Chapter Summaries

Ye Jingcheng tightened security around the Ye Family after an ice spirit root was exposed, met the young prodigy Ye Qingshuang, and prepared for a secret relocation plan. Meanwhile, Wan Chengjie and nine fellow cultivators were captured by the Heavenly Corpse Sect after mistaking their intentions, leaving them facing refinement into living corpses.

• Ye Jingcheng sealed Soaring Cloud Peak for half a year, ordered stronger clan discipline, and assigned Ye Jinghu to Hidden Valley.
• Ye Jingcheng told Ye Xingqun to inspect the Ye Family businesses in Taihang Marketplace and act like him while he handled secret matters.
• Ye Jingcheng visited Ye Qingshuang at the Clan School Hall, praised her understanding of the clan, and gave her two Thousand-Foot Frost Centipedes to contract after reaching Qi Refinement.
• Ye Jingcheng cultivated Vermilion Bird True Flame—Heaven-Burning and harvested spirit apricots with Chu Yanqing as Ye Jinghu left for Hidden Valley.
• Wan Chengjie and nine young cultivators were ambushed and captured by Heavenly Corpse Sect cultivators in Poison Valley.
• Wan Chengjie learned the captors did not know Wan Hongchang, and the ten captives realized they had mistaken the situation as their spiritual veins were sealed and one captor prepared to draw their blood.

Ye Jingcheng secretly relocated the ten Wan Family captives to Looking Cloud Mountain and secured the inheritance’s teleportation formation location and cultivation arts. After returning to Taihang Marketplace, he met Jiang Jinghe, who revealed he had obtained a Purple Jade Fruit and wanted to break through to the Purple Palace.

• Ye Jingcheng examined Wan Chengjie’s sealed storage pouch, learned the teleportation formation was at Profound Measure Mountain in Zhao Kingdom, and destroyed the jade slip recording its location.
• Ye Jingcheng took the Sword Wasteland cultivation arts and sword-embryo method, replaced the captives’ belongings, changed their appearances, and brought them to Looking Cloud Mountain under Ye Xueliang’s care.
• Ye Jingcheng detoured through Taihang Marketplace and arranged for Ye Xingqun to impersonate him, then personally visited the marketplace to ensure the Wan Family would not suspect the rescue.
• Ye Jingcheng met Jiang Jinghe at the auction hall, where Jiang served him a spirit feast and said he had obtained a Purple Jade Fruit and hoped to break through to the Purple Palace.

Ye Jingcheng negotiated with Jiang Jinghe over refining Purple Palace Jade Liquid and acquired a Dream-Devouring Insect egg, while learning that the sect knew about Ye Qingshuang. Back at the Ye Family spirit beast shop, he discovered the egg had the potential to advance to the seventh or even eighth rank.

• Jiang Jinghe revealed the Dream-Devouring Insect egg and asked Ye Jingcheng to identify it, but Ye Jingcheng pointed out its flaws and low apparent potential.
• Ye Jingcheng invoked the longstanding ties between the Ye Family and Jiang Family, promised to refine Jiang Jinghe’s Purple Jade Fruit, and secured Jiang Jinghe’s pledge of mutual support.
• Jiang Jinghe gave Ye Jingcheng the Dream-Devouring Insect egg and told him that the sect had learned of Ye Qingshuang.
• Ye Jingcheng visited the Ye Family Restaurant in disguise, observed that its disciples treated visitors politely, and took care to show himself in Taihang Marketplace while remaining wary of the Wan Family’s ten people.
• Ye Jingcheng returned to the spirit beast shop and saw that the Dream-Devouring Insect egg had six layers of advancement spiritual light, indicating its potential to reach the seventh or eighth rank.

Ye Jingcheng nurtured the Dream-Devouring Insect and continued developing his Grotto-Heaven and spirit beasts. Eight months later, he became a stable third-rank upper-grade Alchemist as the Stone Spirit, White-Brow Green Wolf, Jade-Scale Flood Dragon, and Roc Fish all showed major progress.

