Chapter Summaries

Song Qingming obtained the Azure Spirit Wood Heart from the Carefree Sect to help Song Qingyu attempt core formation, then learned that Bai Yuxian was in seclusion attempting to reach the Nascent Soul Realm. After returning to Tuoyun Mountain to prepare for Song Qingyu and Huang Siyuan’s breakthroughs, he was surprised by the arrival of two familiar cultivators.

• Song Qingming hurried to Mount Guyang after hearing that the Carefree Sect had returned from the Shangyang State Trade Fair, and Yao Ganshu confirmed the sect had acquired a Five Elements Core Formation Spiritual Item.
• Song Qingming exchanged fourteen thousand Merit Points for the Azure Spirit Wood Heart, while Yao Ganshu promised to help him obtain a Jade Dust Pill for Huang Siyuan.
• Yao Ganshu told Song Qingming that Bai Yuxian had entered long-term seclusion to attempt a breakthrough to the Nascent Soul Realm, and Song Qingming promised to keep the matter secret.
• Song Qingming returned to Tuoyun Mountain and gave Song Qingyu the Azure Spirit Wood Heart and other items to support her next attempt at core formation.
• Song Qingming met He and Xia, two familiar cultivators who had unexpectedly returned to Tuoyun Mountain.

He Mengxin and Xia Mo asked Song Qingming to help break a powerful formation guarding a hidden cave abode near Yue State, but he initially refused because of the danger and his family’s needs. Xia Mo offered Jade True Water for Song Qingyu’s core formation, persuading him to go; the chapter ended with Song Qingming weighing their request that Qingyu join the expedition.

• He Mengxin and Xia Mo told Song Qingming how they had found a concealed cave abode in the Floating Cloud Mountain Range, where a Grade 3 High-grade formation blocked the entrance.
• Song Qingming refused to help because the cave abode was near Yue State, whose Nine Yuan Sect was hostile to the Carefree Sect, and because Song Qingyu was preparing for core formation.
• Xia Mo offered Jade True Water as advance compensation, and Song Qingming agreed to join the expedition after consulting Song Qingyu and Huang Siyuan.
• Song Qingming told Song Qingyu and Huang Siyuan about the journey and explained that the Jade True Water could help settle their needs for core-formation spiritual items.
• Xia Mo proposed using a secret technique to empower a Foundation Establishment Layer 9 cultivator and asked Song Qingming to bring Song Qingyu as the fourth participant.
• Song Qingming hesitated over Song Qingyu’s safety and said he would ask whether she was willing to go.

Song Qingming, He Mengxin, and Xia Mo entered a hidden cave abode and prepared to break its linked defensive and offensive formations with Song Qingyu’s help. They began using the Four Symbols Array Breaking Method, but the formation remained intact as their Azure Dragon Phantom weakened and its runes started to recover.

• He Mengxin led Song Qingming and Song Qingyu to the concealed cave abode in the Floating Cloud Mountain Range, where Xia Mo opened its outer array.
• Song Qingming sealed the cave’s leaking Array Eye, and Xia Mo gave him the promised Jade True Water before they restored the entrance’s concealment.
• Song Qingming identified the inner defenses as linked formations, and the group prepared Xia Mo’s Three Talents Formation and the Four Symbols Array Breaking Method.
• Xia Mo gave Song Qingyu a pill that temporarily raised her Mana to the Golden Core first layer, and Song Qingyu took her place in the formation.
• Xia Mo, Song Qingming, He Mengxin, and Song Qingyu summoned the Four Symbols phantoms and attacked the Grade 3 High-grade Formation, but the Azure Dragon Phantom weakened as the formation began restoring its runes.

Song Qingming, Xia Mo, He Mengxin, and Song Qingyu broke through a powerful array and survived a hidden arrow trap before entering an ancient cave abode. After a Gray Rat Demon King ambushed Song Qingyu and was killed, the group found the concealed entrance from which it had emerged.

