Chapter Summaries

Wu Tao advanced his Bone-Shifting and Shape-Changing Technique, confirming it could alter his appearance and aura, and continued improving his cultivation. While shopping with Chen Yao, he reunited with Shopkeeper Yu and Jin Ke, who were astonished by how much he had changed.

• Wu Tao practiced the Bone-Shifting and Shape-Changing Technique until it reached the proficient level and found he could preliminarily change his aura.
• Wu Tao disguised himself, tested the technique by visiting the Mystic Origin Magic Tool Shop, and bought a First-Rank Level 4 Spirit-Absorbing Robe without Chen Yao recognizing him.
• Another month passed as Wu Tao’s cultivation and skills improved; he planned to enter the nearby wilderness to feed the hungry Soul-Eating Bug.
• Wu Tao took Chen Yao shopping and ran into Shopkeeper Yu and Jin Ke, who were surprised by his transformation since their last meeting.

Wu Tao reunited with Shopkeeper Yu, collected the Filth Crystal he had previously sold, and traveled through the rebuilt outer city. After failing to find Zhang Li at the Pavilion of Ten Thousand Beauties, he hurried toward the wilderness before nightfall.

• Wu Tao explained to Shopkeeper Yu that he had been living in the inner city with his master, and they settled their past disagreement over the Filth Crystal.
• Shopkeeper Yu offered to return the Filth Crystal, and Wu Tao agreed to collect it from the outer-city shop the next day.
• Wu Tao left for the outer city after Chen Yao warned him to be careful, then collected the Filth Crystal from Shopkeeper Yu and paid five mid-grade spirit stones.
• Wu Tao visited the Pavilion of Ten Thousand Beauties to look for Zhang Li but learned she had not returned.
• Wu Tao left to explore the wilderness, hoping to reach it before nightfall.

Wu Tao ventured thirty miles into the wilderness, killing demonic beasts with his spear and Soul-Eating Bugs while carefully limiting his exposure to danger. As he turned back toward the city, he was drawn into a fight with three Qi Refining cultivators and blasted the fleeing female cultivator apart.

• Wu Tao used his Three-Pointed Great Spear to kill a green snake, then sent his Soul-Eating Bugs ahead as he continued into the wilderness.
• Wu Tao and his Soul-Eating Bugs killed a family of three Steel-Bristled Pigs, and he roasted them for lunch behind the Three Extremes Water and Fire Sword Formation.
• Wu Tao stopped at thirty miles and prepared to return to the city, but encountered a bloodied female cultivator fleeing from two Male Cultivators.
• Wu Tao tried to escape, but the female cultivator chased him and claimed she would share a supreme treasure if he helped her.
• Wu Tao pretended to agree, then attacked the female cultivator with his Three-Pointed Great Spear and blasted her body apart.

Wu Tao killed three rogue cultivators who had attacked an injured woman, then hurried home while concealing evidence that his Soul-Eating Bugs were responsible for the deaths. The next day, he searched the woman’s belongings and discovered a fifty-year-old Vermilion Fruit.

• Wu Tao blasted the female cultivator apart with his Dragon Spear Body Tempering Art, while his Soul-Eating Bugs devoured the divine souls of the two male cultivators chasing her.
• Wu Tao collected the cultivators’ belongings, destroyed the evidence, and used his Soul-Eating Bugs to kill a pack of Bone-Swallowing Rats on his way back to the Inner City.
• Wu Tao returned home to Chen Yao, ate with her, and spent the evening cultivating and playing with her.
• Wu Tao examined the female cultivator’s storage bag and found one hundred and twenty mid-grade spirit stones.
• Wu Tao recognized the fiery-red fruit in the storage bag as a fifty-year-old Vermilion Fruit.

Wu Tao refined a fifty-year-old Vermilion Fruit, advancing his Sanyang Technique and weighing when he could safely confront Manager Wang. Three months later, he let his Soul-Eating Bugs feed on a demonic beast in the wilderness.

• Wu Tao assessed the Vermilion Fruit and other loot from the female cultivator and two male cultivators, then decided not to risk traveling deep into Luoqiu Ridge.
• Wu Tao refined the Vermilion Fruit overnight, raising his Sanyang Technique progress from 20% to 60% and saving four months of cultivation.
• Wu Tao judged that he could kill a Qi Refining Layer 7 rogue cultivator but postponed confronting Manager Wang until he reached Qi Refining Layer 7 and completed Organ Refining.
• Three months later, Wu Tao commanded his Soul-Eating Bugs to feed on a first-rank intermediate demonic beast in the wilderness.

