Chapter Summaries

Qin Fengming struggled to choose among five Great Cultivators who each wanted him as a disciple, then asked whether he could study under the others if he chose one. Sima Bo proposed that all five take Qin Fengming as their disciple, and the elders began considering the idea while Qin Fengming anxiously watched them.

• Zhuang Daoqin, Wuji, Venerable Dao Ling, and the elder skilled in pills each praised their teachings and urged Qin Fengming to become their disciple.
• Qin Fengming considered the benefits of all five paths, including learning artifact refining to repair damaged spiritual treasures.
• Qin Fengming asked whether he could seek guidance from the other four elders after becoming one elder’s disciple.
• Sima Bo proposed that all five Great Cultivators take Qin Fengming as their disciple and teach him together.
• Ancestor Tianji and True Man Wei Ming supported the proposal, while Qin Fengming worried that the elders were discussing how to deal with him.

Qin Fengming revealed the jade pendant that Yin Bizhu had given him and impressed the five Great Cultivators with his talent for refining talismans. They offered to accept him as their shared disciple, but required him to swear a blood curse placing Manghuang Mountain above all else, leaving him to weigh the grave vow.

• Qin Fengming presented Venerable Dao Ling with the blood-red jade pendant Yin Bizhu had given him as a token of recommendation.
• Qin Fengming explained that he had refined fifty thousand Fire Python Talismans in three months, astonishing the five Great Cultivators.
• Venerable Dao Ling and the others decided to offer Qin Fengming a choice between one master and all five as joint masters.
• Qin Fengming gladly knelt and accepted the offer to become all five Great Cultivators' disciple.
• Zhuang Daoqin demanded that Qin Fengming swear a blood curse to put Manghuang Mountain's affairs first, and Qin Fengming hesitated over the consequences.

Qin Fengming swore a Blood Curse pledging never to harm or betray Manghuang Mountain, and the five Great Cultivators accepted him as their Direct Disciple. They arranged a public apprenticeship ceremony for three months later and began considering how he would study under all five masters.

• Qin Fengming agreed to join Manghuang Mountain and swore the Blood Curse before the five Great Cultivators.
• The five Great Cultivators accepted Qin Fengming as their Direct Disciple, and he pledged to cultivate diligently and advance the sect.
• Qin Fengming showed Sima Bo the jade slip of the Profound Clarity Upper Purity Art, which Sima Bo praised and said he need not replace.
• Sima Bo ordered Shu Jingliang to summon the sect elders and notify allied sects about an apprenticeship ceremony scheduled for the fifth day of the fifth month.
• Venerable Dao Ling raised the need to arrange Qin Fengming’s cultivation and studies under five masters.

Qin Fengming chose to spend the three months before the Master-Apprenticeship Ceremony studying Puppet Technique under Zhuang Daoqin. Zhuang Daoqin took him to his Cave Abode, where Qin Fengming saw lifelike human-shaped puppets and resolved to study the art diligently.

• Zhuang Daoqin asked Qin Fengming about his cultivation and auxiliary studies, and Qin Fengming said he spent half his time studying auxiliary arts.
• Qin Fengming chose to follow Zhuang Daoqin first and learn Puppet Technique for three months.
• Zhuang Daoqin immediately took Qin Fengming away, leaving the other four Masters behind.
• Zhuang Daoqin brought Qin Fengming to his mountain Cave Abode and showed him lifelike human-shaped puppets with Core Formation cultivation.
• Qin Fengming admired the puppets, and Zhuang Daoqin explained that he had refined them during his Core Formation years.

Zhuang Daoqin accepted Qin Fengming as his disciple and gave him access to materials, spirits, and texts for learning Puppet Technique. After studying for two months, Qin Fengming understood the basic process and learned that puppets required a spirit sealed and fused into their bodies.

• Zhuang Daoqin gave Qin Fengming a token to access three chambers in his Cave Abode and told him to study the materials and ask questions by voice transmission.
• Qin Fengming used the token to enter the first chamber and found piles of valuable materials, then discovered bottles containing spirit-like beings in the second chamber.
• Qin Fengming opened the third chamber and found more than a thousand texts and scrolls, including many on Puppet Technique.
• Qin Fengming studied the texts in the chamber for two months and learned that puppet crafting required refining a body, adding seals, and fusing a spirit inside it.
• Qin Fengming realized the spirits in the jade bottles were intended for puppet crafting, though he did not know whether any were the souls of cultivators.

Qin Fengming studied puppet-making and successfully refined the body of a Qi Gathering stage puppet, then sought a suitable spirit soul to complete it. With Zhuang Daoqin’s guidance, he took Level 1 demon-beast souls and began the difficult Soul Refining Technique.

