Recaps

Wang Hong sold Spirit Grains, bought the Yi Wood Art and a Spirit Medicine Illustrated Record, and began cultivating after transforming his Internal Energy into spiritual power. He expanded his space slightly by feeding it Spirit Stones, then set his five squad leaders to trading spirit medicines as he sought to grow the space and improve its crops.

• Wang Hong sold nearly half a year's Spirit Grains for 135 Spirit Stones and bought the Yi Wood Art and Spirit Medicine Illustrated Record for 40 Spirit Stones.
• Wang Hong sent his five squad leaders into Qingxu City to learn the market and gave them Spirit Stones to buy supplies, then tested how the space absorbed Spirit Stones and saw it expand slightly.
• Wang Hong studied the Yi Wood Art and cultivated until his Internal Energy transformed into spiritual power, continuing to build it through daily practice.
• Wang Hong sold packets of century-old Ginseng and ganoderma at several medicine shops for more than 2,000 Spirit Stones.
• Wang Hong tested his squad leaders' knowledge of spirit medicines and gave them herbs and starting capital to sell and purchase at the market.
• Wang Hong planned to trade less valuable herbs from his space for Spirit Stones and replace them with higher-grade spirit medicines.

Wang Hong and his men fought off two cultivators who tried to rob them outside Qingxu City. The fat Daoist and thin Daoist died, while Wang Hong and his soldiers survived the attack.

• Wang Hong expanded his spatial field with a thousand Spirit Stones while his squads earned money selling spirit herbs.
• Xu Lun and Zhang Chunfeng returned with their men, unaware that two street thugs were following them to rob them.
• Wang Hong sensed the ambush and knocked Xu Lun and Zhang Chunfeng out of the attackers’ path before meeting the two Daoists with his spear.
• Wang Hong killed the thin Daoist after overwhelming him in close combat, while the soldiers weakened the fat Daoist’s Golden Light Talisman with coordinated spear attacks.
• The fat Daoist activated a Fireball Talisman, but Wang Hong knocked it away as the soldiers pierced the Daoist with dozens of spears.

After narrowly surviving an attack outside the city, Wang Hong moved his group into Qingxu City and acquired weapons and a place to live. He began surveying the market and considering how to use his storefront and remaining farmland.

• Wang Hong found talismans, spells, Spirit Stones, and other loot in the storage bags of the two cultivators he had killed, and decided that staying outside the city was too dangerous.
• Wang Hong entered Qingxu City with Wen Lan, Luo Zhongjie, and their companions, then visited an artifact-refining workshop to buy a low-grade magical spear and order fifty sturdy spears for the group.
• Wang Hong chose a remote courtyard with a storefront as their new base, paid a year's rent, and left the remaining arrangements to the squad leaders.
• Wang Hong explored Qingxu City's shops over the following days, sometimes selling spiritual herbs as he learned about prices and supplies.
• Wang Hong visited a general store and noted the high prices and limited stocks of talismans, pills, spiritual herbs, and magical artifacts before leaving to continue his search.

Wang Hong tested his followers for spirit roots, encouraged them to forge a path for martial cultivation, and gave the two gifted men cultivation manuals. He planted new spirit medicines, opened a small shop, and put a contribution-point system in place for his guards.

• Wang Hong tested forty-five people with a Spirit Sensing Disc, and only Zhang Chunfeng and Yang Youwen showed spirit roots.
• Wang Hong reassured the disappointed mortals, outlined a plan to advance martial cultivation, and offered rewards for methods and techniques for its next stage.
• Wang Hong gave Zhang Chunfeng and Yang Youwen cultivation manuals and the Comprehensive Guide to Cultivation.
• Wang Hong planted Spirit Gathering Grass and other medicinal herbs, checked the mutating Ginseng, and prepared spirit wine for sale.
• Wang Hong opened the Pioneering Spirit Medicine Pavilion, while his teams continued trading at stalls and he cultivated and studied.
• Wang Hong had Zhang Chunfeng implement a contribution-point system, awarding points for service and journey merits and adding monthly contributions.

Over two years, Wang Hong grew wealthy from spirit wine and spirit medicines while cultivating, studying alchemy, and supporting his soldiers. He attended a Wan Family lecture on alchemy, where a Foundation Establishment senior arrived to teach.

