Chapter Summaries

Li Yuanba completed three months of cultivation on Ten Thousand Swords Peak before answering He Wei and Liu Gang’s call for help against a powerful Great Demon. He used Ten Thousand Swords Peak to pin the Vajra Giant Shell Turtle Great Demon to the seabed, leaving his fellow cultivators stunned by the treasure’s power.

• Li Yuanba’s Turtle Marrow Essence Enhancing Pills ran out, slowing his cultivation, while he continued training his sword arts, body, and Refined Corpse body.
• Li Yuanba sensed He Wei battling a Vajra Giant Shell Turtle Great Demon outside North Guard Island, and Liu Gang sent him a message asking for help.
• Li Yuanba attacked the turtle with the Form Intention Sword, but its defenses shrugged off his strikes as its Earth Attribute spells hindered him.
• Li Yuanba deployed Ten Thousand Swords Peak, whose gravity field slowed the turtle before the mountain crushed it down to the seabed.
• He Wei and Liu Gang watched in amazement as Ten Thousand Swords Peak displayed its overwhelming power.

Li Yuanba killed the Vajra Giant Shell Turtle with Ten Thousand Swords Peak, traded its Demon Core to Liu Gang for Silver Corpse advancement materials, and began advancing Jiang Chen. Jiang Chen’s aura suddenly surged in the formation, and Li Yuanba watched as his breakthrough began.

• Li Yuanba used Ten Thousand Swords Peak to crush the Vajra Giant Shell Turtle and destroy it with gravity and Sword Intent, though the attack consumed a third of his Golden Core’s Spiritual Power.
• Li Yuanba recovered the turtle’s corpse and traded its Demon Core to Liu Gang for materials to advance an Iron Corpse to a Silver Corpse.
• Li Yuanba returned to North Guard Island and set up an Iron Corpse Ascension Array, placing Jiang Chen inside it.
• Jiang Chen’s aura began to fluctuate as he approached a breakthrough, and Li Yuanba hurried to watch over him.
• Jiang Chen’s energy gathered at one point as his aura strengthened, while the yin-cold energy and Sword Intent within him weakened.

Jiang Chen successfully advanced to a Silver Corpse after Li Yuanba helped it survive Heavenly Thunder. Meanwhile, the continent-wide campaign dismantled the Heavenly Travel Merchant Guild, and Li Shiming remained inside the Shu Mountain Sect while cultivating the ancient zither to seek a breakthrough.

• Jiang Chen formed a Corpse Pill, endured Heavenly Thunder with Li Yuanba's help, and successfully became a Silver Corpse.
• Liu Gang and He Wei sensed Jiang Chen's breakthrough and marveled at Li Yuanba's success in refining a special-ability Silver Corpse.
• Over three months, the Northern Shu Continent's sects destroyed the Heavenly Travel Merchant Guild's strongholds and exposed its compromised cultivators, while Manager Feng Yi remained officially at large.
• Elder Su kept Li Shiming inside the mountain gate while the sects searched for Manager Feng Yi, unaware that Li Shiming had already killed him.
• Li Shiming began studying the Six-Fingered Sound Demon's Heavenly Sound Secret Manual and practicing an ancient zither to cultivate his state of mind and seek a breakthrough.

Li Shiming continued to seek a breakthrough while cultivating the Heavenly Sound Secret Manual, but an attack on North Guard Island forced him to use his formation expertise through Li Yuanba to protect the island. The first giant wave was repelled, but fifteen stronger waves were approaching.

• Li Shiming remained unable to break through his bottleneck and spent his time studying formations while confined to the sect grounds.
• A battle between an unknown Nascent Soul Old Ancestor and a Fourth Grade Sea Beast sent violent spiritual qi toward North Guard Island, prompting Li Yuanba to help He Wei and Liu Gang control the island's formation.
• Li Yuanba took command of the formation, while Li Shiming linked through their shared soul and helped control it.
• The formation shield withstood the first giant wave, saving the cultivators on North Guard Island.
• He Wei detected fifteen more, stronger waves approaching, and Li Yuanba ordered He Wei and Liu Gang to pour their Spiritual Power into the formation.

Li Shiming gained enlightenment while Li Yuanba used North Guard Island’s grand array to withstand a series of waves, allowing Li Shiming to become a Formation Master. A greater wave threatened the island, but Old Ancestor Lu arrived and stopped it, leaving the danger deterred for now.

