Chapter Summaries

Lu Heng began his Eighth-Grade Alchemist assessment in Saint Dan City, choosing to refine the formidable Taiyi Soul-Returning Pill with his own rare ingredients and Myriad Beast Cauldron. He fused three Heavenly Flames and rapidly refined the ingredients while Han Li and Sheng Feng watched in awe.

• Han Li and Sheng Feng brought Lu Heng to the Pill Tower’s secure assessment chamber and explained the requirements for Eighth-Grade certification.
• Lu Heng declined ingredients from the Pill Tower Inner Treasury and produced the Myriad Beast Cauldron and rare materials for the Taiyi Soul-Returning Pill.
• Han Li warned Lu Heng that the difficult pill could cause the cauldron to explode if his soul power faltered, but Lu Heng proceeded.
• Lu Heng fused the Green Lotus Core Flame, Sea Heart Flame, and Fallen Heart Flame into a single blaze and began refining the ingredients.
• Han Li and Sheng Feng watched as Lu Heng used his Spirit Realm soul power to refine several ingredients at once with exceptional speed and precision.

Lu Heng refined a Taiyi Soul-Returning Pill that drew Five-Colored Pill Lightning, which he absorbed and dispelled with his Five-Color Wheel. The Pill Tower rated him an Eighth-Rank Mid-Stage alchemist, while its Three Giants sensed the unfamiliar young alchemist and began to wonder who he was.

• Lu Heng combined the medicinal essences and an Eighth-Rank Metal-Attribute Magic Core to form a pill inside the Myriad Beast Cauldron.
• Five-colored Pill Lightning gathered over Saint Dan City and descended on the newly formed Taiyi Soul-Returning Pill.
• Lu Heng used his Five-Color Wheel to break down the lightning, temper the pill, and absorb the remaining energy.
• Han Li and Sheng Feng examined the flawless pill, and Han Li announced that the Pill Tower rated Lu Heng an Eighth-Rank Mid-Stage alchemist.
• Xuankong Zi, Xuanyi, and Sky Lightning Child sensed the Five-Colored Pill Lightning and realized it came from an unfamiliar young man.

After witnessing Lu Heng refine an Eighth-Rank High-Level Pill that triggered Five-Colored Pill Lightning, the Pill Tower’s three presidents met him in person and offered him a position. Lu Heng declined a core elder seat because he wanted to remain free, so Xuankong Zi proposed making him a Guest Elder instead.

• Cao Ying doubted that someone so young could be an Eighth-Rank alchemist until Xuankong Zi brought her to see Lu Heng.
• Xuankong Zi, Xuanyi, and Sky Lightning Child arrived at the Secret Chamber and were shocked by Lu Heng’s age, cultivation, soul power, and alchemy achievement.
• Cao Ying’s confidence collapsed as she compared her own abilities with Lu Heng’s.
• Xuankong Zi greeted Lu Heng, who introduced himself as a wandering cultivator from the Jia Ma Empire with no famous master.
• Xuanyi offered Lu Heng a Pill Tower core elder seat, but he declined because he valued his freedom.
• Xuankong Zi proposed appointing Lu Heng as a Guest Elder with core elder privileges and no routine duties, asking only for help in a crisis.

Lu Heng accepted the Pill Tower Guest Elder position and received an exceptionally privileged Violet-Gold Token. Cao Ying began escorting him through Saint Dan City, offering to take him to the Cao Clan to visit Cao Yue.

• Xuankong Zi appointed Lu Heng a Pill Tower Guest Elder, and Lu Heng revealed he was twenty years old, a Peak Nine-Star Dou Zong, and an Eighth-Rank Mid-Stage alchemist.
• Lu Heng learned that Cao Yue had returned to Saint Dan City and was secluded at the Cao Clan residence, and Cao Ying offered to take him there.
• Xuankong Zi gave Lu Heng a Violet-Gold Token granting him access to Pill Tower resources and the Medicine Vault Pavilion's top floor.
• Xuanyi encouraged Lu Heng and Cao Ying to spend time together, and Cao Ying escorted him out of the assessment tower.
• Cao Ying explained the token's rare privileges as they walked through Saint Dan City, and Lu Heng asked her to call him by his name.

