Chapter Summaries

Lu Fan succeeded in Foundation Establishment without relying on a Foundation Establishment Pill, shocking the Lingyun Sect. He stormed the Ice Prison, forced its disciples to name Zheng Donghe as the one who had arranged his punishment, and flew off to confront him.

• Lu Fan began attempting Foundation Establishment in his courtyard, and disciples across the sect—including Zheng Donghe and the Ice Prison staff—assumed he would fail.
• Lu Fan’s spiritual aura surged and stabilized, confirming his successful Foundation Establishment, and he immediately flew toward the Ice Prison.
• Lu Fan entered the Ice Prison and slapped Senior Brother Lin, demanding to know who had arranged to place him in its deepest section.
• The Ice Prison disciples named Zheng Donghe, and Lu Fan publicly pretended not to believe their accusation while slapping them until they repeated it.
• Lu Fan declared that he would confront Zheng Donghe and flew toward his residence with murderous momentum.

Li Qing completed his Artifact Refining Hall quota and studied second-tier inheritance while preparing to refine a Top-grade Magic Tool. After visiting the newly imprisoned Lu Fan, he decided to seek out the Ice Prison’s mad old senior.

• Li Qing refined a High-grade Magic Tool, the Ice Cloud Umbrella, and completed his sect artifact-refining quota.
• Li Qing studied second-tier artifact-refining inheritance, including unusual composite spiritual patterns, while planning to refine a Top-grade Magic Tool using a wild bull spinal bone.
• Li Qing heard that Lu Fan had attacked Zheng Donghe after reaching Foundation Establishment and had been imprisoned, then went to visit him.
• Li Qing confirmed Lu Fan had not revealed his involvement with the Foundation Establishment Pill and reassured him that the sect would likely release him soon.
• Li Qing heard the mad old man in the Ice Prison and went to visit the former Foundation Establishment Late Stage elder.

Li Qing visited the imprisoned Elder Wu Yuan and discovered that the Soul Nurturing Bell could quiet his rampaging soul. After Wu Yuan briefly regained his senses, he began teaching Li Qing the dangerous Soul Core method before the chapter ended.

• Li Qing approached Wu Yuan’s sealed cell and was nearly overwhelmed by the elder’s soul-shaking cries and laughter.
• Li Qing rang the Soul Nurturing Bell, and Wu Yuan grew calm enough to ask him to continue.
• Wu Yuan asked who led the Lingyun Sect, learned that Xu Yun was sect master, and refused Li Qing’s offer to summon help.
• Wu Yuan said he wished to die quietly in the Ice Prison and offered Li Qing the techniques and inheritances left in his memories.
• Li Qing asked about Wu Yuan’s Core Formation method, and Wu Yuan began teaching him the forbidden Soul Core technique.

Li Qing received Elder Wu Yuan’s warnings about the dangerous Soul Pill method, then learned that Wu Yuan had regained consciousness only to spend his final days in peace. After Wu Yuan died and was buried by the sect, Li Qing tried the method, found it too dangerous for his current cultivation, and turned to artifact refining instead.

• Li Qing thanked Elder Wu Yuan for teaching him the Soul Pill method and left the Ice Prison, reflecting on how Wu Yuan’s reckless pursuit of advancement had ruined his promising path.
• The Ice Prison guards noticed Wu Yuan had gone quiet, investigated, and discovered that he had regained consciousness, prompting news to spread through Lingyun Sect.
• Sect Master Xu Yun visited Wu Yuan and offered life-extending medicines, but Wu Yuan refused them and chose to die quietly in the Ice Prison.
• Sect Master Xu Yun buried Wu Yuan in the sect’s back mountain, where important elders gathered to mourn the fallen legend.
• Li Qing attempted to cultivate the Soul Pill method but found that splitting his divine soul nearly made it collapse, so he restored it with the Soul Nurturing Bell and Thousand-Year Sky Star Grass.
• Li Qing decided to postpone the method until his divine soul was stronger and focused on studying the second-rank artifact refining inheritance and refining the Sky Net Banner.

