Chapter Summaries

Liu Changxu and his three senior sisters toured Thunder Clam City, where they hired a young guide named Jiang Hua and learned that he and his little sister were orphans. Liu Changxu considered taking Jiang Hua as his disciple but decided to observe him first, and the group reached Azure Cloud Pavilion.

• Liu Changxu and his three senior sisters, Zhang Yuxin, Qin Yulian, and Su Jinxiu, explored Thunder Clam City's busy streets and browsed the stalls.
• Su Jinxiu hired ten-year-old Jiang Hua to guide them to the city's largest shop.
• Liu Changxu asked Jiang Hua about his family, and Jiang Hua explained that his parents had died at sea, leaving him to care for his six-year-old sister.
• Liu Changxu considered making Jiang Hua his first disciple but decided to watch him before making a decision.
• Jiang Hua led the group to Azure Cloud Pavilion.

Liu Changxu and his three senior sisters visited the Azure Cloud Pavilion, where Su Jinxiu bought a rare stalk of blushing beauty grass for refining Youth-Preserving Pills. As the group continued browsing, Liu Changxu spotted a sea-blue orb that interested him.

• Liu Changxu rewarded Jiang Hua with ten low-grade Spirit Stones, secretly examined his three-attribute spiritual roots, and placed a Divine Sense mark on him.
• Liu Changxu and his three senior sisters entered the Azure Cloud Pavilion and went to its third floor to browse rare third-tier Spirit Treasures.
• A Golden Core sales attendant showed the group a stalk of lower-grade third-tier blushing beauty grass, the main ingredient for Youth-Preserving Pills.
• Su Jinxiu paid two hundred thousand low-grade Spirit Stones for the blushing beauty grass after Qin Yulian and Zhang Yuxin agreed not to compete with her.
• Liu Changxu spotted a fist-sized sea-blue orb at one of the counters.

Liu Changxu bought a Water-Repelling Pearl and several cultivation treasures, while Su Jinxiu, Qin Yulian, and Zhang Yuxin also made purchases. The four disciples then sold their surplus Sea Monster materials for spirit stones.

• Liu Changxu decided to buy the lightning-infused Water-Repelling Pearl for three hundred thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones despite Su Jinxiu's objection.
• Liu Changxu spent another sixty thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones on jade nether coldwater and a hundred and fifty thousand on a dragon-scale fruit.
• Su Jinxiu bought a red cherry fruit, Qin Yulian bought sea-wave coral, and Zhang Yuxin bought yellow lychee wood.
• Liu Changxu sold lower-grade third-tier Sea Monster materials to a black-robed Golden Core great perfection cultivator for two hundred thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones.
• Su Jinxiu, Qin Yulian, and Zhang Yuxin sold their own surplus Sea Monster materials for spirit stones.

Liu Changxu took Jiang Hua as his nominal disciple and agreed to bring Jiang Hua’s younger sister, Jiang Li, along despite the sect’s rules. Aboard the Ocean Ship, Su Jinxiu took Jiang Li as her disciple, while Liu Changxu began teaching Jiang Hua and planned to find him a suitable cultivation method at the sect.

• Liu Changxu visited Jiang Hua and accepted him as his nominal disciple, warning him not to disgrace or betray their tradition.
• Jiang Hua asked to bring his little sister Jiang Li to the mountain, and Liu Changxu agreed after seeing how devoted the siblings were to each other.
• Liu Changxu bought new clothes for the children and brought them aboard the Ocean Ship.
• Su Jinxiu discovered Jiang Li had dual metal and water spiritual roots and took her as her disciple.
• Liu Changxu examined Jiang Hua’s foundation and current cultivation method, then decided to seek a suitable high-grade method in the sect’s Scripture Repository.

Liu Changxu received orders to join the human-demon war’s front lines in the Pearl Islands, leaving Su Jinxiu to care for his new disciple, Jiang Hua. After bidding farewell to his senior sisters, he departed aboard the Nine Heavens Chasing the Moon Boat.