• Song Qingming and Xia Mo alternated control of the Four Symbols Beast Phantoms to break the grand array while their companions supported them and defended against its attacks.
• After the array fell, a rain of silver arrows attacked the group, but Xia Mo protected everyone with her White Jade Ruler until the trap stopped.
• The group entered a stone cave abode and found lamps, flying swords, artifact-refining materials, and manuals, but few valuable items or signs of the owner.
• Song Qingyu discovered a hidden presence beneath a stone table, and a Gray Rat Demon King burst out and attacked her before Song Qingming helped her evade it.
• Xia Mo, Song Qingming, and He Mengxin killed the recently advanced Mid Golden Core Stage Gray Rat Demon King, then turned toward the concealed cave entrance beneath the table.

Song Qingming and his companions discovered the hidden lower chamber of the cave abode, where they found valuable artifact-refining materials and a mature Grade 4 Crystal Lotus. As they gathered Ice Crystal Jade Liquid and prepared to leave, Song Qingyu uncovered an unfinished flying sword that suddenly shot into her brow when she tried to store it.

• Song Qingming sent Golden Illusion Butterflies down the hidden passage, confirmed the chamber was safe, and led the group below.
• The group found a High-tier Fire Vein, a Grade 3 Mid-grade Artifact Refining Furnace, three unfinished Grade 3 Low-grade Magic Treasures, and an Artifact Refining Inheritance.
• He Mengxin recognized the mature Crystal Lotus, and Xia Mo harvested it and warned that its Heaven and Earth Phenomenon could attract demonic beasts.
• He Mengxin identified the pool's blue water as Ice Crystal Jade Liquid and filled bottles with it, while Song Qingming collected some for his family.
• Song Qingyu found an unfinished Level 2 flying sword embedded in the wall and pulled it free.
• When Song Qingyu tried to store the flying sword, it blazed with light and shot into the space between her brows.

Song Qingyu fainted after retrieving an unfinished flying sword in the cave, but woke with no apparent harm, and the group left with valuable treasures. On their way east, two Nine Yuan Sect cultivators intercepted them and demanded their gains, forcing Xia Mo, Song Qingming, and He Mengxin to fight while Song Qingyu fled ahead.

• Song Qingyu collapsed after pulling an unfinished flying sword from the cave wall, and Xia Mo found no injury or sign of a body seizure when she examined her.
• Song Qingyu woke with no memory of what had happened, took He Mengxin's pill, and recovered enough to leave with the others.
• The group sealed the cave entrance, slew a Level 2 Low-grade Demonic Beast outside, and flew east aboard Xia Mo's Purple Flying Carriage with their treasure haul.
• Linghu Jie and another Nine Yuan Sect elder stopped the group and demanded that they hand over everything they had found.
• Xia Mo attacked the two cultivators, while Song Qingming and He Mengxin joined the fight and Song Qingyu flew east to escape.

Song Qingming, He Mengxin, and Xia Mo fought off two Nine Yuan Sect elders after Xia Mo forced Linghu Jie to flee and helped kill Elder Feng. The Nine Yuan Sect’s reinforcements failed to find them, and the group returned to Funiu Mountain, where Song Qingming ordered everyone to lie low.

• Song Qingming and He Mengxin joined Xia Mo in battling Linghu Jie and Elder Feng, while Xia Mo’s powerful magic treasures and Spirit Talisman drove Linghu Jie into retreat.
• Xia Mo used her silver hairpin to catch up with Elder Feng, and Song Qingming and He Mengxin joined her to kill him.
• Yue Wuji and three Nine Yuan Sect elders arrived, found Elder Feng’s corpse, and pursued the group into Wei State but failed to locate them.
• Song Qingming, Song Qingyu, He Mengxin, and Xia Mo returned to Funiu Mountain, where Song Qingming ordered the family to stay hidden and avoid outside contact.
• Xia Mo proposed that she and Song Qingming divide the items they had obtained.

