Chapter Summaries

Shen Changchuan used a thirty-year Spirit Peach to reach the Ninth Layer Mid-stage Peak, then spent two days consolidating his cultivation. After Nangong Cheng located two Shen family members at the Qi Family’s stronghold, Shen Changchuan met with him to decide how to deal with them.

• Shen Changchuan refined the Spirit Peach and broke through to the Ninth Layer Mid-stage Peak, suppressing its remaining spiritual power to strengthen his foundation.
• Shen Changchuan spent two days stabilizing his cultivation and planned to temper his realm before attempting another breakthrough.
• Nangong Cheng sent Shen Changchuan a message after tracing two Shen family members to the Qi Family’s stronghold in Qi Family Town.
• Shen Changchuan flew to meet Nangong Cheng, who asked whether he would ambush the two Shen family members later or attack the Qi Family directly.

Shen Changchuan learned that the two Shen Clan members he sought had gone to Qi Family Town and set out with Nangong Cheng to confront them. They reached the town, where something in view stopped them both in surprise.

• Shen Changchuan explained why he had stayed in Great Bay Village to care for Xiao Yu while Nangong Cheng searched for the Shen Clan members.
• Nangong Cheng learned that the two men had detoured to Qi Family Town and reported their whereabouts to Shen Changchuan.
• Nangong Cheng explained that the declining Qi Family had entered the turmoil seeking Azure Origin Water Grass or another Spirit Item to aid its descendants.
• Shen Changchuan decided to go directly to Qi Family Town and confront the Shen Clan members even if the Qi Family blocked them.
• Shen Changchuan and Nangong Cheng reached Qi Family Town and halted in surprise at what they saw.

Shen Changchuan and Nangong Cheng arrived at Qi Family Town and found it under attack by the Wolf Fang Gang, Mountain Alliance Society, and White Cloud Sect. They fought their way through the chaos to the Qi Family Compound, where Person Zhao blocked their entry.

• Nangong Cheng and Shen Changchuan guessed that the Qi Family's weakened state had invited hostile forces to attack the town.
• Shen Changchuan insisted that they enter the town and kill the two Shen Clan members they had come to find.
• Shen Changchuan and Nangong Cheng crossed the ruined walls and entered Qi Family Town, where fighting and looting filled the streets.
• The pair's Ninth Layer auras cleared a path through the outer district, allowing them to reach the Qi Family Compound safely.
• Person Zhao, a Ninth Layer cultivator, refused to let Shen Changchuan and Nangong Cheng enter while the three factions carried out their joint attack.

Shen Changchuan used a display of overwhelming Spiritual Sense to make the three families let him and Nangong Cheng enter the Qi Family residence. Inside, they searched for the two Shen family members but first found a servant in a secluded courtyard.

• Nangong Cheng asked the middle-aged man surnamed Zhao to let them enter, but Zhao accused them of seeking the Qi Family Treasury and refused.
• Shen Changchuan stepped forward and used his Spiritual Sense and aura to make Zhao and the other cultivators fear him as an Out of Body Stage expert.
• Zhao apologized and moved aside, and Shen Changchuan and Nangong Cheng entered the Qi Family residence.
• Nangong Cheng asked whether Shen Changchuan had reached the Out of Body Stage, and Shen Changchuan explained that he had only simulated its presence.
• Shen Changchuan and Nangong Cheng searched the sprawling estate for the two Shen family members and found someone who looked like a servant.

Shen Changchuan and Nangong Cheng advanced into the Qi Family Compound and found evidence that a powerful attacker had killed a Ninth Layer cultivator with one strike. Shen Changchuan pressed on toward the compound’s heart, where he swiftly defeated a Bald Giant who tried to ambush him.

• Nangong Cheng and Shen Changchuan found ruins and corpses, including a purple-robed giant whose aura suggested he had been a Ninth Layer cultivator.
• Shen Changchuan revealed a deep palm print on the giant’s chest, and Nangong Cheng feared an Out of Body Stage cultivator might be hiding in the Qi Family.
• Shen Changchuan saw no sign of an Out of Body Stage aura and hurried toward the heart of the compound, with Nangong Cheng following despite his concerns.
• A Bald Giant attacked Shen Changchuan with a chained black broadsword as he advanced through the fighting.
• Shen Changchuan evaded the attack, pinned the Bald Giant with his aura, and struck him through three houses.

Shen Changchuan cut through the Qi Family battlefield with overwhelming strength while Nangong Cheng worried that the young cultivator might be in danger. At the shattered Lineage treasury, the leaders of the three forces prepared to divide the Qi Family’s Out of Body Stage inheritance, but Shen Zeyu of the Tiannan Shen Clan appeared and challenged them.

