Chapter Summaries

Li Yuan stabilized his Foundation Establishment foundation, advanced the Azure Wood Longevity Art to Major Accomplishment, and permanently gained an injury-healing affix. He inspected the mine’s successful Fire Vein and Fiend Vein fusion, found a Flame Sha Spirit Stone that boosted cultivation speed, and began hunting Demonic Beasts to fulfill its permanentization condition.

• Li Yuan confirmed that his Foundation Establishment Perfection foundation and body were ready for Golden Core formation, but decided to learn more about the process before attempting it.
• Li Yuan advanced the Azure Wood Longevity Art to Major Accomplishment and permanently gained the Meridian Healing affix from the Meridian-Repairing Pill.
• Wang Ting'an reported that the Cross-Attribute Cultivation Arrays were steadily merging the Fire Vein and Fiend Vein, and Li Yuan approved opening the Second Mining Site.
• Li Yuan found a Flame Sha Spirit Stone in the mine and equipped it, activating the Flame Fiend Spirit Essence affix and its requirement to kill thirty Demonic Beasts with fire-attribute or fiend-attribute spells.
• Li Yuan went to Ghost Mist Forest and killed an Upper First-Order Fire Lizard Beast with Fireball Technique, advancing the affix condition to 1/30.

Li Yuan discovered a coded demonic-qi transmission beneath Wulin Marketplace and learned from Sun Henian that war and blocked roads were driving refugees toward the border. He accepted the Sun Family’s talisman-crafting method in exchange for housing and a shop, then began studying the Spirit-Breaking Talisman.

• Li Yuan detected and memorized a mole’s rhythmic demonic-qi message beneath the marketplace without interrupting the transmission.
• Sun Henian and eight surviving Sun Family members arrived seeking refuge, and he described the worsening war in Yun Province and the blocked routes to the Yuanyang Sect’s heartland.
• Li Yuan allowed the Sun Family to stay at Wulin Marketplace, and Sun Henian traded a Second-Order Middle Grade Spirit-Breaking Talisman method for housing and a shop.
• Li Yuan inspected the talisman’s intricate three-layered spirit patterns and prepared his materials to attempt drawing it.

Li Yuan made the Spirit-Piercing Sharp Edge affix permanent and used a staged security gap to lure three Dark Abyss Society Demonic Cultivators into an ambush outside the North Wall. He killed all three, then disguised himself as severely wounded and discovered a dangerous restriction box containing a Blue Trait item.

• Li Yuan crafted a Spirit-Breaking Talisman and permanently gained the Spirit-Piercing Sharp Edge affix, which let his attacks penetrate spirit-power defenses.
• Li Yuan issued plausible defense and patrol changes to leak an apparent gap to the Dark Abyss Society, then waited outside the North Wall.
• Three Demonic Cultivators entered the woodland during the gap, and Li Yuan ambushed them, piercing their defenses and killing all three within moments.
• Li Yuan wounded himself and weakened his aura to make the Dark Abyss Society believe its informant's intelligence had been accurate.
• Li Yuan searched the Demonic Cultivators' storage bags and found a self-destructing Restriction Box that contained a Blue Trait item, along with three Longevity Pills.
• Li Yuan stored the box and staggered toward the market's north gate in his disguised injured state.

Li Yuan learned that Demonic Cultivators were searching for a way to form Demon Cores, then advanced several Affixes by fighting Demonic Beasts in Ghost Mist Forest. He returned to Wulin Marketplace and found it increasingly crowded with cultivators fleeing attacks on their former strongholds.

• Chen Yi told Li Yuan that Demonic Cultivators were raiding border outposts to find materials for a method of forming Demon Cores, and explained why cultivators could not form both a Spirit Core and a Demon Core.
• Li Yuan advanced his Demonic Origin Technique, then sought help from Ji Huaiyuan and Zhou Yuan to open the seized Restriction Box; Zhou Yuan gave him an Exhaustive Stripping Method.
• Li Yuan entered Ghost Mist Forest and endured the Frost Jade Toad's spell attacks until Magic Pattern Body Protection became a Permanent Affix, then killed the toad and made Essence Blood Condensation permanent.
• Li Yuan killed First-Order Demonic Beasts until Flame Fiend Spirit Essence became a Permanent Affix, improving his cultivation efficiency.
• Li Yuan returned to Wulin Marketplace and saw that displaced cultivators and small forces had crowded into the marketplace for shelter.

