Recaps

Lin Changheng upgraded his metal-devouring ability and demonstrated its power by destroying a peak. Later identified as Lin Haoheng, he killed the Liu Surnamed Cultivator while planting misleading perceptions, then began searching the Savage Wilderness for demon beast blood.

• Ye Qingwu confirmed Senior Brother Gu's identity, and Lin Changheng resolved to settle his past grievances with him.
• Lin Changheng refined Cavern-Ore Golden Turtle blood into the Gold-Devouring Demon Method, absorbed Crimson Sun Star Metal, and destroyed a peak while testing its combined power with his hardening technique.
• The Liu Surnamed Cultivator led Purple Pole Sect disciples into the Savage Wilderness to explore and clear a valley containing spirit land.
• Lin Haoheng concealed the valley in mist and killed the Liu Surnamed Cultivator with the Azure Thunder Bow Talismanized Treasure, making the elder perceive Mo Zhaoli while the fleeing disciples perceived the wanted Buddhist thunder cultivator.
• Lin Haoheng confirmed the elder's altered memories through Soul Search, collected his soul and possessions, and killed an attacking Iron-Clawed Wind-Splitting Crane for its essence blood.
• Lin Haoheng shared roasted crane meat with Xiao Hei and Little Qing, then searched laterally through the Savage Wilderness for more demon beasts whose blood could support future transformations.

Lin Changheng hunted several third-tier demon beasts in the Savage Wilderness, escaped a mature Wood-Armored Dragon Lizard, and returned to Floating Life Immortal City with valuable materials. After collecting the Huang Household’s promised essence blood, he arranged purchases through Bai Hengwan and revealed his Daoist title and plans.

• Lin Changheng killed an early third-tier Wood-Armored Dragon Lizard, but fled when its enraged mature counterpart trapped him with a wood-attribute demon method and struck through his defenses.
• Over the next two months, Lin Changheng cautiously hunted a Crimson Flame Ground-Scuttling Scorpion and a Cold Yin Forest Anaconda, collecting their cores, essence blood, and other materials before leaving the Savage Wilderness.
• At the Yellow Millet Abode, Lin Changheng received six hundred drops of Profound Spirit Grade essence blood from the Huang Household and learned that Senior Zeng had safely settled Huang Mingde elsewhere.
• Lin Changheng asked Bai Hengwan to sell his spare materials and artifacts and buy the five-element materials on his list; Bai Hengwan accepted a piece of Azure-Scaled Serpent Flood Dragon hide as a gift.
• Lin Changheng told Bai Hengwan that his Daoist title would be Ten Thousand Longevity and that he would not hold a Core Formation Ceremony, saying he would celebrate if he reached the Nascent Soul Realm.

Lin Changheng chose the Forest-Piercing Horned Deer’s Wood-Escaping Technique, strengthened his sword arts during six months of seclusion, and received most of the materials he had requested. He then visited the Azure Rosy Clouds Temple to obtain Sun-Eclipsing Crow essence blood, where his alchemy expertise impressed Daoist True Heart and earned him an initial supply.

• Lin Changheng refined the Forest-Piercing Horned Deer’s essence blood and chose Wood-Escaping Technique, adding a new escape method and raising his wood-attribute spiritual root to the middle-grade realm.
• Over six months, Bai Hengwan spread Lin Changheng’s Daoist title, Ten Thousand Longevity, and gathered thirty of the thirty-seven materials he needed; Lin Changheng rewarded Cui’er for her assistance.
• The Purple Pole Sect investigated the death of its False Core elder, blamed a gray-robed thunder cultivator, and issued a wanted notice that mistakenly targeted the cultivator in Jin State.
• Lin Changheng mastered the eighth layer of the Light-Splitting, Shadow-Transforming Sword Manual, creating twelve sword images with three true bodies and six true images.
• Lin Changheng visited the Azure Rosy Clouds Temple and asked Daoist True Heart for Sun-Eclipsing Crow essence blood; in exchange for the first hundred portions, he diagnosed Jing Yuan’s failures refining the Purple Cloud Dew-Incense Pill.
• Jing Yuan hurried off to test Lin Changheng’s advice, while Daoist True Heart welcomed Lin Changheng to stay and announced that the essence blood had arrived.

