Chapter Summaries

Ye Jingcheng negotiated market cooperation with the Yuan and Wei Families, then learned that two portions of Purple Mansion Jade Liquid would be auctioned next year. The news gave him a chance to pursue his own breakthrough while concealing its true cause.

• Ye Jingcheng secured the Yuan and Wei Families’ cooperation in Taihang Market, accepting an Icy Snow Silk Worm and Earth Flame Fiend Energy in exchange for helping them gain market rights and access to local trade.
• Ye Xingyi delivered the Ye Family’s exchanged goods and accounts, and Ye Jingcheng gave him alchemy notes while explaining that the Yuan and Wei Families sought Illusion Peak’s support and access to the Mount Taihang Mountain Range.
• Ye Jingcheng asked Ye Xingyi to bring more Spirit Beasts to Taichang County and arrange a trip to the Taichang Mountain Range for the newly captured Spirit Fox Cubs.
• Ye Xingyi told Ye Jingcheng that two portions of Purple Mansion Jade Liquid would be auctioned at next year’s Taichang Market auction, with the Jin, Kong, and Zhang Families absent.
• Ye Jingcheng decided to attend the auction, then sensed an unusually powerful suction force coming from the family’s spirit vein beyond his Stone Spirit Cave Heaven.

Ye Haiyi attempted to break through to Foundation Establishment without a pill, briefly succeeding before his body failed, and his sacrifice moved the Ye Family to support every qualified clansman who dared to try. Ye Jingcheng then arranged a secret cultivation plan for Ye Xingqun and Ye Xinghan and returned to preparing his spirit beasts and himself for further breakthroughs.

• Ye Haiyi briefly formed liquid spiritual power during his Foundation Establishment attempt, but his aging body could not sustain it, and he died as the spiritual qi dispersed.
• Ye Jingcheng honored Ye Haiyi before the gathered clansmen and declared that the family would fully support anyone who reached Qi Refining Ninth Layer and attempted Foundation Establishment.
• After three days of mourning, Ye Jingcheng gave Longevity Spirit Peaches to Ye Xingqun and Ye Xinghan and tasked them with breaking through and training successors for their hall positions.
• Ye Jingcheng offered Ye Xingqun Earth Flame Fiend Energy and a choice of a second-order spirit beast, while telling Ye Xinghan to wait for the Taiyi Sect auction the following year.
• Ye Jingcheng returned to refining pills for his spirit beasts and began another batch of pill refinement, while considering the need for a better furnace.

Ye Jingcheng trained the Golden Scale Beast and tended to his growing collection of Spirit Beasts and grotto-heaven, while preparing for his own eventual breakthrough. The Golden Falcon began advancing to the Third Order at Lingyun Lake, and Ye Jingcheng concealed the disturbance with formations as a storm drew the Ye Family’s attention.

• Ye Jingcheng practiced the Golden Light Falling Cloud Star Rock and Golden Light Earth Spike Art with the Golden Scale Beast, then fed it an Earth Return Pill as it began its breakthrough.
• Ye Jingcheng surveyed the grotto-heaven’s expanding fields, recovering Spirit Eye Spring, and Spirit Beasts, noting the Four-Colored Cloud Deer and Golden Scale Beast were also advancing.
• Ye Jingcheng studied the Violet Condensing Spirit Liquid and Purple Mansion Jade Liquid formulas while considering how to prepare for his own future Purple Mansion breakthrough.
• The Golden Falcon began breaking through to the Third Order at Lingyun Lake, draining the Stone Spirit as its bloodline advanced and it plucked out its feathers.
• Ye Jingcheng activated formations to conceal the Golden Falcon’s breakthrough, while Ye Jinghu and other cultivators noticed the storm over Lingyun Peak.

Ye Jingcheng witnessed the Golden Falcon advance to third rank, then prepared for the Ye Family’s Beast Communion ceremony while Ye Xingqun underwent a dangerous Foundation Establishment breakthrough. Ye Xingqun overcame an illusion trial by choosing his lifelong path as an insect master and successfully formed his spirit platform.

