Chapter Summaries

Kang Chengzhi abducted Fan Dechang to seize his Sixth-grade alchemical furnace and followed him to a remote courtyard. As the gate shut behind them, a young female cultivator emerged from the main hall.

• Kang Chengzhi overheard Old Fan discussing a family heirloom and seized him, sealing his cultivation and taking his Storage Pouch.
• Kang Chengzhi found no furnace in the pouch and threatened to kill Old Fan unless he revealed where it was.
• Old Fan identified himself as Fan Dechang and led Kang Chengzhi through deserted lanes toward his home.
• Kang Chengzhi followed Fan Dechang into a dilapidated courtyard, where the gate shut and a female cultivator stepped out of the main hall.

Zhou Miaoli subdued Kang Chengzhi and used the Soul Devouring Life Merging Technique on him. At Ge Garden, Tu He learned that Wang Gao was an extraordinary Pill Master and ordered his bone age checked during the County Trial.

• Kang Chengzhi tried to seize Fan Jusong, but she crushed his arm and immobilized him with her blood-sea aura.
• Zhou Miaoli pressed a hand to Kang Chengzhi’s crown and activated the Soul Devouring Life Merging Technique.
• The trade gathering ended, and Pei Ling left Ge Garden with the remaining Pill Masters.
• Tu He told his attendant that Wang Gao had refined batches of Top-grade pills in Qucheng and might rival his own skill.
• Tu He ordered someone to watch Wang Gao during the County Trial and check his bone age.

Pei Ling returned to his cave abode after the trade fair and spent three days using the system to refine and record many pills in preparation for the County Trial. He successfully made three batches of the difficult Death-Defying Fate-Reversing Pill, exhausting his rare ingredients, and planned to leave after collecting the County Trial reward.

• Shi Wanli escorted Pei Ling back to his cave abode and learned that the Qucheng Demonic Cultivator remained at large, while the dynasty's divination had failed to identify him.
• Pei Ling inspected his cave abode, sorted the materials and recipes he had bought, and began system-assisted pill refining.
• Pei Ling spent three days refining common pills and recording their preparation times and the effects of his poison pills for the County Trial.
• Pei Ling refined three batches of Death-Defying Fate-Reversing Pills, producing one high-grade pill per batch and using all the ingredients he had gathered for them.
• Pei Ling decided that after passing the County Trial and receiving its reward, he would leave before the final contest in the Lesser Freedom Heaven.

Pei Ling learned that Kang Chengzhi had disappeared and that the County Governor's Office suspected him, so he invited Shi Wanli to see the Death-Defying Fate-Reversing Pill he had refined. Meanwhile, Zhou Miaoli's attempt to use Kang Chengzhi's memories to refine pills failed again, and she blamed her poor furnace.

• Shi Wanli told Pei Ling that Kang Chengzhi had vanished after their dispute at the Pill Master Trading Meet and that the County Governor's Office suspected Pei Ling.
• Pei Ling denied involvement and thanked Shi Wanli for his help by inviting him to inspect a Death-Defying Fate-Reversing Pill he had just refined.
• Shi Wanli recognized the pill's importance and eagerly accepted Pei Ling's invitation.
• Zhou Miaoli, disguised as Fan Jusong, failed to refine another batch of pills, and her furnace exploded.
• After more than a hundred failed attempts, Zhou Miaoli concluded that her furnace was too poor.

Zhou Miaoli repeatedly failed to refine pills and concluded that Kang Chengzhi’s alchemy knowledge was worthless, so she demanded a genuine Pill Master. Meanwhile, Pei Ling gave Shi Wanli a top-grade Death-Defying Fate-Reversing Pill, leaving Shi Wanli astonished by its quality and importance.

