Chapter Summaries

After eight years of political upheaval and cultivation, Chen Luo left the Seven Kingdoms after True Person Wuwei began his Core Formation tribulation and returned to Qionghua Sect. He traveled through the sect’s rough cross-domain formation to a remote island, where he met a disciple from the newly established Crimson Cloud Peak.

• Chen Luo reached Foundation Establishment Completion, while he and True Person Wuwei advanced to the brink of Core Formation through years of cultivation and discussion.
• True Person Wuwei began his Heavenly Tribulation, and Chen Luo left him supplies before departing the Seven Kingdoms after sensing a new Core Formation aura.
• Chen Luo returned to Qionghua Sect, found Mu Xiao Yu had joined the sect, and learned that the region around Yinsha Forest had become a bottomless pit.
• Chen Luo arranged to return to Qionghua Sect’s main sect despite Xie Wudao warning him that competition there would be fiercer.
• The cross-domain teleportation formation sent Chen Luo to a solitary island, where he recovered and read instructions to await the sect’s flying boat.
• A Foundation Building Realm disciple from Crimson Cloud Peak arrived by the formation, and Chen Luo learned that the peak had been established ten years earlier.

Chen Luo and Mei Qin boarded the Qionghua Sect’s enormous Whale Flying Boat, where Chen Luo met steward Zhao Long and learned about the dangers on their route. As the boat reached Myriad Demon Mountain, Chen Luo saw the colossal red mountain looming ahead.

• Chen Luo and Mei Qin boarded the Whale Flying Boat after their Qionghua Sect tokens confirmed their identities.
• Zhao Long recognized Chen Luo as a powerful cultivator and introduced him to the Heart Sword Peak Master and Bedrock Peak Master, both Foundation Establishment Completion Realm cultivators.
• Chen Luo learned that the Whale Flying Boat ran on Spirit Marrow and was built to withstand attacks from Core Formation Cultivators.
• Mei Qin and Zhao Long warned Chen Luo about the Bridge of Helplessness, Gu Insect Ridge, and Wild Monkey Valley on Myriad Demon Mountain, where a Core Formation True Person had once fallen.
• The Whale Flying Boat entered the mountain range, and Chen Luo saw the colossal red Myriad Demon Mountain for the first time.

Chen Luo traveled aboard the Giant Whale Flying Boat through Myriad Demon Mountain, cultivated with medicinal tea, and discovered that the Bedrock Peak Master had killed the Heart Sword Peak Master. After considering whether to attack the other passengers, Chen Luo decided against it and returned to brewing tea.

• Chen Luo explored Myriad Demon Mountain with his divine sense and identified a black-purple flying fish as a mixed-blood Crimson Worm.
• Chen Luo prepared medicinal tea from a withered vine he had cultivated for seven years, then compressed his spiritual power to strengthen his Core Formation Seed.
• The Bedrock Peak Master killed the Heart Sword Peak Master and threw his corpse from the flying boat, where demon beasts devoured it.
• Chen Luo sensed that the Bedrock Peak Master possessed a third-rank spirit material and briefly considered killing everyone aboard before deciding against it.
• Chen Luo withdrew his divine sense and began brewing another batch of medicinal tea.

Chen Luo discovered that his gu insects had devoured an Exotic Insect Egg and considered combining the Life Borrowing Gu and Soul Parasite Gu with the Inner Demon Art. When the Crag Peak Master killed three Foundation Establishment cultivators aboard the Whale Flying Boat, Chen Luo claimed their Black Umbrella and demanded the Crag Peak Master's treasure, setting up a confrontation near the Bridge of Helplessness.

• Chen Luo found that the Silver Centipedes, Ironclad Beetle, Soul Parasite Gu, and Life Borrowing Gu had eaten the Exotic Insect Egg and begun fighting over one another.
• Chen Luo recalled the Life Borrowing Gu's cost and considered combining it and the Soul Parasite Gu with the Inner Demon Art.
• As the Whale Flying Boat approached the Bridge of Helplessness, the Crag Peak Master fought three linked soul cultivators and killed them with a powerful fire art.
• Chen Luo sensed a treasure through his Treasure Hunting Rat, seized the Black Umbrella containing a red-clothed female ghost, and demanded the Crag Peak Master's black stone and other spoils.
• The Crag Peak Master warned that a fight could endanger everyone near the Bridge of Helplessness, and Chen Luo answered that he would be quick as silver light appeared in his hand.

