Chapter Summaries

Qin Old Blind Man tracked Qiu Qianhai to Clearwave Pool and attacked him, demanding the finger bone hidden by the Qiu family. Just as Qiu Qianhai was trapped, the finger bone appeared and a strange voice spoke of making him a peerless genius.

• Qin Shu won a jade slip in an underwater cave, fought his friend over the treasure, and took the glowing remains after killing him, leaving Qin Shu’s eyes injured.
• Qin Old Blind Man pursued Qiu Qianhai’s grandfather and later learned that the finger bone he sought might have passed down to Qiu Qianhai.
• Ji Yuan spent three peaceful months cultivating, bought back his family’s spirit vessel from Luo Tong, and declined to hunt a demon beast with Du Kang and Hu Fang.
• Qin Old Blind Man followed another report to Clearwave Pool, while Qiu Qianhai killed Deng Lang and Sun Dazhi and prepared to move to Jingde Ward.
• Qin Old Blind Man ambushed Qiu Qianhai at home and demanded the finger bone, but the bone appeared and a strange voice said Qiu Qianhai could become a peerless genius.

Qiu Qianhai watched Ji Yuan die at Clearwave Pool, then awakened in the Land of the Abyss and accepted the black skeleton as his master. Meanwhile, Ji Yuan remained unaware of that ordeal, advanced to the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining, and returned to his quiet life in Cloud-Rain Marsh, where Lin Hu welcomed a daughter.

• Qin Old Blind Man killed Ji Yuan in front of Qiu Qianhai, and the gray-mist figure used the sight to make Qiu Qianhai faint.
• The gray-mist figure frightened Qin Old Blind Man to death, reclaimed his black skeleton, and carried Qiu Qianhai through a green campfire to the Land of the Abyss.
• Qiu Qianhai awoke in a stone chamber, attacked the skeleton, then bowed and accepted it as his master after hearing that it could teach him revenge.
• Ji Yuan spent nearly ten days cultivating and absorbed close to five hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones to break through from the Seventh Layer to the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining.
• After stabilizing his cultivation, Ji Yuan sold Spirit Fish in Zengtou City and returned to find Lin Hu celebrating the birth of his daughter.
• Ji Yuan spoke with Wen Lin about rising Cultivation Pill prices and talisman profits, then asked why Wen Lin seemed to have something more to say.

Ji Yuan asked Wen Lin to teach him alchemy, and Wen Lin helped him identify why his Hundred-Herb Pills kept failing. After Ji Yuan successfully refined two pills, he upgraded his Alchemy Room to level one.

• Wen Lin told Ji Yuan about a Foundation Establishment Pill ingredient in Cloud-Rain Marsh and asked him to help fight three late Qi Refining cultivators, but Ji Yuan refused until he was stronger.
• Ji Yuan asked Wen Lin for advice on alchemy, and Wen Lin watched him attempt to refine Hundred-Herb Pills.
• Wen Lin identified that Ji Yuan's Cold Ice Art was too strong during impurity removal, so Ji Yuan adjusted it and successfully made two Hundred-Herb Pills.
• Wen Lin warned Ji Yuan about pill furnace damage and offered to answer future questions before leaving.
• Ji Yuan used his pills and alchemy knowledge to upgrade the Alchemy Room to level one.

Ji Yuan discovered that upgrading the Alchemy Room would teach him the Foundation Establishment Pill formula, while Wen Lin gave him an incomplete version and asked him to keep his name out of it. After agreeing to share the formula with his allies, Ji Yuan learned that Du Wanyi also had news about Foundation Establishment and arranged to reveal their secrets at Twin Swallow Island the next day.

• Ji Yuan saw that upgrading the Alchemy Room would automatically teach him the Foundation Establishment Pill formula, and he decided to focus on alchemy.
• Wen Lin told Zhao Yuechan that Ji Yuan had declined to help with revenge for now, then chose to give him an incomplete Foundation Establishment Pill formula.
• Wen Lin gave Ji Yuan the formula and identified the Millennium Green Hui Grass as an ingredient whose whereabouts he knew; Ji Yuan promised to help once he was stronger.
• Ji Yuan memorized and copied the formula so he could share it with Yao Jingfeng and their other ally.
• Du Wanyi invited Ji Yuan to meet her, Yao Jingfeng, and their other ally on Twin Swallow Island to hear her Foundation Establishment news.
• Ji Yuan hinted that he had his own Foundation Establishment-related news but refused to reveal it early, frustrating Du Wanyi.

