Chapter Summaries

Lan Chang'an refused Xiang Jinglong's attempt to obtain talismans for free, then learned how the battle for Yellow Dragon Immortal City had ended. A month later, Fu Dong visited to thank him for a pill and conveyed Fu Xuemei's offer of future assistance.

• Xiang Jinglong asked Lan Chang'an to sell him dozens of high-grade talismans, but Lan Chang'an and Shi Manrong said their stocks were gone, and Xiang Jinglong dropped the matter.
• Lan Chang'an asked Xiang Jinglong about Yellow Dragon Immortal City, and Xiang Jinglong explained that Fu Xuemei's Core formation and True Person Yellow Dragon's declining lifespan would shape the city's future.
• Xiang Jinglong left Wuqi Mountain, and Lan Chang'an decided against attacking him on the road despite considering the opportunity.
• A month later, Lan Chang'an learned that Fu Xuemei had formed a True Core and taken up authority at Yellow Dragon Mountain, while the forces involved in the conflict had divided the city's interests.
• Fu Dong visited Lan Chang'an, thanked him for the Fine Foundation Establishment Pill, and apologized for not meeting him earlier.
• Fu Dong told Lan Chang'an that Fu Xuemei remembered her debt and would help him if he encountered difficulty; after Fu Dong departed, Lan Chang'an opened his gift box.

After learning that strategic materials were rising in price, Lan Chang'an sought information about the threat of war and visited Golden Cloud Valley to speak with Zhang Tieshan. Zhang revealed that Liang Kingdom’s sects planned to invade Feng Kingdom, leaving Lan Chang'an to reckon with an impending conflict he had thought might only reach Liang Kingdom indirectly.

• Lan Chang'an received a quasi-Third-Order Talisman Brush and an incomplete Third-Order Talisman Master inheritance from Yellow Dragon Mountain, whose inspection cleared him of suspicion and eased the way for him to cultivate peacefully.
• Over three years, Lan Chang'an neared the sixth layer of Foundation Establishment as Liang Kingdom appeared stable, but rising prices for strategic materials made him suspect war was approaching.
• Lan Chang'an wrote to Zhang Tieshan and learned from his vague reply that a face-to-face conversation was needed to get reliable information about the regional situation.
• Lan Chang'an visited Golden Cloud Valley, sold Lin Lu a Jade Clarity Pill, and obtained an auxiliary herb he needed for the Youth Preservation Pill.
• After Zhang Tieshan returned, he told Lan Chang'an that Liang Kingdom’s sects intended to invade Feng Kingdom from the north and profit from the war.

Lan Chang'an learned that Liang Kingdom’s sects were preparing to invade Feng Kingdom and sold Zhang Tieshan high-grade talismans and puppets for the coming war. After Lan Chang'an left, Lin Lu broke through to Foundation Establishment Middle Stage and resolved to take risks if he hoped to advance further.

• Lan Chang'an learned from Zhang Tieshan that Liang Kingdom’s sects planned to invade Feng Kingdom and declined to join the war, intending instead to profit by selling supplies.
• Lan Chang'an sold Zhang Tieshan seven Second-Order High-Grade Talismans, two Second-Order peak-grade Talismans, and three Second-Order puppets for over ten thousand Spirit Stones.
• After Lan Chang'an departed, Zhang Tieshan asked the Spirit Treasure Fragment about him, and it detected Lan Chang'an’s life-prolonging Wood-Type Technique and Magic Treasure Prototype.
• Lin Lu broke through to Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, credited Lan Chang'an’s guidance and the Jade Clarity Pill, and resolved to take risks to pursue further advancement.

Lan Chang'an profited from rising prices by buying materials across Liang Kingdom and selling stockpiled goods as war preparations spread. After reaching the sixth layer of Foundation Establishment, he received Zhang Tieshan's news that the Liang Kingdom sects had announced their expedition and Golden Cloud Valley would send the first batch of cultivators.