• Qin Fengming found a text explaining how to refine Qi Gathering stage puppets and gathered the materials needed to make one.
• Qin Fengming used the Spirit Devouring Netherflame to refine puppet materials, keeping his work hidden from Zhuang Daoqin.
• Nascent Soul cultivators and sect representatives gathered at Manghuang Mountain to witness the five Great Cultivators taking Qin Fengming as their disciple.
• After seventeen days, Qin Fengming completed the puppet’s body and entered the soul chamber to choose a spirit soul.
• Zhuang Daoqin identified the jade bottles containing Level 1 demon-beast souls, and Qin Fengming took five bottles before returning to practice the Soul Refining Technique.

Qin Fengming completed a Qi Gathering stage Puppet and showed it to Zhuang Daoqin after his master summoned him. Zhuang Daoqin confirmed it was a completed Level 1 Puppet and expanded it to full size to examine it.

• Qin Fengming sealed a demon beast's soul inside the Puppet, then spent a day using the Soul Refining Technique to fuse the soul with its components.
• Qin Fengming placed three spirit stones in the completed Puppet and found that it obeyed his thoughts.
• Qin Fengming received Zhuang Daoqin's voice transmission and left his stone chamber to meet his master.
• Zhuang Daoqin asked what Qin Fengming had learned during two months of study, and Qin Fengming admitted that he had already refined a Puppet.
• Qin Fengming handed the small Puppet to Zhuang Daoqin, who recognized it as a completed Level 1 Puppet and expanded it to human size.

After Qin Fengming quickly refined a Level 1 puppet, Zhuang Daoqin praised him and bestowed a powerful scarlet sword that could be refined into his dantian after Core Formation. At Sima Bo’s Cave Abode, Qin Fengming met Manghuang Mountain’s senior cultivators, and Venerable Dao Ling prepared to reveal a secret about the Yuanfeng Empire’s cultivation world before the Master-Apprenticeship Ceremony.

• Zhuang Daoqin praised Qin Fengming for refining a Level 1 puppet in less than three months and offered to guide him further in Puppet Technique.
• Zhuang Daoqin gave Qin Fengming a scarlet magical sword he had personally refined, explaining that Qin Fengming could refine it after reaching Core Formation.
• Zhuang Daoqin took Qin Fengming to Sima Bo’s Cave Abode, where Qin Fengming greeted the assembled Nascent Soul cultivators and learned their names and seniority.
• Venerable Dao Ling told Qin Fengming that five days remained before the Master-Apprenticeship Ceremony and warned him to keep the coming disclosure secret.
• Venerable Dao Ling began to explain the state of the Yuanfeng Empire’s cultivation world, warning that careless disclosure could plunge it into chaos.

Master Dao Ling explained the Yuanfeng Empire’s factional conflicts and Manghuang Mountain’s precarious position to Qin Fengming, then warned him that an even more important secret was coming. The chapter left Qin Fengming listening as Venerable Dao Ling prepared to reveal it.

• Sima Bo reassured Qin Fengming and asked Master Dao Ling to explain the situation in the cultivation world.
• Master Dao Ling described the six superpowers and the Righteous Path and Demonic Path alliances, whose cultivators had clashed for centuries.
• Master Dao Ling explained that Manghuang Mountain had been repeatedly attacked by cultivators linked to the Baleful God Sect and the Demonic Path Alliance.
• Sima Bo told Qin Fengming he would be safe near Manghuang Mountain, but Venerable Dao Ling warned him not to reveal the next, more important matter.

Venerable Dao Ling told Qin Fengming that a spatial rift near Soul Chasing Valley had revealed signs of an impending Three Realms War. Qin Fengming shared his earlier encounter with a demon in Quzhou, and Manghuang Mountain began considering preparations for the conflict.

• Venerable Dao Ling explained that Soul Chasing Valley had found and sealed a spatial rift where Yin Souls had been preparing a passage from the Yin Ghost Realm.
• The major sects concluded that the Three Realms War was approaching and shared the warning with Manghuang Mountain.
• Qin Fengming told the Nascent Soul cultivators that he had fought a powerful demon near a spatial rift in Quzhou, disguising the details of his role in its death.
• Sima Bo questioned Qin Fengming about the demon, and Qin Fengming described its toughness and the slaughter it had inflicted before Chu Xinghe sacrificed himself to wound it.
• Sima Bo said the war was not imminent but directed Manghuang Mountain to begin preparing.

Sima Bo and the other Supreme Elders warned Qin Fengming about the dangers of the coming Three Realms War but appointed him Manghuang Mountain’s young master and successor. Qin Fengming accepted his duties and pledged to put Manghuang Mountain first.

