Chapter Summaries

Liu Yu and his party traveled to Ram's Horn Mountain, where they suspected the Hehuan Sect cultivators were hiding among the rogue cultivators. They reached the route to the summit and stopped just short of the cabin near the top.

• Liu Yu learned from Hou Yanze and Gongsun Cang that Ram's Horn Mountain was a likely hiding place for the Hehuan Sect cultivators.
• Liu Yu's party descended near the mountain, replenished their magical power, and climbed toward the summit.
• The rogue cultivators living along the trail watched the armed party pass but were too intimidated to confront them.
• Liu Yu surveyed the terrain and remembered routes that could help the party pursue or retreat.
• Liu Yu led the party toward the only trail from the middle slopes to the summit, where the Hehuan Sect cultivators' cabin stood, then signaled them to stop.

Liu Yu and the allied cultivators found the Hehuan Sect team hidden in a cabin and attacked them, but the effeminate leader countered Liu Yu’s top-grade artifact with one of his own. The battle began with Liu Yu’s weapon at a disadvantage.

• Liu Yu left Zhou Guibo and three qi refining sixth-layer cultivators to guard the narrow path while the others continued onward.
• Liu Yu identified the cabin as suspicious and ordered two Gongsun Household cultivators to test it with spells, revealing a Grand Three Talents Formation.
• Liu Yu ordered the group to attack, and their combined strikes broke the formation and destroyed the cabin as five Hehuan Sect cultivators escaped.
• Liu Yu discerned the enemies’ concealed cultivation levels and assigned the allied cultivators to fight them according to plan.
• The effeminate man summoned a pink top-grade seal that clashed with Liu Yu’s black sword blade and forced it back.

Liu Yu kept the effeminate Hehuan Sect cultivator occupied while their allies gained the upper hand elsewhere, hoping to buy time. The enemy feigned surrender before attacking with a secret art, and Liu Yu countered with the Golden Dragon Sword, which began to falter against the empowered Red Curved Blade.

• Liu Yu joined the Mother-and-Son Soul-Chasing Blades and used a mid-grade fire spirit stone to sustain his defense against the effeminate man's pink seal.
• Hou Yanze, Gongsun Cang, and their companions fought two late Qi Refining Hehuan Sect cultivators to a stalemate, while Wu Chang, Sun Ju, and six others badly wounded the two middle Qi Refining opponents.
• Liu Yu held back and guarded against a surprise attack as the effeminate man offered to abandon the mission and pay for peace.
• The effeminate man suddenly used blood essence and Hand Seals to empower a Red Curved Blade, then sent it at Liu Yu while the pink seal pinned down his other blades.
• Liu Yu sent the Golden Dragon Sword against the Red Curved Blade, but the enhanced weapon drove it back and dimmed its spiritual light.

Liu Yu fought Yi Yong'en, whose poisonous gourd nearly killed him, and used the Golden Silk Mirror to suppress it while keeping Yi Yong'en occupied. After the coalition killed two Hehuan Sect disciples, Liu Yu sent three cultivators to watch the nearby rogue cultivators as the battle continued.

• Yi Yong'en increased his power and attacked Liu Yu with a dark green gourd that sprayed corrosive venom.
• Liu Yu used Fire Serpent Talismans and the Black Iron Shield to block the venom, but one coalition cultivator died when it splashed onto him.
• Liu Yu aimed the Golden Silk Mirror at the gourd and slowed its magical power, stopping it from spraying venom.
• Liu Yu kept Yi Yong'en occupied while urging the coalition cultivators to finish their opponents quickly.
• Wu Chang and the others killed the two remaining Middle Qi Refining disciples of the Hehuan Sect, and Liu Yu sent three cultivators to watch the rogue cultivators.

Liu Yu and his allies pressed their attack on Yi Yong'en while rogue cultivators were kept away from the battlefield. Yi Yong'en countered with venom, Golden Needle Talismans, and the Black Orb, leaving the fight unresolved as Liu Yu weakened the orb’s defense with the Golden Silk Mirror.

