Chapter Summaries

Zhou Qing learned that the Restore Qing Destroy Ming Formation’s reported poor sales concealed widespread theft by Affiliated Families. He realized Mu Zhuosha had let the inferior formation build their investment before using her enhanced version to force them into a desperate bargain.

• Zhou Qing studied the Long-Distance Communication Formation’s focused spiritual energy fluctuations and memorized its array diagram.
• Hu Guan claimed sales of the Restore Qing Destroy Ming Formation were poor and said he could not provide the agreed spirit stones or purchase runes for Zhou Qing.
• Zhou Qing ended the communication after Hu Guan offered to act only as an intermediary for an expensive rune transaction.
• Lu Qiushui explained that Affiliated Families copied the formation diagrams and sold the formations outside the sect’s accounts, making the reported sales figures unreliable.
• Zhou Qing concluded that Mu Zhuosha had allowed the Affiliated Families to invest in the inferior formation so her enhanced version could later force them to pay her a steep price.

Zhou Qing learned why Mu Zhuosha was trying to weaken the Affiliated Families and foster reform, but revealed that he could not currently produce the stronger formation needed to counter their copied diagrams. After Mu Zhuosha proposed confronting the families by force, Zhou Qing said he would handle the crisis himself.

• Lu Qiushui explained that the Xu Family and Mu Family were powerful Affiliated Families that profited from the Azure Cloud Sect while the sect tolerated their influence.
• Lu Qiushui described Mu Zhuosha’s effort to build a new force that could reclaim fields controlled by the Affiliated Families and serve the sect’s interests.
• At the Scripture Pavilion, Mu Zhuosha explained that she had let Zhou Qing experience how the sect exploited talented people so he would understand her reform goals.
• Zhou Qing told Mu Zhuosha that although he had two kinds of Restore Qing Destroy Ming Formation, he could not yet inscribe or sell the stronger one because he still needed five unknown runes.
• Mu Zhuosha said she would confront the strongest families, while Chen Qingxuan explained that families were retaliating against his efforts to increase shop profits for the sect.
• Zhou Qing rejected Mu Zhuosha’s plan to use force and told her to settle down because he would handle the matter.

Zhou Qing learned about the Esoteric Division’s hostility toward disciples of mortal birth and the obstacles Bai Muyun could place in his path to becoming an Array Grandmaster. He also learned how Azure Cloud Sect’s shops could support his plans, then returned to Violet Cloud Mountain to consider his options.

• Zhou Qing explained that he would wait for the Array Institute’s members to emerge from seclusion before deciding how to optimize and sell Talismans and formations.
• Zhou Qing asked Mu Zhuosha about Bai Muyun’s grudge, and she explained that he opposed her after she challenged his proposal to bar disciples of mortal birth from the Esoteric Division.
• Mu Zhuosha told Zhou Qing that a mortal-born disciple had once stolen and sold more than a hundred array runes, prompting Bai Muyun to distrust mortal-born disciples.
• Mu Zhuosha warned Zhou Qing that Bai Muyun would obstruct his attempt to become an Array Grandmaster and that mortal-born applicants faced stricter scrutiny.
• Chen Qingxuan told Zhou Qing that Azure Cloud Sect operated 1,030 shops, including six near the markets of the Western Serenity Continent’s Golden Core Sects.
• Zhou Qing returned to his home on Violet Cloud Mountain and considered the information he had gathered.

After the Array Institute’s seclusion yielded thirteen new runes, Bai Muyun revoked Zhou Qing’s access to its Talisman manuals and opposed Sect Leader True Person’s promise to make him an Array Grandmaster. The chapter ended with Bai Muyun invoking the Sect Rules to block the Sect Leader from interfering in the Array Institute’s title assessments.

