Chapter Summaries

Taiyin Heaven began closing far earlier than expected, forcing the Great Yin Holy Son, the Great Yin Saintess, and other cultivators to abandon the pagoda legacies and flee. Jin Feihua watched the vortex disappear and considered the Six Gates members who had been left behind.

• The Great Yin Holy Son and the Great Yin Saintess reached a pagoda and prepared to enter, each wary of the other.
• Taiyin Heaven began drawing spiritual energy back into the void, signaling that it was closing ahead of schedule.
• The Saintess of the Supreme Sect and the Saintess of the Heavenly Fragrance Sect abandoned their pursuits and fled toward the exit.
• Cultivators across Taiyin Heaven gave up their fights and treasures to escape before the realm sealed.
• The vortex above the Qingyuan River vanished, and Jin Feihua realized that some Six Gates members would be trapped in Taiyin Heaven.

Jin Feihua and the holy land envoys left the Qingyuan River after Taiyin Heaven closed early, while the holy land Saintesses traded barbed remarks about their gains. Liu Xuan and his companions learned of the closure in Qingzhou and decided to keep to their plan to return to Qingyuan Sect before dealing with Tianxuan Holy Land.

• Jin Feihua ordered Six Gates to take their finds back to White Jade Capital while she stayed behind to wait for news of a major opportunity.
• The Saintess of the Supreme Sect and the Saintess of the Heavenly Fragrance Sect exchanged taunts over the high tower and their poor results, then departed with their followers.
• The holy lands and other factions watched or secretly followed groups leaving the Qingyuan River, hoping to seize any opportunities they might possess.
• Liu Xuan and his companions learned that Taiyin Heaven had closed early after arriving in Qingzhou.
• Liu Xuan chose to return to Qingyuan Sect first to gather information and prepare before entering Tianxuan Holy Land.

Yang Chan learned that Taiyin Heaven had closed early and heard rumors about a missing tower and its inheritance. Gu An then told Qingyuan Sect’s Intermediate Alchemists that Tianxuan Holy Land wanted the sect to return, while the details remained undecided.

• Han Bingyu told Yang Chan that Taiyin Heaven had closed early, that a tower had vanished, and that factions were searching for whoever obtained its inheritance.
• Yang Chan asked about spirit herbs, and Han Bingyu said the Han Family had begun buying them from Rogue Cultivators.
• A Medicine Hall disciple summoned Yang Chan to meet Gu An, who had gathered Qingyuan Sect’s eleven Intermediate Alchemists.
• Gu An explained that Tianxuan Holy Land had borrowed Qingyuan Sect to enter Taiyin Heaven and now wanted the sect to return to the holy land.
• Gao Yuanlong asked whether only some people would be allowed to go, and Gu An said the arrangements had not yet been decided.

Gu An outlined Qingyuan Sect’s likely future as an affiliated sect of Tianxuan Holy Land and announced a new round of pill refinement and Pharmacist training. The chapter ended with the reminder that Qingyuan Sect could not offer Liu Xuan the resources he needed to advance further.

• Gu An explained that Tianxuan Holy Land would likely invite some Qingyuan Sect members to cultivate there while Qingyuan Sect remained in Qingzhou as an affiliated sect.
• Gu An announced that the sect would distribute spirit herbs for pill refinement, with part of each successful batch reserved for mission rewards and limits placed on outside distribution.
• Gu An named Xu Gaocen to lead this year’s Pharmacist training and Yang Chan to assist, and set out how Junior Alchemists could recommend trainees.
• Gu An praised Yang Chan’s fast progress in alchemy and cultivation and explained why practitioners with longer lifespans could better support the sect.
• Gu An noted that Liu Xuan needed Tianxuan Holy Land’s resources to advance, since Qingyuan Sect could not provide the high-grade pills he required.

Yang Chan learned that he would serve as Xu Gaocen’s deputy for the upcoming alchemist training and weighed whether to join the Qingyuan Sect group going to Tianxuan Holy Land. He gave Han Bingyu his training slot and left her to arrange the other alchemists’ slots, strengthening her connections and role in his intelligence gathering.

• Yang Chan learned that he would help Xu Gaocen run alchemist training and tally participation slots, while continuing to consider the risks and benefits of going to Tianxuan Holy Land.
• Yang Chan told Han Bingyu that he would give her his training slot and assigned her to collect and organize the other alchemists’ slots.
• Han Bingyu accepted the task, recognizing that it would expand her connections and help her identify gaps in her alchemist knowledge.
• Han Bingyu reflected that her cultivation and alchemy could advance further by staying with Yang Chan, whose talent and prospects exceeded her own.

Yang Chan led the opening lecture at Qingyuan Sect’s Alchemist Training while serving as a deputy supervisor. After Tianxuan Holy Land’s Saintess arrived to meet the sect’s leaders, Yang Chan considered what the visit meant for Qingyuan Sect and his own prospects.

