Recaps

Lin Changheng accepted his new status as an alchemist and weighed the Xu Family’s compensation plans while looking for ways to obtain demon beast essence blood. He chose the share system and began cultivating with a Premium Crimson Flame Pill.

• Xu Qianyan offered Lin Changheng access to mid-grade items and outlined his alchemy duties and compensation options.
• Lin Changheng sold seized pills and a Storage Bag at the Hundred Treasures Hall, but kept the poison and could not sell the damaged hammer Dharma Artifact.
• Lin Changheng passed Tantai Feiyue and the Xu Family disciples gathered outside the Tide Listening Dao Site without stopping to speak with her.
• Lin Changheng chose the share system, agreeing to provide seven Standard Pills for every ten portions of ingredients and planning to refine about fifteen batches each month.
• Lin Changheng considered seeking tasks involving essence blood, then swallowed a Premium Crimson Flame Pill and cultivated.

Lin Changheng sought alchemy work from the Xu Family and spent two years refining pills while cultivating. He broke through to the fourth layer of Qi Refining and considered how to safely sell his growing stock of premium pills, while his Origin Treasure Seed was more than halfway charged.

• Lin Changheng asked Steward Xu Xuzhong to reserve him a future assignment disposing of defective pills, and Xu agreed.
• After two years of pill refining and cultivation, Lin Changheng used a Spirit Gathering Array and crimson spirit stones to break through to the fourth layer of Qi Refining.
• Lin Changheng reflected that the array had helped him overcome the mid-stage bottleneck and hoped to improve his spiritual root before his next major hurdle.
• Lin Changheng counted his accumulated pills, including more than three hundred premium pills, and planned to wait until he could protect himself before selling them outside the Xu Family.
• Lin Changheng noted that his Origin Treasure Seed had accumulated more than halfway.

Lin Changheng advanced his Fire Crow and Greenwood Snake treasure seeds by processing defective pills, gaining stronger fire control and poison resistance. He considered using the Xu Family trade fair to acquire more resources, then received an invitation to Xu Fugui’s wedding to a spiritual-root woman.

• After the old alchemist’s grandson died in the Savage Wilderness, the grieving alchemist stopped processing defective pills, and Lin Changheng took on the task alongside another alchemist.
• Lin Changheng advanced the Fire Crow Treasure Seed to its third layer and gained precise control over ordinary flames, improving his pill refining and fire spells.
• Lin Changheng advanced the Greenwood Snake Treasure Seed to its second layer, strengthening his poison resistance and raising his wood spiritual-root resonance.
• Lin Changheng considered attending the upcoming Xu Family trade fair to exchange his spirit stones for useful resources and blessings.
• Xu Fugui invited Lin Changheng to his wedding to a Xu Family woman with a mixed spiritual root.

Lin Changheng attended Xu Fugui’s wedding banquet, where the Immortal Seedlings mourned a fallen companion and worried about future conscription. After the celebration, Tantai Feiyue explained that the Xu Family had disciplined the disciples who crowded around her, and Lin agreed to associate with her more often.

• Lin Changheng brought two Wood Origin Pills to Xu Fugui’s wedding and reconnected with the other Immortal Seedlings over wine.
• The Immortal Seedlings discussed a companion who had died in the swamp and Bai Fengxian’s fear that he would be sent to the Frontier Reclamation Battlefield because neither of his sons had a Spiritual Root.
• Xu Xuheng and Xu Hanji briefly attended the banquet, signaling the Xu Family’s support for Xu Fugui’s marriage to Xu Hanling.
• After the guests left, Lin Changheng urged Xu Fugui to end the feast and join his bride in the bridal chamber.
• Tantai Feiyue told Lin Changheng that the family head had disciplined the disciples who had neglected their duties to pursue her, and she invited him to associate with her more often.
• Lin Changheng accepted Tantai Feiyue’s invitation, reasoning that her skill as a Talisman Master might be useful to him.

Tantai Feiyue and Lin Changheng exchanged premium goods while negotiating their cooperation, then Lin Changheng attended the Xu Family trade fair and learned how frontier cultivators sold resources. He left with a possible new source of demon beast essence blood to investigate.

