Chapter Summaries

Bai Jing bought Qi Replenishing Pills at the Pill Pavilion and used one to perfect his heart viscera, completing the five viscera and condensing a blood cauldron. The Minor Formless Technique branch of his Talent Tree then reached the cauldron and revealed its status as Crimson Blood Cauldron (10/100).

• Bai Jing bought three bottles of low-grade Qi Replenishing Pills and encountered Ling Qinghe, who bought pills despite being a pill refiner.
• Bai Jing returned to his hut, took a Qi Replenishing Pill, and cultivated the heart viscera for half a month.
• Bai Jing perfected his five viscera and condensed a blood cauldron within his abdomen.
• Bai Jing saw the Minor Formless Technique branch of his Talent Tree extend to the blood cauldron and reveal the status Crimson Blood Cauldron (10/100).

Bai Jing cultivated a scripture that improved his blood cauldron and broke through to the sixth stage of the Qi and Blood Realm. Xu Shan explained the grades of Immortal Foundations, leaving Bai Jing to measure his own prospects against the other candidates.

• Bai Jing cultivated the Crimson Blood Cauldron scripture, raising its proficiency to 11/100 as its runes shifted.
• Bai Jing’s Talent Tree grew a fourth bare branch, and he then broke through to the sixth stage of the Qi and Blood Realm.
• Bai Jing went to the dining hall for Spiritual Meat and learned from Xu Shan that Li Huai'an had completed a first-rank mission with a Grade A evaluation.
• Xu Shan explained that Immortal Foundations ranked from blood cauldrons up to Purple Gold Immortal Cauldrons, and said he had condensed an Azure Cauldron.
• Xu Shan told Bai Jing that Li Huai'an was the only candidate with a Golden Cauldron, while Chen Ping and Chu Ming had Azure Cauldrons.

Bai Jing advanced to the Seventh Stage of Qi and Blood, chose the Mountain River Arrow and Star Array Basics, and continued taking missions to earn Ascension Coins. Li Huai'an rose to the top of the Golden Ranking, while Bai Jing headed out again to pursue more missions.

• Bai Jing bought pills, cultivated his blood cauldron into an Azure Cauldron, and found himself short of Qi Replenishing Pills and Ascension Coins.
• Bai Jing and Xu Shan searched the Hall of Divine Communication for affordable arts; Bai Jing chose Mountain River Arrow and Star Array Basics, while Xu Shan selected an art of his own.
• Bai Jing accepted thirteen Fifth Stage missions, and Li Huai'an posted a leading Golden Ranking total of seventeen missions with an All A rating.
• After returning from missions, Bai Jing broke through to the Seventh Stage of Qi and Blood without a Qi Replenishing Pill.
• Bai Jing counted two hundred Ascension Coins from his missions and immediately set out to take more.

As the assessment’s Golden Ranking updated, Bai Jing ranked seventeenth after completing missions, then used his earned resources to study and practice new techniques. He continued preparing for the remaining trials after learning that thousands of candidates had already been eliminated.

• The Golden Ranking placed Ling Qinghe second and Xu Shan seventeenth, while onlookers mocked the two disciples who had once ostracized Xu Shan.
• Bai Jing inscribed Mountain River Arrow on his Talent Tree and practiced it, struggling to control its blood-essence projectiles as his proficiency rose to five.
• Bai Jing studied Star Array Basics and inscribed it on his Talent Tree before practicing with an array disk and Array Flags.
• Bai Jing’s neighbor, Fellow Daoist Lu, said he had nearly died attempting a Level One mission and had lost his assessment qualification.
• Bai Jing heard that more than three thousand candidates had been eliminated and concluded that the final stage would weed out many more.

Bai Jing continued cultivating while Shangqing Mountain’s failed candidates left, and Xu Shan returned with a storage pouch and a gift bow after completing two Grade-A missions. Unable to reach the Eighth Stage of Qi and Blood with ordinary pills, Bai Jing borrowed Ascension Coins from Ling Qinghe, used them to buy a Mid-grade Qi Replenishing Pill, and broke through three days later, ready to finish the final assessment.