• Xuan Zhe reported that the Array Institute had obtained thirteen new runes, and Cheng Feipeng told the returning array masters about recent changes in the sect, including Mu Zhuosha’s emergence from seclusion.
• Bai Muyun blamed Cheng Feipeng for granting Zhou Qing array master treatment and access to Talisman manuals, ordered them taken back, and warned Cheng to keep the Talismans from spreading.
• Cheng Feipeng retrieved the manuals from Zhou Qing, who apologized, while Cheng lamented that Zhou’s array talent would be stifled by powerful figures.
• Yu Liangmou brought Zhou Qing to Purple Dusk Palace, where Sect Leader True Person promised to seek Bai Muyun’s approval for Zhou’s Array Grandmaster title.
• Bai Muyun refused, arguing that Zhou Qing lacked the required achievements in interpreting runes, and cited the Sect Rules that reserved title assessments to the Array Institute.

After Bai Muyun expelled Cheng Feipeng from the Array Institute, Zhou Qing secured the Sect Leader True Person’s support for his own array research and recruited Cheng Feipeng to help. Zhou Qing then completed an optimized Azure Vine Bind Talisman by using Water-type spiritual energy to combine Metal and Wood attributes.

• Bai Muyun expelled Cheng Feipeng from the Array Institute and left Purple Dusk Palace.
• Zhou Qing persuaded the Sect Leader True Person to preserve his Array Grandmaster treatment and fund his independent research on equal terms with the Array Institute.
• Zhou Qing invited Cheng Feipeng to join his research, and Cheng Feipeng moved to Violet Cloud Mountain.
• Zhou Qing developed an optimized Azure Vine Bind Talisman by using Water-type spiritual energy as an intermediary between Metal and Wood.

Zhou Qing developed a powerful new array called Thorn Bind by combining Metal, Water, and Wood spiritual energy, then brought it to Cheng Feipeng for evaluation. After seeing it work, Cheng Feipeng realized it could replace Green Vine Bind talismans, and the chapter left them considering its potential for sale.

• Zhou Qing used target frequency bands and the Sudden Severance Method to combine Metal, Water, and Wood spiritual energy into Thorn Bind.
• Zhou Qing tested the array and confirmed that it could threaten cultivators several levels stronger, though its nine runes made it complex and near the limit of a Yellow-Grade Array.
• Zhou Qing brought a copy of Thorn Bind to Cheng Feipeng and explained that he had a finished product for him to test.
• Cheng Feipeng activated Thorn Bind and watched its vines grow metallic spikes before the array's power ran out.
• Cheng Feipeng praised Thorn Bind as a stronger replacement for Green Vine Bind and said the existing talismans could be discarded if it were sold.

Zhou Qing planned to turn an array into a marketable Talisman and build his own team to produce it, avoiding reliance on the Array Institute. He recruited Wei Xu first, who agreed to help without asking about compensation.

• Cheng Feipeng explained that Jiaoren Skin could seal an array inside a Talisman and prevent others from copying its pattern.
• Zhou Qing proposed training his own junior brothers and sisters to inscribe Talismans, and Cheng Feipeng agreed that it could work.
• Zhou Qing considered loyal disciples for his team, including Wei Xu, Wang Xiaohu, Wei Kuang, and Yuan Hongying, while deciding not to let concerns about Yuan Hongying's feelings affect his plans.
• Zhou Qing visited Wei Xu and explained that he wanted his help producing Talismans.
• Wei Xu immediately agreed to join, even without knowing what compensation Zhou Qing would offer.

Zhou Qing recruited Wei Xu, Wang Xiaohu, and Wei Kuang for his plan to disrupt the Azure Cloud Sect’s established interests, while carefully weighing whom he could trust. After advising Wei Kuang on his cultivation, Zhou Qing visited Yuan Hongying, whose warm welcome left their conversation poised to begin.

• Wei Xu agreed to join Zhou Qing’s plan after hearing his account.
• Wang Xiaohu agreed to help, but Zhou Qing declined to involve Feng Yuan until he could better judge Feng Yuan’s loyalties.
• Wei Kuang told Zhou Qing he was anxious about failing to reach the state needed for his breakthrough, and Zhou Qing advised him to set the matter aside and let the focused thought arise naturally.
• Wei Kuang agreed to help Zhou Qing establish a monopoly over Talismans, recognizing that it could reshape the Azure Cloud Sect’s interests.
• Zhou Qing visited Yuan Hongying, who served him tea made from leaves she had discovered and prepared herself.

