Chapter Summaries

Zhou Qingfang agreed to a Nonaggression Pact with Xu Chuan, accepting the Xu Household as an equal partner under the Zhou Household’s protection. Their conversation also revealed a path toward Foundation Establishment through the Wuhua Secret Realm, and Xu Chuan left with a chance to prepare for the Grand Assembly twenty-three years away.

• Zhou Qingfang rejected Zhou Shaoyuan’s suggestion to absorb the Xu Household and agreed to maintain friendly relations with it.
• Xu Chuan visited the Zhou Household, where Zhou Qingfang offered limited protection and they swore a Nonaggression Pact.
• Zhou Qingfang told Xu Chuan about the Wuhua Secret Realm, the Grand Assembly, and the chance to obtain Foundation Establishment Pills; the next assembly would begin in twenty-three years.
• Xu Chuan selected rare Frost Spells, cultivation texts, and the Great Wei Cultivation Miscellany from the Zhou Household’s library.

Xu Chuan organized the Xu Household’s new halls and approved plans to separate cultivators from mortals, while guiding Xu Deling’s artifact refining and Xu Mingshu’s spirit-insect breeding. Three months later, the mountain settlement and halls opened, and the younger generation began choosing their posts.

• Xu Chuan gave Zhou Sen the True Essence Pill formula, and the Zhou Household confirmed that its ingredients would cost roughly a third less than before.
• At the Clan Council, Xu Chuan approved the household’s halls, contribution-based missions and resources, monthly elders’ meetings, and the separation of immortals and mortals.
• Xu Deling reported that her success rate refining low-grade Magical Artifacts had risen to eighty or ninety percent, while Xu Mingshu explained that she had subdued Iron-Eater Flying Ants and was investigating how to raise them.
• Xu Chuan advised Xu Mingshu to gather ores and seek an ant queen, and directed that the spirit beasts receive resources and useful patrol missions.
• Three months later, the Xu Household opened its mountain halls and Mission Hall, which drew vassal households seeking work and rewards.
• Xu Dezhao told his younger siblings to choose halls based on their own interests and abilities rather than their fathers’ positions.

The Xu Household assigned its younger generation to the newly established halls while Xu Mingwei, Xu Mingyuan, Xu Mingxuan, Xu Mingshu, Xu Dezhao, and Xu Deling prepared to build trade connections beyond Moon Lake Commandery. Their journey toward Guangling Commandery began with Xu Mingxuan recognizing a possible contact, but the group encountered a bloody lineage feud on the way.

• Xu Dewen joined the Discipline Hall as deputy hall master, Xu Deheng agreed to manage the Mission Hall temporarily, and Shen Qingyi and Wu Tao began studying the immortal arts they had chosen.
• Xu Mingwei told Xu Dezhao that he and several relatives would establish the Xu Household Trading Company, while Xu Mingxuan tested Xu Deheng's judgment about the risks of expanding trade.
• Zhang Wanqing revealed that she was pregnant as Xu Mingwei, Xu Mingyuan, Xu Mingxuan, Xu Mingshu, Xu Dezhao, and Xu Deling departed Dongxi to establish trading routes.
• Xu Mingxuan recalled his former commander Ge Xuanhong in Guangling Commandery, and the group changed course toward its commandery seat to seek the Ge Household.
• The group spotted a bloody feud between lineages, and Xu Mingxuan urged them to investigate while Xu Mingyuan asked Xu Mingwei to look for identifying marks.

Xu Mingwei and his family rescued Ge Xuanhong’s branch from an ambush and traveled with them to the Ge Household’s grounds in Guangling Commandery. After learning about the rival clans’ conflict and the Ge Household’s suspicions, Xu Mingyuan pressed Clan Head Ge for a more generous reward, leaving the Ge elders struggling to respond.

• Xu Mingwei used his golden eagle eyes to identify the Ge Household’s weapons, and the Xu family hurried to aid the besieged group.
• The Xu family killed all six Zhu Household attackers, and Xu Mingxuan reunited with his former commanding officer, Ge Xuanhong.
• Ge Xuanhong explained the feud between the Wei and Feng factions, while the Xu family learned about the Ge Household’s position and Guangling Commandery’s spiritual energy sites.
• The Xu family accompanied Ge Xuanhong’s group to the Ge Household’s grounds, where Ge Yanhua discussed the suspicious ambush and cautioned against trusting outsiders too quickly.
• Ge Yanhua offered a bottle of High-Grade Qi-Gathering Pills as thanks, but Xu Mingyuan called the reward inadequate, prompting Ge Yanhua to reconsider.

