Chapter Summaries

Chen Daoxuan negotiated with Luo Li over the Merfolk Tribe’s spirit ores and Water Spirit Pearls, using the effort required to refine weapons to shape her sense of fair value. The chapter ended with Luo Li offering Water Spirit Pearls for far less than Chen Daoxuan expected.

• Luo Li brought out the Merfolk Tribe’s spirit ores and treasures, including Guishui Fine Gold and Red Copper Mine.
• Chen Daoxuan explained that refining a low-grade flying sword took him seven days, persuading Luo Li that the Merfolk Tribe’s mining labor was comparatively easy.
• Luo Li showed Chen Daoxuan the Water Spirit Pearls and asked what price they could fetch.
• Chen Daoxuan named the Guang’an Prefecture price of fifty Spirit Stones per first-tier Water Spirit Pearl.
• Luo Li offered to sell the Water Spirit Pearls to Chen Daoxuan for ten Spirit Stones each, and he nearly fell from his stone stool.

Chen Daoxuan and Luo Li expanded the Chen Family’s trade with the Merfolk Tribe, agreeing to exchange resources and use Chen Family Contribution Points as a shared currency. The mermaids departed with Flying Swords, leaving the two sides with a stronger basis for future cooperation.

• Chen Daoxuan and Luo Li agreed on prices for Water Spirit Pearls and Spirit Mine ores, then settled the value of the mermaids’ goods and 350 Flying Swords.
• Chen Daoxuan proposed expanding trade to include resources each side needed, and Luo Li revealed that the Merfolk Tribe lacked food because its cultivation required it.
• Chen Daoxuan offered to trade Spirit Rice and proposed recording their trade balance with Chen Family Contribution Points in paired Jade Slips.
• Luo Li accepted the arrangement and agreed to trust the Chen Family, while Chen Daoxuan declined to inventory the mermaids’ supplies.
• The mermaids exchanged their supplies for the Flying Swords and left, and Luo Li later surfaced near the Sea Viewing Pavilion to look back at Chen Daoxuan before disappearing underwater.

Chen Daoxuan returned to Twin Lakes Island after securing enough Spirit Stones from the Merfolk Tribe trade to cultivate a Spirit Vein for the Chen Family. Chen Xianhe learned the long-awaited goal was within reach and asked Chen Daoxuan to tell him about the trade.

• Chen Daoxuan reflected on how the Chen Family’s control of the Merfolk Tribe’s weapons, currency, and future food supply could make the tribe dependent on them.
• Chen Daoxuan learned Chen Xianhe had returned from Guang'an Prefecture after Rainbow Sound Flying Sword Shop sold all fifty flying swords.
• Chen Daoxuan reprimanded the nine Chen Family Immortal Seedlings for neglecting their cultivation assignments, and Chen Xianhe let him establish his authority.
• Chen Xianhe explained that growing demand from Rogue Cultivators had made the flying swords sell out in less than two months.
• Chen Daoxuan told Chen Xianhe that the trade with the Merfolk Tribe had gathered enough Spirit Stones to cultivate a Spirit Vein, and Chen Xianhe celebrated the fulfillment of his long-held wish.

Chen Daoxuan persuaded Chen Xianhe to establish the Chen Family’s Spirit Vein at Twin Lakes Island’s Industrial Zone, beside the Flying Sword Factory. Chen Daoxuan envisioned the family’s expansion under the Qianyuan Sword Sect’s protection.

• Chen Xianhe questioned why the Merfolk Tribe could use Chen Family Contribution Points, and Chen Daoxuan explained that they would make trade easier and keep the Merfolk’s business exclusive to the Chen Family.
• Chen Xianhe proposed the Red Copper Mountain Range as the Spirit Vein site, but admitted its advantages had dwindled as the mine ran dry and the Earth Fire Chamber remained sealed.
• Chen Daoxuan argued that the Spirit Vein should be near the Flying Sword Factory, which Chen Xianhe recognized as the family’s most important asset.
• Chen Daoxuan proposed establishing the Spirit Vein in the Twin Lakes Island Industrial Zone, and Chen Xianhe accepted despite his attachment to the Red Copper Mountain Range.
• Chen Daoxuan pictured expanding the family’s cultivation and flying sword production, trusting the Qianyuan Sword Sect’s laws to protect the Chen Family from open attacks by greater families.

