Chapter Summaries

Liu Yu cultivated as an outer sect disciple of the Primordial Yang Sect and reflected on his journey from another world and the mysterious Emerald Light Dot in his Niwan Palace. After six years of strengthening his connection to it, he sensed that something might change that day, but its secret remained unknown.

• Liu Yu finished cultivating the Wood Spirit Art and found that his cultivation was nearing the fifth layer of Qi Refining.
• Liu Yu reflected on his three-attribute spiritual roots, his arrival from Water-Blue Star, and his rise from the Origin Sun Villa to the outer sect.
• Liu Yu sensed the Emerald Light Dot in his Niwan Palace and kept its connection to his past life secret from everyone.
• Liu Yu recalled how six years of cultivation had strengthened his fragile connection to the Emerald Light Dot.
• Liu Yu opened his eyes, anticipating a change in the Emerald Light Dot, but its nature remained unresolved.

While meditating, Liu Yu entered the Immortal Abode Space connected to the Emerald Light Dot and discovered a fertile black spirit field. He tested its power with Clear Spirit Grass seeds and saw them sprout rapidly as the soil’s spiritual power diminished.

• The Emerald Light Dot pulled Liu Yu’s consciousness into a dark void, where he appeared as a small red orb and found a green barrier surrounding a barren island.
• Liu Yu explored the island, finding a black field, a dilapidated well, and three empty wooden huts, and discovered that his Divine Sense could move physical objects there.
• Recognizing the space as the legendary Immortal Abode Space, Liu Yu inspected the black soil and suspected it could accelerate the growth of spirit herbs.
• Liu Yu returned to his cave abode, checked its protective restrictions, and took three Clear Spirit Grass seeds from his Storage Bag.
• Liu Yu planted the seeds in the black soil and watched them sprout within breaths as the soil’s spiritual power rapidly diminished.

Liu Yu confirmed that the black spirit soil could regain its potency by absorbing a spirit stone, then harvested Clear Spirit Grass and rested. The next morning, he traveled to Clear Spring Peak and discreetly offered a spirit stone to an inner disciple while requesting a Spirit Herb Garden chore.

• Liu Yu watched the black spirit soil grow Clear Spirit Grass to maturity in under eight hours, then tested how depleted soil could be restored with a spirit stone.
• Liu Yu harvested three stalks of Clear Spirit Grass, sealed them in a jade box, and fell asleep from the strain of using the Immortal Abode Space.
• After waking, Liu Yu practiced the Wood Spirit Art and set out from Greenwood Peak to claim a sect chore at Clear Spring Peak.
• Liu Yu reached the General Affairs Hall and asked an inner disciple to check for a Spirit Herb Garden assignment, discreetly slipping him a spirit stone.

Liu Yu accepted a medicinal-garden chore and went to Jiatai Market in disguise to buy a pill furnace and a pill-refining primer, hoping to cultivate discreetly with the Immortal Mansion’s help. At Jade Orchid Tower, steward Liu Xueqin showed him a high-grade furnace called Green Veins, priced at six hundred and eighty spirit stones.

• Senior Brother Qian accepted Liu Yu’s spirit stone and assigned him to tend Grade D medicinal garden number seventeen for one month.
• Liu Yu decided to refine pills himself rather than regularly sell herbs matured by the Immortal Mansion, wary of attracting attention and investigation.
• Liu Yu disguised himself and traveled to Jiatai Market to purchase a pill furnace and a pill-refining primer without revealing his plans to the sect.
• At Jade Orchid Tower, Liu Yu gave the false name Hong and told steward Liu Xueqin what he wanted to buy.
• Liu Xueqin showed Liu Yu the Green Veins pill furnace and said it could slightly improve pill-refining success, asking six hundred and eighty spirit stones.

Liu Yu bought a Purple Copper Cauldron, an alchemy manual, and seeds for two common pill formulas before heading to Herb Garden 17 to take over its care. After inspecting the garden, he noticed that the departing Wu Chang carried an unusually fine middle-grade flying sword.

• Liu Yu bought the Purple Copper Cauldron and Basics of Alchemy from Steward Liu, spending 270 spirit stones.
• Liu Yu collected seeds for the Spirit-Gathering Pill and Pure Spirit Pill herbs, spending five more spirit stones.
• Liu Yu left Jiatai Market, traveled back to the sect, and used his bronze token to enter Herb Garden 17's restriction.
• Liu Yu met Wu Chang and carefully inspected the spiritual fields before accepting responsibility for the garden.
• Wu Chang departed on a high-quality middle-grade flying sword, leading Liu Yu to suspect he was not an ordinary outer disciple.

Liu Yu settled into life tending the herb garden, studying alchemy, and cultivating before beginning his first attempt to refine Spirit-Gathering Pills. His first batch became defective pills, and he cleaned the cauldron to try again.

