Recaps

Lin Changheng developed a secret art to fuse his essence blood, accelerating the Origin Cauldron’s spirit seizure, then chose to claim the Nether Abyss Icefire and tested its unusual powers. As rival factions converged on the Nascent Soul ruins and the Song Region pressed Jin for access, Lin learned that the Hehuan Sect had sent the dangerous Poison-Handed Scholar, Xue Wuming, to the area.

• Lin Changheng adapted the Hehuan Sect’s secret art into an Essence Blood Fusion Secret Art and fused his six drops of heart essence blood into three clumps, allowing the Origin Cauldron to seize a whole clump and doubling its progress.
• Lin Changheng chose the Nether Abyss Icefire over the Flame Sparrow’s other gifts, claimed it, and found that it could coexist with his Dark Radiance Profound Flame; a second spirit seizure strengthened it further.
• Lin Changheng tested the Icefire on a defensive talisman barrier and a flying sword, discovering that it froze spiritual power and made materials brittle.
• As Jin cultivators gathered around the Nascent Soul ruins and Song forces launched a major offensive, Lin Changheng befriended cautious Foundation Establishment cultivators Zhao and Qian to learn about the Hehuan Sect and the ruins.
• Zhao and Qian told Lin Changheng that Xue Wuming, a feared False Core deputy master of the Hehuan Sect’s Punishment Hall, had arrived and might be investigating a secret matter.
• Lin Changheng learned that the Song forces were demanding entry quotas to the ruins and threatening an all-out war, then joined the other cultivators in condemning them.

Lin Changheng discovered that Old Zhang was being held by disguised Heavenly Gang Sword Sect cultivators, killed the two escorts, and found Red Transparent Crystals that nourished his cultivation and Dark Radiance Profound Flame. After nine months of seclusion, he broke through to the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment, while the outside world underwent great changes.

• Lin Changheng spotted Old Zhang being escorted by two Heavenly Gang Sword Sect cultivators and secretly followed them out of the city.
• Lin Changheng killed the middle-stage Foundation Establishment sword cultivator with Nether Abyss Icefire, then defeated and killed the late-stage Cold-Faced Sword Cultivator before escaping the arriving Core Formation True Person.
• Lin Changheng found two Red Transparent Crystals in the Cold-Faced Sword Cultivator's Storage Bag and deduced that the sect had been capturing Jade Void Radiant Scripture cultivators to produce them.
• Lin Changheng absorbed the crystals' energy, strengthening his mana and Dark Radiance Profound Flame, while the Nether Abyss Icefire rejected the crystals' fire-element true essence.
• After nine months of cultivation, Lin Changheng broke through to the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment and spent another month absorbing the remaining crystal fragments.

Lin Changheng learned that Song and Jin had agreed to a temporary ceasefire and would soon open the Nascent Soul Cave-Dwelling Ruins under a restriction limiting entrants to Core Formation middle stage or below. He discovered that the Hehuan Sect was searching for him because of his Jade Talisman Fragment, and began planning to use it as bait to capture Xue Wuming and learn about Li'er.

• Lin Changheng overheard that Song had secured thirty percent of the ruins' entry slots in exchange for a ceasefire, while the restriction barred cultivators above Core Formation middle stage.
• Lin Changheng learned from Ye Qingwu that Xue Wuming had been acting hurriedly and leaving his post, which made him suspect the Poison-Handed Scholar was pursuing a task connected to the ruins.
• The injured cultivator surnamed Qian told Lin Changheng that the Hehuan Sect was paying rogue cultivators to search for someone near Blackwind Ridge, and offered to share the search aura with him.
• Lin Changheng recognized the aura in Qian's jade slip as his own residual mana and deduced that the Hehuan Sect wanted his Jade Talisman Fragment, possibly a key to the ruins.
• Lin Changheng left the Spirit Wine Tower planning to use the fragment as bait to capture Xue Wuming alive and perform Soul Search for information about Li'er.

Lin Changheng trapped Xue Wuming in a concealed formation and fought the Hehuan Sect False Core cultivator, countering his poison arts and Dharma Treasures before killing him. He began searching Xue Wuming’s memories for the truth about the ambush on Mo Zhaoli and her whereabouts.

