Chapter Summaries

Ji Yuan visited Li Family Island, where Li Changhe hosted him and Li Gang gave him insights into the Sword Canon in exchange for a message from Hua Yaoyue. Back on Mist Island, Ji Yuan unlocked and upgraded the Mass Burial Ground, discovered it could help Tu Yue advance, and prepared to seek a Foundation Establishment Realm corpse.

• Ji Yuan learned that Han Feiyu had become Profound Water True Person's disciple and accepted Li Changhe's invitation to Li Family Island.
• Li Changhe hosted Ji Yuan at an extravagant feast, and Li Gang gave Ji Yuan a booklet of Sword Canon insights after receiving Hua Yaoyue's Jade Slip.
• Li Changhe gave Ji Yuan a Heaven-Escaping Shuttle Talisman Treasure, and Ji Yuan later reported the visit and gifts to Hua Yaoyue.
• Ji Yuan buried more corpses on Mist Island and unlocked the Mass Burial Ground, whose higher-level effects could create Corpse Puppets and raise their cultivation by consuming corpses.
• Ji Yuan had Tu Yue sleep in a stone coffin at the Mass Burial Ground and saw her complexion improve.
• After a month of studying the Sword Canon, drawing talismans, refining pills, and cultivating, Ji Yuan set out to buy a Foundation Establishment Realm corpse.

Ji Yuan bought Foundation Establishment corpses from the Demonic Cultivator Hu Li and learned that demonic forces were preparing an assault on Shangdong. Back on Mist Island, he upgraded the [Mass Burial Ground], which began raising Corpse Puppets and strengthening them with buried corpses.

• Ji Yuan met Hu Li through Zhu Ji, revealed the strength of his Divine Sense, and forced Hu Li to treat him as a senior.
• Hu Li told Ji Yuan that Golden Core cultivators from the Water Dragon Sect, Medicine King Valley, and Joy Palace protected the Immortal Materials Association, and that Demonic Cultivators were preparing to attack Shangdong.
• Hu Li gave Ji Yuan two Foundation Establishment corpses and more than a dozen Peak Qi Refining corpses, then offered his Communication Talisman before fleeing west.
• Ji Yuan returned to Mist Island, buried the corpses, and upgraded the [Mass Burial Ground], which raised a corpse as a Corpse Puppet and gained the ability to strengthen puppets by consuming corpses.
• Ji Yuan used the new ability to raise Tu Yue from the Sixth to the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining.

Ji Yuan upgraded Tu Yue, learned about the Level Three Mass Burial Ground’s Corpse Yin Demonfire, and spent two months refining Foundation Establishment Pills for Han Feiyu, Du Wanyi, and himself. After visiting old acquaintances and receiving Hua Yaoyue’s extensive guidance on the Azure Billows Nine Tribulations Sword Canon, he returned to Mist Island and felt the water fortune of heaven and earth gathering around him.

• Ji Yuan raised Tu Yue to Peak Qi Refining, named the other Corpse Puppet First One, and discovered that upgrading the Mass Burial Ground would unlock Corpse Yin Demonfire but required many powerful corpses.
• A month later, Ji Yuan met Han Feiyu at Four Directions Island and agreed to refine three batches of Foundation Establishment Pills for him at a discounted price.
• Ji Yuan spent two months refining pills for Han Feiyu, Du Wanyi, and himself, then delivered eleven pills to Han Feiyu.
• Ji Yuan encountered Lu Wan and Junior Sister Huang at the Alchemy Hall, then delivered eight Foundation Establishment Pills to Du Wanyi and traded a One-Pattern pill with Dong Qian.
• At Carefree Island, Ji Yuan met Yun Qianzai, who was preparing to represent the Water Dragon Sect in an exchange with Ganhushan, and asked Hua Yaoyue about the Azure Billows Nine Tribulations Sword Canon.
• After Hua Yaoyue gave him extensive guidance, Ji Yuan returned to Mist Island and felt the water fortune between heaven and earth converge on him.

