Chapter Summaries

Wang Daoyuan entered Returning Goose Market in disguise and learned from Fu Cheng that the Returning Origin Sword Sect had declined while the Netherworld Sect expanded its presence. He planned to open an artifact-refining shop and concluded that Chen Ji was likely still a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, leaving Wang Daoyuan a chance to defeat him.

• Wang Daoyuan disguised himself, concealed his cultivation, and entered Returning Goose Market, where Fu Cheng recognized him as a prospective customer.
• Wang Daoyuan paid Fu Cheng to explain the region’s situation in a neutral inn run by the Golden Bull Tribe.
• Fu Cheng recounted how the Returning Origin Sword Sect’s forced recruitment of skilled cultivators ruined its reputation and how the Netherworld Sect later sent forces to challenge it.
• Fu Cheng described the Netherworld Sect’s increased presence in Returning Goose Market and the factions’ recent stability, then agreed to find Wang Daoyuan a storefront.
• Wang Daoyuan inferred that the Netherworld Sect’s wounded expeditions had likely encountered Chen Ji near Mirror Lake Oasis and judged that Chen Ji had not reached Violet Mansion, making him potentially beatable.

Wang Daoyuan assessed the political situation and the Wang Clan’s prospects, then followed Fu Cheng to inspect a market shop for an artifact-refining business. There, he met Zhou Xuan, whose Qi Gazing Art and unusual bearing led Wang Daoyuan to suspect he belonged to the Heavenly Secret Sect, and the two secretly tested each other’s strength.

• Wang Daoyuan judged that the stable political situation would let the Wang Clan expand, though it would make it harder for him to exploit turmoil.
• Fu Cheng told Wang Daoyuan he had found a shop leased by the White Fox Tribe, whose members sought human cultivators skilled in the Hundred Cultivation Arts as sons-in-law.
• Wang Daoyuan agreed to inspect the shop and met its former tenant, Zhou Xuan, and White Fox Tribe member Miss Bai.
• Zhou Xuan used a pupil technique to assess Wang Daoyuan’s fortune, prompting Wang Daoyuan to suspect he practiced the Qi Gazing Art of the Heavenly Secret Sect.
• Wang Daoyuan tested Zhou Xuan by preparing to cast Wutu Divine Thunder, but both men stopped when their spiritual power fluctuations vanished.

Wang Daoyuan rented a shop in Returning Goose Market and opened Wu's Artifact Refining Workshop while preparing to obtain Yin Yang Violet Jade from Blood Shadow. He altered Wu Yi’s memories and readied the Foundation Establishment Eighth Layer avatar to infiltrate Blood Shadow.

• Wang Daoyuan and Zhou Xuan tested each other, then parted without fighting, and Wang Daoyuan paid Fu Cheng to find suppliers.
• Wang Daoyuan rented the shop from the half-demon woman, agreeing to secretly refine artifacts for the White Fox Tribe in exchange for waived rent.
• Wang Daoyuan opened Wu's Artifact Refining Workshop and spent half a month buying materials and selling a Second-Order Mid-Grade longsword.
• Wang Daoyuan left Returning Goose Market, found an underground cave, and released Wu Yi, whose cultivation had reached the Foundation Establishment Eighth Layer.
• Wang Daoyuan replaced Wu Yi's Split Soul and erased and implanted memories that gave him a fabricated escape and cave-mansion story, concealing Wang Daoyuan's involvement and the Ink Gold Sword.
• Wang Daoyuan completed the preparations and prepared to send Wu Yi back to infiltrate Blood Shadow.

Wang Daoyuan sent his avatar Wu Yi to Returning Goose Market to enter the Blood Shadow Northern Mountain Branch. After proving his identity and strength, Wu Yi was summoned to meet the branch hall master.

• Wang Daoyuan equipped Wu Yi with a flying sword, supplies, and Earth Escape Talismans, erased his memories of Wang Daoyuan, and sent him south.
• Wu Yi arrived at Returning Goose Market and demanded the westernmost courtyard at Immortal Welcoming Tower, the Blood Shadow branch's base.
• Wu Yi passed through the courtyard's formation, paid respects to the Blood Robe Ancestor's portrait, and used his blood to activate his internal-member token.
• Three guards confronted Wu Yi underground, but withdrew their swords after he revealed his Foundation Establishment Eighth Layer cultivation.
• A guard led Wu Yi to the hall master's palace, where the woman inside invited him in.

