Chapter Summaries

Aaron led the allied forces in breaking the Azure Cauldron Sect’s formation and annihilating the sect. He found and killed Dong Wenxin, a young Heavenly Spirit Root cultivator who might have survived through a secret passage.

• Li Jiantong reported that a few Azure Cauldron Sect cultivators had escaped the encirclement, and Aaron dismissed them as insignificant while prioritizing potential Core Formation cultivators.
• Fire Hair urged Dong Wenxin to survive and avenge the sect, then secretly directed her to a hidden passage containing the sect’s reserves.
• Aaron used formation plates and his knowledge of the Five Elements Lost Trail Formation to break its restrictions, allowing the allied cultivators to storm Azure Cauldron Mountain.
• Aaron killed Fire Hair as the defenders’ resistance collapsed, while Azure Cauldron Sect cultivators surrendered or fled and the allied forces looted the sect.
• After a defector revealed Dong Wenxin’s location, Aaron found her at the secret passage and killed her despite her Heavenly Spirit Root and her family’s connection to an old acquaintance.

Aaron negotiated the division of the Azure Cauldron Sect’s former territory, leaving Forest Kingdom to the Li Family and surrendering Martial Kingdom. Four years later, he arrived at Ten Thousand Merchants Market under a new Rogue Cultivator identity, intending to establish himself separately from the Li Family.

• Li Jiantong and Shen Wantong waited anxiously for news of Aaron’s meeting with Madam Ten Thousand Flowers.
• Aaron told Li Jiantong and Shen Wantong that the Li Family would take Forest Kingdom while Martial Kingdom would be left to the other powers.
• Aaron dismissed their failure to find a lifespan-extending spiritual item and privately considered how he could eventually leave the Li Family behind.
• Four years later, Aaron arrived at Ten Thousand Merchants Market and introduced himself as Fang, a newly Foundation Establishment Rogue Cultivator seeking a place to cultivate.

Aaron used the identity of Patriarch Fang to establish himself as a powerful rogue cultivator in Myriad Merchants Market, then staged a Golden Core formation at age eight hundred. The chapter ended with local cultivators accepting his supposed breakthrough and preparing for his promised lecture.

• Aaron cultivated in Myriad Merchants Market while posing as Fang Yu, gaining a reputation as a rare alchemist and advancing to Foundation Establishment Late Stage.
• At age eight hundred, Aaron decided to stage a Golden Core breakthrough to make Patriarch Fang famous in the Far Western Lands.
• Lin Ye, a Lan Family cultivator, and Bai discussed Old Monster Fang and the obstacles he might face in forming a core as they approached the market.
• Aaron triggered a formation that produced a Golden Core phenomenon, overwhelming the arriving Foundation Establishment cultivators with his apparent power.
• Aaron announced that he had completed his Golden Core and would lecture in a hundred days, and the local forces congratulated him.

Li Jiantong learned that Old Monster Fang had formed a core and feared for the Li Family’s future after Li Qingjing’s death. Li Qingjing revealed that he had helped Fang form his core and arranged for Fang to protect the family, then planned to use the news to draw out their hidden enemies.

• Li Jiantong received word that Old Monster Fang of Myriad Merchants Market had formed a core and hurried to see Li Qingjing.
• After waiting seven days, Li Jiantong met the aging Li Qingjing and urged him to eliminate Fang before his strength grew.
• Li Qingjing explained that he had secretly supported upright late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators and had helped Fang form his core.
• Li Qingjing told Li Jiantong that he had agreed to give Fang his assets and Azure Cauldron Mountain in exchange for a heart-demon oath to protect the Li Family.
• Li Qingjing ordered Li Jiantong to keep the arrangement secret and let rumors spread so their hidden enemies would reveal themselves.

After lecturing for three days, Aaron accepted Bai Caiwei as his disciple and gave her a cultivation method and magic artifact. He then met with Pu Donglai, who offered the Azure Cauldron Sect’s support in opposing the Li Family and founding a sect.

