Chapter Summaries

Li Yuan completed the restoration of the Mysterious Nether Jade Bead and learned the Abyssal Secret Cave’s full layout and the condition for opening its Inner Hall. He realized that after shattering his core and forming a Supreme Grade Spiritual Power Golden Core, he might be able to open the Inner Hall alone, then left the underground spirit vein.

• Li Yuan used Homologous Crystal scraps, Nether Moss, and the spirit vein’s energy to restore the Jade Bead’s deepest circuits.
• The restored Jade Bead released a complete map of the Outer Hall and revealed that opening the Inner Hall required a Late Golden Core Spirit Cultivator and a Late Golden Core Demonic Cultivator to act together.
• Li Yuan inspected the Jade Bead’s purple Realm-Breaking Tempering affix, which could raise his realm by one minor stage at the cost of lowering his Golden Core’s grade.
• Li Yuan reasoned that shattering his core and forming a Supreme Grade Spiritual Power Golden Core might let him open the Inner Hall by himself.
• Li Yuan stepped into the Teleportation Array and vanished from the underground cavern.

Li Yuan tracked a Yuan Sect relay network from the market town to a handoff on the Gray Road, then followed a trail toward the hidden route into Jing Province. He permanently acquired Trace Tracking, enhanced his demonic qi with the Dark Origin Demonic Mirror, and advanced Ice Seal Art to Mastery before returning to the market town.

• Li Yuan investigated a relay point south of the market town and followed a Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivator to the Gray Road, where he witnessed a silent exchange with a near-Golden Core cultivator.
• Li Yuan followed the second cultivator’s spiritual power trail until it broke off in the same north-northeast direction as a trail he had tracked before, fulfilling Trace Tracking’s permanence conditions and making the ability permanent.
• Li Yuan equipped the Dark Origin Demonic Mirror, increasing his demonic qi limit and power by thirty percent.
• Li Yuan traveled to an underground river and practiced Ice Seal Art, advancing it from Entry Level to Mastery over several days.
• Li Yuan returned to the market town and cultivated the Mysterious Nether Fiend Technique, finding that the Dark Origin Demonic Mirror made his demonic qi circulate more smoothly and grow purer.

Li Yuan bought Tianyue Sect talismans and an artifact-refining manual, then used the manual to improve his Second-Order Artifact Refining Technique. Chen Yi asked him to infiltrate the Abandoned Post Station again for Fiend Demon Sect intelligence, offering sect resources and artifact-refining manuals in return.

• Li Yuan patrolled the expanding market, bought fifty Mirror Binding Talismans, and acquired Tianyue Sect's Forging Pattern Manual from Yueqi Pavilion.
• Li Yuan equipped the Forging Pattern Manual, raising his Second-Order Artifact Refining Technique from Mastery to Minor Accomplishment.
• Li Yuan examined the Mirror Binding Talismans and found their layered Array Patterns and sealed core circuits difficult to reverse-engineer without observing them in use.
• Chen Yi told Li Yuan that the sect had confirmed two backup contact points but found the third empty because its occupants had withdrawn early.
• Chen Yi asked Li Yuan to return to the Abandoned Post Station for contact methods, coded phrases, and Fiend Demon Sect's West Line command hierarchy, offering Golden Core Formation materials and sect resources.
• Li Yuan agreed to the mission and requested artifact-refining manuals as part of his reward; Chen Yi asked him to finish within five days.

Li Yuan infiltrated the Fiend Demon Sect’s contact point beneath the Abandoned Post Station and stole its registry details, uncovering shipments and suspected false records. As he left with intelligence for Chen Yi, two distant clusters of demonic qi approached along his route.

• Li Yuan advanced his Second-Order artifact-refining proficiency and created a complete Mirror Binding Talisman with a Cold Pulse Stagnation affix.
• Li Yuan used an Illusion Mask and the Demonic Origin Technique to disguise himself as a Foundation Establishment Late Stage demonic cultivator.
• Li Yuan entered the underground contact point beneath the Abandoned Post Station and secretly watched a Lu Family branch exchange spirit herbs for Array Stones.
• Li Yuan memorized the contact point’s routes, codes, and dispatch records, including shipments of a Restriction-Breaking Talisman and ancient array materials.
• Li Yuan noticed discrepancies suggesting the registry had been falsified or designed to expose internal traitors, then withdrew without being discovered.
• As Li Yuan left, Dark Fiend Insight detected two distant clusters of demonic qi moving in his direction.