Lu Heng visited the Cao Clan residence in Saint Dan City, where Cao Ying introduced him to Cao Yue, his former senior from Jia Nan Academy. After they reunited and discussed Cao Yue’s progress, Lu Heng resolved to help protect her if she faced trouble.

• Cao Ying brought Lu Heng to the Cao Clan residence and told the guards that the Pill Tower Guest Elder had arrived.
• Cao Ying led Lu Heng to the rear courtyard, where Cao Yue hurried out to greet him.
• Cao Yue praised Lu Heng’s achievements, and Cao Ying revealed that he had reached Peak Nine-Star Dou Zong and was an Eighth-Rank Mid-Stage alchemist.
• Cao Yue thanked Lu Heng for his past guidance in fire control, and he credited her own talent and effort for her progress.
• Lu Heng wondered whether Cao Yue might face danger in the future and resolved to help her if needed.
• Cao Ying defended Cao Yue’s Seventh-Grade Early-Stage alchemist achievement against her cousin’s modesty.

Lu Heng explained that he needed high-grade five-element treasures to break through to Dou Zun, and the Cao Clan offered him access to its treasury. As Cao Zhen prepared to open it the next morning, the Pill Tower’s three giants questioned whether Lu Heng truly had no faction behind him.

• Lu Heng told Cao Yue and Cao Ying that his cultivation had stalled at Peak Nine-Star Dou Zong and that he needed rare five-element treasures to advance.
• Cao Ying described the Pill Tower’s Inner Treasury, Saint Dan Market Pavilion, and Cao Clan treasury as places where Lu Heng could seek the materials he needed.
• Cao Zhen arrived with the Cao Clan’s Great Elder and Second Elder, greeted Lu Heng as an equal, and offered to open the clan’s underground treasury at dawn.
• Xuankong Zi asked Xuanyi and Sky Lightning Child whether they believed Lu Heng was truly an unaffiliated wandering cultivator.

Xuankong Zi, Xuanyi, and Sky Lightning Child speculated that Lu Heng came from one of the Ancient Eight Clans, but agreed to treat him courteously and avoid alarming him. After Lu Heng settled into a Cao family inn and planned to explore the Inner Treasury, Cao Ying learned from Cao Yue that he already loved Han Yue.

• Xuanyi and Sky Lightning Child agreed with Xuankong Zi that Lu Heng's age, power, and three Heavenly Flames suggested an Ancient Eight Clans background.
• Xuankong Zi explained that Lu Heng had declined a powerful Pill Tower position and chose only an idle Guest Elder title, so the Pill Tower should befriend him rather than make him an enemy.
• Cao Yue escorted Lu Heng to a quiet inn owned by the Cao family after he declined to stay at their residence.
• Lu Heng settled into his room, considered seeking Five Elements Strange Objects in the Pill Tower Inner Treasury, and planned to visit it the next day.
• Cao Ying teased Cao Yue about spending so long with Lu Heng, and Cao Yue told her that he already loved Han Yue, whom he had met at Jia Nan Academy's Inner Academy.

Lu Heng entered the Pill Tower’s Inner Treasury to select high-grade five-element spiritual herbs, using the Purple-Gold Guest Elder Token Xuankong Zi had given him. Sheng Yao showed him three Eighth-Rank treasures, and Lu Heng began examining them.

• Cao Yue and Cao Ying discussed Lu Heng’s romantic reputation, and Cao Ying teased her sister for having feelings for him.
• Lu Heng left the inn alone and headed to the Myriad-Blade Ancient Pagoda without notifying the Cao Clan.
• Lu Heng presented his Purple-Gold Guest Elder Token to the guards and entered the Pill Tower’s restricted administrative corridor.
• Sheng Yao recognized Lu Heng as a newly appointed Guest Elder and explained the exchange rules for Eighth-Rank treasures.
• Sheng Yao led Lu Heng into the Inner Treasury and showed him the Earth Vein Azure Spirit Fruit, Extreme Yang Blazing Flame Crystal, and Thick Earth Black-Yellow Liquid.

Lu Heng exchanged two high-grade pills for three spiritual treasures and learned where to seek the missing Metal and Water treasures needed for his breakthrough. At the Saint Dan Gathering Pavilion, he offered an Eighth-Rank pill to obtain Taibai Geng Metal Essence, and the Myriad Sword Pavilion elder revealed the ore.