• Aaron gave a three-day cultivation lecture to the gathered cultivators at Ten Thousand Merchants Market.
• Bai Caiwei bowed to Aaron and asked to become his disciple; he accepted her and took her back to his cave abode.
• Bai Caiwei told Aaron about her family and the Primal Unity Art, and he passed on the Foundation Establishment section of the Bright Jade Art and gave her a top-grade magic artifact.
• Aaron left Bai Caiwei to study her new cultivation method and went to a shop after receiving a calling card.
• Pu Donglai of the Azure Cauldron Sect warned Aaron that the Li Family intended to strike at him and offered his sect’s help in defeating them and founding a sect.

Aaron lured Pu Donglai and the other Foundation Establishment cultivators into a gathering to overthrow the Li Family, then revealed that Li Qingjing had anticipated their plot and trapped them in a third-tier formation. The fight began with Aaron’s overwhelming sword techniques, while Pu Donglai’s talisman treasure struck at him.

• Aaron exchanged courtesies with Pu Donglai and arranged for Li Qingjing to deal with the conspirators, keeping Patriarch Fang’s hands clean.
• Half a month later, Pu Donglai gathered Foundation Establishment cultivators, including Patriarch Lan and Old Monster Long, to plan the Li Family’s overthrow and claimed Patriarch Fang supported them.
• A Core Formation cultivator’s killing intent swept through the hall, and the conspirators realized Pu Donglai might have betrayed them and fled.
• A hidden third-tier formation sealed the cave abode, and Li Qingjing appeared atop a massive green tree as the Foundation Establishment cultivators prepared to fight.
• Aaron used the Formless Sword to kill several cultivators and sliced Old Monster Long’s Black Smoke Banner in two.
• Pu Donglai used a golden talisman treasure to summon a giant hammer, and Aaron sent the Black Jade Seal to meet it.

Aaron wiped out the rebels led by Pu Donglai and Old Monster Long, then staged Li Qingjing’s death to secure the Li Family’s future. The Forest Kingdom fell silent under Aaron’s raids, while the Li Family mourned their patriarch and prepared to accept Aaron’s discipleship arrangement.

• Aaron used the vine-wood formation and his swordsmanship to kill the rebel cultivators, while Old Monster Long escaped with a formation-breaking talisman.
• Aaron pursued Old Monster Long with the Blood-Burning Escape Art, deliberately keeping pace until Old Monster Long burned through his lifespan and died.
• Aaron took Old Monster Long’s storage pouch and destroyed his corpse, then the news of the rebellion’s defeat and Aaron’s raids spread across the Forest Kingdom.
• Li Jiantong and the Li Family clansmen gathered outside Li Qingjing’s cave, grieving after learning the patriarch had arranged the family’s future with Patriarch Fang.
• Aaron announced that Li Qingjing had died in meditation, presented his ashes, and said he would accept one personal disciple each from the Li and Shen Families.
• Xiaoqing joined the Li Family’s mourning while secretly snacking between its mournful howls.

Aaron established the Medicine King Sect, built its standing with alchemy and cultivation, and led it through a century of growth. During a new disciple selection overseen by Bai Caiwei, tensions between the sect’s master-disciple and family factions remained evident as Lin Ye and the other senior disciples gathered.

• Aaron renamed Azure Cauldron Mountain Medicine King Mountain, organized the sect, promised Foundation Establishment Pills as contribution rewards, and took Lin Ye as his fourth personal disciple.
• Core Formation factions attended the Medicine King Sect’s founding ceremony and acknowledged its authority over the Forest Kingdom.
• A hundred years later, Bai Caiwei oversaw the sect’s ten-year disciple selection and opened admission to anyone willing to take the character test, including mortals.
• Bai Caiwei’s formation rejected many family cultivators, while Li Jianjie and Shen Le arrived and learned she had reached the late stage of Foundation Establishment.
• Lin Ye joined Bai Caiwei, Li Jianjie, and Shen Le at the sect gates as the selection continued.

During the Medicine King Sect’s disciple assessment, Dongwen Ying was accepted despite Li Jianjie’s attempt to bar her because of her ancestry, and Aaron made her his fifth personal disciple. Over the next eighty years, Bai Caiwei vanished while traveling in Great Qian, the sect’s factions struggled for power, and Aaron wondered whether any of his disciples would form a core.

