Chapter Summaries

Wang Daoyuan pieced together that Chen Ji likely controlled the corpses beneath the secret realm and considered how to draw him out. After Wang Daoyuan left the inn, two Foundation Establishment Peak cultivators debated whether to recruit him, while worrying about his possible ties to a major power.

• Wang Daoyuan gave the rosacea-nosed cultivator a jar of wine in exchange for the story of Netherworld Sect cultivators who vanished underground.
• Wang Daoyuan reasoned that Chen Ji probably controlled the corpses and that powerful refined corpses inside the secret realm had killed the Netherworld Sect cultivators who entered.
• Wang Daoyuan decided he could avoid the Third-order corpses by staying out of the secret realm and turned his attention to luring Chen Ji out.
• Wang Daoyuan noticed a divine-sense transmission from the inn's third floor, paid the innkeeper, and hinted that he knew the innkeeper's master had arranged for him to receive and then return a thousand Spirit Stones.
• Two cultivators on the third floor discussed Wang Daoyuan's strength and character, considering recruiting him while questioning whether his unknown backing made cooperation too risky.

Wang Daoyuan repaired and turned a trapped cave dwelling into an ambush, then used it to capture a Foundation Establishment Ninth Layer cultivator as a new avatar. He left the five other attackers dead and hung their bodies outside the cave.

• Wang Daoyuan found an abandoned cave dwelling on South Mountain and repaired its Defensive Formation, discovering that it contained a hidden entrance loophole used to ambush its former occupant.
• Wang Daoyuan kept the loophole, altered the formation to trap intruders, and prepared a Golden Fiend Soul Severing Array powered by Spirit Stones.
• After three nights, a Foundation Establishment Ninth Layer cultivator led five others into the cave, boasting that Wang Daoyuan had fallen into his trap.
• Wang Daoyuan sealed the entrance and activated the Golden Fiend Soul Severing Array, then used the Soul Annihilation Bell to kill five attackers and nearly destroy the leader's soul.
• Wang Daoyuan transferred Liang Zixing's Split Soul into the leader's Sea of Consciousness, reassembled the man's soul, and stored the new avatar in the Spirit Pearl Space.
• Wang Daoyuan searched the five dead attackers and hung their bodies from the jutting rock outside the cave.

Wang Daoyuan used the Soul Annihilation Bell to kill Lu Zong and his accomplices, hoping to draw Chen Ji out, and learned Lu Zong’s history after absorbing him. After rejecting an initial invitation from Ji Cheng and Ji Yue, he received them two months later when they personally invited him to a trade gathering.

• Wang Daoyuan finished merging Lu Zong’s avatar and split soul, learning that Lu Zong had become a Formation Master after fleeing Wei Kingdom and had trapped cultivators for their wealth.
• Wang Daoyuan found little value in the six Storage Bags beyond more than forty thousand Spirit Stones, then considered using Lu Zong to infiltrate Blood Shadow and study the Returning Origin Sword Sect’s inheritance.
• A Foundation Establishment Middle Stage Cultivator invited Wang Daoyuan to Mirror Lake Restaurant, but Wang Daoyuan refused and threatened him with the fate of the five corpses outside his cave.
• At Mirror Lake Restaurant, Ji Cheng and Ji Yue concluded that Wang Daoyuan was wary of them and decided to invite him later to a Foundation Establishment Late Stage trade gathering.
• Two months later, Ji Cheng and Ji Yue personally invited Wang Daoyuan to the gathering, and he welcomed the two Foundation Establishment Peak Cultivators into his cave abode.

Wang Daoyuan attended a Foundation Establishment cultivators’ exchange meet at Mirror Lake Restaurant, hoping to trade magical artifacts for rare materials and incomplete inheritances. He began trading a Star Steel Shield for a Thick Earth Spirit Turtle shell.

• Ji Cheng and Ji Yue invited Wang Daoyuan to the exchange meet and learned that he was a Formation Master with Second-order artifact-refining skills.
• Wang Daoyuan spent two months refining magical artifacts while preparing pills, talismans, and formation plates for possible trades.
• Wang Daoyuan arrived at Mirror Lake Restaurant, where Ji Cheng and Ji Yue seated him among the Foundation Establishment Peak Cultivators.
• Ji Cheng explained the exchange meet’s rules to more than eighty gathered cultivators.
• A Foundation Establishment Seventh Layer cultivator offered a Thick Earth Spirit Turtle shell in exchange for a defensive magical artifact, and Wang Daoyuan proposed his Star Steel Shield.

