Recaps

At the Dao Discussion Gathering, Lin Changheng absorbed insights from the speakers while True Person Qiyue cultivated goodwill toward him and announced that the war in Jin Territory had worsened. Lin traded two craft legacies for five drops of Blazing Origin-grade essence blood, securing a key ingredient for his Mystic Fire Furnace, and began considering how to expand his alchemy business into Jin Territory.

• True Person Qiyue greeted Lin Changheng warmly, prompting Young Master Shi to hide his earlier hostility and exchange polite greetings with him.
• Han Shuang discussed water- and ice-attribute cultivation, and Purple Thunder True Person explained that his lightning-fire fusion came from an unrepeatable opportunity.
• Lin Changheng listened closely as cultivators shared their insights, while Boy Zhengwang and Moon-Embracing True Person noticed his rapid comprehension.
• A Foundation Establishment cultivator reported heavy losses among Song Region's vanguard in Jin Territory, so True Person Qiyue moved the trade fair forward and urged everyone to prepare their forces.
• Lin Changheng offered two craft legacies and spirit materials for essence blood and spirit-beast pill formulas, then traded the legacies to True Person Qiyue for five drops of Blazing Origin-grade essence blood.
• Lin Changheng decided to seek alchemy customers in Jin Territory, and Young Master Shi later took the dais and presented a Pill Formula.

Lin Changheng declined Young Master Shi’s wager over a flawed spirit-beast pill formula, agreed to join the campaign into Jin under terms that preserved his freedom, and received a mysterious invitation from True Person Cloud Crane. After secretly delivering an order at the Great Shun Merchant Association and completing his Mystic Fire Furnace transformation, he arrived at the Gao Household’s mountain gate seeking Zhu Fugui and learned that Gao Dingtian and Gao Dingshan had died.

• Young Master Shi offered a spirit-beast breakthrough pill formula missing ingredients in exchange for a Dao Oath, but Lin Changheng refused to risk the wager despite the formula’s potential value.
• True Person Cloud Crane invited Lin Changheng to visit the Purple Pole Sect for an old-friend reunion and something he wanted to give him, while True Person Qi warned him to avoid Moon-Embracing True Person and True Person Haoyang.
• Lin Changheng agreed to accompany True Person Qi’s army into Jin in two years, securing the right to exchange his allowances for desired materials, choose or refuse pill-making assignments, and leave freely.
• Lin Changheng used a Great Shun Top-Level Token to order a merchant association manager to summon Fairy Su to Extreme Mountain Immortal City in one year with the resources.
• Lin Changheng’s fire-attribute essence blood transformed his volcanic foundation into the Mystic Fire Furnace Demon Method, strengthening his divine sense and confidence.
• Lin Changheng reached Luokun Mountain, learned that Gao Dingtian and Gao Dingshan had died while Gao Jingshu still led the lineage, and asked to see Zhu Fugui.

Lin Changheng visited the Gao Household and learned that Zhu Fugui’s dantian injury had ended his hopes of core formation, though he offered to repair it. Zhu revealed that he suspected the Flowing Stone Merchant Guild’s president had stolen his Return-to-Truth Pill, and Lin Changheng decided to pursue the matter; after a late-night meeting with Gao Jingshu, he left her his mutated White Jade Spider Demon to breed.

• Gao Jingshu told Lin Changheng that the Gao Household had prospered and that Zhu Fugui’s dantian had been irreversibly damaged, leaving him unable to attempt core formation.
• Lin Changheng examined Zhu Fugui, promised to refine medicine to repair his dantian, and explained that the damage still made core formation impossible.
• Zhu Fugui revealed that his Return-to-Truth Pill had been stolen during the attack and that he suspected the Flowing Stone Merchant Guild’s president; Lin Changheng asked for the president’s information and resolved to make him pay.
• Lin Changheng shared wine with Gao Jingshu, who examined his strongest White Jade Spider Demon and identified a beneficial bloodline mutation.
• Gao Jingshu proposed breeding the mutated spider demon with another mutated spider demon to fix its bloodline and possibly produce a nether void grade offspring, and Lin Changheng left it in her care.

