Chapter Summaries

Zhao Yumu reported recovering a cultivation technique from Han Yuan, and the Cloud Sun Sect’s leaders decided to use it as a reward while preparing for war with the Earth God Sect. Ancestor Zhuifeng and Ancestor Qingqiu remained wary of the technique and planned to have others test it before switching cultivation methods themselves.

• Zhao Yumu described Han Yuan’s extraordinary strength and presented the stone slab containing the recovered inheritance to Ancestor Zhuifeng.
• Ancestor Zhuifeng confirmed the slab held a genuine Wood Attribute cultivation technique, and Ancestor Qingqiu realized cultivators with other attributes might also be able to learn it.
• Ancestor Zhuifeng made the technique available in exchange for wartime merit, while Ancestor Qingqiu announced the alliance with the Danxia Sect and its supply of three hundred thousand pills.
• The Cloud Sun Sect’s leaders discussed preparations for the Earth God Sect’s expected attack and offered merit-based rewards and cultivation guidance.
• After the meeting, Ancestor Zhuifeng warned Ancestor Qingqiu not to switch methods until Zhao Yumu had tested the technique, and they agreed to have allied sects try it first.

Han Yuan addressed Spirit Script Peak’s disciples before the grand competition, announcing the war against Cloud Sun Sect and the competition’s rewards. He joined the eligible contestants as the competition began, while Liu Xinghe and other Core Disciples entered hoping to fight him.

• Yue Mingxiong told Han Yuan that several elders were being punished for the failed operation and would face the front lines in the coming war.
• Han Yuan announced the sect’s war against Cloud Sun Sect, the battle-merit rewards, and Spirit Script Peak’s grand competition and prizes.
• Han Yuan declared the competition open, then joined the Inner Sect Disciples as a contestant because he remained in the Qi Refining Realm.
• Liu Xinghe and other Core Disciples who had not reached Foundation Establishment joined the competition, and Liu Xinghe hoped to challenge Han Yuan.
• Yue Daoyuan scattered paired spheres from a large box, and the contestants scrambled to catch one each.

Han Yuan discovered that the Random Buff Multiplier could grant him spells he had newly comprehended while he watched the competition. After Yue Feifan won his match and acknowledged Han Yuan, Han Yuan realized the Core Disciple had come looking for him.

• Han Yuan received match number 727 as the first round began and watched the disciples fight across fifty arenas.
• Han Yuan comprehended the Cattail Flower Movement Technique and realized the Random Buff Multiplier had revealed its full contents; he later gained several more spells by watching the matches.
• Qin Feng gave Han Yuan a booklet of information about Spirit Script Peak’s Inner Sect Disciples, earning Han Yuan’s praise.
• Yue Feifan defeated a Ninth Level of Qi Condensation competitor in under a minute, then nodded toward Han Yuan as he left the arena.
• Qin Feng identified Yue Feifan as a Yue Family Core Disciple who had already received a Foundation Establishment Pill, and Han Yuan concluded that Yue Feifan had come looking for him.

Han Yuan defeated Yu Bo'er in a Qi Refining match by combining swift movement techniques, sword footwork, and fire control. Liu Xinghe recognized Han Yuan’s strength but believed his Spiritual Tool could give him a chance to win.

• Han Yuan identified Yu Bo'er as the disciple probing him with Spiritual Sense and learned that Yu had nearly become a Core Disciple.
• Yu Bo'er challenged Han Yuan, and the watching disciples speculated that Han Yuan would lose to the stronger Qi Refining cultivator.
• Han Yuan dodged Yu Bo'er's flying sword, rushed forward with Sword Step, and overcame the fire snakes Yu summoned with talismans.
• Han Yuan shattered Yu Bo'er's defensive shield with repeated sword strikes and won before Yu Bo'er's flying sword returned.
• Liu Xinghe judged that Yu Bo'er had been careless and said his refined Spiritual Tool could help him defeat Han Yuan, while Yue Feifan declined to fight Han Yuan.

