Chapter Summaries

Xiao Chen profited from refining and selling Qi Nourishing Pills while Ge Changfeng mistook his skill for the work of a hidden Alchemy Grandmaster from Quanzhou. After discovering that the new pills were perfectly identical, Ge Changfeng concluded they were a deliberate attempt to make contact and ordered the matter kept secret.

• Ge Changfeng bought Xiao Chen's Qi Nourishing Pills for one hundred and thirty Spirit Stones and told the manager to remember Xiao Chen's aura.
• Xiao Chen evaded any pursuit, bought more Spirit Herbs and Qi Gathering Pills, and spent the next twenty days alternating between cultivation and pill refinement.
• Xiao Chen sold eighteen bottles of Qi Nourishing Pills for one hundred and thirteen Spirit Stones, then returned to Azure Water Peak to continue his routine.
• The manager notified Ge Changfeng about the new batch, and Ge hurried back to inspect it.
• Ge Changfeng showed a young appraiser two perfectly identical pills and declared that a Quanzhou Alchemy Grandmaster was trying to contact them, ordering the appraiser to keep the matter secret.

As New Year approached, Xiao Chen bought supplies at the market and was ambushed on his way back to Li Fire Sect by two cultivators who had posed as wine sellers. He killed both robbers and returned to Azure Water Peak with their belongings, including a restricted Storage Bag he began refining.

• Xiao Chen helped Shen Siyue hang lanterns on Azure Water Peak before heading to the market to sell pills and buy Spirit Herbs and Qi Gathering Pills.
• Xiao Chen bought a pot of Moon Reflecting Wine from a stall owner who spilled wine on his cloak, then noticed the market was crowded with refugees from Quanzhou.
• On his way back to the sect, Xiao Chen recognized the wine seller among two masked cultivators waiting to rob him, and the pair admitted the wine was fake.
• Xiao Chen blinded the robbers with a Golden Light Pearl, killed the female cultivator with Fireball Art, and defeated the stall owner with another fireball.
• Xiao Chen collected their Flying Swords and forty-two Spirit Stones, then returned to Azure Water Peak and began refining the stall owner's restricted Storage Bag.

Xiao Chen claimed a defeated cultivator’s Storage Bag and found spells, talisman-making supplies, and a token for a local Black Market. After drinking Moon Reflecting Wine and experiencing a vivid dream, he woke to find his cultivation had advanced.

• Xiao Chen broke the Storage Bag’s original restriction and claimed its contents, including the Three Truths Mystical Method of Luo Tian and a Black Market token.
• Xiao Chen decided to learn the three offensive spells in the booklet and marked Jiang Ji Quan for withholding his cultivation method.
• Xiao Chen read the notes on the wine flasks and drank a bottle of Moon Reflecting Wine.
• Xiao Chen dreamed of a moonlit wilderness and clear spring before waking on the floor the next morning.
• Xiao Chen circulated his mana and discovered an extra strand in his dantian, confirming that he had broken through.

Xiao Chen broke through to Qi Refining Layer Eight and practiced summoning and controlling ten Fire Crows. Chen Zhi'an brought him to celebrate New Year with the Chen Family, where Xiao Chen met Chen Zhiquan and received a gift for learning alchemy.

• Xiao Chen reached the brink of Qi Refining Layer Eight, learned the Luo Tian Mysterious Fire Crow secret art, and practiced controlling ten Fire Crows.
• Chen Zhi'an found Xiao Chen at Azure Water Peak and persuaded him to celebrate New Year with the Chen Family.
• Xiao Chen introduced himself as Chen Tianyang's Inner Sect disciple, and relatives at his table mistakenly concluded he earned nearly fifty Spirit Stones a month.
• Chen Zhiquan greeted Xiao Chen, encouraged him to study alchemy, and offered him a box of Sandalwood Incense as a family meeting gift.

At a Chen Family gathering, Chen Zhiquan offered Xiao Chen expensive Sandalwood Incense, but Xiao Chen returned the favor with even more valuable Agarwood Aloeswood. Chen Tianyuan settled the awkward exchange by giving Chen Zhiquan Five-Colored Harmony Origin Pills, and Xiao Chen was invited to sit at the elders’ table.