Chen Luo killed Crag Peak Master, then crossed the Bridge of Helplessness aboard the Giant Whale Flying Boat and discovered that Yin Soul Patrols could be captured without alerting the Ghost Temple if their Soul Tokens were removed. The boat continued through the dangerous passage, leaving Chen Luo and the others wary of the powerful presence below.

• Chen Luo killed Crag Peak Master, absorbed his final obsession, and took his possessions and soul.
• The Giant Whale Flying Boat entered the Bridge of Helplessness, where eerie chanting threatened the cultivators’ minds and the Dried Corpse Brain identified the gray land as a place for Ghost Cultivators.
• Zhao Long bound two approaching Yin Souls, but two Foundation Establishment Early Stage disciples died when the Ghost Temple took their souls.
• Chen Luo captured three more Yin Soul Patrols, removed their Soul Tokens, and refined the souls in his Soul Banner without attracting the Ghost Temple’s attention.
• Chen Luo warned Zhao Long not to imitate him, and a female cultivator explained that the patrol soldiers were weak but feared the powerful entity below.

Chen Luo and the others fought a swarm of Yin Souls that damaged the Giant Whale flying boat and injured the passengers. Chen Luo repaired the boat’s restrictions, but a ghost appeared behind him and praised him.

• Zhao Long warned that the flying boat had to cross the Yin Souls without alerting the enormous being below, while Chen Luo captured approaching Yin Souls.
• More than three hundred Yin Souls attacked the Giant Whale, and Chen Luo sensed a Thousand-Eyed Centipede as the swarm began detonating against the boat’s restrictions.
• A powerful Yin Soul’s shriek injured the passengers and blasted a hole in the restrictions, so Chen Luo used a Demon Seed to recover and fought off two more Yin Souls.
• Chen Luo gathered the captured souls into his Soul Banner and, with Zhao Long, Mei Qin, and the surviving female cultivator still standing, repaired the damaged restrictions.
• As Chen Luo finished restoring the flying boat, a pale ghost appeared behind him, touched his shoulders with icy hands, and said, “The young master is amazing.”

Chen Luo killed the Yin Soul Woman aboard the Giant Whale and helped Zhao Long and Mei Qin recover from her poison, allowing the flying boat to cross the first danger zone. After reaching safety, he examined the gu insects and discovered the Life Borrowing Gu was beginning to evolve.

• The Yin Soul Woman poisoned Zhao Long and the flying boat’s controller, but Chen Luo escaped her hold with a Demon Seed Substitute and killed her using curse power mixed with the Life Borrowing Gu and Soul Parasite Gu.
• Chen Luo found the poisoned Zhao Long and Mei Qin, read the dead female cultivator’s brainwaves, and used spiritual power to detoxify them.
• The Giant Whale crossed the first danger zone, and Zhao Long and Mei Qin thanked Chen Luo as they discussed the remaining route and Spirit Marrow supply.
• Chen Luo returned to his room to inspect the gu insects and learned from the Immortal Sect Master's brain that the Life Borrowing Gu was about to evolve.
• Chen Luo pressed and rubbed the Life Borrowing Gu, causing it to grow hot and release a thread of white light as its evolution began.

Chen Luo refined the Life Borrowing Gu and traded Mei Qin a defensive formation for the Kuisui True Art, which helped him devise a path toward Core Formation. As the flying boat neared Gu Insect Ridge, Zhao Long warned him that they were approaching danger with little Spirit Marrow remaining.

• Chen Luo refined the Life Borrowing Gu and Soul Parasite Gu, then learned from the Dried Corpse Brain that he could achieve the Crimson Core.
• Mei Qin explained the Qionghua Sect’s Southern Sky Region and traded the Kuisui True Art for Chen Luo’s Second-grade Black Tortoise Formation Flags and medicinal pills.
• Chen Luo studied the Kuisui True Art, and the Dried Corpse Brain proposed an Inner Demon Golden Core cultivation plan.
• As the flying boat passed through the Red Stone Forest, Chen Luo cultivated his improved Inner Demon Art and sensed Zhao Long’s fear.
• Zhao Long told Chen Luo that they would reach Gu Insect Ridge within half an hour and that their Spirit Marrow would last only until the Sect Stronghold.