Lin Changheng infiltrated the Flowing Stone Merchant Guild and killed its president after confirming through a soul search that he had ordered the attack on Zhu Fugui. He recovered valuable materials and artifact-refining inheritances, then offered Zhu Fugui a risky path to condense a Baleful Core; Zhu Fugui accepted and swore to serve him.

• Lin Changheng used Nether Abyss Iceflame and Dark Radiance Profound Flame to pass through the guild’s third-tier formation and enter its president’s room undetected.
• Lin Changheng subdued and soul-searched the false-core president, confirming that he had ordered Zhu Fugui’s ambush, then killed him and erased the traces of his presence.
• Lin Changheng took the president’s Storage Bag, recovering a Return-to-Truth Pill, pill ingredients, and several artifact-refining inheritances.
• Lin Changheng considered using Zhu Fugui as a hidden ally in the guild and decided to tell him about the risky Dark Nether Baleful Art.
• Lin Changheng gave Gao Jingshu the inferior Return-to-Truth Pill, then explained the Baleful Core method and its risks to Zhu Fugui.
• Zhu Fugui accepted the method, swore to serve Lin Changheng, and received the Dark Nether Baleful Art inheritance and Baleful Qi Gathering Pills.

Lin Changheng visited Zhu Fugui, the Xue Family, and Xu Maoling, arranging support and gathering resources while strengthening his influence. After staying with the Xu Family for a year and a half, he learned more about the Savage Wilderness and decided to venture there to develop [Candle Gaze].

• Lin Changheng warned Zhu Fugui about the dangers of cultivating the [Dark Nether Baleful Art] and tasked him with securing control of the Flowing Stone Merchant Guild.
• Lin Changheng left Luokun Mountain, visited the Xue Family, collected their remaining [earth vein sunflame crystal cores], and gave them craft legacies to support their development.
• The Zheng Family head offered to gather flame-essence spirit materials for Lin Changheng, who then continued to Jade Belt Lake and received [Mystic Origin Spirit Loam] from Xu Maoling.
• Lin Changheng gave Xu Maoling a Lifespan-Extending Pill and permission to use his name, then left a sword scar on a mountain that the island lords planned to preserve as a landmark.
• After staying at the Xu Family for nearly a year and a half, Lin Changheng saw Xiao Bai die and met the wounded [Golden-Crowned Cranes] before deciding to enter the Savage Wilderness and bring [Candle Gaze] into being.

Lin Changheng entered the Endless Savage Wilderness to seize wild spirit veins and hunt the Wood-Armored Dragon Lizard for the Candle Gaze Divine Ability true intention. After transplanting a fire spirit vein into his blessed land, he found the dragon lizard recovering from its breakthrough to the late third tier and launched his newly formed Threefold Treasure Flame Pearl at it.

• Lin Changheng left the Xu Family women after sharing Core Formation insights and treating their lingering injuries, then entered the Savage Wilderness.
• Lin Changheng extracted a lower-grade second-tier fire spirit vein from a volcano and added it to the Heaven-in-a-Pot Blessed Land, bringing its total to nine spirit veins.
• Lin Changheng fought off a flock of fire demon sparrows with his sword and two opposing flames, then searched for the Wood-Armored Dragon Lizard.
• Lin Changheng used a tracking treasure and a fragment of the dead dragon lizard’s armor to locate its cave, where he found the beast recovering from a breakthrough to the late third tier.
• Lin Changheng prepared layered defenses and formed his Threefold Treasure Flame Pearl, while the Wood-Armored Dragon Lizard recognized him as the killer of its son and attacked.
• Lin Changheng escaped the dragon lizard’s Wooden Qi Prison with a combined sword strike and hurled the completed Threefold Treasure Flame Pearl toward its face.