• Lan Chang'an visited markets and immortal cities under concealed identities, buying talisman, pill, and puppet materials before prices rose further.
• Lan Chang'an met Li Erqing and Mu Bingyun at the Mu Family, declined Mu Bingyun's request to speak privately, and continued his buying tour.
• Lan Chang'an returned to Wuqi Mountain, where he and Ye Fei discussed their profits from war supplies with Shi Manrong.
• As war preparations became definite, Lan Chang'an sold stockpiled materials and inferior talismans and puppets, accumulating more than thirty thousand Spirit Stones.
• Lan Chang'an reached the sixth layer of Foundation Establishment at age 126 and received Zhang Tieshan's letter announcing the sects' expedition and Golden Cloud Valley's first deployment.

Lan Chang'an sold Lin Lu protective treasures before the younger cultivator departed with Golden Cloud Valley's first expedition to Feng Kingdom. He then visited Shi Manrong, rekindled their intimacy, and arranged for her to design a discounted quasi-Third-Order protective array for Small Turtle Peak.

• Lin Lu visited Lan Chang'an to thank him for his guidance and the Jade Clarity Pill, explaining that he had volunteered for the first expedition to Feng Kingdom.
• Lan Chang'an warned Lin Lu about the dangers of the battlefield, sold him Talismans and a Javelin Puppet at a reduced price, and gave him a top-tier Second-Order Escape Talisman.
• Lan Chang'an visited Shi Manrong to discuss strengthening Small Turtle Peak's defenses, and the two shared an intimate moment after acknowledging their deep connection.
• Shi Manrong helped Lan Chang'an plan a small quasi-Third-Order Mountain Protection Array and gave him a thirty percent discount.

Lan Chang'an strengthened Small Turtle Peak’s defenses as Liang Kingdom’s sects went to war in Feng Kingdom and unrest spread through Liang Kingdom. When two groups of Foundation Establishment cultivators fought near Wuqi Mountain, Lan Chang'an and the other Peak Masters confronted them, with Ye Fei warning the intruders to leave or die.

• Lan Chang'an had Shi Manrong build a quasi-third-rank Mountain Protection Array on Small Turtle Peak, then inspected it and found no hidden flaws.
• The five great sects of Liang Kingdom sent an army of over ten thousand cultivators into Feng Kingdom, where they seized an immortal city and occupied several cultivation clans.
• With sect forces away, robber cultivators and other threats grew active around Wuqi Mountain, and Lan Chang'an discussed the worsening security with Shi Manrong.
• Lan Chang'an and Shi Manrong heard that cultivators were fighting outside Wuqi Mountain, and Ye Fei joined them as they flew to investigate.
• A wounded black-robed female cultivator and her companion claimed they were traveling merchants attacked by robbers, while the Black Veil Bamboo Hat Man accused them of killing other merchants.
• Lan Chang'an and the other Peak Masters decided to intervene, and Ye Fei warned the cultivators that trespassing on Wuqi Mountain meant death.

Lan Chang'an and the other Wuqi Mountain Peak Masters refused to intervene when Pei Wenkang and Pei Qiuyan were pursued by Night Fisherman, while Blazing Fire Palace later investigated the incident. After Pei Qiuyan escaped the law-enforcement cultivators, Lan Chang'an secretly killed her and used the Hundred Illusion Mask to take on her appearance.

• Lan Chang'an and the other Peak Masters barred Pei Wenkang and Pei Qiuyan from entering Wuqi Mountain, and Night Fisherman’s group caught and killed Pei Wenkang.
• A Blazing Fire Palace flying boat arrived, and Song Wenshu pursued Night Fisherman while Cao Yuan investigated the scene and identified the Pei siblings.
• Song Wenshu’s group killed one of Night Fisherman’s subordinates but failed to catch him, then ordered Cao Yuan to pursue the injured Pei Qiuyan.
• Cao Yuan and his men lost Pei Qiuyan’s trail, and Song Wenshu accepted Lan Chang'an’s hospitality and departed the next day.
• Lan Chang'an’s Earth Rock Rat returned with Pei Qiuyan’s belongings and the Hundred Illusion Mask, revealing that it had killed her after the Blazing Fire Palace cultivators left.
• Lan Chang'an put on the Hundred Illusion Mask and transformed into Pei Qiuyan.