• Liu Changxu and his companions sold their low-level sea monster materials, earning him three hundred and twenty thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones and Su Jinxiu two hundred and eighty thousand.
• Liu Changxu received a sect mission assigning him to the Pearl Islands front lines, while Su Jinxiu remained behind to look after Jiang Hua.
• Su Jinxiu, Jiang Hua, Zhang Yuxin, and Qin Yulian urged Liu Changxu to stay safe and exchanged farewells with him.
• Liu Changxu prepared third-tier spirit cuisine for his three senior sisters, then departed for the front lines aboard the Nine Heavens Chasing the Moon Boat.

Liu Changxu reached Many-Treasure City on Fire Dragon Island after a dangerous journey and met the garrison cultivator Wu Kun. He learned that the war was going badly and asked Wu Kun to watch for news of his master and his master's wife.

• Liu Changxu survived attacks by sea monsters, including a pursuit by a supreme-grade Tiger-Head Sea Eagle, and arrived at Many-Treasure City.
• Liu Changxu suspected that rival sect factions had arranged his dangerous assignment and resolved to keep a low profile.
• Liu Changxu presented his True Disciple token at the guarded city gate and passed the Demon-Detecting Mirror's inspection.
• Wu Kun welcomed Liu Changxu and told him that the sect's Pearl Islands battle line was near collapse, with many cultivators dead.
• Liu Changxu asked Wu Kun about Su Hao and Jiang Yuqing, and Wu Kun promised to share any news about them.
• Wu Kun told Liu Changxu about the city's leaders and led him to the City Lord's Manor.

Liu Changxu arrived at Many-Treasure City's City Lord's Manor and met Nascent Soul City Lord Chu Shixiong and the city's Golden Core experts. Chu explained why Liu had been sent to the front and promised to report his achievements, while Liu listened to the ongoing war meeting and learned how grave the city's situation was.

• Wu Kun escorted Liu Changxu through the manor's defenses and into a tense meeting with Chu Shixiong and six Golden Core cultivators.
• Liu Changxu assessed the people in the hall and recognized Zhang Yuhong, Li Tianyang, Yu Xia, Wang Chendong, Lin Feiyang, and Yang Li from Wu Kun's introductions.
• Chu Shixiong warmly welcomed Liu and explained that Ma Yong had requested his transfer because he valued Liu and wanted capable disciples at the front.
• Liu thanked Chu Shixiong and promised to meet their expectations, despite his lingering doubts about the transfer.
• Liu listened quietly as Chu Shixiong resumed the meeting, which addressed the serious threat to Many-Treasure City and the need for talented reinforcements.

Liu Changxu attended a meeting where City Lord Chu Shixiong described the horrors awaiting captured cultivators and assigned Liu Changxu to the heavily threatened eastern wall. After moving into Elegant Orchid Garden, Liu Changxu agreed to take in its four former maidservants, Chunlan, Xiazhu, Qiuyue, and Dongxue.

• Chu Shixiong explained Many-Treasure City's weakened defenses and the terrible fates of cultivators captured by the sea-demon and outland races, spurring the meeting's attendees to fight.
• Chu Shixiong assigned Liu Changxu to defend the eastern wall with Wu Kun and Lin Feiyang, and Liu Changxu resolved to face the dangerous mission despite suspecting the sect had sent him into a death trap.
• Liu Changxu worried about his master and his master's wife, who had gone to the front lines, then moved into the former estate of the fallen True Person Ye Shuyi.
• Chunlan, Xiazhu, Qiuyue, and Dongxue introduced themselves as Ye Shuyi's former maidservants and asked Liu Changxu to take them in.
• Liu Changxu agreed to accept the four young women, considering their aptitude and their potential value to the Liu Household.

Liu Changxu took possession of the Elegant Orchid Garden and assigned Chunlan to oversee it while deciding the four maids would become his sons’ concubines. After inspecting the garden and its valuable spirit plants, he settled into the former master’s quarters and began cultivating to prepare for an imminent battle.

