Chapter Summaries

Li Yuan and the Yuanyang Sect carefully dismantled the restrictions around the Golden Core Formation Platform and uncovered records describing two Golden Core paths, including a life-extending method linked to Longevity Pills. Chen Yi later gave Li Yuan a complete Golden Core Formation Guidance Jade Slip, which he stored without equipping.

• Li Yuan joined the Yuanyang Sect's effort to clear the Stone Chambers and dismantle the three-layer restriction around the Golden Core Formation Platform without damaging it.
• As the restriction was peeled away, Li Yuan's Formation Link Sense permanently transformed and the group uncovered records of the Orthodox Golden Core Formation Path and the Heterodox Life-Nurturing Path.
• Li Yuan and the others found that the Heterodox Life-Nurturing Path shared its origins with the Longevity Pills used by demon sects, suggesting the Dark Abyss Society and its allies coveted the method.
• After two more days of work, Li Yuan returned to the market, where Chen Yi gave him a complete Golden Core Formation Guidance Jade Slip found in a Stone Chamber.
• Li Yuan saw that the Jade Slip could improve spiritual energy condensation and reduce Golden Core Formation failure, but stored it without replacing his current equipment.

Li Yuan discovered that spiritual energy seeping from the Large Spirit Vein had resonated with the Fiend Cultivation Array and produced a Purple Sha Stone, leaving the long-term effects uncertain. He refined the Qi-Gathering Essence Pill, made Pill Formation Refinement permanent, and advanced his Second-Order Alchemy Art to Proficiency before turning to the Bone-Tempering Pill formula.

• Li Yuan found a Purple Sha Stone in the mine vein and traced its formation to faint spiritual energy seeping from the Large Spirit Vein and resonating with Fiend Qi.
• Li Yuan refined Meridian-Repairing Pills and began making Qi-Gathering Essence Pills, succeeding on his fifth furnace with three pills.
• Li Yuan confirmed the Qi-Gathering Essence Pill’s affix preview and made Pill Formation Refinement a Permanent Affix after refining a third kind of Second-Order Pill.
• Li Yuan continued refining pills until his Second-Order Alchemy Art reached Proficiency, improving his ability to assess ingredients and control pill fire.
• Li Yuan stored his pills and pulled the Bone-Tempering Pill formula before him.

Li Yuan helped open the Golden Core Formation Platform by recognizing an Alchemy Dao circuit within its restriction. He discovered the altar’s connection to the Main Vein and identified a hidden teleportation route beneath it, then returned to cultivate without acting on the discovery.

• Li Yuan saw the Dark Abyss Society selling Longevity Pills and recruiting Array Masters in the market.
• The Outpost ordered a formal assault on the Golden Core Formation Platform’s core restriction, but the array cultivators could not open its final section.
• Li Yuan recognized an Alchemy Dao circuit in the Core Gate and carefully activated it, allowing the Golden Core cultivators to open the gate.
• Li Yuan entered the revealed Golden Core Formation Altar and sensed its purple Affix and its connection to the Main Vein Core Node.
• Li Yuan traced the restriction above the underground Main Vein and discovered it contained a teleportation structure leading to the Golden Core Formation Platform.

After the Yuanyang Sect issued a Blockade Order around the Golden Core Formation Zone, Li Yuan examined the unusual Purple Sha Stone and investigated a hidden Teleportation Structure beneath the platform. As the Dark Abyss Society expanded its recruitment and the Wang Family reported the Li Family to the Outpost, Li Yuan continued cultivating and left the underground route’s risks unresolved.

• The Yuanyang Sect issued a Blockade Order, and Chen Yi told Li Yuan that the Golden Core Formation Platform would take at least half a year to become usable.
• Li Yuan examined the Purple Sha Stone and discovered that its concentrated Fiend Qi coexisted stably with a growing proportion of spiritual power.
• Li Yuan heard that the Dark Abyss Society was recruiting Array Masters, cultivators nearing the end of their lifespans, and even Foundation Establishment cultivators.
• Li Yuan traced the Teleportation Structure beneath the Golden Core Formation Platform and identified aura concealment and stabilizing its nodes as problems to solve before using it.
• The Wang Family submitted a report about the Li Family to the Outpost, and Li Yuan filed the document without intervening.
• Li Yuan continued cultivating and later meditated near the Large Spirit Vein’s core.

