Chapter Summaries

Ye Jingcheng completed a batch of Detoxification Pills, cared for his Spirit Beasts, and weighed his future within the Ye Family. At the marketplace, Ye Xinghe learned that the Li Family had exploited a delay in information to secure Huayu Sect transactions and prepare to bid for a Blood Heart Pill the Ye Family needed.

• Ye Jingcheng finished refining nine Detoxification Pills, bringing his supply to 110, then fed and strengthened the Crimson Flame Fox and Jade Ring Rat.
• Ye Jingcheng treated three injured Spirit Beasts with Treasure Light and Qi Blood Pills, reflecting that the Ye Family offered him resources and a path beyond what he could achieve alone.
• Ye Jingcheng and the other pill and artifact makers delivered their completed goods to Ye Xinghe, who gave them ten days of rest and asked Ye Jingcheng to accompany him.
• Daoist Bai and Daoist Xu arrived from the Huayu Sect and said they would take their business to the Li Family if the Ye Family could not fulfill the agreed orders.
• Ye Xinghe realized the Li Family had bought up Qi Return Pills and Qi Blood Pills, raised their prices, and planned to bid for a Blood Heart Pill needed by the Ye Family’s guardian Spirit Beast.
• Daoist Bai told Ye Xinghe that the Huayu Sect’s decision had been made earlier in the month and that the Xu Family had been asked to notify the four great families.

Ye Jingcheng sold pills at a Taihang Market street stall to gather Spirit Stones for the Red Dragon Fruit, while the Ye Family prepared to buy a Blood Heart Pill for its Clan Protecting Spirit Beast. After a brocade-clad youth bought all his pills and gave him a jade talisman, the youth examined one and concluded it had not been refined with Earth Fire.

• Ye Xinghe postponed Ye Jingcheng's welcoming banquet because the Ye Family needed to buy a Blood Heart Pill.
• Ye Jingcheng exchanged fifty Contribution Points for Spirit Herbs, then spent three days refining pills with the Crimson Flame Fox.
• Ye Jingcheng disguised himself and rented a street stall in Taihang Market to sell his pills for Spirit Stones.
• A brocade-clad youth bought all Ye Jingcheng's pills for 220 Spirit Stones and gave him a jade talisman for future sales.
• The brocade-clad youth examined a pill in private and concluded that it had not been refined with Earth Fire.

Ye Jingcheng attended the Taihang Market auction with his family and watched the bidding begin, hoping to obtain a Red Dragon Fruit. The fruit appeared on the auction block, leaving Ye Jingcheng poised to bid.

• Ye Jingcheng fed the Crimson Flame Fox a Spirit Feeding Pill and prepared for the auction with Ye Xinghe, Ye Xingyu, and Ye Jingli.
• Ye Xinghe traded barbs with Li Mutian before the Ye family members took their seats in the auction hall.
• Ye Xinghe suspected Li Mutian's provocation concealed a scheme and worried it might involve the Blood Heart Pill.
• Luo Xiang opened the auction, and the Five Sons Rings sold for 1,300 Spirit Stones before other items followed.
• Luo Xiang presented a Red Dragon Fruit that Ye Jingcheng had been hoping to buy.

At the auction, Li Xiangcai provoked Ye Jingcheng into spending more on the Red Dragon Fruit, then Ye Jingcheng retaliated by pushing Li Xiangcai to overpay for the Falling Law Pearls. The auction’s final treasures followed, and the chapter ended as the Blood Heart Pill was revealed.

• Li Xiangcai drove up the bidding for the Red Dragon Fruit to spite Ye Jingcheng, who stopped after Ye Xinghe told him the clan would bid; a Rogue Cultivator ultimately bought the fruit for three hundred twenty Spirit Stones.
• Ye Jingcheng bid against Li Xiangcai for the Falling Law Pearls, prompting Li Xiangcai to raise his bid to one thousand Spirit Stones and overpay for them.
• Li Xiangcai made a deliberately insulting opening bid on the Black Serpent Pincers, but Li Mutian later bought them for four thousand Spirit Stones after competing bids from Ye Xinghe and others.
• A Second-Order Grade-Low spirit puppet sold to a Chu Family cultivator from Idle Cloud Peak for four thousand eight hundred Spirit Stones.
• Fallen Fragrance Fairy unveiled the Blood Heart Pill as the final grand finale treasure.