Han Yuan’s victories boosted Spirit Script Peak’s morale as he advanced through the tournament. In the round of sixty, he faced Liu Xinghe and used their duel to demonstrate his precise control of spell power.

• Han Yuan’s performance earned him the disciples’ respect and strengthened Spirit Script Peak’s unity as the tournament rounds produced eight hundred victors.
• Han Yuan won several more matches, including against Ninth Level of Qi Condensation cultivators, and advanced to the round of sixty.
• Han Yuan recognized Liu Xinghe, a former leading Inner Sect Disciple, as his opponent, while Yue Mingxiong watched from the main hall.
• Liu Xinghe fired hundreds of starry arrows with his Star Bow, but Han Yuan’s Sword Qi matched each arrow and canceled it out.
• Liu Xinghe assumed Han Yuan was using a Spiritual Tool and launched another attack, while Han Yuan recognized how much his spell control and combat ability had improved.

After winning the tournament, Han Yuan was urged by Ancestor Ziyun to gain experience in the coming war and received tools to help him survive under a false identity. Three days later, the Earth God Sect mobilized, and Han Yuan joined a squad in disguise.

• Han Yuan defeated Liu Xinghe, placed twenty-ninth, and learned from Yue Mingxiong that he was considered a Special Grade Genius.
• Yue Mingxiong told Han Yuan to stay on Spirit Script Peak, then announced the tournament’s end and the coming war.
• Ancestor Ziyun warned Han Yuan that avoiding hardship could undermine his cultivation and urged him to take part in the campaign.
• Ancestor Ziyun gave Han Yuan a Wutian Mask, prepared a Foundation Establishment Early Stage elder identity for him, and also handed him an Auspicious Cloud Flying Boat.
• Three days later, the Earth God Sect mobilized, and Han Yuan set out with a squad while disguised.

Han Yuan attended a war council at Yunsheng Market as Earth God Sect prepared to seize Gengchun Market and its surrounding industries from Cloud Sun Sect. The elders divided the cultivators into attack, defense, and patrol forces, while Han Yuan remained unassigned.

• Two to three thousand people arrived at Yunsheng Market, alarming and exciting the Rogue Cultivators there as rumors spread of an impending war.
• Wu Baogang briefed Zhou Xuanlin and Zhou Renyi on the eleven Earth God Sect industries and eight Cloud Sun Sect industries surrounding the two markets.
• Zhou Renyi argued for gathering intelligence and capturing Cloud Sun Sect's industries one by one, and Zhou Xuanlin agreed to divide their forces between offense and defense.
• Zhou Xuanlin selected twenty-five Foundation Establishment cultivators for the assault force, while Zhou Renyi assigned cultivators to defend the eleven industries and form a mobile patrol.
• Zhou Renyi left Wu Baogang, Chang Yiran, and Chang Huixiu in charge of market security, then noticed Han Yuan standing without an assignment.

Han Yuan took charge of organizing external war missions and rewards at Yunsheng Market, where he prepared halls and supplies for Rogue Cultivators. As he confronted shortages of finished goods, he considered recruiting local crafting experts and studied an Earth Grade Talisman Compendium he unexpectedly understood.

• Zhou Renyi assigned Han Yuan to coordinate external cultivators, missions, logistics, and rewards at the market, warning him against exploiting resources and ordering the defenders to stay alert.
• Wu Baogang arranged three courtyards, materials, and skilled Inner Sect Disciples to support Han Yuan’s new post.
• Han Yuan found that the Qi Condensation disciples assigned to him were mostly poor crafters, but Wu Baogang brought fifteen experienced refiners to help.
• Wu Baogang showed Han Yuan the Mission Hall, Verification Hall, and Exchange Hall, where Rogue Cultivators could take missions and exchange rewards.
• Han Yuan noticed the Exchange Hall lacked finished products and sent a disciple to invite local Rogue Cultivator crafters to oversee production.
• Han Yuan took out an Earth Grade Talisman Compendium and realized he could understand some of its contents because Spirit Script was connected to refinement Runes.

