Chapter Summaries

Qin Fengming learned that the Xiao Household’s Spirit Stone mine had produced mid-grade Spirit Stones and a Spirit Essence Stone, then watched as Duan Qichang’s men threatened to wipe out the Xiao lineage. He finally revealed himself and agreed to attack the black-clad cultivators in exchange for the Xiao Household’s wealth.

• Qin Fengming overheard the attackers demand the mid-grade Spirit Stones and Spirit Essence Stone from Xiao Jingxuan, who denied possessing them.
• Duan Qichang threatened to rape and kill the women, revealed his identity, and ordered the black-clad cultivators to break the Restrictive Spell.
• Qin Fengming secretly contacted Xiao Jingxuan and offered to drive away the attackers in exchange for the Xiao Household’s wealth.
• Qin Fengming shot into view before the black-clad cultivators, preparing to fight them.

Qin Fengming confronted the black-robed cultivators attacking the main hall’s restriction and revealed overwhelming power by killing a Foundation Establishment peak cultivator. He left the survivors terrified, while Xiao Jingxuan worried that Qin Fengming might become a threat to the Xiao family.

• Qin Fengming arrived above the square and warned the black-robed cultivators that only the Xiao family and Wei would survive the night.
• A Li-surnamed cultivator attacked Qin Fengming with two top-grade spiritual tools, but Qin Fengming stopped them with a Five Elements defense shield wall.
• Qin Fengming advanced while summoning four spiritual tools and overwhelmed the Li-surnamed cultivator with successive waves of fireballs.
• Qin Fengming killed the Li-surnamed cultivator, collected his belongings, and returned to his original position.
• The black-robed cultivators froze in terror, while Xiao Jingxuan felt both relief and concern about Qin Fengming’s strength.

Qin Fengming confronted the black-clad cultivators who had attacked the Xiao Household and refused their offer to share its hidden treasures, demanding they spare the household and leave Duan Qichang behind. The attackers surrounded him and launched a combined assault, but his talismans summoned hundreds of fire dragons that burned away their artifacts and halted their magic treasures.

• Qin Fengming killed a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator with a sudden attack, shocking the black-clad men.
• The black-clad leader offered Qin Fengming a share of the Xiao Household's hidden mid-grade Spirit Stones and Spirit Essence Stones.
• Qin Fengming rejected the offer, demanded that the attackers spare the Xiao Household, and insisted Duan Qichang remain for judgment.
• Duan Qichang and the leader refused, and the leader ordered the cultivators to attack Qin Fengming together.
• Qin Fengming summoned hundreds of fire dragons with talismans, destroying the attackers' magical artifacts and spirit artifacts and stopping their magic treasures.

Qin Fengming annihilated the black-robed attackers who had raided the Xiao Household and pursued their fleeing Foundation Establishment cultivators. He killed Duan Qichang with the Spirit Devouring Netherflame, which appeared to have transformed after absorbing his magic treasure.

• Qin Fengming summoned hundreds of fire serpents, causing the black-robed cultivators to flee while the serpents killed the Qi Gathering cultivators.
• Qin Fengming pursued the fleeing attackers aboard the White Swift Boat and killed them, while Xiao Jingxuan released the restrictions around the main hall so the Xiao clansmen could rescue the wounded.
• Qin Fengming discovered that only the gloomy old man and Duan Qichang remained, with his two fourth-grade upper-tier demon beasts intercepting them.
• Qin Fengming sent the Spirit Devouring Netherflame into the pink demonic mist where Duan Qichang was fighting, and the flame killed Duan Qichang and consumed his magic treasure.
• Qin Fengming noticed black starlike specks in the transformed Spirit Devouring Netherflame and found Duan Qichang's mini-halberd rotating within it.

Qin Fengming was surprised when the Spirit Devouring Netherflame absorbed a small halberd magic treasure, then rushed to aid the Black Spider. The Black Spider trapped the gloomy old man, and Qin Fengming arrived to block his escape.

• Qin Fengming discovered that the small halberd magic treasure had vanished into his body along with the Spirit Devouring Netherflame.
• Qin Fengming stored the purple-black centipede in his Spirit Beast Bracelet and flew toward the Black Spider’s battle with the gloomy old man.
• The gloomy old man fled from the Black Spider, but its webs and tough body thwarted his attempts to escape or defeat it.
• Qin Fengming arrived on his White Swift Boat and joined the Black Spider in blocking the gloomy old man’s path.

Qin Fengming forced the gloomy old man, Elder Jiao, to accept a master-servant seal in exchange for his life and protection from the Xiao Household. After completing the ritual, Qin Fengming had Elder Jiao standing respectfully at his side.