• Zhou Miaoli destroyed furnaces of several grades while attempting pill refinement and blamed Kang Chengzhi’s useless alchemy experience rather than her equipment.
• Zhou Miaoli told Fan Dechang to find her a true Pill Master, dismissing Kang Chengzhi as a fraud.
• Shi Wanli visited Pei Ling and asked about the Death-Defying Fate-Reversing Pill.
• Pei Ling showed Shi Wanli a top-grade pill, and Shi Wanli recognized it and explained its extraordinary value and rarity.
• Pei Ling gave the pill to Shi Wanli, saying it was his to examine in return for looking after him.

Pei Ling learned that the County Governor's Office believed Kang Chengzhi was dead and arranged protection for him. At the Pill Master Trading Meet, Xie Chang accused Wang Gao of killing Kang Chengzhi and tried to extort him, but Pei Ling told him to report it to the authorities, prompting Xie Chang to threaten him.

• Shi Wanli told Pei Ling that Kang Chengzhi was missing and that his newly refined pill could serve as an alibi.
• After seven days, Shi Wanli escorted Pei Ling to Ge Garden and reported that the County Governor's Office believed Kang Chengzhi had been killed and would help protect Pei Ling.
• Pei Ling entered the trading meet, greeted the other Pill Masters, and waited for the formal start.
• Xie Chang approached Pei Ling, claimed Kang Chengzhi had been like a brother to him, and implied that Pei Ling was responsible for his disappearance.
• Pei Ling told Xie Chang to report the matter to the authorities, and Xie Chang left after threatening him.

Pei Ling used a newly refined Death-Defying Fate-Reversing Pill at the trading exchange to demonstrate that he had spent the past ten days refining pills, distancing himself from Kang Chengzhi’s disappearance. Tu He eagerly offered to buy the pill, and Pei Ling agreed to let him examine it in exchange for the rare ingredients he needed.

• Pei Ling dismissed Xie Chang’s threat and went to the exchange to collect his trading token.
• Tu He privately planned to demand strict conditions if Wang Gao sought his guidance on refining the Death-Defying Fate-Reversing Pill.
• Wang Gao announced that he wanted to trade a Death-Defying Fate-Reversing Pill for twenty portions each of eight rare ingredients.
• Wang Gao displayed a high-grade Death-Defying Fate-Reversing Pill, stunning the Pill Masters and Tu He.
• Tu He offered to buy the pill and asked to examine it, and Wang Gao agreed.

At the Pill Master Trading Meet, Tu He confirmed that Wang Gao had freshly refined a high-grade Death-Defying Fate-Reversing Pill, then traded him the requested ingredients. Wang Gao offered a second pill but failed to draw Tu He into another deal, while Zhou Miaoli waited outside the Ge Garden for a more capable Pill Master.

• Tu He examined Wang Gao’s Death-Defying Fate-Reversing Pill and realized Wang Gao had refined it himself in only ten days.
• Tu He traded Wang Gao a Storage Pouch containing the requested ingredients, and Wang Gao confirmed that none were missing.
• Wang Gao offered his second high-grade Death-Defying Fate-Reversing Pill, but Tu He refused to buy it again.
• The other Pill Masters offered Wang Gao formulas and other goods, but he said he would trade the pill only for the previously requested Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.
• Wang Gao put the pill away and invited offers for other supreme-grade pills in exchange for pill formulas.
• Zhou Miaoli, disguised as Fan Jusong, waited with Fan Dechang outside the Ge Garden for the trading meet to end so she could find a Pill Master of at least seventh grade.

Xie Chang abandoned his plans to accuse Wang Gao directly and plotted to involve Innate Religion and pressure the Dynasty for compensation over Kang Chengzhi's disappearance. Zhou Miaoli recognized Xie Chang as her next target and ordered Fan Dechang to capture him for his soul.

