Chapter Summaries

At a banquet, Shi Yue and the others discussed breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm and the options available to cultivators who lacked Foundation Establishment Pills. After the guests left, Murong Xiaoxiao asked to speak privately with Shi Yue, then unexpectedly asked his age and remarked that most men his age were already married with children.

• Luofu Hai said he had received a Foundation Establishment Pill from the Sect Leader Martial Uncle and asked Murong Xiaoxiao and Sun Desheng for advice about breaking through.
• Murong Xiaoxiao and Sun Desheng explained the need for a quiet, spiritually rich place and warned that cultivators with poor aptitude should prepare a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivation method before taking multiple pills.
• Li Feng asked about alternatives to Foundation Establishment Pills, and Murong Xiaoxiao described ancient aids and cruel demonic methods before Sun Desheng encouraged him to search the Scripture Repository.
• After the banquet ended, Murong Xiaoxiao asked Chen Xing'er to leave so she could speak privately with Shi Yue.
• Murong Xiaoxiao asked Shi Yue how old he was and remarked that most mortals his age were already married with children.

Murong Xiaoxiao told Shi Yue that Chen Xing'er liked him and tried to arrange them as Dual Cultivation Partners, but Shi Yue rejected the match and claimed he liked Murong Xiaoxiao instead. Before entering Ascension Cave for half a year, Shi Yue prepared Palm Heaven Space’s creatures and resources to last through the twenty years that would pass inside.

• Murong Xiaoxiao asked whether Shi Yue liked anyone and revealed that Chen Xing'er had feelings for him.
• Shi Yue told Murong Xiaoxiao he saw Chen Xing'er only as a fellow disciple, then pretended that Murong Xiaoxiao herself was the person he liked.
• Murong Xiaoxiao rejected Shi Yue, hurried away, and warned him not to tell Chen Xing'er about their conversation.
• Shi Yue instructed Li Yan to clean up, then entered Palm Heaven Space to cultivate before his Ascension Cave training.
• Shi Yue found the Flood Dragon Egg had absorbed the Spirit Stones’ spiritual energy and placed sixty thousand more Spirit Stones in its vat.
• Shi Yue planned to store the Golden Silk Silkworms in the Spirit Beast Bag and leave the ripening Spirit Fruits unharvested while he was away.

Shi Yue declined Chen Xing'er’s hopes of becoming his Dual Cultivation Partner, while Murong Xiaoxiao reassured her that she might still have a chance. As Ascension Cave was about to open, Shi Yue revealed a Spirit Eye Spring to Li Yan and headed to Ascension Valley to cultivate there.

• Murong Xiaoxiao told Chen Xing'er that Shi Yue was not considering a Dual Cultivation Partner, and Chen Xing'er feared he disliked her or loved someone else.
• Murong Xiaoxiao concealed that Shi Yue liked her and encouraged Chen Xing'er to focus on cultivation and try to reach Foundation Establishment.
• After three bells announced Ascension Cave’s opening, Shi Yue told Li Yan he could cultivate in the basement and led him to the hidden Spirit Eye Spring.
• Shi Yue warned Li Yan to keep the Spirit Eye Spring secret, then flew to Ascension Valley on his Red Moon Disk.
• Shi Yue presented a white token at the valley entrance, entered after the weeds cleared, and was told Ascension Cave would open once everyone arrived.

Shi Yue entered the Ascension Cave with the other inner sect disciples, where rival peaks’ representatives argued over their chances in the Taixu Ranking. As the group prepared to begin cultivation, Murong Xiaoxiao and Zhao Sheng urged them to let their strength speak inside the cave.

• Shi Yue showed his Ascension Token to the Foundation Establishment cultivator guarding the canyon and entered the cave after the guard opened its seals.
• Shi Yue joined Sun Desheng among the gathered disciples and heard a Tianquan Peak disciple mock Green Cloud Peak for giving a Qi Refining disciple a spot.
• Sun Desheng and the other disciples traded barbs over who would make the Taixu Ranking’s top ten, including Wang Hu and Song Miao.
• Murong Xiaoxiao and Zhao Sheng stopped the arguing and said the disciples’ strength would be judged inside the Ascension Cave.
• Shi Yue ignored Zhao Sheng’s pointed glance and agreed that the results would show who was a dragon and who was a worm.