• Tantai Feiyue gave Lin Changheng a premium Frost Talisman to secure a say in their dealings, but his return gift—a premium Wood Origin Pill—revealed that he could refine premium pills too.
• Lin Changheng and Xu Fugui set up a stall at the Xu Family trade fair, where Lin Changheng sold a battered hammer Dharma Artifact for twenty spirit stones.
• Lin Changheng learned from a stallholder that premium talisman ink required demon beast essence blood and considered asking Tantai Feiyue about obtaining it.
• Lin Changheng asked Xu Fugui about demon beast flesh and blood, and Xu Fugui explained that the Upper Sect and several clans bought frontier resources at a large supply and mutual trade post.

Lin Changheng sold elixirs cheaply to fellow lineage members while seeking demon beast essence blood, then exchanged his slow cultivation art for an incomplete superior-grade fire-element art. After quickly mastering its beginner level, he received a visit from Tantai Feiyue.

• Lin Changheng sold out his elixirs at a discount and asked fellow cultivators to help him find a reliable supplier of demon beast essence blood.
• Lin Changheng concluded that the Flowing Flame Art was too weak for his cultivation progress and went to the Scripture Repository Hall to exchange it.
• Lin Changheng chose the incomplete superior-grade Li Fire Night-Illuminating Chant, swore not to reveal it, and spent nearly all his contribution points to obtain it.
• Lin Changheng reached the beginner level of the Li Fire Night-Illuminating Chant in less than three days and found it refined spiritual energy faster than his old art.
• Tantai Feiyue visited Lin Changheng and teased him for standing in the doorway instead of inviting her inside.

Lin Changheng learned that Jin Liyue would sell him demon beast essence blood only if he traveled outside the Xu Family Base, so he refused the trip and accepted talisman ink from Tantai Feiyue instead. He used Spirit Seizure on the ink to advance his Rockmountain Tortoise Treasure Seed.

• Tantai Feiyue told Lin Changheng that her friend Jin Liyue had a variety of demon beast essence blood, including Rockmountain Tortoise and Greenwood Snake blood.
• Tantai Feiyue said Jin Liyue insisted Lin Changheng come collect the blood himself, but Lin refused to leave the Xu Family Base and asked her to decline the purchase.
• Tantai Feiyue gave Lin Changheng four bottles of Rockmountain Tortoise talisman ink and notes describing a method to extract essence blood from ink.
• Lin Changheng gave Tantai Feiyue two premium Wood Origin Pills as a deposit for her help.
• After Tantai Feiyue left, Lin Changheng used Spirit Seizure on the talisman ink, raising his Rockmountain Tortoise Treasure Seed's progress to 13/100.

Lin Changheng refined the Fire Crow and Greenwood Snake treasure seeds, improving his fire control, poison resistance, and pill-making efficiency. He learned that the Xu Family had found a promising tract of spirit land hidden in a miasma-filled valley and looked forward to profiting from the defective pills made for the family's clearing effort.

• Lin Changheng refined the fourth-stage Fire Crow Treasure Seed, gaining advanced fire control and demonstrating his powerful, precisely controlled Fireball Technique.
• Lin Changheng refined the third-stage Greenwood Snake Treasure Seed, advancing his poison talent and increasing his Origin Treasure Seed's spirit seizure progress to 62/100.
• Lin Changheng's fire and wood spiritual roots reached thirteen and nine strands, respectively.
• Xu Family members discovered signs of mid-grade spirit land near a demon beast den and later confirmed it lay in a valley filled with poisonous miasma.
• The Xu Family Head ordered the family to secure the spirit land, keep the discovery secret, and produce large quantities of Miasma-Dispelling Pills.
• Lin Changheng secured the assignment to handle defective Miasma-Dispelling Pills and anticipated extracting essence blood from them, including that of the Wooden Puppet Fox.

The Xu Family faced a growing contest with the Chen Family over a mid-grade spirit land, and Lin Changheng prepared for the coming conflict by helping friends and buying Dharma Artifacts. The chapter ended with him selecting a defensive banner and asking to see low-grade offensive artifacts.