• The Golden Falcon shed its feathers, advanced to third rank, and demonstrated its strengthened Golden Sword Art and speed before Ye Jingcheng.
• Turtle Ancestor arrived with the Beast Communication Tower and told Ye Jingcheng that he could undergo a second Beast Communion; it then explored his enlarged grotto-heaven and questioned him about the star map.
• Turtle Ancestor privately suggested that Ye Haicheng dissolve their Beast Communion so the turtle could be inherited by Ye Jingcheng, leaving Ye Haicheng conflicted and proud of the Jing Generation.
• Ye Jingcheng sensed Ye Xingqun’s breakthrough, sealed the bamboo forest with an array, and left him undisturbed as the spirit insects guarded the area.
• Ye Xingqun resisted an illusion that recalled his childhood cricket-fighting failure and chose his spirit insects over Foundation Establishment, then completed his spirit platform and reached Foundation Establishment.

Ye Jingcheng reviewed the Ye Family’s finances and chose three candidates for Beast Communication, then began the secret ritual with Ye Jinghu. Ye Jinghu retained two five-inch Beast Communication Marks and one three-inch mark, and Ye Jingcheng prepared to test the other candidates next.

• Ye Xingqun emerged from seclusion after breaking through to Foundation Establishment and recommended Ye Jinghu, Ye Jing Ting, and Ye Jing He as Beast Communication candidates.
• Ye Jingyun reported that the family’s markets and businesses had recovered, but Ye Jingcheng rejected expanding into Taichang Market so the Ye Family could develop quietly.
• The clan voted on the Beast Communication candidates, and Jinghu, Jing Ting, and Jing He each received approval from nearly eighty percent of voters.
• Ye Jingcheng asked the Jade Ring Rat to join the family’s Spirit Beast Valley, but it refused, so he promised to keep it in the Spirit Field and considered raising it a companion.
• Ye Jingcheng used the Golden Dragon Token to examine Ye Jinghu, then led him through the Ancestral Hall ritual and Beast Communication Tower trial.
• Ye Jinghu retained two five-inch Beast Communication Marks and one three-inch mark, and Ye Jingcheng praised his result.

Ye Jingcheng oversaw Ye Jinghu and Ye Jingting’s Beast Communication trials, gave them access to family resources, and examined their experiences for clues about the tower. He discovered Ye Jinghe planned to sell Ye Family secrets for a Foundation Establishment Pill, then arranged to monitor him and tightened the family’s screening rules.

• Ye Jinghu gained two Five-Inch Beast Communication Marks, recorded his experience for Ye Jingcheng, and received four Thunder Rhino Beetles in exchange for Contribution Points.
• Ye Jingcheng summoned Ye Jingting, who gained two Three-Inch and two One-Inch Beast Communication Marks and recorded her experience.
• Ye Jingcheng used the Golden Dragon Token to learn that Ye Jinghe intended to trade Ye Family secrets for a Foundation Establishment Pill.
• Ye Jingcheng gave Ye Jinghe a Forget Dust Pill, planted an observing spirit talisman and flower nectar on him, and arranged for Uncle Xingqun to track him.
• Ye Jingcheng summoned the hall masters and Clan Elders, ordered family trials to require approval from at least three hall masters, and called for trials to include coercion and temptation.

Ye Jingcheng underwent a Second Soul Injection and absorbed far more soul power than expected, widening his Beast Communication Marks and greatly strengthening his Spirit Beasts. After they went berserk from the sudden surge, he made them fight the Violet Sun Demon Corpse until they regained control, and he concluded that another Soul Injection would have to wait until he reached Purple Mansion Late Stage.

