Chapter Summaries

Li Qing sold Inferior Magical Artifacts at Tianhe Marketplace and established a profitable stall partnership with Ye Feng. He agreed to refine a Water Attribute whip for Ye Feng and learned the materials could also help him prepare to make a Mid-grade Magic Tool.

• Li Qing countered Ye Feng's attempt to get a Curved Water Sword for free with a joke about the Tianhe Sect's Ascension Ceremony, then sold him the sword for sixty-five Spirit Stones.
• Li Qing and Ye Feng began sharing their stalls, and Li Qing sold four Inferior Magical Artifacts for a total of three hundred and eighty Spirit Stones in eight days.
• Li Qing posted that he could refine basic five-element Low-grade Magic Tools, surprising Ye Feng.
• Ye Feng asked Li Qing to refine a Water Attribute whip using Condensing Water Sand, Mysterious Yin Snake Skin, and Bloodthirsty Vine, and Li Qing agreed for fifty Spirit Stones.
• Ye Feng said he would bring the materials and payment the next day and promised Li Qing another benefit if the refinement succeeded.

Li Qing left Tianhe Marketplace to refine artifacts in seclusion and examined the spoils he had taken from Liu Tianbao in the Eternal Night World. After discovering a coveted secret art and valuable tools and pills, he began planning how to make Ye Feng’s Low-grade Magic Tool and his own wares.

• Li Qing collected Ye Feng’s materials and spirit stones, promised to deliver the magic tools within a month, and left Tianhe Marketplace to avoid its daily rent.
• Li Qing found a secluded cave, dug a concealed chamber, and entered the Eternal Night World to inspect Liu Tianbao’s Storage Bag.
• Li Qing found a Mystic Willow Shield, a Mid-grade Magic Tool fan, pills, the Verdant Wood Divine Art, the Essence Augmentation Secret Art, and an incomplete Pill Dao Inheritance.
• Li Qing set aside the valuables, resolved to focus on artifact refining, and planned to finish the tools within a month before exploring the Eternal Night World and checking on the Azure Gang’s work in Giant Rock City.
• Li Qing studied Ye Feng’s Condensing Water Sand, Mysterious Yin Snake Skin, and Bloodthirsty Vine, and began devising a whip with Water Attribute and Wood Attribute spirit patterns.

Li Qing refined the Bloodthirsty Vine and Mysterious Yin Snake Skin into a Low-grade Magic Tool, overcoming several inscription failures and the lack of spiritual energy in the Eternal Night World. After returning to a world with spiritual energy to stabilize the weapon, he named it the Soft Water Whip and tested its power.

• Li Qing purged baleful intent from the Bloodthirsty Vine and Mysterious Yin Snake Skin, then shaped and wove them into a barbed whip.
• Li Qing successfully tempered the whip’s spirituality, rested to restore his Spiritual Power, and returned to the Eternal Night World.
• Li Qing began inscribing Water Attribute and Wood Attribute spirit inscriptions, learning from four failed attempts before completing the patterns on his fifth try.
• The completed whip trembled in the Eternal Night World, where no World Spiritual Energy could stabilize its inscriptions, so Li Qing carried it back to a world with spiritual energy.
• Li Qing named the weapon the Soft Water Whip and tested it by lashing marks into the cave’s stone walls.

After forging seven Inferior Magical Artifacts, Li Qing returned to Giant Rock City in the Eternal Night World to check on the Azure Gang. He discovered that the red moon had brought strange changes, including a temple that demanded blood for unborn children, and asked Er Ya to explain what had happened.

• Li Qing finished forging seven Inferior Magical Artifacts, used up his ordinary iron, and found that the lifespan gains from forging were diminishing.
• Li Qing traveled to Giant Rock City and saw a two-headed, three-horned ox that the locals treated as ordinary.
• Li Qing entered a charity hall and watched a gaunt man named Uncle Yan die after giving blood for the temple's promise of a healthy unborn child.
• Li Qing preserved Uncle Yan's last consciousness long enough for him to deliver his final request, then questioned Er Ya about the blood donations and the temple.
• Er Ya asked whether Li Qing's home had escaped the red moon's effects, and Li Qing asked her to explain the changes in the Eternal Night World.