Li Yuan refined the Hidden Meridian Pill, permanently established his Alchemy Insight, and discovered evidence that the Dark Abyss Society had infiltrated the market. He left the suspected insider under observation, received an overture from the Li Family, and stocked up on materials as rumors drove prices upward.

• Li Yuan exchanged sect contributions for the Hidden Meridian Pill formula, refined two pills, and equipped its Meridian Concealment and Breath Hiding affix.
• After refining ten different kinds of pills, Li Yuan permanently established Alchemy Insight.
• Li Yuan found recurring abnormalities in a western Demon-Probing Array node and linked them to a Patrol Squad member’s private transactions with an outside rogue cultivator.
• Li Yuan suspected the Dark Abyss Society had recruited someone inside the market and chose to monitor the suspected insider rather than arrest him.
• Cultivator Zhou visited on behalf of the Li Family and offered to sell Li Yuan hard-to-find pill ingredients at a favorable price, but Li Yuan neither accepted nor refused.
• Li Yuan bought aura-concealing ingredients, Array-Stabilizing Spirit Sand, and restriction-breaking materials, then learned that a Purple Fiend Stone could fetch one hundred and fifty Spirit Stones.

At the Trading Fair, Li Yuan accepted Ji Huaiyuan’s request to build a Fire-Guiding Array and received the Vein-Guiding Technique as payment. He studied the spell afterward, considering how it might direct Spirit Vein energy toward his fiend mine and stabilize Purple Fiend Stone production.

• Li Yuan heard a Yun Province cultivator explain that Yun Province had many more rogue Foundation Establishment cultivators than Liang Province, but the war had scattered and killed many of them.
• Ji Huaiyuan hired Li Yuan to guide an unstable Earth Fire outlet into the Ji Family’s fire-drawing circuit, offering the Vein-Guiding Technique in payment.
• Li Yuan set up and activated the Fire-Guiding Array, which steadily redirected the Earth Fire toward the Ji Family’s existing structure.
• Li Yuan noticed the Array Eye’s equipment affix preview, replaced the Array Eye’s Fire Sun Stone, and accepted the Vein-Guiding Technique from Ji Huaiyuan.
• Li Yuan studied the technique and considered using it to direct a Spirit Vein branch toward his fiend mine, but decided he would need to practice it first.

Li Yuan redirected a spirit-vein branch toward the Fiend Ore mine, stabilizing and increasing its Purple Sha Stone output, while helping finish the Yuanyang Sect’s Ruins cleanup and finding records tied to heterodox life-nurturing methods. As the Wang Family took over the Li Family’s market channels, Li Yuan sold Purple Sha Stones for over a thousand Spirit Stones and returned to cultivation.

• Li Yuan repeatedly used the Vein-Guiding Technique to bend a branch vein toward the Fiend Ore, and four Purple Sha Stones formed as the mine’s output became steady.
• Li Yuan helped complete the Ruins cleanup and establish new arrays, advancing his Second-Order Array Dao to Proficiency.
• Li Yuan and the other cultivators found old scrolls describing life-nurturing methods linked to the Heterodox Life-Nurturing Path and the Dark Abyss Society’s Longevity Pills.
• Li Yuan discovered that the Wang Family had taken over the Li Family’s market shops, workers, and supply channels, forcing him to seek new sources for materials.
• Li Yuan sold seven Purple Sha Stones across three shops for more than a thousand Spirit Stones, then stored his supplies and began cultivating.

After the Li Family was exposed and its assets liquidated, Li Yuan investigated the grand array in the Yuanheng Mountains at the Wang Family’s request. He uncovered how the array had caused the Demonic Beast disturbances and left with its Array Eye, which granted him a preview of a useful Blue Trait.

• Yuanyang Sect ordered the liquidation of the Li Family’s properties after uncovering evidence of its dealings with the Dark Abyss Society and Demonic Cultivators, and Li Yuan obtained pill ingredients and Formation Materials through the allocation process.
• Wang Ting'an offered Li Yuan three marketplace shops to investigate the array in the Yuanheng Mountains, and Li Yuan accepted.
• Li Yuan determined that the grand array had originally drained cultivators’ Essence Blood, was later modified to drain Demonic Beasts, and had then been tampered with to drive the beasts outward.
• Li Yuan traced the array’s operation to its Array Eye in a cave and found that the array’s smaller formations had been altered, breaking their original cycle of cultivating, attracting, and draining Demonic Beasts.
• Wang Ting'an removed the Array Eye and gave it to Li Yuan as additional compensation, and Li Yuan’s Panel identified it as a complete Essence Blood Array Eye with a Blue Essence Blood Condensation affix preview.
• Li Yuan stored the Array Eye, declined the Wang Family’s banquet invitation, and returned to the marketplace.