• Yang Chan explained medicine combinations and other requirements for advancing to Junior Alchemist to the training’s assistants.
• Yang Chan left the lecture to continue his deputy supervisor duties and oversee the Alchemist Training.
• Han Bingyu told Yang Chan that Tianxuan Holy Land’s Saintess and her party had arrived and were meeting Sect Master Liu Xuan and the elders at Azure Jade Hall.
• Yang Chan reasoned that Liu Xuan would likely go to Tianxuan Holy Land to pursue a higher Martial Cultivation realm, while Qingyuan Sect would remain in Qingzhou under its protection.
• Han Bingyu described the visitors’ formidable cultivation, and Yang Chan explained how Tianxuan Holy Land’s blessed realms helped its members advance.

Yang Chan promised Han Bingyu that he would take her along if he chose to go to Tianxuan Holy Land, while the Tianxuan Saintess arranged for Qingyuan Sect to become an affiliated force. The chapter left Liu Xuan poised to join the Holy Land as a peak master and elder.

• Yang Chan told Han Bingyu he had not decided whether to go to Tianxuan Holy Land but promised to take her if he did.
• Yang Chan asked Han Bingyu to keep watch on Azure Jade Hall and report any news.
• Liu Xuan welcomed the Tianxuan Saintess and learned that Qingyuan Sect had avoided the violence surrounding the High Tower Inheritance.
• The Tianxuan Saintess offered Qingyuan Sect Tianxuan Holy Land's protection in exchange for becoming a subordinate force.
• The Tianxuan Saintess said Liu Xuan could establish his own mountain peak and become a peak master and elder despite not having completed two marrow cleansings.

Yang Chan waited for Qingyuan Sect to decide how to respond to Tianxuan Holy Land, while continuing to gather rare herbs and refine pills. At the Earth Fire Courtyard, Princess Lanyue probed whether he intended to join the Holy Land, and he said he would observe the situation before deciding.

• Yang Chan failed to learn what Qingyuan Sect’s leaders had discussed with Tianxuan Holy Land’s Saintess and focused on gathering herbs for future pill refining.
• After the Alchemist Assistant training ended, Yang Chan began refining pills at the Earth Fire Courtyard while the sect’s discussions continued without a result.
• Princess Lanyue asked Yang Chan whether he planned to go to Tianxuan Holy Land, worried that she might lose her value to him.
• Yang Chan said he was interested in the Holy Land but would not rush into joining, citing its intrigues and the need to observe the situation.
• Princess Lanyue described the fierce competition and danger within Holy Lands, and said she preferred to remain safely in Qingyuan Sect for now.

Yang Chan and Princess Lanyue refined pills while she cautiously considered whether he could help her enter Tianxuan Holy Land. That night, Yang Chan focused on advancing his cultivation and found no sign that the Black Dragon Soul Body had awakened, so he strengthened the protections around his stored supplies.

• Princess Lanyue hoped Yang Chan could help her enter Tianxuan Holy Land without exposing her identity, but Yang Chan told her to focus on refining pills.
• Yang Chan and Princess Lanyue refined pills together and discussed alchemy techniques.
• Yang Chan spent Potential Points advancing the Flood Dragon Demon Breath Method as he worked toward tempering his six viscera.
• Yang Chan examined the Mysterious Yin Hanging Beads but found the Black Dragon Soul Body still asleep.
• Yang Chan moved his pills and spirit herbs into the beads and surrounded them with layers of mental barriers.

Qingyuan Sect’s Medicine Hall gathered to hear that the sect would return to Tianxuan Holy Land as a subordinate force in the Great Zhou Dynasty. Gu An announced the decision, while Yang Chan noticed Gu An’s recent breakthrough and anticipated reaching the same realm soon.

• Yang Chan received Gu An’s summons and went with Han Bingyu and three pharmacist apprentices to the Prescription Courtyard.
• Gu An appeared before the Medicine Hall and Yang Chan sensed that Gu An had recently broken through to Internal Refinement of Five Organs.
• Yang Chan reflected that he was close to reaching Internal Refinement of Five Organs himself and could advance without a bottleneck.
• Gu An announced that Qingyuan Sect would return to Tianxuan Holy Land and become its subordinate force within the Great Zhou Dynasty.
• Gu An explained that the founding ancestor had wished for Qingyuan Sect to return to Tianxuan Holy Land, framing the decision as fulfillment of that goal.

Gu An explained Qingyuan Sect’s plans for sending a first group to Tianxuan Holy Land while keeping the sect stable, then privately outlined the Medicine Hall’s limited slots and the dangers awaiting those who joined. The final selections remained undecided as he prepared to discuss each candidate’s willingness and circumstances.