• Bai Jing cultivated with Qi Replenishing Pills as eliminated candidates left Shangqing Mountain, then welcomed Xu Shan, who gave him a bow won as spoils from a mission.
• Bai Jing reviewed his Talent Tree and completed Mountain River Arrow and Star Array Basics, but his cultivation stalled before the Eighth Stage of Qi and Blood.
• Bai Jing went to Xu Shan’s home to borrow Ascension Coins and learned from Ling Qinghe that Xu Shan had left on a mission two days earlier.
• Ling Qinghe lent Bai Jing fifty Ascension Coins under a contract requiring ten additional coins in repayment, and Bai Jing used the money to obtain a Mid-grade Qi Replenishing Pill.
• Bai Jing swallowed the pill and broke through to the Eighth Stage of Qi and Blood three days later, declaring that it was time to finish the final assessment.

Bai Jing accepted a mission in Qizhou and traveled to hear a Zhao family youth’s account of Zhao Tianyang’s rise. The youth explained that Zhao Tianyang had once been an adopted son of the Zhao Clan, but his story had not yet reached the events behind the mission.

• Zhao Yi welcomed Chen Ping and received two jade bottles of medicine from Yun Hai to help him break through the Third Stage of Qi and Blood.
• Bai Jing surveyed the available missions, rejected several difficult or distant notices, and registered for a mission in Qizhou.
• Bai Jing asked Ling Qinghe to sell him her Method of Scrutiny, but she refused his offer of five Ascension Coins and explained it was a Minor Divine Ability.
• Bai Jing traveled by Immortal Boat to Qizhou and listened as a Zhao family youth described how Zhao Tianyang was taken in and adopted by the Zhao Clan’s patriarch.
• The youth said Zhao Tianyang entered Shangqing Mountain’s assessment, was eliminated within a year, and returned with martial arts that made him Nanqiu City’s strongest expert after the patriarch.

Bai Jing investigated Zhao Tianyang’s crimes and attacked his wedding banquet with a Star Array, killing him and driving away the guests. After discovering that the Zhao youth who had hired him had been killed, Bai Jing returned to the Zhao Residence and confronted Zhao Yi, whose connection to Zhang Yunhai made Chen Ping try to intervene.

• The Zhao youth revealed that Zhao Tianyang had poisoned his grandfather, arranged his father’s death, and murdered his aunt, then gave Bai Jing the letters proving the crimes.
• Bai Jing went to Zhao Tianyang’s daughter’s wedding and secretly prepared his Star Array after spotting a powerful middle-aged man who might be Zhao Tianyang’s accomplice.
• Chen Ping recognized Bai Jing at the banquet, but Bai Jing activated the array, drove out the guests, and killed Zhao Tianyang with a crimson arrow.
• Bai Jing returned to the inn and found the Zhao youth dead, then went back to the Zhao Residence carrying Zhao Tianyang’s head.
• Chen Ping warned Bai Jing that killing Zhao Yi would make an enemy of Zhang Yunhai, so Bai Jing appeared to relent before turning back and firing a crimson arrow at Zhao Yi.

Bai Jing killed Zhao Yi during the assessment, then discovered that Zhao Tianyang’s Dragon Tiger Pills nourished the divine soul. He returned to the inn to cultivate, while Lin Changsheng decided to recruit him into Spiritual Elegance Peak.

• Bai Jing killed Zhao Yi with a crimson arrow and left the Zhao Residence as Chen Ping warned that he would report what happened to Yun Hai.
• Chen Ping recognized Bai Jing’s talent for formations but chose not to involve himself in the conflict.
• Lin Changsheng learned that Bai Jing had reached minor mastery in the Star Array Formation and resolved to recruit him into Spiritual Elegance Peak.
• Bai Jing buried a youth outside the city, then returned to the inn and burned Zhao Tianyang’s Shangqing Mountain manual.
• Bai Jing examined Zhao Tianyang’s Dragon Tiger Pill formula and discovered that the pills nourished his divine soul and eased the fatigue from setting up the array.
• Bai Jing burned the formula, took more Dragon Tiger Pills, and began cultivating while he waited to enter Shangqing Mountain.

