Chapter Summaries

Li Yuan looted a Fiend Demon Sect Golden Core Cultivator, uncovered clues about the Abyssal Secret Cave, and improved his formations and illusion technique. He intercepted an urgent notice confirming the Fiend Demon Sect had suspended its northern supply route and raised Mo Province to its highest threat level, leaving its plans there in disarray.

• Li Yuan searched the four corpses and found a Dark Origin Demonic Mirror, a Fragmented Map resembling Mo Province's Large Spirit Vein, and a Third-Order Demonic Cultivator technique called the Mysterious Nether Fiend Technique.
• Li Yuan read the Golden Core Cultivator's communication Jade Slip and learned that the Fiend Demon Sect was seeking the Abyssal Secret Cave's keys and had approached the Yuan Sect about Tianyue Sect's intervention in Liang Province.
• Li Yuan returned to Liang Province and rebuilt the marketplace's three-layer defense system, advancing his Formation Mastery to Third-Order Proficiency.
• Li Yuan tested a Second-Order Illusion Technique on a Mist-Pattern Wolf and advanced the technique to Proficiency.
• Li Yuan intercepted a Fiend Demon Sect urgent notice reporting the treasure-retrieval team's presumed destruction, a lost transit station, and an alarm at the Mystic Stone Mine.
• The Fiend Demon Sect halted operations toward Mo Province, suspended the North Line supply route, and placed its outposts on level-one alert.

Li Yuan delivered supplies to the Remnants, gained two permanent affixes, and discovered that the Sealed Zone was connected to a Spirit Vein Branch. He then infiltrated Tianyue Sect’s Branch Hall and stole the Jade Bead, leaving the Mist Array temporarily sustained by spirit vein energy as he escaped undetected.

• Li Yuan brought supplies to Mo Province, discovered a Mutated Spirit Herb among the Remnants’ seedlings, and exchanged goods for formation materials and a Mysterious Nether Array Copper Piece.
• Li Yuan converted the Mutated Spirit Herb and copper piece into the permanent affixes Spirit Plant Affinity and Slight Array Perception Increase.
• A-Cheng led Li Yuan to the Sealed Zone, where Li Yuan sensed that its layered seal resonated with a nearby Spirit Vein Branch and could be influenced through it.
• After returning to Liang Province, Li Yuan learned that Blood Fiend had withdrawn and activated Danyuan Detachment before heading to the Branch Hall at midnight.
• Li Yuan sent his Golden Core past Tianyue Sect’s formations, used an Illusion Technique to distract the Array Masters, and drew the Jade Bead out of the Mist Array while replacing its energy with power from the underground spirit vein.
• Li Yuan stored the damaged Jade Bead and escaped through the hidden side entrance without triggering an alarm, leaving the Mist Array to slowly deteriorate.

Li Yuan began repairing the Jade Bead, uncovering a map of the Abyssal Secret Cave’s Outer Hall and the bead’s crafting records, then placed it in a nourishing nest near the Mo Province spirit vein core. As the Branch Hall standoff escalated, Yuanyang Sect investigated those involved in the expedition, but Li Yuan passed its Heart-Discernment Mirror examination and returned to the marketplace.

• Li Yuan used homologous relic fragments and spirit vein energy to begin repairing the Jade Bead, uncovering the Outer Hall’s structural diagram and the bead’s crafting method.
• Li Yuan built a Nourishing Nest for the Jade Bead near the Mo Province spirit vein core, then returned to the Liang Province marketplace and sensed that the Array Masters were noticing changes in the Branch Hall’s energy supply.
• True Person Xuanpu attacked toward the Branch Hall, and the two Yuanyang Sect Golden Core cultivators confronted him before the three auras separated and the standoff resumed.
• Ji Wenchuan reported that the Outpost had been locked down, and a Yuanyang Sect deacon delivered an order requiring Li Yuan and other expedition participants to submit to investigation.
• Li Yuan passed the Mid Golden Core Stage Elder’s Heart-Discernment Mirror examination with Ghostly Concealment masking his true state, then left the Outpost for the marketplace.

Li Yuan infiltrated the Third Transit Station and learned how the Fiend Demon Sect’s northern supply line connected to Yuan Sect peripheral forces, then killed the two remaining guards and took a Spirit-Locking Talisman. He left with the North Line’s operations fully mapped and the station’s evidence erased.

