Chapter Summaries

Chu Mu and Wangcai killed a half-step Second Order Fiery Red Giant Wolf, and Chu Mu extracted its bloodline essence before investigating the wolf’s lair. The lair held a strange Magma Lake rich in Earth Vein Fire Qi, and Chu Mu approached it after Wangcai sensed something inside.

• Chu Mu and Wangcai fought the Fiery Red Giant Wolf, and Chu Mu killed it with his saber after surviving its explosive burst of flames.
• Chu Mu extracted the giant wolf’s Blood Essence, burned its corpse, and followed Wangcai to the beast’s lair.
• Chu Mu found a Magma Lake in the cave and sensed that its unusually dense Earth Vein Fire Qi suggested something abnormal about the Earth Fire Vein.
• Wangcai sensed something in the magma, and Chu Mu approached the lake after his Divine Soul could probe only a few meters into it.

Chu Mu descended into the Magma Lake and discovered a vast formation where a sea of fire sealed and refined Black Mist flowing from a spatial crack. After testing the mist and seeing it corrupt a Spirit Stone, he realized the threat it posed to the Secret Realm and judged that the formation could contain it for a long time.

• Chu Mu entered the Magma Lake and descended thousands of meters as his sense of danger grew stronger.
• Chu Mu found a sea of fire beyond the magma, collected several flames, and discovered that black lines entangled them and prevented him from keeping them in Jade Bottles.
• Chu Mu followed the fire toward its center and saw it clash with Black Mist surging from a narrow crack.
• Chu Mu concluded that an ancient formation used the Fire Vein to seal and refine the Black Mist, then recognized the crack as a spatial crack.
• Chu Mu tested the Black Mist with a Spirit Stone and watched it corrode the stone's spiritual energy into ink-black matter.
• Chu Mu destroyed the contaminated stone and concluded that the formation could contain the Black Mist for a long time unless an accident occurred.

Chu Mu investigated the Black Mist around the spatial rift and discovered that its evil energy could infiltrate him and provoke murderous urges even when he sealed off his body and Divine Soul. He concluded it represented a cultivation path more advanced than spiritual energy, then began collecting spatial-attribute materials and purging their corruption.

• Chu Mu reasoned that the Black Mist might come from a world where chaos and evil gave rise to demons, a concept he had never encountered in the Cultivation World.
• Chu Mu considered searching the spatially affected area for valuable materials but realized they lay within the dangerous Black Mist.
• Chu Mu probed the Black Mist with his divine sense, felt a murderous urge take hold, and used the Divine Soul Blade to cut it away before withdrawing.
• Under Spirit Radiance Blessing, Chu Mu detected Evil Energy inside his sealed body and Divine Soul and inferred that it was an unrestricted, more advanced energy with its own cultivation path.
• Chu Mu tried and failed to purge the chaos and evil from the energy, then drew out a corrupted spatial-attribute stone from the Black Mist.
• Chu Mu repeatedly searched the Black Mist for spatial materials and used the Divine Soul Blade to remove their corruption, building up a growing collection.

Chu Mu explored the space rift with two specially made dragonfly Dharma Artifacts and found a lifeless world beyond it, then sealed the cave and returned to gathering supplies in the Secret Realm. As the thirty-day limit approached, he rested with Wangcai and began sorting through his accumulated treasures and spoils.

• Chu Mu built two enlarged dragonfly Dharma Artifacts designed to resist the Black Mist and sent them through the space rift to scout and record what lay beyond.
• Chu Mu viewed the recordings of a barren, deathly silent world, then buried the Magma Lake and cave beneath a collapsed mountain and left with Wangcai.
• Chu Mu spent the following days avoiding other Cultivators and hunting wolf-type Monster Beasts in preparation for Wangcai's bloodline transformation.
• On the thirtieth day, Chu Mu abandoned a plan involving the Two-Headed Giant Snake and waited near the Mountain Valley for the Secret Realm's time limit to end.
• Chu Mu reviewed and sorted his gains, including inheritances, spiritual materials, Spirit Stones, and spoils, then began reading through the jade slips and books.