Bai Jing returned to the outpost, continued preparing for his mission assessment, and secretly fortified his hut with a formation. Three days later, Chen Ping told Zhang Yunhai that Bai Jing had killed Zhao Yi, and Zhang Yunhai reacted with cold anger.

• Bai Jing returned to the outpost, submitted a bloodstained plea for help and letters, and collected a new mission.
• Bai Jing bought pills, array flags, and Beast Blood, then cultivated and began improving his Azure Cauldron.
• Bai Jing set a Stellar Foundation Formation around his hut and left messages for his neighbors and Xu Shan before departing.
• Lin Changsheng realized Bai Jing had prepared the formation to kill Zhang Yunhai if he came to confront him.
• Chen Ping waited for Zhang Yunhai to return, then told him that Zhao Yi was dead and recounted how Bai Jing had killed him.
• Zhang Yunhai narrowed his eyes and condemned Bai Jing for killing Zhao Yi despite knowing their connection.

Bai Jing returned to the Shangqing Mountain Stronghold after completing a mission in Lingzhou and received a Grade A evaluation. He learned that rumors about a fierce figure at the stronghold were spreading, and Xu Shan revealed that people believed Bai Jing had taken down the Violet Cauldron Genius.

• Bai Jing left the commandery city after its townsfolk thanked him for defeating the demonic family.
• Bai Jing reached Lingzhou's capital and boarded an Immortal Boat back to the stronghold, where disciples discussed a fierce figure who had taken out a genius.
• Bai Jing returned to the stronghold and collected fifty Ascension Coins from the steward.
• Bai Jing checked the Golden Ranking and confirmed that his previous mission had earned a Grade A.
• Xu Shan and a crowd gathered outside Bai Jing's hut, and Xu Shan praised him for taking down the Violet Cauldron Genius.

Bai Jing learned that Zhang Yunhai had been eliminated after breaking into his cottage and triggering Bai Jing’s formation, though Shangqing Mountain saved his life. Bai Jing resumed his assessment missions, became notorious across the outpost, and the final bell rang a month later.

• Bai Jing asked Xu Shan about Zhang Yunhai and learned that Zhang had forced his way into the cottage, triggered the formation, and been eliminated when an Immortal Master intervened.
• Xu Shan praised Bai Jing’s formation, while Chen Ping reflected that he had avoided Zhang Yunhai’s fate by refusing to join him.
• Bai Jing cultivated his Azure Cauldron, which had reached 42/200, then left to continue his assessment missions.
• A senior sister called Bai Jing fierce, and the disciples aboard the Immortal Boat backed away after recognizing him as the outpost’s notorious figure.
• A month passed, and the final bell rang throughout the outpost.

After passing the assessment, Bai Jing joined the successful disciples at the plaza, where they learned they would enter Shangqing Mountain in three days. Xu Shan explained that disciples would be sorted by talent among thirteen spiritual mountains, including five especially powerful ones.

• The assessment ended, and disciples who failed left the outpost while those with at least three Grade A Ratings gathered at the plaza.
• Bai Jing cultivated at his hut, advanced his Azure Cauldron talent to 183/200, and grew a fifth, still-blank talent branch.
• Bai Jing joined Xu Shan at the plaza, where disciples had formed groups for different cultivation paths and factions.
• A Dao-robed cultivator congratulated the successful disciples and announced that they would enter Shangqing Mountain in three days.
• Xu Shan told Bai Jing that their talents might send them to different places and named the five strongest of Shangqing Mountain’s thirteen spiritual mountains.

