Chapter Summaries

Xu Yi subdued Jiang Ming with the Water Source Bead and persuaded him to share advice about the Five Lakes Merchant Alliance auction. The two headed to the main hall, where Jiang Ming would present Xu Yi’s Black Origin Bead and watch for trouble while Xu Yi bid on Jade Dew Spiritual Milk.

• Jiang Ming begged Xu Yi not to repeat the agony, and Xu Yi asked about the red light that had failed to protect him.
• Jiang Ming explained that the auction’s advertised list was limited and that the main hall would feature additional treasures.
• Jiang Ming urged Xu Yi to auction a Black Origin Bead to earn essence pills, Alliance membership, and credit toward a branch leadership position.
• Xu Yi handed Jiang Ming a Black Origin Bead and told him to emphasize that it came from a prehistoric ruin.
• Jiang Ming went ahead to the main hall, while Xu Yi prepared to bid on Jade Dew Spiritual Milk and told him to watch from the shadows.

Xu Yi attended an auction hosted by the Five Lakes Merchant Alliance, buying ingredients for Primordial Pills and several lots of Essence Fruits while watching other items sell. The auction moved on to a set of escape techniques called Light Smoke Steps, which Fatty Qin introduced as an ancient art that could surpass the Eight-Part Flowing Wind Technique.

• Xu Yi entered a crowded underground auction hall where Fatty Qin hosted the bidding through a projection.
• Xu Yi bought three sets of Primordial Pill ingredients for fifty, sixty, and eighty Primordial Pills.
• Xu Yi bought two lots of Essence Fruits for seventy-eight and ninety Primordial Pills, then stopped bidding after acquiring six fruits.
• The auction featured various pills, including a Tong Gan Pill that sold for three hundred and twenty Primordial Pills.
• After a cultivation technique went unsold, Fatty Qin introduced the Light Smoke Steps escape technique as the next item.

Xu Yi won the Light Smoke Steps technique and a set of Art Treasures at the auction before bidding began on three drops of Jade Dew Spiritual Milk. Number Seventy-Seven offered 1,200 Origin Pills and revealed his face as Fatty Qin began counting down.

• Xu Yi bought the Light Smoke Steps technique for thirty-six Origin Pills after the crowd questioned its authenticity.
• Fatty Qin presented Art Treasures that stored attacks, and Xu Yi won the hundred sheets for two hundred Origin Pills amid suspicions that the bid was planted.
• Fatty Qin moved on to the Jade Dew Spiritual Milk, whose price quickly rose as numerous bidders competed.
• Number Eight Appraiser asked the crowd to let him win the Spiritual Milk, but Number Fifty-Four Appraiser rejected his appeal.
• Number Seventy-Seven bid 1,200 Origin Pills, and Fatty Qin began counting down as Number Seventy-Seven removed the mist from his face.

Xu Yi won the Jade Dew Spiritual Milk at the auction and hurried back to the exchange chamber to use it on Qiu Wa. The drop restored Qiu Wa’s strength and appearance, leaving Xu Yi relieved as she happily explored the exchange jade wall.

• Greedy Snake tried to intimidate the auction hall, but Fatty Qin insisted that the bidding rules be followed.
• Xu Yi bid thirteen hundred Essence Pills and won the Jade Dew Spiritual Milk, then left the auction hall to avoid Greedy Snake.
• Xu Yi exchanged his winnings through the jade wall, collecting ingredients, Essence Fruits, Art Treasures, a Light Smoke Steps jade slip, and three drops of spiritual milk.
• When Qiu Wa did not answer him, Xu Yi touched a drop of spiritual milk to the Grass Ring, and Qiu Wa appeared and eagerly drank it.
• Qiu Wa regained her strength and healthy appearance, thanked Xu Yi, and then turned her attention to the exchange jade wall.

Xu Yi learned that Greedy Snake had joined the Five Lakes Merchant Alliance and was tracking him, then decided to remain inside while preparing a trap. He believed he had three chances in ten of defeating Greedy Snake and asked Jiang Ming to buy him time and obtain a map.

• Xu Yi warned Qiu Wa that Jiang Ming was coming, and she turned back into a Grass Ring before Jiang Ming entered.
• Jiang Ming reported that the Origin Bead had sold for thirteen hundred Essence Pills and that Greedy Snake had become a guest elder of the Five Lakes Merchant Alliance.
• Jiang Ming revealed that Vice President Liu had planned to mark Xu Yi with an Odorless Attractor, but Jiang Ming had taken the bottle and offered to help Xu Yi escape.
• Xu Yi rejected Jiang Ming's escape plan, considered killing Greedy Snake, and judged that intelligence and striking first gave him three chances in ten of winning.
• Xu Yi decided to stay at the Five Lakes Merchant Alliance for a few hours, asked Jiang Ming to stall Greedy Snake and obtain a map, and opened the Odorless Attractor bottle.

