Chapter Summaries

Yang Zhengshan defeated a Green-Eyed Cold Snake, then confronted a Golden Feather Eagle that threatened his Flying Slave Eagle. The eagle’s handler, General Lan Peng, arrived and greeted Yang Zhengshan, while the two birds began communicating.

• Wang Lei and Yang Xiangheng watched Yang Zhengshan fight the Green-Eyed Cold Snake, and Wang Lei noticed it did not appear to have eaten the missing children.
• Yang Xiangdong and Yang Xiangxi went to search for the children while Yang Zhengshan continued battling the snake.
• Yang Zhengshan used Thunderbolt Spear to kill the snake, then reflected on how his cultivation affected his thunder abilities and spear techniques.
• A Golden Feather Eagle attacked the Flying Slave Eagle, and Yang Zhengshan prepared to defend it before Lan Peng called his bird back.
• Lan Peng introduced himself to Yang Zhengshan as a general, and the Golden Feather Eagle and Flying Slave Eagle began calling to each other.

Yang Zhengshan rejected Lan Peng’s request to buy Yang Wanqi’s Flying Slave Eagle, Feiyun, after it bonded with Lan Peng’s Golden Feather Eagle. Back at Lingxi Mountain, Yang Zhengshan plotted to exploit the Crimson Flame Army’s arrival against the Xiang Family, then returned to the Spirit Source Land to visit Yang Wanqi and ask where Tianyun was.

• Feiyun and Lan Peng’s Golden Feather Eagle bonded, but Yang Zhengshan refused Lan Peng’s offer of twenty Spirit Stones because Yang Wanqi treasured Feiyun.
• Lan Peng called Golden Feather away, and Yang Zhengshan sent Feiyun back to the Spirit Source Land after warning it not to abandon Yang Wanqi.
• Lü Hua told Yang Zhengshan that Lan Peng had brought two thousand Crimson Flame Army troops into the mountains near Nanqing Mountain and that the Xiang Family was currying favor with them.
• Yang Zhengshan decided to send the Yu Family a letter claiming the Xiang Family had warned them in advance, hoping the Crimson Flame Army would discover it and turn against the Xiang Family.
• Yang Zhengshan visited Yang Wanqi at her horse-training assignment in the Spirit Source Land and asked where Tianyun was.

Yang Zhengshan learned that the Crimson Flame Army had destroyed the Yu Family after the Sun Family failed to intervene, and concluded the Yu Family had been sacrificed in a larger contest among the Three Sects and Twelve Families. He agreed to Lü Hua’s plan to recruit and train local agents, while the Crimson Flame Army remained in the mountains.

• Yang Wanqi agreed to give Tianyun to Lan Peng as a favor, asking to receive one of its future chicks in return.
• The Crimson Flame Army attacked the Yu Family’s territory, then stormed Longxi Town and killed the family’s members, while Yu Xiaoning escaped with a woman and two youths.
• Chen Zhongshu watched the Crimson Flame Army loot Longxi Town before leaving with his people.
• Lü Hua reported the Yu Family’s destruction to Yang Zhengshan, who reasoned that the Sun Family had used the Yu Family as a scapegoat and had reached a tacit understanding with the Lu Family.
• Lü Hua proposed buying and training local manpower as agents, and Yang Zhengshan agreed to provide more helpers, silver, and spirit stones.

Yang Zhengshan established a Secret Martial Guard training base to gather intelligence, while Lu Jianghua and Lan Peng used a planted accusation as a pretext to attack the Nanqing Xiang Family. Lan Peng’s troops slaughtered the Xiang Family, leaving its ancestral residence strewn with bodies.

