Chapter Summaries

Ning Fa accepted Wei Shiqin’s VIP Token, helped the Xu Family secure compensation, and returned to Pingchang Island to prepare for a breakthrough. After opening his fifth Lesser Thunder Source and using two One Dao Mark Essence Replenishing Pills, he broke through the Qi Condensation Mid-stage barrier, then fainted as Five-Colored Spiritual Power enveloped him in a cocoon.

• Wei Shiqin gave Ning Fa a Tongbao Pavilion VIP Token, and he accepted it.
• Ning Shaohong promised the Xu Family compensation for their losses and offered them the waters near Jiaoluo Island.
• Ning Shaohong instructed Ning Fa to keep his One Dao Mark Essence Replenishing Pills secret, and he later returned to Pingchang Island.
• One month later, Ning Fa opened his fifth Lesser Thunder Source and sensed an opportunity to break through.
• Ning Fa swallowed two One Dao Mark Essence Replenishing Pills and shattered the barrier to the Qi Condensation Mid-stage.
• Ning Fa fainted as Five-Colored Spiritual Power flowed through him and formed a cocoon around his body.

Ning Fa awoke from his advancement to find his body, spiritual sensitivity, Mana, and divine sense greatly strengthened, and confirmed that he had reached Qi Condensation Mid-stage. After considering new training opportunities and the challenges of body cultivation, he prepared to pursue his revenge against Ning Ruiming with Ning Shaohong’s support.

• Ning Fa washed away the black sludge covering his body and discovered his physical strength and sensitivity to Thunder Spiritual Power had increased dramatically.
• Ning Fa confirmed that the Five Elements Thunder Body had advanced and that he had reached Qi Condensation Mid-stage, with Mana and divine sense far stronger than before.
• Ning Fa considered learning mid-rank lightning spells, the second layer of the Ancient Source Thunder Scripture, and refining mid-rank pills to strengthen himself and improve his standing in the Ning Clan.
• Ning Fa recalled that the Ancient Source Thunder Scripture required body cultivation and that its Nine Revolutions Purple Yuan Powder needed precious spiritual materials.
• Ning Fa decided to stabilize his realm, seek Ning Shaohong’s support, and carry out his plan against Ning Ruiming.

Ning Fa told Ning Shaohong he had reached the Qi Condensation Mid-stage and claimed a quasi-Two Dao Mark Essence Replenishing Pill had enabled his breakthrough, concealing the real secrets of his body and mysterious scroll. He then asked her for help challenging Ning Ruiming to a pill-refining contest, leaving her stunned by his choice of the difficult Three Yuan Pill.

• Ning Shaohong was shocked to learn Ning Fa had broken through to the Qi Condensation Mid-stage and asked whether his Incomplete Lightning Spiritual Root had recovered.
• Ning Fa claimed he had refined a quasi-Two Dao Mark Essence Replenishing Pill, and Ning Shaohong marveled at the pill's rarity and power.
• Ning Fa told Ning Shaohong he could not reliably repeat the refinement, while privately resolving to keep his body's secrets and the Mysterious Scroll hidden.
• Ning Shaohong decided to ask Second Elder Ning Weidong to devote more effort to nurturing Ning Fa for the sake of their branch.
• Ning Fa asked Ning Shaohong for another favor, and she was astonished when he said he wanted to challenge Ning Ruiming by refining a Three Yuan Pill.

Ning Fa explained that his challenge to Ning Ruiming was a calculated revenge and a way to protect himself, and Ning Shaohong agreed to support the contest. The chapter ended with Ning Fa setting his plan in motion while Ning Shaohong watched him leave, reminded of a man from her past.

