Chapter Summaries

Li Xiuchang obtained a chance to have Illusion Skin refined into a disguise treasure and was assigned to accompany the Immortal Dust Sect’s delegation to the Four Great Immortal Sects Hundred Arts Competition. After learning that the first-place prize was Thousand Jun Stone, he planned to compete in Spirit Planting and quickly raise another technique as backup.

• Zhang Wanzhi agreed to have Li Xiuchang’s Illusion Skin refined into a Top-grade Magic Treasure, and they congratulated Wang Long on buying a Foundation Establishment Pill and entering secluded cultivation.
• Li Xiuchang attended Senior Brother Mo’s Soul Controlling class before Elder Xu summoned him and assigned him to accompany the sect delegation to the Hundred Arts Competition.
• Elder Xu explained that the Seal Heaven Sect would host the competition in eight months and offer Thousand Jun Stone as the first-place reward; Li Xiuchang decided he wanted to win it.
• Elder Xu told Li Xiuchang that the four sects were searching Ox Horn Ridge for the hidden Demon Sealing Land after arresting many demonic cultivators but missing the Blood Flower Sect’s leader.
• Li Xiuchang resolved to compete in Spirit Planting and raise either Spirit Cooking or Soul Controlling to Tier 2, considering the Preaching Ranking’s Anointing reward as a way to improve quickly.

Li Xiuchang planned his priorities for the next eight months, balancing Golden Core cultivation, the Hundred Arts Competition, and a push for first place on the Annual Preaching Ranking. After finding the ranking’s top spot within reach, he began publishing posts featuring his new Spirit Delicacy Dishes.

• Li Xiuchang visited Senior Brother Song Yu, who said he would travel with Senior Brother Chu Ya to the Four Great Immortal Sects’ Foundation Establishment exchange competition before attempting to form his Golden Core.
• Li Xiuchang received a First-tier Artifact Refiner inheritance and bought blacksmithing tools, then made an eight-month plan that prioritized Golden Core cultivation and winning the Annual Preaching Ranking.
• Li Xiuchang decided to train Yin Souls in Spirit Chef and Spirit Planter work so he could delegate chores, while considering Registered Disciples as apprentices to dispel Malevolent Energy.
• Li Xiuchang checked the Annual Preaching Ranking, saw that the top spot was contested by Mangy Head Fairy and Professional Flying Sword Haircut for 100 Years, and began publishing posts with his new Spirit Delicacy recipes.
• Li Xiuchang published ten Preaching Posts to start his campaign for first place.

Li Xiuchang posted ten spirit-dish recipes, delegated his Yin Soul workforce after discovering Su Qingchun could dispel Malevolent Energy, and climbed to third on the Annual Preaching Ranking. As the top two began responding to his rise, the Golden Halberd Unicorn Beetle larva appeared to be in trouble.

• Li Xiuchang published ten spirit-dish Preaching Posts and drew support from Talisman Masters, female cultivators, and Spirit Chefs.
• Li Xiuchang brought Su Qingchun back from Zhao Manor and tasked him with training Yin Souls to fertilize fields and cure spirit meat.
• Li Xiuchang discovered that Su Qingchun could use the Malevolent Energy-dispelling spell, so he assigned him to care for the Yin Souls and oversee the Smoked Meat Factory.
• Li Xiuchang continued posting recipes, reached ninth place with eight thousand Dao Spikes, and later rose to third with twelve thousand.
• Senior Brother Wang Long emerged from seclusion after successfully reaching Foundation Establishment, celebrated with a feast, and returned to work at the smoked-meat production line.
• The top two on the Annual Preaching Ranking began taking action against Li Xiuchang's rise, while the Golden Halberd Unicorn Beetle larva seemed to encounter trouble.

Li Xiuchang cared for his unusually large Golden Halberd Unicorn Beetle larva and sought expert advice when it outgrew the sawdust it could digest. On the Preaching Ranking, he learned that Beast King Bone Powder could strengthen the larva’s bones, then asked whether he could feed it Blood Bodhi Fruit.

• Li Xiuchang found the larva malnourished, switched it to second-rank sawdust, and watched it recover and grow into its second-instar stage.
• When the larva lost its appetite for second-rank sawdust but could not digest third-rank sawdust, Li Xiuchang sought advice from Beast Tamers on the Preaching Ranking.
• The Longest Man’s rise to third place on the annual ranking prompted Mangy Head Fairy and Professional Flying Sword Haircut for 100 Years to publish new Preaching Posts.
• Humble Poop Scooper advised Li Xiuchang to mix bone-strengthening treasures into the sawdust and said Beast King Bone Powder would work.
• Li Xiuchang was delighted that he could feed the larva Beast King Bone Powder and asked Humble Poop Scooper whether Blood Bodhi Fruit was suitable too.

