Chapter Summaries

Ning Xilin announced that Ning Fa had passed the Alchemy Hall assessment and become an official family Pill Master, overturning expectations and his wager with the Fifth Elder. The news delighted Ning Fa’s relatives but alarmed Ning Muchun’s family, who were plotting to seize his shop; Meng Jinliang then suggested Ning Fa might help them obtain a Spirit Stabilizing Pill.

• Ning Xilin announced that Ning Fa had joined the family Alchemy Hall as a Pill Master, and Ning Zhengqian asked him to verify the news.
• Ning Xilin said the Ninth Elder’s personal maid had delivered the Alchemy Hall token to Ning Fa, prompting Ning Zhengqian’s and Ning Zifeng’s families to celebrate.
• Ning Furong and Ning Muchun doubted the news and recalled that Ning Fa had been expected to become the Fifth Elder’s dual-cultivation Cultivation Cauldron.
• Meng Jinliang sent a First-grade Mid-rank Sound Transmission Talisman to ask Ning Yi He for confirmation.
• Ning Yi He replied that Ning Fa had passed the assessment with outstanding results and become the family’s sixth official Pill Master, leaving Ning Muchun and Ning Furong stunned.
• Meng Jinliang congratulated the family and suggested that Ning Fa might help them obtain a Spirit Stabilizing Pill.

After learning Ning Fa had become a family alchemist, Ning Muchun and Meng Jinliang tried to enlist his help in obtaining a Spirit Stabilizing Pill for Ning Furong. Ning Fa refused to be drawn into their affairs, but accepted the shop deed they returned and demanded the rent they had collected.

• Ning Muchun and Meng Jinliang decided to return Ning Fa's shop deed and seek his help getting a Spirit Stabilizing Pill.
• Ning Fa greeted Ning Zhengqian and Ning Xilin warmly but treated Ning Baiquan and Ning Muchun's families coldly.
• Ning Muchun asked Ning Fa to approach the Ninth Elder for a discounted Spirit Stabilizing Pill, and Ning Fa pretended to agree before mocking her.
• Ning Furong tried to attack Ning Fa, but Meng Jinliang held him back.
• Meng Jinliang returned the shop deed to Ning Fa, who demanded the shop's back rent, and Meng Jinliang put three hundred spirit stones on the table.

Ning Fa demanded two thousand more spirit stones from Ning Muchun’s family and refused to help them obtain a Spirit Stabilizing Pill. Ning Zifeng persuaded their branch to support Ning Fa’s rise in the Alchemy Hall instead, while Ning Fa planned to repay his uncle’s kindness after settling in.

• Ning Fa rejected the three hundred spirit stones as insufficient and demanded another two thousand within a year from Ning Muchun’s family.
• Ning Fa refused Ning Zhengqian’s request to ask the Ninth Elder for a Spirit Stabilizing Pill for Ning Furong.
• Ning Zifeng argued that their branch should invest its resources in Ning Fa rather than help Ning Furong advance to Late Qi Condensation.
• Ning Zhengqian and Ning Xilin agreed that Ning Fa was their branch’s hope and refused to take back the spirit stones they had lent him.
• Ning Fa kept the spirit stones and decided to visit his uncle personally to repay the hundred spirit stones he had received.

Ning Fa reported to the Alchemy Hall as a newly certified Pill Master and learned the salary, production requirements, and training expected of him. He left with plans to learn two more pill formulas and use the Mysterious Scroll to improve his skills.

• Ning Fa met Ning Zonglie at the docks, thanked him for his earlier advice, and fled after Ning Zonglie proposed matching him with Hu Niu.
• Ning Fa entered the Alchemy Hall, where Wei Chengzong congratulated him on becoming its sixth official Pill Master.
• Wei Chengzong set Ning Fa’s monthly stipend at forty spirit stones and twenty Contribution Points, requiring him to refine fifteen furnaces of Essence Replenishing Pills with at least a sixty percent formation rate.
• Wei Chengzong gave Ning Fa six months to learn Qi Replenishing Pills and Spring Return Pills, with a formation-rate target above thirty percent for each.
• Ning Fa accepted the arrangements and planned to use the Mysterious Scroll to master other pills after obtaining spirit materials and practicing.

