Recaps

Aaron and the others were caught in a Black Blood Sect trap, where Dongmen Xue and Di Sanshun attacked with powerful magical artifacts and ghost creatures. As Aaron fought to protect Shen Qingchen, reinforcements arrived outside the mist, but Senior Brother Zhang chose to let the Three Mountains Association bear the brunt of the battle.

• Aaron and Zhong Wuyou discovered that the two hidden Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivators were Dongmen Xue and Di Sanshun, and learned that White Crane had been bait in a layered trap.
• Di Sanshun unleashed the Thousand Baleful Banner, filling the area with ghost mist and ghost creatures as Dongmen Xue and White Crane Fairy attacked.
• Aaron intercepted Dongmen Xue and used Yinfire Pearls and talismans to keep him at bay after Dongmen Xue shattered the Steady Light Pearl.
• Aaron forced White Crane Fairy to retreat with the Snow-White Sword, easing the pressure on the injured Shen Qingchen.
• Senior Brother Zhang and Junior Brother Lin arrived outside the ghost mist, but Senior Brother Zhang ordered them to wait while the Three Mountains Association cultivators fought and weakened the demonic cultivators.

Aaron and his companions were overwhelmed by demonic cultivators after the Azure Cauldron Sect failed to send help. Aaron revealed his Black Sun Demonic Fire and killed Dongmen Xue and White Crane Fairy, while Di Sanshun remained his opponent.

• Zhong Wuyou’s Primordial Unity Bowl shattered, and Foundation Establishment ghosts killed and devoured him.
• Aaron pretended to be exhausted, allowing White Crane Fairy to strike Shen Qingchen with lightning and knock her unconscious.
• Aaron sent Xiaoqing, the Longlife Turtle, to carry Shen Qingchen away on a flying boat as Dongmen Xue, Di Sanshun, and White Crane Fairy mocked him.
• Aaron invoked the Black Sun Demonic Fire, which destroyed two approaching ghosts and formed firebirds to shield Shen Qingchen and Xiaoqing.
• Aaron used the Wind Wing Art to reach Dongmen Xue and punched through his protective mirror and chest, burning him to ashes.
• White Crane Fairy attacked Aaron, but his demonic fire destroyed her artifact and consumed her.

Aaron annihilated the remaining demonic cultivator and killed two Azure Cauldron Sect witnesses who tried to intervene. After collecting the spoils, he found a sixteen-layer Bright Jade Art and reflected that his fighting methods made him formidable among Foundation Establishment cultivators, though he still avoided testing himself against a Core Formation patriarch.

• Di Sanshun fled from Aaron, but Aaron killed him with Black Sun Demonic Fire after the ghostly fog dispersed.
• Aaron pursued the Azure Cauldron Sect cultivators; he killed Junior Brother Lin and chased down Senior Brother Zhang, destroying the latter's defenses and killing him.
• Aaron returned to the battlefield, collected the storage pouches, erased traces, and checked for tracking markers.
• Aaron found a damaged Thousand Baleful Banner, a Bronze Cauldron, and other spoils, including a sixteen-layer Bright Jade Art in Zhong Wuyou's pouch.
• Aaron concluded that his combat method could overpower Foundation Establishment cultivators but decided not to challenge a Core Formation patriarch.

After comprehending the Bright Jade Art, Aaron broke through to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage and began planning for his eventual attempt at Core Formation. When Shen Qingchen woke, he claimed he had hidden his strength for years and told her that Elder Zhong had died in the battle.

• Aaron circulated the Bright Jade Art and smoothly advanced to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, strengthening his Jade Bone and increasing his mana.
• Aaron assessed his new strength and resolved to prepare for Core Formation by gathering life-saving and healing treasures rather than competing for medicines that raised his chances of success.
• Xiaoqing informed Aaron that Shen Qingchen had awakened, and he went to see her.
• Aaron told Shen Qingchen he had concealed his strength and had revealed it to protect her from the demonic cultivators.
• Aaron said Elder Zhong had perished in the battle, leaving Shen Qingchen silent.