Chen Luo and his companions crossed Gu Insect Ridge safely after he used the Soul Parasite Gu to control Spirit Devouring Gu, then reached the Qionghua Sect stronghold in the Southern Sky Region. He headed into the crowded stronghold hoping to find a chance to condense a First-grade Golden Core.

• The flying boat entered Gu Insect Ridge, where swarms of Spirit Devouring Gu attacked it.
• Chen Luo sent out the Soul Parasite Gu, which made the Spirit Devouring Gu turn on one another and let him collect a small swarm.
• Chen Luo, Zhao Long, and Mei Qin passed through Gu Insect Ridge and Wild Monkey Valley before the Giant Whale Flying Boat crossed Myriad Demon Mountain into the Southern Sky Region.
• The Giant Whale Flying Boat ran out of Spirit Marrow and landed at the sect stronghold, where Zhao Long and Mei Qin exchanged communication imprints with Chen Luo before parting ways.
• Chen Luo arrived at the Qionghua Sect stronghold and saw its Supreme Simplicity Divine Sword and the many low-level cultivators living there.

Chen Luo left the Qionghua Sect outpost after learning he could not afford the teleportation fee, while an escort party sought shelter from demons at Iron Spear Temple. The chapter ended as two guards screamed outside, leaving the danger surrounding the temple unresolved.

• Chen Luo learned that the Cross-domain Teleportation Formation required another three thousand Merit Points, declined to take missions, and received a map instead.
• Chen Luo spent half a month learning about the Southern Sky Region, then left the Qionghua Sect outpost by the cheaper route.
• Chief Escort Shen led his party through a storm after the Gaunt Daoist detected demon qi filling the rain.
• The escort party reached Iron Spear Temple, drove off a swarm of ordinary bats, and found a silent Person in Green Robe inside.
• The Gaunt Daoist warned that the Person in Green Robe seemed strange, and two guards outside screamed while the party warmed themselves inside.

Chen Luo recovered a Core Formation alchemist’s brain after pursuing and defeating the Lizard Monster at Iron Spear Temple. The brain’s memories revealed Third-Rank alchemy knowledge, giving Chen Luo greater hope of forming a First-grade Golden Core.

• Chief Escort Shen and Daoist Qiu found Old Qi’s severed head and realized a demon had attacked the escort guards.
• Daoist Qiu’s spirit talisman flew from Old Qian and burned against the young man’s forehead without harming him.
• The young man revealed himself as the Lizard Monster and attacked Chen Luo, who smashed it with a punch and burned its black sludge.
• The Lizard Monster split into clumps of sludge and fled, but Chen Luo recovered the skull it had stolen and absorbed its brainwaves.
• Chen Luo received memories of an alchemist who had died refining a fourth-rank pill and learned techniques that could help him form a First-grade Golden Core.

Chen Luo pursued the Lizard Monster, but a sudden mist transported him and the others to a strange Incense Offering Realm. After discovering a mysterious Fate Token had appeared in his hand and attacked his divine soul, Chen Luo recognized a possible connection to the forgotten Divine Dao Technique and threw the token away rather than follow its demand to find a Slip Interpreter.

• Chen Luo attacked the fleeing Lizard Monster with sword qi, but a strange white mist swallowed the clash and carried him and the others into Bluestone Town in the Incense Offering Realm.
• Chen Luo pursued the Lizard Monster through the town while Daoist Qiu and the escorts followed him for protection.
• Old Qian noticed a Fate Token in Chen Luo's hand, and its written characters transformed into a spear-wielding figure that struck Chen Luo's divine soul.
• Chen Luo recalled the Divine Dao Technique from True Person Evergreen and suspected the Fate Token's attack resembled the technique's methods.
• After the token's message urged him to find a Slip Interpreter, Chen Luo hurled it down the street instead.

