Chapter Summaries

Shen Xuan rented a secure Water Method Alchemy Room and spent over a year using a hundred batches of ingredients to master Spirit Gathering Pill refinement. After becoming a Second-Order Alchemist, he left the room as Lin Mengbing hurried to greet him.

• Wei Yafei introduced Shen Xuan to Lin Mengbing, who rented him the alchemy hall’s finest Water Method Alchemy Room.
• Shen Xuan began refining Spirit Gathering Pills, producing one inferior pill in his first attempt and gradually improving his results.
• Wei Yafei eventually stopped visiting, while Lin Mengbing monitored the room’s resource use and wondered whether Shen Xuan had succeeded.
• After more than a year of practice, Shen Xuan achieved Minor Mastery in Spirit Gathering Pill refinement and a formation rate of about sixty percent.
• Lin Mengbing noticed the room’s resource consumption had stopped and hurried over as Shen Xuan opened the doors.

Shen Xuan emerged from seclusion as a Second-Order Water Method Alchemist and declined the Divine Sword Sect’s invitation to join, choosing instead to serve a Cultivation Family. He negotiated a Guest Official contract with the Wei Family of White Crane Island, but signed it as Shen Changsheng using a Spiritual Power mark that left him unbound by the contract.

• Shen Xuan told Lin Mengbing that he had advanced to Second-Order Alchemist, paid the Alchemy Hall fees, and returned to the Sect Inn.
• Wei Yafei visited Shen Xuan and asked him to join the Divine Sword Sect; after he declined, she recommended the Wei Family of White Crane Island as a place for him to settle.
• Lin Mengbing and several powerful Cultivation Families visited Shen Xuan, but he declined the sect’s recruitment and considered the families’ offers.
• Patriarch Wei met Shen Xuan privately, asked about his connection to Wei Yaqian, and offered him a Guest Official position with the Wei Family.
• Shen Xuan negotiated an eight-year term, a Middle Grade Second-Order Cave Abode, a higher stipend, Alchemy compensation, and other terms, agreeing to train up to two apprentices.
• Shen Xuan signed the Wei Family Guest Official Contract as Shen Changsheng using a Spiritual Power mark that gave the contract no binding power over him.

Shen Xuan settled into White Crane Island under an assumed identity, secured Water Yaoguai essence blood, recruited two medicine apprentices, and fortified his residence while planning to study alchemy and pursue the Wei Family’s Divine Turtle Essence Blood. The Wei Family’s leaders suspected his real motive but chose to cooperate with him while focusing on helping Wei Anxin reach Core Formation.

• Shen Xuan arrived at White Crane Island, arranged to buy high-grade Water Yaoguai Essence Blood, and agreed to examine the Wei Family’s Immortal Seedlings.
• Shen Xuan returned Wu Wenping’s betrothal token to Wei Yaqian and promised to guide her son Nian'er if he had a Spiritual Root.
• Shen Xuan selected Qingfeng and Mingyue as medicine apprentices, rejected a maid, and fortified his Cave Mansion, which he named Longevity Residence.
• Shen Xuan planned to lie low, advance his cultivation, study alchemy, and seek the Wei Family’s Divine Turtle Essence Blood.
• The Wei Family Ancestor, Patriarch Wei, and Wei Anping suspected Shen Changsheng was a disguised disciple of a great sect seeking the Divine Turtle Remains, but chose not to confront him and prioritized helping Wei Anxin achieve Core Formation.

Shen Xuan refined Shapeshifting Octopus Essence Blood and learned the powerful Thousand Changes Myriad Transformations skill, then continued alchemy work for the Wei Family while reviewing reports of the Song-Liang war. He remained in White Crane Island, weighing the dangers ahead and looking for high-grade Water Yao Essence Blood.

• Shen Xuan plundered Thousand Changes Myriad Transformations from Shapeshifting Octopus Essence Blood, and after three months of refining it reached Entry Level.
• Shen Xuan tested the skill by transforming into Lu Zhengying, Qin Yuehan, and a Tiger-Faced Flood Dragon, finding that it changed his body, aura, and voice.
• Shen Xuan refined Heart Protection Pills with Qingfeng and Mingyue tending the furnace, then sent the finished pills to Elder Wei Anping.
• Shen Xuan read Wei Family intelligence reports about the Dao-Demon War and the deaths of Zhao Tingwei and three other Medicine God Valley disciples.
• Shen Xuan concluded that the sect conflict could grow into a larger war and focused on finding high-grade Water Yao Essence Blood after learning of an upcoming auction in Weihai Immortal City.