Aaron refused to return to Three Mountains Market after blaming Dongmen Xue and the other demonic cultivators for the Azure Cauldron Sect cultivators’ deaths, and arranged for Shen Qingchen to collect his reward. After she left, he refined his spoils, changed his appearance, and planned to seek a spiritual-vein site under a false identity.

• Aaron told Shen Qingchen that demonic cultivators had killed the two Azure Cauldron Sect cultivators and said he would not return to Three Mountains Market.
• Aaron gave Shen Qingchen a jade slip authorizing her to collect his reward and told her how to leave him a message.
• Several days later, Aaron sent Shen Qingchen away and stayed behind to inspect his spoils.
• Aaron repaired and refined the bronze cauldron and Thousand Baleful Banner, but failed to find the formula for the lightning spell.
• Aaron decided to find a spiritual-vein site, concealed his cultivation and appearance, and planned to pose as a Qi Refining guest elder for a cultivation family.

Aaron joined the Li Family as a guest elder under the alias Huang San, while the family weighed his trustworthiness and worried about its dwindling prospects for producing another Foundation Establishment cultivator. He settled into Willow Courtyard with two maidservants, and Li Zitong decided to keep observing him.

• Li Zitong accepted Huang San as a guest elder after Li Ruyu confirmed that he appeared to be a Qi Refining cultivator without demonic aura.
• Li Ruyu discussed the Li Family’s need to nurture a successor and planned to seek Meridian Protection Pills through the Three Mountains Association.
• Li Ziqian escorted Aaron to Willow Courtyard and introduced two maidservants, Attendant Scribe and Attendant Painter.
• Aaron welcomed the maidservants and promised to provide a generous dowry if he later sent them away to marry.
• Li Ziqian reported Aaron’s behavior to Li Zitong, who judged him a man of principle but ordered that he continue to be watched.

More than three years after settling with the Li Family, Aaron continued cultivating quietly and tending spirit fields as the family’s finances tightened and Li Ruyu neared his final limit. His peaceful routine ended when Li Ruyu announced that the Black Blood Sect was preparing to invade and the Azure Cauldron Sect had ordered local families to await conscription.

• Aaron cultivated at Little Moon Mountain, reflected on the Li Family’s uncertain future, and enjoyed the service of Yi Hong and Yi Cui.
• Aaron tended the Li Family’s spirit fields and learned from Li Ziqian that the family would harvest them early because it urgently needed spirit stones.
• Aaron kept to himself and trusted that no threat could harm him, but Li Ziqian soon summoned him to the Li Family’s council hall.
• Li Ruyu announced that the Black Blood Sect was about to invade and that the Azure Cauldron Sect had ordered families like the Li Family to prepare for conscription.

The Li Family faced a forced summons to send eleven cultivators to Three Mountains Market, and Li Ruyu chose to send Li Qingjing to the front lines to pursue Foundation Establishment. Aaron accepted a place in the party while suspecting the family was trying to keep him from fleeing, and he wondered whether Li Qinglan, sent to serve him, was part of that plan.

• Li Zitong announced that the Azure Cauldron Sect had ordered the Li Family to send eleven cultivators to Three Mountains Market.
• Li Ruyu offered Aaron spirit stones and a magic artifact to join the expedition, and Aaron reluctantly accepted while planning to desert if necessary.
• Li Ruyu overruled Li Zitong and ordered Li Qingjing to accompany the party so he could attempt Foundation Establishment near the front lines.
• Li Ruyu explained that he hoped to secure a Foundation Establishment Pill through war merit and vowed to protect Qingjing, even at the cost of the others' lives.
• Li Ziqian brought Aaron a group of women, including the cultivator Li Qinglan, and Aaron suspected the family meant to monitor him.
• Li Qinglan told Aaron she was willing to serve him because she felt indebted to her family and wanted to support Qingjing's Foundation Establishment.

Aaron arrived at Three Mountains Market as the Black Blood Sect’s invasion forced the market to activate its defenses and gather cultivators for war. After recovering his belongings from Shen Qingchen, he learned the invasion was driven by the Vast Righteous Sect’s westward advance and that powerful forces from the eastern great cultivation realm might be invading the Far Western Lands.

