Chapter Summaries

Li Xingsheng took Li Xunming out for seven days, helping the young cultivator gain confidence while Shu Shu located a Small Metal Spirit Mine the Li Clan could not yet exploit. As the Zhao Kingdom's Four Sects Trial approached, Li Qianqing accompanied Li Xunting to Clear Wind Valley, where Yan Xuewei personally welcomed them.

• Shu Shu led Li Xingsheng and Li Xunming to a Small Metal Spirit Mine, and Li Xingsheng marked its location for later excavation.
• Li Xingsheng returned to Changqing Mountain after seven days and reported Shu Shu's discovery and Li Xunming's progress to Li Qianqing.
• Li Qianqing inspected the marked site with his spiritual sense, found he could not see the mine, and decided to revisit it years later.
• With less than a month before the Zhao Kingdom's Four Sects Trial, Li Qianqing agreed to accompany Li Xunting to Clear Wind Valley and meet Yan Xuewei.
• Yan Xuewei came out to greet Li Qianqing and Li Xunting, surprising the disciple guarding the mountain gate.

Li Qianqing and Li Xunting visited Yan Xuewei at Clear Wind Valley, where she explained the Four Sects Trial and warned Li Qianqing about Huo Tianling and her allies. Duan Rongrong arrived as their conversation ended, just as Yan Xuewei said she had planned to seek her out.

• Yan Xuewei welcomed Li Qianqing and Li Xunting to her residence and discussed their cultivation and Clear Wind Valley’s recent situation.
• Yan Xuewei asked about Li Xunting’s preparations for the Four Sects Trial, and Li Xunting said she was confident with Li Qianqing’s help.
• Yan Xuewei explained the trial’s four levels and said Li Xunting needed to place in the top ten among Foundation Establishment Early Stage cultivators to meet the Clear Wind Valley Master’s requirement.
• Yan Xuewei confirmed that Huo Tianling would compete in her Foundation Establishment Late Stage trial and gave Li Qianqing a list of Huo Tianling’s allies to watch.
• Duan Rongrong arrived, and Yan Xuewei told her she had planned to seek her out the next day if she had not come.

Li Qianqing and Li Xunting joined Clear Wind Valley’s participants for the Four Sects Trial, where Yan Xuewei clashed with her rival Huo Tianling over the Li Family and their place in the trial. After the sect announced its arrangements, the participants boarded a spirit boat, with Duan Rongrong joining Li Qianqing and Li Xunting beside Yan Xuewei.

• Yan Xuewei introduced Duan Rongrong to Li Xunting, and the two discussed the Netherworld Ghost Domain and shared information for the trial.
• Yan Xuewei arranged lodging for Li Qianqing and Li Xunting, and Li Xunting spent the next few days consolidating her strength and gathering information about the secret realm.
• At the gathering, Huo Tianling challenged Yan Xuewei about bringing Li Qianqing and Li Xunting, and the two traded barbed remarks before Huo Tianling left.
• The Clear Wind Valley Master announced that the Second Elder would lead the Four Sects Trial delegation.
• The Second Elder, Foundation Establishment elders, and Qi Refining disciples boarded a spirit boat, while Li Qianqing and Li Xunting followed Yan Xuewei and were joined by Duan Rongrong.

Li Qianqing and Li Xunting watched the Four Sects Trial’s first-level beast-fighting contest, where Clear Wind Valley finished third and Heaven Harmony Sect second. The four sects then combined their key fragments to open the Netherworld Ghost Domain for the next stage.

• Li Qianqing studied Heaven Harmony Sect and its ties to Wutong Prefecture while traveling with Yan Xuewei, Li Xunting, and Duan Rongrong to the trial grounds.
• The four sects arrived at the Beast Fighting Arena, and Yan Xuewei explained that their Core Formation leaders included Heaven Harmony Sect’s Right Protector.
• Qi Refining disciples fought demon beasts in rotation, with many core disciples choosing Second Order Early-Stage opponents to earn higher scores.
• A Clear Wind Valley disciple was struck by a Black Striped Tiger and rescued by the Second Elder; Li Xunting reconsidered her assessment of his performance.
• The first-level trial ended with Clear Wind Valley third and Heaven Harmony Sect second, while Water Cloud Gate took first and Heaven Transmission Mountain last.
• The four Core Formation leaders joined their pitch-black fragments to open the Netherworld Ghost Domain.