• The gloomy old man offered Qin Fengming his spirit stones in exchange for being spared, but Qin Fengming demanded that he acknowledge him as master.
• Qin Fengming explained that he could take a strand of the old man's soul, and the old man agreed in return for protection from the Xiao Household and the possibility of future freedom.
• Qin Fengming set up a formation, approached Elder Jiao with an uncanny movement technique, and sealed his magic power.
• Qin Fengming performed the master-servant ritual by sending blood-lit incantations into Elder Jiao's head.
• After the ritual, Elder Jiao stood respectfully beside Qin Fengming.

Qin Fengming subdued Jiao Zhanshan and brought him back to the Xiao Household, where Xiao Jingxuan and his clansmen had begun dealing with the aftermath of the attack. Jiao Zhanshan apologized, and Xiao Jingxuan accepted Qin Fengming’s explanation, leaving the two sides on peaceful terms.

• Qin Fengming planted a spell in Jiao Zhanshan and kept him alive because he would be useful in dealing with the Xiao Household.
• Qin Fengming and Jiao Zhanshan returned to the Xiao Household, where Xiao Jingxuan’s clansmen rescued the injured and extinguished fires.
• Xiao Jingxuan and three Foundation Establishment cultivators worried about the traitor who had exposed the Xiao Household’s excavation and about Qin Fengming’s intentions toward the Spirit Essence Stone.
• Jiao Zhanshan revealed his identity and apologized to Xiao Jingxuan for the attack carried out by the cultivators who had accompanied him.
• Qin Fengming presented Jiao Zhanshan as his sworn brother, and Xiao Jingxuan accepted the apology and promised not to bring up the matter again.

Qin Fengming met with Xiao Jingxuan in the Xiao Household’s Ancestral Hall and learned that a Spirit Essence Stone had triggered the clan’s disaster. After examining the stone and discovering the Xiao Household’s connection to the Qianhuzhou Xiao Household, he offered to help Xiao Jingxuan restore the branch’s place in the main family’s Ancestral Hall records.

• Xiao Jingxuan thanked Qin Fengming for saving the Xiao Household and confirmed that a Spirit Essence Stone had been found in the clan’s mine.
• Xiao Jingxuan showed Qin Fengming the stone, and Qin Fengming identified it as a genuine Spirit Essence Stone.
• Xiao Jingxuan offered the stone to Qin Fengming, explaining that keeping it would continue to endanger his clan.
• Qin Fengming learned that the Xiao Household was an offshoot of the Qianhuzhou Xiao Household and suggested the stone might help restore the branch’s standing.
• Qin Fengming told Xiao Jingxuan that he might be able to help, leaving the gathered clan members stunned.

Qin Fengming agreed to help the Xiao Household deliver the Spirit Essence Stone to Thousand Lakes Prefecture in exchange for compensation, including pill formulas for Core Formation cultivators. Although Xiao Jingxuan thought the family had none, they found three ancient formulas in the family treasure vault.

• Xiao Jingxuan asked Qin Fengming what compensation he wanted for delivering the Spirit Essence Stone, and Qin Fengming recalled Xiao Jingxuan's offer of the family's wealth.
• Qin Fengming requested one-third of the Spirit Essence Stone, ten mid-grade Spirit Stones of each of five attributes, and two pill formulas for Core Formation cultivators.
• Xiao Jingxuan explained that the Xiao Household had preserved no usable Core Formation pill formulas, but Ning'er insisted that several ancient formulas remained in the treasure vault.
• An old man confirmed that the formulas existed but called for materials thought to be extinct, and Qin Fengming asked Xiao Jingxuan to bring them out anyway.
• Ning'er retrieved an archaic purple wooden box, which Xiao Jingxuan handed to Qin Fengming; inside were three black jade slips.

Qin Fengming accepted three obsolete pill formulas, one-third of the Xiao Household’s Spirit Essence Stone, and fifty mid-grade Spirit Stones in exchange for escorting the stone to the Thousand Lakes Prefecture Xiao clan. He entered the Xiao Household’s Earthfire chamber to divide the stone with his Spirit Devouring Netherflame.

• Qin Fengming examined three pill formulas and agreed to accept them despite their required herbs being extinct.
• Qin Fengming agreed to escort the Xiao Household’s Spirit Essence Stone to the Thousand Lakes Prefecture Xiao clan in exchange for one-third of the stone and fifty mid-grade Spirit Stones.
• Xiao Jingxuan handed Qin Fengming the Spirit Essence Stone and led him and Jiao Zhanshan to the Xiao Household’s Alchemy site.
• Qin Fengming entered a stone chamber, set up a restriction, and used his Spirit Devouring Netherflame and artifact-refining furnace to begin dividing the Spirit Essence Stone.