• Ye Jingcheng used Treasure Radiance and spirit-insect cultivation fluid to revive the Dream-Devouring Insect’s egg, formed a Soul Pact with it, and placed it beside the Golden-Light Malachite Stone Spirit.
• Ye Jingcheng encouraged the Peachwood Demon and Sunflower Wood Demon, then returned to Soaring Cloud Peak and spent eight months refining pills, training beasts, and cultivating.
• The Stone Spirit achieved minor mastery of the Spirit Canon, while Ye Jingcheng refined two portions of Purple Palace Jade Liquid and confirmed his third-rank upper-grade Alchemy attainments.
• Ye Jingcheng tested the hatched Dream-Devouring Insect’s dreamscape, which strengthened his Divine Soul slightly but left the insect exhausted.
• The White-Brow Green Wolf reached the late second rank and displayed wind and spatial talents, while the Jade-Scale Flood Dragon neared a breakthrough to the late third tier and the Roc Fish prepared to attempt the third tier.

Ye Jingcheng prepared his spirit beasts and Fire Spirit Secret Art for their next breakthroughs while managing the Ye Family’s affairs and planning how to take the Xun Family’s secret realm without exposing the clan. The chapter ended with Ye Haiyan revealing that Chu Xiqing’s ashes had been recovered, leaving Ye Jingcheng to consider the news’s impact on Chu Yanqing.

• Ye Jingcheng fed the Roc Fish a Third Stage demon beast core and gave the Jade-Scale Flood Dragon a Water Cloud Rhinoceros and a Water Origin Pill to support their breakthroughs.
• Ye Jingcheng demonstrated his improved Vermilion Bird spirit image, then reviewed the Ye Family’s affairs and decided Ye Qingshuang would wait for the Immortal Ascension Assembly before entering the Taiyi Sect.
• Ye Xingqun reported that the Ye Family had begun trading with the Jia Family, and Ye Jingcheng received nearly complete materials for the Sunflower Wood and Malachite Stone Spirit formulas.
• Ye Haiyan told Ye Jingcheng that the Ye Family planned to turn the Dark Azure Gang against the Xun Family while keeping the secret realm’s existence concealed.
• Ye Jingcheng agreed to bring the Earth Dragon Demon King as backup and have Chu Yanqing disguise herself as him to host an auction at Taihang Marketplace.
• Ye Haiyan gave Ye Jingcheng a redwood box containing the ashes of Chu Yanqing’s aunt, Chu Xiqing.

Ye Jingcheng strengthened his ties with Chu Yanqing and Jiang Jinghe while the Ye Family prepared its first major auction. He then disguised himself and entered Mystic Azure Marketplace to investigate the Dark Azure Gang and begin stirring up conflict with the Xun Family.

• Chu Yanqing finished forging a third-rank Dark Azure Sword, and Ye Jingli and the other Ye Family clansmen studied her water-tempering method.
• Ye Jingcheng asked Chu Yanqing to take his appearance and oversee Taihang Marketplace during his secret-realm expedition; she agreed after he stopped treating her as an outsider, and they discussed having a child after his return.
• The Ye Family promoted its auction as Ye Xinghe prayed to witness its success, while Ye Jingcheng gave Jiang Jinghe Purple Palace Jade Liquid and received a Foundation Establishment Pill in return.
• Xun Changqing ordered the Xun Family to cooperate with the Ye Family over the Pill Wasteland Secret Realm and warned the gathered Foundation Establishment cultivators to keep its existence secret.
• Ye Jingcheng entered Mystic Azure Marketplace in disguise, gathered information about the Dark Azure Gang, and went to Mystic Azure Pavilion to seek top-grade artifacts and body-tempering treasures.

Ye Jingcheng sold the Dark Azure Gang information that the Xun Family’s two Purple Palace cultivators had fallen, persuading Steward Ji to pay thirty thousand spirit stones. After the gang began investigating the opportunity, Ye Jingcheng prepared to attack the Xun Family’s Blazing Sun Crystal Mine at Setting Sun Mountain, driven by revenge for the Ye Family.

