Chapter Summaries

After upgrading the [Meditation Room], Ji Yuan gained powerful divine sense and inventoried the spoils from killing Yang Shunan before returning to the Water Dragon Sect. He reunited with Xu Fugui and visited Iron Hammer Island, where he asked to buy Iron Hammer Island Lord’s Second-Order Alchemy Cauldron.

• Ji Yuan upgraded the [Meditation Room], awakened divine sense, and discovered it could reach a radius of half a li on Mist Island.
• Ji Yuan sorted the Storage Bags taken from Yang Shunan and Yang Yunxiang, keeping the Sky-Piercer Flying Boat and Mountain-Breaker Great Halberd while selling other items.
• Ji Yuan returned to the Water Dragon Sect, bought a standard-issue robe and Foundation Establishment Pill ingredients, and met Xu Fugui on the Island of All Things.
• Ji Yuan traveled with Xu Fugui to Iron Hammer Island and joined Iron Hammer Island Lord, who challenged him to a body-cultivation spar.
• Ji Yuan spotted Iron Hammer Island Lord’s Crimson Blood Three-Legged Cauldron and asked how much it would cost.

Ji Yuan bought a cauldron from the Iron Hammer Island Lord and impressed him with his fighting and cooking before returning to Thousand Mechanisms Island. When he delivered wine to the Green Grain Island Lord, Hua Yaoyue appeared and confronted him, leaving him to offer her more wine.

• Ji Yuan paid the Iron Hammer Island Lord two hundred Middle-Grade Spirit Stones for a cauldron and promised to pay the remainder later.
• Ji Yuan fought the Iron Hammer Island Lord, then cooked a feast that delighted him and Xu Fugui.
• On the way back, Ji Yuan considered whether he could help the Iron Hammer Island Lord temper his apertures and worried that Xu Fugui was too old to reach Foundation Establishment.
• The Green Grain Island Lord spotted Ji Yuan at Thousand Mechanisms Island and led him into a private room after Ji Yuan brought three jars of wine.
• Ji Yuan grew suspicious of the Green Grain Island Lord's hospitality and tried to leave by claiming Li Changhe had summoned him.
• Hua Yaoyue appeared behind Ji Yuan, revealed her authority over Li Changhe, and prompted Ji Yuan to offer her more than a dozen jars of wine.

Ji Yuan earned Hua Yaoyue’s offer of discipleship by agreeing to improve three rare wines, then learned Du Wanyi planned to enter the Nine Nether Grotto-Heaven. After discovering a fresh tunnel from Pi Fangzhi’s courtyard beneath his home, Ji Yuan decided to seek Li Changhe’s help.

• Hua Yaoyue took Ji Yuan’s wine, gave him three precious jars to improve, and offered to take him as a disciple if he reached Foundation Establishment and pleased her with the results.
• Green Grain Island Lord recognized Ji Yuan as his junior brother and advised him to reach Foundation Establishment quickly, while Ji Yuan asked him to keep Hua Yaoyue’s offer secret.
• Du Wanyi told Ji Yuan that the Yang father and son had been killed and that the trouble against her had ended; she planned to enter the Nine Nether Grotto-Heaven to pursue greater strength.
• After Du Wanyi left, Ji Yuan used his divine sense to discover that Pi Fangzhi had dug a fresh tunnel beneath his house and breached its protective restrictions.
• Ji Yuan rejected the idea of confronting or assassinating Pi Fangzhi himself and decided to find Li Changhe.

Ji Yuan summoned Li Changhe after discovering that Pi Fangzhi was secretly tunneling beneath his home, and Li Changhe captured the Demonic Dao spy after a fierce fight that destroyed Ji Yuan’s courtyard. While Ji Yuan waited at the Clearwater Tea House, Li Changhe secured a commendation and returned with a Foundation Establishment Pill and an offer to teach Ji Yuan a cultivation technique that reached Nascent Soul.

• Ji Yuan contacted Li Changhe from the Young Dragon Hall and told him Pi Fangzhi was digging beneath his Cave Abode.
• Li Changhe trapped Pi Fangzhi with a lightning net, then fought him inside Ji Yuan’s courtyard and captured him.
• Pi Fangzhi died after declaring that Heaven wanted him dead, and Li Changhe took his body to report to the elders.
• Li Changhe gave Ji Yuan a token and sent him to wait at the Clearwater Tea House on the Island of All Things.
• The next day, Li Changhe told Ji Yuan that catching Pi Fangzhi had earned him a commendation and offered him a Foundation Establishment Pill and a cultivation technique reaching Nascent Soul.

