Chapter Summaries

Li Xingsheng began foundation establishment at Changqing Mountain with a Foundation Establishment Pill, while Li Qianqing looked after Shu Shu. At Luoyun Valley, Li Xunchen reached Qi Refining Ninth Layer Peak and learned that an elder from the Shi Family had come seeking an audience.

• Li Xingsheng asked Li Qianqing to care for Shu Shu during his foundation establishment, and Li Qianqing agreed.
• Li Cunliu gave Li Xingsheng a Foundation Establishment Pill, and Li Xingsheng entered the family’s foundation-establishment cave abode to begin his breakthrough.
• Li Qianqing fed Shu Shu a Mid-Grade Spirit Stone while continuing to cultivate.
• Li Xunchen reached Qi Refining Ninth Layer Peak and concluded that the next Foundation Establishment Pill was meant for him.
• Li Xunyu told Li Xunchen that an elder from the Shi Family had arrived seeking an audience.

Li Xunchen met with Shi Clan Elder, who agreed to make the Shi Clan a subordinate force of the Li Family under set tribute terms, pending an investigation. Afterward, Ding Yuanchun arrived to request the same for the Ding Clan, and Li Xunchen asked why the clan wanted to change its existing relationship with the Li Family.

• Li Xunchen received Shi Clan Elder and explained the Li Family’s conditions for accepting the Shi Clan as a subordinate force.
• Shi Clan Elder presented the Shi Clan’s annual resources, agreed to provide one hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones, two thousand jin of White Corn, and thirty Little Sun Flowers, and accepted a pending investigation.
• Li Xunyu told Li Xunchen that a cultivator from the Ding Clan had come to see him, and Shi Clan Elder left in good spirits.
• Ding Yuanchun told Li Xunchen that the Ding Clan wanted to become a subordinate force of the Li Family.
• Li Xunchen asked Ding Yuanchun why the Ding Clan wanted the change, and Ding Yuanchun said the current cooperation had problems for the Li Family.

The Ding Clan and Shi Family became affiliated forces of the Li Family, while Li Xingsheng successfully established his foundation. Li Qianqing learned of the breakthrough and decided that Li Xingsheng and Li Xunming would hold their Foundation Establishment Banquets together.

• Ding Yuanchun explained the Ding Clan's support for the Li Family, and Li Xunchen offered favorable affiliation terms that the Ding Clan accepted.
• Half a month later, the Shi Family also became an affiliated force of the Li Family.
• After two months in seclusion, Li Xingsheng broke through to the Foundation Establishment Realm and stabilized his cultivation.
• Li Cunliu and Li Lilong congratulated Li Xingsheng, whose breakthrough raised the Li Family to seven Foundation Establishment cultivators.
• Li Xunming told Li Qianqing about his travels in the Lu Kingdom, and Li Qianqing proposed holding his Foundation Establishment Banquet together with Li Xingsheng's.

As Li Xingsheng’s Foundation Establishment and the joint banquet with Li Xunming strengthened the Li Clan’s reputation, clans across Xiangshui Prefecture weighed whether to submit to its growing influence. At the banquet, Huang Zhifeng hoped to secure the Li Clan’s support for the declining Huang Clan, while Chen Changsheng nervously approached Changqing Mountain despite his clan’s ties to the Jiang Clan.

• News of Li Xingsheng’s Foundation Establishment spread, and cultivators speculated about the Li Clan’s growing power and its joint banquet with Li Xunming.
• The independent Gao Clan debated whether to become a Li Clan subordinate, while the Ye Clan’s leaders celebrated their earlier decision to submit.
• On the eighth day of the eighth month, guests arrived at Changqing Mountain for Li Xingsheng and Li Xunming’s joint Foundation Establishment Banquet, bringing separate gifts for each cultivator.
• Huang Zhifeng brought generous gifts because he feared the Huang Clan would lose its Foundation Establishment status when his remaining lifespan ended.
• Chen Changsheng entered Li Clan territory anxiously, hoping the Li Clan would receive the Wutong Chen Clan favorably despite its former ties to the Jiang Clan.

Li Qianqing welcomed Chen Changsheng to the Li Family’s Foundation Establishment Banquet and judged that the Chen Clan’s visit showed an opportunity for friendly relations. After the banquet for Li Xingsheng and Li Xunming ended, he stayed behind to discuss important matters with Yan Xuewei.

