Chapter Summaries

Yue Qing tested Feng Jun’s curse formation with one of his own hairs, then secretly copied the formation to experiment on an arrow dragon. The trial left him wondering whether he could make the formation work, while Feng Jun insisted Yue Qing first confirm its effect within three days.

• Sun Rongxun and Dong Qianjun accepted Yue Qing’s arrangement and used a cable connected to iron plates to improve their poison-transmitting cultivation.
• Feng Jun showed Yue Qing the completed curse formation, and Yue Qing activated it with an eyebrow hair before attempting Divination.
• Yue Qing became absorbed in studying the formation, but his Divination produced no result; Feng Jun warned him not to reveal or casually experiment with the method.
• Yue Qing returned to his Traveling Residence, used spare materials to reproduce the formation, and placed an arrow dragon’s scale inside to test it.
• Yue Qing discovered that copying the seemingly simple formation was far more difficult than he had expected.

Yue Qing tested Feng Jun’s curse formation and continued investigating its effects, while Nie Chifeng began to suspect Feng Jun might advise her about Core Embrace. The chapter ended with Nie Chifeng and Sun Rongxun fighting as Qu Jianlei and Xiaomeng watched over Feng Jun.

• Yue Qing detected faint stagnation in his internal qi and asked Feng Jun for three more days to test the formation, and Feng Jun agreed in exchange for the test data.
• Dong Qianjun and Sun Rongxun cultivated at Feng Jun’s Traveling Residence, and Nie Chifeng questioned why Sun Rongxun was helping an outsider instead of recuperating.
• Sun Rongxun hinted that Nie Chifeng should watch, listen, and think before speaking, prompting Nie Chifeng to angrily ask Qu Jianlei to guard Feng Jun while she dealt with something.
• Qu Jianlei and Xiaomeng speculated about Yue Qing’s interest in Feng Jun and discussed the Supreme Clarity Sect’s reluctance to share its Earth Veins books.
• Xiaomeng pointed out that Nie Chifeng and Sun Rongxun were fighting.

Feng Jun and Yue Qing tested a curse formation and arranged for Yue Qing to use it against Feng True Adept near Bewitching Soul Forest. Meanwhile, Nie Chifeng learned that Sun Rongxun had a chance at Core Embrace through Feng Jun’s help and asked Sun Rongxun to seek a divination about her own prospects.

• Nie Chifeng fought Sun Rongxun, realized her strength had declined, and wondered why Sun Rongxun had held back.
• Feng Jun refused to advance on his plane, citing the danger posed by a powerful figure there, and urged the Big Shot to wait for Yue Qing’s results.
• Yue Qing confirmed the curse formation could affect Nascent Soul True Immortals without triggering defenses, then took its array plate to use near Bewitching Soul Forest against Feng True Adept.
• Nie Chifeng asked Xiaomeng True Adept whether Guan Hongxiu still had a chance at Core Embrace and learned Feng Jun had designed a cultivation method for her.
• Nie Chifeng invited Sun Rongxun for a drink and asked her to get Feng Jun to divine Nie Chifeng’s chances of Core Embrace, offering to agree to any request.

Sun Rongxun refused to ask Feng Jun for a divination on Nie Chifeng’s behalf, while Yue Qing returned after securing the Curse Formation and planned an Azure Steel Sect annex. Feng Jun arranged for Tiantong to build formations at Liba Beach, paid a costly deposit, and River Wanderer hinted that he had a divination job for him.

• Sun Rongxun rejected Nie Chifeng’s request, and Nie Chifeng asked Qu Jianlei what it might cost to have Feng Jun divine a path to Core Embrace.
• Yue Qing returned to Liba Beach after observing and concealing the Curse Formation, then discussed establishing an Azure Steel Sect annex and cultivation divinations with Feng Jun.
• Kong Ziyi informed Feng Jun that the Earth Vein was in place, and Feng Jun decided to hire Tiantong to construct Spirit-Gathering and Defensive Formations.
• Chairman Ge inspected Liba Beach and proposed revising the formation plan, and Feng Jun agreed to the change and paid a deposit of two hundred and fifty thousand Spirit Stones.
• Feng Jun told River Wanderer that his divination fees started at ten thousand or twenty thousand Spirit Stones, and River Wanderer hinted that he had a client for him.

