Chapter Summaries

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.

Aaron experimented with demonic arts and refined a dangerous battle pill before learning that the Far West Alliance’s war had ended through pressure from the Book Mountain Sword Pavilion. The Li Family received rewards for its service, and its disciples were finally allowed to return home.

• Aaron practiced the Blood-Burning Escape Art and concluded that replenishing pills could offset its heavy cost to blood essence and vital energy.
• Aaron refined six Mad Demon Pills, whose boosted power came at the price of severe weakness and lost lifespan.
• Li Yaotian informed Aaron that the Black Demon Sect had retreated to Yuanchen and the Far West Alliance’s war was over.
• Aaron learned that the Book Mountain Sword Pavilion had pressured the weakened Black Demon Sect to surrender its occupied Far Western territories, while keeping Yuanchen.
• Li Yaotian reported that the Li Family had earned alliance rewards and that Elder Yao Huo had impressed the Vast Righteous Sect; Aaron ordered a grand celebration.

After Li Yaohuo returned from the war with the ashes of fallen clansmen, he and Li Yaotian led a demand for Li Qingjing to surrender power. Li Qingjing revealed his hidden Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivation and unleashed a powerful attack on Li Yaohuo.

• Li Yaohuo returned to Little Moon Mountain in mourning clothes, carrying an urn and reporting that 138 of the 271 Li Family cultivators sent to the war had died.
• Li Yaohuo condemned Li Qingjing for sending Qi Refining clansmen into danger and misusing family resources, then demanded that he relinquish his position.
• Li Yaotian and the returning cultivators joined Li Yaohuo in calling for Li Qingjing to step down.
• Li Qingjing rose into the air and challenged Li Yaohuo, who wielded top-grade artifacts and relied on his peak Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivation.
• Li Qingjing revealed Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivation, secretly swallowed a Mad Demon Pill, and attacked with a storm of crimson sword light.

Aaron defeated Li Yaohuo and left the Li Family, handing him the Supreme Elder token as he departed. Li Yaohuo took control as clan patriarch but discovered the treasury and the family’s second-rank alchemy inheritance had gone with Li Qingjing.

• Aaron defeated Li Yaohuo and killed several Li Family cultivators who had switched sides to praise him.
• Li Yaotian blamed himself for the clan conflict and killed himself, while Li Yaohuo admitted his ambition and offered to die.
• Aaron gave Li Yaohuo the Supreme Elder token, announced he was leaving the Li Family, and flew away.
• Li Yaohuo declared that Li Qingjing remained the family’s only Supreme Elder and took the position of clan patriarch.
• Li Feng reported that the treasury was nearly empty and that Li Qingjing had taken the high-grade supplies and the second-rank alchemy inheritance.
• Li Yaohuo decided to use the battle rewards to support the clan, then spat blood when he learned its alchemists could only make first-rank pills.

Aaron left Xiaoqing to guard Spirit Herb Island, then traveled to Eastern Wu disguised as a Foundation Establishment cultivator named Shen Fei. He learned that a Vast Righteous Sect sea route to Great Qian would next depart in four years and decided to stay nearby while gathering information.

• Aaron harvested and replanted spirit herbs on Spirit Herb Island, improved the Lost Trail Formation, and ordered Xiaoqing to protect the island without drawing attention.
• Aaron traveled east to Eastern Wu in disguise and entered Lin Family Market, openly displaying Foundation Establishment Early Stage cultivation.
• At Wind Listening Pavilion, Aaron introduced himself as Shen Fei and asked Old Man Lin about routes to Great Qian.
• Old Man Lin explained that the Vast Righteous Sect operated a commercial sea route, with the next giant flying vessel scheduled in four years, and invited Aaron to join the Lin Family.
• Aaron declined the invitation and chose to settle nearby for several years while checking the route's safety and gathering intelligence.

Fourteen years after settling at Lin Family Market, Aaron prepared to leave the Forest Kingdom for Great Qian to seek resources for forming his core. He boarded a giant flying ship under the alias Shen Fei, and the expedition set out across the boundless desert with a Golden Core escort.

• Aaron used his second-order talisman skills to support his cultivation at Lin Family Market and refused the Lin Family's recruitment.
• Aaron decided to travel to Great Qian, hoping to find resources that would help him safely form his core and wondering whether Azure Pill had prolonged his life.
• Aaron bought a ticket, boarded the giant flying ship as Shen Fei, and met Vast Righteous Sect cultivator Su Cao and fellow passenger Hua Sanniang.
• After three days, the ship departed and later joined four other vessels at the border of Eastern Wu.
• Aaron learned that Crimson Fire Old Monster was escorting the five ships across the boundless desert, and regretted that Azure Pill was not traveling with them.