Wu Yi returned to the Blood Shadow Northern Branch, where Crimson Fox questioned him about his long disappearance and failed assassination of Wang Daoyuan. The Heart Question Talisman confirmed his altered account, and after learning more about Wang Daoyuan’s strength, Wu Yi went to reclaim his cave mansion while Ghost Wolf challenged Crimson Fox’s doubts about loyalty.

• Wu Yi greeted Crimson Fox and Ghost Wolf, then explained that he had survived in the Skyrend Mountain Range and escaped an Ancient Cultivator's Cave Mansion.
• Crimson Fox had Ghost Wolf test Wu Yi with a Third-order Heart Question Talisman, which confirmed Wu Yi’s answers were truthful.
• Crimson Fox and Ghost Wolf described Wang Daoyuan’s victories over powerful Crimson Sun Palace cultivators and his Golden Roc Phantom.
• Wu Yi admitted he had seen the Golden Roc Phantom during his assassination attempt and had escaped using a damaged God-Forbidden Silk cloak.
• Crimson Fox excused Wu Yi’s failure and sent him to his old cave mansion to study recent intelligence.
• Ghost Wolf told Crimson Fox that his loyalty, like Wu Yi’s, depended on Blood Shadow providing Yin Yang Violet Jade and Purple Cloud Wood Heart.

Crimson Fox’s history in Blood Wolf and her struggle to retain control of the Northern Mountain Branch were revealed as Wu Yi reviewed Blood Shadow’s bounty record and learned that he would be tested before becoming a steward. Crimson Fox gave Wu Yi a storage bag and told him to pass the tests so she would not lose face.

• Crimson Fox’s past ostracism and assignment to the Northern Mountain Branch were recounted, along with how headquarters weakened her control by sending a Deputy Hall Master and other personnel.
• Wu Yi received Blood Shadow’s Bounty Record and saw that Wang Daoyuan’s head was worth two hundred thousand Spirit Stones and Wang Shouye’s was worth one hundred thousand.
• Wang Daoyuan shared the bounty record’s information with his avatars, especially details about the Returning Origin Sword Sect and the Red Beard Bandits.
• Three days later, a black-clad man brought Wu Yi to Crimson Fox’s cave dwelling.
• Crimson Fox told Wu Yi that the Deputy Hall Master opposed his promotion to steward and that he would have to pass tests to avoid punishment.
• Crimson Fox gave Wu Yi a storage bag and told him not to make her lose face.

Wu Yi received equipment from Crimson Fox and was assigned to ambush a Netherworld Sect caravan at Cart Gorge, with Wang Daoyuan planning to control him during the fight. The caravan arrived, and Wu Yi's team waited for the enemy's Foundation Establishment cultivators to emerge from behind a blocked gorge.

• Crimson Fox gave Wu Yi powerful artifacts and warned him to remember that he served her, not Blood Shadow.
• Mo Yu delivered the Deputy Hall Master's test: Wu Yi had to lead three Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivators in an ambush on a Netherworld Sect caravan.
• Wang Daoyuan traveled to Cart Gorge and hid underground so he could control Wu Yi during the ambush.
• Mysterious Sable sent three trusted subordinates to assist Wu Yi, and Wu Yi understood Crimson Fox expected him to get them killed if possible.
• Wu Yi led the three cultivators to lie in wait near Cart Gorge, where they stopped the caravan by blocking the gorge with a boulder.
• Wu Yi ordered his teammates to attack when a Foundation Establishment cultivator came out to move the boulder, then threatened them against disobeying.

Wang Daoyuan used Wu Yi’s avatar to intervene in a Blood Shadow ambush on a Netherworld Sect supply caravan. After eliminating the attackers and the caravan’s remaining cultivators, he killed the white-haired elder and secured the supplies.

