Chapter Summaries

After stabilizing his breakthrough to the Seventh Level of Qi Refining, Song Qingming resigned from the Flying Cloud Guard and left Guiyun Marketplace to return to Qinghe County. Meanwhile, the Song Family elders debated whether to let Song Qing Ze join the Carefree Sect, and Song Gushan decided to respect his choice.

• Song Qingming stabilized his cultivation at the Seventh Level of Qi Refining and discovered that his divine sense could reach ten zhang.
• Song Qingming resigned from the Flying Cloud Guard, exchanged his Merit Points for Spirit Stones, and told Shi Chun and the others his real name and family home.
• Song Qingming said farewell to his friends and departed Guiyun Marketplace, using the Gale Technique to travel quickly toward Qinghe County.
• Song Gubo urged Song Gushan not to let Song Qing Ze join the Carefree Sect because the family needed him to secure its future.
• Song Gushan decided to let Song Qing Ze follow his own Dao path, despite the risk that the Song Family might later decline.

Song Qingming returned to Funiu Mountain after years away and reunited with Song Qingyu and the younger Song Qingsi. The Patriarch summoned him to his cave abode and was surprised to learn that Song Qingming had reached the Seventh Level of Qi Refining.

• Song Qingming arrived at Funiu Mountain and recognized Song Qingyu, who introduced him to Song Qingsi.
• Song Qingyu and Song Qingsi admired Song Qingming’s reputation, and he gave each of them a Spirit Fruit before heading up the mountain.
• Song Qingming greeted the Fourth Elder at the Treasury Pavilion, then received a summons from Patriarch Song Gushan.
• Song Qingming went to Song Gushan’s cave abode and saluted the Patriarch.
• Song Gushan noticed Song Qingming’s cultivation and asked whether he had advanced to the Seventh Level of Qi Refining.

After returning to Funiu Mountain, Song Qingming reunited with his brothers and learned that Song Qingze planned to leave the family to join the Carefree Sect. Ten days later, Song Qingming was invited to a family council as an eligible participant, where several elders gathered to deliberate.

• Song Qingming told Song Gushan about his years away and received guidance before returning to his cave abode.
• Song Qingming met Song Qingshi and Song Qingrui at Moon Gazing Pavilion, where they discussed his return and revealed that Song Qingze planned to join the Carefree Sect.
• Song Qingming chose not to disturb Song Changxiong after learning that his attempt to break through had failed.
• Song Gushan invited Song Qingming to sit in on a family council because he had reached the Late Qi Refining Stage.
• Song Changfeng, Song Gulan, and the rarely attending Song Changxin arrived at the Council Hall.

Song Gushan reorganized the Song Family elders as Song Gubo stepped down because of his declining health and appointed Song Qingming as a new elder. Song Qingming accepted his first assignment at the family’s shop in Qinghe Market, while Song Qingze’s decision to join the Carefree Sect remained a source of unease among the elders.

• Song Gubo arrived at the Council Hall, and Song Qingming realized the First Elder’s health and lifespan had sharply declined.
• Song Gushan told the elders that Song Qingze would join the Carefree Sect and urged them not to hold prejudice against him.
• Song Gushan announced that Song Gubo would retire from family affairs, Song Changfeng would take over his duties, and Song Changxin would handle law enforcement and Demon Hunting matters.
• Song Gushan appointed Song Qingming as a family elder after his breakthrough to the Late Qi Refining Stage, and the other elders agreed.
• Song Gushan assigned Song Qingming to help manage the family’s shop in Qinghe Market, and Song Qingming promised to serve the family diligently.

Song Qingming returned to Mujiao Town to reassure his family, then traveled to Qinghe Market to take over duties at the Song Family shops. He learned the market had grown busier as Rogue Cultivators fled rumors of a coming Demonic Beast Turmoil, and he began training in the family business under Song Changqiu.

• Song Qingming visited his parents after four years away and shared a reunion meal with his Second Sister's family.
• Song Qingming traveled to Qinghe Market and reunited with Song Changqiu at the busy Song Family shop.
• Song Qingming gave Song Changqiu the patriarch's letter, which revealed that Song Qingming had reached the Late Qi Refining Stage and was assigned to train at the market.
• Song Changqiu explained that fleeing Rogue Cultivators had increased Qinghe Market's business and that the Song Family had opened a second shop nearby.
• Song Changqiu arranged to help manage the new shop with Fourth Aunt and asked Song Qingming to watch the original shop while learning its affairs.

Song Qingming managed the Song Family shop in Qinghe Market and recognized Old Daoist Chen, the cultivator who had endangered him ten years earlier. After confronting Chen in a private room, Song Qingming heard him offer a High-grade Spirit Talisman as compensation.

