Chapter Summaries

Ji Yuan upgraded the Artifact Refining Room and synthesized it with the Alchemy, Talisman, and Formation Rooms into a Level Two Heavenly Craft Workshop, whose Level Three effect promised instant mastery of the four arts. He began moving his operations to Carefree Island and went to Water Dragon Island to see off the cultivators bound for Shang Mountain, where he reassured Feng Zhitáo about staying behind before a familiar voice interrupted them.

• Ji Yuan bought materials on the Island of All Things, upgraded the Artifact Refining Room, and learned how to refine Heavenly Thunder Pellets, though his skill was not yet high enough to make them.
• Ji Yuan synthesized the four Level Two rooms into the Heavenly Craft Workshop and discovered that its Level Three Spirit Effect could grant immediate mastery of alchemy, formations, talismans, and artifact refinement.
• Ji Yuan considered the workshop’s costly upgrade requirements and planned to move his buildings to Carefree Island while preparing for the Orthodox-Demonic War.
• Ji Yuan moved the Spirit Pigs and Spirit Chickens to Carefree Island, changed the Formation’s access rules, and traveled with Dong Qian to Water Dragon Island.
• Ji Yuan met Feng Zhitáo, learned that she had given up her place on the Shang Mountain expedition because she feared the danger, and reassured her that she could contribute in other ways.
• A familiar voice asked Ji Yuan whether he was going to Shang Mountain.

Ji Yuan saw Yun Qianzai off to Shang Mountain, then asked Li Changhe for rare materials to upgrade his Level Four Pigsty. Li Changhe offered leads on two materials and a safer post at City-Overlooking Mountain, while Hua Yaoyue revealed the Taiyi Azure Light Talisman was on the Desolate Ancient Continent.

• Ji Yuan declined to join the expedition to Shang Mountain, and Li Changhe said he had to oversee the Water Dragon Sect’s Alchemy Workshop construction at City-Overlooking Mountain.
• Yun Qianzai departed for Shang Mountain after secretly arranging for Feng Zhitáo to remain behind and asking Ji Yuan to care for their master and third senior sister.
• Ji Yuan asked Li Changhe for Fire Vein Spirit Marrow, Three-Eyed Dark Beast Spines, and a Taiyi Azure Light Talisman, but Li Changhe said the Li Family had none of them.
• Li Changhe directed Ji Yuan to Icefire Island for the Spirit Marrow and a possible source of Three-Eyed Dark Beast Spines, and promised to bring him two Third-Order Monster Cores.
• Li Changhe said he would try to transfer Ji Yuan to the City-Overlooking Mountain Alchemy Workshop, keeping him away from the Shang Mountain front.
• Ji Yuan asked Hua Yaoyue about the Taiyi Azure Light Talisman, and she said it was on the Desolate Ancient Continent.

Ji Yuan obtained the Taiyi Azure Light Talismans from Hua Yaoyue and moved his buildings and resources from Mist Island to Carefree Island while preparing to travel to Icefire Island. Just as he was about to depart, the Mass Burial Ground produced a new Golden Core Realm Corpse Puppet, Heavenly Silkworm True Person, whose aura seemed unstable.

• Hua Yaoyue gave Ji Yuan two Taiyi Azure Light Talismans and explained their powers and the Taiyi Immortal Sect's origins.
• Ji Yuan relocated his Spirit Fish, Spirit-Devouring Bees, Spirit Vein, Corpse Puppets, and Mass Burial Ground from Mist Island to Carefree Island, while the Giant Toad refused to leave.
• After the Water Dragon Sect reported casualties at Shang Mountain, Ji Yuan accepted an official delivery mission to Southern Sea City so he could continue on to Icefire Island.
• Hua Yaoyue replaced Ji Yuan's jade cup with one that could withstand a Golden Core Peak cultivator for half an incense stick's time.
• A surge of yin energy erupted from the Mass Burial Ground as Ji Yuan prepared to leave, and he discovered a new Golden Core Realm Corpse Puppet formed from Heavenly Silkworm True Person.

Ji Yuan traveled south, discovered the Great Love Sect had vanished, and killed three Burrowing Rotten Earthworms to meet one of the requirements for upgrading his [Spirit Field]. After five months on the road, he reached the coast near Southern Sea City.

