Chapter Summaries

Plot and key events

• After passing the Alchemy Hall assessment, Xu Yan has his identity token officially marked as a First-Tier Low-Grade Alchemist. He thanks Yun Feng, whose help eased the certification process.
• Xu Yan heads to the Rogue Cultivator Alliance’s Rogue Cultivator Market and then the Thousand Mechanism Hall, where cultivators post and accept missions and seek information.
• A talkative information broker called Know-It-All explains the hall’s Message Transmission Platform, a crystal interface operated with jade identity tokens. Xu Yan politely thanks him but tries to avoid further contact.
• Xu Yan watches another cultivator accept a demonic-beast-hunting mission and learns that posting or accepting any mission costs one low-grade spirit stone.
• When Xu Yan uses his token, its alchemist emblem appears above the platform, drawing attention and respect from nearby cultivators. He searches the listings specifically for alchemy work, aiming to earn spirit stones and gain practice with spirit herbs.
• A promising mission catches his eye, but its details are not yet revealed.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yan moves from newly assessed alchemist to prospective mission-taker. He is observant and cautious: he appreciates Yun Feng’s assistance but avoids the persistent broker, wary of attracting unwanted attention.
• Yun Feng congratulates Xu Yan and is acknowledged as having helped smooth the certification process.
• Know-It-All presents himself as a friendly, fairly priced source of information, though his persistence makes Xu Yan wary.
• Other rogue cultivators respond to Xu Yan’s alchemist status with envy and respect.

Significant themes

• Recognition and status: Xu Yan’s new token emblem publicly marks his professional standing.
• Commerce and institutional power: The alliance connects cultivators through markets and missions while collecting fees, which Xu Yan recognizes as a major source of its wealth.
• Practical cultivation: Xu Yan seeks both income and hands-on experience, relying on the Green Pearl to help meet mission requirements.
• Caution among strangers: The crowded hall offers opportunities, but Xu Yan remains guarded about unsolicited attention.

Plot points and events

• Xu Yan finds an old request from Wu Meng for twenty batches of Qi Gathering Pills, with a demanding minimum success rate of forty percent. The task suits him because the Mysterious Green Pearl can absorb the toxins in failed pills, allowing him to salvage more than an ordinary alchemist.
• He accepts the task and discovers Wu Meng is the burly cultivator at Qi Refining perfection whom he met during Alliance registration. Xu Yan suspects Wu Meng may be acting for someone else, but proceeds because the Alliance offers protection.
• Wu Meng pays the Alchemy Hall’s fee and waits outside while Xu Yan refines the pills over three exhausting days.
• Xu Yan produces eight successful batches. The other twelve become ruined pills, whose toxins the Green Pearl absorbs; its stored energy now seems nearly full.
• To avoid revealing his unusually strong results, Xu Yan hides one bottle and tells Wu Meng that only seven batches succeeded. He hands over seven bottles and accepts fifty-one low-grade spirit stones—the agreed fee adjusted for the missing batch.
• With his new earnings, Xu Yan plans to visit the Rogue Cultivator Market for materials to make a special pill described in Lin Dao’s cultivation insights.

Character developments

• Xu Yan demonstrates growing skill, stamina, and business sense. He reaches the client’s required success rate while carefully concealing his true output to protect himself from unwanted attention.
• Wu Meng is cautious about entrusting valuable herbs: he waits outside the chamber and carefully checks the pills before paying. His true connection to the task remains uncertain.

Significant themes

• Prudence and secrecy: Xu Yan deliberately understates his success to avoid provoking suspicion or envy.
• Resourcefulness and opportunity: The Green Pearl turns failed batches into stored energy, making a poorly regarded task worthwhile.
• Trust and risk in cultivation: Wu Meng monitors Xu Yan, while Xu Yan accepts the job partly because the Alliance provides a safe setting.

Character interactions

• Xu Yan and Wu Meng negotiate the task and its requirements; Wu Meng’s close supervision contrasts with Xu Yan’s calm, guarded manner.
• Xu Yan interacts with Yun Feng, who arranges access to an alchemy chamber after Wu Meng pays the fee.
• At the handover, Xu Yan disguises his actual results as a shortfall, and Wu Meng accepts the seven batches and pays him.

Plot points and events

• Xu Yan visits the Rogue Cultivator Market to gather materials for pills described in Lin Dao’s cultivation journal. Space Stone is the key ingredient; he also needs common artifact-refining materials, including blackstone, red sand, iron essence, and copper mother.
• He buys blackstone and red sand from a female cultivator, paying with Qi Gathering Pills because he lacks enough spirit stones. He uses more pills to purchase iron essence and copper mother, spending most of the pills he earned from assignments.
• After repeatedly searching the market without finding Space Stone, Xu Yan pays an old stall owner a low-grade spirit stone for information. The man directs him to the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, saying it may be the only place in Ascendant City that carries the rare material.
• Xu Yan travels to the city’s busiest street and enters the lavish pavilion. Two maidservants approach him.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yan is practical and resourceful: he barters pills for materials, carefully judges sellers’ reactions, and uses a small payment to obtain useful information.
• The female cultivator initially quotes ordinary prices and accepts three Qi Gathering Pills for nine spirit stones. Xu Yan adds a smaller pill to make up the difference; she objects to its size but keeps the pills rather than lose the deal.
• The old stall owner is initially impatient, but becomes friendly once Xu Yan offers a spirit stone and promptly pockets it.