Ji Yuan completed his first Water Fortune Sword Embryo, then gave the Iron Hammer Island Lord pills that helped him temper an aperture and promised to refine more. After learning Han Feiyu had reached Foundation Establishment, Ji Yuan met him on Carefree Island, where Han invited him to return to Zengtou City.

• Ji Yuan condensed a Water Fortune Sword Embryo, tested it by cutting a High-Grade Magical Artifact shield in half, and returned it to his Dantian to nurture.
• Ji Yuan refined ten Qi-Blood Pills enhanced with Aperture-Tempering Pearl powder and gave one to the Iron Hammer Island Lord, helping him open the Taichong acupoint.
• Ji Yuan revealed that he had achieved Physique Foundation Establishment and gave the Iron Hammer Island Lord nine more pills, accepting thirty Middle-Grade Spirit Stones per pill.
• Ji Yuan learned that Han Feiyu had reached Foundation Establishment and congratulated him; Han planned a grand island-opening ceremony for Soulfall Island.
• Han Feiyu visited Ji Yuan on Carefree Island and asked him to accompany him on a trip back to Zengtou City.

Ji Yuan and Han Feiyu returned to Zengtou City as Foundation Establishment cultivators, where Ji Yuan reunited with Lin Hu and learned that Wen Ling'er likely had a Wind Spiritual Root. After returning to the Water Dragon Sect, Ji Yuan went to ask Hua Yaoyue what she knew about Wen Ling'er.

• Ji Yuan and Han Feiyu flew to Zengtou City, where Water Dragon Sect disciples recognized their Foundation Establishment cultivation and welcomed them as martial uncles.
• Ji Yuan visited Lin Hu, met his daughter Lin Qiaoruo, gave her a protective bracelet, and learned that Lin Hu had become a Talisman Master after selling the supplies Ji Yuan had once given him.
• Lin Hu told Ji Yuan that Wen Ling'er and her family had disappeared after her Spiritual Root test, and that Wen Ling'er likely had a Wind Spiritual Root.
• Ji Yuan left Lin Hu cultivation pills and talisman materials, visited Luo Tong and the chicken cultivator, then returned north with Han Feiyu.
• Lin Hu decided to spread a rumor that Ji Yuan had once cultivated at his home so he could sell the house for more and move his family into the market.
• Back at Carefree Island, Ji Yuan went to ask Hua Yaoyue whether she knew anything about Wen Ling'er's possible Variant Spiritual Root.

Ji Yuan learned that Hua Yaoyue could not find Wen Ling'er and suspected she was with the Water Dragon Sect's Supreme Elder, then accepted a posting in Linhua City. After months of easy duty and shopping at auctions, he returned to Mist Island and unlocked a Level 1 Beehive.

• Ji Yuan asked Hua Yaoyue about Wen Ling'er's suspected Variant Spiritual Root, but she knew only of a Heavenly Spirit Root recruit and promised to investigate.
• Profound Water True Person assigned Ji Yuan to Linhua City, where he declined the city lord position and was paired with Wu Nanchun and Liu Yuan.
• Wu Nanchun became Linhua City's lord, assigned Liu Yuan to its defenses, and left Ji Yuan with little work to do.
• Ji Yuan attended nearby auctions during his posting, sold Foundation Establishment Pills, and bought new tools and a Peak-Grade Spirit Artifact.
• Ji Yuan returned to Mist Island, visited the forest near the Mass Burial Ground, and saw that his Spirit-Devouring Bee hive had unlocked the [Beehive: lv1] structure.

Ji Yuan learned that Island Master Qinghan had returned to Linhua City and watched Wu Nanchun leave to pursue him, unaware she was being drawn into a trap. Demonic cultivators then attacked the city, and Ji Yuan faced three opponents as Liu Yuan fought elsewhere.