• Ye Jingcheng bought a jin of body-tempering golden mud and a Glazed Hammer at Mystic Azure Pavilion, then lured Steward Ji into paying for information about a major opportunity.
• Ye Jingcheng showed Steward Ji evidence that the Xun Family’s two Purple Palace cultivators had died and sold him the information for thirty thousand spirit stones, while securing a promise that the Dark Azure Gang would not interfere with his own plans.
• Steward Ji returned to Mystic Azure Peak, where Ji Tianhe, Xiao Hongyun, and the other Dark Azure Gang leaders planned ways to verify the Xun Family’s vulnerability and prepare to seize its territory.
• Ye Jingcheng watched Setting Sun Mountain for several days and saw scouts sent by the Dark Azure Gang, then prepared to attack the site and sacrifice its cultivators to the Blood Banner in revenge for the Ye Family.

Ye Jingcheng attacked the Xun Family’s Fiery Sun Crystal Mine on Setting Sun Mountain, killing its defenders and taking its corpses, spirit herbs, and ore while Ji Tianhe watched and arranged to expose him as a demonic cultivator. At Purple Wild Goose Mountain, the Xun Family learned of the massacre and that its two Purple Palace ancestors were away scouting the Pill Wasteland Secret Realm, then sent Xun Taixuan to seek help at West King Valley.

• Xun Tai'an discovered hidden enemies around Setting Sun Mountain and raised the formation, but Ye Jingcheng broke through and killed Xun Changping and Xun Tai'an.
• Ji Tianhe and Manager Ji watched the attack, concluded that Ye Jingcheng was a demonic cultivator, and arranged to send evidence to the Xun Family.
• Ye Jingcheng collected the bodies, uprooted the Spirit Herb Garden, killed the miners, and took the mine’s remaining ore.
• Xun Changsheng and Xun Changqing learned that the Setting Sun Mountain clansmen had been killed and that the two Xun Family ancestors had gone to scout the Pill Wasteland Secret Realm.
• Xun Changsheng suspected the Xun Family would face further attacks, and Xun Taixuan volunteered to travel in disguise to West King Valley for help.

Ye Xuefan’s scheme brought down the Xun Family as the Dark Azure Gang attacked Purple Wild Goose Mountain and seized its territory. The Ye Family watched the destruction from afar and prepared to enter the Pill Wasteland Secret Realm at the summer solstice.

• Ye Xuefan, disguised as Xun Changqing, refused Xu Quansheng’s request to have his four-colored glazed stone refined, then prepared to complete the Ye Family’s plan by dying at Xun Changsheng’s hands.
• Xiao Hongyun and Ji Tianhe rallied the Dark Azure Gang with promises of sharing the Xun Family’s wealth, while Xing Daorong and the Black Jade Great Demon stayed behind to guard Three Kings Peak.
• Xun Changsheng learned that West King Valley would not intervene and rushed to retrieve the family’s soul slips, but Ye Xuefan’s disguised accomplice blocked him and self-detonated, destroying the ancestral hall and its soul slips.
• Ji Tianhe and Xiao Hongyun broke Purple Wild Goose Mountain’s formation, killed Xun Changsheng and the other defenders, and ordered the Dark Azure Gang to slaughter the remaining Xun Family members.
• Ye Xuefan and the Ye Family watched the attack through a mirror, accepted that the Dark Azure Gang would take the visible spoils, and prepared to head to the marshlands before the summer solstice.
• Ye Haicheng gave Ye Jingcheng a map of prepared locations for Five Poison Bees in the Pill Wasteland Secret Realm and said the Wood Demons there could help the Ye Family establish a Golden Core foundation.

Ye Jingcheng, Ye Xuefan, and Ye Haicheng explored Heavenly Poison Marsh, tested the Five Poison Bees, and tracked down the entrance to the Pill Wasteland Secret Realm. They entered through a hidden fifth-rank formation and reached the secret realm gate, with its dangers still unknown.

• Ye Jingcheng released his Five Poison Bees, which adapted well to the poisonous miasma and helped the group scout the marsh.
• The three gathered Purple Ox Flowers and other poisonous herbs while surveying the marsh and mapping the Five Poison Bees’ positions.
• Near the Black Jade Stele, Ye Jingcheng released his White-Brow Green Wolf to disperse the Black Sand Ants instead of capturing them.
• Ye Jingcheng’s secret key opened a concealed cave entrance, and the group followed the hidden path inside.
• The group reached a secret realm gate in the cave ceiling, and Ye Xuefan said no one needed to remain behind because the fifth-rank formation would prevent anyone from following.