• Song Qingming delegated the shop’s daily business to Wang Cheng and the clerks while earning Spirit Stones by making talismans and arrays.
• A clerk told Song Qingming that Wang Cheng could not identify a customer’s spiritual herb, and Song Qingming sensed that the customer was a Late Qi Refining Stage cultivator.
• Song Qingming recognized the customer as Old Daoist Chen and ordered Wang Cheng to bring him to a private room in the rear hall.
• Song Qingming reminded Chen that he had used him to draw the bandits’ attention ten years earlier, nearly costing him his life.
• Old Daoist Chen apologized and placed a High-grade Spirit Talisman on the table to compensate Song Qingming.

Song Qingming bought Old Daoist Chen’s Grade 2 Green Sandalwood Grass and learned how Chen had detected him in the mountains. After explaining his need to control his Puppet Beast, Song Qingming acquired Chen’s incomplete Wind Abyss Soul Forging Art and cultivation notes in exchange for pills.

• Song Qingming sealed the room with an array and reassured Old Daoist Chen that he did not intend to harm him.
• Song Qingming examined Chen’s two-hundred-year-old Green Sandalwood Grass and bought it for one hundred Spirit Stones.
• Song Qingming asked how Chen had found him hiding in a tree, and Chen revealed that he cultivated a technique that strengthened his divine sense.
• Song Qingming showed Chen his Lightning Tiger Puppet Beast and explained that he needed stronger divine sense to control it for longer periods.
• Chen traded Song Qingming the incomplete Wind Abyss Soul Forging Art and his cultivation notes for two bottles of mid-grade pills.
• Song Qingming removed the array, paid Chen with the pills, and escorted him out after inviting him to bring future spirit items to the shop.

Song Qingming acquired and mastered the Wind Abyss Soul Tempering Art, greatly strengthening his divine sense and control of his Lightning Tiger Puppet Beast. Just after completing the art, he was summoned urgently back to the clan by the First Elder.

• Song Qingming set up a Sound-Isolating Restriction in his quarters and studied the Wind Abyss Soul Tempering Art he had obtained from Old Daoist Chen.
• Song Qingming learned that the art could injure his divine soul, then cautiously began cultivating with a Soul Gathering Bottle.
• After nearly three months, Song Qingming crossed the art’s dangerous initial threshold and continued practicing with help from Old Daoist Chen’s notes.
• After three years, Song Qingming completed the art, extending his divine sense more than twenty zhang and improving his control of the Lightning Tiger Puppet Beast.
• Song Changqiu told Song Qingming that the First Elder had urgently summoned him back to the clan.

Song Qingming returned to Funiu Mountain too late to see the First Elder before he died peacefully in his sleep. After the funeral, Song Qingze came back from the Carefree Sect to mourn, though the family still resented his departure, and Song Qingming and Song Qingshi stopped him as he left the mountain.

• Song Qingming hurried back from Qinghe Market after learning the First Elder was gravely ill, but found funeral banners on Funiu Mountain and learned he had already passed away.
• Song Qingming paid his respects to the First Elder and saw Patriarch Song Gushan grieving the loss of his longtime companion.
• The Song Family and their allies attended the First Elder's funeral, and his body was buried at the foot of Funiu Mountain.
• Song Qingze returned from the Carefree Sect after the funeral, but resentful family cultivators refused to tell him where the First Elder was buried until Song Changwu and Song Changyun helped him.
• Song Qingze mourned at the First Elder's grave overnight, then encountered Song Qingming and Song Qingshi on his way down the mountain.

Song Qingming saw Song Qingze off to the Carefree Sect, then returned to Funiu Mountain to speak with the patriarch. He learned that the late First Elder had wanted him to look after Song Xinhu, the first cultivator of the Xin Generation.

• Song Qingshi comforted Song Qingze as Song Qingming and Song Qingshi escorted him beyond Funiu Mountain and said their farewells.
• Song Qingze departed for the Carefree Sect, where he had reached the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining and hoped to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill.
• Song Qingming returned to Funiu Mountain and asked Song Gushan for permission to go back to Qinghe Market.
• Song Gushan introduced Song Xinhu as the First Elder's great-grandson and explained that the First Elder had wanted Song Qingming to look after him.
• Song Qingming agreed to honor the First Elder's wishes, while Song Gushan said he would care for Song Xinhu for now.

Song Qingming returned to Qinghe Market and learned that Old Daoist Chen wanted his help breaking the restrictions on a senior cultivator’s cave mansion. Though he initially refused, Chen revealed the cave might contain the continuation of the Wind Abyss Soul Tempering Art, and Song Qingming agreed to consider the expedition and answer the next day.