• Gu An reassured Qingyuan Sect’s disciples that everyone could eventually have a chance to enter Tianxuan Holy Land and said he would remain at Qingyuan Sect for now.
• After the Medicine Hall assembly, Gu An kept Yang Chan, ten other Intermediate Alchemists, and five Personal Disciples to explain the available slots: three for Personal Disciples and four for Intermediate Alchemists.
• Gu An told the candidates that future groups might not be sent for one to three years and that those selected would first help Sect Master Liu Xuan establish Qingyuan Sect’s position in Tianxuan Holy Land.
• Gu An said he had drafted a selection list but would respect each person’s choice, compensate those not selected, and give them priority for the next group.
• Gu An warned the candidates that joining would make them part of the Tianxuan Saintess’s Faction, where they would face political struggles, hostile competitors, lower status, and restrictions on their alchemy work.

Gu An explained the costs and opportunities of joining Tianxuan Holy Land, then privately questioned the alchemists and disciples about their plans. As the group waited to speak with him, the order in which he called them sparked speculation about his priorities, while Yang Chan was left until last.

• Gu An warned Yang Chan, the other alchemists, and the Personal Disciples that their standing in Qingyuan Sect would not carry over to Tianxuan Holy Land, and said they would leave in half a month.
• Yang Chan considered remaining in Qingyuan Sect so he could pursue stability and slowly build his strength toward the Marrow Cleansing Grandmaster realm.
• Gu An met Xu Gaocen first, and Xu emerged smiling before leaving after his arrangements were settled.
• Gu An called the others in one by one, and their expressions led those waiting to guess what arrangements they had made.
• The group interpreted Gu An's interview order as a sign of his estimation of each person and his closeness to them, but Yang Chan was called last, surprising everyone.

Gu An told Yang Chan to remain in Qingyuan Sect for one to three years while the Sect Master and others established themselves in Tianxuan Holy Land. Yang Chan accepted the plan and asked whether staying behind came with additional rewards.

• Yang Chan entered last and guessed that Gu An had already decided who would go to Tianxuan Holy Land.
• Gu An explained that the selection favored cultivation and that Yang Chan's weak cultivation made an early move dangerous.
• Gu An described Tianxuan Holy Land's disciple ranks and said Yang Chan could advance to Elite Disciple status by becoming a Senior Alchemist.
• Gu An urged Yang Chan to remain in Qingyuan Sect for one to three years, build his cultivation, and later enter Tianxuan Holy Land with him.
• Yang Chan agreed with the plan and asked whether he would receive additional rewards for staying in the sect.

Gu An offered Yang Chan inheritance and cultivation resources to persuade him to remain in Qingyuan Sect, including access to the Peng Demon Marrow Cleansing Scripture. Yang Chan accepted and planned to compare it with the Imperial Shocking World Scripture as the sect prepared for its leaders to depart for Tianxuan Holy Land.

• Gu An offered Yang Chan the inheritances of Elder Hua and Elder Yan, along with access to Qingyuan Sect's other alchemy legacies.
• Yang Chan asked to study the sect's Marrow Cleansing Grandmaster cultivation methods, and Gu An agreed to pass him the incomplete Peng Demon Marrow Cleansing Scripture after the Sect Master and others left.
• Gu An urged Yang Chan to advance his martial cultivation to External Refinement: Iron Bones so he could use the Flood Dragon Demon Breath Method and later complete his training in Tianxuan Holy Land.
• Yang Chan thanked Gu An and considered comparing the Peng Demon Marrow Cleansing Scripture with the Imperial Shocking World Scripture he had obtained from Princess Lanyue.
• Gu An encouraged Yang Chan to be patient and told him the future belonged to the young.

Gu An arranged for Yang Chan to remain at Qingyuan Sect as its future Acting Sect Master while the sect’s experts went to Tianxuan Holy Land, and promised him access to the Peng Demon Marrow Cleansing Scripture. Yang Chan kept Han Bingyu’s plans unchanged, and she spent the night comforting him while Princess Lanyue waited outside for news.

• Gu An told Yang Chan he would become Acting Sect Master and promised him a chance to view the Peng Demon Marrow Cleansing Scripture.
• Yang Chan told Han Bingyu to make no changes to their arrangements for Tianxuan Holy Land, and she accepted that she would not go with him for now.
• Han Bingyu reported that the Han Family would send spirit herbs in three days and agreed to exchange them for pills and medicinal plasters that aided external refinement.
• Han Bingyu mistook Yang Chan’s situation for disappointment and drew him into her embrace to comfort him, while Yang Chan indulged in the moment.
• Han Bingyu stayed in Yang Chan’s study until nightfall, and Princess Lanyue waited outside, hoping to ask him about the sect’s plans.

