Chapter Summaries

Yue Shuo followed Shi Wanli’s tracking talisman to find Chang Mingsong, after learning how demonic cultivators and Bloodsucking Demon Insects had nearly killed them both. The group found Chang Mingsong gravely injured in a cave alongside Cheng Fan, and Yue Shuo began treating him.

• Yue Shuo gave Shi Wanli Longevity Talismans and agreed to follow the tracking talisman to Chang Mingsong, while Shi Wanli carried his grandson.
• Shi Wanli told Yue Shuo how he and Chang Mingsong had been ambushed by two Foundation Establishment cultivators using Bloodsucking Demon Insects, escaped with talismans, and nearly died from their injuries.
• Shi Wanli used Chang Mingsong’s tracking talisman to guide Yue Shuo and the others toward him.
• Yue Shuo detected Cheng Fan near Chang Mingsong and led Shi Wanli and Shi Heng into concealment as they followed him to a sea-cliff cave.
• Chang Mingsong tried to entrust something to Cheng Fan, but Yue Shuo, Shi Wanli, and the others appeared before he could finish.
• Yue Shuo steadied Chang Mingsong with a Longevity Technique and began examining his condition.

Chang Mingsong learned that Yue Shuo could treat the Bloodsucking Demon Insect and took a poison pill to slow it while they returned to Dragonstone Island. After Cheng Fan refused to accompany them but accepted Chang Mingsong's recruitment token, Yue Shuo carried Chang Mingsong in a Spirit Beast Pouch, then sensed Cheng Fan fleeing toward them with a black streak of light behind him.

• Chang Mingsong thanked Yue Shuo for offering to treat the Bloodsucking Demon Insect and took a poison pill that stabilized his condition.
• Yue Shuo and Shi Wanli prepared to escort Chang Mingsong back to Dragonstone Island while Cheng Fan and Shi Heng exchanged hostile looks.
• Chang Mingsong invited Cheng Fan to join him, but Cheng Fan refused and accepted an outer sect recruitment token for the Scarlet Feather Sect.
• Shi Wanli questioned how Cheng Fan had found the cave, then agreed to place Chang Mingsong inside a Spirit Beast Pouch to avoid spreading the insects.
• Yue Shuo refined the pouch, placed Chang Mingsong inside, and flew away with Shi Wanli.
• Yue Shuo sensed Cheng Fan flying frantically toward them with a black streak of light pursuing him.

Shi Wanli defeated a pursuing demonic cultivator while Yue Shuo and Chang Mingsong discussed evidence of a nearby demonic cultivator nest and agreed to return to Bright Tortoise Isle. Cheng Fan asked to speak privately with Chang Mingsong, leaving Yue Shuo to escort Shi Heng away and reflect on keeping his distance from Cheng Fan.

• Shi Wanli attacked the pursuing demonic cultivator, knocked him into the sea, and chased him underwater while Yue Shuo watched and advised Shi Heng to study the battle.
• Yue Shuo and Chang Mingsong discussed the demonic cultivators and Bloodsucking Demon Insects they had encountered, and Chang Mingsong concluded that a demonic cultivator nest might be nearby.
• Chang Mingsong urged Yue Shuo to return to Bright Tortoise Isle so he could report the danger to the sect, and Yue Shuo agreed while noting that he still had juniors to escort.
• Cheng Fan arrived and asked where his uncle was, so Yue Shuo brought Chang Mingsong out of the Spirit Beast Pouch.
• Cheng Fan indicated that he wanted to speak with Chang Mingsong alone, and Yue Shuo took Shi Heng away while reassuring him that Chang Mingsong had agreed to the private conversation.
• Yue Shuo decided he would side with Shi Heng if Cheng Fan and Shi Heng clashed and reminded himself to keep his distance from Cheng Fan.

Yue Shuo and Shi Wanli helped Chang Mingsong’s group investigate possible Bloodsucking Demon Insect infections, but Cheng Fan’s suspicions strained their friendships. After the blood jade showed no infection, Yue Shuo left, while the others continued traveling together.

