Chapter Summaries

Li Qing arranged with Sikong of the Jinfeng Merchant Guild to auction Jade Bone Pills and his Bone Arrow, then traveled with the guild’s caravan to Giant Spirit King City. After arriving at the city’s Outer Areas, the caravan prepared to proceed on foot because formations prohibited flight.

• Li Qing refined four Jade Bone Pills and sensed that they were strengthening his bones toward a jade-bone physique.
• Sikong visited Li Qing to confirm the Bone Arrow’s auction consignment and invited him to travel with the guild to Giant Spirit King City.
• Li Qing agreed to consign twenty Jade Bone Pills, and he and Sikong finalized the auction arrangements after the guild verified the pills’ effects.
• Li Qing joined the Jinfeng Merchant Guild’s caravan from Xuangu City, where he encountered Old Lord Black Nether aboard the spirit vessel.
• The caravan passed Giant Spirit Mountain and reached the Outer Areas of Giant Spirit King City, where Sikong ordered the spirit vessel to descend because flight was prohibited farther in.

Li Qing arrived in Giant Spirit King City with the Jinfeng merchant caravan, saw the power and wealth of the other races, and learned about valuable exchanges available for Merit Points. At the auction, he heard rival leaders discuss the formidable young fighters preparing for the next Tianguang Secret Realm and quietly noted potential opponents.

• Li Qing and the Jinfeng merchant caravan arrived in Giant Spirit King City, where the Flying Spirit Race received a grand welcome while the humans were left with modest lodgings.
• Li Qing inspected the Merit Exchange Record and saw rare treasures, Qiongqi True Blood, Fanming Pills, and Spirit Medicine Seeds, but left without making an exchange.
• Li Qing spent two days meditating at the caravan’s courtyard before the Jinfeng Merchant Guild’s auction began.
• Li Qing watched representatives of the continent’s races enter the auction, including Old Black Bull from Savage Bull Ridge, who traded insults with Chixiao of the Night Owl Race.
• Tunhai calmed Old Black Bull and Chixiao by reminding them that their young cultivators were preparing for the Tianguang Secret Realm, and Li Qing memorized their comments about the Little Bull King and the Flying Spirit Race’s luan-blooded pair.

At the Jinfeng Merchant Guild auction, Li Qing’s Jade Bone Pills drew strong interest and earned him a large sum of Merit Points, which he planned to use to strengthen himself before entering the Tianguang Secret Realm. The auction continued through several rare treasures and ended with the mysterious Daoist Canon being offered, leaving Li Qing intrigued by the strange scripture.

• Sikong opened the auction as Chixiao and Tunhai discussed the human race’s Tianguang Secret Realm slots and the Lingxu City Lord’s coming tribulation.
• Sikong auctioned twenty of Li Qing’s Jade Bone Pills in four batches, and the last bottle sold to Old Black Bull for twenty thousand Merit Points, bringing the total to thirty-eight thousand.
• A fragmentary map of an immortal island in the Western Sea failed to sell, while Tunhai won the Ancient Dragon Rock for fifty-three thousand Merit Points.
• Li Qing traded a bone arrow spirit treasure to Master Mo for thirty Fanming Pills after Master Mo outbid the other bidders.
• Sikong presented a Gold attribute exotic treasure and then offered a copy of the Daoist Canon without a reserve price, while Li Qing wondered at the scripture’s mystery.

After the auction, Li Qing left Giant Spirit King City alone and encountered a battle between Old Black Bull and Chixiao, then fled when Mo Ying pursued him. Li Qing fought off Mo Ying’s first attacks with his spirit fires and Peerless Hammer, but the faster Night Owl caught up and launched another strike.

• Li Qing received twenty-seven Fanming Pills and more than thirty thousand Merit Points from Sikong, then spent Merit Points on Old Polygonatum branches and spirit herb seeds.
• Li Qing slipped out of Giant Spirit King City alone and flew around Giant Spirit Mountain toward Xuangu City.
• Li Qing witnessed Old Black Bull fighting Chixiao and the Night Owl Race, while Old Lord Black Nether agreed to help Old Black Bull in exchange for Ox God Pills and Thousand-Year Ox Gallstone.
• Chixiao spotted Li Qing and ordered Mo Ying to kill him, forcing Li Qing to flee at top speed.
• Mo Ying caught up, but Li Qing burned his black-feather attack to ash and struck back with the Peerless Hammer, leaving claw marks on it.
• Mo Ying attacked again at night, and Li Qing wrapped himself in spirit fire as Mo Ying pulled back from the flames.