Lan Chang'an investigated the Hundred Illusion Mask and joined Ye Fei and Shi Manrong in responding to rising robber-cultivator activity around Wuqi Mountain. Mu Bingyun visited to request help strengthening Jade Moon Lake’s defenses, and Lan Chang'an discovered that someone had secretly marked her for tracking.

• Lan Chang'an found that the Hundred Illusion Mask made him imitate the temperament and mannerisms of the person it had killed, then removed it and reassured the Earth Rock Rat.
• Lan Chang'an, Shi Manrong, and Ye Fei discussed renewed robber-cultivator activity around Wuqi Mountain and agreed that Lan Chang'an and Ye Fei would investigate while Shi Manrong would support any fight.
• Lan Chang'an reflected on Guan Qiaozhi's long absence before Mu Bingyun arrived at Small Turtle Peak after advancing to Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.
• Mu Bingyun told Lan Chang'an that Bamboo Leaf Mountain Market had been overrun and asked him to arrange for Shi Manrong to help upgrade Jade Moon Lake's clan-protecting formation.
• Lan Chang'an asked whether Mu Bingyun had felt watched on her journey and discovered that someone had placed a hidden tracking mark on her.

Lan Chang'an and Shi Manrong discovered that Mu Bingyun had been marked by a tracker, likely the robber cultivator Night Fisherman, and secretly set out to protect her and eliminate the threat. They tracked her south from Wuqi Mountain, where they sensed Foundation Establishment cultivators ahead.

• Lan Chang'an noticed a tracking mark on Mu Bingyun but withheld the truth, then warned her about the robber cultivator Night Fisherman.
• Mu Bingyun arranged with Shi Manrong to strengthen Jade Moon Lake's clan-protecting formation and later received two high-grade Talismans from Lan Chang'an before leaving Wuqi Mountain at night.
• Shi Manrong confirmed that Mu Bingyun carried a tracking mark and agreed with Lan Chang'an to secretly pursue the people targeting her, while Ye Fei stayed behind to guard Wuqi Mountain.
• Lan Chang'an and Shi Manrong followed Mu Bingyun using the Earth Rock Rat's memory of her scent, then sensed several Foundation Establishment Realm magical fluctuations ahead.

Mu Bingyun was ambushed over a lake by three rogue cultivators, but the Earth Rock Rat and Lan Chang'an and Shi Manrong arrived to help. After the other attackers were killed, Night Fisherman revealed a Magic Treasure Prototype and damaged their magic items, forcing Shi Manrong to counter with a Talisman Treasure as the battle continued.

• Mu Bingyun fought off the one-eyed cultivator and Purple Veil Cultivator until Night Fisherman appeared and nearly captured her.
• The Earth Rock Rat ambushed and killed the Purple Veil Cultivator, while Lan Chang'an and Shi Manrong arrived on a Flying Boat.
• Shi Manrong's White Jade Bracelet and the Earth Rock Rat pinned down Night Fisherman as Lan Chang'an and Mu Bingyun joined forces against the one-eyed cultivator.
• Mu Bingyun and Lan Chang'an used their magic items and a water-element spell to kill the one-eyed cultivator.
• Night Fisherman rejected their offer to surrender and revealed a Magic Treasure Prototype that damaged Lan Chang'an's Diamond Bell and Shi Manrong's magic item.
• Shi Manrong brought out a Talisman Treasure to meet Night Fisherman's next strike against her White Jade Bracelet.

