Chapter Summaries

During the Zhang Clan's Spirit Testing Assembly, reincarnated Chen Sheng, now Zhang Chengping, tested with a Mid-grade Metal Spiritual Root while Zhang An revealed a rare High-grade Earth Spiritual Root. The clan sealed the ancestral hall to discuss Zhang An's future, leaving Chen Sheng quietly waiting inside.

• The Zhang Clan tested its children, and Zhang Chengyu had no Spirit Root while Zhang Chengjiao had a Low-grade Wood Spiritual Root.
• Chen Sheng, living as Zhang Chengping, tested with a Mid-grade Metal Spiritual Root and earned Great Elder Zhang Yaozu's approval.
• Zhang An revealed a High-grade Earth Spiritual Root, stunning Zhang Yaozu and the other cultivators.
• Zhang Yaozu ordered Second Elder Zhang Yaode and third elder Zhang Yaogong to seal the ancestral hall until the clan decided what to do.
• Zhang Chengjiao insisted he would surpass Zhang An, while Chen Sheng laid down on a hemp mat to wait.

After Zhang Chengan joined the Lixiao Sect, the Zhang Clan devoted its resources and labor to supporting his future Foundation Establishment. Ten years later, Chen Sheng worked at a clam farm while secretly opening Hidden Meridians, preparing to seek a Secret Abode from his previous life.

• Zhang Yaozu announced that Zhang Chengan had become Elder Li's disciple at the Lixiao Branch Courtyard, giving the Zhang Clan protection from Old Monster Huang.
• Zhang Yaozu, Zhang Yaode, and Zhang Yaogong decided to pool the clan's strength to support Zhang Chengan's Foundation Establishment and began seeking ways to raise Spirit Stones.
• Over the next ten years, Zhang Clan members hunted demon beasts, farmed, and took other work, sending their savings and resources to Zhang Chengan in the Lixiao Sect.
• At thirteen, Chen Sheng worked at the Sky Cloud Clam Farm, where he cultivated with the limited resources left to him after most of his earnings went to support Zhang Chengan.
• Chen Sheng secretly progressed toward opening Hidden Meridians and planned to leave the Zhang Clan for a nearby Secret Abode containing resources from his Third Life.

Chen Sheng accompanied Zhang Yaozu to deliver the Zhang Clan’s tribute to Tiandu Peak, then left the clan and uncovered a Secret Abode containing the resources from his Third Life. He established a Spirit Gathering Array there, gaining the resources and spiritual environment to pursue Foundation Establishment.

• Zhang Yaozu brought Chen Sheng to Tiandu Peak to deliver the Zhang Clan’s tribute, explaining that their payment spared them from having to offer children.
• At Tiandu Peak, Zhang Yaozu presented the tribute and bribed Hua Yunhe, who confirmed that he had helped waive the demand for children.
• Zhang Zongyuan told Zhang Yaozu that Chengping had left to follow a wandering Foundation Establishment senior, leaving behind a method for brewing Peach Blossom Spirit Wine.
• Chen Sheng traveled to a mountain wall in the wilderness and opened a Secret Abode he had left in his Third Life.
• Chen Sheng retrieved medicinal resources, two hundred thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones, and a formation set from a buried Jade Box.
• Chen Sheng set up a Nine Palaces Spirit Gathering Array, raising the cave abode to the standard of a Second-grade mid-tier Spiritual Vein and advancing his understanding of the Formation Dao.

Chen Sheng cultivated in his hidden abodes, advancing to Foundation Establishment and honing his sword techniques over ten years, then spent seventy more years reaching Foundation Establishment Late Stage. He left with his former-life corpse and set out to pursue Golden Core Formation.

• Chen Sheng chose the Profound Sky Sword Scripture and endured the painful Meridian Tempering tribulation while cultivating with pills.
• After ten years, Chen Sheng reached Foundation Establishment Early Stage and Body Refining Fourth Layer, then tested his Sword Qi and sword techniques.
• Chen Sheng left his depleted Secret Abode and opened another hidden abode, where he activated a Second-tier Top-grade Nine Palaces Spirit Concealment Spirit Gathering Grand Formation.
• Chen Sheng cultivated for seventy years, reaching Foundation Establishment Late Stage and Body Refining Sixth Layer Perfection, and demonstrated the power of his sword techniques by flattening a hill.
• Chen Sheng put the Cold Jade Coffin containing his former-life body into his Storage Bag and flew away to pursue Golden Core Formation.