Over three months, Wu Tao hunted demonic beasts and survived attacks from rogue cultivators while steadily improving his cultivation and skills. As he pushed deeper into the wilderness, a first-rank advanced demonic beast suddenly attacked him.

• Wu Tao collected the carcass of a demonic beast after his soul-eating bug devoured its soul, continuing his routine of selling the remains.
• Wu Tao reflected on how his invisible soul-eating bugs had killed rogue cultivators who tried to rob him, though he avoided initiating fights himself.
• Wu Tao checked his status and estimated that he was one month from breaking through to Qi Refining Layer 7, with organ refining nearing completion.
• Wu Tao deployed the Three Extremes Water and Fire Sword Formation as an escape route before advancing toward the sixty-mile mark.
• Wu Tao killed a first-rank low-level snake demon with his spear, took its gallbladder, and swallowed it.
• Wu Tao heard a beast roar and sensed a fierce attack, realizing that a first-rank advanced demonic beast had appeared.

Wu Tao encountered a peak Tier 1 Advanced bear demonic beast in the wilderness and killed it by drawing it into his Three Extremes Water and Fire Sword Formation while his Soul-Eating Bugs attacked its soul. He secured the valuable corpse and kept the formation active in case other cultivators came to claim it.

• The bear demonic beast shattered Wu Tao’s mortal Three-Pointed Great Spear, so he switched to his Wind and Thunder Spear and ordered his Soul-Eating Bugs to attack its soul.
• Unable to overpower the bear head-on, Wu Tao fled toward his Three Extremes Water and Fire Sword Formation while the bugs gnawed at the beast and he recovered Qi with pills.
• Wu Tao activated the formation and, after spending four bottles of Qi Recovery Pills, killed the bear demonic beast.
• Wu Tao left the formation running to deter nearby cultivators, recalled his well-fed Soul-Eating Bugs, and recognized the bear’s hide and meat as valuable spoils.

Wu Tao sold the meat and blood from a bear monster he had hunted, earning 615 Mid-Grade Spirit Stones while keeping his identity concealed. After nearly a month of cultivation, he broke through to Qi Refining Layer 7.

• Wu Tao processed the bear monster, returned to the Cultivation City, and sold its meat under his alias Hong Ru to Shopkeeper Feng for 435 Mid-Grade Spirit Stones.
• Wu Tao sold the monster blood to a talisman shop for over 180 Mid-Grade Spirit Stones, then changed back into his original appearance and went home.
• Wu Tao had Chen Yao cook some of the bear meat without revealing that he had hunted the monster himself.
• Over the next twenty-nine days, Wu Tao ventured into the wilderness four times but stayed within sixty miles and planned to wait for his breakthrough before going farther.
• Wu Tao refined a Purple Spirit Pill and shattered the Qi Refining Layer 7 bottleneck, reaching Qi Refining Layer 7.

After reaching Qi Refining level seven, Wu Tao refined an Azure Shadow Flying Sword and traveled into the wilderness to test his new ability to fly. He mastered sword flight and killed an attacking Green Falcon, then reminded himself to keep a lower profile.

• Wu Tao broke through to Qi Refining level seven, gained six years of lifespan, and confirmed his spiritual sense reached one hundred meters.
• Wu Tao refined the First-Rank Level 7 Azure Shadow Flying Sword and planned to test it outside the no-fly zone.
• Three days later, Wu Tao disguised himself and left the west outer city, killed an attacking snake with a fireball, and released the Soul-Eating Bug for protection.
• Wu Tao tested lifting himself through the air, found it costly, then rode the Azure Shadow Flying Sword and learned to control his flight.
• A Green Falcon demonic beast attacked Wu Tao, and he killed it with the Wind and Thunder Spear while flying on his sword.
• Wu Tao was splattered with the beast's remains and descended, deciding he needed to keep a lower profile.

Wu Tao prepared to collect the twenty low-grade spirit stones Manager Wang had taken from him, a debt that had haunted him for years. He reassured Chen Yao that he would return safely, then set his resolve on confronting the Azure Spirit Sect disciple.

• Wu Tao returned to the city with his still-hungry Soul-Eating Bugs and shared a peaceful meal with Chen Yao.
• After cultivating, Wu Tao estimated that progress in late-stage Qi Refining would take longer, while Chen Yao said she expected to reach the Fourth Level within three months.
• Wu Tao told Chen Yao he would close the shop and go reclaim the twenty low-grade spirit stones from Manager Wang.
• Wu Tao explained that Manager Wang's connection to the Azure Spirit Sect made the trip dangerous, so he would go alone using the Bone-Shifting and Shape-Changing Technique.
• Wu Tao recounted his history with Manager Wang and vowed that he would not let anyone take what belonged to him; Chen Yao agreed to wait at home for his safe return.