Li Qing killed Mo Ying after surviving his Night Owl Race attack, then hurried toward Xuangu City while fearing retaliation from the Flying Spirit Race. Elsewhere, Old Black Bull and Black Nether defeated Chixiao and his Night Owl companions, and Black Nether discovered evidence of Li Qing’s victory as he headed back to Xuangu City.

• Mo Ying wounded Li Qing with Night Shadow Kill, but Li Qing used spirit fire to reveal him and cut him down with the Immortal Slaying Sword and Myriad Swords Return to Origin.
• Li Qing collected Mo Ying’s remains, treated his wounds in a concealed cave, and continued toward Xuangu City while considering hiding in the Eternal Night World if the Flying Spirit Race pursued him.
• At Giant God Mountain, Old Black Bull and Black Nether overwhelmed Chixiao and the other Night Owl Race members as dawn stripped away their night-enhanced strength.
• Black Nether captured the Night Owl members’ yin souls and Chixiao’s Primordial Spirit, while Old Black Bull killed Chixiao’s physical body and arranged to deliver Black Nether’s promised Thousand-Year Ox Gallstone to Xuangu City.
• Black Nether declined Old Black Bull’s invitation to Savage Bull Ridge and, after finding Mo Ying’s burned feathers and traces of Li Qing’s sword qi, recognized Li Qing’s victory and considered cooperating with him in the Tianguang Secret Realm.

Li Qing recovered in Xuangu City, sold Jade Bone Pills to the Jinfeng Merchant Guild, and used Fanming Pills to rapidly increase his cultivation before pausing to stabilize himself. The Flying Spirit Race learned that humans had been involved in the deaths of its cultivators, leaving Xuangu City facing possible annihilation without Giant Spirit Race mediation.

• Li Qing learned that the Jinfeng Merchant Guild caravan from Giant Spirit King City had been attacked and that Sikong had barely survived an assault by a mysterious Void Refinement-stage being.
• Sikong arranged for Li Qing to supply the Giant Spirit Race with Jade Bone Pills at three thousand Merit Points each, and Li Qing agreed to monthly deliveries.
• Li Qing refined Jade Bone Pills and sold fifty to the Jinfeng Merchant Guild for 135,000 Merit Points after its commission.
• Li Qing swallowed fourteen Fanming Pills, rapidly increasing his cultivation, then stopped to let his body and Nascent Soul adjust before refining more Jade Bone Pills.
• A Jinfeng Merchant Guild representative told Li Qing that the Flying Spirit Race had learned humans were involved in the deaths of its clansmen and had attacked another caravan.
• Li Qing feared war with the Flying Spirit Race, while the representative warned that Xuangu City faced annihilation unless the Giant Spirit Race intervened.

Li Qing stayed in Xuangu City as the Flying Spirit Race surrounded it and the Golden Peng Ancient Ancestor attacked, demanding the deaths of every human Spirit Transformation cultivator. As the city's formation neared collapse, Giant Spirit Race reinforcements led by Gu Tian arrived to confront the Golden Peng Ancient Ancestor.

• Li Qing decided to remain in Xuangu City, where he continued cultivating and kept the Eternal Night World ready as a refuge.
• A returning escapee reported that the Flying Spirit Race was killing those who fled, and the race soon surrounded the city's outskirts.
• The Golden Peng Ancient Ancestor attacked Xuangu City twice, killing hundreds of thousands of mortals with the second strike.
• The Golden Peng Ancient Ancestor demanded that the city surrender every human Spirit Transformation cultivator, while the Lingxu City Lord refused and struggled to defend the formation.
• As the formation began to fail and Li Qing prepared to escape, Gu Tian of the Giant Spirit Race arrived and told the Golden Peng Ancient Ancestor to stop.

Gu Tian stopped Golden Peng Ancient Ancestor from destroying Xuangu City, but the city had to pay a heavy compensation and the Flying Spirit Race planned to target its strongest cultivators in the Tianguang Secret Realm. After a year of preparation, Li Qing reached the middle phase of the Spirit Transformation stage and resolved to find another way to protect himself before entering the realm.