• Song Qingming returned to Qinghe Market, where Song Changqiu told him Old Daoist Chen had been seeking him.
• Song Qingming met Old Daoist Chen at an inn, and Chen asked him to help break the restrictions on a cave mansion in Yunwu Mountain.
• Song Qingming refused to join the expedition, saying he did not want to risk exploring the cave mansion.
• Old Daoist Chen said the cave had yielded the Wind Abyss Soul Tempering Art and might contain its continuation, which he promised Song Qingming first claim to.
• Song Qingming asked for one day to consider Chen’s proposal and promised to give him an answer the next day.

Song Qingming joined Old Daoist Chen and Zhou Tangjin on an expedition to an ancient cave abode in Yunwu Mountain, where they found a sealed Black Stone Gate. Song Qingming began setting up an array to weaken its Restriction, leaving the group poised to attempt opening the gate.

• Song Qingming left a letter for his family, arranged a month of leave with Song Changqiu, and set out with Old Daoist Chen.
• Zhou Tangjin joined Song Qingming and Old Daoist Chen, and the three traveled into Yunwu Mountain to reach the cave abode.
• Old Daoist Chen led the group through the cave to a sealed Black Stone Gate surrounded by scattered books and bamboo slips.
• Song Qingming examined the gate and said they would need an array to weaken its Restriction rather than break it by force.
• Song Qingming planted six Array Flags and took out an array disk, then asked Old Daoist Chen and Zhou Tangjin to help maintain the array.

Song Qingming used the Rune Theft and Imprinting Method to weaken the restriction on the Black Stone Gate, while Old Daoist Chen and Zhou Tangjin helped break it. The gate opened to reveal a spacious cave abode with abundant Spiritual Energy.

• Song Qingming channeled power through an array disk and had Old Daoist Chen and Zhou Tangjin feed Mana into the gate’s array flags as he worked on the rune restriction.
• Song Qingming secretly let the two companions expend more Mana than necessary, then told them the restriction was ready to be broken.
• While Old Daoist Chen and Zhou Tangjin restored their Mana, Song Qingming read and collected bamboo slips from the cave’s stone table.
• Song Qingming, Old Daoist Chen, and Zhou Tangjin attacked the weakened rune with their Magic Tools until Zhou Tangjin’s spear shattered it.
• The Black Stone Gate sank into the ground, revealing a large cave abode with Spiritual Energy close to Level 2.

Song Qingming, Zhou Jintang, and Old Daoist Chen explored a hidden cave abode and uncovered a valuable cache belonging to a deceased Foundation Establishment senior. After opening the senior’s Storage Bag, they found wealth worth nearly seven thousand Spirit Stones but not the continuation of Song Qingming’s desired cultivation art, and their excitement gave way to wariness over how to divide the spoils.

• Song Qingming recognized the Golden Bronze Mirror as the Array Eye of a high-grade Spirit Gathering Array and persuaded Zhou Jintang to leave it alone while they searched the cave abode.
• The three found a decayed Foundation Establishment Late Stage senior in the cultivation chamber, and Old Daoist Chen bowed before carefully removing the senior’s Storage Bag.
• Song Qingming dismantled and stored the Spirit Gathering Array while the three spent two days breaking the Restriction on the Storage Bag.
• They found three Level 2 Magic Tools, five Level 2 Talismans, more than two thousand Spirit Stones, and other treasures worth nearly seven thousand Spirit Stones, but no continuation of the Wind Abyss Soul Tempering Art.
• Song Qingming found another divine sense cultivation technique, while the three grew wary of one another as they considered the valuable loot.

Song Qingming, Old Daoist Chen, and Zhou Jintang divided the treasures from the cave abode, including Level 2 Magic Tools, talismans, and manuals. After Song Qingming received the divine sense cultivation art he had sought, the three buried the senior and left the mountain.

• Old Daoist Chen took the Grade 2 Mid-grade flying sword, Zhou Jintang claimed two Grade 2 Low-grade Magic Tools, and Song Qingming chose the Golden Bronze Mirror.
• Song Qingming and Old Daoist Chen divided four Grade 2 Low-grade Talismans between them, while Zhou Jintang received the fifth.
• The three chose or copied the cultivation manuals and ancient texts, and Song Qingming received the divine sense cultivation art he had arranged for.
• Old Daoist Chen chose a burial site, and Zhou Jintang dug a grave for the senior's body.
• Zhou Jintang suggested taking the senior's Dharma Robe, but Old Daoist Chen rebuked him and Song Qingming covered the grave with earth using a spell.
• The three paid their respects to the senior and left the mountain.

After Zhou Jintang and Old Daoist Chen parted ways with Song Qingming, Zhou Jintang secretly followed Song Qingming through Yunwu Mountain and ambushed him for his valuables. Song Qingming tricked Zhou Jintang with an explosive Storage Bag, leaving him injured and missing an arm.

