Chapter Summaries

Luo Hong arrived at Yellow Maple Valley and used a five-hundred-year Purple Sun Flower to obtain White Lotus Pills, a Water Element Spirit Gathering Array Disk, and Spirit Stones from Li Huayuan. Liu Jing then assigned Luo Hong a leisurely duty, while Luo Hong realized the encounter had taught him a useful way to gain the trust of suspicious people.

• Liu Jing brought Luo Hong and four other juniors toward Li Huayuan's cave abode, while Luo Hong planned to investigate Hundred Herbs Garden after entering the valley.
• Li Huayuan gave the juniors Pills for Consolidating the Foundation and Cultivating Vitality and warned them not to cause trouble or invoke his name before establishing their foundations.
• Luo Hong offered Li Huayuan a five-hundred-year Purple Sun Flower, then requested White Lotus Pills and a Water Element Spirit Gathering Array Disk.
• Li Huayuan accepted the Purple Sun Flower and gave Luo Hong the requested items along with one hundred Spirit Stones for activating the Formation Plate.
• Liu Jing thanked Luo Hong for helping Li Huayuan and assigned him a leisurely duty convenient for cultivation.
• Luo Hong recognized that Liu Jing's sincere gratitude offered a way to gain the trust of suspicious people.

Luo Hong settled into his new role as a Spirit Rain Master at Fanghua Garden and explained the First Law of Cultivation he had developed through experiments. He tested a Spirit Gathering Array and prepared to investigate how increased internal spiritual pressure affected his cultivation.

• Liu Jing brought Luo Hong to Fanghua Garden, assigned him as its Spirit Rain Master, and gave him a duty book and a Communication Talisman.
• Luo Hong read about his duties and reflected on his entry into Yellow Maple Valley before writing down his theory of cultivation.
• Luo Hong described his First Law of Cultivation, his experiments, and the status sheet showing his Fourth-grade Spiritual Root and slow progress toward Qi Refining Great Perfection.
• Luo Hong set up a Spirit Gathering Array, waited for its spiritual pressure to stabilize, and measured the External Spiritual Pressure at approximately 8.0.
• Luo Hong held a Low-grade Spirit Stone in each hand and slowly exerted force.

Luo Hong tested a pressure-based cultivation method that let him reach Qi Refining Level Four and then advanced to Level Seven with Yellow Dragon Pills, while training his meridians with the Ice Skin Jade Bone Method. After exhausting his pills, he visited Martial Uncle Ma’s Hundred Herbs Garden to investigate a source of more ingredients.

• Luo Hong used the Spirit Gathering Array and a Yellow Dragon Pill to raise his Internal Spirit Pressure to 20.0, breaking through to Qi Refining Level Four and increasing his Mana Limit by six points.
• Luo Hong decided to keep his Spirit Pressure Cultivation Great Method secret and resisted seeking out Xiang Zhili, choosing to lie low instead.
• Luo Hong completed his Spirit Field duties, then used White Lotus Pills to cultivate the Ice Skin Jade Bone Method and strengthen his meridians.
• Over a month, Luo Hong used his Yellow Dragon Pills to reach Qi Refining Level Seven and advanced the Ice Skin Jade Bone Method to its fourth layer.
• Luo Hong visited Martial Uncle Ma’s Hundred Herbs Garden to investigate sources of Yellow Dragon Pill ingredients, and Martial Uncle Ma invited him to return.

After reaching Qi Refining Level Seven, Luo Hong arranged for Li Xiaowan to refine Yellow Dragon Pills while keeping his Spirit Gathering Array's true effects secret. He declined to join Li Xiaowan and Li Xiaoqing on an outing, then went to the market to buy materials for talisman crafting.