• Chen Changsheng arrived at Changqing Mountain, and Li Qianqing greeted him warmly and sent Li Xunxin to escort him to the banquet.
• Chen Changsheng decided the Li Family had treated the Chen Clan with enough friendliness to warrant giving the two new Foundation Establishment cultivators generous congratulatory gifts.
• Ma Xuanzong welcomed Chen Changsheng, and the two discussed their clans’ improved relations as more guests arrived.
• Li Qianqing waited for Yan Xuewei, then walked with her to the banquet and learned that Duan Rongrong was in seclusion.
• Li Xingsheng and Li Xunming’s Foundation Establishment Banquet began, with Li Xunting absent because she was guarding Luoyun Valley.
• After the other guests had left, Yan Xuewei stayed behind to discuss important matters with Li Qianqing.

Li Qianqing agreed to have the Li Clan search for Ghost Daoist so Yan Xuewei could complete a Clear Wind Valley mission, then discussed Li Xingsheng’s plans for beast taming. A month after his Foundation Establishment banquet, Li Xingsheng reassessed his contracted demon beasts and changed his plans for a Second Order beast.

• Yan Xuewei told Li Qianqing about Ghost Daoist, a dangerous Loose Cultivator, and asked the Li Clan to report any information about his whereabouts so she could handle him.
• Li Qianqing agreed to have the clan watch for Ghost Daoist and learned that Yan Xuewei had gained an advantage over Huo Tianling.
• Li Qianqing asked Li Xingsheng about his plans, and Li Xingsheng said he intended to contract a Second Order Early-Stage demon beast with potential.
• At Azure Wave Lake, Li Xingsheng sensed that Pao Pao the Iron Carp had a chance to reach Second Order and changed his plan to focus on raising it and the Wind Cloud Horse.

Li Xingsheng entered the Ten Thousand Mountain Marshlands with Shu Shu to find a battle-capable demon beast to contract. He found a Second Order Early-Stage Flame Turtle and offered to help it grow in exchange for becoming his contracted beast, leaving the decision to the hesitant turtle.

• Li Xingsheng raised the priority of cultivating the Iron Carp Pao Pao, then fed Shu Shu and remained confident it could eventually reach the Second Order.
• Two years later, Li Xingsheng entered the Ten Thousand Mountain Marshlands with Shu Shu to seek a powerful demon beast through communication rather than force.
• Shu Shu discovered Metal Spirit Ore, which Li Xingsheng marked on his map before continuing deeper into the marshlands.
• Li Xingsheng found a Second Order Early-Stage Flame Turtle with potential to reach the Third Order and approached it without hiding his aura.
• Li Xingsheng offered to help the Flame Turtle cultivate and possibly break through to the Third Order if it became his contracted demon beast, and the turtle hesitated.

Li Xingsheng contracted a Second Order Early-Stage Flame Turtle named Changming under an Equality Contract and found it a home on Changqing Mountain. Later, Li Qianqing questioned Li Xunchen about delaying foundation establishment, and Li Xunchen admitted he feared failing after other family members had succeeded; Li Qianqing began reminding him of what he had said as a child.

• Li Xingsheng signed an Equality Contract with the Flame Turtle Changming, who was delighted by the arrangement and grew to trust him.
• Li Xingsheng introduced Changming to Shu Shu, then returned with them to Changqing Mountain.
• Li Lilong found Changming a spiritual-energy-rich lake near Li Xingsheng's cave dwelling, and Changming happily accepted it as his new home.
• Li Qianqing summoned Li Xunchen and asked why he had spent nearly three years preparing for foundation establishment.
• Li Xunchen told Li Qianqing that he feared failing after Seventeenth Uncle succeeded, and Li Qianqing recognized the pressure behind his delay.
• Li Qianqing began asking Li Xunchen to remember what he had said when he was little.

Li Qianqing encouraged Li Xunchen to overcome his fear of Foundation Establishment, confirmed Li Qiuling’s talent for alchemy, and learned that Ghost Daoist was in a neighboring prefecture. He chose to hunt Ghost Daoist himself and, after arriving in Hufeng County under disguise, sensed someone watching him as his plan advanced.

