Chapter Summaries

Li Xiuchang joined Senior Brother Mo Tu on a trip to a hidden mine, where he put his Wolf Souls to work and learned more about cultivating ghosts. Mo Tu then offered him vacant medicinal fields, and Li Xiuchang discovered an eerie village concealed nearby.

• Li Xiuchang planted Senior Brother Chu Ya's Bitter Love Chrysanthemums and considered delaying his Second-grade Spirit Planter examination so he could stay in the Eastern Geng District.
• After Senior Brother Mo Tu summoned him, Li Xiuchang packed his Wolf Souls and traveled with him by flying carriage, learning ghost-cultivation knowledge during their games of Gomoku.
• Mo Tu led Li Xiuchang through an Illusion Array to a Frost Cold Profound Copper Mine, where more than a hundred ghosts labored.
• Li Xiuchang released twenty Wolf Souls to help mine and then left with Mo Tu, who offered him vacant medicinal fields for planting First-grade Spirit Plants.
• Mo Tu revealed a village hidden by another Illusion Array, and Li Xiuchang noticed signs that its residents were not ordinary villagers.

Li Xiuchang settled into a secluded New Demonic Path village, where he cooked spirit dishes for the villagers and gathered feedback. He then chose two Second-tier Fierce Ghosts as livestock and tested the Paw Patrol’s battle formation on a Tiger Spirit.

• Senior Brother Mo left Li Xiuchang in the village to plant Spirit Plants and said he would return in about half a month.
• Li Xiuchang cooked his specialty spirit dishes for the villagers, including three New Demonic Path cultivators he had met before, and received suggestions about the dishes.
• The toothless old man offered Li Xiuchang two Fierce Ghosts from the village’s livestock pens, and the three demonic cultivators explained that the village captured and cultivated them.
• Li Xiuchang entered the building holding the Fierce Ghosts, dismissed the First-tier ghosts, and selected two Late Second Tier ghosts.
• Li Xiuchang released the Paw Patrol and tested the Yin-Yang Seven Wolves Battle Formation against a Tiger Spirit, then stopped them before they devoured it.
• Li Xiuchang sealed the badly injured Tiger Spirit inside the Rainbow Soul Banner and said he would handle the next ghost himself.

Li Xiuchang subdued a late-second-tier Ape Spirit, received intelligence about a Soul Demonic Path stronghold, and returned to the Immortal Dust Sect. After reporting the information and focusing on cooking practice, he received a message from Yan Xue praising his contribution.

• Li Xiuchang fought a late-second-tier Ape Spirit to hone his combat skills, then used Soul Breaking Arrow and the Rainbow Soul Banner to capture it.
• Wei Zhenyang told Li Xiuchang where to find a Soul Demonic Path stronghold as repayment for his help.
• Li Xiuchang left the village with Mo Tu, who asked whether he knew how to combine same-kind Yin Souls under his command.
• The Immortal Dust Sect introduced a rule restricting the cooking and eating of foul-smelling food after Snail Noodles became popular.
• Li Xiuchang reported the stronghold's location to Yan Song and began preparing for the Culinary Star Championship.
• More than a month later, Yan Xue messaged Li Xiuchang that he had rendered great service.

After the sect captured a Black Soul Sect stronghold, Elder Xu recruited Li Xiuchang to impersonate its envoy and investigate the Blood Flower Sect’s plan to release a sealed demon. The sect promised to help him establish his Foundation and offered additional rewards, leaving Li Xiuchang ready to take advantage of the deal.

• Yan Xue summoned Li Xiuchang to the General Affairs Hall, where he met Elder Xu and Yan Song.
• Yan Song explained that a captured Black Soul Sect elder revealed the Blood Flower Sect was organizing the four great Demonic Path factions to break a demon’s seal.
• Elder Xu asked Li Xiuchang to impersonate the Black Soul Sect’s envoy, citing his black magic power, Soul Banner, and Yin souls as convincing signs of a demonic cultivator.
• Elder Xu promised to provide whatever resources Li Xiuchang needed to establish his Foundation within six months and offered him a special path into the inner sect if he reached late Foundation Establishment before age forty.
• Li Xiuchang accepted the arrangement and requested rewards including Beast King Bone Powder, medicinal-field access, and insect-type spirit beast eggs.