Xu Mingyuan brought the Xu Household to Guangling Commandery’s market and used clever sales pitches to trade pills and magical artifacts for cultivation resources. He ended the chapter negotiating with Feng Yuzhen after she bought the Twin Snake Shears and asked him to lower the price of a jade hairpin.

• Xu Mingyuan learned about the Wei and Feng households’ rivalry and decided the Xu Household should help the Wei Household if conflict broke out, while quietly stirring tensions between the factions.
• Ge Yanfeng guided the Xu Household through the market, where Xu Mingyuan and Xu Mingxuan sold nine bottles of pills for spirit stones, spirit medicines, and a high-grade wind spell.
• Xu Deling, Xu Dezhao, and Xu Mingshu struggled to sell magical artifacts until Xu Mingyuan advertised them as practice pieces by an unnamed Artifact Refining Master.
• Xu Mingyuan demonstrated the Twin Snake Shears’ power, and Feng Yuzhen bought them for thirty-two spirit stones.
• Feng Yuzhen asked about the brooch and jade hairpin, then tried to bargain for the jade hairpin after Xu Mingyuan quoted twenty-eight spirit stones.

Xu Mingwei and his relatives lured a band of rogue cultivators into an ambush and defeated them, while the Feng Household investigated rumors that Wei Dao had become Yun Zhongzi’s disciple. The chapter ended with the Feng Household confirming Wei Dao’s exceptional talent and remaining uncertain about his ties to the Wei Household.

• Xu Mingyuan’s group discovered five rogue cultivators were following them, and Xu Mingwei planned to use the encounter to give his relatives combat experience.
• The Feng Household Head and Grand Elder consulted their ancestors about reports that Wei Dao had entered Yun Zhongzi’s tutelage; the ancestor urged them to avoid a fatal conflict with the Wei Household.
• Xu Mingwei and his relatives pretended to leave the Market District, then fought the five rogue cultivators when they caught up with them.
• Daoist Qinghe fled, but Xu Mingwei pursued and killed him with the Ink Flood Dragon Bow; Xu Mingwei’s relatives defeated the remaining attackers and looted their belongings.
• Xu Deling repaired Qinghe’s damaged shield, and the Xu family spent several days cultivating at the inn while she studied other magical artifacts.
• The Feng Household’s Second Elder returned from the Imperial Capital and confirmed that Wei Dao was Yun Zhongzi’s disciple, reportedly possessed a true spiritual root and wood-spirit bloodline, and had little contact with the Wei Household.

The Feng Household confronted the Wei Household over Wei Dao’s potential influence and secured an oath that neither clan would involve outside foundation-establishment forces in their conflicts. After Xu Mingyuan’s attempt to provoke a clash failed, he approached the Ge Household and began trading the Xu Household’s high-grade pills.

• Feng Wande informed the Feng Household Ancestor about the Wei Household’s newly discovered genius, and the ancestor went with Feng Xiuyuan to confront the Wei Household.
• The Feng Household Ancestor demanded that both clans swear not to enlist outside foundation-establishment forces, and the Wei Household Ancestor agreed to avoid an all-out war.
• Wei Changkong vowed to discover who had exposed the Wei Household’s secret, while Xu Mingyuan realized that his plan to sow discord had failed.
• Xu Mingyuan and Xu Mingwei decided to approach the Ge Household, whose ambitions and resources could make it a suitable partner.
• Xu Mingyuan offered Ge Yanhua high-grade pills, and the Ge Household bought three High-Grade Barrier-Breaking Pills and six High-Grade Qi-Gathering Pills while postponing a decision on lasting trade.

The Xu Household negotiated with the Ge Household while Xu Deling refined new Windfire Boots and attracted the attention of Ge Yuchen, who sought to arrange a match with her. The Ge Household ultimately hesitated to trade because of the Wei Household’s investigation, and Xu Mingyuan proposed a higher price to offset the risk.

• Xu Deling borrowed the Ge Household’s Artifact Refining Room and refined Windfire Boots, which she planned to give to Xu Mingyuan after Xu Mingwei declined them.
• Ge Yuchen asked Ge Xuanhong to introduce him to Xu Deling and later proposed a marriage match through his uncle.
• Xu Mingxuan told the Xu family about Ge Xuanhong’s proposal, and Xu Mingwei decided they would decline it by claiming Xu Deling was already promised.
• Xu Mingyuan and the others met the Ge Household’s branch patriarchs, who explained that the Wei Household’s investigation made trading risky.
• Xu Mingyuan said the Xu Household would leave if no agreement could be reached, then proposed trading at twenty percent above market price to compensate for the danger.

