Chapter Summaries

Chen Sheng reunited with Bai Li, learned that Bai Li had destroyed the Brocade Banner Bandits, and gave him ten Xiantian Pills before setting out for Fenghua Immortal City. He hoped the city’s proximity to Sun Embracing Mountain might let him reconnect with Madam Chen’s main branch.

• Old Man Bai persuaded Chen Sheng to stay at his estate until Bai Li returned from the Jiangnan Grand Camp.
• Bai Li embraced Chen Sheng and told him he had lured out and killed the Brocade Banner Bandits, burning their hideout.
• Chen Sheng gave Bai Li ten Xiantian Pills and advised him to build ties with the Chen Clan by having more children with Royal Family collateral relatives.
• Chen Sheng declined Bai Li’s escort, left him a token, and flew toward Fenghua Immortal City.
• Chen Sheng chose Fenghua Immortal City for its safer, shorter route and considered reconnecting with Madam Chen’s main branch near Sun Embracing Mountain.

Chen Sheng settled in Jiuhua Workshop, established Heart-Seeking Hall, and began building connections in Fenghua Immortal City. After weighing his options for advancement, he decided the Fenghua Alchemy Alliance was the best path to turn his alchemy talent into Foundation Establishment resources.

• Chen Sheng arrived at Fenghua Immortal City and learned about its workshops, factions, regulations, and orderly structure from a tavern waiter.
• Chen Sheng rented a high-quality cave abode in Jiuhua Workshop for ten years and named it Heart-Seeking Hall.
• Chen Sheng installed a high-grade Wind-Fire Revolving Array and reviewed his wealth, concluding that he needed more cultivation pills and Foundation Establishment resources.
• Chen Sheng invited Gu Taohua, Wang Juhui, and Li Rulong to Heart-Seeking Hall, where they discussed his alchemy skill and distant ties to the Lanri Chen Clan.
• Chen Sheng decided against seeking support from the Lanri Chen Clan and chose the Fenghua Alchemy Alliance as the best way to advance toward Foundation Establishment.

Chen Sheng joined the Fenghua Alchemy Alliance and impressed Li Changyang with his exceptional skills during an assessment. Li Changyang invited him to join the Qinghua Alchemy Hall and choose a technical inheritance, and Chen Sheng accepted.

• Chen Sheng registered as a First-grade high-tier Alchemist at the Fenghua Alchemy Alliance headquarters.
• Li Changyang explained the assessment and asked Chen Sheng to refine a furnace of Pills.
• Chen Sheng refined twelve mid-tier Qi-Harmonizing Pills with remarkable speed and precision.
• Li Changyang praised Chen Sheng’s alchemy, learned about his Low-grade Fire Spiritual Root and Lihuo Art, and advised him to temper his Mana.
• Li Changyang invited Chen Sheng to join the Qinghua Alchemy Hall and select a technical inheritance, and Chen Sheng agreed.

Chen Sheng registered as an official Qinghua Sect disciple and, with Zhao Jin Hu’s guidance, collected his supplies, chose an alchemy inheritance, and secured a comfortable teaching assignment. He began his sect life with a strong evaluation from Li Changyang and advice to cultivate that connection.

• Li Changyang escorted Chen Sheng to Qinghua Mountain and entrusted him to Zhao Jin Hu for registration.
• After reading Li Changyang’s high evaluation of Chen Sheng’s alchemy skills, Zhao Jin Hu warmly helped him register and collect his disciple robes, jade token, Spirit Stones, and Contribution Points.
• Zhao Jin Hu advised Chen Sheng on choosing an inheritance, and Chen Sheng selected the Circulating Heaven Melting Star Furnace fire-control method.
• Zhao Jin Hu used his connections to secure Chen Sheng a teaching assignment at the Pill Alliance for five hundred Contribution Points each year.
• Zhao Jin Hu urged Chen Sheng to save Contribution Points for a Foundation Establishment Pill and to seek guidance from Li Changyang.

Chen Sheng traveled to Fenghua Immortal City to take up duties at the Pill Alliance, where he studied the Circulating Heaven Melting Star Furnace and later became a well-regarded instructor. After half a year, a youth overheard someone wishing to become Chen Sheng’s disciple and felt stirred by the idea.