• Chen Zhiquan presented Xiao Chen with a box of High-Grade Sandalwood Incense worth Ten Spirit Stones, and Xiao Chen accepted it after Chen Zhiquan insisted.
• Xiao Chen offered Chen Zhiquan a bundle of Agarwood Aloeswood, which the relatives recognized as exceptionally valuable and worth about five Spirit Stones per stick.
• Chen Zhiquan repeatedly refused the aloeswood, and Xiao Chen used Chen Zhiquan’s own arguments to press him to accept it.
• Chen Tianyuan ordered Chen Zhiquan to take the aloeswood and gave him a bottle of Five-Colored Harmony Origin Pills in return.
• Elder Chen invited Xiao Chen to his table, and Chief Chen pulled him over while apologizing for not warning him about the gift exchange.

During the Chen Family’s New Year celebration, Xiao Chen was overwhelmed by relatives’ attention before Elder Chen summoned him with news about the Flame Pool Secret Realm reopening in three months. Xiao Chen chose a Yellow-grade Fire Avoidance spell and left the family home early the next morning.

• After the Chen Family elders left the dinner, relatives toasted Xiao Chen, questioned him about his background, and tried to match him with their daughters.
• At the third quarter of the Ox Hour, Elder Chen took Xiao Chen to a study and told him the Flame Pool Secret Realm would reopen in three months because of the Earth Vein Change.
• Elder Chen offered Xiao Chen a choice between a Mysterious-grade and a Yellow-grade Fire Avoidance spell, and Xiao Chen chose the Yellow-grade spell to learn it sooner.
• Elder Chen praised Xiao Chen’s judgment and learned that he had begun refining Qi Nourishing Pills.
• Before dawn, Xiao Chen told Chen Zhi'an he was leaving and firmly refused to stay for the coming visits.

Xiao Chen cultivated the Transformation Fire Treasure Talisman, prepared Qi Nourishing Pills, and tested his fire spells while waiting for the Flame Pool Secret Realm. As he cooked fish for the Lantern Festival, Su Wanqing arrived and invited him to see the lantern fair.

• Xiao Chen used Hextech to condense a Transformation Fire Treasure Talisman and tested its Mysterious Fire, then planned to cultivate it toward Lesser Accomplishment before the Secret Realm opened.
• Xiao Chen visited the Black Market site but found no vendors, encountered a black-robed man and masked figures, and worried that Black Market Tokens had changed hands.
• Xiao Chen completed his Qi Nourishing Pills, refining thirty-eight bottles in total, then tested the Luo Tian Mysterious Fire Crow at the river and caught fish for the Lantern Festival.
• Su Wanqing knocked at Xiao Chen's door and invited him to see the lantern fair.

Su Wanqing visited Xiao Chen for the Lantern Festival, revealed that she had reached the 7th level of Qi Refining, and offered him a precious Rosy Cloudfire Fruit. The chapter ended with Xiao Chen wondering why the Su Family would give him such a valuable item instead of keeping it for their own disciples.

• Su Wanqing invited Xiao Chen to the Lantern Festival, but he repeatedly refused until she claimed she had important news.
• Su Wanqing told Xiao Chen about several cultivators who had recently broken through, including Ye Fei, who advanced during a fight with a Robber Cultivator and killed him.
• Su Wanqing complained that Xiao Chen had not asked whether she had broken through, then revealed she had reached the 7th level of Qi Refining and boasted about her future prospects.
• Su Wanqing gave Xiao Chen a Rosy Cloudfire Fruit, and he recognized it as a precious Second-Order Spirit Fruit.
• Xiao Chen questioned why Su Wanqing and the Su Family would give him the fruit rather than reserve it for their own disciples.

Su Wanqing tried to bind Xiao Chen to her with a Rosy Cloudfire Fruit, but he traded her Moon Reflecting Wine for it and revealed he had reached Qi Refining Layer Eight. After Su Wanqing returned home, her brother claimed the wine was fake, though she realized genuine Moon Reflecting Wine might still exist.