Li Xiuchang built an acre-sized tray to produce huge quantities of spirit-beast feed while considering how to mass-produce Gloomy Chill Flowers. As he hosted three visiting Golden Core cultivators during the Four Great Immortal Sects tournament, a sudden surge of spiritual energy and laughter drew everyone’s attention.

• Li Xiuchang fed the Golden Halberd Unicorn Beetle larva Beast King Bone Powder and, seeing how quickly it ate, forged an acre-sized tray to produce vast stores of bone powder and Blood Bodhi Fruit Mud.
• Li Xiuchang considered using Giant Netherfrost Grass to solve the problems involved in mass-producing Gloomy Chill Flowers, then stored his resources and tray in Storage Bags and a Beast Taming Bag.
• Li Xiuchang followed the tournament through Wang Long’s daily reports and planned to watch Chu Ya’s match on the final day if Chu Ya reached the finals.
• Liang Zaiping, Hong Yi, and Ye Zhixing visited Li Xiuchang, saw his Netherfrost Grass, and learned that he was a twenty-one-year-old Foundation Establishment cultivator who had cultivated for just over three years.
• A surge of spiritual energy came from Eastern Geng District No. 1, and Zhang Mouren’s laughter proclaimed that he had achieved Golden Core at the age of one hundred and one.

Zhang Wanzhi staged a dramatic breakthrough and revealed a High-grade Golden Core, astonishing Ye Zhixing, Liang Zaiping, and Hong Yi while Li Xiuchang treated the display as routine. After Zhang held a lavish banquet attended by several remarkable outer disciples, Ye Zhixing concluded that the Immortal Dust Sect’s outer sect was full of hidden talent.

• Zhang Wanzhi formed a High-grade Golden Core at age one hundred and one, while Li Xiuchang recognized the display as his senior brother’s familiar way of showing off.
• Ye Zhixing, Liang Zaiping, and Hong Yi congratulated Zhang Wanzhi and were impressed by his power, charisma, and social skills.
• Zhang Wanzhi asked Li Xiuchang to cook Second-order spirit delicacies for a three-day banquet and gave him a Top-grade Magic Treasure called the Skin-swapping Mask as payment.
• Li Xiuchang helped host Zhang Wanzhi’s banquet, where Ye Zhixing, Liang Zaiping, and Hong Yi met the low-key outer disciples Chen Changsheng and Mo Tu.
• Ye Zhixing concluded that the Immortal Dust Sect’s outer sect hid exceptional talents whom the sect’s rigid rules had overlooked.

After the Four Great Immortal Sects' exchange tournament ended, Elder Xu rejected Mo Youjian's request to enter the Preaching Ranking to protect the Immortal Dust Sect's embarrassing secrets. The chapter left the sect elders considering an exception to admit Zhang Wanzhi into the inner sect.

• Zhang Wanzhi's Golden Core banquet made his High-grade Golden Core and young age known across the sect, while Li Xiuchang's hard work improved his Spirit Chef Arts.
• Mo Youjian defeated Senior Brother Chu Ya in the tournament final, and the Sword Seeking Sect took first place while the Immortal Dust Sect finished second.
• Mo Youjian offered to forfeit his prizes for a chance to experience the Preaching Ranking, but Elder Xu refused and cited a sect rule.
• Elder Xu privately admitted he had refused because the Preaching Ranking contained embarrassing titles and comments that could damage the Immortal Dust Sect's reputation.
• Senior Brother Chu Ya asked Li Xiuchang to pick mature spirit flowers before setting out with Senior Brother Song Yu to gain experience at the Sword Seeking Sect.
• Elder Xu proposed that the sect make an exception and admit Zhang Wanzhi into the inner sect.

The Immortal Dust Sect elders debated how to reward Zhang Wanzhi for forming a High-grade Golden Core and decided to ask whether he would enter the Inner Sect or accept an elder as his master. As Li Xiuchang advanced his cultivation and skills, Zhang Wanzhi struggled with the attention his conspicuous achievement had drawn and leaned toward taking a master.

• The elders discussed Zhang Wanzhi's High-grade Golden Core, recalled that he had rejected discipleship before, and decided to ask what he wanted.
• Li Xiuchang reached twenty thousand Dao Tassels, advanced to Foundation Establishment Peak, raised his Spirit Chef Arts to the Second Tier, and watched his Yin Souls grow stronger.
• An Inner Sect Elder invited Zhang Wanzhi to enter the Inner Sect or become an elder's disciple, leaving him unsure how to refuse.
• Zhang Wanzhi asked Mo Tu and Chen Changsheng for advice, but they teased him for attracting attention by forming a High-grade Golden Core.
• After Mo Tu told him to choose between entering the Inner Sect and taking a master, Zhang Wanzhi said he would rather take a master.