Bai Jing waited to be chosen by Shangqing Mountain’s immortal mountains, but Array Dao Mountain and the three great Spiritual Cultivator mountains passed him over. As the chapter ended, Senior Disciple Yun invited Li Huai'an to join Spiritual Elegance Peak.

• Xu Shan explained that disciples would be selected by the Five Great Immortal Mountains before the rest were assigned elsewhere, and Bai Jing said he preferred Spiritual cultivation to the Array Dao.
• Ling Qinghe collected the Ascension Coins Bai Jing owed her, then departed for Pill King Valley.
• Array Dao Mountain did not select Bai Jing because Lin Changsheng and Senior Disciple Yun had arranged for him to join Spiritual Elegance Peak instead.
• Wind Star Valley selected Xu Shan, while Fire Spirit Peak and Water Moon Peak selected other disciples but did not take Li Huai'an.
• Bai Jing watched the three great Spiritual Cultivator mountains depart, disappointed but unwilling to reveal his cultivation foundation.
• Senior Disciple Yun invited Li Huai'an to join Spiritual Elegance Peak.

Bai Jing set out for Spiritual Elegance Peak with Lin Changsheng and the newly selected disciples, among them the famed Li Huai'an. During the journey, Wang Tao formed a mutual-support group and tried to recruit Bai Jing, who declined.

• Bai Jing exchanged his Ascension Coins for eighteen Spirit Stones before boarding the Immortal Boat with Lin Changsheng.
• Bai Jing spotted Li Huai'an among the disciples chosen for Spiritual Elegance Peak and wondered why the Array Dao Prodigy had come there.
• As the Immortal Boat departed, Wang Tao introduced himself and proposed a group to share information and offer members discounted supplies.
• Wang Tao invited Bai Jing to join, promising half-price goods because of his Array Dao skills, but Bai Jing refused.

Bai Jing and the other newcomers arrived at Spiritual Elegance Peak, one of Shangqing Mountain’s Five Mountains, and registered as lower-peak disciples. After learning about the sect’s Immortal Merit and advancement requirements, they waited to be shown to their assigned residences.

• Fang Wenze explained that the enormous gate marked only Shangqing Mountain’s boundary before the Immortal Boat reached its core region.
• Fang Wenze introduced Spiritual Elegance Peak as the strongest peak beneath the Five Meridians, and Bai Jing noticed that Shangqing Mountain’s surrounding ranges resembled a gigantic Bagua formation.
• Fang Wenze led the newcomers past the peak’s facilities and into a pavilion to register with Steward Yu.
• Bai Jing received an identity Jade Pendant with fifty Immortal Merit and learned that disciples needed contribution points for certain sect resources.
• Steward Yu explained that newcomers began as lower-peak disciples and could enter the upper peak only after reaching the Inner Core Realm and meeting another condition.
• Zhou Hai received the residence map and called Wang Tao, Ye Fan, Chu Feng, and Shi Hao to follow him first.

Bai Jing and Li Huai'an settled into neighboring residences at Spiritual Elegance Peak, where Bai Jing explored the marketplace and bought pills. That night, three disciples came to approach Li Huai'an but reconsidered when they suspected Bai Jing was the Star Array Formation user who had eliminated a Violet Cauldron Genius.

• Zhou Hai led Bai Jing, Li Huai'an, and the other new disciples through Spiritual Elegance Peak, warning them that many formidable cultivators lived there and showing them the Spiritual Fields.
• Zhou Hai assigned Bai Jing and Li Huai'an adjacent residences and reminded them to work toward becoming disciples of the upper peaks.
• Bai Jing inspected his spacious new courtyard and found a cultivation room that released wisps of purple qi.
• Bai Jing visited Myriad Pill Hall, bought three bottles of Mid-grade Qi Replenishing Pills from Little Senior Brother, and learned that divine-soul pills were costly.
• Three disciples approached a residence to persuade Li Huai'an to exchange residences, but the lead disciple recognized a Star Array Formation and suspected its owner was the cultivator who had eliminated a Violet Cauldron Genius, prompting the others to leave.