Li Yuan traveled to Yunyang Marketplace to buy supplies, where he reunited with Zhang Qiu and found Old Zhang injured and recovering from a risky breakthrough. Back in Wulin Marketplace, Li Yuan bought a Green Trait jade ore whose affix could generate spiritual power within his body, and he planned to refine it at a spirit vein node.

• Li Yuan bought bulk materials in Yunyang Marketplace and recognized Zhang Qiu at a rogue cultivator stall.
• Zhang Qiu explained that Old Zhang’s family had fled Li Family Market after the Wang Family and a Yuanyang Sect Elder seized control, and that Old Zhang had forced a breakthrough to Qi Refining, Fourth Layer.
• Li Yuan visited the injured Old Zhang and gave him a Longevity Pill, a Healing Pill, and First-Order cultivation pills.
• After returning to Wulin Marketplace, Li Yuan found and bought a Green Trait Spirit Essence Jade Marrow Ore for ten Low-Grade Spirit Stones.
• Li Yuan discovered the ore’s Spirit Essence Foundation Consolidation affix could generate spiritual power and that it could be made permanent by soaking it at a spirit vein node for thirty days.

Li Yuan helped Yuanyang Sect construct a Third-Order Teleportation Array, learned about Golden Core Formation methods, and began refining Origin Consolidation Pills to strengthen his meridians. Chen Yi then assigned him to repair a neglected teleportation array in Mo Province, promising access to the complete Golden Core Formation Manual if he succeeded.

• Li Yuan placed Spirit Essence Jade Marrow Ore in Wulin Marketplace’s defensive array and traveled to Yunyang Marketplace to help build a Third-Order Teleportation Array.
• Li Yuan inscribed six outer spatial nodes and received an Earth Origin Array Formation and a partial Golden Core Formation Manual as rewards.
• Li Yuan acquired an Origin Consolidation Pill formula, refined the pills, and equipped the Origin Consolidation Pulse affix.
• Chen Yi told Li Yuan that Mo Province was becoming a Spirit-Extinct Land and that Yuanyang Sect needed him to repair its teleportation array there.
• Chen Yi offered Li Yuan a deposit and promised the complete Golden Core Formation Manual if he completed the mission, and Li Yuan accepted and asked when he would leave.

Li Yuan studied the Third-Order Teleportation Array and decoded intelligence about the Dark Abyss Society while preparing for the deteriorating conflict in Yun Province. Back in Wulin Marketplace, he learned the Golden Body Technique, made the Origin Consolidation Pulse permanent, and fused two Earth Vein affixes into a powerful new one.

• Li Yuan assisted with the Teleportation Array in Yunyang Marketplace and deciphered the mole’s messages, learning that the Dark Abyss Society was gathering specific spiritual materials and hinting at an unclear location.
• At a secluded estate, Li Yuan heard cultivators discuss Qishui Sect’s retreat and the growing threat of Fiend Demon Sect, then bought the Fiend-Condensing Pill formula and Golden Body Technique.
• Li Yuan assigned the cultivation of Fiend Soul Grass to the Spirit Farmer and broke through to Entry Level in the Golden Body Technique after using medicinal-bath residue and an Origin Consolidation Pill.
• After his final Origin Consolidation Pill was used, Li Yuan made the Origin Consolidation Pulse a Permanent Affix.
• Li Yuan refined and connected an Earth Vein Jade Array Eye, making Earth Origin Array Formation permanent, then fused it with Earth Vein Resonance to create Earth Vein Spirit Pivot.

Li Yuan traveled to Mo Province, where he repaired an ancient Teleportation Array while deciphering a demonic restriction box. He killed two demonic cultivators who attacked him and found a Dark Magic Token with an affix he could make permanent.

• Li Yuan made Spirit Essence Foundation Consolidation permanent, handed Wulin Marketplace's patrol and defense duties to Chen Yi, and left for Mo Province.
• Li Yuan crossed into Mo Province, sealed his spiritual power against the barren environment, and passed low-level Rogue Cultivators mining for ore.
• Li Yuan began repairing an ancient Teleportation Array while using Dark Fiend Insight to decipher a restriction box.
• Two Foundation Establishment Late Stage demonic cultivators attacked Li Yuan, but he killed them without interrupting his work and completed the array repairs.
• Li Yuan opened the restriction box and found a Dark Magic Token whose Demonic Qi Circulation affix could be made permanent by killing a Second-Order demonic cultivator.