Chen Luo discovered that the Fate Token had trapped him in a strange scene connected to the Spear Wielding Minor Deity of Iron Spear Temple. After learning how the forgotten general’s resentment had formed, Chen Luo faced the blame for the temple’s destruction as the general raised his spear.

• Chen Luo realized that the Fate Token and the surroundings had returned to their earlier state, then used the Dried Corpse Brain to recall a phantom emerging from the token and speaking in Daoist Qiu’s voice.
• Chen Luo and the escorts found Iron Spear Temple restored, where only Chen Luo could see the armored Spear Wielding Minor Deity; the phantom killed Old Lu without warning.
• Chen Luo’s Thunder Arts, Five Elements Divine Arts, curses, Soul Banner, and Sword Qi all passed through the phantom, while Daoist Qiu led the frightened escorts out of the temple.
• Chen Luo heard the accumulated prayers once offered to the spear-wielding general and saw its memories of the city’s destruction, its abandonment, and its lasting hatred of the Immortal Cultivators.
• As the general raised its spear, Chen Luo summoned the Silver Armored Corpse King and prepared to face it.

Chen Luo escaped the Iron Spear Temple’s Faith Power Realm after destroying its Spear Wielding Minor God, then continued into the Southern Sky Region. He arrived at Medicine King City, learned about its upcoming Alchemist Convention, and began exploring the prosperous city while seeking a path to First-grade Core Formation.

• Chen Luo used the Silver Armored Corpse King to defeat the Spear Wielding Minor God, shattering the temple’s Divine Domain and returning to the ruined Iron Spear Temple.
• Chen Luo retrieved a Divine Dao Stone from the broken statue, realized the Lizard Monster’s head had belonged to it, and burned its body.
• Chief Escort Shen, Daoist Qiu, and the surviving escort guards awoke outside the temple, while Escort Guard Lu remained dead.
• Chen Luo traveled to Medicine King City, entered using a Spirit Stone, and learned from Yu Xiao and Wan He about the Alchemist Convention scheduled in three days.
• Chen Luo declined Yu Xiao’s invitation to attend the convention and explored Medicine King City, whose streets grew lively after nightfall.

Chen Luo sought temporary lodging in Medicine King City and stayed with Mei Qin’s family, where he strengthened their defensive formation and resumed cultivation. As the city’s Alchemist Convention began, he remained in seclusion after using the last of his Origin Returning Pills.

• Chen Luo visited Mei Qin and asked to stay with her family because Medicine King City required visitors to have a local guarantor or contribute to the city.
• Mei Qin welcomed Chen Luo, introduced him to three young relatives with Spirit Root aptitude, and he gave each a First-rank Magic Artifact.
• Chen Luo inspected and improved the Mei Family’s Black Tortoise Formation, repairing its flaws and increasing its power.
• Chen Luo settled into the Mei Family home, used the last of his Origin Returning Pills, and began his daily cultivation.
• Medicine King City’s Alchemist Convention began, drawing young alchemists from across the Southern Sky Region.

Chen Luo advanced his Golden Core cultivation by refining more Origin Returning Pills and using the Inner Demon Art to perceive and draw out people’s heart demons. As his False Core grew smoother and its Core Formation Seed connected to the pill wall, his progress toward forming a high-grade Golden Core continued.

• Chen Luo completed seven days of cultivation, advanced his progress toward a high-grade Golden Core, and restored the objects scattered around his room with spiritual power.
• Chen Luo used the Bedrock Peak Master’s and Heart Sword Peak Master’s stored materials to refine a batch of twelve high-grade Origin Returning Pills with a Third-Rank Alchemist brain.
• Chen Luo swallowed a Three Pill Markings Supreme-grade Origin Returning Pill, whose power further compressed the gaps in his False Core’s pill wall.
• Chen Luo activated the Inner Demon Art and saw the hidden desires and dark thoughts of people around him as humanoid flames.
• Chen Luo drew heart demons from the flames, purifying his False Core until its pill wall grew smoother and blood-colored meridians extended from its Core Formation Seed.

After his seclusion, Chen Luo went to Medicine King City to replenish supplies and sought the Spirit Attracting Pill recipe. He passed the alchemist assessment by displaying the Spark Alchemy Technique, and Wei Kong led him toward the Pill Refining Competition finals.