• Yang Zhengshan sent Lü Hua and Yang Chengxian with six men, funds, and Spirit Stones to establish the Secret Martial Guard base at Xuemeng Mountain.
• Lu Jianghua and Lan Peng discussed the Yu Family’s destruction, and Lan Peng presented a note bearing Xiang Feiying’s name that accused the Xiang Family of warning the Yu Family.
• Lu Jianghua allowed Lan Peng to seize the Xiang Family’s spirit fields, while he ordered ownerless spirit fields divided among four Lu clan elders.
• Xiang Feihong and Xiang Feiye warned Xiang Feiying that the Crimson Flame Army was approaching Nanqing Mountain, and the Xiang family members gathered to greet Lan Peng.
• Lan Peng accused the Xiang Family of colluding with foreign enemies and ordered the Crimson Flame Army to attack; he killed Xiang Tengjiao, and a captain killed Xiang Feiye.
• Xiang Feiying drew his saber to resist, but the Crimson Flame Army killed the Xiang Family members, leaving none standing.

After the Xiang Family was exterminated, Yang Zhengshan arranged Feiyun’s marriage to Lan Peng’s Golden Feather and learned that Lan Peng would be stationed permanently at Nanqing Mountain. Yang Zhengshan accepted Lan Peng’s gifts and later brought a Green-Eyed Cold Snake’s hide to Qiu Jin to discuss making armor.

• Li Chang told Yang Zhengshan that the Crimson Flame Army had exterminated the Nanqing Xiang Family, and Yang Zhengshan hoped the killings would not be traced back to his family.
• Lan Peng visited the Yang Family with gifts, and Yang Zhengshan agreed to give him Feiyun on the condition that Feiyun and Golden Feather’s offspring would include one eaglet for Yang Wanqi.
• Lan Peng revealed that the Great General had ordered him to remain at Nanqing Mountain, leaving Yang Zhengshan worried that the Yang Family’s expansion and activities would face greater constraints.
• Lan Peng left with Feiyun and Golden Feather, while Yang Zhengshan kept the gifts and reflected that the nearby general could give his family time to build strength.
• Yang Zhengshan visited Lingyan Casting Workshop and asked Qiu Jin to assess the Green-Eyed Cold Snake hide; Qiu Jin said it could make five sets each of hard and soft armor, but the hard armor would require additional spiritual materials.

Yang Zhengshan arranged for Qiu Jin to forge spirit armor and began collecting rune-marked fragments to study, while his ties with Lan Peng and Geng Zhuang grew. Five years later, Yang Zhengshan broke through to the Heavenly Dipper Stage and learned the advancement could extend a person’s life by a dozen or so years, potentially giving Zhou Tianci more time.

• Yang Zhengshan paid Qiu Jin a deposit to forge five sets of soft armor and five sets of hard armor, then bought rune-marked fragments to begin studying runes with Yang Chengmou.
• Yang Zhengshan befriended Lan Peng, and Geng Zhuang later delivered one hundred rune-marked fragments after becoming a middleman collecting them.
• Three months after placing the order, Yang Zhengshan collected the armor and distributed sets to Chen Zhongshu, Lü Hua, Yang Chengxian, Wang Lei, and Li Chang.
• Five years passed, and Yang Zhengshan finally broke through to the Heavenly Dipper Stage after cultivating in the Spirit Source Land and using a Changqing Foundation-Cultivating Pill.
• Yang Zhengshan demonstrated his new power to Yu Qingyi and explained that reaching the Heavenly Dipper Stage could extend lifespan by a dozen or so years, offering hope for Zhou Tianci.

Yang Zhengshan reviewed the Spirit Source Land’s rune research while considering how to obtain a Wood Attribute Golden Body Technique and help Yu Qingyi advance. After returning to Lingxi Mountain, he visited Lan Peng, who congratulated him on his breakthrough.

