Chapter Summaries

After returning to Qiwu Villa, Li Yunjing organized his books and arranged to gather trusted subordinates as he prepared to expand his influence and Star Moon Trading Firm. The chapter ended with him recruiting the impoverished Foundation Establishment cultivator Cong Rujin to serve at the firm in Red Sun Market.

• Li Yunjing returned to Qiwu Villa, copied the books he had acquired, inspected his Puppet Mechanism Beasts, and added restrictions around the villa.
• Li Yunjing invited Yue Zhouwang and Hou Boyan to join his operation and arranged a banquet at Elegant Fragrance Garden with Ma Xingyuan.
• Li Yunjing invited Su Guo and Jin Shouyun to the banquet, declined Lu Ruoxi's invitation to meet, and left Fu Chao undisturbed in seclusion.
• Li Yunjing read Cong Rujin's message offering to serve him and told Cong Rujin to work at the Star Moon Trading Firm in Red Sun Market.
• Cong Rujin, destitute after establishing his foundation, received Li Yunjing's reply and prepared to rely on him for cultivation resources.

Li Yunjing gathered allies at Elegant Fragrance Garden, arranged for Yue Zhouwang and Hou Boyan to join his group, and promised to train Ma Xingyuan for the Outer Sect Competition. He left his subordinates with Spirit Stones and ordered them to strengthen Ma Xingyuan while he prepared for a True Disciple assessment at the border.

• Cong Rujin received Li Yunjing's reply, pledged allegiance to him, and agreed to serve the Star Moon Trading Firm in Red Sun Market.
• Li Yunjing drew second-rank talismans, then traveled to Elegant Fragrance Garden with Jin Shouyun and Su Guo.
• Li Yunjing welcomed Yue Zhouwang and Hou Boyan into his group and assigned Su Guo and Jin Shouyun to handle their formalities.
• Li Yunjing decided to cultivate Ma Xingyuan for the Outer Sect Competition and tasked Yue Zhouwang, Hou Boyan, Su Guo, and Jin Shouyun with training him.
• Li Yunjing gave the four trainers forty thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones and said he was preparing to take the True Disciple assessment at the border.

Li Yunjing backed Ma Xingyuan’s bid to win the Outer Sect Competition, giving him a huge supply of spirit stones and powerful weapons while expecting to profit from the dark horse’s success. He also put his followers in charge of supporting the Star Moon Trading Firm and left them instructions in case he was away at the border.

• Ma Xingyuan asked Li Yunjing how he could advance to the sixth level of Qi Refining, and Li Yunjing promised to sponsor his competition bid.
• Li Yunjing gave Ma Xingyuan fifty thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones, five second-rank Five Elements Spirit Talismans, and the Heavenly Dipper Cold Sword, then lent him a Hundred Treasure Pouch.
• Ma Xingyuan vowed to take first place, while Su Guo, Jin Shouyun, Yue Zhouwang, and Hou Boyan envied the resources and regretted being ineligible to compete.
• Li Yunjing told the group to obey his Dao companion Yu Yunyi if he had not returned from the border during the competition.
• Li Yunjing revealed that the Star Moon Trading Firm in Red Sun Market belonged to him, and the others agreed to help it grow.

As the Divine Firmament Dao Sect prepared for a large-scale border war, Li Yunjing strengthened his talisman skills and sought information from Lu Ruoxi. They met in the Eastern Mountain Region, where Lu Ruoxi flirted with him and Li Yunjing remained wary of the attention they attracted.

• Li Yunjing instructed Jin Shouyun and Su Guo to train Ma Xingyuan for the Outer Sect Competition, then entered seclusion in Qiwu Villa.
• The Divine Firmament Dao Sect spent ten days preparing for war, while its leaders kept mission details secret and ordered Qi Refining Realm cultivators to stay out of the conflict.
• Li Yunjing stabilized his Talisman Dao at the early second-tier level and contacted Lu Ruoxi to learn about the coming deployment.
• Li Yunjing traveled through crowded teleportation arrays to the Eastern Mountain Region, where he waited for Lu Ruoxi amid the sect’s mobilization.
• Lu Ruoxi arrived and linked arms with Li Yunjing, drawing hostile looks from nearby cultivators and Golden Core Realm experts; she then accompanied him toward Donghua Pavilion.