• Xue Wuming killed Qian Duoren, turned his corpse into a puppet, and set a poison formation around the cave where he believed his target was hiding.
• Lin Changheng’s puppet decoy drew Xue Wuming into a hidden binding formation, and Lin Changheng ambushed him from behind.
• Lin Changheng used the Divine Azurewood Seal and Nether Abyss Icefire to seize Xue Wuming’s Wraith-Soul Ghost Shuttles, then used the Soul-Striking Whip to destroy his Poison Flood Dragons.
• Xue Wuming donned the Mystic Yin Ghost King Armor, but Lin Changheng pierced it with Thunder Sha and killed him with his Natal Sword Embryo.
• Lin Changheng took Xue Wuming’s head and began a Soul Search to learn about the ambush on Mo Zhaoli, the Purple Pole Sect’s role, and where Mo Zhaoli had gone.

After learning that Mo Zhaoli escaped through a damaged Ancient Teleportation Formation, Lin Changheng repaired it to leave her a possible way home. Two years later, he completed his Nether Abyss Flame Sparrow transformation and began extracting a spirit vein at Maple Forest Mountain.

• Lin Changheng learned from Xue Wuming’s memories that a Purple Pole Sect steward had betrayed Mo Zhaoli’s mission, and that she vanished through an Ancient Teleportation Formation in the Miasma-Shadow Ancient Forest.
• Lin Changheng repaired the formation’s damaged end so Mo Zhaoli might have a road home, then left it concealed in the cave.
• After two years hunting in the Black Abyss, Lin Chang killed a Nether Abyss Flame Sparrow, absorbed its essence blood, and incorporated the Nether Abyss Icefire bloodline method.
• Lin Changheng traveled to the war-torn border and chose Maple Forest Mountain, the former Zhou lineage base now occupied by the Purple Pole Sect, as his target.
• Lin Changheng infiltrated Maple Forest Mountain, concealed the spirit vein’s source beneath a formation, and began using Spirit-Seizing and Vein-Drawing to extract it.

Lin Changheng successfully extracted a spirit vein and merged it into his Heaven-in-a-Pot Space, transforming it into a more stable, vibrant blessed land. After returning to the Song Region and resolving to prepare for Core Formation, he traveled to the Xue Family’s mountain gate to complete a transaction, only to find it draped in mourning white.

• Lin Changheng and Xiao Hei extracted a mid-grade first-tier earth-affinity spirit vein and placed it in the Heaven-in-a-Pot Space, where it raised a hill, formed a shallow depression, and strengthened the space.
• During the following year, Lin Changheng captured another mid-grade first-tier spirit vein, failed to preserve a low-grade one, and gave Ye Qingwu an upper-grade second-tier Premium Spirit Artifact and supplies while instructing her to gather essence blood.
• Lin Changheng returned to the Far-Pacifying Fortress, witnessed Cold Edge True Person fly through its airspace, and resolved to continue preparing for Core Formation.
• Lin Changheng traveled west to Gold Valley Ridge to meet the Xue Family and obtain Flame-Shadow Mouse essence blood, but found the family’s mountain gate covered in mourning white.

Lin Changheng visited the grieving Xue Family, completed his trade for [Flame-Shadow Mouse] essence blood, and refused to intervene in its conflict with the Zheng Family. He refined new fire abilities, investigated the Sun-Eclipsing Crows, and met Elder Kong, whose alchemy guidance left him immersed in the path of third-tier refinement.

• Lin Changheng learned that Xue Yinshan had died defending the Xue Family from the Zheng Family, but declined to take sides and exchanged [Flowing Flame Stone Essence] for [Flame-Shadow Mouse] essence blood.
• Lin Changheng refined the Fire Escape Foreign Method and Fire Escape Demon Method, discovering that linked flame afterimages let him travel several li and that his divine sense reached nearly nine li.
• Lin Changheng learned that the Sun-Eclipsing Crows were being kept inside Azure Rosy Clouds Temple for breeding and would not be available for at least a year, then erased the informant's memories and left him alive.
• Lin Changheng visited Floating Life Immortal City and learned that Bai Hengwan was away while Elder Kong had returned from the war and had invited him to meet.
• Lin Changheng visited Elder Kong on Furnace Spirit Island and discussed his difficulties refining the Three-Origin Condensed True Pill.
• Elder Kong praised Lin Changheng's quasi-third-tier alchemy knowledge and explained advanced methods for balancing medicinal properties and controlling Core Flame as they discussed the Dao of Alchemy into the evening.