• Yang Zhengshan promised to obtain Yu Qingyi a Changqing Foundation-Cultivating Pill and discussed how difficult it would be to secure a Wood Attribute Golden Body Technique.
• Yang Zhengshan visited the Secret Technique Pavilion and learned that its researchers had cataloged hundreds of runes but still could not reliably inscribe them onto objects or pills.
• Yang Zhengshan encouraged Yang Chengze and Wang Mingzhe to test other ways of inscribing runes, then left the Spirit Source Land.
• Yang Zhengshan returned to Lingxi Mountain, where he reflected on the Yang Family’s progress and Yang Zhenghe’s death two years earlier.
• Yang Zhengshan went to Nanqing Mountain, where Lan Peng welcomed him and congratulated him on his breakthrough.

Yang Zhengshan asked Lan Peng about reaching the Martial God Realm and learned how difficult it was to forge a golden body, then considered the Dao Intent Sacred Lotus as a possible spiritual foundation. After hearing about a dangerous opportunity that might lead to a Wood Attribute Golden Body Technique, he returned to Lingxi Mountain and received the visiting Wan Jinshui, whose motives remained unclear.

• Yang Zhengshan asked Lan Peng about the Golden Body Technique, and Lan Peng explained the three conditions for forging a golden body and the great cost and danger involved.
• Yang Zhengshan considered using the Dao Intent Sacred Lotus to forge his spiritual foundation, while Lan Peng hinted at a dangerous opportunity that might yield a Wood Attribute Golden Body Technique once Lu Fusheng emerged from seclusion.
• Yang Zhengshan and Lan Peng discussed the western dynasties and learned that Hidden Sword Mountain stood behind Jianming Valley and might surpass the three Lingxiu sects.
• Tian Hu told Yang Zhengshan that Wan Jinshui, head of the Jinchi Mountain Wan Family, had arrived bearing gifts and was meeting Yang Xiangheng.
• Yang Zhengshan greeted Wan Jinshui in the Main Hall and suspected the Wan Family head had come seeking something, given the families' troubled history.

Yang Zhengshan considered the Wan Family’s request to join forces against the Zhang Family, but backed away after learning the Zhangs had ties to Lu Jianghua. While Yang Zhengshan focused on cultivation, the Wan brothers faced the Zhang Family’s attacks and debated hiring the Soul-Severing Blade, leaving the decision to their father.

• Wan Jinshui offered Yang Zhengshan gifts and asked him to help the Wan Family take on the Zhang Family in exchange for Luyuan and payment.
• Yang Zhengshan learned that the Zhang Family was connected to Lu Jianghua through the county magistrate’s new concubine and decided not to get involved.
• Yang Xiangheng supported claiming Luyuan to strengthen the Yang Family, but Yang Zhengshan urged him to look beyond immediate profit.
• Yang Zhengshan returned to the Spirit Source Land, stabilized his Heavenly Dipper Stage cultivation, and saw that the Wood Transformation Body-Nurturing Method might complement Golden Body tempering.
• The Wan Family and Zhang Family fought in secret, suffering casualties, while the Wan brothers weighed their options as the Yang Family stayed out of the conflict.
• Wan Jinhuo proposed hiring the Soul-Severing Blade, but Wan Jinshui hesitated and decided to consult their father.

A masked assassin wielding the Soul-Severing Blade slaughtered the Zhang Family’s ancestor and many clansmen, prompting Yang Zhengshan and Lu Jianghua to investigate the attack. Lan Peng revealed the Soul-Severing Blade’s notorious history and warned that the group had become increasingly active in the Lingxiu Sea.

• A black-clothed assassin infiltrated the Zhang Family’s estate, killed its Earthly Fiend Stage ancestor with the Soul-Severing Blade, and slaughtered more than half the clan before dawn.
• Yang Zhengshan heard Li Chang’s report of the massacre and asked Chen Zhongshu to investigate who had carried it out.
• Zhang Chenghuai begged Lu Jianghua to uphold justice, and Lu Jianghua identified the cold, sinister blade qi as the mark of the Soul-Severing Blade.
• Lu Jianghua recalled the group’s forbidden history and feared they might target him, while Zhang Chenghuai left without receiving a promise of retaliation.
• Lan Peng told Yang Zhengshan that the Soul-Severing Blade had assassinated powerful figures and was appearing more frequently in the Lingxiu Sea.