• Blood Shadow cultivators attacked the caravan after a boulder blocked the gorge, killing a Foundation Establishment guard before the caravan’s three Foundation Establishment cultivators emerged to fight them.
• Wang Daoyuan took control of Wu Yi’s avatar and urged the Blood Shadow cultivators to keep fighting, then ambushed and killed the middle-aged Netherworld Sect cultivator.
• Wang Daoyuan let the white-haired elder kill one Blood Shadow cultivator while he and the last attacker overwhelmed and killed the young Netherworld Sect cultivator.
• The white-haired elder burned the final Blood Shadow cultivator to death, leaving himself to face Wu Yi alone.
• Wu Yi unleashed the Heaven Severing Sword, then redirected and accelerated its giant sword phantom to split the boulder and the white-haired elder in half.

Wang Daoyuan’s clone helped Bloodshadow rob Netherworld Sect supplies, leaving the Returning Origin Sword Sect blamed for the attack. After Wang Daoyuan returned to Returning Goose Market, Crimson Fox rewarded Wu Yi and summoned him to her cave dwelling that night.

• Wu Yi looted the defeated cultivators and hid some of the goods before Bloodshadow cleanup cultivators arrived to collect the supplies.
• Wang Daoyuan retrieved the hidden goods and later entered Returning Goose Market from the east after lingering nearby for several days.
• The Netherworld Sect blamed the Returning Origin Sword Sect for the robbery and increased its forces at Returning Goose Market.
• Wu Yi returned to Bloodshadow’s stronghold and explained the battle to Crimson Fox and Deputy Hall Master Mysterious Sable.
• Crimson Fox awarded Wu Yi fifty thousand Spirit Stones and sent him a message to visit her cave dwelling that night.

Wu Yi received fifty thousand Spirit Stones and became the Northern Mountain Branch’s fourth steward, strengthening Crimson Fox’s position against Mysterious Sable and the Deputy Hall Master. Meanwhile, Wang Daoyuan resumed his artifact business, and Bai Ying asked whether his arriving friend would consider a marriage alliance with the White Fox Tribe.

• Crimson Fox praised Wu Yi for seizing the Netherworld Sect’s supplies and dealing with Mysterious Sable’s subordinates, then awarded him fifty thousand Spirit Stones and a steward’s token.
• Crimson Fox told Wu Yi to recruit his own subordinates, and he returned to his cave abode to prepare.
• Wang Daoyuan examined the spoils from Wu Yi’s operation and began reforging seven longswords for his artifact-refining shop.
• Bai Ying visited Wang Daoyuan with two young women and asked him to refine several magical artifacts.
• Wang Daoyuan declined Bai Ying’s offer of attendants, saying an old friend who was also an Artifact Refiner would come to help.
• Bai Ying asked whether Wang Daoyuan’s friend would consider a marriage alliance with the White Fox Tribe.

Wang Daoyuan examined the refining inheritances Bai Ying had sent and became fascinated by the Crane Feather Boat, a fast but fragile flying Magic Tool. With Bai Sheng's help, he learned its refining method and completed one boat, leaving him able to claim the promised reward.

• Bai Ying asked Wang Daoyuan to find a match for her among his friends, and he declined on their behalf.
• Bai Sheng inspected the four Jade Slips and found refining methods for a longsword, shield, jade hairpin, and Crane Feather Boat.
• Wang Daoyuan chose to study the Crane Feather Boat, whose speed and low spiritual-power cost made it useful for travel despite its fragility.
• Wang Daoyuan left Returning Goose Market, released Bai Sheng in a secluded place, and returned with him to Wu's Artifact Refining Workshop.
• Wang Daoyuan and Bai Sheng refined a Crane Feather Boat on their third attempt after spending a little over a month, earning the chance to claim three thousand Spirit Stones for one completed boat.

Wang Daoyuan completed four commissioned Magic Tools, collected his payment, and received a new secret refining job from Bai Ying. The Monster Capturing Gourd’s purpose raised questions about the White Fox Tribe’s plans, but he decided to focus on the work and its benefits.

• Wang Daoyuan finished the Jadeite Hairpin, shield, and Autumn Water Sword, earning nine thousand Spirit Stones for four Magic Tools.
• Bai Ying collected the tools and tried to introduce two Half-demon women to Bai Sheng, but he rejected her advances and continued practicing artifact refining.
• Three days later, Bai Ying brought Wang Daoyuan two gourds, materials, and a Jade Slip for a confidential commission.
• Wang Daoyuan had his clone confirm the Jade Slip contained no hidden tricks and learned it described how to refine Monster Capturing Gourds.
• Wang Daoyuan considered why the White Fox Tribe wanted the gourds, then decided to accept the five-thousand-Spirit-Stone job and make use of the gourd seeds.