Li Yuan killed a Second-Order Cold-Horned Lizard, dismantled two layers of restrictions leading toward the Golden Core Formation Platform, and advanced his cultivation, alchemy, and body tempering. He discovered a Purple Fiend Stone with a new Green Trait whose permanent conversion required a breakthrough where Fiend Qi and spiritual power coexisted.

• Li Yuan used Fire Python Technique and Gold Blade Technique to kill a Second-Order Middle Grade Cold-Horned Lizard, then swallowed its Inner Core and advanced Bones Tough as Iron conversion progress.
• Li Yuan dismantled the Outer Restriction and the second restriction layer along the route to the Golden Core Formation Platform.
• As Wulin Marketplace grew amid the escalating war between the Qishui Sect and the Fiend Demon Sect, Li Yuan increased his earnings and set aside resources for Golden Core Formation.
• Li Yuan reached Mastery in Second-Order Alchemy Art, achieved Perfection in Soul Condensation Art, and permanently converted Spirit Platform Nourishment.
• Li Yuan found a Purple Fiend Stone with the Fiend Spirit Resonance Green Trait and learned that a breakthrough amid coexisting Fiend Qi and spiritual power would let him convert it permanently.

Li Yuan dismantled most of the Underground Passage’s Third Layer Restriction, hunted a Red-Maned Leopard, and advanced his body-tempering cultivation. After completing the conditions for Bones Tough as Iron, he made the Affix permanent, strengthening his bones further.

• Li Yuan carefully dismantled the Third Layer Restriction while continuing his daily cultivation and hunts.
• Li Yuan killed a Red-Maned Leopard with fire techniques and the Gold Blade Technique, then swallowed its inner core and advanced Bones Tough as Iron’s progress.
• Li Yuan broke through to Major Accomplishment in the Nameless Body Refining Technique, strengthening his bones and bodily protection.
• Li Yuan noticed rising demand for Life-Nurturing Vein materials, bought up available stocks, and acquired another Second-Order Monster Beast inner core.
• Li Yuan swallowed the Iron-Backed Turtle’s inner core, fulfilled Bones Tough as Iron’s conditions, and made the Affix permanent.

Li Yuan reached Minor Accomplishment in the Azure Wood Longevity Art and permanently converted Flawless Spirit Power, greatly improving his recovery and cultivation efficiency. He continued rebuilding the market, secretly investigating a suspected Dark Abyss Society mole, and dismantling the Underground Passage restrictions, leaving only the final core seal to study.

• Li Yuan broke through to Minor Accomplishment in the Azure Wood Longevity Art, extending its healing effects through his fine meridians.
• Li Yuan permanently converted Flawless Spirit Power into an Affix, automatically purifying spirit qi and doubling his cultivation speed.
• Li Yuan reviewed the market’s recovering businesses as his Spirit Stone reserves and alchemy materials grew.
• Li Yuan tracked a night patrol cultivator whose private transactions repeatedly preceded weak anomalies at the Demon-Probing Array’s western Auxiliary Node, but waited to investigate further.
• Li Yuan dismantled the Fourth Layer Restriction in the Underground Passage and found that only the complicated final core seal remained.
• Li Yuan began cultivating with Flawless Spirit Power and found that his combined Affixes and spirit vein effects nearly doubled his cultivation gains per hour.

Li Yuan dismantled the final restrictions and opened the Underground Passage to the sealed space beneath the Golden Core Formation Platform. He confirmed that the platform’s Purple Trait remained blocked by the Yuanyang Sect’s defenses, then returned to cultivate and wait for a better opportunity.

• Li Yuan spent five nights carefully separating the final restriction layer from the transmission structure, causing the restrictions to fail and raising his Second-Order Array Dao to Mastery.
• Li Yuan followed the newly connected passage from the Main Vein Core Node to the Sealed Space beneath the Golden Core Formation Platform.
• Li Yuan used Spirit Vein Perception to assess the platform and realized its surrounding arrays and Protective Restrictions prevented him from touching its Purple Trait.
• Li Yuan returned to the stone house without being detected and continued cultivating, judging that the time to act had not yet come.