After ten years of seclusion, Lin Changheng successfully refined a third-tier spirit elixir and reached the peak of Foundation Establishment, leaving him ready to prepare for Core Formation and the Sixty-Year Secret Realm. He reunited with Yan Mingyi, whose puppet skills had advanced to upper-grade second-tier, and considered his next steps.

• Lin Changheng returned to Perching Moon Island, reunited with Yan Mingyi and his spirit beasts, and gave Yan Mingyi a third-tier Corpse Puppet inheritance, its tools, and two Spirit Artifacts.
• Lin Changheng moved his spirit medicines into the Heaven-in-a-Pot Blessed Land and used the Flourishing Life Divine Ability to accelerate their growth.
• After ten years of seclusion and repeated attempts, Lin Changheng refined a standard-grade Three-Origin Condensed True Pill and became a third-tier alchemist.
• Lin Changheng reached perfected peak Foundation Establishment and planned to refine Core Formation pills, gather needed materials, and enter the Sixty-Year Secret Realm.
• Lin Changheng emerged from seclusion and reunited intimately with Yan Mingyi, learning that she had reached Foundation Establishment fifth layer and advanced her puppet arts to upper-grade second-tier.

Lin Changheng used Little Qing’s essence blood to seize the Azure Sky White Tiger treasure seed three times, gaining Cloud Concealment, and perfected his Qi-Observation Technique before setting out under the disguise of Fang Yuan for the Sixty-Year Secret Realm. At the Azure Billows River, he saw major powers arrive with unusually strong forces, and the chapter ended as True Person Lingfeng greeted True Person Cloud Crane.

• Yan Mingyi gave Lin Changheng the essence blood she had collected from Little Qing, and he used it to seize the first three Azure Sky White Tiger treasure seeds.
• Lin Changheng refined the Cloud-Concealment Foreign Method and tested how it combined with his concealment, stealth, and illusion abilities.
• Lin Changheng perfected the Qi-Observation Technique, said goodbye to Yan Mingyi, and left Perching Moon Island disguised as the attendant cultivator Fang Yuan.
• At the Azure Billows River, Lin Changheng observed the Talisman-Making Song Family and Beast-Taming Sun Clan arrive with twice as many elite juniors as at the previous secret realm opening.
• True Person Cloud Crane arrived with battle-hardened Purple Pole Sect disciples and warned the gathered cultivators to conduct themselves wisely.
• True Person Lingfeng arrived with the Extreme South Palace, greeted True Person Cloud Crane, and remarked that he had hoped to meet True Person Xuanji.

Lin Changheng entered the Sixty-Year Secret Realm, gathered treasures while following two cultivators through its outer regions, and intervened when Jin Zhantang tried to kill them. He killed the Purple Pole Sect steward in an instant, leaving the two cultivators stunned.

• True Person Lingfeng and True Person Cloud Crane wagered Purple Heaven Thunder-Pattern Bamboo and Moonlight Condensation Dew on their disciples’ harvests in the secret realm.
• Lin Changheng entered the secret realm, found himself at a desert oasis, and collected twelve Azurewater Nether Orchids while two cultivators fought a water demon above him.
• Lin Changheng secretly followed Brother Wang and his companion toward areas with richer spiritual energy, taking the valuable plants and fruits they failed to find.
• Jin Zhantang confronted Brother Wang and his companion and launched a flying sword at them, but Lin Changheng deflected it and claimed the two as his guides.
• Jin Zhantang attacked Lin Changheng, who killed him instantly with the might of Cloud Concealment.

Lin Changheng gathered intelligence and spoils in the Sixty-Year Secret Realm, discovered a Primordial Jianmu fragment and a powerful concealment art, then entered the dangerous inner region. There, after burying a corpse, he sensed a powerful unseen presence watching him.

• Lin Changheng searched Jin Zhantang’s soul, then gave Brother Wang and the short, fat cultivator Dust-Forgetting Pills so they would forget the encounter and survive.
• Lin Changheng traveled toward the core region, collected Starshine Orchids, and uncovered a staged corpse used as bait by two Extreme South Palace ambushers, whom he killed.
• Lin Changheng found Soul-Eroding Miasma, learned the Mirage-Tower Illusion Concealment Art, and discovered that a charcoal-like stump was another Primordial Jianmu fragment.
• Lin Changheng entered the inner region with a humanoid puppet scouting ahead and carefully buried a decomposed corpse he found on the path.
• As Lin Changheng prepared to leave, he felt a powerful, unseen gaze lock onto him.