Li Xiuchang advanced his ranking campaign, earned a perfect score in the Second-grade Spirit Planter assessment, and used his reward to produce a large supply of Spring Dew. Meanwhile, rumors about Immortal Dust Sect's outer-sect disciples prompted Sword Seeking Sect to invite them to a friendly match, offering Divine Sword Heart-Questioning opportunities for each visitor.

• Li Xiuchang intensified his Preaching Posts to try to overtake the top two in the annual ranking and earned a perfect score in the Second-grade Spirit Planter assessment after growing a Third-grade Spirit Plant on his second attempt.
• Yan Song encouraged Li Xiuchang to reach the Third Tier and become an Attendant, but Li Xiuchang privately decided he would stop at Peak Second Tier.
• Li Xiuchang used his tray to multiply his Spring Dew reward, distributed it to the Yin Souls tending his medicinal fields, and added an inch of Length Value to his main dantian to hasten his progress toward the Golden Core Stage.
• Rumors spread through Seal Heaven Sect and Sword Seeking Sect that Immortal Dust Sect's outer sect concealed its strongest disciples, stirring demands for a friendly exchange.
• Mo Youjian asked Elder Xiang whether the rumors were true and proposed an exchange with Immortal Dust Sect's outer-sect disciples; two Straightforward Sword Cultivator elders backed the proposal.
• The Sword Seeking Sect elders offered a Divine Sword Heart-Questioning opportunity for every Immortal Dust Sect outer-sect disciple who attended, and Elder Xiang agreed to ask the disciples what they thought.

The Immortal Dust Sect elders discussed the rumor that their Outer Sect was stronger than their Inner Sect and asked Li Xiuchang and Zhang Wanzhi to visit the Sword Seeking Sect. Li Xiuchang agreed after learning the trip offered a valuable Divine Sword Heart-Questioning opportunity, and both disciples prepared to leave with Elder Liu.

• Elder Wu explained that outsiders had spread the rumor after meeting Li Xiuchang and Zhang Wanzhi, and the elders discussed sending them to the Sword Seeking Sect.
• Elder Liu said teaching Zhang Wanzhi was going well because he quickly understood and expanded on her lessons.
• Li Xiuchang and Zhang Wanzhi rode his Abalone Flying Boat to Elder Xu after both were summoned.
• Elder Xu invited them to spar with the Sword Seeking Sect's Inner Sect disciples, but Li Xiuchang initially refused because he was busy preparing for the Hundred Arts Competition.
• Elder Xu offered them the chance to undergo the Divine Sword Heart-Questioning, which could be sold for tens of thousands of spirit stones, and Li Xiuchang agreed.
• Zhang Wanzhi agreed to go because Li Xiuchang was going, and Elder Xu arranged for Elder Liu to take them there the next day.

Li Xiuchang prepared for a friendship match at the Sword Seeking Sect by learning spells from Chen Changsheng, including a spatial escape spell that sent enemies away. He then boarded the Immortal Cloud with Zhang Wanzhi and Elder Liu to travel to the competition.

• Li Xiuchang postponed forming his Golden Core and planned how to compete without revealing or using abilities forbidden by the rules.
• Chen Changsheng taught Li Xiuchang the Black Bee Technique and Charcoal Array, then passed on the spatial spell Send Enemy a Thousand Miles.
• Elder Liu summoned the enormous tower ship Immortal Cloud and took Li Xiuchang and Zhang Wanzhi aboard.
• Elder Liu collected the Foundation Establishment disciples bound for the exchange competition, and the Immortal Cloud sped away from the sect.

Li Xiuchang and Zhang Wanzhi arrived at the Sword Seeking Sect for their friendly match, and the true rumors about the Immortal Dust Sect’s powerful outer disciples stirred excitement across the visiting sects. The match began the next day, with Li Xiuchang facing a choice among several Foundation Establishment Middle Stage Sword Seeking Sect disciples.

