Chapter Summaries

Shen Changchuan and Wu Tianhao rescued an Out of Body Lineage’s Old Ancestor and alchemist, earning a generous reward and an alchemy inheritance. After advancing his cultivation and making rapid progress in alchemy, Shen Changchuan decided to begin refining pills himself.

• Shen Changchuan and Wu Tianhao returned the rescued Old Ancestor and first-tier alchemist, and the Lineage rewarded them with two hundred thousand Spirit Stones and an alchemy inheritance.
• Shen Changchuan returned to his courtyard and planned to use Dawan Village’s resources to refine and sell pills.
• Shen Changchuan drank Monkey King Wine and took a True Essence Pill, advancing to the late stage of the first level of the Out of Body Realm.
• Shen Changchuan studied the alchemy inheritance and raised his first-tier alchemy progress to 60% over a month of practice.
• Shen Changchuan judged that further practice alone was too slow and decided to refine pills to improve his alchemy.

Over six months, Shen Changchuan spent a hundred thousand Spirit Stones raising his alchemy skill and practicing three pills, but he stopped short of perfecting them because war threatened the Tiannan Region. After learning that the Jade Clarity Immortal Sect had ordered the region's powers to invade the Southern Yue Kingdom, he worried that his limited strength would not protect him on the battlefield.

• Shen Changchuan used the spirit herbs bought with his mission earnings to practice making Qi-Inducing Pills, Spirit-Gathering Pills, and Green Jade Pills.
• Over half a year, Shen Changchuan raised his first-tier alchemy skill to 85% and his pill-making progress to roughly 90%, 81%, and 70%, using up all the herbs.
• Shen Changchuan decided that his pill success rates were sufficient to start earning Spirit Stones and that he could not spend more time perfecting his alchemy.
• The leaders of twelve cultivation cities sent envoys to the Dragon Firmament Sect, where three Spirit Wandering Realm ancestors met with Roaming Dragon.
• Hong Yang told Shen Changchuan that the Jade Clarity Immortal Sect had ordered the Tiannan Region's powers to prepare to invade the Southern Yue Kingdom.
• Shen Changchuan remained worried about going to war, especially because he was unsure he could survive another encounter with Deng Xin.

With war against the Southern Yue Kingdom approaching, Shen Changchuan focused on strengthening himself and arranged for his grandfather to sell the pills he had refined. Guo Cheng offered him an ancient secret-art inheritance in exchange for cultivation pills, and Shen Changchuan accepted it.

• Shen Changchuan worried that his first-stage Out-of-Body Realm cultivation would not protect him in the coming war and resolved to use his remaining time to grow stronger.
• Shen Changchuan gave Han Qinhu his pills to sell through Dawan Village, negotiate distribution, and purchase more ingredients.
• Shen Changchuan met Guo Cheng, who thanked him for saving his life and offered him an ancient secret-art inheritance.
• Shen Changchuan examined the jade slip, accepted the inheritance, and asked Guo Cheng what resources he wanted in return.
• Guo Cheng asked for cultivation pills, explaining that he could not cultivate the inheritance until he reached the Out-of-Body Realm.

Guo Cheng received a generous gift from Shen Changchuan, who then examined a Gu cultivation secret technique and decided to investigate its risks before attempting it. After returning to his sect, Shen Changchuan purified and stabilized his spiritual power and began cultivating toward a breakthrough.

• Shen Changchuan gave Guo Cheng a Storage Bag containing pills worth over ten thousand Spirit Stones, enough to support Guo Cheng's cultivation to the Ninth Level of Qi Induction.
• Shen Changchuan studied a fragment of the Bright Universe Gu Scripture, which described refining a Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu to boost its master's cultivation speed.
• Shen Changchuan suspected the secret technique might be a demonic trap and decided to research Gu techniques before judging whether it was safe.
• Five days later, Shen Changchuan left Dawan Village for his sect with thirty thousand Spirit Stones, medicinal herbs, and several ordinary Gu-refining methods.
• After returning to the sect, Shen Changchuan entered seclusion, steadied his spiritual power, and used the remainder of his Monkey King Wine to purge its restlessness.
• Shen Changchuan sensed that his cultivation was close to a breakthrough, took a True Essence Pill, and began cultivating in seclusion.