• Wang Hong raised the price of his popular spirit wine, limited each buyer to one bottle a day, and continued earning from its sales and his shop.
• Two years later, Wang Hong had reached the peak of Qi Refining Layer Three, earned over a hundred thousand Spirit Stones, expanded his space to eight fen, and prepared materials to practice alchemy.
• Wang Hong discussed attending a Wan Family alchemy lecture with Skinny Stick, who declined because he could not afford the fee.
• Wang Hong continued supporting his forty-five soldiers as they tried an inefficient method of converting Internal Energy into spiritual power, and promised not to abandon them.
• Wang Hong paid ten Spirit Stones to enter the Wan Family Preaching Hall, where Wan Da and other Wan Family descendants took their reserved seats before a refined middle-aged man arrived to teach.

Wang Hong learned to refine Qi Gathering Pills, then cultivated in seclusion until he broke through to Qi Refining Layer Four and gained the ability to project his Spiritual Sense. He began practicing the Artifact Control Technique, but his first attempt quickly drained his spiritual power.

• Wang Hong watched a Foundation Establishment alchemist demonstrate how to refine Qi Gathering Pills.
• Wang Hong bought a mid-grade pill furnace and a Formation Disk from Gao Yue, then ruined batch after batch before succeeding with his thirty-seventh attempt.
• Wang Hong refined two hundred portions of materials into one hundred and eighty Qi Gathering Pills and gave bottles to Zhang Chunfeng and Skinny Monkey.
• Wang Hong used one Qi Gathering Pill each day during seclusion and broke through to Qi Refining Layer Four on the tenth day.
• Wang Hong discovered that his Spiritual Sense could reach two zhang and practiced controlling his spear, but it exhausted his spiritual power after two breaths.

Wang Hong led his soldiers to Purple Cloud Peak to hunt Demonic Beasts and train, but their outing ended in a night ambush by Lin Junjie and his men. Wang Hong trapped Lin Junjie with a spell and had his soldiers kill him, leaving the attackers’ plan in ruins.

• Wang Hong’s soldiers killed an Iron-toothed Bristle Pig with a volley of short spears, then hunted two more Demonic Beasts and camped by a stream.
• Wang Hong and his men cooked the pig meat for dinner before warning talismans alerted them to an approaching group of twelve cultivators.
• Lin Junjie of the Lin Family demanded Wang Hong’s storage bags and artifacts, claiming he would spare the group if they submitted to him.
• Wang Hong pretended to accept Lin Junjie’s terms and tossed him a storage bag while his soldiers advanced in formation.
• Wang Hong used seeds to bind Lin Junjie with thorny, poisonous vines, and his soldiers killed him with a volley of short spears.

Wang Hong’s group defeated Lin Junjie and his men, then returned to the city with their spoils. The next day, Wang Hong visited the Myriad Laws Tower and requested books on several cultivation crafts and disciplines.

• Yin Lang watched as Wang Hong’s soldiers killed Lin Junjie and fought down the remaining cultivators, while Wang Hong defeated a Qi Refining Layer Five cultivator with repeated Fireball Talismans.
• Wang Hong’s group surrounded and killed the last enemies, gathered their spoils, burned the corpses, and returned to the city overnight.
• Yin Lang survived by staying hidden and resolved that Wang Hong’s group had to be eliminated after witnessing their strength.
• Wang Hong’s group divided the spoils, and Wang Hong kept Lin Junjie’s Mid-grade Flying Sword and Alchemy Basics while noting the costly talismans had driven their victory.
• The next day, Wang Hong visited the Myriad Laws Tower and asked the maid in white for books on alchemy, spiritual herbs, talisman crafting, Spirit Wine brewing, spirit cooking, and spell cultivation.

Wang Hong traded a three-hundred-year-old Crimson Blood Ginseng for cultivation books and jade slips, then faced accusations from the Lin Family over the death of Lin Yun’s younger brother. After refusing challenges from stronger opponents, Wang Hong accepted a Death Arena challenge from a Qi Refining Layer Four cultivator and prepared for the fight.