Lin Changheng killed the late-third-tier Wood-Armored Dragon Lizard, collected its essence blood, and discovered a demon-tainted third-tier superior-grade wood spirit vein he chose to leave for later. After recovering, he used the essence blood to complete the Torch Yin Vine Matriarch Dao Fruit’s transformation and began refining the true intention of the Candle Gaze Divine Ability.

• Lin Changheng weakened the Wood-Armored Dragon Lizard with the Threefold Treasure Flame Pearl, sword attacks, earth wyrms, formations, and his summoned beasts, then used mist and body-enhancing techniques to batter it and pierce its chest, killing it.
• Lin Changheng collected fourteen drops of the Wood-Armored Dragon Lizard’s essence blood and stored its valuable remains, then found a third-tier superior-grade wood spirit vein tainted by demon power and decided to return for it later.
• Lin Changheng recovered in a safe cave, consumed five drops of essence blood, and completed the Torch Yin Vine Matriarch Dao Fruit’s transformation.
• Lin Changheng experienced the Candle Gaze’s overwhelming ability to reveal what was hidden, returned to his sea of consciousness, and ordered the Origin Cauldron to refine the divine ability’s true intention into him.

Lin Changheng awakened the full power of his eyes, severed a hidden Heavenly Secret Thread, and perfected his Six-Colored Divine Light. At the Purple Pole Sect, True Person Xuanji told him Mo Zhaoli was safe and gave him a jade ring that could enhance her Soul Lamp and reveal her general direction.

• Lin Changheng used his transformed eyes to see a Heavenly Secret Thread attached to him and traced it to a withered figure in a sealed chamber after breaking it.
• Lin Changheng fused the six forms of perception into his Six-Colored Divine Light and surveyed the Savage Wilderness before deciding not to venture farther in.
• Lin Changheng arrived at the Purple Pole Sect, where True Person Xuanji and Mo Zhaoli's master welcomed him and recognized his Core Formation middle stage cultivation.
• Lin Changheng spoke with Mo Zhaoli's master about their past meeting and expressed regret that he had not heard from Mo Zhaoli.
• True Person Xuanji told Lin Changheng that Mo Zhaoli was alive, unharmed, and stable, then gave him a jade ring to augment Mo Zhaoli's Soul Lamp and indicate her general direction.

Lin Changheng used a jade ring to sense that Mo Zhaoli was alive far to the east, then agreed to secretly refine the Purple Pole Sect’s False Nascent Soul Pills. After leaving the sect, he met Ye Qingwu, heard how she had changed her outlook, and recruited her to gather information and search for items; meanwhile, the sect’s hidden leaders prepared to rely on the pills and High Person Purple Pole’s attempt to reach Nascent Soul.

• Lin Changheng used the jade ring and Mo Zhaoli’s soul lamp to determine that she was alive and somewhere far to the east, possibly beyond the Boundless Sea.
• True Person Xuanji asked Lin Changheng to secretly refine False Nascent Soul Pills, and he agreed after securing the pill formula, ingredients, and customary payment.
• Lin Changheng successfully refined six proper-grade False Nascent Soul Pills from two batches before leaving the Purple Pole Sect.
• True Person Xuanji reported the successful refining to High Person Purple Pole and Xuanyun, who discussed using the pills to support the sect’s ambitions while High Person Purple Pole pursued Nascent Soul formation abroad.
• Lin Changheng met Ye Qingwu at a wine tower, listened as she described her changed priorities and dedication to her family, and asked her to monitor the sect’s pill activities and search for items on his list.
• Lin Changheng left two bottles of elixirs beside the sleeping Ye Qingwu and departed the inn.

Lin Changheng reached Extreme Mountain Immortal City, delivered a premium Return-to-Truth Pill to Su Shuangjiang, and received the materials she had brought for him. After overhearing news of the Moon-Embracing True Person’s marriage contract, he used Soulweaving Demon Butterfly essence blood to advance his Spirit-Sealing Life Spring Foreign Method, increasing its soul-holding slots to three.