Ning Huarong confronted Ning Fa at his home, tested his resistance, and imposed a wager requiring him to reach Qi Condensation Mid-stage within a year or become her dual-cultivation Cultivation Cauldron for three months. After she vanished, Ning Fa recognized that only greater strength could protect him and began practicing his lightning technique, but he still did not know how to break through.

• Ning Fa returned home and found Ning Huarong waiting in his courtyard.
• Ning Huarong pressured Ning Fa until he nearly knelt, then withdrew the force and promised to honor their previous wager.
• Ning Huarong imposed a new wager: Ning Fa had to reach Qi Condensation Mid-stage within a year or serve as her dual-cultivation Cultivation Cauldron for three months; if he succeeded, she would grant him one condition.
• Ning Fa refused the wager, but Ning Huarong declared the deadline and disappeared.
• Ning Fa concluded that cultivation, not alchemy, was essential to his survival and practiced his lightning technique, reducing a wooden chair to ash.
• Ning Fa admired the power of his Incomplete Lightning Spiritual Root but remained unsure how to raise his cultivation realm.

Ning Fa attempted to break through the Qi Condensation Mid-stage bottleneck using the Primordial Thunder Art, despite his Incomplete Lightning Spiritual Root and the pain it caused. A mysterious five-colored pattern appeared in his dantian and began forming on the Mysterious Scroll, but his attempt failed and both patterns vanished.

• Ning Fa recalled how the Ning Clan had tried several lightning-element techniques, including the Primordial Thunder Art, before learning that he had an Incomplete Lightning Spiritual Root.
• Ning Fa cultivated the Primordial Thunder Art and sent his Mana against the Qi Condensation Mid-stage bottleneck, but repeated attacks failed and injured him.
• Ning Fa endured another twenty circulation cycles to strengthen his Mana, then launched a second assault on the bottleneck.
• A five-colored Mysterious Pattern appeared in Ning Fa's dantian as he made his second attempt.
• The Mysterious Scroll appeared and began filling in a matching pattern, but Ning Fa's Mana dispersed and injured him, causing both patterns to disappear.

Ning Fa discovered that the Mysterious Scroll could slowly complete the incomplete Thunder Rune Pattern linked to his Lightning Spiritual Root, giving him hope of restoring it. Meanwhile, Ning Zhen'an agreed to a secret operation against Ning Fa’s branch, and Uncle Xilin rushed to warn Ning Fa that conflict had begun.

• After his failed breakthrough injured him, Ning Fa reasoned that the Mysterious Scroll might complete his incomplete Thunder Rune Pattern and restore his Lightning Spiritual Root.
• Ning Fa recovered for two days, attempted another breakthrough, and endured for sixty breaths while the Mysterious Scroll slowly completed less than half the pattern.
• Ning Zhen'an told Ning Guichuan that family pressure had left him no choice but to accept a powerful person’s request, then ordered his father to contact Ning Donghui and begin the operation secretly.
• Uncle Xilin hurried to Ning Fa’s home and warned him that their branch was about to fight Ning Guichuan’s and Ning Donghui’s branches.

Ning Fa arrived as the two branches confronted each other over a ruined Spirit Field, and the dispute escalated into a fight between Ning Zhen'an and Meng Jinliang. Ning Zhen'an split his Black Long Mace to attack Ning Muchun as well, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• Ning Guichuan accused Ning Muchun's branch of destroying a mu of Qinghe Spirit Rice, while Ning Muchun demanded evidence.
• Ning Guichuan insulted Ning Muchun, who struck him with her jade feather fan and injured him.
• Ning Zhen'an threatened Ning Muchun's group, and Meng Jinliang offered an apology and compensation to avert a fight.
• Ning Zhen'an attacked Meng Jinliang with his Black Long Mace, overpowering the defenses of his White Paper Fan.
• Ning Zhen'an split the Black Long Mace and sent one copy toward Ning Muchun, who raised her silk handkerchief artifact to defend herself.

