Chapter Summaries

After three months of travel, Li Chengjie and Gao Chen crossed into Tianlan and arrived at Treasure Market, where Treasure Pavilion’s headquarters stood. They stepped into the bustling city and looked toward its deeper reaches.

• Yang Qingling pointed out a tiny boundary stele and explained that crossing it would take the Cloud Shuttle into the Great Yan Dynasty and Tianlan Region.
• The Cloud Shuttle passed the stele, and Gao Chen noticed the denser Spiritual Energy as the surrounding plains gave way to mountains, rivers, and cultivator towns.
• Yang Qingling identified the colossal city ahead as Treasure Market and described Treasure Pavilion as foremost among Tianlan’s first-rate powers, prompting a skeptical passenger to challenge his claim.
• Li Chengjie and Gao Chen saw Golden Core cultivators queuing at the city gates as the Cloud Shuttle flew through the City Protection Array.
• The Cloud Shuttle landed at Treasure Pavilion headquarters, and Li Chengjie and Gao Chen stepped out into the crowded Marketplace.

Li Chengjie and Gao Chen explored Treasure Market with their guide, A'Fu, while Li Chengjie discovered that every child guide bore a hidden soul mark. A'Fu explained Treasure Pavilion's twelve-family share system, then asked what the two visitors wanted to buy.

• Li Chengjie detected a spiritual talisman soul mark in every child guide near the Cloud Shuttle exit.
• Gao Chen hired A'Fu for ten Spirit Stones, and Li Chengjie questioned him about his life as a guide.
• A'Fu explained that Treasure Market had an outer city and an Inner City, and that entry to the Inner City required Nascent Soul cultivation or a Treasure Pavilion token.
• A'Fu described Treasure Pavilion's twelve-family structure, where shares depended on each family's Nascent Soul cultivators, and mentioned the rivalry between the Yun Family and the Zhou Family.
• A'Fu showed Li Chengjie and Gao Chen the market streets and asked what they wanted to purchase.

Li Chengjie and Gao Chen explored Treasure Pavilion’s enormous headquarters marketplace, where Li Chengjie sensed a Nascent Soul Cultivator but discovered that the cultivator’s water-attribute techniques were incompatible with his own fire cultivation. He left the Nascent Soul section and resolved to search cautiously and openly for a suitable target.

• Afu led Li Chengjie and Gao Chen to Treasure Pavilion’s marketplace entrance, then waited outside because guides could not enter.
• Li Chengjie and Gao Chen entered the vast marketplace and sensed a powerful Nascent Soul aura deeper inside.
• A guard barred them from the Nascent Soul section unless they had Nascent Soul cultivation or a VIP token.
• Li Chengjie identified the cultivator as Niu Hongbin and learned that replicating his water-attribute abilities would conflict dangerously with Li Chengjie’s fire cultivation.
• Li Chengjie left the Nascent Soul section and rejected the idea of disguising himself to approach cultivators, remembering his close escape from Wang Chengzhi.
• Li Chengjie continued browsing with Gao Chen and decided to search carefully for a suitable Nascent Soul target.

Li Chengjie and Gao Chen explored Treasure Market, where A'Fu told them about a monthly Golden Core trade fair in Luoyun Market. Li Chengjie settled in nearby Yunlai Inn and met two peak Golden Core cultivators who were also attending the fair.

• Li Chengjie and Gao Chen finished touring the marketplace, and A'Fu offered to guide them to the Golden Core trade fair.
• Li Chengjie paid A'Fu one hundred Spirit Stones to guide them for four days and asked to see where the fair would be held.
• A'Fu showed Li Chengjie and Gao Chen the trade fair's square in Luoyun Market, and Li Chengjie surveyed its layout.
• The three went to Yunlai Inn, where Gao Chen arranged two quiet rooms for them.
• Yun Hongtai and Qingsong True Person introduced themselves to Li Chengjie, invited him to tea, and learned he was attending his first trade fair.