• Xie Chang concluded that Wang Gao's Death-Defying Fate-Reversing Pills made him difficult to accuse, then decided to alert Innate Religion and stir up a complaint to the Dynasty.
• Xie Chang planned to portray Kang Chengzhi as his sworn brother and demand compensation from the Dynasty, expecting a public uproar to yield benefits.
• Fan Dechang identified the Pill Masters leaving Ge Garden for Zhou Miaoli, who watched for a suitable target.
• Zhou Miaoli recognized Xie Chang from Kang Chengzhi's memories and chose the seventh-grade Rogue Cultivator Pill Master as her next target.
• Fan Dechang accepted Zhou Miaoli's order to go after Xie Chang.

Xie Chang tried to steal a Sixth-grade alchemical furnace from Old Fan but was captured by Zhou Miaoli, who later destroyed the furnace while testing her pill-refining ability. With only a few days left in the Preliminary Selection, Zhou Miaoli chose Wang Gao as her next target for a new furnace and ordered Fan Dechang to investigate him.

• Xie Chang overheard Old Fan discussing his Sixth-grade alchemical furnace, subdued him, and forced him to lead the way to it.
• Zhou Miaoli seized Xie Chang when he entered her courtyard, and he screamed as she captured him.
• Pei Ling left the trading meet with Shi Wanli, returned to his cave abode, and resumed refining the Death-Defying Fate-Reversing Pill.
• Zhou Miaoli tried to refine with Old Fan's furnace, but it exploded, leaving her unharmed and dissatisfied with her progress.
• Fan Dechang identified Wang Gao as a possible Sixth-grade Pill Master, and Zhou Miaoli ordered him to investigate Wang Gao's residence and background.

Zhou Miaoli learned that Wang Gao was a Fifth-Rank Pill Master and planned to seize his memories, while Pei Ling discovered that people who had conflicted with him were disappearing. Zhou Miaoli disguised herself as Shi Wanli and entered Pei Ling’s cave abode, where he realized she was a Demonic Cultivator.

• Fan Dechang told Zhou Miaoli that Wang Gao had passed the Fifth-Rank Pill Master examination and refined thirty top-grade Foundation Establishment Pills in one batch.
• Zhou Miaoli decided to attack Wang Gao at his cave abode that night despite Shi Wanli guarding him.
• Pei Ling finished refining a high-grade Death-Defying Fate-Reversing Pill and learned from Shi Wanli that Xie Chang had gone missing.
• Zhou Miaoli used the Ghostly Escape Technique and a Red Gold Hairpin to disguise herself as Shi Wanli and approach Wang Gao’s cave abode.
• Pei Ling opened the entrance, then recognized that the intruder was not Shi Wanli and sensed a Demonic Cultivator before him.

Pei Ling used the Eternal Curse Divine Ability against Zhou Miaoli, but she broke free and he collapsed. Zhou Miaoli hid his identity from the Si Hong Clan, treated him, and waited for him to wake, leaving him trapped in her grasp.

• Pei Ling used the Law of Forgetting on Zhou Miaoli, but she quickly recovered her memories and cultivation, while he suffered backlash and fainted.
• Zhou Miaoli realized Wang Gao was Pei Ling in disguise and decided not to reveal him to the Si Hong Clan or kill him.
• Zhou Miaoli gave Pei Ling medicine, found his Death-Defying Fate-Reversing Pills, and swallowed one before searching his belongings.
• Zhou Miaoli helped Pei Ling absorb the medicine, splashed him with icy water, and waited for him to wake.
• Pei Ling recognized Zhou Miaoli and tried to flee, but she pinned him down and greeted him.

Zhou Miaoli forced Pei Ling to demonstrate his pill-refining shortcut, then tried to copy it herself and blew up a furnace. She confiscated his poison pills and asked why the Jiu A Li Clan had sent him to the Liulan Dynasty, while Pei Ling concealed that he was acting alone and asked about her own purpose.