While sorting through jade slips, Chu Mu discovered the Longevity Turtle Spirit Art, a fragment describing how humans could cultivate Monster Beast bloodlines without relying on Spirit Roots. Realizing the method might also help Wangcai, he abandoned his plan to wait in the Secret Realm and rushed off to find a suitable bloodline.

• Chu Mu dismissed the Azure Wood Mystical Spirit Art as useless to him and continued inspecting the books and jade slips.
• Chu Mu found the Longevity Turtle Spirit Art, which described transplanting and refining a Monster Beast bloodline in a human body.
• Chu Mu learned that the technique could grant a creature bloodline traits and pass them to descendants, but bloodline influence could alter intelligence and temperament, and the method required rare Blood Essence.
• Chu Mu considered whether bloodline transplantation could help Monster Beasts and looked at Wangcai, whose bloodline was that of the Black Mountain Cang Wolf.
• Chu Mu decided to seek a powerful bloodline for Wangcai and hurried with it into the nearby mountain forest.

Chu Mu escaped the Secret Realm with Wangcai while pursued by a Second Order Demon Beast, then evaded Longevity Sect disciples and hid to recover. After studying the Great Sun True Scripture, he remained uncertain about how to reach Foundation Establishment, but its golden characters engraved themselves into his Divine Soul.

• Chu Mu and Wangcai emerged from the Secret Realm wounded and fled across East Lake as Longevity Sect disciples approached.
• Chu Mu used Wind and Thunder Movement to escape the disciples, destroying his Divine Wind Boots in the process.
• Chu Mu reached a mountain cave, treated his wounds, and let Wangcai recover after it devoured two Demon Beast Corpses.
• After nearly twenty days, Chu Mu examined his ruined artifacts and considered the power of formations and Talisman Treasures before deciding to wait until Foundation Establishment to pursue that path.
• Chu Mu turned to the Great Sun True Scripture for guidance about Foundation Establishment, and its golden characters imprinted themselves on his Divine Soul.

Chu Mu studied the Great Sun True Scripture and decided to replace his current cultivation methods, believing the ancient technique would improve his chances of reaching Foundation Establishment. He reunited with Xu Yuan, met Xu Yuan’s Dao Companion Xia Yu, and prepared to leave while warning them about the danger of forced wartime labor.

• Chu Mu learned that Foundation Establishment transformed Essence, Qi, and Spirit, and that his completed body cultivation and strengthened Divine Soul gave him better odds of success.
• Chu Mu chose to switch from the Blazing Fire Art and Bull Strength Art to the Great Sun True Scripture, estimating that he could retrain within a year using his stock of pills.
• After Wangcai awoke, Chu Mu contacted Xu Yuan and learned that Xu Yuan had remained at the Qi Refining Tenth Layer because he had found a Dao Companion and tried to break through without relying on pills.
• Xu Yuan introduced Chu Mu to Xia Yu, and Chu Mu gave the couple Second Order Divine Wind Talisman inscriptions, Spirit Stones, and Alchemical Pills.
• Chu Mu told Xu Yuan and Xia Yu he would leave for an extended period, warned them to avoid the Marketplace because of forced labor mobilizations, and explained how Dual Cultivation of Body and Technique could aid Foundation Establishment.

After leaving his former little brother’s wedding, Chu Mu continued his journey and settled in Xiangyin City to prepare for cultivating the Great Sun True Scripture. He gathered rare Fire Attribute Spirit Stones and began condensing the Great Sun Fire Seed.

• Chu Mu departed beneath the moonlight after his former little brother’s wedding, reflecting that the Immortal Path still lay ahead of him.
• Chu Mu arrived at Lake Province Island and told Zhao Shuang that he had not found the Ancient Cultivator’s Cave Abode she described, promising to keep their matter secret.
• Chu Mu traveled among nearby Black Markets and Marketplaces for three months, then settled in an empty residence in Xiangyin City.
• Chu Mu carved out an underground cavern and installed a Spirit Gathering Array and a Partition Restriction before studying the Great Sun True Scripture.
• Chu Mu determined that the Great Sun True Scripture required him to condense a Great Sun Fire Seed using dense Fire Attribute spiritual energy.
• Chu Mu replaced the cavern’s ordinary Spirit Stones with Fire Attribute Spirit Stones and began converting his cultivation method.