• Ji Yuan repaired the Heavenly Silkworm True Person with yin energy, gathered his Corpse Puppets and Spirit-Devouring Bees, and departed Carefree Island.
• Ji Yuan learned in Great Love City that the Great Love Sect had disappeared and that Joy Palace seemed intent on erasing traces of the Great Love True Person.
• Two Burrowing Rotten Earthworms attacked Yin Boy, so Ji Yuan sent Monday to fight and killed the pair with his artifacts and Sword Embryos.
• Ji Yuan found and killed a third, weaker Burrowing Rotten Earthworm with his Yin Ghosts, fulfilling another requirement for upgrading the [Spirit Field].
• Two Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivators arrived after Ji Yuan left, saw the battlefield, and fled after sensing his power and demonic aura.
• Ji Yuan traveled south for five months and finally saw the ocean and the towering city of Southern Sea City.

Ji Yuan arrived in Southern Sea City and learned about the ships that traveled through the Storm Zone to Icefire Island. He bought a round-trip passage on the Luo Family’s Whale-Patrol Boat and left Xie Wan with a generous reward before departing as a nameless Rogue Cultivator.

• Ji Yuan entered Southern Sea City, hired Xie Wan as his guide, and learned about the city and the dangers of reaching Icefire Island.
• Xie Wan told Ji Yuan about the Luo Family’s Whale-Patrol Boat and the cheaper, riskier Ephemeral Flower Boat, and Ji Yuan chose the Luo Family’s ship.
• Ji Yuan and Xie Wan traveled to the docks, where he paid twenty Middle-Grade Spirit Stones for a round-trip boarding pass to Icefire Island.
• Ji Yuan learned that Southern Sea City’s next auction was a year away, then gave Xie Wan a Middle-Grade Spirit Stone and dismissed her.
• When Xie Wan asked his name, Ji Yuan introduced himself as a nameless Rogue Cultivator named Ji Yuan.

Ji Yuan completed his sect mission in Southern Sea City, then boarded the Luo Family’s Whale-Patrol Boat to travel to Icefire Island. After a voyage of nearly twenty days, the ship reached the edge of the Storm Zone, where Ji Yuan went on deck to see it.

• Ji Yuan used a Form-Changing Talisman to visit the Water Dragon Sect’s shop, where Island Lord Cang Song verified his mission delivery and issued him a certificate.
• Ji Yuan learned from Island Lord Cang Song that the Ephemeral Flower Guests had a Pseudo-Core cultivator and operated a route to Icefire Island, then waited for the Luo Family’s ship.
• Ji Yuan boarded the Whale-Patrol Boat with his certificate and settled into an Earth-grade cabin.
• Ji Yuan spent the voyage cultivating and talking with Huang Laotou, while briefly glimpsing a woman in a dark green dress at Heaven Room Two.
• Ji Yuan felt the ship rocking violently on the tenth morning and went on deck to watch the Storm Zone.

Ji Yuan discovered that the Mourning Eccentric, Ye Zhiqiu, and the Whale-Patrol Boat’s captain, Luo Sifu, planned to rob the passengers. Just as the robbery seemed to be ending, a young cultivator’s hidden sword cut Luo Sifu and the boat in two, leaving Ji Yuan in immediate peril.

• Ji Yuan recognized Ye Zhiqiu aboard the Whale-Patrol Boat and learned through a secret exchange that the Mourning Eccentric had forced her to surrender a wisp of her Divine Soul.
• Ye Zhiqiu told Ji Yuan that the Mourning Eccentric and Luo Sifu planned to rob the passengers, while Luo Sifu intended to betray the Luo Family and take the boat.
• After the boat dived beneath the sea, Luo Sifu announced the robbery, and Ji Yuan handed Ye Zhiqiu an empty Storage Bag while keeping his identity concealed.
• Luo Sifu killed Tian Youdao for hiding valuables and warned the other passengers to surrender everything; he and Ye Zhiqiu then plundered the remaining cultivators.
• A youth in black robes condemned Luo Sifu, unleashed a miniature shortsword that split Luo Sifu and the Whale-Patrol Boat in two, and vanished from the ship.

Ji Yuan escaped the shattered Whale-Patrol Boat and fled through the Storm Zone, where he encountered a Thunderstorm Flood Dragon and finally reached Icefire Island. Mourning Eccentric and Ye Zhiqiu survived the dragon’s pursuit too, and Ji Yuan confronted Mourning Eccentric about the debt he still owed.

• A sword strike split Luo Sifu and the Whale-Patrol Boat, forcing Mourning Eccentric, Ye Zhiqiu, and the passengers to flee as the ship broke apart.
• Ji Yuan escaped beneath the boat, transformed his Wind Sophora Flying Boat into the Rift-Splitting Boat, and passed Mourning Eccentric with Heavenly Silkworm True Person protecting him.
• A Third-Order Thunderstorm Flood Dragon attacked Ji Yuan, but he and Heavenly Silkworm True Person fled while Mourning Eccentric and Ye Zhiqiu were caught in its pursuit.
• Ji Yuan crossed the Storm Zone and reached Icefire Island, where he rested on the beach for several hours.
• Mourning Eccentric and Ye Zhiqiu emerged from the sea near Ji Yuan, and Ji Yuan demanded that Mourning Eccentric repay his debt.

