Chapter Summaries

Shen Wen offered the Pill Tower the Zong Ji Pill recipe and Sky Soaring Method to quiet internal critics, then prepared to cultivate and undergo an official Eighth-grade Alchemist assessment. His upcoming wedding to the Snake People Clan's Queen drew attention, but news of the assessment soon eclipsed it as the wedding arrangements continued.

• Old Monster Lin told Shen Wen that some Pill Tower factions questioned the cost of protecting him from the Soul Hall.
• Shen Wen offered to place the Zong Ji Pill recipe and Sky Soaring Method in the Pill Tower's Library Pavilion for qualified members to study.
• Old Monster Lin urged Shen Wen to focus on cultivation and told him he would need to publicly refine an Eighth-Grade Pill to earn the official badge.
• After Shen Wen returned, he announced that he would marry the Snake People Clan's Queen as an Equal Wife in Pill Tower City.
• The Pill Tower announced that Shen Wen would undergo his Eighth-grade Alchemist assessment in half a month, drawing attention across the Pill Region.
• Cao Ying arranged accommodations for the Snake People Clan and expected the wedding to follow Shen Wen's assessment and badge ceremony.

Shen Wen returned to his courtyard, chose the Yi Shi Pill for the upcoming Eighth Rank assessment, and organized his plans for the challenges ahead. After preparing several Jade Slips and settling his affairs with Cao Ying, he went to study under Xuan Danzi.

• Shen Wen returned to the courtyard, where Cao Ying updated him on the guests, guards, and the Eighth Rank assessment scheduled for half a month later.
• Shen Wen told Cao Ying that he planned to refine the Yi Shi Pill for the assessment.
• Shen Wen considered the Bodhi Ancient Tree, Zi Yan's bloodline, Xiao Yi Xian's Calamity Poison Body, his cultivation, and a Space Wormhole as matters requiring future action.
• Shen Wen used Jade Slips to record his Yi Shi Pill deductions, preliminary Zun Ji Pill concepts, a Space Wormhole outline, and an action plan.
• Shen Wen left the courtyard and went to the Small Pill Tower to study under Xuan Danzi.

Xuan Danzi taught Shen Wen that he needed to master the foundational Spirit Ascension Method before attempting a true Eighth-Grade Pill. As Shen Wen used the Future Non-Birth Scripture to study the method, he sensed a strange power flowing into his Soul Origin.

• Xuan Danzi explained that Shen Wen's past high-grade pills had depended on exceptional ingredients and external powers rather than alchemy alone.
• Xuan Danzi described the universal Spirit Ascension Method and distinguished it from Yao Chen's more advanced technique for raising a pill's potential grade.
• Xuan Danzi gave Shen Wen a Jade Slip and instructed him to study the method before they attempted a true Eighth-Grade Pill.
• Shen Wen used the Future Non-Birth Scripture to rapidly deduce and absorb the method's principles.
• Shen Wen sensed warm, ethereal power carrying devotion, trust, and dependence seeping into his Soul Origin from an unseen void.

Shen Wen discovered that the Snake People Clan’s faith was nourishing his soul and helping him deduce the Spirit Ascension Method. After mastering and adapting its foundations in two days, he impressed Xuan Danzi, who believed Shen Wen might one day become an Emperor Grade Alchemist.

• Shen Wen sensed Faith Power, mainly from the Snake People Clan, and considered how building and protecting his own forces could provide more of it.
• Shen Wen used the Faith Power’s subtle aid to deduce the Spirit Ascension Method and mastered its foundational principles.
• Two days later, Shen Wen visited Xuan Danzi and explained that he had mastered the method and adapted it to his Soul Power and flame control.
• Shen Wen demonstrated both the original framework and his adjusted Spirit Ascension path, leaving Xuan Danzi profoundly impressed.
• Xuan Danzi told Shen Wen that he might have a chance to become the first Emperor Grade Alchemist since Tou She Ancient God.