• Aaron entered Three Mountains Market with the Li Family and gave Li Qinglan spirit talismans to protect her in the coming battle.
• Aaron secretly became Elder Fang and met Shen Qingchen, who returned his stored belongings and reported that Lin Yuanping had died on an expedition.
• Shen Qingchen explained that the Vast Righteous Sect was relocating westward into the Martial Kingdom, pressuring the Black Blood Sect to push into the Forest Kingdom.
• Aaron learned that the Vast Righteous Sect’s advance might be caused by forces from the eastern great cultivation realm invading the Far Western Lands.

Aaron learned more about the cultivation powers beyond the far west and warned Shen Qingchen that the Azure Cauldron Sect’s alliance with the Vast Righteous Sect could endanger the Three Mountains Association. He used Shen Qingchen’s token to shop at the wartime auction, then left East Gate Valley disguised as Huang San.

• Aaron told Shen Qingchen that the Black Blood Sect’s fall could leave the Three Mountains Association exposed, and she vowed to persuade her allies while preparing to protect herself.
• Shen Qingchen gave Aaron her elder’s token, allowing him to pose as her Qi Refinement junior and leave the valley.
• At the Three Mountains Market auction, Aaron bought an incomplete second-tier talisman master inheritance and reflected on the soaring prices of wartime supplies.
• Aaron went to the East Gate Valley entrance and presented Shen Qingchen’s token to Elder Mei, claiming he needed to buy Three-Star Waterweed for Drunken Beauty.
• Elder Mei accepted Aaron’s explanation and let him pass, pleased by what he believed was his special connection to Shen Qingchen.

Aaron discovered that Li Ruyu had tracked him with scent-tracing insects and confronted him outside East Gate Valley. After Li Ruyu revealed his Foundation Establishment cultivation and attacked, Aaron exposed his own Foundation Establishment Middle Stage strength and trapped him in the Thousand Baleful Banner’s ghostly mist; the fight continued as a bronze cauldron crashed down on Li Ruyu.

• Aaron stopped in midair and attacked a hidden pursuer with Fire Feather Arrow Talismans, revealing an unfamiliar late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator.
• The pursuer identified Aaron as Huang San and revealed himself as Li Ruyu, a Li Family Foundation Establishment cultivator who had tracked him with scent-tracing insects.
• Li Ruyu admitted he had followed Aaron for his wealth and attacked, but Aaron revealed that he was a Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivator.
• Aaron trapped Li Ruyu in the Thousand Baleful Banner’s ghostly mist and sent a Foundation Establishment ghost after him.
• Li Ruyu used his top-tier flying knives to decapitate the ghost, then Aaron’s gigantic bronze cauldron appeared above him and crashed down.

Aaron captured and killed the impostor Li Ruyu, then discovered the demonic lineage and disguise behind his identity. After learning to use the Thousand Illusions Mask, Aaron considered impersonating Li Qingjing to take control of the Li Family and its spirit vein.

• Aaron overwhelmed Li Ruyu with the Black Sun Demonic Fire and flying swords, then sealed his powers and carried him away alive.
• Aaron searched Li Ruyu’s soul, removed the Thousand Illusions Mask, and killed him after obtaining his belongings and journal.
• Aaron learned that the impostor belonged to the Phantom Demon Lineage and had killed the real Li Ruyu before taking his place in the Li Family.
• Aaron used the mask to alter his appearance, mana, and divine-sense fluctuations.
• Aaron considered replacing Li Qingjing and claiming the Li Family’s spirit vein, but also questioned whether he should pursue better opportunities elsewhere.

Aaron hid in Black Marsh Prefecture City, where he rescued Shen Qingchen from Azure Cauldron Sect pursuers and learned that the Three Mountains Association had been destroyed. He considered raiding Three Mountains Market for its inheritances but decided the risk of encountering Azure Pill was too great.

