Chapter Summaries

Luo Hong worked out the requirements for materials to create external Spirit Patterns and began studying the Silver Runes in a basic cultivation circuit. After stopping the villagers from risking their lives hunting a Dan Zhu, he flew to Demon Spider Peak to obtain its pearl himself.

• Luo Hong concluded that Spirit Pattern materials needed both strong Magic Power conductivity and the ability to absorb Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.
• Luo Hong chose the meridian circuit used by the Minor Water Origin Technique for the first phase of his external circulation system and studied its Silver Runes while cultivating.
• The next morning, Zhao Shithead and the villagers prepared to hunt a Dan Zhu so they could brew immortal wine for Luo Hong and the other cultivators.
• Luo Hong warned the villagers that they had no Immortal Destiny, lifted them to their feet with Magic Power, and flew alone toward Demon Spider Peak to hunt the Dan Zhu.

Luo Hong investigated Dan Zhu on Demon Spider Peak and discovered that their bodies bore an ancient Blood Burning Totem that had driven their evolution. He collected their blood and eggs, hoping to study the creatures and the secret art.

• Luo Hong found Dan Zhu and severed one of its legs, then noticed that the patterns on its body resembled Silver Runes.
• Luo Hong examined the Dan Zhu that came to help and concluded that an ancient evil cultivator had modified their ancestors with the Blood Burning Totem.
• Luo Hong discovered that Dan Zhu lacked blood Qi, and their unusual bodily fluid absorbed Spiritual Qi from a Spirit Stone.
• Luo Hong inferred that Dan Zhu had evolved to use Spiritual Qi in place of blood Qi, allowing the species to survive the ancient calamity.
• Luo Hong killed five Dan Zhu, collected their blood, took a nest of eggs, and departed after bowing toward Demon Spider Peak.

After the rescue, Luo Hong stayed in Yellow Maple Valley's market district and bought spiritual materials to support his research while planning his cultivation goals. Liu Jing prepared to attend a rare trade fair, determined to obtain pills that could help him overcome his Foundation Establishment Late-stage bottleneck.

• Liu Jing refused to interfere in the Li Family's affairs, sent Junior Disciple Li home to recuperate, and kept Luo Hong with him while the Li Family stewards accepted his decision.
• Liu Jing invited Luo Hong to a private Trade Fair for Foundation Establishment Cultivators and told him to prepare Spirit Stones.
• Luo Hong spent nearly a thousand Spirit Stones on assorted low-grade spiritual items to study their material properties and investigate how Spiritual Qi altered matter.
• Luo Hong set Foundation Establishment preparation as his main goal, external meridian circulation research as his secondary goal, and Spirit Particle research as a long-term project.
• Liu Jing learned that people from the Moon Concealing Sect and Spirit Beast Mountain would attend the Trade Fair, then resolved to sell ancestral possessions to buy cultivation-enhancing pills.

Luo Hong attended a crowded trade fair with Liu Jing and watched the auction begin. When a Spirit Beast Mountain cultivator tried to buy the Jade Dragon Gourd cheaply, Luo Hong placed a higher bid, leaving the sale contested.

• Liu Jing explained the trade fair’s origins and brought Luo Hong into the auction house.
• The host opened the auction, and Liu Jing suggested Luo Hong bid on the Clear Sound Sword, but Luo Hong declined.
• The Clear Sound Sword and two other top-grade Magic Artifacts sold for Spirit Stones.
• A Spirit Beast Mountain cultivator disparaged the Jade Dragon Gourd, then offered to buy it at its starting price because he wanted its spirit bone for his Bone Gnawing Flying Ants.
• Luo Hong bid three hundred and one Spirit Stones for the Jade Dragon Gourd, prompting Liu Jing to react with mixed feelings.

Luo Hong outbid a Spirit Beast Mountain cultivator and a hostile Moon Concealing Sect disciple to buy the Jade Dragon Gourd, which Liu Jing had put up for auction. He left with the gourd, pleased by its slow spirit-water refining ability, while Liu Jing mistakenly believed he regretted the price.

