Chapter Summaries

A night of intrusions and violence at Qian Manor brought Emperor Fengwu face-to-face with the Qian family’s hidden cultivation secret. As Eunuch Hua attacked Qian Wang, Qian Linghui revealed her strange powers, and a newcomer carrying the Green Rainbow Sword appeared and claimed to have forged it.

• The Divine Eagle Young Master infiltrated Qian Manor and fought Qian Yunwen while other martial artists watched from outside.
• Emperor Fengwu arrived in Guangyang City and told Eunuch Hua that he wanted the cultivation results Qian Hong had researched.
• As martial artists stormed Qian Manor, Qian Wang threw the Azure Rainbow Sword and the “Limitless Art” beyond the walls, drawing most of the intruders away.
• Emperor Fengwu confronted Qian Wang and ordered Eunuch Hua to kill him, planning to blame the Qian family’s deaths on the martial vagabonds.
• Qian Linghui appeared and stopped Eunuch Hua with earth spikes, revealing herself as an immortal cultivator.
• A newcomer carrying the Green Rainbow Sword appeared atop the manor wall, said he had returned to the mortal world, and claimed he had forged the sword for her.

Li Qing killed Emperor Fengwu after learning that a beast-hide-clad female immortal had inspired the emperor's futile pursuit of cultivation. He then learned that Qian Hong had lived out her life in the Qian estate and received her final message, leaving him overwhelmed with grief.

• Li Qing killed Eunuch Hua by destroying his soul, then made Emperor Fengwu kneel and explain that a female immortal had visited Sheng Tian and drained hundreds of residents.
• Emperor Fengwu asked why he could not cultivate, and Li Qing explained that he lacked a Spirit Root before beheading him.
• Li Qing learned from Qian Wang that Qian Hong had stayed in the estate until her death and discovered Qian Linghui's ability to cultivate.
• Qian Linghui led Li Qing to Qian Hong's former courtyard, where he learned that she had left no portrait but had sent him a message through her.
• Qian Linghui relayed Qian Hong's message that the Wuji Grandmaster should not feel guilty over their romantic attachments, and Li Qing held the fragrant veil as his emotions overwhelmed him.

After mourning his departed loved ones and settling his feelings about the Dao, Li Qing took Qian Linghui into the Cultivation World. He killed Mu Ya at the Prairie Sacred Hall, obtained the Dragon Transformation Pill formula, and headed back to Lingyun Sect to gather its ingredients.

• After the Feng Kingdom’s court fell under the Qian family’s control, Li Qing laid the Azure Rainbow Sword and spirit wine at Qian Hong’s grave and invited Qian Linghui to cultivate with him.
• Qian Linghui chose to follow Li Qing to honor her Great-Aunt’s wish, and she bid farewell to her relatives before setting out with him.
• Li Qing and Qian Linghui traveled across the Feng Kingdom, visiting the graves of Ning Yuan, Li Qing’s parents, and Master Gu; the journey steadied Li Qing’s state of mind and prepared him to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm.
• Li Qing flew with Qian Linghui to the Prairie Sacred Hall, where he killed Mu Ya and took the Dragon Transformation Pill formula from the stone hall.
• Li Qing confirmed the formula was genuine, planned to ask Senior Bai Ling to refine the pill once he found the remaining ingredients, and set off with Qian Linghui for Lingyun Sect.

Li Qing returned to the Lingyun Sect with Qian Linghui, arranged for her to become an inner disciple, and sought the rare herbs needed to refine a Dragon Transformation Pill. He struck a Spirit Contract deal with True Lord Tianbao for the missing herbs, leaving the pill’s refinement and Li Qing’s attempt at Nascent Soul formation ahead.

• Li Qing brought Qian Linghui to the Lingyun Sect, gave her sect instructions and Contribution Points, and sent her to register as an inner disciple.
• Li Qing asked the Pill Hall for Dragon Transformation Pill ingredients and obtained all the available herbs except Yin Yang Ganoderma and eight-hundred-year Xuan Yuan Grass.
• Li Qing contacted the Myriad Treasures Merchant Guild for the missing herbs, and True Lord Tianbao visited with an offer to provide them.
• True Lord Tianbao revealed that the guild held the herbs and proposed receiving a Dragon Transformation Pill if Li Qing made more than three, unless Li Qing found another Yin Yang Ganoderma within ten years.
• Li Qing accepted the terms, agreed to pay spirit stones if the refinement failed or produced three pills or fewer, and agreed to bind the deal with a Spirit Contract.