• Ye Jingcheng entered the Beast Communication Tower for his Second Soul Injection while Ye Haicheng and Turtle Ancestor guarded him.
• The stampede of beastly shadows painfully widened Ye Jingcheng’s Beast Communication Marks, and his Spirit Marks and Treasure Book retained additional soul power.
• Ye Jingcheng’s Spirit Beasts surged with power and became uncontrollable, so he hurried to his Cave Heaven and released the Violet Sun Demon Corpse for them to fight.
• The Spirit Beasts attacked the Demon Corpse until the Golden Falcon, Crimson Flame Fox, Jade Scale Flood Dragon, Four-Colored Cloud Deer, Soil Turning Earthworm, and Thunder Rhino Beetles settled down or advanced.
• Ye Jingcheng assessed the gains to his Spirit Beasts and Beast Communication Marks, realized the Beast Communication Tower had been nearly drained, and accepted that his third Soul Injection had to wait until Purple Mansion Late Stage.

Ye Jingcheng healed and fed his Spirit Beasts after the Beast Communication Tower trial, then learned the tower had run out of soul power and would be inactive for three years. He planned to cultivate before traveling to Taichang Market for Purple Mansion Jade Liquid, while preparing for his breakthrough and gathering ingredients for Third Order Jade Scale Pills.

• Ye Jingcheng used Treasure Light and pills to tend his Spirit Beasts, observed their strengthened abilities, and fed the Jade Scale Flood Dragon Meat Ganoderma Meat.
• Ye Jingcheng healed the Jade Ring Rat after discovering that its soul had grown to First Order Peak strength, and promised it continued access to cultivation resources.
• Ye Haicheng told Ye Jingcheng that the Beast Communication Tower had run out of soul power and that the Teleportation Array was in Earth Dragon Valley.
• Ye Haicheng encouraged Ye Jingcheng to break through to the Purple Mansion realm and warned him to handle Ye Jinghe's betrayal and the family's infiltration cautiously.
• Ye Jingcheng let the rain continue to disguise the family's water-changing activities, then returned to cultivate before planning his trip to Taichang Market and asking Ye Jingteng to help collect ingredients for Third Order Jade Scale Pills.

Ye Jingcheng traveled to Taichang Market with several Ye Family members, then entered Taiyi Sect to visit Tianfu Real Person. After receiving Taiyi’s Golden Dragon Blessing and seeing the sect’s strength, he arrived at Heaven Horn Peak with Grandmaster Taihao to meet his master.

• Ye Jingcheng planned to upgrade the Stone Spirit Cave Heaven’s spirit vein before traveling to temper his state of mind, and brought Ye Jinghe, Ye Jingting, and Ye Jinghu to Taichang Market.
• After ten days on the spirit boat, Ye Jingcheng assigned the newcomers a market familiarization test and gave Ye Xingyi a jade slip instructing him to monitor Ye Jinghe.
• Ye Jingcheng climbed Taiyi Sect’s Devout Dao Ladder, received the Golden Dragon Blessing that revealed his cultivation, and entered the sect using Tianfu Real Person’s token.
• An Illusion Peak disciple led Ye Jingcheng through Taiyi Sect to Heaven Horn Peak, where Grandmaster Taihao said Tianfu Real Person had been waiting for him.

Ye Jingcheng visited True Person Tianfu at Heaven Horn Palace, where his longevity peach gift revealed an awkward misunderstanding about his master’s near-exhausted lifespan. Tianfu taught him the Supreme Clarity Spirit Nurturing Art and told him to prepare thoroughly for his Purple Mansion breakthrough, promising to teach him the Crimson Cloud Spirit Severing Art afterward.

• Grandmaster Taihao led Ye Jingcheng through the Purple Shirt Heavenly Human Formation to Heaven Horn Palace and explained its significance.
• Ye Jingcheng presented True Person Tianfu with a spirit peach and cautiously drank Heaven Horn Tea, which proved to be nourishing third-rank spirit tea.
• True Person Tianfu and Grandmaster Taihao explained that Tianfu had accepted Ye Jingcheng for his talent and that Tianfu’s lifespan was nearly exhausted, making the peach gift unintentionally awkward.
• True Person Tianfu gave Ye Jingcheng the Supreme Clarity Spirit Nurturing Art, which Ye Jingcheng studied and recited with him.
• True Person Tianfu urged Ye Jingcheng to prepare for his Purple Mansion breakthrough and promised to teach him the Crimson Cloud Spirit Severing Art afterward.