After a month of seclusion, Shen Changchuan planned to refine pills, gather information, and prepare for a future breakthrough. At the Seven Absolutes Sect, the Old Devil killed Ying Wuya and implanted his memories into an inner disciple, making him appear to be the sect leader’s eldest disciple again.

• Shen Changchuan stopped short of breaking through, choosing to refine his cultivation and outlining plans to make pills, visit Dawan Village, and prepare for another breakthrough.
• Shen Changchuan remembered he still needed information and decided to seek out Senior Brother Hong Yang.
• The Seven Absolutes Old Devil heard Ying Wuya explain how Roaming Dragon had ruined his mission, then absorbed the blood-red energy from Ying Wuya and reduced him to bones.
• The Old Devil selected an inner disciple, destroyed his memories, and implanted the multicolored sphere of light into his mind.
• The inner disciple awoke with Ying Wuya’s face, and the Old Devil told him that he was still his eldest disciple.

The Seven Absolutes Old Devil considered targeting Shen Changchuan as a demonic seed, then learned that the Jade Clarity Sect planned to probe the Southern Yue lands. Over the next six months, Shen Changchuan advanced to the second level of the Out of Body Realm and greatly strengthened his spells, though he still doubted he could defeat Deng Xin.

• The Seven Absolutes Old Devil remembered Shen Changchuan’s talent and considered abducting him to cultivate a demonic technique.
• White Bone visited the Seven Absolutes Old Devil and warned that the Jade Clarity Sect planned to make a move against the lands beneath Southern Yue, likely targeting Roaming Dragon first.
• Shen Changchuan perfected a second-tier defensive spell, tempered his cultivation, and broke through to the second level of the Out of Body Realm.
• Shen Changchuan earned at least three hundred thousand Spirit Stones refining pills and used most of them to perfect hundreds of spells, including six second-tier spells.
• Shen Changchuan reached the peak of the early stage of the second level and judged that he might keep pace with Deng Xin but would probably still lose in a fight.

Shen Changchuan assessed his strength and grew alarmed as signs of an enormous war spread through the Cultivation World and the Dragon Firmament Sect. Determined to improve his cultivation quickly, he decided to investigate refining the Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu.

• Shen Changchuan concluded that he could barely survive against a fourth-level Out-of-Body Realm cultivator, though Deng Xin was stronger than an ordinary cultivator at that level.
• Shen Changchuan recognized that major powers were stockpiling pills, talismans, formations, and magical artifacts, while the Dragon Firmament Sect recruited more disciples and posted missions involving the Southern Yue Kingdom.
• Shen Changchuan consulted Roaming Dragon, who reassured him that he would not be sent into battle lightly, but whose weary expression deepened Shen Changchuan's concern.
• Shen Changchuan decided that learning more second-tier spells would not greatly improve his combat strength and that he should focus on raising his cultivation.
• Shen Changchuan resolved to try refining the Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu and took out the jade slip Guo Cheng had given him.

Shen Changchuan concluded that his cultivation was the main limit on his strength and decided to pursue refining the Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu to speed his progress. After ending his seclusion, he found the Dragon Firmament Sect tense and crowded with disciples returning from dangerous missions in the Southern Yue Kingdom.

• Shen Changchuan judged that new spells and magical treasures would bring little improvement, while his cultivation had advanced rapidly through grinding spells.
• Shen Changchuan studied the difficulties of refining the Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu, including his limited Gu Dao knowledge, scarce ingredients, and low chance of success.
• Shen Changchuan decided to seek out ingredients first and ask his master for help only if necessary.
• Shen Changchuan left seclusion and saw wounded, hurried disciples at the External Affairs Hall, many recently returned from missions in the Southern Yue Kingdom.