Li Qing arranged a sect-wide alchemy gathering to test Cao Xiu’s talent and help him earn Hundred Spirits Dao Lord’s recognition. Cao Xiu placed second and received the Bone Tempering Pill formula, while Li Qing prepared a hidden cave trial for him at Rooster Comb Mountain.

• After signing a contract with True Lord Tianbao for spiritual herbs, Li Qing agreed to wait while the Myriad Treasures Merchant Guild arranged their transfer.
• Hundred Spirits Dao Lord offered to refine Li Qing’s Dragon Transformation Pill if Cao Xiu passed a series of tests and proved worthy of inheriting his legacy.
• Li Qing secretly organized the Lingyun Sect’s first alchemy grand gathering, setting rewards that included the ancient Bone Tempering Pill formula.
• Cao Xiu advanced through all three rounds and placed second in the Foundation Establishment Pill round, earning the formula and drawing attention from the sect.
• After Xu Xia proposed holding the gathering every six years, Li Qing approved the plan and prepared a hidden cave trial for Cao Xiu at Rooster Comb Mountain.

Li Qing trapped Cao Xiu in a formation to test his talent, then devised a concept for a formation diagram paired with killing swords. After Cao Xiu escaped and Li Qing returned to secluded cultivation, the Carefree Sect arrived in the Qingling Region seeking refuge from the demonic sects.

• Li Qing and Hundred Spirits Dao Lord trapped Cao Xiu in a cave estate containing their formation and talisman inheritances, where Cao Xiu studied the formation to escape.
• While waiting for Cao Xiu, Li Qing discussed the Golden Warship with Hundred Spirits Dao Lord and conceived a formation diagram paired with killing swords, which he called the Immortal Slaying Sword Formation Diagram.
• Cao Xiu broke the trapping formation in less than two months and obtained a map pointing toward Hundred Spirits Dao Lord's final inheritance.
• Li Qing returned to the sect, entered secluded cultivation, and deepened his command of Heaven and Earth Spirit Fire and its divine abilities.
• A year later, the Carefree Sect entered the Qingling Region, hoping to find a foothold after fleeing demonic rule in the Great Desolation Region.

Li Qing spent months cultivating his Fire Jade Bee Queen and nurturing a Blood Lotus while Lingyun Sect remained peaceful. That peace ended when Wu Chong’s Soul Lantern dimmed, and Li Qing rushed toward the Black Sand River, where Carefree Sect cultivators were besieging a formation and plotting against Lingyun Sect.

• Li Qing fed his Fire Jade Bee Queen Spirit Devouring Demonic Flame and observed its growing strength.
• Li Qing added the remains of Third-tier Demonic Beasts to the blood pool nourishing his Blood Lotus and noted that his Golden Silk Silkworms had reached late second-tier strength.
• Xu Xia told Li Qing that Cao Xiu had gone to the Black Sand River after feeling a calling, and that Wu Chong’s Soul Lantern had suddenly dimmed.
• Li Qing told Xu Xia to alert the other Supreme Elders and flew toward the Black Sand River at full speed.
• Several Carefree Sect Core Formation cultivators watched a formation at the river and planned to kill a Lingyun Sect Supreme Elder before their ancestor arrived.

Wu Chong and Cao Xiu struggled to hold off four Carefree Sect cultivators as their formation collapsed, until Li Qing arrived to confront them. Li Qing revealed his peak Core Formation strength and killed True Person Xifeng with a sudden, devastating attack, then turned toward the remaining enemies.

• Wu Chong and Cao Xiu defended the estate inside the Black Sand River while four Carefree Sect Core Formation cultivators battered their formation.
• The formation broke, and Wu Chong stood between the attackers and the exhausted Lingyun Sect elders.
• Li Qing arrived and challenged the Carefree Sect cultivators, recognizing them as fugitives from Great Desolation Region.
• True Person Xifeng attacked Li Qing, who killed him instantly with a linked black-flame and white-fire strike.
• Li Qing warned the remaining Carefree Sect cultivators that they would die next.

Li Qing defeated the Carefree Sect’s Core Formation True Persons, but one escaped with a Death Substitution Talisman and another detonated his golden core. Back at the Lingyun Sect, the elders weighed the threat of Old Lord Xiaoyao, and Li Qing proposed waiting for the Carefree Sect’s next move while hinting that he had his own plans.