Li Yunjing and Lu Ruoxi went to Donghua Pavilion for wine and a meal, where Lu Ruoxi’s unusual attentiveness left him slightly tipsy. Their private dinner was interrupted when Fang Yiyun arrived with several Foundation Establishment cultivators, apparently jealous of Li Yunjing.

• Li Yunjing agreed to take Lu Ruoxi to Donghua Pavilion, where they found Donghua Market crowded with Foundation Establishment cultivators preparing for war.
• Li Yunjing and Lu Ruoxi used Fu Chao’s private room, ordered food and two pots of Immortal Drunk, and shared a meal.
• Li Yunjing drank the spirit wine and enjoyed its flavor and spiritual energy while Lu Ruoxi poured his wine and served him food.
• Fang Yiyun entered Donghua Pavilion with six or seven Foundation Establishment cultivators and demanded to know who was dining with Lu Ruoxi.
• Fang Yiyun barged into the private room, and Lu Ruoxi scolded him as Li Yunjing recognized the likely cause as jealousy.

Fang Yiyun barged into Donghua Pavilion and accused Lu Ruoxi of meeting Li Yunjing, then threatened and attacked Li Yunjing. The pavilion manager stopped the fight and expelled Fang Yiyun, while Li Yunjing and Lu Ruoxi taunted him together; afterward, Li Yunjing regretted provoking Lu Ruoxi.

• Fang Yiyun accused Lu Ruoxi of betraying him and called Li Yunjing her lover, while Li Yunjing realized Fang Yiyun would target him.
• Fang Yiyun’s group prepared to attack, but the Donghua Pavilion manager arrived with ten Foundation Establishment cultivators and ordered them to stop.
• Li Yunjing pulled Lu Ruoxi onto his lap and kissed her ear to provoke Fang Yiyun, who charged at him with a Spirit Sword.
• The manager swept Fang Yiyun out of the room, and Fang Yiyun’s friends restrained him when he tried to attack the manager.
• Fang Yiyun threatened Li Yunjing and Lu Ruoxi before leaving, while the pair kissed and taunted him.
• Li Yunjing smiled at Fang Yiyun’s departure, then worried that he had provoked Lu Ruoxi by pulling her onto his lap.

Li Yunjing and Lu Ruoxi confronted their feelings after Fang Yiyun’s attack, and Lu Ruoxi insisted on becoming his Dao companion. After sharing what she knew about the sect’s coming decisive battle, she gave Li Yunjing a Forbidden Artifact containing her teacher’s clone, leaving him convinced that her love was genuine.

• The middle-aged scholar warned Li Yunjing that the Fang Family was dangerous, but Li Yunjing refused to owe him a personal favor.
• Lu Ruoxi kissed Li Yunjing, declared that she was his, and demanded an answer while gripping his manhood; Li Yunjing said he would first speak with Yu Yunyi.
• Lu Ruoxi told Li Yunjing that the sect was planning a large-scale decisive battle against enemy forces and urged him to complete his Trial Mission and leave the battlefield quickly.
• Li Yunjing invited Lu Ruoxi to help Yu Yunyi manage the next Outer Sect Competition, and Lu Ruoxi agreed to secure its profits for him.
• Lu Ruoxi gave Li Yunjing a Jadeite Pendant containing her teacher’s clone, and Li Yunjing accepted it and embraced her, believing her feelings were genuine.

Li Yunjing spent several days with Lu Ruoxi before receiving a sect assignment to join a Foundation Establishment mission at the border. He arrived at the Mission Hall plaza with the other volunteers, ready to travel to the front lines.

• Lu Ruoxi invited Li Yunjing to stay at her residence on Jade Maiden Peak, and they spent the next several days together.
• The Mission Hall announced a frontline assignment for thirty-three Foundation Establishment cultivators, and hundreds of disciples volunteered.
• Li Yunjing received Xu Wuyi's message and ended his stay with Lu Ruoxi to obey the sect's orders.
• Lu Ruoxi worried about Li Yunjing's safety, but he reassured her that her teacher's incarnation would protect him.
• Li Yunjing passed the guards' checks and reached the Mission Hall plaza, where he introduced himself to the gathered cultivators.

Li Yunjing joined a mission team led by Law Enforcement Hall Elder Yu Yuanhua to attack a Yin Mountain Sect Spirit Stone mine. The Divine Firmament Dao Sect assembled a huge force and began preparing its Super Teleportation Array, leaving Li Yunjing uneasy about the operation’s hidden purpose.

