Chapter Summaries

Long Xuan traveled to the Sword-Washing Pavilion under the alias Dan Lao, seeking its strongest Sword Intent while concealing his true identity. Pavilion Master Ren agreed to share his Unfettered Sword Intent in exchange for a chance at a Fourth-Grade Sword Bone Pill, and Long Xuan began preparing to refine it.

• Xiao Rou challenged Long Xuan for not killing the demonic cultivator who had murdered Sword-Washing Pavilion disciples, and Long Xuan learned the killer was collecting Sword Bones and had overwhelming spiritual power.
• The leading sword cultivator explained that the Sword-Washing Pavilion had many Sword Bone geniuses, then hurried to report the demonic cultivator and let Long Xuan board their flying vessel.
• Two days later, Pavilion Master Ren and the Sword-Washing Pavilion elders welcomed Long Xuan, who introduced himself as Dan Lao and asked to observe their strongest Sword Intent.
• Pavilion Master Ren offered his Unfettered Sword Intent and asked Long Xuan to refine a Fourth-Grade Sword Bone Pill for his unborn child.
• Long Xuan agreed to refine the pill under standard alchemy rules using thirty portions of materials, then entered seclusion and planned to delay the refinement for a month so his speed would not seem suspicious.

Long Xuan completed the Sword Bone Pill transaction with Sword-Washing Pavilion and obtained five strands of Unfettered Sword Intent. As he prepared to leave, a Demon-Slaying Edict ordered the region’s Gu Kings to hunt Heaven-Deceiving Ancestor Duan Tianwu, and the enforcer conscripted Long Xuan to take the pregnant woman’s place.

• Long Xuan emerged from seclusion with a full batch of ten Sword Bone Pills and gave five to Pavilion Master Ren.
• Pavilion Master Ren verified the pills and rewarded Long Xuan with a Spirit-Sealing Pearl containing five strands of Unfettered Sword Intent.
• As Long Xuan left Sword-Washing Pavilion, a Gu Emperor City enforcer delivered a Demon-Slaying Edict ordering its Sword Kings to report to Great Buddha Temple.
• Pavilion Master Ren explained that Heaven-Deceiving Ancestor Duan Tianwu had the Devouring Demon Gu and had advanced to Mid-Stage Gu King by slaughtering cities and absorbing spiritual power.
• The enforcer exempted Pavilion Master Ren’s pregnant wife from the mission but ordered Long Xuan to fill her place.

Long Xuan, a Spiritual Sea Stage cultivator posing as a Gu King, was compelled by Gu Emperor City’s Demon-Slaying Edict to join the mission against Duan Tianwu. At Great Buddha Temple, Enforcer Lei gathered 125 Gu Kings and argued they had to attack quickly, revealing that the famed Lei Wan would fight alongside them.

• Long Xuan recalled Gu Emperor City's ancient origins and authority, then reluctantly traveled with the Sword-Washing Pavilion experts to Great Buddha Temple, keeping a Hundred-Li Talisman ready in case he needed to escape.
• Long Xuan arrived at the temple and entered a secret chamber, where he met roughly a hundred Gu Kings assembled for the demon-slaying mission.
• Pavilion Master Ren identified Qin Manyuan as a leading expert of the Flame Court Empire's imperial family and suspected the Qin Clan had come to avenge its Gu Kings killed by Duan Tianwu.
• Enforcer Lei counted 125 Gu Kings and declared them the mission's final force, prompting Qin Manyuan to call for at least 300 participants to ensure victory.
• Enforcer Lei explained that Duan Tianwu's Devouring Demon Gu would soon restore him to Peak Gu King strength, making any delay dangerous, and the gathered Gu Kings accepted that they had to act quickly.
• Enforcer Lei revealed that Lei Wan, Middle Frontier's foremost expert with the Thunder Punishment Body, would take part, raising the Gu Kings' confidence in defeating Duan Tianwu.

Lei Wan and the assembled Gu Kings prepared to fight Duan Tianwu, while the Great Buddha Temple abbot explained how Duan Tianwu had returned from death. The abbot revealed that every Demon-Sealing Box in the Demon-Sealing Pagoda had vanished, leaving the scale of the danger unknown.

