Chapter Summaries

Lin Chang'an cultivated the Sha Yuan Sword Art, using his Self-Healing Body to withstand its self-damaging power, while Li Fire Palace’s bounties plunged Celestial Mystery City into violent unrest. Three years later, he remained at Foundation Establishment Early Stage, but the Monster Cores needed for his pill refinement were growing scarce.

• Lin Chang'an studied the incomplete Sha Yuan Sword Art and decided his Self-Healing Body made him suited to its painful cultivation.
• After two months, Lin Chang'an reached Proficient mastery, and his sword radiance shattered a Second-tier Mid-grade Diamond Talisman in three strikes when paired with the Green Bamboo Sword.
• Li Fire Palace issued bounties on skilled cultivators under Celestial Mystery City's jurisdiction, including Lin Chang'an, prompting him and Shen Lie to discuss the danger with the newly advanced Wei Yiyi.
• Bounty hunters and traps spread through the Yue Kingdom, leaving cultivators afraid to venture outside Celestial Mystery City while some hunters joined Li Fire Palace with their rewards.
• Three years later, Lin Chang'an's lifespan and cultivation had increased, but he worried that dwindling Monster Cores would hinder his pill refinement.

Lin Chang'an struggled to obtain Monster Cores and Wood-Attribute Crystal Cores, then discovered that Poisonous Miasma could not harm him and that his Evergreen Mana could cure his Green-Horned Ox. He decided the Cloud Mist Mountain Range’s depths could give him an advantage while hunting, and was preparing to start cautiously when Zhou Bingyun arrived at his cave dwelling.

• Lin Chang'an searched Celestial Mystery City for Monster Cores and Wood-Attribute Crystal Cores, but Old Hu told him supplies were scarce and hunters preferred trading with the city’s major powers.
• Lin Chang'an reviewed his cultivation progress and concluded that the Poisonous Miasma in the Cloud Mist Mountain Range might favor him because it had no effect on him.
• Lin Chang'an exposed the Green-Horned Ox to Poisonous Miasma, then used his Evergreen Mana to clear the poison from the ox.
• Lin Chang'an decided to prepare for hunting in the Cloud Mist Mountain Range, starting with Second-Order Early Stage Monster Beasts and avoiding stronger ones.
• Zhou Bingyun called to Lin Chang'an from outside his cave dwelling.

Lin Chang'an dealt with the Zhou Family’s request for support as Zhou Bingyun prepared for foundation establishment, then warned Chen Qing’s family to stop watching his Dao Field. After catching up with Shen Fan and Wei Yingying and hearing news of rising Cultivator Bandits, he prepared to secretly travel to the Cloud Mist Mountain Range.

• Zhou Bingyun brought Lin Chang'an the rent and Green-Horned Ox supplies, and he recognized that the Zhou Family Head was indirectly asking him to help gather foundation establishment resources for her.
• Chen Wen tried again to court Zhou Bingyun, while Lin Chang'an watched and warned Chen Qing through a Sound Transmission Jade Talisman to stop monitoring his cave abode.
• Chen Qing accepted Lin Chang'an’s warning and told Chen Wen and Chen Feng to focus on raising the Chen Family’s standing instead of dwelling on their lost connection with him.
• Shen Fan and Wei Yingying visited Lin Chang'an with gifts, shared news of their patrol work and their acquaintances, and received cultivation guidance from him.
• After hearing that Cultivator Bandits were becoming more common, Lin Chang'an claimed he would enter secluded cultivation and prepared to travel to the Cloud Mist Mountain Range.

Lin Chang'an explored the Cloud Mist Mountain Range, where his poison resistance and Spirit Eye let him navigate the miasma and hunt dangerous poisonous insects with the Green-Horned Ox. After months of successful but painful hunts, he decided to return to Celestial Mystery City with four monster cores and materials.