Bai Jing advanced his Immortal Foundation to a Purple Cauldron and improved his cultivation and formations while senior disciples debated granting him a Heaven Scroll trial. The chapter ended with Bai Jing spotting the other Purple Cauldron and Golden Cauldron newcomers gathered with Fang Wenze and Lin Changsheng, who called him over.

• Bai Jing's Immortal Foundation advanced from an Azure Cauldron to a Purple Cauldron, and he began practicing formations.
• Yun He and the senior disciples debated Heaven Scroll trial opportunities, and Yun He decided to take Spiritual Elegance Peak's Heaven Scroll so Bai Jing could undergo a trial.
• Bai Jing ran out of Qi Replenishing Pills, spent five Immortal Merit on more, and worried about his dwindling resources.
• Bai Jing saw the Purple Cauldron and Golden Cauldron newcomers gathered with Fang Wenze and Lin Changsheng, and someone called him over as the last one missing.

Lin Changsheng explained the origins and promise of the Heaven Scrolls, then brought Bai Jing and the other gifted disciples to Fire Spirit Peak to experience the methods. The group arrived at a stone wall where disciples from the other branches had gathered.

• Lin Changsheng revealed that the Heaven Scroll could offer a path toward becoming a True Saint and introduced the Water, Fire, and Wind methods.
• Fang Wenze explained the strengths of each Heaven Scroll, and Bai Jing asked whether he could cultivate all three.
• Lin Changsheng explained that the Array Dao was a cultivation path that could lead Bai Jing to form an Array Dao Inner Core and command arrays through intent.
• Lin Changsheng and the other upper-peak disciple brought the group to Fire Spirit Peak to experience its Heaven Scroll.
• A cultivator surnamed Chu led them to a stone wall where disciples from the other branches were already gathered.

Bai Jing and the other newcomers toured the Fire, Water, and Wind Heaven Scroll trial grounds and learned what each trial required. As the chapter ended at Wind Star Valley, Bai Jing studied the Wind Element Ultimate Skill and a crystalline bubble began forming in his sea of consciousness.

• Senior Brother Chu led the newcomers through Yellow Springs Road to the Fire Element Heaven Scroll trial, where he explained they had to cultivate an ultimate skill to beginner stage to cross the sea of fire.
• Senior Brother Chu said Li Huai'an would skip the trial and receive the inheritance, while Bai Jing and the other newcomers had half an hour to read the Fire Element ultimate skill.
• Lin Changsheng took the newcomers to Water Moon Peak, where everyone except Bai Jing read the Water Element ultimate skill, revealing Li Huai'an had chosen that Heaven Scroll.
• Senior Brother Chu led the group to Wind Star Valley, where everyone except Li Huai'an read the Wind Element Ultimate Skill, and a crystalline bubble began to solidify in Bai Jing's sea of consciousness.

Bai Jing chose the Wind Element Heaven Scroll for his inheritance trial and broke through to the Nine Gates of Qi and Blood. He arrived at Wind Star Valley for the trial alongside Ling Qinghe and Liang Hai.

• Bai Jing used a glowing bubble to begin learning Wind's Chant and chose the Wind Element Heaven Scroll after the newcomers examined all three Heaven Scrolls.
• Lin Changsheng asked the disciples to decide which inheritance trial to attempt, and Bai Jing told him he had chosen the Wind Element Heaven Scroll.
• Bai Jing swallowed a Qi Replenishing Pill and cultivated overnight, reaching the Nine Gates of Qi and Blood the next morning.
• Lin Changsheng led the disciples to the trial sites, where Spiritual Elegance Peak's remaining candidates separated to pursue their chosen Heaven Scrolls.
• Bai Jing introduced himself to Liang Hai at Wind Star Valley, then greeted Ling Qinghe when she arrived for the Wind Element Heaven Scroll trial.