Chapter Summaries

Long Wanli bought the first two bottles of Spirit-Gathering Pills and aggressively bid on a third, while the auction drew the attention of the seven great clan heads. Long Xuan recognized Qian Duoduo among the bidders as the third bottle’s price climbed.

• The seven great clan heads entered the auction house and sat beside Long Xuan, while Long Wanli won the first bottle of Spirit-Gathering Pills for 1.1 million Spirit Stones.
• The Feng Family Head taunted Long Wanli about his wealth and his chances of winning the Fossil Ore Vein, but Long Wanli insisted his family could afford the bidding.
• Long Wanli immediately bid one million Spirit Stones for the second bottle, and Qian Duoduo disguised himself and raised the bid to 1.3 million before Long Wanli won it for 1.4 million.
• When a third bottle appeared, Long Wanli suspected the alchemist behind the pills might be a powerful figure he should befriend, then bid one million Spirit Stones.
• Qian Duoduo raised the third bottle’s bid to 1.3 million Spirit Stones, and Long Wanli answered with 1.4 million.

Qian Duoduo won the final bottle of Spirit-Gathering Pills at a painful price, and Long Xuan profited from the bidding. The auction then turned to the Fossil Ore Vein Treasure Map, where Qian Jinjin warned that the auction house could not guarantee its authenticity.

• Qian Duoduo bid 1.4 million Spirit Stones for the final bottle of Spirit-Gathering Pills after the Long Family Head declined to raise the price.
• Other bidders joined in, and Qian Duoduo won the bottle for 2.8 million Spirit Stones, regretting that he had not bought an earlier one.
• Long Xuan anticipated earning far more from the Fossil Ore Vein Treasure Map and considered the progress bars he saw on the antiques being auctioned.
• The family heads and spectators grew alert as Qian Jinjin introduced the Fossil Ore Vein Treasure Map and said the auction house could only confirm that the seller had passed an Integrity Gu inspection.
• The Seven Great Clans' heads and rival merchants dismissed Qian Jinjin's warning, believing the map was genuine.

The auction of an ownerless Fossil Ore Vein drew fierce bids, and Long Wanli used the merchant associations’ advantage to persuade the seven great Lineages to pool their resources. The family heads agreed to join forces, while Feng Qingyang realized Long Wanli’s earlier spending on Spirit-Gathering Pills had been part of his plan.

• Qian Jinjin opened bidding on the Fossil Ore Vein’s location at one hundred million Spirit Stones.
• The Feng Family Head and other bidders raised the price, while disguised Qian Duoduo pushed it to four hundred million Spirit Stones and drove the unprepared family heads out of contention.
• Long Wanli proposed that the seven Lineages each contribute one hundred million Spirit Stones so they could jointly acquire and mine the vein.
• The Shi Family Head endorsed Long Wanli’s proposal, and the other family heads agreed to join the alliance.
• Feng Qingyang realized Long Wanli had bought Spirit-Gathering Pills because he expected the Lineages to pool their resources, and he fumed over the advantage Long Wanli had gained.

Long Xuan’s Fossil Ore Vein sold to the Long Family Head for seven hundred million Spirit Stones after Qian Jinjin abandoned the bidding. Long Xuan collected the payment and his pill-sale earnings, while concealing that he lacked a storage bag large enough to hold them.

• The Long Family Head bid seven hundred million Spirit Stones with funds secretly pooled by the other merchant associations, and Qian Jinjin decided the Qian Clan Merchant Association would not keep bidding.
• Qian Jinjin quickly declared the Fossil Ore Vein sold to the Long Family Head, frustrating the merchant association leaders who had been considering a joint bid.
• Long Xuan presented his terrain map, and the Integrity Gu verified his claim that it marked an ownerless ore vein.
• The Long Family Head paid Long Xuan seven hundred million Spirit Stones, and Long Xuan concealed his storage problem by offering a bottle of Spirit-Gathering Pills in exchange for a larger storage bag.
• Qian Jinjin gave Long Xuan the proceeds from his pill sales, waived the ore-vein commission, and provided another storage bag as a gift.

After returning to Great Stone Village with the Spirit Stones, Long Xuan found his home undisturbed and began working on a Supreme-grade Gu Recipe using a Wine Worm. He quickly completed a recipe for Four-Flavor Wine, but wondered what ingredients its four component wines would need.