Li Yuan sold part of his stockpile at rising prices, bought a Divine Sense secret technique, and reviewed the growing profits from his businesses. He broke through to Foundation Establishment Late Stage in the Fiend Ore mine and made Fiend Spirit Resonance a Permanent Affix.

• Li Yuan sold some of his Life-Extending Grass, Vein-Nurturing Spirit Sand, and Green Sun Root, then reinvested the profits in alchemy and array materials.
• A Rogue Cultivator from Yun Province sold Li Yuan a Beast Skin Scroll containing a Divine Sense splitting technique, and Li Yuan's Panel revealed its Blue Trait and Permanent Affix condition.
• Li Yuan reviewed the returns from his Spirit Field, Fiend Ore mine, talisman sales, and Medicinal Pill sales before devoting himself to cultivation.
• Li Yuan prepared to break through after confirming his cultivation arts and Affixes were operating without conflict.
• Li Yuan completed his breakthrough in the Mine Tunnel, reaching Foundation Establishment Late Stage while Fiend Spirit Resonance became a Permanent Affix.

After reaching Foundation Establishment Late Stage, Li Yuan tested his stronger spirit power, made Gathering Essence Unity permanent, and learned to split his divine sense into independent threads. He began cultivating with five Affixes active while continuing to monitor the spirit vein and the market district.

• Li Yuan tested his denser spirit power and confirmed that his Fireball Technique carried more concentrated heat.
• Li Yuan made Gathering Essence Unity a Permanent Affix and tested how it boosted cultivation by consuming Vital Blood.
• Li Yuan equipped the Ancient Divine Sense Secret Technique and used three independent threads to monitor the spirit vein, his dantian, and his surroundings while refining a Meridian-Repairing Pill.
• Li Yuan began accumulating the one hundred shichen required to make Split-Mind Multitasking permanent and used his divided attention to handle Management Office records.
• Li Yuan noticed that the suspected internal traitor remained in the Patrol Squad without showing abnormalities.
• Li Yuan began his first formal cultivation session at Foundation Establishment Late Stage, and his five cultivation-type Affixes nearly doubled his spirit power growth compared with the middle stage.

After the Li Family’s supply network collapsed, Li Yuan rebuilt key marketplace channels and stockpiled goods likely to rise in price as the war intensified. He noticed the Dark Abyss Society had changed its purchasing pattern and set up two separate supply trails to track its buyers before returning to cultivation.

• Li Yuan reconnected supplies of spirit field seeds and talisman paper, adding channels while spending slightly less than before.
• As fighting between the Qishui Sect and the Fiend Demon Sect intensified, Li Yuan bought Recovery Grass, Purple Profound Stone Powder, and Energy Gathering Sand.
• Li Yuan reviewed marketplace records and noticed the Dark Abyss Society’s public bulk purchases had slowed while an inside mole’s small transactions had become more frequent.
• Li Yuan bought formation materials favored by the Dark Abyss Society and consigned them through two independent shops at slightly below-market prices to track who collected them.
• Li Yuan returned to his stone house and cultivated as his split-mind multitasking progress continued to accumulate.

Li Yuan uncovered suspicious dealings involving a Yuanyang Sect disciple and materials for rebuilding the Golden Core Formation Platform, then cautiously reported only the unusual purchases to Chen Yi. He also spotted growing demonic beast activity near the spirit vein and successfully made a Purple Fiend Stone himself, though he decided natural production was more efficient.

• Li Yuan compared patrol, array, and transaction records and linked a Yuanyang Sect outer disciple to the mole’s contacts and faint fluctuations in the western Auxiliary Node.
• Li Yuan tracked the disciple’s daily visits to the Rogue Cultivator trading area and inferred that formation materials were being funneled to him through Dark Abyss Society channels, with possible help from a higher-ranking sect insider.
• Li Yuan reported suspicious purchases of formation materials to Chen Yi but withheld the low-price sales, the disciple’s identity, and the mole’s connection.
• Li Yuan bought remaining stock of key formation materials, then read the Qishui Sect’s notice offering a Golden Core Formation Manual to Foundation Establishment cultivators who earned merit on the Yun Province front line.
• Li Yuan noticed seven or eight First-Order Demonic Beasts gathering near a branch of the Large Spirit Vein and slightly increased the Vein-Guiding Technique’s flow toward the ore veins.
• Li Yuan used Fiend Spirit Resonance and Fiend Spirit Conversion to make a lower-quality Purple Fiend Stone from a Mid-Grade Fiend Stone, then decided to leave routine production to the ore veins.