After a century of secluded cultivation, Chen Sheng entered Linglong Immortal City under the alias Daoist Tingyu to buy intelligence and artifact-refining materials. He learned how the Chu Kingdom’s factions and his descendants had fared, then returned toward Tiandu Peak in the Thousand Peaks Mountain Range.

• Chen Sheng disguised himself as a Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivator, entered Linglong Immortal City, and adopted the name Daoist Tingyu.
• Chen Sheng bought a century of intelligence from Xu Longhu at Lihuo Pavilion and learned that Hua Xiu had become Qinghua Sect’s Golden Core Sect Leader while Hua Xun, Li Hua, and Lin Yi had risen to prominence.
• Chen Sheng learned that the demonic factions had declined, noticed the suspicious reports that Black Demon Venerable and Black Snake Venerable had died after cultivation deviations, and resolved to investigate White Bone Demonic Sect someday.
• Chen Sheng bought second-grade artifact-refining materials, declined Xu Longhu’s offer to become an Attendant Elder, and proposed a trade route between Lihuo Pavilion and Tiandu Peak.
• Xu Longhu suspected Daoist Tingyu might be Ancestor Huangfeng and planned to investigate Tiandu Peak, while Chen Sheng paid Huang San and flew back toward the Thousand Peaks Mountain Range.

At Ancestor Huangfeng’s birthday banquet, he and two Blood Refining Hall remnants threatened the gathered clans and demanded their Essence Blood, especially targeting the Zhang Clan. Chen Sheng arrived, killed the three Foundation Establishment cultivators, and claimed Tiandu Peak as his Daoist ground, leaving the Zhang Clan free from Huangfeng’s oppression.

• Zhang Chengjiao brought the Zhang Clan’s birthday gift, but Yan Yu rejected his bribe and warned that Ancestor Huangfeng had separate plans for the clan.
• Ancestor Huangfeng demanded three drops of Essence Blood from every Qi Condensation cultivator and half of the Zhang Clan’s Essence Blood, while two Blood Refining Hall remnants supported him.
• Chen Sheng broke through Tiandu Peak’s Guardian Array and severed the Five Poisons Gourd, Blood Banner, and Bone Dagger with his Sword Qi.
• Chen Sheng killed Ancestor Huangfeng and the two Daoists with three Sword Threads, then learned from Zhang Chengjiao how they had extorted the clans.
• Chen Sheng announced that Tiandu Peak would become his Daoist ground, rejected tributes, and let the gathered cultivators leave.

Chen Sheng took control of Tiandu Peak, established its defenses, and began nurturing a corpse in its Sha Cave while Xu Longhu arranged a new trade route. Three years later, Chen Sheng learned that Qinghua Sect and Lixiao Sect had breached the White Bone Demonic Sect, leaving demonic cultivators on the loose.

• Chen Sheng appointed Li Wu and Huang Yu to manage Tiandu Peak after executing its former ringleaders.
• Chen Sheng installed a Second-tier Top-grade formation around Tiandu Peak and began nurturing a Sha Core in the mountain’s Corpse Nurturing Sha Cave.
• Xu Longhu reported Chen Sheng’s strength to Lihuo Pavilion and proposed a new trade route connecting Tiandu Peak to Linglong Immortal City.
• Chen Sheng spent three years cultivating, refining artifacts, improving the peak’s formation, and tending the corpse-nurturing formation as the trade route opened.
• Li Wu delivered Xu Longhu’s warning that Qinghua Sect and Lixiao Sect had joined forces to breach the White Bone Demonic Sect, and Chen Sheng reflected on the demonic sect’s decline.

Chen Sheng’s reputation as Sword Master Tingyu flourished as Tingyu Market prospered, while he rejected recruitment by the Lixiao Sect and focused on reaching Golden Core. The chapter ended with Yuan Shenxiao envying the Qinghua Sect’s False Core True Persons and vowing to achieve Golden Core without his father’s help.

• Chen Sheng established Tingyu Market beneath Tiandu Peak and killed three attacking Foundation Establishment Demonic Cultivators with a single sword strike, earning the title Sword Master Tingyu.
• Chen Sheng visited Zhang Clan Peach Blossom Brew, praised the wine, and left a verse identifying himself as Daoist Tingyu, drawing more customers to the tavern.
• Chen Sheng showed Xu Longhu the Spring Rain Dust-Transforming Cauldron he had refined and refused an offer to join the Lixiao Sect because it could not provide the Third-grade Demon Core he wanted.
• Chen Sheng returned to cultivation with his quasi-third-grade Tingyu Sword and awaited the chance to form his Golden Core as tensions rose between the Qinghua Sect and the Lixiao Sect.
• Yuan Shenxiao complained that Chen Sheng demanded a Third-grade Demon Core and envied the Qinghua Sect’s False Core True Persons before vowing to achieve Golden Core on his own.