• Ning Fa told Ning Shaohong he planned to challenge Ning Ruiming to a pill-refining contest to win the family's attention and discourage further attacks.
• Ning Fa privately resolved to use the contest to ruin Ning Ruiming's confidence and avenge the harm done to him and Uncle Xilin.
• Ning Fa assured Ning Shaohong that he could master the Three Yuan Pill within three months with enough spiritual ingredients.
• Ning Shaohong remembered a confident man who had returned from Jade Reed Island in blood, then agreed to support Ning Fa and help provide a fair contest and ingredients.
• Ning Fa thanked Ning Shaohong and left, while she watched his departing figure with a wistful expression.

Ning Fa arrived at the Alchemy Hall Assembly and revealed that he had advanced to the Fourth Layer of Qi Condensation, shocking Ning Ruiming and impressing Wei Chengzong. He then publicly credited Liu Qinghui for his breakthrough, leaving her stunned as the gathering watched.

• Ning Fa arrived at the Alchemy Hall Assembly, where Wei Chengzong, Ning Ruiming, Liu Qinghui, and other pill masters had gathered.
• Wei Chengzong noticed Ning Fa’s cultivation and learned that he had reached the Fourth Layer of Qi Condensation.
• Ning Ruiming reacted with disbelief and grew worried that Ning Fa would soon catch up to him in pill-master rank.
• Wei Chengzong warmly congratulated Ning Fa and predicted that he would become a First-grade Mid-rank Pill Master.
• Ning Fa told everyone that Liu Qinghui had supported him and helped cause his breakthrough, leaving her and the others stunned.

Ning Fa faced Ning Ruiming’s suspicions and received recognition from the clan elders after advancing to Qi Condensation Mid-stage. The elders then began reviewing the Alchemy Hall’s pill production.

• Ning Fa provoked Ning Ruiming by suggesting Liu Qinghui had helped him, but Liu Qinghui denied it and Ning Ruiming turned his anger toward Ning Fa.
• Ning Shumou congratulated Ning Fa, while the other alchemy apprentices held back because they feared Ning Ruiming.
• Wei Chengzong announced the arrival of the Third, Fourth, and Ninth Elders, who entered the Alchemy Hall together.
• Ning Zhongjiu and Ning Weize confirmed Ning Fa had reached the fourth layer of Qi Condensation and praised his accumulated mana, while Ning Shaohong watched with a smile.
• Wei Chengzong opened a bottle of Cloud Heart Pills and reported that the hall had refined fifty-nine finished pills from forty-nine batches of ingredients last year.

Wei Chengzong reported the Alchemy Hall’s pill output and progress, but Ning Zhongjiu demanded results on the Jade Dragon Pill within a year. Ning Fa then challenged Ning Ruiming to a Three Yuan Pill contest, and Ning Zhongjiu asked Ruiming for his response.

• Wei Chengzong presented the Alchemy Hall’s pill production figures and described progress on several new formulas.
• Ning Zhongjiu pressed Wei Chengzong about the Jade Dragon Pill, then gave the Alchemy Hall one year to produce a satisfactory result.
• Ning Zhongjiu invited the clan’s pillars to make requests, and Ning Fa asked to learn to refine the Three Yuan Pill.
• Ning Fa challenged Ning Ruiming to compete in refining the Three Yuan Pill, with three months to produce the higher-quality pill.
• Ning Weize and Ning Zhongjiu questioned Ning Fa’s confidence, and Ning Zhongjiu invited Ning Ruiming to respond to the challenge.

Ning Fa challenged Ning Ruiming to a public Three Yuan Pill contest, forcing him to accept under pressure from Ning Zhongjiu. The contest was set for three months later, with Ning Fa seeking Ning Ruiming’s Alchemy Hall residence as his prize if he won.

• Ning Fa offered to shorten the preparation period as Ning Ruiming hesitated, and Ning Zhongjiu pressured Ning Ruiming to accept the challenge.
• Ning Ruiming agreed to compete publicly with Ning Fa in refining Three Yuan Pills three months later, with Ning Zhongjiu as witness.
• Ning Fa asked for Ning Ruiming’s Alchemy Hall residence if he won, while Ning Weize set Ning Fa’s loss penalty at three hundred spirit stones.
• Ning Zhongjiu gave each competitor ten sets of ingredients and Ning Fa five extra sets, then Ning Shaohong arranged for Wei Chengzong to give Ning Fa the pill formula.
• Ning Ruiming left to consult his father and prepare for the contest, while Liu Qinghui watched him with an unreadable glint in her eyes.