Lin Changheng sensed and escaped a mysterious female cultivator whose concealment defeated his powerful perception, then encountered a herd of Mystic Fire Rhinoceroses in the secret realm. After killing most of the beasts and fending off opportunistic cultivators, he began Spirit Seizure with their essence blood.

• Lin Changheng felt an unseen gaze, cautiously prepared several layers of defense, and fled after the presence vanished; the concealed Purple Pole Sect cultivator watched him leave and judged him unusually capable.
• Lin Changheng used a damaged Humanoid Puppet to scout through dangerous terrain, then faced a bloodied cultivator fleeing a herd of Mystic Fire Rhinoceroses.
• When the fleeing cultivator tried to divert the beasts toward him, Lin Changheng killed him and chose to fight the charging herd for its valuable essence blood and demon cores.
• Lin Changheng evaded the beasts’ flames, killed several using brute strength and a hidden spatial rift, and discovered that striking a weak point on their necks with the Soul-Striking Whip could cripple them.
• Lin Changheng killed three cultivators who tried to steal his spoils, drove off the remaining rhinoceroses after eliminating most of the herd, and collected their valuable materials.
• After recovering in seclusion, Lin Changheng began Spirit Seizure with Mystic Fire Rhinoceros essence blood, and the Origin Cauldron displayed the beast’s available talents.

Lin Changheng chose the [Mystic Fire Furnace] talent, fused his [Dark Radiance Profound Flame] and [Nether Abyss Icefire] into a powerful but unstable trump card, and found a transformed, five-hundred-year-old Red Jade Sword Orchid. He avoided the secret realm’s increasingly violent core-zone conflicts and returned to hunt Mystic Fire Rhinoceroses, while clashes among cultivators and beasts intensified elsewhere.

• Lin Changheng rejected [Frenzied Rhinoceros Charge] and [Lava Heavy Armor], then refined the [Mystic Fire Furnace] Foreign Method to harmonize his two flames.
• Lin Changheng fused the flames into an Ice-Fire Taiji Flame, then compressed them into an unstable Ice-Fire Yin-Yang Pearl whose explosion shattered a mountainside.
• Lin Changheng decided to avoid the core zone until its cultivators had weakened one another, and discovered a transformed Red Jade Sword Orchid at least five hundred years old in a dead cultivator’s storage bag.
• Lin Changheng returned to the scarlet mountains to hunt more Mystic Fire Rhinoceroses and search for additional ancient Red Jade Sword Orchids.
• At the Secret Realm Heart, Purple Pole Sect and Extreme South Palace cultivators faced off over demon-beast spoils, a lightning cultivator claimed Golden-Pattern Thunder Pulp Fruits, and an Extreme South Palace cultivator killed two Foundation Establishment cultivators for their storage bags.
• As battles and dangers escalated in the core zone, Lin Changheng entered a fiery cavern den.

Lin Changheng gained a fire-attribute earth spiritual root, strengthened the Dark Radiance Profound Flame, and entered the secret realm’s central region in search of treasures. After discovering Centennial Stone Bamboo Shoot Milk and following the cultivators who guarded it, he silently killed their sentry and slipped into the Stone Hall where two others remained.

• Lin Changheng killed the remaining Mystic Fire Rhinoceroses in their lair, captured two calves for the Heaven-in-a-Pot Space, and used the collected essence blood to raise his fire spiritual resonance to seventy-one strands.
• Lin Changheng tested his new fire-attribute earth spiritual root, improved his control of the Ice-Fire Taiji Flame, and fed Mystic Fire Rhinoceros cores and a Red Jade Sword Orchid to the Dark Radiance Profound Flame.
• Lin Changheng reached the secret realm’s central region and found a concealed cave behind a heavy-water waterfall, where he discovered a source of Centennial Stone Bamboo Shoot Milk, a main ingredient for the Dust-Descending Pill.
• Lin Changheng tracked three Purple Pole Sect cultivators to an ancient Stone Hall and recognized Jin Daoyao among them; after two entered the hall, he ambushed and killed the lone guard.
• Lin Changheng found a weak point in the formation, passed through it without raising an alarm, and entered the Stone Hall.

Lin Changheng ambushed Jin Daoyao and Senior Brother Yue while they opened a treasure chamber, then wore down Yue with repeated attacks and escapes until he killed him. He took the Centennial Stone Bamboo Shoot Milk, the jade box, and Yue’s True-Core-Level Talismanized Treasure, then buried both bodies in the Heaven-in-a-Pot Blessed Land.