Lan Chang'an and Fairy Shi drove off the Night Fisherman, then pursued his blood-shadow trail and discovered he was hiding in an abandoned village. There, Lan Chang'an learned the wounded fugitive was Senior Brother Zhuo of Blazing Fire Palace, aided by Song Wenshu, and Zhuo was told to disappear for ten years.

• Fairy Shi's Ice Spear Talisman Treasure clashed with the Night Fisherman's Golden Dipper Magic Treasure Prototype while Lan Chang'an, the Earth Rock Rat, and a puppet attacked him.
• The Night Fisherman used Blood Shadow Escape to flee, but Lan Chang'an's puppet exploded above him and badly wounded him.
• Lan Chang'an and Fairy Shi pursued the Night Fisherman, then split up with the Earth Rock Rat after his blood-path secret art left three false trails.
• Lan Chang'an used a blood-colored crystal to identify the southeast trail and found the Night Fisherman hiding in a cellar beneath an abandoned village.
• Song Wenshu arrived and met the Night Fisherman, whose real identity was Senior Brother Zhuo; Zhuo explained his defeat at Wuqi Mountain and gave Song his share of the year's earnings.
• Song Wenshu gave Senior Brother Zhuo wound medicine and warned him to abandon the Night Fisherman identity for ten years because Blazing Fire Palace believed him dead.

Lan Chang'an overheard Song Wenshu aiding the escaped Night Fisherman, Senior Brother Zhuo, and decided to deal with the threat without exposing himself. Disguised as Pei Qiuyan, he captured Zhuo alive with a sudden, overwhelming attack and carried him away to conceal his fate.

• Song Wenshu gave Senior Brother Zhuo a quasi-third-order Escape Talisman, and the two parted after Song promised to speak with Wuqi Mountain on Zhuo's behalf.
• Lan Chang'an listened to their conversation and judged that killing Senior Brother Zhuo openly could draw the attention of Blazing Fire Palace and create trouble for Wuqi Mountain.
• While flying away injured, Senior Brother Zhuo encountered Lan Chang'an disguised as Pei Qiuyan and let down his guard after mistaking her for the wounded cultivator he had once hunted.
• Lan Chang'an used a speed-enhancing Treasure Talisman to strike Senior Brother Zhuo, cripple his cultivation, impose Restrictions, and take his Storage Bag and Talismans.
• Lan Chang'an concealed Senior Brother Zhuo in a sack and carried him to a secluded place, intending to control where and when the man would die so the blame would not lead back to him or Wuqi Mountain.

Lan Chang'an captured Senior Brother Zhuo and seized a cache of valuable resources, then returned to Wuqi Mountain with Fairy Shi. Mu Bingyun stayed overnight at his cave abode and left a personal letter behind before departing, which Lan Chang'an did not discover.

• Lan Chang'an cracked Senior Brother Zhuo's Storage Bag and found a Magic Treasure Prototype, valuable magic items, and more than seventy percent of the materials for a Crystal Condensation Pill.
• Lan Chang'an met Fairy Shi at the lake, and they split the spoils from the two slain Robber Cultivators, with Fairy Shi taking sixty percent.
• Lan Chang'an left the captured, crippled Senior Brother Zhuo hidden underground near Wuqi Mountain under the Earth Rock Rat's guard.
• Ye Fei told Lan Chang'an and Fairy Shi that he had uncovered a disguised Robber Cultivator spy, and the three agreed to dismiss the negligent steward Lan Lin.
• Lan Chang'an apologized to Mu Bingyun for using her as bait, and she accepted his explanation before staying overnight in her former room on Small Turtle Peak.
• Mu Bingyun left a personally written letter beneath her pillow and departed at dawn, while Lan Chang'an neither asked her to stay nor entered her room.

Lan Chang'an interrogated Senior Brother Zhuo and learned that he was Zhuo Yangping, a disgraced Blazing Fire Palace elder’s great-grandson secretly protected by a deputy hall master. Two months later, a letter from Zhao Siyao warned that Golden Cloud Valley would send a second conscription force to Feng Kingdom and brought disastrous news from the front.