Shen Xuan agreed to travel with Patriarch Wei to the Weihai Immortal City auction to seek high-grade Water Yao Essence Blood, while allowing Wei Yating to visit him for guidance in Water Method Alchemy. Three days later, aboard the Wei family's warship, he prepared for the auction and watched for threats from the Wei family's rivals.

• Shen Xuan told Patriarch Wei he needed high-grade Water Yao Essence Blood, and Patriarch Wei offered to accompany him to the Weihai Immortal City auction and lend him funds if needed.
• Patriarch Wei introduced his great-granddaughter Wei Yating and asked Shen Xuan to teach her alchemy; Shen Xuan invited her to visit his Alchemy Room when he emerged from seclusion.
• Shen Xuan sorted his spiritual items, considered bidding for Water Yao Essence Blood and carcasses, and planned to reforge the Huntian Rod and ask about resources at the auction.
• Three days later, Shen Xuan traveled aboard the Wei family's warship, studied regional cultivation forces, and paid particular attention to the Wei family's rival, the Lu Family of Azure Dragon Island.
• Wei Yating finally approached Shen Xuan and asked whether the Silver Horned Heavenly Steed was a heavenly steed.

Shen Xuan arrived in Weihai Immortal City and decided to sell Spirit Branches so he could bid on a rare Iron Beak Sea Crocodile. While disguised as Lei Yaoyang, he visited Tianxiang Pavilion to seek information about three cultivation families, where he encountered Wan Meng and left without buying anything.

• Wei Yating rode Shen Xuan's Silver Horned Heavenly Steed Feixue, which flew her high above the warship before returning to the deck.
• Shen Xuan read the auction guide, resolved to bid on the Iron Beak Sea Crocodile, and planned to sell seven Purple Yun Divine Wood Spirit Branches to raise funds.
• On the fourth day, Shen Xuan arrived in Weihai Immortal City, checked into the Divine Sword Sect's Sect Inn, and disguised himself as Lei Yaoyang.
• At Tianxiang Pavilion, Shen Xuan asked Wan Meng for detailed information about the Wei, Lu, and Zhang families, but declined to pay the quoted prices.
• Shen Xuan recognized Wan Meng as the Holy Maiden of Joyful Union Sect and revealed that he knew about her concealed Holy Maiden Treasure Seal.
• Wan Meng offered to spend the night with Shen Xuan for free, but he refused and left.

Shen Xuan arranged for Ouyang Xing to remake his Huntian Rod and consigned seven Purple Yun Divine Wood Spirit Branches to the Weihai Immortal City auction. At the auction, he bid aggressively on an Iron Beak Sea Crocodile while the Wei family prepared to compete for a Life Extension Pill.

• Shen Xuan hired Ouyang Xing to transform the Huntian Rod into a Water Attribute high-grade Magic Treasure for one hundred and eighty thousand spirit stones, with the work to take six months.
• Shen Xuan gave Shopkeeper Hu seven Purple Yun Divine Wood Spirit Branches to auction and sold other unneeded materials around Weihai Immortal City.
• Shen Xuan attended the auction under another identity, while Patriarch Wei and his party discussed the Lu Family and their plan to obtain the Life Extension Pill.
• The auction began, and Shen Xuan bid fifty thousand above the current offer for the Iron Beak Sea Crocodile, drawing hostile attention from cultivators in the hall.

At the Weihai Immortal City auction, Shen Xuan won the Iron Beak Sea Crocodile corpse, sold Purple Yun Divine Wood Spirit Branches, and bought two rare Spirit Herbs. The Lu Family outbid the Wei Family for a Life Extension Pill, while Shen Xuan rejected visiting cards from both families without revealing that he was Alchemist Shen Changsheng, who had infiltrated the Wei Family.

• Shen Xuan used his Spiritual Pressure to intimidate the bidders, then beat a Lu Family cultivator's bid and won the Iron Beak Sea Crocodile corpse for six hundred thousand spirit stones.
• Shen Xuan sold seven Purple Yun Divine Wood Spirit Branches for five hundred and seventy thousand spirit stones and bought two five-hundred-year-old Spirit Herbs.
• Lu Wenrong and Wei Xinghong competed for the Life Extension Pill until the price reached 1.2 million spirit stones, and the Wei Family backed down.
• Lu Wenrong won the Life Extension Pill, publicly demonstrating the Lu Family's dominance over the Wei Family.
• Shen Xuan settled his auction bill, collected his purchases, and rejected visiting cards from the Wei, Lu, and Zhang Families.
• The Wei Family did not realize that the Foundation Establishment Late Stage Lightning Method Cultivator they hoped to befriend was Alchemist Shen Changsheng, who had infiltrated their family.