Significant themes

• Scarcity and value: Space Stone is rare and valuable, while even ordinary cultivation pills can be difficult for rogue cultivators to obtain.
• Pragmatism and bargaining: Xu Yan navigates the market by exchanging what he has and reading others’ incentives.
• A cultivation economy built on unequal access: Rogue cultivators depend on trade and hard-to-find supplies, while wealthy shops such as the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion offer access to a broader range of goods.

Plot points and events

• Xu Yan browses the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion to check prices and search for a Space Stone, which he needs to refine a potentially life-saving pill.
• The pavilion manager, Huang Qi, tells him the last Space Stone was sold a month earlier. He explains that mining stopped after a disruption at the Primordial Forbidden Land, reportedly involving Demonic Dao forces, and that artifact refiners have bought up remaining supplies.
• Huang Qi suggests Xu Yan check the Rogue Cultivator Alliance’s Thousand Mechanism Hall, where someone might offer a Space Stone as a mission reward. Xu Yan heads there.
• At the hall, Xu Yan sees an old man in fine robes place his Identity Jade Token on the mission platform. Its image identifies him as a first-tier, middle-grade alchemist. The crowd speculates that he has come to accept Master Gu’s mission, which now includes a Space Stone, though one cultivator suspects he is merely trying to pressure Master Gu for a better reward. The old man hears the remark and reacts with a cold snort.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yan remains composed despite his disappointment, then quickly seizes on Huang Qi’s suggestion as a possible way to obtain the rare material.
• Huang Qi initially boasts about the pavilion’s inventory, but responds candidly when it lacks the item Xu Yan needs. He explains the shortage and offers a practical lead.
• The fine-robed elder is presented as proud and possibly calculating; the crowd disagrees about whether he intends to take the mission or bargain for more.
• Xu Yan and Huang Qi exchange courteous gestures, while the rogue cultivators at the hall debate the elder’s motives in his hearing.

Significant themes

• Scarcity and uncertainty: A disruption in a dangerous region has halted the supply of a valuable material, affecting cultivators far beyond its source.
• Resourcefulness: Xu Yan turns a setback into a new avenue for pursuing his goal.
• Reputation and speculation: Huang Qi worries about the pavilion’s image, while the hall’s crowd judges the elder based on his repeated visits and public behavior.

Plot points and events

• Xu Yan witnesses Elder Wu’s entourage intimidate a rogue cultivator who had questioned Wu’s motives. Wu then waits by a posted alchemy mission, apparently expecting someone.
• When Wu steps away from the mission board to watch the hall entrance, Xu Yan takes the opportunity to inspect the mission. Its reward includes 100 low-grade spirit stones and a Space Stone with a three-zhang-wide space—an especially valuable prize for Xu Yan.
• Xu Yan begins accepting the mission, but one of Wu’s followers blocks him. Wu asks him to back down, then tries to discourage him by claiming the mission requires handling the poisonous seven-absolute grass—something even Wu, a mid-grade alchemist with a spirit item, is only somewhat confident of doing.
• Xu Yan invokes the Rogue Cultivator Alliance’s rules. Two Alliance officers arrive and affirm that those rules cannot be challenged, preventing Wu’s side from simply stopping him.
• Wu threatens Xu Yan and questions his ability to complete the task. Xu Yan responds by challenging him to a wager. Just as Wu asks what kind, someone announces that Master Gu has arrived.

Character developments

• Xu Yan is initially cautious and eager to avoid notice, but the Space Stone’s value makes him determined to accept the mission despite the risk. Faced with Wu’s bullying, he asserts his rights and turns to a wager, showing confidence and tactical boldness.
• Elder Wu is revealed as arrogant, vindictive, and accustomed to using his reputation and followers to control others. His confidence in his alchemical skill shifts into anger when Xu Yan refuses to yield.
• Wu’s followers act as enforcers, while the gathered rogue cultivators mostly watch and gossip rather than intervene.

Significant themes

• Authority and fairness: Xu Yan uses the Alliance’s rules to resist an influential cultivator’s attempt to monopolize a mission.
• Power, reputation, and intimidation: Wu relies on his standing as an alchemist and the people around him to pressure others.
• Ambition and risk: Xu Yan is willing to face conflict—and possible retaliation—to gain the Space Stone and advance his alchemy.

Character interactions

• Wu’s followers intimidate the first rogue cultivator, establishing Wu’s threatening influence.
• Xu Yan and Wu clash over who may accept the mission: Wu appeals to his status and threatens consequences, while Xu Yan invokes Alliance law and refuses to back down.
• The Alliance officers’ intervention checks Wu’s interference, but leaves the confrontation unresolved until Master Gu’s arrival.

