Chapter Summaries

Li Yuan explored Yunyang Marketplace, gathered news, bought a Soul Nourishing Pill and two spells, and tested his equipment system. He equipped the pill and ended the day cultivating at the inn.

• Li Yuan heard about a spirit herb field in Lingxi Valley, the Chen Family's planned move into Yunyang Marketplace, and Zhang Xuanqing's successful Foundation Establishment.
• Li Yuan found and bought a bottle of Soul Nourishing Pills from a rogue cultivator stall.
• Li Yuan bought the Earth Shield Technique and Gold Blade Technique, then learned both spells to Entry Level.
• Li Yuan permanently affixed Alien Power Resistance from the Clear Spirit Body-Cleansing Technique booklet and equipped the Soul Nourishing Pill, whose trait could replenish soul power.
• Li Yuan closed his eyes and cultivated in the inn as Yunyang Marketplace's spirit lamps lit up.

Li Yuan patrolled Yunyang Marketplace for information about the cultivator bandits, sold his accumulated talismans, and bought an introductory Array Dao text. He parted ways with Old Sun and continued exploring the marketplace.

• Li Yuan and Old Sun divided their reconnaissance duties, with Old Sun watching Alchemist He and Li Yuan searching for information about the bandits.
• Li Yuan overheard that unfamiliar Qi Refining Late Stage cultivators had been seen thirty li south of the marketplace, possibly matching the bandits from the herb garden.
• Li Yuan sold his talismans for sixty-seven Spirit Stones after comparing the marketplace's prices with those in Qinghe Market.
• Li Yuan visited Hundred Arts Hall and used his panel to inspect a Basics of Array Dao bamboo slip, which showed a White Trait.
• Li Yuan bought the bamboo slip for fifteen Spirit Stones despite Old Sun warning that its contents were superficial, then parted ways with him.

Li Yuan studied the basics of Array Dao but chose not to equip the trait, then cultivated and improved his Spirit-Refining Talisman to Proficient. Wang Lu reported that a suspected Cultivator Bandit’s agent was gathering ingredients for an Origin Breaking Pill and planned to watch for him to leave Yunyang Marketplace.

• Li Yuan read Basics of Array Dao, learned about array categories, Spirit Patterns, node networks, and array eyes, and decided to wait until he could learn a complete array before equipping its trait.
• Li Yuan roasted Monster Meat and cultivated with two Fiend Essence Pills, tempering his organs with the Iron Ox Technique.
• Wang Lu told Li Yuan that someone had bought three supplementary ingredients for an Origin Breaking Pill and might be the Cultivator Bandit's agent; the suspected buyer still needed a rare Spirit Origin Fruit.
• Wang Lu said his group would keep watching the suspected agent and intercept him if he left Yunyang Marketplace to search for the Spirit Origin Fruit.
• Li Yuan practiced Spirit-Refining Talismans over the following days and advanced the talisman to Proficient, producing stronger talismans for his own use.

Li Yuan settled into a rented courtyard in Yunyang Marketplace, made cheap Herb Talisman Paper, and expanded his talisman practice. After buying a Gold Blade Talisman method, he successfully crafted one and discovered its trait, but left it unequipped because all five Equipment Slots were full.

• Wang Lu gave Li Yuan and Old Sun bundles of Spirit Stones, and Li Yuan moved into a small courtyard in the marketplace.
• Li Yuan made Herb Talisman Paper and followed a routine of crafting talismans by day and cultivating at night, improving his proficiency with several types.
• Li Yuan bought a Gold Blade Talisman method for thirty Spirit Stones from a female cultivator at a stall.
• Li Yuan studied the method and successfully crafted a Gold Blade Talisman on his fourth attempt.
• Li Yuan discovered the talisman offered the Gold Edge Enhancement trait, but did not equip it because his Equipment Slots were full.

Li Yuan found a Qi-Sensing Disk with the White Aura Imprinting trait and a Spirit-Awakening Bracelet with a Gray spell-learning trait at Yunyang Marketplace. Since his equipment slots were full and neither item was useful enough to replace his current gear, he stored both and returned to practicing talismans.