Li Xunting entered the Netherworld Ghost Domain for the Four Sects Trial, hunted Ghost Creatures, and reached fifth place with 124 points. With one day left, she discovered a Second Order Mid-Stage Ghost Creature in an ancient high-rise.

• Li Xunting entered the Netherworld Ghost Domain and was assigned to the Ancient City Area, where she put on the Jade Pendant that recorded her points.
• Li Xunting killed a First Order Late-Stage Ghost Creature and then continued searching while watching for other cultivators.
• Li Xunting scored 124 points and ranked fifth after killing one Second Order Early-Stage Ghost Creature and several weaker ones.
• A Heaven Transmission Mountain cultivator narrowly defeated a Second Order Mid-Stage Ghost Creature, reached first place with 617 points, and crushed his Jade Pendant to leave while badly injured.
• With one day remaining, Li Xunting found a Second Order Mid-Stage Ghost Creature inside a towering ancient building.

Li Xunting defeated a Second Order Mid-Stage Ghost Creature in the Netherworld Ghost Domain, showing the strength of her Ice Spiritual Body and rising to first place temporarily. When the three-day trial ended, she finished third, leaving Li Qianqing pleased with her result but mindful that her performance might draw unwanted attention.

• Li Xunting chose to fight a Second Order Mid-Stage Ghost Creature alone and slowed it with Ice Seal Art before attacking with Ice Rain Technique.
• Li Xunting found the point where the creature’s yin power gathered and pierced it with her dark-blue knife, destroying it and gaining five hundred points.
• Li Xunting continued moving through the Netherworld Ghost Domain after recovering her spiritual power, and briefly exchanged nods with a cultivator from Heaven Transmission Mountain.
• The nineteen cultivators were teleported out when the three-day trial ended, and Li Xunting placed third with 774 points.
• Yan Xuewei regretted that Li Xunting had not encountered another weaker ghost creature, while Li Qianqing said her top-three finish exceeded his expectations.

Li Xunting’s strong Four Sects Trial results helped Clear Wind Valley place second, but Li Qianqing recognized that the valley master wanted the Li Family to spend more resources in Wutong Prefecture and slow its growth. Back on Changqing Mountain, the family continued developing its resources and cultivators while Li Qianqing refined pills and checked on Li Xunming’s rapid progress.

• Li Xunting placed third in the Second Level trial, while Duan Rongrong took tenth, and Clear Wind Valley’s combined score led after the first two levels.
• Li Qianqing stayed to watch Yan Xuewei take fourth place in the Fourth Level combat trial; Clear Wind Valley finished second overall.
• Clear Wind Valley Master urged Li Qianqing to invest more of the Li Family’s efforts in Wutong Prefecture, and Li Qianqing understood that the request was meant to hamper the family’s development.
• After returning to Changqing Mountain, Li Qianqing explained the valley master’s intentions to Li Xunting, who then returned to cultivation.
• Li Qianqing continued refining Rank 1 High-Grade Qi Gathering Pills for the family while concealing a few pills from his true production.
• Li Qianqing visited Li Xunming after the three-year period ended and found that the Variant Spiritual Root cultivator had reached Qi Refining Fifth Layer and was progressing toward the sixth.

Li Qianqing guided Li Xunming’s cultivation and oversaw plans to expand Changqing Mountain’s spirit veins. After receiving a request from the Ma Family to discuss spirit vein land in Wutong Prefecture, he continued cultivating and later rewarded Li Xunming for reaching Qi Refining Sixth Layer ahead of schedule.

• Li Qianqing told Li Xunming he could seek advice after their three-year training period and promised he could temper himself outside Xiangshui Prefecture after reaching Qi Refining Seventh Layer.
• Li Qianyin showed Li Qianqing her successfully refined Spirit Guiding Plates and insisted on delivering them to Changqing Mountain herself.
• Li Qianyin and Duan Rongrong went to Changqing Mountain, where three Micro Spirit Veins were added and Duan Rongrong guided the opening of Second-Order High Grade Spiritual Fields.
• The Ma Family sent Li Qianqing a message asking him to visit before the third month to discuss spirit vein land in Wutong Prefecture.
• Li Xunming told Li Qianqing he had reached Qi Refining Sixth Layer, and Li Qianqing gave him Rank 1 Mid-Grade Qi Gathering Pills to support his cultivation.