Ji Yuan shared an incomplete Foundation Establishment Pill recipe with his companions, who split up to search for its ingredients and news of an Azure Flood-Dragon Fruit. Back home, Ji Yuan successfully drew his first high-grade talisman and then received a letter from Lu Suo.

• Du Wanyi told Ji Yuan and the others that an Azure Flood-Dragon Fruit would be auctioned in Greenmount City in ten days, but Yao Jingfeng and Luo Tian agreed they could not afford it.
• Ji Yuan revealed his incomplete Foundation Establishment Pill recipe and gave copies to Du Wanyi, Yao Jingfeng, and Luo Tian so they could search for its ingredients.
• Du Wanyi and Yao Jingfeng decided to travel to Greenmount City, while Ji Yuan and Luo Tian stayed in Cloud-Rain Marsh to ask around.
• Ji Yuan returned home and successfully drew a Waterburst Talisman, becoming an upper first tier talisman master.
• The next day, Ji Yuan began studying the Water-Escape Talisman, and Lin Hu brought him a letter from Lu Suo.

Ji Yuan received Lu Wan’s warning that the Qin Household’s ancestor might have died, then joined Du Wanyi, Yao Jingfeng, and Luo Tian in pursuing two Demonic Cultivators who had seized Century Gentian Grass. The group followed Du Wanyi’s tracking incense beyond Cloud-Rain Marsh and into a forest.

• Lin Hu delivered Lu Wan’s letter, and Ji Yuan learned that the Qin Household had become unusually cautious and that its ancestor might have died.
• Ji Yuan burned the letter and decided to wait until Peak Qi Refining before taking revenge on the Qin Household.
• Du Wanyi and Yao Jingfeng told Ji Yuan that two Ninth Layer Qi Refining Demonic Cultivators had taken five stalks of Century Gentian Grass after a fight outside a city.
• Luo Tian joined the group and urged everyone to pursue the Demonic Cultivators, and Ji Yuan agreed to go with them.
• The four traveled beyond Cloud-Rain Marsh, and Du Wanyi used Mother-and-Child Incense to lead them northwest through a forest.

Ji Yuan and his companions fell into a trap set by four Demonic Cultivators over the Gentian Grass, and a battle erupted in the forest. Ji Yuan escaped with Yao Jingfeng, then returned to find Du Wanyi alive while Luo Tian and the enemies had vanished in a devastating explosion.

• Meng Zhe and Huang Sanshui waited by a campfire, expecting cultivators to follow the Gentian Grass bait into their ambush.
• Ji Yuan and his companions attacked with Water Thunder Pellets, but the four Demonic Cultivators revealed their identities and fought back.
• Ji Yuan killed Meng Zhe with talismans, lightning, and the Greenfly Flying Sword, then rescued Yao Jingfeng from Mo Fenghua.
• Ji Yuan activated the Thunder-Gathering Essence to escape Mo Fenghua, leaving Yao Jingfeng sheltered while he returned to help Du Wanyi and Luo Tian.
• An enormous explosion destroyed half the mountain, and Ji Yuan found a damaged silver Flying Boat and a severed hand but no sign of Luo Tian or the Demonic Cultivators.
• Ji Yuan found Du Wanyi unconscious in a stream and carried her away as dawn broke.

After Luo Tian died in the battle, Ji Yuan brought Yao Jingfeng and Du Wanyi home, then examined the spoils and developed ways to improve his household and strengthen himself. He ended the chapter arranging to buy a fresh cultivator’s corpse to make into a corpse puppet.

• Ji Yuan, Yao Jingfeng, and Du Wanyi mourned Luo Tian and divided the Gentian Grass and Spirit Stones recovered from a demonic cultivator’s Storage Bag.
• Ji Yuan took Yao Jingfeng and Du Wanyi home, then returned to his courtyard after checking that nobody was following him.
• Ji Yuan combined Spirit Soil from the [Chicken Coop] with a new [Spirit Field], discovered that it reduced crop growth time, and planted the unknown seeds he had found.
• Ji Yuan fed Yin-Nourishing Pills to his Yin Ghosts and studied the Corpse Puppet Technique in a legacy jade slip.
• Ji Yuan visited Pockmarked Wang and paid a deposit for a young, well-preserved Middle Qi Refining corpse to collect the next morning.