Aaron traveled across the Boundless Desert aboard a protected flying vessel and heard that a Golden Core patriarch was fighting off a sand beast horde. The vessel continued safely onward, but Aaron learned that Wu Sanqi had died after falling from the deck during the battle.

• Aaron joined Hua Sanniang and other Foundation Establishment cultivators, where Wu Sanqi told a story about the Vast Righteous Sect meddling in the Li Family’s affairs.
• The flying vessel shuddered as Crimson Fire announced that a third-rank sand beast and its horde blocked their route.
• Su Cao stopped Aaron from going onto the deck, then escorted Hua Sanniang, Wu Sanqi, and several others to watch the battle.
• The vessel continued onward after the cultivators cheered for Crimson Fire, and Aaron returned to his cabin disappointed that the vessel had not been wrecked.
• Aaron heard that Wu Sanqi had fallen from the deck during the battle and died among the sand beast horde.

Aaron arrived in Qianyang City after a long journey and explored its thriving cultivator-only streets. He sold a rare herb at Heavenly Pill Tower and learned that advanced cultivation inheritances were closely guarded in Great Qian.

• Aaron decided not to seek justice for Wu Sanqi after learning the truth about his death, and became more wary of Su Cao and Hua Sanniang.
• The convoy traveled around Black Demon Sect territory and, after years of flight, reached Qianyang City.
• Aaron declined Hua Sanniang's invitation to travel with her group and entered the city alone by paying a one-spirit-stone entrance fee.
• Aaron surveyed Qianyang City's vast population, shops, and abundant spiritual qi.
• Aaron sold a three-hundred-year Black Marrow Ganoderma at Heavenly Pill Tower and learned that third-tier cultivation inheritances were guarded closely by factions.

Aaron studied Great Qian’s pill market and planned how to safely attempt Gold Core formation, realizing he needed far more spirit stones than he had. He decided to earn money in Qianyang City rather than risk dangerous schemes while he spent the next decades advancing toward Foundation Establishment Perfection.

• Aaron read Pill Dao Appraisal and learned about pills available in Great Qian, including the costly Five Elements Gold Core Pills.
• Aaron found the Calamity-Crossing Pill, which could keep a cultivator alive after failed Gold Core formation but could not prevent severe injuries or lost cultivation.
• Aaron planned to buy at least three Calamity-Crossing Pills, healing pills, and a long-term high-grade cave dwelling, estimating he would need three or four hundred thousand spirit stones.
• Aaron rejected risky ways of acquiring wealth and decided to work and save in Qianyang City until he was ready to attempt Gold Core formation.

Aaron struggled to make a living as a talisman master in Qianyang City, then identified a more profitable opportunity in demon-luring bait. After nine years of cautious observation, he began making Fish-Luring Pills and planned to sell a service to demon hunters rather than hunt beasts himself.

• Aaron found that talisman prices in Qianyang City were low and undercut other sellers to secure business.
• At a gathering, Su Cao invited Aaron to join bounty missions, but Aaron refused and searched the Cosmic Jade Wall for safer ways to earn spirit stones.
• Aaron discovered a reward for capturing Burrowing Rats and noticed other missions involving demon fish, then asked Shopkeeper Hao about demon-luring pills.
• Aaron spent nine years selling talismans cheaply and refused Su Cao and Hua Sanniang's invitations as their fellow townsmen suffered heavy casualties on missions.
• Aaron refined a batch of Fish-Luring Pills based on the Demon-Luring Manual and decided to profit by supplying demon hunters instead of hunting himself.

Aaron sold the Fish-Luring Pill formula to Heavenly Pill Tower in exchange for spirit stones and valuable pills to support his Core Formation. Manager Hao and Elder Huang considered seizing the formula but decided the risk was too great, and the chapter ended with them realizing how profitable the pills could be.

• Aaron entered Heavenly Pill Tower disguised as a black-faced Foundation Establishment cultivator and offered to sell Fish-Luring Pills.
• Manager Hao asked Elder Huang to inspect a pill, and Elder Huang confirmed that its effect rivaled the tower's Hundred-Fragrance Fish Bait.
• Aaron offered the pill formula for thirty thousand spirit stones and demanded a quick decision, promising not to sell it to anyone else.
• Aaron accepted a Calamity-Crossing Pill, fifteen bottles of Purple Cloud Pills, and a storage pouch of spirit stones in exchange for the formula.
• Elder Huang confirmed that the formula was genuine and cheap to produce, while Manager Hao and Elder Huang decided not to pursue Aaron by force.