Chapter Summaries

Qin Fengming learned that Blackwater Cold Pond was deadly, then headed there after the exchange meeting. Four cultivators followed him to steal his wealth and began a concealed attack while he appeared to meditate.

• Jiang Feng reassured the cultivators that the richer spiritual energy might help them achieve Foundation Establishment.
• Qin Fengming asked about Blackwater Cold Pond and learned that demon beasts there had killed Li Su and driven off his companions.
• Qin Fengming stayed at the exchange meeting for three days, traded away his remaining mid-grade talismans, and then set out for Blackwater Cold Pond.
• Qin Fengming noticed spiritual power fluctuations following him but continued on, believing he could handle any Qi Gathering cultivators who attacked.
• Huang, Sun, Li, and Cui agreed to ambush Qin Fengming for his spirit stones and talismans, then used a concealment artifact to approach him.

Four Haoyu Kingdom cultivators tried to rob Qin Fengming of his spirit stones, but his defenses and hidden spirit beasts overwhelmed them. The chapter ended with the Soul Devouring Beast devouring the souls of the three survivors.

• Qin Fengming discovered four concealed Rogue Cultivators and challenged them after they demanded his spirit stones.
• The four attacked Qin Fengming, but his Five Elements Defense Talisman repelled their magical artifacts.
• Qin Fengming summoned a fiery-red spirit artifact, causing the four cultivators to flee and abandon their weapons.
• A hidden centipede killed the cultivator surnamed Huang, while a giant spider trapped the other three.
• Qin Fengming released the Soul Devouring Beast, which swallowed the three captives’ souls.

Qin Fengming reached Blackwater Cold Pond and fought a powerful fish-shaped demon beast before searching the vast, frigid lake for an extremely yin and extremely cold object. After days of finding nothing, he concluded that he might have to search beneath the water despite the danger.

• Qin Fengming arrived at Blackwater Cold Pond and discovered that its waters were black, bitterly cold, and surrounded by frozen mist.
• A giant fish-shaped demon beast attacked Qin Fengming with water arrows, but he blocked them with his shield and sent his Purple-backed Centipede to kill it.
• Qin Fengming took the demon fish's icy demon core and found that the lake water obstructed his divine sense.
• Qin Fengming searched the pond for several days, killing some cold-attribute demon beasts before deciding to avoid the others.
• After finding no extremely yin or extremely cold object, Qin Fengming considered searching the dangerous depths of the lake.

Qin Fengming searched the frigid depths of Blackwater Cold Pond for five months before discovering a cavern sealed off from the lake water. As he approached a deeper chamber inside, an overwhelming pressure and sense of mortal danger struck him.

• Qin Fengming protected himself with a Water Shield Talisman and a concealment tool, then descended into the icy lake with a scarlet-red spear.
• Qin Fengming reached the lakebed and spent months searching among the black rocks, periodically stopping to restore his magical power.
• Five months into his search, Qin Fengming felt a powerful wave in the water and followed bubbles to a gigantic cavern entrance.
• Qin Fengming sent a Puppet through the barrier at the entrance, then passed through it himself and found a dry cavern filled with icy vapor.
• Qin Fengming approached a deeper cavern and was overcome by fear and pressure stronger than what he had faced against Gongsun Shangwen.

Qin Fengming discovered a sleeping Ice Wu Yan beside a vast pool of ice marrow and risked trying to take some before the ancient beast awakened. The Puppet reached the pool, and Qin Fengming began collecting the ice marrow as the chapter ended.

• Qin Fengming entered a cavern and found a sleeping Ice Wu Yan beside a pool of ice marrow.
• Qin Fengming learned from ancient records that the Ice Wu Yan was a powerful ancient strange beast and that the ice marrow could aid breakthroughs.
• Qin Fengming tried to send his small red beast toward the ice marrow, but it trembled in fear and refused to move.
• Ice Wu Yan exhaled a powerful wave of air, and Qin Fengming fled to the entrance before realizing the beast breathed in bursts about half an hour apart.
• Qin Fengming sent a concealed Puppet toward the pool during the interval between breaths and carefully guided it to the ice marrow.
• Qin Fengming opened a Jade Box and began extending it toward the ice marrow while watching Ice Wu Yan.