Shen Wen began preparing to refine an Eighth-Grade Soul Cleansing Pill under Xuan Danzi’s guidance, using the attempt to strengthen his Spirit Ascension Method and ready himself for his assessment. His decision drew a crowd of skeptical Pill Pagoda members, while Xuan Yi arrived to observe and consider whether he could truly reach her level.

• Xuan Danzi praised Shen Wen’s ability to develop the Spirit Ascension Method and told him to practice by refining an Eighth-Grade Soul Cleansing Pill.
• Shen Wen explained his plan to Old Monster Lin, who provided the ingredients and arranged a secure refining area in the Small Pill Tower.
• Xuan Yi learned that Shen Wen intended to refine an Eighth-Grade Pill before his formal assessment and questioned whether he was ready.
• Rumors and jealousy drew elders, family representatives, and Pill Pagoda Alchemists to watch Shen Wen’s attempt, many expecting him to fail.
• Xuan Yi arrived at the refining area and took her seat among the examiners, wondering whether Shen Wen could become her equal.

Shen Wen stunned the Alchemists at the arena by revealing his Fallen Heart Flame and Heavenly Realm Soul Power as he refined an Eighth-Grade Pill. As the pill neared completion, Heaven and Earth Energy gathered overhead and Pill Lightning began to brew.

• Shen Wen summoned the Fallen Heart Flame, and the Alchemists recognized it as the fourteenth-ranked Heavenly Flame.
• Shen Wen began refining an Eighth-Grade Pill, using his vast Dou Qi and precise control of the flame.
• Shen Wen unleashed Heavenly Realm Soul Power, shocking the Alchemists and Xuan Yi with its strength.
• Heaven and Earth Energy gathered above the arena as the pill's medicinal fragrance vanished, signaling its imminent completion.
• Pill Lightning formed overhead while Shen Wen accelerated his hand seals and struck Soul Power and Dou Qi into the medicine cauldron.

Shen Wen used the Spirit Ascension Method while refining an Eighth-Grade Soul Cleansing Pill, drawing the attention of the Pill Pagoda elders. When three-colored Pill Lightning descended, he caught it with a Chaos Giant Hand and swallowed it, leaving the spectators and Xuan Yi stunned.

• Shen Wen changed his Soul Power technique and used the Spirit Ascension Method to temper the forming pill.
• Xuan Yi recognized the technique, and Elder Han Li explained its difficulty and recalled Venerable Yao's legendary version.
• Three-colored Pill Lightning gathered overhead as the Soul Cleansing Pill flew from the cauldron and Shen Wen restrained it with his left hand.
• Shen Wen caught the descending Pill Lightning in a Chaos Giant Hand, compressed it into a sphere, and swallowed it.
• Xuan Yi and the gathered spectators were shocked by Shen Wen's apparent strength.

After Shen Wen's pill-refining feat made his rise in the Pill Pagoda seem inevitable, Dan Xuan visited on behalf of the Dan Family to thank him and propose an alliance through Dan Chen. Shen Wen accepted the family's goodwill but left the marriage question unresolved.

• News of Shen Wen crushing Pill Lightning and swallowing it spread through the Pill Pagoda, prompting families to seek his favor.
• Dan Xuan visited Shen Wen and thanked him for helping Dan Chen, presenting him with a Storage Ring containing alchemy techniques and rare notes.
• Dan Xuan offered the Dan Family's support and hinted that marriage to Dan Chen would make Shen Wen family and grant him access to its secret alchemy inheritance.
• Shen Wen accepted the Dan Family's goodwill but said marriage was a serious matter that they should discuss another day.
• Shen Wen privately considered what position Dan Chen would have if he married her, knowing the Dan Family would not accept her becoming a concubine.

Shen Wen rejected Dan Xuan’s implied marriage alliance with Dan Chen because he feared the political and household complications, and Cao Ying offered to handle the matter. The next day, Cao Ying visited Dan Chen, who was heartbroken, and began explaining Shen Wen’s reasons.

