Chapter Summaries

Li Yuan installed a new Fire Gathering Array at the Wang Family mine and guided its fire-attribute vein through a crack toward his Fiend Ore mine. After several days of work, the veins connected, though Fire Fiend Stones would take time to form.

• Li Yuan replaced the old Fire Gathering Array, gained the permanent Fire Gathering affix, and began directing the Wang Family's fire vein toward a crack near his Fiend Ore mine.
• Li Yuan advanced the Vein-Guiding Technique to Proficiency and collected scarce Formation Materials and the Wang Family's Essence-Solidifying Long-Breath Art from Wang Ting'an.
• Li Yuan reviewed the Long-Breath Art's Enduring Qi-Blood affix, but his five equipment slots were full.
• Li Yuan continued guiding the fire vein over the next two days until its tip passed through the crack and entered the Fiend Ore mine.
• Li Yuan estimated that five to seven days would be needed for seepage to stabilize and Fire Fiend Stones to begin forming.

Li Yuan made Enduring Qi-Blood permanent by fighting a Poison Scale Snake for over an hour, then discovered that a demonic cultivator had been watching him. A Qishui Sect stronghold fell to the Fiend Demon Sect, flooding the market with refugees and driving prices up, while shortages of specialized formation materials suggested another force was secretly buying them.

• Li Yuan equipped the Essence-Solidifying Long-Breath Art and fought a Poison Scale Snake for over an hour without letting his qi-blood fall below eighty percent, then made Enduring Qi-Blood a Permanent Affix.
• Li Yuan sensed a Foundation Establishment Middle Stage demonic cultivator watching from a tree, but the cultivator left before Li Yuan finished the hunt.
• Li Yuan returned to the market and learned that the Fiend Demon Sect had breached a Qishui Sect stronghold in Yun Province, sending cultivators fleeing into Liang Province.
• Li Yuan sold much of his stockpiled wartime goods and life-extending materials as prices surged across the market.
• Chen Yi told Li Yuan that specialized materials for the Golden Core Formation Platform's Auxiliary Arrays were running short because an unknown force had bought up suppliers' stocks.

Li Yuan permanently solidified Split-Mind Multitasking, then used his improved divine sense and alchemy skills to refine pills. The chapter left him reflecting on his progress after his Second-Order Alchemy Art advanced to Minor Accomplishment.

• Li Yuan maintained three Divine Sense Threads for one hundred hours and permanently solidified Split-Mind Multitasking.
• At the market, Li Yuan bought a Qishui Sect jade slip containing the Meridian-Strengthening Pill formula.
• Li Yuan purchased the missing ingredient and refined Meridian-Strengthening Pills, receiving a preview for the Meridian Like Steel affix.
• Li Yuan refined four furnaces of pills and discovered that his Second-Order Alchemy Art had reached Minor Accomplishment.
• Li Yuan considered how his improved alchemy instincts would help him refine difficult Second-Order pills.

Li Yuan completed the Golden Core Formation Zone’s arrays, discovered that his spirit-vein authority let him control the platform’s spiritual qi supply, and found that the connected mineral veins had produced Fire Fiend Stones. He learned that a sect member was preparing to form a golden core and that Ji Huaiyuan had not arrived to collect the ore, leaving Li Yuan to store it and wait.

• Li Yuan completed the auxiliary arrays, advanced his Array Dao to minor accomplishment, and saw the Yuanyang Sect tighten access and garrison the Golden Core Formation Zone.
• As demonic cultivators fled the market and gathered around its outskirts, Li Yuan kept his spirit-vein monitoring secret and discovered he could adjust the qi being drawn toward the formation platform.
• Chen Yi told Li Yuan that a foundation establishment late-stage peak cultivator planned to use the platform and shared rumors of an agreement between the Yuanyang Sect and the demon sect.
• Li Yuan inspected the connected mineral veins and collected five Fire Fiend Stones, whose fire and fiend properties could strengthen both kinds of spells.
• When Ji Huaiyuan failed to arrive or send word to collect the stones, Li Yuan stored them separately and returned to cultivating.

