Chapter Summaries

After Huanglong Market fell, Liu Wenguan urged the survivors to leave, but Wei Tianhe convinced them to wait for reinforcements. When the arriving group revealed itself as Tianhai Alliance cultivators, Liu Wenguan attacked the others, exposing his betrayal of the Lingyin Sect.

• Liu Wenguan proposed taking the survivors to Fenggu Plain, but Wei Tianhe and Cao Rongxue argued that they should wait for Wang and the reinforcements.
• Song Qingming noticed Wei Tianhe's unusual opposition to Liu Wenguan as the survivors waited among the ruins of Huanglong Market.
• More than a dozen cultivators approached, and Cao Rongxue recognized the leader and warned that the Tianhai Alliance had returned to kill them.
• Liu Wenguan used a golden net to attack Song Qingming and the others, revealing his betrayal.
• Wei Tianhe restrained Liu Wenguan's magic artifact with the Condensing Heart Mirror and revealed that he had suspected Liu Wenguan and helped investigate the enemy near Huanglong Market.
• Song Qingming and the others realized Liu Wenguan had likely aided the enemy in the marketplace's earlier defeats and Wu Wenlong's concealment at Qingniu Ridge.

Liu Wenguan’s betrayal was exposed, forcing Song Qingming and the others to flee as Wu Wenlong’s group pursued them. Song Qingming was separated from his companions and pursued alone by Sun Jingya, who sought revenge for his junior brother.

• Liu Wenguan explained that he had betrayed Lingyin Sect because the Tianhai Alliance promised him a chance to form a Golden Core, and Cao Rongxue denounced him.
• Wei Tianhe led the group east to escape, and they fought off Liu Wenguan before fleeing on flying swords.
• Wu Wenlong and the other Tianhai Alliance cultivators arrived at Huanglong Market and pursued Song Qingming’s group, leaving Song Qingming behind as his companions escaped faster.
• A Tianhai Alliance cultivator recognized the Wind Riding Boots Song Qingming had taken from Junior Brother Lin, and Song Qingming changed direction to avoid the pursuers.
• Sun Jingya identified Song Qingming as the killer of his fellow disciple and pursued him alone on a fast Flying Boat.

Song Qingming fought Sun Jingya, who sought revenge for Lin and vastly outmatched him in cultivation and combat. With his defenses failing, Song Qingming activated his strongest talisman, and its golden saber cracked Sun Jingya’s shield.

• Sun Jingya caught up with Song Qingming and attacked after accusing him of killing Junior Brother Lin.
• Song Qingming’s Explosive Fire Talisman scorched Sun Jingya, but his Yellow Wood Shield and tough body blunted the attack.
• Sun Jingya trapped Song Qingming in poisonous green smoke and battered him with a black greatsword, forcing him to rely on the Azure Water Bell.
• Song Qingming realized he could not defeat Sun Jingya and activated his Grade 2 High-grade Sun Yang Golden Saber Talisman.
• The golden saber struck Sun Jingya’s Yellow Wooden Shield and cracked it.

Song Qingming fled toward Fenggu Plain while Sun Jingya pursued him, but Sun Jingya used a Blood Dragon Pill to catch up and drive Song into a valley. There, Sun Jingya lost sight of him and realized the valley might contain an Illusion Array.

• Song Qingming escaped Sun Jingya’s attack and headed south toward Fenggu Plain, replenishing his Mana with Thousand Year Spirit Milk.
• Sun Jingya swallowed a Blood Dragon Pill, boosting his strength and speed as he resumed the chase.
• Sun Jingya attacked Song Qingming with sword light, forcing him to evade and lose speed.
• Song Qingming descended into a valley to stall Sun Jingya until the pill’s effects wore off.
• Sun Jingya entered the valley, where white mist obscured his vision and the seemingly endless trees led him to suspect an Illusion Array.