• Lu Heng traded an Eighth-Rank Early-Stage Spirit Origin Barrier-Breaking Pill and an Eighth-Rank Mid-Stage Taiyi Soul-Returning Pill for the Earth Vein Green Spirit Fruit, Extreme Yang Blazing Flame Crystal, and Thick Earth Mysterious Yellow Liquid.
• Lu Heng asked Sheng Yao about Metal and Water spiritual treasures, and Sheng Yao directed him to the Saint Dan Gathering Pavilion's exchange gathering.
• Lu Heng went to the Gathering Pavilion and met a Myriad Sword Pavilion elder seeking an Eighth-Rank Foundation-Stabilizing Nurturing Pill for Taibai Geng Metal Essence.
• Lu Heng presented an Eighth-Rank Early-Stage Foundation-Nourishing Stabilizing Pill, and the elder showed him the silver-white Taibai Geng Metal Essence.

Lu Heng traded high-grade pills for rare cultivation treasures and learned that the Beast Region might hold more spirit ores. Back in his room, he began refining four elemental treasures, leaving the Water Attribute rarity still to be found.

• An elder advised Lu Heng to seek rare spirit ores in the Beast Region, where Magical Beast clans left mineral treasures unused.
• Lu Heng bought auxiliary ingredients and returned to the Cao Clan inn, where Cao Ying and Cao Yue asked what he had obtained from the Gathering Pavilion.
• Lu Heng said he had traded pills for an Earth Vein Green Spirit Fruit, an Extreme Yang Blazing Flame Crystal, and Thick Earth Mysterious Yellow Liquid, then declined the Cao Clan's listed treasures.
• After Cao Ying and Cao Yue left, Lu Heng sealed his room and prepared to refine the four elemental treasures he had gathered.
• Lu Heng absorbed the Green Spirit Fruit, Blazing Flame Crystal, Mysterious Yellow Liquid, and Taibai Geng Metal Essence into his body as their energies converged in his Chaos Qi Vortex.

Lu Heng suppressed his cultivation after refining several treasures, reaching the strength of a Half-Step Dou Zun while deciding to seek Water Attribute treasures before entering the Beast Region. At the Cao Residence, he agreed to advise Cao Ying and Cao Yue on alchemy and revealed that he possessed two Heavenly Flames.

• Lu Heng absorbed the Green Spirit Fruit, Blazing Flame Crystal, Mysterious Yellow Liquid, and Geng Metal Essence, then suppressed his surging Dou Qi instead of breaking through without the Water Attribute treasures.
• Lu Heng assessed the dangers of the Beast Region and decided to gather Water Attribute treasures before advancing to Dou Zun and traveling there.
• The next morning, Cao Zhen welcomed Lu Heng to the Cao Residence, where Cao Ying and Cao Yue asked him to help with their fire-control techniques.
• Cao Ying failed to refine an Azure Spirit Flower, and Lu Heng examined the charred medicinal liquid.
• Lu Heng summoned the Green Lotus Core Flame and Sea Heart Flame, astonishing Cao Ying and Cao Yue with his two Heavenly Flames.

Lu Heng demonstrated his flame-control technique to Cao Ying and Cao Yue before Bai Teng arrived to challenge his reputation. Lu Heng crushed Bai Teng and his companions with his soul pressure, leaving Bai Teng defeated in the Cao Residence.

• Lu Heng used the Green Lotus Flame and Sea Heart Flame to refine an Azure Spirit Flower in three breaths, then explained his method to Cao Ying and Cao Yue.
• A steward told Cao Ying that Bai Teng had come with alchemists, claiming to verify the clans’ pill allocations under orders from Elder Sheng Yao.
• Bai Teng and two alchemists entered the training ground and questioned Lu Heng’s credentials, then challenged him to a flame-control contest.
• Lu Heng released his soul pressure, extinguishing Bai Teng’s Extreme Cold Ice Flame and forcing Bai Teng and his companions to the ground.
• Lu Heng asked Bai Teng whether he was worthy of competing in flame control after failing to withstand Lu Heng’s soul pressure.