After a Golden Core Formation failed amid unexplained spiritual energy disruptions, Li Yuan discovered a Demonic Cultivator near the market and killed him, gaining a Wave-Concealing Talisman. Examining the cultivator’s array materials revealed inconsistent quality, leaving Li Yuan with a tentative theory about the failure.

• Chen Yi told Li Yuan that a Golden Core Formation had failed after the platform’s spiritual energy supply became unstable, badly injuring the cultivator.
• Yuanyang Sect investigators questioned Li Yuan, and outside Array Masters inspected the platform but found no obvious fault as fighting between the Qishui Sect and the Fiend Demon Sect intensified.
• Li Yuan detected a demonic-qi-tainted Demonic Beast drawing on a Spirit Vein Branch and a Foundation Establishment Demonic Cultivator guarding it, then killed both.
• Li Yuan equipped the Blood Fiend Stone and found a Wave-Concealing Talisman in the Demonic Cultivator’s storage pouch, whose affix could help conceal spiritual power fluctuations.
• Li Yuan inspected the cultivator’s Golden Core Formation array materials and found their quality varied despite showing no direct tampering, then returned to the market with a tentative conjecture.

Li Yuan discovered that inconsistent formation materials recovered from a demonic cultivator could have caused problems during the Golden Core Formation Platform’s full-load operation, and reported his findings to Chen Yi. He collected a second batch of Fire Fiend Stones, then equipped and began cultivating the Soul-Condensing and Spirit-Guiding Art.

• Li Yuan found that the demonic cultivator’s formation materials were individually compliant but varied in quality, and explained to Chen Yi how such differences could disrupt spirit qi flow under extreme load.
• Chen Yi took the materials to report the issue and arrange for the sect to inspect them.
• Li Yuan checked the spirit vein, found spirit qi still surging toward the Golden Core Formation Platform, and collected and sorted a second batch of Fire Fiend Stones.
• Li Yuan waited for Ji Huaiyuan, who had not arrived to collect the stones, and decided to hold them until the Ji Family responded or he made other plans.
• Li Yuan equipped the Soul-Condensing and Spirit-Guiding Art, activated Soul Concentration Guard, and began cultivating the technique.

Li Yuan advanced his Second-Order Iron Wall Body Refining Manual while managing pill sales and a marketplace strained by the war. After trading Fire Fiend Stones with Ji Huaiyuan, he accepted Wang Ting'an’s proposal to expand production and connected a second Fire Mine into the underground vein network.

• Li Yuan began cultivating the Second-Order Iron Wall Body Refining Manual and absorbed two Iron Wall Pills, strengthening his body while maintaining his vital blood.
• Li Yuan refined and sold pills as traveling merchants became scarce, then began stockpiling materials that were difficult to replenish.
• Ji Huaiyuan arrived injured from a demonic cultivator encounter and bought ten Fire Fiend Stones from Li Yuan at the agreed price.
• Wang Ting'an offered Li Yuan use of another fire-attributed mining site in exchange for a larger share of the Fire Fiend Stone profits, and Li Yuan agreed.
• Li Yuan inspected the new mine and connected its vein to the first Fire Mine and then to the Fiend Vein, forming a stable triangular network.

As Wulin Marketplace filled with cultivators fleeing Yun Province, Li Yuan expanded it and strengthened its layered defenses under a new Yuanyang Sect task. After earning a record income and monitoring the spirit vein and suspected mole, he continued cultivating and waited for the right moment to act.

• Li Yuan and Chen Yi agreed to expand Wulin Marketplace, with the sect covering materials and Li Yuan receiving new shops as a reward.
• Li Yuan built new shops and housing, sold most of the shops at wartime prices, and used some of his earnings to stockpile scarce materials at Yunyang Marketplace.
• Li Yuan accepted Yuanyang Sect's task to install Sense-Perception and Linked Defense Arrays and connect the marketplace's defenses with those of the Outpost and Ruins.
• Li Yuan completed the Sense-Perception Array and linked it with the Demon-Probing Array and Exploration Array to create three layers of warning and defense.
• Li Yuan reviewed the marketplace's record income, checked the spirit vein and the mole's activity, and chose to keep monitoring the mole rather than act prematurely.

Li Yuan led a joint operation to reduce the growing number of demonic beasts near the northern branch vein and discovered that several beasts were tainted with demonic qi. After killing a Second-Order Black-Spined Leopard and collecting its spine, he returned to the market and used the Inner Core’s remaining power to cultivate his body-tempering method.