Li Qianqing agreed to the Ma Clan’s plan to acquire the Feng Clan’s spirit vein land by intervening after Loose Cultivators attacked, leaving the Li Clan to wait for March and prepare to act. Meanwhile, Li Xingsheng and Shu Shu continued searching for Metal Spirit Ore and found a possible vein.

• Li Qianqing accepted Rank 1 Mid-Grade Qi Gathering Pills for Li Xunming and told Li Qianyin he would be away before visiting the Ma Clan.
• Ma Tianxing showed Li Qianqing a map and proposed using an impending Loose Cultivator attack to take the Feng Clan’s spirit vein land.
• Li Qianqing accepted the plan after confirming the Loose Cultivators had at least an eighty percent chance of destroying the Feng Clan, and learned he would lead the Li Clan’s intervention in March.
• In late February, Li Xingsheng and Shu Shu set out to search for Metal Spirit Ore beyond the area they had already covered around Changqing Mountain.
• Shu Shu found a possible ore vein, and Li Xingsheng asked whether it could be mined.

Li Xingsheng discovered a Metal Spirit Ore that could be mined, and Li Qianqing arranged for the clan to excavate it. Meanwhile, a force of loose cultivators attacked the Feng Clan, broke through its defensive array with Array Breaking Pearls, and prepared to finish off the clan’s cultivators.

• Shu Shu led Li Xingsheng to a mineable Metal Spirit Ore, and Li Xingsheng marked its location on a map.
• Li Xingsheng reported the discovery to Li Qianqing, who promised him additional Contribution Points once the ore was identified and extracted.
• Near the end of February, Li Liqing began excavating at Shu Shu’s marked location, determined to persist until he found the ore.
• A group of loose cultivators, including a one-armed leader, attacked the Feng Clan and overwhelmed its defenders.
• The injured Feng Clan Head ordered the clan’s cultivators to retreat into their defensive spirit array, but the attackers used two Array Breaking Pearls to open gaps in it.

Li Qianqing and Ma Xuanzong wiped out the loose cultivators who had destroyed the Feng Clan, securing its spirit-vein land for the Li Family. Li Qianqing discovered that an unformed Micro Spirit Vein lay beneath the land, while the arriving Lin Clan cultivators departed with suspicions about the Ma Family’s role.

• After the Feng Clan fell, Li Qianqing and Ma Xuanzong emerged from hiding and attacked the scattered loose cultivators.
• Ma Xuanzong killed the Loose Cultivator Leader and a Wind Clan cultivator, while Li Qianqing killed the remaining Qi Refining Ninth Layer cultivator; together they wiped out the attackers.
• Li Qianqing surveyed the newly acquired territory and sensed an unformed Micro Spirit Vein that he estimated would take ten years to form.
• Ma Xuanzong told the arriving Lin Clan cultivators that the loose cultivators had been dealt with and sent them away.
• As the Lin Clan returned home, its leading cultivator warned a clan member not to speculate about the Ma Family’s involvement in the Feng Clan’s destruction.

Ma Xuanzong turned away the Zhu Clan’s late-arriving cultivators, then shared the spoils with Li Qianqing after the Feng Clan’s Spirit Vein Land was secured. The Li Family began arranging cultivators to manage the new holding, while the Ma Family’s account of the events spread through Wutong Prefecture and prompted debate about whether it had engineered the Feng Clan’s fall.

• Ma Xuanzong told the Zhu Clan cultivators to leave, and they departed believing they had come too late to claim the Feng Clan’s Spirit Vein Land.
• Ma Xuanzong returned to the valley, accepted half the gains from Li Qianqing, and left to handle the Ma Family’s follow-up arrangements.
• Li Qianqing sent a Sound Transmission Talisman requesting cultivators to manage the Spirit Vein Land and stayed behind to cultivate secret arts and tend its spiritual fields.
• Li Cunliu and Li Lilong arranged a group of Li Family cultivators to travel to Wutong Prefecture and manage the new holding.
• The Ma Family’s version of events spread, and Wutong Prefecture cultivators debated whether the Ma Family had plotted to take the Feng Clan’s Spirit Vein Land.