• Lin Chang'an entered the Cloud Mist Mountain Range's densest miasma and found that his life-bound spirit plant protected him from poison while his Spirit Eye let him see through the obscuring mist.
• Lin Chang'an spent half a month mapping the mountain range and observing poisonous insects, Monster Hunting Squads, and cultivators who killed one another for treasure.
• Lin Chang'an and the Green-Horned Ox trapped and killed an early second-order poisonous centipede, then Lin Chang'an gave its monster core to the ox as a reward.
• Over the following months, Lin Chang'an and the Green-Horned Ox hunted more poisonous insects, and the ox suffered scars and a painful sting from a Twin-Tailed Poison Scorpion.
• Lin Chang'an decided to leave the mountain range and return to rest and prepare for his next hunt, carrying four monster cores in his Storage Bag.

After returning to Celestial Mystery City, Lin Chang'an recovered, refined pills, and traded monster-beast materials for defensive and cultivation resources, including fire flame sha qi. Meanwhile, True Person Lu and Su Miaoyin discussed the growing unrest and their plans, and Lin Chang'an unexpectedly encountered Yun Yao at the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion.

• Lin Chang'an returned to his cave abode, released the Green-Horned Ox, rested for two days, and resumed cultivation.
• Lin Chang'an refined seventeen pills and reviewed how the Spirit Eye and Sha Yuan Sword Art had helped him survive the Cloud Mist Mountain Range.
• Lin Chang'an heard cultivators discuss bounties and unrest before heading to the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion.
• Su Miaoyin warned True Person Lu about bandits and rumors, and he said he would enter seclusion before baiting a major threat with her.
• Lin Chang'an exchanged second-tier monster-beast materials for a Black Iron Flying Shield, cultivation resources, and two bottles of fire flame sha qi.
• Su Miaoyin arrived with a veiled cultivator, and Lin Chang'an recognized Yun Yao.

Lin Chang'an met with Yun Yao, who revealed an opportunity tied to the inheritance of the fallen Golden Core cultivator True Person Blood Sha. After discovering that both of them already possessed pieces of Blood Sha’s legacy, they considered joining forces to pursue the inheritance, though its protective array would not weaken for another twenty or thirty years.

• Su Miaoyin praised Lin Chang'an’s array insight and his ability to hunt Second-tier Monster Beasts, while Elder Feng noticed Xuesha energy on the materials he sold.
• Yun Yao visited Lin Chang'an and offered him the inheritance of a Second-tier Array-Breaking Talisman before explaining that she had an opportunity to share.
• Yun Yao told Lin Chang'an that True Person Blood Sha had disappeared while searching for the former Mysterious Yin Demonic Sect leader, and said Blood Sha’s array might weaken within twenty or thirty years.
• Yun Yao revealed that she had killed Blood Sha’s sole descendant and learned that Blood Sha had promised him a chance at Core Formation.
• Lin Chang'an and Yun Yao realized that Lin Chang'an had bought the Sha Yuan Sword Art that Yun Yao had put up for auction to test whether anyone was investigating Blood Sha’s legacy.

Lin Chang'an considered Yun Yao's proposal to explore the remains of a Late Golden Core cultivator and learned that the secret art she left him was a dual cultivation technique that could improve their cultivation and battle strength. Three months later, after training and meeting Hu Jin at the market, he heard that cultivators were being robbed outside Celestial Mystery City.

• Yun Yao revealed the location of a Late Golden Core cultivator's remains, asked Lin Chang'an to join her in retrieving its treasures, and offered to help him advance his cultivation.
• Lin Chang'an agreed to consider the expedition in twenty or thirty years and began planning to strengthen his escape methods before then.
• Lin Chang'an discovered that Yun Yao had left him a Yin-Yang dual cultivation combined attack secret technique, then continued cultivating and preparing supplies.
• After three months, Lin Chang'an received Yun Yao's message that she could visit only at night and went to the market to meet Old Hu.
• Old Hu gave Lin Chang'an a mid-stage Second Tier Wood-Attribute Monster Core and warned him that cultivators were being robbed outside Celestial Mystery City.