• Lin Changheng overheard Jin Daoyao and Senior Brother Yue discussing their preparations to break the chamber’s formation and suspected True Person Xuanji had entered the secret realm.
• Lin Changheng waited until Jin Daoyao and Senior Brother Yue nearly opened the final restriction, then struck with the Ice-Fire Yin-Yang Pearl, gravely wounding Jin and injuring Yue.
• Lin Changheng attacked Yue with his sword and demon methods, but Yue dispersed the mist and brought out a True-Core-Level Talismanized Treasure, forcing Lin to escape with the Fire Escape Demon Method.
• Yue took the jade box, found Jin near death, and killed him when Jin begged for help; Lin then returned repeatedly, provoking Yue into wasting the Talismanized Treasure’s power and his own strength.
• Lin Changheng severed Yue’s hand with the Dark Radiance Profound Flame and killed him with the Azure-Purple Sword Embryo.
• Lin Changheng collected the True-Core-Level Talismanized Treasure, the Centennial Stone Bamboo Shoot Milk, and the jade box, then put both corpses in the Heaven-in-a-Pot Blessed Land and buried them.

Lin Changheng failed to breach the Stone Hall’s strongest formations, then followed traces of a powerful lightning cultivator into the secret realm’s core. There, a Purple Pole Sect woman seized the Secret Realm Core after killing its guardian, but a gray-clad Foundation Establishment cultivator appeared just as she reached for it.

• Lin Changheng tried and failed to penetrate the central and right-hand chamber formations, then left the Stone Hall.
• True Person Cloud Crane and True Person Lingfeng discovered that elite disciples from both factions had died inside the secret realm and wondered what threat had caused the losses.
• Lin Changheng reached the core region, recognized traces of Deng Changsheng’s former thunder sha in a lightning cultivator’s trail, and began forming a plan.
• A purple-robed Purple Pole Sect cultivator killed the late third-tier Millennium Black Tortoise and prepared to claim the Chaos Pearl, intending to take control of the secret realm for her sect.
• The purple-robed cultivator exposed a gray-clad Foundation Establishment Peak cultivator hiding near the cavern entrance, and he greeted her with brazen admiration.

Lin Changheng infiltrated the underground chamber and found True Person Xuanji confronting a gray-robed Thunder Cultivator over the Secret Realm Core. He disrupted their deal, stole Qilin-Patterned Purple Gold, and wounded the Thunder Cultivator, who escaped after attacking the Core; Lin Changheng then weighed whether to face the badly injured True Person Xuanji or leave.

• The gray-robed Thunder Cultivator revealed that the purple-robed woman was a True Core cultivator and fought her with thunder arts, talismans, and a Golden Core Talismanized Treasure, forcing a stalemate over the Secret Realm Core.
• Lin Changheng followed the Thunder Cultivator's traces into the underground cavern after his Heaven-in-a-Pot Singularity resonated with the Chaos Pearl, which he recognized as the likely source of the attraction.
• The gray-robed cultivator offered to leave in exchange for an ancient treasure or rare materials, and True Person Xuanji offered him Qilin-Patterned Purple Gold instead.
• Lin Changheng ambushed both cultivators with arrows, seized the Qilin-Patterned Purple Gold, and fled, prompting them to suspect each other and then agree to separate.
• Lin Changheng attacked the gray-robed cultivator with an Ice-Fire Yin-Yang Pearl; the wounded cultivator retaliated by striking the Secret Realm Core with his Golden Core Talismanized Treasure before escaping with a Minor Teleportation Talisman.
• True Person Xuanji was left badly wounded beside the damaged Core, while Lin Changheng hid in the passage and considered his next move.

Lin Changheng tried to seize the Chaos Pearl amid a battle between True Person Xuanji and the supposedly dead Millennium Black Tortoise, but the pearl shattered and triggered the secret realm’s collapse. He escaped, killed a hostile Shi clan cultivator on the way out, and the survivors emerged into a chaotic scene where the four Core Formation cultivators learned the secret realm was collapsing.