Ye Xinghe secured the Blood Heart Pill for the Ye Family at a steep price, then ordered the family to keep the shop closed while they investigated it. Ye Jingcheng studied a complex pill-refinement method revealed by the Ancient Book and cultivated as the family waited for the shop to reopen.

• Ye Xinghe outbid the Xu Clan and Li Family, winning the Blood Heart Pill for twenty-two thousand Spirit Stones and suspecting it might be a scam.
• Ye Xinghe returned to the shop, ordered Xinghong to close it for ten days, and told the younger cultivators to stay in their rooms and cultivate.
• Ye Xinghe gave Ye Jingcheng the Red Dragon Fruit and arranged for its cost to be deducted from his Contribution Points.
• Ye Jingcheng used the Ancient Book to study a pill-refinement method, recorded its scenes, and resolved to practice until he could refine the pill successfully.
• Ye Jingcheng fed his Spirit Beasts and cultivated while the Ye Family and the outside world waited for the shop to reopen on the tenth day.

Ye Jingcheng traveled with Ye Xinghe, Ye Xingyu, and the Ye Family Patriarch toward Lingyun Peak under heavy disguise. At Green Mountain Ridge, six cultivators ambushed them, and the Ye Family prepared to fight.

• Ye Xinghe led Ye Jingcheng, Ye Xingyu, and another disguised companion through a secret passage and out of Taihang Market.
• Ye Xinghe flew the group away on an Azure Spirit Boat, using a detour and a Red Crown Snow Eagle to check their route.
• The group reached Green Mountain Ridge, where an array was set up and Azure Chirp Bees were sent ahead to scout.
• Six Black Robed Cultivators ambushed them, including two Foundation Building Cultivators, and Ye Xinghe asked who had sent them.
• The Ye Family members activated a protective array and summoned their Spirit Beasts, while Ye Jingcheng realized their fourth companion was the Ye Family Patriarch.

Ye Jingcheng helped Ye Xingliu and Ye Xinghe fight off an ambush, discovering and killing a hidden Qi Refining Late Stage cultivator. After the Jade Ring Rat sensed another enemy at least at Foundation Establishment, Ye Jingcheng retreated into the Jade Bowl Spirit Shield.

• Ye Xingliu fought two Foundation Building Cultivators while Ye Xinghe, Ye Xingyu, and their Spirit Beasts battled four black-robed Qi Refining cultivators.
• Ye Jingcheng's Jade Ring Rat and Crimson Flame Fox detected a Black Face Cultivator hiding in a mound, and Ye Jingcheng attacked him with Fireballs, Ironwood Vines, talismans, and the Azure Flow Sword.
• The Black Face Cultivator trapped the Crimson Flame Fox in a bell, but Ye Jingcheng's concealed Ice Seal Talisman froze him and let the Azure Flow Sword cut him in two.
• The Jade Ring Rat sensed another enemy of at least Foundation Establishment, so Ye Jingcheng retreated into the Jade Bowl Spirit Shield.

Ye Jingcheng and the Ye Family repelled the rogue cultivators attacking them and protected the Blood Heart Pill, though Ye Xinghe suspected the attack might be part of a scheme involving the other great families. The group returned safely to Lingyun Peak, where Ye Jingcheng was told to prepare for what was coming.

• A hidden emerald-green lizard saved Ye Jingcheng from a Foundation Building Cultivator's sneak attack, and Ye Xingliu and the family’s Spirit Beasts killed another attacker and several Qi Refining cultivators.
• Ye Xinghe ordered the family not to pursue the two fleeing rogue cultivators and led the group back with the Blood Heart Pill protected.
• Ye Xinghe reprimanded Ye Jingcheng for leaving the spirit formation, then awarded him the Black Face Cultivator's spoils and told him to feed Lizard Elder spirit pills.
• Ye Jingcheng learned that bonded Spirit Beasts held honored status in the Ye Family and realized the family had hidden strength and unanswered secrets.
• Ye Haicheng, Ye Haiyi, and Ye Haiping arrived after hearing that someone had played the Beast Call Song near the family, and the group returned to Lingyun Peak.
• Ye Xingyu told Ye Jingcheng to prepare himself over the next few days.