• Li Qianqing reassured Li Xunchen that failure at Foundation Establishment was not a reason to delay, and Li Xunchen decided to attempt it within three months.
• Li Qiuling showed Li Qianqing his Rank 1 Low-Grade Qi Gathering Pills, and Li Qianqing judged that he had exceptional alchemy talent.
• Li Xinggao reported that Ghost Daoist had been spotted in Ziyun Prefecture, and Li Qianqing decided to deal with him personally to protect Yan Xuewei and the Li Family.
• Li Qianqing told Li Qianyin he was leaving to hunt Ghost Daoist, then traveled in disguise to Hufeng County Cultivator Market.
• On his second day at the market, Li Qianqing sensed someone watching him and decided to begin the next step of his plan.

Li Qianqing baited Ghost Daoist into attacking him, then used Bewitching Heart and a spiritual weapon to kill and capture him. He brought Ghost Daoist’s head to Clear Wind Valley, where Yan Xuewei confirmed the kill and asked what reward he wanted.

• Li Qianqing displayed his wealth at Hufeng County Cultivator Market, then left and waited for the cultivator following him to attack.
• Ghost Daoist followed Li Qianqing outside Hufeng County, but Li Qianqing revealed his Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivation and trapped him with Bewitching Heart.
• Li Qianqing killed Ghost Daoist, sealed his head to prevent his escape, and collected his bags and two ghost-raising bags.
• Li Qianqing traveled to Clear Wind Valley and met Yan Xuewei, teasing her with the good news he had brought.
• Yan Xuewei guessed that Li Qianqing had eliminated Ghost Daoist, and he showed her the head; she asked what reward he wanted.

Yan Xuewei completed the Ghost Daoist mission with the Li Clan’s help, strengthening her position to obtain Clear Wind Valley’s Core Formation resource while Huo Tianling despaired of competing for it. Li Xunchen successfully established his foundation, bringing the Li Clan to eight Foundation Establishment cultivators and tied for second in the Zhao Kingdom, and Li Cunliu asked what he planned to do next.

• Yan Xuewei identified Ghost Daoist’s head, and Li Qianqing congratulated her while declining any reward for the Li Clan.
• Li Qianqing spoke with Duan Rongrong and then left Clear Wind Valley; Yan Xuewei submitted the completed Grade A mission to kill Ghost Daoist.
• Huo Tianling learned Yan Xuewei had completed the mission and concluded the Li Clan had killed Ghost Daoist, leaving her with little chance to claim the sect’s Core Formation resource.
• Li Qianqing assessed his cultivation progress and received Li Cunliu’s news that Li Xunchen had successfully established his foundation.
• Li Xunchen told Li Cunliu about his smooth Foundation Establishment, and Li Cunliu asked where he planned to go next.

Li Xunchen chose to remain on Changqing Mountain after establishing his foundation, and his success brought the Li Clan to eight Foundation Establishment cultivators. As more Xiangshui clans became subordinate to the Li Clan and the Chen Clan maintained its friendly ties, Li Qianqing finished refining pills for the Wutong Ma Family.

• Li Xunchen chose Changqing Mountain, exchanged for two Spirit Solidification Pills, and began consolidating his cultivation in his new cave residence.
• Li Xunchen's Foundation Establishment Banquet drew more Qi Refining cultivators, and the Xiangshui Gao Clan decided to become subordinate to the Li Clan.
• Several Qi Refining clans approached the Li Clan to become subordinate forces, while some others refused and committed themselves to resisting its control.
• Chen Changsheng brought the Li Xunchen banquet invitation to the Chen Clan Head, who accepted it as evidence that the Li Clan wanted to maintain friendly relations with the Chen Clan.
• Chen Changsheng told the Chen Clan Head that the Ma Family might produce another Foundation Establishment cultivator within ten years, and the Chen Clan Head urged their three Foundation Establishment Seeds to work hard.
• Li Qianqing completed ten furnaces of Rank 2 Low-Grade Spirit Enhancement Pills for the Wutong Ma Family without producing a failed pill.

Li Qianqing completed the Ma Clan’s Rank 2 Low-Grade Spirit Enhancement Pills and met with Li Qianyin after she broke through to Foundation Establishment middle stage. He then agreed to help the Ma Clan destroy the Chang Family, leaving the details contingent on whether the Ma Clan gained another Foundation Establishment cultivator.