After two years of painful cultivation, Chu Mu completed his switch to the Great Sun True Scripture, greatly strengthening his magic power, divine soul, and body. He prepared to attempt Foundation Establishment, and the chapter ended as the breakthrough began.

• Chu Mu tested the Great Sun True Fire, found that it could burn evil energy from spatial spiritual material, and used it to temper his magic power and body.
• Chu Mu spent two years switching from the Blazing Fire Art and Bull Strength Art to the Great Sun True Scripture, with Wangcai shut inside the residence alongside him.
• After completing the switch, Chu Mu judged that his cultivation foundation and combat strength had increased substantially and decided to attempt Foundation Establishment without relying on a Foundation Establishment Pill.
• Chu Mu took Wangcai for a stroll through the mortal city, reflecting on the different rules of mortal and cultivation societies and why mortals were able to live in peace.
• Chu Mu returned to the underground cave, where Wangcai helped maintain the Spirit Stones and supplies, and he began his Foundation Establishment breakthrough.

After a year of seclusion, Chu Mu emerged having reached Foundation Establishment, with his power and Divine Sense greatly enhanced. He advanced his Basic Blade Technique to Returning to Simplicity, strengthening his Divine Soul Blade, while its mysterious origins remained unexplained.

• After a year of seclusion, Chu Mu opened the residence door and discovered his Divine Sense could reach more than twelve hundred meters.
• Chu Mu examined his new Foundation Establishment cultivation, Great Sun True Fire, and Light Screen Panel, and inferred that its Alchemy evaluation reflected the limits of his knowledge.
• Chu Mu wondered why his ordinary Basic Blade Technique could affect the divine soul when his other skills did not, but could not determine whether the cause was his talent or the Light Screen Panel.
• Chu Mu practiced with the Minghong Saber, and the Divine Soul Blade transformed from an illusion into a more substantial blade.
• Chu Mu saw that his Basic Blade Technique had advanced from Reaching the Pinnacle to Returning to Simplicity.

After reaching Foundation Establishment, Chu Mu considered how to strengthen Wangcai and chose to focus first on mastering the Weapon Refinement Grand Summary. He spent the following days absorbing its knowledge and practicing, leaving his experiments with Wangcai’s bloodline for later.

• Chu Mu returned to his underground cavern, rebuilt the Spirit Gathering Array Restriction, and fed the remaining Monster Beast Corpses to Wangcai.
• Chu Mu gave Wangcai First Order Completion Gale Wolf Blood Essence, hoping it would stimulate Wangcai’s dormant bloodline and help it advance.
• Chu Mu considered using Adamantine Wolf Blood Essence to strengthen Wangcai, but held back after weighing its risks and Wangcai’s loyalty against the beast’s fierce nature.
• Chu Mu concentrated on the Weapon Refinement Grand Summary under Spiritual Radiance Blessing, consuming his accumulated Spiritual Radiance and using most of his spirit materials to practice.

After more than a year of studying Artifact Refining, Chu Mu completed his first custom Puppetry and began crafting a concealed Storage Ring from spatial materials. He stored the separated Evil Energy and finished a ring invisible to both the eye and Divine Sense.

• Chu Mu named his humanoid Puppetry First Generation Fire Cavalry after finishing its weapons and self-detonation Array Restriction.
• Chu Mu changed his plan and peeled the Evil Energy away from the spatial spiritual materials, relying on his cultivation and body-refining methods to resist its erosion.
• On the sixteenth day, Chu Mu separated the materials into more than a dozen spatial stones and five sealed masses of black mist, then stored the black mist.
• Chu Mu refined the spatial stones into a Storage Ring with a space roughly one zhang in each dimension.
• Chu Mu fused concealment hide from the Two-Headed Giant Snake into the ring and added inscriptions and Array Restrictions until it could not be detected by sight or Divine Sense.

