Chapter Summaries

After stabilizing his Golden Core, Feng Jun emerged to address damage to the Earth Vein and questions about Blood-Red Adept’s interference. He refused to trade away the tribulation site but offered eligible disciples a chance to sense its lingering aura, leaving the opportunity open until that night.

• Feng Jun ended his seclusion after eight days, summoned his companions back, and learned that Nie Chifeng had also stabilized her cultivation.
• Feng Jun discovered that the tribulation lightning had badly damaged the Earth Vein and wondered why Blood-Red Adept had interfered with his Core Embrace.
• Guyue and Yan Yuxi offered to exchange land for the tribulation site, but Feng Jun refused and said he needed to repair the Earth Vein.
• Feng Jun declined to let Adepts inspect the site because he had attained the Leakless Body, but allowed nearby disciples to experience the tribulation lightning aura.
• Feng Jun told Guyue that disciples arriving that night could participate if they left only footprints and took away only insight, and offered the Gongyang Clan’s juniors the same chance in exchange for a generous gift.

Feng Jun investigated Blood-Red Adept’s connection to the Yin Sha Sect after learning that the adept had interfered with his Core Embrace. Gongyang Youyu revealed that Yin Sha had obstructed others from hunting him, and the gathered sects argued over who would claim the adept’s head.

• Feng Jun asked who had alerted Blood-Red Adept to his plans, and Xia Nishang explained Red Phoenix Sect’s long-running pursuit of him.
• Gongyang Youyu revealed that Yin Sha had stopped a Gongyang Clan member from hunting Blood-Red Adept and that the adept had close ties to the sect.
• Feng Jun insisted that Blood-Red Adept had to die for interfering with his path and asked Xia Nishang not to compete for the kill.
• Guan Hongxiu said Yin Sha had probably ordered the interference, while Xia Nishang and Xiaomeng discussed how the sect might shelter the adept.
• Xiaomeng offered to have Red Phoenix Sect kill Blood-Red Adept, but Yue Qing and Guyue also claimed the task for their sects.

Feng Jun rejected offers to let others kill Blood-Red Adept, insisting he would settle the feud himself and uncover whether the Yin Sha Sect had targeted him as a whole. As sects and clans gathered at Liba Beach to study the lingering Tribulation Lightning aura, Feng Jun prepared to admit thousands of qualified cultivators.

• Gongyang Youqing and Yan Yuxi offered their clans' help against Blood-Red Adept, but Feng Jun said he wanted to deal with the enemy himself and investigate the Yin Sha Sect's role.
• Yan Yuxi agreed that anyone deliberately blocking Feng Jun's cultivation path deserved to be exterminated, and Feng Jun told the gathered leaders that capturing Blood-Red Adept alive would earn two slots.
• Feng Jun declined Supreme Clarity Sect's offer to repair his Earth Vein, saying he might bring over or contract an Earth Spirit instead.
• Supreme Clarity Sect and Red Phoenix sent more disciples to Liba Beach, followed by groups from Pine-Cypress Peak and Heavenheart Platform led by Ji Busheng.
• After midnight, Feng Jun opened the estate to more than five thousand cultivators who qualified to experience the faint Tribulation Lightning aura, while barring Qi Condensation Initial and middle-stage cultivators.

Feng Jun allowed Mei Yeyu to enter the area and meditate on the Tribulation Lightning aura despite the deadline, prompting a dispute over rules and authority at Liba Beach. Later, he refused entry to Heavenheart Platform disciples but offered them a Divination, and then noticed one of their cultivators was about to advance.

• Mei Jiushan supervised the cultivators meditating on the aura and discreetly woke a Pine-Cypress Peak cultivator whose meditation had become dangerous.
• Feng Jun permitted Mei Yeyu to enter after the deadline, and Mei Jiushan brought him inside despite Gongyang Youqing's objection.
• Guan Hongxiu defended Feng Jun's authority over Liba Beach, and Gongyang Youqing stopped arguing.
• Feng Jun refused Ji Busheng's request to admit Heavenheart Platform disciples but offered one Mid Emergence from Dust cultivator a Divination.
• Feng Jun isolated the aura of an Eighth Layer Heavenheart Platform disciple who was about to advance and told Mei Jiushan to find Ji Busheng.