• Zhou Guibo warned the rogue cultivators away from the battlefield and killed one who tried to approach with the Wood Escape Technique.
• Wu Chang, Xie Huaxiong, Sun Ju, and another allied cultivator joined Liu Yu in attacking Yi Yong'en as Liu Yu kept the pink seal and Red Curved Blade occupied.
• Yi Yong'en sprayed venom and unleashed Golden Needle Talismans at the approaching allies, corroding Wu Chang’s defensive bell and overwhelming their first defenses.
• Liu Yu used Yan Hongyu’s Black Jade Pendant to shield Wu Chang and the others, then ordered them to attack Yi Yong'en together.
• Yi Yong'en deployed the Black Orb to block the allies’ magical artifacts, but Liu Yu disrupted its protective screen with the Golden Silk Mirror.

Liu Yu and his allies overwhelmed Yi Yong'en’s weakened defenses, and Yi Yong'en was killed after sacrificing his blood essence to empower his Red Curved Blade. Liu Yu claimed Yi Yong'en’s Storage Bag and magical artifacts, finding a jade box he believed held purple sun grass, then rewarded the Hou Household cultivator who helped in the battle.

• Liu Yu urged Wu Chang, Xie Huaxiong, Sun Ju, and the Hou Household cultivator to break Yi Yong'en’s dark barrier, promising a reward for the leader’s death.
• The cultivators shattered the barrier, but Yi Yong'en used talismans and then infused the Red Curved Blade with blood essence to destroy two artifacts and damage three others.
• Liu Yu seized the opening when Yi Yong'en recalled the Red Curved Blade and used the Golden Dragon Sword to cut off his head.
• Liu Yu took Yi Yong'en’s Storage Bag and found a sealed jade box he suspected contained purple sun grass, then claimed the pink seal and Red Curved Blade.
• Liu Yu gave the Hou Household cultivator a middle-grade silver iron mace and a lower-grade bronze-colored iron hammer as compensation and a reward.

Liu Yu and the allied cultivators defeated the remaining Hehuan Sect disciples after securing the Feng Household’s resources. Liu Yu kept the unusual Bronze Lamp and proposed postponing action against the Cultivators’ Fellowship, leaving the group to decide how to proceed.

• Liu Yu killed one pleading Hehuan Sect disciple with the Mother-and-Son Soul-Chasing Blades and left the last enemy to Hou Yanze and the others.
• Wu Chang and Sun Ju handed Liu Yu the Storage Bags of two defeated Hehuan Sect disciples, and he said they would divide the contents back in Cold Moon City.
• Hou Yanze, Gongsun Cang, and two other cultivators overcame the final Hehuan Sect disciple and killed him despite the damage threatened by his Bronze Lamp.
• Hou Yanze and Gongsun Cang gave Liu Yu the dead disciple’s Storage Bag and Bronze Lamp, which Liu Yu examined and secretly kept.
• Liu Yu proposed delaying the fight against the Cultivators’ Fellowship because the group was exhausted and the rogue cultivators might already have scattered.

Liu Yu secured the Hou and Gongsun households’ cooperation after the battle, then returned to Cold Moon City with his disciples. In his residence, he confirmed that the jade box held Purple Sun Grass, one of the Three Foundation Treasures, and celebrated his good fortune.

• Liu Yu warned Hou Yanze and Gongsun Cang to report any Hehuan Sect cultivators and promised to report their contributions to the sect.
• Liu Yu’s party left Ram's Horn Mountain, split from Hou Yanze and Gongsun Cang, and flew back toward Cold Moon City.
• Liu Yu brought his junior disciples to his residence and used an offer of spirit tea to excuse himself and inspect the effeminate man's Storage Bag.
• Liu Yu opened the jade box and confirmed that it contained Purple Sun Grass, then sealed the herb and placed it in his own Storage Bag.
• Liu Yu laughed alone in his cultivation abode, delighted by the spirit herb’s potential.