Qingsong True Person explained the dangers Rogue Cultivators faced when seeking Nascent Soul Formation, including scarce Spirit Veins, unreliable protectors, and hunters who stole Dao Yuan. The discussion ended with Yun Hongtai mentioning rare items at the trade fair, including a damaged spirit treasure.

• Qingsong True Person described how Rogue Cultivators struggled to secure a Spirit Vein and a protector for Nascent Soul Formation, while Yun Hongtai acknowledged the advantages of family support.
• Qingsong True Person warned Li Chengjie that cultivators hunted those forming Nascent Souls to seize their Dao Yuan and advised him to keep his location and timing secret.
• Qingsong True Person envied Yun Hongtai's family resources, while Yun Hongtai cautioned that internal Yun Family rivalries could be more dangerous than outside threats.
• Yun Hongtai told Qingsong True Person and Li Chengjie that the trade fair featured ancient Jade Slips, unknown spirit herb seeds, and a damaged spirit treasure.

Li Chengjie and Gao Chen visited Luoyun Market’s trade fair, where hundreds of Golden Core cultivators gathered to trade rare goods. Li Chengjie saw Qingsong True Person offering a damaged spirit treasure, Broken Gold, in exchange for a Fourth Order cultivation method or a chance to reach the Nascent Soul Realm.

• Li Chengjie and Gao Chen left their inn and joined the crowds heading to Luoyun Market’s central square.
• Li Chengjie surveyed the fair and noticed a Third-grade Barrier Breaking Pill being offered for Fourth Order materials, considering trading pills of his own.
• Li Chengjie recognized Qingsong True Person as the seller of a damaged spirit treasure called Broken Gold.
• Qingsong True Person explained that Broken Gold had belonged to Xiao Ran of Lingxiao Sect and was damaged in a battle two thousand years earlier.
• Qingsong True Person asked to trade Broken Gold for a Fourth Order Fire or Metal Attribute cultivation method or an opportunity to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm.
• Qingsong True Person told the crowd that repairing the sword could make it a genuine spirit treasure, while Moral True Monarch was the only Artifact Refiner outside the Nine Holy Lands able to craft spirit treasures.

True Lord Qingmu and True Monarch Yan Yang competed to buy Qingsong True Person’s damaged spirit treasure, with Yan Yang winning by offering a Fourth Order Metal Attribute cultivation method and Fire Origin Pills. Li Chengjie scanned Yan Yang and discovered many valuable replicable inheritances, but the price was 20,000 Replication Points, leaving him to decide whether to replicate them.

• True Lord Qingmu identified the broken sword as Senior Xiaoran’s and offered Qingsong True Person the Fourth Order Ice Attribute cultivation method Ice Gang Art for it.
• True Monarch Yan Yang arrived and offered a Fourth Order Metal Attribute cultivation method, prompting Qingmu to add a Green Wood Pill to his offer.
• Yan Yang offered a Fourth Order Metal Attribute cultivation method and a bottle of Fire Origin Pills, and Qingmu conceded the sword to him.
• Li Chengjie scanned Yan Yang and saw that he could replicate several cultivation, pill-refining, and other inheritances for 20,000 Replication Points.

Li Chengjie spent 20,000 Replication Points to replicate True Monarch Yan Yang, gaining the Nascent Soul inheritance and insights from his failed and successful breakthrough attempts. He left the trade fair to digest what he learned and prepare for his own Nascent Soul breakthrough.

• Li Chengjie replicated True Monarch Yan Yang and received the Sacred Sun Heavenly Fire Art’s Nascent Soul chapter, breakthrough experience, and other cultivation insights.
• Li Chengjie learned how Yan Yang’s first breakthrough attempt failed and how his second attempt formed a Nascent Soul.
• Li Chengjie’s System Panel showed his expanded skills and 3,870 remaining Replication Points, while his Nascent Soul breakthrough insights were only 30% digested.
• Li Chengjie decided he still needed a Spirit Vein, a protector, and careful preparations before attempting his breakthrough.
• Li Chengjie told Gao Chen they had seen enough and left the bustling trade fair to digest his new insights.