Li Changhe gave Ji Yuan the Li Family’s Nascent Soul technique and three Foundation Establishment Pills, then warned him against entering the Nine Nether Grotto-Heaven. Ji Yuan visited the Iron Hammer Island Lord to learn more about the Water Dragon Sect’s factions and ended by asking which side True Person Wangyou supported.

• Li Changhe revealed that the Li Family descended from a Water Dragon Sect founder and gave Ji Yuan the Azure Billows Nine Tribulations Sword Canon after Ji Yuan swore not to share it.
• Li Changhe gave Ji Yuan three two-pattern Foundation Establishment Pills and advised him to avoid the dangerous Nine Nether Grotto-Heaven.
• Li Changhe left with his father for the Sword Ruins, and Ji Yuan returned to Young Dragon Island, where the sect had rebuilt his home.
• Ji Yuan restored the writing carved by the former residents, stored Hua Yaoyue’s spirit wine in his Wine Cellar, and flew to Iron Hammer Island.
• The Iron Hammer Island Lord explained that the First Elder and Third Elder led rival factions and that Ji Yuan’s connection to Li Changhe was unlikely to make him a target at his current cultivation level.
• Ji Yuan asked whether True Person Wangyou belonged to the First Elder’s faction or the Third Elder’s.

Ji Yuan avoided the Nine Nether Grotto-Heaven while building his skills and preparing to reach Foundation Establishment, unaware that Hua Yaoyue had watched him register and leave. After mastering the Five-Element Protective Talisman, he met the requirements to upgrade his Talisman Chamber and began the upgrade.

• Ji Yuan learned that Yao Yue was independent of the elders’ factions and that the sect master was usually the weakest Golden Core Cultivator, then gave the Iron Hammer Island Lord another jar of wine.
• Ji Yuan returned to Mist Island, refined pills and talismans, and told Han Feiyu, Du Wanyi, and Dong Qian that he would not enter the Nine Nether Grotto-Heaven.
• Dong Qian later told Ji Yuan she would also stay out, while Ji Yuan continued sending wine to Hua Yaoyue and watched the grotto-heaven registration from a distance.
• Hua Yaoyue and Feng Zhitáo watched Ji Yuan leave without registering, and Hua Yaoyue chose not to warn him or intervene.
• Ji Yuan successfully drew a Five-Element Protective Talisman formation, fulfilled the Talisman Chamber’s upgrade requirements, and began the upgrade.

Ji Yuan mastered the Form-Changing Talisman, discovered that the Black Coffin’s yin energy had rapidly strengthened his Yin Ghosts, and spent the weeks preparing for the Nine Nether Grotto-Heaven. After returning to Young Dragon Island, he found a letter from his fourth brother asking him to visit.

• Ji Yuan checked the Level Three Talisman Chamber’s effects and upgrade requirements, then struggled for days to learn the Form-Changing Talisman.
• Ji Yuan found the Black Coffin releasing dense yin energy and saw that the two Yin Ghosts had reached the ninth layer of Qi Refining.
• Ji Yuan sent Tu Yue into the cave to benefit from its yin energy, then cared for the pigs and chickens himself.
• Ji Yuan mastered the Form-Changing Talisman and altered his appearance, but Big Clam mistook him for an intruder and attacked him.
• Ji Yuan studied the Li Family’s Azure Billows Nine Tribulations Sword Canon while preparing for the Nine Nether Grotto-Heaven’s opening.
• Ji Yuan returned to Young Dragon Island and found a letter from his fourth brother requesting a visit.

Ji Yuan prepared for Foundation Establishment after harvesting two millennial illusion spirit grass, but Profound Water True Person ordered him to join the Nine Nether Grotto-Heaven expedition. Ji Yuan sought Li Changhe’s help to secretly rent an Alchemy Room so he could refine pills and establish his foundation before answering Feng Yichen.

• Ji Yuan lent Du Wanyi thirty Middle-Grade Spirit Stones and promised to bring her protective talisman formations for the Nine Nether Grotto-Heaven.
• Profound Water True Person ordered Feng Yichen to persuade Ji Yuan to join the expedition, hoping Ji Yuan would help the Water Dragon Sect secure a treasure from Ghost Flood Dragon Lake.
• Ji Yuan harvested millennial illusion spirit grass twice through a spirit effect, sold nine Five-Element Protective Talisman sets, and gave Du Wanyi three sets.
• Feng Yichen told Ji Yuan that Profound Water True Person wanted him to join the Nine Nether Grotto-Heaven and demanded an answer within two days.
• Ji Yuan decided to prepare for Foundation Establishment instead and contacted Li Changhe to ask for help renting an Alchemy Room without revealing his identity.