Han Yuan began learning talisman making, using his Spirit Script insight and an enhanced talisman brush to craft Gale Talismans with remarkable ease. He decided to work through every low-grade Yellow Tier talisman in the sect’s compendium, which contained more than ten thousand varieties.

• Han Yuan prepared his talisman-making tools and studied the Gale Talisman’s trajectory in the Talisman Compendium.
• Han Yuan triggered Random Doubling, tripling the spiritual-power enhancement of his Porcupine Talisman Brush.
• Han Yuan successfully crafted a Gale Talisman on his first attempt and sealed it with an Apricot Tree mark.
• Han Yuan made two more Gale Talismans, reducing the time needed for each as he practiced.
• Han Yuan turned to the next method and decided to craft every low-grade Yellow Tier talisman in the compendium.

Han Yuan opened the Mission Hall to Rogue Cultivators and discovered that their rapid exchanges were exhausting the talisman supply. He arranged for Chang Yixin to coordinate talisman materials and secretly buy back his own talismans as outsourced work.

• Han Yuan advertised missions and military merit rewards, including the possibility of exchanging enough merit for a Foundation Establishment Pill, prompting Rogue Cultivators to fill the Mission Hall.
• Han Yuan returned to refining talismans, but Chang Yixin reported that the finished stock was nearly gone because cultivators kept exchanging their merit for talismans.
• Han Yuan contacted Chang Yiran and arranged to outsource talisman production, buying finished talismans for eighty percent of the previous market price while obtaining materials from Spirit Beast Peak.
• Han Yuan assigned Chang Yixin to coordinate material deliveries and use Spirit Stones from the talisman buyback to obtain Yellow Grade Middle Grade or better materials and second-rank low-grade tools.
• Han Yuan told Chang Yixin to keep his identity as the talisman maker secret, and she took nearly forty thousand of his talismans to the Exchange Hall.

Guan Yuqi and his two teammates completed a mission and spent their Military Merit on pills and newly stocked talismans before taking another job. After discovering the pills were excellent quality, they regretted not trusting the talismans and hurried out of Yunsheng Market on their next mission.

• Guan Yuqi, Wang Chongba, and Zhao Jiu passed an identity check and entered Yunsheng Market after completing a mission.
• The three verified their mission at the Verification Hall and earned three hundred Military Merit.
• Guan Yuqi exchanged their reward for pills and twenty low-grade talismans, despite his teammates' doubts about the talismans' quality.
• After refining the pills, Wang Chongba, Guan Yuqi, and Zhao Jiu praised their quality and regretted not waiting to buy the new talismans.
• The three took another simple mission at the Mission Hall and hurried out of the market.

Guan Yuqi and his companions were ambushed by rogue cultivators while completing a mission, but the Apricot Tree Mark talismans let them turn the chase into a fight and kill all four pursuers. Guan Yuqi survived a grave wound with a Healing Talisman, leaving the group battered but alive and convinced of the talismans’ power.

• Guan Yuqi, Wang Chongba, and Zhao Jiu buried thirty-three special stones, then fled when a squad of four rogue cultivators found them.
• Guan Yuqi realized their Gale Talismans were faster than the pursuers’ and led his companions in preparing a counterattack before their talismans ran out.
• Guan Yuqi and his companions unleashed Scattering Arrows, Ice Cone, and Blazing Fire Talismans, killing the enemy leader and badly injuring the other three pursuers.
• The surviving pursuers caught up after the Gale Talismans expired, but Guan Yuqi’s group survived their counterattack and killed all three after a fierce battle.
• Wang Chongba and Zhao Jiu used Healing Talismans to close Guan Yuqi’s severe chest wound, and Guan Yuqi credited the Apricot Tree Mark talismans with their survival.

After Guan Yuqi and his companions returned to Yunsheng Market, they earned 2,000 Military Merit for completing their mission and killing four enemy cultivators. Guan Yuqi spent most of their reward on Apricot Talismans, which quickly sold out and began spreading across the fringe battlefields under the name Master Apricot.