Li Yuan killed two Fiend Demon Sect trackers and discovered that the sect was tracing an intelligence leak while collecting ancient Array Dao materials. He passed the warning to Chen Yi, received Golden Core Formation Material from the Yuanyang Sect, and returned to cultivating while keeping his other discoveries secret.

• Li Yuan used Earth Escape and Ice Seal Art to ambush and kill the two Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivators following him, then searched their belongings.
• Li Yuan found ancient Array Dao materials and a Void Nether Stone with a Blue Portable Space affix among the loot.
• Li Yuan decoded a jade slip and learned that the Fiend Demon Sect suspected an intelligence leak after two West Line contact points were destroyed, so he burned the bodies and erased the traces.
• Li Yuan gave Chen Yi a trimmed account of the Fiend Demon Sect's investigation, and Chen Yi delivered Golden Core Formation Material as a reward from the Yuanyang Sect.
• Li Yuan warned Chen Yi that the Fiend Demon Sect might shift its operations into concealed channels, withheld his other discoveries, and returned to cultivating.

Li Yuan traced the trackers’ array materials to Shiyi Studio, where he uncovered a supplier for the Fiend Demon Sect and seized a complete Mysterious Nether Micro-Array Bead. He made the bead’s array-tracing ability permanent, leaving him with a new Affix and a freed equipment slot.

• Li Yuan followed the trackers’ spiritual energy trail to Shiyi Studio and watched its old cultivator owner prepare to flee.
• Li Yuan inspected the shop’s cellar, found Mysterious Nether Sect fragments, Ancient Array Residual Powder, and a Micro-Array Bead, then seized the goods and a Communication Jade Slip linked to the Fiend Demon Sect.
• The old cultivator admitted he had supplied array materials to unknown buyers for years after finding ruins near Ghost Mist Forest.
• Li Yuan equipped the Micro-Array Bead and retraced the activation trails of five First-Order arrays in the market.
• Li Yuan permanently converted Array Foundation Retrospection into an Affix, freeing an equipment slot.

Li Yuan investigated the Mo Province spirit-vein array and the sealed entrance to the Abyssal Secret Cave, discovering that opening it required three keys. After detecting renewed surveillance at Withered Bone Ridge, he traced its source to an unidentified Early Golden Core cultivator from the direction of central-western Jing Province.

• Li Yuan mapped the Mo Province spirit-vein trunks and found that geological shifts had left three gaps in the array foundation.
• Li Yuan and Elder Shen examined the Outer Hall Stone Gate, where Li Yuan identified the Jade Bead, the spirit-vein pattern, and an unknown component as three keys to its seal.
• Li Yuan learned from the Stone Gate's Array Patterns that the missing component was in the Sect Master's Private Chamber, whose location Elder Shen did not know.
• Li Yuan's Spirit Detection Talisman network alerted him that the Withered Bone Ridge Monitoring Array had been refreshed within the last two days.
• Li Yuan used Array Foundation Retrospection to trace the array's recent maintenance to the same righteous Early Golden Core cultivator he had tracked before.
• Li Yuan concluded that the cultivator had come from central-western Jing Province, but he could not identify the force the cultivator served.

Li Yuan cultivated the Ice Seal Art to Perfection beneath the sea and permanently integrated Frost Armor, strengthening his passive defenses. At Sunset Harbor, he learned about the Outer Sea factions and Nanyuan Marketplace, a southern trading hub run by a Golden Core alchemist.

• Li Yuan returned to Sunset Harbor, where he observed that the Grey-White Flag Fleet had added a larger ship carrying artifact-refining materials, and recorded its details without intervening.
• Li Yuan cultivated the Ice Seal Art from Major Accomplishment to Perfection on a seabed rock shelf.
• Li Yuan integrated Frost Armor permanently, gaining a passive chill membrane that slowed attackers and strengthened his water-element body protection.
• Li Yuan visited the Su Family Shop and asked the Steward about Water Province and the Outer Sea factions.
• The Steward explained that Nanyuan Marketplace lay south along the coast and was run by a Golden Core Rogue Cultivator who refined Medicinal Pills.

