Chapter Summaries

Lin Changheng met True Disciple Bai at Watermoon Pavilion on Floating Life Lake and presented his substitute for an ancient pill ingredient. Elder Kong tested the proposal and confirmed it worked, leaving Lin’s assignment successfully verified.

• After waiting half a year, Lin Changheng followed Bai Wan’s envoy to Watermoon Pavilion on Floating Life Lake, avoiding Feather Immortal Island.
• Lin Changheng discovered Bai Wan had advanced to the Foundation Establishment middle stage and gave her a jade slip detailing his substitute ingredient and reasoning.
• Bai Wan summoned Elder Kong to verify Lin Changheng’s work while Lin sampled the pavilion’s aquatic spirit tea.
• Elder Kong examined the jade slip, tested Lin Changheng’s proposed substitute in a pill furnace, and confirmed it should work in the full pill formula with slight adjustments.
• Lin Changheng confidently defended his work, and Elder Kong praised his confidence as fitting for a Pill Master.

Lin Changheng received a valuable pill inheritance and furnace from Bai Hengwan, then negotiated ten portions of Azure Rain Mist Toad essence blood for his pill breakthroughs. After returning home, he read three letters, including updates from Mo Zhaoli and Xu Fugui, and arranged future dealings with both.

• Elder Kong gave Lin Changheng a token and praised Bai Hengwan for reaching a step ahead on her journey before departing.
• Bai Hengwan rewarded Lin Changheng with an Upper-Grade Second-Tier Pill Dao Inheritance and a Mid-Grade Second-Tier Pill Furnace for completing the task.
• Lin Changheng asked Bai Hengwan for Azure Rain Mist Toad essence blood, revealed he had reached the threshold of Mid-Grade Second-Tier Pill Dao, and received ten portions.
• Lin Changheng returned home and spent the next month cultivating, advancing his pill Dao, and testing blood-letting frequency on the Deep Lake Spirit Clam.
• Lin Changheng replied to Mo Zhaoli about the Red-Eyed Fire seller and sent her cultivation elixirs through Purple Pole Sect channels.
• Xu Fugui wrote that Lin Changheng's elixirs had improved his health and spirits, and that he had taken another Xu Family concubine who was expecting a child.

Lin Changheng advanced to mid-grade second-tier Pill Master while strengthening his ties with the Xu Family and preparing for another meeting with the Immortal City. After gathering a hundred portions of the Deep Lake Spirit Clam’s essence blood, he successfully created its Treasure Seed and faced a choice between three innate talents.

• Xu Hanwu informed Lin Changheng that she had reached foundation establishment, bringing the Xu Family to two foundation establishment cultivators, and he replied with congratulations and a promise of continued support.
• Lin Changheng refined the second Jiao Blood Fruit, continued cultivating, and advanced to mid-grade second-tier Pill Master by producing five Standard Blazing Sun Spirit Pills in one batch.
• Yan Mingyi told Lin Changheng that an Immortal City envoy wanted to meet him at their usual lakeside location, and he agreed to go the next day.
• Lin Changheng collected essence blood from Xiao Bai and used it to complete spirit seizure, producing a Deep Lake Clam Treasure Seed that offered Water Control, Water Arrow, or Spirit Nurturing.
• Lin Changheng examined the three innate talents and recognized Water Control as similar to the Fire Control talent from his first Fire Crow Treasure Seed.

Lin Changheng chose the Spirit-Nurturing Art and discovered it could nurture a promising treasure, then Bai Wan recruited him to revise the Spirit-Communing Pill formula. He accepted the difficult task in exchange for a Talisman Treasure and the possibility of Azure Rain Mist Toad essence blood.

• Lin Changheng chose [Spirit Nurturing] over [Water Control] and [Water Arrow], gaining the ability to nurture one extraordinary object at a time.
• Lin Changheng tested the new ability on his pill furnace, flying sword, and Redcloud Mystic Flame, but none could be nurtured.
• Bai Wan summoned Lin Changheng and explained that Elder Kong wanted him to adjust the [Spirit-Communing Pill] formula after repeated failed refinement attempts.
• Bai Wan offered Lin Changheng some [Azure Rain Mist Toad] essence blood, and he agreed to help revise the formula.
• Bai Wan gave Lin Changheng a weakened [Talisman Treasure] that could be used once, and he promised to do his best on the task.