Lin Changheng traded alchemy lectures for Sun-Eclipsing Crow essence blood and Alchemist Xuanwei’s notes at the Azure Rosy Clouds Temple. On his way to Extreme Mountain Immortal City, he saved the Xue Family from a Zheng Family attack, learned they had found an Earth Vein Sunflame Crystal Core, and agreed to stay and protect them.

• Lin Changheng refined Sun-Eclipsing Crow essence blood, gained the Fire Immersion Foreign Method, and toured the Azure Rosy Clouds Temple with True Person True Heart.
• Boy Zhengwang asked Lin Changheng to teach the temple’s alchemists, and Lin Changheng agreed in exchange for a copy of Alchemist Xuanwei’s notes.
• Lin Changheng demonstrated his alchemy, lectured for seven days, and received two hundred portions of Sun-Eclipsing Crow essence blood, the notes, and a promise of two hundred more portions later.
• Lin Changheng encountered three Zheng Family warships attacking the Xue Family and killed three Foundation Establishment cultivators with one sword strike, breaking the attackers’ assault.
• Xue Mingyuan recognized Lin Changheng as Senior Li and revealed that the Xue Family had discovered an Earth Vein Sunflame Crystal Core.
• Lin Changheng accepted the crystal core and agreed to stay with the Xue Family for several days in case the Zheng Family returned.

Lin Changheng helped the Xue Family survive the Zheng Family’s assault, transformed his Dark Radiance Profound Flame, and secured access to a vein rich in sunflame crystal cores. After a False Core cultivator demanded the crystal core and threatened the Xue Family, Lin Changheng swiftly subdued him, leaving the family to believe the intruder had departed.

• Lin Changheng arrived at the Xue Family’s grounds and accepted their earth vein sunflame crystal core for secluded cultivation.
• Lin Changheng absorbed the crystal core’s essence and advanced his Dark Radiance Profound Flame to third-tier mid-grade.
• Zheng Yuankui and Zheng Yuangang begged Lin Changheng’s forgiveness and paid him five years of the Zheng Family’s income; Lin Changheng ordered the families to coexist peacefully.
• Lin Changheng used geomancy to locate another crystal core and instructed Xue Mingyuan to mine the vein secretly for more.
• A balding False Core cultivator confronted Lin Changheng over the crystal core and spirit vein, then attacked Xue Mingyuan with a soul-binding rune.
• Lin Changheng destroyed the rune, overwhelmed and seized the False Core cultivator, then sent the Xue Family members outside while he dealt with him privately.

Lin Changheng diverted to Extreme Mountain Immortal City for its grand auction and reunited with Zhu Fugui, who arranged artifact-refining inheritances and introduced him to Grandmaster Zhao. After securing Zhao’s help to craft flood-dragon inner armor and an imitation ancient treasure, Lin Changheng advanced to second-tier artifact refining as the auction began.

• Lin Changheng heard about the Extreme Mountain grand auction and postponed his visit to the Ten-Thousand-Sword Yun Family to attend it.
• Lin Changheng met Zhu Fugui at the Flowing Stone Merchant Guild and asked for artifact-refining inheritances and a skilled third-tier refiner.
• Zhu Fugui led Lin Changheng to Grandmaster Zhao, who agreed to craft inner armor from the Azure-Scaled Serpent Flood Dragon hide.
• Lin Changheng swore Zhao to secrecy and gave him flood-dragon claws and the materials and blueprint for the River-Calming Pearl imitation ancient treasure to refine.
• Lin Changheng collected two upper-grade second-tier artifact-refining inheritances, then advanced to second-tier artifact refining after studying them.
• The Extreme Mountain grand auction officially began.