Ji Yuan and Heavenly Silkworm True Person fought Mourning Eccentric over the poisoned sea and killed him. Ji Yuan collected Mourning Eccentric's belongings and the depleted corpse puppet before a newcomer landed and questioned him about it.

• Mourning Eccentric tried to flee, but Ye Zhiqiu refused to attack Ji Yuan and revealed that Mourning Eccentric could not kill her by crushing her Divine Soul.
• Heavenly Silkworm True Person countered Mourning Eccentric's poison attacks and destroyed two of his refined corpses, while Ji Yuan blasted the third with a Heavenly Thunder Pellet.
• Mourning Eccentric unleashed Ten Thousand Snakes Devour the Heart, but Heavenly Silkworm True Person expanded the Heavenly Net and ground the poisonous snakes away.
• The Heavenly Net captured and killed Mourning Eccentric, and Ji Yuan took his Storage Bag, drew his soul into the Thousand-Soul Banner, and stored Heavenly Silkworm True Person.
• A person flew down from the island, landed before Ji Yuan, and asked whose child he was and why a Golden Core Corpse Puppet accompanied him.

Ji Yuan and Ye Zhiqiu reached Icefire Island, where Icefire Old Man sheltered them and promised to take Ji Yuan to the Weird Pool in a few days. Ji Yuan counted and divided the spoils from Mourning Eccentric, Luo Sifu, and the island robbery, then Ye Zhiqiu hinted that Mourning Eccentric's Storage Bag held another valuable set of treasures.

• Ji Yuan identified himself as Li Changshou, and Icefire Old Man took him and Ye Zhiqiu to his home on Icefire Island.
• Icefire Old Man offered them a room and said he would take Ji Yuan to the Weird Pool after they had rested; he also angrily called the resident of the nearby palaces an arrogant madman.
• Ye Zhiqiu handed Ji Yuan the Spirit Stones plundered from the island, and Ji Yuan counted them alongside the contents of Mourning Eccentric's and Luo Sifu's Storage Bags.
• Ji Yuan claimed Mourning Eccentric's Five-Poison Snake Staff, Luo Sifu's Water-Splitting Stinger and Dragon-Whisker Shield, and several other treasures.
• Ye Zhiqiu reminded Ji Yuan that Mourning Eccentric's Storage Bag contained another fine set of treasures.

Ji Yuan learned the Spirit-Cutting Technique from Ye Zhiqiu and settled the debt between them before preparing to form his flying Sword Embryo. Icefire Old Man finally summoned him to a palace, where he revealed that he had once been a mortal emperor.

• Ji Yuan found Mourning Eccentric's three treasures for capturing a Thunderstorm Flood Dragon and decided to sell them rather than risk fighting the beast.
• Ye Zhiqiu taught Ji Yuan the Spirit-Cutting Technique, which could save its user from death at the cost of Divine Soul damage and hindered cultivation breakthroughs.
• Ji Yuan accepted the secret art, returned the parchment, and told Ye Zhiqiu that his help had repaid her debt; he gave her a Communication Talisman for future contact.
• After two days of studying the Sword Canon, Ji Yuan prepared to form his flying Sword Embryo but found Icefire Old Man missing.
• Icefire Old Man arrived dressed as a monarch and led Ji Yuan through a palace, where he revealed that he had been an emperor in the mortal world before cultivating and entering the Dao.

Ji Yuan learned about Icefire Old Man’s split personality and studied the Icefire Pool before condensing the Flameflame Sword from its daytime Water Fortune. As he prepared to leave, he saw a huge purple vertical eye in the pool, which asked whether he wished to become an immortal.

• Icefire Old Man explained that the man who had delayed Ji Yuan was another personality born after he fell into the Icefire Pool.
• Icefire Old Man took Ji Yuan to the pool and warned him never to enter it, while Ji Yuan decided to compare its daytime and nighttime Water Fortune.
• Ji Yuan observed the pool change from boiling water to clear, freezing-cold water, then chose to condense the Flameflame Sword during the day.
• Ji Yuan absorbed the pool’s blazing Water Fortune and formed the scarlet Flameflame Sword, bringing his total to six Sword Embryos.
• Ji Yuan spotted a huge purple vertical eye in the Icefire Pool, and it asked him whether he wished to become an immortal.