Yang Zhengshan accompanied Lan Peng to the Jinchi Wan Family to investigate its suspected ties to the Soul-Severing Blade, only for the family and hidden assassins to ambush Lan Peng. Yang Zhengshan blocked a deadly strike and faced a masked attacker, gathering his spear intent as the battle continued.

• Yang Zhengshan agreed to accompany Lan Peng to the Wan Family, and they rode to Jinchi Mountain, where the Crimson Flame Army had surrounded Wan Family Village.
• Lan Peng ordered the Wan Family seized, and Wan Qianshan pleaded for help before calling on his ancestor; three assassins then attacked Lan Peng as the Wan Family fought back.
• A masked assailant charged Lan Peng, but Yang Zhengshan intercepted the strike with his spear and sent the attacker flying.
• Yang Zhengshan assessed the masked man's superior weapon and movement technique, then strengthened his Self-Only Spear Intent with his mental might.
• The masked man charged again, and Yang Zhengshan focused on tracking his movements as the fight continued.

Yang Zhengshan fought off a mysterious black-clad man during the attack on Wan Family Village, then learned that Lu Fusheng had broken through to the Martial God Realm. He brought the Lingxi Yang Family’s congratulatory gifts to Nanxia County, where Chen Che welcomed him and said Lu Jianghua and Lan Peng were waiting.

• Yang Zhengshan’s spear strikes hurt and drove back the black-clad man, but his armor and superior movement let him withstand the fight until Lan Peng arrived and the man escaped.
• Yang Zhengshan and Lan Peng left Wan Family Village after the Crimson Flame Army captured or killed the Wan family, and Lan Peng said he had stayed because his soldiers could not flee alone.
• A vast red glow spread across the southern sky, and Lan Peng announced that Lu Fusheng had broken through in Prefecture City.
• Yang Zhengshan recognized the breakthrough’s significance and returned to Lingxi Mountain to prepare a congratulatory gift for the Lu Family.
• Yang Zhengshan brought eight Crimson Flame Heart-Flow Fruits and Flame Red Lotus seedpods to Nanxia County and waited in line at the County Office yamen.
• Chen Che greeted Yang Zhengshan respectfully, identified himself, and invited him inside to meet Lu Jianghua and Lan Peng.

Yang Zhengshan met Lu Jianghua at the county office and was awarded the Wan Family’s Jinchi Pool, spirit fields, and villages for helping destroy the Wan Family. The Lingxi Yang Family began taking over the property, while Yang Zhengshan arranged for its new holdings to be managed and its manpower strengthened.

• Lan Peng introduced Yang Zhengshan to Lu Jianghua, who warmly thanked him for helping eliminate the Wan Family.
• Lu Jianghua and Lan Peng granted Yang Zhengshan the Wan Family’s gold pool and spirit fields, and Yang Zhengshan accepted the offer.
• Yang Zhengshan told Yang Xiangheng to take over Jinchi Mountain and the Wan Family’s three villages and manage them properly.
• After Lu Fusheng’s breakthrough steadied Shanggu Prefecture, Zhang Chenghuai visited Yang Zhengshan, thanked him for his help, and presented a gift.
• Yang Xiangheng told Yang Zhengshan that the family lacked manpower, so Yang Zhengshan ordered him to obtain Spirit Pills, train young villagers, and treat them well.
• Yang Xiangheng reported that the Crimson Flame Army had left the Wan Family’s cultivation methods behind as Lan Peng’s gift, and Yang Zhengshan ordered them moved to the Library of Merit.

Yang Zhengshan discovered that the Wan Family’s Spirit-Guiding Seal explained the basic principles of runic techniques and pill-sealing, then bought Alchemy Furnaces so he and Wang Mingzhe could begin experimenting. Their first attempts failed, but they gradually learned that furnace alchemy required fire refinement and far less water than their old methods.