Li Qing reunited with Miao Jiu in Giant Rock City and learned how the Red Moon had transformed the world and changed its cultivators. Miao Jiu explained that Heavenly Measure Mountain’s cultivators now drew power from the Red Moon, while Li Qing’s questions about the city’s changes were answered only in part.

• Er Ya told Li Qing that Red Moon mutations had affected newborns and that Heavenly Measure Temple collected blood to help people bear normal children.
• Li Qing found the Azure Gang’s new headquarters at the former City Lord’s Mansion and went to the Miao Family Estate to see Miao Jiu and Wei Tian.
• Li Qing overheard Miao Jiu reprimanding his son Miao Xi for crippling Ma Yuan after Ma Yuan bullied women and violated gang rules.
• Miao Xi rushed out to protect his father, but Miao Jiu recognized Li Qing and greeted his old friend; Li Qing stopped Miao Jiu and Miao Xi from kneeling.
• Miao Jiu told Li Qing that the Azure Gang had located Heavenly Measure Mountain and that its cultivators had abandoned the immortal Dao to cultivate Red Moon Secret Power.

Li Qing reunited with An Xuan, who had cultivated Red Moon Secret Power and concealed her aged appearance, then collected the Azure Gang’s stored spiritual materials. At the warehouse, he met Zhao Kou again and demonstrated the gulf between their martial arts by stopping Zhao Kou’s punch with one finger.

• Miao Jiu told Li Qing that An Xuan and several Azure Gang leaders had begun cultivating Red Moon Secret Power, and Li Qing asked to see her.
• Li Qing met An Xuan behind black gauze; she said she had cultivated Red Moon Secret Power in hopes of living long enough to see him again, then asked him to leave after receiving the spiritual materials.
• As Li Qing was led to the Azure Gang’s warehouse, he heard An Xuan sobbing behind him.
• At the warehouse, Li Qing recognized Zhao Kou, who had remained devoted to martial arts and reached the peak of Internal Energy.
• Zhao Kou attacked Li Qing to test his strength, but Li Qing stopped his punch with one finger, leaving Zhao Kou stunned by the grandmaster realm.

Li Qing reunited with Zhao Kou, explained the path to the Martial Arts Grandmaster Realm, and collected spiritual materials from the Azure Gang warehouse. He then secretly investigated Heavenly Measure Temple and discovered that its Red Moon Secret Power cultivators had become monstrous aberrations.

• Li Qing demonstrated Transforming Energy and martial arts true intent, helping Zhao Kou understand how to pursue the Martial Arts Grandmaster Realm.
• Li Qing collected ordinary iron and spiritual materials, including Sea Heart Iron, Fire Cloud Stone, Purple Vein Copper, and jade marrow, from the warehouse.
• Li Qing went to Heavenly Measure Temple to investigate Red Moon Secret Power while concealing his aura.
• Li Qing watched a temple attendant use a strange, boneless hand on a pregnant woman, then saw blood brought in to suppress the cultivator's leaking power.
• Li Qing hid in the rafters and saw two monstrous immortal masters behind the curtain, one resembling a mound of flesh and the other covered in hole-riddled bone.

Li Qing explored Heavenly Measure Temple and learned how Red Moon cultivation transformed people and beasts, then left Giant Rock City to investigate the Eternal Night World. He fought a mutated beast with spells and his Blazing Spear, discovering that talismans failed without spiritual energy.

• Li Qing watched two Red Moon cultivators stabilize after one was fed blood, then explored Heavenly Measure Temple and read wooden slips describing two paths to longevity through Red Moon Secret Power.
• Li Qing found no immortal cultivation inheritance and decided he would need greater strength before investigating former sects such as Heavenly Measure Mountain.
• Li Qing asked Miao Jiu for a map, forged three weapons, and gave them with part of the Limitless Art inheritance to Zhao Kou, Miao Xi, and the Azure Gang.
• Li Qing left Giant Rock City and traveled through a mushroom forest, where a three-headed, pustule-covered mutated beast pursued him.
• Li Qing burned the beast with Fireball Spell, found Wood Thorn Spell ineffective, and realized the Fire Rain Talisman could not work without spiritual energy.
• Li Qing unleashed the flames of his Blazing Spear against the curled-up beast.