Chen Xianhe returned with five Meridian-Opening Pills, prompting Chen Daoxuan to plan for the Chen Family’s Immortal Seedlings to enter Qi Refining and help expand the Flying Sword Factory. After Chen Xianhe warned him not to rush the family’s growth, Chen Daoxuan recognized that the clan remained weak and resolved to prioritize its cultivators’ strength.

• Chen Xianhe showed Chen Daoxuan a Meridian-Opening Pill he had bought at the Zhou Family Pill Pavilion.
• Chen Daoxuan realized the pills could help the Chen Family’s Immortal Seedlings enter Qi Refining and eventually expand its Flying Sword Factory.
• Chen Daoxuan lamented that the five pills were not enough for all nine Immortal Seedlings, and Chen Xianhe reminded him that some were too young to cultivate or work.
• Chen Xianhe warned Chen Daoxuan not to let the drive to gather wealth eclipse the family’s cultivation and strength.
• Chen Daoxuan considered the Chen Family’s vulnerability and promised Chen Xianhe that he would not let its cultivators fall behind in cultivation.

Chen Daoxuan and Chen Xianhe set up a Spirit Nurturing Grand Array at Twin Lakes Island, using the Chen Family’s savings to prepare for cultivating its own Spirit Vein. After finishing, they discussed the Creation Force contained within Spirit Stones.

• Chen Daoxuan explained that the nearby buildings were worker dormitories and lamented the Chen Family’s shrinking population and shortage of craftsmen.
• Chen Daoxuan laid out the Spirit Nurturing Grand Array’s materials while Chen Xianhe watched, then Chen Xianhe offered to help place the Spirit Stones.
• Chen Daoxuan and Chen Xianhe divided the work and placed more than one hundred thousand Spirit Stones at the formation nodes before sunset.
• Chen Xianhe offered the leftover Spirit Stones to Chen Daoxuan, who told him to use them to buy supplies in Guang'an Prefecture.
• Chen Daoxuan examined a Spirit Stone’s Creation Force, and Chen Xianhe explained that the spiritual qi within it protected the force from dissipating.

Chen Xianhe and Chen Daoxuan watched the Chen Family’s Spirit Vein form on Twin Lakes Island, then oversaw construction of Chen Daoxuan’s Spirit Mansion. The Spirit Vein and five new Qi Refining cultivators strengthened the family, while the other Immortal Seedlings joined the building work.

• Chen Xianhe celebrated as the Spirit Vein formed and explained that its main node could eventually become a Spirit Pool.
• Chen Xianhe stayed on Twin Lakes Island to help Chen Daoxuan and the Immortal Seedlings construct Spirit Mansions, and Chen Daoxuan’s mansion was completed in less than a month.
• Chen Xianhe had Chen Daoxuan set up a Spirit Gathering Formation after all 127 Secondary Spirit Eyes began emitting spiritual qi.
• Chen Daolin, Chen Daochu, Chen Daolian, Chen Daochuan, and Chen Daozi broke through to Qi Refining Stage One, bringing the Chen Family’s cultivator total to seven.
• Chen Xianhe put the newly advanced children to work at the construction site, where Chen Daochu’s fanciful building proposals angered him.

Chen Daoxuan sent Chen Xianhe to Guang'an Prefecture with instructions to limit flying sword sales so the Chen family could grow without provoking powerful rivals. He then began teaching five newly advanced Qi Refining cultivators artifact forging, but after more than a month, Chen Daochu and the others still struggled with the basics.

• Chen Daoxuan advised Chen Xianhe to keep flying sword sales at their previous level, and Chen Xianhe agreed that the Chen family needed time to grow.
• Chen Daoxuan considered the Rogue Cultivator Market too risky to aggressively enter, given the interests of existing shops and great cultivation clans.
• After seeing Chen Xianhe off, Chen Daoxuan began teaching Chen Daochu and four other new Qi Refining cultivators artifact forging.
• Chen Daoxuan explained that the Spirit-Melding Furnace let his apprentices skip material refinement and practice shaping and formation fusion far more often than he had as a beginner.
• After more than a month of instruction, Chen Daoxuan scolded Chen Daochu for failing to engrave formation patterns steadily.