• Dan Xuan left after Shen Wen declined to commit to the Dan Family’s marriage alliance.
• Shen Wen and Cao Ying discussed Dan Chen’s possible place in the household and the risks of becoming entangled with the Five Great Families.
• Cao Ying offered to speak with Dan Chen and advised Shen Wen to avoid meeting the Bai Family or Qiu Family until the Dan Family’s stance became clear.
• Shen Wen agreed and said he did not want to tie himself prematurely to all five families.
• Cao Ying visited Dan Chen the next day and found her crying over Shen Wen’s apparent rejection.
• Cao Ying reassured Dan Chen that Shen Wen cared for her, then asked whether he was truly worth her devotion.

Cao Ying explained to Dan Chen why Shen Wen could not easily accept her marriage proposal and urged her to gain influence within the Dan Family. Later, Shen Wen discussed gathering Faith Power and possibly founding a faction with Cao Ying and Cai Lin, who suggested the Northwest as a starting point; the plan was deferred until after his Eighth Rank assessment.

• Cao Ying told Dan Chen that the Dan Family’s expectations and Dan Chen’s limited influence made a marriage without status difficult, then urged her to build enough standing to affect family decisions.
• Dan Chen understood Cao Ying’s advice and resolved to work toward gaining influence within the Dan Family.
• Cao Ying returned and joined Cai Lin in Shen Wen’s study, where he explained that Faith Power could support cultivation, nourish the soul, and aid deduction.
• Cai Lin suggested establishing a faction to shelter more people and gather Faith Power, while Cao Ying warned that doing so could create conflicts with the Pill Pagoda and distract Shen Wen from cultivation and alchemy.
• Cao Ying proposed waiting until Shen Wen passed the Eighth Rank assessment, when his reputation could attract supporters, and Cai Lin identified the Northwest as the least difficult place to begin.

With Shen Wen’s Eighth-grade Alchemist assessment approaching, the Bai and Qiu families sabotaged the supply of Yi Shi Pill ingredients, leaving him only one attempt. Shen Wen accepted the shortage and saw a chance to expose the plot and gain influence in the Pill Pagoda, while Cao Ying teased him about winning Xuan Yi’s favor by another route.

• Shen Wen declined the Bai and Qiu families’ overtures through Cao Ying, and rumors spread that he was arrogant.
• Xuan Yi told Shen Wen that damage to the Xuan Yuan Tai Ling Grass and shortages of supplementary ingredients left only one usable portion for his assessment.
• Cao Ying offered ingredients from the Cao and Dan families, but Xuan Yi explained that assessment rules required the Pill Pagoda to supply all materials.
• Shen Wen accepted the single portion and considered how an investigation might remove a conspiratorial elder and open a path to a vacant elder seat.
• As Shen Wen and Cao Ying left Xuan Yi’s residence, Cao Ying suggested he use his charm to win Xuan Yi’s support and noted that she was unmarried.

Shen Wen learned that Cao Ying knew about his childhood declaration that he wanted to marry Elder Xuan Yi, then faced a high-stakes Pill Tower assessment with only one set of herbs. He began refining the Yi Shi Pill immediately, leaving the crowd to watch as hundreds of ingredients entered the Sky Burning Cauldron.

• Cao Ying teased Shen Wen about his childhood wish to marry Elder Xuan Yi, a story Elder Lin had shared at a gathering of Pill Tower elders.
• Shen Wen told Cao Ying he was confident about the assessment and intended to use it to obtain an elder's seat in the Pill Tower.
• At Ten Thousand Herbs Square, Xuan Yi announced that Shen Wen's assessment would use the Yi Shi Pill and that the Pill Tower had only one complete set of medicinal herbs.
• Xuan Yi explained that failure to refine the pill would mean Shen Wen failed the assessment, while the crowd questioned the fairness of the arrangement.
• Shen Wen calmly summoned the Sky Burning Cauldron and the Fallen Heart Flame, then sent hundreds of portions of herbs into the cauldron and began refining.

Shen Wen refined the Yi Shi Pill through a risky fusion process while controlling hundreds of medicinal essences and sustaining the effort for days. The pill began to form as five-colored lightning gathered over Ten Thousand Herbs Square.