Song Qingming and his companions returned to Funiu Mountain, divided the spiritual items from the Nascent Soul cave abode, and settled their guests while they lay low from the Nine Yuan Sect. Song Qingyu then revealed that she had received a Sword Intent Legacy, which she could not yet access, and Song Qingming suggested she might unlock it after reaching the Golden Core Realm.

• Song Qingming, Xia Mo, He Mengxin, and Song Qingyu inventoried and divided their cave-abode spoils, with Song Qingming receiving a Cangxuan Bright Pearl from Xia Mo as compensation.
• Song Qingming gave the low-tier items to Song Yuanfang for the family's Treasury Pavilion and copied the Level Three artifact refiner inheritance scroll for Xia Mo and He Mengxin.
• Xia Mo and He Mengxin stayed at Funiu Mountain to avoid drawing the Nine Yuan Sect's attention, while Song Qingyu asked Song Qingming to walk with her.
• Song Qingyu told Song Qingming that a half-finished flying sword had sent a white light into her body and left a golden flying sword and an inheritance in her sea of consciousness.
• Song Qingyu explained that the golden flying sword held a Sword Intent Legacy from the cave abode's original owner, but runes blocked her from accessing it.
• Song Qingming congratulated Song Qingyu and reassured her that she might be able to open the legacy after breaking through to the Golden Core Realm.

Song Qingming and Song Qingyu said farewell to He Mengxin and Xia Mo after their time at Funiu Mountain, while Song Qingming learned more about their sect and Xia Mo’s exceptional cultivation. He then reunited with Huang Siyuan and prepared Song Qingyu to enter seclusion and attempt to form her core.

• Song Qingming comforted Song Qingyu about her inaccessible Sword Intent Legacy, and the two spent time together at Funiu Mountain.
• After the Nine Yuan Sect did not enter Wei State, Song Qingming sold some of the recovered spiritual items and gave He Mengxin and Xia Mo twenty thousand Spirit Stones.
• Three months later, He Mengxin and Xia Mo left Jingyuan Mountain, and He Mengxin gave Song Qingming Spirit Stones and asked him to look after Liu Yuxin.
• Song Changze followed Liu Yuxin after she tried to send him away, while Song Qingming and Song Qingyu returned to Funiu Mountain and then visited Huang Siyuan at Tuoyun Mountain.
• Song Qingming told Huang Siyuan about the Nascent Soul cave, Song Qingyu’s inheritance, and their clash with Linghu Jie of the Nine Yuan Sect.
• Song Qingming gave Song Qingyu Jade True Water and a Jade Dust Pill, and she resolved to enter seclusion the next day to attempt core formation.

Song Qingming arranged for Song Qingyu and Huang Siyuan to attempt core formation, then secluded himself to advance his cultivation. He successfully broke through from the Third Level of Golden Core to the Mid Golden Core Stage and found both women’s secluded breakthroughs undisturbed.

• Song Qingyu entered seclusion on Tuoyun Mountain to attempt forming her core, and Song Qingming arranged guards to protect her retreat.
• Song Qingming gave Li Mufeng his Phantom Boat to upgrade, and Li Mufeng raised it to Grade 3 Mid-grade after half a year.
• Huang Siyuan perfected the Conceal Origin Art and entered seclusion to attempt forming her core while Song Qingming began his own cultivation retreat.
• Song Qingming refined a Golden Flame Pill for two years and triggered a Five-Colored Divine Glow as he broke through to the Mid Golden Core Stage.
• Song Yuanli guarded Song Qingming’s cave abode until Song Qingming emerged, then reported that the mountain had remained safe and Song Qingyu and Huang Siyuan’s retreats showed no abnormalities.

After breaking through to the Golden Core Fourth Layer, Song Qingming found that Ice Crystal Jade Liquid had helped mature nearly a hundred Golden Illusion Butterflies. At Tuoyun Mountain Market, Lin Yutang and Zhang Rong asked him to help obtain a Level 3 Demon Core so Zhang Rong could attempt forming a False Core, and Song Qingming agreed to write to Senior Brother Chen.

