Chapter Summaries

Fang Xing created a powerful Paper Dagger and reached Level 2 Druid, gaining Wilderness Transformation and choosing carp form. With his strength and lifespan increased, he prepared to act under cover of night.

• Fang Xing refined blood paper with Quintessential Blood into a Paper Dagger and discovered that further refinement could make it a magic artifact at the cost of his lifespan.
• Tao Hong was robbed by Xing San's group, and Fang Xing feigned hesitation when she asked him for blood paper.
• Xing San planned to keep robbing the paper slaves while secretly arranging an escape for only one member of his group.
• Fang Xing advanced to Level 2 Druid, gained Wilderness Transformation, and selected Carp Transformation as his core form.
• Fang Xing learned that Wilderness Transformation could evolve into powerful dragon forms, recognized the need to control its beast nature, and went outside beneath the moon with murder on his mind.

Fang Xing silently killed Xing San and his gang, took their stolen blood paper and valuables, and left Tao Hong a bundle before escaping Paper Slave Valley as a carp. He reached a forest beyond the valley and planned to head toward territory controlled by the righteous factions.

• Fang Xing entered Xing San’s wooden houses under cover of darkness and killed Xing San and his sleeping underlings without raising an alarm.
• Fang Xing found nearly a hundred sheets of blood paper, gold beans, and other valuables hidden in Xing San’s house.
• Fang Xing left Tao Hong a bundle of spoils, then buried his clothes and transformed into a carp to escape through an underwater iron gate guarded by Water Corpses.
• Fang Xing swam out of Paper Slave Valley and, two hours later, transformed back into a man in a dense forest.
• Fang Xing used the forest’s cover to avoid leaving traces and decided to travel toward territory controlled by the righteous factions.

Fang Xing gained the Mountain Lord Transformation and reached Druid Level 3, unlocking Plant Growth as he traveled away from Paper Slave Valley. The chapter ended with him discovering two Herb Gatherers fighting over an Old Mountain Ginseng.

• Fang Xing learned from Da Huang, gained the Mountain Lord Transformation, and transformed into a powerful tiger before leaving his companion.
• During a storm, Fang Xing cultivated to his limit in the Qi Sensing Realm but raised his Druid profession to Level 3 and gained Plant Growth.
• Fang Xing used Plant Growth to ripen wild rice, then sensed that overusing the ability could harm the soil and lead him toward becoming a Dark Druid.
• Fang Xing traveled through thinning wilderness until he came upon two Herb Gatherers fighting near an Old Mountain Ginseng, and both men were startled by his tiger form.

Fang Xing developed Healing Berries and traveled to Cloud Arrive Market to sell them, keeping his wares and identity separate from the Blood Shadow Sect. Old Lu Tou tested a berry and confirmed its healing effect as Fang Xing began trading in the market.

• Fang Xing rescued an injured herb gatherer with Healing Berries, traded him berries for salt, and learned that Shield Cloud City was the nearest city.
• Fang Xing interrogated the other herb gatherer, killed him for stabbing his companion, and saw that he had developed Healing Berries through Plant Growth.
• Fang Xing entered Cloud Arrive Market, paid for a stall with a fifty-year-old Polygonatum, and offered Healing Berries and medicinal herbs for sale.
• Old Lu Tou bought a Healing Berry and cut his hand to test it; the berry quickly stopped the bleeding and healed the wound.
• Fang Xing explained that the berries spoiled quickly, and Old Lu Tou asked whether Fang Xing had deliberately set up beside his stall.

Fang Xing visited Cloud Arrive Market, earned money selling Monkey Wine, and bought a cultivation manual and a regional gazetteer. After learning that Great Zhou strictly prohibited private cultivation, he decided to settle within Azure Wood Ridge’s sphere of influence while continuing to search for his missing true body.