• Li Qianqing finished refining thirty furnaces of pills for the Ma Clan, producing one hundred seventy Spirit Enhancement Pills.
• Li Qianyin visited Li Qianqing and told him she had reached Foundation Establishment middle stage; they discussed the clan’s growing need for pills and Spirit Tools.
• Li Qianqing delivered eighteen bottles of pills to Ma Tianxing and Ma Xuanzong at the Ma Clan.
• Ma Tianxing proposed attacking the Chang Family if a Ma Clan member successfully established Foundation Establishment and asked the Li Family to send three Foundation Establishment cultivators.
• Li Qianqing agreed, and Ma Tianxing promised the Li Family at least two Micro Spirit Veins from the Chang Family’s lands.
• Ma Tianxing considered proceeding with the attack even if the Ma Clan failed to gain another Foundation Establishment cultivator, in which case the Li Family would receive a larger share.

Yan Xuewei obtained Clear Wind Valley’s Core Formation Spiritual Object after completing the Ghost Daoist mission, while Li Qianqing mourned Li Ditu’s death and received Chen Changsheng’s request for help against the Chang Family. The chapter ended with Chen Changsheng asking whether the Li Family would commit some of its strength to the plan.

• The Valley Master told Yan Xuewei that the sect’s Core Formation Spiritual Object was reserved for her, but she had to exchange one thousand Merit Points for it within ten years.
• Yan Xuewei used her Merit Points to obtain the Core Formation Spiritual Object, then told Li Qianqing and Duan Rongrong the good news.
• Li Qianqing reflected on Li Ditu’s death and the family’s growing Foundation Establishment ranks.
• Two years later, Li Xingsheng saw Changming thriving and Shu Shu reach the peak of the first order, giving Shu Shu second-order ore to aid its breakthrough.
• Chen Changsheng visited Li Qianqing and asked the Li Family to contribute some of its strength to the Ma Family’s planned action against the Chang Family.

Li Qianqing agreed to support the Chen Family’s campaign against the Sun Family, while the Huang Clan prepared to become a subordinate of the Li Family after Huang Zhifeng’s death. Nearly three years later, Li Qianqing was nearing Foundation Establishment Late Stage, and Huang Xinzhong arrived to meet him.

• Li Qianqing promised the Chen Family one Foundation Establishment cultivator and additional Qi Refining support to attack the Sun Family, in exchange for an equal share of the gains.
• Li Qianqing reviewed the Li Family’s growth and hoped Yan Xuewei would successfully form her core.
• After Huang Zhifeng died, Huang Xinzhong ended the Huang Clan’s subordinate agreements and offered to bring the clan under the Li Family.
• Huang Xinzhong persuaded the three former subordinate families to join the Li Family and pay fifty percent more in annual resources.
• At ninety years old, Li Qianqing finished cultivating and received word that Huang Xinzhong had requested an audience.

Huang Xinzhong secured the Huang Clan’s affiliation with the Li Family after the clan’s ancestor died, negotiating terms that preserved all three Micro Spirit Veins at Pingding Mountain. Li Qianqing also accepted three former Huang Clan affiliates, while anticipating that the Li Family would eventually control Xiangshui Prefecture.

• Huang Xinzhong told Li Qianqing that the Huang Clan’s ancestor had died and asked to affiliate the clan with the Li Family after ending its ties with Clear Wind Valley.
• Huang Xinzhong offered Ningnong Mountain and yearly resources, but Li Qianqing let the Huang Clan keep its ancestral spirit veins in exchange for four times its former resource contribution.
• Li Qianqing agreed to accept three Qi Refining clans formerly affiliated with the Huang Clan on terms that required fifty percent more resources than they had previously offered.
• Li Qianqing marked the four newly affiliated forces on his map and expected the remaining Qi Refining forces to join or lose their spirit veins after he formed his core.
• Huang Xinzhong returned to Pingding Mountain and told the clan’s leaders that they would offer four times the resources while keeping all their ancestral Micro Spirit Veins, shocking Huang Yida.

After the Li Clan treated the Huang Clan generously, more Qi Refining clans considered becoming its attached forces, while the Ma Clan prepared to attack the Chang Family with Li Clan support. At Changqing Mountain, Li Qianyin failed to refine her first High-Grade Spirit Tool, and the Li Clan’s influence had grown to include nearly eighty percent of Xiangshui Prefecture’s Qi Refining clans.