Plot points and events

• Master Gu (Gu Xiao), a first-tier artifact refiner, arrives seeking help for his poisoned son, Gu Feng. Gu Feng has been suffering for half a month after entering the Ancient Demon Abyss, and may have only days left.
• The crowd discusses why Gu Feng ventured into the abyss: he hoped to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill. Inspired Rogue Person explains that the abyss was once the homeland of the vanished Ancient Demon Race. Every five years, a month-long eruption of demonic qi disperses some of its poisonous mist, allowing the Six Great Immortal Sects to enter and gather herbs; rogue cultivators can join only by paying a steep fee.
• Gu Xiao offers a Space Stone to Elder Wu, a fine-robed alchemist, to persuade him to refine a Detoxification Pill. Elder Wu says someone has already accepted the task and hints that Gu Feng may not survive much longer.
• Gu Xiao warns Xu Yan that the recipe includes sixty-year-old seven-absolute grass, a highly poisonous herb that has frightened off other alchemists. Xu Yan remains confident, relying on a method he keeps secret.
• Elder Wu boasts that his Jade-Eyed Cold Toad can neutralize the herb’s poison and mocks Xu Yan’s ability. Xu Yan challenges him to a wager: if Xu Yan succeeds, Elder Wu must pay him one hundred low-grade spirit stones and surrender the toad; if Xu Yan fails, Xu Yan must pay the same sum and kneel to kowtow three times. Elder Wu accepts.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yan is determined to take the task despite the danger and public skepticism. He keeps his special means for handling the poison hidden, and answers Elder Wu’s insults with a bold wager.
• Gu Xiao is a worried father who approaches Xu Yan humbly, first warning him about the risks and then disclosing the deadly ingredient.
• Elder Wu shifts from smug confidence to a flicker of unease when Xu Yan calmly raises the stakes, but accepts rather than lose face before the crowd.
• Inspired Rogue Person enjoys showing off his knowledge, but his explanation gives Xu Yan and the gathered cultivators useful background on the abyss.
• The rogue cultivators largely side with Elder Wu, mocking Xu Yan and emphasizing the danger of challenging an established alchemist.

Significant themes

• Risk and desperation: Gu Feng’s need for a Foundation Establishment Pill led him into a lethal forbidden region; his father now faces a race against time.
• Reputation and pride: Elder Wu accepts a dangerous wager because backing down publicly would damage his standing.
• Hidden ability and public doubt: Xu Yan’s calm confidence contrasts with the crowd’s skepticism, setting up a test of his skill.
• The hazards of cultivation: The abyss’s poisonous mist, demonic qi, and rare herbs make advancement costly and dangerous.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Yan, posing as Lin Yan, insists that the Rogue Cultivator Alliance witness his wager with Wu Hua. The alliance marks both men with a tracking technique, ensuring neither can evade the agreement.
• Gu Xiao grows anxious: he hired Wu Hua because Wu Hua is the only accessible first-rank alchemist able to process seven-absolute grass, but withdrawing the commission is no longer possible.
• Xu Yan enters the Alchemy Hall to refine the requested Seven-Absolute Demon-Quelling Pill, a first-rank pill that expels demonic qi and deadly poisons.
• Using the Green Pearl, Xu Yan carefully removes the poison from seven-absolute grass, then from two other toxic ingredients. The effort strains his divine sense, but the Green Pearl’s stored energy seems close to reaching a critical point.
• After recovering, Xu Yan successfully completes the batch and leaves the pill-refining chamber. A crowd has gathered to see the wager’s outcome. Wu Hua becomes increasingly uneasy, suspecting Xu Yan has outmaneuvered him.

Character developments

• Xu Yan demonstrates confidence and caution: he secures the alliance’s enforcement before proceeding, handles the dangerous ingredients precisely, and successfully completes the pills.
• Wu Hua shifts from apparent confidence to growing panic as he recalls Xu Yan’s calm demeanor and fears he has been deceived.
• Gu Xiao is worried and resigned, recognizing that he is committed to the wager and must await the result.

Significant themes

• Trust and accountability: The alliance’s tracking technique makes the wager enforceable.
• Skill and preparation: Xu Yan’s knowledge, careful control of the Green Pearl, and recovery before refining enable him to overcome a difficult process.
• Risk and uncertainty: The poisonous herbs, one-batch supply, and high-stakes wager heighten the tension.
• Power and growth: The Green Pearl’s accumulating energy hints at a possible future benefit, while Xu Yan nears a breakthrough in cultivation.

Character interactions

• Xu Yan formally asks the alliance’s Foundation Establishment cultivators to witness the wager; they agree and bind both participants to it.
• Xu Yan’s wager leaves Gu Xiao helplessly anxious and Wu Hua increasingly suspicious.
• Xu Yan’s successful emergence from the chamber draws the attention of Wu Hua, the alliance officials, and the gathered cultivators, setting up the wager’s reveal.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Yan, calling himself Lin Yan, emerges from the Alchemy Hall and gives Gu Xiao the jade bottle containing the pills he refined.
• He formally asks two Rogue Cultivator Alliance Foundation Establishment cultivators to witness that he has fulfilled the wager against Wu Hua.
• Wu Hua inspects the pills and recognizes them as exceptionally well-made Seven-Absolute Demon-Quelling Pills, free of pill toxins. Nevertheless, he refuses to concede, claiming their identity cannot be proven unless Gu Xiao’s son, Gu Feng, takes them and recovers.
• The onlookers condemn Wu Hua for trying to welch on the bet. An alliance cultivator offers to have Alchemy Hall elders verify the pills, but Xu Yan instead agrees to let Gu Feng test them so Wu Hua will have no excuse to dispute the result.