Xu Yi used Jiang Ming’s help to leave Ziyang Peak and escape Greedy Snake by diving into the Turning-Waves River. He hid inside a Dragon Flag Sword Crocodile, leaving Greedy Snake aware of his trick but unable to catch him immediately.

• Jiang Ming warned Xu Yi that the auction base was closing and Greedy Snake was waiting to hunt him, then gave him a map to the surrounding area.
• Xu Yi had Jiang Ming escort him to the cliff and leaped toward the river while Vice President Liu and Greedy Snake watched.
• Greedy Snake pursued Xu Yi into the water and tried to drag him out with whirlpools, but Xu Yi kept diving deeper and moving faster.
• Xu Yi used a Source Bead to lure aquatic demons and hid inside a Dragon Flag Sword Crocodile’s belly.
• Greedy Snake recognized that Xu Yi was hiding inside the crocodile, then shot back out of the water.

Xu Yi used the Soul-Summoning Banner to badly wound Greedy Snake, but failed to kill him before he recovered and resumed the fight. As Greedy Snake attacked, Xu Yi offered the Jade Dew Spiritual Milk while retreating toward the battleground he had chosen.

• Xu Yi controlled the Dragon Flag Sword Crocodile from inside its belly, but Greedy Snake caught up and burst the creature open.
• Greedy Snake sent his soul sword at Xu Yi, but the Soul-Summoning Banner drew it in and engulfed Greedy Snake's Soul Body in black mist.
• Greedy Snake used a great tree from his spiritual platform to break free, returned to his physical body, and escaped with his soul sword destroyed and his Soul Body badly injured.
• Greedy Snake took pills and plunged back into the water, then struck Xu Yi repeatedly with Water-Splitting Spikes.
• Xu Yi showed Greedy Snake the Jade Dew Spiritual Milk and offered to hand it over in exchange for a guarantee of safety as he retreated westward.

Xu Yi fled west while enduring Greedy Snake’s attacks, then turned the close-range fight against him with a beast horn. After Xu Yi escaped the water near Crimson Serpent Mountain, Greedy Snake hesitated and swallowed a rare Empathy Pill to understand his opponent’s plan.

• Xu Yi refused to trust Greedy Snake and threatened to destroy the spirit milk unless Greedy Snake swore a blood-binding oath, but Greedy Snake attacked instead.
• Xu Yi stored the spirit milk and endured Greedy Snake’s poisonous fire, leading Greedy Snake to suspect his earlier injuries had been a feint.
• Greedy Snake attacked Xu Yi at close range, but Xu Yi’s face flattened to take the water-dividing spike while his beast horn pierced Greedy Snake’s arm.
• Xu Yi taunted Greedy Snake and fled the water by hooking his spiritual energy onto a boulder near Crimson Serpent Mountain.
• Greedy Snake struggled to understand why Xu Yi had left the water there, then swallowed one of his rare Empathy Pills.

Xu Yi lured Greedy Snake into a cave on Crimson Serpent Mountain and used a planned collapse to trap him in close quarters, where Xu Yi’s Violent Ape form killed him. Xu Yi captured Greedy Snake’s soul, took his storage ring, and escaped the rubble badly injured.

• Greedy Snake used the Empathy Pill to track Xu Yi into a cave, mistaking Xu Yi’s preparations for an attempt to hide and recover.
• Greedy Snake attacked Xu Yi with a poisonous fire dragon, but Xu Yi detonated more than ten Art Treasures loaded with attacks from three Domain Sources, collapsing the cave around them.
• Xu Yi transformed into a Violent Ape and charged Greedy Snake, while the collapsed passages left them trapped in a narrow space.
• Greedy Snake’s spiritual root wounded the Violent Ape, but Xu Yi tore Greedy Snake in two and captured his fleeing soul with the Soul-Summoning Banner.
• Xu Yi took Greedy Snake’s storage ring, crushed the Star Snake, dug out of the rubble, and drank two gourds of spiritual liquid to ease his injuries.

Xu Yi returned to Xuanqing Sect, examined Greedy Snake’s possessions, and found an Azure Fire Furnace and alchemy texts. After preparing his Art Treasures and reconnecting with the Co-learning Society, he settled into a peaceful routine of study and cultivation.

• Xu Yi returned to his cave abode with Qiu Wa, then inspected the Soul-Summoning Banner and confirmed it still worked despite its Law Patterns fading.
• Xu Yi opened Greedy Snake’s storage ring and found an Azure Fire Furnace, a box of spiritual soil with a sprout, an Empathy Pill, and books on herbs and alchemy.
• Xu Yi studied Greedy Snake’s books and sealed attacks into the remaining eighty-odd Art Treasures.
• Xu Yi, Qiu Wa, and Desolate Ancestor went boating, making Xu Yi’s return widely known.
• Meng Fu invited Xu Yi to the Co-learning Society’s weekly gathering, and Xu Yi later treated the members to a feast at Pine Crane Tower.
• Xu Yi resumed his routine of studying cultivation techniques, focusing on Light Smoke Steps and the Hun Tian Sword.