Feng Jun met Mei Jiushan, a young cultivator from one of Swordforging Peak’s great families, to divine why he could not advance. The divination revealed that Mei Jiushan had been cultivating the Six-Yang Snowmelt Art instead of the Seven-Yang version he believed he had, leaving him to realize the source of his problem.

• River Wanderer introduced Mei Jiushan to Feng Jun and arranged for Feng Jun to meet him near Lantern Town.
• Feng Jun traveled with River Wanderer to a secluded forest, where Mei Jiushan described his failed attempts to break through to the Emergence from Dust High Stage.
• Feng Jun asked Mei Jiushan for his cultivation method and found that his divination identified it as the Six-Yang Snowmelt Art.
• Mei Jiushan insisted that he cultivated the Seven-Yang Snowmelt Art, then offered Feng Jun an Obsidian copy for divination.
• Feng Jun divined that Mei Jiushan should have advanced but faced a difficult barrier at the sixth layer, and Mei Jiushan realized he had been cultivating the Six-Yang Snowmelt Art.

Mei Jiushan explained how he may have practiced the Seven-Yang Snowmelt Art incorrectly and used a Batwing Tiger Demon Core and Earthfire Astral Wind while trying to strengthen his advancement barrier. Feng Jun agreed to consider another divination, but asked whether Mei Jiushan had brought the Earthfire Astral Wind.

• Mei Jiushan admitted that he might have practiced the wrong cultivation art but hesitated to reveal the family's secrets, and Feng Jun demanded ten thousand Spirit Stones for the completed divination.
• Mei Jiushan explained that the Mei Family had not bought another copy of the Seven-Yang Snowmelt Art because doing so would expose their family's humiliating loss of it.
• Mei Jiushan described secretly choosing the Seven-Yang Snowmelt Art, using an unorthodox method to reach the Seventh Layer of Qi Condensation, and later taking a Batwing Tiger Demon Core to thicken his advancement barrier.
• Mei Jiushan said half the Demon Core had gone to a friend, while River Wanderer suggested that he inspect the Mei Family's cultivation art repository.
• Mei Jiushan revealed that he had tempered his Divine Soul with Swordforging Peak's Earthfire Astral Wind, and Feng Jun asked whether he had brought some.

Mei Jiushan sought Feng Jun’s divination on advancing his cultivation, and Feng Jun offered two possible plans with different costs. Mei Jiushan paid part of the fee and left owing the remainder, still unsure which plan to follow.

• Mei Jiushan gave Feng Jun a wisp of Earthfire Astral Wind and worried that the divination might prove too costly or unreliable.
• Feng Jun presented two plans for ten thousand Spirit Stones each: one requiring rare materials and another requiring 3,600 Great Circulations.
• Mei Jiushan dismissed the materials plan as impractical and questioned whether the cultivation plan could work.
• Feng Jun demanded thirty thousand Spirit Stones for the completed divination, and Mei Jiushan asked to pay twenty thousand while he investigated his family’s cultivation art.
• Feng Jun agreed to let Mei Jiushan owe ten thousand Spirit Stones, provided he paid within two months.

Mei Jiushan’s family verified Feng Jun’s interpretation of the Snowmelt Arts, and the Supreme Clan Elder urged him to complete three thousand six hundred Great Circulations. As Mei Jiushan entered seclusion and construction continued at Liba Beach, River Wanderer arrived to warn Feng Jun that a business deal had encountered complications.

• Feng Jun charged Mei Jiushan interest on his delayed payment, but River Wanderer guaranteed the debt with Qu Jianlei and Nie Chifeng present.
• Mei Jiushan and the Mei Family elders compared the Six-Yang and Seven-Yang Snowmelt Arts, and their Supreme Clan Elder concluded that the latter strengthened advancement barriers using an ice-element treasure.
• The Supreme Clan Elder convinced Mei Jiushan that Feng Jun’s advice was reliable, and Mei Jiushan entered seclusion to complete three thousand six hundred Great Circulations.
• River Wanderer learned that Mei Jiushan had entered seclusion and continued to press him over the outstanding debt.
• Tiantong’s Spirit-Gathering Formation construction proceeded at Liba Beach while Red Phoenix and Supreme Clarity Sect were barred from observing.
• River Wanderer arrived and told Feng Jun that the business deal he had introduced had run into complications.