• Chen Sheng visited Elder Li Changyang, who praised his alchemy talent but doubted how far his low aptitude would let him advance.
• Chen Sheng traveled with Qinghua Sect Disciples to Fenghua Immortal City aboard the Azure Void Cloud-Stepping Boat and made several connections along the way.
• Chen Sheng reported to the Pill Alliance, returned to Jiuhua Workshop, and studied annotations on the Circulating Heaven Melting Star Furnace.
• Chen Sheng began cultivating the method’s first layer and realized that some Hidden Meridians he had already opened overlapped with those it required.
• Half a year later, Chen Sheng taught a well-received class at the Pill Alliance, and a youth listening to others praise him felt a stir at the thought of becoming his disciple.

Chen Sheng advanced his body-refining and fire cultivation, then continued teaching alchemy at the Pill Alliance, where he recognized Zhang Li as a descendant of Senior Brother Zhang Yue. He agreed to teach in Area A next year, while a father and son resolved to seek his apprenticeship.

• Chen Sheng reached the first level of the Xuanshuang Body Refining Art in three months and extended his Qi Condensation practice as his meridians grew stronger.
• After two more months, Chen Sheng planted a Fire Lotus in his Dantian and formed an Origin Fire Pearl that he could control freely.
• Three months later, Chen Sheng taught a crowded alchemy class and recognized Zhang Li's techniques as Huang Yueyang Style, realizing Zhang Li descended from Senior Brother Zhang Yue.
• A fish-eyed middle-aged cultivator and his mature-looking son discussed asking Chen Sheng to take the son as an apprentice and planned to prepare an apprenticeship gift.
• Chen Sheng confirmed he would teach in Area A next year, after the Pill Alliance offered him eight hundred Contribution Points for continuing his lessons.

Over five years, Chen Sheng built a profitable pill shop in Jiuhua Workshop, advanced his alchemy and body refining, and reached the Eighth Layer of Qi Condensation. The chapter ended with He Manlou asking Chen Sheng to lend him one of his seeds.

• Chen Sheng accepted several alchemy tasks for sect Contribution Points and planned to save enough points to exchange for Foundation Establishment Pills.
• Chen Sheng perfected the second layer of the Circulating Heaven Melting Star Furnace and opened the Fine-grade Pill Hall in Jiuhua Workshop.
• Chen Sheng developed two improved signature pills, and the Fine-grade Pill Hall gained a regional monopoly while earning around five thousand Spirit Stones a year.
• Chen Sheng broke through to the third layer of the Xuanshuang Body Refining Art and reached the Eighth Layer of Qi Condensation at age thirty-four.
• He Manlou stopped Chen Sheng at the Pill Alliance and asked to borrow one of his seeds.

Chen Sheng accepted He Ping'an as his first formal disciple and received a Pill Condensation Inheritance from He Manlou. After identifying Chen Sheng's exceptional body-refinement talent as a weakened Dragon's Roar Physique, He Manlou tried to recruit him into the He Clan by proposing that Chen Sheng father children for the clan.

• He Manlou brought He Ping'an to Chen Sheng and offered a Second-grade low-tier Pill Condensation Inheritance as an apprenticeship gift, and Chen Sheng accepted He Ping'an as his disciple.
• Chen Sheng mastered the inheritance's Pill Condensation Techniques and Hand Seals over the next few years, while He Manlou continued trying to recruit him.
• A Lanri Chen Clan Elder angrily demanded that Chen Sheng return to the clan register, and He Manlou helped him deal with the resulting trouble.
• After He Ping'an advanced to first-tier Mid-grade Alchemist, He Manlou examined Chen Sheng's body-refinement talent and concluded that he likely had a weakened Dragon's Roar Physique.
• He Manlou urged Chen Sheng to marry into the He Clan, then offered to have the clan raise any children he fathered; Chen Sheng declined marriage but accepted the idea of not raising children.
• He Manlou blocked Chen Sheng's path again and proposed that he lend his seed to the He Clan.