• Li Yuan overheard rogue cultivators discussing Yuanyang Sect's increased patrols, fleeing Demon Sect remnants, and the Li Family's search for a Foundation Establishment Pill.
• Li Yuan bought a Qi-Sensing Disk for ten Spirit Stones after its panel identified it as an equippable item.
• Li Yuan bought a Spirit-Awakening Bracelet for three Spirit Stones after its panel revealed a Gray trait.
• Li Yuan examined the Qi-Sensing Disk at home and learned its Aura Imprinting trait could improve aura perception and identify familiar auras, but its permanent transformation required him to suppress his aura to a mortal's level.
• Li Yuan examined the Spirit-Awakening Bracelet and found its trait increased spell Entry Level speed by fifty percent, but he chose not to replace any of his five equipped items.
• Li Yuan stored both items and resumed practicing the Spirit-Refining Talisman.

Li Yuan investigated a low-level cultivator who carried materials from Wanbao Spirit Material Shop to Alchemist He's courtyard and reported his findings to Wang Lu. After receiving a token and learning of a possible Breakthrough Pill reward, Li Yuan crafted talismans until his Tier 1 Talisman Crafting Art reached Minor Accomplishment.

• Li Yuan sold half his talismans, noticed a Qi Refining, Fourth Layer cultivator leaving Wanbao Spirit Material Shop with a sack, and followed him to Alchemist He's courtyard.
• Li Yuan told Wang Lu that the cultivator had visited Alchemist He's courtyard and learned that the man matched the description of someone who had bought supplementary materials.
• Wang Lu gave Li Yuan a bronze token for delivering talismans and promised a possible Breakthrough Pill if Li Yuan helped capture the Ninth Layer of Qi Refinement Cultivator Bandit leader.
• Li Yuan practiced six types of talismans, and his Tier 1 Talisman Crafting Art reached Minor Accomplishment.
• Li Yuan ate Monster Meat, took two Fiend Essence Pills, and practiced the Iron Ox Technique.

Li Yuan delivered thirty Spirit-Refining Talismans to Alchemist He, who raised his quota to forty per half month and compensated him with a Spirit-Gathering Pill. After equipping the pill and arranging to learn two new Talisman methods, Li Yuan began another intensive period of crafting.

• Li Yuan delivered thirty Spirit-Refining Talismans to Alchemist He, who assessed their quality and requested forty each half month.
• Alchemist He gave Li Yuan a Spirit-Gathering Pill, which increased his cultivation speed by fifty percent when equipped.
• Wang Lu brought Li Yuan twenty-five Spirit Stones and agreed to arrange the Blood-Replenishing Talisman and Detection Talisman methods.
• Wang Lu said he would report Li Yuan's increased quota so the Wang Family could provide more materials.
• Li Yuan began crafting Spirit-Refining Talismans, with two succeeding and one failing among his first attempts.

Li Yuan perfected the Iron Ox Technique and permanently converted Viscera Strengthening into an affix. He tried stacking several aura-concealing methods to meet the Qi-Sensing Disk’s condition, but could not suppress his aura to the level of an ordinary mortal, and returned to drawing Spirit-Refining Talismans.

• Li Yuan reached Perfection in the Iron Ox Technique, completing the requirement to make Viscera Strengthening permanent.
• Li Yuan permanently converted Viscera Strengthening into an affix, further strengthening his viscera and opening an Equipment Slot.
• Li Yuan combined Aura Concealment, the Breath-Concealing Jade Pendant, a Breath-Concealing Talisman, and a Breath-Concealing Pill, but a faint trace of spiritual energy still escaped.
• Li Yuan learned that the Lingxu Secret Realm near Yunyang Marketplace was opening to rogue cultivators and bought the last Breath-Concealing Pill at a stall.
• Li Yuan accepted that concealment alone could not meet the Qi-Sensing Disk’s condition and returned to drawing Spirit-Refining Talismans.