Wu Tao prepared to leave for a month and tested whether his disguise could fool Five Spring Mountain’s Spell Mirror. He then rented a room in East Outer City and settled in to wait quietly for his next move.

• Wu Tao and Chen Yao tidied their shop before closing it, and Gu Mingsheng and Li Feiyao visited to discuss their coming child and the difficulties facing rogue cultivators.
• Wu Tao bought a month’s supply of spirit rice and fruit, closed the shop, and left after Chen Yao promised to wait for his return.
• Wu Tao disguised himself with the Bone-Shifting and Shape-Changing Technique and confirmed that the Spell Mirror at the Wuquan Office did not expose him.
• Wu Tao went to East Outer City, rented a room on Crimson Glaze Street under a false identity, and set up a Soundproof Anti-Peeping Formation.

Wu Tao waited in the East Outer City for a miner from the Azure Spirit Sect mine while posing as the poor rogue cultivator Zhou Fan, and tempered his body until he completed organ refining. He finally met a former miner, who confirmed that Manager Wang still ran the mine shafts, and Wu Tao learned that Wang had recently flown out of the mine on a flying sword.

• Wu Tao rented a room beside a cultivator who entertained miners and planned to wait for a chance to learn about the Azure Spirit Sect mine.
• He took work at a talisman workshop, doing menial tasks for three low-grade spirit stones a month while continuing his body tempering.
• After a month, Wu Tao completed organ refining and decided to wait three more days for a miner before returning to Chen Yao.
• Wu Tao recognized the mine scent on a middle-aged rogue cultivator and said he had once worked in the Ding District Mine Tunnel.
• The miner confirmed that Manager Wang still managed the mine shafts and said he had seen Wang fly out of the mine on a flying sword.

Wu Tao ambushed Manager Wang on his return to the Azure Spirit Sect mine to reclaim the spirit stones Wang owed him. He killed Wang with his sword formation and Soul-Eating Bug, then took Wang’s storage bag and flying sword.

• Wu Tao learned Manager Wang had left the mine and set a trap along the route back, using the Three Extremes Water and Fire Sword Formation and the Soul-Eating Bug.
• Manager Wang handed over the mine’s ores and account books to Senior Brother Liu, bribed him with spirit stones, and later flew back toward the mine.
• Wu Tao confronted Manager Wang and revealed his identity, but Wang refused to recognize him and attacked with his flying sword.
• Wu Tao deflected Wang’s sword, then trapped him in the formation when Wang tried to flee.
• The Soul-Eating Bug attacked Wang’s divine soul, and the formation destroyed his body; Wu Tao collected Wang’s storage bag and flying sword.

After killing Manager Wang and evading suspicion, Wu Tao returned to Chen Yao and searched the Azure Spirit Sect disciple’s storage bag. He found a large haul of spirit stones and Azure Spirit Pills, along with a familiar object whose identity was left unrevealed.

• Wu Tao cleaned up the traces of the battle, took Manager Wang’s storage bag, and changed disguises repeatedly on his way back to the West Inner City.
• Wu Tao returned home, where Chen Yao joyfully welcomed him after a month of worrying about his dangerous task.
• Wu Tao discovered the storage bag bore the Azure Spirit Sect’s logo, making it too risky to use or sell openly.
• Wu Tao counted 321 mid-grade spirit stones and set aside twenty low-grade spirit stones as repayment of Manager Wang’s debt.
• Wu Tao found three bottles of Azure Spirit Pills and moved them into his own storage bag.
• Wu Tao sensed a familiar object inside Manager Wang’s storage bag and remarked that it had returned to him.

Wu Tao found Chen Quanshou’s jade slip and the Azure Spirit Sword Scripture in Wang Fu’s storage bag, then decided to study the sect spell while keeping it secret. After inventorying the spoils and eating with Chen Yao, he stopped her from taking a Purple Spirit Pill, saying he had better spiritual medicine.

• Wu Tao found Chen Quanshou’s jade slip in Wang Fu’s storage bag and suspected it had been taken after Chen Quanshou died in the Foundation Establishment Pill Battle.
• Wu Tao discovered Wang Fu’s transcript of the Azure Spirit Sword Scripture and chose to cultivate it discreetly despite the risks of using an Azure Spirit Sect spell.
• Wu Tao inventoried Wang Fu’s storage bag, kept useful items, and avoided the sect-standard flying sword and shield to prevent suspicion.
• Wu Tao ate dinner with Chen Yao, who suggested they cultivate together and prepared to take a Purple Spirit Pill.
• Wu Tao stopped Chen Yao and told her he had better spiritual medicine.