• Yang Zhengshan found the Spirit-Guiding Seal among the Wan Family’s cultivation methods and realized it could help the Spirit Source Land advance its study of runic techniques.
• Yang Zhengshan took the book to the Secret Technique Pavilion, where Yang Chengze, Liang Jinyan, Qu Shaogong, and Wang Mingzhe learned why their attempts to inscribe runes had failed.
• Yang Zhengshan and Wang Mingzhe realized they needed an Alchemy Furnace, so Yang Zhengshan consulted Qiu Jin and then bought two furnaces in Ancient Prefecture City for five hundred Spirit Stones each.
• Yang Zhengshan and Wang Mingzhe studied a furnace’s formations and instructions, prepared ingredients for an Ice-Attribute Spirit Attachment Pill, and began testing a medicinal-property amplification rune.
• Yang Zhengshan and Wang Mingzhe ruined several batches before learning that furnace alchemy used fire refinement rather than stewing ingredients, and that adding too much water caused their failures.

Yang Zhengshan and Wang Mingzhe successfully refined flawed Ice Spirit Pills, while Liang Jinyan and Yang Chengzhen made a rune-marked saber that fell short of being a spirit weapon. Yang Zhengshan then met Lan Peng, who explained why the Three Great Sects tolerated the Golden Body Technique spreading only in limited ways, and the chapter left their discussion of the technique’s prospects unresolved.

• Yang Zhengshan and Wang Mingzhe refined thirty-two Ice Spirit Pills, though they lacked an Ice Crystal Runic Pattern and contained fire poison.
• Yang Zhengshan and Wang Mingzhe continued studying alchemy as Yang Chengze, Liang Jinyan, and Yang Chengzhen researched runic patterns and artifact casting.
• Liang Jinyan and Yang Chengzhen showed Yang Zhengshan a saber bearing three runes, and he praised their progress despite it not yet qualifying as a spirit weapon.
• Yang Zhengshan traveled through heavy snow to meet Lan Peng at Nanqing Mountain, hoping to learn how to obtain the Golden Body Technique.
• Lan Peng explained that the Three Great Sects did not oppose the Golden Body Technique spreading, but the Twelve Great Clans feared competition for the spiritual items needed to cultivate it.
• Lan Peng described how the Three Great Sects relied on the Twelve Great Clans and the wider Lingxiu Sea for resources while controlling its currency and markets.

Lan Peng explained that Yang Zhengshan could obtain a Golden Body Technique by entering the dangerous Ancient Relic Formation, where he would also find Immortal Dao and Martial Dao inheritances. Yang Zhengshan prepared for the expedition and arrived with Lan Peng at the Lu Family estate, where they met the other candidates.

• Lan Peng told Yang Zhengshan that the Ancient Relic Formation opened every ten years, held ancient techniques and treasures, and claimed the lives of most entrants; Yang Zhengshan agreed to go despite the risks and the Lu Family's thousand-Spirit-Stone fee.
• Lan Peng revealed that he had previously entered the formation and obtained a metal-attribute Golden Body Technique, and warned Yang Zhengshan that people inside could be more dangerous than Strange Beasts.
• Yang Zhengshan sold Spirit Fruits and Spirit Medicine, bought two high-grade Spirit Weapon spears and medicinal pills, and devoted the months before the expedition to cultivation and training.
• On the twentieth day of the second month in Lingyuan Year 35, Yang Zhengshan and Lan Peng arrived at the Lu Family estate in Ancient Prefecture City.
• Lan Peng introduced Yang Zhengshan to Lu Youning, An Botong, and Bai Mingyue, who were joining the Lu Family's group entering the Ancient Relic Formation.