• Old Ancestor Weng Zhao clashed with a Fourth Grade sea beast near the Northern Shu Continent, then retreated when another Nascent Soul aura approached.
• Li Yuanba controlled North Guard Island’s grand array through fifteen giant waves, while Li Shiming gained formation insights through their connection.
• Li Shiming’s Array Starlight Sea formed a vast star map, completing his own Formation System and raising his spirit by thirty percent, though he remained blocked from reaching the Golden Core Stage.
• A wave more powerful than the previous fifteen approached North Guard Island, and Li Yuanba and He Wei prepared to flee while Liu Gang had no life-saving talisman.
• Old Ancestor Lu arrived, subdued the giant wave before it reached the island, and deterred the Nascent Soul Old Ancestor lurking offshore.

Old Ancestor Lu met with Li Yuanba after learning he had reached the Golden Core Stage, praised his formation skills, and gave him a token for protection. Meanwhile, Li Shiming reflected on the danger of confronting Nascent Soul cultivators and continued developing formation-breaking talismans and new technology, leaving his research on Golden Core-threatening weapons unfinished.

• Old Ancestor Lu sensed that Li Yuanba had formed his core, visited him, and congratulated him on becoming a Golden Core cultivator.
• Old Ancestor Lu praised Li Yuanba’s formation research, discussed Sword Elder and Ten Thousand Swords Peak, and gave him a token to deter threats.
• Old Ancestor Lu warned Li Yuanba to be careful and choose missions near the sect gate before leaving.
• Li Shiming realized how narrowly he had escaped Manager Feng Yi and resolved to remain wary of Nascent Soul Old Ancestors.
• Li Shiming resumed making Formation Breaking Talismans and continued researching electronics, weapons, and ways to use Spirit Stones more effectively.

After earning promotion to Sect Elder for protecting North Guard Island, Li Yuanba received the Sky Covering Secret Art and was assigned to garrison Boundary Mountain City. He took authority over the city and inspected the residence and resources left by the previous elder.

• Li Yuanba returned to the Vast Array Sect, where the Golden Core cultivators treated him with newfound goodwill, and Grand Elder Situ promoted him to Sect Elder.
• Grand Elder Situ assigned Li Yuanba to garrison Boundary Mountain City and offered compensation for the danger of his previous mission.
• Li Yuanba requested the Sky Covering Secret Art, memorized it from a Jade Slip, and destroyed the slip before leaving the sect.
• Li Yuanba arrived at Boundary Mountain City, verified his authority with Yue Xing, and kept Yue Xing in charge of the city's existing affairs.
• Yue Xing showed Li Yuanba the Garrison Residence, including its isolated cultivation space, Spiritual Vein, Spirit Field, Spirit Spring, and remaining spiritual treasures.

Li Yuanba took charge of Boundary Mountain City, checked its accounts with help from Li Shiming’s IBMz15, and established cordial relations with the city’s merchants and the elders guarding Boundary Mountain Pass. He arranged access to private resource exchanges, creating a way to reconnect with Main Body Li Shiming and obtain cultivation resources.

• Li Yuanba used the IBMz15 to check Boundary Mountain City’s accounts and found that the previous Golden Core Elder had covered the earlier shortages with personal resources.
• Yue Xing brought nine shopkeepers to pay their respects, and Li Yuanba accepted their gifts while warning Yue Xing not to let accounting problems recur.
• Li Yuanba asked Shopkeeper Xin Shun to use the Vast Array Sect shop’s channels to transport Spiritual Objects, and Xin Shun explained that even some banned items could be moved with bribes.
• Li Yuanba visited Boundary Mountain Pass with gifts, met Jiang Pu, Meng Sheng, and Shi, and gained their guidance on Golden Core cultivation.
• Li Yuanba asked the three elders to accommodate his private exchanges, and Meng Sheng revealed that the guards already shared profits from unofficial Third Grade Spiritual Object trades.
• Li Yuanba arranged future meetings with the elders, gaining a chance to exchange resources with Main Body Li Shiming through Boundary Mountain City and Boundary Mountain Pass.

Li Yuanba received Third Grade Spirit Pills through a delivery channel and settled into his garrison duties at Boundary Mountain City. When Earth Fiend Sect intruders crossed Boundary Mountain Pass, he went to reinforce Jiang Pu and fought Xin Tong, leaving the Golden Core Middle Stage cultivator close to defeat.