• Li Yuan sensed a surge of demonic beasts near the branch vein and traces of demonic qi around the Golden Core Formation Platform Ruins.
• Chen Yi delivered the Outpost’s extermination mission, and Li Yuan assembled two Foundation Establishment cultivators to hunt demonic beasts.
• The team killed several groups of First-Order beasts, and Li Yuan went alone to investigate the unmoving Second-Order aura.
• Li Yuan killed a demonic-qi-tainted Black-Spined Leopard, absorbed its Inner Core, and collected its spine after the Panel revealed its Bone Solidification affix.
• Li Yuan found signs that multiple beasts carried demonic qi, then returned with the team to the market before sunset.
• Li Yuan cultivated the Second-Order Iron Wall Body Refining Manual while the Inner Core’s remaining power circulated through his body.

Li Yuan helped repair the Golden Core Formation Zone and discovered that the Golden Core Formation Platform had lost some of its stored spirit power and was now concealed from outside detection. After advancing his soul cultivation, he successfully split a fourth Divine Sense Thread.

• Li Yuan joined the maintenance of the Golden Core Formation Zone and learned that the platform’s spirit power was consumed each time it helped someone form a Golden Core.
• Li Yuan found that a Fire Sun Stone’s Fire Sun Enhancement Affix overlapped with his permanent Flame Marrow Body Nourishment Affix, revealing how array and material properties could fuse into Affixes.
• Li Yuan completed the array repairs and discovered that the new concealment formations blocked outside divine sense, though his Spirit Vein Perception still detected the platform and its spirit qi flow.
• Li Yuan advanced the Soul-Condensing and Spirit-Guiding Art to Proficiency and successfully split off a fourth Divine Sense Thread.

During the Golden Core Formation Zone reinspection, Li Yuan detected faint demonic qi on a stationed cultivator and noticed that a suspected mole still left the market at night despite a duty change. He traded for Zhou Yuan’s Soul-Controlling Art and Soul-Condensing Pill formula, then refined a pill and began learning the technique.

• Li Yuan inspected the arrays and sensed faint demonic qi on a stationed cultivator, recording the man’s appearance and aura without confronting him.
• Li Yuan checked the patrol and entry-and-exit records and found that the suspected mole still left the market at night after being moved to day duty.
• Li Yuan met Zhou Yuan at a trading stall and agreed to provide him with a residence and artifact-refining material suppliers in exchange for the Soul-Controlling Art and Soul-Condensing Pill formula, plus fifteen pills.
• Li Yuan studied the formula, gathered materials, and refined three Soul-Condensing Pills, whose Panel preview showed a Green Soul-Condensing Amplification affix.
• Li Yuan learned the Soul-Controlling Art at Entry Level and managed to lift a small bottle, though he could not yet control it steadily.

Li Yuan improved his method for making Fire Fiend Stones until they met Zhou Yuan’s standards, then attended a Trading Fair where news of the front-line war spread. He agreed to capture a live Second-Order Demonic Beast in exchange for 1,900 mu of Spirit Fields, workers, formations, the Soil Cultivation Art, and a thousand Spirit Stones, and returned to Wulin Marketplace to continue cultivating.

• Li Yuan examined Fire Fiend Stones with Zhou Yuan, learned that their qi needed to fuse more evenly, and used his techniques to craft stones of sufficient quality after reaching Mastery in Fiend Spirit Conversion.
• Li Yuan received notice of the sixth Foundation Establishment Trading Fair and attended it three days later in Yunyang Marketplace.
• Foundation Establishment cultivators discussed the Fiend Demon Sect’s advances through Yun Province and the absence of Golden Core cultivators from the fighting.
• The Short-Bearded Cultivator offered Li Yuan 1,900 mu of Spirit Fields, workers, formations, the Soil Cultivation Art, and a thousand Spirit Stones in exchange for capturing a live Second-Order Demonic Beast.
• Li Yuan accepted the deal and returned to Wulin Marketplace, planning to use Spirit Vein Perception to locate a suitable beast.