Ling Ying and Liu Hongyuan traveled into Forbidden Speech Snow Mountain to ask Crocodile Venerable to loosen an ancient seal and distract the Lingyun Sect from the Shangqing Sect’s planned attack on the Tianhe Sect. Crocodile Venerable accepted after Ling Ying offered a mysterious Crimson Crystal, but said it could only loosen the seal, not open it outright.

• Ling Ying and Liu Hongyuan followed the Water Condensing Mirror deep into Forbidden Speech Snow Mountain and found Crocodile Venerable resting as a stone egg in an ice pit.
• Crocodile Venerable’s overwhelming aura forced Ling Ying and Liu Hongyuan to their knees until Ling Ying presented the Water Condensing Mirror and explained True Person Linglong’s request.
• Ling Ying offered Crocodile Venerable the promised Water Spirit Pearl fragment and the Tianhe Sect’s inherited cultivation arts if the Shangqing Sect defeated the Tianhe Sect.
• Crocodile Venerable doubted the offer and questioned whether the Tianhe Sect could possess any part of a Five Elements Spirit Pearl.
• Ling Ying gave Crocodile Venerable a mysterious red crystal core, which Crocodile Venerable recognized as carrying dense killing intent and buried beneath the snow.
• Crocodile Venerable agreed to help but warned Ling Ying that it could only loosen the ancient seal atop the snow mountain.

Crocodile Venerable triggered a massive avalanche while using ancient Demonic Script to break the seal of the Cold Wind Secret Realm atop Forbidden Speech Snow Mountain. As the tremors and cold reached Lingyun Sect, Chu Mingyi reported the disturbance, but a Law Enforcement elder dismissed it as an ordinary avalanche.

• Crocodile Venerable protected Ling Ying and Liu Hongyuan from the avalanche while striking the summit seal with mysterious imprints.
• Ling Ying told Liu Hongyuan that Lingyun Sect had been founded to guard the Ancient Demon Clan sealed within the snow mountains, and said the sect could handle the remnants if they were released.
• Lingyun Sect’s mountain-gate disciples felt prolonged tremors and growing cold, though the senior disciples initially dismissed them as effects of a routine avalanche.
• Chu Mingyi flew to the sect to report the disturbance after the mountain-gate disciples agreed that something was wrong.
• A Law Enforcement Hall elder waved off Chu Mingyi’s report, saying avalanches on the snow mountain were common.

Crocodile Venerable opened a gap in the seal beneath Forbidden Speech Snow Mountain, then departed with Ling Ying and Liu Hongyuan fleeing the scene. Meanwhile, Li Qing began refining a Sky Net Banner and left off shaping the wild ox spine after purging its Killing Intent.

• Elder Wei Han dismissed reports of tremors and falling temperatures near the mountain gate as ordinary disturbances.
• Crocodile Venerable weakened the Extreme Ice Demon Sealing Formation, allowing demonic qi to escape through a fissure.
• Crocodile Venerable left with the crimson crystal, and Ling Ying and Liu Hongyuan fled beyond Forbidden Speech Snow Mountain.
• Li Qing prepared to refine a Sky Net Banner with his Black Furnace and Innate True Fire.
• Li Qing spent three days and nights purging Killing Intent from a late second tier wild ox spine, then recovered his mana.
• Li Qing resumed refining the spine, planning to reduce its size and melt its essence for the banner.

Li Qing completed the Sky Net Banner’s prototype and began inscribing its spirit patterns as the Shangqing Sect mobilized its forces and launched a war against the Tianhe Sect. The chapter left Lingyun Sect Master Xu Yun uneasy about why Shangqing Sect had attacked so suddenly despite Lingyun Sect’s presence.

• Li Qing refined the Sky Net Banner’s materials, finished its prototype, and began engraving its spirit patterns.
• True Person Linglong summoned the Mountain-Bearing Tortoise and asked it to suppress the Tianhe Sect’s formation.
• The Shangqing Sect awakened its powerful hidden cultivators, mobilized its forces, and formally declared war on the Tianhe Sect.
• Cultivation Noble Families across the Liang Kingdom sent descendants to support the Shangqing Sect, and news of the war spread throughout the Qingling Region.
• Sect Master Xu Yun received the report and questioned why the Shangqing Sect would attack without accounting for Lingyun Sect.