• Luo Hong calculated that he needed 1,333 Yellow Dragon Pills to reach Qi Refining Great Perfection and bought Spiritual Herbs for ten batches from Martial Uncle Ma.
• Luo Hong asked Li Xiaowan to refine the Yellow Dragon Pills, and she offered to take two pills from every successful furnace.
• Li Xiaoqing arrived with news about Mount Wu on an Ancient Map, then accused Luo Hong of relying on a Spirit Gathering Array to outpace her cultivation.
• Li Xiaowan offered to refine the pills for free if Luo Hong lent her the array, but Luo Hong stalled rather than risk exposing its secret.
• Li Xiaowan invited Luo Hong to join her and Li Xiaoqing on a trip outside the valley, but he declined and went to the market to buy talisman-making materials.

Luo Hong bought cheap talisman paper and a small amount of demon blood before returning to Fanghua Garden to prepare for talisman crafting. Two men who had been watching him abandoned their pursuit and decided to investigate the Southern Small Gathering, while Luo Hong began questioning the usual assumptions behind talisman crafting.

• Luo Hong explained why he chose talisman crafting over other side professions and went to Heavenly Crafts Tower to buy materials.
• Luo Hong quickly left the market and flew back toward Fanghua Garden, unaware that a Man in Yellow had followed him.
• The Man in Yellow met a Big Man, and the two suspected their ambushes of lone cultivators had drawn attention before deciding to inspect the Southern Small Gathering.
• Luo Hong prepared to craft talismans and considered why talisman paper, spell knowledge, and failed attempts affected the craft.

Luo Hong investigated how External Spiritual Pressure affected talisman paper and reasoned that it could improve talisman-making. While considering how spellcasting related to talisman techniques, he experienced sudden enlightenment that revealed natural runes within his meridians, then angered the Heavenly Dao with a rebellious thought before resolving to hide such thoughts until it was gone.

• Luo Hong tested Yellow Talisman Paper and found that increased External Spiritual Pressure raised its magic power capacity, though not without limits.
• Luo Hong reasoned that high External Spiritual Pressure might let him practice drawing rune patterns without Talisman Ink.
• Luo Hong cast Water Bullet Technique and compared spellcasting meridians to an assembly line that transformed magic power.
• Luo Hong experienced sudden enlightenment and saw silver natural runes inside his meridian walls reshaping his magic power.
• Luo Hong thought about exploiting loopholes in the Heavenly Dao, provoking thunder, then decided to conceal rebellious thoughts until the Heavenly Dao had left.

Luo Hong learned to identify and draw the Silver runes in talismans, allowing him to craft excellent Water Bullet Talismans with perfect success. After selling twenty of them to Senior Brother Xie, he realized Xie planned to resell them for a profit and quietly resolved to remember the slight.

• Luo Hong used his insight into Silver runes and his Golden Finger’s Completion Degree data to study talisman crafting, ruining more than a thousand sheets of paper before mastering the technique.
• Luo Hong crafted a superior Water Bullet Talisman, rested, then made three more excellent talismans without a single failure.
• Luo Hong imagined using an array to automate talisman production and decided he would need to study arrays.
• Luo Hong tried to sell his talismans outside the Merit Hall, where Senior Brother Xie and a female disciple dismissed their value and bargained over the price.
• Senior Brother Xie bought all twenty talismans for twenty Spirit Stones, and Luo Hong realized Xie intended to resell them at the market and resolved to remember him.

Luo Hong mass-produced low-grade talismans and covertly exchanged them for Spirit Stones at Hundred Crafts Hall, nearly draining its reserves before escaping notice. More than ten days later, the Sect Master had become personally involved in the investigation, leaving Luo Hong alarmed as he continued researching Silver Runes.

• After rejecting the idea of selling talismans to fellow disciples, Luo Hong bought cheap materials from Hundred Crafts Hall and spent a month crafting Water Bullet and Water Shield Talismans.
• Luo Hong disguised himself and exchanged talismans with different Steward Disciples, collecting thousands of Spirit Stones in small batches.
• When Hundred Crafts Hall ran out of Spirit Stones, Luo Hong stopped exchanging and left with several hundred talismans still in his Storage Bag.
• Luo Hong went to find Li Xiaowan for the Yellow Dragon Pills, but learned from her Sound-Leaving Talisman that she had left the valley with her younger sister.
• More than ten days later, Luo Hong heard that the Sect Master had visited Hundred Crafts Hall and ordered its Foundation Establishment senior to solve the case, causing Luo Hong to panic.

