Chapter Summaries

After fifty years guarding Xuanli City, Cheng Buzheng completed the handover to Guardian Li and finally left the island. He departed after sharing his experience protecting the city, leaving its future in Li’s hands.

• Cheng Buzheng waited for his replacement while consoling Little Roar and cultivating in his Cave Mansion.
• After receiving a message, Cheng Buzheng packed up, removed his arrays, and went to the City Lord Mansion to meet Guardian Li.
• City Lord Kong thanked Cheng Buzheng for protecting Xuanli Island for fifty years and then left them to talk.
• Cheng Buzheng completed the handover with Guardian Li, gave him the jade distress talisman, and explained patterns in beast attacks and the duties of guarding the island.
• Cheng Buzheng left Xuanli City after Guardian Li thanked him.

Yu Xiaoer faced losing his job unless he acquired Alchemical Formulas, so he changed his notices in a last attempt to improve his chances. Meanwhile, Cheng Buzheng traveled across the sea on Little Roar, leaving the three puppets behind and continuing toward his destination.

• The shopkeeper berated Yu Xiaoer for failing to acquire Alchemical Formulas and threatened to dismiss him, while Yu Xiaoer realized the man wanted his job for his nephew.
• Yu Xiaoer posted notices seeking Alchemical Formulas, saw that other buyers offered more than his shop, and tore the notices down to rewrite them.
• Yu Xiaoer posted his new notices throughout the Immortal City.
• Cheng Buzheng reached Qiao Rock, collected his three puppets, and set off on Little Roar.
• After several days of travel, Cheng Buzheng let Little Roar slow down so it could rest and build its patience.

Cheng Buzheng approached Huanqiu Immortal City in disguise and used Yu Xiaoer, a hardworking young cultivator, to learn about the city's reputable shops. After bringing an improved Alchemical Formula to a shop, Cheng Buzheng presented the shopkeeper with a Jade Slip containing 108 stringent oaths to protect the deal.

• Cheng Buzheng sent three puppets toward Huanqiu Island while he descended toward the sea.
• Cheng Buzheng entered Huanqiu Immortal City disguised as an unremarkable middle-aged cultivator and noticed Yu Xiaoer posting a notice.
• Cheng Buzheng asked Yu Xiaoer about the notice, then offered to sell an improved Alchemical Formula.
• Yu Xiaoer described the city's reputable shops and led Cheng Buzheng to one with a strong reputation.
• Cheng Buzheng showed the shopkeeper a Jade Slip containing 108 meticulously worded oaths, and the shopkeeper was startled by their severity.

Cheng Buzheng sold improved Peerless Version Alchemical Formulas to Huanqiu City shops, earning a growing fortune while keeping his Extreme Version formulas secret. After resolving the underpayment at You Guang’s shop, he gave Yu Xiaoer a chance to change his life by entrusting him with valuable formulas.

• Cheng Buzheng and his puppets sold Alchemical Formulas to reputable shops across Huanqiu City, each transaction protected by oaths in Jade Slips.
• Yu Xiaoer told Cheng Buzheng that his employer’s shop offered the lowest price and explained his grudge with the shopkeeper.
• Yu Xiaoer brought Cheng Buzheng to meet You Guang, who discovered that his subordinate had embezzled Spirit Stones and apologized before paying the proper price for a formula.
• You Guang swore the required oaths, verified the Alchemical Formula, and completed the transaction with Cheng Buzheng.
• Cheng Buzheng gave Yu Xiaoer Jade Slips containing oaths and several Alchemical Formulas, offering him a chance to change his circumstances.

Cheng Buzheng sold Alchemical Formulas across Xuanfeng Island’s many islands, acquired Spirit Materials, and refined Teleportation Array Disks. In a teahouse, he learned that Tong Lei had massacred Bihong Immortal City and faced a Heavenly Dao Pursuit Order, leaving Cheng Buzheng wary of the demonic forces backing him.

• Cheng Buzheng confirmed that no one had followed him, reunited with his puppets, and sold Alchemical Formulas across more than one hundred islands under Xuanfeng Island.
• After filling his storage bags with Spirit Stones, Cheng Buzheng bought materials for Teleportation Array Disks and spent a month refining them in an Earth Fire Chamber.
• Cheng Buzheng overheard cultivators say Tong Lei had joined evil cultivators, slaughtered Bihong Immortal City, and become the target of a Heavenly Dao Pursuit Order.
• Cheng Buzheng recognized Tong Lei as the hidden peril and suspected demonic cultivators were supporting him, though he saw no immediate way to eliminate the threat.
• A cultivator told Cheng Buzheng that the pursuit order offered a Nascent Soul Breaking Pill, and Cheng Buzheng left after thanking him for the information.