• Sima Bo told Qin Fengming that the five Supreme Elders did not want him to risk his life in the Three Realms War, and Qin Fengming agreed to avoid participating unless necessary.
• Venerable Dao Ling explained that small incursions might occur before the war, while the full conflict was likely decades away, giving the masters time to strengthen Qin Fengming.
• Zhuang Daoqin and Ancestor Tianji announced that Qin Fengming would become Manghuang Mountain’s young master and successor at the Master-Apprenticeship Ceremony.
• Sima Bo explained Manghuang Mountain’s investigation into Qin Fengming’s origins and reminded him to honor his masters, uphold his blood oath, and beware the sect’s enemies.
• Qin Fengming pledged to obey his masters and protect Manghuang Mountain’s interests, pleasing the Nascent Soul cultivators present.

Qin Fengming listened as Sima Bo reviewed security and ceremony plans for his Master-Apprenticeship Ceremony and designation as Manghuang Mountain’s young master. The five Great Cultivators intended the public ceremony to distract rivals from the sect, and Sima Bo ordered Manghuang Mountain to prepare for the coming Three Realms War.

• Sima Bo asked Elder Qi about Manghuang Mountain’s defenses, and Elder Qi reported that its restrictions had been activated and its hidden places would be guarded.
• Sima Bo instructed Shu Jingliang to summon every Manghuang Mountain cultivator above the Core Formation stage to the ceremony, and Shu Jingliang agreed despite his disappointment that Qin Fengming had become his junior brother instead of his disciple.
• The five Great Cultivators planned to use Qin Fengming’s public appointment as young master to divert attention from Manghuang Mountain, while intending to train him and possibly entrust him with the sect if he survived the coming crisis.
• Sima Bo ordered Manghuang Mountain’s branch halls to prepare thoroughly for the Three Realms War.

Qin Fengming revealed that he had refined a Level 1 puppet during his three months studying with Zhuang Daoqin, astonishing the Great Cultivators. When Sima Bo examined Qin Fengming’s Spiritual Root, he and the others found it was a hidden type they could not explain.

• Zhuang Daoqin told the Great Cultivators that Qin Fengming had refined a Level 1 puppet in only three months.
• Qin Fengming presented the puppet, and Ancestor Tianji enlarged it to reveal its Foundation Establishment Realm power.
• Sima Bo examined Qin Fengming’s Spiritual Root and found it was hidden and unusual.
• The other four Great Cultivators examined Qin Fengming in turn, then fell silent with troubled expressions.

The five Great Cultivators could not identify Qin Fengming’s unusual Spiritual Root, while the narration revealed that two Nine-Leaf Yin-Yang Fruits had enabled his remarkably smooth cultivation. Before the Master-Apprenticeship Ceremony, his masters gave him five secret techniques and invited him to ask questions.

• Ancestor Tianji, Venerable Dao Ling, and Sima Bo discussed Qin Fengming’s mysterious Spiritual Root and agreed to keep the matter secret.
• Qin Fengming wondered why he had advanced so easily despite his supposedly poor Spiritual Root, unaware that two Nine-Leaf Yin-Yang Fruits had transformed his prospects.
• Sima Bo told Qin Fengming that each of his five masters would teach him a secret technique before the Master-Apprenticeship Ceremony.
• Qin Fengming thanked his masters and received five jade slips containing the techniques.
• Sima Bo warned that mastering the techniques could take years and invited Qin Fengming to ask questions about cultivation or skills.

After five days of instruction from Manghuang Mountain’s five Supreme Elders, Qin Fengming attended the gathering for his Master-Apprenticeship Ceremony. The ceremony was about to begin with sect representatives and rogue cultivators assembled before the elders.

• Qin Fengming finished five days of instruction from Sima Bo and the other four Great Cultivators, impressing them with his questions about their skills.
• Sima Bo took Qin Fengming to Manghuang Mountain’s ceremonial plaza and told him to study the ancient stele there.
• Shu Jingliang reported that the ceremony preparations were complete and began seating the visiting cultivators.
• Sima Bo and the other elders took their places on the platform as several visitors watched them with stern gazes.
• After the bells and drums stopped, Shu Jingliang announced that the Master-Apprenticeship Ceremony was about to begin.

At Manghuang Mountain’s Master-Apprenticeship Ceremony, Shu Jingliang explained the plaza’s protective barrier and announced that five Supreme Elders would accept one Foundation Establishment cultivator as their disciple. As the elders began the ancestor-worship ritual, their talismanic spell illuminated the ancient stone tablet.

• Shu Jingliang reassured the visiting cultivators that the barrier surrounding the plaza was only a precaution for the ceremony.
• Shu Jingliang announced the formal ceremony in which Manghuang Mountain’s five Supreme Elders would accept a disciple, stirring the gathered cultivators.
• Shu Jingliang began the ceremony with the opening of the tablet and worship of the ancestors.
• Sima Bo and the other four Great Cultivators chanted incantations and formed more than a thousand golden talismans before the stone tablet.
• The five Great Cultivators channeled their spiritual power into the talismans and sent five streams of golden energy into the tablet, making it shine more brightly.