• Li Qing used the Heavenly Fire Curse and his treasures to overwhelm the Carefree Sect’s Supreme Elders while Wu Chong held one of them back.
• Li Qing killed one opponent and struck Chang Jue, but Chang Jue escaped using a third-rank Death Substitution Talisman; Li Qing claimed the abandoned golden bell and profound crystal pagoda.
• The last Carefree Sect cultivator detonated his golden core, and True Person Fu Xuan arrived in time to calm the blast with a Spirit Stabilization talisman, saving Wu Chong.
• Li Qing, Wu Chong, Ancestor Ziqing, True Person Fu Xuan, and the Lingyun Sect elders returned to the sect and discussed the danger posed by Old Lord Xiaoyao.
• Li Qing rejected seeking help from the Great Desolation Region’s Devil Dao Sects, advised the Lingyun Sect to seal its gates, and suggested the crisis might change within a year or two.
• When Shen Ningbing and the others worried that Li Qing might risk breaking through to Nascent Soul, he said he had his own considerations and they should wait for the raging waves to arrive.

Rogue cultivators investigated the devastation at Black Water Marsh as the Carefree Sect arrived in the Qingling Region to confront Lingyun Sect over the deaths of its members. The Carefree Sect reached Lingyun Sect’s mountain gate, where Li Qing calmly awaited the confrontation.

• Rogue cultivators speculated about the battle that had destroyed Black Sand River and flocked to inspect the resulting Black Water Marsh.
• Old Lord Xiaoyao arrived with the Carefree Sect and learned from Chang Jue that True Person Wuji had killed Xifeng and the others.
• Old Lord Xiaoyao ordered the Carefree Sect to head for Lingyun Sect’s mountain gate and call the sect to account.
• Rogue cultivators saw the Carefree Sect’s fleet fly toward Lingyun Sect and spread news that an outside power had arrived.
• The Carefree Sect reached Lingyun Sect and Chang Jue demanded to know whether the sect understood its crime.
• Li Qing opened his eyes on Qingyun Peak and calmly remarked that the Carefree Sect had arrived quickly.

Carefree Sect attacked Lingyun Sect, but Li Qing and the sect’s Fourth-tier Great Formation repelled Old Lord Xiaoyao and his forces. Carefree Sect withdrew to settle in the Qingling Region, leaving Lingyun Sect protected for now but under threat if its members venture out.

• Lingyun Sect’s Supreme Elders activated the Heavenly Origin Spirit Extermination Formation as Carefree Sect’s fleet arrived, and Old Lord Xiaoyao attacked it with his Jade Pole Heavenly Eyes and Xiaoyao Peak.
• Li Qing and Wu Chong rejected Old Lord Xiaoyao’s demand to surrender Li Qing, and Lingyun Sect’s formation withstood attacks from Carefree Sect’s cultivators and Fourth-tier talismans.
• Li Qing used the Nine Lives Bow to wound True Person Zhao and threaten True Person Chang Jue, but Old Lord Xiaoyao intercepted his next arrow.
• Li Qing warned that he would alert the Devil Dao Sects in the Great Desolation Region if Carefree Sect breached the formation, and Old Lord Xiaoyao withdrew his forces southward after threatening Lingyun Sect.
• Lingyun Sect’s elders acknowledged that Carefree Sect had settled in the Qingling Region and that Li Qing might need to reach the Nascent Soul Realm to face future threats.

Carefree Sect took control of the Qingling Region under Old Lord Xiaoyao’s Nascent Soul Realm protection, forcing Lingyun Sect to remain behind its mountain-gate formation as the new rulers squeezed the region’s cultivators. After True Lord Tianbao delivered the Yin-Yang Ganoderma, Li Qing gathered the ingredients for the Dragon Transformation Pill and began its refinement with Hundred Spirits Dao Lord.

• Carefree Sect established its mountain gate at Lingyun Sect’s former site, and Old Lord Xiaoyao’s appearance confirmed that Lingyun Sect remained trapped inside its formation by a Nascent Soul Realm threat.
• Li Qing received reports of Carefree Sect’s expansion and considered contacting Zhang Da and the Devil Dao Sects only as a last resort while he waited for True Lord Tianbao and cultivated.
• Over the next half year, Carefree Sect increased its levies and seized most of the profits from the region’s Cultivation Families and workers.
• True Lord Tianbao entered Lingyun Sect and gave Li Qing the Yin-Yang Ganoderma, completing the set of ingredients needed for the Dragon Transformation Pill.
• Li Qing harvested the thousand-year Dragon Blood Vine, returned to his cave abode, and asked Hundred Spirits Dao Lord to refine the pill using the Life-Extinguishing Furnace.