Lin Changheng organized his growing collection of demon methods and divine abilities before attending Extreme Mountain Immortal City's third-day auction, where powerful Core Formation figures recognized his reputation and Boy Zhengwang publicly backed him. The auction began with a fierce bidding war over a replica of a spatial ancient treasure, while Lin Changheng watched for materials he needed.

• Lin Changheng reviewed his transformed bloodlines and methods, calculated that his next Transformation could arrive in nineteen years, and refined plans for combining his abilities.
• Lin Changheng bought two Lifespan-Extending Pills to study, then entered the Core Formation auction after revealing his cultivation to the Law Enforcement Team.
• Lin Changheng met Ye Wugui and agreed to refine third-tier low-grade elixirs for him, while several prominent cultivators greeted Lin Changheng as True Person Ten Thousand Longevity.
• Boy Zhengwang publicly declared Lin Changheng an honored guest and close friend, and Purple Thunder True Person arrived as a newly advanced Late Core Formation cultivator.
• True Person Shi opened the auction, and a black-robed cultivator won the Lesser Heaven-Hiding Bracelet after intense bidding.
• Lin Changheng ignored the bracelet, which was inferior to his own Heaven-in-a-Pot Blessed Land, and began bidding on several Five Elements spirit materials he needed.

Lin Changheng acquired rare materials and the [River-Calming Pearl], then spent years in seclusion advancing his body tempering and Core Formation cultivation. He emerged to find the Song State allied with Jin against Yan, with war spreading across the region and the Immortal City on alert.

• Lin Changheng won three five-element spirit materials, the [Wasteland Earth Snakefruit], and the [Third-Tier Formation Master's Notes on Formation Dao] at auction, while Purple Thunder True Person bought the [Five-Element Nascent Soul-Nurturing Herb].
• Lin Changheng rented a cave residence, successfully refined elixirs for Ye Wugui, and made ten [Wasteland Earth Body-Tempering Pills].
• Lin Changheng received word that the [Flowing Stone Merchant Guild] had refused to provide a third-tier artifact-refining inheritance, then collected the [River-Calming Pearl] imitation from Grandmaster Zhao and refined it.
• After three years in seclusion, Lin Changheng advanced his body tempering to the third-tier middle stage; eight years later, he emerged at the Core Formation Third Layer.
• Lin Changheng learned that Yan had declared war on Jin and that the Extreme South Palace had allied the Song State with Jin, while the Immortal City prepared for the spreading conflict.

Lin Changheng prepared for the coming war by securing supplies and arranging to refine Return-to-Truth Pills, then dealt harshly with dissent in the Xue Family and collected its Earth Vein Sunflame Crystal Cores. He reached the Ten-Thousand-Sword Yun Family to seek sword inheritance and learned that Yun Zhi had lost the lineage’s support for Core Formation.

• Lin Changheng decided to profit from the war by selling elixirs and hunting wounded Core Formation cultivators, then ordered five-element spirit materials from Zhu Fugui.
• Zhu Fugui chose Lin Changheng’s inferior Return-to-Truth Pill over risking a pooled refinement, and Lin Changheng gave him abbreviated Core Formation insights.
• Lin Changheng secretly listened as Xue Mingchong proposed concealing Earth Vein Sunflame Crystal Cores, then killed him and placed Xue Mingyan under the Divine Blood Curse Seal.
• Xue Mingyuan delivered the Xue Family’s mined crystal cores to Lin Changheng, who departed after warning the surviving leaders.
• Lin Changheng arrived at the Ten-Thousand-Sword Yun Family, where Yun Zhi explained that she had lost the lineage’s sole opportunity to support a direct-line disciple’s Core Formation.

Lin Changheng visited the divided Yun Family, where Yun Zhi explained how the Azure Firmament Sect’s influence had deprived her of Core Formation resources. He declined to intervene in the family’s political struggle but secured permission to study its sword inheritance, leaving the Compliance Faction unable to refuse him publicly.