Ji Yuan bought a recently deceased cultivator’s corpse and began turning her into a puppet, removing the poison and enduring a full day of spiritual energy output to complete the ritual. The corpse puppet awakened and obeyed his command to feed his pigs, but Ji Yuan realized he had sent her out without clothes.

• Ji Yuan bought a poisoned woman’s corpse from Pockmarked Wang and gathered the materials needed for the Corpse Puppet Technique.
• Ji Yuan asked Wen Lin for help with the poison and used a poison-drawing insect to remove it from the corpse.
• Ji Yuan cleared the corpse’s residual spiritual energy, pierced her meridians with spirit needles, and coated her skin with yin-baleful mud.
• Ji Yuan spent twenty-four hours channeling spiritual power into the corpse until she sat up with blood-red eyes.
• Ji Yuan used Soul-Controlling Talismans and drew the Puppet seal on her chest, establishing control over her.
• Ji Yuan ordered the puppet to feed his pigs, then realized she was walking outside without clothes.

Ji Yuan recovered from creating and naming Tu Yue, then settled into cultivation while Yao Jingfeng and Du Wanyi withdrew to cultivate safely. After a year of progress and a new year alone, Ji Yuan received an unexpected message from a stranger, leaving its contents unknown.

• Ji Yuan named the corpse puppet Tu Yue, gave her household duties, and collapsed after keeping her active for twelve shichen.
• Du Wanyi visited Yao Jingfeng, learned how powerful Ji Yuan had been, and agreed to keep his abilities secret; she later suspected Yao Jingfeng had lied about delivering Luo Tian's Spirit Stones.
• Ji Yuan awoke after three days, spoke with Lin Hu, and agreed with Du Wanyi to cultivate at home for the next two years.
• Ji Yuan bought clothes for Tu Yue and two Lushui Chickens, then cultivated at home; half a month later, his two Yin Ghosts broke through to Late Qi Refining.
• Ji Yuan refined his first middle-grade Cultivation Pill and advanced to Middle First-Tier Alchemist, then spent New Year alone and later harvested sweet peaches.
• A skinny Fourth Layer of Qi Refining cultivator arrived at Ji Yuan's door and handed him a Seashell sent by an unknown person.

Ji Yuan followed the clues Qiu Qianhai had left and found a letter revealing a dangerous Foundation Establishment Realm opportunity and the possibility that Qiu Qianhai was still alive. The letter ended with Qiu Qianhai confessing that he feared death, leaving Ji Yuan with no certainty about his fate.

• A man from Blackwater Ward delivered Qiu Qianhai’s seashell to Ji Yuan and explained that Qiu Qianhai had left it with him two years earlier as a contingency.
• Ji Yuan paid the messenger ten spirit stones, then went to Autumn Rain Island to search for clues.
• Ji Yuan found a buried iron box beneath a rock at the spot where he and Qiu Qianhai had parted.
• Ji Yuan opened the box at home and read Qiu Qianhai’s letter describing a rare second-tier movement spell hidden on an island guarded by a second-order poisonous toad.
• Qiu Qianhai urged Ji Yuan not to risk his life seeking revenge or pursuing the spell, and explained that a mysterious finger bone might have led him to a great opportunity.
• Qiu Qianhai wrote that he hoped he was still alive and did not want to die.

Ji Yuan learned that the Water Dragon Sect Selection had been moved forward by a year and hurried to join, despite being unprepared. A warning letter signed by Xu Fugui left him facing the possibility that the selection was a trap sending recruits to the front lines.

• Ji Yuan decided to postpone revenge on the Qin Household and exploring Qiu Qianhai’s island while he focused on improving his strength.
• Ji Yuan spent the next half year earning eleven middle-grade spirit stones as the war between the Water Dragon Sect and Joy Palace drove up prices.
• Wen Lin told Ji Yuan that the Water Dragon Sect Selection had been brought forward, and Ji Yuan prepared to leave with Tu Yue.
• Lin Hu and the Lin and Wen households visited Ji Yuan as he considered joining the sect.
• A mysterious cultivator sent a letter toward Ji Yuan’s courtyard, and Ji Yuan caught it after shielding the others.
• Ji Yuan opened the letter with Tu Yue and read Xu Fugui’s warning that the selection was a trap and recruits would be sent to the front lines.