Xu Yi completed his reconstruction of Light Smoke Steps through numerology and began experimenting with alchemy. His attempts to make the auxiliary mixture for Origin Pills repeatedly failed, leaving him unable to connect theory and practice.

• Xu Yi spent his days studying techniques and medicinal properties, refining Origin Pills, and helping Qiu Wa cultivate.
• After solving a difficult problem, Xu Yi tested Light Smoke Steps by chasing Qiu Wa and Desolate Ancestor, then rewarded Desolate Ancestor with a Spirit Nurturing Pill.
• Xu Yi reflected that he had reconstructed Light Smoke Steps from its general outline and result, and believed its spatial distortions made it an exceptionally powerful escape art.
• Xu Yi told Meng Fu he would enter seclusion, then began practicing alchemy with the Azure Fire Furnace and earthfire.
• Xu Yi repeatedly failed to make the auxiliary mixture for Origin Pills, finding that neither his theories nor his practical attempts helped him understand the process.

Xu Yi struggled to cross the threshold of alchemy, spending days refining pills without success until Qiu Wa identified the impurities causing his repeated failures. She demonstrated how to perceive the distinct energies in an herb and invited him to examine them himself.

• Xu Yi spent seven days refining pills in seclusion, using up most of his ingredients without producing a finished auxiliary agent.
• Qiu Wa found Xu Yi looking gaunt and unkempt as he worked beside the Azure Fire Furnace.
• After watching Xu Yi fail repeatedly, Qiu Wa warned him that two energy streams could not be mixed, but another attempt still failed.
• Xu Yi asked Qiu Wa how she had known what was wrong, and she explained that impure energies were being fused before purification was complete.
• Qiu Wa summoned Black Root Grass and revealed its different energy components, then told Xu Yi to send in his spiritual energy and compare them with the furnace.

Xu Yi discovered that Qiu Wa could reveal the medicinal properties of herbs, giving him a way to perceive the microscopic world and advance in alchemy. After celebrating and sharing a meal, he woke refreshed beside Qiu Wa and worried that Desolate Ancestor was pampering them too much.

• Xu Yi tested Qiu Wa’s ability and found that she could identify Black Root Grass’s medicinal properties and miscellaneous qi.
• Qiu Wa explained that drinking sweet water had gradually sharpened her senses, and Xu Yi promised her three additional gourds each month.
• Qiu Wa left to check on the honey-glazed roast duck, while Xu Yi bathed and joined her and Desolate Ancestor for dinner.
• Xu Yi praised Desolate Ancestor’s cooking after eating more than twenty roast ducks, then went to rest with Qiu Wa.
• Xu Yi woke feeling refreshed and saw Qiu Wa reading a picture book, then thought Desolate Ancestor might be spoiling them.

Xu Yi spent nearly half a year learning to identify medicinal properties by their spectra and refining Essence Pills with Qiu Wa’s help. He achieved a high but imperfect success rate, completed Spirit Nurturing Stage body-tempering, and ended the chapter exhausted after his long effort.

• Xu Yi persuaded Qiu Wa to help him with alchemy before finding her a suitable cultivation method.
• Xu Yi learned the medicinal properties of Black Root Grass, He Ye Fruit, Hundred Seed Lotus, and Essence Fruit, recording their corresponding spectral colors.
• Xu Yi refined an auxiliary agent seven times without failure, then combined it with Essence Fruit to produce more than four hundred and twenty Essence Pills.
• Xu Yi’s next three Essence Fruit attempts failed, succeeded, and failed before his final attempt yielded more than three hundred and ninety pills.
• Xu Yi concluded that his Essence Pill success rate was about thirty percent because he could not control the auxiliary agent’s microscopic properties.
• Xu Yi realized that nearly half a year had passed, during which he had completed Spirit Nurturing Stage body-tempering by taking six Essence Pills a day.

Xu Yi consolidated his alchemy knowledge, reconsidered his prospects in Xuanqing Sect, and learned that the trial disciples were holding a Contention for the First Disciple. He arrived at the Seeker's Platform as Chang Feng stood unchallenged, with the First Disciple title about to be awarded.

• Xu Yi spent months consolidating ten medicinal properties, continued studying the Hun Tian Sword, and refined pills until he had accumulated more than ten thousand essence pills.
• Xu Yi realized that high-level cultivation resources could not simply be bought with essence pills and worried he might not reach the Spiritual Root stage before turning fifty.
• Desolate Ancestor told Xu Yi that the winner of the Contention for the First Disciple could enter the Outer Sect selection and potentially become an official disciple.
• Xu Yi and Qiu Wa hurried to the Seeker's Platform, where Steward Hu and two other figures oversaw the contest.
• Xu Yi recognized Chang Feng as a leading trial disciple and learned that half the incense had burned without anyone challenging him.