Li Qing completed the Dragon Transformation Pills with Hundred Spirits Dao Lord’s help, then watched the senior’s lingering obsession disperse. After giving True Lord Tianbao one pill and recovering his strength, Li Qing swallowed another and began his breakthrough to the Nascent Soul Realm.

• Hundred Spirits Dao Lord refined the herbs into seven intact Dragon Transformation Pills and passed Li Qing instructions for reforging the Life-Extinguishing Furnace and insights on formations.
• Hundred Spirits Dao Lord revealed that his wish had been fulfilled and bid farewell to Li Qing before dispersing completely.
• Li Qing honored his agreement by giving True Lord Tianbao a Dragon Transformation Pill, and Tianbao departed after confirming it was genuine.
• Li Qing meditated for three days to restore himself, reviewed his life, and swallowed a Dragon Transformation Pill to attempt the Nascent Soul Realm breakthrough.

Li Qing overcame a cracked golden core, the Nascent Soul breakthrough, and an Inner Demon Tribulation with the help of the stone fetus and its Exquisite Treasure Body origin. He emerged as a Nascent Soul cultivator and charged into the heavenly tribulation above Lingyun Sect.

• Li Qing began breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm as Lingyun Sect watched, but his golden core cracked and threatened his advancement.
• Li Qing drew the stone fetus into his dantian, and its power healed the crack as the Dragon Transformation Pill helped his golden core form a Nascent Soul.
• Li Qing fused his divine soul with the Nascent Soul and endured illusory inner demons, including visions of his life as Li Er Niu and past enemies.
• Li Qing passed the Inner Demon Tribulation and emerged from his cave as a Nascent Soul cultivator.
• Li Qing faced the heavenly tribulation over Qingyun Peak and struck at its thunderclouds with a flaming palm, revealing his new realm to Lingyun Sect.

After forming his Nascent Soul, Li Qing concealed his breakthrough and gave Dragon Transformation Pills to his fellow Supreme Elders, hoping they would advance alongside him. He recorded his breakthrough insights for the sect and turned to stabilizing his cultivation and strengthening his combat abilities.

• Li Qing survived the lightning tribulation, announced that the Lingyun Sect would wait for the right moment to fight the Carefree Sect, and ordered the sect to keep his breakthrough secret.
• Li Qing told the five Supreme Elders he would record his Nascent Soul breakthrough insights and distributed five Dragon Transformation Pills among them, though Ancestor Ziqing refused his pill.
• Li Qing reflected on his vastly extended lifespan and his fear of outliving his friends, then began recording guidance on overcoming inner demons and strengthening one's foundation before forming a Nascent Soul.
• Li Qing placed his insights in the sect's Hall of Inherited Skills, stabilized his cultivation, studied the Crimson Blazing Heavenly Monarch's inheritance, and nurtured the Primordial Peerless Hammer.

Li Qing tested the demonic Blood Lotus and discovered that it strengthened his body and cultivation while influencing his thoughts toward blood sacrifice. After setting a strict limit against harming innocents, he received news of True Lord Xiaoyao’s eight-hundredth birthday celebration and saw an opportunity to seize the Profound Yellow True Flame.

• Li Qing studied Crimson Blazing Heavenly Monarch’s inheritance, practiced the Fire Extreme Dharma Body, and delayed seeking a third spirit fire while he watched the Carefree Sect.
• Li Qing found that the Blood Lotus strengthened his body and slightly improved his cultivation, but Exquisite Immortal Sound awakened him to its influence over his thoughts.
• Li Qing decided he could use the Blood Lotus only if he never slaughtered innocent living beings for blood sacrifices.
• Li Qing received intelligence that the Carefree Sect would hold a grand ceremony for True Lord Xiaoyao’s eight-hundredth birthday in twenty days.
• Li Qing resolved to use the occasion to seek the Profound Yellow True Flame.

Li Qing accepted Carefree Sect’s invitation to Old Ancestor Xiaoyao’s birthday, intending to use the gathering to confront them while hiding his plans from the sect. He traveled to Fire Cliff Cave and began using the Profound Yellow True Flame and the ancient seal to destroy the Formless Demonic Ancestor’s Dao Body, leaving the demon badly weakened.