Li Chengjie absorbed True Monarch Yan Yang’s memories of a heart demon rooted in betraying his master and examined his own unresolved ties. Unsure what his own heart knot was, he established the Li Family Alchemy Shop in Luoyun Market and waited for time and experience to reveal it.

• Li Chengjie learned how True Monarch Yan Yang’s guilt over poisoning his master disrupted his first Nascent Soul breakthrough and remained a heart demon even after his second attempt succeeded.
• Li Chengjie considered his past killings and questioned whether his relationships with former Flowing Cloud Sect disciples and Monster Hunting Guild members concealed any heart knots.
• Li Chengjie decided to rent a shopfront in Treasure Market and open an alchemy shop, telling Gao Chen that he needed time.
• Gao Chen found a suitable three-story pavilion on East Street, and Li Chengjie rented it and ordered a plaque for the Li Family Alchemy Shop.
• Three days later, Li Chengjie opened the shop selling Third-grade Pills and waited for customers, connections, and his heart knots to emerge.

After eight years of stagnation in Luoyun Market, Li Chengjie decided to return to the Monster Hunting Guild headquarters with Gao Chen. He learned that the guild had expanded, Liu Wenbo had reached peak Golden Core, and Ancient Pine had died during a failed Nascent Soul breakthrough.

• Li Chengjie realized that his cultivation and insights had barely advanced in eight years, so he decided to leave Luoyun Market and face his unresolved karmic ties.
• Li Chengjie exchanged his accumulated Spirit Stones for 1,000 Replication Points, then left the shop with Gao Chen.
• Three months later, Li Chengjie and Gao Chen arrived at the transformed Monster Hunting Guild headquarters, where Liu Wenbo welcomed Li Chengjie back as Grand Elder.
• Liu Wenbo told Li Chengjie that Zhu Zhengping had used a Three Yang Shattering Yuan Fruit to break through to Golden Core and handed him the two remaining fruits.
• Liu Wenbo revealed that Ancient Pine had died after failing to break through to Nascent Soul, and that Medicine King Valley had stayed in Star Luo Kingdom after hearing rumors that Li Chengjie might be dead.

Li Chengjie and Gao Chen left Star Luo Kingdom and returned to a devastated Chu Kingdom, where they found the Flowing Cloud Mountains in ruins. A flickering formation and a faint lamplight suggested someone might still be there.

• Li Chengjie refused Liu Wenbo’s pleas to stay and left the Monster Hunting Guild with Gao Chen, leaving Liu Wenbo to manage it.
• Li Chengjie and Gao Chen traveled aboard a Fourth Order Cloud Shuttle for one month and six days to reach Chu Kingdom.
• They found Quanzhou Market abandoned and continued north through ruined towns, overgrown Spirit Fields, and scattered skeletons.
• The Cloud Shuttle reached the ruined Flowing Cloud Mountains, where passengers discussed conflicting reports about the Flowing Cloud Sect’s destruction.
• Li Chengjie recognized the Flowing Cloud Mountains, then noticed the formation flicker and a faint lamplight appear deep within them.

Li Chengjie returned to the Flowing Cloud Sect region and found the besieged sect holding its annual Blessing Sacrifice Ceremony, while its marketplace remained lively and orderly. He entered the marketplace alone under a concealed early Golden Core aura as Gao Chen learned that Wang Zhen had recently formed his Golden Core and was being celebrated by the sect.

• Li Chengjie and the Cloud Shuttle passengers saw red lanterns covering the Flowing Cloud Sect mountains and heard nine bells marking its Blessing Sacrifice Ceremony.
• Steward Zhou remarked that the Blood Fiend Cult had surrounded the Flowing Cloud Sect for three years without breaking through.
• Li Chengjie and Gao Chen arrived at Xing'an Market, where Li Chengjie sensed Flowing Cloud Sect disciples maintaining order and told Gao Chen to wait.
• Li Chengjie concealed his peak Golden Core aura and entered the marketplace alone, appearing to have his former early Golden Core cultivation.
• Gao Chen heard marketplace cultivators discussing Wang Zhen's Golden Core Ceremony and Jin Guanghua's efforts to reconcile with the Flowing Cloud Sect.