• Yun Zhi told Lin Changheng that the Azure Firmament Sect backed Yun Jianshan and that its influence had deepened the Yun Family’s split between the Compliance Faction and the Independence Faction.
• Lin Changheng refused Yun Zhi’s implied request for help against the Azure Firmament Sect, but agreed to refine pills for the Yun Family once it gathered the ingredients.
• Yun Zhi explained that the Compliance Faction might oppose letting Lin Changheng study the Yun Family’s inner sword inheritance, and Lin Changheng said they should meet the faction.
• Lin Changheng arrived at the Yun Family’s welcoming banquet and observed the rival leaders Yun Ze and Yun Ye, along with Yun Jianshan.
• Yun Zhi publicly asked the elders to let Lin Changheng examine the sword inheritance, putting the Compliance Faction under pressure to agree.
• Yun Ye and the Compliance Faction accepted Lin Changheng’s request, and Lin Changheng thanked them and promised to share any insights he gained.

Lin Changheng learned that the Yun Family’s finest sword legacy required a difficult Sword Trial, then discovered Yun Zhi’s Dharma Treasure Sword Embryo resonated with his Primordial Jianmu-forged swords. He chose to attempt the trial, and the chapter ended with him clearing its first three floors at astonishing speed.

• Yun Ze and Yun Zhi told Lin Changheng that the Yun Family would offer either an ordinary third-tier sword legacy or the Cloudsea Sun-Piercing Golden Sword Diagram, which required passing the Sword Trial.
• Lin Changheng learned the Sword Diagram’s power and the trial’s poor record, then asked to inspect Yun Zhi’s Dharma Treasure Sword Embryo.
• Yun Zhi’s sword trembled in Lin Changheng’s hand and resonated with his Myriad Manifestations Origin Swords, revealing a connection to Primordial Jianmu fragments.
• Lin Changheng chose the Cloudsea Sun-Piercing Golden Sword Diagram and agreed to take the Sword Trial.
• At the Yun Family’s ancestral Nine-Story Sword Pavilion, Lin Changheng’s aura projection rapidly climbed the trial stele, clearing three floors while the gathered elders watched in shock.

Lin Changheng cleared all nine stories of the Yun Family’s Sword Pavilion and met the remnant soul of its founder, who entrusted him with a restricted scroll for Yun Ze and Yun Zhi and gifted him a dangerous bronze token. After Lin Changheng delivered the scroll, Yun Zhi offered him her Dharma Treasure Sword Embryo and asked him to arrange funding for a Return-to-Truth Pill.

• Lin Changheng passed the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth story trials as the Yun Family elders watched in growing shock.
• Lin Changheng reached the ninth story, where he met the Yun Family founder’s remnant soul and learned that the ancestor had waited centuries for a descendant to arrive.
• The ancestor gave Lin Changheng a restricted scroll for Yun Ze and Yun Zhi and warned him not to give the Yun Family his bronze token, which could bring disaster upon the lineage.
• Lin Changheng returned to the Yun Family and privately delivered the ancestor’s scroll to Yun Ze and Yun Zhi, telling them how he had met their ancestor.
• Yun Zhi offered Lin Changheng her emerald Dharma Treasure Sword Embryo and asked him to arrange crowdfunding to refine a Return-to-Truth Pill for her.

Lin Changheng agreed to help Yun Zhi obtain a Return-to-Truth Pill, advanced his sword arts, and uncovered a new piece of Primordial Jianmu. After returning to Floating Life Immortal City, he helped Bai Hengwan promote the city while waiting for the pill crowdfunding to begin, leaving the bronze token’s secret unresolved.