After establishing his strength at the Cao Residence, Lu Heng sought a high-level Water Attribute treasure to complete his Five Elements cultivation. He went to the Pill Tower’s Mission Hall to build standing and accepted several difficult alchemy commissions for their rewards.

• Lu Heng suppressed Bai Teng and his companions with his soul strength, then left the Cao Residence with Cao Yue and Cao Ying.
• Lu Heng decided to earn the Pill Tower’s support so it could help him negotiate with Ice River Valley for a Water Attribute treasure.
• Lu Heng visited the Mission Hall, where Sheng Yao showed him the long-backlogged Eighth-Rank commissions.
• Lu Heng accepted the Ye Family’s Clear Spirit Marrow-Tempering Pill commission, which offered Deep-Sea Frost Marrow Essence and Mystic Water Nether Lotuses as rewards.
• Lu Heng also requested the seventh, ninth, and twelfth commissions, astonishing Sheng Yao by taking on four notorious challenges at once.

Lu Heng spent six months refining Eighth-Rank Pills in the Pill Tower, astonishing Saint Dan City with his success and Pill Lightning. After Cao Ying sought his help with a difficult formula, she realized his cultivation had advanced toward Spatial Law, and the story left him alone in the Secret Chamber with another pill still warming.

• Lu Heng used his guest elder authority to obtain ingredients and began refining pills in the Pill Tower’s Earth Flame Secret Chamber.
• Within three days, Lu Heng produced four Eighth-Rank Pills that each triggered Pill Lightning, earning gratitude and rare water-attribute materials from the Ye Family head.
• Over six months, Lu Heng refined twenty-two Eighth-Rank Pills and accepted every suitable backlogged Mission Hall bounty.
• Cao Ying visited Lu Heng and complained about his astonishing pace while Cao Yue brought him medicinal cuisine.
• Lu Heng explained how Cao Ying could process Blood Jade Vine in her Life-Transforming Blood-Melting Powder formula.
• Cao Ying noticed Lu Heng’s aura had grown deeper and that he seemed close to touching Spatial Law, then left with Cao Yue as his pill continued warming.

After six months of refining pills for the Pill Tower, Lu Heng had brought his cultivation to the brink of Dou Zun and earned the presidents’ trust. He asked them to help find a supreme Water-Element treasure to stabilize his foundation, and Xuanyi produced a jade box.

• Lu Heng reflected on how six months of pill refining had deepened his understanding of medicinal principles and tempered his Five-Element Qi Vortex to within one step of Dou Zun.
• Sheng Yao presented Xuankong Zi, Sky Lightning Child, and Xuanyi with records of Lu Heng’s successful eighth-rank commissions, and Xuanyi explained that he had come to the Pill Tower to hone his alchemy.
• The presidents learned that Lu Heng had exchanged his commissions only for high-grade Five-Element ingredients, heavenly stones, and spirit ores, and Xuankong Zi recognized that he was preparing to break through.
• Lu Heng met with the three presidents and asked for a supreme treasure capable of stabilizing his Water-Element Foundation, requesting their help searching the Little Pill Tower if necessary.
• Xuankong Zi and the others were surprised that Lu Heng knew about the Little Pill Tower, while Xuanyi produced a jade box shining with deep-blue watery light.

After half a year of refining pills in seclusion, Lu Heng received rare treasures from Xuanyi and Sky Lightning Child, and Xuankong Zi promised to help him obtain a Water Attribute treasure from the Little Pill Tower. Lu Heng visited Cao Ying, whose failed pill experiments and envy of his progress led to a conversation about his planned breakthrough to Dou Zun.

• Xuanyi gave Lu Heng an Eighth-Rank Mid-Stage Nine-Turn Dark Nethergrass, and Sky Lightning Child gave him a Nine-Heavens Falling Thunderstone.
• Xuankong Zi agreed to bring Lu Heng to the Little Pill Tower's treasure-exchange gathering at the beginning of next month and seek a top-tier Water Attribute spiritual treasure.
• Lu Heng went to the Cao Clan courtyard, where Cao Ying emerged from another failed pill experiment and complained that she could not fuse medicinal ingredients as well as he could.
• Lu Heng showed Cao Ying the Nine-Turn Dark Nethergrass, and she compared her own cultivation and alchemy progress unfavorably with his.
• Cao Ying asked whether Lu Heng planned to break through to Dou Zun in Saint Dan City, and Lu Heng explained that he was gathering the treasures needed to complete his Five Elements Cycle.