Li Yuan permanently converted Breath Concealment into an affix while the Lineage's Grand Elder inspected his talisman-making and left him a detailed manual. After studying it, Li Yuan improved his Spirit-Refining Talisman and learned to craft Blood-Replenishing and Detection Talismans.

• The Lineage's Grand Elder visited Li Yuan, assessed his Spirit-Condensing Pattern, and Li Yuan made Breath Concealment permanent while concealing his cultivation.
• The Grand Elder gave Li Yuan the booklet Essence of Talisman Making and left to meet Senior He about refining a Foundation Establishment Pill.
• Wang Lu explained Senior He's policy of refining pills for both sides in the Wang and Li families' conflict, clarified that the Lineage had other protected herb gardens, and delivered crafting methods for Blood-Replenishing and Detection Talismans.
• Li Yuan studied the booklet's precise Spirit Pattern instructions, completed a new Spirit-Refining Talisman, and successfully crafted Blood-Replenishing and Detection Talismans.
• Li Yuan placed the finished Talismans aside and used another Spirit-Refining Talisman to strengthen his soul.

Li Yuan made new talismans, learned of a Marketplace notice seeking a Spirit Origin Fruit, and bought Iron Wall Pills from a Li Family shop to improve his body tempering. Wang Lu began investigating the notice’s private address while Li Yuan returned to practicing talisman crafting and cultivation.

• Li Yuan reached Entry Level in crafting Blood-Replenishing Talismans and Detection Talismans, then noticed a Marketplace request for a Spirit Origin Fruit and told Wang Lu about it.
• Wang Lu recognized that the contact address was a private residence and said he would investigate, since the Cultivator Bandits might be close to gathering the materials for their pill.
• Li Yuan visited a Li Family shop and bought a bottle of Iron Wall Pills after learning they could replace Bone-Tempering Liquid and improve the effects of body-tempering.
• Li Yuan discovered that the Iron Wall Pill’s affix enhanced medicines used for Body Tempering, then crafted several kinds of talismans and cultivated with two Fiend Essence Pills after nightfall.

Li Yuan moved to the outskirts of Yunyang Marketplace, where his talisman business quickly attracted rogue cultivators. He recognized a jade pendant and a concealed mark on a visitor who came asking about breath-concealing talismans, leaving him poised to investigate a possible connection to the cultivator bandits.

• Li Yuan delivered forty spirit-refining talismans to Alchemist He, who praised their improvement, paid him with a Qi-Gathering Essence Pill, and said he would be away.
• Wang Lu redirected Li Yuan to live on the outskirts and watch for clues about the cultivator bandits, so Li Yuan ended his lease and rented a small wooden house.
• With Fang the Third spreading the word, Li Yuan began selling talismans to local rogue cultivators and became known as Talisman Master Li.
• A Qi Refining Fifth Level man approached Li Yuan's courtyard wearing a jade pendant identical to one Li Yuan had confiscated and a partly hidden claw-like mark on his sleeve.
• The man asked whether a talisman master there was selling breath-concealing talismans.

Li Yuan recognized a Mist Crow Gang cultivator who had bought Breath-Concealing Talismans and later traded him a Spirit Essence Bottle for more Talismans. The bottle granted the Green affix Spirit Liquid Enrichment, and Li Yuan began building progress toward activating it permanently.

• Li Yuan recorded the Mist Crow Gang cultivator’s appearance and claw-shaped arm marking, then reported his observations to Wang Lu, who told him to keep working without raising suspicion.
• Fang the Third explained that the cultivator belonged to the Mist Crow Gang, a group that gathered goods from dangerous areas outside the city.
• The cultivator returned and asked Li Yuan for twenty Detection Talismans and ten Breath-Concealing Talismans, offering a Breath-Concealing Jade Pendant and then a Spirit Essence Bottle in trade.
• Li Yuan accepted the Spirit Essence Bottle and equipped it, replacing the Soul Nourishing Pill to gain the Green affix Spirit Liquid Enrichment.
• Li Yuan drew Talismans with his own Spirit Ink, raising the affix’s permanent activation progress to 17/100 by dusk.