The Xu Household secured a pill-trading agreement with the Ge Household and traveled to Dragon River Commandery to investigate potential partners. There, Xu Mingyuan witnessed an old fisherman being beaten and stopped to buy his fish.

• Xu Mingyuan and the Ge Household's four branch heads agreed to trade pills for resources, with high-grade pills priced above market and the Ge Household promising to send trustworthy traders.
• Xu Yuchen regretted that Xu Deling had already left, while Xu Mingyuan's party departed Guangling Commandery for Dragon River Commandery.
• Xu Mingyuan proposed splitting into two groups to gather information before approaching the Xiao Household, and the family agreed to explore the commandery and its cultivator market.
• Near the commandery seat, Xu Mingshu grew angry when aristocratic guards whipped an old fisherman who could not hear them coming.
• Xu Mingyuan recalled his father as he watched the fisherman gather his scattered fish, then asked to buy them; the fisherman agreed but suggested Spirit Fish would suit Xu Mingyuan better.

Xu Mingyuan and his siblings discovered that the old Fisherfolk he had helped was killed by his gambling-addicted nephew, then found the Fisherfolk’s grandson, Ren Xiaoyao, had an earth spiritual root and took him into the Xu Household as Xu Mingyuan’s disciple. As they prepared to leave Great Fishing Village, Ren Xiaoyao revealed that he, not his grandfather, had raised the Spirit Fish.

• Xu Mingyuan bought all the old Fisherfolk’s fish and explained that his father had once lived like him before the Xu family’s fortunes improved.
• At the Cheng Family Gambling House, Xu Mingyuan saw the manager cheating, spoke with a Cheng Family cultivator, and learned about the clans around the Black Dragon River and the Clearwave Liu Clan.
• Xu Mingyuan recognized the silver taken from the old Fisherfolk’s gambling-addicted nephew, and Xu Mingshu killed the man after learning he had beaten and killed his father.
• The siblings found the old Fisherfolk dead and his frail grandson, Ren Xiaoyao, grieving beside him; they discovered Ren Xiaoyao had an earth spiritual root.
• Ren Xiaoyao asked to serve Xu Mingyuan, who instead accepted him as a disciple and brought him into the Xu Household after they buried the old Fisherfolk.
• Ren Xiaoyao said he had raised the Spirit Fish himself.

Xu Mingyuan’s group explored Dragon River Commandery, recruited Ren Xiaoyao, and sent Spirit Fish fry and a Fish Basket back to the Xu Household. Xu Chuan improved the fish-feed formula and perfected a Spirit Beast Pill, which helped White Tiger grow stronger but also led him to father a cub.

• Xu Mingyuan’s group found Xu Mingwei in the Clearwave Lake Market District, where Xu Mingshu introduced Ren Xiaoyao as Xu Mingyuan’s new disciple with earth spiritual roots.
• After judging Dragon River Commandery’s Liu Household too powerful to offer the Xu Household opportunities, Xu Mingyuan decided to stay briefly and acquire Spirit Fish fry and a Fish Basket.
• Xu Deling studied the Fish Basket, and Xu Mingshu sent it, a letter, and Spirit Fish fry back to the Xu Household with Third.
• Xu Chuan received the delivery, improved the Spirit Fish pellet formula, and developed a more effective feed that shortened the fish’s growth period.
• Xu Chuan perfected the Spirit Beast Pill and tested it on White Tiger, whose cultivation began to advance after repeated doses.
• After a month and a half, White Tiger’s excess energy led him to mate with a Female Tiger, and he accidentally fathered a cub.

Xu Chuan welcomed Ren Xiaoyao into the Xu Household, planned the clan’s expansion across Moon Lake Commandery, and traveled with Wu Tao to meet the Imperial Capital’s tax envoy. The chapter ended as the envoy arrived at Green Moon Terrace, while Xu Chuan also took note of an insect plague affecting the Lu Household’s spirit fields.

• Xu Chuan arranged careful care for the pregnant female tiger demon beast and hoped to improve her offspring’s bloodline.
• Xu Mingwei and his party returned to Dongxi with Ren Xiaoyao, whom Xu Mingyuan introduced as his disciple and a new member of the Xu Household.
• Xu Chuan approved plans for the Xu Clan Trading Company and new rules expanding the lineage’s cultivation training and protecting talented women from marrying out.
• Xu Chuan chose to attend the tax gathering himself with Wu Tao, and the Xu Household arrived at the Zhou Household’s Green Moon Terrace.
• Household Head Lu reported that an insect plague had devastated more than half of his spirit fields, prompting Xu Chuan to suspect a wider threat.
• A flying boat brought the Imperial Capital’s envoy and his escorts to Green Moon Terrace, where Xu Chuan and the other clan leaders greeted them.