• Wen Ying helped Huzi reach the mountain gate, but the assessment revealed that Huzi had no spiritual roots while Dongwen Ying had dual water-and-fire spiritual roots.
• Bai Caiwei accepted Dongwen Ying, but Li Jianjie opposed her admission because she descended from survivors of the Azure Cauldron Sect; Aaron’s message overruled him and named her a personal disciple.
• Aaron formally accepted Dongwen Ying, then gave Bai Caiwei core-formation insights and a Calamity-Crossing Pill before she departed to seek opportunities in Great Qian.
• Li Jianjie and Shen Le strengthened the family faction after Bai Caiwei left, but eighty years later Li Jianjie died, Dongwen Ying established her foundation, and Shen Le advanced to Foundation Establishment Late Stage, leaving the factions in a balance of power.
• Aaron reflected that Bai Caiwei had sent no word and doubted his aging disciples could form cores, while Xiaoqing proudly suggested that it might eventually do so.

Aaron broke through to mid-Core Formation, while Shen Le returned as a suspicious new Core Formation cultivator and Bai Caiwei also came back from Great Qian with a core. Aaron installed Bai Caiwei as sect master and Shen Le as Enforcement Elder, then agreed with Bai Caiwei to watch Shen Le rather than act without proof.

• Aaron broke through to mid-Core Formation after more than a century at his bottleneck and went to the Medicine King Hall when the Spirit-Shocking Bell rang.
• Shen Le revealed that he had formed a core, challenged Dongwen Ying, and appeared poised to claim greater authority in the Medicine King Sect.
• Bai Caiwei returned from Great Qian as a Core Formation cultivator with a natal magic treasure, forcing Shen Le to abandon his attempt to seize power.
• Aaron made Bai Caiwei sect master and appointed Shen Le Enforcement Elder, then celebrated the sect's two new Core Formation cultivators.
• Bai Caiwei warned Aaron that Shen Le may have used demonic methods tied to the Black Demon Sect, and Aaron urged her to monitor him rather than attack without evidence.

Aaron’s Longlife Turtle, Xiaoqing, formed its core, strengthening his position within the Medicine King Sect. Shen Le, alarmed by this new power and trapped by the Black Demon Sect’s curse, secretly contacted the branch master, who ordered him to remain hidden and await an opportunity to undermine the sect.

• Aaron halted the Medicine King Sect’s expansion after it retook the Martial Kingdom, keeping it from invading Western Xu and Eastern Wu.
• Aaron chose to let his nine-hundred-year-old Nine-Eyed Begonia grow for another century so he could try using it to refine a Nine Star Pill.
• Xiaoqing formed its core at just over eight hundred and fifty years old, and Aaron considered Dongwen Ying’s uncertain chances of forming hers in Great Qian.
• Shen Le realized Xiaoqing’s advancement made it harder for him to act within the Medicine King Sect, so he left Medicine King Mountain and contacted the Black Demon Sect branch master.
• The branch master used the Underworld Heart-Devouring Curse to punish Shen Le, then told him to stay hidden and wait for a chance to exploit Aaron’s desire to preserve balance.
• The Black Demon Scion ordered Demon Calculator to record Shen Le as an undercover agent and considered how the Medicine King Sect might become a demonic faction.

After more than sixty years in seclusion, Aaron emerged at the Mid Golden Core Stage, harvested thousand-year spirit herbs, and returned to find Shen Le had taken control of the Medicine King Sect. Aaron stripped Shen Le of authority and reassigned the sect’s leadership, while Shen Le turned to a Black Demon Sect agent for advice.

• Aaron emerged from seclusion after more than sixty years and learned from Xiaoqing that Bai Caiwei had left for Great Qian decades earlier.
• Aaron harvested thousand-year spirit herbs, including a Nine-Eyed Begonia, to prepare pills that could improve his cultivation.
• Aaron discovered that Shen Le had become acting Sect Master and that the family faction had gained considerable influence in the Medicine King Sect.
• Aaron revealed his Mid Golden Core Stage cultivation, removed Shen Le from his posts, appointed a Foundation Establishment cultivator as temporary Sect Master, and summoned several faction leaders to the back mountain.
• Shen Le complained to a Black Demon Sect agent, who advised him to wait until Aaron died and suggested Bai Caiwei could be prevented from returning from Great Qian.