• Yue Shuo brought Shi Heng and Azure Feather to Chang Mingsong, who said Cheng Fan could detect Bloodsucking Demon Insect eggs with a blood jade.
• Cheng Fan used the blood jade to check Chang Mingsong, Yue Shuo, Shi Heng, and Shi Wanli, then privately told Chang Mingsong that none were infected.
• Cheng Fan questioned whether Shi Wanli had actually encountered the insects, prompting Shi Wanli to ask whether Chang Mingsong doubted his friends.
• Chang Mingsong explained that he wanted to rule out infection, and Shi Wanli accepted his explanation.
• Yue Shuo left with Azure Feather, reminding Shi Wanli to prepare the promised reward, and the group continued traveling with Cheng Fan carrying Chang Mingsong.

Yue Shuo left the Temporary Cave Dwelling with his family and companions, traveling covertly and at great speed toward Bright Tortoise Isle. He reached the island and planned to settle there, seek insight into Foundation Establishment, and find resources for Teacher Qi and the others.

• Yue Shuo kept Chang Mingsong's Spirit Beast Pouch and returned to the Temporary Cave Dwelling to tell everyone to depart.
• Yue Shuo took his family, Qi Xin, and Fang Tong aboard a Flying Magical Artifact, used the Longevity Technique to put them to sleep, and stored them in the Spirit Beast Pouch.
• Yue Shuo traveled toward Bright Tortoise Isle by alternating Concealment and escape techniques, covering thousands of li at a time while Azure Feather helped him navigate.
• Yue Shuo reached Bright Tortoise Isle near dusk, landed on an uninhabited small island, and released everyone from the Spirit Beast Pouch.
• Yue Shuo planned to remain on the island, pursue insights into Foundation Establishment, and seek Foundation Establishment resources for Teacher Qi and the others.

Yue Shuo explored Minghua City in disguise, then brought the Yue Family into the city and helped them settle in the South District. After they registered as a small Rogue Cultivator Lineage, he asked Yue Qingxiao how to contact the other Yue Family members and whether they had arrived.

• Yue Shuo left the Yue Family in a Temporary Cave Dwelling and secretly entered Minghua City to survey its districts, rules, and markets.
• Yue Shuo learned that the inner city required special qualifications and that the outer city had affordable temporary rentals and active patrols.
• Yue Shuo explained Minghua City's customs and taboos to the Yue Family before bringing them into the city.
• Qi Xin and Fang Tong led the group in renting a courtyard in the South District for half a year and registering as a small Rogue Cultivator Lineage.
• Yue Shuo asked Yue Qingxiao how to contact the Yue Family members he had mentioned and whether they had arrived.

Yue Shuo learned from Yue Qingxiao about the Bloodsucking Demon Insects, the Demon Spirit Sect, and the Spirit Taming Sect’s history and strength. Yue Qingxiao urged Yue Shuo to consider going to Central Province if he had a Heavenly Spirit Root or special physique, and explained the six grades of Spiritual Roots.

• Yue Shuo questioned Yue Qingxiao about the Bloodsucking Demon Insects and learned they preyed on cultivators and ranked demon beasts, while the Demon Spirit Sect’s demonic cultivators benefited from their rampages.
• Yue Shuo asked about the Spirit Taming Sect, and Yue Qingxiao explained that it had split into the Demon Spirit Sect and Ghost Spirit Gate before becoming the Beast Taming Sect.
• Yue Shuo asked how the Beast Taming Sect compared with Bright Tortoise Isle’s Scarlet Feather Sect, and Yue Qingxiao explained that Central Province’s Seven Righteous Sects were far stronger than the forces in Sea Prefecture.
• Yue Qingxiao urged Yue Shuo to go to Central Province if he possessed a Heavenly Spirit Root or special physique, then listed the six grades of Spiritual Roots.

Yue Shuo examined Yue Qingxiao’s Spiritual Roots and talents, discovering that his father had a Water-Bane talent. Yue Qingxiao weighed the Yue Family’s support against the greater prospects of a Central Province sect for Yue Shuo, then began recounting how he had been tricked into coming to the sea region.