Ye Jingcheng visited Ye Jingteng and Liu Huan while seeking resources and exchanging cultivation insights, then returned to Taichang Market. There, Ye Xingyi recognized a disguised Foundation Building Cultivator connected to Huayu Sect and hurried to alert Ye Jingcheng.

• Ye Jingcheng left Heaven Horn Peak and went to Illusion Grain Mountain, but Ye Jingteng did not answer his summons, so he left Spirit Herbs and Jade Soul Pills for Ye Jingteng to handle later.
• Ye Jingteng, stung by his failed breakthrough and Ye Jingcheng’s progress, collected the storage bag and resolved to help with the exchange despite his resentment.
• Ye Jingcheng visited Liu Huan at Hundred Flowers Valley, exchanged Purple Mansion breakthrough insights with her, and persuaded her to trade for Spirit Herbs at a premium.
• Ye Jingcheng gave Liu Huan the remaining primary ingredients for the Third Order Jade Scale Pill and left with a bottle of Hundred Flowers Dew.
• At Taichang Market, Ye Xingyi saw Ye Jinghe negotiate over Green Grain Grass with a disguised cultivator, then recognized the man as the Foundation Building Cultivator Huayu Sect had sent to auction the Blood Heart Pill.
• Ye Xingyi avoided pursuing the cultivator and went to inform Ye Jingcheng.

At Taichang Market, Ye Jingcheng used a family banquet to draw out Ye Jinghe’s suspected ties to the Huayu Sect and learned more about the brewing conflict around Taiyi Sect. He left the Ye Family out of the Eight Desolations treasure hunt and began preparing for future trouble by contacting the Wan Family.

• Ye Xingyi reported the shop’s doubled profits, and Ye Jingcheng confirmed that the family needed to mine its spirit mine to afford Purple Mansion Jade Liquid.
• Ye Jinghu warned that more Foundation Building Cultivators with heavy Killing Intent had arrived, so Ye Jingcheng told the family to beware of treasure-map schemes and suspicious invitations.
• Ye Jingcheng found evidence in the shop records that Ye Jinghe was communicating with the Huayu Sect, and he ended the banquet before preparing to absorb spirit qi for the beasts in his grotto-heaven.
• Ye Xingyi revealed that clues to the Eight Desolations Legacy Treasure pointed toward Taiyi Sect, drawing Blood Cultivators and Rogue Cultivators to the market.
• Ye Xingyi reported that Taiyi Sect was supporting Taiqing County families with Purple Mansion Jade Liquid quotas and that Foundation Establishment Pills were flowing out of Taiqing Market.
• Ye Jingcheng said the Ye Family would stay out of the treasure dispute and told Ye Xingyi to contact the Wan Family in preparation for a possible conflict between Taiyi Sect and Qinghe Sect.

Ye Jingcheng strengthened his divine soul through a final soul fusion and prepared to attend the auction with the Ye Family. The chapter left the family heading out to bid for Purple Mansion Jade Liquid.

• Ye Jingcheng told Ye Xingyi to pursue cautious cooperation with the Wan Family while watching for their tests and possible agents.
• Ye Jingcheng questioned Tianfu Real Person's motives for teaching him the Supreme Clarity Spirit Nurturing Art and decided to observe its effects before using it further.
• Ye Jingcheng fused the separated soul from a First Order Peak Five Poisons Bee and used two Jade Soul Pills to reach the earth soul level.
• Ye Jingcheng spent two days condensing his soul power and formed six Soul Piercing Needles, stabilizing his divine soul.
• Ye Jingcheng received notice that the auction was beginning and joined Ye Xingyi, Ye Jingli, and the others on their way to bid for Purple Mansion Jade Liquid.

Ye Jingcheng attended Taiyi Sect’s auction, where he bought the Palm Lake Pearl, a Thunder Essence Fruit, and three Foundation Establishment Pills while piecing together why the sect was gathering Spirit Stones. The auction continued with cultivators saving their resources for the Purple Mansion Jade Liquid, which Ye Jingcheng had come to obtain.