• Su Wanqing offered Xiao Chen a Rosy Cloudfire Fruit, but he traded her a jug of Moon Reflecting Wine instead.
• Xiao Chen revealed his Qi Refining Layer Eight cultivation, embarrassing Su Wanqing and sending her rushing home.
• Su Wanqing worried that Xiao Chen's rapid cultivation would attract rival families and planned to win him over by becoming his neighbor at Azure Water Peak.
• Su Yuanpeng identified the Moon Reflecting Wine as likely fake, but Su Wanqing questioned his certainty and realized genuine wine might still exist.

Su Wanqing drank Xiao Chen’s Moon Reflecting Wine, fainted as it triggered a cultivation breakthrough, and then guessed that Xiao Chen had given it to repay her Bone Tempering Spring. As unrest spread around the Li Fire Sect, Xiao Chen prepared to visit the Black Market and arrived near Cattle Village in disguise.

• Su Wanqing drank the wine she thought was fake, fainted, and manifested the moon-reflected-in-a-spring phenomenon as spiritual energy gathered around her.
• The next day, Su Yuanpeng asked Su Wanqing where the Moon Reflecting Wine had come from, and she angrily shut the door on him before deciding Xiao Chen had prepared it as a return gift.
• Xiao Chen refined the Rosy Cloudfire Fruit and spent his free time inscribing Talisman Script while the Li Fire Sect delayed its New Year Ceremony and other affairs amid missing disciples and unrest.
• Elder Qi warned Xiao Chen that low-level cultivators from Quanzhou and He Province had flooded the area and advised him to stay on the mountain after an Outer Sect Disciple was murdered.
• Xiao Chen bought talisman supplies and prepared to visit the Black Market, then wore his Stealth Cloak and arrived southwest of Cattle Village early on the twenty-third.

Xiao Chen entered the Black Market, where he inspected poison, ordinary wares, and a Li Fire Sect Flying Sword with its identifying marks erased. He reached a bamboo building and suspected its broken blood-red broadsword was an unorthodox artifact.

• Xiao Chen paid the entrance fee and entered the Black Market after reviewing its rules.
• Xiao Chen inspected a stall selling poison and learned how its different kinds affected cultivators.
• Xiao Chen recognized a Li Fire Sect Outer Sect Flying Sword, found its identifying marks polished away, and decided to report it to the sect.
• Xiao Chen reached a bamboo building and saw a broken blood-red broadsword that seemed to display fresh bloodstains.

Xiao Chen sold surplus goods in the Black Market, bought a rare escape technique, and acquired a bundle of suspicious pills and alchemy notes. As he left, he saw three cultivators pursue Ye Fei and decided to follow them, hoping for an opportunity.

• Xiao Chen sold two Flying Swords, a Storage Bag, and talisman-making supplies to Bat Pavilion for three hundred and ten Spirit Stones.
• Xiao Chen bought the Golden Light Shrinking Earth escape technique for five hundred Spirit Stones after failing to find a suitable Wood Element Spell.
• Xiao Chen recognized a bottle of Qi Nourishing Pills he had sold the day before among a rogue cultivator’s suspicious goods, then bought the bundle for one hundred Spirit Stones.
• Xiao Chen noticed three black-robed cultivators waiting by the road and saw them pursue Ye Fei when he passed.
• Xiao Chen followed the three cultivators after they chased Ye Fei, hoping to take advantage of what happened.

Xiao Chen lost track of Ye Fei, then fought and killed Scar after the pursuer mistook him for a Luo Tian Sect lackey. He returned to the Li Fire Sect with Scar’s Storage Bag and reported the Standard Flying Swords he had seen in the Black Market to Elder Chen.