Li Xiuchang secured Beast King Bone Powder and other resources by accepting a dangerous sect mission, then used his Length Value to expand the bone powder and tested its effects. After drinking the soup, he found that his Vajra Dharma Image had grown taller.

• Li Xiuchang negotiated with Elder Xu for Beast King Bone Powder, medicinal field rights, and insect eggs, and asked for advance rewards and protection before accepting the sect mission.
• Elder Xu promised protective treasures and elder backup, then gave Li Xiuchang a token for cultivation resources and free Spirit Vein chamber access.
• Li Xiuchang collected supplies, took the Paw Patrol and Su Qingchun's yin soul to a Heaven-grade Spirit Vein chamber, and decided to switch from the Culinary Star Championship to the Future Ghost King Championship.
• Senior Brother Yan Song gave Li Xiuchang the specially approved Beast King Bone Powder and urged him to focus on Foundation Establishment, while mentioning Pang Yuanfu as the sect's backup bait for the Desire Demon Sect.
• Li Xiuchang used two inches of Length Value to turn two qian of Beast King Bone Powder into dozens of jin, then cooked and drank the powder as soup.
• After the bone soup strengthened his bones, Li Xiuchang summoned his Vajra Dharma Image and saw that its height had increased.

Li Xiuchang advanced his Body Cultivation and prepared for the Future Ghost King Championship, where he reunited with Wang Long and Zhang Wanzhi at the crowded competition square. After registering for the Soul Master event, he learned it would test ghost capturing, controlling, and nurturing, and noticed that only a few contestants had arrived.

• Li Xiuchang drank Beast King Bone Broth daily, passed the first-tier Soul Master assessment, and signed up for the Future Ghost King Championship.
• Over four months, Li Xiuchang reached the late stage of second-tier Body Cultivation as his Vajra Dharma Image grew nearly one zhang tall and his bones developed jade-like marks.
• Li Xiuchang arrived at the outer sect square and encountered Wang Long and Zhang Wanzhi, who were participating in the Spirit Chef and Talisman Path competitions.
• Wang Long was astonished that Li Xiuchang had reached the Ninth Layer of Qi Condensation, while Li Xiuchang said he would explain after the competition.
• Li Xiuchang registered for the Soul Master competition and received rules stating that its three events would test ghost capturing, controlling, and nurturing.

Li Xiuchang dominated the Ghost Capturing event and used his experience to train a group of malevolent spirits for the Ghost Controlling event. His Ox Soul-led formation smashed all ten defensive barriers, leaving him with a likely perfect score.

• Li Xiuchang captured all eight First-tier malevolent spirits and the Second-tier spirit in under three minutes, earning a perfect score in Ghost Capturing.
• The referee began Ghost Controlling, where contestants had to use nine malevolent spirits to practice the Nine Ghost Hidden Kill Formation and break defensive barriers.
• Li Xiuchang persuaded the Second-tier Ox Soul to lead and train the eight First-tier malevolent spirits while he watched.
• When the practice time ended, Li Xiuchang ordered the Ox Soul to launch the formation, and the nine malevolent spirits shattered all ten defensive barriers.

Li Xiuchang relied on Wangcai’s loyalty to enter the third-round Ghost Nurturing competition with his Second Order Yin Soul. Wangcai advanced through the Qi Condensation puppets by brute force, but struggled against a Ninth Layer puppet because it could not understand Li Xiuchang’s attempts to point out its weakness, leaving Li Xiuchang racing to catch up with a rival.

• Li Xiuchang earned full marks in the second round by advising the Second Order Ox Soul, then returned the Yin Souls to the sect.
• The referee announced that contestants had to release their Soul Taming Seals and use their strongest Yin Souls to fight Spiritual Energy Puppets without help from their Spiritual Sense.
• Li Xiuchang released Wangcai in the illusion array, and Wangcai stayed by his side after the Soul Taming Seal was removed.
• Wangcai defeated the first two puppets with ease, then struggled against a Ninth Layer Qi Condensation puppet because it ignored Li Xiuchang’s attempts to signal its weakness.
• A rival First Order Soul Master guided a Monkey Soul to defeat the Ninth Layer puppet, forcing Li Xiuchang to help Wangcai catch up and overcome the puppets that followed.