Shi Yue entered the Taixu Sect’s Ascension Cave with the other disciples after completing months of cultivation and beginning to refine Spirit Recovery Pills. Guardian Liu Yuan welcomed them to the cave and prepared to activate its restriction after they chose their cultivation positions.

• Shi Yue had trained the True Spirit Nine Transformations to the second layer and successfully refined three batches of Spirit Recovery Pills from materials for 150 batches.
• Murong Xiaoxiao warned Shi Yue not to reveal their earlier conversation or tell Chen that he liked her, while Zhao Sheng later advised him to keep his distance from Murong Xiaoxiao.
• The Ascension Cave opened, and the disciples passed through the corridors after presenting their Ascension Tokens and being teleported in groups.
• Shi Yue arrived at the Bluestone Plaza, where Liu Yuan explained that the disciples would cultivate in the cave for six months.
• The disciples began choosing places on the plaza as Liu Yuan prepared to activate the restriction.

Shi Yue cultivated in the Ascension Cave and advanced to Qi Refining Twelfth Layer before moving from the tenth circle to the ninth. Four months later, the disciples had shifted positions around the plaza, and Murong Xiaoxiao opened her eyes.

• Liu Yuan activated the restriction around the Bluestone Plaza, and the disciples began cultivating at different circles according to their strength.
• Shi Yue cultivated on the tenth circle while Liu Yuan and Junior Brother Chen played chess outside the barrier.
• After a month, Shi Yue reached Qi Refining Twelfth Layer and moved inward to cultivate on the ninth circle.
• Wang Hu used his strength to reach the seventh circle, while Song Miao and other disciples also moved inward or tried to advance.
• Four months later, most disciples had moved to inner circles, while Murong Xiaoxiao and the other representatives had stayed put; Murong Xiaoxiao then opened her eyes.

The cultivators advanced through Ascension Cave’s gravity-restricted circles as Wang Hu demonstrated his Golden Scale Technique. Shi Yue then revealed his strength by reaching the seventh circle at Qi Refining Level 10, leaving the others astonished.

• Murong Xiaoxiao entered the fourth circle, while Wu Ming and the others moved into deeper circles and sat down to cultivate.
• Wang Hu forced his way into the sixth circle, where his Golden Scale Technique manifested golden scales on his arms.
• Qian Xin explained that the Golden Scale Technique was incomplete but greatly strengthened Wang Hu’s body, and Murong Xiaoxiao urged everyone to use their remaining month in Ascension Cave well.
• Shi Yue advanced from the ninth circle to the eighth, then activated True Spirit Nine Transformations and Giant Ape Roar to reach the seventh circle.
• Murong Xiaoxiao dismissed Zhao Sheng’s suspicion of a faulty restriction, while Qian Xin and Wang Hu concluded that Shi Yue was a formidable body cultivator.

Song Miao pushed himself into the Ascension Cave’s fifth ring, determined to regain his former place among the Taixu Ranking’s top ten despite the crushing Gravity Restriction. Liu Yuan forcibly removed him from the ring, leaving Song Miao in the sixth.

• Wang Hu and Wu Ming questioned Shi Yue about his unfamiliar body-tempering technique, and Shi Yue said he had found it by chance.
• Shi Yue sat down to meditate while Song Miao stepped from the sixth ring into the fifth, and Zhao Sheng failed to enter the sixth before coughing up blood.
• Song Miao collapsed under the fifth ring’s Gravity Restriction but refused to retreat, remembering how he had fallen from the Taixu Ranking after neglecting his cultivation.
• Liu Yuan used the White Jade Plate to drive Song Miao out of the fifth ring and warned him that the restriction was not meant for him to kill himself in.