Ning Fa secured costly Three Yuan Pill materials and Ning Xiuying's protection as he prepared for his match against Ning Ruiming. Ning Jiannan arranged extensive training and supplies for Ning Ruiming, who was ordered to win decisively and fairly.

• Ning Shaohong promised Ning Fa at least fifteen sets of Three Yuan Pill materials each month and arranged for Ning Xiuying to guard him on Pingchang Island.
• Ning Xiuying teased Ning Fa and promised him one condition if he defeated Ning Ruiming, giving him another reason to train hard.
• Ning Fa activated a Guardian Spirit Array in his pill room and began studying the Three Yuan Pill formula while preparing for the match three months away.
• Ning Jiannan warned Ning Ruiming that anything short of an overwhelming victory would damage his standing and demanded that he raise his pill success rate to at least forty percent.
• Ning Jiannan secured additional Three Yuan Pill materials and Wei Chengzong's instruction for Ning Ruiming, then ordered him not to tamper with the match.

Ning Fa studied the difficult Three Yuan Pill formula and trained relentlessly, using his scroll to master the extraction of its rare spirit materials. After Wei Shiqin’s subordinate delivered another batch, Ning Fa began repeated pill-refining attempts, absorbed in practice and no longer thinking about his contest with Ning Ruiming.

• Wei Shiqin’s subordinate delivered ten sets of Three Yuan Pill materials and said another ten sets would arrive in ten days; Ning Xiuying judged him a dangerous combatant who might outmatch her.
• Ning Fa resolved to improve his magical combat skills after the pill contest and returned to his chamber to study the Three Yuan Pill formula.
• Ning Fa spent days simulating the complex refinement process, relying on his abundant mana, strong divine sense, and rapid recovery.
• Ning Fa practiced extracting the spirit materials, using the scroll to retrace successful attempts and repeatedly replacing materials that he ruined.
• Ning Fa mastered the extraction of all the materials, including the difficult Mist Spirit Flower, after using ten portions of it.
• After another delivery of materials, Ning Fa repeatedly attempted to refine pills, reviewed each failure, and became completely absorbed in the work.

Ning Ruiming’s Three Yuan Pill success rate rose to thirty percent, but Liu Qinghui warned him that Ning Fa might be more capable than he expected and offered to train him. Two months later, Ning Fa emerged for the scheduled pill-refining match, where Ning Xiuying greeted him with an embrace.

• Wei Chengzong praised Ning Ruiming for producing two successful Three Yuan Pills in a batch and advised him to rest.
• Liu Qinghui warned Ning Ruiming that Ning Fa might be confident of winning and offered to guide him toward a higher success rate.
• Ning Ruiming accepted Liu Qinghui’s help and felt grateful, while she privately showed disgust and left.
• Two months later, Ning Xiuying waited anxiously for Ning Fa to emerge on the day of the match.
• Ning Fa teased Ning Xiuying about worrying over him, and she stepped forward and gently hugged him.

Ning Fa and Ning Ruiming faced off in a pill-refining contest before a crowd of Ning Clan elders and alchemists. As the contest began, both were confident they would defeat and humiliate the other.

• Ning Xiuying teased Ning Fa after he tried to get handsy, and he said her encouragement had made him certain of victory.
• Six elders, including three Foundation Establishment Elders and Ning Huarong, gathered to watch the contest in the Alchemy Hall.
• Ning Fa noticed Ning Huarong's interest in him and recalled that he had won their wager about reaching Qi Condensation Mid-stage.
• Ning Fa mouthed that Ning Ruiming was doomed to lose, while Ning Ruiming stayed composed and relied on his training with Liu Qinghui.
• Ning Zhongjiu announced the start of the contest, while Ning Shaohong smiled and Ning Jiannan worried about Ning Ruiming's chances.