Li Xiuchang won the Tier 1 division of the Future Ghost King Championship and collected his reward before watching the Talisman Path Has Fortune Championship with Wang Long. Zhang Wanzhi dominated the talisman finals but withdrew at the last moment, leaving the championship to another contestant while drawing the crowd’s attention.

• Wangcai defeated a Foundation Establishment puppet by biting its ankle, earning Li Xiuchang the Tier 1 championship.
• Li Xiuchang rejected the offered Ox Soul, accepted the sect’s Tier 2 Human Soul reward, and learned it was the wicked fiendish cultivator Fan Liang.
• Li Xiuchang collected a Foundation Establishment Pill and bought Third-grade Talismans to prepare for his upcoming meeting with the demonic path.
• Wang Long was eliminated from the talisman competition, and Li Xiuchang told him he had won his own championship.
• Zhang Wanzhi swept into the talisman finals and led the field, then withdrew at the last moment and forfeited his results and reward.

After the Talisman Dao Blessing Championship, Li Xiuchang told Zhang Wanzhi and Wang Long about the sect’s support for his rapid advancement. Back in the Heaven-Grade Spirit Vein Chamber, he prepared his Yin Souls for further cultivation and freed Su Qingchun from his Soul Taming Seal, but Su Qingchun chose to follow him and accepted a new seal.

• Zhang Wanzhi invited Li Xiuchang and Wang Long to Eastern Geng District No. 1, where Li explained how the sect was helping him reach Foundation Establishment.
• Li Xiuchang told them he planned to conceal his Foundation Establishment until the final month so he could continue benefiting from the sect’s support.
• Li Xiuchang brought Paw Patrol, Su Qingchun, and Fan Liang’s Yin Soul into the Heaven-Grade Spirit Vein Chamber, where Fan Liang began cultivating while plotting to escape.
• Li Xiuchang purged Malevolent Energy from Su Qingchun and discovered that Su Qingchun had recovered his consciousness.
• Li Xiuchang removed Su Qingchun’s Soul Taming Seal and offered him the choice to leave or stay as a fellow cultivator.
• Su Qingchun chose to follow Li Xiuchang and agreed that Li Xiuchang should establish a new Soul Taming Seal.

Li Xiuchang passed the First-tier Alchemist examination and strengthened Paw Patrol and his other Yin Souls while preparing for an upcoming mission. After learning about Li Xiuchang’s many other achievements, Zhao Yuansi misunderstood his alchemy progress and decided to speak with him, but Li Xiuchang was busy preparing to allocate attributes.

• Li Xiuchang studied alchemy intensively, passed the First-tier Alchemist examination, and harvested the Gloomy Chill Flowers.
• Li Xiuchang fed a Late Second Tier Fierce Ghost’s soul body to Paw Patrol, helping ten of its twelve Late First Tier Wolf Souls break through to the Second Tier.
• Li Xiuchang gave part of the Fierce Ghost’s soul body to Su Qingchun and found that Su Qingchun produced less Malevolent Energy than the Wolf Souls.
• Zhao Yuansi learned that Li Xiuchang had passed the alchemy examination, then discovered his achievements in spirit planting, spirit cooking, and Soul Mastery.
• Zhao Yuansi reconsidered his anger, blamed himself for possibly pressuring Li Xiuchang, and messaged him to visit Zhao Manor.
• Li Xiuchang received Zhao Yuansi’s message but was occupied replacing the magical power in his dantian with solidified magical power before allocating attributes.

Li Xiuchang reached Foundation Establishment Late Stage while strengthening his Yin Souls, then visited Pang Yuanfu to flaunt his breakthrough and went to see Zhao Yuansi. He persuaded Zhao Yuansi that he still intended to pursue Pill Dao, leaving his master unsure but impressed by his progress.

• Li Xiuchang accumulated solid magical power and advanced to Foundation Establishment Late Stage, while Wangcai, Su Qingchun, and the rest of the Paw Patrol reached the Second Tier.
• Li Xiuchang concealed his cultivation as Foundation Establishment Early Stage, told Yan Xue he had reached Foundation Establishment, and decided to visit Zhao Yuansi.
• Li Xiuchang visited Pang Yuanfu and revealed his breakthrough, leaving Pang Yuanfu envious and shaken.
• Li Xiuchang brought homemade Spirit Dishes to Zhao Yuansi, who offered to let him stop studying Pill Dao and follow his stronger talents.
• Li Xiuchang claimed his four techniques formed a self-sufficient enterprise and insisted he loved Pill Dao, persuading Zhao Yuansi that he had kept up with all his studies.