Wang Daoyuan attended an exchange gathering and acquired an auxiliary ingredient for the Violet Rhyme Pill. A cultivator then revealed a rare piece of Mysterious Ice Jade Marrow and sought a treasure to heal his soul injury, just as Wang Daoyuan interrupted him.

• A Foundation Establishment Seventh Layer cultivator traded a tortoise shell to Wang Daoyuan for a shield.
• Wang Daoyuan exchanged ten Condensing Origin Pills for an auxiliary ingredient needed for the Violet Rhyme Pill.
• A Foundation Establishment Ninth Layer cultivator displayed a piece of Mysterious Ice Jade Marrow, which Ji Cheng identified.
• Ji Yue verified the jade marrow by having a cultivator attack it with a Fire Attribute spell and judged it to be Low-grade Third-order.
• The jade marrow's owner asked to trade it for a spiritual treasure capable of healing soul injuries, and Wang Daoyuan told him to hold on.

Wang Daoyuan traded Ink Jade Nether Lotus seeds for the Mysterious Ice Jade Marrow and intimidated a rival who coveted it. At the exchange meeting, he bid on Ji Yue’s Spirit Gathering Bead, whose ability to collect spiritual energy could benefit his Lineage, and threatened to seize it if he lost the exchange.

• Wang Daoyuan exchanged three Ink Jade Nether Lotus seeds for the Mysterious Ice Jade Marrow, and the grateful Lu Yuan recovered from his soul injuries and gave Wang Daoyuan a sword hilt as a token of his favor.
• Wang Daoyuan warned Lu Yuan not to leave carrying a priceless treasure and traded threats with a Foundation Establishment Peak Cultivator who had wanted the Mysterious Ice Jade Marrow.
• After several hours of exchanges, Ji Yue offered a method for refining a Spirit Gathering Bead that stored spiritual power, and Wang Daoyuan learned it could hold roughly twice the power of a Mid-grade Spirit Stone.
• Wang Daoyuan offered Ji Yue a Second-grade High-rank Magic Tool longsword for the Spirit Gathering Bead, but his rival entered the bidding with two longswords.
• Wang Daoyuan added two more longswords, refused to raise his bid further, and threatened to take the Spirit Gathering Bead from his rival by force if necessary.

Wang Daoyuan traded three Second-grade High-rank longswords for an incomplete method to refine Spirit Gathering Beads and studied its unusual Artifact Patterns. He recognized the beads’ potential to transform the Wang Clan’s costs, but knew he would need to perfect the method before relying on it.

• A foundation establishment peak cultivator feared Wang Daoyuan might kill him and stopped bidding, while Wang Daoyuan traded three longswords to Ji Yue for the refining method.
• Wang Daoyuan stored the animal hide page and had his clone Lu Zong examine it, learning that the method was an incomplete draft with significant risks.
• Wang Daoyuan discovered that the bead’s Spirit Gathering Artifact Patterns were unfamiliar and valuable, despite the bead’s tiny size and ability to store twice the spiritual power of a Mid-grade Spirit Stone.
• Wang Daoyuan compared Artifact, Talisman, and Formation Patterns, reviewing their different strengths, limitations, and preservation requirements.
• Wang Daoyuan realized Spirit Gathering Beads could greatly reduce the Wang Clan’s transportation expenses and other Spirit Stone consumption, though mass production would be difficult.

Wang Daoyuan traded goods for valuable materials at the gathering, then learned that Ji Yue and Ji Cheng wanted him to join an expedition beneath Mirror Lake Oasis. They planned to use a Vermillion Bird Divine Fire Formation against a possible Third-order Corpse, but the expedition had not yet begun.

• Wang Daoyuan offered pills, talismans, magic tools, and formation disks in exchange for materials, inheritances, or Spirit Stones.
• Wang Daoyuan traded for materials worth over four hundred thousand Spirit Stones, including a piece of Low-grade Third-order Cinnabar Ore.
• Wang Daoyuan told Ji Cheng he had no Ink Jade Nether Lotus seeds left, then challenged a Foundation Establishment Peak Cultivator who questioned why he had not grown them.
• Wang Daoyuan planned to give his artifact-refining materials to Zhao Liang after returning to the Lineage and helping him achieve Foundation Establishment.
• Ji Yue and Ji Cheng stopped Wang Daoyuan after the gathering and invited him to join their expedition to investigate what lay underground.
• Ji Yue explained that their group planned to use a Mid-grade Third-order Vermillion Bird Divine Fire Formation against a possible Third-order Corpse.