Princess Lanyue learned that Yang Chan would remain in Qingyuan Sect for now and handed him a Condensation Flower Pill formula, which he planned to refine to test its effect on his Potential Points. Meanwhile, the injured Great Yin Saintess fled pursuers who believed her sect had stolen the inheritance from Taiyin Heaven.

• Princess Lanyue returned to Yang Chan's study and asked whether he would go to Tianxuan Holy Land.
• Yang Chan told Princess Lanyue he would stay in Qingyuan Sect for now and continue refining pills at the Earth Fire Courtyard.
• Princess Lanyue gave Yang Chan a Condensation Flower Pill formula, and he decided to refine it to see whether it increased his Potential Points.
• The Great Yin Saintess recalled that an unfamiliar force had attacked her group and blamed the Great Yin Holy Sect for taking Taiyin Heaven's tower inheritance.
• The wounded Great Yin Saintess fled alone and avoided returning to the Great Yin Holy Sect, fearing the candidate Saintesses would take advantage of her weakness.

The injured Great Yin Saintess was ambushed by a masked man who demanded the High Tower Inheritance and planned to claim the bounty on her. After explaining that she had never obtained the inheritance, she unleashed a hidden burst of power and drove him to flee.

• A masked man attacked the weakened Great Yin Saintess and demanded the High Tower Inheritance, believing she had obtained it in Taiyin Heaven.
• The Great Yin Saintess explained that Taiyin Heaven had closed early and denied possessing the inheritance, but the masked man decided to kill her anyway.
• The Great Yin Saintess offered to reveal where she had hidden other treasures, but the masked man saw through her attempt to stall and attacked again.
• The Great Yin Saintess tore apart the masked man's python phantom with Taiyin Thousand Demon Hands, shocking him with her remaining strength.
• The Great Yin Saintess reached for the masked man, who retreated and fled to save his life.

Qingyuan Sect prepared to send more than a thousand people to Tianxuan Holy Land while preserving its own foundations, and Gu An took charge as acting sect master. As Liu Xuan departed, he saw the affiliation with Tianxuan Holy Land as a new chance for Qingyuan Sect to rise.

• Yang Chan saw that Qingyuan Sect had assembled a full contingent for Tianxuan Holy Land while arranging replacements to protect the sect at home.
• Liu Xuan and the Tianxuan Saintess agreed that Qingyuan Sect would become an affiliated force, with the sect retaining autonomy while supporting the Holy Land when important opportunities arose.
• Gu An received enhanced privileges as a Pharmacist and was appointed acting sect master after Liu Xuan and the other senior leaders prepared to depart.
• Liu Xuan promised those staying behind that they would have opportunities to join Qingyuan Sect at Tianxuan Holy Land and that benefits would be sent back.
• Liu Xuan reflected that, despite failing to gain power in Taiyin Heaven, Qingyuan Sect's new relationship with Tianxuan Holy Land offered hope of obtaining the techniques and strength needed to rise.

After Liu Xuan and more than a thousand Qingyuan Sect experts left, Yang Chan helped the sect settle into its new arrangements and moved into Elder Hua’s spacious former courtyard. He focused on keeping a low profile and preparing escape routes, while Princess Lanyue weighed how to secure a place at his side before he left for the Tianxuan Holy Land.

• Yang Chan watched Liu Xuan and the departing group leave, unimpressed by the Sect Master’s stirring speech and more concerned with the Qingyuan Sect’s weakened strength.
• The Qingyuan Sect resumed its operations under Gu An’s arrangements, though replacing the departed experts would take years.
• Yang Chan moved into Elder Hua’s former courtyard, declined offers of maids from people seeking his favor, and sealed the secret chamber in his old residence.
• Yang Chan planned to dig several concealed chambers and escape tunnels in his new courtyard because he did not trust the Tianxuan Holy Land’s backing to guarantee his safety.
• Princess Lanyue considered following Han Bingyu’s example to gain Yang Chan’s trust and persuade him to take her to the Tianxuan Holy Land.

Gu An gave Yang Chan the Peng Demon Marrow Cleansing Scripture to study and arranged for him to live in Elder Hua’s former courtyard. He promised to send prospective maids and servants to help Yang Chan manage the residence.

• Gu An gave Yang Chan a copy of the Peng Demon Marrow Cleansing Scripture and told him to memorize it without revealing or sharing it.
• Yang Chan thanked Gu An and promised to return the scripture after studying it.
• Gu An asked whether Yang Chan had settled into his new residence, which he had arranged after Elder Hua and the others left.
• Yang Chan said the courtyard was too large for his eleven maids to manage and that he needed more help.
• Gu An offered to send some newly recruited Steward Disciples for Yang Chan to choose as maids and servants.
• Yang Chan thanked Gu An, glad that the arrangement would save him time and effort.