While Qin Fengming was in seclusion, Xiao Jingxuan uncovered how Xiao Fu had leaked the Spirit Essence Stone secret, and Xiao Fu took his own life. Qin Fengming emerged after breaking off part of the stone, received his payment, and left Jiao Zhanshan with Xiao Jingxuan’s reward.

• Xiao Fu secretly visited a Qing Dang Mountain cultivator and revealed the Spirit Essence Stone secret, which she reported to her sect before its leaders passed the news to Duan Qichang.
• Xiao Jingxuan had Xiao Fu arrested, and Xiao Fu took his own life after the elders sealed his magical power.
• Qin Fengming returned after more than ten days in seclusion and gave Xiao Jingxuan the Jade Box containing the remaining Spirit Essence Stone, now reduced by one-third.
• Xiao Jingxuan gave Qin Fengming fifty mid-grade Spirit Stones and offered Jiao Zhanshan ten for his help, which Qin Fengming encouraged Jiao Zhanshan to accept.

Qin Fengming arranged to escort the Xiao Household’s Spirit Essence Stones to Thousand Lakes Prefecture after finishing business in Quzhou, leaving Jiao Zhanshan to guard the family in the meantime. Before departing for the Yaohu Alliance, he obtained a copy of the Xiao Household’s long-range voice transmission technique.

• Qin Fengming explained that he would remain in Quzhou for several months before escorting the Spirit Essence Stones, and Xiao Jingxuan and the other Xiao Household cultivators worried about keeping them safe.
• Qin Fengming arranged for Jiao Zhanshan to guard the Xiao Household, and Jiao Zhanshan swore that he no longer coveted the Spirit Essence Stones.
• Qin Fengming stayed at the Xiao Household for a day and exchanged cultivation insights with its Foundation Establishment cultivators.
• As he prepared to leave for the Yaohu Alliance, Qin Fengming asked Xiao Jingxuan how he had transmitted his voice over a distance of twenty or thirty li.
• Xiao Jingxuan copied the Xiao Household’s long-range voice transmission technique onto a jade slip, and Qin Fengming accepted it before departing.

After resolving the Xiao clan's crisis, Qin Fengming sold the spoils he had collected and traveled to the Blood Fox Alliance headquarters to meet Yin Bizhu. He delivered the five thousand low-grade high-tier talismans she had requested, leaving her to inspect them.

• Qin Fengming reviewed the pill formulas he had obtained from the Xiao clan and considered how to strengthen his cultivation foundation before advancing.
• Qin Fengming sold the weapons and other treasures from the cultivators he had slain, earning several hundred thousand Spirit Stones.
• Qin Fengming traveled for nearly two months to the Blood Fox Alliance headquarters, changed back into his former appearance, and went to its Marketplace shop.
• Yin Bizhu learned that Qin Fengming had arrived and hurried to meet him after searching for the cultivator surnamed Duan for over a year.
• Qin Fengming handed Yin Bizhu a storage ring containing the five thousand low-grade high-tier talismans she had requested.

Qin Fengming gave Yin Bizhu extra talismans and received a jade pendant to help him reach Manghuang Mountain and seek Dao Ling. He arranged to make fifty thousand talismans at Little Black Mountain, where Yin Bizhu could find him.

• Qin Fengming gave Yin Bizhu a thousand extra talismans as compensation, and she handed him the jade pendant from her family ancestor.
• Yin Bizhu explained that Qin Fengming could deliver future talismans to a Radiant Tiger Alliance shop near Manghuang Mountain.
• Qin Fengming offered to refine fifty thousand high-grade low-level talismans at once, and Yin Bizhu agreed to provide the materials.
• A Radiant Tiger Alliance cultivator delivered three storage rings of talisman-making materials, which Qin Fengming checked and accepted.
• Qin Fengming told Yin Bizhu he would work at Little Black Mountain, then left for the mountain.

Qin Fengming left the Yaohu Alliance and secluded himself at Little Black Mountain to refine fifty thousand high-grade talismans. After completing the task in three months and giving Yin Bizhu five thousand extra talismans, he set out for Manghuang Mountain and headed toward the Xiao family.

• Qin Fengming learned from Yin Bizhu that the Yaohu Alliance and other merchant alliances had no hides from fifth-grade or higher demon beasts, then flew to Little Black Mountain and secluded himself in a cave.
• Qin Fengming spent three months refining fifty-five thousand high-grade talismans, while Yin Bizhu waited for him to finish.
• Qin Fengming met Yin Bizhu at the Marketplace and handed over six storage rings containing the fifty thousand talismans he had promised and five thousand extra as a gift.
• Yin Bizhu accepted the talismans and urged Qin Fengming to travel with the merchant alliance's group for safety, but he declined and chose to travel alone.
• Qin Fengming left the Marketplace and flew toward the place where the Xiao family resided.