Lin Changheng secured a lead on buying Eastwheel Willow Wood and learned that Chu Guangsheng could not teach him to refine treasure talismans, while promising help with Chu’s family member’s future foundation establishment. He sold old loot, pursued a Spirit-Communing Pill formula, and asked Lü Tong to connect him with an upper-grade second-tier talisman master.

• Lin Changheng examined the Flying Sword Talisman Treasure and found that his Spirit-Nurturing Art could not affect its fixed power.
• Lin Changheng visited Chu Guangsheng, who offered to ask an Azure Firmament Sect steward about selling Eastwheel Willow Wood but could not advise him on making treasure talismans.
• Lin Changheng promised to help Chu Guangsheng’s junior family member seek a Foundation Establishment Pill in about ten years, potentially a Premium Foundation Establishment Pill if restricted ingredients became available.
• Lin Changheng disguised himself and sold two artifacts taken from Senior Brother Feng, adding to his savings of roughly fifty thousand spirit stones.
• Lin Changheng spent the next month studying substitutions for the Spirit-Communing Pill formula and searching for an upper-grade second-tier talisman master.
• Lin Changheng asked Lü Tong to tell him if a future crowdfunded pill-refining session lacked celestial crystal spirit lotus root, and Lü Tong gladly accepted.

Lin Changheng visited Senior He to request a Treasure Talisman and tried to negotiate by offering his pill-making skills. Senior He showed interest in his Youth-Preserving Pills but asked to inspect a Beauty-Preserving Pill before trusting his claims.

• Lü Tong brought Lin Changheng to Senior He’s lakeside residence, where she said she planned to leave the Immortal City for a Spirit Land.
• Lin Changheng introduced himself and asked Senior He to make him a Treasure Talisman.
• Senior He said Treasure Talismans were difficult to refine and asked what Lin Changheng could offer in return.
• Lin Changheng offered his mid-grade second-tier Pill Dao, but Senior He said she had no juniors or lineage who needed his pills.
• Lin Changheng revealed his knowledge of Youth-Preserving Pills and Beauty-Preserving Pills, prompting Senior He to ask to see one of his Beauty-Preserving Pills.

Lin Changheng negotiated with the beautiful woman in purple, Senior He, to trade the first [Youth-Preserving Pill] he refined for five [Treasure Talismans]. He left with an incomplete talisman as a deposit and a signed Magic Contract, but still needed to find the rare [Azure Flower Moon Lotus] required for the pill.

• Lü Tong had concealed Senior He's interest in beauty-preserving methods to protect his own connection with her, but Lin Changheng presented her with a [Beauty-Preserving Pill].
• Senior He sensed unusual vitality in Lin Changheng's pill and offered five [Treasure Talismans] for the first [Youth-Preserving Pill] he refined.
• Lin Changheng explained that he lacked the [Azure Flower Moon Lotus] and needed a talisman to protect himself while searching for it in the Savage Wastes.
• Senior He gave Lin Changheng an incomplete [Treasure Talisman] as a deposit and signed a Magic Contract requiring him to deliver the first pill in exchange for five genuine [Treasure Talismans].
• Lin Changheng accepted the talisman and departed after Senior He told him he could find her cave residence through Lü Tong.

Lin Changheng discovered that his magical power had faint vitality that affected only his Beauty-Preserving Pills, then began nurturing a Semi-Finished Treasure Talisman. After a year of cultivation, news of a sudden beast tide and a demon cultivator escape shook the Song Region, leaving Lin Changheng resolved to strengthen himself.

• Lin Changheng examined his pills, found that his magical power carried vitality, and confirmed that only his Beauty-Preserving Pills had absorbed it.
• Lin Changheng used the Deep Lake Spirit Clam’s Spirit-Nurturing Art to draw the Semi-Finished Treasure Talisman into his dantian and begin nurturing it.
• A sudden beast tide struck the Azure Rosy Clouds Temple’s southern territory, overrunning frontier settlements and prompting the temple to mobilize cultivators and supplies.
• Lin Changheng suspected the unexplained beast tide had been driven by a hidden force and considered hiring someone to gather demon beast materials for him.
• The Azure Firmament Sect’s raid on a demon cultivator hideout failed to capture its leader, a false core cultivator who killed one Foundation Establishment late-stage cultivator and wounded another before escaping.
• Lin Changheng resolved to improve his cultivation and began tempering his body in a medicinal bath with Eastwheel Willow Wood.

Lin Changheng advanced his medicinal-herb preparations, finalized a Spirit-Communing Pill formula, and discussed the spreading beast tide with Xu Xujun. After receiving the Xu Family’s jade-horned snake essence blood, he transformed the Jade-Horned Snake True Core and gained a powerful Breath-Concealment Demonic Art.