Chen Sheng refined pills while teaching He Ping'an how to improve pill collection through rhythm, then welcomed ten He Clan women who agreed to bear children for the clan in exchange for support. When three neighbors sought his help preparing for a newly opened secret realm, Chen Sheng agreed to obtain Second-grade Talismans for them.

• Chen Sheng demonstrated Golden Toad Offers Medicine, helped He Ping'an collect a fine-grade Pill, then showed him how changing the rhythm of the hand seals could produce a top-grade Pill.
• He Manlou brought ten He Clan beauties to Chen Sheng, along with cultivation resources, and reminded him that their children would belong to the clan.
• Chen Sheng welcomed the ten women into his Cave Mansion, arranged their quarters, and taught them the Joyful Method while balancing cultivation with their new household life.
• Gu Taohua, Wang Juhui, and Li Rulong visited Chen Sheng and explained that they planned to enter the secret realm in the Jiyun Mountain Range.
• Li Rulong asked Chen Sheng to obtain three Second-grade Talismans through his sect connections, and Chen Sheng agreed.

Chen Sheng entered the third level of the Circulating Heaven Melting Star Furnace and lectured on pill condensation at the Pill Alliance. After reuniting with Zhao Jin Hu, he learned that a nearby Secret Realm held Foundation Establishment resources and began considering how to secure more for his own breakthrough.

• Chen Sheng extracted a strand of Profound Yin Spirit Fire and, after seven days of study, learned to transform his Mana flame into a freezing dark-violet fire, entering the gate of Evolve Form.
• Chen Sheng lectured hundreds of cultivators on the Thirty-Six Cycles of Pill Condensation at the Pill Alliance’s Long Xu Alchemy Platform.
• Chen Sheng received word that Zhao Jin Hu was arriving in Fenghua Immortal City for rotation duty and went to greet him at Flying Star Plaza.
• Over a meal at Wanxiang Tower, Zhao Jin Hu explained that he sought Foundation Establishment spirit items from a nearby Secret Realm to improve his chances of success.
• After hearing of Zhao Jin Hu’s friend failing Foundation Establishment despite strong qualifications, Chen Sheng reconsidered whether two Foundation Establishment Pills would be enough for him and resolved to seek more resources.

Bai Li tried to protect his family from the Chen Clan’s suppression while hiding Chen Sheng’s token and hoping his elder brother would survive. Years later, Chen Sheng learned that Gu Taohua and the other two had vanished in a blood-rain Secret Realm, and he mourned their deaths.

• Chen Shude told Bai Li he could not interfere with the Chen Clan’s ban on the Bai Clan’s descendants taking the spirit test and urged him to contact Chen Sheng.
• After Bai Li left, Liu Yan proposed seizing the Bai Clan to threaten Chen Sheng, but Chen Shude ordered him to gather intelligence instead.
• Bai Li’s wife went to the Imperial Clan Court to demand justice, while Bai Li kept Chen Sheng’s token hidden and worried that his family’s fate depended on Chen Sheng.
• Several years later, the blood-rain Secret Realm closed, and Gu Taohua and the other two never returned despite having received Second-grade Talismans from Chen Sheng.
• Chen Sheng watched the bustling Market Town and sighed over the three missing cultivators.

Chen Sheng advanced his cultivation, refined his alchemy, brewed spirit wine, and moved his household into a new inner-city residence. Meanwhile, Fang Lingxiao deduced the ingredients of Chen Sheng’s pill but failed to reproduce it, leaving him frustrated and questioning his skills.

• Chen Sheng reached Qi Condensation Ninth Level, advanced his Body Refining, and improved his Fire Control and alchemy while revising his pill formula.
• Chen Sheng brewed spirit wine with his concubines and sealed the vat to be opened after their move.
• Chen Sheng moved to Dongxun Workshop, established a new formation, and named his residence Heart-Seeking Hall.
• He Manlou learned that Chen Sheng’s first six children all had Spirit Roots and increased the childbearing bonus, encouraging Chen Sheng to have more children.
• Fang Lingxiao appraised Chen Sheng’s fine-grade pill, deduced its formula, and promised the requester a copy.
• After three months of failed attempts to reproduce the pill, Fang Lingxiao dismissed the requester’s reminder and questioned whether his alchemy skills were insufficient.