• Gu Tian persuaded Golden Peng Ancient Ancestor to end his attack on Xuangu City, while Lingxu agreed to compensate the Flying Spirit Race and keep the human candidates for the Tianguang Secret Realm unchanged.
• Golden Peng Ancient Ancestor withdrew his troops but ordered Qingluan and Hongluan to watch the human cultivators in the secret realm, suspecting one of them had killed his disciple.
• Li Qing reflected on the human race’s weakness, returned to cultivation, and Xuangu City spent the next year paying compensation as tensions between the Flying Spirit Race and Savage Bull Ridge worsened.
• Li Qing exchanged Jade Bone Pills for Merit Points, used them to obtain Fanming Pills, and advanced to the middle phase of the Spirit Transformation stage while strengthening his body.
• Li Qing judged his increased strength insufficient for the Tianguang Secret Realm and decided to seek another way to protect himself.

Li Qing strengthened his Wind Thunder Silver Wings with Night Owl Race feathers, bought a Leaving Fire Profound Jade, and set out with the Lingxu City Lord and three companions for the Tianguang Secret Realm. The group reached Savage Bull Ridge to avoid Flying Spirit Race interception, where a golden minotaur blocked their way and demanded to know their business.

• Li Qing refined the Night Owl Race feathers into his Wind Thunder Silver Wings, giving them the nocturnal divine ability Starry Night, then cooked and ate the stripped wings.
• Li Qing bought the Leaving Fire Profound Jade for ten thousand Merit Points and let the Profound Yellow True Flame examine it, but it could only confirm that the Crimson Blazing Heavenly Monarch had inscribed its markings.
• The Lingxu City Lord summoned Li Qing, Fuya, Hu Sheng, and Old Lord Black Nether, then led them out of Lingxu City aboard a concealed spirit boat.
• The Lingxu City Lord chose to travel to Savage Bull Ridge and enter the Tianguang Secret Realm through the Savage Bull Race rather than risk going to Giant Spirit King City.
• After more than ten days without encountering Flying Spirit Race experts, the group neared Savage Bull Ridge, where a golden minotaur carrying a massive axe descended and challenged them.

Li Qing and his companions reached Savage Bull Ridge to await entry into the Tianguang Secret Realm, but an encounter with a mysterious azure calf led the Brutal Ox Clan to summon him before its elders. The clan’s powerful old ancestor invited Li Qing to become Savage Bull Ridge’s first foreign Guest Elder, leaving him unsure how to respond.

• Lingxu City Lord secured permission from Savage Bull Ridge for his group to stay and use its Tianguang reception platform, then returned to Xuangu City.
• Fuya entered Li Qing’s cave dwelling and tried to seduce him, but both heard an unseen being swallow and searched the cave with their spiritual senses.
• Li Qing and Fuya found a tiny azure calf outside; Fuya caught it, but it escaped onto Li Qing’s shoulder and showed him unusual affection.
• A white minotaur accused Fuya of profaning the clan’s Sacred Ox and led Li Qing and the calf into Savage Bull Ridge’s inner region.
• A Body Integration Realm elder asked why the Sacred Ox was attached to Li Qing, then invited him to become the clan’s first foreign Guest Elder.

Li Qing declined Savage Bull Ridge’s offer to become a guest elder, but stayed under its protection while carrying the mysterious Sacred Ox. He entered the Tianguang Secret Realm with the Savage Bull Ridge group and, after landing in a stone forest, was attacked by a colossal beast emerging from a lake.

• Li Qing refused to join Savage Bull Ridge because its cultivation arts would not suit him and he wanted to pursue his own Dao path, so the clan’s ancestor let him stay until the secret realm opened.
• The Sacred Ox clung to Li Qing, and Fuya fled after probing its sea of consciousness; Savage Bull Ridge later held a banquet where Li Qing met the powerful Little Bull King.
• More than a month later, Li Qing and the other entrants traveled with a Savage Bull Ridge elder to the Reception Dao Platform and were sent into the Tianguang Secret Realm.
• Li Qing landed in a stone forest, concluded that he was somewhere in the realm’s southeastern region, and discovered that a nearby lake was not Condensing Light Lake.
• As Li Qing took flight to continue exploring, a colossal beast burst from the lake and attacked him.

Li Qing was swallowed by a Spirit Devouring Beast in the Tianguang Secret Realm, but used his Kunpeng Treasure Art to kill it and escape. The beast’s blood opened a hidden chamber beneath the lake, where Li Qing found a crystal coffin, a remarkable Golden Jade Armor, and notes from its resentful owner.