Liu Yu used a tea gathering with Wu Chang and the others to conceal his discovery of Purple Sun Grass, which raised his chances of Foundation Establishment, and then shared the spoils taken from the Hehuan Sect cultivators. The chapter ended with Liu Yu assessing their wealth and concluding that the missing spirit herbs were not worth pursuing.

• Liu Yu returned to the Lake Pavilion with Clear Lotus Spirit Tea after confirming that the Purple Sun Grass could give him a fifty-percent chance of Foundation Establishment.
• Sun Ju brewed the tea for Liu Yu, Wu Chang, and the others, and Liu Yu judged that the simpler brewing method preserved more of its effects.
• Liu Yu placed four Storage Bags on the table and divided the captured Hehuan Sect cultivators' belongings for inspection, excluding the wealthier effeminate man's bag.
• Liu Yu and the others examined the spoils, including Magical Artifacts, pills, talismans, and spirit stones, while Liu Yu had the intimate garments burned.
• Liu Yu found no spirit herbs in the bags and decided he did not regret failing to learn where the Hehuan Sect cultivators had taken them.

After dividing the spoils with his fellow disciples, Liu Yu examined the Storage Bags taken from Feng Tianwei and the effeminate man. He discovered that the jade tube contained the rare Divine Preservation Art, a cultivation art for strengthening divine sense.

• Liu Yu gave Wu Chang the green Superior-grade Magical Artifact and divided the remaining spoils among the disciples, keeping two hundred spirit stones for himself.
• Liu Yu sent Wu Chang, Zhou Guibo, Sun Ju, and the third disciple back to the mine, then entered his residence to inspect the two Storage Bags.
• Liu Yu found spirit stones, magical artifacts, pills, and cultivation arts in Feng Tianwei's Storage Bag, estimating his total wealth at about eleven hundred spirit stones.
• Liu Yu discovered four valuable magical artifacts and other treasures in the effeminate man's Storage Bag, and decided to keep the artifacts for his own use.
• Liu Yu examined the jade tube and found the Divine Preservation Art, a rare cultivation art devoted to strengthening divine sense.

Liu Yu examined his spoils, learned the Divine Preservation Art, and discovered that Storage Bags could enter the Immortal Mansion. After testing the mansion’s accelerated spirit-herb growth and preservation, he left and resumed cultivation while recognizing the need for stronger defenses.

• Liu Yu memorized the incomplete Divine Preservation Art and decided to cultivate it, then inventoried the manuals, spirit stones, pills, and magical artifacts he had taken from the effeminate man.
• Liu Yu brought two Storage Bags into the Immortal Mansion and confirmed that their contents and spatial interiors remained intact.
• Liu Yu planted Clear Spirit Grass, purple spirit grass, and jade spirit grass, then observed them mature and deduced the mansion’s growth acceleration and preservation rules.
• Liu Yu returned to his body and realized that leaving it unattended in the Immortal Mansion made him vulnerable, so he resolved to find a stronger defensive formation.
• Liu Yu swallowed a Jade Spirit Pill and began refining its medicinal power with the Wood Spirit Art despite his exhaustion.

Liu Yu reported the destruction of the Hehuan Sect infiltrators to the Primordial Yang Sect, then studied his newly acquired Divine Preservation Art and cultivated for seven days. He arranged for Gongsun Cang to find a Grand Three Talents Formation and sell Feng Household resources while assuring both lineage leaders that their claim to the Feng Household's resource sites was likely to be approved.

• Liu Yu sent the Primordial Yang Sect a report crediting the Hou Household and Gongsun Household for helping exterminate the Hehuan Sect cultivators and recommending they receive the Feng Household's resource sites.
• Liu Yu spent seven days studying the Divine Preservation Art, taking Jade Spirit Pills, and refining his new magical artifacts.
• Liu Yu asked Hou Yanze and Gongsun Cang to find him a Grand Three Talents Formation, and Gongsun Cang agreed to arrange the purchase.
• Liu Yu gave Gongsun Cang Feng Household cultivation resources to sell, instructing him to deduct the formation's price and deliver the remaining spirit stones.
• Liu Yu assured Hou Yanze and Gongsun Cang that he had recommended their households for the Feng Household's resource sites and learned that the Cultivators’ Fellowship had vanished.

