Chapter Summaries

Li Bufan’s intensive alchemy damaged his pill furnaces, forcing him to pause refining and request replacements. While waiting, he practiced Dragon Tiger Fist and began combining it with the Dragon-Tiger Golden Body Art, using the power of his five viscera to strengthen his strikes.

• Li Bufan found the remaining secret arts of the Six Sun Techniques too obscure to understand and returned his attention to alchemy.
• He spent half a month refining Purple Origin Pills with his fifth-grade Crimson Fire Flowing Paste, saving the pills with three Cloud Patterns and sending the rest to the Ten Thousand Spirits District.
• Li Bufan discovered that his two standard furnaces and his Blazing Sun Alchemy Furnace had cracked, so he told an attendant to inform District Master Zhao that the furnaces needed replacing.
• When the attendant reported that District Master Zhao was away, Li Bufan asked him to notify the Zhao Family and began practicing Dragon Tiger Fist in the courtyard.
• Li Bufan realized that Dragon Tiger Fist could temper the body and began blending its moves with the five-viscera training of the Dragon-Tiger Golden Body Art.

Li Bufan practiced the Dragon Tiger Fist and discovered it improved alongside the Dragon-Tiger Golden Body Art. Zhao Jingyao brought him to the Zhao Family to meet Zhao Mengdong, who returned from an overnight imperial summons troubled and said alchemy was no longer urgent; he led them into the discussion hall to explain.

• Li Bufan found that practicing the Dragon Tiger Fist also raised his Dragon-Tiger Golden Body Art proficiency and considered combining the techniques in the future.
• Zhao Jingyao told Li Bufan that Zhao Mengdong and other merchant firm owners had been summoned to the imperial palace overnight.
• Zhao Jingyao invited Li Bufan to stay at the Zhao Family while he waited for Zhao Mengdong, and he accepted.
• A servant announced Zhao Mengdong’s return, and Li Bufan told him the pill furnace could no longer be used.
• Zhao Mengdong said the alchemy matter was no longer urgent and led Li Bufan and Zhao Jingyao into the discussion hall to speak.

Li Bufan learned that Princess Xiao Ling'er was near death after her Heavenly Fire Spiritual Body awakened out of control, while Zhao Mengdong feared the reward for treating her could let rival merchants dominate Great Flame's court trade. Li Bufan offered to examine the princess and left determined to save her.

• Zhao Mengdong told Li Bufan and Zhao Jingyao that Princess Xiao Ling'er had suffered severe internal injuries during her spiritual body awakening and could only be stabilized until help from the Songhe Gate arrived.
• Zhao Mengdong explained that the emperor had promised imperial merchant status to anyone who helped treat the princess, threatening the Zhao Family's business and the Ten Thousand Spirits District.
• Li Bufan offered to examine the princess, though Zhao Mengdong doubted his medical experience because of his age.
• Zhao Mengdong gave Li Bufan a Storage Bag containing fire seeds, including a fourth-grade seed, and accepted several hundred cloud-patterned Purple Origin Pills from him.
• Zhao Mengdong departed to gather physicians, and Li Bufan told Zhao Jingyao he hoped to help the princess before heading toward the guest courtyard with her.

Li Bufan stayed at the Zhao Family, advanced his cultivation, and explored Flame Capital in search of a pill furnace. After seeing an imperial notice seeking a physician for the emperor, he volunteered to help and left the story facing an assessment that could lead him to the ill princess.

• Zhao Jingyao showed Li Bufan to his guest room and asked him to teach her martial skills, but he said he needed to rest.
• Li Bufan used the Spring and Autumn Needle Technique, a Purple Origin Pill, and the Heartburning Fire to boost his cultivation overnight.
• Li Bufan explored Flame Capital and searched more than ten shops for a suitable pill furnace, but found none.
• An Imperial Guard announced that the emperor sought a physician and offered a title and gold, while warning that failed applicants would be executed for deceiving the sovereign.
• Li Bufan volunteered to take down the imperial notice, hoping to pass the assessment and examine the princess's illness.

