Chapter Summaries

Li Bufan comprehended the deeper meaning of Five Elements compatibility and learned to fuse Wood and Fire True Meaning. Applying those insights to pill refinement, he formed a Cloud Pattern Great Qi and Blood Pill, leaving him with a pill that showed he had mastered its refinement.

• Li Bufan realized that the highest realm of Five Elements compatibility was a ceaseless circulation of all five powers.
• Li Bufan fused Wood and Fire True Qi, then successfully made their true meanings resonate and complement each other.
• Li Bufan used Crimson Fire Flowing Paste, Fire True Meaning, and Wood True Meaning to refine a Great Qi and Blood Pill.
• Li Bufan drew out a translucent, red jade-like pill bearing a cloud pattern and recognized it as a finest-quality pill.

Li Bufan perfected his First-Rank Alchemist skills by refining thousands of Great Qi and Blood Pills, then tested the power of combining the five elemental true meanings in his saber practice. He left the stream eager to continue mastering the Greedy Wolf Saber Technique and planned to settle his Core Disciple advancement before honoring his promise to Tianxiang Tower.

• Li Bufan refined increasingly large batches of Great Qi and Blood Pills until the Blazing Sun Alchemy Furnace reached its limit at forty-nine portions.
• Li Bufan's First-Rank Alchemist proficiency reached perfection, and he ended with three thousand pills in his Storage Bag, including more than two thousand mid-grade pills.
• Li Bufan decided to pursue advancement to Second-Ranked Alchemist and Core Disciple before visiting Tianxiang Tower to settle his debt to Red Sleeve Fragrance.
• Li Bufan practiced the five forms of the Greedy Wolf Saber Technique at the stream, channeling a different elemental true meaning through each strike.
• Li Bufan fused all five true meanings into one saber strike that carved a deep trench and severed the stream, then continued practicing their elemental cycle.

Li Bufan cultivated on Blade Peak with Essence Fluid, breaking through to Qi Sea Second Stage and mastering the Greedy Wolf Saber Technique. He began restoring his True Qi and planned to ask about advancing to Core Disciple.

• Li Bufan used the Five Elements Heaven Skill and Essence Fluid to replenish his True Qi and accelerate his cultivation.
• Li Bufan trained with the saber and cultivated his saber intent on Blade Peak for half a month, reaching the peak of Qi Sea First Stage.
• Li Bufan consumed Essence Fluid and broke through the bottleneck to Qi Sea Second Stage.
• Li Bufan practiced the five forms of the Greedy Wolf Saber Technique until they reached mastery.
• Li Bufan restored his True Qi with Essence Fluid and decided to inquire about advancing to Core Disciple.

Li Bufan sold more than a thousand Great Qi and Blood Pills to the Hundred Herbs Garden and received a discount token. He then went to Miscellaneous Peak’s Ascension Hall to make an inquiry, where a disciple invited him to speak.

• Li Bufan sold 1,030 Great Qi and Blood Pills to Manager Tong for 72,100 taels of silver and agreed to give the Hundred Herbs Garden first consideration for future sales.
• Manager Tong gave Li Bufan a Hundred Herbs Garden token that granted him a ten percent discount on first- through third-grade spirit herbs.
• After finding no useful goods in the market, Li Bufan headed to Miscellaneous Peak to ask about its promotion assessments.
• Li Bufan entered Ascension Hall and asked a young Miscellaneous Peak disciple if he could make an inquiry; the disciple agreed to hear him out.

Li Bufan learned that advancing to Core Disciple required passing a strength test and an assessment in his secondary profession, then discovered Blade Peak used a climb instead of a competition. He left the Hall of Inquiry looking toward Blade Peak, now aware that reaching five thousand zhang would qualify him for Core Disciple and eight thousand zhang for True Disciple.

• Li Bufan asked a Miscellaneous Peak disciple about Core Disciple advancement and learned that candidates generally needed to pass a peak competition and a secondary-profession test.
• Li Bufan gave the disciple a bottle of Cloud Pattern Great Qi and Blood Pills before leaving for Blade Peak, while others recognized him as the disciple who had defeated Lin Yun and Gu Zhenyue.
• Li Bufan considered that he would need to take an alchemy assessment at Flame Peak, where he expected Zhou Huoyun might obstruct him.
• Li Bufan visited Blade Peak's Hall of Inquiry and learned from an old man that he had to climb five thousand zhang to qualify as a Core Disciple, or eight thousand zhang to become a True Disciple.
• The old man explained that Blade Peak's pervasive blade intent judged climbers and could severely injure anyone whose blade intent was insufficient, and Li Bufan left to look toward the summit.