An Imperial Capital envoy imposed strict freshness requirements and penalties while collecting spirit rice taxes from Moon Lake Commandery’s clans, but Xu Chuan’s Xu Household paid its quota without extra cost. After the envoy left, Xu Chuan rebuffed the Yuan Household head’s probing, while Zhou Shaoyuan suspected a Spirit-Gathering Formation explained the Xu Household’s abundant fresh rice.

• The refined young envoy recognized Xu Chuan as Grandmaster San Shu, asked him about Jade Yangzhi, and rewarded his advice with Jade True Brew.
• The envoy’s guards rejected old spirit rice and demanded extra spirit stones from several clans, including the Yu, Shui, and Shi Households.
• Xu Chuan and Wu Tao paid the Xu Household’s nine-thousand-jin quota entirely in fresh rice, and the envoy questioned how they had obtained it.
• After the envoy departed, Xu Chuan rebuffed the Yuan Household head’s questions, and Zhou Shaoyuan offered other clans fresh rice from the Zhou Household at a higher price.
• Zhou Shaoyuan suspected that a Spirit-Gathering Formation near Dongxi explained the Xu Household’s rice production and wondered whether Xu Chuan knew a Formation Master.

Xu Chuan guided the Xu Household’s growing family, trading company, and rising cultivators while warning them to develop cautiously and build loyalty. When a plague of spirit insects appeared beyond the Mist Formation, Xu Mingshu found that their defenses had stopped the swarm before she could capture it.

• Xu Chuan asked Xu Mingshu to raise plague-causing spirit insects and improve the female White Tiger’s offspring with a prescribed regimen.
• The Xu Household held a grand assembly and Year Sacrifice, welcomed Ren Xiaoyao further into the family, and began sending younger members to explore Qingjiang under guard.
• The Xu Clan Trading Company opened shops in the commandery seat and Market District, exchanging cultivation resources for materials and drawing interest from rogue cultivators and lower-ranked clans.
• Zhang Wanqing gave birth to Xu Deqian, several Xu Household members advanced in cultivation, and Xu Chuan instructed Xu Mingyuan to help Ren Xiaoyao develop a lasting sense of belonging.
• Xu Mingxian used his new spiritual consciousness to study formation techniques, while Xu Chuan and Xu Mingwei learned that a swarm of spirit insects had gathered outside the Mist Formation.
• Xu Mingshu and Xu Chuan entered the Mist Formation, where Xu Mingshu discovered that the defenses had stopped more than a thousand spirit insects and wondered whether the Xu Household’s defenses were too strong.

Xu Chuan and Xu Mingshu identified the crop-damaging Spirit Insects as Red-Spotted Insects and experimented to find what repelled them. As the infestation spread across Moon Lake Commandery, Zhou Sen visited the Xu Household seeking information, while Xu Chuan kept the results of his research to himself.

• Xu Mingshu communicated with the Spirit Insects and learned that an Insect Queen had awakened and sent them to search for food, prompting Xu Chuan to explain the queen’s potential value.
• Xu Mingshu identified the insects as Red-Spotted Insects, and she and Xu Chuan tested their reactions to plants, discovering that fishy herb incapacitated both larvae and adults.
• Xu Chuan began developing a colorless, odorless repellent, while Red-Spotted Insects damaged the Spirit Rice fields of households across Moon Lake Commandery, including the Zhou Household.
• Zhou Sen traveled to Dongxi to ask Xu Chuan about the infestation and learned that Xu Mingshu had identified the insects, but Xu Chuan said the Xu Household was still studying them.
• Zhou Sen left without meeting Xu Mingshu, intending to consult ancient records about Red-Spotted Insects.

Xu Mingshu and Xu Mingxian subdued a Red-Spotted Insect Queen, recovered a beast-taming inheritance and magical artifacts, and helped Xu Chuan profit from the insect crisis. The chapter ended with the Xu Household receiving a trade request from the Ge Household of Guangling Commandery.

• Xu Mingshu and Xu Mingxian tracked the Red-Spotted Insects to a hidden cavern, defeated the swarm, and Xu Mingshu imposed restrictions on the queen.
• Xu Mingxian found the Spirit Taming Canon, the Yi Wood Azure Spirit Art, and a set of Mother-and-Son Flying Knives among the cultivator's possessions; Xu Chuan assigned the knives to Xu Mingyuan and ordered the other artifacts sold.
• Xu Chuan sold medicinal liquid that repelled the insects to the Zhou Household and other clans, while Xu Mingshu frightened holdouts by sending insects to their fields.
• The Xu Household brewed and sold spirit wine from aged rice and opened Jade Qiongtai, strengthening its business and resources.
• A gray-haired Grand Elder from the Ge Household arrived in Dongxi, praised the Xu Household's Mist Formation, and presented a list of pills his household wanted to trade for.