Li Bufan accepted the imperial proclamation’s medical assessment and was brought to an underground prison to treat a condemned man. After diagnosing the man through Spiritual Sense, he requested herbs and a pill furnace and began refining pills in the cell.

• Li Bufan accepted the imperial token and asked the official to notify the Zhao Family in Ten Thousand Spirits District if he passed the assessment.
• The middle-aged man led Li Bufan to a prison, where he was ordered to treat a condemned criminal or face execution himself.
• Li Bufan used Spiritual Sense to diagnose the condemned man’s severed meridians and fire poison, astonishing the official with his accuracy.
• Li Bufan requested a pill furnace and ingredients for Pulse Mending Pills and Rejuvenation Pills, and the official supplied them.
• Li Bufan sat down in the cell and began refining the pills without delay.

Li Bufan passed the assessment by refining a Pulse Mending Pill and using it to cure a condemned prisoner. After the prisoner attacked him, Li Bufan subdued him, and Cui Shou'an agreed to take Li Bufan into the palace for the next stage of the assessment.

• Li Bufan refined a Pulse Mending Pill with two Cloud Patterns, impressing Cui Shou'an with his alchemy skills.
• Cui Shou'an opened the prison cell, and Li Bufan gave the condemned prisoner the pill and treated him with acupuncture and true qi.
• Li Bufan expelled the prisoner's fire toxin and reconnected his meridians, restoring his health.
• Cui Shou'an confirmed the prisoner was cured, apologized to Li Bufan, and invited him to call him Brother Cui.
• The prisoner suddenly attacked Li Bufan, who stopped him with a Spiritual Sense strike and sealed his heart meridians with a true qi needle.
• Cui Shou'an accepted responsibility for the incident and escorted Li Bufan out of the prison toward the palace.

Li Bufan settled in the imperial guest courtyard and spent three days preparing pills before the emperor summoned the physicians and alchemists who had answered the notice. He joined Cui Shou'an on the way to the Golden Throne Hall, where the assembled crowd included Flame Capital merchants as well as healers.

• Cui Shou'an brought Li Bufan to the imperial palace and vouched for his ability to a skeptical colleague, Zhuang Wei.
• Cui Shou'an escorted Li Bufan to the Guest स्वागत Courtyard, showed him his room, and explained the palace rules and arrangements.
• Li Bufan rested, then refined dozens of first- to third-rank pills with Cloud Patterns over the next three days.
• Cui Shou'an summoned Li Bufan when the emperor was ready to receive the notice's responders, and Li Bufan followed him toward the Golden Throne Hall.
• Li Bufan arrived to find merchants from Flame Capital gathered alongside the physicians and alchemists who had unveiled the notice.

Li Bufan joined the physicians and alchemists summoned to treat Princess Lingyun, whose Heavenly Fire Spiritual Body had left her near death. After hearing her case, he analyzed the cause of her condition and devised two possible treatment plans.

• Zhao Mengdong recognized Li Bufan among the physicians and learned that he had come to take part in the assessment.
• Xiao Tianlin appeared before the Golden Throne Hall, explained Princess Lingyun's condition, and warned the assembled experts against pretending to have skills they lacked.
• A eunuch read the princess's medical dossier aloud while Li Bufan listened and considered the details.
• Li Bufan concluded that nourishing remedies could not solve the underlying problem while the Heavenly Fire remained uncontrolled.
• Li Bufan pondered the princess's weak body and the fire's power, then came up with two treatment plans.

Li Bufan devised two possible treatments for the little princess’s Heavenly Fire Spiritual Body and was chosen as one of seven physicians to treat her. After Xiao Tianlin ordered the group to go to the princess’s chambers, he told Li Bufan to stay behind and scrutinized him.