• Qin Manyuan and the abbot warned Lei Wan that Duan Tianwu's Devouring Demon Gu could drain spiritual power, and Lei Wan said a Purification Gu would counter it.
• Lei Wan identified the Demon Emperor's Heart as the battle's greatest threat, and Qin Manyuan proposed using a Gu King who resembled Princess Xiyue to catch Duan Tianwu off guard.
• The abbot explained that Duan Tianwu had been killed after Princess Xiyue died, but a sealed remnant of his soul survived and later returned to his own body.
• The abbot revealed that Duan Tianwu had separated his good thoughts, leaving his evil thoughts in the body that became the demonic Duan Tianwu.
• The abbot said Duan Tianwu's good thoughts escaped from the Demon-Sealing Pagoda and reunited with his evil thoughts, while Long Xuan realized that Little Apothecary was that body of good thoughts.
• The abbot privately recalled that every Demon-Sealing Box in the Demon-Sealing Pagoda had disappeared decades earlier, but he concealed the revelation from the gathered Gu Kings.

Lei Wan traded Long Xuan a seed of Evil-Warding Divine Bamboo for a three-hundred-year Longevity Elixir and assigned him to treat the wounded from the rear. The Gu Kings lured Duan Tianwu into an ambush at Great Buddha Temple, where the disguised Qin Yuyou stabbed his Demon Emperor heart with the Evil-Warding Sword, and Lei Wan’s group rushed in to attack.

• Lei Wan explained that Evil-Warding Divine Lightning could cripple Duan Tianwu and gave Qin Manyuan the Evil-Warding Sword for the ambush.
• Long Xuan traded Lei Wan a three-hundred-year Longevity Elixir for a seed of Evil-Warding Divine Bamboo, and Lei Wan arranged for him to stay behind as a physician.
• Lei Wan’s group hid in a secret chamber, and Qin Manyuan gave the veiled female Gu King the name Qin Yuyou and the Evil-Warding Sword.
• Seven days later, Duan Tianwu returned to Great Buddha Temple and embraced Qin Yuyou, who stabbed his Demon Emperor heart with the sword.
• Lei Wan and the Gu Kings charged from hiding to attack Duan Tianwu, while the old abbot warned them to stop the slaughter.

Duan Tianwu fought off the Gu Kings despite his severe injuries, then smashed through the Great Buddha Temple’s barrier and escaped. Lei Wan pursued him alone and was killed, leaving the demon-elimination mission in failure.

• Duan Tianwu fought more than a hundred Gu Kings, killing several while Lei Wan’s lightning attacks worsened his injuries.
• Duan Tianwu charged through the temple-protecting formation and broke its barrier with his Qilin Arm, then fled as Lei Wan and the other Gu Kings gave chase.
• Long Xuan followed the pursuit from behind and worried that Lei Wan would have to face Duan Tianwu alone.
• The Gu Kings arrived to find Lei Wan dead and Duan Tianwu gone; Qin Manyuan said he had found Lei Wan’s body after the battle.
• A Gu Emperor City enforcer carried Lei Wan’s corpse away and urged the others to report Duan Tianwu’s growing threat to the Gu Emperor.

After Duan Tianwu escaped the failed ambush, Qin Manyuan revealed that he had secretly killed Lei Wan and saved Duan to enter him in the Alchemy Competition. He planned to risk the Qin Clan’s safety to help the Flame Court Empire win half the Radiant Moon Empire’s National Fortune.

• The Gu Kings left after Duan Tianwu escaped, while the old abbot struggled against the Heart Demon caused by Duan’s Heart-Questioning Finger.
• Long Xuan departed without using the Eye of Heavenly Secrets to search for Duan Tianwu, leaving Qin Manyuan alone.
• A female Gu King confronted Qin Manyuan and proved he had killed Lei Wan because she had tampered with the Evil-Repelling Sword and tracked it to him.
• Qin Manyuan admitted that he had changed sides after hearing the old abbot’s account and insisted Duan Tianwu must survive for at least a year.
• Qin Manyuan explained that he intended to have Duan Tianwu compete in the Alchemy Competition and win half the Radiant Moon Empire’s National Fortune for the Flame Court Empire.
• The female Gu King warned that Qin Manyuan had endangered their clan by saving a Forbidden Gu refiner and killing a Gu Emperor City enforcer, but he argued that losing the wager could destroy the empire.

Duan Tianwu shared memories with Little Apothecary, revealing the life of Huizeng, a brilliant monk who used the Gu of Wisdom to create powerful inheritances. Huizeng developed the Endless Battle Canon and replicated the forbidden Devouring Demon Gu, becoming the feared Heaven-Deceiving Ancestor.