Chen Daoxuan began forging a high-grade first-tier Wind-Attribute Flying Sword to complement his Chasing Wind Sword Art. He refined the Wind Chant Ore and shaped a sword blank, then prepared to attempt the artifact’s nine formation fusions.

• Chen Daoxuan heard Chen Daolian and Chen Daochu arguing in the neighboring workshop and sealed his room with a Soundproofing Formation.
• Chen Daoxuan chose to forge a Wind-Attribute Flying Sword because his Water-Attribute Flying Snow Sword conflicted with the Chasing Wind Sword Art.
• Chen Daoxuan refined a large quantity of Wind Chant Ore in the Spirit-Melding Furnace, merging its wind-attribute power into the material.
• Chen Daoxuan shaped the refined material into a Flying Sword blank and prepared to fuse nine layers of Formation Patterns.

Chen Daoxuan successfully refined and named a nine-layer first-grade superior Wind-Attribute Flying Sword, the Shadow-Bearing Sword. During another Enlightenment session at the Sea Viewing Pavilion, he finally fused the Chasing Wind Sword Art and Overturning Rain Sword Art, and Luo Li arrived in time to witness his display.

• Chen Daoxuan completed the ninth Formation Pattern and refined the Shadow-Bearing Sword, a first-grade superior Wind-Attribute Flying Sword.
• Chen Daoxuan named his new sword and set out for the Sea Viewing Pavilion after receiving Luo Li’s message that their trade was due.
• While waiting, Chen Daoxuan used the Primordial Enlightenment Scripture again to seek a way to fuse the Chasing Wind Sword Art and Overturning Rain Sword Art.
• Chen Daoxuan rose above the sea and unleashed both Flying Swords as rain and streaks of White Trace filled the air.
• Luo Li arrived with Merfolk Tribe members and watched Chen Daoxuan’s Sword Art in astonishment.

Chen Daoxuan exhausted his true Qi while comprehending the Chasing Wind Overturning Rain Sword Art, and Luo Li rescued him from the sea. After trading Flying Swords and discussing plans to train more Artifact Forgers, Luo Li escorted him underwater and revealed the Merfolk Tribe’s Innate Divine Ability.

• Chen Daoxuan’s sword art became dangerous enough to threaten Foundation Establishment cultivators, but his true Qi ran out and he fell into the sea.
• Luo Li rescued Chen Daoxuan and helped him recover in the Sea Viewing Pavilion.
• Chen Daoxuan explained that the Chen Family had slowed Flying Sword production while training more Artifact Forgers to meet the Merfolk Tribe’s needs.
• Chen Daoxuan and Luo Li completed their third weapons transaction, then Luo Li offered to escort him home.
• Luo Li took Chen Daoxuan underwater and explained that the protective membrane around them came from the Merfolk Tribe’s Innate Divine Ability.

After nearly a year of cultivation, Chen Daoxuan broke through to the seventh layer of Qi Refining and learned that Chen Xianhe had returned. At the Flying Sword Factory, Chen Xianhe praised Chen Daochu and the others for producing flawless Crimson Shadow Flying Swords and raised the question of expanding the factory.

• Chen Daoxuan advanced from the sixth to the seventh layer of Qi Refining after nearly a year of cultivation in his Spirit Mansion.
• Chen Daolian told Chen Daoxuan that Chen Xianhe had returned to the Rainbow Sound Flying Sword Factory.
• Chen Daoxuan and Chen Daolian flew to the factory, where Chen Xianhe was testing Chen Daochu and the others' Artifact Refining skills.
• Chen Daochu and the others refined flawless Crimson Shadow Flying Swords, earning praise from Chen Xianhe.
• Chen Xianhe asked Chen Daoxuan whether it was time to put the Flying Sword Factory's expansion on the agenda, and Chen Daoxuan frowned.

Chen Xianhe told Chen Daoxuan that their Rainbow Sound Flying Sword Shop had drawn the attention of rival shops because its brand-new swords were taking customers away from secondhand sellers. With the Chen Family unwilling to raise prices and facing potentially stronger small families, Chen Xianhe said he had a plan.