Cheng Buzheng reconsidered why Tong Lei had betrayed the Immortal Alliance and suspected he wanted to seize Ji Qingxia’s special constitution. After counting his profits, Cheng Buzheng advanced several arts and began pushing the Heaven-Human Perception-Severing Method toward a Minor Divine Ability to protect himself from the sect’s Soul Lamp.

• Cheng Buzheng reasoned that Tong Lei might have betrayed the Immortal Alliance to seize Ji Qingxia’s possible Spirit Body using a secret art.
• Cheng Buzheng tallied his earnings from the islands under Xuanfeng Immortal City and found he had amassed about 8.4 million Spirit Stones, with more gains expected.
• Cheng Buzheng raised the Universe Flowing Light Escape, Mysterious Nether Chisel, Roaming Dragon Hundred Transformation Sword, and Golden Glaze Body Protection Shield to high-grade perfected.
• Cheng Buzheng deduced the Foundation Establishment Late Stage layer of the Purple Qi Pure Yang Technique and considered how it would support his future Golden Core breakthrough.
• Cheng Buzheng advanced the Heaven-Human Perception-Severing Method to second-order high-grade perfected and prepared to deduce it to the Minor Divine Ability level.

Cheng Buzheng discovered that the Small Plate required one million Spiritual Power Value to produce a Deduction Value, then used it to learn the Heaven-Human Perception-Severing Method. He found that he could not use the Minor Divine Ability until he reached the Golden Core Stage and wondered whether alchemical formulas would also require Deduction Value.

• Cheng Buzheng tried to use the Small Plate, but it remained inactive until he converted Spirit Stones into one million Spiritual Power Value.
• The Small Plate produced one Deduction Value, and Cheng Buzheng spent it to deduce the Heaven-Human Perception-Severing Method.
• Cheng Buzheng learned that using the Minor Divine Ability required the Realm of Divine Fusion with Heaven and Earth, which Foundation Establishment cultivators could not reach.
• Cheng Buzheng decided to focus on advancing his cultivation and wondered whether deducing alchemical formulas would also cost Deduction Value.

Cheng Buzheng perfected the Spirit Refining Thunder Prison Array and condensed Dao Seals for his remaining Treasure Arts. He concluded that future deductions would require Deduction Value and turned to cultivating toward the Golden Core Stage.

• Cheng Buzheng used Spirit Stones to deduce the Second-order Forbidden Restriction Array up to Second-order High-grade (Limit), then comprehended the Spirit Refining Thunder Prison Array.
• Cheng Buzheng tested further deduction and concluded that advancing beyond his current stage would require Deduction Value.
• Cheng Buzheng condensed Dao Seals for the Universe Flowing Light Escape, the Roaming Dragon Hundred Transformation Sword, and the Golden Glaze Body Protection Shield.
• Cheng Buzheng learned that he could not use the Heaven-Human Perception-Severing Method before reaching the Golden Core Stage because his soul could not withstand its Dao Seal.
• Cheng Buzheng sat down to cultivate and pursue the peak of the late Foundation Establishment stage.

A shopkeeper reported Cheng Buzheng’s improved Alchemical Formulas to his Golden Core Ancestor, who decided to pursue the Foundation Establishment cultivator and seize the formulas. After Cheng Buzheng’s puppets left Xuanfeng City, the Ancestor followed the No. 2 Puppet’s route, while Cheng Buzheng remained unaware of the danger.

• The shopkeeper visited the Ancestor and described the improved Alchemical Formulas and their potential profits.
• The shopkeeper revealed the Foundation Establishment cultivator’s appearance and admitted he had secretly marked one of the Spirit Stones.
• The Ancestor took the Jade Wall containing the marker’s location and learned the cultivator had left Xuanfeng City.
• After several days of selling formulas, Cheng Buzheng’s three puppets left the city in different directions with their pouches full of Spirit Stones.
• The Ancestor followed the marked trail toward the No. 2 Puppet, while Cheng Buzheng did not know danger was approaching.

Cheng Buzheng realized a Golden Core cultivator was tracking him and used a one-use Teleportation Array Disk to escape. The old man searched the area but failed to find him, leaving Cheng Buzheng’s pursuer uncertain of where he had gone.

• Cheng Buzheng tested the pursuer by changing course and confirmed that the old man in the Cyan Streamer was following him.
• Cheng Buzheng searched No. 3 Puppet for a tracking method but found nothing, then tossed dozens of Storage Bags away to slow the old man down.
• The old man abandoned the Storage Bags and accelerated after Cheng Buzheng, determined to kill him.
• Cheng Buzheng activated the Teleportation Array Disk and vanished as it shattered into fine sand.
• The old man searched the surrounding area with his Divine Sense, found no trace of Cheng Buzheng, and flew away.