Ji Yuan learned that the Water Dragon Sect had moved up its selection and lowered its entry requirements to recruit rogue cultivators for dangerous work, so he and Du Wanyi decided to wait rather than join. After the selection ended, they heard next year's would proceed as usual, leaving the reason for Yao Jingfeng's silence unresolved.

• Ji Yuan read Old Master Xu's warning and decided to avoid the Water Dragon Sect's selection, staying in his market ward for another three years.
• Du Wanyi visited Ji Yuan, suspected the rushed selection was suspicious, and agreed with him to wait.
• Wen Lin reported that the Water Dragon Sect had removed its demon-beast test and was recruiting late Qi Refining cultivators and rogue cultivators skilled in pills, talismans, or artifacts.
• Du Wanyi recalled that the Water Dragon Sect had previously deceived prospective disciples into mining a dangerous vein, reinforcing Ji Yuan's suspicion that the sect sought disposable workers.
• After Yao Jingfeng failed to arrive, Lin Hu, Wen Lin, and the others returned with news that the selection had ended and next year's would proceed as usual.

Ji Yuan learned that Lu Suo had joined the Water Dragon Sect after trading her talisman-drawing method for revenge on the Wu Family, while Yao Jingfeng had also joined and was bound for the front lines. Back in Zengtou City, Ji Yuan focused on cultivation and talismans, and his breakthrough seemed imminent.

• Lin Hu told Ji Yuan that Qin Long and He Laosan had joined the Water Dragon Sect, leaving the Qin Household without its Late Qi Refining cultivators.
• Lin Hu explained that Lu Suo had offered the Water Dragon Sect her talisman-drawing method in exchange for killing the Wu Family, and the sect had killed the Wu father and son and the rest of the family.
• Ji Yuan and Du Wanyi went to find Yao Jingfeng and learned from his neighbor that he had joined the Water Dragon Sect; Du Wanyi worried that his damaged foundation left him little hope of establishing his Foundation.
• Ji Yuan and Du Wanyi agreed to wait until next year's Sui Selection and discuss matters together, then returned to their homes.
• Over the next four months, Ji Yuan mastered commonly used Upper First Tier talismans and prepared to seek a second-level spell before joining the Water Dragon Sect.
• Ten days later, Ji Yuan sensed that his cultivation was about to break through.

Ji Yuan secluded himself and successfully broke through to the ninth layer of Qi Refining, then checked the plentiful harvest in Tu Yue’s storage bag. On Four Directions Island, Lu Suo helped Qin Long and He Laosan obtain a letter that would likely send them into greater danger, intending to avenge Ji Yuan’s parents and prepare a grim welcome for Ji Yuan when he joined the Water Dragon Sect.

• Ji Yuan sealed his room with protective talismans and used nearly five hundred low-grade spirit stones to attempt his breakthrough.
• Lu Suo met Qin Long and He Laosan, who asked her to persuade Zhou Wuyan to assign them safer work at Liancheng Mountain.
• Lu Suo wrote the men a letter to Zhou Wuyan, knowing his resentment toward her would likely lead him to assign them dangerous duties.
• Lu Suo recalled that the Qin Household had plotted her death and that Liu Zi, who belonged to it, had helped kill Ji Yuan’s parents, so she intended to use the letter to help Ji Yuan take revenge.
• After three days, Ji Yuan emerged having reached the ninth layer of Qi Refining and found Tu Yue’s storage bag nearly full of harvested goods.

Ji Yuan traveled deep into Cloud-Rain Marsh to investigate the inheritance Qiu Qianhai had described, preparing to face the island’s second-order demon beast. He found the island and discovered the beast was a Big-Mouthed Frog-Eater, then fed it a spirit pig leg and watched it suddenly freeze.