Gan Xiang advanced to the Ninth Layer of Emergence from Dust after gaining insight from tribulation lightning, while Feng Jun continued stabilizing his cultivation. After emerging from seclusion, Feng Jun learned that Blood-Red Adept had killed himself rather than be captured, and he refused Xia Nishang’s request to buy Heavenly Fragrance Fruits because selling them carried significant karma.

• Ji Busheng protected Gan Xiang as he used the tribulation lightning aura to break through, and Gan Xiang advanced successfully in five days.
• Feng Jun used divination to determine when Gan Xiang could safely leave, and Ji Busheng took him to the Heavenheart Platform residence to stabilize his cultivation.
• After ten more days of seclusion, Feng Jun emerged and learned from Xia Nishang that Blood-Red Adept had died by suicide while being pursued.
• Guyue, Xia Nishang, Yue Qing, Gongyang Youyu, and their allies found Blood-Red Adept trapped by Yin Sha Sect, but he exploded his heavenly spirit and died before they could capture him.
• Feng Jun told Xia Nishang that Yi Jue had offered two Upper Spirit Stones per Heavenly Fragrance Fruit, but he had refused because selling the fruit would incur significant karma.

Feng Jun rejected Tiantong's offer to promote his Divination services across other planes, citing his preference to work only with Kun Hao and his concerns about safety. After Ji True Adept left, Huangfu True Adept asked whether he and Qi Yu True Adept could partner with Feng Jun to establish an Aura Attraction Reserve Center.

• Feng Jun refused Tiantong's proposal to advertise his Divination services and require an exclusive agreement.
• Feng Jun explained that he wanted to help Kun Hao and did not want attention from powerful cultivators on other planes.
• Huangfu True Adept asked whether Feng Jun's refusal stemmed from safety concerns, and Feng Jun described his poor treatment on the Sky-Qin Plane.
• Ji True Adept tried to persuade Feng Jun by offering Tiantong VIP recognition, but Feng Jun said he did not care about the status.
• After Ji True Adept left, Huangfu True Adept proposed that he and Qi Yu True Adept partner with Feng Jun to establish an Aura Attraction Reserve Center.

Feng Jun declined to become a channel for Huangfu True Adept and Qi Yu’s cauldron business, then discussed the Spirit Vein project and divinations with Guyue and Yue Qing. Yue Qing insisted that Azure Steel establish another Golden Core Earth Vein near Feng Jun’s estate, arguing that five Earth Veins could reinforce one another.

• Huangfu True Adept explained why he planned to cooperate with Qi Yu, and Feng Jun refused to direct customers to their cauldron business.
• Guyue discussed drawing in the Spirit Vein, and Feng Jun offered him seventy percent ownership while leaving the remaining shares to the other participants.
• Guyue asked whether Feng Jun had helped Heavenheart Platform cultivators advance and requested divinations for his Merit Honorees; Feng Jun said he would do so after returning with an Earth Spirit.
• Yue Qing gave Feng Jun Mirror Image Talismans, and Feng Jun accepted the Golden Core talisman in exchange for a future divination for Yue Qing’s junior brother.
• Yue Qing proposed establishing an Azure Steel Golden Core Earth Vein near Feng Jun’s estate and insisted that it would strengthen the other Earth Veins.

Feng Jun rejected Yan Yuxi’s offer of a Golden Core Soul-Substitution Puppet and directed her to negotiate Spirit Vein and business matters with Zhang Caixin and the others. Gongyang Youyu and Gongyang Youqing brought him Blood-Red Adept’s remains, and Feng Jun confirmed the adept’s Golden Core showed signs of harvesting before questioning how he escaped the Tribulation Lightning.

• Feng Jun told Yan Yuxi that the Soul-Substitution Puppet was more useful to her and suggested she seek Golden Core Stage Mirror Image Talismans instead.
• Yan Yuxi described her business dealings with Zhang Caixin and the others, including their land speculation arrangement, and Feng Jun advised her to discuss future terms with them.
• Yan Yuxi kept the puppet for the time being, saying she would give it to Feng Jun if she could not find Mirror Image Talismans.
• Gongyang Youyu and Gongyang Youqing brought Blood-Red Adept’s heads, corpse, and cracked Golden Core to Feng Jun.
• Feng Jun confirmed Blood-Red Adept’s body was original and identified the Golden Core as impure from harvesting, then wondered how the adept had escaped the Tribulation Lightning.

