Chapter Summaries

After obtaining the Spirit Flame Green Lotus, Qin Fengming used the Spirit Devouring Netherflame to cross the Molten Sea attack zone and traveled south while concealed by the Azure Silkworm Silk. His journey ended when Venerable Red Demon appeared in his path.

• Qin Fengming left the mountains after finding no useful treasures beyond the Spirit Flame Green Lotus.
• He used the Spirit Devouring Netherflame's cyan Flood Dragon and sunbird to devour molten rocks and safely crossed the attack zone.
• Qin Fengming concealed his form and aura with the Azure Silkworm Silk and flew southeast from the smoke-filled region.
• He evaded other cultivators for several days as he traveled south through the volcanic region.
• On the ninth day, Venerable Red Demon flew toward Qin Fengming and forced him to stop.

Qin Fengming recognized his old enemy Venerable Red Demon and prepared to ambush him, but two mysterious cultivators attacked first. Venerable Red Demon evaded their strike and recognized the attackers as a pair of identical long-bearded elders.

• Qin Fengming recalled his past enmity with Venerable Red Demon, who had sought revenge for his slain disciple.
• Venerable Red Demon reflected on his failed attempt to reach the Nascent Soul stage and his dangerous, solitary search through the Sky Flame Mountain Range.
• Qin Fengming detected Venerable Red Demon after he used a flying secret technique and decided to prepare a surprise attack.
• Two powerful magic treasures suddenly attacked Venerable Red Demon, who narrowly dodged them and demanded that his assailants reveal themselves.
• Two identical green-robed elders appeared, and Venerable Red Demon recognized them.

Qin Fengming watched Venerable Red Demon confront two identical late Core Formation Peak cultivators who had ambushed him before. Venerable Red Demon escaped using a powerful skull treasure, leaving Qin Fengming to seek another chance to kill him.

• Qin Fengming recognized the danger of the two hidden cultivators and retreated, grateful that they had drawn Venerable Red Demon's attention.
• Venerable Red Demon accused the two old men of ambushing him, and they challenged him to fight together as they had before.
• The two old men attacked with their magic treasures, and Venerable Red Demon answered by summoning a giant skull that filled the area with red fog.
• Venerable Red Demon vanished as the fog dissipated, and the two old men decided not to pursue him.
• Qin Fengming gave up on pursuing Venerable Red Demon and resolved to wait for another opportunity to kill him.

Qin Fengming ambushed Venerable Red Demon after their protective barriers collided, destroying the old man's life-bound magic treasure and badly injuring him. Qin Fengming then revealed that he was the cultivator who had killed Venerable Red Demon's disciple, and the old man recognized him as the young master of Manghuang Mountain.

• The two departing old men searched the area with their divine senses, then flew north, and Qin Fengming thought the danger had passed.
• Venerable Red Demon, traveling invisibly, collided with Qin Fengming's Azure Silkworm Silk barrier, revealing himself.
• Qin Fengming struck Venerable Red Demon with two Sun-Shooting Talismans and a Mountain Breaking Talisman, destroying his life-bound banner and injuring him.
• Venerable Red Demon threatened to capture Qin Fengming, while Qin Fengming asked whether he remembered the death of his disciple after the Qianhuzhou Xiao Household's competition.
• Venerable Red Demon connected Qin Fengming to the Wei-surnamed cultivator and recognized him as the young master of Manghuang Mountain.

Qin Fengming confronted the wounded Venerable Red Demon, who unleashed his skull treasure and a powerful secret art to kill him. Venerable Red Demon survived Qin Fengming’s counterattack by using a talisman to escape the three white beams, but lost his left arm and fixed Qin Fengming with a furious glare.

• Qin Fengming taunted Venerable Red Demon and judged that his injuries and the approaching attackers had made him wary.
• Venerable Red Demon summoned a skull treasure that spread red smoke and sent seven puppet skulls to attack Qin Fengming while he formed a red sphere.
• A cyan Flood Dragon and a cyan giant bird burst from the magma and charged Venerable Red Demon, who sent the skulls after the dragon and hurled the sphere at the bird.
• The giant bird swallowed the red sphere, which exploded inside it and scattered cyan flames across the area.
• Venerable Red Demon used a talisman to evade Qin Fengming’s three white beams, but they severed his left arm, and he glared at Qin Fengming in fury.