Wang Daoyuan refined two Monster Capturing Gourds for Bai Ying, salvaging one after a mistake and completing the other at high rank. Bai Ying bought both gourds and left Wu's Artifact Refining Workshop with them.

• Wang Daoyuan studied the Jade Slip and used Bai Sheng's help to fuse artifact materials into two Mysterious Origin Gourds before engraving their artifact patterns.
• Wang Daoyuan's first gourd suffered a serious engraving mistake, but he salvaged it as a Second-Order Mid-Grade Monster Capturing Gourd.
• Wang Daoyuan refined the second gourd into a Second-grade High-rank Monster Capturing Gourd after seven days of work.
• Bai Ying visited Wang Daoyuan, inspected the high-rank gourd, and paid him the agreed reward.
• Bai Ying examined the mid-grade gourd and offered six thousand Spirit Stones, which Wang Daoyuan accepted.
• Bai Ying placed both spatial gourds in a box and carried them away from Wu's Artifact Refining Workshop.

Wang Daoyuan trained Bai Sheng into a Second-grade High-rank Artifact Refiner while Wu Yi learned that gaining Yin Yang Violet Jade through Blood Shadow required many Contribution Points. To earn them by recruiting cultivators, Wu Yi targeted Fu Cheng and pressured him to join by promising a better future for his son.

• Wang Daoyuan trained Bai Sheng for three months until his artifact-pattern engraving success rate reached forty percent, making him a Second-grade High-rank Artifact Refiner.
• Wu Yi learned that exchanging for Yin Yang Violet Jade required seven hundred thousand Spirit Stones, three hundred and fifty thousand Contribution Points, and the hall master's approval.
• Wang Daoyuan decided Wu Yi should recruit cultivators to earn Contribution Points and identified Fu Cheng as a likely recruit because he had no backer.
• Wang Daoyuan investigated Fu Cheng and learned that he had two young sons, one of whom possessed spirit roots.
• Wu Yi met Fu Cheng at the Golden Bull Inn and urged him to work for Blood Shadow, offering cultivation resources and a better future for his son while warning him of the consequences of refusing.

Wu Yi recruited Fu Cheng to gather intelligence on cultivators who might join his growing influence within Blood Shadow, then chose Hu Jing as his first recruitment target. Hu Jing accepted Wu Yi’s dangerous work in hopes of receiving a Foundation Establishment Pill.

• Fu Cheng agreed to serve Wu Yi, who promised prospects for him and his sons and gave him one thousand Spirit Stones and one hundred Spirit Gathering Pills.
• A month later, Fu Cheng reported more than ten possible recruits, and Wu Yi decided to focus first on a promising Late Stage Qi Condensation cultivator.
• Wu Yi identified Hu Jing, a sixty-year-old rogue cultivator nearing his last chance at Foundation Establishment, as a suitable target.
• Wu Yi offered Hu Jing the chance to earn a Foundation Establishment Pill by undertaking dangerous work, and Hu Jing agreed to serve him.

Wu Yi recruited Hu Jing into Blood Shadow by arranging for him to assassinate the Red Beard Bandits' intelligence chief, while Wang Daoyuan planned to target the bandits more broadly to earn Contribution Points and Yin Yang Violet Jade. After Hu Jing completed the mission, Crimson Fox approved the strategy and Green Wolf registered him as an outer member of the branch.

• Wu Yi gave Hu Jing a Jade Slip with instructions to kill the Red Beard Bandits' intelligence chief and promised him a place in the faction.
• Wang Daoyuan considered the Red Beard Bandits the safest target in Northern Mountain and planned to eliminate them after reaching Foundation Establishment Ninth Layer.
• Three days later, Hu Jing brought the intelligence chief's head to Wu Yi and received half the bounty as Spirit Stones and Contribution Points.
• Wu Yi reported Hu Jing's success and his plan to target the Red Beard Bandits to Crimson Fox, who approved the approach.
• Crimson Fox gave Wu Yi a Jade Slip for Green Wolf, who registered Hu Jing as an outer member of the Northern Mountain Branch.

