Chapter Summaries

After hearing that the Sea Clan might attack Wind Thunder Island, Xu Chunniang and Zhou Xing returned to find the war spreading across the islands. Xu Chunniang accepted the Zhou family’s request to reinforce its ancestral hall formation, hoping to ask them about the Northwest Five Sects and the Dead Sea.

• Mo Ci warned Xu Chunniang and Zhou Xing that Sea Clan forces had been spotted near Wind Thunder Island.
• At the Merit Hall, Zhou Xing saw that dozens of islands were under attack, while Xu Chunniang calculated how close she was to earning enough merit points for a Top-grade Spirit Stone.
• Chang Sheng invited Xu Chunniang to the Zhou Household, but Zhou Xing rebuked him for acting as though the Zhou family were his own, and Chang Sheng left in anger.
• Zhou Hongfei asked Zhou Xing to invite Xu Chunniang to reinforce the formation in the clan ancestral hall, and Xu Chunniang accepted, hoping to learn about the Northwest Five Sects and the Dead Sea.
• Three days later, Xu Chunniang arrived at the Zhou family and found Zhou Yu receiving her because Zhou Hongfei was away on business.

Xu Chunniang rejected Zhou Yu’s attempt to recruit her into the Zhou Lineage through promises of resources and a spirit island, then entered the ancestral hall to reinforce its formation. Zhou Yu went to a hidden chamber, where her cloaked Sixth Sister greeted her.

• Xu Chunniang sent Zhou Xing a message but received no reply, while Zhou Yu offered to give her more than Zhou Xing could.
• Zhou Yu tried to persuade Xu Chunniang to join the Zhou Lineage as a Dao companion to someone from an Aristocratic Clan.
• Xu Chunniang questioned whether the Zhou Lineage’s spirit island could help her reach late Golden Core, then dismissed the offer and asked to reinforce the ancestral hall’s formation.
• Zhou Yu gave Xu Chunniang the formation diagram and watched her enter the ancestral hall.
• Zhou Yu went to a hidden secret chamber, where her cloaked Sixth Sister questioned why she had come.

Zhou Yu traded the Gu Person Scripture to her imprisoned Sixth Sister for the Child-Mother Three Corpses Gu, intending to use it against Female cultivator surnamed Xu. Her sister tricked her with a child gu, seized control of Zhou Yu, and led her out of the room.

• Zhou Yu offered her Sixth Sister the Gu Person Scripture in exchange for the Child-Mother Three Corpses Gu.
• Zhou Yu inspected the two gu insects and tried to refine the supposed mother gu with her Essence Blood.
• Zhou Yu realized the gu was a child gu, but it devoured her Essence Blood and shackled her Primordial Spirit.
• Zhou Yu's Sixth Sister activated the real mother gu, causing Zhou Yu pain and making her Hook Moon Saber wound them both.
• Zhou Yu's Sixth Sister let gu insects devour Zhou Yu's blood until she lost control, then healed her and led her outside.

Zhou Li escaped the secret chamber by taking over Zhou Yu’s body and used her gu insects to extract information from Zhou Yu’s imprisoned Primordial Spirit. She killed Chang Sheng to force Zhou Yu to reveal the other half of the Gu Person Scripture, but Zhou Yu had no answer.

• Zhou Li used her Child-Mother Three Corpses Gu to devour part of Zhou Yu’s Primordial Spirit and steal memories about the Chang household.
• Zhou Yu told Zhou Li about the household’s circumstances, including Grandfather’s death, and tried to bargain for her freedom.
• Zhou Yu claimed she wanted to deal with a Female cultivator surnamed Xu, but Zhou Li refused to spend a child gu on her.
• Zhou Li encountered Chang Sheng in the courtyard and secretly placed a gu insect on him.
• Zhou Li demanded the other half of the Gu Person Scripture in exchange for Chang Sheng’s life, then let her gu insects devour him when Zhou Yu could not provide it.

Zhou Li prepared to escape from the Zhou Household dungeon while Xu Chunniang reinforced the Zhou Household formation. Zhou Li lured the Household Head into the dungeon and attacked him, leaving their confrontation unresolved.

• Zhou Li burned Chang Sheng's remains and planned to feed her treasures before escaping the dungeon.
• Xu Chunniang finished inspecting the ancestral hall formation, sent Zhou Xing the materials she needed, and stayed alert after hearing a faint scream.
• Zhou Xing returned with the Zhou Household Head, who asked Zhou Yu to come to the ancestral hall; Zhou Li received the message and prepared to intercept him.
• Zhou Li told Zhou Yu she intended to control the Household Head, while Xu Chunniang began reinforcing the formation with Zhou Xing nearby.
• Zhou Li, disguised as Zhou Yu, told the Household Head that the dungeon formation had been damaged and led him inside.
• When the Household Head refused to release Zhou Li, she sent a long worm flying at him.