• Li Yuan used Earth Escape Technique to reach the Third Transit Station and confirmed that only two Foundation Establishment Middle Stage guards remained.
• Li Yuan posed as a demonic cultivator and learned that a Lineage from Ling Province would exchange goods with the station before it was withdrawn, and that Yuan Sect forces used continuous-wave transmissions.
• Li Yuan heard that a Mysterious Nether Sect relic had been discovered at Withered Bone Ridge, sealed behind a Third-Order High-Grade Restriction.
• Li Yuan pieced together the North Line’s supply chain and waited until both guards were drowsy before killing them with Void-Splitting Slash.
• Li Yuan looted the station, found a Tier 2 Spirit-Locking Talisman, burned the bodies and traces, and escaped underground toward the market district.

Li Yuan discovered that another force was monitoring the Withered Bone Ridge ruins, then oversaw Mingyuan Chamber of Commerce’s expansion in Wulin Marketplace and gained a permanent water-element affix from the Water Spirit Sword. He left the chapter after adjusting the Jade Bead’s restoration field to focus on deeper damage.

• Li Yuan found a concealed surveillance formation near the Withered Bone Ridge ruins and left it untouched before returning to Wulin Marketplace.
• Xu Zhang told Li Yuan that Mingyuan Chamber of Commerce had approved two new stewards, a medicinal pill shop, and a spirit material purchasing point for the marketplace.
• Li Yuan acquired the Cold Creek Art, cultivated it to Major Accomplishment, and equipped the Water Spirit Sword to gain the permanent Water Element Speed Boost affix.
• Li Yuan inspected the Jade Bead in Mo Province, found that its shallow damage had improved, and redirected the Nourishing Nest’s energy toward larger middle-layer hollows.

Li Yuan traveled to Baijing Marketplace to buy talisman and artifact-refining materials and blueprints, then used a rented workshop to advance his artifact-refining skill and forge a Frost Armor. He left with a new defensive Dharma Artifact and a path to permanentize its Green Trait.

• Li Yuan heard rumors in Baijing Marketplace that Tianyue Sect had lost a treasure connected to Mysterious Nether Sect at Wulin Marketplace, then bought the Spirit Detection Talisman method and a Frost Armor blueprint.
• Li Yuan purchased a fragment of a Third-Order Forging Method from a displaced Rogue Cultivator from Yun Province.
• In a rented refining room, Li Yuan forged seven Golden Body Armors and advanced his artifact-refining attainments from First-Order Perfection to Second-Order Entry Level.
• Li Yuan forged a qualified Second-Order Middle Grade Frost Armor and discovered its Green Trait, Cold Armor Condensation Protection, whose permanentization required a Second-Order water-attributed spell cultivated to Perfection.

Li Yuan crafted a Spirit Detection Talisman and learned that the Three Sects of Jing Province would not challenge Tianyue Sect. On his return journey, he killed four demonic cultivators and discovered a Blood Token linked to Yuan Sect’s peripheral forces before reaching the marketplace.

• Li Yuan crafted a Spirit Detection Talisman, whose preview showed a Green reconnaissance affix and a fifty-use condition for permanent affixing.
• Li Yuan overheard cultivators say the Three Sects of Jing Province lacked the strength and nerve to intervene against Tianyue Sect in Liang Province.
• Li Yuan bought more talisman-crafting materials in Baijing Marketplace and took a southern route through the hills toward Liang Province.
• Four demonic cultivators ambushed Li Yuan, but he killed all of them within three breaths.
• Li Yuan found a Blood Token whose demonic-energy harmonics resembled Yuan Sect’s communication method, then burned the corpses and continued on his way.
• Li Yuan returned to the marketplace half a day later.

Li Yuan learned that Yuanyang Sect had gained shared access to the Branch Hall after Tianyue Sect lost the Jade Bead, then escorted five disciples on a mission to test Fiend Demon Sect’s northern forces. After defeating an ambush, he made Golden Body Armor a permanent Affix and confirmed that small demonic forces remained in the area.

• Chen Yi told Li Yuan that Yuanyang Sect could send three disciples to guard the Branch Hall after Tianyue Sect lost the Jade Bead.
• Chen Yi explained that True Person Xuanpu sought the Earth Origin Spirit Fetus and gave Li Yuan a mission to escort five disciples as bait for Fiend Demon Sect.
• Li Yuan detected four demonic cultivators ambushing the team in a grove, and the five disciples formed a defensive formation under attack.
• Li Yuan used Void-Splitting Slash to kill the two Foundation Establishment Late Stage Demonic Cultivators and stopped the team from pursuing the fleeing attackers.
• Li Yuan took three hits while wearing Golden Body Armor, made it a permanent Affix, and found evidence that Fiend Demon Sect still had scattered forces along the northern edge.