• Guan Yuqi, Wang Chongba, and Zhao Jiu submitted their mission and the heads and documents of four Gengchun Market enemies, earning 2,000 Military Merit without losing anyone.
• Guan Yuqi noticed cultivators watching them and exchanged most of their Military Merit for 300 talismans bearing the Apricot Tree Mark.
• Guan Yuqi distributed the talismans to Wang Chongba and Zhao Jiu, and wary cultivators decided to buy some after seeing his choice.
• Rogue Cultivators tested the Apricot Talismans and returned to buy more after completing their missions.
• Low-level Rogue Cultivators bought all 40,000 Apricot Talismans in one day, and the talismans spread through the fringe battlefields as their maker became known as Master Apricot.

Han Yuan was summoned to a war council, where Zhou Renyi reported that Danxia Sect had joined the fighting and left their forces under pressure. Han Yuan promised to keep the Exchange Hall supplied with talismans, while his cultivation advanced close to a breakthrough to the Ninth Level of Qi Condensation.

• Chang Yixin delivered Elder Yiran’s summons and the recent accounts to Han Yuan, who gave her thirty thousand Yellow Grade Middle Grade talismans to manage.
• Chang Yixin told Han Yuan that his previous talismans had sold quickly and began collecting the new batch for the Exchange Hall.
• At Zhou Renyi’s council, Foundation Establishment Elders reported enemy incursions, supply shortages, and Danxia Sect’s attacks on their front lines and outposts.
• Zhou Renyi asked Chang Yiran about supplies and urged Han Yuan to keep the Rogue Cultivators’ Exchange Hall operating; Han Yuan agreed to buy finished talismans using raw materials.
• Han Yuan reflected that he had filled 160 grooves on the Jianmu Seed and accumulated enough spiritual power to prepare for the Ninth Level of Qi Condensation.

Han Yuan used spirit trees to extend his Spiritual Sense across the market and then broke through to the Ninth Level of Qi Condensation with the help of his Sword Pill. The breakthrough expanded his Dantian sixteenfold, gave it mysterious Dao patterns, and left him at the limit of the Qi Refining Realm with greatly increased spiritual power reserves.

• Han Yuan spread his Spiritual Sense through spirit trees to monitor the market and detect unfamiliar Foundation Establishment cultivators.
• Han Yuan tried to break through his Dantian barrier but discovered that the Jianmu Seed had made it too stable to break with spiritual power alone.
• Han Yuan summoned his Sword Pill, and his sword-related Spell Imprints joined it, strengthening his sword intent and mastery of sword spells.
• Han Yuan used the Sword Pill to crack the Dantian wall, then shattered it with spiritual power and began his breakthrough.
• Han Yuan received a fifteenfold breakthrough effect, expanding his Dantian to sixteen times its former size and inscribing it with mysterious Dao patterns.
• Han Yuan realized he had reached the Qi Refining Realm's limit and found that his Wood Spirit Heart's reserves had risen to a thousand times those of an ordinary Ninth Level cultivator.

After breaking through, Han Yuan advanced his talisman studies and left outside affairs to Chang Yixin. On the fringe battlefield, Guan Yuqi and his companions used an ambush and talismans to defeat a stronger Rogue Cultivator squad, then set out to hunt for more military merit.

• Han Yuan’s spiritual power and physical abilities improved after his breakthrough, and he continued studying talismans while the Jianmu Seed revived.
• Han Yuan mastered the Yellow Grade Middle Grade talismans and began practicing Yellow-grade High-rank talismans, studying how their trajectory segments worked.
• Chang Yixin efficiently managed the three halls and supplied Han Yuan with materials while collecting his finished talismans.
• Guan Yuqi, Wang Chongba, and Zhao Jiu waited in concealment and detonated a buried Ground Burst Apricot Talisman against an approaching squad of Rogue Cultivators.
• Guan Yuqi’s trio finished off the survivors with Wind Blade talismans and a joint attack, then collected the spoils and heads.
• Guan Yuqi’s group left to stock up on more Apricot Talismans, while a weaker group saw the aftermath and retreated.