Li Yuan visited Nanyuan Marketplace, where the scarcity of land resources gave him an opportunity to propose a trade route with its Golden Core master, Zhou He. They agreed on the basic terms of exchanging land materials for marine goods, and Li Yuan left with an inventory list and the prospect of using Zhou He's Teleportation Node on future visits.

• Li Yuan explored Nanyuan Marketplace and bought an Azure Tide Sand Compression Ball, whose equipment affix preview offered benefits to Water-type combat and underwater endurance.
• Li Yuan realized he could profit by transporting Liang Province's surplus Spirit Herbs to Water Province using his Teleportation Array and Spirit-Sealing Jade Bottles.
• Li Yuan met Zhou He, the Early Golden Core Stage Market Master of Nanyuan Marketplace, and proposed trading land materials for marine goods.
• Li Yuan and Zhou He established the basic terms of their exchange and agreed to refine the goods list, delivery schedule, and settlement methods later.
• Zhou He gave Li Yuan Nanyuan Marketplace's inventory and price list and offered him access to a repaired one-way Teleportation Node on a future visit.
• Li Yuan surveyed the marketplace and saw the outline of a trade route linking Liang, Mo, and Water Provinces.

Li Yuan returned to Wulin Marketplace, partially deciphered a Yuan Sect Jade Slip, and learned that a well-prepared formation-breaking team had reached Withered Bone Ridge and detected his surveillance network. After refining two water-element pills and advancing his demonic cultivation, he made Dark Demonic Concealment permanent and continued toward the Mid Golden Core Stage.

• Li Yuan bought the Tide Heart Pill and Tide-Condensing Powder recipes in Nanyuan Marketplace and returned to Wulin Marketplace.
• Li Yuan partially decrypted the Yuan Sect Jade Slip and found formation analysis and a method for weakening the restrictions at Withered Bone Ridge.
• Li Yuan used Spirit Detection Talisman data to identify a Yuan Sect force of three Early Golden Core Stage Demonic Cultivators, a formation grandmaster, and six Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivators; the team found and removed the talismans.
• Li Yuan refined Tide-Condensing Powder and Tide Heart Pills, then made the Tide-Condensing Powder's Tide Breath Origin Return affix permanent.
• Li Yuan advanced the Mysterious Nether Fiend Technique to Major Accomplishment and made Dark Demonic Concealment permanent.
• Li Yuan assessed his progress toward the Mid Golden Core Stage and resumed cultivation.

Li Yuan completed a profitable trade circuit through Jing Province and Water Province, then bought Zhou He's Portable Abode and discovered its blue Spirit Vein Refining trait. He planned to refine three spirit vein branches so he could cultivate efficiently wherever he went.

• Li Yuan sold Liang Province goods in Baijing Marketplace and bought Jing Province array materials, talisman paper, and spirit ink for the return trade.
• At Nanyuan Marketplace, Li Yuan sold the mainland materials at a large profit and bought marine spirit materials and water-type medicinal pills.
• Li Yuan met Zhou He, who offered him a Portable Abode for three hundred mid-grade spirit stones, and Li Yuan accepted the deal.
• Li Yuan's panel revealed the Portable Abode's Spirit Vein Refining trait, which could let him carry refined spirit veins and cultivate without geographic restrictions.
• Li Yuan resolved to refine three different spirit vein branches to make the trait permanent.

Li Yuan refined two micro spirit veins in the Outer Sea, advancing his Portable Abode trait toward permanence and discovering pieces of an ancient Spirit Gathering Array. After learning about the Outer Sea’s factions and claimed veins, he began considering the strain that carrying multiple spirit veins placed on his body.

• Li Yuan used the Portable Abode’s Blue trait to refine a tiny undersea spirit vein over three days, making Spirit Vein Refining’s permanent progress 1/3.
• Li Yuan found a Pulse-Suppressing Iron Shard and made its Pulse Pattern Micro-Sense affix permanent, then recovered seven more shards that formed part of an ancient Spirit Gathering Array.
• Li Yuan spoke with three cultivators from Bitao Island and learned about Outer Sea factions, spirit vein claims, and the dangers of Demonic Beasts.
• Li Yuan found an unclaimed micro spirit vein near a Dead Coral Reef Cluster and refined it in a day and a half, raising permanent progress to 2/3.
• Li Yuan noticed that the two spirit veins inside his body placed a slight burden on him.