Li Yuan acquired and equipped a Purple Teleportation Stone, then returned to Wulin Marketplace as the Demonic Cultivators shifted their pressure toward Liang Province. After decoding a new warning about a material collection planned for that night, he found a possible link to the Yuanyang Sect’s supply orders and advanced two cultivation arts.

• Li Yuan replaced the Teleportation Array’s original Array Eye with a Void Nether Stone, equipped the Teleportation Stone, and used its enhanced spatial perception and reduced teleportation strain to reach Yunyang Marketplace.
• Li Yuan handed in his Mo Province mission, returned to Wulin Marketplace, and learned from Chen Yi that the Qishui Sect had yielded to the Demonic Cultivators, who had turned their attention toward Liang Province.
• Li Yuan decoded a mole’s message stating that the Demonic Cultivators would act that night to collect a material, then noticed its possible overlap with materials the Yuanyang Sect was urgently gathering.
• Li Yuan cultivated until the Azure Wood Longevity Art reached Perfection and the Demonic Origin Technique advanced to Major Accomplishment.

Li Yuan tracked a Dark Abyss Society handoff to a hidden Spatial Node Outpost, then cultivated Fiend Soul Grass, refined Fiend-Condensing Pills, and gained a new Green Affix. As marketplace production grew, he ordered long-term supplies of talisman materials and resumed cultivation with his strengthened fiend techniques.

• Li Yuan followed the mole and three Demonic Cultivators to a concealed Spatial Node Outpost in Ghost Mist Forest and memorized its location.
• Li Yuan tended the rapidly growing Fiend Soul Grass seedlings, guiding their spiritual energy and ordering the Spirit Farmer to reduce the Fiend Qi concentration.
• Li Yuan refined four Fiend-Condensing Pills, activated the Fiend-Condensing Heart Wall Affix, and began its fifteen-day permanent-unlock condition by taking a second pill.
• Li Yuan reviewed the marketplace production report and ordered a steward to negotiate monthly supply contracts for Basic Talisman Paper and Mid-Grade Spirit Ink.
• Li Yuan cultivated the Demonic Origin Technique and found that Fiend-Condensing Heart Wall helped him form Fiend Qi more quickly.

Li Yuan studied Yuanyang Sect’s complete Golden Core Formation manual and learned of a major merchant guild’s impending arrival, then advanced his Golden Body Technique and received a procurement task whose materials overlapped with the Dark Abyss Society’s targets. The chapter left him recognizing that Yuanyang Sect and the society were competing for the same resources.

• Chen Yi gave Li Yuan the complete Golden Core Formation manual, which detailed core grades, preparation methods, lifespan changes, and Life-Bound Dharma Artifacts.
• Chen Yi told Li Yuan that a merchant guild led by a Golden Core elder would soon reach Wulin Marketplace, and Li Yuan planned to negotiate with them about supplies.
• Li Yuan used a medicinal bath and repeated cultivation attempts to break through his tendon nodes, raising his Golden Body Technique to Proficiency.
• A Management Office deacon delivered a new Yuanyang Sect procurement task, and Li Yuan noticed that seven listed materials matched the Dark Abyss Society’s collection targets.

Li Yuan investigated a newly discovered cavern beneath the Second Mining Site, killed the Fire Sha Beast guarding it, and found a Refined Mineral Vein. He equipped the beast’s Inner Core for cultivation and discovered a sealed Old Mine Tunnel bearing the Mysterious Nether Sect’s traces, which he ordered left untouched.

• Li Yuan and Ji Huaiyuan went to the Second Mining Site after miners reported a hollow beneath a breached rock layer.
• Li Yuan, Ji Huaiyuan, and Wang Ting'an descended into a vast cavern filled with dense fire-fiend spiritual qi and found a Second-Order Middle Grade Fire Sha Beast.
• Li Yuan killed the Fire Sha Beast in three breaths and found a Refined Mineral Vein beneath its body.
• Li Yuan equipped the Fire Sha Inner Core and told Wang Ting'an to mine the Refined Mineral Vein while leaving the cavern’s depths for his cultivation.
• Li Yuan detected a collapsed Old Mine Tunnel bearing the Mysterious Nether Sect’s traces and ordered Ji Huaiyuan and Wang Ting'an to keep workers away and leave it sealed.

Li Yuan, Ji Huaiyuan, and Wang Ting'an explored an ancient Foundation Establishment cave abode and discovered records blaming the Mysterious Nether Sect's Sect Master for draining Mo Province's spirit veins. Li Yuan preserved the records and map, then resumed preparing for Golden Core Formation and cultivating in the karst cave.