Xu Mingyuan completed a major pill-and-resource trade with the Ge Household, and the Xu Household expanded its business and recruited new cultivators. Xu Mingshu’s tiger gave birth to four cubs, prompting the family to gather and joke about who might claim them.

• Xu Mingyuan negotiated a trade with the Ge Household’s Grand Elder, offering three High-Grade Divine Sense Pills and agreeing to prepare the pills within half a month.
• Xu Chuan arranged to provide the pills, and the Ge Household’s Grand Elder exchanged resources with the Xu Household before returning home.
• The Xu Household practiced the Soul-Searching Art and Soul-Confounding Art, recruited Lu Feng, Luo Qianshan, and Wu Zhen, and began trading with the Yun Household.
• Xu Mingshu raised Red-Spotted Insects and learned from the Spirit Taming Canon, while Xu Chuan advised her to conceal its secret arts and prepare for the tiger’s birth.
• The female tiger gave birth to four cubs, including two demon beasts, and Xu Mingshu named them Eldest, Second, Third, and Fourth.
• Xu Mingwei arrived and asked whether any of Little White’s cubs would suit Xu Mingshu’s eldest brother, making the family laugh.

Xu Deling asked Wu Shunan to marry into the Xu Household, but he chose the Wu Household’s future over their relationship, leaving her heartbroken and resolved to focus on cultivation and artifact refining. Later, Ren Xiaoyao and Xu Derong met Xiao Changyuan, an old friend of the Xu Household who had returned from Dragon River and accompanied them to Dongxi.

• Xu Mingshu offered to teach her family the Spirit-Commanding Restriction, while Xu Mingwei and Xu Mingyuan claimed two of Little White’s demon tiger cubs.
• Xu Deling asked Wu Shunan to marry into the Xu Household, but he returned to his home to weigh his love for her against being the Wu Household’s only descendant.
• After three days, Wu Shunan said goodbye to Xu Deling, and she accepted their separation before flying to the Immortal Arts Hall to see Xu Chuan.
• Xu Chuan comforted Xu Deling and advised her on artifact refining; she decided to concentrate on cultivation and spent several days working in the refining chamber.
• Ren Xiaoyao and Xu Derong encountered Xiao Changyuan in Qingjiang County, and the returning Immortal Official joined them on their carriage to the Xu Household in Dongxi.

Xiao Changyuan negotiated a direct trade between the Xiao Household and the Xu Household for high-grade pills and magical artifacts, then returned with two Xiao elders to complete the deal. After exchanging the goods and resources, Xu Mingyuan asked about Xiao Yan and Gu Xuanxuan’s wedding and offered a lavish gift.

• Xiao Changyuan visited the Xu Household and negotiated regular trade at prices above market rates to account for the risks of dealing with a Greater Clan.
• After consulting Wu Mingsheng, Xu Mingyuan replaced one requested high-grade magical artifact with additional high-grade pills because crafting the artifact was uncertain.
• Xiao Changyuan returned with the Xiao Household’s Second Elder and Seventh Elder, and Xu Mingyuan presented the prepared pills and magical artifact.
• The Second Elder praised the high-grade pills, and Xiao Changyuan supplied the remaining resources after Xu Mingyuan found only half in the first Storage Pouch.
• Xu Mingyuan asked when Xiao Yan and Gu Xuanxuan would marry and offered the Xu Household’s lavish gift for their wedding.

Xu Mingyuan began learning talisman arts from Lu Feng while the Xiao Household decided against attacking the Xu Household. The chapter ended with Xu Mingyuan naming his newborn grandson Xu Chongming.

• Xu Mingyuan and Wu Zhen discussed the Xiao Household's hostility, while the Second Elder warned that any attack could provoke the Zhou Household and Moon Lake Commandery's Foundation Establishment clan.
• The Xiao Household's Council of Elders rejected an invasion of the Xu Household, with most elders preferring to trade with it again for its High-Grade Pills.
• At Xu Chuan's suggestion, Xu Mingyuan went to Lu Feng to learn talisman making and arranged to study with him for four hours each day.
• Xu Mingyuan learned about talisman materials, runes, and how talismans could rapidly unleash spells prepared in advance.
• Xu Dejing gave birth to a son, and Xu Mingyuan named him Xu Chongming.