• Li Yuanba accepted twenty Third Grade Spirit Pills from Shopkeeper Xin Shun, delivered through Ye Lingyun and the Ye Family’s connections.
• Li Yuanba spent a month cultivating while Steward Yue Xing managed Boundary Mountain City smoothly.
• Jiang Pu called Li Yuanba to Boundary Mountain Pass after Earth Fiend Sect cultivators slipped through its grand formation and Meng and Shi pursued them.
• Three orthodox Golden Core cultivators, Ying Hou, Xin Tong, and Mu Peng, arrived and challenged Jiang Pu and Li Yuanba.
• Li Yuanba’s Form Intention Sword overwhelmed Xin Tong’s defenses, damaging his shield and breaking through his protective talismans.
• Ying Hou left his fight with Jiang Pu and flew to help Xin Tong as Li Yuanba pressed his attack.

Li Yuanba joined the fight at Boundary Mountain Pass, defeated two Righteous Golden Core cultivators, and learned that the opposing sides preserved their trade-route cooperation despite their clashes. After his battle brought him fame, the Red-Eyed Blood Demon challenged him, and Li Yuanba killed him with a single strike.

• Li Yuanba used Ten Thousand Swords Peak to overwhelm Ying Hou and Xin Tong, but shifted its attack after Jiang Pu warned him not to kill them.
• Jiang Pu explained that the Golden Core guards could fight but had to stay alive to preserve the trade route, and Ying Hou conceded defeat before departing with the other Righteous cultivators.
• Li Yuanba handed Mu Peng's Shield Magical Treasure to Jiang Pu to negotiate an exchange, then remained at Boundary Mountain Pass while Meng Sheng and Shi Can returned from their pursuit of a fugitive.
• Li Yuanba's battle spread his reputation, and five days after returning to Boundary Mountain City, he received a challenge from the Red-Eyed Blood Demon.
• At their duel, Li Yuanba's Form Intention Sword struck before the Red-Eyed Blood Demon could activate his Ghost Banner, splitting him in two.

Li Yuanba killed the Red-Eyed Blood Demon with one sword and considered how to strengthen the captured Third Grade Fierce Ghost. Meanwhile, Li Shiming advanced his studies but remained unable to break through to Golden Core, then entered the First Heaven to test its Astral Wind before retreating safely.

• Li Yuanba killed the Red-Eyed Blood Demon in one strike, collected his Storage Bracelet and Ghost Banner Magical Treasure, and returned to the Garrison Residence.
• Li Yuanba found that the Third Grade Fierce Ghost feared his Supreme Yang Sword Intent and considered nurturing it to possess Manager Feng Yi’s False Infant Dao Body.
• Li Yuanba spent half a month unchallenged, then killed another Golden Core challenger with one sword, ending further duels.
• Li Shiming mastered formations, second-grade talismans, Sound Attack, and high-grade Spiritual Plants, but still could not sense a chance to advance from Half-Step Golden Core.
• Li Shiming flew into the First Heaven, tested spells, a Drone, and formations against the Astral Wind, and nearly lost the Spiritual Objects in his Space Ring.
• Li Shiming left the First Heaven after an incense stick’s time, before the Astral Wind could damage his cultivation.

After a Heavenly Demon possessed Li Shiming while he withdrew from the Thirty-Three Heavens, he trapped it inside his soul with the Fierce-Eyed Vajra’s Buddha seals and a lightning cage. He returned to his cave dwelling and sealed himself inside the Sumeru Mustard Seed Array Disk’s isolated space to keep the demon contained.

• A Heavenly Demon entered Li Shiming’s body as he withdrew from the First Heaven and prepared to devour his soul.
• Li Shiming used the Fierce-Eyed Vajra True Meaning Manifestation to trap and weaken the Heavenly Demon, but realized the manifestation would eventually fade.
• Li Shiming activated Heavenly Lightning Empowerment and, with IBMz15’s calculations, formed a persistent Lightning Cage around the demon.
• Li Shiming withdrew the Fierce-Eyed Vajra manifestation, confirmed the Lightning Cage still restrained the demon, and flew back to Sword Holding Peak.
• Li Shiming set up the Sumeru Mustard Seed Array Disk in his Cultivation Room and isolated himself to prevent the Heavenly Demon from escaping.