• Long Xuan’s Flame Clone left the marketplace safely, reunited with his main body, and returned with him to Great Stone Village.
• Long Xuan checked Wood Clone’s memories and found that nothing notable had happened while he was away.
• Long Xuan took out the Supreme-grade Wine Worm he had found in the mine and considered using distilled liquor techniques from his previous life to refine it.
• Long Xuan wrote a Wine Gu Recipe based on sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy Four-Flavor Wine, and its progress immediately reached 100%.
• Long Xuan doubted the recipe could be powerful with only four ingredients and realized each of its four wines might require many ingredients.

Long Xuan spent two years developing four high-quality Spirit Wine Recipes, and his clones’ cultivation pushed him to the Late Spirit-Gathering Stage. With three wines brewed and only the bitter wine unfinished, he sent the Flame Clone to obtain the last ingredient and make the wine so they could refine Wine Gu.

• Long Xuan decided to create four premium Spirit Wine Recipes, choosing fruit wine, glutinous rice wine, wormwood wine, and baijiu as his models.
• Long Xuan spent two years adapting the recipes with costly spiritual materials while his five clones advanced his cultivation to the Late Spirit-Gathering Stage.
• Long Xuan completed the sour, sweet, and spicy wines, whose effects included boosting agility, spiritual power, and strength, respectively.
• Long Xuan waited for a Wormwood Fruit to brew the bitter wine, which would heal injuries, before beginning to refine Wine Gu.
• Long Xuan ordered the Flame Clone to buy the Wormwood Fruit, brew and distill the bitter wine, and then refine Wine Gu.

Long Xuan began creating a lifespan-sacrificing forbidden art suited to the Scripture of Longevity while Flame Clone brewed and distilled wine for a wine Gu. After Little White was placed in the wine vat, half a year passed without the wine Gu progressing beyond 50%, leaving Long Xuan worried.

• Long Xuan discovered that his clones had cultivated the Scripture of Longevity to the fifteenth layer and decided to create a forbidden art that traded lifespan for destructive power.
• Flame Clone bought wormwood fruits, brewed bitter wine, and later distilled it while Long Xuan continued studying the forbidden art.
• Long Xuan combined distilled sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy wines in a vat, then tossed Little White into it to feed and transform into a wine Gu.
• Little White eagerly drank the layered wines, and Long Xuan covered the vat and waited while continuing to work on his forbidden art.
• After another half year, Long Xuan's forbidden art had reached 50%, but the wine Gu's progress had stalled at 50%, and he began to worry.

Long Xuan completed and tested his lifespan-consuming forbidden technique, naming it Energy Bomb, while the Wine Worm remained unconscious in distilled spirit wine. He finally remembered the ongoing refinement and hurried to check whether the supreme-grade Gu had survived.

• Long Xuan found the Wine Worm floating unconscious in the distilled liquor and decided to leave it undisturbed rather than risk ruining the refinement.
• After another hundred days, Long Xuan noticed the wine level had fallen and guessed the Wine Worm was drinking, repeatedly passing out, and waking again.
• Long Xuan completed his forbidden technique, which consumed lifespan to unleash immense destructive power, and named it Energy Bomb.
• Long Xuan tested Energy Bomb in the Origin Realm, blasting large craters and a replica of Old Long's Household before exhausting his lifespan there.
• Long Xuan hid the Energy Bomb manual, remembered the Wine Worm, and hurried outside to check on the refinement.

Long Xuan completed the Wine Gu’s blood pact and discovered that Little White possessed two powerful domains. After finding no Millennium Ice Marrow in Far Western Market, he encountered a Marrow Cleansing Peak man who smelled his wine and asked to taste it.

• Long Xuan found Little White transformed into a Gu worm, blood-pacted with it, and learned it possessed the Slowing Domain and Acceleration Domain.
• Long Xuan stored Little White in his Insect-Rearing Pouch and went to Far Western Market to search for Millennium Ice Marrow.
• Long Xuan searched the market stalls and asked about auctions but found neither the rare ingredient nor any worthwhile treasures.
• A muscular man with a canine animal Gu smelled wine on Long Xuan and asked to taste it.
• Long Xuan invoked Old Long’s name and cautiously asked the man who he was.

Long Xuan tried to discourage Long Lie from drinking his potent spirit wine, but Long Lie insisted on tasting it at the Qian Clan Tavern. After the first wine nearly made him collapse, Long Lie forced himself to drink the other three kinds, leaving Long Xuan stunned.