After completing his Storage Ring, Chu Mu emerged to find Xiangyin City covered in deadly Corpse Qi and its inhabitants turned into zombies. He confronted five Longevity Sect disciples who claimed the city as their territory, then forced them to explain how that had happened.

• Chu Mu transferred his belongings into his finished Storage Ring, cleaned the cavern, and left with Wangcai.
• Chu Mu discovered that a gray aura of death covered the city and that its tens of thousands of inhabitants had become zombies.
• Chu Mu flew above the city, where five Qi Refining Completion disciples of the Longevity Sect confronted him and claimed the area belonged to their sect.
• The disciples recognized Wangcai and showed greed toward Chu Mu, but his Foundation Establishment aura suppressed them.
• Chu Mu ordered the disciples to answer his questions, and one began explaining that the Longevity Sect had claimed the city more than two years earlier.

After learning that years of seclusion had left Great Chu engulfed in war, Chu Mu traveled toward Water Sky Market to assess the upheaval for himself. He found the market devastated and realized no region offered an obvious refuge, leaving him to seek information amid the chaos.

• Chu Mu learned that the Five Great Clans had formed the Righteous Path Alliance and that the Hanhai Chen Family had later betrayed it, turning the war in the Longevity Sect’s favor.
• Chu Mu discovered that a Foundation Establishment cultivator’s death had spread corpse aura through Xiangyin City, turning thousands of ordinary people into walking corpses.
• Chu Mu flew toward Water Sky Market and saw that warfare had spread into the secular world, where Great Jin had replaced the Great Chu Imperial Court in some territory.
• Chu Mu reached the ruined outskirts of Water Sky Market and concluded that the Hanhai Chen Family and the rest of Great Chu were caught in the upheaval.
• Chu Mu descended and headed into Water Sky Market to learn more, considering the opportunities that might arise from the broken order.

Chu Mu returned to Water Sky Market after achieving Foundation Establishment and reunited with Xu Yuan, Xia Yu, and their son. He named the child Xu Jinhuai and gave him a Soul Condensing Jade Pendant, then learned how the Righteous Path Alliance had changed life in the Marketplace after its battle with the Longevity Sect.

• Chu Mu passed inspections by Xie Family cultivators and waited outside Water Sky Market, which the Righteous Path Alliance still controlled after the Longevity Sect retreated.
• Xu Yuan and Xia Yu welcomed Chu Mu and introduced him to their infant son, Wangwang, whose formal name had not yet been chosen.
• Chu Mu named the child Xu Jinhuai and gave him a Top-Grade Magical Artifact Soul Condensing Jade Pendant as a gift.
• Xu Yuan explained that Rogue Cultivators had been moved to the outer Marketplace and were required to perform annual Forced Labor unless they signed employment contracts with the Righteous Path Alliance.
• Xu Yuan said the Alliance had offered a First Order Low-Grade Spirit Vein for one hundred thousand Contribution Points and that the main battlefield had shifted toward Jingmen.

Chu Mu surveyed war-torn Water Sky Market and learned how the Righteous Path Alliance’s employment system worked. Seeing that the alliance offered a way to gain resources despite the risks, he signed an Employment Contract and left with a First-Class Contract Communication Token.

• Chu Mu visited Xu Yuan, who explained that Water Sky Market had endured a prolonged Longevity Sect assault and showed him the alliance’s mission and contribution system.
• Chu Mu learned that the alliance’s Contract Communication Tokens used a sophisticated information network and that the Contribution Treasure Trove offered many resources in exchange for contribution.
• Chu Mu considered how the war had erased his hopes of avoiding danger and entered the Contribution Hall to seek opportunities.
• A Righteous Path Alliance woman offered Chu Mu an Employment Contract and a Guest Elder Contract, and he chose the Employment Contract after asking about exchanging contribution for Spirit Veins.
• The woman gave Chu Mu a First-Class Contract Communication Token and explained its surveillance and positioning functions, which he blocked by storing it in his Storage Talisman before leaving.