Li Qing explored the Eternal Night World’s mushroom forest, collected two Crimson Crystal Cores, and chose to return to the Qingling Cultivation World rather than risk climbing Heavenly Measure Mountain. Back in Tianhe Marketplace, he learned about rising dangers and opportunities before meeting Ye Feng to return the Soft Water Whip.

• Li Qing killed a serpent-like mutated beast with fire, found a peanut-sized Crimson Crystal Core in its middle head, and stored it.
• Li Qing avoided a deadly miasma swamp, spotted a life-devouring mutant mushroom and a fast-moving black shadow, then killed a bone-covered crustacean-like beast and collected another Crimson Crystal Core.
• Li Qing decided not to climb Heavenly Measure Mountain while exhausted and returned to the Qingling Cultivation World to recover.
• Li Qing traveled to Tianhe Marketplace, heard that the Flying Eagle Bandits had obtained an Origin Melting Fruit and that the Lingmiao Cave Mansion had collapsed after deadly battles, and considered profiting from demand for defensive gear and escape tools.
• Li Qing paid for ten days at an inn, found Ye Feng at his stall, and said he had completed the mission to return the Soft Water Whip.

Ye Feng brought Li Qing to a concealed underground market in Tianhe Marketplace and then introduced him to a secret trade gathering hosted by a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Li Qing joined under the codename Er Niu as an Artifact Refiner, and the gathering began.

• Ye Feng completed the sale of the Soft Water Whip to Ye Feng, who paid the remaining spirit stones and invited Li Qing to meet him three days later.
• Li Qing disguised himself and followed Ye Feng to a hidden underground market, where he saw rare goods and a Foundation Establishment cultivator buy aged Earth Yellow Essence.
• Ye Feng explained the rules of a more secret trade gathering and revealed that he had arranged for Li Qing to fill a vacancy left by a deceased Artifact Refiner.
• Li Qing entered the gathering, chose the codename Er Niu, and was introduced as someone who could refine Low-grade Magic Tools.
• The host announced the start of trading, and Li Qing decided to observe before speaking.

Li Qing attended a secret trade gathering, where he found a possible source of spirit wood seeds and heard unsettling rumors about major events in the cultivation world. The gathering continued with members sharing intelligence, including suspicions about Daoist Lingmiao's cave mansion and the Flying Eagle Bandits' rise.

• Li Qing listened as cultivators traded rare treasures and intelligence, then learned that one member could bring him viable spirit wood seeds to the next gathering.
• Li Qing heard Ye Feng buy talisman-making materials and sell first-tier mid-grade Talismans at an apparent loss.
• A cultivator reported that Tianhe Sect was repairing its spirit stone mine after the attackers remained unidentified, while others debated whether Daoist Lingmiao's cave mansion had been used as a trap.
• The gathering discussed how the Flying Eagle Bandits might use a mature Origin Melting Fruit to produce Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators and threaten nearby cultivators and families.

After leaving a secret trading meet, Li Qing cultivated and sold Inferior Magical Artifacts in Tianhe Marketplace while slowly advancing his cultivation. A customer then commissioned him to repair a damaged Mid-grade Magic Tool, the Black Wind Banner, and Li Qing began examining its spiritual patterns.

• Li Qing left the trading meet with Ye Feng and learned that rogue cultivators needed a cultivation craft to join.
• Li Qing returned to Tianhe Marketplace, cultivated the Essence Augmentation Secret Art, and focused on raising his Qi Refining cultivation.
• Li Qing sold three more Inferior Magical Artifacts as demand for magical artifacts increased.
• A burly, dark-skinned man hired Li Qing to repair a Black Wind Banner in exchange for three Guangling Pills and supplied Ink Leaf Stone powder.
• Li Qing examined the banner, found its core spiritual patterns intact, and began repairing its broken flagpole and damaged patterns.

