Chapter Summaries

Lin Heng used the Green Lotus Dao Fire to make slow progress toward forming his Fire Element Body, then left Crown Calamity Town for Jiang Bing City to find his Second Senior Sister. Meanwhile, the Alchemy Alliance investigated the attack on Alchemist Wang and suspected the Eastern Continent Ye Family, setting up new trouble for Ye Nantian.

• Lin Heng let the Jade Origin Vine take one drop of his essence blood, then guided the Green Lotus Dao Fire into his dantian to help refine his Fire Element Body.
• The Jade Origin Vine warned the Green Lotus Dao Fire not to resist Lin Heng, and Lin Heng spent two days making only slight progress before leaving for Jiang Bing City.
• The Little Demoness searched Yongzhou City without finding Lin Heng and set out for Jiang Bing City, while she and Lin Heng narrowly missed each other on the road.
• The Alchemy Alliance’s Southern District Branch learned that Alchemist Wang had been robbed of his strange fire and beaten, and its elder ordered an investigation into the suspected Ye Family connection.
• The branch elder considered visiting the Ye Family if the investigation confirmed its involvement, while Ye Nantian remained unaware that Ye Tian had brought the family fresh trouble.

The Bai Family decided to reenter the world despite the old ancestor’s teachings, while Lin Heng reached Jiang Bing City after four days of travel. There, Mu Liuxi discovered Li Feiyu had helped drive up material prices to pressure her into dating him, and she left him wondering whether she would have to continue south for supplies.

• The Bai Family’s old clan head refused to issue the Literary Path Execution Order and announced he would lead the family back into the world to pursue Ye Tian.
• Lin Heng arrived in Jiang Bing City before the city gates closed for the night.
• Mu Liuxi learned that Li Feiyu had used his family’s influence to raise material prices and obstruct Fairy Cloud Peak’s purchases.
• Li Feiyu demanded that Mu Liuxi date him in exchange for help, but she insulted him and left the restaurant.
• Mu Liuxi worried that the Li Family’s interference might force her to continue south, while a white figure nearby fixed its attention on her.

Lin Heng reunited with Mu Liuxi in Jiang Bing City and learned that the Li Family and Sitting Dao Peak had helped drive up the cost of materials for Fairy Cloud Peak. He proposed using a mundane method to pressure the Li Family, leaving Mu Liuxi curious about his plan.

• Lin Heng caught up with Mu Liuxi, and Li Feiyu saw them leave together and vowed to retaliate against them in Jiang Bing City.
• Lin Heng told Mu Liuxi about his encounters in Yongzhou City and Crown Calamity Town and warned that they should be more careful outside the sect.
• Mu Liuxi explained that Sitting Dao Peak had raised nearby ore prices by fifty percent and that Li Feiyu had pressured her with an excessive condition.
• After hearing how Li Feiyu had treated Mu Liuxi, Lin Heng rejected traveling farther south and proposed dealing with the Li Family.
• Mu Liuxi noted that the merchant guilds controlled the mineral resources, and Lin Heng suggested using a mundane blade instead of acting personally.

Lin Heng devised a plan with Mu Liuxi to disrupt the chamber of commerce’s price control, while Li Feiyu plotted to have Lin Heng attacked. After Lin Heng advanced to Foundation Establishment Late Stage and went to find Mu Liuxi, he did not know that Little Demoness had already searched for him for three days.

• Lin Heng persuaded Mu Liuxi to raise raw-material prices through one industry owner so the chamber of commerce members would turn against one another.
• Li Feiyu convinced the industry owners to support another price increase, claiming the Green Pavilion Sect and City Lord’s Mansion would protect them.
• Li Feiyu persuaded his father to contact the Black Market and target Lin Heng, hoping to distract Mu Liuxi.
• Mu Liuxi began lobbying the industry owners while Lin Heng stayed at the inn to cultivate.
• Lin Heng spent three days breaking through to Foundation Establishment Late Stage, then left to look for Mu Liuxi.
• Little Demoness had arrived in Jiang Bing City and had searched for Lin Heng for three days.