Shen Changchuan visited Dawan Village to deliver pills and collect Spirit Stones and medicinal materials, then learned that Dragon Firmament Sect disciple Tang Yuncheng had offered him a Gu Dao inheritance. After checking Tang Yuncheng's background, Shen Changchuan agreed to meet him.

• Shen Changchuan left the sect for Dawan Village, intending to continue cultivating while he waited for materials to refine the Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu.
• Shen Changchuan visited his relatives and saw that Han Qinhu and Han Yue'er were doing well in Dawan Village.
• Shen Changchuan gave his newly refined pills to Han Qinhu and received Spirit Stones and recently gathered medicinal materials in return.
• Han Qinhu told Shen Changchuan that Tang Yuncheng, an Outer Sect disciple of the Dragon Firmament Sect, had offered a Gu Dao Secret Technique inheritance and requested a meeting.
• Han Qinhu explained Tang Yuncheng's background and how he had obtained the inheritance during a mission in the Southern Yue Kingdom.
• Shen Changchuan suspected Tang Yuncheng hoped to attach himself to a powerful patron, but agreed to meet him.

Shen Changchuan met Tang Yuncheng and used his account to learn about the dangers facing the mission to Southern Yue Kingdom. He worried about the region’s demonic cultivators and Gu techniques, but took comfort in Master Roaming Dragon’s plan to involve the other forces of Tiannan before deciding to study Gu techniques himself.

• Tang Yuncheng visited Shen Changchuan, praised him as an inspiration, and described the frontline situation in Southern Yue Kingdom.
• After Tang Yuncheng left, Shen Changchuan recalled that Southern Yue was cold, damp, and full of swamps, dangerous beasts, and cultivators skilled in demonic arts and Gu techniques.
• Shen Changchuan considered how hidden Gu attacks had already killed members of Tang Yuncheng’s group and feared the coming battle would be dangerous.
• Shen Changchuan recalled that Wu Zhen had ordered the Dragon Firmament Sect to attack Southern Yue, while Master Roaming Dragon had drawn other Tiannan forces into the campaign.
• Shen Changchuan decided to study Gu techniques so he could better protect himself if he had to fight in Southern Yue.

Shen Changchuan returned to Qing City and unexpectedly met Wang Xiaoer, the one-armed guide he had encountered years earlier. He hired Wang Xiaoer to lead him to the Black Market and learned how hardship had worn down the low-ranking cultivator.

• Shen Changchuan flew to Qing City after resting in Dawan Village, concealing his aura as he entered.
• Wang Xiaoer approached Shen Changchuan to offer his services as a guide, and Shen Changchuan recognized him from their meeting years earlier.
• Shen Changchuan gave Wang Xiaoer five Spirit Stones and asked him to accompany him and tell him what had happened over the years.
• Shen Changchuan changed his plan to visit the Myriad Spirit Pavilion and asked Wang Xiaoer to take him to the Black Market.
• Wang Xiaoer told Shen Changchuan that he was a first-level Qi Induction cultivator who struggled to earn a living as a guide and had to give part of his earnings to a gang boss.

Wang Xiaoer told Shen Changchuan about the dangers and hardships of making a living as a guide, as well as his hopes for his family, calming Shen Changchuan and stirring a faint insight. Shen Changchuan followed him into Qing City's Black Market, where Wang Xiaoer warned him about its risks and shady dealings.

• Wang Xiaoer explained how a vicious cultivator had crushed his arm and how guides risked being attacked while seeking work.
• Wang Xiaoer described his wife and son and his goal of saving enough Spirit Stones for his son to enter Book Mountain Academy.
• Shen Changchuan listened without judging Wang Xiaoer's life and felt his tense mind settle, with a faint insight beginning to emerge.
• Shen Changchuan followed Wang Xiaoer through a hidden entrance into Qing City's underground Black Market.
• Wang Xiaoer warned Shen Changchuan that the Black Market's bargains could be traps and that demonic cultivators sold techniques for luring victims.

