Chapter Summaries

Lu Mingyu explained how he had manipulated the healing-herb market by arranging a battle that blocked shipments into the Pill Domain, giving him five days to profit. Chen Changsheng brought Guan Ping and Chen Feng to the Scripture Pavilion to strengthen their foundations, but the keeper told him its manuals and pill formulas were closed to him.

• Lu Mingyu told Bai Feng that he had bought healing herbs and pills before prices surged and arranged for the Pill Tower battle to block shipments into the Pill Domain for five days.
• Chen Changsheng told Guan Ping and Chen Feng that Lu Mingyu was speculating on herbs and warned them to stay out of the conflict and protect themselves from retaliation.
• Chen Changsheng led Guan Ping and Chen Feng into the Scripture Pavilion to teach them, and the keeper explained the floors their tokens allowed them to enter and the Contribution Point rules.
• Chen Changsheng asked how many Contribution Points would buy access to the first six floors’ manuals and formulas, but the keeper said those materials were not open to him.

Chen Changsheng explained why the Pill Domain’s Scripture Pavilion and Treasure Vault were more vital than its Pill Tower, then sent Guan Ping and Chen Feng to study the Pavilion’s books. He was joined by the young man he had just insulted.

• Chen Changsheng told Guan Ping and Chen Feng that the Pill Domain’s hidden experts protected its foundations, including the Scripture Pavilion and Treasure Vault.
• Chen Changsheng explained that the Pavilion held generations of alchemical knowledge and could not be damaged without endangering the Pill Domain itself.
• After Chen Changsheng mocked the Tower Master, the floorboards sank beneath his feet, but he denied that he had spoken behind the man’s back.
• Chen Changsheng sent paper figures to copy books and ordered Guan Ping to study pill formulas and Chen Feng to study sword techniques.
• Chen Changsheng settled down to read while Guan Ping and Chen Feng explored the Pavilion, and the young man appeared beside him.

Chen Changsheng wagered that Guan Ping could create a pill the Tower Master could not decipher within three days, betting his exile from the Pill Domain against the Tower Master’s guidance and alchemy insights. After Guan Ping and Chen Feng spent two days in the Scripture Pavilion, the Tower Master began testing Guan Ping’s knowledge of the pill formulas she had memorized.

• Chen Changsheng and the Tower Master wagered that if Guan Ping made an undecipherable pill within three days, the Tower Master would guide her and share his alchemy insights; if she failed, Chen Changsheng would leave the Pill Domain and bark three times.
• The Tower Master stayed beside Chen Changsheng to watch him, and the two quarreled over Chen Changsheng’s fruit.
• Guan Ping and Chen Feng spent two days studying in the Scripture Pavilion but could not finish exploring its first floor.
• The Tower Master questioned Guan Ping about the annotations for the 3,869 pill formulas she had memorized, and she guessed that they had 29,894 annotations.
• The Tower Master asked Chen Feng whether Guan Ping’s answer was correct.

The Tower Master gave Guan Ping a catalog of detoxification methods and explained why pill masters needed to learn to treat poison. He tested Chen Feng, gave him a sword art, and then told Chen Changsheng that the Pill Tower could not keep people who did not consider it home.

• The Tower Master gave Guan Ping a jade slip listing detoxification methods and told her to study the first-floor catalog before advancing to the second floor.
• Chen Changsheng explained that failed pills could poison people and cited Yuan Yang Supreme as a likely victim of one.
• Chen Feng told the Tower Master he would not accept their false master-disciple relationship, though he appreciated the opportunity to enter the Pill Domain.
• The Tower Master failed to take Chen Feng's sword, tested his swordsmanship, and gave him a golden jade slip containing a sword art.
• The Tower Master told Chen Changsheng that the Pill Tower could not keep people who had never regarded it as home.

Chen Changsheng’s negotiations with the Tower Master failed, and the Tower Master planned to drive Chen Feng and Guan Ping out of the Pill Domain. Chen Changsheng told Lu Mingyu to prepare for a war against the Beast Taming Lineage, while Liu Qingqing was asked to protect Chen Feng in exchange for a chance to leave the Pill Domain.