• Chen Daoxuan asked Chen Xianhe why he had previously advised against expanding Flying Sword sales in the Rogue Cultivator Market.
• Chen Xianhe explained that the Rainbow Sound Flying Sword Shop had sold over three hundred swords and was now attracting customers from other Artifact Shops.
• Chen Xianhe said raising prices would drive away the Rogue Cultivator market, leaving the Chen Family to compete with rival shops instead.
• Chen Daoxuan learned that none of the forty-three Artifact Shops had Foundation Establishment backing, though seven were run by small families, including the stronger Mo Family.
• Chen Daoxuan asked Chen Xianhe for a solution, and Chen Xianhe said he had a good idea.

Mo Changsheng learned that the Chen Family’s Rainbow Sound Flying Sword Shop had halved the Mo Family’s artifact business profits, threatening his hope of Foundation Establishment. On Twin Lakes Island, Chen Xianhe planned to use the Qianyuan Sword Sect’s decree as leverage by flooding the market and forcing rival shops into a desperate gamble.

• Mo Yuqing told Mo Changsheng that the Chen Family’s flying sword business had cut the Mo Family Treasure Artifact Pavilion’s profits by half and that the Chen Family refused to sell them Magic Artifacts.
• Mo Changsheng grew furious and worried that the loss of income would prevent him from saving enough to buy a Foundation Establishment Pill.
• Chen Xianhe explained to Chen Daoxuan that his plan relied on “borrowing momentum” and pushing the Mo Family and other Rogue Cultivator Market artifact shops into a corner.
• Chen Xianhe proposed expanding the Flying Sword Factory and shipping swords in large quantities, since Daochu and the others could already forge Crimson Shadow Flying Swords.

Chen Daoxuan expanded the Rainbow Sound Flying Sword Factory from five production rooms to thirty and helped it begin full-scale production. After workers adjusted to the new operation, the factory reached thirty flying swords a day and produced nearly nine hundred in a month.

• Chen Liangyu told Chen Daoxuan and Chen Xianhe that the factory had enough trained Furnace Operators to staff its expansion.
• Chen Daoxuan finished refining twenty-five Spirit-Melding Furnaces, bringing the factory's total to thirty, and the expanded factory began trial production.
• Chen Daoxuan reviewed the first day's records, which showed twenty-seven Crimson Shadow Flying Swords after two furnace loads and one sword were ruined.
• The factory increased production to twenty-seven or twenty-eight flying swords per day, then reached thirty daily after workers settled into their routines.
• The Rainbow Sound Flying Sword Factory produced nearly nine hundred flying swords in a month.

Chen Xianhe and Chen Daoxuan traveled to Guang'an Prefecture to counter the Mo Family and protect the Chen Family’s growing business. Chen Xianhe used an elaborate display of hardship to win Zhou Mucheng’s sympathy, but Zhou’s offer of protection did not yet meet the family’s needs.

• Chen Daoxuan left Twin Lakes Island with Chen Xianhe after entrusting Chen Daochu, Chen Liangyu, and Chen Beiwang with the family’s affairs.
• After reaching Guang'an Prefecture, Chen Xianhe brought Chen Daoxuan to meet Zhou Mucheng, a Foundation Establishment cultivator in the Zhou Family patrol team, through Zhou Siliang.
• Chen Daoxuan introduced himself to Zhou Mucheng as the Chen Family’s young high-grade first-tier Artifact Forger, surprising him.
• When Zhou Mucheng asked how the Chen Family produced so many Magical Artifacts, Chen Xianhe tearfully claimed that cultivators with poor aptitude abandoned cultivation to forge for the family.
• Moved by Chen Xianhe’s account, Zhou Mucheng promised that the Zhou Family would keep the Chen Clan shop safe within Guang'an Prefecture.
• Chen Xianhe realized Zhou Mucheng’s offer did not provide the support he wanted for a trap against the Mo Family or the appearance of Zhou Family backing.

Chen Xianhe gained Zhou Mucheng’s support against the Mo Family by revealing they had fought together at Zhennan Pass and describing the threat to the Chen Family’s cargo ships. After the banquet, Chen Xianhe and Chen Daoxuan returned to their shop relieved and began planning how to lure the Mo Family into their trap.