Ji Yuan refined twenty Foundation Establishment Pills and, after months of effort in the earth-vein Alchemy Room, finally achieved Foundation Establishment at age twenty-three. Meanwhile, inside the Nine Nether Grotto-Heaven, Han Feiyu betrayed Feng Yichen and began draining his Four-Spirit Root.

• Ji Yuan rented a long-term earth-vein Alchemy Room through the Li Family and began preparing to refine Foundation Establishment Pills.
• Profound Water True Person learned Ji Yuan had refused to enter the Nine Nether Grotto-Heaven, confirmed he remained inside the sect, and let him be.
• Du Wanyi traveled to the Nine Nether Grotto-Heaven, studied warnings about its dangerous cultivators, and received Han Feiyu's note telling her to avoid Ghost Flood Dragon Lake.
• Ji Yuan refined five batches of Foundation Establishment Pills, collected twenty pills in total, and began his attempt to establish his foundation.
• Han Feiyu and Feng Yichen fought Huang Tian at Ghost Flood Dragon Lake; a Second-Order Demon Beast killed Huang Tian, and Han Feiyu took his Storage Bag while rescuing Feng Yichen.
• Han Feiyu revealed he had brought Feng Yichen back to drain his Four-Spirit Root, while Ji Yuan completed Foundation Establishment after a year in seclusion.

Ji Yuan emerged from seclusion after reaching Foundation Establishment and was greeted by Profound Water True Person, who questioned why he had skipped the Nine Nether Grotto-Heaven. Li Changhe helped ease the confrontation, but Hua Yaoyue arrived as the chapter ended and challenged Profound Water True Person about sending her disciple there.

• Ji Yuan examined his stronger senses and Divine Sense, reviewed his new Azure Billows Nine Tribulations Sword Canon, and considered which buildings he could upgrade.
• Profound Water True Person learned that Ji Yuan had reached Foundation Establishment, while Li Changhe also received the news and set out to congratulate him.
• Ji Yuan left the Alchemy Room and gave First Tier Spirit-Gathering Pills to the disciples on duty before meeting Profound Water True Person.
• Profound Water True Person asked Ji Yuan why he had not gone to the Nine Nether Grotto-Heaven, and Ji Yuan explained that he had entered seclusion after sensing a chance to break through.
• Li Changhe arrived and supported Ji Yuan as Profound Water True Person treated the matter as a misunderstanding.
• Hua Yaoyue's voice reached them, asking whether Profound Water True Person wanted her disciple to go to the Nine Nether Grotto-Heaven.

Ji Yuan was formally taken as Hua Yaoyue’s disciple and met his senior siblings on her flower-covered island, where he learned about their lineage’s cultivation-concealing formula. Meanwhile, Qiu Qianhai continued using Ji Yuan’s name to terrorize people on Abyss Island.

• Hua Yaoyue arrived at Four Directions Island, accepted Ji Yuan as her disciple, and took him to Young Dragon Island before flying onward to her island.
• Ji Yuan discovered that Feng Zhitáo was his third senior sister and the Fire Phoenix Island Master, whose shop he had visited before.
• Yun Qianzai arrived and introduced himself as Ji Yuan’s second senior brother, offering to teach him formations.
• Hua Yaoyue told Ji Yuan to continue cultivating the Li Family’s Sword Canon and began teaching him the lineage’s Breath-Concealing Formula, which could hide a cultivator’s stage even from Golden Core observers.
• Qiu Qianhai left Heavenly Ruin Island after plundering it and declared that Ji Yuan, an overseas rogue cultivator, had been responsible.

After reaching Foundation Establishment, Ji Yuan visited Hua Yaoyue and his senior siblings, received gifts and advice, then returned to Young Dragon Island to prepare to establish his own island. He left a concealed Foundation Establishment Pill recipe and verses for the next resident before answering Profound Water True Person’s summons.

• Ji Yuan confirmed he had memorized the Breath-Concealing Formula, and Hua Yaoyue asked how he had obtained the Li Family’s Nine Tribulations Sword Canon; he explained that he had saved Li Changhe.
• Ji Yuan presented Hua Yaoyue with three improved jars of Spirit Wine, and she gave him a Communication Talisman and a one-use treasure that could withstand a Middle Golden Core cultivator’s attacks.
• Yun Qianzai offered to set up Second-Tier formations on Ji Yuan’s future island, while Feng Zhitáo gifted him ten Mid-Grade Second-Tier Demon Cores.
• Ji Yuan returned to Young Dragon Island, inspected his home, and left the Foundation Establishment Pill recipe concealed behind a ward for the next resident.
• Ji Yuan carved two lines on the courtyard wall, returned his residence certificate to Young Dragon Hall, and left for the main island after Profound Water True Person summoned him.