Chen Sheng practiced his sword techniques and tested his Heavenly Dipper Wind-Thunder Sword Formation, hoping to overcome his difficulty comprehending the Clear Sword Heart. He left the formation confident it could threaten a Golden Core cultivator and returned to his cave abode to cultivate.

• Chen Sheng practiced his sword skills above the clouds while Zhang Houming told his grandson that the spectacle was Sword Master listening to the rain.
• Zhang Houming reflected on his stalled cultivation and focused on nurturing Li'er as a caravan arrived to buy the Peach Blossom Brew praised by Sword Master Tingyu.
• Chen Sheng lamented that he still could not comprehend the Clear Sword Heart or Sword Intent despite perfecting techniques from the Profound Sky Sword Scripture.
• Chen Sheng summoned 108 Wind-Thunder Swords and formed the Third-grade Low-grade Heavenly Dipper Wind-Thunder Sword Formation.
• Chen Sheng judged that the formation could threaten a Golden Core cultivator, stored the swords, and returned to his cave abode to cultivate.

Chen Sheng accepted the Chen Clan Merchant Association’s proposal to establish trade with Tingyu Market Town, while Qin Daolei judged him too formidable to recruit. Elsewhere, Daoist Yu continued preparing blood-based demonic treasures and received orders to capture second-tier body cultivators, including those with special bloodlines.

• Qin Daolei met Chen Sheng on Tiandu Peak, and Chen Sheng agreed to let the Chen Clan Merchant Association establish a branch and trade route in Tingyu Market Town.
• After the meeting, Qin Daolei warned Zhao Bailu that Chen Sheng’s sword intent and strength made recruiting him dangerous, but Zhao Bailu dismissed his concerns.
• Chen Sheng recognized Qin Daolei as a descendant of Qin Liefeng and reflected on his old Qinghua Sect companions and their descendants.
• Daoist Yu inspected a cave filled with imprisoned cultivators, including Lu Dahai, whom he had betrayed after using him to abduct cultivators for demonic rituals.
• Daoist Yu received an order through his Blood Jade to collect the Essence Blood of second-tier body cultivators, preferably those with special bloodlines, and resolved to finish his Blood God Pill and Blood God Banner quickly.

Chen Sheng reached Foundation Establishment Perfection and prepared to attempt Golden Core Formation on Tiandu Peak. He completed a third-grade Water-Moon Array, readied three Calamity-Crossing Pills, and began adjusting his condition for the breakthrough.

• Chen Sheng declined Zhao Bailu's recruitment offer and recognized the Golden Core Formation Insights Zhao Bailu gave him as notes from his own failed attempt in his previous life.
• Zhao Bailu returned to Qinghua Sect and reported his failure to recruit Chen Sheng, while Wu Ruoxu accepted Chen Sheng's refusal and dismissed the need for force.
• Several years later, Chen Sheng reached Foundation Establishment Perfection, with three hundred and fifty drops of Sword Origin and divine sense extending nine hundred zhang.
• Chen Sheng set up the third-grade Water-Moon Array around Tiandu Peak and concealed its formation cores with an illusion formation and hidden Flying Swords.
• Chen Sheng took out three Calamity-Crossing Pills and began circulating the Profound Sky Sword Scripture in preparation for forming a Golden Core.

Daoist Yu mistook Chen Sheng’s apparent failure at Golden Core Formation for an opportunity to attack Tiandu Peak, but Chen Sheng trapped him and the other intruders in a Third-grade Water-Moon Array. After Daoist Yu died, Venerable Soul Controller learned of the danger and decided to investigate Chen Sheng himself.

• Daoist Yu arrived near Tiandu Peak, where Zhou Guanglu and Wang Juhui told him that Daoist Tingyu was attempting Golden Core Formation.
• At a mountain pavilion, Daoist Yu exposed the Gu Insects Zhou Guanglu and Wang Juhui had hidden in his tea, then killed both with his Blood God Banner.
• When the Spiritual Energy Tide dispersed, Daoist Yu attacked Tiandu Peak’s Guardian Array, but the Water-Moon Illusion Array trapped him and the other cultivators seeking to take advantage of the apparent failure.
• Chen Sheng used the formation to kill the intruders, seize Daoist Yu’s Blood God Banner, and force him to reveal that he served the Blood Refining Hall before a planted restriction killed him.
• Chen Sheng returned to his cave to prepare for another Golden Core attempt, while Venerable Soul Controller sensed Daoist Yu’s Blood Jade shatter and decided to investigate Chen Sheng.