Ye Jingcheng and the Ye Family explored the Pill Wasteland Secret Realm and uncovered a vast Spirit Herb Garden filled with ancient herbs, including a three-thousand-year-old fourth-tier Purple-Blood Heavenly Spirit Ginseng. They captured three powerful beast puppets and discovered the garden’s spiritual soil as they prepared to harvest its treasures.

• Ye Xuefan split the family into two teams, issued Heaven Armor Corpses, and let Ye Jingcheng lend out magic treasures; Ye Haisheng apologized to Ye Jingcheng before joining Ye Xuefan’s group.
• Ye Jingcheng, Ye Haicheng, and Ye Jingyu reached a Spirit Herb Garden, where Ye Jingyu identified its Six Mystic Heavenly Wood Array and helped break it.
• The three inspected the garden and found eleven varieties of ancient third-tier herbs and a three-thousand-year-old fourth-tier Purple-Blood Heavenly Spirit Ginseng.
• Ye Jingcheng used the Golden Falcon to lure three mid-third-tier Snow Mountain Silver Hound puppets away from the garden and trapped them in a Shadowless Bowl.
• Ye Jingcheng examined the garden’s golden spiritual soil as he prepared to harvest the Purple-Blood Heavenly Spirit Ginseng.

Ye Jingcheng and the Ye Family explored a Spirit Herb Garden in the Pill Wasteland Secret Realm, where Ye Jingyu discovered a formation that used surrounding herbs to nourish a fourth-tier ginseng. At the next garden, they uncovered ten hostile Star Pear Tree Demons and became trapped in their spiritual mist as the battle turned against them.

• Ye Jingyu identified a formation that used nearby spirit herbs to nourish the Purple-Blood Heavenly Spirit Ginseng and began recording how to replicate it.
• Ye Jingcheng and Ye Jingyu harvested the mature herbs, restored the garden's formation, and left with many valuable spirit herbs and seeds.
• Ye Haicheng, Ye Jingcheng, and Ye Jingyu traveled to another Spirit Herb Garden, where they found a peak second-rank Spirit Eye Spring and more than ten enormous Star Pear Trees.
• The Star Pear Tree Demons accused the group of destroying their formation, then attacked with Star Pear Spears after Ye Jingcheng challenged them.
• Ye Jingcheng and his companions fought back, but the tree demons' mist overwhelmed his attacks and concealed the group, leaving him under repeated assault.

Ye Jingcheng defeated the Star Pear Tree Demons at Spirit Herb Mountain and forced the survivors into Blood Pacts, then gathered their valuable remains and the mountain’s resources. He left with six Star Pear Tree Demons in his Grotto-Heaven, Star Pear Fruits, and Black Ganoderma Fish, while Ye Jingyu and the others recovered from their injuries.

• Ye Jingcheng used the Crimson Flame Fox’s Azure Sun Flame and Purple Fire Heart Flame to kill a Star Pear Tree Demon while the Wood Demons attacked Ye Haicheng and Ye Jingyu.
• After the Thunder Rhinoceros Beetle’s lightning dispersed the fog, Ye Jingcheng froze the Wood Demons with the Ice Phoenix Pearl and cut down the strongest demon and two others with the Azure Sky Sword.
• Ye Jingcheng made the six surviving Wood Demons accept Blood Pacts, then treated Ye Jingyu, the Jade-Scale Snake, and the Golden-Scaled Beast while learning that four demons had attacked Ye Jingyu’s group.
• The surviving demons revealed that their Star Pears could improve cultivation and grant the Star Illusion Eye, so Ye Jingcheng collected their seven ripe fruits and brought the demons into his Grotto-Heaven.
• Ye Jingcheng gathered Wood Demon corpses, wood cores, remnant souls, the remaining Star Pear Tree, spiritual soil, and the Spirit Eye Spring, while Ye Haicheng found Black Ganoderma Fish in the stream.