• Duan Tianwu told Little Apothecary that Qin Yuyou had been the woman he loved, then transmitted his memories to him.
• Huizeng’s abbot praised his Great Buddha Swordsmanship but refused to promote it and sealed the Buddha-Questioning Gu Recipe because it violated the temple’s principles.
• After debating the abbot, Huizeng conceived the Endless Battle Canon by imagining Spirit Seas within the body’s smallest structures.
• Huizeng decided to imitate the Devouring Demon Gu so he could fuel the Endless Battle Canon without refining a Forbidden Gu.
• At twenty-seven, Huizeng completed the Endless Battle Canon amid tribulation lightning; three years later, he replicated the Devouring Demon Gu and became known as the Heaven-Deceiving Ancestor.
• At thirty-five, Huizeng completed his cultivation of the Endless Battle Canon with the Devouring Demon Gu and laughed at the height of his power.

Duan Tianwu recalled how Huizeng abandoned Buddhist precepts for love, fell to demonic paths, and lost Yuyou after rescuing her. He agreed to Qin Manyuan’s proposal on the condition that he could have a cultivator who resembled Yuyou, while Long Xuan continued north and strengthened the Blade Gu.

• Huizeng fell in love with Princess Xiyue, Qin Yuyou, but stopped seeing her after the abbot rebuked him for breaking Buddhist precepts.
• Qin Yuyou told Huizeng she would be forced into a political marriage, and he eventually took her from the bridal procession and slaughtered their pursuers with the Devouring Demon Gu.
• Huizeng lost Yuyou after they escaped, and his memories brought Duan Tianwu to tears.
• Duan Tianwu told Qin Manyuan he would accept her proposal only if he could have a female cultivator who resembled Yuyou, and Qin Manyuan agreed to try to persuade her.
• Long Xuan traveled toward the Heavenly Phoenix Empire, planted the Evil-Warding Divine Bamboo, and fed the Blade Gu an Unfettered Sword Intent so it could evolve.

Long Xuan attended a trade fair for Third-Grade Alchemists in Heavenly Phoenix City, where the Ninth Prince offered two Gold-Eating Insects for trade. Long Xuan saw a way to use his knowledge of alloys to raise the insects to terrifying strength and decided to acquire them.

• Long Xuan entered Heavenly Phoenix City under an alias and visited the Third-Grade Alchemist trade fair.
• The Ninth Prince introduced himself and presented two Gold-Eating Insects, explaining their abilities and the costly metals needed to strengthen them.
• Several alchemists bid for the insects with spirit stones, ore, and pills.
• Long Xuan imagined using an alloy formula to feed the insects cheaply and raise them to their theoretical maximum strength.
• Long Xuan decided he would obtain the two Gold-Eating Insects.

Long Xuan traded a Supreme Spirit Flame to the Ninth Prince for two Gold-Eating Insects, then displayed more Spirit Flames to exchange for rare resources. He obtained a seed of the Heaven-grade Seven-Colored Calabash Vine, which could age wine stored inside its calabashes.

• Long Xuan offered a Supreme Spirit Flame and received two Gold-Eating Insects from the Ninth Prince.
• The Ninth Prince inspected the flame, praised its quality, and learned Long Xuan called it the Pure Lotus Demon Flame.
• Long Xuan displayed bottles of Spirit Flames and announced the resources he wanted in exchange, including Earth-grade or higher Spirit Medicines.
• A white-bearded alchemist offered a seed of the Heaven-grade Seven-Colored Calabash Vine for Long Xuan's Supreme Spirit Flame.
• Long Xuan exchanged the flame for the seven-colored seed and stored it in his storage ring.

Long Xuan traded Spirit Flames at an alchemist gathering, exposing a dishonest seller with his Integrity Gu and learning that Ten-Thousand-Year Monkey Wine was on Monkey Mountain. After the wine’s whereabouts were confirmed, a damaged staff artifact formula inspired him to create a Golden Cudgel to trade for the wine and help transform his Gu.

