Chapter Summaries

Lin Chen considered his parents’ legacy and decided to help the Lin Family only when it did not endanger him, while preparing to grow strong before the coming war between the Azure Cloud Sect and Mysterious Yin Gate. He welcomed his cousin Lin Tianhang, a fallen genius who had regained his cultivation, to his cave mansion.

• Lin Chen resolved not to risk his life for the Lin Family, though he would help sensible relatives and otherwise carry on the family estate.
• Lin Chen learned that Lin Tianhang had invited him and recalled how the former prodigy had fallen after a failed Foundation Establishment attempt, then recovered and risen again.
• Lin Chen connected Lin Tianhang and Zhang Hao’s arrival with the growing unrest in the Azure Cloud Sect and anticipated an unavoidable war between the Two Sects.
• Lin Chen planned to settle the Lin Family’s affairs, reach Foundation Establishment, and pursue the Inner Core Martial Way so he could gain power before the war.
• Lin Chen opened his cave mansion and warmly greeted his cousin Lin Tianhang.

Lin Chen agreed to help the Lin Family despite their low offer, while privately planning to use the family crisis to claim its estate. After Lin Tianhang left, Lin Chen wondered why the clan had summoned all its members home to face the calamity.

• Lin Tianhang visited Lin Chen in place of Lin Tianhao, who was too intimidated to return.
• Lin Tianhang offered one thousand Spirit Stones for Lin Chen's help, and Lin Chen agreed while secretly planning to inherit the Lin Family estate.
• Lin Tianhang explained that he remained loyal to the family despite how it had treated him after his broken engagement.
• Lin Tianhang said all Lin Family disciples in the sect would return home because the family was in trouble.
• Lin Chen urged Lin Tianhang not to let family ties bind his pursuit of the Dao.
• Lin Chen wondered whether a hidden truth lay behind the Lin Family's crisis and its decision to summon everyone back.

Lin Chen visited the Azure Cloud Sect’s General Affairs Hall to seek intelligence about Jiang City and the Lin Family, but he lacked permission to access it. After Lin Chen used a risqué book to persuade the old martial uncle to help him, he read the records and spotted something strange just as he was about to stop.

• Lin Chen went to the General Affairs Hall to look up information about Jiang City and the Lin Family.
• The old martial uncle refused Lin Chen’s request and rejected his offered Spirit Stones, insisting that the rules barred him from sharing the intelligence.
• Lin Chen accidentally let a book fall open to a provocative illustration, and the old martial uncle agreed to retrieve the information after recognizing Lin Chen’s talent and prospects as a True Disciple.
• The old martial uncle handed Lin Chen a spirit leaf containing Azure Cloud Sect’s intelligence, and Lin Chen found that the records about the Lin Family matched what he already knew.
• As Lin Chen reached to remove the spirit leaf, he noticed something strange in the earlier records.

Lin Chen questioned his Martial Uncle about the sudden rise in disciples leaving Azure Cloud Sect, then received a rare Chariot Horse Herb before deciding to return to the Lin Family. After Lin Chen left, his Martial Uncle investigated the departures and discovered that the book he was reading ended behind a one-Spirit-Stone paywall.

• Lin Chen asked his Martial Uncle why so many disciples had recently gone down the mountain, and they found no clear explanation for the increase.
• Lin Chen decided to return to the Lin Family to settle its troubles and old grudges.
• His Martial Uncle gave Lin Chen a Chariot Horse Herb that could enhance his speed and help him escape fatal attacks.
• After Lin Chen left, his Martial Uncle considered recommending him as a True Disciple and sent a Messaging Talisman to ask about the disciples' departures.
• His Martial Uncle resumed reading an erotic novel, then shouted in anger when he found its final page required payment of one Spirit Stone.

As Lin Chen prepared to return to his clan, Liu Qiqiang visited him with a perfect-quality Grain Abstinence Pill and asked for alchemy guidance. Lin Chen explained the nature of pill toxins and medicinal properties, then exposed Liu Qiqiang’s hidden aim of using their connection to borrow his reputation.

• Lin Chen opened his cave mansion to Liu Qiqiang, who presented a perfect-quality Grain Abstinence Pill as thanks for Lin Chen’s earlier help.
• Lin Chen deduced that Liu Qiqiang was learning to refine Yellow Bud Pills and that poor fire control had caused his recent failures.
• Lin Chen taught Liu Qiqiang that understanding medicinal properties was the foundation of alchemy and explained how mismatched spirit-root attributes created pill toxins.
• Lin Chen explained how balanced Five-element Spirit Roots could refine a broad range of medicinal properties, while uneven roots entangled them and hindered cultivation.
• Lin Chen listed methods for extracting and preserving medicinal properties, leaving Liu Qiqiang impressed and grateful.
• Lin Chen told Liu Qiqiang that he had brought the pill to establish a connection and use Lin Chen’s reputation for his own aims, causing Liu Qiqiang’s smile to freeze.