• Ji Yuan reviewed the Level Two Beehive’s requirements, fed his Spirit-Devouring Bees, collected Tu Yue’s harvest, delivered wine to Carefree Island, and returned to Linhua City.
• Wu Nanchun told Ji Yuan and Liu Yuan that Island Master Qinghan had gone to Jadewave Pool, then left to confront him, while the two men took charge of the city.
• Island Master Qinghan met with six demonic cultivators beneath the Pear Blossom River and coordinated an attack timed to exploit Wu Nanchun’s absence.
• Demonic cultivators struck Linhua City at night, blasting a gap in the eastern wall and setting fires across the city; Liu Yuan sent word to the sect and entered the fight.
• Ji Yuan alerted Hua Yaoyue, Sect Master Profound Water True Person, Li Changhe, and Feng Zhitáo, then faced three Foundation Establishment Early Stage demonic cultivators, including Hu Li.

Ji Yuan was trapped by Hu Li and two other Demonic Cultivators, but turned their ambush around with his formations and killed two of them. Hu Li escaped with a Heaven-Escaping Shuttle, and Ji Yuan headed toward Liu Yuan’s ongoing battle while claiming a sect elder was coming.

• Hu Li lured Ji Yuan into the Thirty-Six Dense-Smoke Formation, where Ji Yuan defended himself against its attacks and the three Demonic Cultivators’ secret arts.
• Ji Yuan erased the black-robed cultivator’s Divine Sense mark, avoided the short man’s tombstone attack with a Substitute Clay Figure, and trapped all three enemies in his Star-Spiral Cloud Barrier Formation and Stardust Illusion-Killing Formation.
• Ji Yuan’s formations overwhelmed the Thirty-Six Dense-Smoke Formation, and he fought the short man and black-robed cultivator while Hu Li tried to escape.
• Hu Li used a Heaven-Escaping Shuttle Talisman Treasure to flee, while Ji Yuan killed the black-robed cultivator and mortally wounded the short man with his formations, talismans, and Frostfall.
• Ji Yuan dismissed his formations, rose toward the battle where Liu Yuan was fighting, and shouted that a sect elder was coming without moving to help.

Ji Yuan and Liu Yuan survived the Demonic Dao attack on Linhua City, while Wu Nanchun returned gravely wounded after killing the traitorous Island Master Qinghan. After Ji Yuan returned to Carefree Island and reviewed the battle, Feng Zhitáo and Yun Qianzai took him to meet Hua Yaoyue.

• Ji Yuan scared off three demonic cultivators with a warning, then pretended to be badly injured as he and Liu Yuan regrouped after the fight.
• Hua Yaoyue briefly checked on Ji Yuan and told him to come back and see her, while Profound Water True Person arrived and promised to deal with the attack.
• Wu Nanchun returned with Island Master Qinghan's corpse and collapsed after reporting that she had killed the sect traitor.
• Profound Water True Person learned that Ji Yuan and Liu Yuan had sent for help three incense sticks earlier, then sent them back to their islands to recover and report any clues.
• Ji Yuan returned to Carefree Island, reviewed his battle and hid his recovery from Feng Zhitáo and Yun Qianzai, who arrived to take him to Hua Yaoyue.

Ji Yuan learned from Hua Yaoyue that the Demonic Dao was searching for Dragon Qi left by a slain True Dragon beneath the Pear Blossom River, and that its invasion might soon endanger all of Shangdong. After sorting through the Demonic Cultivators’ spoils, he decided to seek Yun Qianzai’s help mastering Formations.

• Hua Yaoyue warned Ji Yuan, Feng Zhitáo, and Yun Qianzai that the Demonic Dao was preparing a more coordinated invasion and urged them to grow stronger.
• Ji Yuan returned alone to Carefree Island, and Hua Yaoyue revealed that a Golden Core True Person might have intercepted his Communication Talisman.
• Hua Yaoyue told Ji Yuan that the Water Dragon Sect stood where a True Dragon had died and that the Demonic Dao sought Dragon Qi beneath the Pear Blossom River; she advised him to condense his second Sword Embryo there with caution.
• Ji Yuan returned to Mist Island, buried the Demonic Cultivators’ corpses, and examined their belongings, including a cursed Straw Effigy and a compass likely used to search for Dragon Qi.
• Ji Yuan realized he needed help with Second-Tier Formations and decided to visit Yun Qianzai with a suitable gift.