Wang Daoyuan agreed to join the Ji Brothers’ plan to use the Vermilion Bird Divine Fire Formation against the corpses in the secret realm. After reviewing their preparations, he warned that the number of corpses and the realm’s Yin Energy or Killing Intent could undermine their chances.

• Wang Daoyuan calculated that at least twenty cultivators with Foundation Establishment Peak combat strength were needed to deploy and defend the formation, and refused to serve as a sacrificial scout.
• Ji Cheng and Ji Yue explained that they had prepared twenty cultivators, including Zhou Xuan, whose Foundation Establishment Seventh Layer cultivation belied his peak-level combat strength.
• Wang Daoyuan agreed to join and learned that the operation was planned for one month later, with himself assigned to defend an outer formation disk.
• Wang Daoyuan examined the Jade Slip plan and found no flaws, while privately noting that Fourth-order Corpses slept below and that he could conceal his Life Force with Pure Yin Energy.
• Wang Daoyuan warned that the formation could handle only a few Low-grade Third-order Corpses and might weaken in an environment rich in Yin Energy or Killing Intent.
• Ji Cheng said they had prepared countermeasures but that the operation’s success would ultimately depend on Heaven’s will.

Wang Daoyuan prepared to explore the corpse-nurturing secret realm with Zhou Xuan, who used his Qi Gazing Art to read Wang Daoyuan’s fortune and warn of a future calamity involving a woman. The group reached the buried entrance and destroyed the refined corpses that emerged, leaving the descent ahead.

• Zhou Xuan visited Wang Daoyuan and explained that he had joined the expedition because he believed Wang Daoyuan’s fortune would help keep him alive.
• Zhou Xuan read Wang Daoyuan’s fortune, predicting that the current expedition would bring alarm without danger and that a more serious calamity involving a woman would come in ten to twenty years.
• Wang Daoyuan spent the following weeks refining protective artifacts and preparing for the expedition, while Zhou Xuan stayed close to him.
• The twenty-one cultivators gathered at Mirror Lake Restaurant, then traveled separately to the site where refined corpses had first been discovered.
• A Foundation Establishment Ninth Layer cultivator cleared the buried entrance, and the group quickly killed the Netherworld Sect disciples who emerged as refined corpses.

Wang Daoyuan and the other cultivators entered a secret realm and battled four Low-grade Third-order Corpses while setting up a formation. The Corpses attacked the formation guards, and the chapter ended with them turning toward Wang Daoyuan and Zhou Xuan.

• Wang Daoyuan gave Zhou Xuan a Peach Wood Sword before the cultivators entered the secret realm through a doorway emitting Yin Energy.
• The Foundation Establishment Peak Cultivators fought four Third-order Corpses while a group of Foundation Establishment Ninth Layer cultivators set up a formation.
• Ji Cheng repeatedly used his bell to immobilize the Corpses, then retreated into the completed formation after exhausting much of his divine sense.
• The cultivators took positions guarding the formation plates, and Ji Yue defended his position alone with a Fire Attribute Talisman and the formation's Vermillion Bird Phantom.
• After a Corpse dodged the Vermillion Bird's fireball, the four Corpses turned away from Ji Yue and attacked Wang Daoyuan and Zhou Xuan.

Wang Daoyuan and Zhou Xuan fought off four Third-order Corpses, but the corpses destroyed the formation protecting the cultivators. As more howls sounded from every direction, Wang Daoyuan treated Zhou Xuan and prepared to use Water Attribute Spiritual Power to help them escape the Yin Energy.

• A tiger-shaped corpse attacked Wang Daoyuan, but the Vermilion Bird Divine Fire Formation and its fireballs burned it to a skeleton.
• Three more corpses charged the formation disk, and Zhou Xuan trapped them with a star-shaped spell while a cultivator used Earth Splitting Technique to drop them into a fissure.
• Wang Daoyuan used the Divine Fire Burning Heaven Art to spread flames across all three corpses, but one corpse broke the formation disk and caused the Vermilion Bird Phantom to vanish.
• The burning corpses soon collapsed, and Wang Daoyuan used the Spring Return Technique to treat Zhou Xuan's injuries.
• After hearing howls from every direction, Wang Daoyuan asked Zhou Xuan whether he could withstand Yin Energy erosion and prepared to envelop him in Water Attribute Spiritual Power.