• Fang Xing sold Monkey Wine at Cloud Arrive Market, where Old Lu Tou bought several jars and asked where he planned to set up his stall.
• Fang Xing spent thirty Talisman Coins on the Azure Wood Art Manual and the detailed Great Zhou Gazetteer, then studied the cultivation stages and the manual’s connection to Azure Wood Ridge.
• Fang Xing learned that Great Zhou required cultivators to register and serve the Government, so he abandoned his plan to immigrate there and judged that Blood Shadow Sect was unlikely to pursue him far.
• Fang Xing bought mulberry and hemp seeds to prepare for making paper, then returned to his cave and memorized the Azure Wood Art while reading about the Beyond-Region Land.
• Fang Xing decided to settle within Azure Wood Ridge’s sphere of influence, develop his abilities, and keep searching for his true body, whose location he could not sense.

Fang Xing broke through to Qi Sensing Second Level, sold Healing Berries at Cloud Arriving Market, and met the Floating Cloud Five Friends. After buying a Three Saint Oak acorn, he joined them for a feast while waiting to learn their intentions.

• Fang Xing used Flora Essence Qi to reach Qi Sensing Second Level and considered how to develop his Druid abilities.
• Fang Xing sold his goods at Cloud Arriving Market, including Healing Berries, and Old Lu Tou introduced him to Song Yunqian, Yunyun, Hu Liuniang, Ji Luding, and Lin Xu as the Floating Cloud Five Friends.
• Old Lu Tou invited Fang Xing to a feast at Four Seasons Pavilion, and Fang Xing accepted while planning to buy supplies in the market.
• Fang Xing bought a Three Saint Oak acorn after using Nature Affinity to identify one that still held vitality.
• At Four Seasons Pavilion, Fang Xing drank and ate with the Floating Cloud Five Friends while watching to see what they wanted from him.

Fang Xing learned that the Azure Dawn Fei Family was offering Land Reclamation Tokens for Azure Dawn Marsh and that the Floating Cloud Five Friends hoped he would help them win one by curing a diseased ancient ginseng. He considered joining them, seeing the poisonous marsh as a promising place to establish his own cultivation base.

• Fang Xing assessed the Floating Cloud Five Friends and heard Old Lu Tou explain their struggle to find resources and a place to cultivate.
• Hu Liuniang revealed that the Azure Dawn Fei Family planned to reclaim Azure Dawn Marsh and would offer two Land Reclamation Tokens to Rogue Cultivators.
• Old Lu Tou proposed that Fang Xing cure the Fei Family's eight-hundred-year-old Dragon King Ginseng in exchange for helping secure a token, but Fang Xing said he needed to inspect it first.
• After Fang Xing left, Old Lu Tou argued that his Spirit Planter skills made him the best candidate, and the five friends committed their resources to pursuing a token.
• Fang Xing decided Azure Dawn Marsh suited his plans because his Druid abilities could help him endure and gradually purify its poisonous terrain.

Fang Xing diagnosed the Fei Family’s ailing Dragon King Ginseng, traced its condition to mutant ants, and promised it would recover within seven days. After investigating the ants in the wilderness, he returned to Cloud Arriving Market and found the Azure Spirit Bamboo he wanted for planting in Azure Dawn Marsh.

• Fang Xing examined the Dragon King Ginseng and determined its Fire Poison spots were a defense against mutant Spirit Eating Ants eating its roots and stems.
• Fang Xing collected the mutant ants, predicted the ginseng would recover in seven days with cold-natured medicine, and declined Fei Cai’s offer to stay with the Fei Family.
• Old Lu Tou grew uneasy when Fang Xing suggested someone might have introduced the ants into the guarded garden, then refused to explain what he suspected.
• Fang Xing transformed into an owl, returned to his wilderness cabin, and studied the mutant ants, sensing a powerful ancient bloodline within them.
• Seven days later, Fang Xing visited the Gray Robe Stall Owner at Cloud Arriving Market and found a healthy Azure Spirit Bamboo suited to his plans for Azure Dawn Marsh.

Fang Xing secured approval for a land-reclamation project at Poison Dragon Slope and negotiated for forest land instead of a share of its Sha Points. After defeating two attackers on his way from the market, he advanced to Qi Sensing Third Level and gained Poison Immunity.