• Li Qing agreed with Xu Xia that Carefree Sect’s invitation was a trap, but ordered him to accept it so Lingyun Sect’s struggling disciples would retain hope.
• Xu Xia sent Carefree Sect a reply accepting the invitation, while Li Qing secretly left Lingyun Sect for Fire Cliff Cave.
• Li Qing met the Profound Yellow True Flame, which agreed to let him attempt to subdue it after he helped destroy the Formless Demonic Ancestor’s incarnation.
• Li Qing took control of the Crimson Blazing Heavenly Monarch’s seal and joined the Profound Yellow True Flame in unleashing the spirit fires within him.
• The Formless Demonic Ancestor recognized the seal’s power and tried to tempt Li Qing with the Fire Spirit Pearl, but Li Qing ignored him and helped the seal destroy more than half of his power.

After destroying the Formless Demonic Ancestor’s Dao Body, Li Qing began the Profound Yellow True Flame’s brutal trial and faced death as his magical power ran out. He drew on his past inheritances to begin creating a new cultivation method that would absorb fire to nurture an indestructible body.

• Li Qing confirmed the Formless Demonic Ancestor’s Dao Body had been erased, but found that the Fire Spirit Pearl had lost most of its origin essence.
• The Profound Yellow True Flame offered Li Qing a dangerous trial to subdue it, then engulfed him in spirit flames without warning.
• The Formless Demonic Ancestor tried to divine what his destroyed Dao Body had experienced, but the heavenly secrets were obscured.
• As his magical power and vitality dwindled, Li Qing recalled the Withered Wood Meets Spring Art and other techniques but found none could save him.
• Li Qing realized he could create his own divine ability by combining his inheritances and the Fire Jade Bees’ ability to consume flames.
• Li Qing entered a state of enlightenment and began creating a method to absorb fire essence, shed his old body, and nurture an indestructible true self.

Li Qing survived the Profound Yellow True Flame’s trial by creating the Dao Tribulation Wuji Scripture, a rebirth art that turned destructive power into strength but cost him more than four hundred years of lifespan. After refining the flame and strengthening his cultivation, he left Fire Cliff Cave and headed for the Carefree Sect’s birthday banquet, carrying a gift he believed would shake the Qingling Region.

• Li Qing emerged from his charred body through the newly formed Dao art, and the Profound Yellow True Flame ended its trial after its flames could no longer harm him.
• The Profound Yellow True Flame warned Li Qing that the incomplete art had caused hidden injuries and drained his lifespan, and Li Qing found that more than four hundred years had been lost.
• Li Qing named his art the Dao Tribulation Wuji Scripture and resolved to refine it into a cultivation method of his own.
• Li Qing absorbed and refined the Profound Yellow True Flame, which subdued the Spirit Devouring Demonic Flame and Nether Cold Fire in his dantian.
• Li Qing took the Crimson Blazing Palace and Fire Spirit Pearl, left Fire Cliff Cave, and flew toward the Carefree Sect for the old ghost’s eight-hundredth birthday banquet.

The Carefree Sect invited the Lingyun Sect to Old Ancestor Xiaoyao’s birthday banquet and used the gathering to demand that it join the Xiaoyao Immortal Alliance on harsh terms. When the Lingyun Sect refused and Old Ancestor Xiaoyao attacked its elders, Li Qing arrived and struck back with a flaming palm.

• Xu Xia and the Lingyun Sect elders arrived at the Carefree Sect’s birthday banquet, where they waited warily for the hosts to reveal their intentions.
• The Carefree Sect’s sect master proposed the Xiaoyao Immortal Alliance, offering the Lingyun Sect only a deputy leader title while demanding most of its resources, control of its protective formation, and unpaid labor from its specialists.
• Old Ancestor Xiaoyao appeared and demanded that the Lingyun Sect bring Li Qing to negotiate, but Xu Xia said Wuji Ancestor could not attend.
• Wu Chong, True Person Fu Xuan, Ancestor Ziqing, and Shen Ningbing arrived, and the Carefree Sect’s Supreme Elders confronted them after Wu Chong rejected the proposed terms.
• The Lingyun Sect and Carefree Sect elders fought in the sky, and Old Ancestor Xiaoyao intervened with spiritual ropes to capture Shen Ningbing and the others.
• Li Qing arrived and knocked Old Ancestor Xiaoyao’s spiritual ropes aside with a gigantic flaming palm, announcing that he had come to deliver a birthday gift.