Character developments

• Xu Yan / Lin Yan stays composed despite the crowd’s attention. Confident in his pills—and in the Green Pearl as a backup—he accepts the risk of testing them on Gu Feng.
• Wu Hua shifts from anxious anticipation to open evasion when he realizes he has lost. Desperate to keep his spirit beast, he risks the alliance’s displeasure and his reputation.
• Gu Xiao is intensely anxious because his son’s fate depends on the pills, but he receives them with hope.
• The alliance cultivators recognize Xu Yan’s skill and are prepared to enforce the wager, though one gives him a less risky alternative: independent verification by Alchemy Hall experts.

Character interactions

• Xu Yan hands the pills to Gu Xiao, then appeals to the alliance cultivators to witness his success.
• One blue-robed cultivator confronts Wu Hua and demands his stake; Wu Hua responds with a technical-sounding excuse to delay paying.
• Xu Yan rejects the offer of independent verification and supports Wu Hua’s proposed test, insisting that he wants Wu Hua to concede conclusively.

Significant themes

• Integrity versus self-interest: Wu Hua’s refusal to honor the wager exposes how far he will go to protect what he stands to lose.
• Reputation and public judgment: The crowd’s mockery shows that a failed wager can damage a cultivator’s standing as well as cost him his stake.
• Confidence and calculated risk: Xu Yan trusts his work enough to put Gu Feng’s recovery to the test, while keeping a hidden contingency in reserve.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Yan gives the critically poisoned Gu Feng three Seven-Absolute Demon-Quelling Pills and uses his magic power to help release their medicinal effects. Gu Feng regains consciousness, and a foundation-establishment cultivator confirms the poison is completely purged.
• Wu Hua loses his wager and hands Xu Yan 100 low-grade spirit stones. Xu Yan gives ten stones to the green-robed cultivator and keeps the rest.
• When Xu Yan demands the Jade-Eyed Cold Toad as the other stake, Wu Hua offers more spirit stones and threatens him, but Xu Yan refuses to compromise.
• Unable to fight in Ascendant City, Wu Hua removes the toad’s slave seal and hands it over. Xu Yan knocks the beast unconscious, puts it in an alchemy furnace, and begins cooking it.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yan proves calm, decisive, and unwilling to be intimidated. He believes taking the toad will help clear his thoughts and create an opportunity to break through his cultivation bottleneck. He also wants to deny Wu Hua the chance to reclaim it and keep others from coveting it.
• Wu Hua shifts from hoping Xu Yan’s pills will fail to reluctantly paying the wager. He remains resentful and privately plans to recover the toad later, but city rules prevent him from acting openly.
• Gu Xiao brings his father, Gu Feng, to Xu Yan and is overjoyed when the treatment works.
• The green-robed foundation-establishment cultivator verifies Gu Feng’s recovery, enforces the wager, and keeps Wu Hua from retaliating.
• The watching rogue cultivators first await the cure, then react with astonishment and envy when Xu Yan starts cooking the valuable beast.

Significant themes

• Keeping one’s word and the weight of authority: The wager is enforced because a respected cultivator confirms the result.
• Resolve against intimidation: Xu Yan refuses Wu Hua’s threats and attempted buyout.
• Ambition and unconventional choices: Xu Yan treats the Jade-Eyed Cold Toad not as a treasure to preserve, but as a means to advance his cultivation.
• Public scrutiny and danger: The crowd’s attention makes the toad a potential target, influencing Xu Yan’s decision to cook it immediately.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Yan opens the pill furnace to reveal that he has roasted the valuable Jade-Eyed Cold Toad rather than refining it as a pill. Its powerful aroma draws a crowd of rogue cultivators.
• He eats a hind leg, feels its rich spiritual energy surge through him, and realizes it can help him break through. He devours the rest while cultivating.
• The wealthy old man who raised the toad watches helplessly, restrained by the presence of two Foundation Establishment cultivators. Seeing Xu Yan’s aura rise after eating the creature, he becomes so distraught that he spits up blood and faints.
• Xu Yan asks Gu Xiao to guard him during his breakthrough. Gu Xiao warns the crowd against interference, while the Alliance’s presence and authority keep potential attackers at bay.
• Xu Yan successfully advances to the fourth layer of Qi Refining. Afterward, he thanks Gu Xiao and the two senior cultivators, and one advises him to replace his ordinary Spirit Guiding Art before aiming for Foundation Establishment.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yan is practical and opportunistic: he treats the toad as potent spirit food, uses it to overcome a cultivation bottleneck, and smoothly shows respect to influential cultivators to build relationships.
• Gu Xiao demonstrates loyalty and social tact. He protects Xu Yan because Xu Yan saved his son, Gu Feng, but credits the Foundation Establishment cultivators for keeping order.
• The wealthy old man is devastated by the loss of his treasured spirit beast and powerless to intervene; his grief ends in a dramatic collapse.
• The Foundation Establishment cultivators maintain order and offer Xu Yan candid advice, while recognizing that his growing wealth could attract trouble.