• Ye Jingcheng brought the Ye Family to the auction and grew concerned when Miaofa Real Person used divine sense to warn those drawing attention to the fourth floor.
• Qiu Xianyun opened the auction with the Palm Lake Pearl, and Ye Jingcheng won it for 11,800 Spirit Stones.
• After seeing premium materials and treasures offered, Ye Jingcheng suspected Taiyi Sect was gathering Spirit Stones for a major Spirit Gathering Array and a breakthrough to Nascent Soul.
• Ye Jingcheng bought a Thunder Essence Fruit for Ye Jinghu, while the auction’s Foundation Establishment Pills sold for steep prices.
• Ye Jingcheng bid 60,000 Spirit Stones and secured a group of three Foundation Establishment Pills, while other bidders conserved their resources for the Purple Mansion Jade Liquid.

At the auction, Ye Jingcheng bought an Azure Sun Bird carrying a source spirit fire, while two lots of Purple Mansion Jade Liquid sold for record prices to mysterious bidders and the Cheng Family. The auction then introduced a powerful Mountain Protection Array intended to help Taiqing County withstand the Qinghe Sect.

• Wan Hongchang bid on a group of Foundation Establishment Pills and told Wan Chengyi that the Wan Family faced competition for the Purple Mansion Jade Liquid from families and hired rogue cultivators.
• Qiu Xianyun revealed an aged Azure Sun Bird whose Azure Sun Flame was a powerful source spirit fire, and Ye Jingcheng won it for eighty-eight thousand Spirit Stones.
• Zhang Daoran revealed that the Zhang Family had put the Azure Sun Bird up for auction after failing to transplant its spirit fire.
• Ye Jingcheng bid on the first Purple Mansion Jade Liquid lot, but a mysterious Foundation Building Cultivator won it for one hundred and sixty-seven thousand Spirit Stones.
• The Cheng Family won the second Purple Mansion Jade Liquid lot for a record one hundred and seventy thousand Spirit Stones.
• Qiu Xianyun introduced the third-tier mid-grade Lesser Five Elements Vajra Grand Array, which Ye Jingcheng recognized as preparation for Taiqing County's conflict with the Qinghe Sect.

Ye Jingcheng watched the Taiyi Sect auction raise vast sums and accepted the Wan Family’s invitation to an off-market Foundation Establishment Trade Fair. Back in his room, he contracted the dying Azure Sun Bird and discovered that it feared the Azure Sun Flame, which might not have originated from its kind.

• The Wan Family won the Lesser Five Elements Vajra Grand Array for 150,000 Spirit Stones, and the remaining two third-tier magic treasures also sold for high prices.
• Wan Hongchang invited Ye Jingcheng, Ye Xingyi, and another Ye family member to a Foundation Establishment Trade Fair outside Taichang Market and gave them tokens.
• Ye Jingcheng returned to One Leaf Pavilion, discussed cultivating ties with the Wan Family, and carefully sealed the trade-fair token in his storage bag.
• Ye Jingcheng established a Blood Pact with the dying Azure Sun Bird and learned through their Soul Contract that it had about a year left to live.
• Ye Jingcheng sensed the Azure Sun Bird’s terror of the Azure Sun Flame and suspected the flame had not originally belonged to the bird.

Ye Jingcheng tested what could sustain the Azure Sun Flame and learned that Treasure Light worked best, while vitality-restoring items and spirit beast flesh could also keep the Azure Sun Bird alive. He traded with Liu Huan for ingredients for the Jade Scale Flood Dragon’s advancement pill, refused to explain his connection to Tianfu Real Person, and left her searching for a thousand-year Accumulating Cold Flower.