• Aaron disguised himself as a mortal and lived quietly in Black Marsh Prefecture City for three months.
• Shen Qingchen and Elder Mei fled into the city, but Elder Mei abandoned her as Azure Cauldron Sect cultivators closed in.
• Black Blood and the Azure Cauldron Sect surrounded Shen Qingchen, and Aaron killed the attackers with his Thousand Baleful Banner.
• Aaron took Shen Qingchen away from the city and asked her what had happened to the Three Mountains Association.
• Shen Qingchen explained that Azure Pill and the Vast Righteous Sect had killed Patriarch Black Blood and then destroyed the Three Mountains Association in a surprise attack.
• Aaron considered going to Three Mountains Market for its inheritances but chose to keep lying low rather than risk meeting Azure Pill.

After the Three Mountains Association fell, Shen Qingchen prepared to seek Core Formation opportunities elsewhere and gave Aaron a valuable third-tier alchemy inheritance. Aaron chose to remain in the Forest Kingdom and headed for Little Moon Mountain, where Li Qinglan was fleeing the aftermath of her family’s bloody raid.

• Shen Qingchen told Aaron she planned to travel through the Far Western Lands, or cross the desert to Great Qian, to pursue Core Formation.
• Aaron refused to leave the Forest Kingdom and promised to protect the descendants of the Shen and Zi families.
• Shen Qingchen gave Aaron jade slips containing an incomplete third-tier alchemy inheritance from the Three Mountains Association.
• The next day, Shen Qingchen and Aaron parted; Aaron flew toward Little Moon Mountain to see whether he could enlist the Li Family.
• Li Qinglan traveled through the forest, haunted by the night Li Qingjing led the Li Family in a spree of slaughter and plunder at Three Mountains Market and Three Mountains Peak.

Aaron found the wounded Li Qinglan after the chaos at Three Mountains Association, searched her memories, and discovered a method for making spirit artifacts that he decided to pursue. He altered Li Qinglan’s memories and, disguised as Li Qingjing, told her Little Moon Mountain might be besieged and announced his plan to break through to Foundation Establishment.

• Li Qinglan recalled Li Qingjing’s apparent death and escaped pursuers before collapsing near Little Moon Mountain, where Aaron caught her.
• Aaron searched Li Qinglan’s soul and found nearly five thousand spirit stones, supplies, and a jade slip describing spirit artifacts that could grow stronger through cultivation.
• Aaron decided spirit artifacts suited his long-term plans, then altered Li Qinglan’s memories so she would believe Li Qingjing had survived and returned with spoils.
• Li Qinglan woke in Aaron’s cave abode and thanked him, believing he had rescued her while they were traveling back to the family.
• Disguised as Li Qingjing, Aaron warned Li Qinglan that Little Moon Mountain might be besieged and that Lord Jade Ancestor might have fallen.
• Aaron told Li Qinglan he would enter seclusion to break through to Foundation Establishment and become the Li Family’s new backbone.

Li Qingjing returned to Little Moon Mountain after reaching Foundation Establishment and rescued the Li Family from an assault led by the Zhang Family. He was named Supreme Elder and claimed that Jade Ancestor had disappeared amid the chaos around Three Mountains Market.

• The Zhang Family incited Rogue Cultivators to attack Little Moon Mountain, and the Water Moon Formation shattered as Li Zitong prepared the Li Family to fight.
• Li Qingjing arrived and killed a Zhang Family cultivator who urged the mob onward, then confronted the hidden Foundation Establishment cultivator Zhang Lingxiao.
• Zhang Lingxiao paid Li Qingjing two thousand spirit stones and withdrew with the Zhang Family, while Li Qingjing led the Li Family in defeating the fleeing Rogue Cultivators.
• Li Zitong appointed Li Qingjing the Li Family's Supreme Elder after the battle.
• At the ancestral hall, Li Qingjing told the family elders that Jade Ancestor had disappeared after leaving Three Mountains Market and that he had reached Foundation Establishment on his own.

Aaron consolidated his authority over the Li Family, secured its support by revealing a fragmentary second-tier alchemy inheritance, and began trying to learn pill refinement. His first attempt failed when his Black Sun Demonic Fire destroyed all the spirit herbs, leaving him to reconsider his approach.