• Lin Changheng learned that Floating Life Immortal City would send Elder Kong and Senior Brother Peng as specialized support for the campaign in Jin, then traveled to the increasingly militarized Extreme Mountain Immortal City.
• At the Great Shun Merchant Association, Lin Changheng learned that Su Shuangjiang had arrived with the requested resources and found her observing a nearby cultivator’s Core Formation phenomenon.
• Lin Changheng reunited with Su Shuangjiang, gave her a premium Return-to-Truth Pill, and received Five-Element Spirit Materials and demon-beast essence blood from her.
• At the Star-Plucking Pavilion, Lin Changheng overheard cultivators say that the Moon-Embracing True Person and Young Master Shi had signed a marriage contract, and he remembered their past grievances.
• Staying at Su Shuangjiang’s cave residence, Lin Changheng refined second- and third-level Soulweaving Demon Butterfly Treasure Seeds and raised his Spirit-Sealing Life Spring’s capacity to three slots.

Lin Changheng refined the Dark Underworld Demon Wolf’s Golden Skin talent and discovered he could layer it with his other body-tempering methods for much stronger, if costly, defenses. He stood guard as Su Shuangjiang began Core Formation, and his overwhelming divine sense repelled True Person Cloud Crane’s probing.

• Lin Changheng used the Origin Cauldron to refine the Dark Underworld Demon Wolf’s Golden Skin talent, strengthening his skin against blades and flames.
• Lin Changheng tested how Golden Skin layered with the Limb-Hardening Demon Method and Gold-Devouring Demon Method, greatly increasing his defenses while rapidly consuming refined metal qi.
• After half a month in seclusion, Lin Changheng emerged and learned Su Shuangjiang planned to begin Core Formation in three days; he promised to stand guard.
• Five or six days later, Su Shuangjiang’s Core Formation stirred the spiritual energy above her cave abode, and Lin Changheng judged that she was likely to form a middle-tier true core, with a chance at an upper-tier one.
• True Person Cloud Crane tried to probe Su Shuangjiang’s Core Formation, but Lin Changheng’s powerful divine sense blocked and intimidated him, forcing him to take a wide detour.

Lin Changheng watched Su Shuangjiang successfully form a superior-grade core, gave her a Dharma Treasure, and prepared to travel to Jin. After securing a promise of Five-Element Nascent Soul-Nurturing Herb rootlets and joining the Song Region’s forces, he departed for the war-torn territory in search of cultivation opportunities.

• Lin Changheng made True Person Cloud Crane detour by revealing his formidable Divine Sense, sparking rumors about the cultivator forming a core.
• Su Shuangjiang emerged from seclusion after forming a superior-grade core, and Lin Changheng gave her the Green Jade Hairpin Dharma Treasure.
• Lin Changheng advised Su Shuangjiang on stabilizing her True Core and preparing a Natal Dharma Treasure before leaving her cave residence in disguise.
• At Extreme Mountain, Lin Changheng met Boy Zhengwang and arranged to refine Dust-Descending Pills for Purple Thunder True Person in exchange for Five-Element Nascent Soul-Nurturing Herb rootlets.
• The Song Region’s assembled army departed Extreme Mountain to aid Jin against Yan, with Lin Changheng aboard a Treasure Boat.

Lin Changheng traded Dust-Descending Pills for the roots of the five-element nascent soul-nurturing herb, then discovered and severed hidden heavenly secret threads attached to them before reviving the roots. The reinforcement fleet reached Far-Pacifying Fortress as Elder Kong warned him of the slaughter awaiting them at the Yan-Jin front.