Significant themes

• Pragmatism and unconventional cultivation: Xu Yan turns a prized spirit beast into food and gains a breakthrough from it.
• Power and protection: The Alliance’s authority—and the presence of stronger cultivators—prevents the crowd from acting on greed.
• Social tact and self-interest: Xu Yan and Gu Xiao use respectful exchanges to strengthen ties with powerful figures.
• The risks of success: Xu Yan’s new resources and public achievement may draw unwanted attention.

Plot points and events

• After Xu Yan completes his mission, Gu Xiao pays him with the promised Space Stone and spirit stones. Xu Yan confirms that the stone contains the expected storage space.
• Gu Xiao gives him 100 low-grade spirit stones instead of the agreed 90, explaining that Xu Yan’s help saved him a substantial expense. Xu Yan accepts the extra payment, intending to use the money to obtain a cultivation technique.
• Gu Xiao carries his injured son, Gu Feng, away. The incident has made Xu Yan—known here as Lin Yan—better known among the rogue cultivators.
• Xu Yan spots the blood left where the fine-robed old man fell and resolves to kill the man if he gets the chance, though he knows he cannot act against him inside Ascendant City.
• Xu Yan visits the Alliance Technique Inheritance Hall. After feeling the danger of its protective formation, he identifies himself and is admitted by its fearsome, scarred guardian.
• Inside, Xu Yan finds a surprisingly shabby hall filled with old shelves and assorted records. A casual, hemp-robed elder greets him and offers to show him the techniques and spell inheritances.

Character developments

• Xu Yan/Lin Yan is practical and financially constrained, but principled: he initially refuses the extra payment before accepting it when Gu Xiao insists. He remains wary and vengeful toward the old man who became his enemy, while showing deference to powerful Alliance figures.
• Gu Xiao demonstrates gratitude and generosity, recognizing Xu Yan’s contribution and rewarding him beyond their agreement.
• The purple-robed guardian is established as an intimidating and powerful figure, capable of closely examining Xu Yan with his divine sense.
• The hemp-robed elder appears unassuming and relaxed, but his position in the hall suggests he may be more than an ordinary old man.

Significant themes

• Debt, gratitude, and fairness: Gu Xiao repays Xu Yan generously, while Xu Yan’s first instinct is to honor their original agreement.
• Power and caution: Xu Yan must navigate strict protections and formidable cultivators, choosing respect and restraint where direct action would be dangerous.
• Appearances can mislead: The luxurious exterior of the hall conceals a shabby interior, and its ordinary-looking attendant contrasts with the imposing guardian.

Character interactions

• Gu Xiao and Xu Yan settle their mission payment, with Gu Xiao insisting on a bonus and Xu Yan eventually accepting.
• Xu Yan silently renews his hostility toward the absent fine-robed old man, but acknowledges the limits imposed by city law and power.
• At the hall entrance, Xu Yan respectfully requests entry from the guardian, submits his Identity Jade Token, and passes through the formation.
• Inside, the hemp-robed elder teases Xu Yan about his stern expression, then takes on the role of guide.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Yan visits the Rogue Cultivator Alliance’s inheritance hall with an old man in hemp robes, who shows him its cultivation arts and spell inheritances.
• The old man divides the cultivation arts into three ranks: ordinary arts reach Qi Refining perfection, fine arts reach Foundation Establishment perfection, and supreme arts lead toward the Golden Core realm. Access to the supreme arts is restricted to alliance stewards and elders.
• Xu Yan cannot afford an art beyond the cheapest rank. Unwilling to settle for one that would soon become inadequate, he considers leaving.
• He notices an unmarked, dusty beast hide titled Taiyi Five Elements Art. The old man explains that it is exceptionally powerful but notoriously difficult: it requires a Five Elements spiritual root and far more spiritual energy than ordinary cultivation.
• Though widely available, the art has been dismissed as useless because few cultivators can meet its requirements. Xu Yan realizes it suits him perfectly.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yan remains cautious and respectful, but his practical concerns about cost and long-term cultivation shape his search. His high-grade Five Elements spiritual root and the Mysterious Green Pearl give him confidence that he can overcome the art’s demands.
• The old man is teasing and unhelpful when Xu Yan asks for personal guidance, but he does explain the hall’s rules, prices, and the unusual history of the Taiyi art.
• Their exchange shifts from Xu Yan seeking a suitable conventional technique to the old man revealing why an overlooked inheritance may be a rare opportunity.

Significant themes

• Potential versus reputation: A technique condemned as useless may be powerful in the right hands.
• Cost and access: The best-known arts are gated by wealth and alliance rank, while a neglected inheritance offers another path.
• The burden of power: The Taiyi art promises unmatched strength but demands exceptional aptitude, energy, and perseverance.
• Individual suitability: The ideal cultivation path depends not only on an art’s standing, but on whether it matches the cultivator’s abilities.