• Song Qingming broke through to the Golden Core Fourth Layer, aided by the Golden Flame Pill, his Nascent Soul cultivation experience, and the Tongtian Myriad Spirits Art.
• Song Qingming found that Ice Crystal Jade Liquid had nurtured nearly a hundred Golden Illusion Butterflies to maturity, though it had little effect on the Skyfire Roc or the Thousand-Year Spirit Beast Egg.
• Song Qingming emerged from seclusion and went to Immortal Phoenix Tower, where Lin Yutang and Zhang Rong requested an audience.
• Lin Yutang asked Song Qingming to approach Senior Chen about obtaining a Level 3 Demon Core for Zhang Rong's attempt to form a False Core.
• Song Qingming warned them that forming a False Core would limit Zhang Rong's future cultivation, but agreed to write a letter to Senior Brother Chen and cautioned that the request might not succeed.

Song Qingming met with Fire Phoenix after she recovered from her injuries, and she announced that she was leaving the Floating Cloud Mountain Range. Before departing, she repaid her debt to him by hatching his ancient Spirit Beast Egg, which revealed an Ice Fire Flood Dragon.

• Song Qingming gave Lin Yutang a letter of introduction to Chen Xuanxin so Lin Yutang could seek a Demon King Inner Core.
• A Red-clothed Woman questioned an Immortal Phoenix Tower attendant about Song Qingming, but the attendant refused to discuss the Song Family Old Ancestor.
• Fire Phoenix visited Song Qingming, confirmed that Song Qingyu was likely to succeed in forming her core, and said she was leaving the Floating Cloud Mountain Range.
• Song Qingming gave Fire Phoenix two Storage Bags and, after she offered to repay his favor from Tongtian Tower, asked her to identify and hatch his Spirit Beast Egg.
• Fire Phoenix identified the egg as an Ice Fire Flood Dragon’s, restored its damaged vital essence, and helped it hatch; she said it could reach Grade 3 and might possibly advance to the Nascent Soul Realm.

Song Qingming bid farewell to the Fire Phoenix, who left with Long Feng and Azure Luan to return to the Northern Frontier, then spent nearly two years cultivating on Tuoyun Mountain. Song Qingyu began condensing her core, and the chapter ended as she used Jade True Water to steady her fragile Golden Core.

• The Fire Phoenix awakened the Ice Fire Flood Dragon’s bloodline, warned Song Qingming to keep that secret, and gave him a Shapeshifting Technique and Thousand Year Spirit Milk.
• The Fire Phoenix warned Song Qingming to be cautious around Feng He, then departed after reflecting on their bond and their shared past.
• The Fire Phoenix told Long Feng and Azure Luan that Song Qingming might reach the Nascent Soul Realm, then led them to bid farewell to Uncle Jinyu before returning to the Northern Frontier.
• After nearly two years of peaceful cultivation, Song Qingyu’s attempt to condense her core triggered a Heaven and Earth Phenomenon, and Song Qingming ordered the mountain’s defenses activated.
• Song Qingming reassured Huang Siyuan that Song Qingyu’s breakthrough appeared promising, while Song Qingyu drew Jade True Water into her body to help her Golden Core withstand the Spiritual Energy.

Song Qingyu successfully formed her Golden Core, stabilized her cultivation, and revealed that her Sword Intent Legacy had given her a path to become a Sword Cultivator. Song Qingming brought her back to Funiu Mountain to celebrate, where Carefree Sect cultivators Zhao Menglian and Chu Fengping arrived, apparently to inquire about her breakthrough.