• Chen Changsheng confronted the young Tower Master, who agreed to delay driving Chen Feng and Guan Ping out of the Pill Domain but refused to keep them indefinitely.
• The Tower Master gave Chen Feng a Peerless Sword Art as advance compensation and continued trying to win over Guan Ping.
• A Paper figure told Liu Qingqing to protect Chen Feng, saying that doing so could help her escape the Pill Domain.
• Chen Changsheng informed Lu Mingyu that his talks with the Tower Master had failed and that Chen Feng and Guan Ping would eventually be expelled.
• Chen Changsheng ordered Lu Mingyu to leave the Pill Domain when possible and prepare to eliminate the Beast Taming Lineage by war, regardless of who interfered.

Bai Ze learned that Chen Changsheng planned to destroy the Beast Taming Lineage after the Pill Tower expelled Chen Feng and Guan Ping, and he tried to stop him. Chen Feng refused to let Chen Changsheng risk a massacre for his sake, but offered to stand by him if he continued.

• Bai Ze arrived at Lu Mingyu's residence and learned that Chen Changsheng had declared the Beast Taming Lineage must die, even if the Supreme Pill Master stood in his way.
• Bai Ze warned Lu Mingyu that Chen Changsheng meant to wipe out everyone in the lineage and left to talk him out of it.
• Bai Ze found Chen Changsheng leaving the Scripture Pavilion and urged him to reconsider, but Chen Changsheng told him to stay out of the matter.
• Chen Feng thanked Chen Changsheng for standing up for him and asked him to think twice rather than make the world suffer for his sake.
• Chen Feng vowed to shield Chen Changsheng if he insisted on proceeding, and Chen Changsheng sighed that Chen Feng had suffered an injustice.

Chen Feng rejected the Pill Tower’s offer and returned the golden Jade Slip, condemning the Pill Domain’s unfairness and choosing to leave with Chen Changsheng and Guan Ping. Later, Chen Changsheng visited the busy shop in Pill City and offered to teach the injured Xiong Da a move.

• Chen Feng accused the Pill Domain of hypocrisy and unfair dealings, including its failure to act after Lu Mingyu was assassinated and the Tower Master’s decision to take Chen Feng as a disciple.
• Chen Feng returned the golden Jade Slip at the Scripture Pavilion, saying that accepting it would cost him his backbone, and urged Chen Changsheng not to cause needless slaughter.
• Chen Changsheng, Guan Ping, and the others left the Pill Domain after Guan Ping agreed she would rather return to their Taoist Temple; the silent Scripture Pavilion offered no rebuttal.
• In Pill City, Chen Changsheng visited the shop run by Bai Feng and the others, where Xiong Da reported that sales were good but negotiations with the Li Family of the Longxi Realm were still underway.
• Chen Changsheng noticed Xiong Da’s injuries and offered to teach him a move, which Xiong Da eagerly accepted.

Chen Changsheng arrived at the Li Family’s territory and challenged its support for the Beast Taming Lineage, warning that the Li and Zheng Families could suffer if they chose the wrong side. He left Li Zi'an and Zheng Ling facing questions about whether their families had truly committed themselves to the alliance.

• Chen Changsheng led Xiong Da and the others to the Li Family’s territory after promising to guide him.
• Lu Mingyu decided to leave his meeting with Li Zi'an when Li Zi'an ignored his concerns, but Chen Changsheng arrived and told him to stay.
• Bai Feng and Feng Gong went outside to fight, and their clash of divine power silenced Zheng Ling and Li Zi'an.
• Chen Changsheng said the fight concerned only the Beast Race and the Beast Taming Lineage, then warned Li Zi'an and Zheng Ling to choose their side carefully.
• Li Zi'an said the Li Family’s support for the Beast Taming Lineage came from its higher-ups, and Chen Changsheng mocked him before warning that neither the Li nor Zheng Family had wagered everything.

Chen Changsheng warned Zheng Ling and Li Zi'an that the Beast Race was preparing an all-out war and that their families might not protect them if they joined the conflict. After revealing his clash with the Pill Tower, he forced them to choose a side, leaving Zheng Ling asking whether Chen would accept them.