After the Ma Family’s actions redirected suspicion toward the Wind Clan, Li Qianqing welcomed the Li Clan’s elders to Luoyun Valley and learned that a spirit mine had been found unusually deep underground. The chapter ended as Li Qianqing asked what kind of spirit mine Li Liqing had excavated.

• Cultivators discussed the Wind Clan cultivator among the Loose Cultivators, while the Wind Clan Patriarch worried about the clan’s growing blame and chose to remain silent.
• Li Qianqing met Li Dihong at Luoyun Valley, the Li Clan’s newly acquired Spirit Vein Land, and showed him its unformed spirit vein without telling the Ma Family.
• Li Dihong agreed to manage Luoyun Valley, and Li Qianqing returned to Changqing Mountain as the Ma Family prepared to announce the land’s transfer.
• Four days later, Li Liqing visited Li Qianqing and revealed that he had dug two li underground to reach a spirit mine.
• Li Qianqing asked Li Liqing what kind of spirit mine he had found.

Li Qianqing discovered that the Li Clan had found a valuable top-tier miniature Spirit Stone Mine and arranged for its mining. Meanwhile, the Li Clan’s acquisition of Spirit Vein Land in Wutong Prefecture alarmed local forces, prompting the Chang Clan and Sun Family to decide to inform Heaven Harmony Sect.

• Li Qianqing surveyed the new Spirit Stone Mine and found it was a top-tier miniature mine that could yield over two hundred thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones across its lifespan.
• Li Qianqing planned to have Mortal Martial Artists mine the deposit and appoint a Late-Stage Qi Refining cultivator to guard and manage it.
• News spread that the Ma Family had transferred the former Feng Family’s Spirit Vein Land to the Xiangshui Li Clan, stirring reactions among Wutong Prefecture’s rogue cultivators and clans.
• Chen Clan Head chose to watch the Li Clan and Ma Family’s next moves, wary that the Li Clan’s arrival could intensify local conflicts.
• Chang Clan Head insisted that the Chang Clan report the Li Clan’s presence to Heaven Harmony Sect, and Sun Wubin agreed after recognizing that their families could no longer control the situation.
• Sun Wubin told Chang Clan Head that a Li Clan cultivator had recently achieved good results at the Four Sects Trial, making Heaven Harmony Sect’s likely response more significant.

Heaven Harmony Sect learned that the Li Clan had secured a spirit-vein land in Wutong Prefecture and quietly prepared to support the Sun and Chang Families. A year later, Li Qianqing began refining Rank 2 Mid-Grade Spirit Enhancement Pills, and Li Xunming ended the chapter by announcing that he had advanced to Late-Stage Qi Refining.

• Heaven Harmony Sect's sect master told the Left Protector that the Li Clan possessed a spirit-vein land in Wutong Prefecture and said he had already prepared a secret response to the Sun and Chang Families' request for aid.
• The sect master said Heaven Harmony Sect should pay attention to Li Qianqing as well as Li Xunting, since Li Qianqing had influenced the Li Clan's rise after reaching Foundation Establishment.
• One year later, Li Qianqing inspected the Chong Ling Fruit and found that the crop planted by the Jiang Family could be harvested soon for Rank 2 Mid-Grade Spirit Enhancement Pills.
• Li Qianqing considered the Li Clan's stable position in Wutong Prefecture and began refining the pills with a new Mid-Grade Spirit Tool Alchemy Furnace.
• Li Qianqing refined his first furnace of pills successfully and continued working through the ingredients at a measured pace.
• Li Xunming visited Li Qianqing and announced that he had reached Late-Stage Qi Refining a month ahead of his goal.

Li Xunming broke through to Qi Refining Seventh Layer, earning Li Qianqing’s reward and permission to travel within Xiangshui Prefecture while the clan’s upper ranks reacted to the threat to their status. More than three years later, Li Qianqing neared a breakthrough to mid-stage Foundation Establishment and received a visitor from the Ding Clan.

• Li Qianqing rewarded Li Xunming for reaching Qi Refining Seventh Layer, let him travel within Xiangshui Prefecture, and set a goal of reaching Qi Refining Ninth Layer within ten years.
• Li Qianqing planned to spread word of Li Xunming’s breakthrough, prompting Qi Refining Eighth Layer cultivators to increase their cultivation efforts to protect their upper-rank status.
• Over the next three years, the first cultivator to reach Qi Refining Seventh Layer under the new rules advanced to Qi Refining Eighth Layer, and the clan’s remaining high-level Qi Refining Seventh Layer cultivators lost their status.
• Li Qianqing assessed his cultivation and pill supply, expecting to reach the peak of Foundation Establishment Early Stage next year and then attempt mid-stage Foundation Establishment.
• Li Qianqing learned that Li Xunming remained near Qi Refining Eighth Layer and expected him to break through that year.
• A Xing Generation cultivator brought a Ding Clan cultivator to meet Li Qianqing at the reception hall.