Li Shiming endured the Devil's Howl for forty days, strengthening his soul and creating the spirit attack art Devil Enters the Ear before trapping the nearly indestructible Transparent Heavenly Demon in his Server Room Space. His new understanding of the Nine Heavens Thunder Strike Art loosened his Golden Core bottleneck, and he told Elder Su and Elder Ma he expected to attempt a breakthrough in about a month.

• Li Shiming adapted to the Devil's Howl while IBMz15 recorded its effects, and his soul grew stronger as the Lightning Cage weakened the heavenly demon.
• After forty days, Li Shiming used his research to create Devil Enters the Ear, a spirit attack that could affect cultivators of his own realm.
• When the heavenly demon became transparent and immune to attacks, Li Shiming moved it into his Server Room Space and confined it in a lightning cage.
• Li Shiming realized his insufficient comprehension of the Nine Heavens Thunder Strike Art had held back his Golden Core breakthrough, and he sensed his bottleneck loosening.
• Li Shiming summoned Elder Su and Elder Ma and told them he expected to attempt breaking through to Golden Core in about a month.
• Elder Su promised to guard Li Shiming until his breakthrough and refrain from entering seclusion.

Li Shiming began his Golden Core breakthrough after a month of preparation, using a Five Elements array and a top-grade Meridian Protecting Pill. His decision to advance with both the Five Rhyme Qi Refining Art and the Nine Heavens Thunder Strike Art alarmed the observing elders as his cultivation drew in Spiritual Qi from across Sword Holding Peak.

• Li Shiming spent a month consolidating his insights while Elder Su used Sky Eye Peak's grand formation to protect Sword Holding Peak.
• Li Shiming invited Elder Su, Elder Ma, Wan Zheng, and Elder Ma's two disciples to observe his advancement.
• Li Shiming placed five Third Grade Five Elements Formation Materials around the gathering formation, linking the array to the Five Elements Qi Absorption Array in his Spirit Lake.
• Li Shiming took a purple-glowing Third Grade Meridian Protecting Pill, which Elder Su and Elder Ma recognized as top grade and exceptionally rare.
• Li Shiming began circulating both the Five Rhyme Qi Refining Art and the Nine Heavens Thunder Strike Art, drawing Spiritual Qi from the gathering formation and then from across Sword Holding Peak.

Li Shiming’s Golden Core breakthrough stalled as his spiritual power failed to condense, so he upgraded the Five Elements Qi Absorption Array in his Spirit Lake and began drawing in enormous quantities of Spiritual Qi. The array split the contraction into five points, and he fed them with two Golden Cores as his masters and fellow disciples watched in shock.

• Li Shiming guided energy from the external Third Grade Five Elements Qi Absorption Array into the array in his Spirit Lake, upgrading it and purifying his spiritual power more rapidly.
• The upgraded array consumed the Spiritual Qi across Sword Holding Peak and strained the cave’s Spiritual Vein, while five points of spiritual power began contracting inside Li Shiming’s Spirit Lake.
• Li Shiming brought out Yun Xingyi’s Golden Core to supply the array, stunning Elder Su and Elder Ma as they recognized it as a Golden Core taken from a sword cultivator.
• Yun Xingyi’s Golden Core was quickly drained by the five contracting points, so Li Shiming took out a second Golden Core to continue his breakthrough.
• Wan Zheng and the other Foundation Establishment Late Stage disciples watched the Golden Cores being consumed, while Elder Su and Elder Ma remained shocked but allowed Li Shiming to proceed.

Li Shiming completed the formation of Five Golden Cores, using pills and the vitality they released to recover and strengthen his body before the heavenly lightning tribulation. Five immense golden lightning bolts struck him, leaving his body gravely damaged, but his Golden Cores and the remaining power of a Rebirth Pill kept him alive.

• Li Shiming used the Six-Fingered Sound Demon's Golden Core to form Five Golden Cores, while his body and the Array Starlight Sea were drained of vitality and spirit.
• Elder Su and Elder Ma discovered that Li Shiming was a Formation Master and cautioned their disciples to keep his secrets.
• Li Shiming took a Spirit Stabilizing Pill, a Rebirth Pill, and a Mountain Piercing Pill; his Five Golden Cores reached the Golden Core Initial Stage and restored his vitality.
• Li Shiming circulated the Vajra Body Protection Divine Art to use the Golden Core vitality to strengthen his body before the heavenly lightning arrived.
• Five thick golden bolts of heavenly lightning struck Li Shiming, devastating his body despite his Thunder Method defenses, while his Five Golden Cores and Rebirth Pill kept him alive.