• Wang Hong exchanged the Crimson Blood Ginseng for the books and jade slips, deposited them in the library, and returned to cultivation and study.
• Lin Yun accused Wang Hong of killing his younger brother based on Yin Lang’s account and arranged for someone to challenge him at the Death Arena.
• Wang Hong refused repeated challenges from Lin Family cultivators at Qi Refining Layer Six and Layer Five.
• On the twenty-fifth day, Wang Hong accepted a challenge from Lin Dong, a Qi Refining Layer Four cultivator, and prepared spirit talismans and spirit wine.

Wang Hong defeated successive Lin Family challengers in the Death Arena, but Hu Qing’s body cultivation nearly killed him before he won with a barrage of talismans. While Wang Hong recovered for a month, Lin Yun arranged to have him hunted if he ever left Qingxu City.

• Wang Hong killed Lin Dong by using defensive talismans and close combat to exhaust Lin Dong’s spiritual power, then defeated another Qi Refining Layer Four challenger the next day.
• Hu Qing, hired by the Lin Family for five hundred Spirit Stones, overpowered Wang Hong in close combat and repeatedly sent him flying.
• Wang Hong realized Hu Qing’s blows were helping residual medicinal power strengthen his body, but eventually gave up on close combat and overwhelmed Hu Qing with dozens of talismans.
• Wang Hong retrieved Hu Qing’s storage bag and gloves, then spent a month recovering from ruptured muscles, broken bones, and internal injuries.
• Lin Yun, furious over the Lin Family’s losses and the cost of hiring Hu Qing, arranged for people to watch Wang Hong and attack him if he left Qingxu City.

Wang Hong found the Body Tempering Art, tested its pill-intensive cultivation method, and strengthened his body while preparing for the Ten-Store Joint Auction. After consigning two three-hundred-year Crimson Blood Ginseng, he entered the packed auction hall as Feng Qing opened the event.

• Wang Hong found the Body Tempering Art in Hu Qing's storage bag and asked Zhao Ning and Luo Zhongjie to copy and study it.
• Wang Hong used Qi Gathering Pills to cultivate the art, discovering that he could refine two pills a day before his body reached saturation.
• Zhang Chunfeng reported scarce ingredients for the body-tempering pill formulas and told Wang Hong about the upcoming Ten-Store Joint Auction.
• Wang Hong refined pills, improved his body-tempering cultivation, and grew strong enough to lift a stone weighing eight thousand jin.
• Wang Hong consigned two three-hundred-year Crimson Blood Ginseng at the auction and paid the entrance deposit to attend.
• Wang Hong entered the crowded auction hall, ate raspberries from his space, and listened as Feng Qing opened the auction.

Wang Hong bid aggressively to win the Mist Illusion Mask, hoping it would let him evade the Lin Family and leave Qingxu City. The auction continued with valuable artifacts and pills, while Wang Hong reflected on the high profits in alchemy.

• Feng Qing demonstrated the Mist Illusion Mask, which could change its wearer’s appearance, and Wang Hong joined the bidding to secure a way out of Qingxu City.
• After competing with the butterfly-mask cultivator, Wang Hong won the Mist Illusion Mask for seven thousand Spirit Stones, paying with spirit herbs.
• Feng Qing auctioned the supreme-grade Yin Yang Mother Child Blades, which sold for nine thousand Spirit Stones.
• Feng Qing began the pill and spirit herb round, and a Barrier Breaking Pill sold for ten thousand Spirit Stones.
• Wang Hong watched several more rare pills sell for high prices and reflected on the profits alchemists could earn.

Wang Hong won an Azure Spirit Peach at auction, sold his Crimson Blood Ginseng for less than he expected, and failed to buy a Foundation Establishment Pill. Back at his residence, he invested his earnings in his space and considered brewing higher-quality spirit wine to replace his dwindling herb income.

• Wang Hong bought an Azure Spirit Peach for twelve thousand Spirit Stones and made no further bids on the other items.
• A Foundation Establishment cultivator intimidated bidders over Wang Hong’s Crimson Blood Ginseng, which ultimately sold for ninety thousand Spirit Stones at auction.
• Wang Hong bid on the Foundation Establishment Pill but stopped at two hundred thousand; another cultivator bought it for three hundred fifty thousand.
• Wang Hong collected one hundred eight thousand Spirit Stones after the auction house’s commission and reflected on how much wealth other cultivators held.
• Wang Hong poured his earnings into his space, planted the herbs he had bought, and considered brewing higher-quality spirit wine as his mature herbs ran low.