• Fang Xing bought Azure Spirit Bamboo and discussed developing Poison Dragon Slope with Old Lu Tou, Song Yunqian, Hu Liuniang, Iron Net Rogue, and Lin Xu.
• Fang Xing agreed to give up his claim to future Sha Points in exchange for a large plot of land to plant trees, and the group planned to seal their agreement with a Divine Contract.
• Fang Xing sensed danger in the forest, killed one attacker hiding as an Ancient Tree, and killed Green Robe after transforming into a White-Browed Tiger.
• Old Lu Tou and Iron Net Rogue arrived, and Fang Xing let them believe he used the Skin Painting Art before leaving them impressed by his strength.
• Fang Xing advanced to Qi Sensing Third Level, raised his Druid class to Level 4, and gained Poison Immunity.

Fang Xing and the Floating Cloud Five Friends began reclaiming Poison Dragon Slope after the Fei Family and five allied factions sealed a pact before a powerful Yin God True Person. Fang Xing cleared the poisonous mist and negotiated with a giant Black Serpent, leaving the group able to occupy the island so long as they protected its shedding place.

• The Fei Family and representatives of five factions sealed a pact witnessed by a Yin God True Person, forbidding them from undermining each other during land reclamation.
• Old Lu Tou explained that he had organized pressure on the Fei Family after Fang Xing was attacked, and the Floating Cloud Five Friends traveled deeper into Azure Dawn Marsh.
• The group reached Poison Dragon Slope, where Old Lu Tou and the others cleared venomous creatures while Fang Xing helped activate a Small Clear Wind Array.
• The array dispersed the poisonous fog, revealing a huge Black Serpent that was close to Qi Sensing Seventh Level and nearly ready to condense sha.
• Fang Xing spoke with the Black Serpent and secured permission to occupy Poison Dragon Slope if the group let it shed its skin there and kept it safe.

Fang Xing spent five years developing Poison Dragon Slope into a bamboo-filled ecological refuge while cultivating his druid and qi-sensing abilities. The chapter ended with him absorbing Azure Serpent Nether and considering the powerful transformations he would gain at druid Level 5.

• Fang Xing claimed the western side of Poison Dragon Slope, built a cabin, and planted Azure Spirit Bamboo and Three Saint Oak trees.
• Five years later, Song Yunyun and Lu Feng entered Fang Xing’s Bamboo Sea, where a Bamboo Leaf Green bit Lu Feng before Fang Xing rescued him.
• Fang Xing sent Song Yunyun and the recovering Lu Feng back with Song Yunqian, who had brought her family to live on Poison Dragon Slope with the other families.
• Fang Xing continued suppressing his druid advancement to build up his innate lifespan while Poison Dragon Slope’s bamboo purified its poisonous mist.
• Fang Xing cultivated Azure Serpent Nether by transforming into an Azure Serpent and absorbing baleful qi, then reflected that reaching druid Level 5 would upgrade his transformation forms.

Fang Xing reached Qi Sensing Seventh Level and Druid Level 5, gaining Eternal Youth and stronger talents as he explored the abilities of his transformations and insect-control arts. While scouting Green Water Lake, he learned the Qiao Family Merchant Group was due to arrive soon.

• Fang Xing broke through to Qi Sensing Seventh Level, raised his lifespan to 129, and found Eternal Youth had restored his damaged foundation.
• Fang Xing inspected his Frigid White Ants, collected the Two-Winged ants in a Red Gourd, and tested his enhanced Druid talents and transformations.
• Fang Xing swam through Green Water Lake and observed the Song Seven Heroes' Spirit Shells and pearls.
• Fang Xing overheard Brother Yun tell a woman that the Qiao Family Merchant Group would arrive soon, and realized its annual visit was due.

Qiao Wuyong’s merchant caravan arrived at Poison Dragon Slope, where Fang Xing sold bamboo goods and acquired a small storage pouch and the Aura Concealment Technique. Qiao Wuyong also revealed that the Fei Family was preparing to replace its family head, leaving Fang Xing with news of a power struggle among the local families.