Lin Chen exposed Liu Qiqiang’s attempt to use a gift and their past encounter to build a connection, then decided to give him a chance to prove himself. He tasked Liu Qiqiang with studying a platform construction plan and headed down the mountain.

• Lin Chen explained how Liu Qiqiang hoped to borrow his reputation whether or not he accepted the Grain Abstinence Pill, and Liu Qiqiang fell to his knees in fear.
• Lin Chen saw through Liu Qiqiang’s attempt to turn punishment into a public association with him, but told him to stand and promised to judge him by his actions.
• Lin Chen praised Liu Qiqiang’s shamelessness, attentiveness, and boldness, and explained why those traits could help someone rise from humble circumstances.
• Lin Chen gave Liu Qiqiang a Platform Construction Plan to study and said he would later give him a chance to prove his ability.
• After Liu Qiqiang left, Lin Chen considered using him among his own people on the platform and then gathered his things and went down the mountain.

Lin Chen prepared to face Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivators in Jiang City by devising a trap that simulated a volcanic eruption. After completing the setup, he returned to his hometown city shortly before the Jiangcheng Grand Competition.

• Lin Chen assessed the dangers of his trip to Jiang City and decided to prepare several plans, including a trap to kill a Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator.
• Lin Chen concluded that a wide-ranging eruption would be more effective than talismans or a formation against an opponent with superior reaction speed.
• Lin Chen experimented with simulating a volcanic eruption and chose to use heated black oil, planned channels, and buried spirit talismans.
• Lin Chen completed the trap's arrangements and returned to his hometown city after ten years away.

Lin Chen returned to Jiang City after ten years and surveyed the Lin Family estate while gathering information about the threats against it. After learning that the Lin Family’s struggle with the other two great powers would come to a head in a competition in three days, he went to the estate gates to claim his family inheritance.

• Lin Chen entered Jiang City and admired its lively night scene before making his way to the Lin Family estate.
• Lin Chen studied the estate and its surroundings, planning escape routes and possible ways to counter its defenders.
• Two men monitoring the estate lost track of Lin Chen, who overheard them discuss letting the Lin Family decline and returned to observe them unseen.
• Lin Chen concluded that the other two great families were targeting the Lin Family’s remaining Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator and considered how his status as an Inner Disciple might protect him.
• Lin Chen gathered information about the upcoming struggle, learned that the grand competition was three days away, and stayed at an inn for the night.
• At dawn, Lin Chen arrived at the Lin Family estate and strode toward its gates to inherit the family fortune.

Lin Chen returned to the declining Lin Family estate and was escorted through its defenses to meet the Clan Leader. Before he reached the Clan Leader’s residence, a young man named Cheng provoked him, and Lin Chen recognized the woman and man accompanying him as the relatives who had once seized his family property and driven him away.

• Lin Chen arrived at the Lin Family estate, and a terrified guard captain recognized his overwhelming strength and agreed to take him to the Clan Leader.
• The captain led Lin Chen across the Lin Family’s traps, bamboo forest, and walls, revealing the clan’s layered defenses and signs of decline.
• A Lin Family cultivator escorted Lin Chen through the farmland and ancestral grounds toward the Clan Leader’s residence.
• A youth in blue named Cheng confronted Lin Chen and questioned his right to compete for Spirit Stones, while a servant struck the escorting cultivator aside.
• A palace-dressed woman and a middle-aged man arrived to stop Cheng, and Lin Chen recognized them as the relatives who had seized his property and driven him from home.

Lin Chen rejected his relatives’ attempt to take the competition rewards and violently defeated them and their servants. He then struck down the Lin Family Clan Leader by mistake and realized whom he had hit.

• Lin Chen’s second aunt tried to give the competition’s rewards to Lin Tiancheng while offering Lin Chen his parents’ former residence in return.
• When a maid insulted him, Lin Chen killed her with a hand of spiritual energy, then crushed Lin Tiancheng’s fireball and slammed him into a wall.
• Lin Chen attacked his second aunt and second uncle, secretly planted blood gu in their wounded bodies, and killed the servants who tried to flee.
• A cultivator rushed over to stop the violence, but Lin Chen struck him away before learning he was the Lin Family Clan Leader.
• Lin Chen realized he had swatted the Clan Leader and regretted not looking first.

Lin Chen refused the Lin Family Ancestor’s demand to enter the family register, then left to meet other Lin Family members in the Azure Cloud Sect. Afterward, the Ancestor secretly bargained with a Blood Shadow to sacrifice the sect’s Lin Family members in exchange for help refining a Blood Origin Longevity Pill.