• Shen Changchuan killed the cultivators who attacked him and advanced through the battlefield, leaving both sides afraid to stop him.
• Nangong Cheng marveled at Shen Changchuan’s rapid growth and feared the Qi Family might still have means to kill him.
• The leaders of the Wolf Fang Gang, Mountain Alliance Society, and White Cloud Sect discussed the Qi Family’s decline and agreed to copy its Out of Body Stage inheritance.
• Shen Zeyu emerged from the treasury, identified himself as a member of the Tiannan Shen Clan, and challenged the gathered leaders.

Shen Zeyu stopped the Qi Family’s enemies from fighting, then defeated their leaders and let the Qi Family Grand Elder seize their wealth. Shen Chong suddenly appeared, and Shen Zeyu fled in terror.

• Gang Leader Qiu asked Shen Zeyu to let the three factions settle their feud with the Qi Family, while Qi Heng accused them of coveting his family’s Nascent Soul inheritance.
• Shen Zeyu ordered the factions to withdraw, but Bai Hongchang and several others expelled themselves from their factions and challenged him.
• Shen Zeyu used a Bronze Bell to shatter the leaders’ combined attacks and gravely injure them.
• Shen Zeyu allowed Qi Heng to claim the three factions’ assets as compensation for offending him.
• Shen Chong appeared and confronted Shen Zeyu, who recognized him and fled.

Nangong Cheng and Shen Changchuan reached the core of the Qi Family Treasury, where Shen Zeyu burst out carrying a powerful Bronze Bell. Shen Changchuan stopped his escape, crippled him with the Soul-Snatching Bell and a sword strike, and captured him.

• Nangong Cheng followed Shen Changchuan through the cleared formations into the core area of the Qi Family Treasury.
• Shen Zeyu charged out with the Bronze Bell, smashing through everything in his path as he tried to escape.
• Shen Changchuan recognized Shen Zeyu as a member of the Shen family who had tracked Shen Chong and halted him with Azure Wood Sword Light.
• Shen Changchuan used the Soul-Snatching Bell to stun Shen Zeyu, then pierced his dantian and meridians with a sword strike.
• Shen Changchuan seized the Bronze Bell and subdued Shen Zeyu.

Shen Changchuan defeated Shen Zeyu by attacking his soul, then encountered the gaunt Black Clad Figure, who turned out to be his half-brother Shen Chong. He told Nangong Cheng about their family’s history before preparing to interrogate Shen Zeyu.

• Shen Changchuan used the Soul-Snatching Bell and his powerful Spiritual Sense to defeat Shen Zeyu and take his Bronze Bell Dharma Artifact.
• A gaunt Black Clad Figure appeared, and Shen Changchuan and the man exchanged a few words before Shen Changchuan left with Shen Zeyu.
• Nangong Cheng followed Shen Changchuan and asked about the man in black.
• Shen Changchuan said the man was his half-brother Shen Chong and described how Shen Chong and his elder brother had been persecuted by the First Madam.
• Shen Changchuan found a corner to Soul Search Shen Zeyu while reflecting that he felt little kinship with most of his half-siblings.

Shen Changchuan suspected Shen Chong had a hidden powerhouse guiding him, then searched Shen Zeyu’s soul while Nangong Cheng kept watch. Shen Chong asked his mysterious mentor for secrets about Spiritual Sense and Spirit Bodies so he could build an alliance with Shen Changchuan, though the mentor dismissed the idea.

• Shen Changchuan recalled Shen Chong’s rapid rise in strength and suspected he had an ancient powerhouse’s remnant soul helping him.
• Shen Changchuan decided Shen Chong’s growing prominence could draw First Madam’s attention away from him and his mother.
• Nangong Cheng realized Shen Changchuan’s identity but chose not to question him further, then agreed to keep watch.
• Shen Changchuan dragged Shen Zeyu aside and used his powerful divine soul to search Shen Zeyu’s memories.
• Shen Chong’s mentor told him Shen Changchuan had reached Nascent Soul-level Spiritual Sense and could leave his body while still at the Qi Gathering realm.
• Shen Chong asked his mentor for secrets about Spiritual Sense leaving the body and shaping a Spirit Body, explaining that he wanted to form a connection with Shen Changchuan.

The wounded Qi Family Grand Elder reflected on the family’s fall from its former power and blamed its arrogant, incapable descendants for inviting destruction. Determined to take revenge on the three factions even as the Qi Family perished, he broke the seal on a hidden Iron Gate and unleashed a black tide.

• The Qi Family Grand Elder mocked the Shen Family young master for fleeing and accepted that the three factions would destroy the Qi Family.
• He recalled how the Qi Family’s Old Ancestor had dominated Qing City and subdued the Wolf Fang Gang, Mountain Alliance Society, and White Cloud Sect.
• The Grand Elder blamed the Qi Family’s decline on internal power struggles, its leader’s failed attack on the Wu family, and the descendants’ arrogance.
• He reached the sealed Iron Gate and declared that he would make the three factions accompany the Qi Family into the grave.
• The Grand Elder shattered the seal, releasing a black tide that consumed him and drained his life as a voice answered, “As you wish.”