Li Shiming survived the five heavenly thunders and advanced to the Golden Core Stage with five Golden Cores, though he remained uncertain how he would cultivate toward the Nascent Soul Stage. After recovering on Sword Holding Peak, he planned his cultivation and began considering the IBMz15 in his Server Room Space as his Natal Magical Treasure.

• Li Shiming endured the heavenly thunder until its power dissipated, then recovered through the reward of heaven and earth and discovered that his physique and mind had greatly strengthened.
• Li Shiming examined his five Golden Cores and found that they formed the Five Elements Qi Absorption Array, while he wondered whether he would eventually need to form five Nascent Souls.
• Li Shiming told Elder Su and Elder Ma that he had succeeded, and Elder Su warned him not to become an example for the three Foundation Establishment Late Stage disciples before taking them away to explain the five heavenly thunders.
• Li Shiming calmed himself in his Cave Dwelling and planned to continue cultivating his body-refining arts, spiritual techniques, and sound cultivation while waiting for the Crimson Sun Spiritual Fire to advance.
• Li Shiming found that his spiritual strength could not make the Fourth Grade Flying Sword recognize him as its master, then considered refining the indestructible IBMz15 as his Natal Magical Treasure.

Li Shiming refined IBMz15 into his Natal Magical Treasure, gaining a powerful connection that greatly expanded his memory, formation insight, and ability to control Divine Sense. After a month of cultivation, he left seclusion with an aura resembling the Golden Core Initial Stage Peak, startling Elder Su and Elder Ma.

• Li Shiming repeatedly sent ownership Rune Patterns toward IBMz15 until it became his Natal Magical Treasure and linked with his Five Golden Cores.
• IBMz15 connected Li Shiming’s brain to its 190 CPUs, giving him 191 focused minds and greatly enhancing his memory, analysis, formation perception, and control of Divine Sense.
• Li Shiming spent the next month in seclusion cultivating with spiritual pills while Shu Mountain Sect discussed the five Heavenly Thunders during his Golden Core formation and whether he could maintain his exceptional alchemy.
• Elder Su and Elder Ma waited outside Li Shiming’s Cave Dwelling on the day he emerged from seclusion, urged by their friends to ask about his alchemy.
• Li Shiming came out with an aura resembling the Golden Core Initial Stage Peak, but Elder Su and Elder Ma’s Divine Sense revealed that his actual Spiritual Power had only stabilized at the Golden Core Initial Stage.

Li Shiming refined Azure Feather Star Point Pills with ease, impressing his masters and agreeing to a demanding schedule of alchemy for the sect. After they left, he tested his lightning spells and used the IBMz15 Natal Magical Treasure to reach their theoretical fastest casting speeds.

• Li Shiming showed Elder Ma and Elder Su that his cultivation had stabilized and asked for Azure Feather Star Point Pill ingredients to practice alchemy.
• Elder Ma supplied the ingredients, and Li Shiming refined three Grade Three High Level Azure Feather Star Point Pills in five double-hours.
• Elder Ma and Elder Su praised the pills and arranged for Li Shiming to open his furnace once every three days for two months, then once every ten days.
• After his masters left Sword Holding Peak, Li Shiming practiced Thunder Cloud Art and reached its three-breath casting speed after only three days of practice.
• Li Shiming had also perfected the one-breath casting speed of Grand Mysterious Divine Thunder with help from the IBMz15 Natal Magical Treasure.

Li Shiming tested a method for strengthening his twelve iron corpses and received spirit herb materials from the Northern Shu Merchant Guild. He continued refining pills and advancing his chip research, while considering making more pill furnaces.

• Li Shiming bound Elder Lu's silver corpse and used the Nine Revolutions Lightning Gathering Array to test and gradually improve the lightning resistance of his twelve iron corpses.
• Li Shiming received three sets of Third Grade Spirit Pill materials from the Northern Shu Merchant Guild through Ye Lingyun and gave her pills to send through their usual channel.
• Li Shiming sent the materials into the Server Room Space and began refining pills while directing research and manufacturing work in the Underground Factory Area.
• Li Shiming completed five double-hours of factory work and finished one furnace of Third Grade Spirit Pills, keeping four pills as payment and setting two aside for delivery.
• Li Shiming started another pill furnace and decided he needed to refine more pill furnace magical treasures so he could make several batches at once.