A clan dispute erupted into a magical melee, during which Ning Zhen'an deliberately struck Ning Fa with a black orb. Ning Xilin died protecting Ning Fa, while Ning Zifeng stopped a second attack before the Family Enforcement Team arrived.

• Ning Guichuan attacked Ning Muchun with a fire talisman, and the opposing relatives joined the fight until the gathering became a chaotic melee.
• Ning Zhen'an combined his Black Long Maces into a Black Circular Magic Orb and broke through Meng Jinliang's blood-colored net and Ning Muchun's White Silk Scarf.
• The orb's scattered energy struck Ning Fa in the abdomen and knocked him unconscious, and Ning Zhen'an secretly directed another orb toward him.
• Ning Xilin shielded Ning Fa from the next orb and died, while Ning Zifeng blocked a further attack with his black greatsword.
• Meng Jinliang accused Ning Zhen'an of reckless conduct, and the Family Enforcement Team arrived on a Yellow Flying Boat.

The complete Thunder Rune Pattern destroyed the black Mana threatening Ning Fa’s dantian, then entered and perfected the pattern within him. Ning Fa woke after ten days and learned that Ning Xilin had died protecting him.

• Ning Zifeng found Ning Fa alive beneath Ning Xilin’s corpse and tried to help him.
• The complete Thunder Rune Pattern annihilated the black Mana in Ning Fa’s dantian, and the Mysterious Scroll completed the pattern and sent it into him.
• Five-Colored Spiritual Power surged toward Ning Fa, and a Thunder Spiritual Mark appeared on his forehead before fading.
• Ning Fa dreamed of being attacked by five forms of colored lightning, then woke in an unfamiliar room.
• Ning Zifeng told Ning Fa that he had been unconscious for ten days, and Ning Zhengqian revealed that Ning Xilin had died.

Ning Fa learned that the attack that killed Ning Xilin and injured him may have been a conspiracy orchestrated by Ning Ruiming. He resolved not to act rashly while he recovered and asked where Ning Xilin was buried and whether his granddaughter Xiao Yu had any family.

• Ning Zhengqian and Ning Zifeng discussed how Ning Zhen'an's repeated attacks may have deliberately targeted Ning Fa, while Ning Xifeng had died protecting him.
• Ning Fa concluded that Ning Ruiming had used Wei Chengzong and Ning Zhen'an to delay his entry into the Alchemy Hall and arrange an attack meant to cripple him.
• Ning Zhengqian and Ning Zifeng warned Ning Fa not to seek revenge without evidence, and Ning Fa agreed not to act rashly.
• Ning Zhengqian explained that the Family Enforcement Team had punished both sides, while Ninth Elder demanded a thorough investigation of Ning Zhen'an against Tenth Elder's wishes.
• Ning Fa asked to visit Ning Xilin's grave after recovering and learned that Xilin had left only his granddaughter Xiao Yu after his son died young.

Ning Fa recovered from his injuries and learned who had visited him while he was unconscious. Ning Shaohong promised to seek justice for him and told him to focus on healing, leaving him uncertain about the suspicions surrounding his attack.

• Ning Fa learned that Xiao Yu had returned to Ningchang Island and concealed his own strange bodily changes from Ning Zifeng.
• Ning Zhengqian told Ning Fa that Ninth Elder Ning Shaohong had treated him with an Azure Lotus Pill, and that Wei Chengzong, Liu Qinghui, and other relatives had visited.
• Ning Muchun and Meng Jinliang visited Ning Fa, whose suspicions grew because Meng Jinliang had not intervened when Ning Zhen'an attacked him.
• Ning Shaohong examined Ning Fa, confirmed his dantian was unharmed, and warned him not to act rashly because Ning Zhen'an had powerful backing.
• Ning Shaohong promised to make Ning Zhen'an pay and told Ning Fa to rest, leaving him troubled by her words and the attack's possible instigator.