Chu Mu surveyed the wartime market, bought rare materials, and arranged with Xie Hui to use the Xie Family shop’s connections to gather more. He then left Water Sky Market to visit the nearby Black Markets in search of resources.

• Chu Mu reviewed the Contribution Hall missions and learned that the war between the Longevity Sect and the Righteous Path Alliance had become a grinding stalemate around Jingmen and East Lake.
• Chu Mu found that wartime prices had surged and bought Dharma Artifacts, Talismans, pills, and spiritual materials in the Marketplace.
• Chu Mu met Xie Hui, a struggling Xie Family shopkeeper, and agreed to accept his shop’s offering if Xie Hui gathered eight listed spiritual materials within ten days.
• Chu Mu left the Marketplace with Wangcai and headed toward the nearby Black Markets to seek resources.

Chu Mu traded his Dharma Artifacts for spiritual materials at the Ghost Tomb Mountain Black Market, then returned to Water Sky Market to collect materials from Xie Hui and arrange a business partnership. He left Xie Hui stunned by his claim to be a Second Order High Grade Artifact Refiner and stayed in Water Sky Market for the next few months.

• Chu Mu learned from Niu He that the nearby Ghost Tomb Mountain Black Market was open and had him lead the way there.
• Chu Mu rented a stall and exchanged nearly thirty Dharma Artifacts for rare spiritual materials over several days.
• Chu Mu traveled to Water Sky Market, where Xie Hui handed over the spiritual materials he had gathered.
• Chu Mu asked Xie Hui to collect all materials above Second Order at market price and gave him Spirit Stones and a Sound Transmission Token.
• Chu Mu told Xie Hui he was a Second Order High Grade Artifact Refiner who could refine anything below Magic Treasure grade, then left the shop.
• Xie Hui realized the opportunity Chu Mu represented and celebrated the prospect of his business taking off.

Chu Mu spent weeks refining an Azure Wolf Puppet and several Spirit Artifacts, including a powerful concealment robe, then received alarming messages from Xu Yuan and Xie Hui. He left the cave with Wangcai and flew toward Water Sky Market to investigate.

• Chu Mu tried to create an autonomous Second Generation Fire Cavalry but lacked cultivator souls for its control center, so he named the resulting beast-shaped puppet the Azure Wolf Puppet.
• Chu Mu refined a second Azure Wolf Puppet and added three Spirit Energy Bombs capable of a combined Foundation Establishment Middle Stage strike.
• Chu Mu completed a High-Grade Spirit Artifact saber, a Mid-Grade Crescent Moon Shield, crude protective armor for Wangcai, and a concealment Dharma Robe.
• Chu Mu recovered his Mana and Divine Soul, then refined and controlled the puppets and Spirit Artifacts.
• Chu Mu received transmissions from Xu Yuan and Xie Hui, noticed nothing unusual at Water Sky Market, and flew there with Wangcai.

Chu Mu refined a large order of weapons for Xie Hui and discovered a new Weapon Refinement system combining Runes with Artifact Inscriptions and Array Restrictions. After completing the order with an impressive success rate, he accepted an invitation to a Foundation Establishment trade fair and asked Xie Hui to seek out more rune-based Weapon Refinement knowledge.

• Xie Hui brought Chu Mu spirit materials and asked him to handle a clan order for more than ninety Dharma Artifacts and twelve Spirit Artifacts.
• Chu Mu examined the recipes and recognized that several one-use artifacts used a new system combining Runes with Artifact Inscriptions or Array Restrictions.
• Chu Mu spent a little over a month refining the order and returned 105 artifacts from 109 portions of spirit materials.
• Xie Hui was astonished by Chu Mu's success rate, returned his Contract Communication Token, and gave him materials collected that month.
• Xie Hui invited Chu Mu to a Foundation Establishment trade fair at Skywind Pavilion, and Chu Mu accepted the token and asked him to find rune-based Weapon Refinement knowledge.