Zhou Li escaped the dungeon by controlling the Zhou Household Head after killing Zhou Yu in a Golden Core self-detonation. When Zhou Xing and Xu Chunniang uncovered the impostor, Zhou Li launched attacks on both of them.

• The Zhou Household Head attacked Zhou Li, but Zhou Yu, controlled by Zhou Li, stabbed him from behind while Zhou Li sent gu insects at him.
• Zhou Li forced Zhou Yu to detonate her Golden Core, severely injuring the Zhou Household Head, then used a gu insect to control him.
• Zhou Li made the controlled Zhou Household Head leave the dungeon and send away the gathered Zhou Household cultivators.
• Zhou Xing noticed the Household Head's confusion about Xu Chunniang's reward and realized the man was an impostor.
• Zhou Li controlled the Household Head to attack Zhou Xing while her true body confronted Xu Chunniang.

Xu Chunniang helped Zhou Xing and the Zhou Household Head fend off Zhou Li, then learned of the Western Abyss, a perilous region northwest of the Ten Continents that might be the Dead Sea she sought. She left the Zhou Household resolved to earn merit and gather resources so she could advance to the Nascent Soul Realm and investigate it.

• Xu Chunniang burned Zhou Li’s gu insects with the Heartfall Flame, but Zhou Li escaped after using the controlled Zhou Household Head to distract Zhou Xing.
• The Zhou Household Head forced the remaining gu insects from his body, thanked Xu Chunniang, and ordered his clan to watch for Zhou Li.
• Xu Chunniang asked about the Dead Sea, and the Zhou Household Head told her of the Western Abyss and its location near Juku Continent, northwest of the Ten Continents.
• Xu Chunniang left the Zhou Household uncertain whether the Western Abyss was the Dead Sea, and decided to sell materials, refine formation plates, and earn merit for her cultivation.

After killing Zhan Yingluo, Xu Chunniang sold her accumulated spiritual materials to the Treasure Pavilion for 4,830,000 Spirit Stones. She exchanged part of the payment for a Top-grade Spirit Stone and received a token granting discounts and auction access.

• Xu Chunniang entered the Treasure Pavilion and told Steward Li she wished to sell spiritual materials.
• Xu Chunniang brought out a large supply of materials, and Steward Li spent nearly three hours inspecting and recording them.
• Steward Li valued the materials at 4,830,000 Spirit Stones, and Xu Chunniang agreed to the price.
• Xu Chunniang exchanged 1,200,000 Spirit Stones for one Top-grade Spirit Stone and received the remaining 3,630,000 in High-grade Spirit Stones.
• Steward Li gave Xu Chunniang a Treasure Token that offered discounts on purchases and entry to Treasure Pavilion auctions.

Xu Chunniang learned that the Treasure Pavilion auction would feature Thousand-Year Spirit Milk, then attended the auction with her Silver Treasure Token. After waiting through the first half and bidding on nothing, she watched as an ancient formation plate was revealed.

• Steward Li told Xu Chunniang that the upcoming auction would include Thousand-Year Spirit Milk, and she memorized its time and location.
• Xu Chunniang bought formation materials at the Treasure Pavilion, then returned two days later and entered the auction using her Silver Treasure Token.
• Xu Chunniang watched the auctioneer sell a Water Repelling Pearl for 120,000 spirit stones and continued waiting as the early lots failed to interest her.
• After the first half ended, Xu Chunniang saw more Grade Three treasures go up for auction, but their prices were too high or the items did not appeal to her.
• The auctioneer unveiled an ancient formation plate said to have come from an ancient secret realm.

Xu Chunniang recognized patterns on an ancient formation plate as resembling those in the restricted Jade Slip on the Dao of Formations Zhou Tong had given her, and decided to buy it for clues to the inheritance. She outbid Ghost Formation Master and secured the plate after he withdrew, though he vowed to remember her.

• The auctioneer presented a damaged ancient formation plate, explaining that it had once been a top-grade third-rank item and opening the bidding at one hundred thousand spirit stones.
• Xu Chunniang recognized the plate’s patterns from the Jade Slip on the Dao of Formations and decided the plate might help her break its bloodline restriction.
• Ghost Formation Master and another Golden Core cultivator drove the bid to three hundred and twenty thousand spirit stones.
• Xu Chunniang raised the bid to four hundred thousand, then continued to six hundred thousand despite Ghost Formation Master’s attempts to outbid her.
• Ghost Formation Master withdrew to save his spirit stones for the Thousand-Year Spirit Milk and threatened to remember Xu Chunniang for outbidding him.