Zhou Qing organized the production and trial sale of Thorn Bind Talismans, then failed to obtain new runes from Xuan Zhe because Bai Muyun had barred the Array Institute from sharing them. He learned that Bai Muyun was also blocking the Array Institute’s goods from shops controlled by Zhou Qing’s allies and advised Lu Qiushui not to confront him.

• Zhou Qing arranged for Yuan Hongying to help with his plans, then gathered four people at Cheng Feipeng’s home and taught them to copy the Thorn Bind array onto Talismans.
• After three days of practice, the four began producing Talismans, and Zhou Qing tested Wei Xu’s first finished product and agreed with Cheng Feipeng on a price of ten spirit stones each.
• The group completed two hundred Talismans, which Zhou Qing left with Chen Qingxuan to arrange a trial sale at a shop near the Longevity Sect.
• Zhou Qing visited Xuan Zhe to ask about the new runes, but Xuan Zhe refused because Bai Muyun had forbidden the Array Institute from leaking them.
• Lu Qiushui told Zhou Qing that Bai Muyun had withheld the Array Institute’s goods from shops controlled by their allies, and Zhou Qing advised her not to confront him.

Zhou Qing left the Array Institute with Lu Qiushui and later joined Chen Qingxuan on a trip to Longevity Market to help resolve trouble at an Azure Cloud Sect shop. After arriving near the Longevity Sect, they reached the market, where Zhou Qing noticed its wares and the Azure Cloud Sect shop.

• Lu Qiushui warned Zhou Qing that Bai Muyun monitored the Array Institute and abandoned her plan to question him after Zhou Qing’s outburst.
• Zhou Qing continued cultivating, learned to divide his magnetic field into sixty-seven portions, and waited for news from Chen Qingxuan.
• Chen Qingxuan told Zhou Qing he was going to shops near the Longevity Sect to handle trouble that might involve the sect, and Zhou Qing persuaded him to come along.
• Zhou Qing asked Fang Yuhe to look after his junior brothers and sisters before setting out with Chen Qingxuan in a flying boat.
• Zhou Qing and Chen Qingxuan arrived at Longevity Market, where Zhou Qing examined its goods and found the Azure Cloud Sect’s shop.

Chen Qingxuan and Zhou Qing visited Wang Xuanji at the Azure Cloud Sect shop and learned that a small family was accusing the sect’s talismans of causing a fatal injury. Wang Xuanji suspected the Red Mound Lu Family had arranged the trouble to reclaim the shop, and Zhou Qing offered to deal with the mob outside.

• Chen Qingxuan introduced Zhou Qing to Wang Xuanji, who explained that he had been kept at the marketplace shop instead of visiting the sect.
• Wang Xuanji said members of the Wu Family blamed a failed Green Vine Bind talisman for their descendant’s death and had been disrupting the shop and spreading rumors.
• Wang Xuanji revealed that the Wu Family was connected by marriage to the Red Mound Lu Family, which had ties to the Howling Tiger Valley Lu Family and stood to benefit from taking over the shop.
• Wang Xuanji explained that the Red Mound Lu Family’s actions could turn the dispute into a conflict between the Longevity Sect and the Azure Cloud Sect.
• When a mob began pounding on the shop door, Zhou Qing asked to handle the matter, and Chen Qingxuan and Wang Xuanji agreed to let him try.

The Wu Family, secretly directed by the Red Mound Lu Family and backed by the Howling Tiger Valley Lu Family, staged a public campaign accusing Azure Cloud Sect’s shop of selling defective Talismans. As the crowd began to believe the accusations, Wang Xuanji asked Zhou Qing how he would handle the crisis.

• Wu Jinwei led the Wu Family in harassing Azure Cloud Sect’s shop after the Red Mound Lu Family instructed him to do so.
• The Wu Family brought the dead descendant’s parents and sisters to the shop, where they wailed and accused it of causing his death.
• Market cultivators debated the accusations, and some concluded that Azure Cloud Sect’s cheap Talismans might conceal dangers.
• Wang Xuanji, Chen Qingxuan, Zhou Qing, and the two Martial Uncles listened to the crowd’s growing suspicions inside the shop.
• Wang Xuanji set up a soundproof barrier and asked Zhou Qing how he intended to handle the situation.