Song Qingming escaped Sun Jingya inside a mysterious Illusion Array and found a thatched hut concealing an apparent hoard of rare treasures. He realized the treasures might be another illusion, leaving him wary before he touched them.

• Sun Jingya failed to break the Illusion Array, became trapped for three days, and eventually stumbled out before fleeing the valley.
• Song Qingming used his Formation Skill to find a flaw in the array and reach a thatched hut hidden within it.
• Song Qingming searched the hut's first two rooms and found only ordinary objects and a few useful spiritual items.
• Song Qingming entered the final room and saw what appeared to be a dazzling hoard of rare treasures.
• Song Qingming suspected the conspicuously displayed treasures were another Illusion Array and restrained himself from taking them.

Song Qingming saw through an illusion and discovered a powerful cultivator’s soul hidden in a Crane Puppet Beast, intent on taking over his body. After learning about the war outside, the old cultivator offered Song Qingming a deal, leaving him to decide whether to accept.

• Song Qingming used the Golden Light Mirror to reveal that the apparent Spirit Stones and Puppet Beasts were illusions, then found himself trapped in a dark cave.
• A Crane Puppet Beast approached and spoke, and Song Qingming realized its owner had attempted Body Seizure before offering him a pill to control him.
• Song Qingming deduced that the cultivator had lost his physical body and was using the Crane Puppet Beast to ambush him.
• The Crane Puppet Beast learned from Song Qingming that the Tianhai Alliance had reached the area and questioned him about the war.
• The old cultivator offered to let Song Qingming leave if he agreed to a deal.

Song Qingming agreed to help the Crane Puppet Beast find a suitable body in exchange for its help forming a Golden Core, and they bound their deal with a Soul Contract. The Crane Puppet Beast gave Song Qingming a soul cultivation technique and prepared to leave the cave with him.

• The Crane Puppet Beast offered to help Song Qingming form a Golden Core if he took it away and helped it find a body for Body Seizure.
• The Crane Puppet Beast proposed a Soul Contract, and Song Qingming accepted and imprinted a wisp of his soul on it.
• The Crane Puppet Beast noticed Song Qingming had cultivated a soul technique and gave him a bamboo scroll containing a technique that could be cultivated to the Golden Core realm.
• The Crane Puppet Beast withdrew the formation and returned to Song Qingming, shrinking to fist-size so he could carry it.
• Song Qingming worried that his pursuer might still be outside, but the Crane Puppet Beast told him the man had already left and warned him to avoid stronger enemies.

Song Qingming left the valley with Feng He hidden at his waist and joined a supply convoy bound for Fenggu Plain. After learning that Cao Rongxue and the others had survived the attack on Huanglong Market, he reached the front-line camp hoping to return to Baimeng Mountain, but received orders to stay and serve there.

• Song Qingming learned that Feng He could conceal his aura, then left the cleared valley after restoring his Mana.
• Song Qingming met Gu Tong's supply convoy near Fenggu Plain, confirmed his identity, and traveled with them.
• Gu Tong told Song Qingming that Cao Rongxue and the others had survived with reinforcements from Wang Liangping, and Song Qingming learned of Liu Wenguan's betrayal.
• Song Qingming arrived at Fenggu Plain and discovered there were no Spirit Boats returning to Baimeng Mountain.
• Song Qingming received orders transferring him to remain at the front-line camp.

After spending over half a year on the Fenggu Plain front lines, Song Qingming began cultivating the Soul Devouring Art with guidance from Feng He. He captured his first suitable Demonic Beast Essence Soul, while the conflict between the Lingyin Sect and Tianhai Alliance had quieted after months of costly battles among lower-level cultivators.