At Wang Zhen’s Golden Core Ceremony, he publicly forced his former master Jin Leiwei to acknowledge him as an Ancestor, reversing their former positions. Jin Leiwei endured the humiliation as the Jin Family and the sect’s disciples rushed to curry favor with Wang Zhen.

• Gao Chen heard that Wang Zhen had formed his Golden Core and continued browsing the marketplace.
• Jin Leiwei recalled how Jin Guanghua and the Jin Family had disowned him after Li Chengjie fled, then eagerly returned with gifts after Wang Zhen’s breakthrough.
• Chen Xingjie informed Jin Leiwei that the ceremony was ready, and Wang Zhen arrived before the sect’s disciples and elders.
• When Jin Leiwei called him “Disciple,” Wang Zhen suppressed him with Golden Core pressure and demanded that he use the proper title of Ancestor.
• The gathered disciples and Jin Guanghua urged Jin Leiwei to comply, and he finally addressed Wang Zhen as “Ancestor Wang.”
• Jin Guanghua offered Wang Zhen gifts on behalf of the Jin Family while Jin Leiwei watched.

Li Chengjie returned to the Flowing Cloud Sect during Wang Zhen’s Golden Core Ceremony, where Zhao Qiyuan and Wang Zhen attacked him. He revealed his peak Golden Core strength and overwhelmed them, then raised his Golden Flame Sword against Wang Zhen before Lin Zixue stepped in to plead for her husband.

• Li Chengjie arrived at Flowing Cloud Peak and faced the five Golden Core Grand Elders, including Zhao Qiyuan, who recognized him as the killer of Zhao Qiming.
• Zhao Qiyuan attacked Li Chengjie, and Wang Zhen joined in, sending their Flying Swords at him from opposite sides.
• Li Chengjie’s aura surged to peak Golden Core, and he flicked aside both swords, badly wounding Zhao Qiyuan and Wang Zhen.
• Wang Zhen pleaded for his life as Li Chengjie summoned the Golden Flame Sword, while the other Grand Elders kept their distance.
• Lin Zixue rushed in front of Wang Zhen and begged Li Chengjie to spare her husband, just as Wang Zhen insisted that he could not be killed.

Li Chengjie returned to the Flowing Cloud Sect, killed Wang Zhen and Zhao Qiyuan, and was welcomed as Grand Elder by the sect’s leaders and disciples. He recalled Hu Qingling’s abandoned marriage proposal from ten years earlier, then calmly addressed the kneeling crowd.

• Li Chengjie killed Wang Zhen and Zhao Qiyuan before the stunned crowd, then greeted his former master, Jin Leiwei, and his junior brothers.
• Li Qinglin welcomed Li Chengjie back as Grand Elder, prompting Hu Qingling, the other Grand Elders, and tens of thousands of disciples to kneel and welcome him.
• Hu Qingling remembered that he had abandoned plans to marry Li Chengjie to Shiyun after learning she had died in battle, and regretted not proposing another Hu woman instead.
• Li Chengjie recalled his earlier welcome at Black Cloud Market, walked to the platform, and told the kneeling disciples to rise.

Li Chengjie met Lin Zixue and Wang Junhao, the young son of his slain enemy Wang Zhen, and agreed to protect the child and provide him with the resources to cultivate. Lin Zixue left relieved, while Li Chengjie remained at peace in his courtyard.

• Li Chengjie considered the Blood Fiend Cult's remaining Golden Core cultivators and the balance of power between the sects.
• Lin Zixue brought Wang Junhao to meet Li Chengjie and pleaded for him to spare her son and let him grow up safely.
• Wang Junhao told Li Chengjie that he would cultivate diligently and hoped to become as formidable as him.
• Li Chengjie declared Wang Junhao innocent and promised him the Flowing Cloud Sect's techniques, pills, and resources without discrimination.
• Lin Zixue thanked Li Chengjie and left with Wang Junhao, reflecting on how far he had risen.