Fang Lingxiao sought Daoist Longxu’s help with a pill formula he could not refine, and learned it used sophisticated second-grade alchemy techniques. Daoist Longxu punished him for meddling with Chen Sheng’s work and said he would personally compensate Chen Sheng.

• Fang Lingxiao visited Daoist Longxu and presented the pill formula he had deduced but failed to refine.
• Daoist Longxu recognized that the formula had been deliberately altered using second-grade techniques, leaving Fang Lingxiao’s knowledge and skills insufficient to make the pill.
• Fang Lingxiao revealed that Chen Sheng had refined the pill and explained how a Merchant Association steward had provoked him to investigate the formula.
• Daoist Longxu rebuked Fang Lingxiao for prying into a fellow alchemist’s work and sentenced him to spend ten years facing the wall in the Turbid Fire Forbidden Land.
• Fang Lingxiao said he would apologize to Chen Sheng after his punishment, and Daoist Longxu promised to compensate Chen Sheng himself.
• Daoist Longxu criticized Li Changyang for judging talent by Spirit Roots and ordered Fang Lingxiao to prepare to leave for the forbidden land.

Chen Sheng bid farewell to Chen Hanchi and Zhao Jin Hu as they each set out on uncertain paths. Just as Zhao Jin Hu prepared to return to the sect for Foundation Establishment, he learned that the Alchemy Hall had issued Chen Sheng an exclusive mission, bringing him to the attention of the sect’s upper ranks.

• Chen Hanchi bid farewell to Chen Sheng, who gave him a High-grade Talisman and wished him success on the Immortal Path.
• He Ping'an told Chen Sheng that the Chen Clan was splitting up its branches and that Chen Hanchi's family might be relocated.
• Chen Sheng and Zhao Jin Hu shared a farewell meal before Zhao Jin Hu returned to the sect to enter seclusion for Foundation Establishment.
• Zhao Jin Hu received a message that the Alchemy Hall had issued Chen Sheng an exclusive mission, and he congratulated Chen Sheng on gaining the upper echelon's attention.
• Chen Sheng received a series of congratulatory messages from elders, while Zhao Jin Hu celebrated with him and hoped to share in his good fortune.

Chen Sheng impressed the Pill Alliance with his Tongming Pill refining, earning the Hall Master’s favor and a lucrative task as congratulations poured in. Meanwhile, Chen Changming swallowed his anger, Bai Li’s household regained its place at the Spirit Testing Assembly, and Emperor Chen Shude visited the duke’s mansion with striking warmth.

• Elder Xu gave Chen Sheng an exclusive Tongming Pill task on the Hall Master’s orders, promising generous Contribution Points and a Foundation Establishment Pill every five years.
• Chen Sheng refined twelve patterned Tongming Pills, and Elder Xu praised his alchemy skill while urging him to earn enough Contribution Points to advance.
• Pill Alliance members and other cultivators inundated Chen Sheng with congratulations and invitations, leaving him exhausted by his newfound fame.
• Chen Changming learned that the Alchemy Hall’s Hall Master had personally assigned Chen Sheng a task, suppressed his anger for the family’s sake, and later remembered an order concerning the mortal world.
• Months later, Bai Li’s household was allowed to participate in the Spirit Testing Assembly, where Bai Yutang was revealed to have a low-grade Earth Spiritual Root.
• Emperor Chen Shude visited Bai Li’s mansion, behaved like a close family elder, and drank with him as they reminisced about their past.

Chen Sheng used the Qingyang Treasure Flame to make a small start toward comprehending Yang Transformation, while Bai Yutang prepared to leave for the Cultivation World with a token from his uncle. The chapter ended with Bai Yutang promising to build a foothold in the Cultivation World and bring his parents to join him.

• Chen Sheng learned that Zhao Jin Hu had successfully established his foundation and continued steadily cultivating Qi Refining and Body Refining.
• Chen Sheng drew the Qingyang Treasure Flame into his Dantian and used its clash with the Fire Lotus to seek insight into Yang Transformation.
• After seven days of effort, Chen Sheng gained only a tiny opening into the flame’s nature and resumed cultivating.
• Bai Yutang’s parents prepared for his departure, and Bai Li gave him a jade disc left by his uncle.
• Bai Li told Bai Yutang the story of his rise and warned him to use the token carefully without making unreasonable demands.
• Bai Yutang promised to establish himself in the Cultivation World and later bring Bai Li and Madam Chen to join him.