• Xiao Chen lost Ye Fei in a forest, then watched Ye Fei flee from three men in black after throwing a Falling Rock Talisman at him.
• Scar stayed behind to kill Xiao Chen while the leader and Biao Zi pursued Ye Fei for a Foundation Establishment Spirit Item.
• Scar summoned Treants and attacked Xiao Chen, mistaking his Mystic Fire Crows for the Luo Tian Mysterious Fire Crow of the Luo Tian Sect.
• Xiao Chen used his defenses, Fire Crows, Golden Light Pearl, and Evergreen Sword to kill Scar, then destroyed the Rock Earth Puppet with the Azure Wood Divine General’s help.
• Xiao Chen took Scar’s Storage Bag and returned to the Li Fire Sect, where he told Elder Chen about the Standard Flying Swords he had encountered in the Black Market.

Xiao Chen discovered that Scarface’s diary linked the Spirit Accumulating Snow Lotus to a possible Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment and revealed signs of Demonic Cultivator activity. As he planned his next steps, Manager Chen summoned him to help with an alchemy job.

• Xiao Chen reported to Elder Chen, who said he would handle the Flying Sword matter and asked about Xiao Chen’s cultivation and alchemy.
• Xiao Chen refined Scarface’s Storage Bag and found a diary describing Demonic Cultivators, the Luo Tian Sect, and an order to kill Ye Fei for the Spirit Accumulating Snow Lotus.
• Xiao Chen found a second Spirit Accumulating Snow Lotus in Scarface’s belongings and suspected that it was connected to Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment.
• Xiao Chen sorted Scarface’s belongings and planned to cultivate a movement technique, learn a replacement spell, earn Spirit Stones, prepare for the Secret Realm, and investigate Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment.
• Manager Chen knocked and asked Xiao Chen to help Elder Chen with an alchemy job.

Xiao Chen reported the Black Market flying-sword sales to Elder Chen and learned Golden Light Shrinking Earth, a powerful escape spell that he struggled to control. After Shen Siyue warned him about nearby Robber Cultivators and offered to travel with him, Xiao Chen returned to his hut to inspect his alchemy materials.

• Elder Chen confirmed that Chen Family members had resold flying swords but had not sold Standard Flying Swords outside, suggesting Outer Sect disciples had been harmed, and Xiao Chen lent him a token to notify the other Elders.
• Elder Chen gave Xiao Chen a booklet on the Three Stars Synergy Technique, and Xiao Chen went to the riverbank to cultivate Golden Light Shrinking Earth.
• Xiao Chen condensed Five Elements Golden Qi and tested the spell, crashing into trees three times because its speed was difficult to control.
• Xiao Chen decided to prioritize mastering Golden Light Shrinking Earth while studying pill recipes and pursuing alchemy to earn Spirit Stones.
• Shen Siyue warned Xiao Chen that Robber Cultivators from Quanzhou had appeared nearby and offered to accompany him to the market; Xiao Chen promised to seek her help.
• Xiao Chen returned to his hut and began looking through the Alchemy Experience he had bought at the Black Market for complete Pill Recipes.

Xiao Chen learned the Combination Pill Essentials, sped up his Qi Nourishing Pill production, and sold another large batch at the Hundred Treasures Pavilion. The sect selected entrants for the Flame Pool Secret Realm, which was set to open on the ninth day of the third month, and Xiao Chen saw that Lin Ping'an had secured a place.

• Xiao Chen discovered the Combination Pill Essentials in the Alchemy Experience and used it to reduce his Pill Formation time while refining Qi Nourishing Pills.
• Xiao Chen spent twenty days practicing the Golden Light Shrinking Earth and refining pills, then sold thirty-six bottles of Qi Nourishing Pills to the Hundred Treasures Pavilion through Ge Changfeng.
• Xiao Chen skipped the Black Market and used the time he saved from alchemy to further practice the Golden Light Shrinking Earth Technique.
• The sect announced that the Flame Pool Secret Realm would open on the ninth day of the third month and held three days of selection for disciples able to resist Fire Qi.
• Xiao Chen checked the selected candidates and saw that Shen Siyue was absent while Ye Fei, Lin Ping'an, and several familiar disciples had qualified.

Xiao Chen traveled with the Li Fire Sect disciples to the Flame Pool Secret Realm and learned about its dangers, rewards, and entry rules. After Elder Fu tested the stabilized entrance with condemned Robber Cultivators, the disciples were cleared to enter.