• Li Yuan led Ji Huaiyuan and Wang Ting'an through the collapsed mine tunnel into an ancient cave abode, where he found a handwritten log and a damaged map.
• Li Yuan read that the Mysterious Nether Sect's Sect Master had drained Mo Province's spirit vein foundation to pursue Spirit Transformation and intended to drain Liang Province as well.
• Li Yuan noticed that a map point matched the valley where he had tracked a Demonic Cultivator, while Wang Ting'an seemed unsettled but agreed with Ji Huaiyuan that they should avoid investigating.
• Li Yuan collected the log and map, recorded their contents on a Jade Slip, and checked his herbs for the two missing ingredients for the Shangyuan Pill.
• Li Yuan consumed a Fiend-Condensing Pill and returned to the karst cave to cultivate amid its dense Fire Sha Spiritual Qi.

Li Yuan accepted responsibility for expanding Wulin Marketplace as the sect shifted personnel to the front lines, then bought a rare longevity cultivation method after recognizing that his balanced essence, qi, and spirit might suit it. He began examining his plans and continued his daily cultivation, leaving the method’s Affix details for the next day.

• Li Yuan agreed to manage Wulin Marketplace’s next expansion himself in exchange for the sect taking only twenty percent of its proceeds, and Chen Yi gave him the approval Token.
• Li Yuan visited the Golden Core Chamber of Commerce’s temporary stall and found a spatial spell priced at eight hundred Mid-Grade Spirit Stones and a longevity-extending cultivation method priced at one hundred and twenty.
• Li Yuan bought the Origin Return Longevity Manual, judging that his cultivation in essence, qi, and spirit met its demanding requirements.
• Li Yuan purchased basic array and crafting materials, inspected the proposed expansion area, and returned to his Stone House.
• Li Yuan read the manual’s cultivation method, planned to examine its Affix details the next day, took a Fiend-Condensing Pill, and cultivated near the Fire Sha Beast’s nest.

Li Yuan activated the Origin Return Longevity Manual and tracked a Dark Abyss Society handover, discovering a Yuanyang Sect cultivator delivering materials to Demonic Cultivators. After marking a new hidden entrance, he permanently acquired the Fiend-Condensing Heart Wall Affix and considered how deeply the Society had infiltrated the region.

• Li Yuan equipped the Origin Return Longevity Manual, activating its Origin Immortality Affix, which would preserve his strength as he aged and grow stronger near his lifespan limit.
• Li Yuan decoded a message from the mole and followed its directions to a handover site in Ghost Mist Forest.
• Li Yuan watched a Yuanyang Sect Foundation Establishment cultivator exchange materials and Spirit Stones with a Demonic Cultivator, then followed them to a concealed entrance in a stone hill.
• Li Yuan marked the stone hill as a new disappearance point and recorded it alongside the earlier hidden entrance.
• Li Yuan consumed his fifteenth Fiend-Condensing Pill, permanently acquiring the Fiend-Condensing Heart Wall Affix and improving his Fiend Qi control.
• Li Yuan concluded that at least two Yuanyang Sect members were conducting transactions with the Dark Abyss Society and that its infiltration ran deeper than he had thought.

Li Yuan planned a flexible Life-Bound Dharma Artifact and received intelligence about Demonic Cultivator sites near Ghost Mist Forest. By comparing the sites with his own records, he discovered they formed a rough circle around an unexplored location northwest of Wulin Marketplace.

• Xu Zhang asked Li Yuan for permission to establish a permanent Mingyuan Chamber of Commerce shop in Wulin Marketplace, and Li Yuan approved it subject to the ban on demonic-path goods.
• Li Yuan consulted Ji Huaiyuan about preparing a Life-Bound Dharma Artifact for Golden Core Formation, and Ji Huaiyuan recommended forging a modifiable artifact embryo from adaptable materials.
• Li Yuan questioned whether replacing every material in the embryo would leave it the same artifact, and Ji Huaiyuan said its identity depended on its spiritual core.
• Chen Yi gave Li Yuan intelligence identifying five Demonic Cultivator surface strongholds near Ghost Mist Forest and warned him to avoid them.
• Li Yuan mapped those strongholds alongside locations from a Fragmented Map and sites where Demonic Cultivators had vanished, then found they roughly circled a point deep in Ghost Mist Forest.
• Li Yuan recorded the circle's center, about one hundred and forty li northwest of Wulin Marketplace, in his Jade Slip and destroyed his map.