After discovering the Fiend Demon Sect’s plan to use Withered Bone Ridge as a new route, Li Yuan checked the site, cultivated the Mysterious Nether Fiend Technique, and arranged to expand the market. He also advanced the Jade Bead’s repairs before confirming the Sealed Zone remained stable.

• Li Yuan found an encrypted report revealing that the Fiend Demon Sect planned to shift its infiltration route to the West Line and target the ruins beneath Withered Bone Ridge.
• Li Yuan inspected Withered Bone Ridge and found no sign that anyone had disturbed its restriction or concealment array.
• Li Yuan cultivated the Mysterious Nether Fiend Technique for five days, advancing it from Not Initiated to Proficiency and improving his demonic qi.
• Li Yuan and Xu Zhang agreed to expand the market toward Lingxi Valley and open Yuanming Studio under the Chamber of Commerce’s name.
• Li Yuan used eight divine sense threads to cultivate and craft goods simultaneously, then checked the Jade Bead’s repairs and found the Sealed Zone stable.

Li Yuan answered True Person Xuanpu’s questions about Demonic Cultivator activity and agreed to let the Tianyue Sect open a materials shop in Wulin Marketplace. He arranged a site beside the Patrol Squad’s duty station, leaving the marketplace to face the long-term arrival of a powerful fourth faction.

• Li Yuan went to the Outpost and, under Xuanpu’s scrutiny, reported on Demonic Cultivator activity and the known underground passages near the marketplace.
• Li Yuan gave a cautious assessment that the Fiend Demon Sect had reduced its harassment or shifted its attention elsewhere.
• Xuanpu told Li Yuan that the Tianyue Sect planned to open a materials shop in Wulin Marketplace, and Li Yuan agreed to provide a location and legal paperwork.
• Li Yuan returned to the marketplace and ordered Ji Wenchuan to reserve a shop beside the Patrol Squad’s duty station in the East District.
• Li Yuan considered how the Tianyue Sect’s presence could shift the marketplace’s balance of power from three factions to four.

Li Yuan gathered Nether Moss and an Earth Core Crystal Root in the Remnants’ Blue Grotto, advancing his search for materials to repair the Jade Bead. After learning the remaining ingredients were available in Water Province, he prepared to travel to Sunset Harbor despite the Spirit-Deprived Zone along the way.

• Li Yuan visited the Remnants in Mo Province, where Elder Shen sent A-Cheng to guide him into the deep caverns to find Nether Moss.
• Li Yuan carefully harvested Nether Moss in the Blue Grotto and found an Earth Core Crystal Root, whose Green Trait could improve his cultivation near Earth Vein nodes.
• A-Cheng told Li Yuan that some Remnant elders wanted to seek shelter under a major power, but Elder Shen had suppressed the idea.
• Li Yuan returned to Liang Province and learned from Xu Zhang that Azure Tide Sand and Sea Essence Pearl Powder were available from the Su Family at Sunset Harbor in Water Province.
• Li Yuan accepted Xu Zhang’s letter of introduction and began preparing to cross Water Province’s Spirit-Deprived interior.

Li Yuan reached Sunset Harbor, purchased coastal materials and a Tidal Jade Pendant, then explored a nearby island and found an old Mysterious Nether Sect compass and a faint sealing aftershock beneath a cave. He recorded the node’s location and left the island as night fell.

• Li Yuan crossed the Spirit-Deprived Zone and arrived at Sunset Harbor, where he noticed concealed demonic energy marks on cargo aboard the gray-white fleet’s ships.
• Li Yuan visited the Su Family Shop, bought Azure Tide Sand, Sea Essence Pearl Powder, and a Tidal Jade Pendant, and gained the pendant’s equipment affix preview.
• Li Yuan searched a secluded island north of the harbor and found a Navigation Compass in a sea cave, equipping it to gain Slight Directional Perception as a permanent affix.
• Li Yuan sensed a faint sealing aftershock beneath the cave, recognized it as a likely Mysterious Nether Sect coastal sealing node, and memorized its coordinates.

Li Yuan followed a trace of Sealing Aftershock beneath the sea and uncovered a Mysterious Nether Sect sealing network connected to the Mo Province Spirit Vein Core and Withered Bone Ridge. He returned to Sunset Harbor with copied inscriptions and a Tide Scale Pill, while keeping watch on the suspicious cargo operation.