Xu Yi disrupted Chang Feng’s rushed promotion ceremony, and Jing Long arrived to challenge him for the first-disciple position. Steward Liu started their duel, leaving the contest underway.

• Xu Yi climbed onto the platform and challenged Chang Feng’s authority to exclude him from the ceremony.
• Xu Yi’s arrival brought Jing Long onto the platform, alarming Chang Feng and surprising Dong Qingke.
• Jing Long revealed through his thoughts that Xu Yi had threatened him into attending, despite his agreement to stay out of Chang Feng’s way.
• Steward Hu urged Steward Liu to begin the contest, and Jing Long agreed to fight Chang Feng.
• Steward Liu announced the duel, and Jing Long and Chang Feng began a fierce battle that left Xu Yi unimpressed.

Jing Long defeated Chang Feng and yielded the chief disciple position to Xu Yi, who was announced as the winner. Xu Yi then followed Steward Liu toward the Outer Sect, revealing a speed that startled him.

• Xu Yi urged Jing Long to fight with all his strength, and Jing Long overwhelmed Chang Feng and won the duel.
• Jing Long announced that he would yield the chief disciple position to Xu Yi, stunning Steward Liu, Chang Feng, and the trial disciples.
• Chang Feng objected, but Steward Hu declared that Chang Feng had lost his qualification and ordered attendants to drag him away.
• Steward Liu announced Xu Yi as chief disciple and ordered him to come along to the Outer Sect.
• Xu Yi followed Steward Liu, then suddenly appeared in front of him, leaving Steward Liu startled by his speed.

Xu Yi bribed Steward Liu for information and learned that Internal Envoy Qin had backed Chang Feng and might target him during the Outer Sect Grand Competition. After Xu Yi arrived at the competition hall, Internal Envoy Qin challenged whether he met the requirements to participate.

• Xu Yi gave Steward Liu more than two hundred Primordial Pills and paid the thousand-Primordial-Pill promotion fee, persuading him to share information.
• Steward Liu told Xu Yi that Chang Feng had gained Internal Envoy Qin's support and that Qin was one of the competition's examiners.
• Xu Yi learned that the top ten among the one hundred and sixty Outer Sect Disciples could enter the inner sect, where disciples received greater privileges and authority.
• Steward Liu brought Xu Yi to the hall, where Internal Historian Zhao and Internal Envoys Qin and Fang were waiting.
• Internal Envoy Qin stopped Xu Yi and questioned whether he met the basic requirements to compete, while Internal Historian Zhao warned that the competition was about to begin.

Xu Yi passed Internal Envoy Qin’s test of his cultivation and advanced through the first round of the outer sect competition, despite Qin’s efforts to find grounds to reject him. Qin allowed Xu Yi to remain in the outer sect but sent him away before the later rounds.

• Xu Yi told the Internal Envoys he had completed replacing his spiritual energy and tempering his body with origin pills, then demonstrated both achievements.
• Internal Envoy Fang praised Xu Yi and mocked Internal Envoy Qin, who ended the exchange and began the competition.
• Xu Yi sent his divided soul into a glowing ruler and pushed its black line just past the red mark, while Qin delayed ending the test in hopes that Xu Yi would fail.
• Internal Envoy Zhao ordered the rulers collected, and a little over fifty outer disciples, including Xu Yi, passed the first round.
• Internal Envoy Qin told Xu Yi he could stay in the outer sect and leave.

Internal Envoy Fang and Internal Envoy Zhao forced Internal Envoy Qin to honor his promise and let Xu Yi compete for promotion, but Qin changed the second-round test to medicinal pills to target him. As the contest began, Xu Yi watched the other disciples channel spiritual power into their virtual pill furnaces, still unsure how the test worked.

• Internal Envoy Fang confronted Internal Envoy Qin over his broken promise to reward the first disciple among the trial disciples.
• Internal Envoy Zhao ruled that Xu Yi could compete in the second round and become eligible for promotion by placing in the top ten.
• Internal Envoy Qin abruptly announced that the second-round test would cover medicinal pills, angering Internal Envoy Zhao and Internal Envoy Fang.
• Internal Envoy Qin presented a test involving the medicinal properties and combination of Black Root Grass, He Ye Fruit, and Hundred Seed Lotus, intending to block Xu Yi's advancement.
• A light screen displayed the three ingredients in virtual pill furnaces, and Qin announced that the competitor who gathered the most light points in an hour would win.
• The Outer Sect Disciples began channeling spiritual power into their virtual furnaces while Xu Yi tried to figure out the test.