Wu Tao and Chen Yao tested the Azure Spirit Pills Manager Wang had given them, then used them to cultivate and returned to their magic tool shop. Wu Tao went to Prosperous Splendor Street to buy refining materials, uneasy because of the dangers he had encountered there before.

• Wu Tao had Chen Yao test the Azure Spirit Pills on a Bone-Swallowing Rat, and they confirmed the pills were safe.
• Wu Tao and Chen Yao cultivated with the Azure Spirit Pills, which helped Wu Tao and gave Chen Yao hope of reaching the fourth level of Qi Refining.
• Wu Tao and Chen Yao reopened their shop on Tranquility Street, where Shopkeeper Qian and Shopkeeper Wang asked after them.
• Wu Tao found that he lacked materials for crafting the shop’s best-selling magic tools, so he headed to Lin Xinquan’s shop on Prosperous Splendor Street.
• Wu Tao felt nervous as he recalled the robbers and Soul-Eating Bugs he had encountered on Prosperous Splendor Street.

Wu Tao visited Lin Xinquan’s Spirit Material Shop, where Lin invited him to attend the Black Market in five days to seek Five Qi Pills. After returning safely to his shop, Wu Tao refined artifacts and began slowly wearing away the restriction on a jade slip.

• Lin Xinquan welcomed Wu Tao back and invited him to the Black Market, explaining that Five Spring Mountain secretly ran it and that Wu Tao qualified to enter.
• Wu Tao accepted Lin Xinquan’s invitation to go to the Black Market in five days, while resolving to remain cautious.
• Wu Tao returned safely to the Mystic Origin Magic Tool Shop, bought spiritual materials, and spent the morning refining artifacts.
• Wu Tao cultivated in the afternoon and decided to spend only half an hour each day breaking the restriction on a jade slip.
• Wu Tao used his Divine Sense and Spiritual Power on the jade slip and sensed how powerful a Foundation Establishment Cultivator’s restriction was.

Wu Tao continued cultivating and refining his marrow while preparing to visit the black market with Lin Xinquan. Lin Xinquan brought him to a concealed entrance beside a Wuquan Mountain residence, where Wu Tao stood before the stone gate leading to the true black market.

• Wu Tao stopped trying to break the jade slip’s restriction and began studying the Azure Spirit Sword Scripture instead.
• Wu Tao entered the marrow refining stage, which required more costly herbs, and continued his steady cultivation.
• On the agreed night, Wu Tao met Lin Xinquan at his spirit material shop and put on robes and masks that concealed their auras and identities.
• Lin Xinquan led Wu Tao to a courtyard beside the residence of Wuquan Mountain’s Foundation Establishment cultivators and explained that the sect’s disciples ran the black market.
• After Lin Xinquan presented his nameplate and sponsored Wu Tao’s entry, the two descended through a hidden passage to a stone gate that opened into the true black market.

Wu Tao followed Lin Xinquan into an underground black market, received an access token, and attended an underground trade fair. The fair’s host arrived and revealed that he had dozens of Five Qi Pills to trade.

• Lin Xinquan used his access token to open the stone gate and led Wu Tao into the underground black market.
• Lin Xinquan helped Wu Tao obtain an access token and explained that anyone with a recommender could enter, regardless of whether they belonged to the righteous or demonic side.
• Lin Xinquan led Wu Tao through a shop and secret passage to the underground trade fair, where they took seats among the gathered cultivators.
• A black-robed figure called Fellow Daoist Mu arrived, and the cultivators greeted him as the fair’s host and the holder of the Five Qi Pills.
• Fellow Daoist Mu announced that he would trade the Five Qi Pills and brought dozens of jade bottles out of his storage bag.

At a secret trading fair, Wu Tao recognized that the Five Qi Pills being sold were substandard but kept quiet and did not buy any. As the fair opened for personal trades, he saw a coffin for sale, and the coffin nail in his Sea of Divine Sense urged him to acquire it.

• The Black-Robed Cloaked Figure passed around Five Qi Pills, and Wu Tao noticed their quality was inferior to the Azure Spirit Pill.
• The Black-Robed Cloaked Figure priced the pills at two hundred mid-grade spirit stones per bottle, and thirteen cultivators bought them.
• Lin Xinquan subtly signaled Wu Tao not to purchase the pills, and Wu Tao remained still as the other cultivators traded.
• Lin Xinquan invited Wu Tao to lay out items for sale as the trading fair began.
• A black-robed cultivator displayed a coffin, and Wu Tao felt the coffin nail in his Sea of Divine Sense urge him to acquire it.