• Liu Jing prepared to withdraw the Jade Dragon Gourd rather than let the crude Spirit Beast Mountain cultivator buy it as an act of charity, but Luo Hong bid for it.
• The crude man challenged Luo Hong's ability to pay, and Liu Jing guaranteed the Spirit Stones and warned him not to threaten a Yellow Maple Valley disciple.
• A harsh Moon Concealing Sect cultivator accused Luo Hong of driving up the price, and the two exchanged escalating bids.
• Liu Jing invoked his master Li Huayuan, prompting Fairy Crimson Cloud to identify herself, apologize for her nephew disciple, and order her to stop.
• Luo Hong bought the Jade Dragon Gourd for four hundred and one Spirit Stones and explained that its spirit-water production would help him study his Water Element Cultivation Method.

Luo Hong recognized the Azure Condensing Mirror and chose not to provoke Treasure Woman, while Liu Jing later bid heavily on a bottle of Qi Gathering Pills. The chapter ended with Liu Jing’s eleven-hundred-Spirit-Stone bid silencing the auction hall.

• The auctioneer demonstrated the Azure Condensing Mirror, which caused a flying sword to spin helplessly in place.
• Luo Hong recognized the sharp-tongued female cultivator as Treasure Woman and refused Liu Jing’s suggestion to outbid her.
• Treasure Woman won the Azure Condensing Mirror for seven hundred Spirit Stones, while Luo Hong considered its usefulness for researching divine sense.
• The auctioneer presented five Qi Gathering Pills, and Cultivators rapidly raised the price beyond eight hundred Spirit Stones.
• Luo Hong advised Liu Jing to bid as high as twelve hundred Spirit Stones, and Liu Jing offered eleven hundred, stunning the crowd.

Luo Hong secured pills at the trade fair, learned that no one offered the aerial-driving Magic Tool he wanted, and noted a rare Pure Lotus Pill recipe seeking a five-hundred-year-old lotus herb. Back at Fanghua Garden, he checked his formation and began refining the pills he had collected to advance his cultivation.

• Liu Jing displayed Old Ghost Blood's Bloodthirsty Shuttle, discouraging other bidders, and bought the Qi Gathering Pills.
• Luo Hong bought all ten Qi Harmonizing Pills for one hundred Spirit Stones, despite the Treasure Woman's hostility.
• A veiled Moon Concealing Sect cultivator offered an Ancient Pure Lotus Pill Recipe for a lotus-type Spiritual Herb over five hundred years old, but no one traded for it.
• Liu Jing left for Li Huayuan's cave residence, while Luo Hong returned to Fanghua Garden and learned Hundred Crafts Hall had punished two disciples over inferior talisman paper.
• Luo Hong added Spirit Stones to the Small Rain Cloud Array and prepared his collected pills, then swallowed a Yellow Dragon Pill to begin refining its Medicinal Power.

Luo Hong encountered a bottleneck at the peak of the Qi Refining Eighth Layer and investigated how Mana Purity and dantian capacity affected cultivation. His experiments showed that his dantian expelled excess Magic Power faster than he could replenish it, leaving him searching for the factor that made pill-assisted breakthroughs possible.

• While refining a Yellow Dragon Pill, Luo Hong found his Mana Limit stuck at 500, just 11 points short of the peak of the Qi Refining Eighth Layer.
• Luo Hong reasoned that bottlenecks arose when a dantian could not hold enough Magic Power, and that greater Mana Purity let cultivators store more within the same capacity.
• Luo Hong suspected that dantian size also limited advancement and tested whether excess Magic Power could expand his dantian.
• Luo Hong found that his dantian expelled forcibly added Magic Power and contracted unless he continuously replenished it.
• After calculating that even the Great Method of Spiritual Pressure could barely keep his dantian 10 points above its limit, Luo Hong concluded that he was missing a crucial factor in pill-assisted breakthroughs.

Luo Hong broke through the Level 9 Qi Refining bottleneck and discovered that the breakthrough’s surge in cultivation came with a dangerous increase in magic power refinement and dantian capacity. He stopped the process before it could ruin future bottlenecks, then began studying the Silver Rune while recovering.