Li Qing finished refining the Sky Net Banner, a Top-grade Magic Tool, and tested its ability to immobilize a Second-tier Demonic Beast. At an urgent sect meeting, Sect Master Xu Yun revealed that Lingyun Sect had been founded to guard Forbidden Speech Snow Mountain, where the surviving ancient demons were suppressed.

• Li Qing refined the Sky Net Banner and gained seventy years of lifespan.
• Li Qing used the banner to immobilize Rice Bucket, then released him after testing its mana cost.
• Li Qing joined the elders at Cloudy Sky Hall after Sect Master Xu Yun urgently summoned them.
• Chu Lingyi told Li Qing that the Shangqing Sect had formally declared war on the Tianhe Sect.
• Xu Yun recounted that ancient demons had once devastated the Qingling Region and that Lingyun Sect was founded to guard Forbidden Speech Snow Mountain, where the remaining demons were suppressed.

After the seal at Forbidden Speech Snow Mountain broke, Lingyun Sect prepared for the ancient demons to escape and ordered its elders to investigate the formation. Li Qing returned to his cave dwelling and began planning how to survive the coming danger.

• Sect Master Xu Yun announced that the Extreme Ice Demon Sealing Formation had an expanding breach and would fail completely within ten years.
• Li Qing suspected Shangqing Sect had sabotaged the formation, while Sect Master Xu Yun said the surviving ancient demons might have weakened over the millennia.
• Sect Master Xu Yun declared that he would lead elders into the formation once the breach allowed Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators to pass, and that all elders would investigate in ten groups.
• Sect Master Xu Yun placed Lingyun Sect on a war footing and warned that anyone fleeing would be treated as a sect traitor.
• Li Qing resolved to strengthen his defenses over the next year by cultivating the Blood Burning Secret Method and considering the True Body of the Brahma King, while using his new Contribution Points for supplies.

Li Qing spent his sect contributions on nourishing medicines and used crimson crystals to advance his Qi and Blood Revolutions, preparing to survive the dangerous sealing formation. Meanwhile, Shangqing Sect overran Tianhe Sect’s strongholds and challenged its mountain gate, where Tianhe Sect activated its grand protective formation.

• Li Qing rejected exchanging for cultivation pills, bought spiritual medicines to strengthen his body, and began cultivating the True Body of the Brahma King’s foundation.
• Li Qing used a crimson crystal’s Red Moon Secret Power to complete his Seventh Revolution of Qi and Blood smoothly, then continued toward the final two revolutions.
• Shangqing Sect captured Tianhe Sect’s Spirit Stone Mine and forced the remaining Spirit Mine Workers into slavery.
• Shangqing Sect’s forces looted the ruins of Tianhe Marketplace as war brought disaster to trapped Rogue Cultivators.
• A Late Core Formation old woman from Shangqing Sect challenged Tianhe Sect, but the Sect Master activated the grand protective formation and forced her to retreat.

Shangqing Sect surrounded Tianhe Sect, which was cut off from outside help, while Lingyun Sect prepared for its own battle. Li Qing endured the brutal cultivation of the True Body of the Brahma King to improve his chances of surviving the coming sealed-formation expedition, and Wu Chong arrived to check on him.

• Shangqing Sect's sect master ordered his forces to keep Tianhe Sect surrounded and had formation elders continue surveying the terrain for a way to counter its protective formation.
• Sect Master Qingxuan learned Tianhe Sect had received no reply from Lingyun Sect and went to consult the ancestors, warning the elders to keep Suxin from acting impulsively.
• Wu Chong told Lingyun Sect elders that Sky Swallowing Ancestor would decide who received talisman treasures made from a defective magic treasure.
• Li Qing cultivated the True Body of the Brahma King, suffering severe wounds and consuming a Blood Jade Orchid to restore his vitality.
• Wu Chong hurried to Li Qing's cave abode and found him injured, where Li Qing explained that he was strengthening his body before entering the sealed formation.