Shen Changchuan finished killing Shen Zeyu and learned that the threat to Great Bay Village had been contained, then attempted to leave Qi Family Town with Nangong Cheng. A strange Dark Canopy suddenly engulfed the town, while Shen Chong appeared outside the Qi Family Treasury and watched the darkness.

• Shen Changchuan used Soul Searching on Shen Zeyu and learned that the plotters against Great Bay Village had been defeated, with only two escaping and one seriously injured.
• Shen Changchuan took Shen Zeyu's Storage Bag, burned his body, and prepared to leave with Nangong Cheng.
• A violent earthquake shook the area as evil black smoke rose and a Dark Canopy spread over Qi Family Town.
• Shen Changchuan used his Spiritual Sense to help Nangong Cheng withstand the pressure, and they hurried through the darkness to escape.
• Shen Chong appeared outside the Underground Cave containing the Qi Family Treasury and remarked that the darkness was interesting.

Shen Chong confronted a newly freed black figure at the Dark Abyss and demanded the yin and yang treasure, triggering a battle that shook Qi Family Town. Trapped outside the fight, Nangong Cheng and Shen Changchuan feared the clash’s aftermath as they watched two powers far beyond their own.

• Shen Chong remarked that Profound Jade True Person had become a ghost cultivator, and the black figure challenged him from the Dark Abyss.
• Shen Chong asked to borrow “Triumph Creation, yin and yang,” but the black figure attacked without waiting for him to finish.
• Shen Chong met the black figure’s assault head-on, and their battle sent tremors and terrifying pressure through Qi Family Town.
• Nangong Cheng and Shen Changchuan sensed the combatants’ overwhelming strength from outside the Dark Canopy and realized they could not escape.
• Shen Changchuan imagined one day attaining such power, while Nangong Cheng feared they would die in the battle’s aftermath.

Shen Changchuan and Nangong Cheng sought answers about the battle raging inside the Dark Canopy and questioned the three faction leaders. Gang Leader Qiu revealed that the upheaval might be connected to a great battle from three hundred years ago.

• Shen Changchuan reassured Nangong Cheng that the disturbance might soon be explained, while suspecting Shen Chong and the old man possessing him were fighting another Supreme Expert.
• Nangong Cheng praised Shen Changchuan's rapid cultivation as proof of Great Fortune, but Shen Changchuan doubted he was truly blessed.
• Shen Changchuan brought Nangong Cheng through the rubble to question the leaders of the Wolf Fang Gang, Mountain Alliance Society, and White Cloud Sect.
• Shen Changchuan released a trace of Spiritual Sense pressure, prompting the three leaders to recognize him as a Nascent Soul cultivator.
• Gang Leader Qiu said the three factions knew nothing about the sudden upheaval, then admitted it might be related to a great battle from three hundred years ago.

Gang Leader Qiu revealed why the three forces had attacked the Qi Family and connected its inheritance to the fallen Elephant Mountain Sect. Shen Changchuan realized his own cultivation art came from that sect and wondered whether he might find its deeper inheritance; the battle in the Qi Family’s core region then ended and the Dark Canopy dispersed.

• Gang Leader Qiu said the Qi Family rose to power after its ancestors encountered a disturbance three hundred years earlier, which they believed involved fleeing remnants of the Elephant Mountain Sect.
• Gang Leader Qiu explained that he and his allies attacked the Qi Family to seize its Out of Body Stage inheritance and advance their own cultivation.
• Shen Changchuan connected the disturbance to the Yuqing Immortal Sect’s destruction of the Elephant Mountain Sect three hundred years ago.
• Shen Changchuan recalled that he had selected the Elephant Mountain Qi Refining Art from the Shen Family’s Scripture Depository Pavilion and considered seeking its higher inheritance.
• The disturbance in the Qi Family’s core region stopped, and the Dark Canopy gradually faded.

After the battle ended, Shen Changchuan and Nangong Cheng crossed the devastated Qi Family Town, where the black mist had killed nearly everyone. Shen Chong confirmed the Elephant Mountain Sect’s connection to the disaster, gave Shen Changchuan a Storage Bag of Qi Family treasures, and urged him to leave; Shen Changchuan and Nangong Cheng then departed.