• Liu Yu planted spirit herb seeds in the Immortal Mansion and organized his days around tending the garden, studying alchemy, practicing spells, and cultivating.
• After more than half a month, Liu Yu harvested herbs and decided to start learning alchemy with Spirit-Gathering Pills.
• Liu Yu set up the Purple Copper Cauldron and a Flame-Control Formation, then used spirit stones to generate a steady flame.
• Liu Yu added the herbs according to the Spirit-Gathering Pill Formula and tried to form pills in the cauldron.
• Liu Yu discovered that his first batch had produced defective pills, then emptied and washed the cauldron before preparing to refine another batch.

Liu Yu spent a month learning alchemy, losing spirit stones but producing Spirit-Gathering Pills and Pure Spirit Pills, then tested the Immortal Abode Space and discovered that it accelerated a jade spirit mushroom’s growth to about two hundred years. After handing over his post, he flew toward Clear Spring Peak, disposing of his pill-refining waste along the way.

• Liu Yu recorded his alchemy mistakes and eventually refined eight Spirit-Gathering Pills, then produced twenty-four more and fifteen Pure Spirit Pills, despite losing about ninety-six spirit stones overall.
• Liu Yu cleaned up his pill-refining room, stored his pills and notes, and removed the formation’s exhausted spirit stones.
• Liu Yu planted a jade spirit mushroom seed in the Immortal Abode Space’s black spiritual field and watched it mature to an estimated medicinal age of two hundred years.
• Liu Yu completed his cultivation and judged that he might soon break through to the Qi Refining Fifth Layer, bringing him closer to the sect’s requirements for becoming an Inner Disciple.
• Liu Yu handed over his post to a gray-robed outer sect disciple and flew toward Clear Spring Peak, burying the pill-refining waste on a barren mountain along the way.

Liu Yu went to Jiatai Market to trade rare spiritual herbs for powerful magical artifacts and life-saving talismans. At the Jade Orchid Tower, he asked Steward Liu Xueqin to show him the shop’s new stock and began inspecting the items.

• After returning his mission token, Liu Yu grew several rare spiritual herbs to sell for the spirit stones he needed to improve his defenses.
• Liu Yu entered Jiatai Market disguised in gray robes and a bamboo hat, then went to the familiar Jade Orchid Tower.
• Liu Xueqin recognized Liu Yu and led him to a private room to discuss his purchases.
• Liu Yu requested offensive and defensive magical artifacts and talismans for a quick escape, saying he would pay generously.
• Liu Xueqin brought out several brocade boxes and introduced the Golden Dragon Sword, which Liu Yu examined without revealing his opinion.

Liu Yu traded three rare, nearly two-hundred-year-old spirit herbs at Jade Orchid Tower for four treasures, including defensive and offensive talismans. Liu Xueqin grew suspicious of his unusual supply, and Liu Yu left for the inn resolved to avoid selling spirit herbs directly in the future.

• Liu Xueqin showed Liu Yu the Black Tortoise Iron Shield and Black Bird Flame Talisman, and Liu Yu examined them before waiting to see the remaining treasures.
• Liu Yu presented three rare spirit herbs in jade boxes, astonishing Liu Xueqin with their value.
• Liu Xueqin offered to exchange the three herbs for the treasures in the first four brocade boxes, including an Earth Escape Talisman, and Liu Yu agreed.
• Liu Xueqin offered the final treasure in exchange for two more rare herbs, but Liu Yu declined and concealed his unease at her growing suspicions.
• Liu Yu took the four treasures and left for the inn, passing a Pockmarked Cultivator without stopping.

Liu Yu sold his Spirit-Gathering Pills, advanced to the qi refining fifth layer, attuned magical artifacts, and spent a month cultivating and refining Pure Spirit Pills. After returning to Jiatai Market, he visited the Azure Pill Hall to ask whether it bought Pure Spirit Pills.

• Liu Yu sold twenty-four Spirit-Gathering Pills for twenty-three spirit stones and rented a lodge at the Welcome Immortal Inn.
• Liu Yu took a Pure Spirit Pill and broke through to the qi refining fifth layer.
• Liu Yu attuned the Golden Dragon Sword and Black Tortoise Shield, then used the Immortal Mansion to grow ingredients and refine Pure Spirit Pills.
• Liu Yu cultivated for a month with his pills, strengthening his cultivation and preparing his artifacts and talismans for protection.
• Liu Yu returned to the Market Ward and asked shopkeeper Zhang Chunming at the Azure Pill Hall whether the shop purchased Pure Spirit Pills.