• Aaron mourned Ancestor Yu, directed the Li Family to appease the Azure Cauldron Sect, and persuaded the clan to halve his stipend and shift its businesses toward spirit herbs and pills.
• Aaron revealed that he had obtained a fragmentary second-tier alchemy inheritance, and the Li Family leaders vowed to keep it secret and celebrated their prospects.
• Aaron made Li Qinglan his personal maid and told her that Guest Elder Huang had disappeared after fleeing East Gate Valley.
• Aaron occupied Li Ruyu's former cave dwelling and reflected that he was prioritizing his own interests while letting the Li Family rely on him.
• Aaron studied alchemy and tried using his Black Sun Demonic Fire, but it burned through every spirit herb, prompting Li Qinglan to assume he had refined pills quickly.

At 400 years old, Aaron completed the Black Jade Seal and reflected on his cultivation and growing influence within the Li Family. He emerged from seclusion to find the family firmly under his authority, while choosing to keep ruling patiently rather than make abrupt changes.

• Aaron completed the Black Jade Seal with a blood sacrifice and began nurturing the high-grade dharma artifact in his dantian.
• Aaron reviewed his progress in cultivation and the refining arts, noting that pills had helped him perfect Foundation Establishment Middle Stage ahead of schedule.
• Aaron celebrated turning 400 and left seclusion after letting Li Qinglan depart when she failed to recover her memories.
• Li Linghai reported the Li Family's affairs to Aaron, whose prestige and authority had grown as the older generation passed away.
• Aaron listened to the family branches' reports and decided to let time consolidate his control rather than rush to replace its leaders.

Aaron learned that the Far West Alliance had united to resist the Black Demon Sect branch, while the Li Family could only rely on the Azure Cauldron Sect to survive the looming war. He then considered his cultivation bottleneck, the missing ingredient for a breakthrough pill, and whether he could reach Core Formation in time to take revenge on Azure Pill.

• Li Linghai told Aaron that the Far West Alliance had been established under Holy Heart Scholar to oppose the Black Demon Sect branch, and warned that a wider war might soon begin.
• Aaron asked how the Li Family could preserve itself, and Li Linghai said it had no choice but to follow the Azure Cauldron Sect.
• After sending the others away, Aaron reflected that his cultivation had stalled at the complete perfection of the twelfth layer of the Bright Jade Art and that he was using his excess vitality to nourish the Black Jade Seal.
• Aaron considered making a Purple Clear Barrier-Breaking Pill, but the Li Family had been unable to find the required four-hundred-year-old Purple Clear Ganoderma.
• Aaron worried that Azure Pill might live for another hundred years while Aaron was only at Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, leaving him uncertain whether he could form his core and avenge himself in time.

Aaron raised Xiaoqing and cultivated while waiting at the Foundation Establishment bottleneck, then learned that Zhang Lingxiao was near death and the Zhang Family was seeking a Foundation Establishment Pill. He agreed to personally intercept them, leaving the Li Family to gather intelligence and conceal their tracks.

• Aaron fed Xiaoqing Qi-Boosting Pills and reflected on how slowly the Longlife Turtle cultivated.
• Aaron decided to focus on refining healing and life-preserving pills because he lacked a formula or access to ingredients for a Golden Core Pill.
• Aaron spent several years refining the Black Jade Seal and studying a first-rank formation inheritance the Li Family had found for him.
• Li Linghai told Aaron that Zhang Lingxiao was near death and that the Zhang Family was selling assets to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill.
• Aaron agreed to act personally against the Zhang Family and tasked Li Linghai with gathering intelligence and concealing their tracks.

Zhang Lingxiao tried to return to Lotus Pond with the Foundation Establishment Pill, but Li Qingjing ambushed him and revealed his Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivation. After Aaron killed Zhang Lingxiao and the Zhang Family head and took the pill, Li Linghai arrived with news that Azure Pill had sold out the entire Forest Kingdom.

• Zhang Lingxiao suspected Li Qingjing would attack him on the way home and prepared to use a Heavenly Thunder Pearl against him.
• Li Qingjing appeared near Lotus Pond and struck Zhang Lingxiao's defensive artifact with the Crimson Fire Sword, revealing his Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivation.
• Aaron used the Black Jade Seal's Gravity Art to crush Zhang Lingxiao and the Zhang Family head before they could escape.
• Aaron recovered the Foundation Establishment Pill and Heavenly Thunder Pearl, destroyed the bodies, and returned to Little Moon Mountain.
• Li Linghai brought Aaron the news that Azure Pill had sold out the entire Forest Kingdom.