After completing Core Embrace, Feng Jun discussed Blood-Red Adept’s apparent control by the Yin Sha Sect with the Gongyang siblings and agreed to involve Red Phoenix in seeking justice. Ji Busheng then thanked Feng Jun and explained why Carefree Platform had been included in the spirit vein construction project.

• Feng Jun completed Core Embrace but suffered a small karmic backlash because Blood-Red Adept had not fully borne the tribulation lightning.
• Feng Jun speculated that a secret art had controlled Blood-Red Adept and detonated his crown, and Gongyang Youyu and Gongyang Youqing agreed the theory was possible.
• Gongyang Youyu proposed capturing Yin Sha True Adepts for Soul Searches, while Feng Jun offered to share the suspicion with Red Phoenix and support its pursuit of justice.
• Gongyang Youyu promised to inform Red Phoenix and said the Gongyang Clan would help capture Yin Sha members.
• Ji Busheng visited Feng Jun, thanked Gan Xiang, and explained that he had brought Carefree Platform into the spirit vein project because he wanted more platforms involved.

Ji Busheng invited Carefree Platform to join the Spirit Vein construction at Liba Beach, and Master Yan received a Divination token from Feng Jun but refused to sell it. Elder Qingya arrived after Feng Jun had left to deliver invitations for a Core Embrace celebration, and she waited at his estate.

• Ji Busheng chose Carefree Platform to participate, but the platform sent Emergence from Dust Adepts before its Golden Core representative arrived.
• Feng Jun welcomed Master Yan, gave him a token for a free Divination, and asked Jiushan to invite him over.
• Master Yan visited Tiantong Courtyard, where a Gongyang Clan cultivator offered to buy the token, but Master Yan refused to sell it.
• Elder Qingya arrived at Liba Beach and learned that Feng Jun had disappeared again.
• Mei Jiushan told Qingya that Feng Jun had gone to deliver invitations for a Core Embrace celebration.

Feng Jun returned to Luo Hua and achieved Core Embrace, then spent the rainy night telling Yang Yuxin about his past victory over Blood-Red Adept. His breakthrough left Luo Hua celebrating and the Daoist Orders scrambling to confirm that a Golden Core cultivator had appeared in the End of Dharma Era.

• Feng Jun told Yang Yuxin that he had achieved Core Embrace and promised to help her live into four digits.
• Feng Jun recounted how he had outwitted Blood-Red Adept, while Yang Yuxin listened and thought about his promise.
• Yu Qingzhu and Zhang Caixin sensed Feng Jun's powerful Divine Sense and realized he had achieved Core Embrace.
• Yu Qingzhu, Zhang Caixin, and Red Sister went to the Bamboo Forest to tell Gazi and the Little Celestial Master, but Zhang Caixin refused Shen Qingyi's request to visit Feng Jun.
• Good Scenery spread news of Feng Jun's breakthrough, prompting calls from Daoist Orders and leading the Jade Kun Sect Master to ask Shen Qingyi about his tribulation lightning.

Feng Jun decided to leave his Golden Core celebration to Cai Xin and the others while he focused on transporting supplies between Blue Star and Kun Hao. A month later, the celebration began across two venues, as his companions advanced in cultivation and the Daoist Order gathered to mark the new Golden Core cultivator.

• Lin Beauty ordered an investigation into the lightning and unusual electromagnetic phenomena surrounding Feng Jun's tribulation, partly to push back against those pressuring her team.
• Feng Jun decided not to attend his Golden Core celebration and asked Cai Xin and the others to handle it while he supported them behind the scenes.
• Feng Jun continued transporting industrial goods to Kun Hao and helping his companions cultivate, while Zhang Caixin, the Little Celestial Master, Red Sister, Teacher Mei, Yang Yuxin, and Zhong Lijing advanced.
• Zhang Caixin encouraged Liang Siyu to build a relationship with Gao Qiang, and Feng Jun raised the Spirit-Gathering Formation levels in the Bamboo Forest and rear courtyard.
• Feng Jun's celebration opened at Luo Hua and the Cultivation Courtyard, with nearly a hundred guests at the main venue and more than three hundred at the secondary venue; Yu Kun attended despite feeling uneasy about meeting a Golden Core cultivator.