• Purple Thunder True Person hosted Lin Changheng aboard his Treasure Boat and served tea made from living Thunderstrike Wood, prompting Lin Changheng to consider obtaining roots for his blessed land.
• Lin Changheng delivered one superior-grade and two standard-grade Dust-Descending Pills and received the entire dead rootstock of the five-element nascent soul-nurturing herb.
• Purple Thunder True Person held a celebratory banquet with Lin Changheng and Boy Zhengwang before Lin Changheng returned to his cabin.
• Lin Changheng detected heavenly secret threads attached to the roots, suspected Illusion-Breaking True Lord had used the herb as bait, and severed the threads without tracing their source.
• Lin Changheng revived and planted the roots in the Heaven-in-a-Pot Blessed Land using the Flourishing Life Divine Ability, spending four years of lifespan.
• Lin Changheng and Elder Kong watched the reinforcement fleet arrive at Far-Pacifying Fortress, and Elder Kong described the deadly battles at the Yan-Jin front.

Lin Changheng traveled with the Song Region reinforcements into Jin Territory, improved his artifact refining and formation skills, and settled into the allied camp near the front. After arranging discreet ways to spread his reputation as an alchemist, he refined pills for True Person Shouxuan and received Millennium Spirit Milk, then welcomed the first Jin State pill seeker to his tent.

• The Song Region reinforcements passed through the Far-Pacifying Fortress and Jin's border without delay, while Lin Changheng befriended third-tier masters aboard his treasure boat and advanced in artifact refining and formations.
• The army established a camp near the front, where Lin Changheng chose a tent on the outskirts, inspected the camp's formation, and added three layers of protective formations of his own.
• After observing a distant battle between Core Formation cultivators, Lin Changheng spent three months refining pills and cultivating in the camp.
• Lin Changheng asked Purple Thunder True Person to discreetly praise his alchemy to Jin cultivators and sought opportunities to attend their trade fairs.
• True Person Shouxuan brought ingredients for Return-to-Truth Pills, and Lin Changheng delivered three pills before accepting a bottle of Millennium Spirit Milk as thanks.
• A Jin State Core Formation Cultivator arrived seeking pills after hearing Lin Changheng's name, and Lin Changheng invited him inside.

Lin Changheng built his reputation as an alchemist among Jin State cultivators while learning that Medicine King Valley might resent his business and pose a danger. Boy Zhengwang then revealed that a large secret realm with fourth-tier spirit veins and Nascent Soul opportunities had appeared in Yan State, prompting Song and Jin to prepare an expedition that could draw Lin Changheng into a more dangerous conflict.

• Lin Changheng accepted a Jin cultivator surnamed Ge’s commission to refine Spirit-Elevating Expansive Earth Pills and asked him to spread word of his results.
• After Lin Changheng fulfilled several commissions successfully and publicized his rise to third-tier mid-grade alchemy, his reputation spread among Jin cultivators and his pill business grew.
• True Person Lustrous Light warned Lin Changheng that Medicine King Valley’s monopoly over Jin’s alchemy could make the valley target him, but Lin Changheng decided to continue his business while staying alert.
• Boy Zhengwang told Lin Changheng that Yan State had eased its offensive to explore a large secret realm containing several fourth-tier spirit veins and opportunities for Nascent Soul formation.
• Boy Zhengwang explained that Song and Jin cultivators planned to enter Yan State, with their Nascent Soul cultivators joining the conflict, and said the dangerous expedition also presented an opportunity.

Lin Changheng became a third-tier Formation Master, then tested his new formations and killed a Medicine King Valley grand elder who had been tracking him. A soul search revealed that True Person Lustrous Light had helped arrange the ambush, while the slain elder carried a wealth of pill formulas and a complete Jin Territory alchemy inheritance.

• Boy Zhengwang told Lin Changheng he planned to enter the sealed secret realm, while Lin Changheng chose to stay behind and asked about the Frontline Fortress Trade Fair.
• Lin Changheng refined 108 formation flags and three formation discs, breaking through to become a third-tier Formation Master.
• After learning Boy Zhengwang had gone ahead, Lin Changheng prepared goods for the Trade Fair and tested two formations in a forest clearing.
• A crimson-robed Medicine King Valley grand elder tracked Lin Changheng into the clearing, where Lin used his formations, sword formation, and demon methods to kill him.
• Lin Changheng searched the grand elder’s soul and discovered Medicine King Valley and True Person Lustrous Light had plotted to capture him, then destroyed the tracking aura hidden in Lustrous Light’s gift.
• Lin Changheng found three stacks of pill formulas and a complete Jin Territory Third-Tier Dao of Alchemy Skill Inheritance among the grand elder’s possessions.