Liu Yu sold seven bottles of Pure Spirit Pills to the Azure Pill Hall under a false name, but Yu Xiaotong secretly tracked him and ambushed him on his journey. Liu Yu blocked the first attack and countered with fireballs, but Yu Xiaotong’s golden barrier absorbed them, leaving the fight unresolved.

• Liu Yu sold seven bottles of Pure Spirit Pills to Zhang Chunming for 190 spirit stones while concealing his identity and whether he was an alchemist.
• Liu Yu tried to shake off anyone following him, but Yu Xiaotong tracked him with Soul-Tracking Powder and a compass.
• Liu Yu stopped in a grove to recover, unaware that Yu Xiaotong was closing in for a sneak attack.
• Yu Xiaotong’s flying needle missed Liu Yu, who raised his Black Tortoise Shield and discovered his attacker was at late Qi Refining.
• Liu Yu blocked Yu Xiaotong’s red saber and attacked with two fireballs, but Yu Xiaotong’s golden barrier stopped them.

Liu Yu fought Yu Xiaotong with several magical artifacts and killed him after breaking through his defenses. He collected the spoils and fled into the mountains before anyone could investigate the commotion.

• Yu Xiaotong attacked Liu Yu with a red knife and an azure broadsword, and Liu Yu blocked both weapons.
• Liu Yu unleashed the Golden Dragon Sword while keeping his other weapons engaged, forcing Yu Xiaotong to defend himself with a handkerchief and talismans.
• Liu Yu's Golden Dragon Sword damaged Yu Xiaotong's red knife, and he pressed the attack despite Yu Xiaotong's pleas to negotiate.
• Liu Yu pierced Yu Xiaotong's handkerchief, earthen wall, and magical barrier, killing him with a strike that severed his head.
• Liu Yu collected the fallen magical artifacts and Yu Xiaotong's Storage Bag, burned the corpse, and fled toward the mountains.

After surviving a sudden fight with the Pockmarked Cultivator, Liu Yu returned to Greenwood Peak and examined the man’s belongings. He discovered a manual of demonic cultivation that revealed how cultivators targeted and tracked victims, and resolved to study its methods while keeping his own wealth hidden.

• Liu Yu flew back to the Primordial Yang Sect on his badly damaged Cold Light Sword and reflected on his first battle and the dangers of the cultivation world.
• Liu Yu accepted Senior Brother Shang Chuanjiang’s invitation to attend a lecture at Preaching Peak.
• Liu Yu examined the Pockmarked Cultivator’s belongings, including several magical artifacts, pills, and a Mid-Grade Fire-Attributed Spirit Stone.
• Liu Yu read Essentials of Demonic Cultivation and learned how demonic cultivators selected targets, ambushed them, and sold stolen goods.
• Liu Yu found the soul-tracking powder method that explained how the Pockmarked Cultivator had tracked him, then stored the manual to study later.

After returning to his cave abode, Liu Yu refined a looted sword and joined fellow outer disciples to meditate at dawn, where their talk about cultivation prospects strengthened his resolve to advance quickly. He returned to cultivating and refining pills with the Immortal Mansion while laying the groundwork to explain his future progress.

• Liu Yu destroyed the stolen women's garments, hid the Pockmarked Cultivator's storage pouch, and slept after his exhausting battle and journey.
• Liu Yu refined the cyan broadsword, named it the Giant Wood Sword, and chose it for ordinary use so he would not attract attention with his Golden Dragon Sword.
• Liu Yu meditated on the cliff and met Wei Heng and Jiang Qiushui, who congratulated him on reaching the fifth layer of Qi Refining.
• Wei Heng lamented his poor prospects with a false spiritual root, and Liu Yu encouraged him with an account of a false-root cultivator who had reached the Nascent Soul Realm.
• After leaving the cliff, Liu Yu resolved to reach Qi Refining perfection and attempt Foundation Establishment before forty, then used the Immortal Mansion to grow herbs and refine pills while claiming to have talent for pill refinement.

Liu Yu cultivated with a Pure Spirit Pill and traveled with Shang Chuanjiang to Preaching Peak for a sect lecture. There, the Cold Moon Fairy Bai Yuxuan arrived to give the lecture and pressed the gathered disciples with her Foundation Establishment spiritual pressure.

• Liu Yu took one Pure Spirit Pill each day and advanced steadily toward the Qi Refining Fifth Layer.
• Liu Yu met Shang Chuanjiang at Green Bamboo Peak, and the two flew together to Preaching Peak.
• Liu Yu and Shang Chuanjiang joined roughly two thousand Outer Disciples waiting for the lecture.
• Bai Yuxuan arrived on a high-grade spirit artifact, and Liu Yu recognized her as the Cold Moon Fairy, one of the Primordial Yang Twin Beauties.
• Bai Yuxuan surveyed the plaza and released her Foundation Establishment Late Stage spiritual pressure over the disciples.