Shi Yue finished his six-month cultivation in the Ascension Cave at the Great Perfection of the Qi Refining Stage and returned to Green Cloud Peak. He left quickly to check on Palm Heaven Space, while his fellow disciples anticipated his future breakthroughs and ranking.

• Liu Yuan and the middle-aged man praised Shi Yue for reaching the seventh ring and agreed he could cultivate in the Ascension Cave again when it reopened.
• Shi Yue, Murong Xiaoxiao, and Wang Hu made gains during the final month, but no one managed to advance into a more difficult ring.
• The Ascension Cave closed, and Liu Yuan teleported the disciples outside the Ascension Valley, announcing that the latest Taixu Ranking would be released in two days.
• Wang Hu asked Shi Yue to spar, but Shi Yue declined and hid the secret of True Spirit Nine Transformations.
• Sun Desheng and the Green Cloud Peak disciples congratulated Shi Yue and invited him for drinks, but Shi Yue flew back to Green Cloud Peak to check Palm Heaven Space.

Shi Yue discovered that Li Yan was a girl and reassured her that she could stay with him. He then entered Palm Heaven Space, checked on his spirit creatures and plants, and told Xiaoyaozi he planned to establish his foundation there before repaying his debt.

• Shi Yue accidentally touched Li Yan's chest, learned she was a girl, and apologized for not realizing it.
• Li Yan worried Shi Yue would send her away, but he reassured her and promised to buy her girls' clothes after noticing she had reached Qi Refining Level Five.
• Shi Yue entered Palm Heaven Space and found that the Spirit Devouring Bee King had advanced to Level Two, so he tested its obedience and placed more restrictions on it.
• Shi Yue replaced the depleted Spirit Stones in the Flood Dragon Egg's vat and harvested and replanted the three hundred mature Neon Grass plants.
• Shi Yue fed Neon Grass to the Yellow Wind Ox and Snow Cloud Sable, then gave fresh Spirit Mulberry Leaves to the two Golden Silk Silkworms.
• Xiaoyaozi demanded the hundred thousand Spirit Stones Shi Yue owed him, and Shi Yue said he would repay him after establishing his foundation inside Palm Heaven Space.

Shi Yue prepared to earn Spirit Stones and improve his chances of Foundation Establishment, while Xiaoyaozi warned him to attempt it somewhere remote to protect the Heaven Controlling Bead’s secret. After seven days of failing to draw powerful Beginner Talismans, Shi Yue sought help from Luofu Hai.

• Xiaoyaozi warned Shi Yue that Foundation Establishment could affect the Heaven Controlling Bead and reveal its secret, so Shi Yue decided he would need a remote place and a Defensive Array.
• Shi Yue sold Spirit Honey for twenty thousand Spirit Stones, then bought materials for blank Talisman Paper, beginner blank Talisman Paper, and empty wine jars.
• Shi Yue brewed forty jars of Hundred Fragrance Spirit Wine using Spirit Herbs, Spirit Fruit, and Spirit Honey.
• Shi Yue practiced drawing powerful Beginner Talismans in Palm Heaven Space for seven days, but failed thousands of times to make a Great Wind Blade Talisman.
• Frustrated, Shi Yue sent a Sound Transmission Talisman to Luofu Hai, who came out to meet him.

Shi Yue visited Luofu Hai to exchange insights on talisman-making and asked for help with the Great Wind Blade Talisman. After watching Shi Yue fail repeatedly, Luofu Hai demonstrated how to draw one, leaving Shi Yue to study his technique.

• Luofu Hai welcomed Shi Yue into his courtyard and took him across the lake on his Black Giant Python, which he explained would grow additional heads as it advanced.
• Luofu Hai served Shi Yue Purple Mist Spirit Tea, and Shi Yue asked for guidance on his repeated failures to draw a Great Wind Blade Talisman.
• Shi Yue attempted the talisman dozens of times, but each sheet burned when the spiritual energy turned chaotic.
• Luofu Hai borrowed Shi Yue's Taixi Brush, drew a successful Great Wind Blade Talisman, and asked whether Shi Yue understood.