After the Hehuan Sect infiltration case ended, Liu Yu studied his cultivation art and tested his newly refined Dark Green Gourd before meeting Martial Uncle Qian, the Foundation Establishment cultivator sent by the sect. Martial Uncle Qian praised Liu Yu’s actions and learned that his son Qian Zhijin knew him, while Liu Yu explained his fast cultivation by pointing to his alchemy skills.

• Hou Yanze and Gongsun Cang bid farewell to Liu Yu, bringing the Cultivators' Fellowship and the Hehuan Sect infiltration matter to a close.
• Liu Yu studied the Divine Preservation Art and spent two days cultivating and familiarizing himself with his magical artifacts.
• Liu Yu tested the Dark Green Gourd’s venom, which pierced through five trees and quickly withered them.
• A mansion guard told Liu Yu that the city lord had summoned him to meet a Primordial Yang Sect cultivator, so Liu Yu flew to the City Lord's Mansion.
• Liu Yu met Martial Uncle Qian, who praised him for defeating the Hehuan Sect cultivators and revealed that Qian Zhijin was his son.
• Liu Yu told Martial Uncle Qian that alchemy explained his rapid cultivation, and Martial Uncle Qian reacted favorably to his potential.

Liu Yu persuaded Martial Uncle Qian to accept a gift and presented his account of the Hehuan Sect disciples’ deaths, concealing his own gains. After questioning Liu Yu’s companions and hearing matching accounts, Martial Uncle Qian departed to report the matter to the sect, promising Liu Yu his due contribution points.

• Liu Yu gave Martial Uncle Qian Clear Lotus Spirit Tea and handed over five Hehuan Sect disciple tokens for inspection.
• Liu Yu claimed he had learned of the Hehuan Sect cultivators through the Cultivators’ Fellowship and helped the Hou Household and Gongsun Household eliminate them, while concealing the Purple Sun Grass and other spoils.
• Martial Uncle Qian questioned Liu Yu about the stolen spirit herbs, and Liu Yu denied finding any in the enemies’ Storage Bags.
• Liu Yu summoned Wu Chang, Zhou Guibo, Xie Huaxiong, and Sun Ju from the Cold Iron Ore Vein to give their accounts to Martial Uncle Qian.
• After hearing the disciples’ matching accounts, Martial Uncle Qian said he would report the matter to the sect and promised Liu Yu his full contribution points before departing.

Liu Yu settled into life in Cold Moon City, balancing cultivation with occasional entertainment from Liu Bing'er and Shi Yan. After a year and a half of steady practice, he broke through to the eighth layer of Qi Refining.

• Liu Yu received Liu Bing'er and Shi Yan, listened to Liu Bing'er play the guqin, then dismissed them before becoming too engrossed in their charms.
• Over the next year and a half, Liu Yu strengthened his divine sense, practiced his cultivation arts and magical artifacts, and advanced to the brink of the eighth layer of Qi Refining.
• Liu Yu periodically visited the Cold Iron Mine Site, where Wu Chang and three others kept watch and Chai Wenzheng managed the mine's logistics.
• Liu Yu took a Jade Spirit Pill, circulated the Wood Spirit Art for seven greater celestial circuits, and broke through to the eighth layer of Qi Refining.

Five years after advancing his cultivation, Liu Yu reached the ninth layer of Qi refining and mastered techniques that strengthened and concealed his divine sense. As war continued to threaten his return to the Primordial Yang Sect, he considered using a Foundation Establishment breakthrough to avoid the front lines.