Shen Xuan returned to the Wei Family’s warship after buying intelligence, then witnessed the escalating rivalry between the Wei and Lu Families. The duel between their heads ended with the Lu Family Head’s Invisibility Yao Shark badly wounded by Patriarch Wei’s concealed poison nail, leaving the fight unresolved.

• Shen Xuan bought detailed intelligence on the Wei, Lu, and Zhang Families, ignored Wan Meng’s advances, and returned to the Wei Family’s warship.
• Wei Yating showed Shen Xuan her new Pill Furnace, and Wei Xinghong welcomed him back before the warship set sail.
• The Lu Family Head challenged Patriarch Wei to a duel and offered Shen Xuan a higher salary to join the Lu Family, but Shen Xuan refused and Wei Xinghong confronted the Lu Family Head’s probing Spiritual Sense.
• The two family heads fought the next morning before a crowd of cultivators, with the Lu Family Head using water blades and an Invisibility Yao Shark against Patriarch Wei.
• Patriarch Wei wounded the Yao Shark with a Bone-Piercing Poison Nail, prompting the Lu Family Head to recall it and ask whether the duel would continue.

Shen Xuan gained the Iron Beak Sea Crocodile’s Death Roll talent and considered how to exploit the Wei Family’s need for Life Extension Pills. He then discovered that Wei Yating’s first attempt at refining Foundation Replenishing Pills failed because her spiritual power was impure, and questioned her use of Qi Nourishing Pills.

• Shen Xuan chose the Death Roll talent from the Iron Beak Sea Crocodile’s essence blood and gained fifteen proficiency points.
• Shen Xuan considered refining Life Extension Pills for the Wei Family, whose ancestor had an estimated thirty years of Lifespan remaining.
• Wei Yating attempted to refine Foundation Replenishing Pills under Shen Xuan’s guidance, but the batch failed at the Pill Condensation stage.
• Shen Xuan recognized that Wei Yating had performed the refining steps correctly and attributed the failure to her impure spiritual power.
• Shen Xuan asked whether Wei Yating practiced True Person Cangming’s Cangming True Water Technique and had taken too many Qi Nourishing Pills.
• Wei Yating said she took one Qi Nourishing Pill every five days, as she believed was customary.

Shen Xuan purified Wei Yating’s spiritual power and helped her advance as a Water Law Alchemist, earning the Wei Family Patriarch’s gratitude. Meanwhile, he trained his new Death Roll ability and sought high-grade water yao essence blood, prompting Patriarch Wei to target the Lu Family’s spirit beasts.

• Shen Xuan removed the Pill Toxin from Wei Yating, warned her to avoid Spirit Pills, and encouraged Qingfeng and Mingyue to do the same.
• Wei Yating successfully refined Foundation Replenishing Pills, and Shen Xuan demonstrated the technique and corrected her mistakes.
• Over three months, Wei Yating became a First-Order Middle Grade Alchemist, and Shen Xuan told Patriarch Wei she had a seventy percent chance of becoming a Second-Order Alchemist if she established Foundation.
• Shen Xuan refined the Iron Beak Sea Crocodile Essence Blood and practiced Death Roll in Tiger-Faced Flood Dragon form, increasing its proficiency.
• Shen Xuan told Patriarch Wei he needed essence blood from a Second-Order Top Grade water yao, and Patriarch Wei unexpectedly set his sights on the Lu Family’s spirit beasts.

Wei Anxin led a Wei Family ambush that killed Lu Zhanhao’s Invisibility Yao Shark, then the Wei Family sold its carcass to Shen Xuan at a discount. As Wei Yating committed herself to alchemy despite her feelings for Shen Xuan, he processed the shark and predicted that the Wei Family’s attack would provoke the Lu Family rather than deter it.

• Wei Anxin used bait and a Demon Hunting Divine Hook to capture and kill Lu Zhanhao’s Invisibility Yao Shark, then returned safely to White Crane Island with Wei Xinghong.
• Wei Anxin and Wei Xinghong discussed his preparations for Core Formation, Wei Yating’s alchemy talent, and their mutual interest in Shen Xuan’s Water Method Alchemy knowledge.
• Wei Xinghong sent Wei Yating to ask Shen Xuan whether he wanted the shark, and Shen Xuan agreed to buy its carcass for three hundred thousand spirit stones.
• Wei Xinghong urged Wei Yating to focus on alchemy and warned her against hoping for a future with Shen Xuan; she resolved to become a Second-Order Alchemist despite her feelings for him.
• Shen Xuan processed the shark’s essence blood, fins, fangs, scales, and meat, then concluded that killing it would likely intensify the Lu Family’s efforts to reclaim White Crane Island.