Lu Heng declined Cao Ying and Cao Yue’s offer to enter seclusion at the Cao Clan, then spent a month recovering and helping them improve their pill refining. Xuankong Zi returned from the Little Pill Tower with two treasures that could help Lu Heng prepare to break through to Dou Zun.

• Cao Ying invited Lu Heng to cultivate at the Cao Clan, and Cao Yue shyly supported her, but Lu Heng politely declined for now.
• Lu Heng showed Cao Ying how to prevent the Blood-Burning Pill from exploding and returned to his guest elder courtyard to rest.
• Lu Heng slept for three days, then spent a month consolidating his Dou Qi and advising Cao Ying and Cao Yue at the Cao Clan Martial Arena.
• Xuankong Zi arrived at Lu Heng’s courtyard with a frost-covered box and said he had traded three Eighth-Grade Pills and owed Old Monster Qinghua a favor to obtain two items from the Little Pill Tower.

Xuankong Zi gave Lu Heng two Water-Attribute treasures before Lu Heng prepared to break through to Dou Zun. After Lu Heng crushed a challenge from the Bai Clan in the Pill Tower, Xuankong Zi took him to the Astral Constellation Secret Realm for seclusion.

• Xuankong Zi gave Lu Heng the Nine Netherworld Mysterious Ice Marrow and Taiyin Nether Lotus, and Lu Heng planned to enter seclusion in three days.
• Xuankong Zi learned that Bai Shi and two Guest Elders were accusing Lu Heng of cheating and misusing Pill Tower resources, so Lu Heng accompanied him to the Hall of Affairs.
• Lu Heng revealed his Peak Nine-Star Dou Zong pressure, forcing Bai Shi and the two Guest Elders to the floor.
• Xuankong Zi stripped Bai Shi of his presiding elder position and ordered him to return to the Bai Clan for three years of reflection.
• Xuankong Zi took Lu Heng to the Astral Constellation Secret Realm to begin his breakthrough seclusion.

Lu Heng began cultivating with five-element treasures in the Pill Tower’s protected secret realm while Xiao Yi Xian and Qing Lin broke through to Dou Zong in the Heavenly Mountain Blood Pool. The two women left with Yao Tianhuo for Tianbei City, as news of Xiao Yi Xian’s Woe Poison Physique spread among the factions.

• Xuankong Zi brought Lu Heng to a reinforced secret realm and left him to attempt his breakthrough with a protective jade talisman.
• Lu Heng arranged five elemental treasures and began circulating the Dou Zong chapter of the Five Spirits Chaos Art.
• Xiao Yi Xian and Qing Lin emerged from the Heavenly Mountain Blood Pool after both reaching Dou Zong, with Qing Lin retaining three Seventh-Rank serpents as combat forces.
• Yao Tianhuo praised the women’s breakthroughs and said Lu Heng was likely nearing a Dou Zun breakthrough after more than half a year in Saint Dan City.
• Xiao Yi Xian, Qing Lin, and Yao Tianhuo departed for Tianbei City, while reports about Xiao Yi Xian’s Woe Poison Physique spread through nearby towns.

Ice Venerable learned that Xiao Yi Xian possessed the Innate Woe Poison Physique and sent Tian Shuangzi to capture her alive. Xiao Yi Xian and Qing Lin returned to the Han Clan courtyard in Tianbei City, where three figures appeared before Han Yue and Han Xue.

• Tian Shuangzi reported that a woman with the Woe Poison Physique had appeared in the Tianmu Mountain Range and stayed at the Han Clan in Tianbei City.
• Ice Venerable revealed that he needed the woman's source blood essence to complete his own physique and ordered Tian Shuangzi to capture her alive.
• Tian Shuangzi set out for Tianbei City with Elders Bing Fu and Bing He and six protectors.
• Xiao Yi Xian and Qing Lin returned to the Han Clan courtyard after two days of travel, escorted by Yao Tianhuo.
• Han Yue and Han Xue discussed Lu Heng's absence before three figures appeared in the courtyard.