Feng Jun went to Lantern Town to negotiate for a Former-Dynasty Earth Vein Art, but River Wanderer was captured and Feng Jun was ambushed by a group of Golden Core cultivators using a Soul-Sealing Formation and a Heaven-Gate Suppression Stone. Yue Qing intervened, and as Feng Jun struggled to move, the Yin Soul Big Shot called for Little White to emerge.

• River Wanderer arranged a face-to-face meeting between Feng Jun and the seller of a Former-Dynasty Earth Vein Art in a forest near Lantern Town.
• Feng Jun and River Wanderer traveled to the meeting, where Feng Jun sensed an Early Emergence from Dust cultivator and an Emergence from Dust High Stage cultivator waiting for them.
• The High Stage cultivator captured River Wanderer in a folding fan and attacked Feng Jun with a Soul-Sealing Formation as two Golden Core True Immortals struck.
• Yue Qing arrived, repelled one Golden Core cultivator, and broke free after another froze him and Feng Jun with Ice Seal.
• More Golden Core cultivators joined the fight, using Stasis and a Heaven-Gate Suppression Stone while Feng Jun struggled against the assault on his sea of consciousness.
• The Yin Soul Big Shot urged Feng Jun to summon Little White from the pink sachet at his waist.

Feng Jun escaped a Soul-Suppressing Array as a summoned Nine-Tailed White Fox and Yue Qing fought the five Golden Core ambushers. After the fox drew the enemy’s attention, Feng Jun immobilized one Mid-Grade Golden Core, and the fox crushed him before the battle could continue.

• Big Shot’s pink sachet released a Nine-Tailed White Fox, which shattered the Beast-Binding Ring and joined the fight.
• Feng Jun escaped the Soul-Suppressing Array by teleporting through a footprint, then returned near the battlefield and urged Yue Qing and the fox to withdraw.
• A Mid-Grade Golden Core chased Feng Jun and used Delay Talismans, but Feng Jun evaded them until the Nine-Tailed White Fox left the array.
• Feng Jun noticed the Golden Cores hesitate, then immobilized the Mid-Grade Golden Core with his talisman artifact.
• The Nine-Tailed White Fox attacked the immobilized Golden Core until the High-Grade Golden Core’s defensive talisman broke and the victim was battered to death.

Feng Jun killed a Mid-Grade Golden Core with a trap and helped turn the battle against the Yin Sha Sect, whose surviving fighters attempted to retreat. Nie Chifeng blocked two escape attempts, leaving the Emergence from Dust cultivators exposed as Yue Qing and Feng Jun moved to capture them.

• Feng Jun escaped the talisman tycoon's Stasis Talismans, lured him to buried explosives, and killed him in the blast.
• Han Po Real Person called for a retreat, but Yue Qing pressed the attack as Qu Jianlei and Nie Rongxun arrived to reinforce them.
• Feng Jun used his Body-Fixing Technique talisman treasure to threaten the Yin Sha Golden Cores while the White Nine-Tailed Fox and Qu Jianlei fought them.
• Yue Wu escaped with a Great Teleportation Talisman, and the High-Grade Golden Core and Han Po Real Person also fled.
• Nie Chifeng used Aerial Lock talismans to stop two Yin Sha Emergence from Dust Adepts from teleporting away.
• Feng Jun struck the Early Emergence from Dust cultivator with Falling Thunder Technique, and Yue Qing attacked the other cultivator as Feng Jun called for them to be taken alive.

Feng Jun’s allies defeated the Yin Sha Sect’s attackers, and he recovered the Spirit Beast Bag and discovered the immense value of the Soul-Sealing Formation’s Midnight-Noon Essences. He left with one of the three essences after Qu Jianlei refused Red Phoenix Sect’s share.

• The Emergence from Dust High Stage cultivator self-detonated, while the Early Emergence from Dust cultivator surrendered and offered to talk.
• Feng Jun retrieved the Spirit Beast Bag and told the Big Shot he had planted explosives nearby, but had avoided detonating them to protect it.
• The Big Shot explained that the Soul-Sealing Formation’s materials were valuable, especially its three Midnight-Noon Essences, which explained why the Yin Sha Sect’s Golden Cores had hesitated to retreat.
• Yue Qing found the formation eye and recovered three Midnight-Noon Essences from it.
• Feng Jun proposed that Red Phoenix Sect, Azure Steel, and he each take one essence, but Qu Jianlei refused Red Phoenix Sect’s share, citing its failure to protect Feng Jun.