Aaron succeeded in refining the Nine Star Pill, advanced his alchemy to the peak of the third tier, and continued cultivating while preparing for the coming conflict with the Black Demon Sect. He outlived Shen Le, whose schemes to wait for Aaron’s death failed, and Shen Le died in meditation still refusing to accept his defeat.

• Aaron refined the Nine Star Pill after two failed attempts and maxed out his third-tier alchemy skill.
• Aaron emerged from seclusion, checked on Medicine King Sect, and pretended to be senile while asking after Bai Caiwei and Song Zhong.
• Shen Le and a Black Demon Sect envoy discussed Aaron’s apparent approaching death and arranged for Shen Le to receive a Blood Spirit Pill.
• Aaron used Three Yang Pills and other spirit pills to accelerate his cultivation, then considered renewing the Far West Alliance before the thousand-year pact ended.
• Aaron repeatedly told Shen Le that he had refined a lifespan-extending pill, while Shen Le grew older despite taking Blood Spirit Pills.
• On Aaron’s fourteen-hundredth birthday, Shen Le died in meditation after realizing Aaron had outlasted him.

Aaron fabricated Song Zhong as his sixth disciple and arranged for him to inherit the Medicine King Sect, then traveled back from the Martial Kingdom disguised as Song Zhong. Black Demon Sect cultivators ambushed him, but Aaron revealed his Formless Sword techniques and killed two of them, leaving Demon Calculator to recognize him as a true-transmission cultivator of the Book Mountain Sword Pavilion.

• Aaron mourned Shen Le publicly, then recalled Song Zhong to take over as sect master while privately weighing when to stage his own death.
• Aaron traveled from the Martial Kingdom toward the Medicine King Sect disguised as Song Zhong and visited East Gate Valley, unaware that Black Demon Sect cultivators were tracking him.
• Aaron detected the ambush and revealed early Core Formation cultivation to draw the pursuing demonic cultivators away from the Medicine King Sect.
• Demon Calculator and two Core Formation demonic cultivators surrounded Aaron, intending to kill Song Zhong and later seize control of the Medicine King Sect.
• Aaron used his Formless Sword techniques to kill two demonic cultivators, and Demon Calculator recognized him as a true-transmission core-forming cultivator of the Book Mountain Sword Pavilion.

Aaron killed Demon Calculator and learned that the Book Mountain Sword Pavilion had revoked the thousand-year oath, then warned the Medicine King Sect that the Yuanchen Black Demon Sect was behind upheavals across the Far Western Lands. After completing the fifteenth level of the Bright Jade Art, he took a rare Nine Star Pill and began trying to break through to late Core Formation.

• Aaron revealed his identity as Old Monster Fang, crushed Demon Calculator with the Black Jade Seal, and killed him with demonic flames.
• Aaron returned secretly to Medicine King Mountain, learned that the sect master He Yu had tried to see him, and summoned the sect's leaders.
• Aaron blamed the Yuanchen Black Demon Sect for Song Zhong's disappearance and ordered He Yu to contact the major sects and seek aid from the Book Mountain Sword Pavilion.
• Aaron resumed cultivation and eventually completed the fifteenth level of the Bright Jade Art, but found himself blocked by the late Core Formation bottleneck.
• Aaron swallowed the Nine Star Pill and began concentrating on breaking through to late Core Formation.

Ten Thousand Stars Sect hosted an alliance gathering in the Orchid Kingdom to discuss the approaching demonic calamity and Black Demon Sect’s growing activity. As the factions debated forming an alliance, Lady Darkmoon appeared and the Qiyun Twin Companions attacked her.

• Firefly True Person welcomed the Far Western Lands’ cultivators to Ten Thousand Stars Sect, where He Yu represented Medicine King Sect and Patriarch Thousand Insects questioned the absence of Patriarch Fang.
• Several factions denounced Black Demon Sect for infiltrating their ranks and causing losses, while He Yu privately doubted the sincerity of some attendees.
• A Core Formation woman asked why Black Demon Sect had become active so far ahead of the predicted demonic calamity, and Firefly True Person called the factions together to discuss countermeasures.
• Patriarch Thousand Insects challenged Firefly True Person to name a leader for a new Far West Alliance and suggested the factions surrender to Black Demon Sect.
• Lady Darkmoon emerged from the darkness, and Firefly True Person called on the Qiyun Twin Companions, who launched an attack against her.