Aaron discussed the Vast Righteous Sect’s takeover of the Forest Kingdom and reassured Li Linghai that the Li Family could adapt. He then announced that Zhang Lingxiao’s Foundation Establishment Pill would be redeemed through a contribution-based system and ordered a purge of disloyal family members.

• Li Linghai told Aaron that Patriarch Azure Pill had joined the Vast Righteous Sect, the Azure Cauldron Sect had become its subordinate, and the Forest Kingdom had merged with the Martial Kingdom.
• Aaron advised Li Linghai that the Li Family should continue paying tribute and managing its local responsibilities under the new rulers.
• Aaron revealed that he possessed the Zhang Family’s Foundation Establishment Pill after Zhang Lingxiao’s death.
• Aaron set the pill’s base price at ten thousand family contribution points, with discounts and borrowing limits based on spirit-root aptitude, and declared that redemption would follow a first-come, first-served order without age restrictions.
• Aaron told Li Linghai to leave the Zhang Family’s lotus pond untouched for now and purge Li Family members who betrayed the family; Li Linghai accepted the order.

Aaron watched Li Yaohuo depart for the war against the Black Demon Sect, then spent fifty years maintaining his cultivation and overseeing the Li and Shen Families. After the Black Jade Seal became a top-grade magical artifact, Aaron’s long-standing bottleneck broke, leaving him poised to advance to Foundation Establishment Late Stage.

• Aaron sent Li Yaohuo to the front lines after the Li Family lent him the contribution points needed to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill.
• Fifty years later, Aaron visited the Shen Family at Lotus Pond and received a map from Shen Qingchen showing a relatively safe route through the desert to Great Qian.
• Aaron returned to Little Moon Mountain and learned that Li Yaohuo had reached Foundation Establishment Middle Stage and earned a reputation as a rising star.
• Aaron nurtured the Black Jade Seal until it became a top-grade magical artifact linked to his mind and spirit.
• Aaron discovered that his bottleneck between Foundation Establishment Middle Stage and Foundation Establishment Late Stage had finally broken.

Aaron reached Foundation Establishment Late Stage and considered how to pursue Core Formation without risking his life. As the Far West Alliance war intensified and demonic cultivators infiltrated the Forest Kingdom, he stayed at Little Moon Mountain while Li Yaotian prepared to respond.

• Aaron broke through to Foundation Establishment Late Stage and estimated that he could reach Foundation Establishment Perfection in about ninety years.
• Aaron worried that Core Formation might kill him, planned to avoid dangerous travel, and intended for Xiaoqing to guard his spirit herb garden if he left the Far Western Lands.
• Aaron emerged from seclusion and celebrated with the Li Family’s singing and dancing troupe.
• Li Yaotian reported that the Black Demon Sect had infiltrated the Forest Kingdom with demonic cultivators and proposed forming squads to hunt them.
• Aaron refused to leave Little Moon Mountain, approved Li Yaotian’s plan, and continued his revelry.

Aaron reflected on the Li Family’s ambitions before intercepting Crimson Owl, a Black Demon Sect true disciple sent to spread panic in the Forest Kingdom. After defeating and maiming him, Aaron discovered that Crimson Owl’s inherited cultivation technique was protected by a divine-sense restriction, though the captured memories still offered useful gains.

• Aaron suspected the Li Family clansmen were seeking a new patron and considered how age and power shaped his feelings.
• Crimson Owl led several Foundation Establishment Early Stage demonic cultivators through the Forest Kingdom on a mission to slaughter cultivators and spread panic.
• Aaron ambushed Crimson Owl and his companions with the Thousand Baleful Banner, then fought Crimson Owl’s Crimson Blood Demonic Art with his artifacts and Black Sun Demonic Fire.
• Aaron defeated Crimson Owl, used the Soulsearching Art, and found that a divine-sense restriction protected the Black Demon Sect’s inherited cultivation technique.
• Aaron carved the unconscious Crimson Owl into a human stump and planned to leave him in a remote mountain forest for a beast to kill.