• Ye Jingcheng tested Treasure Light, spirit pills, spirit food, and Meat Ganoderma Meat on the Azure Sun Bird, recording how well each sustained the Azure Sun Flame.
• Ye Jingcheng met Liu Huan at Jinli Pavilion and exchanged twenty-five thousand Spirit Stones and two Jade Soul Pills for spirit herbs and materials.
• Liu Huan asked Ye Jingcheng about his relationship with Martial Uncle Tianfu, but he declined to answer and suggested she ask Senior Xuandao.
• Ye Jingcheng gave Liu Huan Azure Jade Lotuses and Purple Illusion Flower seeds before they parted.
• Liu Huan agreed to keep searching for the thousand-year Accumulating Cold Flower that Ye Jingcheng needed for the Jade Scale Flood Dragon’s Third Order Jade Scale Pill.

Ye Jingcheng and his relatives followed the Azure Flower Token to a hidden black market run by the Qingling Merchant Guild, where he found the Heaven Bell Furnace for sale. He bargained down to thirty-eight thousand Spirit Stones and agreed to buy it.

• Ye Jingcheng decided to attend the underground Trade Fair at Black Stone Ridge with Ye Jingli and Ye Xingyi, and the three concealed their identities as they left Taichang Market.
• At Black Stone Ridge, their Azure Flower Tokens revealed a Spirit Map leading them to Medicine King Valley’s Qingling Merchant Guild and a hidden market near Wu Spirit Mountain.
• Ye Jingcheng entered the market and learned from Ye Xingyi that it had a morning market and a more secretive night market, while its stalls sold contraband such as spirit corpses and female cultivators.
• Ye Xingyi told Ye Jingcheng that a vendor was selling Zhong Wuchang’s Second Order High Grade Heaven Bell Furnace.
• Ye Jingcheng bargained with the old vendor and accepted the price of thirty-eight thousand Spirit Stones for the furnace.

Ye Jingcheng attended the Qingling Merchant Guild’s secret auction, where he bought Earth Kirin Lion blood essence and rescued Chu Yanqing after discovering she had been captured. He left the auction with Chu Yanqing, while his purchases and identity risked attracting attention.

• Ye Jingcheng and Ye Jingli entered the black market auction after cursing the Taiyi Sect, then listened as Master Qing explained the guild’s rules.
• Ye Jingcheng watched the auction sell rare treasures and bought five drops of Earth Kirin Lion blood essence for ninety thousand Spirit Stones.
• Ye Jingcheng recognized Chu Yanqing among the auction’s offerings and realized the Chu Family had likely been destroyed.
• Ye Jingcheng outbid the other cultivators for Chu Yanqing at one hundred and twenty thousand Spirit Stones, paying partly with Fire Pattern Sinking Iron.
• Ye Jingcheng took the control token and jade slip from Master Qing, then returned to his seat with Chu Yanqing while pretending to be a lecherous buyer.

Ye Jingcheng attended the Qingling Merchant Guild’s secret trade fair, where he helped Ye Xingyi identify and buy a Three-Eyed Demon Ape while failing to find the ingredients he needed. After the group left, Chu Yanqing recognized Ye Jingcheng, and he arranged for her to recover and work for the Ye Family.

• Ye Jingcheng watched the trade fair and warned Ye Xingyi that the supposed Nanming Bird egg was a Spirit-Flame-tempered Crimson Feather Finch, so Ye Xingyi stopped bidding.
• Ye Jingcheng identified a young ape as a Three-Eyed Demon Ape and urged Ye Xingyi to buy it, which he did for 1,900 Spirit Stones.
• Ye Jingli traded a unique Dharma Artifact for a second-order Fire Attribute Spirit Fruit, while Ye Jingcheng failed to exchange two Silver Moon Python inner cores for Essence Containing Grass.
• Master Qing required attendees to swear a Heavenly Dao Oath and gave Ye Jingli a Silver Spirit-grade token for future Purple Mansion trade fairs.
• Ye Jingcheng led Ye Jingli and Ye Xingyi out of the town, and two Azure-Robed cultivators followed them protectively before disappearing.
• Near Taichang Market, Chu Yanqing recognized Ye Jingcheng; he freed her, gave her medicine and supplies, and agreed that she would work for the Ye Family for twenty years.