• Qiao Wuyong and Sixteenth Brother discussed the prospects of Poison Dragon Slope, the Song Family, and the other powers in Azure Dawn Marsh as the caravan approached.
• Old Lu Tou welcomed the caravan, hosted Qiao Wuyong, and directed him to Fang Xing in the Bamboo Grove.
• Qiao Wuyong recognized Fang Xing’s increased cultivation and inspected his bamboo paper and Bamboo Strips, agreeing to buy the goods along with a hundred Healing Berries.
• Fang Xing purchased a Flying Squirrel Pouch and the Aura Concealment Technique, paying the remaining cost with Healing Berries.
• Qiao Wuyong told Fang Xing that Fei Tianbao would step down under the Fei Family’s rules and that several candidates were competing to become the next family head.

Fang Xing agreed to let Iron Net Rogue leave Poison Dragon Slope to help Fei Cai in the Fei Family succession struggle, while keeping Black Serpent on defense. Song Yunqian warned Fang Xing that rival factions might exploit Iron Net Rogue’s absence, and another visitor arrived at his open gate.

• Fang Xing heard Old Lu Tou’s plan to support Fei Cai by sending Iron Net Rogue to complete family missions, but refused to send Black Serpent away and agreed only that it would guard Poison Dragon Slope.
• Old Lu Tou told Iron Net Rogue, Lin Xu, Hu Liuniang, and Song Yunqian that Fang Xing had agreed to Black Serpent guarding the slope while Iron Net Rogue was away.
• Fang Xing sensed that his Bamboo Grove had become a domain that could alert him to intruders and help him perceive everything within it.
• Song Yunqian warned Fang Xing that the Song Clan backed Fei Wu, the White Bone Alliance backed Fei Shentong, and the Song Clan might attack while Iron Net Rogue was gone.
• After Song Yunqian left, Fang Xing sensed another visitor enter through his open gate.

Fang Xing killed Song Zhong, who had come to attack Poison Dragon Slope, and kept his role secret as the region settled into an uneasy calm. Five years later, Song Yunyun faced a forced marriage to the Fei Family as the Fei Family’s pressure on Poison Dragon Slope and the other pioneering families grew.

• A concealed Song Zhong attacked Fang Xing’s Bamboo Grove, but the Black Serpent, Frigid White Ants, and Fang Xing killed him.
• Fang Xing questioned Song Zhong’s soul and learned that Fei Wu had sent him, suspecting the Fei Family’s succession dispute was a trap.
• Iron Net Rogue returned injured months later, while the other Song Seven Heroes concealed Song Zhong’s death and Fei Cai became the Fei Family’s new head.
• Five years later, Song Yunyun begged Fang Xing to stop her marriage into the Fei Family after she failed to join Azure Wood Ridge.
• Old Lu Tou explained that Poison Dragon Slope faced alliance payments or a demand for people and labor, and said the Fei Family was swallowing the pioneering families’ profits.

Fang Xing weighed the Floating Cloud Five Friends’ desperate alliance against his hidden strength and plans to advance his Druid level. Song Yunyun was sent to marry into the Fei Family, while Lu Feng mourned her departure and Fang Xing questioned Song Yunqian about the decision.

• Old Lu Tou asked Fang Xing to help protect Poison Dragon Slope from the Fei Family, and Fang Xing promised to defend East Peak after reaching Qi Sensing Seventh Level.
• Fang Xing reviewed his Druid Level 9 abilities, judged that he could threaten an Inferior Dao Foundation Cultivator on his home ground, and planned to reach Druid Level 10 before revealing a cultivation breakthrough.
• Song Yunyun left East Peak in a wedding procession to marry into the Fei Family, and Lu Feng watched her departure in tears.
• Fang Xing comforted Lu Feng but declined to become his mentor in seeking revenge against the Fei Family.
• Song Yunqian told Fang Xing she had agreed to the marriage because Yunyun had lost her chance to enter Azure Wood Ridge and Poison Dragon Slope was unlikely to withstand the Fei Family.

Fang Xing learned that the Fei Family’s Dao Foundation ancestor might be nearing the end of his life, while the Fei Family also faced a conflict with the Shanyin Xie Clan. As the Floating Cloud Five Friends prepared for possible conscription, Old Lu Tou urged Fang Xing to protect himself and Poison Dragon Slope’s future.