Zhou Qing challenged the Wu Family’s accusation against the Azure Cloud Sect and demonstrated a powerful modified Green Vine Bind talisman. The Wu Family’s Wu Jinwei was left trapped and bleeding before the gathered cultivators, revealing the talisman’s metal spikes.

• Zhou Qing told Chen Qingxuan that the Longevity Sect, not the Red Mound Lu Family or the Qi Refinement Wu Family, should answer for the false accusation.
• Zhou Qing opened the door and let Wu Jinwei publicly repeat the Wu Family’s fabricated claim that an Azure Cloud Sect talisman had failed and caused a disciple’s death.
• Zhou Qing demanded that Wu Jinwei demonstrate the talisman’s supposed weakness, then activated his Thorn Bind talisman.
• Zhou Qing disrupted Wu Jinwei with magnetic-field vibrations, allowing the vines to ensnare him before he could evade them.
• The thorn-covered vines pierced Wu Jinwei and drew blood, astonishing the watching cultivators with their metal-element spikes.

Zhou Qing subdued Wu Jinwei and used an Eternal Submergence formation to expose that the Red Mound Lu Family had ordered the extortion of the Azure Cloud Sect. As the onlookers retreated from the brewing conflict, Wang Xuanji questioned whether they should involve the Longevity Sect.

• Zhou Qing restrained Wu Jinwei with Green Vine Bind and promoted the Azure Cloud Sect's powerful Talismans to the watching Cultivators.
• Zhou Qing questioned Wu Jinwei about who had directed the extortion, but Wu Jinwei refused to betray the Red Mound Lu Family.
• Zhou Qing used an Eternal Submergence formation that shattered Wu Jinwei's thoughts into arguing fragments.
• Wu Jinwei's contradictory muttering revealed that the Red Mound Lu Family had instructed his family to frame the Azure Cloud Sect.
• The Rogue Cultivators withdrew from the scene, and Wang Xuanji asked Zhou Qing whether they should avoid involving the Longevity Sect.

Zhou Qing explained that his improved Thorn Bind Talismans threatened the Longevity Sect’s market and that the Azure Cloud Sect would need to negotiate to keep its shop operating. As Zhou Qing and his martial uncles went to the Longevity Sect, Lu Shentong warned its leaders about the Talismans, and they began considering how to counter the Azure Cloud Sect.

• Zhou Qing explained that his improved Talismans directly competed with the Longevity Sect’s products and proposed yielding part of the profits to preserve the Azure Cloud Sect’s shop.
• Zhou Qing, Chen Qingxuan, and Wang Xuanji took Wu Jinwei and flew to the Longevity Sect to negotiate.
• Lu Shentong, who had witnessed Zhou Qing restrain Wu Jinwei, hurried to the Longevity Sect to report the threat to its business.
• Lu Shentong told Lu Yuyi and the other Elders that the Azure Cloud Sect’s new Talismans were exceptionally strong, and they linked the improvement to its genius formation master.
• Qingyang warned that the Azure Cloud Sect might improve more wood-element Talismans, while Lu Shentong proposed driving out its shop or sharing the Talisman business.

Zhou Qing and Longevity Sect’s Sect Leader Qingmu confronted each other over Azure Cloud Sect’s new Talismans and Longevity Sect’s attempt to expel its shops. Their negotiations nearly turned into a clash after Wang Xuanji challenged Qingmu’s attempt to blame Mu Zhuosha’s past actions on Azure Cloud Sect.

• Lu Yuyi and Lu Shentong urged Sect Leader Qingmu to force Azure Cloud Sect to surrender its formation diagram or withdraw from Longevity Sect territory.
• Sect Leader Qingmu rebuked Lu Shentong for arranging Wu Jinwei’s scheme and warned that Longevity Sect needed to preserve its reputation.
• Zhou Qing arrived with Chen Qingxuan and the witless Wu Jinwei to seek justice, but Sect Leader Qingmu said Longevity Sect would expel Azure Cloud Sect’s shops over the new Talismans.
• Zhou Qing argued that Longevity Sect had framed Azure Cloud Sect and was now driving out its shops, while Sect Leader Qingmu dismissed the framing as repayment for Mu Zhuosha’s past offense.
• Wang Xuanji challenged Qingmu to seek repayment from Mu Zhuosha herself, provoking a clash of auras before Zhou Qing called for calm and defended Azure Cloud Sect’s position.