• Luo Hong recognized the surge in cultivation as a bottleneck breakthrough effect and used two Qi Harmonizing Pills to push past the Level 9 Qi Refining bottleneck.
• During Unity of Heaven and Man, Luo Hong’s Mana Purity and Dantian Capacity rose rapidly, and he realized the Heavenly Dao’s aid could eliminate the bottlenecks he needed to expand his dantian.
• Luo Hong forced his magic power back into his dantian, ending the breakthrough state and injuring his meridians, then concluded that the Heavenly Dao was undermining cultivators’ foundations.
• Luo Hong found that his Dantian Capacity had reached 1,005 and discovered that exactly one month had passed during the breakthrough.
• After bathing and beginning his meridian recovery, Luo Hong studied the Silver Rune and reflected on how Unity of Heaven and Man had let him glimpse the world’s rules.

Luo Hong learned that Liu Jing had arranged for him to raise Fanghua Garden’s Spirit Grain quota and gave him Spirit Arts and a Spirit Wine recipe. He began studying the arts, planning to practice them alongside his cultivation before the Southern Small Gathering.

• Liu Jing noticed Luo Hong’s injuries and was surprised to learn he had reached Level 9 Qi Refining, though he believed Luo had missed the benefits of the Unity of Heaven and Man.
• Liu Jing told Luo Hong that Fanghua Garden would have to provide thirty-two thousand jin of Spirit Grain each year and gave him a jade slip containing ten Spirit Arts.
• Liu Jing gave Luo Hong a Spirit Wine recipe, explaining that Luo was to store the wine in a Jade Dragon Gourd and offer the finest batches to Li Huayuan.
• Luo Hong studied the Spirit Arts and concluded he could learn two Water-element and two Gold-element arts within a year.
• Luo Hong decided to spend two shichen each day practicing Spirit Arts and use Spirit Wine to explain his source of Spirit Stones.

Three years later, Li Xiaoqing delivered the Yellow Dragon Pills to Luo Hong, whose unusual appearance and intense heat alarmed her and drove her to flee. Luo Hong drank a jar of Spirit Wine to cool himself, then flew toward the Taiyue Mountain Range as the Spirit Flood Dragon Secret Markings continued consuming spiritual energy.

• Li Xiaowan finished three batches of Yellow Dragon Pills with Yu Ying's help, and Li Xiaoqing took them to deliver to Luo Hong.
• Li Xiaowan told Yu Ying to accompany her and Li Xiaoqing to the Li Family in a few days, while Yu Ying wondered if he would be put to work cleaning its pill furnaces.
• Li Xiaoqing admired Luo Hong's thriving Fanghua Garden, then became flustered when she found him disheveled and burning with heat.
• Luo Hong's hot touch and intense gaze frightened Li Xiaoqing, who cried out for her sister and ran away.
• Luo Hong gulped down a twelve-jin jar of Spirit Wine, dismissed Elder Zhuo, and flew toward the northwestern Taiyue Mountain Range.
• Luo Hong realized the Spirit Flood Dragon Secret Markings were devouring Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi and drawing Water Spirit Qi from his body, leaving only the Jade Dragon Gourd able to suppress them.

Luo Hong completed the Spirit Flood Dragon Secret Markings, which transformed Spiritual Qi into a tiny, mysterious object in his dantian. He left the hidden cave believing the object could become a rare Water Element treasure, though the secret art’s fierce appetite meant he would need Spirit Wine to sustain it.

• Luo Hong reached a hidden cave and drank Spirit Wine from the Jade Dragon Gourd, stopping the secret markings from draining his Spiritual Qi.
• He explained how he developed the Spirit Flood Dragon Secret Markings from silver runes and successfully tested them on the gourd before using them on himself.
• Luo Hong discovered that the markings devoured Spiritual Qi and gathered it into a growing, grain-sized object in his dantian.
• He judged the object to be a potentially invaluable Water Element treasure and decided to rely on pills for his own cultivation.
• Luo Hong erased all traces of his visit and departed after collapsing the excavated mountain.

Luo Hong went to Southern Mountain to find Han Li and build a cautious friendship with him, while Han Li arrived at a lodging where Rogue Cultivators discussed the upcoming Ascension Competition. The chapter left Wu Jiuzhi and the others questioning whether Huang Xiaotian’s bargain talismans were any good.