• Long Lie claimed that Old Long owed him five million Spirit Stones and demanded wine from Long Xuan.
• Long Xuan warned Long Lie that his wine was dangerously strong, but Long Lie challenged him to serve it.
• Long Xuan took Long Lie to the Qian Clan Tavern, ordered signature dishes, and brought out four kinds of spirit wine.
• Long Lie smelled the four wines and insisted that Long Xuan pour all of them, so Long Xuan served him less than half a cup of each.
• Long Lie gulped down the spicy wine, praised its strength, and nearly collapsed from drunkenness.
• Long Lie suppressed his urge to pass out and drained the remaining three cups while Long Xuan watched in astonishment.

After leaving the tavern, Long Xuan learned that Master Jin had found something resembling Millennium Ice Marrow and invited him to appraise it. Long Xuan headed to Master Jin’s mountain cave, eager to see whether the rare treasure could help him refine the Divine Ice Flame.

• Long Xuan ate his fill at the Qian Clan Tavern, then left Long Lie asleep to settle the bill.
• Long Xuan received a message from Master Jin, who had found something in Great Snow Mountain that might be Millennium Ice Marrow.
• Long Xuan sent his Flame Clone home to retrieve valuables and traveled to Master Jin’s cave dwelling.
• A youth greeted Long Xuan and explained that Master Jin could not confirm the find’s identity, so he had asked Long Xuan to appraise it.

Long Xuan visited Master Jin to inspect a piece of Millennium Ice Marrow and discovered that its progress was nearly 100%, meaning it could soon become Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Marrow. After confirming its authenticity, he decided to buy it, and Master Jin prepared to name his price.

• Long Xuan used his knowledge of formations to safely follow Master Jin's disciple through the cave dwelling's defensive formations.
• Long Xuan and Master Jin exchanged pleasantries in the main hall, where Long Xuan noticed that no banquet had actually been prepared.
• Master Jin took out the Millennium Ice Marrow, whose intense chill convinced Long Xuan that it was genuine.
• Long Xuan saw that the Millennium Ice Marrow's progress was 99.9999% and realized it was close to becoming Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Marrow.
• Long Xuan pretended he could not verify the treasure but declared that he intended to buy it, and Master Jin said he would name his price.

Long Xuan discovered that Master Jin had laced every dish and the wine with Gu, then learned that Master Jin planned to kill him for his fortune. Trapped inside a formation, Long Xuan faced three Gu insects released by Master Jin.

• Long Xuan used the Eye of Heavenly Secrets to spot tiny insects in the meat, then found Gu in every dish and the wine.
• Long Xuan pretended he needed to relieve himself, but a formation rose around the hall and trapped him.
• Master Jin admitted he wanted Long Xuan's wealth and claimed the Millennium Ice Marrow was worth over a hundred million Spirit Stones.
• A disciple urged Master Jin to kill Long Xuan with poison gas, but Master Jin said Long Xuan's Cockroach Gu would make poison useless.
• Master Jin opened his Insect-Rearing Pouch and released three vicious Gu insects into the formation.

Long Xuan defeated Master Jin and his disciples, then secured the Millennium Ice Marrow. After looting the cave, he found valuable formation materials and Artifact Refinement books that could help him pursue his Big-Pot Pill Refinement Technique.

• Master Jin sent his three High-Grade Gu Insects against Long Xuan, but Little White used its Slowing Domain to overpower them.
• Master Jin ordered his disciples to send their Gu insects into the battle while Long Xuan prepared a full-strength Five Elements Jade strike.
• Long Xuan and his five clones broke the trapping formation at once, allowing the strike to blast Master Jin apart and kill him.
• Little White and the five clones killed Master Jin's Gu insects and fleeing disciples, leaving no survivors in the cave.
• Long Xuan took Master Jin's storage pouch and recovered the Millennium Ice Marrow.
• Long Xuan ordered his clones to loot the cave and found rare formation materials and Artifact Refinement books for his future research.

Long Xuan traveled to the Great Snow Mountain to find a suitable place to grow Master Jin’s Millennium Ice Marrow, refine the Divine Ice Flame, and collect cold-resistant Water Bears for his Cockroach-style Gu Refinement Method. After reaching the mountain’s freezing mountainside, he decided to search its gentler slopes rather than risk climbing to the summit.

• Long Xuan stripped the cave dwelling of its treasures and formation materials, then prepared supplies and set out with his clones for the Great Snow Mountain.
• Long Xuan planned to upgrade the Millennium Ice Marrow, refine the Divine Ice Flame in the cold, and search for Water Bears.
• Long Xuan considered refining thousands of Supreme-grade Water Bears with his Cockroach-style Gu Refinement Method, which required Spirit Insects of the same species and grade.
• Long Xuan traveled for half a month to reach the Great Snow Mountain and spent another half month climbing to its snow-covered region.
• Long Xuan endured the mountain’s severe cold and chose to search the gentler slopes instead of attempting the dangerous summit.