Lin Changheng killed a Medicine King Valley cultivator, erased the traces of their encounter with Candle Gaze, and reached the Jin Territory’s East-Guard Fortress. There, he studied new alchemical formulas, declined an invitation to join a secret-realm expedition, and sensed that a Hehuan Sect cultivator carried something connected to the Primordial Jianmu.

• Lin Changheng buried the red-robed cultivator, added his soul to the Black Soul Banner, and took the Jin Territory pill formulas, alchemical inheritance, and other valuables from his storage bag.
• Lin Changheng used Candle Gaze to erase lingering traces of the fight, then rushed to the East-Guard Fortress to establish an alibi before Medicine King Valley could investigate.
• Lin Changheng studied the Jin Territory’s alchemical inheritance and found formulas for the Fire-Refined True Body Pill and Five Elements Beast-Origin Powder, deciding to use the latter to help Little Qing advance.
• Purple Thunder True Person invited Lin Changheng to join him and Boy Zhengwang in exploring Yan State’s secret realm, but Lin Changheng declined after confirming Purple Thunder had guessed he concealed his strength.
• Lin Changheng sensed that a Hehuan Sect cultivator carried a Primordial Jianmu-related object, while True Person Lustrous Light greeted him without knowing Lin Changheng had uncovered his scheme with Medicine King Valley.

Lin Changheng traded at a Core Formation fair, acquiring several valuable inheritances and a fire-aspected Nether Void Grade spirit beast while encountering cultivators tied to old and new grudges. After returning to his inn, he removed the restrictions on a third-tier mid-grade formation inheritance and began studying its binding formations.

• Lin Changheng set up a stall with Purple Thunder True Person and Boy Zhengwang, then browsed the other cultivators’ goods.
• Lin Changheng bought a restricted third-tier mid-grade formation inheritance from True Person Wandering the Mountains, who later sold him a third-tier high-grade Dao of Alchemy inheritance.
• Lin Changheng visited the Hehuan Sect stall, where True Person Lustrous Light introduced him to True Person Yukong, Desire Chastity, Yujie, and late-stage True Person Yuzhen; his Myriad Manifestations Origin Sword reacted strongly nearby.
• Lin Changheng traded demonic-path spoils with late-stage True Person Zhen of the Mystic Underworld Sect for five-element materials and an elderly, controllable fire-attributed Nether Void Grade spirit beast.
• Lin Changheng completed more trades, attended a gathering with Song Region cultivators at the Eastward-Gazing Tower, and returned to his inn.
• Lin Changheng removed the restrictions from the formation scroll and identified it as the Eight-Wind Returning-to-Storage Binding Formation Essentials.

Lin Changheng studied new formation and alchemy inheritances, welcomed the Molten-Core Flood Dragon Turtle into his blessed land, and returned to the ancient teleportation formation while thinking of Mo Zhaoli. With the Yan State Secret Realm drawing powerful cultivators away, he traveled under Li Feiyu’s identity toward the Hehuan Sect, where he planned to investigate the Nascent Soul ruins and make use of the weakened defenses.

• Lin Changheng examined the Eight-Wind Returning-to-Storage Binding Formation Essentials and the Dao of Alchemy inheritance, finding new ideas about formation restraint and pill refining.
• Lin Changheng moved the Molten-Core Flood Dragon Turtle into his blessed land, named it Old Chi, learned of its past, and decided to nurse it while periodically extracting its essence blood.
• Lin Changheng returned to the ancient teleportation formation in the Miasma-Shadow Ancient Forest, confirmed it still could not teleport, and remembered Mo Zhaoli.
• Lin Changheng captured True Person Fen Shi near Medicine King Valley, bound him as a hidden agent, and ordered him to gather alchemical inheritances and report the valley’s affairs.
• Lin Changheng arrived at Ultimate Bliss Immortal City under the identity Li Feiyu and considered troubling the Hehuan Sect and infiltrating the Nascent Soul Cave-Dwelling Ruins.
• Lin Changheng watched Xiao Hei and Little Qing welcome Old Chi, then reminded the turtle to provide two drops of blood for his Treasure Seed’s first level of Spirit Seizure.