Shi Yue learned to draw Great Wind Blade Talismans with Luofu Hai’s guidance and quickly mastered the technique. He gave Luofu Hai a Jade Slip of Fireball Talisman methods in exchange for instruction on other Talismans.

• Luofu Hai explained how to speed up on the fifth rune and slow down on the last, and Shi Yue practiced until he completed a Great Wind Blade Talisman.
• Shi Yue drew ten Great Wind Blade Talismans in a row, astonishing Luofu Hai with his rapid progress.
• Shi Yue showed Luofu Hai a different method for drawing Fireball Talismans and gave him a Jade Slip containing more than a dozen methods.
• Shi Yue asked Luofu Hai to teach him how to draw four other Talismans, and they spent the afternoon sharing their talisman-making knowledge.
• At dusk, Luofu Hai walked Shi Yue out and invited him to visit again to discuss talisman-making.

Shi Yue left Luofu Hai’s guidance and returned to Palm Heaven Space to make talismans, while the sect revealed that Shi Yue had ranked eighteenth on the Taixu Ranking. The chapter ended as Ye Chen watched footage of Shi Yue entering the ninth ring and wondered where he had seen him before.

• Luofu Hai praised Shi Yue’s talent and insights into talisman-making, and Shi Yue returned to his basement to practice in Palm Heaven Space.
• Zhao Dabao and Senior Sister Liu invited Ye Chen to see the Taixu Ranking update, and the three traveled to Deacon Hall on the Blue Cloud Scarf.
• Li Hong displayed the updated ranking, placing Shi Yue eighteenth despite his Qi Refining Level 11 cultivation.
• When outer sect disciples questioned Shi Yue’s placement, Li Hong explained that Shi Yue had earned permission to cultivate in Ascension Cave and that the ranking was verified using Shadow Return Pearl footage.
• Li Hong played footage of the trial, and Ye Chen watched Shi Yue step into the ninth ring while trying to remember where he had seen him.

Shi Yue placed eighteenth on the Taixu Ranking at Qi Refining Level 11, drawing attention and praise across the sect. Yuan Yan summoned him to Green Cloud Palace to discuss a reward and his cultivation, while Wang Tianji and Yue Luan reacted to the rankings.

• Shi Yue entered the seventh ring to cultivate, and the Shadow Return Pearl showed him in eighteenth place on the Taixu Ranking.
• Disciples recalled Shi Yue’s past achievements, and Ye Chen and other outer disciples resolved to work harder.
• Lin Qing reported the rankings to Yuan Yan and Uncle-Master Sun, prompting Yuan Yan to summon Shi Yue and consider rewarding him.
• Wang Tianji praised Wang Hu for placing tenth, then urged him to build a relationship with Shi Yue after learning of Shi Yue’s achievement.
• Yue Luan reprimanded the inner disciples over Shi Yue’s ranking and threatened to halve Yu Hao’s resources if he failed to return to the top ten.

Shi Yue was summoned by Yuan Yan after his eighteenth-place ranking on the Taixu Ranking and asked for talisman paper, but she reduced his request and urged him to focus on cultivation. On his way back, Chen Tianhe brought him to meet Uncle-Master Zhou, while news spread that female disciples wanted to see him.

• Yue Luan and the other peak lords urged their disciples to cultivate after learning Shi Yue had ranked eighteenth at Qi Refining Level 11.
• Lin Qing escorted Shi Yue to Green Cloud Palace, where Yuan Yan praised his achievement and offered him a reward.
• Shi Yue requested fifty thousand bundles of blank Talisman Paper, but Yuan Yan granted only twenty thousand and warned him not to neglect cultivation.
• Yuan Yan promised Shi Yue a Foundation Establishment Pill when he reached the peak of Qi Refining and asked Lin Qing to keep an eye on him.
• After Green Cloud Peak disciples congratulated him, Shi Yue returned to find Chen Tianhe waiting to escort him to Uncle-Master Zhou.
• Chen Tianhe told Shi Yue that the whole sect knew of his ranking and that some inner-sect female disciples planned to come see him.