• Huang Xinzhong explained that the Li Clan had left all three Micro Spirit Veins on Pingding Mountain, and the Huang Clan agreed to rearrange its spiritual fields and resources.
• News of the Huang Clan’s transition back to a Qi Refining clan spread through Xiangshui Prefecture, prompting top-tier Qi Refining clans to debate becoming attached to the Li Clan.
• Ma Tianxing discussed the planned attack on the Chang Family with Ma Xuanzong and the newly established Ma Guiting, keeping Guiting’s foundation establishment secret while preparing him for battle.
• Ma Tianxing assigned Ma Xuanzong to visit Changqing Mountain to coordinate with the Li Clan before the operation against the Chang Family.
• Li Qianyin told Li Qianqing that her first attempt to refine a High-Grade Spirit Tool had failed, and he comforted her.
• The Li Clan’s attached forces continued to grow until nearly eighty percent of Xiangshui Prefecture’s Qi Refining clans were attached to it, and Changqing Mountain gained a ninth Micro Spirit Vein.

Li Qianqing and Ma Xuanzong agreed on when the Li and Ma Families would attack the Chang Family, after Ma Xuanzong revealed that the Ma Family had secretly gained another Foundation Establishment cultivator. They planned to strike on the sixth day of the tenth month, with five Foundation Establishment cultivators and no Qi Refining support.

• Li Qianyin discussed Changqing Mountain’s new Micro Spirit Vein and returned to her cave dwelling to reflect on her recent failure.
• A family cultivator told Li Qianqing that Ma Xuanzong was waiting in the reception hall, and Li Qianyin left with Li Qianqing.
• Ma Xuanzong told Li Qianqing that a Ma Family Foundation Establishment Seed had succeeded earlier in the year, a fact the Ma Family had concealed from the Chang Family.
• Li Qianqing and Ma Xuanzong agreed to attack the Chang Family on the sixth day of the tenth month, avoiding the Li Family’s September spiritual-root testing.
• Ma Xuanzong said the Ma Family would provide two Foundation Establishment cultivators, joining the Li Family’s three, and would not need Qi Refining cultivators.

The Li Clan arranged support for the Ma Clan’s campaign against the Chang Clan and the Chen Clan’s campaign against the Sun Family. The clans began deploying their forces in the tenth month, and the chapter ended as Ma Clan cultivators took positions around a Chang Clan spirit vein land before the attack.

• Li Qianqing agreed to send three Foundation Establishment cultivators to assist the Ma Clan and promised Qi Refining cultivators to support the Chen Clan.
• Chen Changsheng secured Li Clan support for the Sun Family operation, including at least ten Late-Stage and fifteen Mid-Stage Qi Refining cultivators.
• Li Qianqing traveled to the Chen Clan with twelve Late-Stage and eighteen Mid-Stage Qi Refining cultivators, and he and Chen Changsheng planned attacks on two Sun Family spirit vein lands.
• Ma Tianxing assigned Li Lilong, Li Xunting, and Li Xunming to join the Ma Clan’s Foundation Establishment cultivators in attacking the Chang Clan.
• On the night of the sixth day of the tenth month, Ma Huang Gong and Ma Huang Xing led Qi Refining cultivators to guard escape routes around a Chang Clan spirit vein land.

Li Xunming helped the Ma Clan attack the Chang Clan, killing its cultivators at a spirit vein land while Ma Xuanzong, Li Lilong, and Li Xunting besieged the Chang Clan Ancestral Land. The Chang Clan Head sought help from the Tian Clan, whose leaders debated whether the cost of intervening was worth the risk of facing five Foundation Establishment cultivators.

• Li Xunming killed Chang Clan cultivators at a spirit vein land, including a Ninth Layer Qi Refining cultivator, while Ma Clan cultivators sealed the exits.
• Ma Xuanzong, Li Lilong, and Li Xunting attacked the Chang Clan Ancestral Land and forced the Chang Clan Head to activate its defensive spirit array.
• The Chang Clan Head learned that its other spirit vein lands were under attack, ordered their cultivators to flee, and asked the Tian Clan and Sun Family for support.
• The Tian Clan held a meeting and learned the Ma Clan and Li Clan had committed five Foundation Establishment cultivators to the assault.
• The Tian Clan debated refusing the Chang Clan's offer of two spirit vein lands, judging that supporting it would require three of their own Foundation Establishment cultivators and risk conflict with the Li Clan.