• Luo Hong decided to befriend Old Demon Han as a helpful Senior Brother while avoiding getting too close or joining him in dangerous adventures.
• Luo Hong arrived late at the Southern Small Gathering and searched the stalls for Han Yunzhi, hoping to find Han Li through her.
• Wu Jiuzhi considered stealing Luo Hong’s Jade Dragon Gourd, but Hu Pinggu and her husband warned him not to provoke a Yellow Maple Valley disciple.
• Han Li caught Wu Jiuzhi attempting to steal from him, and Wu Pinggu mocked Wu Jiuzhi for having earlier considered targeting Luo Hong.
• Qing Wen explained the Ascension Competition and its Foundation Establishment Pill prize, prompting Wu Jiuzhi to complain about the Seven Great Sects.
• Huang Xiaotian said he had bought talismans for the competition, and Qing Wen’s question about their bargain price made the Rogue Cultivators uneasy.

Qingwen revealed that the cheap talismans sold to the cultivators were unusually weak and warned them against seeking revenge, while Han Li grew wary of his motives. At the night market, Luo Hong tried to buy out a stall and discovered valuable Vermilion Fruits, drawing the attention of nearby Rogue Cultivators.

• Qingwen demonstrated that the cheap Water Bullet Talismans were far weaker than ordinary ones, and Wu Pinggu tried to confront the seller despite his warning.
• Qingwen used One Stroke, Two Talismans to suggest that only the Seven Great Sects could support a talisman-making master, while Han Li suspected he was steering the group against them.
• Luo Hong examined Han Yunzhi’s stall, but she watched him leave for a neighboring stall and muttered that he was a lecher.
• Luo Hong ate several Five Elements Fruits before the stall owner warned that eating more than one a day could add impurities to a cultivator’s Magic Power.
• Luo Hong offered to buy all the Five Elements Fruits, and the young stall owner brought out two hundred-year Vermilion Fruits for trade.
• The Vermilion Fruits’ medicinal value attracted the surrounding Rogue Cultivators, while Luo Hong assessed their potency.

Luo Hong arranged for Zhao Yushu to save Five Elements Fruits for him, then set up his stall beside Han Yunzhi while waiting for Old Demon Han. As he monitored his cultivation, he reasoned that he might advance the Ice Skin Jade Bone Method by deducing and reproducing the changes its next layer would make to Silver Runes.

• Luo Hong paid Zhao Yushu for Vermilion Fruits and other spirit fruits, then offered five Earth Element Spirit Stones in exchange for Zhao Yushu saving future Five Elements Fruits for him.
• After Zhao Yushu left, Luo Hong took over the stall and displayed talismans, prompting Han Yunzhi to watch him with irritation whenever his wares overlapped with hers.
• Luo Hong monitored his cultivation while drinking Jade Dragon Wine and considered how to strengthen his dantian before breaking through the Minor Water Origin Technique's tenth layer.
• Luo Hong concluded that body refinement altered Silver Runes throughout the body and theorized that he could advance the Ice Skin Jade Bone Method by recreating the Sixth Layer's changes to those runes.

Luo Hong prioritized obtaining a Pure Lotus Pill and waited for Han Li to appear at Han Yunzhi's stall. He befriended Han Li by sharing talisman-making advice and trading materials for Golden Marrow Pills.

• Luo Hong concluded that improving his divine sense would delay his Foundation Establishment plans, so he focused on obtaining a Pure Lotus Pill or, failing that, a Foundation Establishment Pill.
• Han Li bought the Golden Bamboo Brush from Han Yunzhi, and Luo Hong stopped him as he was about to leave.
• Luo Hong recited a poem about talisman-making, which Han Li memorized and treated as valuable instruction.
• Han Li traded two bottles of Golden Marrow Pills for Luo Hong's Ink Cloud Frog Demon Blood, Yellow Talisman Paper, and cinnabar.
• Luo Hong examined the unusually potent pills and advised Han Li to practice with Green Talisman Paper and cinnabar before using expensive Demon Blood.
• Han Li introduced himself, and Luo Hong gave his name, pleased that he had begun building a friendship with him.