• Liu Changxu accepted Chunlan, Xiazhu, Qiuyue, and Dongxue into his service and put Chunlan in charge of the garden when he was away.
• Liu Changxu introduced Little Blue, a third-tier Blue-Scaled Flood Dragon, to the four women, and it playfully startled them before they grew accustomed to it.
• Chunlan guided Liu Changxu around the Elegant Orchid Garden, where he found five valuable third-tier Spirit Plants protected by a Third-Tier Restriction Array.
• Liu Changxu moved into the Elegant Serenity Pavilion and declined the maids’ offer to attend to him, having decided to give them to his two sons as concubines.
• Liu Changxu began cultivating with a third-tier Flame Jujube to strengthen himself for the imminent battle.

Liu Changxu took over the East City Wall watch in Many-Treasure City and learned about its defenses against the approaching beast tide. After inspecting the city-defense formation and questioning spirit cannon operator Su Ze, he began his first watch.

• Liu Changxu arrived early on the East City Wall and asked Lin Feiyang to introduce him to the defenses and personnel.
• Lin Feiyang showed Liu Changxu the wall’s defenses and explained the four settings of the city-defense grand formation.
• Liu Changxu inspected a spirit cannon and learned from Su Ze about its construction, operation, and battle record.
• Lin Feiyang left after Liu Changxu finished questioning Su Ze, and Liu Changxu began his first watch.

On his first watch, Liu Changxu inspected the wall defenses and discussed how to use its two spirit cannons more effectively. He settled a dispute between the cannon operators by proposing rotating command and shared battle credit, then gathered the other Great Perfection cultivators to discuss the defense.

• Liu Changxu inspected the posts and spoke with the Foundation Establishment cultivators on duty.
• Liu Changxu and Ji Ming agreed that the two spirit cannons should fire coordinated volleys at targets threatening the wall.
• Liu Changxu summoned Su Ze, who asked who would command the coordinated cannon fire.
• Liu Changxu proposed that the cannon operators take turns commanding and divide battle credit sixty-forty between the commander and the other operator.
• Liu Changxu summoned Zhang Yu, Wang Ling, Yu Lian, and Xia Wenxia and began discussing the defense plans.

Liu Changxu organized combat-coordination drills for the cultivators defending Many-Treasure City, hoping to strengthen their chances against the beast tide. A little over a month after he arrived, hundreds of thousands of sea monsters descended, and the defenders prepared to fight from behind the city walls.

• Liu Changxu urged his commanders to train their cultivators in basic combat coordination, and they organized drills under their own methods.
• Liu Changxu personally joined his cultivators' training, while Yu Xia and Wang Chendong followed his example and other Golden Core cultivators waited to see the results.
• Liu Changxu's personal involvement inspired his cultivators and improved their training, prompting other Golden Core cultivators to begin their own drills too late.
• A little over a month after Liu Changxu arrived, hundreds of thousands of sea monsters, including more than forty third-tier and three fourth-tier monsters, swept toward Many-Treasure City.
• Chu Shixiong ordered the city's cultivators to assemble below the walls and reinforce them if needed, and the spirit cannons fired to begin the battle.

Many-Treasure City fought off the advancing sea-monster tide as its defenses and cultivators battled the attackers. After Chu Shixiong killed a Sea-Treading Bull whose roar devastated both sides, the three fourth-tier sea monsters attacked, driving the Human-Demon War to its climax.

• The Spirit Cannons and city-defense formation killed waves of low-tier sea monsters, while Chu Shixiong directed the cultivators' counterattack.
• High-tier sea monsters struck Many-Treasure City's formation, prompting the Azure Cloud Sect to increase its power at the cost of high-grade spirit stones.
• Liu Changxu wounded a lower-grade third-tier Sea-Treading Bull, which unleashed a roar that killed nearby sea monsters and hundreds of Qi Refinement cultivators.
• Chu Shixiong killed the Sea-Treading Bull, but Liu Changxu was also struck by its sonic attack and lost control of his blood and magic power.
• The Giant-Toothed Shark, Blue-Star Octopus, and Blue-Flag Whale attacked Many-Treasure City, and Li Tianyang raised the formation to maximum power as Chu Shixiong counterattacked.