Mu Liuxi secured a raw-material deal with the Qian Family and reunited with Lin Heng, who had advanced his cultivation. After sharing a kiss in the street, they were spotted by Jiang Caiyan, who then noticed Black Market members entering a Li Family pavilion.

• Mu Liuxi finalized a deal for the Qian Family to deliver three tons of Raw Iron Stone Mine to Fairy Cloud Peak within five days, while Boss Qian hoped to profit from future orders.
• Lin Heng told Mu Liuxi that he had arranged matters and had advanced to Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, then boasted that he could reach the peak before the Inter-Sect Competition.
• Mu Liuxi tapped her cheek to invite Lin Heng to kiss her, and she pushed him away after he kissed her on the street.
• Jiang Caiyan saw Lin Heng and Mu Liuxi together and felt uncomfortable as she watched them leave.
• Jiang Caiyan noticed Black Market members entering a Li Family pavilion and decided to investigate rather than return empty-handed.

Jiang Caiyan overheard the Black Market’s plan to assassinate Lin Heng, while Mu Liuxi’s deal with the Qian Family unsettled Jiang Bing City’s merchants. When assassins attacked Lin Heng at the inn, Jiang Caiyan intervened, but both sides mistook the sudden pressure for a hidden threat and froze.

• Jiang Caiyan concealed her aura and overheard Li Feiyu hire a Black Market cultivator to kill Lin Heng despite his Golden Core bodyguard.
• Jiang Caiyan recognized the plan’s target as Lin Heng and wondered why the Black Market leader’s voice seemed familiar.
• Mu Liuxi’s agreement with the Qian Family alarmed seven family heads, who gathered at Sun's Restaurant to discuss their losses and the pressure to lower prices.
• The Black Market assassins attacked Lin Heng while Mu Liuxi was away, and Lin Heng dodged their hidden needles before countering with the Nine Heavens Sword and Time Sword Intent.
• Jiang Caiyan raised a black barrier and released a terrifying pressure, causing Lin Heng and the Black Market assassins to mistake one another for the source of a hidden threat and stop moving.

Lin Heng survived an assassination attempt by Black Robe and his group, using Dragon Qi and his hardened body to drive them off. After Mu Liuxi took him to safety, Jiang Bing City's authorities began investigating the attack and suspected the city's great families had links to the killers.

• Jiang Caiyan withdrew her pressure and decided to intervene only if Lin Heng could not handle the attackers, wary of revealing that her cultivation cycle had recovered.
• Lin Heng endured Black Robe's blade formation and the other attackers' divine abilities, then unleashed three streams of Dragon Qi that forced Black Robe to flee with one subordinate.
• Mu Liuxi arrived, supported Lin Heng, and took charge of pursuing the people behind the assassination attempt.
• The attack's destruction and nearly thirty deaths alarmed Jiang Bing City's authorities, while the merchant families visited Lin Heng and Mu Liuxi to preserve their trade negotiations.
• The city lord and Bureau Chief ordered an investigation, with the Bureau Chief suspecting the great families had connections to the killers and the city lord naming the Zhao Family as an initial lead.

Lin Heng stayed at the City Lord's Mansion with Mu Liuxi and planned to travel with her to Swallow Cloud City to earn money and visit their aunts. After the Black-robed man demanded more payment from Li Feiyu for another attempt on Lin Heng, Jiang Caiyan killed him and took his life essence and spirit stones.

• Lin Heng told Mu Liuxi that he wanted to accompany her to Swallow Cloud City, and she considered using the Mu Family's connections to help him earn money for his sect mission.
• Black Robe confronted Li Feiyu over concealing Lin Heng's imperial-clan status and raised the price for another assassination attempt.
• Li Feiyu bargained with Black Robe and agreed to pay an additional eighty thousand spirit stones, bringing his total payment to one hundred thirty thousand.
• Black Robe decided not to target Lin Heng again and left Jiang Bing City with the spirit stones.
• Jiang Caiyan ambushed Black Robe outside the city, killed him with the Black Chain Demon Wheel, and took his life essence and Storage Ring.
• Jiang Caiyan wondered whether Lin Heng would thank her or Mu Liuxi, then began contemplating a scheme involving his Senior Sister.