• Li Yuan equipped the Tidal Jade Pendant, rented a Pearl-Gathering Boat, and tracked the Sealing Aftershock east-southeast into the open sea.
• Li Yuan discovered an ancient stone road beneath the seabed leading toward the aftershock’s center.
• Li Yuan found and copied an inscription identifying the underwater site as a terminal branch in the same sealing network as the Mo Province Spirit Vein Core and Withered Bone Ridge.
• An eel-shaped aquatic demon attacked Li Yuan, who killed it and obtained a Tide Scale Pill with a Green water-movement and spell-power trait.
• Li Yuan returned to Sunset Harbor and observed that the gray-flag ships’ cargo operation at the isolated warehouse was still running.

Li Yuan permanently integrated the Tidal Jade Pendant at a weak sea-vein node, then set out from Water Province with the materials for the Jade Bead’s second-stage repair. On his way through the Spirit-Deprived Zone, he rescued a merchant caravan and learned that the Yuan Sect was stockpiling supplies near Sunset Harbor.

• Li Yuan found a faint sea-vein tributary beneath an island near Sunset Harbor and cultivated there until the Tidal Jade Pendant’s Water Vein Overview affix became permanent.
• Li Yuan equipped the Tide Scale Pill, checked that he had the materials for the Jade Bead’s second-stage repair, and began his return journey.
• In the Spirit-Deprived Zone, Li Yuan spotted five bandits attacking a merchant caravan and killed their leader before disabling the other four.
• The caravan’s steward identified himself as a member of the Lin Family merchant caravan from Water Province and gave Li Yuan a Century Spirit Ginseng.
• The steward warned Li Yuan that unfamiliar devil-sect forces had arrived north of Sunset Harbor and were stockpiling supplies; Li Yuan recognized the report as matching the Yuan Sect’s activity.

Li Yuan repaired most of the Jade Bead’s middle layer and made the Tide Scale Pill’s water-escape enhancement permanent. Back in Wulin Marketplace, he bought a Tracking Talisman method from Yueqi Pavilion and successfully crafted a talisman whose affix he could make permanent by tracking a target three times.

• Li Yuan used a new repair medium to close four of the Jade Bead’s six middle-layer cavities, reconnecting two main circuits, then returned it to the Nourishing Nest to continue healing.
• Li Yuan tested the Tide Scale Pill in an underground river and, after ten hours of water escape, permanently gained the Water Escape Swiftness affix.
• Li Yuan surveyed Wulin Marketplace, where Yuanming Studio had opened and the Tianyue Sect’s Yueqi Pavilion had established a shop under Patrol Squad surveillance.
• Li Yuan bought a Jade Slip detailing the Second-Order Tracking Talisman from Yueqi Pavilion and returned to his stone house to study it.
• Li Yuan crafted a Tracking Talisman on his first attempt and found that its Trace Tracking affix would become permanent after he successfully tracked a target three times.

Li Yuan accepted Chen Yi’s mission to infiltrate the Fiend Demon Sect’s West Line network and uncovered evidence that the sect was gathering materials to open the Mysterious Nether Sect ruins at Withered Bone Ridge. He withheld those leads from the Yuanyang Sect, then continued repairing the Jade Bead, expanding his business, and cultivating until the Mysterious Nether Fiend Technique reached Minor Accomplishment.

• Chen Yi gave Li Yuan a Demonic Origin Bead and tasked him with infiltrating a Fiend Demon Sect contact point west of Withered Bone Ridge in exchange for a Golden Core Formation Material.
• Li Yuan used the Illusion Mask and his demonic cultivation to enter the contact point, observe a transaction between a Lu Family cultivator and a Fiend Demon Sect steward, and copy a register listing three backup contacts and rare materials.
• Li Yuan inferred that the Fiend Demon Sect was preparing to break open the Mysterious Nether Sect ruins and gave Chen Yi only the contact-network intelligence, concealing the materials and Lu Family leads.
• The Jade Bead’s repairs unlocked an array atlas, which Li Yuan combined with the Branch Hall map to identify the Jade Bead as the core of a Third-Order array that consumed blood and souls.
• Li Yuan reviewed Yuanming Studio’s profits, ordered more ingredients and minerals, and used eight concurrent threads to cultivate, refine products, and monitor his surroundings.
• After several days of parallel cultivation, Li Yuan advanced the Mysterious Nether Fiend Technique to Minor Accomplishment.