After recovering at home, Ning Fa discovered that his Thunder Rune Pattern had become complete, with five elemental symbols, and that his sensitivity to Thunder Spiritual Power had risen dramatically. The Mysterious Scroll had been drained by the change, while Ning Fa’s greatly increased cultivation gathered Mana that the Thunder Rune Pattern began absorbing.

• Ning Fa circulated Mana and saw that his once-incomplete Thunder Rune Pattern had become whole, with faint symbols representing the five elements.
• Ning Fa checked the Mysterious Scroll and found that its glow and two of its three marks had faded, though it could still trace an Essence Replenishing Pill back to its ingredients.
• Ning Fa guessed that the scroll had used most of its energy to complete the Thunder Rune Pattern while he was unconscious, possibly after his dantian was struck.
• Ning Fa tested his cultivation and found that Thunder Spiritual Power rushed into him, making his absorption dozens of times more efficient than before.
• Ning Fa gathered a vast stream of Mana, but the Thunder Rune Pattern drew it in and absorbed it completely.

Ning Fa discovered that the completed Thunder Rune Pattern refined his mana into powerful silver mana and raised his Thunderball Technique to Great Perfection, granting him a Perfected Technique Seal. He realized the transformation made cultivation breakthroughs harder because he needed to accumulate far more refined mana, but believed his improved spiritual sensitivity and Essence Replenishing Pills would help.

• Ning Fa tested his new silver mana by casting the Thunderball Technique instantly, blasting apart a table and punching a huge hole through a wall.
• A mysterious light and Sanskrit Chants surrounded Ning Fa, and a Silver Lightning Ball rune entered his Sea of Consciousness.
• Ning Fa recognized the rune as a Perfected Technique Seal and concluded that the complete Thunder Rune Pattern had raised his Thunderball Technique to Great Perfection.
• Ning Fa realized that the rune pattern had refined his mana into a much smaller quantity of stronger silver mana, raising the threshold for his Qi Condensation Mid-stage breakthrough.
• Ning Fa decided his heightened spiritual sensitivity and Essence Replenishing Pills could speed his cultivation, then laughed with excitement.

Ning Fa paid respects at Ning Xilin’s grave and vowed to care for Xiao Yu, while Ning Jiannan told Ning Ruiming how Ning Shaohong’s challenge over Ning Fa’s injury had ended. The Heart-Questioning Talisman was not used, but Ning Zhen'an was punished, and Ning Jiannan warned his son to stop targeting Ning Fa as their branch continued developing Spirit Deer Island.

• Ning Fa visited Ning Xilin’s grave, promised to look after Xiao Yu, and left with killing intent toward Ning Zhen'an and Ning Ruiming.
• Ning Jiannan told Ning Ruiming that Ning Shaohong had demanded a Second-grade Heart-Questioning Talisman at the Elder Council and had accused him of ordering the attack.
• Ning Jiannan said he had taken responsibility before the Third Elder, who rejected the talisman proposal but punished Ning Zhen'an with reduced benefits and five years of mining.
• Ning Jiannan ordered Ning Ruiming to compensate Ning Zhen'an’s branch and warned him not to cause trouble for Ning Fa again.
• Ning Jiannan urged Ning Ruiming to focus on becoming a First-grade High-rank Pill Master and said their branch was developing Spirit Deer Island in pursuit of its hidden legacy.

Ning Fa visited the Ning Clan’s Scripture Pavilion to investigate why his Mana had stopped growing and whether the Thunder Rune Pattern was responsible. He reached the pavilion, still keeping his bodily abnormality secret, and found a middle-aged cultivator reading at the entrance.

• Ning Fa’s Mana stopped increasing despite his inability to sense a cultivation bottleneck, so he decided to search the clan’s ancient texts for clues about the Thunder Rune Pattern.
• Ning Fa traveled to Ningchang Island and learned from Ning Zonglie that Ning Shaohong had pressed the Elder Council to investigate Ning Zhen'an, who was severely punished.
• Ning Fa thanked Ning Zonglie, remembered his debt to Ning Shaohong, and fled when Ning Zonglie invited him to meet Hu Niu.
• Ning Fa rode a Feathered Crane Talisman to the Scripture Pavilion and used his Alchemy Hall Token to pass through its protective barrier.
• Ning Fa entered the pavilion and saw a middle-aged cultivator leisurely reading a lewd book.