Ye Jingcheng, Ye Haicheng, and Ye Jingyu harvested spirit fish and rare herbs from another Spirit Herb Garden, then discovered a concealed miniature high-grade spirit stone mine at the secret realm’s boundary. They planned to inform Fourth Granduncle, mine cautiously, and restore the concealment formation, while the Ye Family’s control of the realm remained unresolved.

• Ye Jingcheng captured 120 Black Ganoderma Fish and 200 Yellow Jade Fish from a deep pool.
• Ye Jingyu broke the formation around a fourth-rank earth-element Spirit Herb Garden, where the group found a three-thousand-year Earth Lotus Grass and harvested its herbs.
• Ye Jingyu copied the garden’s formation before Ye Jingcheng and his companions replanted seeds and restored its formations.
• Ye Haicheng reported that Fourth Uncle’s group had explored four mystic realms and found a peak third-rank old locust tree demon.
• Ye Jingyu detected and broke a concealed formation at the realm’s boundary, revealing a miniature high-grade spirit stone mine worth tens of millions of spirit stones.
• Ye Haicheng proposed informing Fourth Granduncle and mining part of the vein cautiously, while Ye Jingyu agreed to restore the Mystic Void Spirit-Hiding Array.

Ye Jingcheng and his relatives harvested a rich spirit stone vein and recovered the Spirit Herb Garden’s treasures before agreeing how the Ye Family would develop the secret realm. After the family left, Ye Jingcheng disguised himself and searched for black sand ants to help protect the realm.

• Ye Jingcheng, Ye Haicheng, and Ye Jingyu mined high-grade spirit stones, collected mature spirit herbs, and returned to meet Ye Xuefan’s group.
• Ye Xuefan gave Ye Jingcheng the old pagoda tree Wood Demon’s wood heart in exchange for contribution points, while Ye Jingcheng offered the Purple Blood Heavenly Spirit Ginseng to Ye Xuecang and kept the Earth Lotus Grass for the Earth Dragon Demon King.
• Ye Xuefan announced plans to develop Returning Goose Commandery and Hidden Peak, then outlined the expedition’s profit distribution and revealed that Ye Jingcheng was a third-rank high-grade spirit alchemist.
• The Ye family members divided the spirit herb harvest, credited Chu Yanqing’s contribution, and left the secret realm through its hidden passage before entering the Vast Azure Turtle’s Grotto-Heaven.
• Ye Jingcheng changed his appearance again, then searched the Heavenly Poison Marsh for black sand ants to help defend the secret realm.

Ye Jingcheng left Heavenly Poison Marsh with Black Sand Ants and gathered news about the Dark Azure Gang’s destruction of the Xun Family before returning to the Ye Family. There, he reunited with Chu Yanqing and shared a final meal with Eldest Uncle Ye Xinghe, who died after expressing regret that he had never reached Foundation Establishment.

• Ye Jingcheng captured four Black Sand Ants, collected spirit herbs, and left Heavenly Poison Marsh with his aura concealed as a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
• Ye Jingcheng visited Little Hill Mountain Marketplace, learned about the Dark Azure Gang’s rise and the Xun Family’s destruction, and confirmed that Green River Sect had intensified its search for evil cultivators.
• Ye Jingcheng met Chu Yanqing at the Ye Family’s shop, gave her Star Pear Fruits, and discussed the Jin Family’s dissatisfaction and plans to strengthen ties with Xuandao True Person.
• Ye Jingcheng brought Black Ganoderma Fish to Ye Xinghe, who gave him a detailed jade record of advice on the Ye Family’s accounts and businesses.
• Ye Jingcheng shared wine and fish with Ye Xinghe, who lamented never reaching Foundation Establishment before his spiritual radiance faded and he died.

After returning Ye Xinghe’s ashes to Soaring Cloud Peak, Ye Jingcheng oversaw the Ye Family’s affairs and opened his Grotto-Heaven to its elders. Ye Xuefan completed a Heavenly Gang Body-Tempering Grand Formation there, leaving Ye Jingcheng’s spiritual beasts and puppets ready to train within it.