• Lin Changheng refused Yun Ze’s request for a formal partnership but offered personal friendship, accepted the Yun Family’s crowdfunding ingredients, and gave Yun Zhi elixirs to treat the damage from severing her sword’s bond.
• During seclusion, Lin Changheng advanced the Light-Splitting, Shadow-Transforming Sword Manual to its ninth layer, tested the power of his twelve sword images, and began studying the Cloudsea Sun-Piercing Golden Sword Diagram.
• Lin Changheng dismantled Yun Zhi’s Dharma Treasure Sword Embryo and discovered its main material was a Primordial Jianmu fragment from a major branch, which he planned to forge into his fourth life-bound flying sword.
• Lin Changheng returned to Floating Life Immortal City and asked Bai Hengwan to publicize his Return-to-Truth Pill crowdfunding; he also refined fine-grade pills, began developing a Lifespan-Extending Pill formula, and helped gather materials for his fourth sword.
• Lin Changheng examined the bronze token fragment but could not uncover its secret.

Lin Changheng refined a [Lifespan-Extending Pill] and used the [Flourishing Life Divine Ability] to gain extra years, while battlefield reports and his sword formation’s progress prepared him for coming conflict. He then finalized a crowdfunded [Return-to-Truth Pills] batch with Zhou Yunqing, Yun Zhi, and Fang Gu, and began preparing to refine it.

• Lin Changheng refined premium [Lifespan-Extending Pills] and increased his lifespan by seven years by guiding the pill’s vitality with the [Flourishing Life Divine Ability].
• Lin Changheng read messages from True Person Luo, Bai Hengwan, and the [Azure Rosy Clouds Temple] outpost, then asked Cui'er about the pill contributors and the Jin-Yan battlefield.
• Cui'er reported that the war had only just begun and that the [Extreme South Palace] was not yet conscripting lineages under Song Region rule; she promised to pass along any news affecting the Xu Family.
• Lin Changheng completed the first level of the [Cloudsea Sun-Piercing Sword Formation], combining sixteen flying swords into a powerful formation.
• Lin Changheng and Bai Hengwan finalized Zhou Yunqing, Yun Zhi, and Fang Gu as the three contributors for a [Return-to-Truth Pills] batch after True Disciple Yang withdrew from the third-priority slot.
• Three months later, Zhou Yunqing, Yun Zhi, and Fang Gu brought their ingredients to Lin Changheng, who settled before the furnace and prepared to begin refining.

Lin Changheng successfully refined three standard Return-to-Truth Pills, stirring a sensation across Floating Life Immortal City and leaving True Disciple Yang consumed by regret. He then traveled north, reunited with Xu Maoling, and was ambushed by two Core Formation cultivators, killing one while the other remained alive.

• Lin Changheng refined three standard Return-to-Truth Pills in seven days, and the pill seekers collected their shares.
• News of Lin Changheng's success spread through Floating Life Immortal City and across the Song Region, while True Disciple Yang regretted turning down the chance to join the pill refining and killed an attendant in a rage.
• Lin Changheng left Floating Life Immortal City for the Xu Family and stopped at Jade Belt Lake to visit Xu Maoling, who agreed to prepare third-tier spirit soil and reported that Cheng Suling had left while injured.
• Lin Changheng gave Xu Maoling a First-Tier Premium Lifespan-Extending Pill and continued north toward the Xu Family.
• Two Core Formation cultivators revealed themselves and threatened to make Lin Changheng their pill slave; Lin Changheng attacked with his sword formation and killed the gray-robed cultivator, while the burly cultivator survived.

Lin Changheng defeated two Core Formation bandit cultivators, gained their treasures and numerous craft inheritances, then reunited with Tantai Feiyue, Xu Hanji, and Yan Mingyi at the Xu Family base. He learned that the family had collected enough Mystic Fire Rhinoceros essence blood to advance his cultivation method, and Xu Bazheng reported that the clan had also secured a Mountain and Marsh Spirit.

• Lin Changheng absorbed the gray-robed cultivator’s soul into the Black Soul Banner and killed the burly cultivator with the Cloudsea Sun-Piercing Sword Formation.
• Lin Changheng searched the bandits’ storage bags and found spirit stones, treasures, and a collection of inheritance scrolls and jade slips.
• Lin Changheng arrived at the Xu Family base and reunited with Tantai Feiyue, Xu Hanji, and Yan Mingyi, giving them pills and inheritances.
• Lin Changheng asked Xu Bazheng about the Mystic Fire Rhinoceroses and learned that the clan had collected over four hundred and twenty portions of essence blood.
• Xu Bazheng told Lin Changheng that Zeng and Huang had become clan elders and that Huang had signed a Spirit Pet Contract with a second-tier Mountain and Marsh Spirit called the Torch Yin Vine Matriarch.