Wu Yi recruited Hu Jing into Blood Shadow and expanded his forces while Wang Daoyuan cultivated to the Foundation Establishment Eighth Layer. Ready to stir up conflict between the Returning Origin Sword Sect and the Netherworld Sect, Wang Daoyuan began improving the Crane Feather Boat into a faster, sturdier escape artifact.

• Wu Yi made Hu Jing his subordinate, explained Blood Shadow's secrecy and reporting rules, and gave him a token to pledge allegiance and communicate.
• Over seven years, Wang Daoyuan reached the Foundation Establishment Eighth Layer, while Bai Sheng's work brought their combined Spirit Stones to more than four hundred thousand.
• Wu Yi and Fu Cheng recruited more than twenty Late Stage of Qi Condensation cultivators and six Foundation Establishment cultivators, and Wu Yi accumulated nearly another hundred thousand Contribution Points.
• The Red Beard Bandits attacked Demon Race and Half-demon groups after their Qi Condensation members were repeatedly ambushed, increasing the unrest and the bounties on the Red Beard brothers.
• Wang Daoyuan decided to reignite hostility between the Returning Origin Sword Sect and the Netherworld Sect, but first sought to improve his escape speed.
• Wang Daoyuan put Bai Sheng in the Spirit Pearl Space to test flying artifact designs using Golden Silk Jade Peach Wood and wings that generated lift.

Wang Daoyuan and Bai Sheng developed the Flying Kite, a fast eagle-shaped flying magic tool, and Wang tested its speed before heading toward Mirror Lake Oasis to confront Chen Ji. The test revealed that the Flying Kite became unstable at high speeds, leaving its safe limit below its maximum.

• Wang Daoyuan watched Wu's Artifact Refining Workshop and refined five magic tools from Bai Ying's materials, selling three Flying Swords to her.
• Bai Sheng completed an experimental eagle-shaped flying magic tool called the Flying Kite after twenty years of work in the Spirit Pearl Space.
• Wang Daoyuan refined a more reliable Flying Kite and left Bai Sheng at the workshop while he set out from Returning Goose Market for Mirror Lake Oasis to find Chen Ji.
• Wang Daoyuan tested the Flying Kite and found it could travel about three thousand one hundred li per hour under ordinary use, but shook violently at around three thousand five hundred li per hour.
• Wang Daoyuan reduced the Flying Kite's speed to around three thousand four hundred li per hour and continued north after it remained stable for several thousand li.

Wang Daoyuan traveled to Mirror Lake Oasis to investigate Chen Ji and encountered a lawless market ruled by strength. After killing a Foundation Establishment Ninth Layer cultivator who tried to take his sword, he drew the attention of two Foundation Establishment Peak observers, who debated whether to eliminate or recruit him.

• Wang Daoyuan set aside his unstable flying kite and flew toward Mirror Lake Oasis, planning to have his clone study the kite later.
• Wang Daoyuan arrived at the makeshift market and found a gray-robed cultivator blocking his way and demanding his Tiger Fiend Sword in exchange for one thousand Spirit Stones.
• Wang Daoyuan used divine sense suppression and Cloud Smoke Evasion to steal the gray-robed cultivator's storage bags and kill him with a strike that froze the wound.
• Wang Daoyuan called the market's folkways simple and honest, then left the corpse for nearby cultivators to fight over.
• Two white-haired Foundation Establishment Peak cultivators discussed Wang Daoyuan's exceptional divine sense and techniques, then considered whether to kill him or recruit him.

Wang Daoyuan explored Mirror Lake Market and learned from a local cultivator about mysterious corpse refiners and two groups of outsiders who fought them. The account ended with the corpse refiners turning the tables on a larger force and killing several cultivators.

• Two cultivators discussed whether to avoid provoking Wang Daoyuan or try to recruit him, since they feared his strength and possible backing.
• Wang Daoyuan browsed Mirror Lake Market, bought seeds of desert spirit plants, and went to Mirror Lake Restaurant.
• Wang Daoyuan tested the restaurant’s wine and dishes with Soul Chasing Bees before eating and drinking.
• A rosacea-nosed Foundation Establishment cultivator offered local information in exchange for wine and described outsiders who had searched the region for something.
• The cultivator told Wang Daoyuan that the outsiders found high-grade Second-Order corpse refiners east of the oasis, and that a later group of more than thirty Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivators was defeated, losing five or six people.