• Lan Chang'an kept Senior Brother Zhuo hidden near Wuqi Mountain and delayed interrogating him while Blazing Fire Palace investigators visited.
• Song Wenshu questioned the Three Peak Masters about Night Fisherman, and Lan Chang'an concealed that they had captured Senior Brother Zhuo.
• Lan Chang'an used the Soul Bewitching Spell to learn that Senior Brother Zhuo was Zhuo Yangping, whose crimes had been covered up by a deputy hall master tied to Song Wenshu's family.
• Lan Chang'an concluded that Zhuo Yangping's influential connections were serious but not powerful enough to force him to flee Liang Kingdom.
• Zhao Siyao sent Lan Chang'an a letter hinting at a second Golden Cloud Valley conscription to Feng Kingdom and reporting disastrous news from the battlefield.

Lan Chang'an visited Zhao Siyao at Golden Cloud Valley, learned that Liang Kingdom’s invasion of Feng Kingdom had met fierce resistance, and sold her war supplies before agreeing to watch over her disciple Zhao Tan'er. As Zhao Siyao prepared to march to war, Lan Chang'an secretly left a Treasure Talisman inside the Turtle Puppet he sold her.

• Lan Chang'an learned from Zhao Siyao’s letter that Lin Lu had vanished after being pursued on the Feng Kingdom battlefield and that Zhao Siyao was preparing to join the war.
• Lan Chang'an visited Golden Cloud Valley, where Zhao Siyao explained that Liang Kingdom’s invading forces had advanced at first but were now facing ambushes and resistance from Feng Kingdom’s forces.
• Zhao Siyao bought high-grade talismans, one quasi-Third-Order talisman, and a defective Turtle Puppet from Lan Chang'an to prepare for battle.
• Zhao Siyao asked Lan Chang'an to guide and look after her disciple Zhao Tan'er if she did not return, and Lan Chang'an agreed.
• Lan Chang'an secretly placed a Treasure Talisman in the Turtle Puppet before leaving Golden Cloud Valley.

Lan Chang'an traveled to Chishui Marketplace under disguises to make Senior Brother Zhuo’s disappearance appear unrelated to him, while gathering the final ingredient for his Youth Preservation Pill. There, he recognized a Pseudo-Core True Person secretly hunting for a target and decided to adapt his plan around the robber’s chosen victim.

• Lan Chang'an learned that the Jade Moon Lake Mu Family had sent several Qi Refining cultivators to join Liang Kingdom’s expedition, and Mu Bingyun thanked him for helping establish the clan’s protective formation.
• Lan Chang'an left Wuqi Mountain with the Earth Rock Rat and Senior Brother Zhuo, then traveled toward Chishui Marketplace, where Zhuo had planned to recuperate.
• Lan Chang'an disguised himself as a Foundation Establishment youth, killed a robber cultivator with Senior Brother Zhuo’s recognizable black staff, and entered the marketplace under another identity.
• Lan Chang'an attended a private trade meeting, bought a Pale Moon Flower, and completed his collection of ingredients for the Youth Preservation Pill.
• Lan Chang'an recognized a familiar Pseudo-Core True Person using concealed divine sense to select a target, and watched him settle on a traveling merchant.
• Lan Chang'an decided to adjust his plan and make use of the Pseudo-Core True Person’s chosen victim.

Lan Chang'an disguised himself as a passing cultivator to make Xiang Jinglong’s killing of a traveling merchant appear connected to the death of Senior Brother Zhuo. After Lan destroyed Zhuo’s body and returned, Blazing Fire Palace discovered Zhuo’s death and Vice Hall Master Fang secretly ordered Song Wenshu to investigate.