Wang Hong brewed spirit wine in his accelerated space, discovered that time there passed thirty-one times faster, and advanced to the fifth level of Qi Refinement after eating a Jade Spirit Peach. Months later, he opened the Immortal Wine Pavilion, placing Skinny Monkey in charge as guests arrived for the launch.

• Wang Hong fermented Spirit Rice in his space, tested its time flow with hourglasses, and determined that time there passed thirty-one times faster than outside.
• Wang Hong filtered and purified the spirit wine, then told Zhang Chunfeng to use their earnings to buy Spirit Rice and begin brewing more.
• Wang Hong ate a Jade Spirit Peach, advanced to the fifth level of Qi Refinement, and planted its pit in his space.
• Wang Hong used the space to grow medicinal herbs for Qi Gathering Pills and planned to sell the pills after harvesting them.
• Wang Hong opened the Immortal Wine Pavilion and put Skinny Monkey in charge of the spirit-wine shop.
• Skinny Monkey welcomed guests, while Gao Yue and Skinny Stick joined Zhang Chunfeng in the rear hall.

At a gathering, Wang Hong learned about the great sects’ initiation tasks in Black Dragon Marsh, which would take place in five years. He resolved to prepare by advancing his cultivation and combat skills, improving his pill refining, and learning about the marsh.

• Zhu Weisheng asked whether the guests planned to attempt the sect recruitment tasks, and Wang Hong considered joining a sect to gain access to Foundation Establishment resources and protection from the Lin Family.
• Feng Xin explained that the six great sects recruited every ten years, with their tasks sending cultivators into Black Dragon Marsh to retrieve spiritual items amid deadly hazards and fierce competition.
• Wang Hong concluded that he needed to raise his cultivation, strengthen his combat ability, develop a skill, and study Black Dragon Marsh before the selection.
• Wang Hong used his supply of resources to complete the first layer of the Body Tempering Art in less than a year and decided to practice pill refining as another way to enter a sect.

Wang Hong expanded his businesses after improving his alchemy, using his profits to grow his hidden resources and stockpile pills. He opened Zhao's Elixir Pavilion under Zhao Ning's name to conceal his involvement.

• Wang Hong's Immortal Wine Pavilion earned more than ten thousand Spirit Stones each month, and he left Skinny Monkey in charge while he cultivated and refined pills.
• Wang Hong spent half a year refining Qi Gathering Pills, raised his yield to forty percent, and produced a bottle of eight mid-grade pills.
• Wang Hong expanded and tended the land in his space, then refined Barrier Breaking Pills and other first-rank pills until he had accumulated more than ten thousand pills.
• Wang Hong decided to open an Elixir Pavilion because he had abundant spirit herbs and pills but did not want to attract attention by selling them in bulk.
• Wang Hong assigned Zhao Ning to open a shop under his name, and Zhao's Elixir Pavilion began selling first-rank pills and spirit herbs ten days later.

After months of experiments, Wang Hong and his companions developed the nine-level Immortal Mortal Transformation cultivation technique. Disguised as Wang Kun, he explored Black Dragon Marsh to collect spiritual herbs and reached Hundred Flowers Valley with his party, where they discovered a Green-tailed Spirit Beehive.

• After testing the Body Tempering Art and Henglian Liuhe Gong, Wang Hong and more than forty people developed the preliminary nine-level Immortal Mortal Transformation technique for his soldiers.
• Wang Hong joined an exploration party under the alias Wang Kun and entered Black Dragon Marsh, where his hardened body resisted a venomous mosquito's bite.
• Wang Hong collected spiritual herb seedlings and traded pills and spiritual wine for herbs from Fairy Shi and the other cultivators.
• The party crossed the marsh and reached Hundred Flowers Valley to gather spiritual flowers for brewing Hundred Flowers Spirit Wine.
• While the party gathered flowers and Wang Hong transplanted specimens into his space, the Yu cultivator spotted a Green-tailed Spirit Beehive.