• Long Xuan traded away his Spirit Flames but kept one Supreme Spirit Flame, then offered a Mid-Grade Spirit Flame for reliable information about supreme-grade wine.
• A gaunt old man tried to swindle Long Xuan with fabricated information, but Long Xuan revealed his Integrity Gu and exposed the lie, driving the old man away in disgrace.
• A beautiful Third-Grade Alchemist told Long Xuan that Fourth-Tier Spirit Monkeys guarded Ten-Thousand-Year Monkey Wine on Monkey Mountain, and Long Xuan confirmed her information and rewarded her with a Mid-Grade Spirit Flame.
• The beautiful alchemist offered a damaged supreme-grade Fourth-Grade staff artifact formula, but the gathering’s alchemists hesitated because they could not verify it.
• Long Xuan recognized the formula as genuine and decided to trade for it as a reference for making a Golden Cudgel, which he hoped to exchange with the Monkey King for Ten-Thousand-Year Monkey Wine.

Long Xuan traded for an incomplete artifact formula, then spent three months developing three alloys and advancing his Gold-Eating Insects. As the Alchemy Competition’s elimination rounds began, he chose to compete with his main body and reveal all his alchemy trump cards to earn the highest score.

• Long Xuan traded a third-grade Blood-Soul Pill formula for the beautiful alchemist’s incomplete artifact formula.
• During three months of seclusion, Long Xuan developed Mystic Gold, Earth Gold, and Heaven Gold, alloys made from metals of the first three grades.
• Long Xuan fed the Gold-Eating Insects Earth Gold, enabling them to complete their first evolution, and planned to gather materials for Heaven Gold.
• Long Xuan left the Heaven-Swallowing World Toad’s space when he realized the Alchemy Competition’s elimination rounds were beginning.
• Long Xuan rejected relying on his clone because the competition’s cumulative scoring system required him to pursue the highest possible score with his main body.

Long Xuan arrived at the Alchemy Competition’s elimination round and entered his examination room after a chaotic journey through the crowded streets. The test began with ten difficult third-grade water lingzhi mushrooms, leaving him to face the first challenge of the competition.

• Long Xuan learned that his bad luck had scheduled him for the first day of the elimination round, then flew to the venue using Starstep and leaves.
• Long Xuan saw Princess Long Yuyao make a high-profile entrance and learned she was a favored contender from the Dragon-Teng Empire.
• Long Xuan used the Eye of Heavenly Secrets to make Feng Shuang fall while he tried to fly over the crowd, embarrassing the Feng Clan’s leading third-grade alchemist.
• The leading Feng Clan Gu King dismissed Feng Shuang’s mishap and claimed the clan had another trump card to win the competition and take half of the Long Family’s Clan Fortune.
• Long Xuan found his assigned room on the third floor and prepared for the examination under the rules of the herb-refinement test.
• A proctor delivered ten third-grade water lingzhi mushrooms, identified them as the round’s most difficult herb, and started the timed examination.

Long Xuan carefully began refining ten Water Lingzhi with the Pure Lotus Demon Flame, while the judges waited to see who would finish the difficult assessment first. Long Xiaoyao and Feng Tiancheng wagered on which clan would score higher, and the first contestants to leave were eliminated after ruining most or all of their herbs.

• Long Xuan used the Pure Lotus Demon Flame and his main body’s soul power to refine the ten Water Lingzhi one at a time.
• Long Xiaoyao praised the competition’s talented participants and noted that Water Lingzhi was exceptionally difficult to refine.
• Wang Hu predicted that Long Yuyao or Feng Shuang would be the first genius to finish, while Feng Tiancheng argued that the first contestant out would likely be an inept alchemist.
• Feng Tiancheng challenged Long Xiaoyao to wager a Fourth-Grade Pill Formula on which of their clans would score higher, and Long Xiaoyao accepted.
• Contestants who had burned through their Water Lingzhi began leaving the examination rooms, and the judges eliminated them for producing no passing results.

Long Xuan shocked the Alchemy Competition judges by purifying one Water Lingzhi to tenfold purity, surpassing Long Yuyao and Feng Shuang. Long Xiaoyao awarded him a perfect score while Feng Tiancheng tried to suppress his score, leaving the judges to decide how his performance would be rated.

• Long Yuyao and Feng Shuang each achieved a one hundred percent success rate and received matching scores of ninety-seven, ending their round in a draw.
• Long Xuan arrived with ten bottles, and Long Xiaoyao discovered that one contained Water Lingzhi essence with tenfold purity.
• The judges, Long Yuyao, and Feng Shuang were astonished by Long Xuan's feat, while Feng Shuang's confidence faltered.
• Long Xuan recalled that he had used Heavenly Flame and the Setting Sun Divine Flame on his final Water Lingzhi to achieve tenfold purity.
• Feng Tiancheng tried to give Long Xuan only ninety points, but Long Xiaoyao argued that only the best bottle counted and awarded him one hundred points.