The Justice Bureau learned that the Black Market assassins’ leader had visited the Li Family, prompting Lin Heng and Mu Liuxi to suspect a wider plot. As they waited for the investigation to develop, they secured a raw-material deal and funding for the Immortal Academy Hall.

• The Bureau Chief threatened a captured Black Market assassin with boiling punishment, and the man revealed that their Big Senior had visited the Li Family before the attack.
• The Bureau Chief decided to coordinate with the City Lord’s Mansion before searching the influential Li Family, while Lin Heng and Mu Liuxi considered whether Li Feiyu or Green Pavilion Sect Elders were behind the assassination.
• Lin Heng and Mu Liuxi divided their work: one negotiated a procurement contract for stone and iron ore, with Fairy Cloud Peak disciples assigned to escort the shipments.
• Lin Heng persuaded the City Lord to contribute more than fifty thousand Spirit Stones to the Immortal Academy Hall and gained his promise to promote it among aristocratic families.

Lin Heng and Mu Liuxi shared a quiet moment before departing for Swallow Cloud City, while the Li Family’s attempt to evade scrutiny collapsed after Justice Bureau investigators were killed outside its gates. The bureau arrested Li Feiyu and his father and began investigating the family.

• Lin Heng estimated that his fundraising efforts could eventually gather a million spirit stones and met Mu Liuxi before their planned departure for Swallow Cloud City.
• Mu Liuxi and Lin Heng wrote wishes on a flying lantern, and Lin Heng listed the women he hoped to marry.
• Li Feiyu advised his father to blame the Black Market and frame their dealings as a Cultivation World dispute.
• A steward reported that more than a dozen Justice Bureau investigators had been killed outside the Li Family estate, and the Li Family Head fainted at the sight of the bodies.
• The Justice Bureau surrounded the estate, brought Li Feiyu and his father in for questioning, and found records of the Li Family’s dealings with the Black Market.

Jiang Caiyan secretly protected Lin Heng and followed him and Mu Liuxi to Swallow Cloud City, while the Blood Moon Cult prepared to expand after absorbing the Corpse Nurturing Sect. In the city, Zhao Mother learned Lin Heng had arrived and hurried to tell Zhao Wan Qing to invite him before the Mu Family could get to him.

• Jiang Caiyan gave Black Robe the Spirit Stones recovered from the attempt on Lin Heng’s life and insisted that only she could kill him.
• Black Robe reported that the Blood Moon Cult’s takeover of the Corpse Nurturing Sect had gone unchallenged, that its disciples were joining, and that the cult had found a young man with a rare dark spiritual root.
• Jiang Caiyan decided to follow Lin Heng and Mu Liuxi to Swallow Cloud City, where they were headed to investigate Demon Beast attacks and missing villagers.
• Mu Xuting continued rebuilding the Mu Family, while she and Zhao Mother Xin Shao privately regarded Lin Heng as a promising future son-in-law.
• After an attendant confirmed Lin Heng’s arrival in Swallow Cloud City, Zhao Mother sent word to Zhao Wan Qing and urged her to invite him before the Mu Family could.

Lin Heng reunited with Zhao Wanqing on North Street while Mu Liuxi returned to the Mu Family to see her mother. Mu Liuxi explained her sect mission, and Mu Xuting grew tense after hearing its details.

• Lin Heng browsed a street stall and bought a small iron pill furnace for five Spirit Stones.
• Zhao Wanqing met Lin Heng on North Street, and the two agreed to take a walk together.
• Mu Liuxi left the rouge shop, failed to find Lin Heng, and returned to the Mu Family.
• Mu Liuxi reunited with Mu Xuting and told her about the sect mission that had brought her home.
• Mu Xuting's expression turned tense as she heard the details of Mu Liuxi's mission.