Lin Chang'an and Yun Yao began practicing a dual-cultivation secret art, which accelerated his progress over the next year. After hunting in the Cloud Mist Mountain Range with the Green-Horned Ox, Lin Chang'an traded beast materials for armor for the ox and acquired the Blood Shadow Escape technique as an emergency means of escape.

• Lin Chang'an and Yun Yao practiced the Yin-Yang Combined Attack Secret Art together for the first time and agreed to keep training whenever Yun Yao was free.
• Over the following year, their technique improved, and Lin Chang'an gained cultivation experience faster than he did from pills alone.
• With his cultivation supplies nearly exhausted, Lin Chang'an disguised himself and left Celestial Mystery City with the Green-Horned Ox to hunt in the Cloud Mist Mountain Range.
• The Green-Horned Ox crushed a poisonous insect, and Lin Chang'an extracted its crystal core before continuing through the miasma.
• At the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, Lin Chang'an sold materials from six second-tier Demon Beasts and bought Spirit Tool-grade armor for the ox.
• Lin Chang'an acquired the Blood Shadow Escape technique, which consumed essence blood, and postponed buying an escape Spirit Tool because of its high cost.

After three years of cultivation, Lin Chang'an neared the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage and attended Shen Fan and Wei Yingying’s wedding, where Yun Yao’s gift helped the newlyweds pursue cultivation together. At the banquet, Hu Jin warned Lin Chang'an that the notorious Cultivator Bandit Poison Demon might be stalking cultivators from within Celestial Mystery City.

• Lin Chang'an reviewed his slow but steady cultivation progress and decided to wait until he advanced further before hunting Second Tier mid-stage monsters for better pills.
• Yun Yao gave Lin Chang'an a dual cultivation secret technique for Shen Fan and Wei Yingying, warned him about Cultivator Bandits using the Demonic Sect’s name, and left for three months.
• Lin Chang'an attended Shen Fan and Wei Yingying’s wedding, where Shen Lie welcomed Wei Yiyi into the family and guests showed respect to Lin Chang'an and Hu Jin.
• Hu Jin told Lin Chang'an that he and two companions had encountered the Poison Demon, who might be a cultivator in Celestial Mystery City secretly watching his prey.
• Lin Chang'an gave Hu Jin a bottle of Second Tier Detoxification Pills, and Hu Jin said he had come to buy Talismans from him.

At Shen Fan and Wei Yingying’s wedding, Lin Chang'an reunited with old friends and saw Yun Yao watching from afar, then renewed his resolve to pursue cultivation as time widened the distance between him and his aging companions. Years later, Chen Qing arrived injured and asked Lin Chang'an to help acquire two Foundation Establishment Pills for his grandsons, offering the deeds to the Chen Family’s Spirit Fields as collateral.

• Lin Chang'an gave Shen Fan and Wei Yingying two High-Grade Magical Tools and cultivation guidance as wedding gifts.
• Lin Chang'an spotted Yun Yao saluting from a distant tavern, though she did not join the gathering.
• Lin Chang'an reflected on his friends’ aging and returned to cultivating, drawing talismans, and secretly refining pills.
• Lin Chang'an advanced his talisman-making and alchemy skills while considering how to prepare for the coming Secret Realm.
• Chen Qing visited Lin Chang'an after returning from an encounter with Cultivator Bandits, injured and weakened from his ordeal.
• Chen Qing asked Lin Chang'an to help purchase two Foundation Establishment Pills for Chen Wen and Chen Feng, offering the deeds to one hundred mu of the Chen Family’s Spirit Fields as collateral.

Lin Chang'an refused Chen Qing's request for a Foundation Establishment Pill, then hunted in the Cloud Mist Mountain Range and used an Array-Breaking Talisman to rescue Hu Jin and Jia Datou from three cultivator bandits. He parted from the pair with the bandits' array and the expedition's spoils, while the bandits escaped.