Li Yuan produced war supplies for the Yuanyang Sect and exchanged his contributions for formation materials and the Spirit Vein Affinity Technique, whose Vein-Spirit Fusion affix greatly accelerated his cultivation. He learned that the sect planned to offer a Golden Core Formation Platform quota and decided to keep accumulating contributions for a chance at it.

• Li Yuan saw the Yuanyang Sect's recruitment order and procurement list, then spent three days producing pills and talismans before delivering them to Chen Yi for contribution points.
• Li Yuan exchanged contributions for formation materials and the Spirit Vein Affinity Technique, equipping it to gain the Vein-Spirit Fusion affix.
• Li Yuan observed that connecting the third mine had increased fire fiend stone output without reducing purple fiend stone output.
• Li Yuan read an internal circular announcing a future Golden Core Formation Platform quota for Foundation Establishment cultivators with cooperative relations with the sect.
• Li Yuan decided to keep accumulating contributions and began the five hundred double-hours of cultivation needed to make the technique's affix permanent.

Li Yuan reached Mastery in the Soul-Condensing and Spirit-Guiding Art, improved his alchemy and body-refining abilities, and tested his strengthened body against a Second-Order High-Grade Rock-Armored Savage Bull. He captured the beast for the Short-Bearded Cultivator in exchange for a Spirit Field deed, a jade slip, and Spirit Stones, then resumed cultivating.

• Li Yuan reached Mastery in the Soul-Condensing and Spirit-Guiding Art, strengthened his divine sense, and found he could briefly maintain five threads.
• Li Yuan advanced the Soul-Controlling Art to Proficiency and successfully operated two alchemy furnaces at once using separate divine sense threads.
• Li Yuan advanced the second order of the Iron Wall Body Refining Manual to Proficiency and converted Bone Solidification into a Permanent Affix.
• Li Yuan traveled into Ghost Mist Forest and tested his enhanced defenses against a Rock-Armored Savage Bull, enduring its charge without injury.
• Li Yuan subdued the Rock-Armored Savage Bull alive and gave it to the Short-Bearded Cultivator in exchange for a Spirit Field deed, a jade slip, and one thousand Spirit Stones.
• Li Yuan reviewed the deed for one thousand nine hundred mu of Spirit Fields and continued cultivating.

By day, Li Yuan refined pills and cultivated the Spirit Field, but that night a coordinated demonic assault targeted the Ruins while a feint drew defenders toward the Outpost. Li Yuan identified the attackers’ tactics and escaped a pursuing Foundation Establishment Late Stage Demonic Cultivator, while the Ruins’ outer formations were mostly dismantled.

• Li Yuan practiced refining Qi-Gathering Essence Pills and Healing Pills in parallel, then used the Soil Cultivation Art to improve the Spirit Field.
• After the Sense-Perception Array sounded, Li Yuan detected Demonic Cultivators confronting the Outpost and a separate force gathering near the Ruins.
• Li Yuan discovered that many of the attackers near the Ruins were Demonic Beasts disguised with demonic qi and confirmed one with a Fire Arrow Technique.
• As the Outpost battle drew defenders away, the attackers at the Ruins began precisely dismantling its outer formations.
• A Foundation Establishment Late Stage Demonic Cultivator pursued Li Yuan toward the market, then turned back toward the Ruins.
• Li Yuan sensed that more than half of the Ruins’ outer formations had been broken as the warnings continued.

Li Yuan secretly dismantled a weak point in the Golden Core Formation Platform’s restriction and discovered its teleportation structure and powerful equipment affix. When he learned Demonic Cultivators planned to steal the Platform and retreat north under Golden Core Realm protection, he equipped it himself and escaped underground, returning to his stone house.

• Li Yuan used layered concealment and precise Spirit Power control to dismantle a weak point in the Third Layer Restriction without triggering its Alarm Circuit, making Spirit Wave Concealment permanent.
• Li Yuan passed through the opening and was teleported onto the Golden Core Formation Platform, where the Panel revealed its Dantai Creation affix and its potential for reforming a Golden Core.
• Li Yuan overheard Demonic Cultivators confirm the Platform’s location and plan to transport it north, where Golden Core Realm cultivators would meet them.
• Li Yuan equipped the Golden Core Formation Platform, causing it to vanish into the Panel’s Equipment Slot and leaving its restriction unstable.
• Li Yuan retrieved his pattern fragments, retreated through the Underground Passage, and returned to his stone house.