Yang Zhengshan and the others prepared to enter the Ancient Relic Formation, where the Three Great Sects and Twelve Great Clans would compete for its treasures. As the sects arrived with formidable divine beasts, the gathering remained underway, with the Xuanqing Sect and Huanyue Sect still to arrive.

• Lu Youning gave Yang Zhengshan a map of the Ancient Relic Formation, and Lan Peng explained its locations, dangers, and rule that Martial God Realm experts who entered would be killed by the formation.
• Yang Zhengshan and the others rode to the Three Great Sects' courtyard, where Deacon Zhang welcomed them and Lan Peng told Yang Zhengshan they could kill sect members inside if they were able.
• The Twelve Great Clans gathered outside the courtyard to await the Three Great Sects, and Yang Zhengshan learned that the North Shi Family was the strongest clan.
• Shanming arrived with Wuxiang Sect's entrants aboard the Martial God-level Sky Alligator Beast and asked whether the other two sects had arrived.
• A huge Illusion Moon Fox brought the Huanyue Sect delegation, and a woman in white palace robes descended from it.

Yang Zhengshan entered the Ancient Relic Formation and cautiously made his way toward the Dharma Transmission Hall, hoping to obtain the Golden Body Technique. After two days of travel, he reached the hall’s plaza and found fresh bloodstains nearby.

• Venerable Qingyun, Venerable Yuesu, and Shan Ming opened the Ancient Relic Formation, and Yang Zhengshan entered after the other groups.
• Yang Zhengshan studied his map, headed toward the Dharma Transmission Hall, and avoided rushing deeper into the ruins.
• A venomous green snake attacked Yang Zhengshan, who pinned and killed it before taking its corpse to the Spirit Source Land.
• Yang Zhengshan declined Yu Qingyi’s offer to accompany him and continued through the ruins, resting in the Spirit Source Land at night.
• Yang Zhengshan reached the Dharma Transmission Hall after two days and noticed fresh dark-red bloodstains on its plaza.

Yang Zhengshan encountered a pack of Azure Wolves while trying to reach the Dharma Transmission Hall, and used the Spirit Source Land to evade their attacks. The intelligent Wolf King revealed that it wanted to leave the relic formation, and Yang Zhengshan cautiously considered helping it before the wolves brought objects to his position.

• Yang Zhengshan spotted five Azure Wolves after entering the Spirit Source Land to escape their ambush near the bloodstained square.
• Yang Zhengshan repeatedly tried to reach the Dharma Transmission Hall, but the Azure Wolves intercepted him and the Wolf King eventually appeared.
• The Wolf King showed unusual wisdom, blocked Yang Zhengshan's path, and used gestures that Yang Zhengshan interpreted as a request to leave the relic formation.
• Yang Zhengshan considered taking the Wolf King into the Spirit Source Land but gestured that he would enter the hall first and take it out afterward.
• The Wolf King summoned several Azure Wolves, who placed objects where Yang Zhengshan had stood, leaving him embarrassed when he realized they had not come to attack.

Yang Zhengshan entered the Dharma Transmission Hall and received three inheritances, including the immortal cultivation methods Azure Wood Longevity Scripture and Azure Brilliance Thunder Formula. He summoned Yu Qingyi to test the formation, and she received two bamboo slips.

• Yang Zhengshan accepted the Wolf King's offerings and promised to take it out of the remnant array after he entered the Dharma Transmission Hall.
• Yang Zhengshan activated the hall's formation and received two bamboo slips and a piece of milky-white jade.
• Yang Zhengshan discovered that the Azure Wood Longevity Scripture was an immortal cultivation method descended from the Azure Wood Longevity Art, and he resolved to pursue the Immortal Dao.
• Yang Zhengshan read the Azure Brilliance Thunder Formula and found that it complemented the Azure Wood Longevity Scripture and taught powerful thunder abilities.
• Yang Zhengshan summoned Yu Qingyi and had her activate the formation, which produced two bamboo slips for her.