Li Bufan climbed Blade Peak to challenge the Core Disciple assessment, where an overwhelming saber intent storm forced him to reconsider how the Greedy Wolf Saber Technique used the five elements. He mastered the Saber Intent Art and broke through the five-thousand-zhang barrier, then recovered and resolved to return after reaching the Acupoint Realm to challenge the eight-thousand-zhang mark.

• Li Bufan climbed past his hut and used the Thunderclap Saber Technique to push through Blade Peak’s increasingly powerful saber intent.
• At four thousand eight hundred zhang, Li Bufan used the Greedy Wolf Five Forms to advance, but the storm at the five-thousand-zhang boundary overwhelmed him and drained his true qi.
• Li Bufan rested under the saber intent pressure and realized the five elements should serve the saber, which should command them.
• Li Bufan wielded the saber forms without true qi, reached Great Mastery in the Saber Intent Art, and cleaved through the storm.
• The gray-robed old man revealed that he had secretly intensified the test for Li Bufan, then withdrew the pressure as Li Bufan collapsed to recover.
• Li Bufan healed and replenished his true qi, then decided to return after reaching the Acupoint Realm and challenge the eight-thousand-zhang mark.

After recovering from his trial on Blade Peak, Li Bufan advanced to Second-Ranked Alchemist and spent nearly half a month practicing pill refinement to prepare for the Core Disciple assessment. He arrived at Flame Peak’s Alchemy Hall for the assessment, where the Chief Examiner recognized his name.

• Li Bufan returned to his cottage, slept for three days, and reflected on how blade intent could command the Five Elements in combat.
• Li Bufan studied Second-Rank pill formulas, refined a pill, and advanced to Second-Ranked Alchemist.
• Li Bufan bought medicinal herbs at Hundred Herbs Garden and practiced refining First-Rank and Second-Rank Pills until his alchemist rank reached Proficient.
• Li Bufan left for Flame Peak and asked to take the secondary profession assessment for Core Disciple promotion.
• The Chief Examiner received Li Bufan in the Alchemy Hall, asked his name, and reacted with a meaningful smile when Li Bufan introduced himself.

Li Bufan entered Flame Peak’s Core Disciple assessment and was assigned to refine Great Qi and Blood Pills using Earthfire. After submitting one of his pills, he waited for the evaluation results.

• Elder Zhou approved Li Bufan’s assessment and an Outer Disciple escorted him to a Teleportation Formation.
• Li Bufan arrived at the Earth Fire Pill Room and learned he would be assessed on refining Great Qi and Blood Pills.
• Li Bufan inspected the room for hidden problems, then refined three batches, producing two pills with Cloud Patterns and one without.
• Li Bufan submitted the pill without a Cloud Pattern and was told to wait until the evaluation results were available.

Li Bufan passed the alchemy assessment, but Zhou Huoyun interrupted the results to expose Elder Zhou Fengding’s long record of abusing his authority and taking bribes. Zhou Huoyun demanded that those who had bribed Zhou Fengding confess, and one disciple stepped forward.

• Li Bufan returned to the Alchemy Hall and watched Elder Zhou Fengding announce the assessment results.
• Elder Zhou Fengding praised Li Bufan’s Great Qi and Blood Pill and declared that he had passed.
• Zhou Huoyun arrived, questioned Zhou Fengding, and accused him of abusing disciples and taking benefits for more than thirty years.
• Zhou Huoyun revealed specific cases of Zhou Fengding coercing disciples and condemned his latest demand for male disciples to engage in homosexual acts.
• Zhou Fengding fell to his knees and begged Zhou Huoyun for mercy.
• Zhou Huoyun ordered disciples who had bribed Zhou Fengding to confess, and one disciple stumbled out of the crowd.

Zhou Huoyun exposed Zhou Fengding’s bribery and voided the Core Disciple assessment, then arranged for the accused to be taken to Punishment Peak. Zhou Fengding named Li Bufan as a briber, leaving Li Bufan trapped in a fabricated accusation as Zhou Huoyun’s scheme unfolded.

• Several disciples confessed to bribing Zhou Fengding, and Zhou Huoyun declared the assessment void and sentenced the bribers to three years at Forbidden Peak.
• Zhou Huoyun summoned the Enforcement Disciples, led by Pang Xingyun, to take away everyone involved.
• As the Enforcement Disciples seized him, Zhou Fengding panicked and named more alleged accomplices, including Li Bufan.
• Zhou Fengding confessed to the bribes and claimed Li Bufan had promised to acknowledge him as his adoptive father in exchange for a favorable assessment.

Zhou Huoyun used Zhou Fengding’s extracted memories to accuse Li Bufan and ordered his arrest, but Gu Moxie arrived and gave Li Bufan a chance to defend himself. Li Bufan presented two cloud-patterned pills as evidence of his alchemy skill, leaving Gu Moxie to judge his claim.