• Chen Xianhe revealed that he had survived the battle at Zhennan Pass, and Zhou Mucheng recognized him as a fellow soldier and former captain.
• Chen Xianhe explained the Chen Family’s predicament, and Zhou Mucheng promised to report the Mo Family to the Qianyuan Sword Sect if they ambushed the cargo ships.
• Chen Daoxuan gave Zhou Siliang a Jade Box containing five first-tier and five second-tier Water Spirit Pearls, and Zhou Mucheng accepted the five more valuable pearls.
• After the banquet, Zhou Mucheng gave Zhou Siliang one thousand Spirit Stones for his share of the gift and warned him not to waste them at brothels.
• Chen Xianhe and Chen Daoxuan returned to the Rainbow Sound Flying Sword Shop, relieved that Zhou Mucheng would support them, and Chen Xianhe said they would lure the Mo Family into their trap.

Chen Xianhe and Chen Daoxuan used a surge in flying sword sales to pressure the Mo Family, which came to Rainbow Sound Flying Sword Shop seeking a partnership and then threatened them. After the Mo Family left, the two Chen family members revealed that Chen Daoxuan’s angry outburst had been an act.

• Chen Xianhe and Chen Daoxuan increased Rainbow Sound Flying Sword Shop’s sales to fifty swords a day, intensifying competition in the Rogue Cultivator Market.
• Mo Changsheng, Mo Yuqing, and a hired Rogue Cultivator visited the shop after the Mo Family could no longer tolerate the Chen Family’s sales drive.
• Mo Changsheng proposed that the Chen and Mo Families join forces, but Chen Daoxuan challenged the offer as another attempt to take over the Chen Family’s sales channel.
• Mo Changsheng threatened that an accident might befall Chen Xianhe and Chen Daoxuan on their journey home, and Chen Xianhe answered that the Zhou Family patrol team would deter the Mo Family.
• Mo Changsheng laughed off his threat and left, after which Chen Daoxuan set up a Soundproofing Formation and asked Chen Xianhe how he had performed.
• Chen Xianhe called Chen Daoxuan’s performance overacting.

Chen Xianhe and Chen Daoxuan suspected the Mo Family would ambush their cargo ship because Mo Changsheng needed resources for an imminent Foundation Establishment attempt. As the Chen Family’s shop sold fifteen hundred Flying Swords in a month and attracted attention, they prepared to use the Mo Family to establish their prestige.

• Chen Xianhe reasoned that Mo Changsheng’s imminent Foundation Establishment explained the Mo Family’s hurried attack and made an ambush on the Chen Family’s return voyage highly likely.
• Mo Changsheng learned that Jia’s spirit beast had memorized Chen Xianhe and Chen Daoxuan’s auras, promised Jia a thousand Spirit Stones, and secretly planned to kill him afterward.
• Mo Changsheng gathered seventeen late-stage Qi Refining cultivators and planned to seize the Chen Family’s spirit ore cargo to fund his Foundation Establishment.
• Over the next month, the Rainbow Sound Flying Sword Shop sold fifteen hundred Flying Swords, drawing attention from small families and Foundation Establishment families.
• Chen Xianhe and Chen Daoxuan chose the Mo Family as the target they would defeat to warn other families and establish the Chen Family’s prestige.

Chen Daoxuan and Chen Xianhe sailed with the Chen Family fleet carrying spirit ore and Cloud Country Female Slaves, while waiting to see whether the Mo Family would take their bait. The Mo Family intercepted them at sea, and Mo Changsheng confronted the Chen uncle and nephew.

• Chen Daoxuan worried that the Mo Family might not take the bait, but Chen Xianhe assured him they would come, driven by their desire for Foundation Establishment.
• Chen Xianhe questioned whether the Chen Family should slow its purchases of Cloud Country Female Slaves, but Chen Daoxuan said he had bought tonics for the clansmen.
• Chen Daoxuan and Chen Xianhe spotted a ship carrying twenty Mo Family cultivators, most of them in the late stage of Qi Refining.
• Chen Daoxuan reflected on his progress in the Chasing Wind Overturning Rain Sword Art and his uncertain Sword Dao Realm.
• Mo Changsheng led the Mo Family cultivators to the halted Chen Family fleet and greeted Chen Daoxuan and Chen Xianhe with a cold smile.