• The Chen Family of Purple Maple Bay moved to contest the spirit land, and the Xu Family prepared to force its way through the miasma and occupy the valley.
• Bai Fengxian told Lin Changheng that Xu Fugui had been urgently conscripted to the Frontier Reclamation Battlefield, and Lin warned Bai that they might be called up next.
• Lin gave Bai Fengxian three pills and lent pills or spirit stones to several Immortal Seedling friends so they could prepare for danger.
• Lin went to the Hundred Treasures Hall and bought the mid-grade defensive [Azure Flood Dragon Banner] for two hundred and sixty low-grade spirit stones.
• Lin asked Steward Xu Xuyang to show him low-grade offensive Dharma Artifacts.

Lin Changheng refined Dharma Artifacts and pills, received a warning from Xu Fugui about the dangers of the Savage Wilderness, and watched tensions between the Xu and Chen Families grow. After Xu Xuzhong urged him to improve his pill-refining skills, Lin Changheng used the clan’s defective Miasma-Dispelling Pills to form a new treasure seed above the Origin Cauldron.

• Lin Changheng bought a Jade Bamboo Whip and another Dharma Artifact, then successfully refined both and produced a batch of pills containing two Premium Pills.
• Xu Fugui wrote to Lin Changheng about the deadly conditions in the Savage Wilderness and asked him to look after his family if he died; Lin Changheng replied with encouragement and sent two Miasma-Dispelling Pills.
• Clashes between the Xu and Chen Families continued as members of the Xu Family argued over whether to show restraint or attack.
• Xu Xuzhong gave Lin Changheng the clan’s entire supply of defective Miasma-Dispelling Pills and advised him to focus on improving his Dao of Alchemy skills.
• Lin Changheng returned to his courtyard, and a new emerald-green treasure seed formed above the Origin Cauldron.

Lin Changheng completed the Wooden Puppet Fox treasure seed’s spirit seizure and assimilated its Self-Healing talent, then received extra Talisman Ink from Tantai Feiyue after she advanced to the fourth layer of Qi Refining. He began processing Rockmountain Tortoise essence blood, though its spirit seizure progressed slowly.

• Lin Changheng completed the Wooden Puppet Fox treasure seed’s spirit seizure and chose to assimilate Self-Healing.
• Lin Changheng tested his new ability by cutting his finger, and the minor wound rapidly healed as his wood spiritual root reached ten strands.
• Tantai Feiyue visited Lin Changheng after advancing to the fourth layer of Qi Refining and brought him a gift basket of twelve bottles of Talisman Ink.
• Tantai Feiyue explained that two Talisman Masters had helped her obtain extra Talisman Ink and said she would continue doing so.
• Lin Changheng began spirit seizure on Rockmountain Tortoise essence blood, which reached only 27/100.

Lin Changheng learned that the Xu and Chen Families’ fighting had escalated, while his friend Bai Fengxian was reassigned to guard the Black Dragon Pond Fishery. As the conflict worsened and more acquaintances were sent to the battlefield, Tantai Feiyue hinted that the Xu Family’s crisis might open a way to obtain a mid-grade Dao of Alchemy inheritance.

• Lin Changheng heard that the Xu and Chen Families had fought in the Savage Wilderness, suffering casualties, with the Xu Family claiming a slight advantage.
• Bai Fengxian told Lin Changheng that the Xu Family had reassigned him to guard the Black Dragon Pond Fishery, and Lin Changheng warned him to stay vigilant.
• Bai Fengxian repaid Lin Changheng for borrowed Elixirs and bought more, while Lin Changheng wondered whether the reassignment was connected to trouble at the fishery.
• Two months later, Lin Changheng saw the conflict intensify as the Xu and Chen Families committed more forces and two of his friends were sent to fight in the Savage Wilderness.
• Tantai Feiyue asked Lin Changheng about obtaining a mid-grade Dao of Alchemy inheritance and suggested that the Xu Family’s looming crisis might create an opportunity.

Lin Changheng visited the injured Xu Fugui and learned how Fugui escaped a Chen Family elder by fleeing into poisonous miasma. Fugui gave Lin nearly thirty bottles of Rockmountain Tortoise essence blood, then explained how the Mutual Trade Post had become a hub for frontier reclamation supplies and trade.