• Zhou Huoyun searched Zhou Fengding’s memories with the Sea-Change Mirror, revealing his corruption and scenes implicating Li Bufan.
• Pang Xingyun ordered the Enforcement Disciples to seize Li Bufan, who held back from resisting to avoid falling into Zhou Huoyun’s trap.
• Gu Moxie entered the Alchemy Hall after responding to a signal and asked what had happened.
• Pang Xingyun confirmed the memories and witness statements, while Li Bufan denied colluding with Zhou Fengding.
• Gu Moxie asked Li Bufan for evidence, and Li Bufan presented two cloud-patterned Great Qi and Blood Pills to show he had no need to bribe Zhou Fengding.

Li Bufan denied bribing Zhou Fengding and offered to prove his innocence, but Zhou Huoyun challenged his alchemy instead. Gu Moxie proposed an on-the-spot test, and Li Bufan agreed to refine the Azure Origin Pill, leaving his fate to the result.

• Zhou Huoyun dismissed Li Bufan's Cloud-Pattern pills as proof and argued that the Sea-Change Mirror's testimony was more reliable.
• Li Bufan denied knowing Zhou Fengding and offered to enter Punishment Peak's Heart-Questioning Formation.
• Zhou Huoyun attacked Li Bufan, but Gu Moxie blocked him with the Wind Thunder Palm and argued for a fair test.
• Gu Moxie proposed that Li Bufan refine a pill on the spot, with failure leading to Absolute Hell.
• Zhou Huoyun chose the Azure Origin Pill for the test and demanded that Gu Moxie and Pang Xingyun punish Li Bufan if he failed.
• Li Bufan accepted the challenge to refine the Azure Origin Pill.

Li Bufan accepted Zhou Huoyun’s challenge to refine an Azure Origin Pill in public within an hour, while Zhou Huoyun offered to count it as passing the Core Disciple assessment. Li Bufan began refining with his enormous Blazing Sun Alchemy Furnace as the gathered disciples watched, and the outcome remained unknown.

• Zhou Huoyun challenged Li Bufan to refine a Second-Grade High-Quality Azure Origin Pill within an hour and promised to count it as passing the Core Disciple assessment if he succeeded.
• Li Bufan studied the formula, brought out his ten-zhang Blazing Sun Alchemy Furnace, and began refining with Crimson Fire Flowing Paste.
• The disciples questioned how Li Bufan, a Blade Peak disciple, had obtained Flame Peak’s Crimson Fire Flowing Paste, but he continued working without distraction.
• Zhou Huoyun tried to persuade Pang Xingyun and Gu Moxie to take the other disciples away, but Gu Moxie insisted they remain as witnesses.
• Li Bufan completed the herb-processing stage and began forming hand seals as the hall waited in silence for the result.

Li Bufan completed a superior Azure Origin Pill just as the one-hour limit expired, passing Zhou Huoyun’s examination. He accused someone of manipulating the Sea-Change Mirror, but Zhou Huoyun deferred that issue and called for an investigation into Zhou Fengding’s past examinations.

• Li Bufan used the Great Sun Golden Yang Flame to speed up the pill’s final condensation before the hourglass ran out.
• Li Bufan presented the Azure Origin Pill, and Zhou Huoyun confirmed it was a superior pill and that Li Bufan had passed.
• Li Bufan confronted Zhou Huoyun, arguing that the Sea-Change Mirror’s apparent result had been false and that someone might have manipulated events.
• Zhou Huoyun said the matter required investigation but prioritized investigating how many disciples Zhou Fengding had harmed.
• Pang Xingyun agreed that Flame Peak should correct its attitude and accept an investigation.

After the examination scandal, Li Bufan left the investigation to Pang Xingyun and Gu Moxie and went to Ascension Hall to register as a Core Disciple. He received a token that also confirmed his permission to leave the mountain, then headed back to Blade Peak.

• Li Bufan urged the senior disciples to investigate the examination thoroughly, and Zhou Huoyun left Alchemy Hall to notify his lineage.
• Gu Moxie and Pang Xingyun had the Enforcement Disciples remove Zhou Fengding and the bribing disciples, while Gu Moxie quietly told Li Bufan to meet him that night.
• Li Bufan went to Ascension Hall, where the old man verified his Core Disciple status and permission to leave the mountain.
• The old man engraved Li Bufan's name on a golden token, and Li Bufan added a drop of blood to bind it to himself.
• Li Bufan thanked the Ascension Hall disciple with a jade bottle of pills, then left Miscellaneous Peak and headed for Blade Peak.