Li Qianqing learned that the Huang Clan and Qiu Clan of Wutong Prefecture had likely become subordinate to an outside Foundation Establishment force, prompting him to plan earlier outreach there. Li Xingsheng reached the ninth layer of Qi Refining and joined the Li Clan’s core upper echelon, while the chapter ended with a Clear Wind Valley Elder arriving to meet Li Cunliu.

• A Ding Clan cultivator told Li Qianqing that the Huang Clan and Qiu Clan had likely submitted to a Foundation Establishment force from outside Wutong Prefecture.
• Li Qianqing decided the Li Clan would begin contacting Qi Refining clans in Wutong Prefecture by the following year.
• Li Xingsheng broke through to the ninth layer of Qi Refining with Shu Shu watching over him.
• Li Qianqing gave Li Xingsheng a token naming him one of the Li Clan’s core upper echelon and said the clan would seek a Foundation Establishment Pill for him.
• Three months later, a cultivator reported to Li Cunliu that a Foundation Establishment cultivator calling himself a Clear Wind Valley Elder wished to meet him.

Li Cunliu and Li Lilong rebuffed Clear Wind Valley Elder Luo, recognizing that he was acting for Huo Tianling rather than the sect and refusing to provoke him. Luo returned to Huo Tianling empty-handed, reporting that the Li family was harder to deal with than expected.

• Li Cunliu met Elder Luo at Changqing Mountain and became wary when Luo refused his invitation and asked about the Li family's spirit-ore-finding method.
• Li Lilong joined Li Cunliu and silently signaled that Luo did not represent Clear Wind Valley as a whole.
• Luo tried to provoke the Li family into attacking him, but Li Cunliu stayed silent and eventually told him to leave.
• Li Cunliu and Li Lilong discussed Huo Tianling's early moves and decided to strengthen the clan's information gathering.
• Luo returned to Clear Wind Valley and told Huo Tianling that his task had failed because the Li family's cultivators were harder to deal with than he had expected.

Huo Tianling abandoned her attempt to provoke the Li Clan and continued focusing on Yan Xuewei, while Li Qianqing reached Foundation Establishment Early Stage peak and prepared for a future breakthrough. Li Lilong then told him about an upcoming Lu Kingdom auction featuring Foundation Establishment Pills, which Li Qianqing would attend.

• Huo Tianling dismissed Elder Luo after his failed effort to provoke the Li Clan and decided she would need a more subtle approach to trouble them.
• Li Qianqing reached Foundation Establishment Early Stage peak, chose to delay his breakthrough until early June, and continued practicing Bewitching Heart.
• Two months later, Li Lilong visited Li Qianqing and told him that a Lu Kingdom auction in early August would include Foundation Establishment Pills.
• Li Qianqing agreed to attend the auction and planned to set out in July.
• Li Lilong asked when Li Qianqing had reached Foundation Establishment Early Stage peak and recognized that his nephew had advanced faster than he had.

Li Qianqing cultivated Bewitching Heart to Greater Mastery, then broke through to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage and gained a major increase in divine sense strength. As the Lu Kingdom auction approached, he prepared to travel with Li Qianyin, who arrived and noticed his successful breakthrough.

• Li Lilong congratulated Li Qianqing on reaching the peak of the Foundation Establishment Early Stage and wished him a smooth future breakthrough.
• Li Qianyin asked Li Qianqing to bring her to the Lu Kingdom auction, and he agreed.
• Li Qianqing cultivated Bewitching Heart to Greater Mastery and entered seclusion to break through to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.
• After six days, Li Qianqing completed his breakthrough, gained divine sense strength of two hundred and twenty zhang, and learned the Forest-Burning Astral Force divine ability and Blood Escape Technique.
• Li Qianqing resumed cultivation, and in mid-July Li Qianyin came to set out with him for the approaching auction and noticed his new cultivation stage.