Qin Fengming escaped the Blackwater Cold Pond after Ice Wu Yan killed Puppet and searched for him for days. He later left the region with the ice marrow and chose a safer route through the Yellow Earth Land toward Blazing Flame Valley to seek a Heaven-and-Earth-born fire seed.

• Puppet collected ice marrow from the Jade Box, but Ice Wu Yan awoke and annihilated it with a lightning strike.
• Qin Fengming caught the Jade Box and escaped into the lakebed using an Earth Evasion Talisman while Ice Wu Yan searched the area.
• After hiding for months and traveling a hundred li, Qin Fengming escaped the Blackwater Cold Pond with more than a hundred drops of ice marrow.
• Qin Fengming left the Blackwater Cold Pond region and entered the Yellow Earth Land.
• Qin Fengming chose to detour through the Qi Gathering cultivator region on his way to Blazing Flame Valley.

Qin Fengming found Cattail Pollen Grass in the Yellow Earth Land, but sensed danger and watched from hiding as two Haoyu Kingdom cultivators approached it. White flying ants emerged and devoured the two men, leaving Qin Fengming still concealed nearby.

• Qin Fengming searched the Yellow Earth Land for Cattail Pollen Grass, hoping to gather the ingredients needed to refine the Pill of Four Yellows for Sustaining Scenery.
• Qin Fengming discovered several stalks of Cattail Pollen Grass, including one more than a thousand years old, but his centipede spirit beast warned him of approaching cultivators.
• Qin Fengming hid and watched as two Haoyu Kingdom cultivators cautiously flew toward the spiritual herb.
• White flying ants burst from the vegetation and pursued the two cultivators as they fled, shrugging off their talismans and killing them.
• Qin Fengming watched the attack from more than a dozen li away and chose not to intervene.

Qin Fengming used his white beetles and two spirit beasts to exterminate the white flying-ant swarm guarding the Cattail Pollen Grass. He harvested the plants and found that only one of the seven clusters had reached a thousand years of age.

• Qin Fengming decided to attack the ant swarm and sent out his two spirit beasts and several thousand white beetles.
• The white flying ants sprayed corrosive venom at the beetles, but the beetles swallowed it and overwhelmed the swarm.
• Qin Fengming's spirit beasts blocked the fleeing ants, and together with the beetles they killed the entire swarm.
• The white beetles devoured the ant corpses before returning to Qin Fengming's sleeve.
• Qin Fengming reached the Cattail Pollen Grass and found seven clusters, only one of which had all five plants turned yellow, indicating a thousand years of growth.

Qin Fengming broke through the white-ant nest and used the Yin-Yang Eight Trigrams Formation to exhaust the ant queen so he could capture it alive. The queen was bound by his Immortal Binding Talismans, though its dangerous white liquid had already destroyed his first attempt.

• Qin Fengming stored the Cattail Pollen Grass and approached the white-ant mound, discovering that its shell resisted even powerful magic weapons.
• Qin Fengming set up the Yin-Yang Eight Trigrams Formation and spent several days breaking down the mound, while the formation exterminated tens of thousands of flying ants that poured out.
• The ant queen emerged from the nest and repeatedly struck the formation’s barriers as Qin Fengming waited for its demonic power to weaken.
• Qin Fengming’s first Immortal Binding Talismans dissolved when the ant queen sprayed them with white liquid.
• After waiting until the ant queen was exhausted, Qin Fengming sent twenty Immortal Binding Talismans at once and bound it in place.

Qin Fengming captured an ant queen, crossed the Yellow Earth Land, and entered the Black Crow Desert, where he discovered two old acquaintances surrounded by four cultivators. He approached unseen as the attackers demanded the siblings’ Wisteria Flower, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• Qin Fengming sealed the ant queen’s magic power, placed it in his Spirit Beast Pouch, and recorded its location before flying northwest.
• Qin Fengming crossed the Yellow Earth Land, secretly harvested Cattail Pollen Grass from beside Earth Wolf Beasts, and reached the Black Crow Desert.
• Qin Fengming sensed six cultivators fighting nearby and flew toward them, concealing himself as he approached.
• Qin Fengming recognized the Great Liang Kingdom siblings who had sold him a magic treasure fragment at the Luoxia Sect Marketplace.
• The white-haired cultivator demanded that the siblings surrender their Wisteria Flower, while the young woman refused and her Elder Brother threatened to self-detonate rather than yield.