• Ji Yuan prepared talismans, artifacts, pills, and other supplies before leaving Tu Yue and Wen Lin to manage things at home.
• Ji Yuan flew into Cloud-Rain Marsh and located Baldhead Mountain, following Qiu Qianhai’s map toward the island with the cliffside inheritance.
• Ji Yuan spotted a huge snake demon beneath the water, waited for it to pass, and continued through the mist to the island.
• A giant toad attacked Ji Yuan with its tongue and leaped toward the cliff, but could not reach him near the clouds.
• Ji Yuan recognized the toad as a Big-Mouthed Frog-Eater and tossed it a spirit pig leg, causing it to stop sucking in mist and freeze.

Ji Yuan pacified the Big-Mouthed Frog-Eater with Spirit Pig meat and obtained the Tier Two Shadow-Following Technique from a cliff wall. The frog then led him to a sealed cave, where Ji Yuan cautiously looked inside, suspecting it had once belonged to a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

• Ji Yuan fed the Big-Mouthed Frog-Eater Spirit Pig meat and followed it down the mountain to a cliff.
• The frog cleared away the plants beneath the cliff, revealing the Shadow-Following Technique carved into the stone.
• Ji Yuan copied the technique’s two volumes, “Shadow” and “Following Along,” while giving the frog more meat.
• Ji Yuan tried to show the frog that he wanted to live on the island, then fed it a pig’s head when it remained confused.
• The frog led Ji Yuan to a hidden cave on the island’s northern side, and Ji Yuan used a Lighting Talisman to inspect its interior.

Ji Yuan searched the Cave Abode and found a stone bed made partly of valuable cold iron sand, then tested whether he could safely settle on the nameless island with Big Clam nearby. After escaping Big Clam’s attempt to hold him, Ji Yuan headed back to pack up and move to the island.

• Ji Yuan lured Big Clam away from the cliff entrance so he could investigate the Cave Abode alone.
• Ji Yuan discovered that the stone bed contained about two hundred jin of cold iron sand and stored it along with the harder dark blue ore beneath it.
• Ji Yuan blocked the cave entrance, fed Big Clam, and built a small wooden cabin beneath the cliff.
• Ji Yuan stayed on the island for two days and found that Big Clam remained docile, especially when Ji Yuan fed him roasted spirit pig meat.
• On the third day, Ji Yuan escaped Big Clam’s attempt to bind him and flew back toward Zengtou City to prepare for his move.

After the Qin Household was destroyed by the people of Zengtou City, Ji Yuan decided to relocate to Mist Island while keeping his courtyard in Zengtou City. He arrived at the island with Tu Yue and his belongings, ready to build a new home beside the Giant Toad.

• Lin Hu told Ji Yuan that the people of Zengtou City had joined forces to destroy the Qin Household, amid rumors that Qin Long and He Laosan had been sent to fight the Joy Palace.
• Ji Yuan decided to move to Mist Island, packed his livestock and spirit plant, and kept his courtyard lease for seven more months.
• Ji Yuan told Lin Hu and Wen Lin that he would spend the next few months hunting demon beasts in Cloud-Rain Marsh, and he asked Wen Lin to pick the peaches for Wen Ling'er and Lin Hu's family.
• Ji Yuan said goodbye to Wen Lin, Wen Ling'er, and Du Wanyi, then flew to Mist Island the following day.
• Ji Yuan fed the Big-Mouthed Frog-Eater spirit pig meat and found that the wooden cabin he had built remained intact, so he settled on the island to make it his home.

Ji Yuan built up Mist Island’s facilities, upgraded his spirit field, and prepared to improve his alchemy supplies. The chapter ended with the wounded Big Clam returning with the corpse of a second-order demon beast as a gift for Ji Yuan.

• Ji Yuan cleared land for livestock pens and made Big Clam give up a small lake so the panel recognized it as a level two fish pond.
• Ji Yuan bought spirit pigs, Lushui Chickens, and spirit fish, then warned Big Clam not to eat the chickens after one went missing.
• Ji Yuan collected darkglow stones and upgraded the spirit field to level two, discovering its improved effects and the requirements for level three.
• Ji Yuan returned to Mist Island with a new alchemy furnace and noticed Big Clam was missing.
• Ji Yuan heard a splash and found Big Clam badly wounded beside the corpse of a second-order demon beast, which Big Clam offered to him.