Li Qing repaired the burly man’s Black Wind Banner, discovering it was actually a demonic Yin Wind Banner. When the man tried to leave without paying the final Guangling Pill, Li Qing threatened that he had tampered with the artifact, leaving the man furious and uncertain what he had done.

• Li Qing reforged the Black Wind Banner’s broken flagpole with Ink Leaf Stone powder and restored its spiritual inscriptions.
• Li Qing tested the repaired banner and found that it summoned a chilling gust of yin wind, revealing it to be a demonic magic tool.
• The burly man praised Li Qing’s work but tried to leave without paying the agreed-upon third Guangling Pill.
• The burly man dismissed Li Qing’s demand, claiming he had obtained the banner by killing a demonic cultivator and was unafraid of being reported.
• Li Qing claimed he had altered several inscriptions and added special patterns to the banner, making the burly man stop and angrily inspect it.

Li Qing collected payment from the burly man surnamed Xiao by bluffing that he had damaged the Black Wind Banner, then spent the following days selling his forged artifacts and exploring Tianhe Marketplace. At the Beast Fighting Arena, he considered entering exotic beasts from the Eternal Night World in its battles, but questioned whether beasts affected by the Red Moon Secret Power could survive in a world with spiritual energy.

• Li Qing bluffed the burly man into paying thirty Spirit Stones to restore the Black Wind Banner, then admitted the inscriptions were intact and anticipated future trouble with him.
• Li Qing decided to require Spirit Contracts when repairing magic tools and spent more than ten days cultivating while selling all his forged Inferior Magical Artifacts.
• Li Qing visited the Beast Fighting Arena, where cultivators gathered to watch and bet on demonic beast fights.
• Li Qing watched the Giant Flame Lizard battle the Frost Jade Wing Mantis and considered earning Spirit Stones by entering exotic beasts from the Eternal Night World.
• Li Qing worried that the exotic beasts’ unusual appearance could raise suspicion and wondered whether Red Moon Secret Power-affected beasts could survive in a world with spiritual energy; he took out a scarlet crystal grain.

Li Qing visited the Beast Fighting Arena to learn how its beast fights worked and realized he could avoid questions about the Eternal Night World’s strange beasts by letting them become known in the Cultivation World first. He left with a plan to capture and release some of them, and decided to refine the Water Entanglement Net for the task.

• Li Qing watched a Giant Flame Lizard lose to a Frost Jade Wing Mantis, then asked the Beast Fighting Arena manager about registering a demonic beast for fights.
• Li Qing learned the arena’s payment, selection, contract, and penalty rules, while Wu Hong negotiated over selling his dead Giant Flame Lizard’s materials.
• Li Qing worried that revealing the Eternal Night World’s strange beasts could expose Two Realms Travel and make him a target for interrogation.
• Li Qing watched a Jade Striped Sea Python defeat a Unicorn Shark and realized he could let other cultivators discover strange beasts before claiming to have encountered them in the wilderness.
• Li Qing planned a Strange Beast Capture Operation and decided to refine the Water Entanglement Net for capturing the beasts.

Li Qing attended the Hidden Area trade fair alone and acquired Jade Locust spirit wood and seeds after agreeing to try repairing Nine Heavens’s high-grade spirit boat. The fair ended with Míngguāng declining help to explore his secret site but buying Li Qing’s defensive shield and a puppet from Golden Fur.

• Li Qing watched the Flame-Patterned Leopard defeat the Golden-Furred Lion, then spent several days cultivating before attending the trade fair alone.
• Nine Heavens offered Li Qing Jade Locust spirit wood and seeds for five hundred spirit stones, or three hundred if Li Qing repaired his high-grade spirit boat; Li Qing agreed to try.
• Míngguāng bought five stalks of Sky Star Grass and declined the cultivators’ offers to join his secret-site exploration, though he said he might seek help later.
• Míngguāng bought Li Qing’s Mystic Willow Shield for one hundred and eighty spirit stones and purchased a mechanism puppet from Golden Fur.