Qin Fengming used hidden flames, talismans, and the Green Bird to drive the wounded Venerable Red Demon into erupting lava, where he perished. Two identical Peak Core Formation cultivators then appeared, leaving Qin Fengming facing new potential enemies as he reclaimed Red Demon's skull treasure.

• Qin Fengming hid the Spirit Devouring Netherflame in the lava and sent it to attack Venerable Red Demon when he threatened a fatal strike.
• Qin Fengming's three Sun-Shooting Talismans failed to kill Venerable Red Demon, who escaped with a Substitute Tribulation Talisman and threatened revenge.
• Qin Fengming sent the reassembled Green Bird after Venerable Red Demon as he tried to flee.
• Venerable Red Demon dodged the Green Bird but plunged into an erupting stream of lava and was reduced to a skeleton.
• Two identical Peak Core Formation cultivators appeared, and Qin Fengming recalled the Spirit Devouring Netherflame and stored Venerable Red Demon's skull magic treasure.

After killing Venerable Red Demon, Qin Fengming met two Peak Core Formation elders who identified themselves as members of the Wen family of Minzhou. Their connection to his Senior Brother Wen Taihang eased the encounter, and Qin Fengming concluded they would not attack him.

• Qin Fengming finished cleaning up the scene as two Core Formation elders arrived and praised him for killing Venerable Red Demon.
• The elders asked whether Qin Fengming was the disciple of Manghuang Mountain known as its Young Master, and he confirmed he had joined the five Masters’ disciples.
• The elders introduced themselves as members of the Wen family of Minzhou, and Qin Fengming recognized the family’s great standing and power.
• The Wen brothers said their clan uncle Wen Taihang had spoken of Qin Fengming and noted that their seniority made them his juniors.
• Qin Fengming politely rejected their deference and decided the Wen brothers would not attack him.

Qin Fengming told two Wen Household cultivators about the mist-shrouded area in the Sky Flame Mountain Range, and they set off to investigate it. Before parting, one of them invited Qin Fengming to the Green Snake Valley trade fair and gave him a jade pendant granting him entry.

• The two Wen Household cultivators praised Qin Fengming's strength, and he deflected their questions about his abilities by crediting his survival to talismans and treasures from his masters.
• Qin Fengming described a misty area northwest of them where molten rock had driven him out and injured a Peak Core Formation cultivator.
• The Wen brothers decided to investigate the area, then parted from Qin Fengming and flew in the opposite direction.
• One Wen elder called Qin Fengming back and invited him to the Green Snake Valley trade fair, which would begin in nine years.
• The Wen elder gave Qin Fengming a jade pendant that would allow him to attend the trade fair.

Qin Fengming spent years searching the Sky Flame Mountain Range for the white-mist region, while two elders planned to enlist his help at a trading gathering. In the sixth year, a sudden force transported him into the dense white mist he had sought.

• Qin Fengming accepted the jade pendant from the old man surnamed Wen, sealed it in a jade box, and continued southeast after the elders flew away.
• The two elders tracked Qin Fengming with a Spirit-Revealing Disc and discussed how his formation skills could help their plans at the Green Snake Valley trading gathering.
• For five months, Qin Fengming searched the lava fields, avoided other cultivators and demon beasts, and failed to find the white-mist region.
• After nearly six years in the range, Qin Fengming was suddenly immobilized and pulled through the air by an immense suction force.
• The force vanished, Qin Fengming regained his magical power, and he found himself surrounded by dense white clouds and mist.

Qin Fengming entered the hidden white mist region of the Sky Flame Mountain Range after a powerful suction force pulled him through a dangerous lava field. As he explored the spiritually rich land, he found a milky-white barrier high above and suspected the region was an independent space.

• Qin Fengming realized that the mist-shrouded land was the white mist region he had long sought and marveled at its pure, abundant spiritual energy.
• Qin Fengming recalled that an immense suction force had pulled him into the region while he crossed a dangerous field of erupting lava.
• Qin Fengming probed the mist with his divine sense, discovered that restrictive spells blocked its reach, and flew onward with three five-colored barriers protecting him.
• Qin Fengming learned from his prior research that the region held ancient spiritual herbs and a mysterious spirit pool, then wondered whether flight-restricting spells existed there.
• Qin Fengming flew upward and found a milky-white barrier a thousand zhang overhead, which he recognized as unlike a formation barrier and suspected marked an independent space.