Feng Jun and his allies divided the Midnight-Noon Essences and formation materials, then interrogated the captive about Yin Sha Sect’s ambush. The captive revealed that Yin Sha had arranged the attack to seize Feng Jun and pressure the Red Phoenix Sect, and the chapter ended with the revelation that the five Golden Core attackers belonged to two factions.

• Qu Jianlei accepted a Midnight-Noon Essence and offered Nie Chifeng help, while Yue Qing exchanged his share for one of Feng Jun’s favors.
• Feng Jun accepted an essence after the Big Shot reminded him that it needed one, and he and Yue Qing split the formation materials.
• Feng Jun revealed that the White Fox was a Puppet Beast, then the group collected the formation materials, explosives, and the two Golden Core corpses.
• The captive claimed he was an independent cultivator who had tried to sell the Earth Vein Art at Yinsha Market, where Yin Sha Sect members had approached him.
• The captive explained that Yin Sha had used the Earth Vein Art as bait to capture Feng Jun, hoping to pressure Red Phoenix and recruit his Divination abilities.
• The chapter revealed that the five Golden Core attackers had come from two different factions.

Feng Jun and the others identified the Yin Sha Sect and Ten Directions Platform cultivators who had attacked him and examined the mysterious folding fan that had captured River Wanderer. Feng Jun released River Wanderer from the fan, and the man emerged alive.

• Qu Jianlei identified the dead Golden Cores as Li Nan and Yang Zhikun of the Ten Directions Platform, and named the three surviving Yin Sha Sect cultivators as Yue Wu, Ling Bing, and Han Po.
• Li Qiliang explained that the attackers had intended to capture Feng Jun alive, and Feng Jun asked whether the folding fan used the Life-Cage or Death-Prison Technique.
• Yue Qing identified the fan as a Life-Cage or Death-Prison magical treasure after Nie Rongxun opened it and the group saw River Wanderer's image trapped inside.
• Nie Chifeng offered the fan to Feng Jun, but he initially refused to take her spoils before she placed it in his hand herself.
• Feng Jun refined the fan and released River Wanderer, who rolled onto the ground and complained, confirming that he was alive.

Feng Jun exposed River Wanderer and Li Qiliang as agents who had been pressured by the Yin Sha Sect, then acquired the Earthworm Pointing to the Dragon True Explanation manual. After both men died during soul searches, Feng Jun and his allies considered whether to pursue the Yin Sha Sect’s gathering point.

• Feng Jun grew suspicious of River Wanderer, knocked him unconscious, and had Qu Jianlei search his soul, revealing that the Yin Sha Sect had coerced him after gaining leverage over his misconduct.
• River Wanderer’s head exploded before Qu Jianlei could learn where he had hidden his wealth or whether Mei Jiushan knew of the plot.
• Li Qiliang offered to sell his Earth Vein manual if Feng Jun spared him, and Feng Jun recognized it as the Earthworm Pointing to the Dragon True Explanation he had been seeking.
• Yue Qing began searching Li Qiliang’s soul, but Li Qiliang’s head exploded before the search could be completed.
• Feng Jun took the manual and asked whether they should pursue the Yin Sha Sect after learning that its members were gathering at the Dui location, and Qu Jianlei asked if Feng Jun could divine where they had assembled.

After Feng Jun and his allies defeated Ten Directions Platform and Yin Sha Sect Golden Cores, they returned to Liba Beach and debated whether to pursue the three who escaped. The group chose to rest and consult their sects before deciding how to respond, while Red Phoenix prepared to question Ten Directions Platform.

• Qu Jianlei advised Feng Jun against pursuing the escaped enemies, but Feng Jun said he could not accept letting the real culprits go unpunished.
• Yue Qing dispersed onlookers at Lantern Town, and Feng Jun found two Golden Core-grade concealment disks and two trapping formations they had missed.
• Feng Jun and the others returned to Liba Beach, where they told the gathered sect members that Li Nan and Yang Zhikun had been killed and three Yin Sha Sect Golden Cores had escaped.
• Xiao Meng and True Adept Sumiao argued that Feng Jun should not take further risks and agreed to question Ten Directions Platform before it could demand accountability for its dead Golden Cores.
• Yue Qing agreed to represent Azure Steel Sect, while Feng Jun asked everyone to rest and consult their sects; Sumiao assigned Supreme Clarity Sect to the night watch.