• Shen Wen refined hundreds of medicinal herbs at once, astonishing the alchemists and revealing Soul Power comparable to the examiners'.
• Shen Wen began merging the essences and performed Spirit Ascension during fusion, prompting Tian Lei Zi to warn that failure could destroy the pill.
• Xuan Yi silenced the crowd as Shen Wen continued the fusion steadily, relying on more than a hundred simulations in the Future Non-Birth Scripture.
• Shen Wen sustained the refinement for another day, and the examiners and spectators marveled at his Dou Qi reserves.
• Thunder rolled above Ten Thousand Herbs Square as the pill-forming phenomenon began, and five-colored pill lightning gathered in the sky.

Shen Wen passed the Eighth Rank mid-tier Alchemist assessment after refining a five-colored Yi Shi Pill and absorbing its Pill Lightning as a True Dragon. His success exposed the Bai and Qiu Families’ failed scheme, while new rewards appeared in his mind, which he declined.

• Shen Wen transformed into a purple-green True Dragon and absorbed the Five-Colored Pill Lightning.
• Shen Wen captured the escaping Yi Shi Pill and sealed it in a jade bottle.
• Xuan Yi announced that Shen Wen had passed the Eighth Rank mid-tier Alchemist assessment, and Xuan Kongzi and Tian Lei Zi praised him.
• The Bai Family and Qiu Family elders regretted their failed scheme as Cao Ying, Cai Lin, Xiao Yi Xian, Qing Lin, and Zi Yan celebrated Shen Wen’s success.
• Shen Wen received reward offers tied to Cai Lin, Cao Ying, and Xiao Yi Xian’s increased favorability, then declined them.

Shen Wen passed the Eighth-Grade Alchemist assessment and received official recognition from the Pill Pagoda. Days later, he refused to meet representatives of the Bai and Qiu Families, and Xuan Yi arrived as the investigation into their actions was expected to advance.

• Xuan Kongzi confirmed Shen Wen's Yi Shi Pill was Eighth Rank mid-grade and presented him with an Eighth-Grade Alchemist badge.
• The audience celebrated Shen Wen's achievement while Xuan Yi turned her attention to the Bai and Qiu Families over the shortage of medicinal herbs.
• In the days after the assessment, Cao Ying handled a stream of visitors seeking pills, protection, or cooperation with Shen Wen.
• Cao Ying told Shen Wen that influential elders from the Bai and Qiu Families had come to apologize, but Shen Wen refused to see them.
• Cao Ying explained how Shen Wen's rise and the families' weakened positions could make their earlier actions disastrous for them.
• After Shen Wen said there should be progress in Xuan Yi's investigation, a maid announced that Xuan Yi had arrived.

Shen Wen learned that the Pill Pagoda would consider him for a vacant elder seat while he and Cao Ying discussed their plans for the Northwest and Central Continent. He gave Cao Ying the Yi Shi Pill, and the chapter ended with the two of them alone together in the sealed study.

• Xuan Yi told Shen Wen that the Qiu Family elder and Bai Family steward had conspired to tamper with medicinal herb records, and that the Three Titans had agreed on their punishment and compensation.
• Xuan Yi asked whether Shen Wen wanted the vacant elder seat, and he said he would accept if the Pill Pagoda and its elders trusted him.
• Shen Wen and Cao Ying discussed Cai Lin's wedding preparations, and Cao Ying gave him the Cao Family's secret alchemy manuals.
• Cao Ying reported that preparations for a Northwest Space Wormhole and the Snake People Clan's Central Continent base were underway, and Shen Wen said he would build the wormhole himself.
• Shen Wen gave Cao Ying the Yi Shi Pill, explaining that he had refined it for her, and she kissed him before sealing the study with its formation.

Shen Wen absorbed his system rewards, broke through to Six-star Dou Ancestor, and greatly improved his control over space. After discussing wedding preparations and recruitment with Cao Ying, he personally assessed seven prospective subordinates at the Pill Pagoda.