• Li Xiuchang raised his apparent Cultivation Level to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, while Zhang Wanzhi complained of being worn out by lessons and played chess with him.
• Li Xiuchang observed that his Golden Halberd Unicorn Beetle larva had reached the third-instar stage and already possessed the aura of a second-order demon beast.
• Elder Xiang brought Li Xiuchang and Zhang Wanzhi to meet the Sword Seeking Sect elders, and word spread that the rumored outer disciples were real.
• The match was scheduled for the next day at the foot of Divine Sword Peak, and Li Xiuchang and Zhang Wanzhi placed large bets on their own victories.
• Yue Chongshan, Chen Gao, Ye Zhixing, Liang Zaiping, and others also bet heavily, with more than seventy thousand Spirit Stones wagered in total.
• At the match, a Sword Seeking Sect elder told Li Xiuchang to choose an opponent from among five or six of their Foundation Establishment Middle Stage inner disciples.

Li Xiuchang defeated Yu Feng of the Sword Seeking Sect without moving from his place, then accepted Cui He's challenge for a piece of Spirit-Infused Gold. He quickly defeated Cui He as well and left the arena having secured his sect's victory and his prize.

• Li Xiuchang asked for a Foundation Establishment Late Stage opponent, but the Sword Seeking Sect elder refused, so Li Xiuchang chose Yu Feng.
• Li Xiuchang used the Charcoal Array and Charcoal Bees to overwhelm Yu Feng and knock him out of the arena.
• Cui He challenged Li Xiuchang and offered Spirit-Infused Gold as a wager, and Li Xiuchang accepted.
• Li Xiuchang unleashed a swarm of Charcoal Bees while Cui He attacked with sword intent, and a referee elder intervened to protect Cui He from the explosion.
• Li Xiuchang used his kitchen knife to chop apart Cui He's sword intent, winning the spar and the Spirit-Infused Gold.

Li Xiuchang defeated two Sword Seeking Sect Foundation Establishment disciples and then watched Zhang Wanzhi enter the Golden Core match. Zhang Wanzhi beat the Sword Seeking Sect prodigy Zuo Hanguang with a single spear strike, leaving the sect elders stunned.

• Li Xiuchang challenged the Sword Seeking Sect disciples, but no one else accepted after he defeated Cui He and another elite disciple.
• Zhang Wanzhi decided to win a match of his own, while the Sword Seeking Sect selected its early Golden Core prodigy Zuo Hanguang to face him.
• Li Xiuchang received the promised Spirit-Infused Gold and reunited with acquaintances who congratulated him on his victory.
• Zhang Wanzhi and Zuo Hanguang began their match as the crowd favored the Sword Seeking Sect swordsman.
• Zuo Hanguang attacked with his Left-hand Sword Technique, but Zhang Wanzhi hurled a spear that overwhelmed Zuo Hanguang's Sword Intent and knocked his flying sword from his grasp.
• The judges' elders rose in shock as Zuo Hanguang's defeat exposed Zhang Wanzhi's formidable strength.

Zhang Wanzhi defeated Zuo Hanguang in one strike, earning praise and raising questions about Immortal Dust Sect’s exceptional outer disciples. Li Xiuchang used his reward token to begin Divine Sword Heart-Questioning, and the trial drew him into an unfamiliar scene.

• Zhang Wanzhi defeated Zuo Hanguang with a single spear strike, astonishing the spectators and elders.
• Zhang Wanzhi claimed he had practiced Spear Dao for eighty years, while Li Xiuchang knew he rarely practiced; Elder Xiang planned to secure him a magic-treasure spear, and Elder Liu planned to find him a Spear Dao master.
• Li Xiuchang and Zhang Wanzhi received jade tokens granting them chances to undergo Divine Sword Heart-Questioning, and Li Xiuchang chose to use his token.
• Zhang Wanzhi explained that completing the trial could earn Li Xiuchang a Sword Seed that might be reshaped into a Blade Heart or another weapon heart.
• At Divine Sword Peak, Li Xiuchang saw that the Heart-Questioning Sword was embedded upside down and abandoned the idea of pulling it out, but he activated the trial with his Spiritual Sense.
• The Heart-Questioning Sword sent Sword Qi into Li Xiuchang’s brow, erased his immediate sense of purpose, and pulled his consciousness into an unfamiliar scene.

Li Xiuchang was trapped in the Heart-Questioning Sword’s trial and abandoned its sword techniques to develop his own Equality Saber. After he cleaved the stone tablet in half, his memories returned and a kitchen-knife-shaped Sword Seed entered his consciousness.

• Li Xiuchang found himself in a blank space with a stone tablet and a sword, unable to use his cultivation or escape the area around the tablet.
• Li Xiuchang slowly learned the first form of the tablet’s sword techniques, but rejected the long path of mastering them all to break the tablet.
• Li Xiuchang treated the sword as a kitchen knife and the tablet as ingredients, transforming the sword techniques into his own Equality Saber.
• Li Xiuchang practiced the Equality Saber and eventually cleaved the stone tablet in half with its final form.
• Li Xiuchang regained his memories and realized he had been undergoing the Heart-Questioning Sword’s trial.
• A transparent Sword Seed emerged from the shattered tablet, changed into a kitchen-knife shape, and entered Li Xiuchang’s consciousness.