• Chen Changsheng argued that Zheng Ling and Li Zi'an lacked the power to challenge Lu Mingyu and risked being discarded by their families.
• Chen Changsheng said the Beast Race would launch an all-out war, prompting Zheng Ling and Li Zi'an to realize their assessment had been wrong.
• Chen Changsheng revealed that he had saved Lu Mingyu and likely clashed with the Tower Master, explaining the City Guard's strange behavior.
• Li Zi'an apologized and said he and Zheng Ling would withdraw, but Chen Changsheng refused and told them to choose a side in his conflict with the Pill Tower.
• Zheng Ling asked whether Chen Changsheng had room for them, and Chen told him to consider whether they had any grudge between them.

Chen Changsheng persuaded Zheng Ling to join his side by making clear that refusing could cost him his life. After assigning Chen Feng to fight Zheng Ling and Li Zi'an, Chen Changsheng explained his strategy to Lu Mingyu and redirected Guan Ping to improve the Imitation Pills and check on Xiong Da.

• Zheng Ling told Chen Changsheng he would stand with him against the Pill Tower, and Chen Changsheng removed a wisp of black qi from Zheng Ling's body.
• Chen Changsheng accepted Zheng Ling's submission and told him and Li Zi'an to divide up opportunities at the edges of the conflict.
• Chen Changsheng ordered Chen Feng to fight Zheng Ling and Li Zi'an, allowing him to strike to kill.
• Chen Changsheng urged Guan Ping to improve the Imitation Pills and check on Xiong Da, who was nearly beaten to death.
• Chen Changsheng told Lu Mingyu that Zheng Ling and Li Zi'an were reliable for now because they feared death and hoped to advance by following him.

Chen Changsheng taught Lu Mingyu to widen his perspective on the trade war, then explained how cultivators could be considered nourishing ingredients while Bai Ze raced around the battlefield hunting Beast Race fighters. The battle continued to escalate, and Bai Ze returned with fresh ingredients for Chen Changsheng to cook.

• Chen Changsheng explained that fear came from the unknown and urged Lu Mingyu to look beyond the Pill Domain’s immediate losses; he whispered a strategy that left Lu Mingyu impressed.
• Chen Changsheng entrusted the small battlefield to Lu Mingyu and took him to get food, while Bai Ze raced ahead eagerly.
• As Feng Gong and Bai Feng fought and Xiong Da was besieged, Bai Ze darted through the battlefield among the arriving Beast Taming Lineage and Beast Race fighters.
• Chen Changsheng told Lu Mingyu that cultivators were great tonics and joked that he was the Number One Demon Cultivator Under Heaven; Lu Mingyu nervously refused his offer to learn demon cultivation.
• Bai Ze called to Chen Changsheng to start boiling water because he had brought back especially fresh ingredients.

Chen Changsheng used Beast Race meat to help Lu Mingyu strengthen his frail body, but the meal turned into a massacre when the Beast Taming Lineage attacked. Afterward, Lu Mingyu vomited at the sight of the bodies and listened as Chen Changsheng taught him to respect life.

• Chen Changsheng explained that the purified bodies of Beast Race cultivators contained mild energy and gave Lu Mingyu roasted Three-Headed Bird wing to eat.
• Chen Changsheng called for a Phoenix Feather Bird wing, and Xiong Da tore one off before killing the bird, provoking the Beast Taming Lineage.
• The Beast Taming Lineage attacked Chen Changsheng, and Bai Ze and Chen Changsheng retaliated, killing the contracted Spiritual Beasts and nearly all the attackers.
• Flying Dust Supreme blocked Chen Changsheng's fishhook and ordered Feng Gong to withdraw, while the City Guard Commander was dismembered.
• Lu Mingyu vomited at the bloody scene, and Chen Changsheng told him that understanding the horror of slaughter was necessary to respect life.

Chen Changsheng killed forty-seven members of the Beast Taming Lineage, then accepted the Pill Tower’s order to attend a trial the next day. After the survivors were forced to eat the contracted Spiritual Beasts, Zheng Ling and Li Zi'an reflected on how narrowly they had escaped death and decided to remain hidden.