Mu Liuxi learned that villagers and Justice Bureau agents had disappeared near Swallow Cloud City and hurried to investigate. Meanwhile, Lin Heng was welcomed at the Zhao Mansion, where Xin Shao asked him to help drive away Zhao Wanqing’s suitors, leaving him to weigh the deeper meaning of her request.

• Mu Xuting told Mu Liuxi that people had gone missing in Sunxi Village and the Justice Bureau had not returned, so Mu Liuxi went to investigate.
• The Zhao Family intercepted Lin Heng and brought him to a lavish meal at the Zhao Mansion.
• Liu Feng accused Lin Heng of acting proper around Zhao Wanqing and warned him not to deceive or hurt her.
• Xin Shao teased Zhao Wanqing about her feelings for Lin Heng and invited him to visit the Zhao Mansion more often.
• Xin Shao asked Lin Heng to help Zhao Wanqing turn away the many suitors pursuing her, and Lin Heng recognized the request as a test.

Lin Heng agreed to help Zhao Wanqing’s family turn away a powerful suitor, then spent three days accompanying her and saw how many young men pursued her. At a viewing tower, Zhao Wanqing shared her doubts about the meaning of saving the world, and Lin Heng began to tell her a story.

• Lin Heng agreed to help the Zhao Family deal with the Gongsun Family’s marriage proposal.
• Mu Liuxi joined the Bureau Chief on patrol while Lin Heng accompanied Zhao Wanqing to the Medical Hall and around the city for three days.
• Lin Heng saw dozens of young men pretending to be patients to stay near Zhao Wanqing and teased Steward Liu before taking her out.
• Lin Heng and Zhao Wanqing visited a viewing tower that recreated an ancient immortal terrace.
• Zhao Wanqing questioned whether saving people made sense when the world itself seemed to be sick, and Lin Heng offered to tell her a story.

Lin Heng used a story to teach Zhao Wanqing to focus on the beginning of a problem, then helped her confront Gongsun Hongshuo, a suitor from the Gongsun Family. Lin Heng and Zhao Wanqing left holding hands, and she began wondering whether his cold hand meant he was physically deficient.

• Lin Heng told Zhao Wanqing a story about a fool and explained that she should consider a problem’s beginning instead of overthinking its outcome.
• Lin Heng and Zhao Wanqing encountered Gongsun Hongshuo, who had come to pursue her after speaking with her mother.
• Lin Heng introduced himself as Zhao Wanqing’s male friend, took her hand, and led her away to eat, shocking Gongsun Hongshuo.
• Gongsun Hongshuo learned that Lin Heng was Zhao Wanqing’s boyfriend and returned to the Zhao Mansion to question her mother.
• Lin Heng reassured Zhao Wanqing that he was not afraid of trouble from the Gongsun Family, and she wondered whether his cold hand meant he was deficient.

Jiang Caiyan struggled with the evil karma caused by her Demonic Heaven Scripture and its forbidden art after witnessing Lin Heng and Zhao Wanqing together. She ordered Black Robe to investigate nearby Demon Beasts, hoping to find valuable prey for the Blood Moon Cult.

• Jiang Caiyan and Black Robe watched Lin Heng and Zhao Wanqing leave together, and Jiang Caiyan wondered whether destroying someone’s beloved possession would make him feel the remorse and hatred she had felt as a child.
• Black Robe recalled how Jiang Caiyan’s cousins had killed the little black dog she had secretly raised, then reassured her that she would not inflict her past suffering on others.
• Back at the inn, Jiang Caiyan tried to suppress the evil karma accumulating from her forbidden art, but the accusing voices overwhelmed her and she coughed up blood after attempting to purify them.
• Black Robe warned Jiang Caiyan not to use the forbidden art again, but she said she would deal with the evil karma later.
• Jiang Caiyan sent Black Robe to investigate reports of Demon Beasts near Swallow Cloud City, and he planned to follow the Justice Bureau’s movements for clues.