After news spread that Daoist Tingyu had failed to form a Golden Core, sect leaders reacted to his revealed Foundation Establishment Perfection cultivation. Qinghua Sect decided to send Li Yang to Tiandu Peak to try to recruit him.

• Xu Longhu learned that Daoist Tingyu was a Foundation Establishment Perfection Sword Cultivator and sent Thunder Pattern Steel to Tiandu Peak as a gift from Lihuo Pavilion.
• Yuan Shenxiao resolved to pursue Golden Core Formation despite his limited lifespan, entered seclusion, and sent a jade slip to Xu Longhu.
• Zhao Bailu gloated over Daoist Tingyu's failure, while Wu Ruoxu sent the cultivator a Minor Calamity-Crossing Pill and wished him a swift recovery.
• Wu Guang and the Qinghua Sect True Persons discussed Daoist Tingyu's failed attempt and his cultivation level.
• Hua Xiu ordered Li Yang to visit Tiandu Peak and try to recruit Daoist Tingyu into Qinghua Sect.

Chen Sheng reflected on the challenges of Golden Core Formation and realized his experience had made balancing spiritual power and outside energy manageable, though his Mid-grade Spiritual Root hindered him. Days later, Venerable Soul Controller arrived at Tiandu Peak to avenge Daoist Yu and demanded that Tingyu come out and die.

• Chen Sheng explained that Golden Core Formation depended on harmonizing yin and yang and condensing Dragon and Tiger, and judged his spiritual power too weak for the latter because of his Mid-grade Spiritual Root.
• Chen Sheng concluded that scarce spiritual treasures controlled by the sects offered little hope, so he focused on refining his control and planned to seek opportunities in Yue Kingdom after two more attempts.
• Chen Sheng guided his Sword Origin through his body and recognized that his past formation attempts had taught him how to balance and compress his spiritual power with external spiritual energy.
• Several days later, Venerable Soul Controller arrived beneath Tiandu Peak in a gale of demonic qi and identified the third-rank grand formation protecting it.
• Venerable Soul Controller invoked Daoist Yu's death and unleashed his False Core pressure over Tiandu Peak and Tingyu Market Town before demanding that Tingyu come out and die.

Chen Sheng lured Mo Yunshan into Tiandu Peak’s third-order linked formation and defeated him with its formation beasts and the Heavenly Dipper Wind-Thunder Sword Formation. After Mo Yunshan was destroyed, Chen Sheng addressed two True Persons who had been watching from outside the formation.

• Chen Sheng activated Tiandu Peak’s Guardian Array, while Mo Yunshan used Blood Pattern Nails to seal the earth veins and destabilize the formation.
• Chen Sheng used a Water Shadow Illusion to lure Mo Yunshan inside, then trapped him in the Water-Moon Array and attacked with hidden third-order formations.
• Mo Yunshan sent his Soul Controlling Chain searching for the formation eye, while his Blood Puppet fought Chen Sheng’s Moonlight Celestial Wolf and Five-Claw Azure Flood Dragon.
• Chen Sheng recognized Mo Yunshan as the killer of Fang Lingxiao and sensed He Manlou, He Ping'an, and other familiar dead within the Blood Puppet; his formation beasts crushed the puppet.
• Mo Yunshan used his Blood Core to find and breach a false formation eye, then charged into the Sea of Clouds, where Chen Sheng cut him down with the Heavenly Dipper Wind-Thunder Sword Formation and destroyed his Blood Shadow.
• Chen Sheng spotted two True Persons outside the formation and invited them to reveal themselves.

After Chen Sheng defeated Mo Yunshan, Li Yang and Yuan Baixu tried to recruit Daoist Tingyu but accepted his refusal. Chen Sheng restored order in Tingyu Market Town, studied Mo Yunshan’s spoils and memories, and the news of his victory spread across Chu Kingdom, prompting Wu Lingshuang to send him a Sword Scripture in gratitude.

• Li Yang and Yuan Baixu visited Tiandu Peak to recruit Daoist Tingyu, but he refused to join either sect, and they departed on friendly terms.
• Chen Sheng used the formation to stop looters in Tingyu Market Town, then ordered Li Wu and Huang Yu to manage the aftermath and count the losses.
• Chen Sheng examined Mo Yunshan’s treasures and memories, learning about the incomplete Four Symbols Secret Method and discovering that Blood Shadow Overlap was a life-preservation technique.
• News that Daoist Tingyu had killed the False Core cultivator Mo Yunshan spread across Chu Kingdom, astonishing Qin Daolei, Wu Ruoxu, and Zhao Bailu.
• Wu Lingshuang gave Wu Ruoxu a Sword Scripture and sent him to Tiandu Peak to thank Chen Sheng for avenging Lingxiao Ancestor.