Zheng Liangjin reported that Rogue Cultivators were suffering losses because the Cloud Sun Sect lacked finished talismans, and Zhao Qizhen allocated supplies to stabilize them. Meanwhile, Han Yuan received a tenfold boost to his talisman-crafting insights and began preparing to modify Yellow-grade talismans, while warning Chang Yixin to protect herself because she alone knew his identity as Master Apricot.

• Zheng Liangjin told Zhao Qizhen that Rogue Cultivators were losing battles against Yunsheng Market because they lacked finished talismans.
• Zhao Qizhen allocated two hundred thousand talismans to Zheng Liangjin and instructed him to stabilize the Rogue Cultivators and address future supply needs.
• Han Yuan completed repeated practice with the Yellow-grade talismans and received a tenfold Random Buff Multiplier to his crafting insights.
• Han Yuan realized he could improve existing Yellow-grade talismans and create new ones, and decided to modify the compendium's designs before attempting new creations.
• Han Yuan asked Chang Yixin to bring three times as many Low-grade Yellow Tier materials and advised her to carry more talismans and buy protective Magic Tools.

Han Yuan modified and mass-produced stronger Low-grade Yellow Tier talismans, then Chang Yixin put them on sale at the Exchange Hall. Guan Yuqi and his companions bought up hundreds of the newly marked talismans, and the thirty thousand-item stock sold out within hours as rogue cultivators prepared to return to battle.

• Han Yuan redesigned the Gale Talisman to boost its speed and duration, improved the Talisman Sealing Technique, and crafted specialized versions of several talismans.
• Chang Yixin collected Han Yuan's marked talismans and listed them at the Exchange Hall without receiving an explanation of their new labels.
• Guan Yuqi, Wang Chongba, and Zhao Jiu returned from a fight with Gengchun Market cultivators and headed to the Exchange Hall after hearing Master Apricot's Low-grade Yellow Tier talismans were available.
• An Earth God Sect disciple explained that the new labels indicated specialized enhancements, and Guan Yuqi exchanged all three thousand of his Military Merit for hundreds of talismans.
• Rogue cultivators bought all thirty thousand talismans in three hours and prepared to take them to the battlefield.

Ye Ming’s forces at the Spirit Stone mine gained the upper hand after receiving ample talisman supplies, turning their defense into an advance. In Yunsheng Market, Zhao Qizhen learned that Master Apricot’s powerful talismans were driving the shortage and ordered his subordinate to recruit or kill him.

• Yue Pingqiu and Ye Ming agreed to send Earth God Sect disciples out to clear the surrounding area while Ye Ming watched the enemy Foundation Establishment cultivator.
• The first day’s fighting cost the Earth God Sect thirty-eight disciples, but the battle opened a supply passage; Ye Ming received reinforcements and extra talismans that night.
• After Cloud Sun Sect supplies were diverted to the Rogue Cultivator Hall, Ye Ming’s disciples gained ground over the next three days and pursued the retreating enemy.
• Zhao Qizhen learned that Master Apricot had supplied hundreds of thousands of unusually powerful talismans to the Rogue Cultivator Hall.
• Zhao Qizhen ordered his subordinate to find Master Apricot and recruit him if possible, or kill him otherwise.

After gaining deep insight into Runes and Spirit Scripts, Han Yuan created a powerful new Gale Talisman and tested its speed. Chang Yixin then told him the sect wanted to recruit Master Apricot or buy more of his talismans, and Han Yuan set a price above market value.

• Han Yuan received a sixteenfold boost to his talisman-making insight and understood how Runes formed talismans and Spirit Scripts.
• Han Yuan created a new Gale Talisman from eighty-one Runes, distinct from the previous design but far more powerful.
• Han Yuan activated the Gale Talisman and flew past Chang Yixin in a gust of wind, scattering her book and leaving her startled.
• Chang Yixin visited Han Yuan and reported that the sect wanted to recruit Master Apricot or obtain more high-grade talismans.
• Han Yuan told Chang Yixin that Master Apricot would provide special talismans at ten percent above the current market value.