Ji Yuan survived the cold pool’s purple eye by adapting his Spiritual Energy into Ice Spiritual Energy, and the Ice Flood Dragon advanced after entering the pool. As Ji Yuan left the underground hall, Icefire Old Man confronted him and noticed the purple eye between his brows.

• A purple eye and an ethereal voice lured Ji Yuan into the Icefire Pool, where he resisted their pull by circulating his cultivation technique and transforming his Spiritual Energy into Ice Spiritual Energy.
• Ji Yuan escaped the pool and released the Ice Flood Dragon into it, where the dragon descended into the depths and began to break through.
• Ji Yuan waited outside the stone hall and tested his new Ice Spiritual Energy while the Ice Flood Dragon advanced from the Second-Tier Mid Stage to the Late Second Tier.
• Ji Yuan returned to the surface and found the imperial palace dark, then encountered Icefire Old Man beside the mountain wall.
• Icefire Old Man asked whether Ji Yuan had entered the cold pool, and the purple vertical eye between Ji Yuan’s brows blinked as he denied it.

After falling into the Icefire Pool, Ji Yuan discovered that he had acquired and refined the Truth-Piercing Divine Eye, which revealed cultivators and weaknesses in formations. He returned to the courtyard, where Ye Zhiqiu left Icefire Island, and Icefire True Person emerged to congratulate him on his opportunity.

• Icefire Old Man showed Ji Yuan the purple eye on his forehead, and Ji Yuan admitted that he had entered the cold pool and described what happened.
• Icefire Old Man explained that their unusually strong Divine Souls had drawn them to the eye, and that Ji Yuan had survived its erosion while the old man’s soul had split in two.
• Ji Yuan found the Truth-Piercing Divine Eye outside his Soul-Calming Bell, refined it, and discovered that it could reveal cultivators and weak points in a Third-Order Formation.
• Icefire Old Man warned Ji Yuan to keep the eye secret and suggested that he study ice arts, then returned with Ji Yuan to the courtyard and said the other Icefire Old Man would emerge tomorrow.
• Ye Zhiqiu asked to leave early to avoid the Luo Family’s investigation, and Ji Yuan secured Icefire Old Man’s permission for her to depart on her flying sword.
• Icefire True Person came out in a fiery red dragon robe and congratulated Ji Yuan on obtaining a great opportunity.

Ji Yuan traded for the materials needed to upgrade the Pigsty, explored Blazing Flame Volcano, and learned that Shang Mountain had been breached before the defenders restored the line. He found an uninhabited islet with an old Cave Abode, preparing to settle there and upgrade the Pigsty.

• The Icefire Old Man gave Ji Yuan three Three-Eyed Dark Beast spinal bones in exchange for three thousand Middle-Grade Spirit Stones and gifted him five catties of Fire Vein Spirit Marrow, making the Pigsty's Level Four upgrade available.
• Ji Yuan tested the Truth-Piercing Divine Eye at Blazing Flame Volcano, spotted a glowing boulder, and secretly took it.
• Ji Yuan visited Icefire Market to ask about settling on the island and heard from Old Tian that Shang Mountain had been breached by a disguised Golden Core Demonic Cultivator before a Sword Ruins cultivator sacrificed himself and reinforcements restored the defenses.
• Ji Yuan considered the risks and rewards of going to Shang Mountain, then focused on finding a secluded place to upgrade the Pigsty.
• Ji Yuan searched east of Icefire Island and found an uninhabited islet with a Cave Abode left by earlier cultivators.

Ji Yuan upgraded the Pigsty, survived a deadly trial, and inherited the Ninefold Profound Yang Technique before cultivating for more than half a year and returning to Southern Sea City. He arrived just before the Southern Sea Auction and spotted Dragonblood Stone on its auction list.

• Ji Yuan uncovered a large Third Tier Fire Marrow Crystal inside a volcanic rock, then upgraded the Pigsty to Level Four and entered a desert trial where he defeated ten Physique Foundation Establishment corpses to inherit the Ninefold Profound Yang Technique.
• Ji Yuan returned to the Cave Abode, examined the technique, collected Profound Yang Blood Amber, and discovered the Level Five Pigsty's Spirit Effects and demanding upgrade requirements.
• Ji Yuan cultivated his body, cultivation, and swordsmanship for more than half a year, then left his island and said farewell to Icefire Old Man, who planned to go to Shang Mountain.
• Ji Yuan boarded the Scarlet Radiance Boat and returned safely to Southern Sea City, where he learned the auction would begin in three days and item submissions had closed.
• Ji Yuan went to the Southern Sea Auction House hoping to sell his Flood Dragon-Capturing Set and noticed five pieces of Dragonblood Stone listed for auction.