Plot points and events

• Xu Yan chooses the Taiyi Five Elements Art, a cultivation method on an ancient beast-hide scroll. The Alliance elder warns that no cultivator is known to have reached Qi Refining perfection with it before dying, but Xu Yan insists it suits his low-grade five-element mixed spiritual root. The elder sells it to him for a discounted 100 low-grade spirit stones.
• Xu Yan rents a cave abode for six months and studies the scroll. The art is exceptionally complex and requires sensing the five distinct elemental energies within ordinary spiritual qi—a far greater challenge than using the basic Spirit Guiding Art.
• After several days of meditation, Xu Yan succeeds in sensing the energies and begins drawing in spiritual qi at several times his usual rate.
• Over five months, he converts his existing magic power into five-element magic power. He exhausts his Qi Gathering Pills and spirit stones, and the process temporarily sets his cultivation back before he slowly returns to the fourth layer of Qi Refining. His magic power is now more than five times greater than before.
• With just over half a month remaining on his lease, Xu Yan summons his alchemy furnace and prepares to try refining a pill Lin Dao previously mentioned.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yan shows resolve and practical self-knowledge: he understands the art’s risks but believes his poor prospects with other methods make this gamble worthwhile.
• The hemp-robed elder cautions Xu Yan out of concern, then respects his decision and helps him obtain the scroll at a reduced price.
• Xu Yan’s success in grasping the art’s first principle gives him renewed confidence, though the months of cultivation reveal how costly and demanding it will be.

Significant themes

• Perseverance against poor odds: Xu Yan knowingly commits to a method widely dismissed as worthless.
• A path suited to the individual: The art’s five-element nature may match Xu Yan’s unusual spiritual root better than conventional methods.
• Power gained through sacrifice: His stronger magic power comes at the cost of pills, spirit stones, time, and a temporary drop in cultivation.
• Potential versus reputation: Despite its fearsome difficulty and failed history, the art promises an extraordinary foundation and a path to Golden Core perfection.

Plot points and events

• Xu Yan begins refining a pill that combines a Space Stone with blackstone, iron essence, and red sand. Following Lin Dao’s notes, he knows the materials are prepared but that the crucial fusion step has never been tested.
• Expecting a potentially powerful furnace explosion, Xu Yan protects himself with two Diamond Vajra Talismans.
• He cuts a small piece from the Space Stone and uses the Redfire Burning Art to shape it into a pill. He then heats the other materials until they melt and fuse into a single dark-red liquid.
• Xu Yan wraps the liquid around the Space Stone and uses Lin Dao’s pill-forming method to make the materials fuse. He manages the increasingly violent furnace, holding its lid shut as the contents spin and clang.
• After two hours of nurturing the pill, Xu Yan opens the furnace. A crimson pill shoots out and strikes the cave’s protective formation, which deflects it safely to the ground.

Character development

• Xu Yan shows caution by preparing defenses before beginning a risky experiment.
• His patience, concentration, and growing command of the Redfire Burning Art allow him to control multiple flames and complete the difficult refinement.
• His confidence rises as the fusion progresses successfully, though the pill’s ability to store flame remains untested.

Themes

• Careful experimentation: Xu Yan adapts inherited notes while confronting steps Lin Dao never completed.
• Discipline and control: Success depends on precise heating, timing, and magical control.
• Risk and uncertainty: Even after the refinement appears successful, the pill’s true capabilities—and the danger of opening the furnace—remain unknown.

Character interactions

• Xu Yan acts alone, but Lin Dao’s cultivation notes and pill-making legacy guide his process.
• His interaction with the furnace is a contest of control: he carefully manages the heat and suppresses the increasingly forceful contents until the pill is formed.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Yan completes a crimson pellet Lin Dao had envisioned and confirms that it contains an internal space. After attuning it, he uses the Redfire Burning Art to seal compressed flames inside.
• His cultivation has improved: he can now summon six fireballs at once, up from four, thanks to the Taiyi Five Elements Art. He merges them into increasingly powerful, unstable flames, though controlling them strains his divine sense.
• Xu Yan eventually seals four compressed flames into one pellet. The pellet is not at its maximum capacity, but four flames push Xu Yan to the limit of his divine sense. He believes the volatile pellet can be detonated with a thought and could rival spirit talismans—even kill a late Qi Refining cultivator.
• He makes three more pellets with his remaining materials, then leaves his rented cave abode. Still seeking revenge on the Short Young Man and Scarface, he goes to the Thousand Mechanism Hall to ask for information.
• There, Xu Yan spots a pale-gold-robed cultivator calling himself the “Inspired Rogue Person,” or “Know-It-All,” speaking to a boy who seems familiar to him.

Character developments

• Xu Yan demonstrates ingenuity and growing magical strength, turning Lin Dao’s idea into a practical weapon. He also becomes more confident—and more dangerous—as he prepares to pursue revenge.
• Lin Dao’s earlier speculation proves useful, even though he is not present in the chapter.
• The Inspired Rogue Person is introduced as someone who claims to know much about others; his conversation with the boy sets up the chapter’s closing mystery.

Significant themes

• Innovation through cultivation: Xu Yan combines technique, materials, and experimentation to create a weapon beyond ordinary talismans.
• Power and its limits: Greater firepower comes at the cost of severe strain on Xu Yan’s divine sense; his own capacity, rather than the pellet, limits production.
• Revenge and preparation: Xu Yan’s new weapon fuels his determination to find those who hunted him.
• Risk and volatility: The pellets are potent precisely because their contents are unstable and dangerous.