Shen Changchuan bought Gu Dao Secret Technique inheritances and Green Jade Pill ingredients at the Black Market, then arranged for Wang Xiaoer to collect more techniques for him. After learning that Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Jade would be auctioned in the Pingcheng Region in three months, he headed back to the sect.

• Wang Xiaoer warned Shen Changchuan about scams and dangers at the Black Market, while Shen bought all the available Gu Dao Secret Technique inheritances.
• Shen Changchuan bought a large supply of Green Jade Pill ingredients from a concealed seller, impressing Wang Xiaoer with his wealth.
• Wang Xiaoer offered to collect Gu Dao Secret Techniques for Shen, and Shen gave him working funds, a Message Talisman, and a Jade Talisman as proof of his backing.
• Shen Changchuan visited the Myriad Spirit Pavilion in Qing City, where the branch master told him that Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Jade would be auctioned in the Pingcheng Region in three months.
• Shen Changchuan left for the sect.

Shen Changchuan spent two months preparing for the coming war by refining pills and saving Spirit Stones for an auction. As tensions rose between the Tiannan Region and Southern Yue, Wu Tianhao advanced to the middle stage of the Out of Body Realm at a cost, and Little Wind reached the Out of Body Realm.

• Shen Changchuan revised his training plan to refine pills and save Spirit Stones for the Pingcheng Region auction in three months.
• The Dragon Firmament Sect and other Tiannan powers began sending cultivators to investigate Southern Yue, while demonic factions gathered troops and infiltrated the Tiannan Region.
• Wu Tianhao reached the fourth level of the Out of Body Realm using a secret technique, and he told Shen Changchuan that fear of dying in the coming war had driven him to advance despite lingering damage.
• Shen Changchuan reflected on the danger of facing stronger opponents and resolved to keep building his strength.
• Little Wind reached the Out of Body Realm after consuming Shen Changchuan’s failed and low-quality pills, which he helped it refine with the Concentric Vision Technique.

Shen Changchuan helped Little Wind advance to the Out-of-Body Realm and continued earning Spirit Stones through pill refining. With 370,000 Spirit Stones saved, he rode Little Wind to Fangxian City to bid on the Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Jade while studying Gu techniques along the way.

• Little Wind absorbed discarded pills, advanced to the Out-of-Body Realm, and gained harder feathers and talons along with signs of a bloodline change and a newly awakened innate spell.
• Shen Changchuan valued Little Wind as a fast, tireless mount for travel and escape, while continuing his pill refining, cultivation, and Gu Dao studies.
• Shen Changchuan earned 270,000 Spirit Stones over two months and then brought in another 100,000 by selling a new batch of Green Jade Pills.
• After estimating that his 370,000 Spirit Stones would be enough for the Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Jade, Shen Changchuan set off on Little Wind for the auction in Fangxian City.
• During the six-to-seven-day journey, Shen Changchuan studied Gu techniques on Little Wind's back, raising his first-tier Gu Dao Secret Techniques progress to 32%.

Shen Changchuan weighed the cost of improving his Gu arts as he traveled to Fangxian City for the Myriad Spirit Pavilion auction and watched two Out of Body Realm prodigies fight. Meanwhile, demonic forces appeared on the front lines, prompting major powers across the Tiannan Region to send reinforcements south.

• Shen Changchuan reviewed his Gu arts progress and considered spending Spirit Stones on practice to improve his chances of cultivating the Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu.
• Dragon Firmament Sect dispatched Wu Tianhao and newly initiated disciples to reinforce Wilderness City as the Seven Absolutes Sect and White Bone Temple attacked the front lines.
• Major sects, families, smaller forces, and Rogue Cultivators sent Flying Boats south to join the conflict.
• Shen Changchuan reached Fangxian City several days before the Myriad Spirit Pavilion auction and bought second-tier Gu arts knowledge and a Purple Gold Pill recipe.
• Shen Changchuan watched a Rogue Cultivator challenge a Nanyang Sect prodigy in the city Arena, where both second-layer Out of Body Realm fighters displayed powerful spells and Treasures.