• Zhou Miaoli made Pei Ling refine a batch of Foundation Establishment Pills, and the system produced thirty top-grade pills before the poison interrupted it.
• Impressed, Zhou Miaoli swallowed one of Pei Ling’s poison pills and tried to imitate his pill refining, but her furnace exploded after she struggled to fuse the Pill Liquid.
• Zhou Miaoli took a Poison Dispelling Pill, confiscated the remaining poison pills from Pei Ling’s Storage Pouch, and returned the pouch to him.
• Zhou Miaoli asked why the Jiu A Li Clan had sent Pei Ling to infiltrate the Pill Refining Grand Ceremony, and Pei Ling avoided answering by asking about her purpose.

Pei Ling agreed to help Zhou Miaoli qualify for Lesser Freedom Heaven while pursuing the Pill Refining Grand Ceremony championship, and learned she wanted the Medicine Fairy, an incarnation of the Pill Ancestor’s immortal medicine. After Shi Wanli warned that the Prefect’s Manor suspected Demonic Cultivators were targeting Wang Gao, Pei Ling worried that surveillance would prevent him from leaving.

• Pei Ling told Zhou Miaoli that he wanted to win the Pill Refining Grand Ceremony rather than claim the Medicine Fairy, and Zhou agreed they should work together to enter Lesser Freedom Heaven.
• Zhou Miaoli offered Pei Ling a strand of the Medicine Fairy’s hair if she obtained her, then explained that the Medicine Fairy was an incarnation of an immortal medicine from the Pill Ancestor’s inheritance.
• Shi Wanli arrived at Pei Ling’s cave abode, and Pei Ling hid Zhou Miaoli, transformed into Wang Gao, and let him in.
• Shi Wanli reported that the missing Kang Chengzhi and Xie Chang had been killed after meeting Wang Gao, and that the Prefect’s Manor suspected the Demonic Cultivators had targeted him.
• Shi Wanli warned Pei Ling to stay inside and avoid the Pill Master Trading Meet, while Pei Ling worried that the Prefect’s Manor’s surveillance would keep him from leaving after the County Trial.

Pei Ling was warned about demonic cultivators, then Zhou Miaoli forced him to accept a Black Gu so she could copy his alchemy techniques during the Pill Refining Grand Ceremony. With few allies and the Gu inside him, Pei Ling chose to cultivate using the system, which began refining the Gu.

• Shi Wanli warned Pei Ling that demonic cultivators might be targeting him to infiltrate Lesser Freedom Heaven and gave him a Nine Heavens Pure Light Shield Talisman.
• Zhou Miaoli ordered Pei Ling to send Shi Wanli away, then revealed she would use a pair of Black and White Concentric Gu to copy Pei Ling's alchemy techniques during the examinations.
• Pei Ling accepted the Black Gu, which burrowed into his body, and Zhou Miaoli warned him against seeking help from the Li Clan before departing.
• Pei Ling considered the unfamiliar [Nameless Cultivation Method] but chose to have the system cultivate the [Burning Night Chapter] instead.
• The system detected the Gu inside Pei Ling and began refining it.

Zhou Miaoli failed to refine a Foundation Establishment Pill despite absorbing Wang Gao’s memories, so she decided to use the Black and White Concentric Gu to borrow pill-refining skills from Pei Ling. Pei Ling refined the black Gu and received Zhou Miaoli’s summons, while she prepared to try refining again with the Gu as the Preliminary Selection deadline approached.

• Zhou Miaoli swallowed a poison pill and tried to refine a Foundation Establishment Pill, but the pill furnace exploded and she concluded that poison pills alone were not enough.
• Zhou Miaoli planned to use the Black and White Concentric Gu and considered having Pei Ling impersonate Fan Jusong if she could not pass the Preliminary Selection.
• Pei Ling’s system refined the black Gu and the remaining medicinal power, allowing him to sense and potentially command the other connected Gu.
• After receiving Zhou Miaoli’s message that she would begin refining in ten breaths, Pei Ling swallowed a delayed poison pill and started system-hosted pill refining.
• Zhou Miaoli used the White Gu to take control of her body and received Pei Ling’s pill-refining methods, then began refining as Fan Dechang worried about the looming deadline.