• Lin Changheng learned that Xu Fugui had returned to the lineage and visited him while he recuperated.
• Xu Fugui explained that he had ambushed two Chen Family cultivators, then escaped a powerful elder by entering the poisonous miasma with a Miasma-Dispelling Pill.
• Xu Fugui credited Lin Changheng's pill with helping him survive and revealed that the Chen Family elder had also escaped, but suffered miasma poisoning.
• Xu Fugui presented Lin Changheng with nearly thirty bottles of Rockmountain Tortoise essence blood that he had bought after his clansmen found a tortoise nest during frontier reclamation.
• Xu Fugui told Lin Changheng that the Mutual Trade Post processed most frontier reclamation gains and offered cultivators discounted goods made from the materials they supplied.

Lin Changheng learned that the Chen Family was seeking outside support against the Xu Family, while Mo Zhaoli reported her breakthrough and asked him to check on Master Mo. He revealed his own progress to strengthen his standing, then brought pills to the Hundred Treasures Hall, where an appraisal mirror detected something unusual.

• Lin Changheng left the recovering Xu Fugui after Xu Fugui refused payment for the essence blood and promised him a share of any rewards if the Chen Family elder remained crippled.
• Mo Zhaoli wrote that she had reached the sixth layer of Qi Refining and asked Lin Changheng to visit Master Mo, who was grieving a close friend's death.
• Mo Zhaoli told Lin Changheng that the Chen Family had sought support in the Purple Pole Sect against the Xu Family and might now be approaching an aristocratic clan.
• Lin Changheng replied that he could refine Premium Pills and had reached the fourth layer of Qi Refining, asking Mo Zhaoli to keep his breakthrough secret.
• Lin Changheng took pills to the Hundred Treasures Hall, where Xu Xuyang's appraisal mirror flashed golden light over one of them.

Lin Changheng refined two Premium Pills and learned that the Chen Family had killed Master Mo’s friend at the Black Dragon Pond Fishery, prompting him to suspect an opportunity to advance his Dao of Alchemy. Xu Hanji summoned him and praised his alchemy, leaving their meeting poised to turn to business.

• Xu Xuyang identified Lin Changheng’s first Premium Pill, then found a second and paid him before hurrying away with both pills.
• Lin Changheng told Master Mo he could refine Premium Pills and learned that Xu Hanli had been killed by the Chen Family at the Black Dragon Pond Fishery.
• Lin Changheng connected Xu Xuzhong’s advice about improving his alchemy to a possible opportunity to fill the Xu Family’s need for a Mid-Grade Alchemist.
• After advancing the Li Fire Night-Illuminating Chant, Lin Changheng followed a Xu Family cultivator to meet Xu Hanji.
• Xu Hanji praised Lin Changheng’s diligence and his success in refining Premium Pills.

Lin Changheng competed against Lü Bailian for the Xu Family’s Mid-Grade Dao of Alchemy Secret Transmission, which the family offered to eligible outsiders through a pill-refining contest. After two batches, Lin Changheng had narrowly led and then tied Lü Bailian, but Lü finished the third batch with an impressive result, leaving the outcome undecided.

• Xu Hanji told Lin Changheng that he and Lü Bailian were the two candidates for the secret transmission and that the Xu Family would decide between them through a pill-refining contest.
• Half a month later, Lin Changheng and Lü Bailian began a three-batch contest before Xu Qianyan and witnesses at the Returning Peak Dao Site.
• Lü Bailian’s first batch yielded one premium pill, while Lin Changheng’s first batch matched it and produced one more upper-middle-quality pill.
• Lü Bailian and Lin Changheng tied on the second batch, each producing one premium pill, seven upper-middle-quality pills, and two middle-middle-quality pills.
• Lü Bailian refined one premium pill and nine upper-middle-quality pills in the third batch, and Xu Qianyan praised his result.

Lin Changheng defeated Lü Bailian in the Dao of Alchemy contest by refining one Premium Pill and nine Upper-Middle-Grade Pills, earning the Xu Family’s Mid-Grade Dao of Alchemy Secret Transmission. He memorized the Great Harmony Pill Scroll’s contents and left the Scripture Repository Hall after three days of study.