After Feng Jun invited Nie Chifeng to his Traveling Residence, he gave her Feng Jing’s corpse and offered her a rare Life-Cage fan, but she refused the spoils and proposed an exchange for the Aerial Lock talismans he wanted. Nie Chifeng finally agreed to give him two talismans, leaving Feng Jun with a possible way to investigate whether they could threaten his escape from the Phone Plane.

• Sumiao realized Feng Jun had become a figure comparable to her granddaughter, Kong Ziyi, and had sent Kong Ziyi to ask about his battle.
• Feng Jun invited Nie Chifeng to his Traveling Residence, where he revealed Feng Jing’s corpse as her trophy.
• Nie Chifeng refused Feng Jing’s belongings and said she and True Adept Qu had agreed to split the Midnight-Noon Essence; Kong Ziyi was stunned to hear the battle had yielded more than one.
• Feng Jun offered Nie Chifeng the Life-Cage fan, but she refused to accept it as a reward without merit and suggested giving it to the Red Phoenix Sect instead.
• Feng Jun asked Nie Chifeng to trade him two Aerial Lock talismans, and she initially objected that he was coveting her opportunity before explaining that the talismans carried karma.
• Feng Jun withdrew his request, but Nie Chifeng reconsidered and agreed to give him two talismans.

Feng Jun learned that the Red Phoenix Sect was rotating Merit Honorees through one-year assignments, hoping he might divine a path to Core Embrace for them. Nie Chifeng offered him two talismans in exchange for a serious Divination, and Feng Jun agreed to consider it.

• Kong Ziyi asked Feng Jun about the battle, and he explained what had happened but refused to show her his Puppet Beast.
• After Kong Ziyi left, Nie Chifeng apologized and offered Feng Jun two talismans in exchange for a favor.
• Feng Jun learned that Merit Honorees were sent to him in one-year rotations, and Nie Chifeng explained that she would keep the possibility of Core Embrace secret to spare others false hope.
• Nie Chifeng asked Feng Jun for a Divination equal to the one he performed for Merit Honoree Sun, offering to help him kill someone in return.
• Feng Jun said her two talismans and refusal of the spoils were already enough for a serious Divination, though he was reluctant to give up the folding fan.

Feng Jun seriously divined Nie Chifeng’s prospects and found that she had a very small chance of achieving Core Embrace, despite a long expected lifespan. He suggested becoming an Artifact Spirit as another way to endure, but she rejected the idea of living without a body and asked him to help improve her chances of Core Embrace.

• Nie Chifeng told Feng Jun she had eight Aerial-Lock Talismans left, including four stored at Glory Merit Hall, and said they could imprison an Emergence from Dust cultivator’s Flash Step.
• Feng Jun told Nie Chifeng that her lifespan would likely exceed five hundred years because of her pure Scarlet Yang Imperial Phoenix Art.
• Feng Jun revealed that Nie Chifeng had less than a two-percent chance of achieving Core Embrace, and she was startled that she still had any chance at all.
• Feng Jun suggested that Nie Chifeng could become an Artifact Spirit, but she questioned whether such an existence had meaning or could attain immortality.
• Nie Chifeng declined to discuss becoming an Artifact Spirit and asked Feng Jun to divine what could improve her chances of achieving Core Embrace.

Feng Jun discussed Nie Chifeng’s chances of Core Embrace and learned that a diviner had once advised her to seek a dual-cultivation partner, though the proposed Yinsha match seemed unsuitable. He suggested finding historical cases for him to study, then asked whether the Red Phoenix Sect had Heavenly Wind Gangfire.

• Feng Jun told Nie Chifeng he lacked enough information to divine her Core Embrace prospects and asked what methods she had considered.
• Nie Chifeng explained that Heavenly Blind had advised her to find a dual-cultivation partner, but his suggested Yinsha match offered little chance of success.
• Feng Jun argued that Nie Chifeng’s pure Scarlet Yang made a Yin-Yang Physique, preferably a Primordial Yin-Yang Physique, a better match.
• Nie Chifeng offered Feng Jun two talismans for divination, and he accepted one while asking her to research past Red Phoenix cultivators who had faced similar circumstances.
• Feng Jun asked whether the Red Phoenix Sect possessed Heavenly Wind Gangfire, and Nie Chifeng said it should have three wisps before she entered the Glory Merit Hall.