Qin Fengming concluded that the white-fog region was an independent space and searched it for the mysterious spirit pool. On the ninth day, he found the pool and cautiously tested its water with a Silver Sheath Worm, which conveyed its excitement back to him.

• Qin Fengming reasoned that the white-fog region was an independent space and flew down into the mist to search for the spirit pool.
• Qin Fengming searched for several days, found three stalks of Myriad Spirit Grass, and continued after resting to restore his divine sense.
• On the ninth day, Qin Fengming discovered an unusually dense cloud of fog and found a gray-white pool filled with dense spiritual energy.
• Qin Fengming sent a Silver Sheath Worm into the pool to test it, and the insect entered without resistance and transmitted its excitement to him.

Qin Fengming investigated the spirit pool and concealed it with the Yin-Yang Eight Trigrams Formation before testing its effects on his spirit beasts, spirit insects, and beast eggs. After they entered the water, he plunged into the pool himself.

• Qin Fengming's Silver Sheath Worm could descend only fifteen feet into the pool before immense buoyancy stopped it, so he recalled it.
• Qin Fengming set up the Yin-Yang Eight Trigrams Formation to hide the spirit pool from other cultivators.
• Qin Fengming released his black spider, purplish-black centipede, and tens of thousands of Silver Sheath Worms into the pool, where they appeared comfortable.
• Qin Fengming sent his small red beast into the water and placed five beast eggs beside the pool.
• Qin Fengming plunged into the grayish-white pool.

Qin Fengming discovered that the gray-white pool supplied exceptionally pure spiritual energy and continuously nourished his divine sense, then settled into cultivation. Meanwhile, nine Rogue Cultivators reached the erupting lava field and decided to cross it in search of the white-mist region.

• Qin Fengming found that the pool’s energy strengthened his divine sense and contained very few impurities.
• Qin Fengming began cultivating in the pool while his spirit beasts and spirit insects cultivated nearby under his orders.
• Four months after Qin Fengming entered the white-mist region, nine cultivators arrived at the lava field after searching the Sky Flame Mountain Range for more than five years.
• Fellow Daoist Wei persuaded the group to cross the dangerous lava field rather than leave without searching it.
• The nine cultivators agreed to advance together and flew toward the erupting lava.

After struggling to absorb the Spirit Pool’s energy, Qin Fengming discovered that it was renewing and strengthening his Five Dragon Physique rather than sending spiritual power to his dantian. He continued cultivating in the pool, where the energy flowed into his bones, muscles, and meridians.

• Five more cultivators entered the lava region more than twenty days after the first nine disappeared, and three others followed a month later.
• Qin Fengming spent eleven months cultivating in the Spirit Pool while the pool water around him turned clear and his spirit beasts and insects rested on shore.
• After initially failing to send the pool’s spiritual energy to his dantian, Qin Fengming resumed cultivating there and waited to see whether it would help him.
• Several dozen days later, Qin Fengming expelled foul black impurities and saw that the pool’s energy was entering his bones and muscles.
• Qin Fengming realized the Spirit Pool could supply the immense energy his Five Dragon Physique needed to advance, then resumed cultivation with renewed hope.

Qin Fengming’s cultivation triggered a powerful multicolored orb in the spirit pool, and five beast eggs joined it in exchanging radiant energy with him. Meanwhile, cultivators searching the white-mist region failed for months to find the legendary spirit pool.

• A multicolored orb enveloped Qin Fengming as he cultivated, unleashing pressure that churned the pool and drove the spirit beasts and Silver Sheath Worms away.
• Qin Fengming continued absorbing the pool’s spiritual energy while black impurities seeped from his body.
• The five beast eggs moved around the orb, emitted five colored lights, and exchanged beams of light with it.
• More than twenty cultivators searched the white-mist region for several months but found no spirit pool.
• An old man in a black-and-white Daoist robe complained to Fellow Daoist Yun and Fellow Daoist Wei that the group’s repeated search had found no trace of the pool.

Core Formation cultivators searching the white mist region gave up hope of finding the Spirit Pool, until a massive Heavenly Tribulation appeared and drew their attention. They initially believed a cultivator was condensing a Golden Core, but the tribulation’s power and thunder left them questioning that conclusion.