Lin Changheng fused three flames into a devastating Threefold Treasure Flame Pearl, gathered Torch Yin Vine Matriarch essence blood, and strengthened his ties with the Xu Family before leaving to meet Daoist True Heart at the Azure Rosy Clouds Temple. The chapter ended with Boy Zhengwang welcoming him there.

• Lin Changheng seized the Mystic Fire Rhinoceros essence blood, incorporated its treasure seeds into his Mystic Fire Furnace, and fused three flames into the unstable Threefold Treasure Flame Pearl.
• Lin Changheng tested the pearl over a remote lake, obliterating the lake and nearby woods; cultivators later mistook the destruction for evidence of a demon’s tribulation and gathered around the ruins.
• Cook Zeng and Huang Lingsu returned to Flying Cloud Valley with more than two hundred portions of Torch Yin Vine Matriarch essence blood, and Lin Changheng rewarded them with pills.
• Yan Mingyi told Lin Changheng that studying the Hundred-Grievance Blood Corpse could help her advance as a Puppet Master, and he protected the corpse with a concealment formation.
• Lin Changheng gave Xu Hanji two Premium Foundation Establishment Pills with instructions to prepare recipients for future service, then announced a crowdfunded Dust-Descending Pill refinement through Bai Hengwan.
• Lin Changheng traveled to the Azure Rosy Clouds Temple at its invitation, where Daoist True Heart escorted him to meet Boy Zhengwang.

Lin Changheng visited the Azure Rosy Clouds Temple, acquired the Sun-Eclipsing Crow’s recovery demon method, and learned that the Yue State’s Demonic Path had destroyed the Purple Sky Sect and might eventually invade Song. The banquet ended in chaos when someone struck Daoist True Heart and sent him flying.

• Lin Changheng accepted the Sun-Eclipsing Crow essence blood from Daoist True Heart and agreed to stay at the temple and hold a Dao lecture.
• Lin Changheng completed the essence blood’s transformation, gained the Fire Immersion Demon Method, and tested its rapid healing ability.
• Lin Changheng examined his growing Divine Sense and other talents before meeting True Person Qingnian, the temple’s late Core Formation Grand Elder.
• At the banquet, Lin Changheng declined an offer to join the Azure Rosy Clouds Temple and learned that the Demonic Path had annihilated the Purple Sky Sect, threatening the Vast Righteousness Sect and Song Region.
• Lin Changheng asked about breaking through to the Core Formation Middle Stage and learned that Golden Core cultivators faced little bottleneck, while Boy Zhengwang described Purple Thunder True Person’s breakthrough with an Innate Thunder Fruit.
• Daoist True Heart whispered that Boy Zhengwang and Purple Thunder True Person had grown close through their fights, then someone struck him and sent him flying.

Lin Changheng lectured at Azure Rosy Clouds Temple, gained a lead on rare wind-attribute essence blood, and built his alchemical reputation by producing a premium Dust-Descending Pill. He then traveled toward Yue State in disguise to honor an old agreement, ending at a border market where he found a Great Shun Merchant Association shop and prepared to seek information about the war.