Ji Yuan established an island in the Water Dragon Sect and declined to hold an opening ceremony, preferring to cultivate in peace. When he returned to Mist Island, he found it engulfed in black fog and realized something had happened to his home.

• The Profound Water True Person gave Ji Yuan a Foundation Establishment gift, showed him the sect’s island map, and let him choose a location.
• Ji Yuan selected a spiritually rich site in the south, planted the sect’s flag, and watched the grand formation raise an island from the water.
• The Cloud-Sun Island Master and Cold River Island Master suspected Ji Yuan had powerful connections, but their attempts to visit him failed after he concealed the island with an Illusion Formation.
• Ji Yuan rejected a grand island-opening ceremony and celebrated with Feng Zhitáo and Yun Qianzai over a meal before leaving for Mist Island.
• Ji Yuan returned to Mist Island and found it shrouded in black fog and ghostly energy, suspecting that someone had raided his home.

Ji Yuan reclaimed Mist Island by refining the Yin Ghost Banner and regained control of the two Foundation Establishment Yin Ghosts and their upgraded formation. He upgraded the [Formation Room], activated the Stardust Illusion-Killing Formation across the island, and left Big Clam stranded outside it.

• Ji Yuan found Big Clam alive and learned that two recurring attackers had driven it away from Mist Island.
• Ji Yuan recognized the black mist as his uncontrolled Yin Ghost Formation and entered it to retrieve the Yin Ghost Banner.
• Ji Yuan refined the banner, restored control of the formation, and discovered that both Yin Ghosts had reached the Foundation Establishment Realm and could regenerate while the banner survived.
• Ji Yuan reclaimed Mist Island, found the [Fish Pond] ruined and his wooden cabin rotted, and confirmed that the upgraded Yin Ghost Formation met the [Formation Room] requirements.
• Ji Yuan upgraded the [Formation Room] and activated the Stardust Illusion-Killing Formation across Mist Island, using its stardust to destroy a boulder.
• Big Clam returned from washing and croaked when it found the newly activated formation blocking the way home.

Ji Yuan upgraded the Cave Abode, Formation Room, and Wine Cellar, gaining powerful formations and discovering that future upgrades could let him store buildings as a Life-bound Dharma Treasure. After mastering the Breath-Concealing Formula and setting off for the Water Dragon Sect, he received a message before reaching his island.

• Ji Yuan upgraded the Cave Abode to Level Three, gaining the Star-Spiral Cloud Barrier Formation, which worked alongside the Stardust Illusion-Killing Formation to protect Mist Island.
• Ji Yuan discovered the Cave Abode's Wishful Heavenly Grotto effect, which could eventually store his buildings and refine them into a Life-bound Dharma Treasure.
• Ji Yuan upgraded the Wine Cellar, sampled its mood-enhancing Wishful Wine, and decided to save future flasks for Hua Yaoyue.
• Ji Yuan stayed on Mist Island for five more days, mastered the Breath-Concealing Formula, and continued practicing the Water Dragon Technique.
• Ji Yuan deactivated the Stardust Illusion-Killing Formation, left the Star-Spiral Cloud Barrier Formation concealing the island, and flew toward the Water Dragon Sect, where he received a message before reaching his island.

Ji Yuan bought supplies on Fangwu Island, visited Xu Fugui and the Iron Hammer Island Lord, and learned artifact refining to make two Cave Abode Magical Artifacts. He tested them on a deserted island, where the formations carved into one iron house activated and engulfed the island.

• Ji Yuan sold five Demon Cores, bought ice-attribute beast blood, Profound Ice Crystals, Communication Talismans, and materials for drawing talismans.
• Ji Yuan visited Xu Fugui, revealed he had achieved Foundation Establishment, and gave him a gold Communication Talisman before Xu Fugui left for North Mountain City.
• Ji Yuan visited the Iron Hammer Island Lord, learned he had been injured in a furnace explosion, and sparred with him to get his blood and vitality flowing.
• The Iron Hammer Island Lord taught Ji Yuan artifact refining, and together they made two High-Grade Magical Artifact Cave Abodes.
• Ji Yuan went to a deserted island and tested the artifacts; carving a name activated one Cave Abode, while formation patterns activated the other and its formations spread across the island.

Ji Yuan tested his instant-deployment formations, then visited Hua Yaoyue and gave her Wishful Wine that aided her cultivation. She named him her final disciple and promised to help him, and he left for Mist Island hoping to upgrade his Fish Pond.