• Li Bufan considered a gradual treatment for the princess’s injuries and a riskier Spring and Autumn Needle Technique that might correct the Heavenly Fire Spiritual Body at its root.
• The director of the Imperial Medical Academy presented the proposals to Xiao Tianlin and named seven candidates, including Li Bufan.
• Zhao Mengdong congratulated Li Bufan, then left with the physicians and alchemists he had brought.
• Xiao Tianlin ordered the seven chosen physicians to tend to the princess until the Elder of Songhe Gate arrived.
• As the group departed for the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, Xiao Tianlin ordered Li Bufan to stay behind and examined him closely.

Li Bufan explained his proposed root-cause treatment for the princess and agreed to test his acupuncture method on Xiao Tianlin first. After examining the emperor, he discovered a powerful Golden Core within him and learned not to look directly at its martial patterns.

• Xiao Tianlin questioned Li Bufan about his age and confidence in treating the princess, and Li Bufan said he was seventy percent certain based on a similar case involving a great demon.
• Xiao Tianlin asked Li Bufan to test the method on him, dismissed the frightened eunuchs, and ordered them to leave.
• Li Bufan asked Xiao Tianlin to remove his robe and tried to examine him with Spiritual Sense, but the emperor's power initially blocked the probe.
• Xiao Tianlin suppressed his cultivation, allowing Li Bufan to examine his body and discover a crimson Golden Core.
• Xiao Tianlin warned Li Bufan that the Golden Core's patterns could draw in someone with insufficient cultivation, and Li Bufan withdrew his Spiritual Sense.

Li Bufan examined Xiao Tianlin and learned that the emperor’s Heavenly Fire Spiritual Body was imperfect, much like the princess’s, before attempting to repair it. His true-qi needles melted as soon as they entered Xiao Tianlin’s Heavenly Fire, leaving the repair attempt unresolved.

• Li Bufan found no visible problem with Xiao Tianlin’s body, and Xiao Tianlin revealed his Heavenly Fire and explained how it had damaged him.
• Xiao Tianlin told Li Bufan that Princess Ling’er’s Heavenly Fire Spiritual Body was stronger than his and that he had sought help from his master, who had entered seclusion.
• Xiao Tianlin learned that Li Bufan was a disciple of Blade Peak, and the two discussed their shared ties to Songhe Gate.
• Xiao Tianlin asked Li Bufan to repair his long-established Spiritual Body, and Li Bufan agreed to try.
• Li Bufan used golden needles to draw in vital energy, then sent six true-qi needles into Xiao Tianlin’s Heavenly Fire, where they melted immediately.

Li Bufan used the Spring and Autumn Needle Technique to trap and guide Xiao Tianlin’s Heavenly Fire, beginning to restore Xiao Tianlin’s origin. The effort left Li Bufan severely depleted, and Xiao Tianlin gave him a fifth-grade medicinal pill to aid his recovery.

• Li Bufan formed seventy-two golden needles from his Nine Yang Body Protection and arranged them into a net around Xiao Tianlin’s Heavenly Fire.
• Li Bufan performed the three Latter Three Needles, creating a vortex that drew the Heavenly Fire into rotation and caused Xiao Tianlin’s Golden Core to show signs of recovery.
• Li Bufan spat blood and collapsed after his true qi and Spiritual Sense were exhausted, causing both sets of needles to vanish.
• Xiao Tianlin supported Li Bufan as he sat down to regulate his breath, then offered him a pill with five Cloud Patterns.
• Li Bufan took the fifth-grade medicinal pill, whose potent medicinal force surged through his body.

Li Bufan refined a fifth-grade pill with Xiao Tianlin’s help and broke through to the Object Manipulation Realm. After returning to the Guest Reception Courtyard, he tested his strengthened Spiritual Sense while preparing to treat the princess the next day.