• Lü Bailian refined one Premium Pill and nine Upper-Middle-Grade Pills, believing his result would secure victory.
• Lin Changheng matched Lü Bailian’s pill quality, and Xu Qianyan awarded him the secret transmission because he held a slight edge overall.
• Lü Bailian accepted the loss without blaming luck and departed with his confidence intact.
• Lin Changheng received the Great Harmony Pill Scroll Jade Slip and studied it in the Scripture Repository Hall for three days.
• After memorizing the scroll and swearing a Dao Oath not to reveal its contents, Lin Changheng left the hall and stepped into the sunlight.

Lin Changheng tried to deflect attention from his alchemy victory by spreading absurd rumors that made Alchemist Lü the center of the story. After Xu Qianhuan returned with wounded cultivators, Lin Changheng and Xu Fugui learned that Bai Fengxian had been injured in the Xu Family’s retaliation against the Chen Family.

• Lin Changheng asked Xu Fugui to spread exaggerated stories about his contest with Alchemist Lü, and Xu Fugui’s family helped circulate them until Lü became the tale’s focus.
• Xu Family Head Xu Xuheng summoned Lin Changheng and offered encouragement and expectations, which Lin Changheng treated as empty pleasantries.
• Lin Changheng and Xu Fugui met Xu Qianhuan’s returning party by the Blackwater River and recognized the badly burned Bai Fengxian among the wounded.
• Lin Changheng and Xu Fugui carried Bai Fengxian home, where a physician treated him and his wife prepared a meal.
• Lin Changheng guessed that Bai Fengxian had fought the Chen Family, and Bai confirmed that the Xu Family had raided two resource sites and killed a Middle-Grade Talisman Master in retaliation.

Lin Changheng advanced the Fire Crow Treasure Seed to its fifth layer, gaining powerful control over ordinary flames, then triggered a mysterious vision of a giant blazing bird that engulfed him in fire. He returned to his room shaken and drenched in cold sweat, with the consequences of the vision unresolved.

• The Xu Family High Council ordered the clan to maintain its lockdown and defenses against the Chen Family of Purple Maple Bay.
• Lin Changheng absorbed essence blood from defective Wood Origin Pills, advancing the Greenwood Snake Treasure Seed and gaining the ability to sense poisonous substances and expel mid-grade toxins to a limited extent.
• Lin Changheng used defective Crimson Flame Pills to complete spirit seizure of the Fire Crow Treasure Seed’s fifth layer and gained ultimate control over ordinary flames.
• Lin Changheng tested his new fire control by making a lamp flame explode, burning a wooden table to ash.
• Lin Changheng extracted essence blood from two proper Crimson Flame Pills, causing the Origin Cauldron to transform and show him a giant bird in a realm of flame.
• The giant bird sent streams of fire into Lin Changheng, who returned to his senses in his room, terrified and soaked in cold sweat.

Lin Changheng examined the Origin Cauldron’s new Transformation ability and planned to test demon beast essence blood to uncover its requirements. Meanwhile, the Xu Family gained the upper hand in its war with the Chen Family, but faced possible intervention by the Qiu Family, and Lin Changheng mourned two fallen friends.

• Lin Changheng discovered that the Fire Crow Treasure Seed had become a Dao Fruit whose Transformation could refine the bloodline divine ability Fire Control into his bloodline.
• Lin Changheng reasoned that the Cauldron could nurture only what the essence blood contained, then planned to test fire-type demon beast essence blood to learn what Transformation required.
• Lin Changheng’s Greenwood Snake Treasure Seed raised his wood spiritual root to low-grade, while his fire spiritual root remained close to middle-grade.
• The Xu Family gained an advantage over the Chen Family, but learned that the Chen Family had secured support from the Foundation Establishment Qiu Family of Flying Cloud Valley.
• Lin Changheng, Fugui, and Feng Xian mourned two Immortal Seedling friends who had died in the war.

After mourning fallen comrades, Lin Changheng gained the Earth Escape Foreign Method and tested its limits as a new way to evade danger. He used it to hide in his courtyard, where Tantai Feiyue brought him talismans and discovered she had been drinking from his cup.

• Lin Changheng, Xu Fugui, and Bai Fengxian buried two fallen cultivators on Green Mountain and vowed to give one another proper graves if any of them died.
• Lin Changheng used the newly acquired Earth Escape Foreign Method to enter and travel through the soil, finding that he could descend ten feet, remain underground for five breaths, and travel about five hundred feet.
• Lin Changheng devised a plan to pair Earth Escape with concealment methods to compensate for its limits.
• Tantai Feiyue brought Lin Changheng two Breath-Concealment Talismans and two Concealment Talismans, all of exceptional quality.
• Lin Changheng teased Tantai Feiyue for drinking from the teacup he had just used, making her blush.