Li Yuan learned Spirit Perception Art and permanently affixed Spirit Sense Amplification, then received word that Wang De’s group planned to move against the Mist Crow Gang. As he continued training in the outskirts, Spirit Guiding Art reached Perfection, revealing that its route only covered the first seven layers of Qi Refining.

• Li Yuan bought Spirit Perception Art, learned it, and permanently affixed Spirit Sense Amplification from a Detection Talisman.
• Wang De arrived with Uncle Qu and three Wang Family cultivators, told Li Yuan they planned to attack the Mist Crow Gang, and said they might call on him to seal off the outskirts.
• Li Yuan rotated among seven types of talismans to advance his Talisman Crafting Art and the Spirit Essence Bottle’s affixation progress.
• Li Yuan reached Perfection in Spirit Guiding Art and discovered that its circulation route omitted the eighth- and ninth-layer meridian nodes.
• Li Yuan decided to seek the complete Spirit Guiding Art after returning to the Wang Family, then continued cultivating and drawing talismans into the night.

Li Yuan learned that the Cultivator Bandits had worked for the Li Family, chiefly to monitor the effects of efforts to drive Demonic Beasts away from the Yuanheng Mountains. Wang De rewarded Li Yuan with the leader’s Breath-Concealing Spirit Pendant and the cultivation method for the eighth and ninth layers, while the pendant’s Panel revealed a path to upgrade Li Yuan’s concealment ability.

• Uncle Qu, Wang De, and Li Yuan’s team captured all six members of the Cultivator Bandits, killing one and taking five alive.
• Wang De told Li Yuan that the Li Family had hired the bandits and that Zhao Wu, Qian Si, and the Crow Claw Gang members had received Breath-Concealing Jade Pendants from their leader.
• Wang De explained that the group’s main mission was to track Demonic Beast attacks and assess the Li Family’s arrays, while also gathering intelligence on the market and Guard Squad.
• Wang De offered Li Yuan a reward, and Li Yuan chose the leader’s Breath-Concealing Spirit Pendant; Wang De also gave him the Spirit Guiding Art for the eighth and ninth layers.
• Li Yuan touched the pendant, and his Panel revealed that it could upgrade Breath Concealment to Breath Elimination, provided he lived among mortals for a month without using spiritual power.

Li Yuan permanently acquired the Spirit Liquid Enrichment affix and used it to strengthen the effects of cultivation pills. After refining an Iron Wall Pill, he made rapid progress in body refinement and finished the chapter smoothly circulating the newly learned eighth and ninth levels of the Spirit Guiding Art.

• Li Yuan studied the eighth- and ninth-level Spirit Guiding Art routes, then gradually practiced the unfamiliar paths while continuing his talisman work.
• After making one hundred successful Fireball Talismans, Li Yuan permanently acquired the Spirit Liquid Enrichment affix and found it amplified the cultivation effect of his Fiend Essence Pills.
• Li Yuan equipped an Iron Wall Pill, gained the Bone Marrow Tempering affix, and consumed the pill to open deep-layer channels and advance his Iron Wall Body Refining Art to 142 points.
• Li Yuan ate roasted Monster Meat and circulated the Spirit Guiding Art, mastering the eighth- and ninth-level routes smoothly.

Li Yuan completed the ninth layer of the Spirit Guiding Art, returned it to Perfection, and broke through to the Qi Refining Eighth Layer. After learning that his investigation mission had ended, he returned to the marketplace, sold talismans, bought an Alchemy Furnace, and used Fiend Essence Pills to advance his cultivation.

• Li Yuan used Iron Wall Pills to improve his Iron Wall Body Refining Art while refining the ninth layer of the Spirit Guiding Art until it reached Perfection.
• Wang Lu told Li Yuan that the Mist Crow Gang investigation had ended and that Uncle Qu would pursue the lead into the Lingxu Secret Realm alone.
• Li Yuan returned to Yunyang Marketplace, sold most of his talismans for 123 Spirit Stones, and bought a Green-affix Alchemy Furnace for 22 Spirit Stones.
• Li Yuan bought fifty Fiend Essence Pills from Old Sun and cultivated with them after returning to his residence.
• Li Yuan filled his dantian, broke through the Qi Refining Seventh Layer bottleneck, and reached the Qi Refining Eighth Layer.