• The cultivators in the white mist region concluded that the Spirit Pool might no longer exist and considered leaving the Sky Flame Mountain Range early.
• As the cultivators were preparing to leave, the white mist surged toward one place and black clouds filled the sky with lightning.
• The old man surnamed Yun judged that the phenomenon was not Nascent Soul formation and said someone was condensing a Golden Core.
• The Core Formation cultivators decided to wait for the tribulation to pass before investigating, since interfering could make the Heavenly Tribulation target them too.
• The unusually powerful thunder produced a sonic attack, causing the cultivators to doubt whether the person undergoing the tribulation was truly only forming a Golden Core.

After nearly a year cultivating in a spiritual pool, Qin Fengming emerged as the pool’s spiritual energy was exhausted and discovered his Five Elements Beast eggs were close to hatching. He realized he had formed a master-servant bond with the beasts, but remained uncertain whether to let them break out of their shells as a strange Heavenly Tribulation gathered overhead.

• Core Formation cultivators fled the area as the strange Heavenly Tribulation formed above the white-mist region.
• Qin Fengming recalled absorbing the pool’s spiritual energy for months before awakening and leaving the water.
• Qin Fengming discovered that the pool’s spiritual energy had nearly run out and that his five beast eggs were glowing with tiny beasts inside.
• One beast sent Qin Fengming divine sense, and he found that his spiritual sense could enter the eggs without resistance.
• Qin Fengming realized he had completed a master-servant bond with the Five Elements Beasts and sensed that they wanted to hatch, but he hesitated.

Qin Fengming hatched the five Five Elements Beast eggs with liquid from his mysterious gourd and watched the newborn beasts dive into a spirit pool. The five returned carrying five-colored lotuses, leaving Qin Fengming stunned by their discovery.

• Qin Fengming performed a blood-drop recognition ritual on the five Five Elements Beast eggs, then dripped mysterious liquid from his gourd onto them.
• Qin Fengming continued feeding the eggs mysterious liquid for nearly twenty days until five young beasts hatched.
• Qin Fengming stroked the five beasts as they nestled in his arms, while his spiders and centipede spirit beast prostrated themselves in fear.
• The five young beasts entered the spirit pool and sank beyond the reach of Qin Fengming's divine sense, though their mental connection reassured him they were calm.
• The five beasts resurfaced a quarter of an hour later, each holding a fragrant five-colored lotus in its mouth, and Qin Fengming stared in astonishment.

Qin Fengming discovered that the five spirit lotuses had taken human form and stored them away before cultivating beside the pool. After several days, he connected with the Heaven and Earth Origin Energy again and knew the Heavenly Tribulation for Core Formation was approaching.

• Qin Fengming saw five tiny figures inside the spirit lotuses the Five Elements Beasts had brought up and recognized that the herbs had taken human form.
• Qin Fengming sealed the five lotuses in Jade Boxes, then rewarded the young beasts with spirit liquid.
• Qin Fengming realized the pool water had lost its effect on nascent-soul formation and worried that others would blame him, but he decided not to retreat from the consequences.
• Qin Fengming sensed his spiritual power nearing its limit and began cultivating beside the pool while his spirit beasts and insects absorbed the surrounding energy.
• Qin Fengming sensed cultivators searching near the Yin-Yang Eight Trigrams Formation but continued cultivating for several days.
• Qin Fengming felt himself connect with the Heaven and Earth Origin Energy again and knew the Heavenly Tribulation for breaking through the Core Formation bottleneck was imminent.

Qin Fengming began forming his Golden Core by consuming Xinwu Pills and channeling their spiritual power into his dantian, triggering an immense energy vortex and an unusually powerful Heavenly Tribulation. Nearby Core Formation cultivators watched in terror as the tribulation began to descend.

• Qin Fengming recalled his spirit beasts and Silver Sheath Worms, then retrieved his formation flags as the Heaven and Earth Origin Energy dispersed his formation.
• Qin Fengming swallowed Xinwu Pills in increasing quantities to supply the spiritual energy needed to form his core.
• Qin Fengming guided the pills’ spiritual power through his meridians and into his already-full dantian, where it formed a massive vortex.
• A vast spiritual-energy vortex gathered above the white-mist region, and dark clouds filled with silver lightning formed overhead.
• More than twenty Core Formation cultivators retreated to the region’s edge, raised protective treasures, and watched as someone shouted that the Heavenly Tribulation was descending.