Fatty Wu told Li Qing about an offer of an imprinted talisman treasure and revealed that two Shangqing Sect elders were behind the mortal village massacres. As Lingyun Sect prepared to deal with the breached seal on Forbidden Speech Snow Mountain, Sect Master Xu Yun planned to use the conflict between Shangqing and Tianhe Sects to resolve the ancient demon threat and advance Lingyun Sect’s rise.

• Fatty Wu offered to ask Sky Swallowing Ancestor for an imprinted talisman treasure to improve Li Qing’s chances of survival.
• Fatty Wu showed Li Qing portraits of the suspected killers, and Li Qing identified them as Shangqing Sect elders Ling Ying and Liu Hongyuan.
• Li Qing linked the massacres to the breach in the Forbidden Speech Snow Mountain sealing formation, and Wu Chong hurried to report his findings.
• Li Qing resumed cultivating the True Body of the Brahma King, accepting the possible cost to his lifespan in exchange for greater strength.
• Wu Chong told Sect Master Xu Yun that Shangqing Sect elders had caused the massacres, but Xu Yun said the sect already suspected Shangqing and would focus first on the ancient demon and exploit the war between Shangqing and Tianhe.

After nine months of brutal training, Li Qing’s body arts reached the peak of the mid second tier, though the effort cost him seventy years of lifespan. He tested his strength, received a Golden Saber Talisman Treasure from Wu Chong for the coming sealing formation, and began preparing Moonflow Gold armor.

• Li Qing emerged from seclusion with a physique near the late second tier and realized that his training had cost him nearly seventy years of lifespan.
• Li Qing tested the True Body of the Brahma King by striking a barren mountain and blasted a huge palm print into its rocky face.
• Li Qing decided to refine close-fitting battle armor from Moonflow Gold to protect himself in future close-quarters battles.
• Wu Chong gave Li Qing a Golden Saber Talisman Treasure made from his master’s damaged golden saber and urged him to survive the sealing formation.
• Li Qing examined the talisman treasure, then gathered leftover materials and lit his Innate True Fire to begin forging armor.

Lingyun Sect’s Foundation Establishment elders set out to explore the sealing formation in the snow mountains, where ancient demons might remain and the Nether Cold Fire could be found. Li Qing drew the third batch and, as the Giant Spirit Boat carried the elders south, realized he had little time to find allies entering alongside him.

• Sect Master Xu Yun told the elders that the formation’s crack now allowed Foundation Establishment cultivators through and warned that the trial threatened the Lingyun Sect and Qingling Region.
• Sky Swallowing Ancestor divided the elders into ten batches by lot, and Li Qing drew the third batch.
• Sky Swallowing Ancestor summoned the Giant Spirit Boat, and the elders boarded and departed for the snow mountains.
• Elder Wen advised Li Qing to find fellow members of his batch who could support him, but said he was assigned to the sixth batch.
• Li Qing asked Shen Ningbing, Chu Lingyi, and Ji Bai about their assignments, learning they were in the second, ninth, and eighth batches respectively.

Li Qing and the Lingyun Sect elders arrived at Forbidden Speech Snow Mountain to investigate the ancient devils sealed in the Cold Wind Secret Realm. After devilish qi seeped through the formation, Xu Yun led the first group inside while Li Qing and the others waited outside.

• Li Qing arrived at Forbidden Speech Snow Mountain with the Lingyun Sect elders and met Ancestor Bingyun, who warned that devilish qi was escaping through the seal.
• The Sky Swallowing Ancestor said the devils might be descendants of the ancient ones and ordered the sect to investigate the secret realm quickly.
• Xu Yun explained that Cold Wind Pool concealed an independent pocket heaven protected by the Extreme Ice Demon Sealing Formation.
• The Sky Swallowing Ancestor and Ancestor Bingyun opened the entrance, and Xu Yun led the first group of elders inside.
• Li Qing settled down to wait with the remaining elders as the Sky Swallowing Ancestor and Ancestor Bingyun worried over the sect's dwindling strength and the danger within.