Wang Hong and four cultivators killed Spirit Bees in batches and divided the hive’s honey and royal jelly. Afterward, Wang Hong ate his homemade Spirit Meal and offered to sell the others a jar for twenty Spirit Stones.

• The group rejected burning the hive and agreed to lure away and kill the Spirit Bees in small batches.
• Wang Hong used talismans and his spear to fight off hundreds of Spirit Bees, then recovered with spirit wine before returning.
• The five spent nearly two days exterminating the swarm, suffering stings and swollen faces along the way.
• Old Man Ge cut down the hive, and the group divided the honey and ten drops of Spirit Bee Royal Jelly equally.
• Wang Hong ate meat broth and flatbread, and the Lei cultivator asked to buy a portion.
• Wang Hong priced each jar of Spirit Meal at twenty Spirit Stones and offered the flatbread for free.

Wang Hong discovered that creatures hatched inside his expanding space could enter and leave it, then joined the group as they continued through Black Dragon Marsh. In Mistwind Gorge, the cultivators found a grove of Crimson Silk Fruit trees guarded by Green Wind Monkeys and considered fighting for the harvest.

• Wang Hong served the Lei cultivator a spirit meal, then discovered that Green-tailed Spirit Bees hatched in his space could pass in and out while ordinary ants could not enter alive.
• Wang Hong brought ant eggs into his space, and after the group rested, they continued toward Mistwind Gorge.
• The cultivators entered the mist-filled gorge, divided up Silver Thread Orchid, and spread out to search while keeping close enough to help one another.
• Cultivator Shi spotted many Crimson Silk Fruits, and Wang Hong joined the others near the grove, where seven Green Wind Monkeys confronted them.
• The Lei cultivator pointed out that a larger fruit-tree forest lay deeper inside and suggested killing their way through to claim a harvest worth tens of thousands of Spirit Stones.

Wang Hong helped the group defeat several Green Wind Monkeys, but the cultivators’ hunt for Spirit Fruits ended in an ambush by a much larger troop. He escaped into the stone forest, leaving Cultivator Shi dead and Old Man Ge and the Lei cultivator pursued.

• Wang Hong killed one Green Wind Monkey and helped Old Man Ge and the Lei cultivator defeat others while Cultivator Ding struggled against two.
• The surviving monkeys fled, and the group began harvesting Spirit Fruits after a brief rest.
• Wang Hong smelled a foul stench and warned the group they were surrounded, but most continued picking fruit until more than twenty monkeys attacked.
• Cultivator Shi was badly wounded, and Cultivator Ding used an Earth Escape Talisman to flee during the chaos.
• Wang Hong and the Lei cultivator hurled talismans at the monkeys, then Wang Hong burrowed deeper into the stone forest.
• Cultivator Shi was torn apart, while Old Man Ge and the Lei cultivator escaped the encirclement under pursuit; Wang Hong slipped away in the direction Cultivator Ding had taken.

Wang Hong gathered spirit fruit trees before confronting Cultivator Ding, who revealed his strength and pursued him to seize his treasures. Wang Hong killed Cultivator Ding with a trap of Iron Thorns seeds and talismans, but suffered a grievous wound and fled after treating it.

• Wang Hong dug up one small tree of each spirit fruit variety and hid when Cultivator Ding approached.
• Cultivator Ding admitted luring cultivators to draw off the demon monkeys and revealed his power had reached Qi Refining Layer Eight.
• Wang Hong fought Cultivator Ding, then fled for hours while using talismans and spirit wine to stay ahead.
• Wang Hong reached a dead end and used Iron Thorns seeds to hem Cultivator Ding in.
• Wang Hong fired a large handful of talismans at Cultivator Ding while Cultivator Ding's Golden Flying Sword badly wounded him.
• Wang Hong treated his injuries, took Cultivator Ding's storage pouch and flying swords, and hurried away.

After recovering from his wounds, Wang Hong examined Cultivator Ding’s spoils, expanded and planted his space, and established a new queen bee for its hive. Back in Qingxu City, he learned someone was investigating the Elixir Pavilion’s suppliers and decided to make his businesses’ supply sources appear openly legitimate.