Qin Fengming intervened when four cultivators threatened a brother and sister over a Wisteria Flower, then revealed powerful demon beasts and overwhelmed their attackers. The white-haired old man fled but was quickly captured by Qin Fengming’s Purple-backed Centipede.

• The red-faced man ended negotiations, and the four cultivators prepared to attack the brother and sister with top-grade magic tools.
• Qin Fengming appeared behind the four men and declared that he would protect the siblings as fellow cultivators from Great Liang Kingdom.
• The brother warned Qin Fengming to leave, but Qin Fengming insisted that he could kill the four men himself.
• The four men attacked Qin Fengming, who summoned a giant spider, the Purple-backed Centipede, and a small yellow beast.
• The white-haired old man fled, but the Purple-backed Centipede caught him, shattered his protective shield, and brought him back to Qin Fengming.

Qin Fengming rescued the Shen siblings from four attackers in the Black Crow Desert and revealed that he had met Shen Yun at a Marketplace before. He gave Shen Fei two top-grade spirit tools, and the chapter ended with Qin Fengming swearing not to ask Shen Fei to act against his conscience.

• Qin Fengming used his yellow beast and a black net to kill the four men attacking the Shen siblings.
• Qin Fengming showed Shen Yun the black fragment she had once exchanged with him, and she recognized him as the cultivator who had given her spirit stones for Blue Star Grass.
• Qin Fengming introduced himself to Shen Fei and congratulated him on reaching Foundation Establishment; Shen Fei explained that he and Shen Yun had come to the Black Crow Desert for her attempt to advance.
• Qin Fengming gave Shen Fei a black short blade and a silver small shield, both top-grade spirit tools, for protection.
• Shen Fei made a blood oath to repay Qin Fengming, and Qin Fengming swore he would never ask Shen Fei to act against his morality or conscience, breaking a sword to affirm his vow.

Qin Fengming learned from Shen Yun that a dangerous fire essence lived in the Blazing Flame Valley, but he remained determined to go there. Before parting from the Shen siblings, he gave Shen Yun a Foundation Establishment Pill and two top-grade spiritual artifacts.

• Qin Fengming told Shen Fei and Shen Yun that he had visited the Blackwater Cold Pond and was traveling to the Blazing Flame Valley.
• Shen Yun recounted overhearing two injured cultivators describe a fire essence that had defeated three Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivators and killed one of them.
• Qin Fengming explained the nature of fire essences and said he would still travel to the Blazing Flame Valley despite the danger.
• Qin Fengming presented Shen Yun with a Foundation Establishment Pill, a small black fork, and a banner containing the soul of a Mountain Shaking Beast, leaving the siblings stunned.

Qin Fengming gave Shen Yun valuable treasures and received a Kanlan Pearl from Shen Fei before setting out for Blazing Flame Valley. After changing course to search for a fire spirit, he entered the Misty Forest and was trapped in a strange formation of jagged rocks.

• Qin Fengming gave Shen Yun four top-grade spirit tools and a Foundation Establishment Pill, then prepared to leave the Shen siblings.
• Shen Fei gave Qin Fengming a Kanlan Pearl to protect him from the heat of Blazing Flame Valley.
• Qin Fengming changed his route toward the Misty Forest after learning that cultivators had encountered a fire spirit nearby.
• Qin Fengming crossed the Black Crow Desert and entered the Misty Forest, heading northwest toward Blazing Flame Valley.
• Qin Fengming was suddenly transported into a maze of jagged rocks and discovered that its formation attacked his flying sword with boulders.

Qin Fengming studied ancient formation texts for two years while trapped in the Giant Stone Formation, then understood how it worked and escaped. He examined the unusually pure Spirit Stones used to power it and wondered whether ancient cultivators used mid-grade Spirit Stones.

• Qin Fengming tested the formation and found that its stone attacks stopped when he retreated to his starting point.
• Qin Fengming sat down inside the formation and studied the formation books and scrolls he had collected.
• After more than two years, Qin Fengming understood the Giant Stone Formation and broke it by locating its crystals.
• Qin Fengming discovered that the formation’s Spirit Stones were far purer than those he carried and compared them to the mid-grade Spirit Stones Martial Uncle Han had used.
• Qin Fengming wondered whether ancient cultivators used mid-grade Spirit Stones for cultivation.

Qin Fengming entered an ancient cultivator’s cave abode after breaking its defensive restriction and found a valuable storage bracelet. He buried the skeleton inside and discovered an unfamiliar, rune-covered plaque on the stone bed.