Wang Daoyuan and Zhou Xuan escaped the corpses by fleeing deeper into the secret realm, where they found a spring Zhou Xuan identified as a possible Yellow Springs. After taking branches from the nearby Yellow Springs Willow, they headed west to avoid the entrance and the pursuing corpses.

• Wang Daoyuan and Zhou Xuan used Water Attribute Spiritual Power and God-Forbidden Silk cloaks to conceal themselves as they fled deeper into the secret realm.
• The two passed a Third-order Corpse unnoticed, then heard fighting and cries of agony from the direction of the entrance.
• Wang Daoyuan and Zhou Xuan reached an earthy-yellow spring beneath a willow, and Wang Daoyuan found that its water consumed life force and contained Yin Energy and deathly energy.
• Zhou Xuan identified the spring as resembling the legendary Yellow Springs and suggested it might connect to the underworld.
• Zhou Xuan cut two branches from the Yellow Springs Willow, and he and Wang Daoyuan fled west rather than approach the guarded entrance.

Wang Daoyuan and Zhou Xuan hid in the secret realm for months while the corpses guarded its exit, then made a break for freedom. When an ambush of five Low-grade Third-order Corpses nearly stopped them, Zhou Xuan revealed a powerful jade coin that let them escape.

• Wang Daoyuan and Zhou Xuan hid in a rocky fissure, where Wang sustained them with Spirit Peach Dew and food while Zhou used a feigned-death technique to conserve his strength.
• After Zhou woke and joined Wang in eating and drinking, they waited until Wang found that no Third-order Corpses guarded the exit, then prepared to leave.
• Wang and Zhou approached the gateway wearing God-Forbidden Silk cloaks, and Wang brought out Guishui Thunder Pearls as a precaution against an ambush.
• They crossed the gateway and found five Low-grade Third-order Corpses and numerous high-grade Second-order Corpses waiting; Wang summoned his flying kite and used a Guishui Thunder Pearl, but the Third-order Corpses kept pursuing them.
• As the five Third-order Corpses closed in, Zhou threw a jade coin that manifested a huge white jade dragon and knocked them down, allowing Wang to fly them out of the cavern.

After Zhou Xuan destroyed the Third-order Corpses, his reading showed that Wang Daoyuan’s coming tribulation had become less dangerous, and he departed. Wang Daoyuan returned to the Wang Clan and learned that Wang Daochang was overseeing the clan’s new interests at Hundred Spirits Mountain.

• Zhou Xuan told Wang Daoyuan that his Golden Core ancestor’s spell had destroyed every Third-order Corpse, leaving Chen Ji too weak to threaten them openly.
• Wang Daoyuan and Zhou Xuan found Mirror Lake Oasis deserted, returned to Returning Goose Market, and discussed the design of Wang Daoyuan’s flying kite.
• Zhou Xuan read Wang Daoyuan’s fortune and said the Yellow Springs Secret Realm journey was tied to his future tribulation, while the danger of his Peach Blossom Tribulation had lessened.
• After Zhou Xuan left, Wang Daoyuan released Lu Zong to join Wu Yi’s Blood Shadow organization and prepared to return to the Wang Clan for secluded cultivation.
• Wang Daoyuan learned that the Wang Clan had gained a ten percent share in Bailing Market at Hundred Spirits Mountain and that Wang Daochang was managing its affairs.

Wang Daoyuan learned that the lineage had cleared Dragon Fall Ridge and begun developing Golden Tiger Mountain after discovering a high-grade Second-order Star Steel vein. He traveled to Jade Pine Mountain and helped Zhao Liang suppress his heart demon with Mysterious Ice Jade Marrow, leaving Zhao Liang newly successful in Foundation Establishment.