• Li Yunjing surprised the gathered cultivators by revealing that he had recently reached the Foundation Establishment Realm after an exceptionally rapid breakthrough.
• Ji Wenzhong introduced Li Yunjing to the thirty-two other disciples assigned to seize a mineral vein, and the group waited together for their leader.
• Yu Yuanhua arrived, confirmed the thirty-four disciples were under his command, and ordered them to follow him to the Super Teleportation Array.
• Li Yunjing saw the enormous array and the many Golden Core Realm leaders preparing teams for a major deployment, and wondered whether hidden powers or a larger secret lay behind it.
• Yu Yuanhua showed his team a high-grade third-rank Super Teleportation Talisman and told them to stay close as he prepared to activate it.
• Yu Yuanhua and the other seventeen Golden Core Realm cultivators filled the array with High-grade Spirit Stones, spending a total of one hundred eighty thousand to prepare for teleportation.

Li Yunjing and the other cultivators traveled by Super Teleportation Array to City of Glory, the Divine Firmament Dao Sect’s northern stronghold. After noticing people had vanished during the journey, Li Yunjing followed Yu Yuanhua out of the city toward the snowy frontier and learned how extensively the sect patrolled beyond its borders.

• Li Yunjing watched the Super Teleportation Array activate and endured an hour-long journey through dangerous dimensional space, protected by Yu Yuanhua’s Super Teleportation Talisman.
• Li Yunjing and the others arrived at City of Glory, where Yu Yuanhua hurried them off the array and spoke privately with the city’s Golden Core commanders.
• Li Yunjing noticed that dozens of travelers, including one person from his squad, were missing, but kept quiet because he believed the Golden Core cultivators had expected it.
• Yu Yuanhua led the remaining cultivators through the heavily guarded military city and out its northern gate, where Li Yunjing saw the immense walls and snowy mountain range beyond.
• Li Yunjing’s group traveled toward the mountains and encountered armed patrol squads, revealing the Divine Firmament Dao Sect’s aggressive presence beyond City of Glory.

Li Yunjing and Yu Yuanhua led their team into the frozen Hengyue Mountain Range to attack a mineral vein held by the Yin Mountain Sect, where they were ambushed by ice-aligned demonic beasts. As Li Yunjing battled a human-faced, snake-bodied beast that wielded Ice Soul Demon Thunder, he abandoned the fight to rescue a wounded fellow disciple.

• Yu Yuanhua explained that the team was entering the lawless zone and ordered everyone to conceal their auras as they crossed the mountains toward the Yin Mountain Sect’s mineral vein.
• The team trekked through the deadly cold, and Li Yunjing melted a barrage of blade-like snow with Nine Yang Fire.
• Ice arrows and more than a thousand snow-white demonic beasts ambushed the team, while a third-tier beast confronted Yu Yuanhua.
• Li Yunjing killed numerous beasts, then dodged Ice Soul Demon Thunder from a human-faced, snake-bodied beast and attacked it with nine sword illusions.
• When a fellow disciple was wounded, Li Yunjing struck the strange beast with Palm Lightning and rushed to protect his companion.

Li Yunjing evaded a Pao Xiao and other ancient demon beasts while his fellow disciples fought them, then joined them in defeating four beasts with combined lightning arts. Yu Yuanhua battled the Third-Order Demon King, a Giant Bear, but after he killed it, its escaping soul attempted to possess one of the Foundation Establishment cultivators.

• Li Yunjing discovered that his sword could only wound the ancient demon beast Pao Xiao, then dodged its attacks while identifying it as a threat comparable to the seventh layer of Foundation Establishment.
• Li Yunjing evaded the Pao Xiao and a Human-Faced Snake-Bodied Beast, helping his fellow disciples kill other demon beasts until eight disciples joined forces to destroy four ancient beasts with lightning arts.
• The Third-Order Demon King, a Giant Bear, charged into battle, and Yu Yuanhua intercepted it before it could attack the disciples.
• The Giant Bear used the ancient great divine ability Three Heads and Six Arms, but Yu Yuanhua bound it with his Yin Yang Twin Fish Diagram and Samadhi True Fire, then severed its three heads.
• A ray of light escaped the Giant Bear's corpse and flew toward Li Yunjing and the Foundation Establishment cultivators, prompting Yu Yuanhua to warn that the demon king was attempting possession.