• Song Qingming used his Swift Wind Beast to kill a giant python and gathered its Essence Soul in a golden bowl.
• Feng He told Song Qingming that the python’s soul was suitable for his early cultivation and warned him to advance patiently and never devour human cultivators’ souls.
• Song Qingming reflected on switching from the Soul Tempering Art to the Soul Devouring Art, whose early stages required him to collect fragile, low-grade Demonic Beast souls.
• Song Qingming recalled spending his battlefield Merit Points and extending his stay to obtain the Grade 2 Low-grade Swift Wind Beast Puppet.
• The Lingyin Sect and Tianhai Alliance had fought in alternating battles between Golden Core and lower-level cultivators, then reduced their clashes after heavy casualties among Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining Cultivators.
• Song Qingming noted that he had still not seen any Nascent Soul Realm cultivators appear on either side’s battlefield.

After more than half a year surviving the fighting at Fenggu Plain, Song Qingming gathered enough Merit Points to obtain a Swift Wind Beast Puppet and received approval to return to Wei State. He visited Song Xinyu at the Carefree Sect before finally returning to Funiu Mountain.

• Song Qingming survived the battles at Fenggu Plain with help from his artifacts and Senior Feng He, while gaining combat experience and improving his strength.
• Song Qingming collected the giant python’s divine soul, tested his Swift Wind Beast Puppet, and learned that his transfer request to Wei State had been approved.
• Song Qingming traveled from the frontline to Baimeng Mountain, then waited for a Flying Boat bound for Wei State.
• The Flying Boat, overseen by Chu Fengping, carried Song Qingming back to Mount Guyang of the Carefree Sect after more than a month at sea.
• Song Qingming visited Song Xinyu, encouraged his progress, and left him Spirit Stones to support his future cultivation.
• Song Qingming set out for Qinghe County and returned to Funiu Mountain after more than a year away.

Song Qingming returned to Funiu Mountain after a year in Lu State and reunited with Song Qingyu and the Song Family. After learning Second Uncle had died, he paid his respects at the family cemetery, then returned to his cave, where Feng He complained about the clan’s lack of suitable bodies.

• Song Qingyu fed the Skyfire Roc, which suddenly flew out of its cave and greeted Song Qingming when he arrived at Funiu Mountain.
• Song Qingyu joyfully embraced Song Qingming, then told him Second Uncle had died two months earlier and his remaining spiritual items and Merit Points had gone to Sixth Brother.
• Song Qingming followed Song Qingyu to the family cemetery and performed belated rites for Second Uncle.
• Song Changfeng, Song Changling, Song Changxiong, and other elders arrived to welcome Song Qingming back, and Song Changfeng spoke of his failing health.
• Song Qingming met with the clansmen, drank with his brothers and childhood friends, and returned to his cave dwelling.
• Feng He spoke from Song Qingming’s body and complained that the Song Family had too few people and no one with Two Spirit Roots to serve as a suitable body.

Song Qingming stalled Feng He’s demand for a body, arguing that searching nearby would expose them, then returned to cultivation. Months later, Song Family cultivators were hunting low-grade demonic beasts for Essence Souls to earn Spirit Stones.

• Feng He suggested Song Qingming use Song Qingyu as a body for Body Seizure, and Song Qingming warned him not to target his kin or friends.
• Song Qingming persuaded Feng He that they should search farther away and wait, since a nearby Body Seizure could attract the Carefree Sect’s attention.
• After easing Feng He’s concerns, Song Qingming entered seclusion to cultivate.
• Months later, four Song Family cultivators defeated several Green Bamboo Pythons at Green Bamboo Mountain and collected two Essence Souls.
• The Song Family’s demon-hunting teams continued gathering low-grade Essence Souls to exchange for Spirit Stones through a Treasury Pavilion task.

Song Qingming arranged for Song Family cultivators to gather Demonic Beast Essence Souls, then spent ten years cultivating the Soul Devouring Art to its second level. After emerging from seclusion, he planned a trip to Yangshan Marketplace and Song Qingyu asked whether he had considered her earlier request.