Zhou Miaoli used the Black and White Concentric Gu to successfully refine several batches of pills and headed to the Preliminary Selection. Pei Ling discovered a pill was missing and, after agreeing to help her, realized the Law’s side effect might make the system steal her furnace.

• Zhou Miaoli successfully refined fifteen Foundation Establishment Pills and credited her results to copying Pei Ling’s techniques while under the Gu’s influence.
• Zhou Miaoli refined several more batches, judged Pei Ling’s skill to be around a Seventh-grade Pill Refining Master’s level, and left to take part in the Preliminary Selection.
• Pei Ling discovered that one of his Death-Defying Fate-Reversing Pills was missing and suspected Zhou Miaoli had taken it.
• Zhou Miaoli asked Pei Ling to refine three batches of Foundation Establishment Pills after half an hour, and he agreed while planning to flee before the County Trial.
• Pei Ling began system-hosted pill refinement and realized the system would likely make him steal Zhou Miaoli’s furnace, a consequence of the Law’s worsening side effect.

Pei Ling arranged to obtain a Seventh-Rank Pill Furnace to protect himself from the system’s possible control, then received one on loan from Shi Wanli. As Meiyang City continued hunting Demonic Cultivators, Pei Ling asked whether the restrictions on leaving the city had changed.

• After refining three batches of Foundation Establishment Pills, Pei Ling learned from Zhou Miaoli that she had used a Sixth-grade alchemical furnace and concluded the system would not gift him one at his current cultivation level.
• Worried that a nearby Seventh-Rank Pill Furnace might trigger the system to control him, Pei Ling asked Shi Wanli to find him one in exchange for a Death-Defying Fate-Reversing Pill.
• Five days later, Shi Wanli brought Pei Ling the Golden Jade Lion, Camel, Mandarin Duck, and Treasure Vase Furnace, which Elder Tu had agreed to lend until the County Trial ended.
• Shi Wanli warned Pei Ling to stay in his cave abode while the city searched for Demonic Cultivators from the Four Great Demonic Sects.
• Pei Ling asked Shi Wanli whether Meiyang City had changed its restrictions on entering and leaving.

Pei Ling learned that the city lockdown would keep him trapped unless he passed the County Trial and traveled to the imperial capital. After helping Zhou Miaoli complete the Prefecture Exam, he went to take the County Trial himself, where he faced two formidable examiners.

• Shi Wanli told Pei Ling that the city had sealed its borders and activated formations to prevent Demonic Cultivators from escaping or entering.
• Zhou Miaoli told Pei Ling to refine ten batches of Youth-Preserving Pills for her Prefecture Exam, and he used the system to complete them successfully.
• Ten days later, Pei Ling received notice that the County Trial had begun and agreed with Zhou Miaoli that they would take it separately to avoid exposing their identical pill-refining methods.
• Pei Ling asked Shi Wanli to escort him to the County City Ministry of Works, then entered alone with his jade document.
• A blue-robed servant led Pei Ling into a side room, where two elderly cultivators with deep auras awaited him.

Pei Ling passed the County Trial’s identity, bone-age, and soul checks, then joined the other Pill Masters awaiting the examination. Elder Tu He learned that Wang Gao was only just of age and that his soul perfectly matched his body, confirming he was a genuine young prodigy.

• A female cultivator immobilized Pei Ling and examined his bones, while a male cultivator used a strange orb to verify his soul.
• The officials confirmed Pei Ling’s identity as Wang Gao and allowed him to proceed to the County Trial.
• A blue-robed Servant led Pei Ling to a hall, where other Pill Masters greeted him and wished him success.
• Elder Tu He reviewed the candidates’ records and learned that Wang Gao had arrived for the County Trial.
• A subordinate reported that Wang Gao’s bone age showed he had only just come of age and that his soul perfectly matched his body.
• Elder Tu concluded that Wang Gao was a genuine peerless talent in alchemy.