Lin Changheng considered selling his growing stock of premium pills as he struggled to master mid-grade pill refining. Meanwhile, the Xu Family defeated the Chen Family with help from the Liu Family, and the weakened Chen Family of Purple Maple Bay was later wiped out by bandit cultivators.

• Tantai Feiyue became embarrassed after she and Lin Changheng shared a cup of tea, and Lin promised to keep it secret.
• Lin Changheng counted his growing wealth and pill stock, considered selling premium pills, and reflected on his stalled efforts to refine mid-grade pills.
• The Xu Family and Chen Family fought near Savage Wilderness Valley, and the Qiu Family arrived disguised as Chen Family cultivators.
• Liu Yunlang led the Liu Family to support the Xu Family, while Qiu Changhe abandoned the Chen Family and fled.
• The Xu Family crushed the Chen Family, took the valley, renamed it Dustless Valley, and pledged half its proceeds to the Liu Family.
• Bandit cultivators breached the formation of the weakened Chen Family of Purple Maple Bay and wiped out the clan.

After the Xu Family secured Mountain Valley, Lin Changheng broke through to the Qi Refining fifth layer and used sudden insights to master mid-grade alchemy. He decided that he needed to leave the family grounds to sell elixirs and seek new pill formulas and demon beast essence blood.

• The Qiu Family occupied Purple Maple Bay after blaming the Xu Family for the Chen Family's destruction, while the Xu Family accepted a reduced share of the gains from Mountain Valley.
• Lin Changheng sensed an opportunity, cultivated with the Spirit Gathering Array, and broke through to the Qi Refining fifth layer.
• Lin Changheng learned that his second-tier origin treasure seed granted occasional flashes of insight, which helped him advance the Li Fire Night-Illuminating Chant to the proficient realm.
• Lin Changheng used a sudden insight to successfully refine a Water Fungus Pill and, five days later, mastered the process as a first-tier mid-grade alchemist.
• Lin Changheng decided to travel outside with the Xu Family's caravan to sell elixirs and seek new pill formulas and demon beast essence blood.

Lin Changheng prepared to leave the Xu Family Base, strengthened his bloodline arts and spiritual roots, and traveled with a Xu Family caravan. The caravan reached the Desolate Ruins Market, where Lin Changheng began the next stage of his journey.

• Xu Fugui arranged for Lin Changheng to join a Xu Family caravan bound for the Desolate Ruins Market, and the Xu Family approved Lin Changheng's month of leave.
• Lin Changheng refined the essence blood from defective pills, completing spirit seizure for his Fire Crow Treasure Seed and Greenwood Snake Treasure Seed.
• The Origin Cauldron revealed that the Greenwood Snake bloodline could nurture the demon art Poison Transformation, while Lin Changheng's fire and wood spiritual roots grew stronger.
• Lin Changheng visited Tantai Feiyue, gave her premium pills, and told her he would be entering seclusion.
• Lin Changheng disguised himself and traveled with the Xu Family caravan; six days later, the group reached the Desolate Ruins Market.

Lin Changheng entered Desolate Ruins Market in disguise and sold sixty premium Wood Origin Pills to the Pill Refining Pavilion for 180 low-grade spirit stones, exchanging 100 of them for a mid-grade spirit stone. When he asked about buying pill formulas, the shopkeeper said the shop did not sell them but hinted there might be another way.

• Lin Changheng left the caravan, paid for an entry token, and surveyed Desolate Ruins Market before changing his disguise in an alley.
• Lin Changheng went to the Pill Refining Pavilion and told the assistant he wanted to sell premium Wood Origin Pills.
• The shopkeeper inspected Lin Changheng's sixty pills and offered three spirit stones apiece, totaling 180 low-grade spirit stones.
• Lin Changheng exchanged 100 low-grade spirit stones for one mid-grade spirit stone and received the remaining 80 low-grade stones.
• Lin Changheng asked whether the shop sold pill formulas, and the shopkeeper said it did not before calling him back with a possible lead.