Zhou Qing rejected Grandmaster Qingmu’s marriage proposal and tried to find a way to keep the Azure Cloud Sect’s shops in Longevity Sect territory without provoking other sects. He stayed at the Longevity Sect to seek a solution, and Qingyuan arrived in his room that night, delighted to see him.

• Grandmaster Qingmu offered to protect the Azure Cloud Sect’s business if Zhou Qing married his daughter, Qingyuan, but Zhou Qing refused.
• Grandmaster Qingmu ordered the Azure Cloud Sect to move its shops out of Longevity Sect territory after its guests left.
• Chen Qingxuan and Wang Xuanji discussed the losses and suggested limiting which Talismans the Azure Cloud Sect sold in each sect’s territory.
• Zhou Qing argued that the sects needed a way to coexist and rejected marriage as a solution to their business conflict.
• Zhou Qing stayed in the Longevity Sect to look for a solution, and Qingyuan excitedly entered his room that night.

Qingyuan took Zhou Qing into Longevity Sect’s secret realm to show him the Longevity Fruit trees, which bore fruit once every ten years. She picked a fruit for him and urged him to try it, leaving him holding it after smelling its refreshing fragrance.

• Qingyuan told Zhou Qing she wished he had agreed to marry her so she could visit Azure Cloud Sect, and he suggested she ask Grandmaster Qingmu to let her go there instead.
• Qingyuan led Zhou Qing past the snowline and through a guarded formation into Longevity Sect’s secret realm.
• Qingyuan explained that the secret realm was where Longevity Sect’s founder had established the sect and that its Longevity Fruit trees were fruiting.
• Qingyuan flew with Zhou Qing to a crimson tree above a magma-filled abyss and picked a Longevity Fruit for him.
• Zhou Qing hesitated to eat the fruit for fear of breaking sect rules, but Qingyuan offered to take the blame, and he accepted it and smelled its fragrance.

Zhou Qing shared a Longevity Fruit with Qingyuan and discovered that it increased life potential, strengthening his magnetic field. He left the cavern understanding that his magnetic field grew as his life potential expanded, and began considering other ways to increase it.

• Qingyuan admitted that she had given Zhou Qing her share of the Longevity Fruit, and they split it between them.
• After eating the fruit, Zhou Qing found that his magnetic field's range and intensity had increased.
• Qingyuan explained that Longevity Fruits expanded life potential, improving a person's health, recovery, energy, and lifespan.
• Zhou Qing realized that his magnetic field's strength was connected to his life potential and that cultivation advanced it by expanding that potential.
• Zhou Qing refused Qingyuan's offer to pick another fruit, and they left the cavern.

Zhou Qing learned about the Longevity Sect’s Withered Wood Rejuvenation secret art and became eager to obtain it. After Grandmaster Qingmu caught him and Qingyuan in the forbidden ground, Zhou Qing asked to hear why Qingmu wanted him to marry Qingyuan.

• Qingyuan explained that Withered Wood Rejuvenation could temporarily raise life potential by burning spiritual energy, though it damaged the meridians and prevented spiritual energy use for two or three days.
• Zhou Qing realized the secret art could let his cultivation support his magnetic field abilities, but regretted that it belonged to the Longevity Sect.
• At the cave exit, Grandmaster Qingmu confronted Zhou Qing and Qingyuan for entering the forbidden ground and taking Longevity Fruit.
• Qingyuan admitted she had stolen her father’s token and brought Zhou Qing inside, while insisting that Zhou Qing should not be punished.
• Zhou Qing told Grandmaster Qingmu that Qingyuan had helped him enter and asked him to explain the purpose behind his marriage condition.
• Grandmaster Qingmu tried to send Qingyuan away before speaking with Zhou Qing, but Zhou Qing asked that she stay and hear the explanation.