Luo Hong joined Liu Jing, Yu Ying, and Li Mingjing in searching for Li Xiaowan after they learned she was in danger at Wu Mountain. They identified Wu Mountain as Xiang Mountain and set out to find her, while Luo Hong prepared for the possibility of a dangerous battle.

• Luo Hong told Liu Jing that Li Xiaowan and her sister had found Wu Mountain on an ancient map, and Liu Jing revealed that Li Xiaowan's soul flame was growing weak.
• Luo Hong offered to help search for Li Xiaowan, and Liu Jing took him to Heaven and Earth Pavilion to look through ancient maps.
• Yu Ying and Li Mingjing joined Liu Jing and Luo Hong, and Yu Ying found an ancient map identifying Wu Mountain as Xiang Mountain.
• Liu Jing brought the group aboard his Spirit Boat and set off for Xiang Mountain, a journey expected to take three days.
• Li Mingjing prepared to divide Li Xiaowan's soul flame into four temporary tracking artifacts, while Luo Hong considered how to protect himself during the rescue.

Liu Jing led Yu Ying, Luo Hong, and Li Mingjing to Xiang Mountain to search for Li Xiaowan, while Li Xiaowan and Li Xiaoqing remained trapped in an ancient cultivator’s cave. The group began searching separately, with Luo Hong staying alongside Liu Jing as they headed into the dangerous mountain.

• Liu Jing stopped the Spirit Boat so he could recover his Magic Power, warning Yu Ying that an Evil Cultivator might have captured Li Xiaowan.
• Li Xiaowan comforted Li Xiaoqing in the cave, where they waited behind a Defensive Great Formation after Evil Cultivators killed Senior Brother Gu.
• Li Xiaowan recalled that a streak of blood light had drained Senior Brother Gu’s blood essence and worried that a powerful Evil Cultivator might still be nearby.
• After recovering, Liu Jing brought the group to Xiang Mountain, where Yu Ying proposed splitting up to search for Li Xiaowan.
• Liu Jing sent Yu Ying and Li Mingjing to search east and west while keeping Luo Hong with him to search north and south.

Luo Hong faced an evil cultivator who had led bandits in attacking a village and defeated him with a clever illusion and two low-grade Magic Artifacts. Liu Jing praised Luo Hong’s talent and prepared to question the captured enemy.

• Liu Jing used his Silver Wheels to kill the bandits attacking a mountain village and exposed their leader, an evil cultivator hiding underground.
• Liu Jing let Luo Hong face the evil cultivator while he watched from above.
• The evil cultivator empowered himself with red Spirit Patterns and sent a Ghost Claw at Luo Hong, knocking away the Cold Moon Blade.
• Luo Hong used a water curtain to create an illusion, causing the Ghost Claw to strike a false image.
• Luo Hong distracted the evil cultivator with the Blazing Sun Sword and stabbed him from behind with the Cold Moon Blade.
• Liu Jing praised Luo Hong for winning with ingenuity and recognized that he had left the evil cultivator alive for questioning.

After interrogating a captured evil cultivator, Liu Jing learned that his group planned a blood sacrifice on Demon Spider Peak and set out to attack them alone. Luo Hong stayed behind in the village, where he healed an injured child and began treating the other wounded villagers.

• The captured evil cultivator revealed that his master and fellow disciples were preparing a blood sacrifice at midnight on Demon Spider Peak, and Liu Jing interrogated him about their group and its blood-drinking cultivation technique.
• Luo Hong killed the evil cultivator, burned his corpse, and accepted the Spirit Turtle Shield Liu Jing gave him for protection.
• Liu Jing flew toward Demon Spider Peak alone, while Luo Hong chose to remain in the village and recover from the earlier battle.
• A peasant woman begged Luo Hong to save her arrow-wounded child, and Luo Hong healed the child with the Spring Return Technique.
• Luo Hong asked the village chief to bring the other injured villagers to him for treatment.