• Lin Chang'an declined to help Chen Qing obtain Foundation Establishment Pills, and Chen Qing told Chen Wen and Chen Feng he would approach the Zhou Family and Han Family instead.
• Chen Qing chose to reserve two Foundation Establishment Pills for Chen Wen, and Chen Feng accepted that his brother would receive them first.
• Lin Chang'an and the Green-Horned Ox killed a Second-Order Early Stage White-Phosphorus Python in the Cloud Mist Mountain Range, and Lin Chang'an gave its Monster Core to the ox.
• On his way back to Celestial Mystery City, Lin Chang'an saw three Foundation Establishment Early Stage bandits trap Hu Jin and Jia Datou in a Second-Order Blazing Fire Array.
• Lin Chang'an used an Array-Breaking Talisman to break the array, allowing Hu Jin and Jia Datou to escape as the bandits fled.
• Lin Chang'an collected the array and the expedition's spoils, agreed to hold certain tokens for Hu Jin and Jia Datou, and parted from them.

Lin Chang'an sold his latest Demon Beast haul and arranged for Su Miaoyin to repair and improve a damaged Blazing Fire Array, while learning that it was connected to the Li Fire Palace. After discussing formations with Su Miaoyin and leaving the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, he returned home, where Old Hu visited to thank him and Lin Chang'an prepared to hand over Ning's belongings.

• Lin Chang'an disguised his aura, sold nine second-tier Demon Beasts at the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, and asked Elder Feng about repairing the Blazing Fire Array he had recovered from cultivator bandits.
• Elder Feng identified the array as a version favored by the Li Fire Palace, and Su Miaoyin explained its power before agreeing to repair and improve it for eight hundred mid-grade spirit stones.
• Lin Chang'an exchanged his haul for cultivation resources, discussed cultivation and formations with Su Miaoyin, and suspected that she was trying to recruit him as Celestial Mystery City faced an uncertain future.
• After Lin Chang'an left, Su Miaoyin teased Yun Yao about his steadfast Dao heart, offered her a bargain for help with core formation, and warned her that the Gui Water Demonic Art was dangerous.
• Lin Chang'an returned to his cave abode and rested; five days later, Old Hu visited with gifts, thanked him for saving his life, and explained that Ning had left descendants behind.
• Lin Chang'an took out the storage bags and spirit tools he had obtained from Ning to give them to Old Hu.

Lin Chang'an learned that Old Hu and Lao Jia were supporting Ning's descendants after Ning died, then spent a year cultivating until he reached the peak of Foundation Establishment Early Stage. Zhou Bingyun visited to deliver Spirit Pet materials and discuss her plans for Foundation Establishment, before Chen Wen’s celebration revealed the Chen Family’s presumptuous hopes of an alliance with the Zhou Family.

• Old Hu exchanged Ning's needed tokens and materials with Lin Chang'an, kept Ning's damaged Spirit Tools for the junior's future protection, and said Celestial Mystery City was searching for the Cultivator Bandits.
• Lin Chang'an resumed cultivation and, a year later, reached age seventy and Foundation Establishment Early Stage peak, nearing a breakthrough to the middle stage.
• Zhou Bingyun delivered the Spirit Pet materials, revealed that she was delaying Foundation Establishment to temper herself, and received advice from Lin Chang'an.
• Zhou Bingyun encountered Chen Wen at the Chen Family's celebration and politely congratulated him, while he mistook rumors of her failed Foundation Establishment for truth and flirted with her.
• The Chen Family interpreted Zhou Bingyun's visit and congratulatory gift as evidence she sought an alliance with Chen Wen, while Zhou Bingyun concealed her irritation and prepared to leave.

Chen Wen’s arrogant outburst at the Chen Family’s Foundation Establishment banquet drew a warning from Yun Yao and a harsh rebuke from Chen Qing. Though Chen Wen pretended to reconcile with Lin Chang’an, he secretly agreed to help Alchemist Song target Foundation Establishment cultivators, leaving his resentment and ambition to grow.