• Xiao Tianlin lent Li Bufan his True Essence to help him refine the fifth-grade pill, and Li Bufan advanced his cultivation and Spiritual Sense into the Object Manipulation Realm.
• Li Bufan thanked Xiao Tianlin, who praised his talent and arranged to take him to the Palace of Earthly Tranquility at the hour of the dragon the next day.
• Li Bufan left the Golden Throne Hall, and Xiao Tianlin ordered the guards to treat him as an honored guest and let him return to rest.
• Li Bufan returned to the Guest Reception Courtyard and found that his Spiritual Sense could now reach two thousand zhang and condense into needles without a technique.

After breaking through to the Object Manipulation Realm, Li Bufan refined his Spiritual Sense and discovered that the Spring and Autumn Needle Technique could restore vitality to a harvested spirit herb and draw life force into the surrounding soil. The next morning, Xiao Tianlin brought him to the unconscious Princess Xiao Ling'er so he could treat the Heavenly Fire within her.

• Li Bufan cultivated the Fetal Breath Spirit Refining Art, enduring pain as it tempered his Spiritual Sense with the vital energy of heaven and earth.
• Li Bufan practiced the Spring and Autumn Needle Technique on a harvested ginseng root, restoring its severed rootlets and sensing life force within it.
• Li Bufan formed a ring of nine needles in the ground and drew the Guest स्वागत Courtyard’s vital energy and life force toward its center.
• Li Bufan spent the night cultivating the Five Elements Heaven Skill before Xiao Tianlin came to fetch him the next morning.
• Xiao Tianlin brought Li Bufan to the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, where Princess Xiao Ling'er lay unconscious with Heavenly Fire burning within her.
• Xiao Tianlin removed the barrier around Princess Xiao Ling'er as Li Bufan prepared to treat her and warned him of the danger of backlash.

Li Bufan spent seven days purifying Xiao Ling'er’s Heavenly Fire and guiding it back into her body, curing her affliction and helping form a true Heavenly Fire Spiritual Body. Afterward, he collapsed from exhaustion, and Xiao Tianlin carried him to the Guest Courtyard to recover.

• Li Bufan used the Spring and Autumn Needle Technique while Xiao Tianlin drew the violent Heavenly Fire out of Xiao Ling'er.
• Li Bufan contained the flame with his own fires and a golden-needle array, then used wood-attribute treasures to nourish and purify it.
• After seven days and nights, Li Bufan returned the pure white Heavenly Fire to Xiao Ling'er, where it began tempering and healing her body.
• Li Bufan told Xiao Tianlin that Xiao Ling'er’s affliction was resolved and that she would develop a true Heavenly Fire Spiritual Body.
• Li Bufan collapsed from exhaustion, and Xiao Tianlin carried him to the Guest Courtyard and set up an array to help him recover.

Li Bufan awoke from his coma and broke through to the eighth layer of the Qi Sea Realm before meeting Xiao Tianlin and Consort Hua. Xiao Tianlin asked to learn Li Bufan’s acupuncture technique, then secured his promise to help any Xiao Family child whose Heavenly Fire Spiritual Body went out of control.

• Li Bufan recovered from his coma, cultivated with the Vital Energy Gathering Array, and broke through to the eighth layer of the Qi Sea Realm.
• Cui Shou'an escorted Li Bufan to the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, where Xiao Tianlin and Consort Hua welcomed him and Xiao Ling'er showed that she had recovered.
• Xiao Tianlin explained that Li Bufan’s treatment could allow the Xiao Family to produce complete Heavenly Fire Spiritual Bodies and offered him rewards for his acupuncture technique.
• Li Bufan explained that the technique required rare cultivation prerequisites and could not simply be taught to others.
• Xiao Tianlin asked Li Bufan to help future Xiao Family children whose Heavenly Fire Spiritual Bodies went out of control, and Li Bufan agreed if it was within his power.