As Many-Treasure City fought off an assault by sea monsters, Liu Changxu demonstrated his swordsmanship and used the Red Lotus World-Destroying Seal to grievously injure a Blue-Flag Whale. The whale remained alive but suffered an even more devastating blow when Liu Changxu struck it underwater.

• The three fourth-tier sea monsters battered Many-Treasure City's defensive formation while Chu Shixiong counterattacked from within it.
• Liu Changxu killed a lower-grade third-tier Golden-Claw Lobster with three precise strikes from his Red Lotus Flying Swords.
• Liu Changxu drove a Golden Armor Crab into the sea, then attacked a Blue-Flag Whale, but his flying swords inflicted only shallow wounds.
• Liu Changxu struck the Blue-Flag Whale with the Red Lotus World-Destroying Seal, crushing its back and grievously injuring it.
• The whale dived to escape Liu Changxu's second strike, but the seal smashed into the sea above it and worsened its injuries.

Liu Changxu fought off several powerful sea monsters during Many-Treasure City’s siege, but discovered that the city’s defensive formation was close to collapse. He conserved his strength and continued battling the Blue-Star Octopus while preparing for the possibility that the city would fall.

• Liu Changxu wounded the Blue-Flag Whale with the Red Lotus World-Destroying Seal, but it escaped beyond his reach.
• Liu Changxu struck the Golden Rock Turtle with the seal, seriously injuring it and forcing it to retreat.
• The Blue-Star Octopus breached the formation with poisonous water, killing several Qi Refinement cultivators, before Liu Changxu burned many advancing sea monsters with red lotus karma fire and drove it back.
• Liu Changxu saw that attacks from three lower-grade fourth-tier sea monsters had nearly broken the city-defense grand formation and realized Many-Treasure City needed outside reinforcements.
• Liu Changxu restored some magic power with a spirit pill, conserved his strength, and fought the returning Blue-Star Octopus with three Red Lotus Flying Swords, falling into a disadvantage.

Many-Treasure City’s defenders struggled against the sea monsters as Liu Changxu prepared for the possibility that the city would fall. After receiving word that two Nascent Soul cultivators were coming, he took Chunlan, Xiazhu, Qiuyue, and Dongxue to defend the city.

• Sea monster attacks weakened Many-Treasure City’s formation, and Liu Changxu and Lin Feiyang directed defenders as cunning third-tier monsters rotated through the battle.
• At night, Wu Kun replaced Lin Feiyang on the walls, while Liu Changxu sent Little Blue to fight in his place and Chu Shixiong took turns countering the fourth-tier sea monster kings.
• Chu Shixiong received word that two Nascent Soul cultivators were coming and was ordered to hold Many-Treasure City at all costs.
• Liu Changxu told Chunlan, Xiazhu, Qiuyue, and Dongxue to join the defense the next morning, giving each two Golden Armor Talismans for protection.
• After restoring his magic power, Liu Changxu tried to craft escape talismans and completed one Water-Escaping Talisman before dawn.
• Liu Changxu met the prepared women and took them to the battlefield on his Red Lotus Flying Sword.

Liu Changxu joined the battle on the city wall, helping Wu Kun and Lin Feiyang drive off an upper-grade third-tier Blue-Star Octopus before turning to assist Little Blue against a Golden-Horned Sea Ox. The four women adapted to the fighting and bolstered the defenders’ morale, while Liu Changxu prepared to strike the sea ox.