• Fang Xing hosted Hu Liuniang, who told him that Fei Tianbao had likely died attempting to forge a Dao Foundation and warned that the Fei Family ancestor might have only a few decades left.
• Hu Liuniang explained that the ancestor’s old injuries and the Fei Family’s desperate efforts to raise another Dao Foundation cultivator made the clan’s actions increasingly dangerous.
• Qiao Wuyong visited Poison Dragon Slope and informed Old Lu Tou and Fang Xing that the Fei Family was in conflict with the Shanyin Xie Clan over Cloud Arriving Market’s profits.
• Old Lu Tou discussed the possibility that the Fei Family would conscript their people and proposed which members of the Floating Cloud Five Friends would serve if called.
• Old Lu Tou escorted Fang Xing to the western slope and told him to preserve himself, calling him the foundation of Poison Dragon Slope and entrusting him with its future.

After the Fei Family’s battle left East Peak’s families devastated, Fang Xing healed the dying Old Lu Tou and promised to look after Lu Feng. Two years later, Fang Xing reached Druid Level 10, chose the Tree Herder talent, and began planning to leave Poison Dragon Slope and pursue his Dao Foundation.

• Fang Xing suspected Old Lu Tou’s pledge to protect him might conceal ulterior motives, but the Fei Family soon summoned Poison Dragon Slope and the other East Peak families to fight.
• After the battle, Song Yunqian called Fang Xing to East Peak, where he used Natural Healing to revive Old Lu Tou long enough to speak, though he could not repair the damage to the old man’s lifespan.
• Old Lu Tou told Fang Xing that the battle had killed or crippled people across the families, entrusted Lu Feng to his care, and gave Fang Xing a booklet of his knowledge before dying.
• Iron Net Rogue became East Peak’s leading figure, and two years passed with little change beyond news that Song Yunyun had given birth to Fei Yong.
• Fang Xing reached Druid Level 10 and chose Tree Herder, gaining stronger plant growth and experience effects while his Fish Demon Form advanced into Mountain Python and Water Viper forms.
• Fang Xing decided it was time to leave Poison Dragon Slope, explore the world, and seek a Dao Foundation Spiritual Object so he could attempt to forge his Dao Foundation.

Fei Cai led the allied families in an assault on the White Bone Alliance, but the battle revealed that the alliance possessed a Dao Foundation Realm Refined Corpse and cost Fei Cai his life. The Fei Family Ancestor arrived and pursued White Bone Old Man as the surviving forces began to level the stronghold.

• Fei Cai ordered Fang Xing, the Black Serpent, and the allied families to join an attack on the White Bone Alliance in the Burial Grounds.
• Fang Xing flew there with Fei Cai on his Paper Kite and joined Fei Wu, Fei Shentong, Yin Shou, and the Xu Family Head.
• The Black Serpent poisoned the alliance's lesser cultivators while the allied fighters engaged White Bone Old Man and three White Bone Skeletons.
• A Jade Armor Corpse emerged from a building and killed Fei Cai, revealing the White Bone Alliance's connection to the Corpse Driving Sect.
• The Fei Family Ancestor appeared, attacked the Jade Armor Corpse with Emerald Vines, and ordered the others to level the alliance's stronghold while he pursued White Bone Old Man.

Fang Xing watched the Fei Family Ancestor defeat the White Bone Old Man, then exploited the ensuing chaos to kill the weakened Ancestor and raid the Fei estate. After stealing the Dragon King Ginseng, he rescued Song Yunyun and Fei Yong from their pursuers while disguised as a Tree Demon.

• The Fei Family Ancestor killed the White Bone Old Man and seized the Corpse Control Bell, but the Jade Armor Corpse revealed itself as a trap and mortally wounded him with Millennium Corpse Venom and a corpse explosion.
• Fang Xing, in Water Viper form, killed the weakened Fei Family Ancestor, took his Flying Squirrel Pouch, and flew toward the Fei estate.
• Fang Xing burrowed into the Fei estate as a pangolin and stole the Dragon King Ginseng from the herb garden during the chaos.
• Fei Family cultivators attacked Fang Xing, but he transformed into a Tree Demon and killed them with Thorn Art before gathering more spirit herbs.
• Fang Xing saw Song Yunyun fleeing with infant Fei Yong and killed her pursuers, leaving her astonished by the apparent Tree Demon.