Ji Yuan auctioned the Flood Dragon-Capturing Set, bought Dragonblood Stones and a Monster Core, then traveled to Thunderclap Marsh to temper his body and condense a Sword Embryo. He began training beneath the marsh’s Purple Lightning and, thirty li in, his body reached Foundation Establishment Middle Stage strength.

• Ji Yuan consigned the Flood Dragon-Capturing Set at the Southern Sea Auction House and learned that Shangdong was beset by war, Demonic Dao attacks, and other unrest.
• Ji Yuan spent 2,700 Middle-Grade Spirit Stones on five Dragonblood Stones and 3,600 on a wood-attributed Third-Order Monster Core, while the Flood Dragon-Capturing Set sold for 6,000.
• Ji Yuan set out for Thunderclap Marsh, deciding to enter alone rather than use the Lou Family’s safe passage.
• Ji Yuan reached the marsh and walked into its Purple Lightning, using Walking Stance to temper his body as the lightning grew stronger.
• Ji Yuan advanced thirty li into Thunderclap Marsh, where his body reached the strength of a Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivator.

Ji Yuan endured Thunderclap Marsh’s lightning, broke through to Foundation Establishment Late Stage, and forged the Thunder-Smite Sword from the marsh’s violet Water Fortune. He ended the chapter stunned by the power of his seven-sword formation, which tore through the Tribulation Clouds.

• Ji Yuan pushed through increasingly fierce Purple Lightning, reached Foundation Establishment Late Stage at seventy miles, and found Thunder-Smite Mystic Fluid at eighty miles that turned into ordinary rainwater outside the marsh.
• At the hundred-mile boundary, Ji Yuan tested the violet-black lightning, suffered a severe injury, and decided not to cross it before forging his flying sword.
• Ji Yuan refined his Aperture-Tempering Pearls and Qi-Blood Pills in the lightning, then released Monday to guard him and cool his injured body.
• Ji Yuan absorbed the scarce, lightning-charged violet Water Fortune for nearly ten days and compressed it into the Thunder-Smite Sword with his six other Sword Embryos.
• Ji Yuan tested the Thunder-Smite Sword and his seven-sword formation; the formation shredded the lightning and tore a vast hole through the clouds.

After returning from two years away, Ji Yuan reached Carefree Island and found his resources and defenses had grown considerably. He used corpses and Foundation Establishment Pills to advance Tu Yue to Foundation Establishment Early Stage.

• Lou Wanyi told Lou Yi to leave the disturbance at Thunderclap Marsh alone and took control of the Lou Family’s major decisions.
• Ji Yuan traveled north, tested his Thunder-Smite Sword against a Demonic Cultivator, and saw Lady Meiru save a city from a demonic siege.
• Ji Yuan returned to Mist Island, pinned down Giant Toad, and then continued to Carefree Island, where he found Du Wanyi had returned.
• Ji Yuan inspected his island’s accumulated resources, strengthened the Spirit-Devouring Bees with Spirit Stones, and prepared Tu Yue’s advancement.
• Ji Yuan supplied Tu Yue with three Foundation Establishment Pills and ten suitable corpses, raising her to Foundation Establishment Early Stage.

Ji Yuan returned to the Water Dragon Sect with Tu Yue newly advanced to Foundation Establishment and discovered that the Truth-Piercing Divine Eye he acquired on Icefire Island was a rare, dangerous treasure. Hua Yaoyue explained its origins, warned him to hide it from the Purple-Eyed Clan, and told him his senior brothers had returned.

• Ji Yuan equipped Tu Yue with his old treasures, instructed her to secure the house, and traveled to meet Hua Yaoyue.
• Ji Yuan encountered Fang Jie, who said he was investigating a sect disciple suspected of colluding with the Demonic Dao and planned to seek Foundation Establishment pills at Shang Mountain.
• Ji Yuan showed Hua Yaoyue the purple eye on his forehead and recounted how he obtained it beneath the Icefire Pool.
• Hua Yaoyue identified it as the true Truth-Piercing Divine Eye, explained that the Purple-Eyed Clan would hunt Ji Yuan for it, and warned him not to reveal it to outsiders.
• When Hua Yaoyue tried to remove the eye, it resisted and fired a beam that she redirected with her Amber Nightglow Cup, causing an explosion in the Boundless Marsh.
• Hua Yaoyue told Ji Yuan that Ran Kui and Yun Qianzai had returned and invited him to stay with them; she then asked whether the eye could truly see through things.