Ji Yuan visited Yun Qianzai, trading grandiose lines of poetry for instruction in formations. After a month, Ji Yuan became a Second-Tier Formation Master and gave Yun Qianzai another line, leaving him overwhelmed.

• Ji Yuan collected his pay from Profound Water True Person and learned from Liu Yuan that the sect paid more than the standard rate.
• Feng Xiuxiu, Hu Li, and Tu Lin discussed their failed mission and Hu Li's plan to seek out an important figure in the north; Feng Xiuxiu decided to go with him while Tu Lin chose to hide.
• Ji Yuan arrived at Celestial Pivot Island, entered Yun Qianzai's Second-Tier Formation, and lured him away from showing it off with a boastful line of verse.
• Ji Yuan gave Yun Qianzai another grandiose line and asked for help advancing as a Formation Master, prompting Yun Qianzai to teach him.
• After a month of study, Ji Yuan became a Second-Tier Formation Master and gave Yun Qianzai a final line that left him stunned.

Ji Yuan developed Carefree Island, continued cultivating and gathering Foundation Establishment Pills, and helped Dong Qian obtain a Two-Pattern Foundation Establishment Pill. After entering secluded cultivation, Dong Qian successfully reached foundation establishment.

• Hua Yaoyue buried Yun Qianzai after he boasted that Heavenly Pivot had come before heaven itself, then learned from Feng Zhitáo that Ji Yuan had been teaching him Formations.
• Ji Yuan delivered Cultivation Pills to the Iron Hammer Island Lord, improved his Formation skills, developed Carefree Island, and gained a young Corpse Puppet to help with the work.
• Dong Qian visited Ji Yuan and asked him to obtain a Two-Pattern Foundation Establishment Pill for her attempt at foundation establishment.
• Ji Yuan gave Dong Qian the pill two months later, and she entered secluded cultivation on Four Directions Island.
• Dong Qian emerged in April of the following year and successfully reached foundation establishment.

Dong Qian celebrated her Foundation Establishment with Ji Yuan, while Du Wanyi prepared to attempt her own breakthrough. Ji Yuan traveled to the Pear Blossom River to forge a second Sword Embryo, but his cultivation was interrupted when two intruders revealed they had found a secret about a True Dragon beneath the river.

• Dong Qian told Ji Yuan she had reached Foundation Establishment using only three pills and asked him to keep it secret.
• Han Feiyu invited Ji Yuan to visit after hearing Dong Qian had advanced, while Du Wanyi announced she would enter seclusion to attempt Foundation Establishment.
• Ji Yuan gave Du Wanyi two additional Foundation Establishment Pills and suspected Dong Qian had a special advantage in pill refining.
• Ji Yuan traveled to the Pear Blossom River, set up a Formation in a misty swamp, and began forging a second Sword Embryo from Water Fortune.
• Ji Yuan sensed a faint thread of Dragon Fortune in his second Sword Embryo, then stopped absorbing Water Fortune when reddish blood qi made his temper volatile.
• Ji Yuan discovered an old Ninth Layer Qi Refining cultivator and a young Sixth Layer Qi Refining cultivator inside his Formation, where the young man claimed he had found a secret text saying a True Dragon lay beneath the Pear Blossom River.

Ji Yuan watched Shui Kai and Shui Yan plot to replace Family Head Shui Cang, then followed the conspiracy as the clan elders prepared an ambush. Shui Cang returned with a powerful bone bracelet that defeated the elders’ attack, and he confronted Shui Kai about digging up the ancestral graves.