Lin Heng began arranging the Zhao Family’s promotion of his pills while Jiang Caiyan watched him grow close to Zhao Wanqing and grew furious. Jiang Caiyan planned to expose Lin Heng to Zhao Wanqing and later take him back to the Blood Moon Cult.

• Xin Shao reassured Liu Feng that the Zhao Family could accept the risks of helping Lin Heng promote his pills.
• Lin Heng advanced his Ten-Zhang Golden Body and prepared to oversee the pill promotion.
• Zhao Wanqing introduced Lin Heng to the Zhao Family’s industry managers, and Lin Heng presented his Dream-Enhancing Pill and described three kinds of pills.
• Lin Heng asked the managers to test the Dream-Enhancing Pills and gave himself three days to prepare finished products for all three batches.
• Jiang Caiyan saw Lin Heng chatting with Zhao Wanqing, became jealous, and vowed to reveal his true nature to her.

The Zhao Family approved the Dream-Enhancing Pill, and Lin Heng planned its promotion while refining more pills with his Green Lotus Dao Fire. After returning to Swallow Cloud City, Mu Liuxi learned that Mu Xuting was furious because Lin Heng had been staying at the Zhao Family Estate.

• The Zhao Family's business managers tested the Dream-Enhancing Pill, confirmed its effects, and approved it.
• Lin Heng showed Zhao Wanqing and two alchemists his Green Lotus Dao Fire while preparing to refine more pills.
• Lin Heng told Zhao Wanqing to build interest in the new pill through a limited first batch and private rumors about its effects.
• Mu Liuxi and the Bureau Chief ended their fruitless pursuit of a Demon Beast that had repeatedly evaded them and returned to Swallow Cloud City.
• Mu Xuting summoned Mu Liuxi and confronted her for not revealing Lin Heng's return after learning he had been staying at the Zhao Family Estate.

Mu Liuxi grew worried that Zhao Wanqing might win Lin Heng’s affection and agreed to bring him back to the Mu Family. After Lin Heng finished refining the first batch of pills, Zhao Wanqing was attacked on her way home, but Jiang Caiyan killed the kidnappers and carried the unconscious woman away.

• Mu Xuting warned Mu Liuxi that Zhao Wanqing and the Zhao Family might take Lin Heng from her, and Mu Liuxi decided to visit him herself.
• Lin Heng inspected the newly refined pills and said the Face-Retaining Pills needed to reach grade three before they were suitable for use.
• Lin Heng told Zhao Wanqing that he might have other Dao companions and questioned whether she could accept that, while she gave him an ambiguous answer.
• Two black-clothed men restrained Zhao Wanqing and tried to kidnap her, blaming the Zhao Family for failing to appreciate favors.
• Jiang Caiyan killed the two attackers, then made Zhao Wanqing faint and carried her away into the night.

Jiang Caiyan abducted Zhao Wanqing and nearly killed her, but stopped when Zhao Wanqing called for her father in her sleep. After Zhao Wanqing woke, Jiang Caiyan questioned her about death, regrets, and her beloved.

• After two passersby found the black-clad men Jiang Caiyan had killed, the Justice Bureau sealed the street and took the witnesses in for questioning.
• Jiang Caiyan watched Zhao Wanqing sleep and raised a knife to kill her, but stopped when Zhao Wanqing murmured for her father.
• Jiang Caiyan put away the knife and admitted to herself that she had intended to make Zhao Wanqing see Lin Heng's true nature rather than kill her.
• Zhao Wanqing woke in an unfamiliar room, checked that her clothes were unharmed, and tried to flee before Jiang Caiyan stopped her.
• Jiang Caiyan told Zhao Wanqing that she had saved her from the black-clad men but intended to abduct her herself.
• Jiang Caiyan asked whether Zhao Wanqing feared death and had regrets, then asked who her beloved was.