• Lin Chen politely apologized for injuring the Clan Leader, then rejected the Ancestor’s demand to enter the family register.
• The Lin Family Ancestor and Lin Chen exchanged hostile words before resuming their cordial appearances, and the Ancestor sent Lin Chen to meet other family members in the sect.
• After Lin Chen and the Clan Leader left, the Ancestor cursed Lin Chen and summoned a Blood Shadow using a Blood Jade.
• The Blood Shadow accused the Ancestor of trading his clansmen’s lives for cultivation materials, while the Ancestor suspected it of targeting Azure Cloud Sect Disciples.
• The Ancestor agreed to hand over the Lin Family members in the sect if the Blood Shadow helped refine a Blood Origin Longevity Pill, and the Blood Shadow demanded that he first establish a Blood Demon Altar.

Lin Chen infiltrated the Lin Family’s stores at night and took Spirit Stones, cultivation techniques, and other assets, but his surveillance Blood Gu exposed him to the Lin Family Ancestor and a black-clothed Blood Cultivator. As he listened, Lin Chen learned that the Lin Family Ancestor had secretly sacrificed clan members, possibly including Lin Chen’s parents, to make a longevity pill.

• Lin Chen noticed the Lin Family Ancestor’s unnatural death aura and decided to take the family’s assets before leaving Jiang City.
• Lin Chen used a Blood Gu to watch the ancestral hall, then robbed the Lin Family’s stores while the Ancestor appeared to be resting.
• Lin Chen returned to his old residence with the stolen goods, but discovered that the Ancestor had sealed the ancestral hall and was meeting a black-clothed Blood Cultivator.
• Lin Chen overheard that the Lin Family Ancestor had captured clan members during the battle ten years earlier to refine the [Blood Origin Longevity Pill], which may have included Lin Chen’s parents.
• The black-clothed Blood Cultivator revealed the [Blood Demon Essence], and the Blood Gu’s instinctive response exposed Lin Chen’s presence.

Lin Chen's blood gu was discovered in the Lin Family's secret room, forcing him to flee as the Lin Family ancestor and a black-robed Blood Cultivator argued over the breach. The ancestor ordered the returned Azure Cloud Sect disciples gathered, while an explosion at Lin Chen's courtyard raised a new alarm.

• A blast exposed Lin Chen's blood gu, so he used talismans to escape the Lin Family grounds before the lingering aura could reveal his location.
• The black-robed Blood Cultivator blamed the Lin Family ancestor for the security breach and said he would track the intruder himself.
• The black-robed Blood Cultivator ordered the ancestor to bring everyone returned from the Azure Cloud Sect to the Blood Demon Altar, threatening to destroy the Lin Family if matters went wrong.
• The Lin Family ancestor told the gathered cultivators that the intruder had been driven off, ordered the passages sealed and the clan-protecting formation activated, and sent Lin Tianhang to summon the returned disciples.
• As Lin Tianhang prepared to leave, a huge explosion lit up the southwest, where Lin Chen's courtyard stood.

Lin Chen escaped Jiang City after using an illusion to delay a pursuing Foundation Establishment Blood Cultivator, then turned their clash of souls into a devastating attack. The Blood Cultivator survived and vowed to kill Lin Chen before he could grow stronger.

• Lin Chen used a Flesh-and-Blood Substitute to mislead the Blood Cultivator, then fled toward Jiang City's wall while concealing his aura and leaving false traces.
• Lin Chen trapped the city guards in a spiritual-sense illusion and reached the wall, where the Blood Cultivator confronted him with a giant Blood Hand illusion.
• Lin Chen resisted the attack and seized an opening in their soul clash by summoning True Lord Nuclear Peace and unleashing the Mass-Energy Equation.
• The illusion shattered, but the clash caused guards on the wall to burn from within; Lin Chen escaped into the night as the Blood Cultivator broke free at great cost.
• The Blood Cultivator found the guards reduced to ash, recognized Lin Chen as a future threat, and swore to kill him at any cost.

Lin Chen fled through the rainy forest while the black-clad Blood Cultivator used a talisman and burned essence blood to catch him. After surviving the pursuer’s blood-hand attack, Lin Chen charged back at him wearing gold and activating a lightning bead, which erupted into a massive sphere of lightning.

• Lin Chen raced through the forest, using his Spiritual Sense and [Chariot Horse Herb] to evade the black-clad Blood Cultivator’s pursuit.
• The black-clad Blood Cultivator activated a Second-tier Talisman and burned his essence blood to accelerate and close the distance.
• He summoned a flaming Blood Hand and slammed it down at Lin Chen, who used talismans and Spirit Artifacts before escaping its range and suffering injuries.
• As the black-clad Blood Cultivator approached, Lin Chen put on a gold garment, activated a gray lightning bead, and charged toward him.
• The two collided, and the lightning bead erupted into a massive sphere of lightning in the forest.