• Song Qingming told Song Qingsi to limit the monthly collection of Demonic Beast Essence Souls and rewarded her with cultivation pills.
• Song Qingming used a Treasury Pavilion task and the Soul Gathering Art to have Song Family cultivators gather Level 1 Demonic Beast Essence Souls for him.
• Song Qingming consumed the captured Essence Souls and cultivated the Soul Devouring Art until he reached its second level ten years later.
• Song Qingming found that his divine sense could extend forty or fifty zhang and told Song Qingyu he planned to visit Yangshan Marketplace for pills.
• Song Qingyu asked Song Qingming to buy cultivation pills and Grade Two water-element Demonic Beast hides, then asked whether he had considered the matter she had mentioned before.

Song Qingming refused Song Qingyu’s request to travel until she reached Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, while reflecting on the dangers facing the surrounding states. After becoming the Song Family’s new clan head, he reviewed the family’s changes with Song Qingshi before preparing to leave for Yangshan Marketplace.

• Song Qingming told Song Qingyu he would allow her to travel only after she reached Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, and she reluctantly accepted his concern for her safety.
• Song Qingming explained that the Lu State war had ended temporarily after a sea-clan invasion, while unrest in Zheng State and possible renewed fighting made travel dangerous.
• Song Qingming invited Song Qingshi over, asked about the family, and told him he was leaving for Yangshan Marketplace.
• Song Changfeng had died eight years earlier, and Song Qingming had become the Song Family’s clan head, receiving the clan head’s thumb ring and the family genealogy.
• Song Qingshi managed general affairs, Song Qingwan returned to oversee Qinghe Market businesses, and Song Changxiong prepared Song Xintang to lead the Law Enforcement Team.
• Song Qingchen took over at Broken Stream Mountain, while Shi Chun returned to oversee Phoenix Head Mountain’s enterprises after marrying a cultivator from the Wang Family.

After a Level 2 Fire Scale Leopard led a pack of demonic beasts toward White Sheep Mountain, Song Qingyu decided to go assess the danger while Song Qingming was away. She arrived at White Sheep Mountain as its guards and hundreds of mortals faced imminent danger.

• Song Qingshi received a plea for help reporting a large pack of demonic beasts and a Level 2 Fire Scale Leopard near White Sheep Mountain.
• Song Family elders debated how to respond, worried about losing the mountain and exposing nearby territories to attack.
• Song Qingyu ordered the Law Enforcement Team to prepare reinforcements and a Level 2 Formation Array, then flew toward White Sheep Mountain with Song Xintang.
• The three cultivators guarding White Sheep Mountain hid behind the formation as demonic beasts approached and feared the Fire Scale Leopard would discover them.
• Song Qingyu arrived at White Sheep Mountain on a white sword light, and the guards greeted her as Grand Elder.

Song Qingyu drew a group of demonic beasts away from White Sheep Mountain so the family’s array could hold until reinforcements arrived. After wounding the Fire Scale Leopard and escaping its pursuit, she recovered her mana as Song Changxiong brought more than twenty Song Family cultivators to the mountain.

• Song Qingyu told Song Xintang to help control the array while she lured the demonic beasts away from White Sheep Mountain.
• Song Qingyu attacked the Fire Scale Leopard and its followers, then blocked the leopard’s fireball with the Purple Emperor Jade.
• Song Qingyu led the beasts away from the mountain and wounded the Fire Scale Leopard with a Level 2 Water Arrow Talisman before escaping.
• Song Qingyu rested and replenished her mana while reflecting on her fight and the stirrings in her cultivation bottleneck.
• Song Changxiong arrived near White Sheep Mountain with more than twenty Song Family cultivators and sent a Sound Transmission Talisman into the mountain.

Song Changxiong and the Song Family cultivators fought their way to White Sheep Mountain, using the Azure Wood Cloud Smoke Formation to hold back the Fire Scale Leopard and reinforce Song Xintang’s group. Song Qingyu arrived just as the leopard attacked again, ordering the others to aid her family while she faced it alone.