• Shen Wen absorbed the Bug Treasure Technique, the Primordial Ancestral Talisman, the Great Desolation Tablet, and other system rewards, then swallowed his prepared pills to break through to Six-star Dou Ancestor.
• Shen Wen combined the Bug Treasure Technique with the Space Ancestral Talisman to wield space with greater precision and conceal his presence.
• Cao Ying told Shen Wen that most invitees had accepted the wedding invitations and that seven screened experts were willing to pledge themselves to him.
• Shen Wen met Iron Sword Venerate, a Four-Star Dou Zun, and six Dou Zongs at a side hall and used his Soul Power to check them for hidden malice.

Shen Wen gathered a group of Dou Zongs, expanded his and Cao Ying’s growing influence, and arranged to capture criminals to test the Great Pudu Technique. At his Equal Wife ceremony with the pregnant Cai Lin, the system offered him a new list of powerful rewards after her status changed.

• Shen Wen gave seven prospective subordinates Zong Ji Pills and laid out rules for serving him, and they pledged their loyalty.
• Cao Ying told Shen Wen that the Cao Family had returned her business networks and transferred two more cities to her as additional dowry.
• Shen Wen asked Cao Ying to have Xiong Tao capture heinous criminals, preferably Dou Zongs, so he could test the Great Pudu Technique on them.
• Shen Wen and Cao Ying attended his grand ceremony in Pill Tower City, where Cai Lin joined him on the platform visibly pregnant.
• President Xuan Kongzi witnessed Shen Wen and Cai Lin complete their marriage rites, establishing her as his Equal Wife.
• The system changed Cai Lin’s status from Concubine to Wife and offered Shen Wen a regenerated list of rewards based on her 64% favorability.

After the ceremony, Shen Wen supported Cai Lin’s cultivation and planned to search for a bloodline treasure, then absorbed several powerful techniques from the system and began considering how to integrate them. Meanwhile, Blazing Flame Valley learned of Shen Wen’s exceptional alchemy and Heavenly Flame, and Tang Zhen took notice of him.

• Shen Wen told Cai Lin that the Snake People Clan’s Northwest stronghold was stable and planned to use Pill Pagoda channels to search for the Nine-Colored Raw Stone.
• Shen Wen passed the Great Devouring Technique to Cai Lin, who quickly grasped the basics of circulating devouring power.
• Cai Lin served tea to Cao Ying, and Cao Ying welcomed her warmly as family.
• Shen Wen received the Thunder Emperor Treasure Technique and five secret arts from the system, using his scriptures and Thunder Ancestral Talisman to assimilate them.
• Shen Wen decided to spend time integrating his many techniques into a coherent system rather than focusing only on advancing his realm.
• Chi Huo reported Shen Wen’s Eighth-grade Alchemist assessment to Tang Zhen, including his Yi Shi Pill, Five-Colored Pill Lightning, and control of a likely Fallen Heart Flame.

Shen Wen mastered five powerful secret arts and discovered that Faith Power could accelerate his Great Origin Technique, prompting him to plan for unifying the Northwest. Meanwhile, Blazing Flame Valley sought his help refining Fire Bodhi Pills and sent an elder to meet him.

• Tang Zhen decided to ask Shen Wen to refine three Fire Bodhi Pills, offering Blazing Flame Valley's first two Heavenly Fire Three Profound Changes and a favor in payment.
• Shen Wen mastered the Lin, Zhe, Shu, Xing, and Qian Character Secrets, gaining enhanced focus, healing, clones, movement, and soul cultivation.
• Shen Wen found that Faith Power accelerated the Great Origin Technique, increased his meridian capacity, and strengthened his Dou Qi without advancing his realm.
• Shen Wen resolved to establish a force and unify the Northwest to gather more Faith Power, while prioritizing the construction of a Space Channel.
• Cao Ying told Shen Wen that an elder from Blazing Flame Valley had requested an audience, and Shen Wen agreed to meet him.