• Zhou Bingyun rejected Chen Qing’s attempt to curry favor with the Zhou Family, and Chen Wen insulted Lin Chang’an before Yun Yao’s arrival frightened him into apologizing.
• Chen Qing scolded Chen Wen for his arrogance and sent Chen Feng to apologize to Lin Chang’an with a gift of spirit grass, but Chen Wen secretly substituted a spirit fruit.
• Lin Chang’an accepted the four-hundred-year Earth Dragon Fruit delivered by Chen Feng, while Chen Wen told his brother he intended to use the spirit grass to treat Chen Qing’s injuries.
• Chen Wen visited Alchemist Song and reported that Lin Chang’an was a suitable target, then learned that he was expected to pass spirit fruits and spirit grass to Foundation Establishment Rogue Cultivators so they could be tracked outside the city.
• Alchemist Song promised Chen Wen safety and dangled the prospect of taking his family to Li Fire Palace, and Chen Wen embraced the scheme while vowing to surpass those who had looked down on him.

Lin Chang'an broke through to foundation establishment middle stage, tested his improved strength, and left Celestial Mystery City to hunt second-order mid-stage Demon Beasts. While he explored the Cloud Mist Mountain Range, Cultivator Bandits plotted to ambush him, and Lin Chang'an gathered spirit grasses after surviving a poisonous insect's divine sense attack.

• Lin Chang'an advanced to foundation establishment middle stage, gained nearly twice his previous mana, and pierced a second-tier mid-grade Diamond Talisman with a sword strike.
• Lin Chang'an left Celestial Mystery City with the Green-Horned Ox to hunt Demon Beasts, while two disguised Cultivator Bandits noticed his departure and went to report to Senior Brother Huang.
• Chen Wen learned from Alchemist Song that Lin Chang'an had left the city and realized he was the target the bandits had been waiting for.
• Lin Chang'an and the Green-Horned Ox killed a second-order middle stage poisonous insect whose cries attacked divine sense, and Lin Chang'an recorded it in the Spirit Insect Treasure Mirror.
• Two months later, Lin Chang'an found and harvested companion spirit grasses in an underground cavern, then lamented the difficulty of reaching core formation.

Lin Chang'an returned from the Cloud Mist Mountain Range with rich spoils, but Li Fire Palace disciples and the transformed Huang Shaohai had been lying in wait to ambush him. After discovering their trap and fleeing on the Green-Horned Ox, Lin Chang'an charged straight at Huang Shaohai, and the two recognized each other.

• Lin Chang'an prepared to leave the Poison Miasma Zone with the Green-Horned Ox, whose strength was nearing the Second-Order Middle Stage.
• Two Li Fire Palace disciples waited to ambush Lin Chang'an for his spoils, while Huang Shaohai emerged from underground transformed by his Blood-Thirsty Poison Vine cultivation method.
• Lin Chang'an sensed danger, changed routes repeatedly, and eventually spotted the hidden array disk and flags despite his Divine Sense failing to detect them.
• Lin Chang'an seized the Li Fire Palace disciples' array equipment and fled on the Green-Horned Ox, using talismans to shield and speed it as the disciples pursued.
• Huang Shaohai attacked from underground in his Earth-Drilling Boat, but Lin Chang'an slowed his charge with Ice Talismans and sent the Green-Horned Ox hurtling toward him.
• Lin Chang'an and Huang Shaohai recognized each other as the ox charged at the Earth-Drilling Boat.

Lin Chang'an uncovered Huang Shaohai's tracking method and killed two of his pursuers, but Huang Shaohai unleashed the Red Sun Sword talisman treasure and struck him down. The Green-Horned Ox was also grievously wounded, and Lin Chang'an lay seemingly dead as Huang Shaohai approached.

• Lin Chang'an collided with Huang Shaohai and the Green-Horned Ox overturned their boat, after which Lin fled into the Cloud Mist Mountain Range with Huang and two Li Fire Palace disciples pursuing him.
• Lin Chang'an realized Huang Shaohai was tracking him through a spirit pet and used the Green-Horned Ox to injure the Earth Dragon Beast, then lured Huang into his Blazing Fire Array.
• Lin Chang'an killed the two foundation establishment early stage cultivator bandits, but Huang Shaohai broke out of the array with an Array-Breaking Talisman and attacked with the Phoenix Cry Bird.
• Huang Shaohai activated the Red Sun Sword talisman treasure, and its sword pierced Lin Chang'an's defenses, wounded the Green-Horned Ox, and pierced Lin Chang'an's chest.
• Huang Shaohai descended toward Lin Chang'an's motionless body and mocked him for cultivating the Sha Yuan Sword Art.