Li Qing agreed to take over a Tianhe Marketplace cave estate for a year and a half, hoping its abundant spiritual energy would aid his cultivation and help a Spirit Seed sprout. At the trading meet’s close, rumors about the Shi Family refining Foundation Establishment Pills and a Tianhe Sect Supreme Elder accepting a final disciple left the cultivators speculating about their consequences.

• A cultivator offered to transfer the remaining year and a half of his Tianhe Marketplace cave estate lease, and Li Qing negotiated a price of nine hundred spirit stones and one Mid-grade Magic Tool.
• Li Qing considered the cave estate’s privacy and spiritual energy useful for advancing his cultivation and planting his jade locust Spirit Seed.
• At the end of the trading meet, a cultivator reported a rumor that the Shi Family of Medicine King Ridge was preparing to refine Foundation Establishment Pills, reviving the interest of the middle-aged cultivator seeking one.
• A cultivator asked Lingying about a rumor that a Tianhe Sect Supreme Elder had accepted a final disciple, and Lingying said she did not know where the news came from.
• The gathered cultivators speculated that the new disciple might possess a Heavenly Spiritual Root, while Li Qing inferred that Lingying had strong ties to Tianhe Sect.

Li Qing settled into a secluded cave mansion in Tianhe Marketplace, planted a Jade Locust Tree Spirit Seed, and began cultivating with the abundant spiritual energy there. He also agreed to spend a year repairing Jiuxiao’s spirit boat and started using a Jade Locust Tree branch to strengthen his body.

• Li Qing rented the leftmost cave mansion on Little West Mountain, signing a spirit contract and receiving its restriction token.
• Li Qing furnished the cave mansion, planted the Jade Locust Tree Spirit Seed, and gave Rice Bucket a room to stay in.
• Li Qing planned to break through to the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining and advance his artifact-refining skills while living in seclusion.
• Jiuxiao gave Li Qing a year to repair his damaged spirit boat, and the two signed a spirit contract.
• Li Qing used the Jade Locust Tree branch to draw out Spirit Wood Essence, beginning to strengthen his body beyond its former limits.

Li Qing mastered the first layer of the Precious Wood Body Tempering Art, then spent a year cultivating in seclusion and advanced to the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining. He began repairing Nine Heavens’ damaged spirit boat in the Eternal Night World and devised a possible substitute for spirit patterns he could not restore.

• Li Qing absorbed the Spirit Wood Essence from a Jade Locust Tree branch and mastered the first layer of the Precious Wood Body Tempering Art, gaining enough physical strength to contend with Mid Qi Refining cultivators.
• Li Qing returned to cultivation, spent a year in seclusion, and broke through to the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining.
• Li Qing remembered that he needed to repair Fellow Daoist Nine Heavens’ spirit boat and traveled to the Eternal Night World to inspect it.
• Li Qing identified damaged spirit patterns for transmitting Spiritual Power, agility, defense, and ice-attribute attacks, but lacked the knowledge to repair some of them.
• Li Qing considered replacing the unfamiliar patterns with others suited to the spirit boat’s traveling function and came up with a possible plan.

Li Qing repaired Jiuxiao’s spirit boat and replaced its ice-arrow attack patterns with a water net that froze and restrained cultivators. Jiuxiao approved the alteration, rewarded Li Qing with a favor, and departed, leaving Li Qing free to check on the Jade Locust Tree’s Spirit Seed.

• Li Qing erased the spirit boat’s ice-attribute patterns and successfully inscribed Water Entanglement Net patterns that formed a bone-chilling, blood-and-qi-hindering net.
• Li Qing repaired the remaining agility and transmission patterns, completed the High-grade Magic Tool spirit boat, and tested its flight and protective barrier.
• Jiuxiao arrived at Li Qing’s cave dwelling after the one-year deadline, and Li Qing announced that he had completed the repair.
• Li Qing demonstrated the altered ice-water net, and Jiuxiao praised its freezing and restraining effects as better suited to the spirit boat than its original Ice Arrow Technique.
• Jiuxiao offered Li Qing a favor, accepted the repaired spirit boat, and departed; Li Qing then decided to check on the Jade Locust Tree’s Spirit Seed.