• A Spirit Devouring Beast swallowed Li Qing and suppressed his mana while its corrosive stomach fluid began to refine him.
• Li Qing used the Kunpeng Treasure Art to break out from inside the beast, kill it, and store its corpse before its valuable blood essence could drain away.
• Li Qing noticed the beast’s blood seeping into the lakebed and poured out a bottle of Yellow Weasel blood essence to activate an ancient pattern.
• Li Qing entered the passage beneath the lake and sealed its opening to keep the lake water from draining and attracting attention.
• Li Qing found an underground chamber containing a crystal coffin with a skeleton wearing powerful Golden Jade Armor, along with fragile notes he memorized using Spiritual Sense.
• Li Qing read the final note, in which the coffin’s owner lamented dying without having his grievance cleared or his mana cultivation restored.

Li Qing broke through the threads sealing an underground chamber, took the Golden Brocade Armor and a mysterious spirit-gold scripture page, and refined the armor enough to test its defenses. He reached the Fluorescent Grassland to seek Earth Spirit Grass Fruit, unaware that someone was watching and waiting for more valuable prey.

• Li Qing burned through the invisible crystal threads, opened the coffin, and retrieved the Golden Brocade Armor after paying his respects to the remains inside.
• Li Qing found and stored a spirit-gold page written in an unfamiliar script, then left the chamber with the other records preserved in his sea of consciousness.
• Li Qing flew west, hid in a hill, and refined the Golden Brocade Armor, discovering that it could withstand ordinary Void Refinement stage attacks when fully activated.
• Li Qing crossed the mountains and entered the Fluorescent Grassland, where he planned to search for Earth Spirit Grass Fruit.
• A hidden observer dismissed Li Qing as a minor human cultivator and waited for a bigger target to arrive.

Li Qing defeated and killed two Spirit Transformation-stage griffons in the Fluorescent Grassland, then collected their spoils and ate their wings. A brilliant pillar of light appeared in the distance, drawing cultivators toward it as Li Qing set out to investigate.

• Two Griffons attacked Li Qing, but his Golden Brocade Armor blocked the Late Deity Transformation griffon's Storm Feather.
• Li Qing burned the Griffons with the Great Sun Life-Extinguishing Flame and trapped them with the Life-Extinguishing Furnace; one died inside the furnace while the other's Demon Spirit fled.
• Li Qing chased down and destroyed the Late Deity Transformation griffon's Demon Spirit with Kunpeng Extreme Speed.
• Li Qing collected the Griffons' blood essence and spirit stones, then roasted and ate their wings while assessing his strength.
• A dazzling pillar of light appeared across the Fluorescent Grassland, and Li Qing flew toward it as cultivators converged on the disturbance.

Li Qing and Guli joined the cultivators gathered around a dangerous heavenly-light pillar, where the Flying Spirit Race threatened Li Qing and Fuya until Guli and Savage Bull Ridge defended them. When the pillar faded, dozens of Earth Spirit Grass Fruit appeared underground, and the gathered cultivators rushed to claim them.

• Li Qing encountered Guli on the Fluorescent Grassland, and the two agreed to explore the unusual light pillar together.
• Li Qing and Guli found Fuya among cultivators from several races, and they learned the pillar was dangerous heavenly light that would soon subside.
• Flying Spirit Race cultivators moved to attack Li Qing and Fuya, but Guli and members of Savage Bull Ridge stood in their way.
• Qing Yuan arrived, demanded to search Li Qing and Fuya's sea of consciousness, and faced Guli and Savage Bull Ridge's refusal.
• The pillar faded and revealed dozens of Earth Spirit Grass Fruit among underground vines, prompting Guli and the other cultivators to rush into the crater.

Li Qing fought off a Flying Spirit Race attacker, then clashed with Qing Yuan, the Azure Luan Saintess, in the underground chamber of Earth Spirit Grass Fruits. As they recognized each other as enemies, the Treant Race collapsed the chamber and swallowed everyone inside with a giant man-eating flower.

• Li Qing used the Immortal Slaying Sword’s aura to harvest Earth Spirit Grass Fruits after Guli warned him that bare-handed picking triggered the fruits’ residual heavenly light.
• A Five-colored Peacock attacked Li Qing for his fruits, and Li Qing killed him with the Immortal Slaying Sword and stored his blood essence.
• Qing Yuan attacked Li Qing, but he blocked her strikes with the Golden Brocade Armor and countered with a powerful White Emperor Golden Sovereign Slash.
• Qing Yuan survived the sword strike using the Azure Luan Tribulation-Crossing Technique, then named Li Qing the Flying Spirit Race’s foremost enemy.
• A voice announced that it was time to close the net, the underground chamber collapsed, and a giant man-eating flower swallowed everyone as the Treant Race arrived.