Luo Hong learned that the delayed Earthly Sha eruption at Demon Spider Peak pointed to a trap and hurried away, warning the villagers to stay indoors. Meanwhile, Liu Jing reached the peak and confronted evil cultivators as they began a blood sacrifice to advance their leader to Foundation Establishment.

• Luo Hong learned that the village's rice wine contained a Dan Zhu pearl and heard that the annual Earthly Sha eruption had not yet occurred.
• Luo Hong suspected someone had sealed the Earthly Sha to lure Liu Jing into a trap, warned the villagers about danger in the mountains, and flew toward the outskirts.
• Liu Jing arrived at Demon Spider Peak, used a Fiend Aversion Talisman against the Earth Fiend Turbid Qi, and followed the Soul Tablet's signal toward Junior Disciple Li.
• The Evil Cultivator Leader ordered his disciples to activate the Blood Refining Great Array, which drained the essence and souls of over a hundred mortals.
• Liu Jing arrived at the blood sacrifice altar with two Silver Wheels and shouted for the evil cultivators to surrender and die.

Liu Jing was trapped in the Blood Sacrifice Great Formation as its leader was betrayed by his own master, who unleashed the Earth Fiend Turbid Qi. Half a shichen earlier, Luo Hong was still in Xiang Mountain's territory when Yu Ying called him back to face two pursuing Evil Cultivators.

• Liu Jing used his Silver Wheels and Silk Scarf against the Evil Cultivator Leader and his disciples, but was lured into the Gathering Sha Formation while protecting the mortals in the cages.
• The Evil Cultivator Leader activated the formation's blood sacrifice, draining the disciples at its Array Eyes as Liu Jing blasted a hole in the barrier.
• A hidden attacker stopped Liu Jing from escaping, then revealed himself as the Evil Cultivator Leader's aged master and killed the leader to claim his Human Pill.
• Liu Jing tried to break through the blood-plasma barrier while the old master summoned the Earth Fiend Turbid Qi beneath Demon Spider Peak.
• Half a shichen earlier, Luo Hong was flying away from Xiang Mountain when Yu Ying called for help while two Qi Refining Late-stage Evil Cultivators pursued him.
• Luo Hong turned back to help Yu Ying, who promised to speak well of him before Xiao Qing.

Luo Hong used an improved Illusory Image Projection to make an evil cultivator’s Bloodthirsty Shuttle repeatedly miss while Yu Ying fought the other pursuer. As Yu Ying gained the upper hand, Luo Hong anticipated a change in tactics and prepared a Water Bullet Talisman.

• Yu Ying offered Luo Hong protection beneath his Diamond Bell, but Luo Hong refused and relied on his Spirit Turtle Shield.
• The two Evil Cultivators split up, with one attacking Yu Ying and the other charging at Luo Hong.
• Luo Hong used concealed water droplets to create an improved illusory image, and the Bloodthirsty Shuttle passed through it without harm.
• Luo Hong taunted the attacker into launching repeated attacks, misleading him into thinking the Spirit Turtle Shield was blocking the Bloodthirsty Shuttle.
• Yu Ying gained the advantage with his Diamond Bell, while Luo Hong prepared a Water Bullet Talisman in anticipation of the Evil Cultivators changing tactics.

Luo Hong helped Yu Ying defeat two evil cultivators with a clever illusion, then attacked Li Mingjing when the group converged. Before the fight could escalate, a sudden eruption of Earthly Sha suppressed their Magic Artifacts and shook the battlefield.

• Luo Hong used the Blazing Sun Sword’s illusion to trick the evil cultivators, letting Yu Ying injure their eldest brother and nearly defeat the pair.
• Li Mingjing arrived with another pursuer, and the evil cultivators formed a black barrier to protect themselves.
• Luo Hong realized the Soul Tablet might have drawn the cultivators together and attacked Li Mingjing with three enhanced Water Bullet Talismans as Yu Ying and Li Mingjing clashed.
• Luo Hong prepared to continue attacking Li Mingjing, but an Earthly Sha eruption sent up a pillar of black qi, made the ground tremble, and caused the Spirit Turtle Shield to lose its power.