• Song Qingyu used Jade True Water and Thousand Year Spirit Milk to stabilize her Golden Core, then completed Condensing Core after a month of heavenly phenomena.
• Song Qingming and Huang Siyuan congratulated Song Qingyu, and Song Qingming gave her a flying sword magic treasure before she returned to seclusion to stabilize her cultivation.
• Song Qingming instructed Song Yuanli to keep Song Qingyu's breakthrough secret while the family prepared for her return.
• After emerging from seclusion, Song Qingyu told Song Qingming and Huang Siyuan that her Sword Intent Legacy had opened and that she would refine a set of flying swords as her Natal Magic Treasure.
• Song Qingming returned to Funiu Mountain with Song Qingyu and Huang Siyuan, and the family welcomed Song Qingyu and arranged a banquet.
• Zhao Menglian and Chu Fengping arrived at Funiu Mountain, and Song Qingming invited them inside after explaining that Song Qingyu had formed her core.

Song Qingming welcomed Zhao Menglian and Chu Fengping to Funiu Mountain, where they discussed Song Qingyu’s Golden Core formation and the Carefree Sect’s efforts to recruit her. After Qingyu agreed to join as a Guest Elder rather than Li Mufeng’s direct disciple, Song Qingming learned that the sect would soon summon cultivators to reinforce the war in Lu State.

• Song Qingming told Zhao Menglian and Chu Fengping that Song Qingyu had formed her Golden Core and hosted them at the Immortal Gathering Pavilion.
• Song Qingyu met the visitors, who praised her cultivation and asked about her plans after forming her Golden Core.
• Zhao Menglian revealed that Li Mufeng had offered to take Song Qingyu as his direct disciple, but Song Qingming explained that Qingyu wished to remain with her family.
• Song Qingming agreed that Qingyu could join the Carefree Sect as a Guest Elder, and Zhao Menglian gave him a Grade 3 Low-grade Talisman on the sect’s behalf.
• Chu Fengping warned Song Qingming that the sect would soon summon cultivators to reinforce the front lines in Lu State after the Lingyin Sect suffered a defeat.
• After Zhao Menglian and Chu Fengping left, Song Qingming worried that the renewed war would bring losses to the Song Family.

Song Qingyu declined Li Mufeng’s offer to become his personal disciple and joined the Carefree Sect as a Guest Elder, while the sect quietly suspected that a powerful expert might be supporting the Song Family. As the Carefree Sect conscripted cultivators for the Lu State front, Song Qingming assigned Song Yuanli to lead the first Song Family deployment and sent Song Yuanfang to gather more troops from affiliated families.

• Song Qingyu rejected personal discipleship under Li Mufeng, choosing to remain independent while accepting the post of Guest Elder in the Carefree Sect.
• Song Qingming told Li Mufeng that Song Qingyu would not become his disciple, and Li Mufeng privately told Yao Ganshu that he suspected an unseen expert was behind the Song Family’s growth.
• Song Qingyu joined the Carefree Sect, selected a sword cultivation art from the Merit Pavilion, and received a belated Golden Core celebration.
• Song Qingming informed the Song Family Elders that the sect required three Foundation Establishment Cultivators and two hundred Qi Refining Cultivators for the Lu State front; Song Yuanli was chosen to lead the first one-year deployment.
• Song Qingming gave Song Yuanli protective talismans and ordered Song Yuanfang to arrange conscription from affiliated families in Qinghe and Pingyang Counties.
• Song Yuanfang, Song Yuanli, and Song Changze traveled to Chiyan Market, where they met the leaders of local Foundation Establishment Families to organize the conscripts.

Song Yuanfang organized the conscription of cultivators for the Lu State battlefield and arranged for the Chen and Meng Families to hire Song Family-connected members of Chiyan Market’s Law Enforcement Team. After Song Yuanli led the expedition away, Song Qingming and Song Yuanfang brought Song Qingyu two Foundation Establishment Pills and discussed whom to entrust them to.