Qin Fengming returned to the Xiao Household Manor and discussed how to escort the Spirit Essence Stone from Quzhou to Thousand Lakes Prefecture. He agreed to leave Quzhou by his own means and travel along the borders of other prefectures, while Xiao Jingxuan planned to bring Xiao Ning.

• Qin Fengming returned to the repaired Xiao Household Manor and was welcomed by Xiao Jingxuan, Jiao Zhanshan, and other Foundation Establishment cultivators.
• Qin Fengming told Xiao Jingxuan that his arrangements were complete and that the group needed to plan how to transport the Spirit Essence Stone to Thousand Lakes Prefecture.
• Xiao Jingxuan explained that they could leave Quzhou through Dijing City's costly Teleportation Array or a dangerous land passage.
• Qin Fengming assured Xiao Jingxuan that he had a safe way out of Quzhou and asked him to plan their route beyond it.
• Xiao Jingxuan proposed flying along prefecture borders and said he wanted to bring his nephew Xiao Ning along.

Qin Fengming prepared to escort Xiao Jingxuan’s Household to Thousand Lakes Prefecture, but told Jiao Zhanshan to stay behind in Quzhou. After Jiao Zhanshan agreed to go to the Golden Talisman Gate, Qin Fengming revealed his true identity and gave him talismans to secure a welcome.

• Qin Fengming agreed to set out for Thousand Lakes Prefecture with Xiao Jingxuan’s Household the next day.
• Qin Fengming told Jiao Zhanshan to remain in Quzhou because the journey concerned another matter of his own.
• Jiao Zhanshan agreed to stay in Quzhou and offered to help Qin Fengming whenever needed.
• Qin Fengming revealed his true appearance and told Jiao Zhanshan that his name was Qin Fengming and that he was an elder of the Golden Talisman Gate.
• Qin Fengming invited Jiao Zhanshan to stay at the Golden Talisman Gate to help protect his disciple, and Jiao Zhanshan accepted.
• Qin Fengming gave Jiao Zhanshan two Fire Python Talismans as tokens for the Golden Talisman Gate.

Qin Fengming recruited Jiao Zhanshan by giving him a Xinwu Pill that could help him attempt Core Formation, and explained that success would free him from their master-servant contract. The next morning, Qin Fengming prepared to leave with Xiao Jingxuan and the Xiao Household.

• Jiao Zhanshan told Qin Fengming that he had failed twice to form a core because he lacked effective medicinal pills.
• Qin Fengming gave Jiao Zhanshan a Xinwu Pill and advised him to take it after reaching the Golden Talisman Gate, when he could cultivate without interruption.
• Qin Fengming explained that Jiao Zhanshan's master-servant contract would dissolve if he successfully formed a core.
• Jiao Zhanshan left after Qin Fengming said he could depart once Qin had gone the next day.
• Qin Fengming changed his appearance to that of the Wei surname cultivator and reflected that he had recruited Jiao Zhanshan to help protect the Golden Talisman Gate.
• Xiao Jingxuan and other Xiao Household members arrived the next morning, and Qin Fengming agreed that they could set out immediately.

Qin Fengming departed with Xiao Jingxuan and Xiao Ning on their journey to Thousand Lakes Prefecture, leaving Jiao Zhanshan behind in Quzhou. After covering the distance to Dijing City by flying treasure, the group arrived at Quzhou's largest city to continue their journey.

• Qin Fengming and Xiao Jingxuan left the Xiao clan estate with Xiao Ning, while Jiao Zhanshan followed them out of Quzhou.
• Qin Fengming parted from Jiao Zhanshan, who agreed to handle a matter for him and then flew toward southern Quzhou.
• Qin Fengming told Xiao Jingxuan that they should use a Teleportation Array to leave Quzhou and offered to pay the fee with spirit stones he had borrowed.
• Qin Fengming brought out the White Swift Boat, and Xiao Jingxuan and Xiao Ning boarded it with him.
• After two months of travel, Qin Fengming, Xiao Jingxuan, and Xiao Ning reached Dijing City.

Qin Fengming and his companions reached Dijing City and went to its Teleportation Array pavilion to choose a route toward Thousand Lakes Prefecture. They chose the Huangfu Dynasty array and began the process of paying to use it.

• Qin Fengming, Xiao Jingxuan, and their companion entered Dijing City and found the guarded plaza containing six Teleportation Arrays.
• Qin Fengming briefly spotted a familiar figure across the plaza, but the person disappeared before he could identify him.
• The three met three late Core Formation cultivators inside the Immortal Waiting Pavilion and asked to use a Teleportation Array.
• Qin Fengming and Xiao Jingxuan reviewed the destinations and chose the Huangfu Dynasty array to avoid traveling through dangerous Yong Prefecture.
• Qin Fengming offered the elder three million spirit stones to begin the procedures for using the array.