Li Xiuchang joined Elder Xu on a mission to impersonate a Black Soul Sect envoy and infiltrate the ruins of Nine Peaks Temple near Immortal Shade. After the sect captured the envoy Tang Yan, Li Xiuchang took his identity and prepared to enter the ruins, while more than a dozen elders stood by to protect him.

• Zhao Yuansi offered Li Xiuchang a Guest Alchemist Master position at Danxiang Tower and lent him three Confucian books.
• Elder Xu took Li Xiuchang out of the sect to investigate the Black Soul Sect envoy headed for Nine Peaks Temple, and Li Xiuchang persuaded him to travel by flying boat.
• Elder Xu explained that Li Xiuchang would impersonate the envoy, warned him to stay out of Immortal Shade, and outfitted him with protective treasures.
• Elder Liu captured Tang Yan, the Black Soul Sect envoy, and gave Li Xiuchang his identity token, storage bag, and the captive in a Beast Taming Bag.
• Li Xiuchang prepared to take Tang Yan's place as more than a dozen Immortal Dust Sect elders revealed themselves and promised to protect him.

Li Xiuchang investigated Nine Peaks Temple’s Third Peak and followed a mysterious fiend’s order to make a malevolent spirit attack its Buddha statue. After all nine statues were attacked, the Blood Demonic Path expert escaped, and the Buddha light transported Li Xiuchang away, leaving Elder Liu unable to find him.

• Li Xiuchang transferred Tang Yan’s malevolent spirits into his Rainbow Soul Banner and flew to Nine Peaks Temple.
• Li Xiuchang searched the Third Peak’s grand hall but found nothing unusual.
• Elder Liu told Li Xiuchang that eight suspected demonic-force cultivators had entered the temple’s other peaks.
• A mysterious voice ordered Li Xiuchang to control a malevolent spirit and attack the Buddha statue’s palm, and Li Xiuchang complied when the elders did not stop him.
• After all nine Buddha statues were attacked, Elder Liu reported that the Blood Demonic Path expert had escaped and tried to evacuate Li Xiuchang.
• Golden Buddha light blocked Elder Liu, enveloped Li Xiuchang, and made him vanish; Elder Liu found no trace of him.

Li Xiuchang and eight demonic cultivators were teleported into a dangerous underground palace, which he suspected was inside the Immortal Shade. When Buddhist corpses attacked the explorers, Li Xiuchang discovered that his Vajra Dharma Image made them treat him as an ally.

• Li Xiuchang arrived in the underground palace with envoys from the Blood Flower Sect, Bloodthirsty Sect, Desire Demon Sect, and Black Soul Sect, but none knew the plan or how to contact their elders.
• The nine cultivators searched for an exit, and a Blood Flower Sect cultivator reported that a Buddhist corpse had attacked him, prompting the group to explore in pairs.
• Li Xiuchang suspected they had been abandoned inside the Immortal Shade after recalling that a Blood Demonic Path powerhouse monitoring Nine Peaks Temple had fled.
• A Buddhist corpse suppressed Li Xiuchang's Yin Soul Wolf King, but stopped attacking when Li Xiuchang manifested his Vajra Dharma Image.
• Li Xiuchang cautiously searched the corpse and left unharmed, realizing that the Buddhist corpses considered him one of their own.

Li Xiuchang decided to capture the eight demon cultivators after they reached the underground palace’s suspected exit, planning to use the Buddhist Corpses to his advantage. As they charged into the hall, all eight turned on him before he could act.

• Li Xiuchang searched the underground palace, found nothing, and joined the others after Zhang Mao and Yang Qiming reported finding an exit guarded by Buddhist Corpses.
• The nine cultivators reached a Buddhist hall filled with more than a hundred Buddhist Corpses and retreated when the corpses attacked.
• Li Xiuchang fought off one pursuing Buddhist Corpse with Paw Patrol, then grew frustrated when the other cultivators refused to help.
• Li Xiuchang decided to capture the eight demon cultivators and proposed that they charge together toward the exit.
• As the Buddhist Corpses stirred, the Blood Flower Sect cultivators, Zhang Mao, and Yang Qiming all attacked Li Xiuchang.