• Wang Hong sorted Cultivator Ding’s spoils, including Spirit Fruits, more than fifty thousand Spirit Stones, cultivation records, and a Foundation Establishment Spirit Artifact flying sword.
• Wang Hong used the Spirit Stones to expand his space to four mu, planted his Spirit Fruits, and noticed that some Spirit Grains and spirit wheat were mutating again.
• Wang Hong bound the strongest egg in Cultivator Ding’s honeycomb to himself and placed it in a queen cell so it could become the hive’s new queen bee.
• Wang Hong found ants eating his spirit herbs, tested that creatures hatched in the space could be brought inside, and then returned to Qingxu City in disguise.
• Zhao Ning told Wang Hong that someone had tried to investigate the Elixir Pavilion’s suppliers and bribe one of his soldiers.
• Wang Hong decided to expand his wine cellars, openly explain the Elixir Pavilion’s supply sources, and eventually buy spirit fields to help conceal where some spirit herbs came from.

Wang Hong used his Wang Kun disguise to resume selling elixirs, then bought magical artifacts and second-tier medicinal seeds at Myriad Treasures Tower. He expanded his cultivation space and finished refining over a hundred Body Tempering Pills.

• Wang Hong established a residence in Qingxu City under the identity of Wang Kun and sold elixirs through Zhao's Elixir Pavilion, including a Barrier Breaking Pill.
• Wang Hong ate all fifteen White Crystal Fruits, which lowered his cultivation from Qi Refining Layer Five to Qi Refining Layer Four while purifying his mana, then brewed spirit wine from other Spirit Fruits.
• Wang Hong spent his earnings at Myriad Treasures Tower on a heavy high-grade spear, a mid-grade flying sword, two shields, and second-tier spirit-herb and Spirit Fruit items.
• Wang Hong paid for his purchases with a Barrier Breaking Pill, received one thousand Spirit Stones back, and used the remaining thirty thousand Spirit Stones to expand his space.
• Wang Hong harvested more than thirty batches of Body Tempering Pill ingredients and spent seven days refining over a hundred pills.

Wang Hong expanded his pill business, trained in Shifting Form and Changing Position, and spent three years growing stronger while developing his space and supporting his soldiers. By the end, he had reached the seventh level of Qi Refining, built up substantial stores of spiritual resources, and continued cultivating his organization’s supply and training.

• Wang Hong tested Body Tempering Pills on Wen Lan and Luo Zhongjie, then began cultivating Shifting Form and Changing Position despite its heavy spiritual-power cost.
• Wang Hong, using the identity Wang Kun, negotiated a long-term supply arrangement with Qian Gui, providing pills and herbs including one Barrier Breaking Pill per month.
• Wang Hong assigned Zhang Chunfeng a thousand sets of Qi Gathering Pill ingredients to practice alchemy, while the Spirit Bee Queen’s colony grew to over ten thousand bees.
• Wang Hong repeatedly trained in Black Dragon Marsh, first with teams and later alone after reaching the seventh level of Qi Refining, and expanded his space to fifteen mu over three years.
• Wang Hong organized his expanded stores of spiritual fruit, medicines, and grain, while his soldiers received Body Tempering Pills and Demonic Beast meat and some advanced to the second level of Qi Refining.

Wang Hong expanded his quiet trade through the fabricated Immortal Dao Trading Company and attended Qingxu City’s Ten-Store Joint Auction, where he bought a Wind Sailing Boat and several spiritual herbs. The auction ended with He Yuan failing to obtain two mutated herbs that could restore his depleted essence and blood, though he suddenly seemed to hear or sense someone in the crowd.

• Wang Hong continued supplying five small shops and planned to grow the Immortal Dao Trading Company while avoiding major forces.
• Wang Hong attended the crowded Ten-Store Joint Auction and won the Wind Sailing Boat for 1,500 Spirit Stones.
• Wang Hong exchanged second-tier spiritual herbs for auction proceeds and later bought several herbs he lacked.
• The auction’s two mutated three-hundred-year-old herbs were identified as second-tier medicine that could replenish essence and blood, and the crimson-robed cultivator won them for 50,000 Spirit Stones.
• He Yuan offered 20,000 Spirit Stones and ten years of service under a Blood Pact for the herbs, but the crimson-robed Foundation Establishment cultivator refused to sell them.
• He Yuan sat down in despair, then reacted with delight when he sensed someone in the crowd but could not find them.