Han Li hesitated to accept Luo Hong’s Spirit Water Body Protection Talisman in exchange for searching for rare lotus herbs, but seeing its power and learning Luo Hong had entrusted someone else with a similar request made him reconsider. The chapter ended with Luo Hong producing a second talisman and Han Yunzhi revealing that she was now a Rogue Cultivator.

• Han Li prepared to leave, but Luo Hong offered him an Initial Mid Grade talisman in exchange for prioritizing Luo Hong if he found lotus-type Spiritual Herbs over five hundred years old.
• Luo Hong demonstrated that the Spirit Water Body Protection Talisman automatically blocked Han Yunzhi’s Wood Arrow Spell.
• Han Yunzhi offered to search for Spiritual Herbs and begged Luo Hong to trade her the talisman, while Luo Hong questioned whether she had experience gathering herbs.
• Han Li’s doubts faded when Han Yunzhi revealed that Luo Hong had entrusted someone else with a similar request, and he began to consider accepting the talisman.
• Luo Hong produced a second Spirit Water Body Protection Talisman, and Han Yunzhi said she was a Rogue Cultivator after her parents died.

Luo Hong hired Han Yunzhi to treat two cursed Dan Zhu eggs and agreed to let Han Li try helping as well. After earning a reputation and over two hundred Spirit Stones at the gathering, Luo Hong faced an arrogant Yan Family cultivator who demanded his spirit wine.

• Luo Hong gave Han Yunzhi a Spirit Water Body Protection Talisman to treat his Dan Zhu eggs, and her spirit beast Little Black weakened the blood curse by licking one egg.
• Luo Hong warned Han Yunzhi not to remove the blood markings completely, while she mistakenly thought he wanted to preserve the eggs for a blood contract.
• Han Li agreed to try helping Luo Hong, then left with his talisman hidden inside his robe.
• During the remaining days of the gathering, Luo Hong studied the new presence in his dantian and sold talismans, earning more than two hundred Spirit Stones.
• As Luo Hong packed up on the final day, a Yan Family cultivator demanded that he sell the spirit wine in his gourd, and Luo Hong refused.

Luo Hong fought Yan Kuang after Yan Kuang attacked him at the gathering, but Zhong Weiniang intervened and the dispute was dismissed as a misunderstanding. She brought Luo Hong to watch the Ascension Competition, where the Yan Family cultivators scrutinized and insulted him, leaving him to wonder why Zhong Weiniang had placed him among them.

• A Yan Family woman insulted Luo Hong’s talismans and spirit wine, and Yan Kuang attacked him as he tried to leave.
• Luo Hong blocked Yan Kuang’s Thunder Hammer with layered talismans and countered with Water Bullet Techniques before Foundation Establishment cultivators arrived.
• Zhong Weiniang recognized Luo Hong as Liu Jing’s favored junior, and the Yan Family and Blade Transformation Dock cultivators agreed to end the dispute for Liu Jing’s sake.
• Zhong Weiniang escorted Luo Hong to the Ascension Competition and seated him at a table with Foundation Establishment cultivators, where two Yan Family members openly examined and disparaged him.

Luo Hong watched the Ascension Competition with Zhong Weiniang and saw Han Yunzhi win several matches through her coordination with Little Black. The chapter ended as Han Yunzhi faced Yan Kuang in her final match, leaving Luo Hong worried about her safety.

• Zhong Weiniang asked Luo Hong about Liu Jing while Yan Shouyi tried and failed to join their conversation.
• Luo Hong watched the Ascension Competition and learned that rogue cultivators fought for sect positions and Foundation Establishment Pills, though Cultivation Family members dominated many matches.
• Han Yunzhi defeated her first opponent on Spirit Beast Mountain's platform after Little Black broke through his defenses and forced him to concede.
• Zhong Weiniang noticed Luo Hong's matching talisman with Han Yunzhi and teased him about knowing her.
• Yan Xiao arrived and joined Yan Xiuming, while Luo Hong learned that several Yan Family cultivators practiced demonic arts.
• Han Yunzhi faced Yan Kuang in her final match, and Luo Hong worried that she might be hurt despite Zhong Weiniang's confidence in Little Black.