After advancing his body refinement with Tiger Power Treasure Wine, Chen Sheng negotiated with Wu Qingshan for a Dry Yang Child Fire in exchange for providing the Wu Clan with offspring. The Wu Clan sent ten female cultivators and expanded Heart-Seeking Hall, and Chen Sheng began studying the flame’s aura.

• Chen Sheng used Tiger Power Treasure Wine to accelerate his cultivation and estimated that he would reach first-grade Body Refinement Perfection within two months.
• He Manlou introduced Wu Qingshan to Chen Sheng, who requested a Child Fire from the Wu Clan’s Ganyang Mother Fire as compensation.
• Wu Qingshan agreed to provide the Child Fire in exchange for Chen Sheng helping the clan produce offspring.
• Ten Wu Clan female cultivators arrived at Heart-Seeking Hall, and Wu Lingshuang presented Chen Sheng with a renovated compound formed from three connected dwellings.
• Chen Sheng received the Dry Yang Child Fire and planned to study its aura before using it to achieve Body Foundation Establishment.

After three months of studying his spirit flames, Chen Sheng developed a powerful Yin Yang Fire Lotus and used its evolving fire to refine a qualified second-grade Golden Origin Pill. He left with a new combat technique and proof that his method could overcome his limited cultivation, though controlling it remained exhausting.

• Chen Sheng mastered another stage of form evolution and condensed his spirit flames into a Yin Yang Fire Lotus.
• He tested the Formless Fire Lotus on a first-grade top-grade Mystic Silver Warrior, melting it from within while its exterior remained frozen.
• Chen Sheng adapted the Fire Lotus into a miniature Yin Yang Formless Purgatory to refine his remaining Golden Origin Pill materials.
• After exhausting effort, Chen Sheng successfully produced a Golden Origin Pill with seventy percent efficacy.
• Chen Sheng concluded that reaching completion in the second level of Form Control would let him refine the pill more easily.

Chen Sheng used the Dry Yang Fire Marrow to break through to Body Foundation Establishment and the Body Refining Fourth Layer, then emerged from seclusion to celebrate with his household. Daoist Longxu learned of Chen Sheng’s breakthrough and unusual dealings with the He Clan and Wu Clan.

• Chen Sheng began refining the Dry Yang Fire Marrow to break through the Mysterious Pass and establish his body foundation.
• After three months, Wu Lingshuang silenced the concubines’ gossip while they waited for Chen Sheng to emerge from seclusion.
• Chen Sheng shattered his final shackle, reached Body Refining Fourth Layer, and formed a Blood Qi True Body strong enough to grind second-rank Cold Gold into powder.
• Chen Sheng emerged from seclusion, celebrated his breakthrough with Wu Lingshuang and the concubines, and reported it to the sect with his jade token.
• Daoist Longxu learned of Chen Sheng’s breakthrough and read reports about his Dragon Vein Special Physique and dealings with the He Clan and Wu Clan.

Chen Sheng hosted a grand banquet in Fenghua Immortal City to celebrate his breakthrough and strengthen his connections, drawing more than a hundred Foundation Establishment guests. Chen Yuanqin apologized for the Lanri Chen Clan’s past offense and shared Qinghua Sect intelligence with him, leaving open the possibility of a closer alliance.

• Chen Sheng’s disciples and Wu Lingshuang organized the banquet as prominent cultivators and clan leaders arrived to congratulate him.
• Young alchemists marveled at Chen Sheng’s influence and discussed his standing among the Immortal City’s powerful families and sects.
• Chen Yuanqin apologized for a junior’s offense and gave Chen Sheng ten thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones, which Chen Sheng accepted.
• Chen Yuanqin secretly told Chen Sheng about rivalries and upcoming personnel changes within the Qinghua Sect, and Chen Sheng thanked him and offered to refine pills for the clan.