• The Pill Tower Master stopped Flying Dust Supreme and the nine Supremes from fighting Chen Changsheng, took the Beast Taming Lineage corpses, and ordered Chen Changsheng to appear for trial the next day.
• Chen Changsheng calmed himself, resumed grilling meat, and ordered Bai Ze to make the others eat the contracted Spiritual Beasts before morning.
• Bai Ze warned Bai Feng, Xiong Da, and the others that the Pill Domain was not safe and that surviving mattered more than being called prodigies.
• News that Chen Changsheng had killed forty-seven people spread through the Pill Domain and shocked its inhabitants.
• Li Zi'an asked Zheng Ling whether Chen Changsheng would have killed them if they had not chosen a side, and Zheng Ling said they would have died without the Supreme Pill Master's intervention for Feng Gong.
• Zheng Ling told Li Zi'an to wait and stay hidden as pieces Chen Changsheng had planted.

After discussing his growing detachment and the Pill Epoch’s turmoil with the system, Chen Changsheng realized that his immortality and freedom-seeking nature drove him to challenge stagnant worlds. He accepted that, despite living for more than a hundred thousand years, he was still young and should venture forward.

• Chen Changsheng asked the system whether his pleasure in killing meant he had abandoned the Seven Emotions and Six Desires, and the system said he was lonely and missed home.
• Chen Changsheng wondered whether he was a Star of Calamity because the once-peaceful Pill Epoch had fallen into conflict, but the system said change was inevitable and he could not endure a stagnant world.
• Chen Changsheng realized that powerful figures focused on pursuing immortality often preserved the old order, while his freedom-seeking influence on Chen Feng and Guan Ping could bring reform to the Pill Domain.
• Chen Changsheng concluded that the Tower Master opposed him to protect the existing order and avoid spending his limited time on reform.
• The system told Chen Changsheng that one hundred thousand years was still young compared with the River of Time and the world’s powerful figures, and Chen Changsheng walked off resolved to venture forth.

Bai Feng and the others recovered after eating the spiritual beasts and headed to the Pill Tower for Chen Changsheng’s trial. Chen Changsheng admitted killing forty-seven people but argued it was self-defense, then openly acknowledged ordering Xiong Da to kill the Phoenix Feather Bird, leaving the Tower Master to decide how to rule.

• After consuming the spiritual beasts, Bai Feng told the others to head to the Pill Tower for Chen Changsheng’s trial.
• Beast Taming Lineage experts arrived at the Pill Tower, where the Tower Master asked Chen Changsheng whether he had killed forty-eight people.
• Chen Changsheng denied killing forty-eight people, clarified that he had killed forty-seven, and admitted to doing so in one move.
• Chen Changsheng argued that the victims had tried to kill him first and that his actions counted as self-defense.
• Feng Gong accused Chen Changsheng of killing the Beast Tamers’ spiritual beasts and provoking them, and Chen Changsheng admitted he had ordered Xiong Da to kill the Phoenix Feather Bird for its meat.
• Feng Gong asked the Tower Master to enforce the law against Chen Changsheng for ordering the killing.

Chen Changsheng defended himself at the Trial Assembly, arguing that the Phoenix Feather Bird he killed was neither registered with the Beast Race nor the Pill Domain and that spirit beasts were not legally cultivators. He exposed that the Beast Taming Lineage’s disciple registers contained no spirit beast names, leaving the beasts unsettled by their low status.

• Chen Changsheng denied wrongdoing, admitted killing his attackers in self-defense, and dismissed the killing of a contracted spirit beast as insufficient cause for a trial.
• The Phoenix Feather Clan Leader and the Tower Master confirmed that the Phoenix Feather Bird Chen Changsheng killed was not registered with their respective groups.
• Chen Changsheng argued that the Pill Domain’s capital-crime rule covered deliberate killing of cultivators, while the spirit beasts he killed were not cultivators.
• Chen Changsheng challenged Feng Gong to prove spirit beasts were recognized as cultivators and demanded the Beast Taming Lineage’s disciple registers.
• Chen Changsheng displayed the Beast Taming Sect’s register, which listed no spirit beasts, prompting the beasts present to question how little their masters valued them.

Chen Changsheng manipulated his trial to force the Pill Tower to rule on Spiritual Beasts and expose the Beast Taming Lineage's conflict with the Beast Race. The Tower Master sentenced him to ten lightning strikes and a fine, but Chen left protected by Pill Domain rules as tensions within the Beast Taming Lineage deepened.