The Giant Bear Spirit tried to possess Li Yunjing, but he defeated it inside his sea of consciousness with the Heavenly Thunder Emperor Seal and absorbed its spiritual energy and memories. Yu Yuanhua checked Li Yunjing with the Thousand-Mile Tracking Mirror, confirming that the demon spirit was gone.

• After the demon beast army was wiped out, the Giant Bear Spirit's Primordial Spirit rushed toward Li Yunjing to possess his body.
• Li Yunjing fought the Giant Bear Spirit in his sea of consciousness and used the Heavenly Thunder Emperor Seal to weaken and suppress it.
• Li Yunjing destroyed the Giant Bear Spirit's Primordial Spirit, absorbing its spiritual energy and memories, including knowledge of its Three Heads and Six Arms ability.
• Yu Yuanhua watched Li Yunjing cautiously as he regained control of his body, and Li Yunjing urged him to use the Thousand-Mile Tracking Mirror.
• Yu Yuanhua examined Li Yunjing with the mirror for a quarter of an hour and confirmed that nothing was amiss.

Li Yunjing explained how the Heavenly Thunder Emperor Seal had helped him destroy the Giant Bear Spirit’s Primordial Spirit, and Yu Yuanhua upgraded the artifact into a low-grade spirit tool. The Divine Firmament Dao Sect reached Yellow Dragon Ridge and began its coordinated assault on the Yin Mountain Sect.

• Li Yunjing showed Yu Yuanhua and the other disciples the Heavenly Thunder Emperor Seal, and Yu Yuanhua explained how it had formed as a rare treasure embryo suited to Li Yunjing’s attributes.
• Yu Yuanhua refined the Heavenly Thunder Emperor Seal with Samadhi True Fire and precious materials, raising it to the level of a low-grade spirit tool and advising Li Yunjing on its future development.
• Yu Yuanhua led the group to Yellow Dragon Ridge, where they concealed themselves near the Blood Sea Yin Spirit Array and waited until the third watch to attack.
• Yu Yuanhua entered the formation, repelled its Blood Swords, and drew out the Yin Mountain Sect’s experts as its alarm sounded.
• Yu Yuanhua unleashed thunder arts against the defenders, and Li Yunjing and the other disciples charged into the formation, raining attacks on the Yin Mountain Sect and beginning the battle.

Li Yunjing and the Divine Firmament Dao Sect fought to seize Yellow Dragon Ridge, overwhelming the Yin Mountain Sect. Li Yunjing killed two Foundation Establishment disciples and drove the remaining pair back, leaving the battle ongoing.

• The Yin Mountain Sect retreated in fear as Li Yunjing and the Divine Firmament Dao Sect attacked and pressed toward Yellow Dragon Ridge.
• Li Yunjing used his Five Elements Seal to block three coordinated attacks, then killed one Yin Mountain Sect disciple with his sword.
• Li Yunjing vanished with the Invisibility Technique, used Sword Qi to engage the remaining three foes, and killed another with the Five Poisons Divine Needles.
• Two surviving Yin Mountain Sect disciples summoned vengeful ghosts, but Li Yunjing destroyed them all with Palm Lightning.
• Li Yunjing charged the remaining pair, striking one with his sword and breaking the other's ribs with a palm strike.

Li Yunjing helped the Divine Firmament Dao Sect defeat the Yin Mountain Sect at Yellow Dragon Ridge, killing several enemies with his sword and thunder techniques. With the Yin Mountain Sect's commander dead and its forces fleeing, Yu Yuanhua led the sect in dismantling the formation, guarding the miners, and pursuing the survivors.

• Li Yunjing killed four Yin Mountain Sect disciples, including one whose body swelled and burst after Palm Lightning detonated inside him.
• Li Yunjing joined Fan Wunian in battle and fought a Fourth Heaven of Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator who summoned two Mysterious Underworld Beasts.
• Yu Yuanhua killed the Yin Mountain Sect's highest-ranking elder, prompting the sect's remaining fighters to flee.
• Li Yunjing pursued his opponent, destroyed the two Nether Beasts with Fire God Thunder, and killed their master with Water God Thunder.
• Yu Yuanhua's forces began dismantling the formation, watching over the miners, and hunting down the remaining Yin Mountain Sect troops.