Cheng Buzheng escaped a Golden Core True Person’s ambush by teleporting beneath the sea, then used a crystal mirror to confirm that the storage bags he had abandoned remained in place. He realized the old man was waiting to kill him if he returned for them, while the old man settled in to wait on a Qiao Rock for as long as necessary.

• Cheng Buzheng’s No. 2 Puppet appeared ten thousand zhang beneath the sea and used the Universe Flowing Light Escape to reach the surface.
• No. 3 Puppet changed its appearance, flew toward Xuanfeng Island, and waited half a day on a Qiao Rock.
• Cheng Buzheng checked the crystal mirror and saw that all twenty-three abandoned storage bags remained where he had left them, so he refused to retrieve them.
• Cheng Buzheng suspected that the Golden Core True Person was waiting among the bags and decided to hurry back to Xuanfeng Island to continue selling his Alchemical Formula.
• The Golden Core True Person revealed that he had emptied the storage bags and waited for Cheng Buzheng to return, then settled on a Qiao Rock when the junior did not appear.

Cheng Buzheng ended his journey selling improved Alchemical Formulas after finding them widely available and their prices collapsed, then traveled to Sea Suppressing City. There, he learned that Tong Lei had joined Demonic Thunder Valley and left the Endless Sea, though the Heavenly Dao Pursuit Order still put him at risk.

• Cheng Buzheng left Xuanfeng City and traveled through Immortal Alliance City toward Sea Suppressing City after his formula sales became unprofitable.
• A Sea Suppressing City shopkeeper instructed Xiao Han to check whether the shop already carried any Alchemical Formulas brought in by cultivators.
• Cheng Buzheng found that most shops in Sea Suppressing City stocked the improved formulas, so he abandoned plans to sell them on the Sea Suppressing Alliance's mid-sized islands.
• Cheng Buzheng learned that Tong Lei had become a disciple of a Nascent Soul True Lord from Demonic Thunder Valley and had left the Endless Sea.
• Golden Core True Persons who had pursued Tong Lei for the Nascent Soul Breaking Pill returned empty-handed, while Tong Lei remained vulnerable under the Heavenly Dao Pursuit Order.

After completing a mission in Immortal Alliance City, Cheng Buzheng received a message from the White Cloud Sect ordering him either to keep serving the Immortal Alliance or return to the sect. He weighed the cost of another long guard mission against losing his chance to earn enough Contribution Points for Purple Jade Marrow, then went to the Supervision Hall to send a message.

• Cheng Buzheng turned in his mission at the Guard Hall and received a special messaging Jade Slip from the Supervision Hall.
• Cheng Buzheng activated the Jade Slip with his White Cloud Sect Identity Token and learned that he must either continue taking Immortal Alliance missions or wait for the Heaven Escaping Boat back to his sect.
• Cheng Buzheng considered how another guard mission could earn enough Contribution Points for Purple Jade Marrow, while returning to the sect would end his chance to exchange for it.
• Cheng Buzheng decided to go to the Supervision Hall and entered its Spirit Message Hall.

Cheng Buzheng sent a message to his sect, then reforged one of his puppets into a Second-order High-grade Soul Puppet and used his puppets to secretly buy cultivation supplies in Immortal Alliance City. After checking his remaining Spirit Stones, he left for Xuanfeng City to obtain rare Spirit Medicine from the Treasure Pagoda.

• Cheng Buzheng sent a message to his sect and decided to continue undertaking missions within the Immortal Alliance.
• Cheng Buzheng reforged a puppet into a Second-order High-grade Soul Puppet in an Artifact Refining Chamber.
• Cheng Buzheng sent three puppets around Immortal Alliance City to buy Spirit Medicine and Desolate Beast materials without attracting attention.
• Cheng Buzheng recalled the puppets, checked his supplies and more than thirty-two million Spirit Stones, then left for Xuanfeng City.
• Cheng Buzheng visited the Treasure Pagoda in Xuanfeng City and returned toward the Teleportation Hall.

Cheng Buzheng returned to the Wang Family's hidden Teleportation Array and traveled from the Endless Sea to the Jin Kingdom. He left for home to see his elderly parents, who were nearing the human lifespan limit.

• Cheng Buzheng reached the desolate island where the Wang Family's hidden Teleportation Array was located and confirmed its Soul-Restricting Stones were not Spirit Jade God-Restricting Stones.
• Cheng Buzheng entered the underground plaza, collected the first-tier Soul Puppet, and reflected that his parents were now ninety-eight years old.
• Cheng Buzheng activated the Teleportation Array and traveled to the Wang Family Secret Realm's Teleportation Room.
• Cheng Buzheng replenished the Spirit Stones, exited the Secret Realm, disguised himself, and flew underground toward the Jin Kingdom.
• Cheng Buzheng emerged into the sky over the Jin Kingdom and continued toward his home while lower-level cultivators yielded to his oppressive aura.