• Chen Changsheng accused the Beast Taming Lineage of secretly obtaining Beast Race cubs, prompting the Profound Turtle Ancestor to demand answers from its Ninth Grade Immortal King.
• The Ninth Grade Immortal King claimed the lineage treated Spiritual Beasts as equals and could dissolve their contracts, while the Profound Turtle Ancestor warned that he would investigate further.
• The Tower Master sentenced Xiong Da to one hundred Flying Sword strikes and compensation, gave Chen Changsheng ten lightning strikes, and ordered him to pay 10 billion Source Pills.
• Chen Changsheng accepted the compensation but asked the Tower Master to deliver it, then mocked Feng Gong and insisted that the Pill Domain's rules protected him.
• Chen Changsheng taunted the Spiritual Beasts as he left the Martial Arts Arena, further inflaming the Beast Taming Lineage's conflict with the Beast Race.

After the Trial Assembly collapsed, the Immortal King Realm serpent left the Beast Taming Sect and dissolved its contract with the Ninth Grade Immortal King. Chen Changsheng also departed with Shui Yue, leaving Guan Ping and the others to face the growing conflict without him.

• The Immortal King Realm serpent warned the Ninth Grade Immortal King to avoid further conflict, then left after he dissolved their contract.
• Chen Changsheng told Guan Ping that he was leaving because his struggle with the Tower Master had ended, and advised her to stay cautious and grow on her own.
• Chen Changsheng and Shui Yue left the courtyard, while Bai Ze departed for the Beast Race and Lu Mingyu said he would leave after finishing his business.
• Lu Mingyu reminded Chen Changsheng of a matter he had entrusted to him, and Chen Changsheng agreed to handle it.
• Chen Changsheng and Shui Yue arrived at the Pill Tower, where Chen Changsheng declared that he had won the round before entering.

Chen Changsheng negotiated with the Pill Tower’s young master, who agreed to refine the Dragon Pearl and admitted defeat over Guan Ping’s pill. The young master revealed his plan to isolate Chen Changsheng from the Beast Taming Lineage, Beast Race, and Lu Family, while Chen Changsheng explained how selling genuine Serpent Spirit Pills as fakes helped him win.

• Chen Changsheng asked the young man to refine the Dragon Pearl, and the young man agreed to finish in a month.
• The young man admitted defeat over Guan Ping’s Sai Serpent Spirit Pill, and Chen Changsheng revealed it was an ordinary Serpent Spirit Pill sold as an imitation.
• Chen Changsheng explained that disguising genuine pills as fakes would drive the Beast Taming Lineage from the pill business and let him control Serpent Spirit Pill prices.
• The young man disclosed that he had planned to bring Flying Dust Supreme into the conflict, turn the Lu Family against Chen Changsheng, and stir divisions within the Beast Race.
• The young man said Flying Dust Supreme could remain a Supreme Pill Master if he accepted severing ties with his former faction, or be replaced if he refused.

Chen Changsheng negotiated with Yun Ya Zi, who promised to spare Chen Feng and Guan Ping and gave him records from the Scripture Pavilion. Chen Changsheng realized Yun Ya Zi planned to use their conflict to purge opposition within the Pill Tower, then left the Pill Domain with Shui Yue to meet the Nine-Headed Xiang Liu.

• Chen Changsheng warned Yun Ya Zi that he would retaliate if anyone harmed Chen Feng and Guan Ping, and Yun Ya Zi agreed to leave them a way to survive.
• Yun Ya Zi revealed his Daoist name and gave Chen Changsheng a Beast Hide Pouch containing miscellaneous writings and historical records from the Scripture Pavilion.
• Chen Changsheng told Shui Yue that Yun Ya Zi wanted to use him to expose and remove opponents within the Pill Tower, including those involved in Lu Mingyu's assassination and the conflict with the Beast Taming Lineage.
• Chen Changsheng said he would postpone dealing with Yun Ya Zi because he lacked resources and still had to handle the Beast Taming Lineage and the Cui Family.
• Chen Changsheng left the Pill Domain with Shui Yue to meet the Nine-Headed Xiang Liu.