• Zhou Jintang left Song Qingming and Old Daoist Chen, and Old Daoist Chen soon departed as well, leaving Song Qingming to travel alone through Yunwu Mountain.
• After two days, Song Qingming sensed someone following him and discovered Zhou Jintang, who admitted he had tracked him to seize his valuables.
• Zhou Jintang explained that he had targeted Song Qingming because Old Daoist Chen was too difficult to ambush, then demanded Song Qingming's Storage Bag.
• Song Qingming pretended to surrender his Storage Bag and set it down for Zhou Jintang to collect.
• The Storage Bag exploded with Song Qingming's Azure Fire Thunder, blasting Zhou Jintang away and destroying his left hand despite his defensive Level 2 Talisman.
• Song Qingming charged back toward the bloodied Zhou Jintang and mocked him for surviving the blast.

Song Qingming’s trap badly wounded Zhou Jintang, but Zhou’s powerful defensive Crystal Ball prevented Song Qingming from finishing him off. The two continued their fight, with Song Qingming realizing that overcoming Zhou’s defenses would be difficult.

• Song Qingming explained that he had concealed Azure Fire Thunder inside a Storage Bag to catch greedy opponents off guard.
• Zhou Jintang’s Level 2 Defensive Talisman protected him from the Azure Fire Thunder, and he tried to surrender, but Song Qingming refused to let him go.
• Zhou Jintang attacked with his spear, and Song Qingming blocked the strike with the Heavenly Net Umbrella before countering with earthen spikes and two Spirit Talismans.
• Zhou Jintang used a Crystal Ball that absorbed the talismans’ spiritual energy and shielded him, leaving Song Qingming bracing for a hard fight.

Song Qingming outmaneuvered the injured Zhou Jintang by using a silver iron block to disable his Crystal Ball, then killed him and took his belongings. He left the battle site after burning Zhou Jintang’s corpse.

• Song Qingming attacked Zhou Jintang with waves of Spirit Talismans, testing the Crystal Ball’s defenses before charging in with the White Jade Sword.
• Zhou Jintang blocked the attacks with the Crystal Ball and a Defensive Talisman, but Song Qingming attached a silver iron block to the Crystal Ball and knocked it away.
• Song Qingming pursued Zhou Jintang with the Heavenly Net Umbrella, sword strikes, and the White Tiger Puppet Beast, stopping his escape.
• Song Qingming rejected Zhou Jintang’s plea and killed him with the White Jade Sword.
• Song Qingming took Zhou Jintang’s Storage Bag and magic tools, then burned his corpse with a fireball.

Song Qingming returned to Funiu Mountain after killing Zhou Jintang and recovered the Thousand Water Ball, while the Song Family investigated the men’s backgrounds and kept the incident secret. Inspecting Zhou Jintang’s belongings, Song Qingming discovered that Zhou Jintang had marked him with a faint scent to track him.

• Song Qingming recovered the Thousand Water Ball from the grass where he had kicked it during his fight with Zhou Jintang.
• Song Qingming reported his journey to Song Gushan, who sheltered him at Funiu Mountain and sent Song Changfeng to investigate Zhou Jintang and Old Daoist Chen.
• Song Changfeng and Song Changqiu learned that Zhou Jintang and Old Daoist Chen were outsiders with few ties to Qinghe County, and Old Daoist Chen had left Qinghe Market.
• After Song Qingming stayed at Funiu Mountain for half a month, Song Gushan arranged for Song Qingwan to take over Song Qingming’s work in Qinghe Market.
• Song Qingming examined Zhou Jintang’s Storage Bag and found a medicine bottle whose scent matched the trace around his shoulder, realizing Zhou Jintang had used it to track him.

After half a year of seclusion, Song Qingming broke through to the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining and was summoned to a Song Family meeting. The family chose an elite group to help the Huang Family clear Chifeng Ridge, and Song Qingming ended the chapter by handing Song Gushan a Storage Bag.

• Song Xin hu told Song Qingming that Song Gushan wanted to see him as soon as he left seclusion.
• Song Qingming emerged from half a month of seclusion after using a Mid-grade Spirit Stone to reach the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining.
• Song Chang Feng explained that the Huang Family had ordered the Song Family to send at least six cultivators to clear demonic beasts from Chifeng Ridge.
• Song Gushan selected himself, Song Changxin, Song Qingming, Song Changling, Song Changxiong, and Song Qingrui for the mission, while Song Chang Feng and Song Qingwan stayed to guard the family.
• After the elders left, Song Qingming handed Song Gushan a Storage Bag, prompting him to ask what it contained.