• Yue Shuo examined Yue Qingxiao and updated his family’s Sub-Panel data with Spiritual Root grades, learning how the displayed values corresponded to different grades.
• Yue Shuo found Yue Qingxiao’s talents listed as Beauty, Water-Bane, and Molten Metal Body (Unawakened).
• Yue Qingxiao explained that the Yue Family would value his sons, but warned that it might limit Yue Shuo’s potential compared with a great sect in Central Province.
• Yue Shuo asked whether Yue Qingxiao could swim because of his Water-Bane talent, then asked him to explain how he had ended up in the sea region.
• Yue Qingxiao angrily recalled that he had been tricked, and Yue Shuo said he would consider another way to bring his family back if the Yue Family was unsafe.

Yue Shuo sought information about Foundation Establishment and investigated Minghua City, the Yue Family, and Ancient Heaven Pavilion while remaining wary of the Demon Insect Calamity. After Steward He introduced him to the city's shops and recruitment offer, Yue Shuo asked where he could find Foundation Establishment insights.

• Yue Shuo listened to his father’s recollections about the Yue Family but treated them as incomplete information and left to investigate further.
• Yue Shuo entered Minghua City openly at Qi Refining, Great Perfection, and waited as a city official named He approached him.
• Yue Shuo told He that he had come for Foundation Establishment, and He described auctions, joining Minghua City, and entering the Scarlet Feather Sect as possible paths to a Foundation Establishment Pill.
• He explained that Minghua City was recruiting ahead of the Eastern Sea Region Trade Fair, while Yue Shuo suspected the Demon Insect Calamity might be related to the city’s preparations.
• He accompanied Yue Shuo through inner-city shops, including Ancient Heaven Pavilion, and Yue Shuo asked where to find Foundation Establishment insights.

Yue Shuo investigated Minghua City's rules and learned more about the Scarlet Feather Sect before secretly entering the inner city at night. He visited the Ancient Heaven Pavilion in disguise and asked whether it had a Core-Formation Pill.

• Yue Shuo questioned Manager He about sect-entry requirements and learned that the age limit had risen from fifty to sixty three months earlier.
• Yue Shuo gathered information about Minghua City and Bright Tortoise Isle, rented a cave dwelling, and exchanged communication talismans with Manager He.
• At night, Yue Shuo disguised himself, slipped through the city's formations, and entered the inner city invisibly.
• Yue Shuo entered the Ancient Heaven Pavilion in a new Phantom Form disguise, where manager Gu Jingfang respectfully led him to a private room.
• Yue Shuo asked Gu Jingfang whether the Ancient Heaven Pavilion had a Core-Formation Pill.

Yue Shuo attended a secret exchange meet at Ancient Heaven Pavilion, where Foundation Establishment cultivator Gu Yang recognized his Yue Family bloodline despite his disguise. Gu Yang revealed his own Yue Family ancestry, and Yue Shuo asked which Yue Family members had arrived.

• Yue Shuo met Ancient Heaven Pavilion’s shopkeeper and Gu Yang, who invited him upstairs to learn about the exchange meet.
• Gu Yang said Yue Shuo seemed familiar and asked whether he came from Sea Prefecture and Ancient Moon Lake.
• Gu Yang explained that Foundation Establishment cultivators could sense close blood relatives and revealed that the Gu Clan was a branch of the Yue Family.
• Yue Shuo admitted he wanted to know which members of the Yue Family had come to Ancient Heaven Pavilion.

Yue Shuo met Gu Yang, who mistook him for his missing father, Yue Qingxiao, and revealed their close family ties. Gu Yang told him that the Ancient Moon Lake Yue Family had searched for Yue Qingxiao after his disappearance, while Yue Shuo entered the exchange meeting with him.

• Gu Yang identified the Yue Family leaders expected to arrive and said Yue Lousheng would come in two or three days.
• Gu Yang mistook Yue Shuo for Yue Qingxiao and explained that his mother, Yue Qingqiu, was Yue Qingxiao’s blood-related elder female cousin.
• Yue Shuo asked Gu Yang what had happened to the Yue Family after Yue Qingxiao went missing twenty years earlier.
• Gu Yang said the Ancient Moon Lake Yue Family had searched the Sea Domain near the Qin Clan for years, then kept watch secretly as disputes with the Zhou Clan and Hong Clan grew.
• After Manager Gu announced the exchange meeting, Gu Yang led Yue Shuo inside, and they put on Phantom Form masks.