• Daoist True Heart warned Lin Changheng that Core Formation bandit cultivators who targeted skilled craftsmen had resurfaced, and Lin recognized them as the two Ghosts Beneath the Sword.
• Lin Changheng decided to travel to Yue State to fulfill his agreement and collect water-element Profound Spirit Essence Blood from Su Shuangjiang, while Boy Zhengwang offered to inquire about Blazing Origin-grade wind-attribute essence blood.
• Lin Changheng gave an alchemy lecture at Azure Rosy Clouds Temple and guided its alchemists, while Jing Yuan showed signs of advancing toward third-tier alchemy.
• Boy Zhengwang arranged for Daoist True Heart to inquire about the essence blood held by a Yellow Maple Cliff cultivator, who was in seclusion attempting a breakthrough to Late Core Formation.
• Over two years in Floating Life Immortal City, Lin Changheng refined pills and produced one premium Dust-Descending Pill, earning widespread fame as a leading alchemist.
• Lin Changheng traveled north in disguise and reached a border market ward between Yuanshan State and Yue State, where he located a Great Shun Merchant Association shop to seek information about the war.

Lin Changheng returned to Origin Immortal City, learned that the Great Shun Merchant Association was being pressured by the Nine Seas Merchant Association, and agreed to help after True Person Dong presented him with rare essence blood. He used the blood to complete the Azure Sky White Tiger Treasure Seed’s transformation and began experiencing the Mist Spreading divine ability.

• At Narrowcliff Market Ward, Lin Changheng met the Great Shun Merchant Association manager Fang, allowed him to report his return, and asked about the Yue State war.
• Lin Changheng traveled to Origin Immortal City and discovered the Great Shun Merchant Association was struggling while True Person Dong was absent and injured.
• True Person Dong told Lin Changheng that the Nine Seas Merchant Association was pressuring the Great Shun Merchant Association and had likely arranged an ambush against him.
• True Person Dong gave Lin Changheng seven drops of blazing origin grade Azure-Winged Roc essence blood, and Lin Changheng promised to help the association.
• Lin Changheng asked True Person Dong to compile details about the Nine Seas Merchant Association and the Yue State war, then settled into a cave abode to cultivate.
• Lin Changheng used five drops of essence blood to complete the Azure Sky White Tiger Treasure Seed’s transformation and entered the vision of the Mist Spreading divine ability.

Lin Changheng refined the true intent of the [Mist-Scattering Divine Ability], tested its battlefield-control powers, and developed ways to combine it with his other techniques. After True Person Dong gathered intelligence about the [Nine Seas Merchant Association], Lin Changheng learned that a public contest would decide the merchant associations’ dispute, while Daoist Qingping doubted their chances.

• Lin Changheng refined the [Mist-Scattering Divine Ability] true intent and used it to create a five-hundred-zhang mist domain that suppressed and tracked intruders.
• Lin Changheng tested the mist on two Foundation Establishment cultivators, frightening them before dispersing the fog and sending them away unharmed.
• True Person Dong gathered intelligence as rumors spread through [Origin Immortal City] that True Person Fang had returned to challenge the [Nine Seas Merchant Association].
• Lin Changheng refined elixirs for Little Qing and Xiao Hei, then studied how to combine mist with concealment, stealth, illusions, and his sword formation.
• True Person Dong told Lin Changheng that the [Nine Seas Merchant Association] had four Core Formation attendants and had invited the [Great Shun Merchant Association] to a public contest witnessed by Alliance officials and other cultivators.
• Daoist Qingping argued that two attendants could not defeat four or six opponents and said he would rather submit, while Lin Changheng remained unconcerned about the contest.

Lin Changheng investigated rumors of a second Nascent Soul cultivator in the Demonic Path and prepared to represent the Great Shun Merchant Association in its decisive duel against the Nine Seas Merchant Association. After Daoist Qingping nearly died to Rogue Person Hunshan, Lin faced Hunshan and shattered his attack with a single sword strike.

• Lin Changheng exposed Daoist Qingping's concealed return and warned him not to sneak back again, then received True Person Dong's report on Yue State and rumors that the Blood Moon Demon Cult might have gained a second Nascent Soul cultivator.
• The Great Shun Merchant Association and the Nine Seas Merchant Association agreed to settle their trade dispute in an attendants' duel, with the results determining the next sixty years of trade routes.
• At the Dharma Arena, Rogue Person Hunshan attacked Daoist Qingping viciously and tried to kill him after he conceded, but True Person Feng Yue stopped the killing blow.
• Hunshan challenged Lin Changheng, who calmly walked onto the arena and faced him while the assembled True Persons watched.
• Hunshan unleashed a mountain of killing intent at Lin, who flicked out a streak of sword light that pierced and shattered it.