• Shui Kai bargained with Shui Yan for the young master’s resources and support for Shui Huo to become family head in exchange for the secret text.
• Shui Yan and Shui Huo persuaded the clan elders to overthrow Shui Cang while Ji Yuan secretly observed them and kept watch for the secret text.
• Shui Cang returned from a trading trip, and the elders lured him to the Clan Elders’ Hall for an ambush.
• Shui Cang’s bone bracelet conjured a seemingly golden defense that withstood the elders’ attacks, and the elders killed the one who defected back to his side.
• Shui Cang turned toward Shui Kai and asked whether he had noticed how easily the ancestral graves were dug up.

Ji Yuan uncovered the Water Family’s secret about a trapped strand of Dragon Qi, killed the Azure Mist Hermit, and claimed it from beneath Pear Blossom River. After returning to the Water Dragon Sect, he wondered whether a real True Dragon was also hidden in the river and began considering how to use the Dragon Qi.

• Ji Yuan learned that Shui Cang had traded the Water Family’s secret text to the Azure Mist Hermit, while Shui Kai carried a copy describing a True Dragon beneath Pear Blossom River.
• Ji Yuan followed Shui Kai’s directions to the ancestral grave, killed the Azure Mist Hermit when he attacked, and found the grave’s hidden underwater entrance.
• Ji Yuan recognized and destroyed the Blood-Congealing Baleful Refinement Formation, then trapped the escaping Dragon Qi in a spirit-jade bottle.
• Ji Yuan found Shui Cang and his family gone from Water Household Manor, retrieved his Cave Abode, and left for the Water Dragon Sect.
• Ji Yuan glimpsed a huge dark shape with lantern-sized eyes beneath Pear Blossom River, hurried north, and later began planning how to use the Dragon Qi.

Ji Yuan released a wisp of Dragon Qi into his Fish Pond, where an injured carp swallowed it and transformed into an Ice Flood Dragon. After borrowing Merit Points from Dong Qian to obtain an advanced Contract Art, Ji Yuan successfully bound the rapidly growing Flood Dragon and prepared to feed it Ice-Soul Cold Dew.

• On Mist Island, Ji Yuan released the Dragon Qi into his Fish Pond, where a bullied Early First Tier carp swallowed it and triggered the Rainbow Carp Transforming into a Flood Dragon Spirit Effect.
• The carp transformed into an Ice Flood Dragon, avenged itself on the Spirit Fish that had bullied it, repaid a kindness, and ate two of its victims.
• Ji Yuan's basic Contract Art failed, so he went to the Scripture Pavilion and learned that binding a Third-Tier Demon Beast required an advanced art costing 1,200 Merit Points.
• Ji Yuan borrowed a thousand Merit Points from Dong Qian, bought the advanced Contract Art, and returned to find the Ice Flood Dragon had eaten forty or fifty Spirit Fish and advanced to Late First Tier.
• Ji Yuan trapped the Ice Flood Dragon, completed the contract, and watched it coil around his arm before taking out a drop of Ice-Soul Cold Dew to feed it.

Ji Yuan raised his Ice Flood Dragon, reunited with Dong Qian and his fellow cultivators, and learned of turmoil caused by Demonic Cultivators. After Hua Yaoyue promised to help him break through, he heard that Demonic Cultivators had destroyed a Water Dragon Sect Flying Boat returning from North Mountain City.

• Ji Yuan fed the Ice Flood Dragon Ice-Soul Cold Dew and Spirit Pigs, then kept it away from the Fish Pond to protect his Spirit Fish.
• Ji Yuan visited Dong Qian on her newly established Fox Moon Island and promised to help set up its protective Formation.
• Ji Yuan delivered Cultivation Pills to the Iron Hammer Island Lord, who told him Old Master Xu would soon return from duty.
• Feng Zhitáo told Ji Yuan and Hua Yaoyue that Demonic Cultivators were spreading chaos in Joy Palace territory, and Hua Yaoyue taught that people mattered more than the distinction between orthodox and demonic.
• Hua Yaoyue promised to expound the Dao to Ji Yuan in a month to help him break through to Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.
• Ji Yuan heard that Demonic Cultivators had wiped out a Water Dragon Sect Flying Boat returning from North Mountain City and recognized the city's name.