• Liu Changxu surveyed the bloodied city wall, saw Little Blue holding its own against a Golden-Horned Sea Ox, and went to help Wu Kun fight an upper-grade third-tier Blue-Star Octopus.
• Liu Changxu’s red lotus karma fire clashed with the octopus’s deep-blue true water, while Lin Feiyang joined the battle and discovered that the octopus could rapidly heal its wounds.
• Liu Changxu told Wu Kun and Lin Feiyang to pin down the octopus as the karma fire devoured its true water, but the octopus recalled what remained and escaped.
• Wu Kun left to recover, and Liu Changxu recalled his spiritfire before going to assist Little Blue against the Golden-Horned Sea Ox.
• Chunlan and the other three women fought safely with their Golden Armor Talismans, adapted to the battlefield, and helped restore the defenders’ morale.
• Liu Changxu summoned a pale-golden Treasure Bow, intending to deal the Golden-Horned Sea Ox a decisive blow.

Liu Changxu killed a third-tier sea monster in a daring sortie, bolstering Many-Treasure City's defenders and prompting them to plan further counterattacks. After days of costly fighting left the city’s defenses and spirit stone reserves strained, two Nascent Soul reinforcements finally arrived.

• Liu Changxu killed the Golden-Horned Sea Ox with a single arrow, then escaped the pursuing sea monsters with Little Blue after wounding the Blue-Flag Whale.
• Lin Feiyang praised Liu Changxu’s bravery, and they agreed to launch counterattacks when opportunities arose.
• Liu Changxu fed Little Blue sea monster meat, and the two rested while the fighting paused until afternoon.
• Many-Treasure City’s defenders endured several days of heavy fighting as the three fourth-tier sea monsters wore down the city-defense formation and depleted its high-grade spirit stones.
• Li Tianyang and Zhang Yuhong borrowed high-grade spirit stones from the city’s cultivators to keep the defenses operating.
• On the ninth day of the war, two Nascent Soul cultivators sent by the sect arrived in Many-Treasure City.

Two Nascent Soul reinforcements, Hu Changchun and Li Qingxia, arrived at Many-Treasure City and joined Chu Shixiong to plan a counterattack. At dawn, the three Nascent Soul cultivators went out to fight the sea demons while Liu Changxu and the other Golden Core cultivators waited inside the city for their planned opportunity to strike.

• Hu Changchun and Li Qingxia arrived above Many-Treasure City, causing the low-tier sea demons to retreat and easing pressure on the city's defenses.
• Chu Shixiong welcomed the reinforcements, then summoned Liu Changxu, Lin Feiyang, and the other Golden Core cultivators to a meeting at the City Lord's Manor.
• Chu Shixiong introduced Liu Changxu as a True Disciple who had performed exceptionally, and Hu Changchun and Li Qingxia praised his prospects.
• Hu Changchun took command, and the three Nascent Soul True Lords agreed to counterattack before the sea demons could receive reinforcements.
• At dawn, Hu Changchun, Li Qingxia, and Chu Shixiong left the city to battle the three fourth-tier sea demons while Liu Changxu and the other Golden Core cultivators watched from the wall.

Liu Changxu watched Hu Changchun, Chu Shixiong, and Li Qingxia battle three fourth-tier sea monsters, reflecting on the gulf between Nascent Soul and Golden Core cultivators. After Hu Changchun defeated the Blue-Flag Whale, the sea monsters fled, and Liu Changxu and the other cultivators pursued them.

• Liu Changxu observed the Nascent Soul True Lords’ powerful techniques and spirit treasures, and resolved to pursue a breakthrough after the battle.
• Hu Changchun, Chu Shixiong, and Li Qingxia fought the Blue-Flag Whale, Giant-Toothed Shark, and Blue-Star Octopus respectively.
• The Blue-Flag Whale changed into his enormous true form and entered the sea, but Hu Changchun wounded him with his Sea-Shaking Saber.
• Hu Changchun defeated the Blue-Flag Whale through his superior cultivation, forcing the whale to flee.
• The other two fourth-tier sea monsters fled, and Liu Changxu and the other cultivators charged out of Many-Treasure City to pursue them.