Lin Changheng incorporated the Molten-Core Flood Dragon Turtle’s Longevity talent, gaining twenty years of lifespan, then ambushed Hehuan Sect cultivators and subdued True Person Yujie. He learned that Yujie was True Person Lustrous Light’s dao companion.

• Lin Changheng chose the Molten-Core Flood Dragon Turtle’s Longevity talent and gained twenty years of lifespan, bringing his total to six hundred and sixty-six years.
• After watching the Hehuan Sect encampment for two months without finding a Core Formation cultivator, Lin Changheng followed a False Core elder and True Person Yujie away from Ultimate Bliss Immortal City.
• Lin Changheng ambushed the pair in a remote mountain range, wounded them with a divine sense attack, and killed the False Core elder with his flying sword.
• True Person Yujie tried to charm Lin Changheng and then fought him with her White Sash, talisman discs, and Profound Ice Break, but his sword formation and Hundred-Grievance Blood Corpse overwhelmed her.
• Lin Changheng stopped Yujie’s escape, beat her into submission, and used the Spirit-Sealing Life Spring Foreign Method to control her soul.
• Lin Changheng learned from True Person Yujie that she was True Person Lustrous Light’s dao companion.

Lin Changheng learned that True Person Yujie was closely connected to True Person Lustrous Light and gathered information about the Nascent Soul Cave-Dwelling Ruins, its treasures, and the Hehuan Sect's plans. After a soul search exposed the dead False Core cultivator's family connection to the late Core Formation Hemp-Cloth Elder, the elder arrived and attacked Lin Changheng and Yujie.

• True Person Yujie explained the Hehuan Sect's two cultivation paths and revealed her relationship with True Person Lustrous Light, which Lin Changheng planned to exploit.
• Lin Changheng questioned Yujie and learned about the Nascent Soul Cave-Dwelling Ruins' formation ingredients, the Spirit Eye Spring, the Complete Ancient Treasure, and the Hehuan Sect cultivators entering the Yan State secret realm.
• True Person Yujie proposed blaming a late Core Formation rogue cultivator for the purple-robed False Core cultivator's death, but Lin Changheng's soul search revealed that the rogue cultivator was the dead man's granduncle.
• Lin Changheng sensed the approaching Hemp-Cloth Elder, who recognized him and asked whether he had killed Jun'er.
• True Person Yujie claimed an evil cultivator had killed Jun'er, but the Hemp-Cloth Elder disbelieved her and attacked them with a fire dragon from his Vermilion Gourd.
• Lin Changheng prepared to test his arts against the Hemp-Cloth Elder, who had recently reached late Core Formation.

Lin Changheng fought the Hemp-Cloth Elder, a Late Core Formation cultivator, and overcame his fire dragons, ancient treasure, and fierce attacks. He left the battle victorious after killing the elder, while True Person Yujie watched from a distance and recovered.

• Lin Changheng destroyed the Hemp-Cloth Elder's fire dragons and saved the injured True Person Yujie, then gave her an elixir and ordered her to support him from afar.
• The Hemp-Cloth Elder accused Lin Changheng and True Person Yujie of killing his grandnephew and attacked with three fire dragons, which Lin Changheng defeated using his sword, Nether Abyss Iceflame, and Hundred-Grievance Blood Corpse.
• Lin Changheng and the Hemp-Cloth Elder exchanged attacks until Lin Changheng trapped him in mist, but the elder used the Dust-Returning Vase to absorb it and pull Lin Changheng toward the vase.
• Lin Changheng used the Spirit Mirror to suppress the Dust-Returning Vase, then distracted the Hemp-Cloth Elder with talismans and closed in for a series of crushing punches.
• The Hemp-Cloth Elder begged for mercy, but Lin Changheng punched through his chest and killed him.