• Ye Jingcheng returned Ye Xinghe’s ashes to Soaring Cloud Peak and paid his respects at the ancestral hall.
• Ye Xuefan refined the Soaring Cloud Lake array and built a body-tempering formation on a nearby peak.
• Ye Jingcheng opened his Grotto-Heaven to the Ye Family elders, who were astonished by his powerful spiritual beasts and their diligent training.
• Ye Haihe asked to borrow breeding rights to the White-Brow Green Wolf, and Ye Jingcheng agreed to discuss it after the wolf reached tier-three.
• Ye Xuefan completed a tier-three Heavenly Gang Body-Tempering Grand Formation inside Ye Jingcheng’s Grotto-Heaven and gave him an array flag to protect training puppets.

Ye Jingcheng trained his spirit beasts in the body-tempering formation and strengthened the Grotto-Heaven’s Spirit Eye Spring. The Moon Spirit Clams produced three-colored pearls, and the Stone Spirit broke through to the late second tier, expanding the Grotto-Heaven.

• Ye Jingcheng used the body-tempering formation to train his spirit beasts, and the Golden-Scaled Beast endured the harshest trial while the others also tested their strength.
• Ye Jingcheng linked a third Spirit Eye Spring to the others, raising their combined grade to third-tier middle-grade, then arranged for the Lineage to gather materials for Spirit-Gathering Formations.
• The five Moon Spirit Clams reached the peak of the second tier and began producing three-colored Water Spirit Pearls with potency comparable to third-tier pearls.
• The Stone Spirit broke through to the late second tier, causing the Grotto-Heaven to expand and become more complete.
• The Stone Spirit told Ye Jingcheng that he had swallowed all the magic artifacts.

Ye Jingcheng oversaw several spirit beasts and tree demons as they advanced, while preparing to expand the cramped Grotto-Heaven. After the small Star Pear Tree Demon advanced, he obtained the Mystic Wood Spirit-Replenishing Scripture for the Peachwood Demon and turned his attention to the malachite Stone Spirit.

• Ye Jingcheng praised the Stone Spirit’s stronger spiritual rain and void escape technique, then urged the Peachwood Demon to advance and fed it Woodhearts.
• Ye Jingcheng spent the next year refining Wood Formula spiritual liquids and spirit pills as the Crimson Flame Fox and other beasts continued cultivating.
• The Roc Fish broke through to the third rank, demonstrated its powerful Five-Colored Spirit Bubbles, and returned to the spirit lake after Ye Jingcheng fed it.
• The Jade-Scale Flood Dragon advanced to the late third rank, ate a Marsh Essence Pill, and returned to the lake to devour Red-Node Fish.
• Ye Jingcheng gave the Sunflower Wood Demon a Wood Formula, then gave the small Star Pear Tree Demon its Wood Formula as the six old Star Pear Trees revealed the Mystic Wood Spirit-Replenishing Scripture.
• Ye Jingcheng gave the six old Star Pear Trees some leftover spiritual liquid, handed the scripture to the Peachwood Demon, and examined the malachite Stone Spirit.

Ye Jingcheng oversaw the Ye Family’s growing resources and established plans to train the Seven Elites of Soaring Cloud in specialized paths. He agreed to send Ye Qingshuang to the Taiyi Sect after confirming that she would remember the family and aid it if its interests came into conflict with the sect.

• Ye Jingcheng began refining the Malachite Stone Spirit, formed a blood contract with it, and left the Grotto-Heaven Stone Spirit to watch over and teach it.
• Ye Jingcheng fed the Moon Spirit Clams, inspected the thriving fish at Soaring Cloud Lake, and watched Ye Jingyong train with the wooden puppets alongside Ye Qinggang and Ye Qingyuan.
• Ye Jingcheng told the young body cultivators to grow stronger and later discussed the family’s finances, Ye Qingshuang’s training, and the golden Spirit-Extinguishing Locusts with Ye Xingqun.
• Ye Jingcheng proposed selecting the Seven Elites of Soaring Cloud and gave Ye Xingqun cultivation methods for training promising younger clansmen in specialized disciplines.
• Ye Jingcheng asked Ye Qingshuang whether she would support the Ye Family if it ever opposed the Taiyi Sect, and she promised to remember her family even if she had to die nine times.