• Song Yuanfang announced the sect’s conscription requirements, then advised Chen Yunan and Meng Xuanzhang to hire Law Enforcement Team cultivators to meet their quotas.
• Song Yuanfang secretly instructed Song Xuanyu to alert Song Yuantong, who prepared Song Family-connected cultivators to be hired by the Chen and Meng Families.
• Song Yuanli led more than two hundred Qi Refining Cultivators onto a Carefree Sect flying boat bound for the Lu State battlefield.
• Song Yuanfang told Song Yuantong to expand the Law Enforcement Team’s manpower and discussed the Song Family’s plan to use it to grow its influence.
• Song Yuanqian delivered most of the materials Song Qingyu needed to refine her Natal Magic Treasure, and Song Qingming and Song Yuanfang praised her work.
• Song Qingming explained that he had obtained a Foundation Establishment Pill from Gu Qing by trading two Grade 3 Spirit Medicines, giving the family two pills to allocate.

Song Qingming obtained a Foundation Establishment Pill from Gu Qing and led the Song Family elders in choosing recipients for the family’s two pills. Song Yuanqian and Song Changwen received them and entered seclusion to attempt Foundation Establishment, while Song Qingming planned a future trip to the Eastern Sea to seek more pills.

• Song Qingming exchanged two Grade 3 Low-grade Spirit Medicines and several Grade 2 Spirit Medicines with Gu Qing for a Foundation Establishment Pill.
• Song Qingming, Song Qingyu, and Song Yuanfang narrowed the family’s Foundation Establishment candidates and confirmed Song Yuanqian as a leading choice.
• Song Yuanfang explained that the family’s Foundation Establishment Pill ingredients would take years to mature, and Song Qingming planned to seek pills in the Eastern Sea.
• The Song Family elders convened at Funiu Mountain and awarded the two Foundation Establishment Pills to Song Yuanqian and Song Changwen.
• Song Yuanqian and Song Changwen entered seclusion to attempt Foundation Establishment.

Song Qingyu began refining her Natal Magic Treasure while Song Qingming and Huang Siyuan entered secluded cultivation, and the story shifted to Song Yuanli escorting supplies on the Lu State front. After Yuxiao Sect rebelled and Tianhai Alliance forces attacked the convoy, Song Yuanli fled but was pursued by a faster Foundation Establishment cultivator.

• Song Qingyu entered secluded cultivation to refine her Natal Magic Treasure, and Song Qingming and Huang Siyuan returned to Tuoyun Mountain to cultivate in seclusion.
• Song Yuanli and Li Chengyue set out with a supply convoy for Fenggu Plain and rescued Wang Jingde, who warned them that Yuxiao Sect had rebelled and joined the Tianhai Alliance.
• Song Yuanli ordered the convoy to retreat, but four Tianhai Alliance Foundation Establishment cultivators caught up and attacked them.
• More enemy cultivators arrived, so Song Yuanli, Li Chengyue, and Wang Jingde fled while the Qi Refining cultivators scattered and abandoned the supplies.
• A Foundation Establishment Layer 8 Tianhai Alliance cultivator pursued Song Yuanli on a fast flying artifact, gradually catching up to him.

Song Yuanli was trapped while fleeing Tianhai Alliance pursuers, but a mysterious green-robed Golden Core Cultivator intervened and killed them. After learning the front-line battle situation from Song Yuanli, the man let him leave with proof of his escape, while Song Qingming later failed to finish drawing a Grade 3 Low-grade Talisman.

• Song Yuanli fought off the black-robed pursuer’s attacks and broke free of his vines, but the Tianhai Alliance cultivator cornered him in a valley.
• Song Yuanli used a Grade 2 High-grade Spirit Talisman to blast the black-robed man, then tried to escape as a gray mist dragged them both back down.
• A masked green-robed Golden Core Cultivator appeared, questioned the black-robed man about Luofeng Valley and Qiu Daoping, then killed him when he tried to flee.
• The green-robed man questioned Song Yuanli about the front lines and learned that Yuxiao Sect might have rebelled and the Tianhai Alliance had moved around from Zipeng Mountain.
• The green-robed man killed two more Tianhai Alliance pursuers, then let Song Yuanli take the black-robed man’s head and Storage Bag before warning him to conceal their meeting.
• Months later, Song Qingming’s Grade 3 Low-grade Talisman caught fire before he could finish drawing it.