• Qin Fengming buried the skeletons outside the cave and broke the restriction on the stone door with the Yin Yang Pagoda.
• Qin Fengming sent a Puppet into the cave and searched its furnished cavern for hidden doors and valuables.
• Qin Fengming found a skeleton on the stone bed and took its storage bracelet, which held mid-grade Spirit Stones, Artifact Refining materials, and spiritual artifacts.
• Qin Fengming buried the skeleton from the stone bed and noticed a faintly glowing plaque beneath where it had lain.
• Qin Fengming picked up the cold plaque, whose intricate runes he could not read and whose material he could not identify.

Qin Fengming searched Blazing Flame Valley for the fire essence, enduring the valley’s heat and finding two Flame Crystals without locating his target. The chapter then introduced Huang Lang, a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator who entered the valley seeking a Flame Crystal.

• Qin Fengming stored an ancient rune-covered plaque, left the cave, and flew toward Blazing Flame Valley.
• Qin Fengming entered the valley using the Ice Shield Technique and searched its dangerous, scorching terrain for the fire essence.
• Qin Fengming searched the surrounding area for several days, found no trace of the fire essence, and collected two Flame Crystals.
• Huang Lang, a gifted member of the Huang Clan Cultivation Family, reached Foundation Establishment peak after gathering rare herbs in the Ancient Battlefield.
• Huang Lang went to Blazing Flame Valley to find a Flame Crystal for his future life-bound magical treasure.

Huang Lang entered Blazing Flame Valley confident in his Blazing Sun True Flame, but a powerful fire essence overwhelmed him and destroyed his weapons. Qin Fengming discovered the battle and chose not to intervene, while Huang Lang escaped without the Ruyi Pearl treasure bestowed by his Household Ancestor.

• After two days in Blazing Flame Valley, Huang Lang struggled to sustain his cultivation against the heat and the valley's heavy spiritual-power consumption.
• A fire essence transformed into a flood dragon and attacked Huang Lang, melting his spirit artifact and swallowing his fire-based attacks.
• Huang Lang fled while using talismans and sacrificing spirit and magic artifacts, but the faster fire essence repeatedly caught up to him.
• Qin Fengming sensed the battle from thirty li away, identified the fire essence, and avoided helping Huang Lang so he could learn where it laired.
• Huang Lang used the Ruyi Pearl treasure to smash the fire essence apart, but it re-formed and enveloped the pearl in flames.
• Huang Lang withdrew his spiritual power from the Ruyi Pearl and fled, abandoning the treasure.

Qin Fengming watched Huang Lang die to the Fire Essence, then tracked the creature to its lair and tried to prepare a formation to capture it. He discovered that the area rapidly drained formation Spirit Stones and decided to try using mid-grade Spirit Stones instead.

• Huang Lang ran out of magic power while fleeing and crashed onto the scorching rocks, where he died as the Fire Essence swallowed the Ruyi Pearl.
• Qin Fengming followed the Fire Essence to its lair, memorized the location, and collected Huang Lang’s five storage rings, finding no offensive treasures inside.
• Qin Fengming set up the Yin-Yang Eight Trigrams Formation fifty miles from the lair, but the local flames quickly drained its low-grade Spirit Stones and disabled it.
• Qin Fengming confirmed that the area naturally weakened formations and realized the Fire Essence might escape if the formation failed during the capture attempt.
• Qin Fengming replaced the formation’s Spirit Stones with eight mid-grade Spirit Stones, hoping they would keep the formation running for several hours.

Qin Fengming lured the fire essence away from its lair and tried to lead it into the Yin-Yang Eight Trigrams Formation. The dragon pursued him into the formation, where Qin Fengming began activating the trap.

• Qin Fengming set up a smaller Yin-Yang Eight Trigrams Formation and flew toward the fire essence's lair.
• Qin Fengming approached the lair and drew out the fire essence, then used the Kanlan Pearl and a talisman to protect himself from the heat.
• Qin Fengming baited the dragon with metal-element magical treasures, but it melted them and shrugged off his talisman attacks.
• Qin Fengming fled through the sea of fire, offering treasures and talismans to keep the dragon chasing him.
• Qin Fengming reached the formation, had the puppet withdraw its illusion formation and activate its trapping formation, and led the dragon inside.