Lin Chen lured the pursuing black-robed Blood Cultivator to a mountain where he had prepared a trap. The mountain collapsed into a simulated volcanic eruption, and Lin Chen watched a crimson torrent of flame erupt into the night.

• Lin Chen recovered from the lightning bomb’s blast and ran toward the small mountain where he had laid his trap.
• The black-robed Blood Cultivator healed with Blood Jade, donned the Human Skin Blood Robe, and flew after Lin Chen.
• The black-robed Blood Cultivator detected an obscure aura near the cave entrance and smashed it with a giant Blood Hand.
• The mountain collapsed, revealing a lava cavern beneath it, and the buried spirit talismans activated.
• Lin Chen watched as the trap triggered a massive eruption of crimson lava and flame.

Lin Chen killed the black-clad Blood Cultivator and discovered a dangerous Human Skin Blood Robe, then was caught in a mysterious Killing Intent that erased life and consciousness. He used the boundless darkness from his transmigration memories to swallow the attack, though his fate remained unknown.

• Lin Chen watched a comet fall toward Jiang City, but the sky darkened again without any visible impact.
• Lin Chen confirmed the black-clad Blood Cultivator had died in the trap and found a Human Skin Blood Robe covered in Vengeful Souls.
• Lin Chen chose not to investigate the robe and left, postponing his revenge against the Lin Family's ancestor until he reached Foundation Establishment.
• Lin Chen suddenly vomited blood as [Chariot Horse Herb] haze surrounded him and a Killing Intent began erasing life and vitality around him.
• Lin Chen activated his final defense, and the darkness from his transmigration memories swallowed the Killing Intent.

Lin Chen diverted the immense Soul Power left by the Killing Intent by visualizing and condensing Body Gods within his organs, which began healing and transforming his body. Just as he relaxed, a voice called him “Cousin,” and he found himself in a vast underground space facing an eerie purple Blood Pool.

• Lin Chen realized the Killing Intent had erased the souls of nearby living beings while leaving their Soul Power, which surged toward him and threatened to overwhelm his Purple Mansion.
• Lin Chen used soul stones to store some of the incoming power, then drew on Daoist classics and chose to visualize Body Gods throughout his body.
• Lin Chen recited a scripture and formed the Five Viscera Gods, which absorbed Soul Power alongside the silhouettes gathering in his other organs.
• Lin Chen’s wounds healed, his body shed impurities, and his organs began repairing and evolving as the Soul Power became part of his foundation.
• A voice called Lin Chen “Cousin,” and he found himself in an underground space before a strange purple Blood Pool.

Lin Chen witnessed an illusion in which the Lin Family Ancestor sacrificed Azure Cloud Sect returnees to a Blood Pool in exchange for life-extending Blood Pills. Lin Tianhang began a miraculous breakthrough, but the Ancestor provoked him with the truth about his father and hurled him into the pool.

• Lin Chen watched the Lin Family Ancestor bring Lin Tianhang and other unconscious returnees into an underground chamber with a Blood Pool.
• The Lin Family Ancestor threw a female cultivator into the pool, where she was transformed and emerged with her appearance and aura restored.
• The Lin Family Ancestor sacrificed more captives and promised to spare anyone who threw Lin Tianhang into the pool, prompting his relatives and former allies to attack him.
• Lin Tianhang fought through the attackers and began forcibly advancing to the Foundation Establishment Realm, while green light healed him and drew in spiritual energy.
• The Lin Family Ancestor revealed that he had faked Lin Tianhang's father's death and used him to refine a life-extending Blood Pellet, provoking Lin Tianhang to interrupt his breakthrough.
• The Lin Family Ancestor struck Lin Tianhang with a Fire Dragon and sent him crashing into the Blood Pool.

Lin Chen witnessed Lin Tianhang’s memories as the Blood Shadow possessed him and he slaughtered the Lin Family, then discovered two ancient powers resisting the corruption above a Blood Lotus. The memory ended with a star blazing over Jiang City and plunging toward it.

• Lin Tianhang rose from the Blood Pool with Foundation Establishment strength, killed the Lin Family ancestor, and absorbed his memories through Soul Search.
• A Blood Shadow attached itself to Lin Tianhang and began invading his body and soul, while a blue-black spiritual light at his brow resisted it.
• Lin Tianhang killed the Lin Family matriarch after learning she had poisoned his mother, then left the hall as screams rang through the estate.
• Lin Chen followed Lin Tianhang through a decayed, blood-covered Jiang City and found him standing at the center of a giant Blood Lotus beneath two powerful silhouettes.
• Lin Chen recognized the silhouettes as the sources of the Azure Cloud Sect’s and Mysterious Yin Gate’s powers, just as a blazing star descended toward Jiang City.