Lin Zixue secretly urged her son Wang Junhao to cultivate and avenge his father, Wang Zhen, using the Profound Spirit Pearl. Li Chengjie overheard them and killed both mother and son with a silent Soul Attack.

• Lin Zixue told Wang Junhao that Li Chengjie had killed his father and urged him to remember Li Chengjie’s face and aura.
• Lin Zixue revealed Wang Junhao’s fire-element Heavenly Spiritual Root and gave him the Profound Spirit Pearl to aid his cultivation.
• Lin Zixue and Wang Junhao vowed that he would grow strong enough to kill Li Chengjie and avenge Wang Zhen.
• Li Chengjie overheard their conversation through his powerful divine sense and went to Lin Zixue’s Cave Abode.
• Li Chengjie sent a silent Soul Attack through the Soundproofing Array, killing Lin Zixue and Wang Junhao.

Li Chengjie tested the Profound Spirit Pearl and found that it greatly accelerated cultivation, then planned to form his Nascent Soul in Chu Kingdom and remove the Blood Fiend Cult as a threat. The next morning, he summoned the Flowing Cloud Sect’s leaders to discuss the purge.

• Li Chengjie used the Profound Spirit Pearl and discovered that it doubled his cultivation speed while nourishing his meridians and foundation.
• Li Chengjie resolved to eliminate Lin Zixue and Wang Junhao as future threats, then considered the Spirit Veins and protection he needed to form his Nascent Soul.
• Li Chengjie decided Chu Kingdom’s isolation behind the Misty Marsh would help shield him from Dao Hunters during his Nascent Soul attempt.
• Li Chengjie identified the Blood Fiend Cult’s four Golden Core cultivators as a danger to his seclusion and announced that he would gather everyone to wipe out the cult.
• After cultivating through the night with the pearl, Li Chengjie summoned Hu Qingling, Hu Qingshan, Hu Qingsong, Zhao Changpeng, the four Grand Elders, and Gao Chen to Flowing Cloud Hall.

Li Chengjie led Hu Qingling and the others to Ten Thousand Skeletons Mountain to confront the Blood Fiend Cult. After Meng Yaofan attacked him, Li Chengjie revealed his peak Golden Core cultivation, leaving the cult’s leaders wary as the standoff began.

• Li Chengjie led five companions to a peak near Ten Thousand Skeletons Mountain, where he sensed four Golden Core cultivators inside the Blood Fiend Cult’s headquarters.
• Hu Qingling reflected on his decision to welcome Li Chengjie back and resolved to face the Blood Fiend Cult’s old grudge.
• Meng Yaofan arrived with Li Xietu, Ghost Face Granny, and Meng Fengmo, and questioned the identity of Li Chengjie and Gao Chen.
• Meng Yaofan dismissed Li Chengjie as an ordinary early Golden Core cultivator and attacked him with a blood-colored claw.
• Li Chengjie’s aura erupted at the peak Golden Core stage and shattered the attack, startling Meng Yaofan and the other Blood Fiend Cult cultivators.

Li Chengjie faced Meng Yaofan at Ten Thousand Skeletons Mountain and used the Measuring Heaven Ruler to suppress the Blood Fiend Demonic Sword and Meng Yaofan’s attacks. After Li Chengjie’s treasures countered a full-force pincer attack, Meng Yaofan realized his opponent had not used his full strength.

• Meng Yaofan summoned the Blood Fiend Demonic Sword and unleashed a powerful slash at Li Chengjie.
• Li Chengjie used the Measuring Heaven Ruler to weaken the Sword Qi, while the Golden Flame Sword blocked it.
• Meng Yaofan recognized the Measuring Heaven Ruler and suspected Li Chengjie had killed Ling Lanyan.
• Meng Yaofan attacked Li Chengjie with a blood cloud and a poisoned palm print, but Li Chengjie’s treasures weakened and diverted both attacks.
• Li Chengjie struck back with the Golden Flame Sword, forcing Meng Yaofan to stagger away with a wounded hand.
• Meng Yaofan realized Li Chengjie was controlling at least five treasures with ease and seemed to be toying with him.