Li Xiuchang fought eight undercover Righteous Path cultivators who mistook him for a demonic cultivator while Buddhist Corpses attacked them all. After rescuing one of the cultivators and leading the group away, he demanded that they apologize, and they began to realize they had misjudged him.

• Li Xiuchang used an Explosive Flame Talisman Brick against the eight attackers, but their defenses blocked the blast and left them unharmed.
• Li Xiuchang realized the supposed demonic cultivators were Righteous Path undercover agents, but they refused to believe his claim that he was one too.
• Li Xiuchang used his Protective Spirit Treasure and Paw Patrol to fight back while the Buddhist Corpses attacked the group.
• Li Xiuchang drove back the six Blood Flower Sect cultivators and blocked Zhang Mao and Yang Qiming with the Rainbow Soul Banner.
• Li Xiuchang rescued a female cultivator whose defenses had failed, then led her and the others away from the Buddhist Corpses through the passage they had entered.
• Li Xiuchang returned the female cultivator to the Golden Core cultivator and demanded that all eight apologize, prompting them to reconsider whether they had wronged him.

After escaping the Buddhist Corpse, Li Xiuchang accepted apologies from the disguised righteous-path cultivators and learned that they belonged to the four supreme immortal sects. The group compared their sects and uncovered how their simultaneous undercover mission had gone wrong, then turned to finding a way out of the underground palace.

• Li Xiuchang proved he was a Soul Master of the Immortal Dust Sect, and the eight cultivators apologized for attacking him before introducing themselves and dropping their disguises.
• Li Xiuchang learned that Zhang Mao, Chen Gao, Yang Qiming, Yue Chongshan, Ye Zhixing, and the others belonged to the Bloodthirsty Sect, Ascension Pavilion, Desire Demon Sect, Seal Heaven Sect, and Sword Seeking Sect.
• The cultivators described the specialties of their sects, and Li Xiuchang concluded that the Immortal Dust Sect drew its strength from cultivating talent across many fields.
• Li Xiuchang asked how the undercover mission began, and Ye Zhixing explained that the Sword Seeking Sect had captured six Blood Flower Sect envoys and impersonated them without knowing other sects were also involved.
• Chen Gao urged everyone to stop assigning blame and focus on escaping the underground palace.

Li Xiuchang led the others out of the underground palace and discovered they had emerged into the Immortal Shade. After confirming the Buddhist Corpses became ordinary outside, he left the group with a new prize: the metal doors he tore from their stone frame.

• Li Xiuchang put Ye Zhixing and the others into the Beast Taming Bag, then used his Vajra Dharma Image to pass the Buddhist Corpses and open the underground palace exit.
• Li Xiuchang carried two Buddhist Corpses outside, where they stopped moving and could be stored in an ordinary Storage Bag.
• Li Xiuchang saw the strange darkness, tiny sun, and unusual plants around the boulder and realized he was in the Immortal Shade.
• Li Xiuchang tried to break the metal doors and the boulder, then used his ability to widen one door by an inch, shattering the stone frame.
• Li Xiuchang stored the two doors and the broken stones before releasing Ye Zhixing and the others from the Beast Taming Bag.

Ye Zhixing and the others assessed their chances of surviving the immortal shade and decided to find their own way out after discovering they could not return to the underground palace. They left in a direction opposite the one chosen by lot, with Ye Zhixing explaining how to travel safely as Li Xiuchang carried several companions in his flying boat.

• Ye Zhixing explained that weaker cultivators and those near the immortal shade’s outskirts were more likely to survive, while the group debated waiting for rescue or escaping on their own.
• Li Xiuchang warned that the elders might not be able to find them, and Chen Gao proposed using the underground palace as a fallback shelter if they encountered danger.
• Yue Chongshan found the entrance door shattered and discovered that he could not open the underground palace’s main gate from outside.
• Ye Zhixing urged the group to leave the area, and they chose to travel opposite the direction indicated by a branch because they distrusted the forest it pointed toward.
• Ye Zhixing instructed everyone to fly close to the ground, and Li Xiuchang carried Yue Chongshan and other companions in his flying boat.