Character interactions

• Xu Yan acts alone while refining and testing the pellets, relying on careful control of his magic and divine sense.
• Rogue cultivators greet Xu Yan respectfully, reflecting his increased reputation since the incident in the Alchemy Hall.
• At the Thousand Mechanism Hall, Xu Yan encounters the self-styled Know-It-All speaking to a boy he recognizes, but their exchange is not yet revealed.

Key plot points and events

• At the Thousand Mechanism Hall, Jin Xin—an information broker known among Fufeng Commandery’s rogue cultivators—finishes speaking with a wary young cultivator.
• Xu Yan approaches Jin Xin to ask about two rogue cultivators. Jin Xin takes him to a private room in the Ancient Red Hall, where an array prevents divine sense from leaking.
• Jin Xin uses an Image Recording Mirror to recreate the faces of the Short Young Man and Scarface from Xu Yan’s memories. After studying the images, he says he can likely find the shorter man within a few days, but Scarface will take longer to track.
• Jin Xin charges eighteen low-grade spirit stones for investigating both men. Xu Yan agrees to pay once Jin Xin provides definite information.
• Xu Yan leaves with no spirit stones remaining, intending to earn money, strengthen his preparations, and pursue a plan he has been considering since arriving at the Alliance.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yan remains cautious and practical: he chooses a private setting for the discussion, recognizes Jin Xin’s unexpectedly high cultivation—ninth-level Qi Refining—and insists on paying only after receiving reliable results. He also realizes he needs more resources and equipment before confronting the two cultivators.
• Jin Xin demonstrates his reputation as a capable, well-connected information broker. His specialized mirror and serious focus suggest that his work involves more than simply trading rumors. He is confident, personable, and willing to offer Xu Yan a modest discount.
• Their exchange is professional and mutually trusting: Jin Xin supplies a method and timeline, while Xu Yan negotiates a clear payment condition.

Significant themes

• Preparation before danger: Xu Yan delays pursuing the targets until he has earned spirit stones and improved his readiness.
• Information as power: Locating the two cultivators requires specialized tools, contacts, time, and payment.
• Caution and trust: Xu Yan protects his privacy and limits his financial risk, while Jin Xin’s standing and Xu Yan’s reputation as an alchemist support their agreement.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Yan decides to exploit the Green Pearl’s ability to remove pill toxins: he will buy ruined pills, cleanse them, and resell them for profit. He sees this as a faster route to cultivation resources than taking assignments, despite the risks.
• Worried that his ancient, inferior cultivation method may prevent him from reaching Qi Refining perfection within his lifespan, Xu Yan feels pressure to advance quickly. He has already passed the first of the stage’s three major bottlenecks and expects later breakthroughs to be harder.
• He earns sixty low-grade spirit stones by taking pill-refining assignments for ten days, then approaches alchemists at the Alchemy Hall to buy their ruined pills.
• His first offer to Daoist Cangyun—one spirit stone for three batches—is rejected. Over the following days, Xu Yan adjusts his price and buys eighty batches, including some high-grade and second-tier ruined pills.
• In a rented cave abode, Xu Yan uses the Green Pearl to cleanse roughly sixty batches. The Pearl eventually stops working and appears dimmed, but begins recovering once he stops using it. Xu Yan stores the pills and prepares to leave Ascendant City to sell them.

Character developments

• Xu Yan moves from considering the plan to acting decisively, accepting risk as necessary for his advancement. He is resourceful and willing to negotiate, though still learning how to price his purchases.
• His urgency comes from the limits of his cultivation method and the difficulty of future breakthroughs.
• Daoist Cangyun is discouraged after a poor refining session, but refuses Xu Yan’s initial low offer rather than accept an unfavorable deal.

Significant themes

• Scarcity and inequality: Immortal sects control most cultivation resources, leaving rogue cultivators with few ways to progress.
• Ambition versus risk: Xu Yan must take a chance to overcome the slow, limiting alternatives available to him.
• Resourcefulness and commerce: Ruined pills, normally treated as herb fertilizer, become valuable through Xu Yan’s unusual ability.
• Limits of power: The Green Pearl is useful but not inexhaustible; its depletion introduces uncertainty into Xu Yan’s plan.

Character interactions

• Xu Yan respectfully approaches Daoist Cangyun and offers to buy his ruined pills, presenting the trade as a risk-free way for Cangyun to earn spirit stones. Cangyun considers the offer but rejects the price.
• Xu Yan later negotiates successfully with other alchemists, ultimately acquiring a large stock of ruined pills.