• Lin Changheng negotiated with True Person Xuanji for the black tortoise’s demon core and essence blood, but the tortoise revived as she reached for its heart.
• Lin Changheng tried to take the Chaos Pearl while Xuanji fought the tortoise, discovered it was bound to the stone pillar, and agreed to help kill the beast.
• The tortoise unleashed three destruction beams; one struck and shattered the Chaos Pearl, while Lin Changheng and Xuanji survived the others.
• Lin Changheng absorbed some of the spatial origin released by the broken pearl, then fled as the underground chamber and the entire secret realm began collapsing.
• Lin Changheng killed a fleeing cultivator from the Extreme South Palace’s Shi clan and continued toward the exit as the secret realm disintegrated.
• True Person Cloud Crane, True Person Lingfeng, and the False Core cultivators opened the exit early, and escaping disciples reported that the secret realm was collapsing from its core region.

Lin Changheng escaped the collapsing Sixty-Year Secret Realm amid a confrontation between True Person Lingfeng and the Thunder-Arts Golden Cultivator, then killed a rogue cultivator who pursued him. Aboard a tower ship, he discovered that his Heaven-in-a-Pot Blessed Land had expanded dramatically and began reviewing the treasures he had collected.

• Lin Changheng hid among the wounded as True Person Lingfeng used Thunder-Seeking Thunder to expose the surviving Thunder-Arts Golden Cultivator, who escaped with a second Minor Teleportation Talisman after a fierce exchange.
• The Thunder-Arts Golden Cultivator accused the Extreme South Palace of targeting minor cultivators, prompting many people to flee; Lin Changheng used the ensuing chaos to escape.
• True Person Xuanji emerged and secretly told True Person Cloud Crane that the Secret Realm Core had shattered and revealed a stone box, before the gateway collapsed and destroyed the Sixty-Year Secret Realm.
• Lin Changheng outran a rogue cultivator who had followed him, killed him, and took his storage bag before continuing his journey by spirit boat.
• Lin Changheng found that the Heaven-in-a-Pot Blessed Land had expanded to nearly a hundred zhang, gained fertile ground, hills, a spring, and stronger spiritual energy, then inspected his storage bags and found valuable treasures and ingredients for the Return-to-Truth Pill.

Lin Changheng uncovered enough core-formation pill ingredients, a mysterious Dharma Treasure Embryo, and an imitation ancient treasure method from his spoils. After returning to Jade Belt Lake, he prepared Yan Mingyi and the Xu Family women for his departure, then headed south in pursuit of Core Formation.

• Lin Changheng searched the cultivators' Storage Bags and gained most of the ingredients for the Return-to-Truth Pill and Dust-Descending Pill, along with a geomancy inheritance and materials for Dharma Treasure Embryos.
• The Shi cultivator's Storage Bag provided the final primary ingredient for Lin Changheng's first Dust-Descending Pill set and a moon-white Dharma Treasure Embryo that concealed itself and pierced magical defenses.
• Lin Changheng opened the guarded Jade Box and found a golden sheet detailing how to make an imitation ancient treasure called the River-Calming Pearl.
• Lin Changheng left two bottles of mild elixirs and a cultivation method for Gentleman Yu's granddaughter, who had a mixed spiritual root, then returned to Jade Belt Lake.
• Over the following year, Lin Changheng refined pills and gave Yan Mingyi a Youth-Preserving Pill, leaving two more for the Xu Family women and cultivation elixirs and spirit artifacts for them.
• Lin Changheng urged Yan Mingyi to join the Xu Family women for safety, took Little Qing and Xiao Hei with him, bade her farewell, and headed south.

Lin Changheng visited Floating Life Immortal City, where Bai Hengwan gave him Core Formation insights and agreed to seek Xun-Wind Thunder Liquid. After he advanced to a third-tier alchemist, his reputation spread across the region, and Azure Mist Rogue Person’s congratulatory gift brought him five drops of the rare liquid he needed.

• Lin Changheng met Bai Hengwan, received her jade slip of Core Formation insights, and asked her to find more Xun-Wind Thunder Liquid.
• During his six-month stay, Lin Changheng practiced the Mirage-Tower Illusion Concealment Art, discussed alchemy with Elder Kong, and received another jade slip containing Core Formation experiences.
• Zhao Guangjing visited Lin Changheng to make friends after losing the true disciple contest, while Senior Sister Yang sent only a congratulatory gift, sharpening Lin Changheng’s suspicions of her.
• News of Lin Changheng’s third-tier alchemy spread through Floating Life Immortal City and the surrounding regions, drawing visitors and congratulatory gifts from cultivators and powerful figures.
• Azure Mist Rogue Person’s envoy delivered a congratulatory gift, and Lin Changheng discovered it contained five drops of Xun-Wind Thunder Liquid.