Liu Yu learned from Martial Aunt Bai’s lecture and built a reputation as an Alchemist, while avoiding factional entanglements and a suspicious treasure expedition. He later discovered the Spirit-Concealing Secret Art in the Essentials of Demonic Cultivation and learned its concealment abilities and limitations.

• Martial Aunt Bai lectured on low- and middle-grade first-tier water and ice spells, and Liu Yu gained useful insights before returning to his cave abode with Shang Chuanjiang.
• Liu Yu cultivated and refined pills, gradually gaining a reputation as an Alchemist after supplying a disciple with Pure Spirit Pills.
• The Shang Household and other Lineage factions tried to recruit Liu Yu, while Jiang Qiushui secured his agreement to refine pills for the Outer Courtyard faction once a month.
• Liu Yu refused an outer sect senior brother’s invitation to explore a supposed Foundation Establishment cultivator’s cave abode, suspecting a trap; he later heard the senior brother returned alone and badly injured.
• Liu Yu found the Spirit-Concealing Secret Art in the Essentials of Demonic Cultivation and learned that its three levels could hide or alter his displayed cultivation, though never make it appear higher than his actual realm.

After three years of rapid cultivation, Liu Yu became stuck at the peak of the Qi Refining Sixth Layer and sought a Bottleneck-Breaking Elixir. Jiang Qiushui had no useful leads, leaving him to consider other ways to overcome the bottleneck.

• Liu Yu failed several attempts to break through his bottleneck and weighed buying a Bottleneck-Breaking Elixir, continued cultivation, or risking life-and-death combat.
• Liu Yu used the Spirit-Concealing Art to hide his cultivation and decided to ask Jiang Qiushui about elixirs and breakthrough opportunities.
• Liu Yu visited Jiang Qiushui and told her he had been stuck at the bottleneck for three months.
• Jiang Qiushui explained that Bottleneck-Breaking Elixirs were scarce and that the pills still available through the sect offered little help.
• Liu Yu left after learning nothing useful, and Jiang Qiushui recognized that his praise of her tea had been a polite excuse to depart.

Liu Yu went to Jiatai Market seeking a Bottleneck-Breaking Elixir and sold Pure Spirit Pills at the Azure Pill Hall. Zhang Chunming told him about an upcoming Underground Auction where a Yellow Dragon Pill would be sold, and Liu Yu decided to attend.

• Liu Yu flew cautiously to Jiatai Market and entered the market disguised with a bamboo hat and black veil.
• Liu Yu reunited with Zhang Chunming at the Azure Pill Hall and learned that clear lotus tea could nourish divine sense.
• Liu Yu sold Zhang Chunming ten bottles of Pure Spirit Pills for 270 spirit stones and bought clear lotus tea seeds for 20 spirit stones.
• Liu Yu asked whether the shop sold Bottleneck-Breaking Elixirs, and Zhang Chunming said its supply had already sold out.
• Zhang Chunming gave Liu Yu the address and referral password for an Underground Auction three days away, where a Yellow Dragon Pill would be auctioned.
• Liu Yu decided to attend the auction to obtain the Yellow Dragon Pill.

Liu Yu prepared for an underground auction by buying talismans, selling pills, and disguising his appearance. He reached the auction’s hidden entrance and found two guards waiting at the end of the passage.

• Liu Yu bought Fireball, Fire Serpent, and Vajra Talismans while browsing the Market Ward.
• Liu Yu stayed at the Welcome Immortal Inn and sold fifteen bottles of Pure Spirit Pills over three days, bringing his funds to fourteen hundred spirit stones.
• Liu Yu applied disguise spirit liquid and covered his face with a veil and bamboo hat before leaving for the underground auction.
• Liu Yu gave the old woman at the general store Azure Pill Hall’s referral passphrase, and she opened a hidden stairway.
• Liu Yu followed the passage underground and reached a door guarded by two black-clad figures.

Liu Yu entered an underground auction, heard its rules, and watched the bidding begin. The auction continued to display treasures while Liu Yu held back, waiting for the Yellow Dragon Pill.

• Liu Yu gave the guards the password and entered the auction hall, where he sat among masked cultivators.
• Liu Yu observed the attendees and guessed that the Foundation Establishment cultivators were watching from private rooms upstairs.
• Ji Guanglin began the auction, announced its rules, and warned bidders with the aid of two Foundation Establishment cultivators.
• The Jade Spirit Pills sold in three lots for 150, 155, and 160 spirit stones, and Ji Guanglin introduced the Blazing Fire Halberd.
• Liu Yu refrained from bidding on the treasures and continued waiting for the Yellow Dragon Pill as the auction proceeded.