Li Yuan returned to Wulin Marketplace, gained a new Earth Spirit Fruit affix, and successfully refined Shangyuan Pills for Sun Pingyuan. After considering an auction to sell his remaining pills, he cultivated with his spirit veins and Mysterious Nether Fiend Technique, drawing closer to Mid Golden Core Stage.

• Li Yuan returned to Wulin Marketplace and learned that trade in Withered Bone Ridge exploration goods had surged.
• Sun Pingyuan asked Li Yuan to refine a Shangyuan Pill for his grandson’s Foundation Establishment, and Li Yuan accepted the ingredients.
• Li Yuan made the Earth Spirit Fruit’s Earth Spirit Breath affix permanent and successfully refined four Shangyuan Pills, including one high-grade pill.
• Li Yuan gave Sun Pingyuan one pill and kept the other three, deciding that an auction could sell them alongside other valuable items.
• Li Yuan cultivated with his two miniature spirit veins and circulated the Mysterious Nether Fiend Technique, bringing his demonic Golden Core closer to Mid Golden Core Stage.

Li Yuan cleared Sun Shiyi of direct ties to the Fiend Demon Sect and learned of a strange ruin near Ghost Mist Forest. He arranged an auction, then advanced his talisman craft and gained a permanent ice-related affix.

• Li Yuan returned Sun Shiyi's compensation, learned the location and details of the strange stone chamber, and registered his shop as a Yuanming Studio partner.
• Li Yuan ordered Ji Wenchuan to prepare an auction in thirty days, and Ji Wenchuan said Xu Zhang and the Mingyuan Chamber of Commerce would participate.
• Li Yuan bought Cold Binding Talismans from Yueqi Pavilion and used the Ice Seal Art to analyze and reproduce one.
• Li Yuan achieved Major Accomplishment in Tier 2 Talisman Crafting Art and made the Talisman Rune Ice Guide a Permanent Affix, boosting ice-type talisman success and ice spell power.

Li Yuan received notice that Tianyue Sect was expanding its presence in Wulin Marketplace, then located a tiny spatial rift connected to an ancient Mysterious Nether Sect chamber. He began preparing the second Three-Province Trade Route and noticed Bitan Sect disciples shopping in Yunyang Marketplace, leaving their presence unexplained.

• The Yueqi Pavilion shopkeeper delivered Tianyue Sect’s stationing letter and a gift, and Li Yuan arranged for Ji Wenchuan and Xu Zhang to coordinate with the incoming personnel.
• Li Yuan compared Sun Shiyi’s beast-skin map with the Branch Hall map and found a tiny spatial rift beneath the collapsed Stone Gate, leading to an ancient chamber with Mysterious Nether Sect spiritual remnants.
• Li Yuan recorded the rift’s coordinates and characteristics, judging it too risky to enter with his current spatial arts.
• Li Yuan prepared the second Three-Province Trade Route, bought goods in Wulin Marketplace, and then purchased cheaper fire-element ores and metal ingots in Yunyang Marketplace.
• Li Yuan spotted two Bitan Sect disciples in Yunyang Marketplace, assessed their auras, memorized their characteristics, and left without approaching them.

Li Yuan refined a third spirit vein, making Spirit Vein Refining permanent, and perfected his Tier 2 Talisman Crafting Art. He obtained the demonic art Demonic Shadow Step from Elder Shen, raised it to Mastery, and left Mo Province to continue the Three-Province Trade Route.

• Li Yuan refined the Spirit Vein Branch outside the Mo Province settlement, forming a stable cycle of three veins and permanentizing Spirit Vein Refining.
• Li Yuan made more than one hundred and twenty talismans over three days and advanced Tier 2 Talisman Crafting Art to Perfection.
• Li Yuan brought supplies to Elder Shen and asked about demonic arts, receiving the Second-Order Demonic Shadow Step.
• Li Yuan cultivated Demonic Shadow Step to Proficiency and then Mastery.
• Li Yuan headed for the Teleportation Array to deliver the goods from Jing Province and Water Province.

Li Yuan investigated Bitan Sect activity in Baijing Marketplace, acquired a trait-bearing array scroll, and gathered Outer Sea materials and techniques in Nanyuan Marketplace. After testing the Sea Forging Method and gaining a new affix preview, he left the workshop as evening fell over the sea.

