Chapter Summaries

The Chu Army fought off repeated Qin assaults on Huju City, with Wang Hong using his strength to destroy a siege ladder and help save the Sixth Battalion. After the Qin Army withdrew at nightfall, Wang Hong shared restorative wine with Li Xiaoya and Lu Jingou as the defenders prepared for an even fiercer battle.

• The Qin Army advanced siege ladders toward Huju City while Wang Hong killed soldiers on the ladder attacking his section of the wall.
• The Chu defenders set the ladders ablaze and repelled Qin soldiers who tried to leap onto the battlements, though Qin troops eventually gained footholds in some sections.
• Wang Hong hurled massive boulders until he broke apart the siege ladder threatening the Sixth Battalion, drawing cheers from the defenders.
• The Qin Army withdrew at nightfall after repeated assaults, leaving a growing mound of corpses, earth, and stones beneath the wall and heavy casualties among the Chu defenders.
• Wang Hong gave Li Xiaoya and Lu Jingou restorative wine and dried meat, and the two recovered their strength and felt their cultivation improve.

After the Chu Army burned the Qin Army’s provisions, Wang Hong and his comrades held the city and pursued the hungry Qin forces as they withdrew. The Qin Army collapsed in a decisive rout, and the Chu Army began recovering lost territory over the following months.

• Wang Hong smashed Qin siege ladders during the renewed assault, while a hidden Chu force raided the Qin Army’s grain depot and burned its provisions.
• The Chu Army learned the Qin Army had only a day’s food left and endured its fiercest attack before receiving orders to pursue the retreating enemy.
• Wang Hong followed the Qin Army with fifty men from the Sixth Company as Chu forces harried its orderly retreat and ambushed it from the hills.
• The Qin Army broke formation and fled after Chu forces attacked from three sides, and Wang Hong killed two captains and seized two camp banners during the pursuit.
• The Chu Army won a major victory, killing more than fifty thousand Qin soldiers and beginning to reclaim lost territory with the arrival of reinforcements.

After resigning from the Chu Army, Wang Hong reached Qingxu City with three followers, hoping to pursue the power of immortals. He registered to enter the city and explored its shops and crowded Free Market, where he began learning about the goods on sale.

• Wang Hong left the military after years of victories and traveled through dangerous Qingxu Mountain with his followers, losing more than twenty men along the way.
• Wang Hong and three companions joined the line to register at Qingxu City's gate after learning that newcomers needed entry tokens.
• The goateed old man registered Wang Hong and gave him a wooden token, which allowed him to pass through the city gate.
• Wang Hong explored the city's towering shops and discovered the crowded Free Market.
• Wang Hong approached a stall where a dark-faced man sold golden-haired demonic ox meat for Spirit Stones.

Wang Hong explored the cultivation market, learned that Spirit Stones were used as currency, and found items from his space he could sell. He sold two hundred-year-old Ginseng plants and left with thirty-five Spirit Stones.

• Wang Hong watched a buyer and seller bargain over Golden-Haired Demonic Ox meat and learned that Spirit Stones were used for market transactions.
• Wang Hong examined ores, Demonic Beast materials, spirit herbs, and cultivation manuals, and discovered that a hundred-year-old Ginseng sold for twenty Spirit Stones.
• Wang Hong realized he could sell Ginseng and Spirit Grains from his space, though he decided the grains would be difficult to bring out in the crowded plaza.
• Wang Hong offered two hundred-year-old Ginseng plants to an old man at a purchasing stall, accepted thirty-five Spirit Stones, and completed the sale.

Wang Hong learned about Qingxu Immortal City and cultivation, then gave his soldiers a chance to leave before reorganizing the forty-five who stayed. He discovered that the Spirit Stones he had stored in his space had vanished and suspected the space had consumed them.

• Wang Hong met his companions at the city gate, heard what they had learned about Qingxu Immortal City, and showed them a Spirit Stone.
• At camp, Zhao Ning briefed Wang Hong and the squad leaders; Wang Hong gave his soldiers a day to decide whether to keep following him.
• Wang Hong read the Comprehensive Guide to Cultivation and learned that he had four Spiritual Roots, while Wang Yi had a rare single Spiritual Root.
• By the next sunset, Wang Hong's force had fallen from more than seventy men to forty-five, and he divided the remaining soldiers into five squads.
• Wang Hong found that the Spirit Stones he had put in his space had disappeared and wondered whether the space had eaten them.

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.