Long Xuan earned a perfect score in the Alchemy Competition’s first round and began preparing to forge Heaven Gold, while the Feng Clan planned to counter him by exploiting the appearance of the dangerous Heaven-Burning Ancestor. The chapter ended with Feng Tiancheng realizing how perilous the scheme was, as the phoenix-robed elder insisted the clan could deny responsibility.

• Long Xuan received a final score of one hundred, and Long Xiaoyao collected the Bone-Strengthening Pill formula he had won from Feng Tiancheng.
• Long Yuyao confronted Long Xuan about his Heavenly Flame, but he escaped her pursuit by splitting into five clones.
• Long Xuan returned to the inn and sent his clones to gather materials so he could formulate Heaven Gold and forge a third-grade alchemy furnace during the ten-day break.
• Feng Tiancheng told the phoenix-robed elder that Long Xuan threatened the Feng Clan, and the elder revealed that the clan’s wager was intended to draw out Feng Jiutian, the Heaven-Burning Ancestor.
• Feng Tiancheng warned that Feng Jiutian was a wanted demonic cultivator, but the phoenix-robed elder claimed the Feng Clan could pretend innocence and even stage an attack if his identity became known.

After Heavenly Flame attacks destroyed the Teleportation Arrays around Heavenly Phoenix City, Long Xuan prepared for the Alchemy Competition while assessing his strongest rivals. He entered the second elimination round with a new Heavenly Gold Alchemy Furnace and planned to use his Big-Pot Pill Refinement Technique to outscore them.

• Feng Tiancheng considered the Imperial Preceptor’s scheme against the Long Family, but explosions erupted across the city as Heavenly Flame fireballs destroyed its Teleportation Arrays.
• Long Xuan realized a contestant at the competition wielded Heavenly Flame and decided he might have to reveal his own to refine pills in the finals.
• During the next half month, Long Xuan learned that Feng Jiu and Qin Dan had earned perfect scores, while Long Yuyao, Feng Shuang, and Wang Wu also ranked among the strongest contestants.
• Long Xuan completed a powerful Heavenly Gold Alchemy Furnace whose size could expand far beyond that of the Demon-Swallowing Cauldron.
• As the second elimination round began, Long Xuan chose to showcase his Big-Pot Pill Refinement Technique by attempting to produce tens of thousands of pills in one batch.

Long Xuan arrived at the second round of the Western Region Alchemy Competition and learned that contestants would be judged on the difficulty of their alchemy techniques. As the round began, he sat in the unlucky center position, wary of potential Fourth-Grade Alchemists among his rivals.

• Long Xuan flew over the crowded streets to the plaza and inspected the vast stockpile of medicinal ingredients prepared for the competition.
• Feng Tiancheng taunted Long Xiaoyao over their wager, then raised the stakes to five blood-bound Supreme Variant Gus; Long Xiaoyao accepted.
• Feng Tiancheng opened the seventy-ninth Western Region Alchemy League and called the contestants who passed the first round into the arena.
• Long Xuan found his assigned seat in the center of the plaza, while Long Yuyao watched from an edge seat with a smug smile.
• Feng Tiancheng announced that the second round would reward the most difficult alchemy technique and warned contestants they would have to pay for ruined ingredients.
• The contestants began warming their furnaces, filling the plaza with flames of many colors.

The Alchemy Competition contestants hesitated to choose pills, so Feng Shuang began refining the dangerous Icefire Twin Extremes Pill, prompting several rivals to follow suit. Long Xuan watched Qin Dan prepare an even more difficult improved version and continued waiting to choose his own pill.

• Feng Shuang broke the contestants’ stalemate by gathering materials for the Icefire Twin Extremes Pill, frightening nearby alchemists into moving away.
• Feng Tiancheng refused to change the seating arrangements, so the contestants around Feng Shuang waited at a distance for him to finish.
• Ninth Prince Wang Wu and Long Yuyao changed their plans and prepared to refine the Icefire Twin Extremes Pill as well.
• Long Xuan stayed calm and watched Feng Jiu and Qin Dan, waiting to see what pills they would attempt.
• Qin Dan revealed an improved Icefire Twin Extremes Pill formula with high-grade ice- and fire-attribute materials, raising the pill’s difficulty and the danger of an explosion.