Feng Jun hosted a gathering where he lectured on Core Embrace, and Yu Kun Adept was astonished by Luo Hua’s cultivation conditions and the rapid progress of its disciples. After reflecting on how isolated he felt at Golden Core, Feng Jun spoke with Ma Sanniang, who asked why he had invited Yu Kun Daoist.

• Yu Kun Adept and his small delegation arrived at Luo Hua and marveled at the Cultivation Courtyard’s spiritual energy.
• Feng Jun lectured on Core Embrace, leaving Yu Kun Adept exhausted as he tried to memorize the principles.
• Yu Kun Adept noticed Zhang Caixin and other Luo Hua cultivators had advanced rapidly, and wondered whether Luo Hua had found a time-accelerating Secret Realm.
• Feng Jun distributed gifts and purchase requests, then spoke with young disciples at the Cultivation Courtyard before withdrawing to the rooftop.
• Ma Sanniang joined Feng Jun on the rooftop, and they discussed his loneliness at Golden Core and the burdens of supporting Luo Hua.
• Ma Sanniang asked Feng Jun what he intended by inviting Yu Kun Daoist, given the longstanding grudge between Cinnabar Cloud Heaven and Jade Ruins.

Feng Jun explained that Luo Hua would not attack Jade Ruins or expand within Xia Nation, while warning that he would not tolerate anyone obstructing his ambitions. When Dong Zenghong openly asked whether Luo Hua was connected to a Small World, Feng Jun said the others were not yet strong enough to know the truth.

• Feng Jun told Ma Sanniang that he had used his Golden Core aura to warn Jade Ruins against obstructing Luo Hua, but rejected her suggestion to destroy the sect preemptively.
• Feng Jun said Luo Hua would not expand domestically or establish more overseas Daoist Temples because it had better directions for development.
• Dong Zenghong gathered the guests and asked Feng Jun whether Luo Hua's large-scale purchases and oil production were connected to a Small World.
• Feng Jun considered how Luo Hua's purchases, donations, and medical services had earned Xia Nation's support despite growing scrutiny.
• Feng Jun told Dong Zenghong that the time was not right to reveal everything because the others lacked the strength to understand it.

Feng Jun warned the Daoist Order not to covet Luo Hua’s dangerous secret resource and returned to the Kunhao Realm to handle trade and cultivation matters. At Liba Beach, he brought an Earth Spirit to help repair the Golden Core Earth Vein, but balked when it demanded fifteen million Spirit Stones to draw out a Spirit Vein.

• Feng Jun told the Daoist Order that his dangerous resource was not theirs to claim, and Dong Zenghong urged everyone to focus on improving their own strength.
• Yu Qingzhu advanced to the Second Layer Qi Refining, and Feng Jun took the group to the Kunhao Realm, leaving Little Celestial Master, Red Sister, and Zhang Caixin at Pacify Arms Mountain to finish the transactions.
• Feng Jun explained that he valued helping ordinary people, then returned to Pacify Arms Mountain with Mei Jiushan to guard the three women while he handled business in the Mortal World.
• At Liba Beach, Guyue recognized the yellow hamster as an Earth Spirit, and Feng Jun said it was sulking.
• The Earth Spirit demanded four hundred thousand Spirit Stones to repair the Golden Core Earth Vein and fifteen million to draw out a Spirit Vein, prompting Feng Jun to protest the price.

After achieving Core Embrace, Feng Jun confronted the Earth Spirit over its exorbitant demands, while Guyue suggested frightening contracts to force it into cooperation. Feng Jun then retrieved the Big Shot from Coastal Market, where it sensed the dangers of his tribulation and scolded him for risking his life over karmic entanglements.

• Feng Jun threatened to change his contract with the Earth Spirit after it demanded fifteen million despite his advancement to Golden Core.
• Guyue listed Supreme Clarity Sect contracts for controlling Earth Spirits, and the terrified Earth Spirit clung to Feng Jun’s leg when he mentioned the Nine Dragons Controlling Water Contract.
• Guyue suggested borrowing an Earth Spirit from the Upper Sect, and Feng Jun said he might kill the Earth Spirit and replace it.
• Feng Jun remembered he had left the Big Shot at Coastal Market and went to retrieve it while searching for Yin Soul Stones.
• The Big Shot sensed the destructive aura left by Feng Jun’s World-Destroying Tribulation Lightning and became angry that Feng Jun had risked his life and become entangled in karma.
• Feng Jun defended his choices and told the Big Shot that cultivation had no right or wrong, only results.