Li Yuan traced an unusual purchase of defensive artifacts to a Yuan Sect contact, then discovered that the Mo Province spirit vein was part of the Mysterious Nether Sect’s vast sealing system. After making Earth Pulse Resonance permanent, he realized the Yuan Sect and Fiend Demon Sect were targeting one of its key nodes.

• Ji Wenchuan told Li Yuan that a gray-robed Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivator had bought three Golden Body Armors and twenty Second-Tier Defensive Spirit Talismans at Yuanming Studio.
• Li Yuan followed the cultivator into Ghost Mist Forest and discovered him meeting a Yuan Sect contact who was coordinating discreet purchases of defensive goods across Liang Province.
• Li Yuan traveled to Mo Province, checked Jade Bead’s repair, and detected a pulse in the spirit vein matching the Mysterious Nether Sect’s array baseline frequency.
• Li Yuan found that the Mo Province spirit vein had been altered into the foundation of a vast Mysterious Nether Sect sealing system.
• After a hundred hours of meditation, Li Yuan made Earth Pulse Resonance permanent and recognized the network’s nodes, including the Ghost Mist Forest Branch Hall and Withered Bone Ridge.
• Li Yuan concluded that the Yuan Sect and Fiend Demon Sect were targeting a crucial node and left through the Teleportation Array.

Li Yuan crafted a Tier 2 Spirit-Locking Talisman and permanently gained an affix that slowed opponents’ spiritual power. He uncovered a Yuan Sect agent in Wulin Marketplace and tracked the recently renewed surveillance array at Withered Bone Ridge to an Early Golden Core Stage righteous-path cultivator.

• Li Yuan analyzed and replicated a Spirit-Locking Talisman, then permanently gained its Spirit Vein Stagnation affix.
• Li Yuan detected a continuous-wave transmission and identified a Yuan Sect covert agent working at a fur shop in Wulin Marketplace.
• Li Yuan sensed that someone had recently collected data from and reactivated the Concealment Monitoring Array near Withered Bone Ridge.
• Li Yuan followed a cyan spiritual power trail from the ridge toward Jing Province and determined its creator was an Early Golden Core Stage cultivator.
• Li Yuan returned to the marketplace after his Trace Tracking permanentization progress reached 1/3.

Li Yuan learned the Ice Seal Art and continued building his Spirit Detection Talisman network while supplying Yuanming Studio. After Spirit Detection Perception became a Permanent Affix, he found a geological weakness in the restriction beneath Withered Bone Ridge and left with a possible way to breach it.

• Li Yuan bought the Ice Seal Art from Xu Zhang and quickly reached Entry Level by drawing on his water-element Affixes.
• Li Yuan expanded his Spirit Detection Talisman network around Wulin Marketplace and nearby locations while Yuanming Studio's sales increased.
• Li Yuan detected regular low-frequency pulses in a talisman recovered near the Withered Bone Ridge ruins and concluded that the underground restriction had a flaw.
• Li Yuan recovered enough Spirit Detection Talismans for Spirit Detection Perception to become a Permanent Affix, expanding his detection range and revealing additional information.
• Li Yuan used his enhanced perception to locate a deformed Array Pattern junction pressed by an old mine belt and identified it as a weak point in the restriction.
• Li Yuan erased his traces and retreated from Withered Bone Ridge after discovering a spot that could be breached by physical destruction or a targeted blast.

Li Yuan tracked a Yuan Sect vanguard team withdrawing from Withered Bone Ridge and used the three-day wait to improve his Second-Order artifact forging. He ambushed and killed the four cultivators in the Gray Hills, recovered encrypted array data proving Yuan Sect branch Elders were preparing to break the restriction, and disappeared southwest.

• Li Yuan used Spirit Detection Talismans to trace the Yuan Sect team's route toward the Gray Hills and estimated when it would arrive.
• While waiting, Li Yuan adapted principles from a Third-Order fragmented map to forge a stronger Second-Order defensive Dharma Artifact, advancing his artifact-forging attainment to Second-Order Mastery.
• Li Yuan concealed himself in the Boundary Hills and overheard the four cultivators reveal that Yuan Sect branch Elders were privately pursuing the Withered Bone Ridge operation.
• Li Yuan trapped the four cultivators with Ice Seal Art and killed them with two Void-Splitting Slashes.
• Li Yuan found an encrypted Jade Slip containing array data and evidence that the Yuan Sect Elders were preparing to break Withered Bone Ridge's restriction.
• Li Yuan burned the bodies and fled southwest into the Gray Hills with the Jade Slip.