Shi Yue received praise and a Foundation Establishment Pill from Zhou Zhenyu, who urged him to focus on cultivation before attempting Foundation Establishment. Meanwhile, Chen Xing'er asked Murong Xiaoxiao to find out which female disciples were interested in Shi Yue, and Murong agreed to investigate.

• Shi Yue met Zhou Zhenyu at the Law Enforcement Hall, where Zhou praised his Ascension Cave performance and asked about his body-refining technique.
• Shi Yue told Zhou he practiced the Giant Ape Art and intended to pursue Triple Cultivation of Law, Body, and Sword; Zhou advised him to focus on dual cultivation of law and sword.
• Zhou gave Shi Yue a Foundation Establishment Pill and urged him to cultivate until Qi Refining Great Perfection before attempting Foundation Establishment.
• Chen Xing'er spoke with Murong Xiaoxiao about Shi Yue's success and admitted she wanted to know which female disciples might catch his eye.
• Murong teased Chen Xing'er about her feelings for Shi Yue, then promised to visit his place and investigate the interested female disciples.

Hu Yue, a proud Foundation Establishment disciple seeking an elite Dual Cultivation Partner, set her sights on Shi Yue and lured him to her courtyard by claiming her Spirit Herbs were sick. After Shi Yue examined her White Moon Spirit Lotuses, she served him tea and pastries, leaving him to answer whether the flowers would bloom.

• Hu Yue's family had arranged her marriage, but she fled to join Taixu Sect and later rejected suitors who were not high on the Taixu Ranking.
• After the rankings were updated, Hu Yue chose Shi Yue as a potential partner and went to his residence, where she waited for him.
• Hu Yue claimed her Spirit Herbs were sick and asked Shi Yue to inspect them, then led him to her secluded courtyard.
• Shi Yue found that the White Moon Spirit Lotuses had yellowing petals, with some beginning to rot.
• Hu Yue invited Shi Yue to eat lotus-seed pastries and drink tea, then asked whether the lotuses would still bloom.

Shi Yue caught Jade Water Toads for Hu Yue and returned to find dozens of disciples seeking his favor after his rise on the Taixu Ranking. He planned to prepare for a Foundation Establishment breakthrough, received the promised talisman paper from Lin Qing, and was interrupted by Murong Xiaoxiao.

• Shi Yue caught all five pairs of Jade Water Toads in Hu Yue’s lake after she asked for his help.
• Shi Yue found dozens of Sound Transmission Talismans from unfamiliar disciples and decided not to respond to their invitations.
• Shi Yue entered Palm Heaven Space and planned to draw a Meridian Connecting Talisman before attempting to break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm.
• Lin Qing delivered the twenty thousand bundles of blank Talisman Paper that Aunt-Master Yuan had awarded Shi Yue.
• Murong Xiaoxiao arrived at Shi Yue’s courtyard and said she needed to speak with him.

Murong Xiaoxiao, Lin Qing, and Hu Yue all visited Shi Yue, and their competing invitations put him in an awkward position. The three women ended up together at his home, where Murong and Lin jokingly found new chores for him.

• Lin Qing and Murong Xiaoxiao arrived at Shi Yue's courtyard, where Murong said she wanted his guidance in the Art of Talismans.
• Hu Yue arrived and invited Shi Yue to a meal to thank him for helping her catch a Jade Water Toad.
• Murong Xiaoxiao objected to Shi Yue leaving with Hu Yue and invited Hu Yue to join their gathering instead.
• Shi Yue hosted all three women with spirit fruit and tea, while Hu Yue thanked him for his help.
• Murong Xiaoxiao asked Shi Yue to pull weeds among her Spirit Herbs, and Lin Qing suggested he tend her five mu of Spirit Herbs during her half-year seclusion.