Li Bufan accepted Xiao Tianlin’s gift after saving Lingyun, and learned that Xiao had already made the Zhao Family imperial merchants. He left the palace and went to the Zhao estate to say goodbye before returning to his sect.

• Xiao Tianlin praised Li Bufan’s character and thanked him for saving Lingyun, then gave him a jade Storage Bracelet as a token of regard.
• Li Bufan asked Xiao Tianlin to help Zhao Mengdong become an imperial merchant, and Xiao revealed that he had already issued the decree granting the Zhao Family that status.
• Li Bufan left the Palace of Earthly Tranquility with Cui Shou’an and thanked him for looking after him.
• Li Bufan went to the Zhao Family estate, where Zhao Jingyao and the younger members welcomed him.
• Li Bufan told Zhao Jingyao that he had come to say goodbye and planned to return to his sect.

Li Bufan agreed to stay at the Zhao residence until Ten Thousand Spirits District opened and began teaching Zhao Jingyao about the True Meaning of Wind. Zhao Mengdong arrived and recognized the wind insight in Li Bufan’s Dragon Roaming Steps.

• Li Bufan agreed to stay a few more days because Ten Thousand Spirits District was about to open and he had no Teleportation Formation to leave by.
• Zhao Jingyao led Li Bufan to his courtyard and asked him to teach her martial arts, then attacked him with her palm technique.
• Li Bufan evaded Zhao Jingyao’s strikes and explained that her wind-attribute palm technique lacked the True Meaning of Wind.
• Li Bufan demonstrated the Dragon Roaming Steps and shared his understanding of wind, but Zhao Jingyao admitted she did not know what Spiritual Sense was.
• Zhao Mengdong entered the courtyard, praised Li Bufan’s movement technique, and asked whether he had comprehended the True Meaning of Wind.

Zhao Mengdong rewarded Li Bufan for helping the Zhao Family become an imperial merchant, giving him a fifth-grade alchemy furnace, Fire Seeds, and a promise of ten percent of the Ten Thousand Spirits District’s profits. He also planned for Zhao Jingyao to join Songhe Gate in two years and asked Li Bufan to look after her.

• Zhao Mengdong gave Li Bufan a fifth-grade alchemy furnace and dozens of Fire Seeds.
• Zhao Mengdong offered Li Bufan access to the Ten Thousand Spirits District’s resources and ten percent of its annual profits, and Li Bufan accepted.
• Zhao Mengdong reminded Zhao Jingyao to study Li Bufan’s advice on the True Meaning of Wind.
• Li Bufan said Zhao Jingyao could qualify as an Inner Disciple of Songhe Gate and might become a Core Disciple with further progress.
• Zhao Mengdong decided Zhao Jingyao would apply to Songhe Gate in two years and asked Li Bufan to look after her.
• After Zhao Mengdong left, Li Bufan asked Zhao Jingyao whether she had questions about his earlier guidance.

Li Bufan tested the Purple Mist Alchemy Cauldron, refined Purple Origin Pills, and continued his training while Ten Thousand Spirits District prepared to open. Zhao Mengdong invited him to tour the renovated district and join the Zhao Family’s celebration, where Li Bufan drank alongside them.

• Li Bufan sorted the gifts from Zhao Mengdong and Xiao Tianlin, then used the Purple Mist Alchemy Cauldron to refine ten Purple Origin Pills.
• Li Bufan followed a steady routine of martial practice, alchemy, cultivation, and studying the Spring and Autumn Needle Technique while Zhao Jingyao avoided him out of embarrassment.
• Zhao Mengdong visited Li Bufan, announced Ten Thousand Spirits District would open the next day, and gave him another Storage Bag of Fire Seeds.
• Zhao Mengdong took Li Bufan to inspect Ten Thousand Spirits District’s renovated floors and sections.
• Zhao Mengdong hosted a celebration with Zhao Family relatives and stewards, toasted Li Bufan for helping the district, and drank with him until several guests were drunk.