Li Yuan watched the Demonic Cultivators withdraw after the Golden Core Formation Platform vanished, then examined the newly revealed Dantai Creation affix. At daybreak, Yuanyang Sect began investigating the raid, and Li Yuan assisted while concealing what he knew about the underground.

• Li Yuan sensed the Demonic Cultivators retreat from the ruins and Outpost after a signal sounded north of the ruins.
• Li Yuan inspected Dantai Creation and learned it could conceal breakthroughs and offer another chance to condense a Golden Core.
• Chen Yi told Li Yuan that the Golden Core Formation Platform was gone and ordered him not to spread the news.
• Li Yuan led an inspection of the damaged perimeter, where he found warning nodes destroyed and array components dismantled with precision.
• Yuanyang Sect personnel arrived, sealed off areas, and began reviewing everyone connected to the ruins and defenses.
• Li Yuan noticed the Stationed Cultivator he had previously seen with demonic qi, but said nothing while assisting the investigation outside the sealed core zone.

Li Yuan reclaimed and organized eight hundred mu of spirit fields, establishing a plan to grow herbs for his pill-making business. Ji Huaiyuan then brought him three Fire Fiend Swords to sell or trade for artifact materials, and Li Yuan agreed to find buyers.

• Li Yuan hired Rogue Cultivators to repair canals, level ridges, and clear stones and roots from the reclaimed spirit fields.
• Li Yuan used the Soil Cultivation Art to improve the fields and assigned zones for Soul-Condensing Grass, Meridian-Repairing Grass, and Spirit-Gathering Flowers.
• Li Yuan's Soil Cultivation Art reached Mastery, allowing him to sense and cultivate deeper soil layers more efficiently.
• Li Yuan reviewed how the market, spirit fields, and mines could support one another financially.
• Ji Huaiyuan showed Li Yuan a Second-Order Middle Grade Fire Fiend Sword and asked him to test the market for three swords in exchange for forging materials.

Li Yuan reinforced Wulin Marketplace’s defensive formations and used a brief lull in the conflict to produce wartime supplies through dual-furnace alchemy. He arranged for Zhou Yuan to sound out buyers for the Fire Fiend Dharma Artifacts, then continued refining pills while improving his alchemy and soul control.

• Li Yuan completed the reinforcement of Wulin Marketplace’s Sense-Perception Array, Linked Defense Array, and Demon-Probing Array, while noticing that both the Yuanyang Sect and demonic forces had gone quiet.
• Li Yuan refined Soul-Condensing Pills and delivered one to Zhou Yuan, who said the pill could help heal his soul injuries.
• Li Yuan asked Zhou Yuan to find potential buyers for his Second-Order Middle Grade Fire Fiend Dharma Artifacts, and Zhou Yuan offered to introduce him to displaced Lineage cultivators seeking replacements.
• Zhou Yuan confirmed that Fire Fiend Stones were suitable for Second-Order artifact refining, though he had little personal use for them.
• Li Yuan used two furnaces and four Divine Sense Threads to refine different pills simultaneously for three days, improving his soul-controlled alchemy and Second-Order Alchemy Art.

Li Yuan discovered and destroyed a hidden Demonic Gathering Array east of Wulin Marketplace, killing the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivator guarding it. He took the Array Eye, which offered a Green Affix useful for finding the Dark Abyss Society’s hidden demonic formations, then returned to his cultivation.

• Li Yuan sensed demonic qi seeping from deep underground and traced it to an area east of the Ruins' outskirts.
• Li Yuan found a small Demonic Gathering Array in an underground cavern and spotted a gray-robed Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivator beside it.
• Li Yuan killed the gray-robed cultivator with a single physical strike and took his storage bag, which held demonic pills, techniques, a short blade, and formation materials.
• Li Yuan disabled the Demonic Gathering Array without triggering a backlash and removed its dark-purple crystal Array Eye.
• The Panel identified the Array Eye’s green Demonic Gathering and Flow-Guiding Affix, and Li Yuan stored it before clearing the cavern’s traces and returning to cultivation.