Li Qing survived being swallowed by a giant man-eating flower and found that the Spirit Devouring Beast's stomach pouch protected him from its digestive fluids. He began refining the pouch into a larger containment treasure so he could protect himself and gather the other trapped experts.

• The Treant Race's man-eating flower swallowed Li Qing and the other fighters over the Earth Spirit Grass Fruit, while a bamboo shoot ordered it to spare the Flying Spirit Race saintess.
• Li Qing found he could still use his mana inside the flower, but its digestive slime dissolved his defenses and threatened to drain him.
• Li Qing hid inside the Spirit Devouring Beast's stomach pouch and discovered that it resisted the digestive fluids.
• Li Qing decided to enlarge the pouch into a Mustard Seed Space treasure, restore his mana, and search for the other captives.
• Li Qing began refining the pouch into the Human Seed Bag, using crystal threads to repair its tears and inscribing spatial and suppressive dao patterns.

Li Qing used the Human Seed Bag to protect cultivators trapped inside the Spirit Devouring Flower and gathered allies from Savage Bull Ridge, the Giant Spirit Race, and the Flying Spirit Race. After demanding and receiving Earth Spirit Grass Fruits from the Flying Spirit Race, the group joined forces to break out, leaving the flower convulsing from their attacks.

• Li Qing refined the Human Seed Bag, used it to absorb the Spirit Devouring Flower's gastric fluid, and rescued four Savage Bull Ridge cultivators.
• Li Qing and the Savage Bull Ridge cultivators found Guli and brought him under the bag's protection, while both groups gave Li Qing Earth Spirit Grass Fruits.
• The Spirit Devouring Flower began resisting as its mucus surged, so Guli led the group to the Flying Spirit Race cultivators.
• Li Qing demanded the Flying Spirit Race's Earth Spirit Grass Fruits in exchange for protection, then shielded the weakened cultivators with the Human Seed Bag.
• The cultivators recovered their magical power and attacked the Spirit Devouring Flower together, causing its body to convulse and explode.

Li Qing and his companions escaped the Spirit Devouring Flower, and he gathered its seeds and mucus before parting ways with the others. After strengthening his cultivation with an Earth Spirit Grass Fruit, he set out to find Creation Source Liquid for the Lingxu City Lord and arrived at Soul Falling Mountain.

• Guli used a joint-strike secret art to blast open the Spirit Devouring Flower, allowing Li Qing and the others to escape; the Flying Spirit Race recovered their sealed saintess and Fuya in a crystal.
• Li Qing collected the flower’s digestive mucus and eight Spirit Seeds, then declined the Savage Bull Race’s invitation to search for the Little Bull King at Life Severing Cliff.
• Li Qing parted from the other groups, hid, and refined an Earth Spirit Grass Fruit, strengthening his cultivation to the middle Spirit Transformation stage.
• Li Qing chose Soul Falling Mountain and the Yin Wind Mausoleum as possible locations for Creation Source Liquid and flew toward Soul Falling Mountain.
• Li Qing reached the base of Soul Falling Mountain and descended carefully, wary of the soul pressure and dangers within.

Li Qing climbed Soul Falling Mountain, where he found Hu Sheng injured and learned that a hidden trial was connected to the mountain. After the first two trials strengthened his soul and advanced his Soul Refining Scripture, Li Qing refused to risk continuing without preparation.

• Li Qing climbed Soul Falling Mountain, adapting to the growing pressure on his soul as he ascended.
• Li Qing found Hu Sheng near the mountainside cave and helped him recover enough to descend; Hu Sheng explained his devotion to the Lingxu City Lord, and Li Qing argued that humanity’s future depended on many cultivators.
• Li Qing entered the cave and recited the Soul Refining Scripture, triggering a hidden trial that pulled his Primordial Spirit into a strange space.
• An Artifact Spirit of Soul Falling Mountain forced Li Qing through two painful trials with golden millstones, awarding him three Soul Condensing Pills and a random inheritance for refining a Primordial Spirit Weapon.
• Li Qing’s Soul Refining Scripture reached the third layer’s beginner stage, and he refused to proceed with the third trial.