Li Bufan settled into his new residence on Blade Peak and welcomed Gu Moxie for a long-awaited duel. Their fight began beneath the moonlight, with both using Qi Sea Second Stage cultivation and trading increasingly powerful techniques.

• Li Bufan chose a secluded residence at the six-thousand-zhang mark and arranged his belongings in its Stone House.
• Gu Moxie visited Li Bufan, noticed his alchemy supplies, and they reminisced about their days at Forbidden Peak.
• Gu Moxie reminded Li Bufan of their agreement to fight, and they went outside to duel with their cultivation suppressed to Qi Sea Second Stage.
• Li Bufan and Gu Moxie traded palm techniques and movement skills, then clashed with Thunderclap Saber Technique and Thunderclap Fist.
• Li Bufan used Severing Thunder, and Gu Moxie answered with Thunder Roar Nine Heavens.

Li Bufan and Gu Moxie fought to a draw, then shared wine and reminisced before Gu Moxie carried the drunken Li Bufan to bed. Gu Moxie left with a warning that Songhe Gate held deeper dangers, and Li Bufan woke the next morning alone.

• Li Bufan and Gu Moxie exchanged powerful saber and sword techniques, then agreed their suppressed-cultivation sparring match was a draw.
• Gu Moxie and Li Bufan praised each other’s skills and recalled their trials and hardships at Forbidden Peak.
• Gu Moxie offered Li Bufan wine, and Li Bufan drank until he passed out in the clearing.
• Gu Moxie carried Li Bufan to the Stone House and reflected that Li Bufan needed to grow stronger because Songhe Gate’s waters ran deep.
• Li Bufan woke the next morning with a hangover, found Gu Moxie gone, and washed his face with spirit spring water.

Li Bufan prepared to leave Songhe Gate for Qi State, but Xie Qisha summoned him to the summit to warn him against complacency and point out the limits of his current abilities. Before Li Bufan departed, Xie Qisha revealed that the Profound Prison Crystal held a saber and offered it as an initiation gift.

• Li Bufan packed his belongings and decided to leave for Qi State before his promise to Red Sleeve Fragrance came due.
• Xie Qisha summoned Li Bufan to the summit and teased him about getting drunk before asking whether he planned to descend the mountain.
• Xie Qisha explained that Gu Moxie had held back more than his cultivation and warned Li Bufan that Songhe Gate's True Disciples had hidden strengths of their own.
• Xie Qisha pointed out that Li Bufan lacked a saber and relied mostly on Human Tier martial techniques, urging him not to become conceited.
• Xie Qisha asked Li Bufan for the Profound Prison Crystal and revealed that it contained a saber sealed with his saber intent, which he offered as an initiation gift.

Li Bufan was summoned to Formation Peak, where Li Tianying explained the Circulatory Stars Diagram and warned him to cultivate the Acupoint Realm steadily. Li Tianying gave him a high-grade storage ring, and Li Bufan met Zheng Haonan and Wang Mingxuan at the foot of the peak.

• Li Tianying used a formation to bring Li Bufan to Formation Peak after he forgot to say farewell.
• Li Tianying praised Li Bufan's progress and explained how the Circulatory Stars Diagram strengthened a cultivator's foundation by creating qi points corresponding to opened acupoints.
• Li Tianying explained that Li Bufan would need to perfect the Circulatory Stars Diagram before cultivating the Mountain Character Art and urged him not to rush.
• Li Tianying gave Li Bufan a high-grade storage ring, which held a space far larger than his Storage Bag.
• Li Bufan returned to the foot of Formation Peak and greeted Zheng Haonan and Wang Mingxuan.

Li Bufan reunited with Zheng Haonan and Wang Mingxuan, who had both advanced to the Dantian Realm, and learned that Tian Ying had arranged martial techniques for them. They chose techniques suited to their strengths and promised to cultivate together, then walked toward Songhe Gate’s main gate.

• Li Bufan greeted Zheng Haonan and Wang Mingxuan, and they celebrated their reunion after several months apart.
• Zheng Haonan and Wang Mingxuan revealed that they had advanced to the Dantian Realm and credited Tian Ying with arranging their move to Formation Peak.
• Wang Mingxuan gave Li Bufan two jade slips containing Windfire Wandering Step and Dragon Tiger Fist, which Tian Ying had arranged for them to receive and cultivate.
• Li Bufan recommended Dragon Tiger Fist for Zheng Haonan and Windfire Wandering Step for Wang Mingxuan, whose Spiritual Body had high compatibility with wind, fire, and lightning.
• The three agreed to cultivate the techniques together and made a bet that the slowest to progress would buy drinks.
• Li Bufan, Zheng Haonan, and Wang Mingxuan walked toward Songhe Gate’s main gate, keeping Tian Ying’s arrangement private.