Xu Chunniang won the ancient array disk for six hundred thousand Spirit Stones and then secured the first portion of Thousand-Year Spirit Milk for one million five hundred thousand. The auction continued with another portion of the milk, as Room A36 entered the bidding.

• Xu Chunniang paid six hundred thousand Spirit Stones for the ancient array disk and confirmed it resembled the array Jade Slip she owned.
• The auctioneer revealed five drops of Thousand-Year Spirit Milk and opened bidding at five hundred thousand Spirit Stones.
• Ghost Formation Master and other Golden Core cultivators bid against Xu Chunniang, who raised the price to one million two hundred thousand Spirit Stones.
• The owner of Room A36 entered the bidding, but withdrew after Xu Chunniang raised her offer to one million five hundred thousand.
• Xu Chunniang won the first portion of Thousand-Year Spirit Milk for one million five hundred thousand Spirit Stones.
• The auctioneer offered a second portion, and Room A36 bid one million five hundred thousand, silencing the hall.

Xu Chunniang won a portion of Thousand-Year Spirit Milk and an ancient formation plate, but discovered she could not safely refine the plate without first studying its unfamiliar materials. She spent a month and a half refining a combined trapping and killing formation plate, then rested in her small world, where Little Orange had finished stabilizing its cultivation.

• Xu Chunniang stopped bidding after winning one portion of Thousand-Year Spirit Milk and left the auction, where Ghost Formation Master confronted her and chased her before she escaped using Nine Steps of Freedom.
• Xu Chunniang compared the ancient formation plate with her Formation Jade Slip, but its forceful rejection caused another crack when she tried to refine it, so she decided she would need to research its materials before studying it further.
• Xu Chunniang spent a month and a half refining a formation plate that combined trapping and killing formations, failing twice before succeeding on her third attempt.
• Xu Chunniang entered her small world to rest, and after two days of sleep she found that Little Orange had completely consolidated its cultivation.

Xu Chunniang took Little Orange and Little White to North Wood Island, where an overwhelming sea demon beast attack threatened to destroy the island’s defenses. Her swift intervention turned the battle around, and the defenders began to believe the island could be saved.

• Xu Chunniang took Little Orange and Little White from her small world and accepted a merit mission to North Wood Island.
• Xu Chunniang arrived to find the island’s formation near collapse, with nine Golden Core sea demon beasts attacking its defenders.
• Xu Chunniang trapped two sea demon beasts with an array disk while she and Little Orange engaged the others, allowing the formation’s controller to join the battle.
• Xu Chunniang killed a mid-Golden Core sea demon beast, astonishing the defenders and easing pressure on their fighters.
• Little Orange killed another sea demon beast and headed toward the two trapped by Xu Chunniang’s array disk.

Xu Chunniang and Little Orange helped North Wood Island defeat the sea demon beasts, and Xu Chunniang accepted Crimson Ning Wood after agreeing to pay for it at cost. She departed with Little Orange and Little White, leaving the island’s cultivators to question Zhao’s generous offer.

• Xu Chunniang and Little Orange killed the remaining sea demon beasts, while the island’s other cultivators pursued and slew the four that fled.
• The cultivator surnamed Zhao thanked Xu Chunniang for saving North Wood Island, and she gave her name as Profound Method.
• A female cultivator offered Xu Chunniang the corpses of two sea demon beasts, which she accepted after they insisted.
• Zhao showed Xu Chunniang Crimson Ning Wood, and they agreed she would buy some at cost price rather than take it as a gift.
• Xu Chunniang exchanged soul signatures with Zhao and left through the teleportation array with Little Orange and Little White.
• After Xu Chunniang departed, a young Golden Core cultivator questioned why Zhao had sold her the scarce Crimson Ning Wood for only one million spirit stones.

Xu Chunniang earned merit for killing sea demon beasts, then returned to the front lines after repairing her array disks. Three months later, the war had spread across ten provinces, and cultivators on Wind Thunder Island feared its growing cost and danger.

• Cultivator Zhao explained that he had sold Xu Chunniang Crimson Spirit Wood cheaply to repay her and befriend a powerful cultivator.
• At the Merit Hall, an elder exposed a cultivator who had falsely claimed merit for sea demon beasts killed outside the front lines and punished him by striking his Sea Travel Order.
• Xu Chunniang submitted nine Golden Core stage sea demon beast corpses and received 3,900 merit points, bringing her total to 12,300.
• After repairing her array disks, Xu Chunniang took Little Orange to fight at a small island and continued earning merit over the next three months.
• A teahouse storyteller reported that the war had spread to ten provinces, while low-level cultivators discussed rising prices and the danger of joining the front lines.