Yue Shuo attended a Foundation Establishment trading gathering with Gu Yang, who recognized him as his maternal uncle and contacted his mother, Yue Qingqiu, about their reunion. After leaving the city and returning to his family, Yue Shuo helped Yue Qingxiao focus on an imminent breakthrough to Qi Refining Level Seven.

• Yue Shuo and Gu Yang joined a Foundation Establishment trading gathering, where Yue Shuo exchanged Second-Tier Sea Beast materials for spiritual plants and Gu Yang unsuccessfully sought a rare plant.
• Yue Shuo obtained several items through the Ancient Heaven Pavilion and left the city without revealing where he lived.
• Gu Yang told Shopkeeper Gu that Yue Shuo was his blood relative, then used the communication array to inform Yue Qingqiu that he had found Uncle Qingxiao.
• Yue Qingqiu told Gu Yang to watch over Yue Qingxiao and said she would come in about half a month.
• Yue Shuo returned to the rented cave dwelling and sent Yue Qingxiao a voice transmission to focus on his imminent breakthrough to Qi Refining Level Seven.

Yue Qingxiao advanced to Qi Refining, Late Stage, and continued progressing toward Level Eight while Yue Shuo watched over him. As Yue Shuo studied Foundation Establishment insights, he learned what the breakthrough required and reconsidered the prospects of cultivating as a Rogue Cultivator.

• Yue Qingxiao used the abundant spiritual energy to advance smoothly to Qi Refining Level Seven, and his cultivation continued rising.
• Yue Shuo crushed Spirit Stones to strengthen the spiritual energy around his father and revealed Yue Qingxiao’s cultivation data on a Sub-Panel.
• While Yue Qingxiao continued advancing, Yue Shuo read the Foundation Establishment jade slips he had bought at the Ancient Heaven Pavilion.
• Yue Shuo learned that Foundation Establishment depended on Blood Vitality, Spell Power, and Divine Sense, and identified common reasons cultivators failed to advance.
• Yue Shuo concluded that Aristocratic Clans could produce Foundation Establishment cultivators through training and resources, while Rogue Cultivators faced greater obstacles, and he abandoned the idea of cultivating freely as one.

Yue Shuo tried to comprehend another Spirit Inscription from his Lunar Spirit-Congealing Spike and succeeded after Azure Feather shared part of its Soul Thought with him. He realized that the Sub-Panel enabled their unusually deep connection, while his father continued advancing below.

• Yue Shuo considered how to improve his Divine Sense and decided to attempt another Spirit Inscription while avoiding activities that would consume spiritual energy.
• Yue Shuo concealed himself on the roof, checked on Azure Feather, and began tracing a new Restrictive Seal in the Lunar Spirit-Congealing Spike.
• As Yue Shuo's Divine Sense ran low, Azure Feather's Spirit Taming enhancement raised his Divine Sense limit enough for him to complete the tracing.
• Yue Shuo inspected the panels and learned that Azure Feather had shared half of its Second-Tier Soul Thought with him.
• Yue Shuo studied the Spirit Taming Legacy and concluded that the Sub-Panel enabled their unusually high compatibility and soul-related enhancement.

Yue Shuo used his pet-raising panel and Spirit Taming Legacy to assess and nurture a Dark Spirit Snake egg, then tested his powerful Divine Sense through cultivation and spell comprehension. The chapter ended with Yue Shuo questioning his father Yue Qingxiao about his age and when he met Yue Shuo’s mother.

• Yue Shuo checked the Dark Spirit Snake egg’s panel and found its potential had increased after his nurturing.
• Yue Shuo soaked the egg in Second-Tier Sea Beast essence blood and confirmed that it possessed First-Tier Soul Thought.
• Yue Shuo examined Azure Feather’s panel and saw its potential to reach Third-Tier, then used his strong Divine Sense to comprehend water-element techniques and spells.
• Yue Qingxiao woke from cultivation just short of breaking through to Qi Refining Level Eight, and Yue Shuo teased him about his age.
• Yue Shuo learned that Yue Qingxiao had been seventeen when his accident happened and asked how old Yue Shuo’s mother had been when they met.