• Elder Fu led Xiao Chen and about sixty disciples aboard a flying boat bound for the Flame Pool Secret Realm.
• Xiao Chen learned from Su Wanqing, Liu Benxin, and Liu Shiqing that the realm contained body-tempering pools and dangerous inner-layer Fire Flame Crystal Mines, and he declined to join a group before assessing the Fire Qi.
• Su Yuanpeng warned Xiao Chen against venturing into the inner layer, while Elder Liu distributed maps and cautioned the disciples about the realm’s hazards and ten-day limit.
• Elder Liu explained that Fire Flame Spirit Crystals could cause a breakthrough but had crippled a disciple, and Elder Fu warned the group against risking their futures for them.
• At the entrance, Elder Fu sent condemned Robber Cultivators into the realm to demonstrate its unstable opening and dangerous ground cracks, then announced that the entrance had stabilized and the disciples could enter.

Xiao Chen and the other disciples encountered a pack of Two-Headed Lions at the inner layer of the Flame Pool Secret Realm, whose resistance to spells and coordinated attack trapped the group. Xiao Chen used Golden Light Shrinking Earth to escape the lions and chose to press deeper into the Secret Realm for Fire Flame Spirit Crystals.

• Song Zhongwen led the disciples across the bridge, but the three Two-Headed Lions near it fled, and Xiao Chen warned that they might be part of a larger group.
• Ten Two-Headed Lions surrounded the disciples, and the group discovered the beasts resisted spells of all Five Elements.
• When more lions blocked the bridge, Song Zhongwen organized a retreat while Xiao Chen charged into the pack to draw the beasts away from his fellow disciples.
• Xiao Chen evaded the lions with Golden Light Shrinking Earth and told the others he would continue searching for Fire Flame Spirit Crystals.
• The disciples watched in astonishment as Xiao Chen vanished from the lions’ sight.

Xiao Chen discovered a rich Fire Flame Crystal mine guarded by a powerful Three-Headed Lion and stole the Fire Flame Spirit Crystal while the beast was away. He hid atop the mine and began absorbing the crystal as the furious lion searched below.

• Xiao Chen escaped a pack of spirit beasts and found a rich Fire Flame Crystal mine where their tracks suggested the Two-Headed Lion King was nearby.
• Xiao Chen entered the cavern and discovered a Fire Flame Spirit Crystal, then faced the Three-Headed Lion guarding it.
• The Three-Headed Lion's powerful fire attack blasted Xiao Chen out of the mine, but his defenses let him survive with only minor damage.
• Xiao Chen concealed himself in a wall hideout and waited until the Three-Headed Lion left to gather Fire Flame Crystals.
• Xiao Chen dug up the Fire Flame Spirit Crystal, hid again, then escaped to the mine summit as the lion searched below in fury.
• Xiao Chen began absorbing the Fire Flame Spirit Crystal atop the mine.

Xiao Chen absorbed a Fire Flame Spirit Crystal, broke through to the Qi Refining Ninth Layer, and used his strengthened Mystic Fire Crows to slay the Three-Headed Lion. After obtaining its rare lion heart and considering his Foundation Establishment options, he ventured deeper into the secret realm and discovered a grand palace.

• Xiao Chen absorbed the Fire Flame Spirit Crystal, advanced to the Qi Refining Ninth Layer, and raised his Luo Tian Mysterious Fire Crow Technique to the Lesser Accomplishment Realm, gaining one hundred Mystic Fire Crows.
• Xiao Chen formed a stationary Great Fire Crow Formation and unleashed Mystic Yang Fire, then used it to attack the charging Three-Headed Lion.
• Xiao Chen waited for the smoke to clear, excavated the collapsed tunnel, and found the Three-Headed Lion dead; he harvested its hide and Mutated Lion Heart.
• Xiao Chen recognized the lion heart as a rare fire-element Foundation Establishment Spirit Item and decided to pursue both a Foundation Establishment Pill and the remaining items needed for Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment.
• Xiao Chen passed through the mine and found a broad avenue leading to a magnificent palace, which he suspected belonged to the ancient sect that created the Flame Pool Secret Realm.