Xu Chunniang accepted an invitation to the Zhu Family’s Dao discussion gathering on Yanzhou’s Ancestral Island after hearing it might provide news about Kunlun Immortal Mountain. Three days later, she set out for the island with Little Orange and Little White, drawing the admiration of nearby cultivators.

• A speaker praised the Merit Ranking’s leading cultivators and noted Xu Chunniang’s rapid rise into its top thousand.
• A middle-aged cultivator invited Xu Chunniang to the Zhu Family’s gathering and mentioned possible news about Kunlun Immortal Mountain.
• Xu Chunniang accepted the crimson jade token and returned home to repair her array disks before the gathering.
• Three days later, Xu Chunniang traveled with Little Orange and Little White to the teleportation hall as cultivators recognized and admired her.
• Xu Chunniang presented her jade token at the teleportation hall to enter Ancestral Island.

Xu Chunniang attended a discourse meeting on Yanzhou’s Ancestral Island, where cultivators debated the Dao before Zhu Qiaoqiao announced a trading fair. As the fair began, Xu Chunniang hoped to find news of Western Ming and Kunlun, while Zhu Qiaoqiao offered a Sea Spirit Pearl in exchange for a fire-attributed magic artifact.

• A cultivator verified Xu Chunniang’s jade token and escorted her through a teleportation array to Yanzhou’s Ancestral Island.
• At the discourse venue, Tun Yue asked Xu Chunniang to weigh in on whether cultivators should contend for what they wanted, and she declined to speak lightly about the Dao.
• Xu Chunniang listened through a day of discussions and waited for nightfall, when host Zhu Qiaoqiao announced that the auction would be held the next day and a Nascent Soul True Lord would lecture the day after.
• Zhu Qiaoqiao began a trading fair and offered a Sea Spirit Pearl in exchange for a fire-attributed magic artifact of at least mid-grade quality.
• A cultivator presented a Blazing Flame Blade and asked Zhu Qiaoqiao what she thought of it.

At a Golden Core cultivator exchange, Zhu Qiaoqiao traded for a Crimson Feather Fan while other cultivators bartered magical artifacts, pills, and spirit herbs. A one-armed cultivator then offered his family Treasure Map for a Revival Pill, but the crowd hesitated, leaving him without an offer.

• Zhu Qiaoqiao chose the Crimson Feather Fan over the Blazing Flame Blade and traded her jade case for it.
• The burly man traded a hammer-shaped artifact through a three-way deal and offered his other magical artifacts for cultivation pills.
• A third-grade alchemist traded his pills for spirit herbs and pill formulas, including exchanging a Dragon Blood Pill for ten thousand-year spirit herbs from a cloaked elder.
• The cloaked elder offered more thousand-year spirit herbs for body-tempering pills and spiritual items, while the alchemist continued trading his remaining pills.
• A one-armed cultivator offered his family Treasure Map for a Revival Pill, but the Golden Core cultivators grew wary and no one responded.

Xu Chunniang traded a Three-Revolutions Marrow Tempering Pill formula for a Revival Pill, then exchanged the pill for a one-armed cultivator’s inherited Treasure Map. After inspecting the map of mist-shrouded mountains, she wondered whether it led to the Northwest Five Sects, and told others she hoped to explore the Western Deep someday.

• Xu Chunniang suspected that the one-armed cultivator’s Treasure Map might depict mountains in the Northwest Five Sects rather than the sea Cultivation World.
• Xu Chunniang traded the Three-Revolutions Marrow Tempering Pill formula to the pill master for a Revival Pill.
• Xu Chunniang exchanged the Revival Pill for the one-armed cultivator’s Treasure Map and examined its scroll in a secluded place.
• The one-armed cultivator explained that the map had been inherited by his Lineage for at least a thousand years, though generations had failed to find its location.
• Xu Chunniang returned to the trade meet and said she hoped to explore the Western Deep and search for the legendary Kunlun Immortal Mountain.

Xu Chunniang traded for information about the West Sea and obtained a sea chart that seemed to show the land west of it. Examining the chart, she wondered whether that land was the Northwest Five Sects, her homeland.

• Xu Chunniang offered a trapping array disk in exchange for a West Sea route or chart and bought a copied West Sea Travelogue for fifty thousand spirit stones.
• Several cultivators gave Xu Chunniang information about the West Sea and Kunlun Immortal Mountain, but none had a sea chart until an elderly man offered one.
• The elderly man explained that his chart showed land west of the West Sea that did not resemble the legendary Kunlun Immortal Mountain, and Xu Chunniang agreed to trade for it.
• Xu Chunniang examined the chart hidden in a tortoiseshell and recognized that its northwest corner might depict the Northwest Five Sects.