Shen Changchuan watched two young cultivators battle in Fangxian City, considered the Tiannan Region’s weaker cultivation legacy, and recalled his past encounter with Mo Lingfeng. After avoiding a stranger’s invitation to join a trading group, he attended the auction and won the Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Jade before leaving.

• Shen Changchuan watched two Second Level Out of Body Realm cultivators fight and judged that his own strength far surpassed theirs.
• Shen Changchuan heard that the Nanyang Sect disciple Mo Tianfeng was Mo Lingfeng’s older brother and recalled defeating Mo Lingfeng years earlier.
• Shen Changchuan returned to his rented cave abode, where Shi Miaoqing invited him to join a social trading group, but he refused and barred visitors.
• Shen Changchuan attended the auction and bid on none of the treasures until the Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Jade appeared.
• Shen Changchuan won the Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Jade for two hundred and thirty thousand Spirit Stones, collected it, and left the auction.

Shen Changchuan spent his remaining Spirit Stones in Fangxian City on Gu ingredients, a Gu technique inheritance, and pills before leaving for Tiannan Region. On the journey, he devised a way to industrialize Gu cultivation, but an unexpected call made him stop and grow wary.

• Shen Changchuan bought Spirit Void Grass, Star Frost Flower, a Second-Order Basic Gu Technique inheritance, and five Jade Dragon Pills, leaving himself thirty thousand Spirit Stones.
• Shen Changchuan reflected on how his strength and alchemy had enabled him to earn vast resources, then left Fangxian City on Little Wind.
• Shen Changchuan realized he could repeatedly refine a single type of Gu to advance his progress bar instead of learning every first-order Gu method.
• Shen Changchuan planned to mass-raise centipedes and make them fight and devour one another to produce progressively stronger Gu at lower cost.
• An unknown person called out to Shen Changchuan, who immediately became alert.

Shen Changchuan discovered that Shi Miaoqing had lured him into an ambush by three powerful accomplices, who wanted his Spirit Stones and intended to force him to work as their alchemist. When a scholar attacked with the Universe Sleeve, Shen Changchuan countered with Flame Dragon Burning World.

• Shi Miaoqing caught up with Shen Changchuan, and he stopped Little Wind after sensing hidden pursuers.
• A bald monk, a skinny scholar, and a fat man emerged from hiding, revealing the ambush alongside Shi Miaoqing.
• The group identified Shen Changchuan as an alchemist and demanded his Spirit Stones and cooperation.
• The skinny scholar attacked Shen Changchuan with the Universe Sleeve, trapping him in a cage of air currents.
• Shen Changchuan formed a hand seal and unleashed Flame Dragon Burning World, surrounding the area with a rapidly expanding vortex of fire.

Shen Changchuan broke the scholar-like young man's Sleeve Dimension with his perfected second-tier Flame Dragon Burning World spell, but the Bald Man protected him with Buddhist beads and took the fight upon himself. The Bald Man's companions sealed off Shen Changchuan's escape routes, and the Bald Man began attacking after Shen Changchuan rejected his offer to join them.

• Shen Changchuan's fire dragon tore through the scholar-like young man's Sleeve Dimension and rushed toward him.
• The Bald Man blocked the fire dragon with his blood-red Buddhist beads and ordered the scholar-like young man to retreat.
• Shi Miaoqing and the short, stout man positioned themselves around Shen Changchuan to prevent his escape.
• The Bald Man offered Shen Changchuan a chance to join their group, but Shen Changchuan refused and accused them of wanting to enslave him for pill refining.
• The Bald Man released his fourth-level Out-of-Body Realm aura and charged his Buddhist beads with crimson light.