Shen Xuan investigated the Wei and Lu Families’ war and discovered that their forces were staging limited battles while their strongest cultivators stayed out of the fighting. He improved his Invisibility talent, collected his modified Huntian Rod, and sold valuable goods under disguises, but several groups marked and followed him.

• The Lu Family declared war on the Wei Family after destroying one of its Monster Hunting Ships, and Shen Xuan agreed to increase his alchemy output for the Wei Family.
• Shen Xuan secretly visited the front lines and found that the clans were using Rogue Cultivators in controlled clashes while their Warships and Foundation Establishment cultivators watched from behind.
• Shen Xuan absorbed the Invisibility talent from an Invisibility Yao Shark and spent the following months refining its skill.
• Shen Xuan collected his modified Huntian Rod from Ouyang Xing at Divine Sword Pavilion and paid the modification fee.
• Shen Xuan sold Thunder Talismans, Poison Talismans, and Lightning Spirit Pearls under several disguises, unaware that three groups of cultivators had marked and followed him.

Shen Xuan tried to break the Wei and Lu Clans’ stalemated war by demonstrating Water Method Alchemy and drawing the Wei Family’s attention. He met True Person Qingxin to negotiate for True Person Cangming’s Divine Turtle Essence Blood, but the ancestor said Shen’s alchemy inheritance alone would not be enough.

• Shen Xuan killed seven pursuing Foundation Establishment cultivators, took their spirit stones and Dharma Treasures, and returned to White Crane Island.
• Shen Xuan reforged the Huntian Rod into the Golden Light Rod and continued cultivating as the Wei and Lu Clans waged a year-and-a-half war of attrition.
• Shen Xuan taught Wei Yating, Qingfeng, and Mingyue to refine pills above their cultivation or alchemy rank, prompting Patriarch Wei to report their progress to the Wei Family Ancestor.
• The Wei Family Ancestor invited Shen Xuan to his Dao Field, where Shen revealed his Foundation Establishment Perfection-level aura and asked for True Person Cangming’s Divine Turtle Essence Blood.
• True Person Qingxin confirmed the Wei Family still possessed the essence blood and said Shen’s Second-Rank Water Method Alchemy inheritance alone was insufficient.

Shen Xuan persuaded the Wei Family Ancestor to trade Spiritual Profound Turtle Essence Blood for his promise to refine Life Extension Pills and pass their inheritance to Wei Yating. After refining part of the essence blood, Shen Xuan gained a year of Lifespan and greatly improved his Life Extension talent.

• Shen Xuan offered to refine Life Extension Pills within three years in exchange for True Person Cangming's Divine Turtle Essence Blood, and the Wei Family Ancestor accepted a staged trade.
• Shen Xuan swore a Heaven's Dao Oath, received a jade bottle of Spiritual Profound Turtle Essence Blood, and promised to remain on the island while he improved his Alchemy Skill.
• Shen Xuan devoted himself to teaching Wei Yating Alchemy, while explaining that he would not take her as a disciple despite her observing disciple rites.
• Shen Xuan refined one-fifth of the essence blood, awakened its Bloodline Talent Skills, and selected Life Extension to improve.
• Shen Xuan's Life Extension talent reached Perfection progress 88/3200, and his Lifespan increased from 121/258 to 121/259.

Shen Xuan refined his first batch of Second-Order Life Extension Pills, strengthening his standing with the Wei Family and helping it turn the clan war against the Lu Family. After the pills were completed, Zhuo Qingning of Tongxin Chamber of Commerce arrived in Weihai Immortal City and requested a meeting with Shen Xuan and Patriarch Wei.