Ning Fa and Ning Ruiming began their alchemy contest, and Ning Fa’s calm confidence and swift, precise handling of the ingredients surprised the watching clan members. As the contest got underway, Ning Fa appeared to be progressing faster and more smoothly than Ning Ruiming.

• Wei Chengzong restated the rules: Ning Fa and Ning Ruiming would refine Three Yuan Pills within seven hours using up to four sets of materials, with another round if their totals were tied.
• Ning Fa and Ning Ruiming inspected the materials and took their places at identical pill furnaces while the clan members watched.
• Wei Chengzong used the Phantom Flame Art to mark the seven-hour limit, but Ning Huarong rebuked him for delaying before he declared the contest begun.
• Ning Fa lifted the ingredients with his divine sense and began processing them with swift, precise Hand Seals, drawing the elders’ attention.
• Ning Ruiming worked skillfully but fell behind Ning Fa, prompting Ning Jiannan and other observers to watch Ning Fa more seriously.

Ning Fa refined two finished Three Yuan Pills in his first furnace, stunning the family elders and putting Ning Ruiming under pressure. Their first furnaces ended in a tie, and Ning Ruiming steeled himself for the next round as Ning Fa prepared to continue.

• Ning Fa extracted the spiritual ingredients faster than Ning Ruiming and began refining his pills first.
• Ning Fa finished his first furnace and distracted Ning Ruiming with a loud shout, causing his hand seals to tremble.
• Ning Fa revealed two finished Three Yuan Pills and two Failed Pills, astonishing the onlookers with his forty percent success rate.
• Ning Ruiming completed his first furnace with two finished Three Yuan Pills and one Failed Pill, tying the contest.
• Ning Ruiming felt the pressure of the contest and resolved to win as Ning Fa recovered and began preparing for the next round.

Ning Fa stunned the clan by refining two batches of Three Yuan Pills simultaneously and producing seven pills. Ning Ruiming’s furnace exploded, leaving him defeated and in shock.

• Ning Fa refined his second batch of Three Yuan Pills faster than before, producing three pills while Ning Ruiming also produced three after pushing himself beyond his limits.
• Ning Fa began refining two batches of Three Yuan Pills at once, astonishing the clan elders, apprentices, and Ning Ruiming.
• Ning Ruiming steadied himself and continued his own refinement while Ning Fa managed both pill furnaces through the pill-nurturing stage.
• Ning Fa opened both furnaces and produced three pills from one batch and four from the other.
• Ning Ruiming’s furnace erupted, and he stood in a daze as he stared at Ning Fa.

Ning Fa won the pill-refining contest by producing twelve Three Yuan Pills to Ning Ruiming’s five, crushing his rival with a risky technique that refined two furnaces at once. Ning Ruiming accused him of cheating, but Ning Zhongjiu silenced him as Ning Fa hinted that his retaliation had only begun.

• Wei Chengzong steadied Ning Ruiming’s furnace after Ning Ruiming lost control upon seeing Ning Fa refine two furnaces simultaneously.
• Wei Chengzong announced that Ning Fa had refined twelve Three Yuan Pills and defeated Ning Ruiming, who had made five.
• Ning Fa reflected that he had developed his divided-attention technique to humiliate Ning Ruiming and had relied on his Thunder Body and Thunder Sources to control the furnaces.
• Ning Fa told Ning Ruiming he had been lucky and said there was no need to hurry to leave his residence in the Alchemy Hall.
• Ning Ruiming accused Ning Fa of cheating by learning to refine Three Yuan Pills before challenging him, and Ning Zhongjiu suppressed him and declared that a loss was a loss.