• Wang Shouye told Wang Daoyuan that the Thunder Ape’s provocations had brought Demon Beasts against Jade Pine Mountain, forcing the lineage to clear Dragon Fall Ridge five times before discovering a high-grade Second-order Star Steel vein at Golden Tiger Mountain.
• Wang Daoyuan accepted the gathered spirit herb seeds, sent them to his Spirit Pearl Space, and decided to prioritize helping Zhao Liang achieve Foundation Establishment over setting up a formation at Golden Tiger Mountain.
• Wang Daoyuan reached Jade Pine Mountain, dismissed the Ming Generation disciples, and showed Zhao Liang the Low-grade Third-order Mysterious Ice Jade Marrow.
• Zhao Liang began Foundation Establishment while Wang Daoyuan stood guard, and the Mysterious Ice Jade Marrow suppressed his heart demon.
• Zhao Liang successfully achieved Foundation Establishment as Wang Daoshu watched the Spiritual Qi Vortex disappear.

After Zhao Liang agreed to improve Wang Daoyuan’s unstable flying kite, Wang Daoyuan focused on refining a Spirit Gathering Bead to store life force for the Azure Dragon Pearl. He discovered that life force remained stable when merged with Wood Attribute Spiritual Power, giving him a reliable reserve for healing.

• Zhao Liang stabilized his Foundation Establishment cultivation, and Wang Daoyuan asked him to correct the flying kite’s flaws.
• Zhao Liang inspected the flying kite and agreed to improve its stability and speed as best he could.
• Wang Daoyuan decided to use a Spirit Gathering Bead with the Azure Dragon Pearl to store life force for healing.
• After more than ten failed attempts over two years, Wang Daoyuan refined a Spirit Gathering Bead and found that it could hold life force only when mixed with Wood Attribute Spiritual Power.
• Wang Daoyuan confirmed that one filled bead could preserve enough life force for the Azure Dragon Pearl to perform its healing technique nine times.

Wang Daoyuan improved Zhao Liang’s flying kite, then accepted the Netherworld Sect’s invitation to help refine flying warships. He and Wang Shouye suspected the sect was preparing for a major conflict, though they could not identify its target.

• Zhao Liang refined a faster, more efficient flying kite, but its violent shaking at top speed remained unresolved.
• The Netherworld Sect’s Luo Hongming invited Wang Daoyuan to assist with refining flying warships at the sect’s mountain gate, offering materials and guidance while implying that refusal could bring trouble to the Wang Clan.
• Wang Daoyuan accepted the invitation and agreed to meet Luo Hongming at Qingli Market in three days.
• Wang Daoyuan asked Wang Shouye why the sect was recruiting so many craftsmen, and they considered whether it planned to attack the Demon Race north of the mountains.

Wang Daoyuan traveled to the Netherworld Sect’s mountain gate and was assigned to help refine third-order Flying Warships. He impressed the Foundation Establishment Peak Cultivator managing a workshop with his flying-boat experience and powerful divine sense.

• Wang Daoyuan prepared for the trip by moving commonly used items into his storage bag and converting his Spiritual Power to ordinary Spiritual Power.
• Wang Daoyuan met Yang Zhiyuan and other cultivators at the Netherworld Sect’s station in Qingli Market, then traveled with them to the sect’s mountain gate.
• A Violet Mansion elder led the group to the Artifact Refining Hall, where the Hall Master explained that the sect needed twenty low-grade third-order Flying Warships within half a year.
• Yin Chang assigned Wang Daoyuan to the first artifact refining workshop on the east because he had experience refining flying boats.
• Wang Daoyuan told the Foundation Establishment Peak Cultivator managing the workshop about his second-order high-grade Artifact Refining and Formation skills.
• Wang Daoyuan unleashed his divine sense at the cultivator’s request, making the papers on the table float and nearly knocking the cultivator off his feet.

Wang Daoyuan met Xu Tingxuan in the Dongyi Artifact Refining Workshop and learned to refine Low-grade Third-order flying warship components. After succeeding at forging and quenching a side plate, he agreed to help Xu with formations in return for his guidance.

• Xu Tingxuan recognized Wang Daoyuan’s talent, introduced himself, and offered to teach him Third-order artifact refining, citing their families’ ties.
• Xu Tingxuan led Wang Daoyuan into the underground artifact refining rooms, where the workshop steward offered Drunken Dragon Grass seeds if Wang helped complete a flying boat first.
• Xu Tingxuan demonstrated how to forge and engrave a Low-grade Third-order flying warship side plate.
• Wang Daoyuan failed twice while engraving the artifact patterns, then succeeded on his third attempt with Xu Tingxuan’s guidance.
• Wang Daoyuan successfully quenched a side plate, and he and Xu Tingxuan agreed to exchange guidance in artifact refining and formations.