Li Yuan equipped the hidden Alchemy Insights concealed in the Old Iron Alchemy Furnace, gaining extensive alchemy knowledge. He then shopped at Yunyang Marketplace for tools to begin practicing, returning home with a new auxiliary spell and a Qi Replenishment Pill formula.

• Li Yuan discovered tiny, scattered inscriptions hidden in several seams of the Old Iron Alchemy Furnace and realized they formed alchemical insights.
• Li Yuan equipped Alchemy Insights, replacing the Iron Wall Pill, and received knowledge about heat control, adding ingredients, and condensing pill liquid.
• Li Yuan visited Yunyang Marketplace and bought the Micro-Spirit Control Art for seventeen Spirit Stones.
• Li Yuan bought a complete Qi Replenishment Pill formula for eighteen Spirit Stones and returned to his residence.

Li Yuan returned to Qinghe Market, learned about his options for reaching the Qi Refining Seventh Layer, and collected his task rewards and promotion to Grade B Talisman Master. He chose a Spirit Gathering Array Talisman method as his free monthly technique and returned to his stone house.

• Wang De explained that Li Yuan could bid for a Breakthrough Pill and extend his contract or break through on his own and take a task to shorten it.
• After three days of travel, Li Yuan and the group arrived at Qinghe Market, where they dispersed.
• The Steward gave Li Yuan his Yunyang Marketplace task rewards and informed him that he had been promoted from Grade C to Grade B Talisman Master.
• Li Yuan received a wooden token and chose the Spirit Gathering Array Talisman method from the Scripture Pavilion.
• Li Yuan returned to his stone house, cleaned it, and placed the new Bamboo Slip on his table.

Li Yuan learned the Micro-Spirit Control Art and crafted a Spirit Gathering Array Talisman, unlocking an Array Dao proficiency panel and discovering its Spirit Energy Convergence affix. He continued intensive talisman practice, improving his skills and divine soul while refining the array talisman’s spiral precision.

• Li Yuan learned the Micro-Spirit Control Art and separated his spiritual power into six independently controlled streams.
• Li Yuan studied the Spirit Gathering Array Talisman and succeeded in crafting one after several attempts, triggering the First-Order Array Dao proficiency panel.
• Li Yuan inspected the completed talisman and found that its Spirit Energy Convergence affix required both the Spirit Gathering Talisman and Spirit Gathering Array to reach Entry Level.
• Li Yuan practiced crafting the array talisman daily and rotated through other talismans, bringing the Meridian Expanding, Golden Armor, and Energy Recovery Talismans to Mastery.
• Li Yuan used two Spirit-Refining Talismans each day alongside the Soul-Illuminating Mirror, steadily strengthening his divine soul.
• Li Yuan raised his Spirit Gathering Array Talisman success rate to four or five out of ten, with spiral precision becoming his next bottleneck.

Li Yuan advanced his Micro-Spirit Control Art, hunted a Grey-Maned Badger for its heart's blood, and permanently affixed Blood Qi Resurgence. After visiting Qinghe Market and hearing Sun Liang describe a recent decline in Demonic Beast attacks, Li Yuan bought a copy of the Jade Elephant Technique and returned to the Talisman Hall.

• Li Yuan reached Proficient in the Micro-Spirit Control Art after organizing his talisman-crafting experience into a spell system.
• Li Yuan killed a Grey-Maned Badger on the path to Qinghe Market, collected its heart's blood, and used it to permanently affix Blood Qi Resurgence.
• Li Yuan entered Qinghe Market with his Talisman Hall Token and met Sun Liang, who reported that Demonic Beast attacks at the mine had sharply declined.
• Li Yuan browsed the market stalls and bought the Jade Elephant Technique for five Spirit Stones.
• Li Yuan left Qinghe Market and returned to the Talisman Hall.