Sect Master Xu Yun reported that the first team had found a Demon Qi Seed and confirmed living ancient demons remained inside Cold Wind Pool. As a second team entered to explore and destroy more seeds, the ancient demons awakened and sent Chi Feng and Chi Yan to investigate, while the elders’ attack on another seed provoked an angry roar.

• Sect Master Xu Yun escaped Cold Wind Pool after destroying a Demon Embryo and warned Sky Swallowing Ancestor and Ancestor Bingyun that living ancient demons remained inside.
• Sky Swallowing Ancestor and Ancestor Bingyun instructed the elders to explore the formation and destroy Demon Qi Seeds, while Li Qing suspected the demons would fight back.
• A majestic ancient demon voice ordered Chi Feng and Chi Yan to investigate the disturbance and the possible weakening of the Extreme Ice Demon Sealing Formation.
• Shen Ningbing joined the second group of elders as they entered Cold Wind Pool and followed the first team’s traces deeper into the grotto-heaven.
• An elder attacked and destroyed a Demon Qi Seed, prompting an unseen ancient demon to roar angrily at the group.

Lingyun Sect elders discovered that the ancient devils were far more numerous than their first encounter suggested, prompting a rescue mission into the sealed grotto-heaven. Li Qing joined the reinforcements, and the chapter ended as a savage hand reached through the formation’s gap.

• Chi Feng and Chi Yan emerged after the Demon Qi Seed was destroyed, and a Lingyun Sect elder killed Chi Feng with a Golden Saber Talisman Treasure while Chi Yan fled.
• Shen Ningbing stayed behind to examine Chi Feng’s remains, suspecting stronger ancient devils were hidden deeper inside.
• Injured elders escaped the Cold Wind Secret Realm and reported that ancient devils had killed Jia Miao and trapped many others, including Shen Ningbing.
• The Sky Swallowing Ancestor ordered the third, fourth, and fifth groups to enter, rescue the trapped elders, and capture an ancient devil alive; Ancestor Bingyun worried about Shen Ningbing.
• Li Qing entered the secret realm with the rescue party and followed them toward the gap in the Extreme Ice Demon Sealing Formation.
• An inky-black hand reached through the gap as the elders approached.

Li Qing and the Lingyun Sect elders entered the breached Extreme Ice Demon Sealing Formation to rescue trapped sect members and capture an ancient demon. After one demon’s self-destruction killed an elder, Li Qing fought a hulking demon inside the dark cave heaven and unleashed his body-refining powers to meet its charge.

• Li Qing bound an ancient demon with his Five Elements Binding Spirit Rope, but it self-destructed, damaging the rope and killing an elder with its demonic qi.
• The elders entered the formation’s breach and advanced together through the dark, qi-starved cave heaven toward the sounds of battle.
• Twelve ancient demons attacked the group, and the Lingyun Sect elders fought back with magic tools while Li Qing engaged a powerful, heavily armored demon.
• Li Qing unleashed his stored qi and blood and activated the True Body of the Brahma King, then punched the charging demon.

Li Qing fought and captured Chi Man alive, then used his apparent injuries to convince the Lingyun Sect Elders to leave him alone. He set out with Rice Bucket to deliver the captive, while the wider battle with the Chi Demon Tribe remained unresolved.

• Li Qing fought Chi Man hand to hand and used his Gilded Battle Armor to withstand the ancient demon’s attacks.
• As the other ancient demons began self-destructing under the elders’ assault, Li Qing feigned a serious wound and struck Chi Man with Soul Condensing Slash.
• Li Qing bound the unconscious Chi Man with the Five Elements Binding Spirit Rope and told the elders his divine sense had incapacitated the demon.
• Li Qing summoned Rice Bucket and persuaded the Lingyun Sect Elders to leave him behind as they continued rescuing their fellow disciples.
• After the elders departed, Li Qing secured Chi Man behind Rice Bucket and headed out, knowing the conflict’s decisive battle had yet to come.