Lin Changheng learned that the Song-Jin War was nearing an end because of pressure from Yan, then chose to travel to Yuanshan State to form his core away from the Extreme South Palace’s scrutiny. He boarded a merchant caravan’s spirit boat, where he reunited with Gao Jingshu, who presented him with a new robe.

• Lin Changheng received two more drops of Xun-Wind Thunder Liquid from Bai Hengwan, left her a farewell letter for Master Kong, and departed for Extreme Mountain Immortal City.
• At the Flying Immortal Pleasure Barge, Lin Changheng gathered news that Song and Jin were negotiating peace to counter Yan, and that Moon-Embracing True Person had formed an upper-tier true core.
• Lin Changheng sold a collection of spirit artifacts to Zhu Fugui and learned that Yuanshan State offered a neutral, stable place for cultivators to form their cores.
• Lin Changheng obtained a regional map, arranged passage on the Flowing Stone Merchant Guild’s caravan spirit boat, and left Extreme Mountain Immortal City a month later.
• Lin Changheng reunited with Gao Jingshu aboard the spirit boat, and she visited his cabin and cleaned it before later presenting him with a new dark-green robe.

Lin Changheng arrived in Origin Immortal City, rented a third-tier mid-grade cave abode, and prepared for Core Formation while navigating the city’s rules and wary neighbors. After three years of secluded cultivation, he completed the twin-fire tempering of his liquid mana, leaving him ready for the next stage of his breakthrough.

• Lin Changheng accepted Gao Jingshu’s [Inkcloud Brocade] robe and gave her elixirs and a protective pendant in return before they parted at Origin Immortal City.
• Lin Changheng learned about the Yuanshan State’s alliance-run city and rented Cloudmist District cave abode No. 21 for five years.
• Lin Changheng met his neighbor, Daoist Mo Gu, and recognized that the older cultivator had secretly probed his belongings and coveted his wealth.
• Lin Changheng installed the Nine-Palace Spirit-Locking Mountain-Suppressing Formation in his cave abode and moved its cold spring water into his Heaven-in-a-Pot Blessed Land.
• Lin Changheng spent three years in seclusion studying Core Formation and refining his liquid mana with twin fires.
• Lin Changheng completed the tempering of all ten portions of his liquid mana and declared that it had become exceptionally pure and dense.

After completing most of his preparations for Core Formation, Lin Changheng refined a premium Return-to-Truth Pill and renewed his cave lease. At a secret trade fair, he unexpectedly recognized a woman among the attendants and chose her.

• Lin Changheng gathered the Azure Sky White Tiger’s essence blood, seized its treasure seed, and strengthened his divine sense and Cloud-Concealment Foreign Method.
• He refined two Return-to-Truth Pills, producing one premium pill and one inferior pill, then rested before leaving his cave to renew its lease.
• At Mountain Spirit Hall, Lin Changheng renewed his lease and accepted an invitation to a secret shop gathering in the Mountain Shoulder District.
• Lin Changheng attended the gathering in disguise and discovered that its attendants included female Foundation Establishment cultivators.
• Lin Changheng recognized a woman among the attendants and pointed to her.

Lin Changheng reunited with Su Shuangjiang at a secret auction, rescued her from the shop, and learned that her stolen belongings might have included a damaged ancient treasure. He obtained the Heaven-Shrouding Secret Art and entered seclusion to prepare for Core Formation, leaving Su Shuangjiang safe in his cave abode.

• Lin Changheng recognized Su Shuangjiang, his former neighbor from Zichuan Market, and secretly revealed his identity while protecting her from the secret shop’s coercive attendants.
• Su Shuangjiang told Lin Changheng that a former companion had betrayed her group during an expedition to a Core Formation cave abode, after which their captors sold them into the secret shop while demonic restrictions sealed their cultivation.
• Lin Changheng bought the Heaven-Shrouding Secret Art, which could suppress and disguise Core Formation phenomena, and Su Shuangjiang told him that her group’s stolen spoils had included a possibly damaged ancient treasure.
• Lin Changheng paid to take Su Shuangjiang from the shop and brought her to his cave abode, promising to investigate her restriction and help pursue the treasure and her revenge.
• Lin Changheng entered seclusion with the ingredients for the Dust-Descending Pill and the Heaven-Shrouding Secret Art, and six months later spiritual energy surged toward him as he prepared to advance.