Li Yuan joined the Yuanyang Sect’s project to build auxiliary arrays for the Golden Core Formation Platform, surveying its old restrictions and discovering that an alarm circuit made his underground approach dangerous. After receiving and testing the new array blueprints, he left with a permanent Spirit-Connecting Stone affix and was ready to help construct the array.

• Chen Yi delivered the Yuanyang Sect’s project document, and Li Yuan agreed to participate in setting up the auxiliary arrays.
• Li Yuan joined the project, helped verify materials, and meticulously surveyed all three layers of old restrictions around the Golden Core Formation Platform.
• Li Yuan secretly reached the Sealed Space beneath the platform and realized that an alarm circuit would expose anyone who dismantled its deepest restriction.
• The Yuanyang Sect distributed blueprints for a Second-Order Spirit Gathering and Flow-Guiding Array, and Li Yuan identified how it would channel spiritual energy into the platform.
• Li Yuan built a trial array, equipped and made the Spirit-Connecting Stone permanent, then confirmed the array worked with a replacement Spirit Gathering Stone.

Li Yuan helped build the Golden Core Formation Platform’s auxiliary array while secretly marking old restriction nodes and checking the supplied materials. He learned about possible Golden Core Formation slots, acquired the Life-Locking Talisman method, and crafted a talisman whose affix could be permanently solidified after consuming one hundred years of lifespan.

• Li Yuan set up the new array in the Golden Core Formation Zone, discreetly marking three old restriction nodes for a later visit through the Underground Passage.
• Li Yuan inspected the Yuanyang Sect’s Formation Materials and found no signs of tampering, while market reports showed rising prices and rumors of Golden Core Formation slots.
• Li Yuan found the Life-Locking Talisman crafting method in the sect contribution catalog and recognized it as a likely result of the Yuanyang Sect’s research into old life-preserving scrolls.
• Li Yuan crafted a Life-Locking Talisman using Split-Mind Multitasking, and the Panel revealed that permanentizing its affix required one hundred years of consumed lifespan.
• Li Yuan decided not to deliberately spend his lifespan to meet the condition and ended the day by cultivating in his stone house.

Li Yuan inspected the Wang Family’s fire-attribute mine, found it safe but below average, and suggested linking it to his Fiend Qi mine to potentially produce rare Fire Fiend Stone. In Yunyang Marketplace, he bought advanced Iron Wall body-tempering materials from the departing Li Family and refined Second-Tier Iron Wall Pills, whose Green Affix he could not yet equip.

• Wang Ting'an hired Li Yuan to inspect the Wang Family’s former Li Family mine, remove its old formation, and establish a new one.
• Li Yuan found the mine safe with below-average production potential, then proposed connecting it to his Fiend Qi mine to possibly produce Fire Fiend Stone; Wang Ting'an said he would consider it.
• Li Yuan traveled to Yunyang Marketplace, where he learned the Li Family was auctioning its accumulated heritage before leaving Liang Province.
• Li Yuan bought the Second-Order Iron Wall Body Refining Manual and two Iron Wall pill formulas from a Li Family stall.
• Li Yuan refined two Second-Tier Iron Wall Pills and discovered their Green Affix, but left his full equipment slots unchanged.

Li Yuan bought a Second-Order divine soul cultivation method at the Li Family Auction and discovered it offered a useful trait. He then brought Ji Huaiyuan and Wang Ting'an together to agree on connecting their mineral veins to produce and sell Fire Fiend Stones.

• Li Yuan met Ji Huaiyuan at the auction, where Ji Huaiyuan asked whether Li Yuan could supply Fiend Qi for artifact forging.
• Li Yuan bought the Soul-Condensing and Spirit-Guiding Art for four thousand five hundred Spirit Stones and saw that its Green Trait reduced divine soul consumption by twenty percent.
• After the auction, Li Yuan told Ji Huaiyuan that his Fiend Ore mine could be connected to the Wang Family's fire-attribute mineral vein to produce Fire Fiend Stones.
• Ji Huaiyuan inspected the Wang Family's mineral vein and agreed to buy all usable Fire Fiend Stones at thirty percent above the Purple Fiend Stone market standard.
• Li Yuan, Ji Huaiyuan, and Wang Ting'an agreed that Li Yuan would connect the veins, the Wang Family would provide access and receive a share, and Ji Huaiyuan would purchase the stones.