• Chen Luo emerged from half a month of seclusion, learned his chances of forming a Golden Core were low, and left the Mei Family for Medicine King City.
• A pharmacist told Chen Luo that Medicine King City used Pill Coin and required alchemist qualifications to purchase the Spirit Attracting Pill recipe, so Chen Luo went to the Pill Hall.
• Wei Kong personally arranged an alchemist assessment for Chen Luo, who refined Qi and Blood Pills alongside second-rank and third-rank pills in one furnace.
• Wei Kong recognized Chen Luo's Spark Alchemy Technique, awarded him an Alchemist Token, and asked whether he was connected to Ancient Moon True Person.
• After explaining that Ancient Moon True Person had belonged to the Qionghua Sect, Wei Kong took Chen Luo to the Pill Refining Competition finals.

Chen Luo arrived at the Pill Refining Competition finals and was recognized as a Third-Rank Alchemist after Elder Weikong testified that he knew the Spark Alchemy Technique. The Medicine King City Master invited him to teach, and an alchemist offered Chen a furnace of Origin Returning Pills to demonstrate the technique.

• Elder Weikong told the Medicine King City alchemists that Chen Luo was a Third-Rank Alchemist, and the Medicine King City Master seated Chen beside him.
• Chen Luo watched the three finalists refine pills and judged their skills inadequate for learning the Spark Alchemy Technique.
• The judges named Song Jing and Wang Yu among the winners, and the Medicine King City Master invited the finalists to join the city.
• The Medicine King City Master asked whether Chen Luo would teach him the Spark Alchemy Technique, but Chen Luo politely declined.
• An alchemist asked Chen Luo to demonstrate the technique and offered him a furnace of Origin Returning Pills in return.

Chen Luo demonstrated the Spark Alchemy Technique in Medicine King City's Earth Fire Alchemy Room, prompting the Medicine King City Master to reveal that the city was threatened by the Four Great Immortal Sects. The City Master offered Chen Luo powerful inheritances and a role in rebuilding Medicine King City's ties to the Qionghua Sect, and Chen Luo considered the offer while weighing the danger.

• Chen Luo refined three High-grade Spirit Pills at once with the Spark Alchemy Technique, impressing the Medicine King City Master and the three elders.
• After dismissing the elders, the Medicine King City Master told Chen Luo that Medicine King City's Fourth-rank Grand Ancestor had been missing for seven hundred years and that the Four Great Immortal Sects had destroyed five Intermediate Forces.
• The Medicine King City Master explained that Medicine King City had lost its support from the missing ancestor and Ancient Moon True Person, leaving it vulnerable to the Four Great Immortal Sects.
• The Medicine King City Master offered Chen Luo a Jade Slip containing a Golden Core pill recipe and a cultivation method extending to Nascent Soul Formation, in exchange for helping secure Medicine King City's future through the Qionghua Sect.
• Chen Luo said he could not bear to see injustice, while privately weighing whether the promised safety was real.

Chen Luo accepted the identity of Ancient Moon True Person’s Direct Disciple and prepared to enter the Qionghua Sect under a new token. When a Qionghua elder recognized the Grand Void Sword Seal, he realized the claim had to be reported to the Grand Void Ancestor, who had long searched for Ancient Moon.

• The Medicine King City Master demonstrated his imitation of the Spark Alchemy Technique, and Chen Luo identified it as incorrect before learning more about Ancient Moon True Person and the Grand Void Ancestor.
• After half a month of studying Ancient Moon’s techniques, Chen Luo was made his Direct Disciple and received Ancient Moon’s Qionghua Sect identity token; the Medicine King City Master destroyed Chen Luo’s previous token.
• The Medicine King City Master explained the Qionghua Sect’s ranks and arranged for Chen Luo to return to the sect alongside a visiting elder.
• On their way out, Chen Luo noticed that Song Jing, Wang Yu, and another new alchemist each carried suspicious influences, while the Medicine King City Master warned that some people in Medicine King City were turning against him.
• At the Meeting Hall, the Qionghua elder recognized Chen Luo’s Grand Void Sword Seal token, saluted him as Ancient Moon’s junior, and decided to report the matter to the Grand Void Ancestor.