• Liu Yu assessed his breakthrough to the eighth layer and reflected on how Jade Spirit Pills and his Immortal Mansion had accelerated his cultivation.
• Over the next five years, Liu Yu reached the ninth layer of Qi refining, learned the Spirit-Shocking Thorn, and gained greater control over concealing his cultivation.
• Liu Yu dismissed Liu Bing'er and Shi Yan, restoring their freedom and providing them with money for their future.
• Liu Yu reviewed the ongoing war among the cultivation factions and learned that the Primordial Yang Sect had suffered heavy casualties.
• Liu Yu considered gathering enough sect contribution points to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill and enter seclusion rather than be sent to the front lines.

Liu Yu prepared to secure a Foundation Establishment Pill and avoid sect assignments by cultivating, while gathering spirit stones through secret pill sales. As the new guards arrived to take over Cold Moon City's assignment, he met them at the City Lord's Mansion and took charge of their welcome.

• Liu Yu decided to seek a Foundation Establishment Pill and began preparing spirit stones for trades with fellow disciples.
• Liu Yu spent ten days in the Immortal Mansion refining Jade Spirit Pills, Purple Spirit Pills, and Pure Spirit Pills worth about twenty-one hundred spirit stones.
• Liu Yu packed away his alchemy equipment and personal belongings before the replacement guards arrived.
• A guard summoned Liu Yu to the City Lord's Mansion, where he used his divine sense to inspect the five arriving Primordial Yang Sect disciples.
• Tian Fu introduced himself and the four Outer Disciples to Liu Yu, who invited Tian Fu to dine and rest before handing over the mine the next day.

Liu Yu received Tian Fu and the newly arrived disciples in Cold Moon City, then practiced the painful Divine Preservation Art before leading them to the Cold Iron Mine Site. There, he began handing over his post and honored his promise to extend Lin Dayong’s life.

• Liu Yu dismissed Tian Fu’s objections, arranged a welcoming feast, and withdrew to his room to practice the Divine Preservation Art for four hours with Clear Lotus Spirit Tea.
• The next morning, Liu Yu arrived after Tian Fu and the others at the city lord’s residence and led them toward the Cold Iron Mine Site.
• Liu Yu told Lin Dayong that the new disciples would take over guarding the mine and instructed him to fetch Junior Brother Wu and Junior Brother Zhou for the handover.
• Liu Yu gave Lin Dayong a Spirit-Gathering Pill and explained that taking it in seven portions would extend his life by five years.

Liu Yu completed the handover of the cold iron mine to Tian Fu and prepared to return to the sect with Wu Chang, Zhou Guibo, Xie Huaxiong, and Sun Ju. The group flew south through Qing Province as the war continued to reshape the cultivation world.

• Wu Chang, Zhou Guibo, Xie Huaxiong, and Sun Ju greeted Liu Yu and met Tian Fu, who had arrived to take over the mine.
• Liu Yu passed the mine ledger, ore Storage Bag, and formation token to Tian Fu for inspection.
• Tian Fu and the accompanying disciples checked the accounts and formation, then confirmed that everything was in order.
• Liu Yu warned Tian Fu to beware of Hehuan Sect cultivators, declined to discuss local matters, and left with his companions.
• Liu Yu and the four cultivators flew southward into Qing Province as the war continued to bring deaths and upheaval across the Chu Kingdom.

Liu Yu and his companions returned to the Primordial Yang Sect, reported their completed mission, and received their contribution points. As the group parted, Sun Ju unexpectedly returned and offered Liu Yu a blue-green token.

• Liu Yu sold most of his pills during the journey back, then passed the sect’s strengthened mountain-gate identity checks with his companions.
• Liu Yu registered the mission’s completion at the General Affairs Hall and received one hundred contribution points, while Wu Chang, Zhou Guibo, and the other two received fifty each.
• Zhou Guibo told Liu Yu he planned to report his late Qi Refining cultivation and seek promotion to inner disciple, and Liu Yu gave him the address of his cave abode.
• Liu Yu and his remaining companions exchanged cave-abode addresses and parted ways near the foot of Clear Spring Peak.
• Sun Ju turned back, called to Liu Yu, and offered him a blue-green token.