Yue Qingxiao told Yue Shuo about the Yue Family and how he had fled an arranged marriage alliance before being set up during a Sea Beast hunt. Yue Shuo pressed him for details about those involved, especially the Qin Clan.

• Yue Shuo asked Yue Qingxiao about Yue Qingqiu and the Gu Clan, but Yue Qingxiao initially struggled to remember them.
• Yue Qingxiao recalled that Yue Qingqiu had disappeared when he was five and explained that his father had gone missing and his mother had died.
• Yue Qingxiao said he had been sent from the Ancient Moon Lake Yue Family to the Upper Shu Prefecture Yue Family to cultivate, then selected for a marriage alliance because of his looks and talent.
• Yue Qingxiao explained that he had fled to the Eastern Sea Region to avoid the marriage alliance and was later injured after a Sea Beast hunt went wrong.
• Yue Shuo questioned whether Yue Qingxiao knew who had arranged the hunt and asked which Qin Clan members had taken part.

Yue Shuo learned that Qin Song, one of the people his father had once clashed with, had been taken away by the Qin Clan, and that the Yue Family may have acted after Yue Qingxiao disappeared. As Yue Shuo considered whether to meet the Yue Family delegation arriving at Bright Tortoise Isle, he asked his father how Special Constitutions could be tested.

• Yue Shuo asked Fang Tong about Qin Song, and Fang Tong recalled that Qin Song and several other Qin Clan core disciples had been taken away and their relatives expelled from the main branch.
• Yue Shuo told Yue Qingxiao what had happened to Qin Song, and they discussed whether to meet the Yue Family party expected at Bright Tortoise Isle.
• Yue Shuo explained that Gu Yang had recognized a Yue Family bloodline in him, and Yue Qingxiao said their lineage was especially likely to awaken Special Constitutions.
• Yue Shuo asked how to test for Special Constitutions, and Yue Qingxiao explained that they were divided into Manifest and Latent types and could sometimes be judged through external methods.

Yue Shuo decided to test whether his Sub-Panel could awaken his father’s Molten Metal Body talent and improve his cultivation prospects. The chapter ended with Yue Qingxiao hesitating over Yue Shuo’s suggestion that he swallow Five-Element Metal.

• Yue Shuo questioned Yue Qingxiao about his Special Constitution, and Yue Qingxiao admitted he did not know what his son was capable of.
• Yue Qingxiao agreed to follow Yue Shuo’s judgment about meeting the Yue Family relatives and promised to improve his cultivation.
• Yue Shuo considered using his father to test the Sub-Panel’s nurturing effects, since he was reluctant to experiment further on his mother.
• Yue Shuo decided to awaken Yue Qingxiao’s Molten Metal Body talent as a way to strengthen his potential and help him advance.
• Yue Shuo handed Yue Qingxiao Five-Element Metal and asked whether he could swallow it, leaving his father stunned.

Yue Shuo tested whether his Sub-Panel could enhance his father’s cultivation like a primary contract, supplying Yue Qingxiao with purified metal-element spiritual energy. After half a day of cultivation, Azure Feather neared a breakthrough, the snake egg began hatching, and Yue Qingxiao attempted to advance to Qi Refining Level Eight.

• Yue Shuo sent purified metal-element spiritual energy into Yue Qingxiao and had him refine it while absorbing energy from ore.
• Yue Shuo concluded that the Sub-Panel could create effects similar to a primary contract and considered condensing Divine Sense data for his father.
• Yue Shuo cultivated with Azure Feather, added Spirit Stones to the room, and brought the snake egg into the spiritual-energy-rich space.
• After half a day, Azure Feather reached the threshold of advancement and the snake egg began to crack; Yue Qingxiao finished refining the supplied energy.
• Yue Qingxiao tried to break through, damaged his meridians when his Spell Power went astray, and continued after Yue Shuo’s life force instantly restored them.