Lin Changheng killed the late Core Formation Hemp-Cloth Elder, took his ancient treasures, and refined the powerful [Dust-Returning Vase]. After consuming two [Bodhi Essence Jujubes], Lin Changheng advanced to the fifth layer of Core Formation and found that True Person Yujie had gathered new information about the [Nascent Soul Cave-Dwelling Ruins].

• Lin Changheng used his three combat systems to defeat and kill the Hemp-Cloth Elder, then took the [Spirit-Binding Mirror], the [Dust-Returning Vase], and the elder’s corpse.
• True Person Yujie praised Lin Changheng’s strength, agreed that her husband True Person Lustrous Light was no match for him, and left with him after the battle.
• Lin Changheng searched the Hemp-Cloth Elder’s soul and storage bag, finding wine-brewing legacies, a [Vermilion Gourd], and two [Bodhi Essence Jujubes].
• Lin Changheng refined the [Dust-Returning Vase] and learned that it could suck in objects and expel them, though he could not determine what happened to anything inside it.
• Lin Changheng consumed the [Bodhi Essence Jujubes] and advanced to the fifth layer of Core Formation, nearing the sixth layer.
• Lin Changheng saw a message from True Person Yujie saying she had gathered the latest information on the [Nascent Soul Cave-Dwelling Ruins].

Lin Changheng used information from True Person Yujie to assess the defenses at the Nascent Soul Cave-Dwelling Ruins and the coming secret realm, then infiltrated the ruins as Li Feiyu. Inside, he discovered another late Core Formation cultivator working on a concealed lightning array and spotted a trap ahead.

• Lin Changheng learned that the Nascent Soul True Lords of the Three States could not enter the Yan Kingdom secret realm and that the Nascent Soul ruins were guarded by a reduced, lax garrison.
• Lin Changheng disguised himself as Li Feiyu, bypassed the ruins' quasi-fourth-tier formation with nether abyss iceflame and black-gold flame, and entered at night.
• Lin Changheng searched the thoroughly looted cave-dwelling and detected a fresh burnt smell, leading him to suspect another cultivator had secretly entered.
• A gray-tunic late Core Formation cultivator worked on a Spirit Gathering Array deep in the ruins, repairing it with lightning while wondering why he sensed danger.
• Lin Changheng followed the burnt scent through the passages and used Six-Colored Divine Light to spot a concealed Lightning Array before he walked into it.

Lin Changheng secretly destroyed the Thunder-Arts Golden Cultivator’s concealed Lightning Arrays, replaced them with traps of his own, and then ambushed him in the cave dwelling. The cultivator survived Lin Changheng’s Threefold Treasure Flame Pearl and activated a one-way teleportation formation, but Lin Changheng pierced him with a flying sword as the chapter ended.

• Lin Changheng spotted the hidden Lightning Arrays, suppressed and destroyed them with the River-Calming Pearl, Nether Abyss Iceflame, and Myriad Manifestations Origin Sword, then replaced them with miniature formations of his own.
• Lin Changheng traced the Thunder-Arts Golden Cultivator to a stone chamber by the fresh scorched smell and the tremors coming from within.
• Lin Changheng prepared and launched a Threefold Treasure Flame Pearl while sending a giant sword to block the chamber entrance.
• The gray-clad cultivator recognized Lin Changheng from the Sixty-Year Secret Realm and used his treasure and defenses to survive the flame pearl’s explosion.
• The gray-clad cultivator activated a concealed one-way teleportation formation, but Lin Changheng’s flying sword pierced his chest before he could escape.
• The wounded gray-clad cultivator clamped the flying sword with his muscles and tried to bind it with lightning.