Chen Sheng perfected his Wind-Thunder Sword Domain and reflected on how his battle with Mo Yunshan had strengthened his swordsmanship. A month later, Wu Ruoxu visited to thank him and deliver the Lingxiao Sword Scripture, after which Chen Sheng turned to studying a demonic escape art.

• Chen Sheng recalled his battle with Mo Yunshan as he tested his perfected Sword Domain and sensed that his Tingyu Sword had grown more spirited.
• A month later, Wu Ruoxu arrived at Tiandu Peak and thanked Chen Sheng for avenging the Ancestors of Pill Cauldron Peak by killing Mo Yunshan.
• Wu Ruoxu presented Chen Sheng with the Lingxiao Sword Scripture on Wu Lingshuang's behalf, and the two discussed cultivation and the Cultivation World.
• After Wu Ruoxu departed, Chen Sheng recognized the Sword Scripture as the one he had given Fang Nianxi and noticed her new annotations.
• Chen Sheng put the Sword Scripture away and began studying Mo Yunshan's Blood Shadow Overlap secret art to improve his Sword Escape Technique.

Chen Sheng rejected the White Bone remnants’ offer of a Blood Core secret art and refined Mo Yunshan’s magic treasures into his Tingyu Sword, which neared Third-grade status. The remnants considered whether to attack him but decided to try negotiating instead.

• The two sects stayed quiet while cultivators across the Chu Kingdom sought to befriend Chen Sheng.
• Li Wu brought Chen Sheng a visiting card and a half-volume Blood Core secret art from the White Bone lineage.
• Chen Sheng dismissed the secret art as inferior and began dismantling Mo Yunshan’s White Bone Banner and Soul Controlling Chain for their materials.
• After another half year of refinement, Chen Sheng brought the Tingyu Sword to within a hair’s breadth of becoming a Third-grade magic treasure.
• Two White Bone remnants discussed Chen Sheng’s silence and chose to negotiate rather than risk attacking him.

Chen Sheng traded Mo Yunshan’s Four Symbols Secret Method fragment to the White Bone Holy Sect for rare materials and the Four Symbols God-Suppressing Seal, then failed another Golden Core attempt and learned that his descendant Yuan Shenxiao had died after failing to break through. He resolved to use the Sha Pill to pursue the third rank in his son’s stead.

• Chen Sheng recognized the White Bone remnants’ interest in Mo Yunshan’s secret-method fragment and found the Four Symbols God-Suppressing Seal recorded in Mo Yunshan’s memories.
• Chen Sheng exchanged the fragment with Xue Li and Blackflame under Inner Demon Oaths, receiving rare spirit materials and the Four Symbols God-Suppressing Seal.
• Over the next two years, Chen Sheng failed a second Golden Core attempt but confirmed that only condensing Dragon and Tiger remained, a hurdle he believed he could overcome in Yue Kingdom.
• Xu Longhu delivered three Golden Core cultivation texts and told Chen Sheng that the sect’s True Disciple had died after a failed breakthrough; Chen Sheng realized the deceased was his descendant Yuan Shenxiao.
• Chen Sheng vowed to reach the third rank in Yuan Shenxiao’s stead and activated the Sha Pill.

Chen Sheng formed a False Core whose power and divine sense approached those of a Golden Core cultivator, while cultivators across Chu Kingdom mistakenly celebrated him as a new Golden Core expert. He left Tiandu Mountain in Wu Ruoxu’s care and crossed the Myriad Beasts Mountain Range, while Wu Ruoxu took over the prosperous market town.

• Chen Sheng refined the Sha Pill into a pale gold Cold Core, gained control of over ninety percent of its power, and expanded his divine sense to twenty miles.
• Cultivators in Tingyu Market Town saw the Pill Domain above Tiandu Peak and reported that Chen Sheng had formed a Golden Core; the Lixiao Sect and Qinghua Sect convened to discuss the news.
• Wu Lingshuang announced that Chen Sheng had decided to cross the Myriad Beasts Mountain Range and entrusted Tiandu Mountain and Tingyu Market Town to Wu Ruoxu.
• Wu Ruoxu arrived at Tiandu Peak with two False Core cultivators and found the mountain abandoned, then asked Li Wu and Huang Yu to take him to Zhang Clan Peach Blossom Brew.
• Chen Sheng had already left Tiandu Mountain and avoided meeting Wu Lingshuang as he continued on his way.