• Shen Xuan calculated that the Spiritual Profound Turtle Essence Blood could yield one hundred thousand Dao Rhyme Points and decided to focus on refining Second-Order Life Extension Pills.
• Over two years, Shen Xuan became a Second-Order High-rank Water Method Alchemist, while Wei Yating, Qingfeng, and Mingyue advanced their cultivation and Alchemy skills.
• The Wei Family used Shen Xuan's pills to recruit Rogue Cultivators, build its strength, and force the Lu Family to retreat in their war.
• Shen Xuan began refining Life Extension Pills in the Myriad Dragon Profound Water Furnace and told Patriarch Wei that he expected to improve his yield after several batches.
• A month later, Shen Xuan produced two Life Extension Pills, and Patriarch Wei arranged to exchange them and spirit stones for more ingredients.
• Wei Anping told Patriarch Wei that Zhuo Qingning had arrived in Weihai Immortal City and requested a meeting with Shen Xuan to discuss important business.

Shen Xuan rejected Lu Zhanhao’s renewed offer to join the Lu family, secured a Tongxin Chamber of Commerce token, and exchanged Water Method Alchemy insights with Alchemist Yu. After leaving the Divine Sword Pavilion and returning to the Sect Inn, he encountered a woman who said she had learned his identity.

• Zhuo Qingning arranged a private mirror conversation in which Lu Zhanhao tried to recruit Shen Xuan, but Shen Xuan refused because he had signed a Spirit Contract with the Wei family.
• Zhuo Qingning gave Shen Xuan a jade token that let him buy medicinal herbs from Tongxin Chamber of Commerce branches at cost and promised to seek five-hundred-year-old herbs for him.
• Shopkeeper Hu led Shen Xuan to meet Alchemist Yu, who shared his Water Method Alchemy experience with him.
• Shen Xuan explained his own Water Method Alchemy insights, and Alchemist Yu praised his guidance and asked him several questions.
• Shen Xuan refused Alchemist Yu’s invitation to stay the night and hurried back to the Sect Inn, where a smiling woman told him she knew who he was.

Shen Xuan learned from Wan Meng that the Wei Family of White Crane Island might soon face serious trouble, but he continued honoring his contract while refining Spiritual Profound Turtle Essence Blood and Life Extension Pills. After half a year, he completed his essence-blood refinement and produced another batch of pills, then told Wei Yating to notify the family head that it was time to refine a new pill.

• Wan Meng sold Shen Xuan intelligence about Shen Changsheng, promised not to update it, and warned him to leave the Wei Family while asking him to return a future favor.
• Shen Xuan learned that the Wei Family had obtained ingredients for only one Life Extension Pill and suspected Tongxin Chamber of Commerce was holding back.
• After half a year, Shen Xuan refined the last bottle of Spiritual Profound Turtle Essence Blood, bringing his Life Extension skill to perfection and his Water Spirit Root to 88.
• Shen Xuan continued refining Life Extension Pills for the Wei Family, despite suspecting it would soon face a crisis.
• Shen Xuan completed a batch of three Life Extension Pills, handed them to Wei Yating, and told her to inform the family head that it was time to refine a new pill.

Shen Xuan completed his agreement with the Wei Family by refining two Life Extension Pills and delivering his alchemy inheritance, while the Lu Family besieged White Crane Island. As the Wei Family faced likely defeat, Shen Xuan prepared to leave, but Wei Yating approached him before he could depart.

• Shen Xuan began refining the Life Extension Pill for the Wei Family, but Wei Anxin died during a failed breakthrough to Core Formation.
• The Lu Family attacked White Crane Island after Lu Zhanpeng formed a False Core, and its forces trapped the Wei Family behind the island’s defenses.
• Shen Xuan successfully refined two Life Extension Pills and gave the Wei Family Ancestor an inheritance jade slip, completing their trade.
• Shen Xuan refused to help the Wei Family fight the Lu Family and rejected the Wei Family Ancestor’s offer of Spiritual Mystic Tortoise remains.
• Shen Xuan packed to leave White Crane Island, but Wei Yating appeared behind him and asked whether he was leaving.

As White Crane Island faced the Lu Family’s assault, Shen Xuan left with the departing cultivators and discovered that the Lu Family was extorting or enslaving them. The Lu Family Head demanded an enormous ransom from Shen Xuan, and Shen refused to accept the demand, leaving their confrontation unresolved.

• Wei Yating tearfully said goodbye to Shen Xuan as the Lu Family bombarded White Crane Island’s protective formation.
• Shen Xuan left the island while Qingfeng and Mingyue knelt and bowed to him.
• The Lu Family inspected departing cultivators, confiscated their belongings, and demanded ransom or forced them into servitude.
• The Lu Family Head singled out Shen Xuan because he was an Alchemist and demanded three hundred thousand spirit stones to release him.
• Shen Xuan rejected the demand, offering only thirty thousand spirit stones and challenging the Lu Family Head’s terms.