Earth Fiend Turbid Qi drained the Spiritual Qi from Luo Hong and disabled the cultivators’ Magic Artifacts, while Li Mingjing revealed his betrayal and tried to intimidate Luo Hong. Luo Hong adapted by attacking with Water Bullet Talismans and battered Li Mingjing until he appeared unable to fight.

• Earth Fiend Turbid Qi suppressed the cultivators’ Spiritual Qi, causing their Magic Artifacts to fail and trapping Yu Ying inside the Diamond Bell.
• Li Mingjing revealed that Liu Jing had fallen into the Gathering Sha Formation and threatened Luo Hong with death and torture.
• Luo Hong decided Liu Jing could handle the Foundation Establishment evil cultivator and charged Li Mingjing with high-grade Water Bullet Talismans.
• Li Mingjing’s Golden Light Talismans repeatedly failed to withstand the Water Bullets, and Luo Hong ignored his attempts to provoke him.
• Li Mingjing tried to cast a spell through Luo Hong’s assault, but two Water Bullets struck his chest and knocked him down.
• Luo Hong continued bombarding Li Mingjing until the ground was blasted apart and the surrounding area froze white.

Luo Hong killed Li Mingjing and the three Evil Cultivators, collected their loot, and hid nearby to watch for more pursuers. Meanwhile, Liu Jing survived Old Ghost Blood’s Gathering Sha Formation and killed him, then flew away after burning his corpse.

• Luo Hong finished off Li Mingjing with the elder’s own flying sword after refusing to spare him.
• The three Evil Cultivators died when their meridians burst under the Earth Fiend Turbid Qi, and Luo Hong searched their bodies and Li Mingjing’s Storage Bag.
• Luo Hong burned the Evil Cultivators’ corpses, left his Soul Tablet beside the Diamond Bell, and hid in a tree hollow to wait for other pursuers.
• Liu Jing used the Sha Demon Bead to withstand Old Ghost Blood’s Gathering Sha Formation until Old Ghost Blood’s technique drained him to death.
• Liu Jing left the formation, burned Old Ghost Blood’s corpse, took his treasures, and flew away.

Liu Jing found and killed the traitor Li Mingjing, then reunited with Luo Hong and Yu Ying after the Earth Fiend Turbid Qi subsided. At a village feast, Luo Hong asked Liu Jing to let him study the evil cultivators’ cultivation art so he could investigate their control of the Earth Fiend Turbid Qi.

• Liu Jing found a hidden tracking sigil on the Soul Tablet and followed the others to Li Mingjing’s corpse, where Luo Hong explained what had happened.
• Liu Jing assured Luo Hong he would not be implicated for killing Li Mingjing and said he would seek compensation for the High-grade Talisman Luo Hong had used.
• After the Earth Fiend Turbid Qi receded, Liu Jing and Luo Hong toppled the Diamond Bell and found Yu Ying unconscious but alive beneath it.
• Luo Hong and the others shared a meal in the village, where Li Xiaoqing thanked Luo Hong and Yu Ying repeatedly asked her to recommend him to her sister.
• Luo Hong asked Liu Jing to let him study the evil cultivators’ art so he could research how they controlled the Earth Fiend Turbid Qi.

Luo Hong studied the Sha Devouring Technique and the Blood Burning Totem, rejecting Earth Fiend Turbid Qi as too dangerous while discovering that the totem suggested a way to build an extracorporeal meridian circulation system. He began planning a safer, improved version that could expand his cultivation research.

• Liu Jing gave Luo Hong Jade Slips containing the Sha Devouring Technique and the Blood Burning Totem, warning him not to cultivate either out of curiosity.
• Luo Hong learned that the Sha Devouring Technique refined harmful Earth Fiend Turbid Qi into Magic Power and relied on blood sacrifices to counter its effects.
• Luo Hong realized that the Blood Burning Totem imprinted meridian circuits onto the skin, inspiring him to research more advanced totem Spirit Patterns.
• Luo Hong identified the totem's lack of a control switch and its dangerous reliance on essence blood, and decided his version should use replenishable Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.