhuang to exchange a Jade Slip for Bamboo Leaf Green, but Dazhuang insisted on meeting Song Changsheng, who was away in the Wutong Realm.

• Li Yi and Zhang Sheng presented Zhang Sheng’s Heavenly Firmament Sect token, and Song Luzhou confirmed the Song Clan produced Bamboo Leaf Green with Xia Yunxue as its Third-Tier master brewmaster.
• Song Yushi took over negotiations, sent Li Yi away with wine, and agreed to supply the Heavenly Firmament Sect annually with fifty jin of Bamboo Leaf Green and two hundred jin of Hundred Fruit Brew for eighty-eight thousand Spirit Stones.
• Song Yushi expanded the Song Clan’s sales by granting limited wine allocations to several sects and establishing a regular supply arrangement with the Jade Food Pavilion.
• Zhan Tianxia gave Niu Dazhuang a Jade Slip to exchange with Song Changsheng for one hundred jars of Bamboo Leaf Green each year, and Dazhuang hurried to Vast Peak.
• While Song Changsheng remained in the Wutong Realm, Niu Dazhuang stayed on Vast Peak for more than a month and refused to explain his purpose to anyone else, so Song Luzhou sent a deacon to find Song Changsheng.

Song Changsheng accepted Sunset City's offer to reserve Bamboo Leaf Green exclusively for the Song Clan in exchange for supplying a hundred jars each year, then arranged to expand production. Meanwhile, Zhang Sheng returned to the Heavenly Firmament Sect with a contract for the wine trade, earning True Lord Zhaoming's approval as Feng Lan grew resentful of his rising standing.

• Song Changsheng woke from seclusion, met Niu Dazhuang, and accepted the jade slip containing the Bamboo Leaf Green recipe in exchange for supplying Sunset City a hundred jars annually.
• Song Changsheng told Song Yushi and Song Luzhou to reserve Sunset City's share, expand the Brewing Workshop, and secure more Third-Tier spirit bamboo.
• Li Yi parted from Zhang Sheng outside the Heavenly Firmament Sect, and Zhang Sheng encountered Feng Lan, who threatened his rivals for the Young Sect Master position.
• Feng Lan brooded over losing True Lord Zhaoming's favor and vowed to reclaim what he believed was his.
• Zhang Sheng presented Bamboo Leaf Green and a long-term trade contract to True Lord Zhaoming, who praised his initiative and suggested increasing the supply in the future.

Song Changsheng rushed to Dingyuan City after learning that Song Qingyun planned to attempt Foundation Establishment without a protector. He found Qingyun devastated by Su Xiaoxiao’s disappearance, discovered a mysterious source of life force near his heart, and invented an explanation for her departure to restore his will to live.

• Song Changsheng learned that Song Qingyun intended to break through in Dingyuan City without returning to the lineage or seeking Bai Zhengchun’s protection, so he set out to find him.
• Song Changsheng and Bai Zhengchun searched Dingyuan City and located Song Qingyun at an inn, where Song Changsheng broke through the Immortal Cave’s restriction.
• Song Changsheng found Song Qingyun disheveled and grief-stricken; Qingyun explained that Su Xiaoxiao had disappeared after he recovered from grave injuries, and that he had waited for her for a year.
• Song Changsheng examined Song Qingyun and discovered an unfamiliar source of life force inside his heart, but concealed his shock.
• Song Changsheng told Song Qingyun that Su Xiaoxiao might have been forced to leave by her sect after secretly saving him, reviving Qingyun’s hope and urging him to stop blaming her.

Song Changsheng helped Song Qingyun regain his resolve by telling him Su Xiaoxiao had left to seek a life-restoring treasure, and Song Qingyun began preparing for a dangerous breakthrough. Meanwhile, Song Qingxing emerged from the Abyss after several years with the Origin of Law, intending to give it to Song Qingxi to remedy her lack of talent.

• Song Changsheng told Song Qingyun that Su Xiaoxiao had left to seek a treasure capable of reviving the dead, and Song Qingyun resolved to cultivate and bring her back.
• Song Changsheng noticed a woman eavesdropping and suspected she was Su Xiaoxiao, then urged Song Qingyun to prepare for his breakthrough.
• After meditating for three days, Song Qingyun took a Lesser Restoration Pill and began his risky breakthrough while Song Changsheng kept watch.
• Song Qingxing walked out of the Abyss after surviving years of attacks by strange horned creatures and reaching the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment.
• Song Qingxing confirmed that Wujie had carried the Origin of Law out of the Abyss, intending to give it to Song Qingxi so she could overcome her talent deficiency.
• Song Qingxing refused Wujie's suggestion to keep the Origin of Law for himself, saying that life without Song Qingxi would have no meaning.