Aaron secretly uncovered that the alliance against the Black Demon Sect had been infiltrated and that a major upheaval in Great Qian threatened the Far Western Lands. He took He Yu toward Great Qian to plead with the righteous sects for help.

• The Qiyun Twin Companions drove Lady Darkmoon away, and Firefly True Person used their support to become acting alliance leader and form a verbal pact.
• Aaron followed Lady Darkmoon, defeated her with Formless Sword techniques, and searched her soul before burning her body to ashes.
• Aaron learned that the Qiyun Twin Companions and Firefly True Person were Black Demon Sect agents, and that Book Mountain Sword Pavilion had retreated because of a powerful upheaval in the Black Demon Sect.
• Aaron intercepted He Yu’s flying boat and ordered him to go to Great Qian and plead with Book Mountain Sword Pavilion and other righteous sects for aid.

Aaron brought He Yu to Qianyang City to test whether Great Qian’s righteous sects would help the Far Western Lands, while secretly preparing a ritual at the border between the Black Demon Sect and Book Mountain Sword Pavilion. After the sects refused to intervene, Aaron began the ritual that triggered the Blood Moon Calamity.

• Aaron traveled across the Boundless Desert with He Yu and entered Qianyang City, where he sent He Yu to seek help while keeping his own identity and whereabouts concealed.
• At a teahouse, Aaron heard that the Black Demon Sect had gained a Spirit Transformation cultivator and that Great Qian’s sects were unlikely to oppose its expansion into the Four Wastelands.
• He Yu reported that Book Mountain Sword Pavilion and Righteous Qi Sect had refused to help, and Aaron told him to return to the Medicine King Sect alone.
• Aaron destroyed the communication jade talisman and decided to abandon his investigation of the Profound Heaven Sect ruins, planning instead to return to the Far Western Lands after handling his secret business.
• At the border between the Black Demon Sect and Book Mountain Sword Pavilion, Aaron performed a sacrificial ritual and summoned the Spirit of Void in the name of Aaron Sothoth.
• The moon turned crimson and sprouted branching shapes, beginning the Blood Moon Calamity.

Chen San heard a mysterious scripture during the crimson moon and realized he could cultivate by gathering spiritual energy from living things. Meanwhile, Lunar Inversion drove Qianyang City’s cultivators into madness and transformed a Core Formation cultivator into a mountain of flesh.

• Chen San saw the moon turn crimson and heard the Crimson Mother Tree’s murmurs reveal a path to cultivation without spiritual roots.
• Chen San decided to gather spiritual energy from animals and cooked braised pork for his family the next morning.
• Lunar Inversion plunged Qianyang City into chaos as cultivators went mad, slaughtered people, and transformed into aberrations.
• Elder Gu used the Dust-Settling Bell to protect several Core Formation cultivators from the demonic sound.
• Elder Gu and the survivors witnessed the Myriad Flowers House’s Core Formation Patriarch transformed into a mountain of flesh.

Elder Gu and Qianyang City's Core Formation cultivators suppressed the demonic outbreak, then learned that a Spirit Transformation cultivator had fallen and devastated the Black Demon Sect's territory. After dismissing the others, Gu Jiandong secretly reconsidered the words of the Supreme Mystery Dao Ancestor.

• Elder Gu activated Qianyang City's grand formation, and the cultivators destroyed most of the demons, including the regenerating flesh-mountain demon at Myriad Flowers House.
• The Core Formation cultivators reported the aftermath to Elder Gu, who used the Dust-Settling Bell to protect them while they discussed the moon-linked corruption and its possible spread.
• Elder Gu and the cultivators recalled hearing a demonic voice about the Valley God and the mysterious female, then discussed the name Supreme Mystery Dao Ancestor.
• A flying sword message informed Elder Gu that a newly advanced Spirit Transformation cultivator of the Black Demon Sect had succumbed to demonic deviation, turning Black Demon Abyss and the surrounding region into a sea of blood and a dead zone.
• After dismissing the cultivators and sealing his cave abode, Gu Jiandong retrieved the jade slip and reflected on how close he had come to the Great Dao.