Qin Fengming and the assembled cultivators witnessed the five Great Cultivators remove the Restrictive Spell on Manghuang Mountain’s ancestral stone stele, releasing a brief surge of spiritual energy and a river of inscribed names that enhanced those who knelt before it. After the ceremony, Shu Jingliang announced the apprenticeship ceremony, and eighteen Core Formation cultivators arrived bearing covered trays.

• Sima Bo and the other four Great Cultivators broke the Restrictive Spell on the stone stele, releasing five-colored mist and spiritual energy across the square.
• Shu Jingliang directed the Manghuang Mountain disciples to kneel and kowtow before the stele, and Qin Fengming joined them.
• The names on the stele left the wall and swept around the square, briefly clearing the cultivators' minds and improving their cultivation and understanding before returning to the stone.
• The five Great Cultivators restored the Restrictive Spell on the stele, and the barrier around the square vanished.
• Shu Jingliang announced the apprenticeship ceremony, and eighteen Core Formation cultivators entered the stone platform carrying red-covered trays.

At his apprenticeship ceremony, Qin Fengming became the disciple of Manghuang Mountain’s five Supreme Elders and was appointed its young master, astonishing the gathered cultivators. He received a token granting access to the sect’s forbidden areas and then met Manghuang Mountain’s Nascent Soul cultivators and visiting guests.

• Shu Jingliang introduced Qin Fengming’s cultivation and achievements in five auxiliary arts, shocking the gathered cultivators and stirring an uneasy foreboding in Qin Fengming.
• Qin Fengming completed the apprenticeship rites and promised to obey Manghuang Mountain’s rules and serve its interests.
• Sima Bo appointed Qin Fengming young master of Manghuang Mountain, provided he reached the Nascent Soul stage, and gave him a token that opened the sect’s forbidden areas.
• Qin Fengming greeted Manghuang Mountain’s Nascent Soul cultivators as Shu Jingliang introduced them.
• Qin Fengming welcomed visiting cultivators as they offered congratulations and gifts to the five Supreme Elders.

Qin Fengming faced Blood Demon Ancestor, a late Nascent Soul Great Cultivator from the Baleful God Sect, during the ceremony at Manghuang Mountain. After Blood Demon Ancestor pressured him for his bold reply, Qin Fengming’s masters intervened, and Sima Bo invited the hostile visitors to stay.

• Qin Fengming heard that powerful cultivators from major sects had brought rare gifts to celebrate the five Great Cultivators accepting him as a disciple, including a visit from Jin Qing of the Tianxuan Sect.
• Blood Demon Ancestor arrived with several fellow Daoists and warned Qin Fengming to be careful in the turbulent Cultivation World.
• Qin Fengming calmly declared that he could cross the Cultivation World’s dangers at his leisure, angering Blood Demon Ancestor, who unleashed pressure that nearly forced him to the ground.
• Zhuang Daoqin protected Qin Fengming and told him to apologize, and Qin Fengming bowed while making a deliberately unrepentant apology.
• Blood Demon Ancestor threatened that Qin Fengming might die young, and Venerable Dao Ling answered that Manghuang Mountain could protect its disciple.
• Sima Bo interrupted the exchange and invited Blood Demon Ancestor to remain at Manghuang Mountain for a few days.

Blood Demon Ancestor visited Manghuang Mountain with allies from four demonic sects, prompting the five Supreme Elders to discuss the threat posed by Baleful Intent God Sect and the Demonic Path Alliance. Sima Bo asked Qin Fengming for advice, and Qin Fengming began proposing a way to resolve the crisis.

• Blood Demon Ancestor accepted Sima Bo's invitation to stay as a guest and left with cultivators from Yin Mo Valley, Soul Chasing Valley, Ghostly Nether Sect, and Soul Refining Sect.
• Shu Jingliang told Qin Fengming who the four cultivators were, and Qin Fengming recognized that Ghostly Nether Sect had once hunted him after he killed Zhuge Yu.
• After the ceremony ended, Sima Bo brought Qin Fengming and the other four Supreme Elders to his cave abode to discuss Blood Demon Ancestor's visit.
• Venerable Dao Ling and Wuji Ancestor said Baleful Intent God Sect would likely use the coming Three Realms War to pressure Manghuang Mountain.
• Sima Bo asked Qin Fengming for his views, and Qin Fengming warned that Manghuang Mountain should avoid directly opposing Baleful Intent God Sect and its allies.
• Qin Fengming said Manghuang Mountain could not resolve the crisis through its own strength alone and hinted at a possible solution, prompting Venerable Dao Ling to urge him to continue.