• Shen Changchuan decided to investigate the conflict and seek the next dharma gate of the Elephant Mountain Qi Refining Art, then left with Nangong Cheng for the Qi Family Treasury.
• The leaders of the three major forces hesitated to pursue the inheritance because Shen Changchuan had displayed power they believed belonged to an Out of Body Stage cultivator.
• Shen Changchuan and Nangong Cheng found Qi Family Town filled with mummified corpses and concluded that the black mist and the battle’s pressure had killed its inhabitants.
• Shen Chong appeared, explained that the disaster came from an Elephant Mountain Sect disciple who had fallen into the Devil Dao, and gave Shen Changchuan a Storage Bag of Qi Family treasures.
• Shen Chong warned Shen Changchuan that the area was unsafe, and Shen Changchuan and Nangong Cheng left Qi Family Town.

After returning to Great Bay Village, Shen Changchuan examined Shen Chong’s Storage Bag and discovered a Jade Slip explaining how Foundation Establishment and Spirit Bodies worked. He learned that great powers concealed the secrets of divine-soul cultivation and Spirit Body formation, while the Elephant Mountain Qi Refining Art gave him unusual freedom in choosing a Spirit Body.

• Shen Changchuan returned to Great Bay Village with Nangong Cheng, who left after Shen Changchuan gave him several Storage Bags as thanks for helping find Shen Zeyu.
• Shen Changchuan examined Shen Chong’s Storage Bag and found ten Mid-grade Spirit Stones, Common Spirit Stones, spiritual herbs, and a Jade Slip.
• Shen Changchuan read that cultivators could form a Spirit Body during Foundation Establishment by strengthening their divine soul and absorbing compatible Heavenly Treasures.
• Shen Changchuan realized that powerful sects suppressed divine-soul cultivation arts and the secrets of Spirit Body formation to keep outsiders from reaching the Mysterious Core realm.
• Shen Changchuan learned that a Spirit Body had to match a cultivator’s method, but the balanced Elephant Mountain Qi Refining Art allowed him to choose freely.

Shen Changchuan reflected on the unfairness of the cultivation world and resolved to focus on becoming strong enough to protect himself. After half a month of cultivation in Great Bay Village, he reached the late Ninth Layer of Qi Gathering and obtained two Heavenly Treasures that could help him form a Spirit Body.

• Shen Changchuan considered how powerful cultivators built advantages for their descendants and concluded that he lacked the ambition to change the world.
• Shen Changchuan decided to focus on cultivating, believing that the world would adapt to him if he became strong enough.
• Shen Changchuan resolved to remember the favor from his cheap elder brother, Shen Chong, who had provided him with a detailed Jade Slip and a Spirit Body concealing technique.
• During the half month Shen Changchuan stayed in Great Bay Village, cultivators gathered there to trade and seek information after the incident at Wu Family Market.
• With Shen Changchuan's agreement, Han Qinhu purchased Essence of Geng Metal and Primordial Heavy Water, which could help Shen Changchuan condense a Golden Spirit Body or Water Origin Body.
• After half a month of diligent cultivation supported by Mid-grade Spirit Stones, Shen Changchuan advanced to the late Ninth Layer of Qi Gathering.

Shen Changchuan advanced to the Ninth Layer Late-stage using Mid-grade Spirit Stones, but a vast earthquake and a terrifying aura from Wu Family Market disrupted his plans to cultivate. He feared the region would draw the attention of powerful figures and expose him, and considered leaving Great Bay Village once he reached the Ninth Layer Apex.

• Shen Changchuan used Mid-grade Spirit Stones to advance from the Ninth Layer Mid-stage Peak to the Ninth Layer Late-stage and prepared to continue cultivating.
• A tremendous boom shook the region, collapsing houses in Great Bay Village and splitting nearby mountains and earth.
• Shen Changchuan sensed no attackers nearby and suspected the upheaval had come from Wu Family Market.
• A distant, overwhelming aura reached Great Bay Village, leading Shen Changchuan to fear a battle between Supreme Experts and the destruction of the village.
• Shen Changchuan realized the upheaval could draw attention to the borderland wilderness and expose him, so he considered disappearing after advancing further.

After the earthquake, Shen Changchuan weighed the risks to Great Bay Village, comforted Xiao Yu, and quietly prepared for what might come. Three days later, news revealed that the upheaval at Wu Family Market involved an ancient grotto-heaven, invading Devil Cultivators, the Seven Absolute Old Demon, and You Longzi.

• Shen Changchuan decided to keep Great Bay Village despite First Madam's threat, while secretly preparing an escape route and leaving disaster relief to Han Qinhu.
• Shen Changchuan comforted the frightened Xiao Yu and realized her speed suggested she concealed a great secret, but he chose not to investigate.
• Shen Changchuan spent the next three days cultivating and monitoring the persistent aura over Wu Family Market as cultivators either fled or waited for news.
• Retreating cultivators reported that an ancient sect's grotto-heaven lay beneath Wu Family Market and that Devil Cultivators from Nanyue Kingdom had crossed the border to seize something there.
• The Seven Absolute Old Demon and You Longzi clashed, and reports said they were now entangled within the grotto-heaven's separate dimension.