Ning Fa recognized the fallen prodigy Ning Yuwen at the Scripture Pavilion and considered whether he could heal his damaged Dao Foundation with Dao Patterned Pills. He entered the pavilion hoping to gain Ning Yuwen as an ally and wondering whether the Xue Family was behind the calamities that had struck Ning Clan.

• Ning Fa recognized the dejected Scripture Pavilion guard as Ning Yuwen, whose injuries had reduced him from Peak Qi Condensation to the seventh level of Qi Refining.
• Ning Fa connected Ning Yuwen's injury, Ning Hongye's disappearance, and his parents' deaths, and suspected the Xue Family might be involved.
• Ning Yuwen greeted Ning Fa and let him enter the Scripture Pavilion to search its first two floors.
• Ning Fa considered using Dao Patterned Azure Lotus Pills to cure Ning Yuwen and gain a powerful ally for himself.

Ning Fa searched the Scripture Pavilion for knowledge about cultivation aptitudes and discovered a fragment of the Heavenly Splendor Treasure Scripture that might explain his unusual abilities. He spent most of his Family Contribution Points to exchange for it, leaving himself with twenty.

• Ning Fa browsed the first floor and considered, but did not buy, books on lightning spells and talisman-making because he wanted to save his Contribution Points.
• Ning Fa entered the second floor with his Alchemy Hall Token and examined its higher-grade cultivation techniques and ancient texts.
• Ning Fa found the Travelogue of Yun Songzi, learned that the Jiang Kingdom was in the Cangyuan Cultivation World, but postponed buying the book because it cost three hundred Contribution Points.
• Ning Fa discovered the Fragment of the Heavenly Splendor Treasure Scripture, which discussed spiritual roots, spirit bodies, and dharma bodies, and suspected it might explain his aptitude.
• Ning Fa exchanged eighty Contribution Points for the fragment, reducing the balance on his Alchemy Hall Token from one hundred to twenty.

Ning Fa studied a fragment of the Heavenly Splendor Treasure Scripture, learned about Spirit Bodies, and suspected he possessed a lightning-related one. After the fragment stirred his mysterious scroll, he went to Cui Ning Courtyard to visit Ning Yu'er.

• Ning Fa copied the ancient text and read that Spirit Bodies and Dharma Bodies could grant cultivators special abilities beyond their Spiritual Roots.
• Ning Fa found no mention of the Thunder Rune Pattern, but the scroll on his right arm reacted to the fragment, making him suspect it could restore the text.
• Ning Fa exchanged his remaining Contribution Points for a Complete Compendium of Five Elements Spells and left the Scripture Pavilion, leaving Ning Yuwen asleep upstairs.
• Ning Fa rode to Cui Ning Courtyard to visit Ning Yu'er, whose grandfather had died saving him.
• The gatekeeper inspected Ning Fa's identity token, opened the valley entrance, and allowed him inside for half an hour.

Ning Fa visited Xiao Yu in Cui Ning Courtyard and saw Ning Daozhen rescue her from two girls who were bullying her. He comforted Xiao Yu, gave her Essence Replenishing Pills, and left believing Ning Daozhen would help protect her.

• Ning Fa entered the valley and saw a girl use wooden vines to hang Xiao Yu upside down while another girl laughed.
• Ning Daozhen cut the vines, lowered Xiao Yu safely, and slapped the Freckled Girl for tormenting her.
• Ning Fa introduced himself as Xiao Yu's uncle, and Ning Daozhen identified himself as a descendant of Ning Zhongyuan's line.
• Ning Fa comforted the grieving Xiao Yu and gave her two bottles of Essence Replenishing Pills.
• Ning Fa said he would visit Xiao Yu often and left, reassured that Ning Daozhen would watch over her.