• Li Yuan recognized a Bitan Sect procurement team in Baijing Marketplace and linked its leader’s spiritual power frequency to the sect behind a trail he had tracked earlier.
• Li Yuan overheard that Bitan Sect cultivators had been buying bulk medicinal ingredients and spirit herbs in Liang Province through Yunyang Marketplace.
• Li Yuan bought an old beast-hide scroll that revealed the White Trait Pulse Pattern Intuition, which could improve his analysis of damaged arrays.
• Qian Tong offered Li Yuan a marketplace token with fee exemptions and discounts, and Li Yuan later traveled south to Nanyuan Marketplace.
• Li Yuan bought Outer Sea goods and the Sea Forging Method from Jiang Dulan, then used Zhou He's token to test the technique in an artifact-refining workshop.
• Li Yuan forged a Sea Essence Short Sword and received a preview of the Green Trait Tidal Forging Texture, but kept the sword unequipped.

After profiting from another trade route, Li Yuan cultivated and refined artifacts at Nanyuan Marketplace while making progress toward permanent affixes. He learned that the Tianyue Sect was communicating with powerful forces in the Outer Sea, and two more affixes became permanent.

• Li Yuan earned roughly 3,500 Mid-Grade Spirit Stones from his trade route and absorbed enough to bring his total toward the Void Nether Stone's 100,000-Stone permanence condition to about 87,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones.
• Li Yuan cultivated in a sea-facing stone chamber and perfected the Cold Creek Art, then equipped the Spirit Water Talisman to make Water Spirit Essence permanent.
• Li Yuan noticed a Tianyue Sect trade caravan at Nanyuan Marketplace and heard that the sect's Nascent Soul sect master had been contacting Nascent Soul forces in the Outer Sea.
• Li Yuan refined artifacts for twelve days, fulfilling the Forged Pattern Refinement permanence condition and permanently raising his foundational Second-Order artifact-refining level from Minor Accomplishment to Major Accomplishment.
• On the eighteenth day, Li Yuan fulfilled the Tidal Pressure Gathering permanence condition, gaining its water-spell condensation and underwater spiritual-energy replenishment effects permanently.

Li Yuan made Void-Bound Carry permanent, gaining a Portable Space and stronger control over spatial power, then helped oversee the marketplace Auction and discovered three new affixes. The Auction ended successfully, while two of the affixes remained stored until he could meet their difficult permanent-conversion conditions.

• Li Yuan finished refining artifacts, returned to Wulin Marketplace, and spent the remaining Spirit Stones to make Void-Bound Carry permanent.
• Li Yuan gained a Portable Space, moved his valuables into it, and learned to curve Void-Splitting Slash; after practicing, he raised the spell to Major Accomplishment.
• Li Yuan observed the Auction from a side room and acquired an ancient artifact-refining text, completing the Faded Ink Traces permanent-conversion condition by reading ten ancient fragmentary texts.
• Li Yuan inspected a Foundation-Solidifying Pulse-Nourishing Pill and a Longevity Jade Pendant, discovering the Spirit Pivot Foundation Consolidation and Endless Life Extension affixes.
• Ji Wenchuan and Xu Zhang completed the Auction, selling all the items and the three Shangyuan Pills for more than three times their reserve price; Li Yuan stored the two affix items whose conversion conditions he could not yet fulfill.

Li Yuan sensed a failed attempt to break the restriction at Withered Bone Ridge and witnessed True Person Xuanpu confront three Yuan Sect Golden Core cultivators as the area descended into chaos. He ambushed three fleeing Yuan Sect demonic cultivators, acquired and fused a new affix, then returned to the marketplace before dawn.

• Li Yuan sensed the Earth Vein tremors from Withered Bone Ridge and saw True Person Xuanpu and three Yuan Sect Golden Core cultivators converge on the ruins.
• Li Yuan withdrew around Ghost Mist Forest and spotted three Yuan Sect Foundation Establishment cultivators fleeing the disturbance.
• Li Yuan repeatedly bound the three cultivators with Mirror Binding Talismans, fulfilling Cold Pulse Stagnation's permanent acquisition condition and fusing it into Cold Pulse Congealing Seal.
• Li Yuan froze the three demonic cultivators with Ice Seal Art, took their storage bags, and burned their bodies and traces.
• Li Yuan returned to his stone house, activated the Concealment Array, and resumed cultivating as dawn approached.