After reflecting on his battle with the Rogue Cultivator, Ye Jingcheng examined his spoils, cared for his Spirit Beasts, and continued cultivating. An urgent summons from Ye Xingliu led him toward the Family Ancestral Shrine, leaving him anticipating what awaited there.

• Ye Jingcheng reviewed his combat mistakes and resolved to improve his coordination with Crimson Flame Fox while maintaining his pill refining and cultivation.
• Ye Jingcheng searched the dead cultivator’s storage bag and collected Spirit Stones, Spirit Talismans, the Heaven Trapping Bell, Silver Snow Needles, and a damaged Ironwood Plate.
• Ye Jingcheng gave Jade Ring Rat extra pills and Spirit Beast Meat, then used Treasure Light on both Spirit Beasts before cultivating.
• After five days, Ye Jingcheng received an urgent summons from Ye Xingliu and followed him through the mist to the Family Ancestral Shrine.

Ye Xingliu tested Ye Jingcheng and revealed the Ye Family’s secret Beast Communication Mark, which lets cultivators share spiritual power and talents with Monster Beasts. Ye Jingcheng awakened a five-inch mark and learned its benefits before Ye Xingliu gave him instructions to record and destroy.

• Ye Xingliu tested Ye Jingcheng with incense and a dream, then warned him to keep the Lineage’s secrets.
• Ye Xingliu led Ye Jingcheng through a ritual that sent him into a pagoda filled with spirit beast statues.
• Ye Jingcheng endured the beasts charging through him, forming a five-inch Beast Communication Mark and two smaller marks.
• Ye Xingliu explained that the mark lets humans and Monster Beasts share spiritual power and supports the Ye Family’s beast-taming arts.
• Ye Xingliu gave Ye Jingcheng a jade slip with instructions for using the mark and told him to destroy it after recording the method.

Ye Jingcheng received the Ye Family’s Beast Communication Mark and discovered that the Ancient Book held an even stronger mark, then spent twenty days cultivating and strengthening his bond with the Crimson Flame Fox. He learned to conceal his mark and focused on helping the fox advance to First Rank Late Stage.

• Ye Jingcheng received the Family Jade Plate from Ye Xingliu and learned the Ye Family’s rules for Beast Communication Marks and family secrets.
• Ye Xingliu and Ye Haicheng discussed Ye Jingcheng’s five-inch mark and the unusually high energy consumed by the Beast Communication Tower, then reviewed the uncertain Blood Heart Pill tests.
• Ye Jingcheng found a seven-inch Beast Communication Mark on the Ancient Book and successfully nourished it with spiritual energy.
• Over the next twenty days, Ye Jingcheng cultivated, refined pills, practiced with the Crimson Flame Fox, and learned to hide the mark beneath his skin.
• Ye Jingcheng assessed the Crimson Flame Fox’s growth and fed it more than the Jade Ring Rat so it could reach First Rank Late Stage sooner.

Ye Jingcheng traveled toward the market with a new pill formula and a spirit boat, but two bandit cultivators attacked him after a gray-robed cultivator tried to lure him into a trap. He escaped their attempt to bury him in a cave and continued toward the market at full speed.

• Ye Jingcheng exchanged Contribution Points for an Ice Purity Pill formula, bought Spirit Beast Meat, and set off toward the market in a rented spirit boat.
• On the third night, a gray-robed cultivator rushed into Ye Jingcheng’s cave dwelling and claimed two bandits were pursuing him, but Ye Jingcheng suspected a trap.
• Ye Jingcheng and the Crimson Flame Fox killed the gray-robed cultivator with Ironwood Vines and Fireball Spells.
• Two Black-Clothed Cultivators attacked Ye Jingcheng, then tried to collapse the cave dwelling and bury him.
• Ye Jingcheng escaped with an Earth Escape Talisman, drove off the two cultivators, and hurried toward the market in his spirit boat.

Ye Jingcheng reached Taihang Market safely after escaping three Robber Cultivators and learned that a Heretical Cultivator was using them to gather cultivators’ flesh and blood. He resolved to stay in the market until he reached Qi Refining Late Stage, then discovered that a young Golden Scale Beast had triggered a reaction from his Ancient Book.