Long Xuan collected Supreme-grade Water Bears and found a Millennium Iceberg Snow Lotus with the potential to become a ten-thousand-year spirit medicine. He took it to a secured cave, planning to cultivate it with his future Divine Ice Flame and wondering whether its nectar could evolve his Spirit Bees.

• Long Xuan and his four Externalized Clones gathered enough Supreme-grade Water Bears to meet his needs.
• Long Xuan spotted a Millennium Iceberg Snow Lotus and realized its growth potential meant it could eventually produce Supreme-grade Spirit Insects.
• Long Xuan sent Flame Clone to pick the lotus from a steep cliff, then hurried away before a gigantic snow eagle arrived.
• Long Xuan found a safe cave, sealed its entrance with rocks, and warmed himself beside a fire.
• Long Xuan admired the lotus and wondered whether Spirit Bees that consumed its nectar could evolve into queen bees.

Long Xuan found the original burial site of the Millennium Ice Marrow, cultivated it into Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Marrow, and used it to create an overwhelmingly powerful Divine Ice Flame. The Flame Clone failed while trying to refine the flame, and its life was rapidly fading.

• Long Xuan found a recently excavated pit deep inside the cave and realized it was the Millennium Ice Marrow's original location.
• Long Xuan ordered the clones to bury the Millennium Ice Marrow there, then waited ten days for it to become Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Marrow.
• Long Xuan had the clones prepare materials to refine Divine Ice Flame from the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Marrow.
• A blue-ice Divine Ice Flame appeared in the cave, and Long Xuan ordered the Flame Clone to refine it.
• The Flame Clone swallowed the Divine Ice Flame and froze as its vitality rapidly drained away; Long Xuan could not see any refining progress.

Long Xuan and his clones struggled to refine the Divine Ice Flame, which overwhelmed them even after its power was shared. By circulating their cultivation techniques in a Five Elements cycle, they finally subdued the flame, and Long Xuan prepared to return home with his clones.

• Long Xuan had four clones share the Divine Ice Flame’s power, but they began freezing and showed no refining progress.
• Long Xuan joined the clones, endured the flame’s agonizing cold and heat, and realized that dividing its power among five was still not enough.
• Long Xuan ordered the five of them to circulate their cultivation techniques and form a Mutual Generation Cycle of the Five Elements.
• The cycle melted the ice covering them and began the refinement, allowing Long Xuan and his clones to endure the process.
• Long Xuan completely subdued the Divine Ice Flame and announced that he would take his four clones home.

After returning to Great Stone Village, Long Xuan built a formation around his family’s abandoned field and planted the Millennium Iceberg Snow Lotus beside the Divine Ice Flame. The lotus thrived in the cold, leaving him eager to cultivate it in quantity and expand his Medicine Garden.

• Long Xuan returned to Great Stone Village and chose his family’s barren land as a site for planting the Millennium Iceberg Snow Lotus.
• Long Xuan used his formation knowledge to bury formation bases that amplified the Divine Ice Flame and protect the field with a Killing Formation.
• After two days, Long Xuan completed the formation and named it the Ice Formation.
• Long Xuan planted the Millennium Iceberg Snow Lotus beside the Divine Ice Flame, where it grew vigorously in the intense cold.
• Long Xuan decided to transplant more flower-type spiritual herbs into the Medicine Garden so he could bring his Spirit Bees there.

Long Xuan traveled to Di Xin’s residence to trade Spirit Insects for living spirit herbs and discover her enormous Medicine Garden. Di Xin led him toward the garden, whose location remained hidden beneath her illusion formation.

• Long Xuan sent Di Xin a Message Transmission Talisman asking to trade Spirit Insects for unexcavated spirit herbs, and she replied with her address.
• Long Xuan gathered mid-grade and high-grade Spirit Insects and traveled for a day to Di Xin’s residence on an open grassland.
• Di Xin explained that her Medicine Garden covered the grassland and was concealed by a massive illusion formation.
• Di Xin wondered whether Long Xuan could break her formations, while he insisted that they go straight to the Medicine Garden and finish the deal.
• Di Xin rebuked Long Xuan for assuming she would invite him inside, then led him toward her Medicine Garden.