Li Yunjing joined the Divine Firmament Dao Sect after its victory at Yellow Dragon Ridge, where Yu Yuanhua organized the captives and secured the ore vein. With the site guarded by a new formation, the sect prepared for the Yin Mountain Sect’s expected counterattack.

• Li Yunjing arrived at Yellow Dragon Ridge after killing five Yin Mountain Sect Foundation Establishment cultivators and received Yu Yuanhua’s praise.
• Yu Yuanhua declared that the captured miners would work for the Divine Firmament Dao Sect for ten years, while Zhou Xu was identified as a Ten Thousand Sword Sect disciple and given pills and a path to eventual repatriation.
• Yu Yuanhua ordered the enemy corpses and forbidden artifacts destroyed, and Li Yunjing handed over the prohibited items he had seized.
• Yu Yuanhua led Li Yunjing and other disciples in establishing a Samadhi True Fire Array to protect Yellow Dragon Ridge.

After the Divine Firmament Dao Sect secured Yellow Dragon Ridge, Li Yunjing discovered a small Spirit Stone deposit while patrolling and then used his time off to advance his alchemy. He successfully refined batches of True Essence Pills, and the chapter ended with fellow disciples recognizing him as a second-order alchemist.

• Yu Yuanhua collected the fallen disciples’ belongings for their families or as future battle rewards, while Zhou Xu briefed Li Yunjing and the others about Yellow Dragon Ridge’s mining district.
• Yu Yuanhua assigned Li Yunjing and ten fellow disciples to patrol Yellow Dragon Ridge, and Li Yunjing found a small, low-quality Spirit Stone deposit beneath a pile of stones.
• After seven days without a Yin Mountain Sect counterattack, Li Yunjing rested in a former enemy residence and decided to learn to refine second-order True Essence Pills.
• Li Yunjing refined his first batch of True Essence Pills, producing seven ninth-grade pills and determining that his skills qualified him as a second-order alchemist.
• Over seven days, Li Yunjing refined more than fifty batches, producing 478 True Essence Pills, including twenty-eight eighth-grade pills, before running out of ingredients.
• When Li Yunjing lifted the restrictions on his room, the accumulated medicinal fragrance drew nearby disciples’ attention, and they congratulated him on being a second-order alchemist.

Li Yunjing revealed his skill as a second-tier alchemist and agreed to refine True Essence Pills for Senior Brother Wang in exchange for a covered patrol shift. After producing high-quality pills, he considered the wealth alchemy could bring and the equipment and recipes he still needed while trapped on Yellow Dragon Ridge.

• Li Yunjing told the gathered disciples he could usually succeed with nine out of ten batches and sometimes refine eighth-grade pills, impressing them.
• Senior Brother Wang offered to take Li Yunjing’s patrol shift in exchange for a batch of True Essence Pills, and Li Yunjing accepted.
• Li Yunjing refined ten True Essence Pills in an hour, including two eighth-grade pills, and set aside one eighth-grade and six ninth-grade pills for Senior Brother Wang.
• Li Yunjing kept the remaining pills as payment and looked forward to earning enough from alchemy to buy a spirit-tool furnace.
• Li Yunjing worried that he lacked a suitable furnace and pill recipes and might run short of spirit herbs, then resolved to take things slowly and rely on artifact forging if necessary.

Li Yunjing built his reputation at Yellow Dragon Ridge by refining True Essence Pills for his fellow disciples, earning materials and freedom from patrol duty. As war spread across the Hengyue Mountain Range, he refined Spirit Nourishing Pills with limited success and ended the chapter frustrated by his low yield.

• Li Yunjing gave Senior Brother Wang seven True Essence Pills, including two eighth-grade pills, and agreed to refine pills for Wang and three other disciples in exchange for six days of patrol coverage.
• War erupted across the Hengyue Mountain Range as the Divine Firmament Dao Sect's forces captured strongholds and fought hostile sects.
• Li Yunjing refined pills for the four disciples, giving each three eighth-grade True Essence Pills and keeping some for himself, which made his skill the talk of Yellow Dragon Ridge.
• More than a hundred batches of ingredients accumulated with Li Yunjing, allowing him to trade for three second-tier pill recipes and take time away from refining and patrol duty.
• After rehearsing the process for three days, Li Yunjing refined Spirit Nourishing Pills, producing three ninth-grade pills from one batch and reaching a thirty-percent success rate.