Cheng Liu met Gao He, who returned his late father's belongings and invited him to explore a hidden Cave Mansion in Yue Kingdom. They agreed to wait two years, while Cheng Liu left the market remembering his family and the hardships he faced as a Rogue Cultivator.

• Gao He returned Cheng Liu's father's belongings and invited him to explore an Abandoned Mansion in Yue Kingdom.
• Cheng Liu asked to delay the expedition until he could prepare and improve his cultivation, and Gao He agreed to wait two years.
• Cheng Liu left the teahouse and recalled how his grandfather introduced him to cultivation and how he eventually reached the First Level of Qi Refining.
• Cheng Liu remembered that his Five Spiritual Roots had kept him and his father from joining a sect, and that his father's death had left him struggling without resources.
• Cheng Liu touched his father's storage bag and Magic Tool as he walked toward the market exit.

Cheng Liu reflected on his father’s suspicious death and decided to investigate Gao He while keeping an escape plan if the Cheng Family Lie Ancestor failed to return. He traveled back to Cheng Family Village, where Cheng Nian had prepared a secluded ancestral home for the clan.

• Cheng Liu recalled his father warning him to avoid Gao He, and explained that he was approaching Gao He to discover whether he had killed his father.
• Cheng Liu reasoned that he would only risk exploring the Abandoned Mansion if the Lie Ancestor returned within two years; otherwise, he planned to leave Green Spirit Market and investigate later.
• Cheng Liu used Wind Control Technique to travel without stopping until he reached the familiar outskirts of Cheng Family Village.
• Cheng Nian had bought adjoining houses and arranged a secluded manor for retired core family members, keeping the village’s ties to the county and prefectural branches secret.

Cheng Liu visited the Ancestral Land and tried to arrange a grand celebration for Cheng Jiang Shi and Cheng Hanzi’s hundredth birthdays, but they refused and spoke of their longing for Er Gou to return. The chapter ended with the two ancestors bickering over whether Cheng Hanzi should beat Er Gou when he came home.

• Cheng Liu hurried through the countryside to the village, where villagers greeted him and Cheng Er Zhu declined his wife’s suggestion to ask Cheng Liu for a city job.
• Cheng Liu visited the elders in the family compound, then asked Cheng Jiang Shi and Cheng Hanzi to let him celebrate their hundredth birthdays.
• Cheng Jiang Shi refused the celebration and said she only hoped to see Er Gou again before she died.
• Cheng Hanzi assured Cheng Jiang Shi that Er Gou would return, and the two elders threatened to scold and beat him for staying away.
• Cheng Jiang Shi objected to Cheng Hanzi’s plan to use his polished club on Er Gou, and the pair began bickering while Cheng Liu watched quietly.

Cheng Buzheng returned to Cheng Family Village and found his elderly parents alive, then reunited with them after decades apart. He promised his mother he would stay by her side, and she led him in to make his favorite dumplings.

• Cheng Buzheng flew over Cheng Family Village, saw that his family home had become three courtyard residences, and used his Divine Sense to inspect the village.
• Cheng Buzheng noticed his parents were alive and well, recognized the young cultivator Cheng Liu as a descendant using the Spell Technique he had left behind, and vanished from the sky.
• Cheng Jiang Shi spotted Cheng Buzheng in the courtyard, and he knelt before her and Cheng Hanzi to apologize for staying away.
• Cheng Buzheng promised Cheng Jiang Shi that he had returned to stay with her, and she embraced him and welcomed him home.
• Cheng Jiang Shi defended Cheng Buzheng when Cheng Hanzi picked up his wooden stick, then took her son inside to make pork dumplings while Cheng Liu realized why she always served him dumplings.

Cheng Buzheng reunited with his parents and shared a warm meal of his mother's dumplings, while Cheng Liu learned more about his Lie Ancestor's power. As Cheng Nian considered asking Cheng Buzheng for more immortal pills to help the family, Cheng Buzheng understood his intentions and remained willing to support his relatives.

• Cheng Jiang Shi served Cheng Buzheng dumplings, and he ate them despite the cultivation drawbacks of ordinary food.
• Cheng Buzheng took the extra dumplings from Cheng Liu's bowl so his great-grandson would not have to consume too many.
• After dinner, Cheng Buzheng told his parents stories about his years away, and Cheng Liu heard about the power and grandeur of the Endless Sea.
• Younger Cheng family members learned that the youthful-looking Cheng Buzheng was their ancestor, and Cheng Nian recalled that he had provided the family with an immortal book and pills.
• Cheng Nian rebuked his eldest son for wanting more pills and went toward his son's home, while Cheng Buzheng understood his plan and accepted that his family might seek his protection.