• Song Xintang told Song Changxiong that Song Qingyu had left White Sheep Mountain, while demonic beasts closed in and forced the defenders to activate the Mountain Protection Array.
• Song Changxiong led the Law Enforcement Team toward White Sheep Mountain, where they used the Azure Wood Cloud Smoke Formation to repel the Fire Scale Leopard and other beasts.
• The Fire Scale Leopard blasted through a wooden barrier with a powerful fireball, but the cultivators used the smoke to advance toward the mountain.
• Song Changxiong split his forces between defending the Mountain Protection Array and holding back the Fire Scale Leopard, allowing Song Xintang and the others to stabilize the defenses.
• Song Qingyu arrived and struck the Fire Scale Leopard with the Tidal Light Sword, then told the cultivators to help Song Xintang while she dealt with the beast.
• The Fire Scale Leopard broke free and charged at Song Qingyu.

Song Qingyu arrived at White Sheep Mountain and helped the Song Family repel the Demonic Beasts, then pursued the fleeing Fire Scale Leopard to its lair before returning. The siege ended, and Song Changxin arrived with reinforcements from the Song Family’s vassal families.

• Song Qingyu joined the battle at White Sheep Mountain, took over the fight against the Fire Scale Leopard, and let the formation’s cultivators help Song Changxiong repel the other Demonic Beasts.
• Song Qingyu fought the Fire Scale Leopard until it fled, then chased it more than a hundred li into Yunwu Mountain.
• The Fire Scale Leopard summoned more Low-grade Demonic Beasts near its lair, so Song Qingyu abandoned the pursuit and returned to White Sheep Mountain.
• The remaining Demonic Beasts scattered after their leader fled, leaving the Song Family with one dead and seven or eight injured but having lifted the siege.
• Song Changxin arrived with more than thirty cultivators from the Song Family’s vassal families, whose leaders were impressed that Song Qingyu had driven off the beasts without Song Qingming’s help.

Song Qingming acquired a White Jade Pill in Yangshan Marketplace and hoped it would help him break through to Foundation Establishment Layer 7 after years stuck at Layer 6. Feng He encouraged him to try it and reminded him of their agreement to find Feng He a suitable body, promising to help Song Qingming form his core in return.

• After Song Qingyu fled, the Fire Scale Leopard led its underlings away from the volcano, where two hidden voices decided to move locations and search for the remaining materials needed to refine a magical artifact.
• At an inn in Yangshan Marketplace, Song Qingming examined the White Jade Pill and asked Feng He whether it could help him break through to Foundation Establishment Layer 7.
• Feng He said Song Qingming’s Mana was perfected and that the pill offered a good chance of advancement, though Song Qingming’s poor Spirit Root Aptitude made cultivation harder.
• Song Qingming reflected on his long bottleneck at Foundation Establishment Layer 6 and his inability to obtain the more effective Barrier Breaking Pill.
• Song Qingming promised Feng He that he would search for a suitable body after breaking through, and Feng He promised to help him form his core once Feng He recovered his cultivation.

Song Qingming supported Song Xinyu’s plans for Foundation Establishment before returning to Funiu Mountain and learning about the Fire Scale Leopard’s attack on White Sheep Mountain. After hearing Song Qingyu’s account, he suspected the beasts’ movements signaled a new danger in Yunwu Mountain and planned to investigate with the Huang Family.

• Song Qingming gave Song Xinyu three thousand Spirit Stones and Foundation Establishment insights, urging him to prepare for his attempt.
• Song Qingming returned to Funiu Mountain and heard that Song Qingyu had led the defense against the Fire Scale Leopard’s invasion of White Sheep Mountain.
• Song Qingming questioned Song Qingyu about the battle and confirmed that Song Qingshi had arranged rewards and compensation for the dead and injured cultivators.
• Song Qingshi pointed out that the Fire Scale Leopard’s sudden departure from its territory was suspicious, and Song Qingming agreed that unfamiliar or newly advanced demonic beasts might be behind it.
• Song Qingming planned to contact the Huang Family and investigate Yunwu Mountain to prevent further trouble at White Sheep Mountain.