Feng Jun brought the Big Shot back to Liba Beach and discussed his Core Embrace tribulation, his Spirit Stones, and how to punish the Earth Spirit. The Big Shot gave him contract secret arts to help him protect himself, then reacted with surprise to the damage left by the tribulation.

• Feng Jun told the Big Shot that he had endured World-Destroying Tribulation Lightning and explained how his Core Embrace had gone.
• The Big Shot asked about Blood-Red Adept’s corpse, then argued with Feng Jun over Spirit Stones and the Earth Spirit’s demand for fifteen million.
• Feng Jun considered changing the Earth Spirit’s contract, and the Big Shot recommended a Spirit Seizure Contract while giving him more than a dozen contract secret arts.
• Feng Jun took the Big Shot to the manor at Liba Beach, where the Big Shot recognized the damage from Samsara Tribulation Lightning and hid.

Feng Jun showed the Earth Spirit to visitors and agreed to let Xia Nishang take Blood-Red Adept’s corpse so Red Phoenix could investigate his death. He then revealed that he planned to replace his old contract with the Earth Spirit, shocking Yan Yuxi by choosing a Spirit Seizure Contract.

• Xia Nishang asked Feng Jun for Blood-Red Adept’s corpse so Red Phoenix could investigate the suspected involvement of Yin Sha Sect, and Feng Jun agreed.
• Yan Yuxi asked whether Zhang Caixin had advanced and wanted to discuss spirit vein shares, so Feng Jun introduced Yu Qingzhu to negotiate until Zhang Caixin returned.
• Yan Yuxi recognized Yu Qingzhu’s exceptional physique, and Feng Jun said he would sign a new contract with the Earth Spirit because the existing cross-realm contract was unsatisfactory.
• Yan Yuxi learned that Feng Jun had contracted the Earth Spirit while at the Emergence from Dust Stage and asked whether he planned to use an Embryonic Armament-Nurturing Contract.
• Feng Jun said he would first try a Spirit Seizure Contract, and Yan Yuxi was astonished that he knew a Seizing-Character contract.

Feng Jun rejected the Earth Spirit’s attempts to bargain down its fee and replaced their contract with a Spirit-Seizure Contract. Meanwhile, Carefree Platform arranged to join the Liba Beach Earth-Vein project, and the Earth Spirit began repairing Feng Jun’s vein under the new contract.

• Feng Jun reminded Yan Yuxi that the Earth Spirit had once demanded fifteen million Spirit Stones, and Yan Yuxi realized it had been trying to exploit them.
• Ji Busheng planned for Heavenheart Platform to become the fifth dragon in the Five Dragons Probing the Sea formation, while Qingya True Adept proposed that Carefree Platform share the final Earth-Vein project.
• Feng Jun agreed to give Carefree Platform land and allow a Six Harmonies formation, but advised its disciples to buy nearby plots for longer stays.
• Feng Jun took the Earth Spirit to a grove, canceled their old contract, and bound it with a Spirit-Seizing Secret Art.
• Feng Jun ordered the Earth Spirit to repair his Earth Vein and sensed its hidden plan to do only minimal work, reasoning that the contract covered all its abilities.

After Earth Spirit secretly repaired the Earth Vein without consulting him, Feng Jun used Spirit Seizure and Divine Soul Punishment to show it the consequences of acting without permission. Earth Spirit agreed to cooperate and offered to help set up Earth Veins for several Golden Cores.

• Feng Jun confronted Earth Spirit about spending only 10,200 Spirit Stones on repairs despite its earlier quote of 400,000, and reprimanded it for not consulting him about improving the Earth Vein.
• Earth Spirit admitted it had acted alone because it thought Feng Jun wanted to save Spirit Stones, and Feng Jun seized 10,000 units of its spiritual energy to demonstrate his ability.
• When Earth Spirit wailed and pretended to suffer, Feng Jun used Divine Soul Punishment for five minutes and warned that future seizures could take at least 100,000 units.
• Earth Spirit asked how to avoid further Spirit Seizure, and Feng Jun told it to cooperate honestly and do its assigned work.
• Earth Spirit agreed to help Feng Jun set up a Six Harmonies Earth Vein combination for several Golden Cores.