• Ye Jingcheng arrived at the Ye Family Shop and told Ye Xinghe how he had encountered three Robber Cultivators on the road.
• Ye Xinghe found corpses and few treasures in the storage bag, identified signs of a Heretical Cultivator, and went to report the matter to Ward Master Jiang of the Taiyi Sect.
• Ye Jingcheng decided not to leave the market until he reached Qi Refining Late Stage, then saw his Ancient Book react to Ye Xinghe’s young Golden Scale Beast.
• Ye Jingli shared advice about the dangerous journey, bought Spirit Feeding Pills from Ye Jingcheng, and explained that his Azure Scale Python had been left by another cultivator.
• Ye Jingcheng restored his spiritual energy through cultivation and planned to begin refining pills, noting that the Crimson Flame Fox could now cast four Fireball Spells in succession.

Ye Jingcheng refined eight Azure Spirit Pills, and the Crimson Flame Fox showed signs of an imminent breakthrough. When Xu Xiuqing asked the Ye Family to save her father in exchange for the Golden Scale Beast and the location of a Spirit Mine, Ye Jingcheng and Ye Xinghong faced her desperate plea.

• Ye Jingcheng refined eight Azure Spirit Pills and fed two to the Crimson Flame Fox, which began showing signs of a breakthrough.
• Ye Jingcheng visited the Ye Family's Spirit Beasts and fed Treasure Light to the Golden Scale Beast, which rejected Xu Xiuqing when she tried to touch it.
• Ye Xinghong brought Xu Xiuqing to see the Ye Family and explained that the head shopkeeper was away as she pleaded for help saving her father.
• Ye Jingcheng realized Xu Xiuqing's father had been identified as a Heretical Cultivator, and he and Ye Xinghong refused to promise help they could not provide.
• Xu Xiuqing offered the location of a Spirit Mine in exchange for the Ye Family doing everything possible to save her father, and Ye Xinghe came out from the Inner Courtyard.

Ye Xinghe agreed to help Xu Xiuqing’s family, while Ye Jingcheng used the Crimson Flame Fox’s breakthrough to activate the Beast Communication Mark and rapidly advance his cultivation. After four days of seclusion, Ye Jingcheng reached Qi Training Stage 6 and discovered that the mark could continue improving his Spirit Root.

• Xu Xiuqing asked Ye Xinghe to save her father, and Ye Xinghe agreed to seek the Ye Family’s help while warning her to prepare for the worst.
• Ye Jingcheng rewarded the Crimson Flame Fox with Spirit Feeding Pills and Spirit Beast Meat after its breakthrough, and learned that it could use the Greater Fireball Spell.
• Ye Jingcheng activated the Beast Communication Mark with the Crimson Flame Fox, causing its Fire Attribute spiritual energy to flow into him.
• Ye Jingcheng cultivated in seclusion for four days, swallowed an Azure Spirit Pill, and broke through to Qi Training Stage 6.
• Ye Jingcheng sensed that subsequent uses of the Beast Communication Mark could raise his Spirit Root by an entire grade.

Ye Jingcheng discovered that using the Crimson Flame Fox’s spiritual power strengthened and sped up his Fireball Spell before joining a covert Ye Family expedition to hunt Heretical Cultivators. The Crimson Thousand Rat tracked their target into the Mount Taihang Mountain Range, where the group prepared to fight.

• Ye Jingcheng finished cultivating at Qi Training Stage 6 and found that the Crimson Flame Fox’s spiritual power made his Fireball Spell more powerful and faster to cast.
• Ye Xinghe gave Ye Jingcheng and Xu Xiuqing disguising black robes and led them through a secret passage to meet the Ye Family’s Spirit Beasts.
• Ye Xinghe explained that the group needed the Spirit Beasts to locate the Heretical Cultivators, and the four traveled to a desolate peak.
• Ye Xingliu arrived with Ye Jingyong and Ye Jingyu, while Ye Haiyi revealed the Crimson Thousand Rat and used the corpse of a cultivator Ye Jingcheng had killed to give it a trail.
• The Crimson Thousand Rat tracked the target into the Mount Taihang Mountain Range, and Ye Haiyi ordered the eight travelers to prepare as the rat and Crimson Crown Snow Eagle flew ahead.

Ye Jingcheng and the Ye Family attacked a Blood Cultivator and his followers near a lake in the Mount Taihang Mountain Range. The Blood Cultivator held them off with powerful Second Order artifacts and a Golden Bell Shield, but Ye Jingcheng sensed that he was stalling for reinforcements beneath the lake.