After learning that Xu Fugui had died in a Demonic Cultivator raid, Ji Yuan grieved with the Iron Hammer Island Lord and focused on growing stronger. He later received a Storage Bag from the Iron Hammer Island Lord, whose recording revealed that he had gone to retrieve Xu Fugui and that his Soul Lamp had gone out.

• Ji Yuan found Xu Fugui’s name on the list of cultivators killed when Demonic Cultivators raided a Flying Boat near North Mountain City.
• Ji Yuan learned that Profound Water True Person and Martial Uncle Qingyu had gone to investigate, then visited the Iron Hammer Island Lord, who vowed to grow stronger and avenge Xu Fugui.
• Ji Yuan collected the Bloodwing Venom Bee’s corpse and set up the Four Directions Water-Moving Formation on Dong Qian’s Fox Moon Island.
• After waiting for Hua Yaoyue to return, Ji Yuan learned that a Qi Refining cultivator had a Storage Bag for him and accepted it on Carefree Island.
• Ji Yuan listened to the Iron Hammer Island Lord’s Voice-Recording Talisman and learned that he had gone to retrieve Xu Fugui and that his Soul Lamp had gone out.

Ji Yuan learned from the Iron Hammer Island Lord’s final message why he had risked his life to seek Xu Fugui’s remains, and accepted the inheritance of his artifact-refining knowledge. After hearing that a Golden Core Demonic Cultivator might have killed them, Ji Yuan was left with grief and a distant goal of revenge, but Hua Yaoyue helped him settle his heart, triggering a breakthrough that left him at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage threshold.

• Ji Yuan listened to the Iron Hammer Island Lord explain how Xu Fugui had saved his life, why he went searching for Xu Fugui, and how he left Ji Yuan his artifact-refining tools and teachings.
• Ji Yuan decided not to seek revenge or recover the bodies until he was strong enough, then examined the furnace, hammer, and artifact-refining book the Iron Hammer Island Lord had left him.
• Ji Yuan learned from Profound Water True Person that a Golden Core Demonic Cultivator had attacked the Flying Boat and might have been guarding the son of a Nascent Soul cultivator.
• Ji Yuan returned to cultivating, then went to Hua Yaoyue after she summoned him and told her about Xu Fugui and the Iron Hammer Island Lord’s deaths.
• Hua Yaoyue used the word “Stillness” to calm Ji Yuan’s heart, and the resulting clarity helped him break through, though his aura briefly shifted between Foundation Establishment Early Stage and Middle Stage.
• A familiar voice spoke behind Ji Yuan as he stabilized his cultivation.

Ji Yuan visited Hua Yaoyue, learned more about his fellow disciples, and returned to Mist Island to strengthen his cultivation and raise his spirit beasts. He later visited Bai Piao to ask about Rotfire Yin Locust, but Bai Piao began explaining that he had been forced to change his business.

• Yun Qianzai left Hua Yaoyue's pavilion after she released him, while Feng Zhitáo told Hua Yaoyue she was heading to the West Phoenix Kingdom to recruit disciples.
• Hua Yaoyue reflected on her four disciples and judged Ji Yuan a kindred spirit who might one day become her fellow Daoist.
• Ji Yuan released the Ice Flood Dragon into Cloud-Rain Marsh, fed his Spirit-Devouring Bees, and worked to improve his Divine Sense and cultivation.
• Ji Yuan brought the Ice Flood Dragon back from Cloud-Rain Marsh and traveled to the Water Dragon Sect to seek Bai Piao's help obtaining Rotfire Yin Locust.
• Ji Yuan found Bai Piao's shop filled with spirit plants instead of yin-related goods, and Bai Piao began explaining that he had had no choice but to change what he sold.