Li Xiuchang passed the Heart-Questioning Sword trial by awakening the Equalizer Dao within him, gaining a Cleaver Seed and deciding to pursue a cleaver natal treasure. He returned to the Immortal Dust Sect with Zhang Wanzhi, while Song Yu arrived too late to compete against him and was left facing the exchange tournament under heavy expectations.

• Li Xiuchang realized the trial had tested his sword-Dao talent and state of mind, and that his cleaver technique had revealed the Equalizer Dao in his heart.
• Li Xiuchang emerged from the pavilion recognized by the Heart-Questioning Sword, and the elder urged him to cultivate the sword Dao.
• Li Xiuchang told Zhang Wanzhi about the trial, and Zhang Wanzhi suggested that he forge a cleaver natal magic treasure when he reached the Golden Core Stage.
• Li Xiuchang declined Elder Xiang's invitation to join the exchange tournament and left with Zhang Wanzhi and Elder Liu for the Immortal Dust Sect.
• Chu Ya and Song Yu arrived at the Sword Seeking Sect after missing the friendly match, and Song Yu learned Li Xiuchang had already defeated Zhang Wanzhi.
• Song Yu realized the match had left him under pressure for the upcoming tournament, where winning would earn little notice but losing would invite ridicule.

On returning to the Immortal Dust Sect, Li Xiuchang began forming his Golden Core in the Earth-grade Medicine Field, choosing the dangerous Thirty-Six Transformations method. He safely endured twenty-four Core Tribulations and reached an Eighth-grade Golden Core, with the remaining tribulations still ahead.

• Li Xiuchang experimented with the Dao Heart Seed’s many weapon forms and decided to call his future Dao Heart the Heart of Myriad Daos.
• Li Xiuchang returned to the Immortal Dust Sect with Zhang Wanzhi and went to his shed in the Earth-grade Medicine Field to form his Golden Core.
• Li Xiuchang condensed his magic power into a black embryonic Golden Core without taking a Magnetic Origin Pill.
• Li Xiuchang chose the Thirty-Six Transformations of the Golden Core and used his abundant magic power to repair the damage from each Core Tribulation.
• Li Xiuchang endured twenty-four Core Tribulations, and his black Golden Core reached the Eighth grade.

Li Xiuchang endured thirty-six Core Tribulations and formed a Tenth Grade Diamond Core, then discovered that further enhancement could not damage it. He turned his attention to the second Golden Core embryo in his Second Dantian and considered forming another Golden Core.

• Li Xiuchang endured the twenty-fifth through thirtieth Core Tribulations, reaching Ninth Grade and using mana from his Second Dantian to continue.
• He spent Length to replenish his mana and endured the thirty-first through thirty-fifth Core Tribulations, while his Golden Core grew denser and more powerful.
• As he condensed the thirty-sixth Core Tribulation, the Golden Core connected with Heaven and Earth, and the tribulation’s power surged.
• Li Xiuchang formed a second Golden Core embryo in his Second Dantian for insurance, then let the thirty-sixth Core Tribulation strike his main Golden Core.
• His Golden Core transformed into a transparent, flawless Diamond Core, completing the Tenth Grade; he then tried a thirty-seventh Core Tribulation, which left it unharmed.
• Li Xiuchang concluded that the Diamond Core could not be enhanced further and considered forming another Golden Core in his Second Dantian.

Li Xiuchang formed a second tenth-grade diamond core, gained the Heavenly Dao’s recognition, and became an Early Golden Core cultivator with two cores. He returned to the Preaching Ranking and fought to reclaim first place, then decided to revive his old approach when his spirit-dish posts lost ground.

• Li Xiuchang spent seventeen inches of Length Value to form a second tenth-grade diamond core and gained the Heavenly Dao’s recognition for both cores.
• Li Xiuchang tested his Golden Core-stage power with a fireball and estimated that each diamond core let him borrow fifty percent of Heaven and Earth’s power.
• Li Xiuchang hurried to the Preaching Ranking and found that Mangy Head Fairy and Professional Flying Sword Haircut for 100 Years had pushed him down to third place.
• Li Xiuchang released his stockpile of Preaching Posts, briefly reclaimed first place, and then watched his rivals overtake him as their audiences unlocked more of their posts.
• Li Xiuchang concluded that spirit-dish recipes had too narrow an audience and decided to return to his old profession as editor-in-chief of the Shocking Department.