Lin Chang'an killed Huang Shaohai, absorbed his memories, and turned the Blood-Thirsty Poison Vine into a growth-type disguise artifact called the Phantom Mask. He returned to Celestial Mystery City and framed Huang Shaohai for conspiring with cultivator bandits, presenting evidence to Su Miaoyin and Song Tingfeng.

• Lin Chang'an feigned death, then teamed up with the Green-Horned Ox to kill Huang Shaohai despite losing an arm and suffering severe injuries.
• The Profound Heaven Immortal Vine Withered Leaf absorbed Huang Shaohai's memories, revealing Li Fire Palace's schemes and Huang Tianxiao's role in supplying the Talisman Treasure.
• Lin Chang'an transformed the Blood-Thirsty Poison Vine into the Phantom Mask, which could imitate the mana aura of people whose flesh and blood it had devoured.
• Lin Chang'an returned to Celestial Mystery City injured and told Shopkeeper Feng that he had encountered Huang Shaohai, prompting Feng to summon Su Miaoyin and Song Tingfeng.
• Lin Chang'an presented letters and the Earth Dragon Beast's Spirit Beast Bag as evidence of Huang Shaohai's collaboration with cultivator bandits, while Song Tingfeng verified the aura with his Spirit Mouse.

Lin Chang'an claimed the rewards for exposing Li Fire Palace’s bandits, gained Huang Shaohai’s Phoenix Cry Bird, and recovered from his injuries. Song Tingfeng then brought him to witness the Chen Family’s punishment, where Lin Chang'an sought custody of Alchemist Song and watched the family lose its resources and place in Celestial Mystery City.

• Lin Chang'an inventoried his spoils, transferred the Phoenix Cry Bird’s contract to himself, and sent it to rest alongside the Green-Horned Ox.
• Lin Chang'an recovered in one day and reviewed the spells and secrets he had learned from Huang Shaohai’s memories.
• Song Tingfeng told Lin Chang'an that Celestial Mystery City had confirmed the letter and begun arresting seventeen Foundation Establishment bandits and over a hundred Qi Refining bandits.
• Song Tingfeng took Lin Chang'an to the Chen Family’s Cave Abode, where Chen Wen begged for mercy and Chen Qing offered the family’s possessions to spare his relatives.
• Lin Chang'an agreed that the Chen Family should face Celestial Mystery City’s rules and asked Song Tingfeng to hand Alchemist Song over to him after the investigation.
• Celestial Mystery City cultivators searched Chen Wen’s soul and stripped the Chen Family of its resources, leaving the family facing expulsion from the city.

Lin Chang'an led Shen Fan and Wei Yingying through the execution of the Chen Family after Celestial Mystery City purged cultivators who colluded with Li Fire Palace. The younger generation learned why the Cultivation World demanded strength and ruthless caution, while Lin Chang'an and Hu Jin also discussed signs of a possible upheaval in the Cloud Mist Mountain Range.

• Celestial Mystery City exposed and punished Cultivator Bandits and expelled the families of those who had colluded with Li Fire Palace.
• Lin Chang'an brought Shen Fan and Wei Yingying to witness the Chen Family's reckoning, then killed Chen Qing when he pleaded for mercy.
• Wei Yingying and Shen Fan attacked the fleeing Chen Family members, and Chen Wen admitted that he had brought ruin upon his clan.
• Lin Chang'an told Hu Jin about a Spirit Insect that could attack with Divine Sense, and they discussed demon-beast movements that might signal a Beast Tide.
• Shen Lie, Lu Qingqing, Wei Yiyi, and Er Niu warned Shen Fan and Wei Yingying that they needed strength and caution to survive the Cultivation World.