• Xiang Jinglong ambushed and killed the disguised traveling merchant, then pursued Lan Chang'an, who appeared as a bamboo-hatted young man.
• Lan Chang'an escaped Xiang Jinglong using a Quasi-Third-Order Escape Talisman and made his cultivation, Black Umbrella, and escape method resemble Senior Brother Zhuo’s.
• Lan Chang'an confirmed Senior Brother Zhuo had died in Python Cave, burned the cave and corpse, and concluded he had left no obvious link to Wuqi Mountain.
• Vice Hall Master Fang sensed Zhuo Yangping’s shattered blood jade and summoned Song Wenshu.
• Vice Hall Master Fang told Song Wenshu that Zhuo Yangping was dead and ordered him to investigate privately without alerting the sect.

Lan Chang'an learned that Xiang Jinglong had become a wanted fugitive, then heard that Blazing Fire Palace’s attempt to capture him failed after demonic remnants rescued him. The news of Liang Shaotian’s returning influence left Lan Chang'an anticipating a new age of turmoil.

• Ye Fei told Lan Chang'an and Shi Manrong that Blazing Fire Palace had placed Xiang Jinglong on its wanted list for his past crimes.
• Lan Chang'an privately suspected Xiang Jinglong was really being punished for Senior Brother Zhuo's death.
• Song Wenshu brought the damaged and mentally impaired Lin Ye back to Wuqi Mountain, where Lin Ye insisted on visiting Small Pill Peak.
• Song Wenshu revealed that Blazing Fire Palace had heavily injured Xiang Jinglong but failed to capture him after Li Hai rescued him at the Liang Kingdom border.
• Lan Chang'an considered how the neighboring war could give Liang Shaotian’s demonic remnants an opportunity to rise.

Lan Chang'an arranged for Lin Ye to recover at Wuqi Mountain and struck a deal for Lin Ye to refine several kinds of pills in exchange for protective items. Lin Ye left wary of the hidden truth behind several deaths, but resolved to keep his suspicions to himself and work with Lan Chang'an.

• Song Wenshu left Lin Ye at Wuqi Mountain, where the Three Peak Masters allowed him to recuperate on Small Pill Peak in exchange for help refining pills.
• After Xiang Jinglong fled the Liang Kingdom as a wanted man, Lan Chang'an considered the Night Fisherman affair settled and weighed the risks of refining the Youth Preservation Pill.
• Lin Ye visited Lan Chang'an and revealed that he had feigned some of his vacant behavior and had once steered Xiang Jinglong toward suspecting Fu Xuemei rather than implicating Lan Chang'an.
• Lin Ye asked for help acquiring protective magic items and talismans, offering to refine pills in return; he and Lan Chang'an agreed on Breakthrough Pills, magic-strengthening pills, and Youth Preservation Pills.
• After returning to Small Pill Peak, Lin Ye reflected on the fates of Alchemist Hua, Fu Xuemei, and Xiang Jinglong, wondered whether Lan Chang'an hid more than he showed, and decided to refine the pills without asking questions.

Lan Chang'an used his favor with Yellow Dragon Mountain to obtain rare alchemy materials and had Lin Ye refine Youth Preservation Pills, then avoided Fu Xuemei’s invitation to Yellow Dragon Immortal City. The materials arrived at Small Turtle Peak with Ji Yifeng, whom Lan Chang'an welcomed as the peak’s first True Person guest.

• Lan Chang'an wrote to Yellow Dragon Mountain to redeem his favor for rare pill ingredients, while arranging for local cultivators and Ye Fei to obtain common materials.
• Lin Ye refined four Youth Preservation Pills at Small Turtle Peak, and Lan Chang'an paid him with a top-grade magic item.
• Lan Chang'an tried a Youth Preservation Pill and found it did not strengthen his Evergreen Mana, so he kept the remaining pills rather than selling them.
• Fu Xuemei wrote that Yellow Dragon Mountain had gathered the materials and invited Lan Chang'an to collect them in person; he replied that he would not travel and offered an extra transport fee for delivery.
• Lan Chang'an hid underground beneath Small Turtle Peak while awaiting the delivery, then emerged to greet Ji Yifeng, True Person Yellow Dragon's eldest disciple.