Lin Changheng defeated Rogue Person Hunshan in the Dharma Arena, then forced the Nine Seas Merchant Association’s three remaining Core Formation Attendants to concede by demanding materials instead of their lives. The four merchant guilds’ trade-route agreement was upheld for sixty years, leaving the Nine Seas Merchant Association weakened and divided.

• Lin Changheng’s Sword-Gathering Formation Art shattered Rogue Person Hunshan’s killing-intent attack and battered his black giant bell.
• Rogue Person Hunshan unleashed layered defenses, two beast puppets, a sand bell, and a hidden black stone, but Lin Changheng countered with defenses and Mist Spreading.
• Lin Changheng suppressed Hunshan’s wind and sand with the mist, captured both beast puppets, and killed Hunshan with the Cloudsea Sun-Piercing Sword Formation.
• Lin Changheng refused to let the Nine Seas Merchant Association’s attendants forfeit from outside the arena, then offered to accept their concessions in exchange for materials and a contribution from President Chen.
• Lingyunzi, True Person Fanjiang, and True Person Shengxiao each entered the arena and conceded, and True Person Feng Yue confirmed Fang Yuan’s four victories and the guilds’ sixty-year trade-route agreement.

After defeating Rogue Person Hunshan, Lin Changheng collected his treasures and inheritances, accepted Daoist Qingping’s apology, and returned from Origin Immortal City to the Yue Region. There, he found the Demonic Path campaign advancing and disguised himself as the Blood Moon Cult disciple Li Hun to approach Su Shuangjiang’s location.

• Daoist Qingping feared Fang Yuan’s strength and later offered Lin Changheng a rare spirit stone to apologize for his earlier offense.
• Lin Changheng examined Rogue Person Hunshan’s black stone, Mixed Sand Bell, puppets, secret arts, and craft inheritances, and decided to cultivate the Baleful Return Peak-Transformation Art.
• The Nine Seas Merchant Association and other merchants gathered the five-element spirit materials Lin Changheng requested, and he left Origin Immortal City for the Yue Region.
• Lin Changheng saw that the Demonic Path had seized the region and was rebuilding a market while targeting Righteous Path Alliance members and accepting defectors.
• After locating Su Shuangjiang with the Sensing Jade Talisman, Lin Changheng killed the Blood Moon Cult disciple Li Hun, searched his soul, and took his identity.
• Lin Changheng used Li Hun’s appearance and an imitation demonic aura to travel toward the city near Su Shuangjiang’s location.

Lin Changheng sought a safe way into Righteousness Immortal City to return the Ancient Five Elements Cultivation Method, but found the city too heavily guarded and instead entered nearby Azure Light City with a group of righteous fugitives. After revealing his overwhelming power to False Core cultivators Jiang and a concealed woman, he left them recognizing him as Senior Fang.

• Lin Changheng learned from Li Hun that the Blood Moon Cult might have produced a second Nascent Soul True Lord and that Righteousness Immortal City was the Demonic Path's main target, so he planned to find a safer route to True Person Liuquan.
• Lin Changheng traveled toward Water Origin City, killed five Nether Soul Hall cultivators who tried to brand him a deserter, and decided the city's defenses made entry impossible.
• Lin Changheng rescued fleeing righteous cultivators near Azure Light City, used True Person Pine Waves' token to gain their trust, and joined them on their flight to the city.
• A righteous False Core cultivator intercepted a demonic False Core cultivator, allowing Lin Changheng and the fugitives to enter Azure Light City, where the defenders inspected them and True Person Jiang questioned Lin Changheng.
• Lin Changheng identified himself as Fang Yuan and demonstrated his strength by pinning True Person Jiang with sword light and forcing a concealed False Core woman from her hiding place.