• Ye Xingliu and the others swiftly killed two Blood-Cursed cultivators, and Ye Haiyi burned their bodies after the Crimson Thousand Rat sensed danger nearby.
• The group reached a lake, where Ye Xingliu’s attempt to set up a formation was disrupted by bloody shadows attacking the Array Flags.
• The Ye Family killed three cultivators at the lake and forced a Blood Cultivator out from underground with a Tier 2 Earth Shaking Talisman.
• The Blood Cultivator blocked Ye Xingliu and the others with Second Order defensive artifacts, Blood Flying Needles, and a Tier 2 Golden Bell Shield Spirit Talisman.
• Ye Jingcheng noticed the Jade Ring Rat’s fear and warned Ye Xingliu and Ye Haiyi that the Blood Cultivator was stalling while others might be hiding beneath the lake.

The Ye Family defeated the Foundation Establishment Blood Cultivator and uncovered a blood pool beneath the lake. Ye Jingcheng’s Treasure Book revealed that the cultivator had likely been using human blood to hatch a Blood Leech Monster Egg, a secret he kept to himself.

• Ye Xinghe led three men beneath the lake, prompting the Blood Cultivator to summon three more controlled cultivators, including Xu Xiuqing’s father, Old Xu.
• Xu Xiuqing attacked her father from afar while the Ye Family and their spirit beasts fought the three Blood-Clothed Cultivators.
• Ye Jingcheng concealed the Heaven Trapping Bell inside a Fireball Spell and used it to trap Old Xu, while the Ye Family killed the other two cultivators.
• Ye Xingliu summoned the Blue-Eyed Hanging-Eye Tiger and joined forces with the giant lizard to kill the Blood Cultivator, stopping the blood formation.
• Ye Xinghe and Ye Xingyu found a blood pool beneath the lake, and Xu Xiuqing learned that Old Xu had died from the Blood Heart Curse.
• Ye Jingcheng’s Treasure Book displayed a Blood Leech Monster Egg and a new pill formula, leading him to suspect the Blood Cultivator had used human blood to hatch it.

After the battle, Ye Jingcheng and the Ye Family returned to the market with Xu Xiuqing, who mourned her father, Old Xu. Before leaving, Xu Xiuqing gave the Ye Family the Spirit Mine’s location and offered the Golden Scale Beast to Ye Jingcheng without payment.

• Xu Xiuqing placed Old Xu’s body in a coffin, paid her respects, and joined the Ye Family aboard their spirit boat.
• Ye Jingcheng tried to console Xu Xiuqing, and she thanked him for helping preserve her father’s body.
• Ye Xinghe fed spirit pills to Lizard Elder, then divided the group so Ye Jingcheng and Xu Xiuqing could return to the market.
• Ye Jingyong asked how Ye Jingcheng had raised his Crimson Flame Fox, and Ye Jingcheng gave a vague answer before parting from his relatives and elders.
• At the shop, Xu Xiuqing gave Ye Xinghe a jade slip marking the Spirit Mine and offered the Golden Scale Beast to Ye Jingcheng for no Spirit Stones.
• Xu Xiuqing left the shop before Ye Jingcheng could respond.

Ye Jingcheng formed a Blood Pact with the Golden Scale Beast, trained it, and began planning how to improve its Earth Spike Art. After spending his second year in the market town cultivating and refining pills, he prepared Spirit Herbs to refine pills for the Crimson Flame Fox.

• Ye Jingcheng fed the Golden Scale Beast spirit pills, formed a Blood Pact with it, and received a new pill formula suited to its earth-element nature.
• Ye Jingcheng released the Golden Scale Beast to train in the Inner Courtyard and discovered that it could raise stone pillars but had not mastered Earth Spike Art.
• Ye Jingcheng introduced the Golden Scale Beast to the Crimson Flame Fox and Jade Ring Rat; the Crimson Flame Fox intimidated it, while it pinned down the Jade Ring Rat.
• Ye Jingcheng cultivated and refined Azure Spirit Pills as he continued supporting his three Spirit Beasts.
• Ye Jingcheng spent his second year in the market town, attended two auctions, and acquired two sets of Spirit Herbs for the Crimson Flame Fox's pills.
• Ye Jingcheng spread the Spirit Herbs on a stone table and took out the Three-Eared Pill Furnace.