After Ning Fa decisively won the pill-refining competition, the elders promoted him to First-grade Mid-rank Pill Master and Ning Zhongjiu bestowed his famed Azure Condensation Treasure Mirror upon him. Ning Jiannan and Ning Ruiming left in disgrace, while Ning Fa received congratulations and offers of support from the clan’s alchemists.

• Ning Fa taunted Ning Ruiming by offering to compete in another First-grade Mid-rank Pill, prompting Wei Chengzong to regret underestimating him.
• Ning Weize and Ning Weidong proposed that Ning Fa be promoted immediately, and Ning Zhongjiu formally declared him a First-grade Mid-rank Pill Master.
• Ning Zhongjiu gave Ning Fa the high-grade Azure Condensation Treasure Mirror, which Ning Fa accepted while suspecting the elder was trying to make amends for helping Ning Jiannan in the Heir Competition.
• Ning Jiannan took the shaken Ning Ruiming away, and Ning Fa reminded him not to forget their wager about moving into the Alchemy Hall.
• Ning Jideng, Ning Shumou, and the pill-refining apprentices congratulated Ning Fa, and Ning Shumou offered to help him with pill-refining questions.

After advancing to First-grade Mid-rank Pill Master, Ning Fa received a new Alchemy Hall Token, upgraded clan benefits, and instructions to refine Three Yuan Pills. He also selected three additional pill formulas, while his growing status drew attention from Ning Xiuying and Liu Qinghui.

• Ning Xiuying teased Ning Fa about treating her to a meal, and he hinted at her earlier promise before she left in embarrassment.
• Liu Qinghui congratulated Ning Fa and suggested they exchange alchemy experience, and he agreed with a teasing remark.
• Wei Chengzong gave Ning Fa a new token and robe, then explained his compensation and the Third Elder’s decision to grant him prospective First-grade High-rank benefits.
• Wei Chengzong assigned Ning Fa to refine Three Yuan Pills and gave him formulas for the Golden Marrow Pill and Jade Su Pill.
• Ning Fa chose the Spirit Ascension Pill, Meridian Protection Pill, and Precious Flower Paste formulas from the Alchemy Hall catalog.

After becoming a clan Pill Master, Ning Fa made Wei Chengzong pay for his past complicity by accepting valuable gifts. He also demanded that Wei Chengzong tell Ning Ruiming to vacate the residence Ning Fa had won, leaving Wei Chengzong wary of further grudges.

• Ning Fa vowed not to share the pill recipes without the clan's permission, and Wei Chengzong gave him Jade Slips containing three recipes.
• Ning Fa pointedly checked the side hall's restrictions, making Wei Chengzong realize he was settling old accounts.
• Wei Chengzong gave Ning Fa a second-grade low-rank Pill Master Inheritance, but Ning Fa's lingering stare prompted him to offer more.
• Wei Chengzong gave Ning Fa the Top-grade Magic Artifact Cloud Silk Furnace, which Ning Fa accepted with satisfaction.
• Ning Fa told Wei Chengzong to have Ning Ruiming vacate his residence promptly or risk a complaint to the Third Elder.

After winning the pill-making contest, Ning Fa returned to Pingchang Island with Ning Xiuying and slept with her, while both accepted that they would not become Dao Companions. The next day, he heard his relatives’ proposal to change spiritual islands and agreed to apply, though he privately planned to keep his aunt and Fourth Uncle’s family from moving there easily.

• Ning Xiuying told Ning Fa that Ning Shaohong was busy and would contact him later, then returned with him to Pingchang Island.
• Ning Fa and Ning Xiuying became intimate, but Ning Fa showed no intention of marrying her, so she chose to maintain a close relationship with him instead.
• After Ning Xiuying left, Ning Fa rested rather than cultivate or make pills after three months of intense work.
• Ning Zhengqian and Ning Zifeng visited Ning Fa and discussed changing spiritual islands with him.
• Ning Fa agreed to submit an application to the Sect Affairs Hall, but privately resolved not to let his eldest aunt and Fourth Uncle’s family move onto the island easily.