• Ji Yuan tested the Star-Spiral Cloud Barrier Formation and Stardust Illusion-Killing Formation, then decided to commission more iron houses for them.
• Ji Yuan visited Hua Yaoyue and gave her Wishful Wine, which she said benefited her cultivation.
• Ji Yuan refused Hua Yaoyue's offer of Spirit Stones and promised to brew her two jin of Wishful Wine each month, so she named him her final disciple and offered to help him in the future.
• Feng Zhitáo arrived, learned Ji Yuan was Hua Yaoyue's final disciple, and joined them for a meal while sharing stories about herself and Yun Qianzai.
• Hua Yaoyue privately asked Ji Yuan not to give her wine he had already drunk from, and Ji Yuan left for Mist Island to upgrade his Fish Pond.

Ji Yuan upgraded the [Fish Pond] to Level Three, gaining Ice-Soul Cold Dew and the chance to raise an Ice Flood Dragon, while buying carp-type Spirit Fish after avoiding chaos in Linhua City. He later visited Hua Yaoyue, who explained the Water Dragon Technique, and left with guidance for his cultivation.

• Ji Yuan restored the polluted [Fish Pond] and traveled to Linhua City to buy carp-type Spirit Fish, avoiding the aftermath of a Demonic Cultivator attack.
• A shopkeeper sold Ji Yuan fifty-nine carp-type Spirit Fish, but pursuers chased him out of the city, so he fled back to Mist Island.
• Ji Yuan stocked the [Fish Pond] and upgraded it to Level Three; several fish advanced, but none transformed into an Ice Flood Dragon, and the pond began producing Ice-Soul Cold Dew.
• Ji Yuan examined the Level Four [Fish Pond] requirements and learned that its effects could let Flood Dragons transform into dragons.
• Ji Yuan brought wine to Hua Yaoyue on Carefree Island and asked her about the Water Dragon Technique, whose three levels she explained.

Ji Yuan advanced his cultivation and techniques, learned that the Nine Nether Grotto-Heaven survivors had returned, and rushed to Young Dragon Island to find out how Du Wanyi had fared. Meanwhile, Feng Yichen remained trapped in his own mind as a voice promised to take over his body and seek revenge on Han Feiyu.

• Ji Yuan named his island Carefree, practiced the Water Dragon Technique and Shadow-Following Technique, and heard that the survivors of the Nine Nether Grotto-Heaven were returning.
• The Cloud-Sun Island Master, the Cold River Island Master, and the Orchid Island Master discussed Ji Yuan’s connection to True Person Wangyou and rumors of corruption in Linhua City.
• Ji Yuan sold Dong Qian a One-Pattern Foundation Establishment Pill for 450 Middle-Grade Spirit Stones and agreed to look for more pills for her.
• Ji Yuan studied the Li Family’s Sword Canon, planned to forge a Sword Embryo using Cloud-Rain Marsh’s Water Fortune, and began preparing a Corpse-Nurturing Ground on Mist Island.
• After hearing that the Nine Nether Grotto-Heaven survivors had returned, Ji Yuan turned his boat toward Young Dragon Island to check on Du Wanyi.
• At Ghost Flood Dragon Lake, a voice tormented Feng Yichen and promised to take over his body and kill Han Feiyu.

Ji Yuan reunited with Du Wanyi after her return from the Nine Nether Grotto-Heaven and learned how she had survived, while she discovered that he had reached Foundation Establishment. As Ji Yuan went to meet the Li Family, Han Feiyu became Profound Water True Person’s disciple and secretly kept a black bracelet paired with the treasure he had given his new master.

• Feng Yichen learned that his spiritual root could recover, while the sinister voice planned to restore his cultivation before possessing him.
• Ji Yuan found Du Wanyi alive and learned she had brought back two stalks of millennial illusion spirit grass; he revealed his Foundation Establishment cultivation and offered to refine her pills.
• Du Wanyi told Ji Yuan that Feng Yichen had died in the grotto-heaven, Han Feiyu had survived injured, and the two Cloud-Rain Marsh disciples had not returned.
• Han Feiyu gave Profound Water True Person a white bracelet, was accepted as his disciple, and secretly retained an identical black bracelet.
• Ji Yuan accepted Li Changhe’s invitation to the Li Family, received a Jade Slip from Hua Yaoyue for Li Gang, and learned that Han Feiyu had become the sect master’s disciple.
• Han Feiyu heard the sinister voice explain that the black bracelet was paired with the white one and that Profound Water True Person would unknowingly nourish it.