Li Yuan discovered a hidden Mysterious Nether Sect hall beneath a cliff in Ghost Mist Forest and found that its array produced the forest’s dense fog. He collected three Jade Slips and left the array untouched after sensing its connection to the Large Spirit Vein of Wulin Marketplace.

• Li Yuan used Dark Fiend Insight to find demonic qi beneath vines on the cliff, then traveled through the rock to an ancient corridor sealed by a spatial restriction.
• Li Yuan used the Teleportation Stone’s Spatial Perception and Divine Sense Threads to dismantle the restriction and enter the hall.
• Li Yuan detected and avoided floor traps, then found an operating array that released Ghost Mist Forest’s fog and drew energy from a cracked Jade Bead.
• Li Yuan sensed that the hall lay directly beneath the Large Spirit Vein of Wulin Marketplace and discovered the array’s external supply channel had been severed.
• Li Yuan collected Jade Slips containing the Nether Lock Array, Void-Splitting Slash, and Basic Theory of Tier 3 Arrays, then left without disturbing the array.

Li Yuan explored the Mist Array hall, copied a map of the Mysterious Nether Sect’s Teleportation Network, and concealed the passage before returning to the market. He bought the Shift Technique, completing his collection of the two spatial techniques needed to activate the Teleportation Stone permanently, though he still had to master both to Perfection.

• Li Yuan inspected the hall, collected damaged Dharma Artifacts, and identified a map showing teleportation routes across Liang, Yun, Mo, and Jing Provinces, including a hidden high-permission node near his market.
• Li Yuan copied the Fragmented Map onto a Jade Slip, concealed the corridor entrance with an array, and returned to the market through the cliff and Ghost Mist Forest.
• Li Yuan inventoried his finds and recognized that Void-Splitting Slash was one of the two spatial techniques required to permanently activate the Teleportation Stone.
• Li Yuan bought the Shift Technique from Xu Zhang at the East District Chamber of Commerce's temporary shop for eight hundred Mid-Grade Spirit Stones.
• Li Yuan paired the Shift Technique with Void-Splitting Slash and planned to cultivate both to Perfection while pursuing his other array and artifact projects.

Li Yuan tested the Nether Lock Array, made its slowing effect a permanent affix, and gained a defensive affix from a Spirit Defense Talisman. He found the hidden teleportation node beneath the Limestone Terrace and discovered it was part of a damaged ancient network linked to the Mysterious Nether Branch Hall and the marketplace.

• Li Yuan built a miniature Nether Lock Array and made its Nether Sluggishness effect a permanent affix, causing his spirit power and demonic qi attacks to slow their targets.
• Sun Henian asked to expand the talisman shop, and Li Yuan approved the plan in exchange for a priority supply of defensive and attack talismans for the marketplace.
• Li Yuan inspected Sun Henian's talismans and made the Spirit Defense Talisman's ten-percent increase to protective radiance a permanent affix.
• Li Yuan followed the map to the Limestone Terrace and used the Earth Vein Spirit Pivot and Spatial Perception to locate a concealed cavity beneath a thick sealed rock layer.
• Li Yuan found a severely damaged high-authority Teleportation Array and recorded its surviving patterns, identifying conduits that once linked it to the Mysterious Nether Branch Hall and the marketplace's spirit vein.

Li Yuan permanentized Fiend-Burning Body Tempering and fused three fire- and fiend-related affixes into Flame-Fiend Unity, gaining powerful bonuses and the ability to freely convert between fire and fiend spirit qi. He then began cultivating spatial spells and reached the threshold of Entry Level in Void-Splitting Slash.

• Li Yuan completed thirty days of cultivation in the fire sha environment, permanentizing Fiend-Burning Body Tempering and gaining thirty percent resistance to fire- and fiend-attribute damage.
• Li Yuan fused Fiend-Condensing Heart Wall, Fiend-Burning Body Tempering, and Flame Fiend Spirit Essence into the blue affix Flame-Fiend Unity.
• Li Yuan tested Flame-Fiend Unity and confirmed he could instantly convert fire-attribute spirit qi into fiend qi and back.
• Li Yuan returned to his stone house and studied the jade slips for Void-Splitting Slash and Shift Technique, both of which relied on Spatial Perception.
• Li Yuan practiced Void-Splitting Slash and produced a stable three-inch spatial rift that lasted two breaths, reaching the threshold of Entry Level.