Plot points

• Xu Yan travels to Heavenly River Market, a busy trading center at the foot of the Spirit Sword Sect’s Thousand Blades Peak.
• To avoid attracting dangerous attention, he plans to sell his valuable pills cautiously: some from a temporary stall and the rest through different shops.
• He pays two low-grade spirit stones for a three-day Barter Jade Talisman and sets up in a secluded corner, displaying five bottles of Qi Gathering Pills.
• Wu Yun and a young cultivator Xu Yan recognizes from the sect’s spiritual-root examination arrive. The young man, now named Chen, has reached the fifth layer of Qi Refining in two years.
• Chen buys all five bottles for twenty-three spirit stones, leaving Xu Yan the extra half-stone. Wu Yun takes most of the pills, apparently to support her coming breakthrough.
• Over the next three days, Xu Yan sells about twenty more bottles, earning over a hundred spirit stones. When his talisman expires, he packs up and leaves.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yan is cautious and calculating, choosing a crowded market and discreet selling strategy to protect himself. He compares his fourth-layer progress with Chen’s faster advancement, despite having benefited from the Green Pearl.
• Chen is confident and generous, showing concern for Wu Yun by insisting she take the pills. His purchase also suggests he is willing to spend freely on her.
• Wu Yun appears close to Chen and is nearing a breakthrough. She initially resists accepting his gift but ultimately takes the pills.
• The meeting is cordial but brief: Xu Yan conceals his surprise at recognizing them, while Chen and Wu Yun treat him as an unfamiliar vendor.

Significant themes

• Power and opportunity: Spiritual aptitude strongly shapes cultivation speed; Chen’s high-grade spiritual root has brought rapid progress.
• Caution and survival: Xu Yan’s careful approach to selling reflects the dangers of possessing valuable resources while still weak.
• Cultivation’s commercial world: Markets, spirit stones, and pill trading are essential parts of life for cultivators, not merely background to their pursuit of power.

Xu Yan visits the Heavenly River Market to buy a defense artifact and a movement technique. At the Heavenly Works Workshop, owner Lang Ping shows him several shields and robes. Xu Yan rejects the cheaper options and the costly Purple Jade Divine Fire Veil, whose fire ability offers him little benefit. After bargaining, he buys the high-grade Black Tortoise Shield for 660 low-grade spirit stones, paying with medicinal pills.
At the Myriad Arts Pavilion, manager Zhou Wen presents a selection of movement arts. Xu Yan chooses the Bloodfiend Shadow-Escaping Steps, a Demonic Dao technique that burns blood essence to become a blood shadow and flee great distances. He spends nearly all the medicinal pills left in his Storage Bag to obtain it. Before Xu Yan leaves, Zhou pitches him the Great Void Breath-Concealing Art, which he buys for 99 spirit stones after recognizing its usefulness for hiding himself and evading pursuit. As he exits, a distant figure in the market catches his eye.
Character developments and interactions: Xu Yan is pragmatic and decisive, choosing artifacts and techniques for their usefulness rather than prestige, and negotiating firmly with both merchants. Lang Ping is an eager, flattering salesman; Zhou Wen is confident in his pavilion’s reputation and uses a crafty sales pitch to persuade Xu Yan to buy the concealment art. Xu Yan’s purchases leave him with little of his medicinal-pill reserve, but better equipped for defense, escape, and concealment.
Themes: The chapter emphasizes preparation and survival in a dangerous cultivation world, where defense, mobility, and concealment are valuable tools. It also highlights the practical economy of the market, with bargaining and medicinal pills serving as currency, and hints at possible trouble through the mysterious figure Xu Yan notices at the end.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Yan unexpectedly spots Wu Hua in Heavenly River Market. Wu Hua, disgraced after breaking his wager with Xu Yan, now manages a pill shop and is secretly plotting revenge.
• Xu Yan decides Wu Hua must die, but the market forbids violence. He plans to wait until Wu Hua leaves and uses the time to strengthen himself.
• Xu Yan makes a secluded cave in the mountains and discovers that the cultivation arts he bought are incomplete: the Great Void Breath-Concealing Art only covers Qi Refining, while the Bloodfiend Shadow-Escaping Steps lack their higher-level portions. He suspects the Myriad Arts Pavilion intends to charge heavily for the rest.
• After sustained practice, Xu Yan masters the breath-concealment art and learns the basics of the escape technique, sacrificing five years of lifespan in the process.
• He then spends seven days refining the Black Tortoise Shield, a high-grade defensive artifact, and successfully tests its ability to expand and protect him.

Character developments

• Xu Yan becomes more deliberate and prepared, prioritizing strength before confronting Wu Hua. He learns valuable techniques and refines his best defensive treasure, but the Bloodfiend art’s cost leaves him visibly older and with a strand of white hair.
• Wu Hua has established himself in a new city and cultivated ties to the Spirit Sword Sect, using his pill-shop position to build influence while nursing a deep grudge against Xu Yan.

Significant themes

• Preparation and survival: Xu Yan avoids an impulsive confrontation and strengthens himself before pursuing revenge.
• The price of power: The Bloodfiend technique grants an escape skill but consumes lifespan.
• Deception and exploitation: The arts’ incomplete instructions reveal the Myriad Arts Pavilion’s likely business strategy of selling advanced portions at steep prices.
• Revenge and escalating conflict: Both Xu Yan and Wu Hua harbor lethal intentions, making a future clash likely.

Character interactions

• Xu Yan and Wu Hua do not speak or confront each other directly, but their mutual hostility drives the chapter.
• Wu Hua sells pills to cultivators and relies on his connection to a Spirit Sword Sect elder to support his future plans.
• Xu Yan studies the arts alone in hiding, then tests and refines the shield without outside help.