• Lin Changheng harvested the ripe vermilion beauty fruit and fire poria, leaving only azure flower moon lotus for the Youth-Preserving Pill.
• Lin Changheng completed his Spirit-Communing Pill formula with Bai Wan’s help, and Elder Kong confirmed and corrected it.
• Xu Xujun warned Lin Changheng that the beast tide had destroyed settlements and resources, and Lin advised the Xu Family to move supplies frequently.
• Xu Xujun brought the Xu Family’s collected jade-horned snake essence blood, and Lin paid for it and requested other kinds of high-grade essence blood in the future.
• Lin Changheng used the essence blood to transform the Jade-Horned Snake True Core, extending his divine sense to two hundred zhang and restoring Breath Concealment as a demonic art.

Lin Changheng welcomed Deng Changsheng back as a Foundation Establishment cultivator and sent him to the beast-tide frontier to buy demon beast essence blood. After acquiring a Jiao Blood Fruit and a protective hairpin at the Small Auction, Lin Changheng received a message that promised an opportunity involving Xiao Hei.

• Lin Changheng reunited with Deng Changsheng, who recounted surviving a betrayal, recovering from severe injuries, and finally reaching Foundation Establishment.
• Lin Changheng gave Deng Changsheng spirit stones and elixirs and tasked him with purchasing large quantities of essence blood from suitable demon beasts at the Azure Rosy Clouds Temple's Beast Tide Frontier.
• Lin Changheng won a Jiao Blood Fruit and a defensive Jade Hairpin at the Small Auction, then placed the hairpin in Yan Mingyi's hair.
• Lin Changheng noticed Foundation Establishment cultivators heading to answer the Demon-Slaying Order, while the Huang Household remained unusually quiet about the beast tide.
• Lin Changheng received a communication jade talisman, drew essence blood from Xiao Bai, and told Xiao Hei that the blood donation it had been waiting for was finally coming.

Lin Changheng received news from Mo Zhaoli, collected the Spirit-Communing Pill from Bai Hengwan, and learned that the beast tide near the Azure Rosy Clouds Temple had been caused by human greed. Two years later, the Black-Armored Earth Turtle successfully broke through to the second tier.

• Lin Changheng read Mo Zhaoli’s letter about her ongoing negotiations for the Red-Eyed Fire and her cultivation reaching the peak of the Foundation Establishment third layer, then encouraged her to seek his help refining pills.
• Bai Hengwan gave Lin Changheng a Spirit-Communing Pill as a gift from Elder Kong and promised to bring him more Azure Rain Mist Toad essence blood.
• Bai Hengwan hinted that the sudden beast tide near the Azure Rosy Clouds Temple had arisen from human greed, and Lin Changheng inferred that it was a man-made calamity.
• After two years, Lin Changheng guarded the Black-Armored Earth Turtle as it swallowed the Spirit-Communing Pill and began its breakthrough.
• The Black-Armored Earth Turtle completed its breakthrough to the second tier and celebrated with Lin Changheng and Yan Mingyi.

Lin Changheng tested Xiao Hei’s formidable defenses and learned that its earth-control abilities complemented his own attacks, then integrated the Azure Rain Mist Toad’s Illusion talent. Meanwhile, the beast tide’s unusual pause fueled rumors, and Deng Changsheng met an old friend at the temporary market ward.

• Lin Changheng found that Xiao Hei’s shell withstood both his flame sword and a lower-grade second-tier spirit artifact, then learned that the turtle could use Earth-Escaping Technique and several battlefield-control arts.
• Lin Changheng told Xiao Hei to consolidate its cultivation for six months before donating blood, and Xiao Hei carried Yan Mingyi through the air.
• Lin Changheng collected another batch of Azure Rain Mist Toad essence blood and chose Illusion, refining it into the Illusion Otherworldly Art · Path-peeking.
• Cultivators speculated that a great demon was directing the beast tide after it stopped advancing, while Lin Changheng doubted the Azure Firmament Factory’s claim that it had eradicated the demon cultivators.
• Deng Changsheng found that a temporary market ward’s contribution-point system made his essence-blood purchasing offers uncompetitive, then reunited with an old friend who had also reached Foundation Establishment.

Deng Changsheng secured essence blood through Qian Fusheng, while Lin Changheng obtained the spirit medicine needed for another Foundation Establishment Pill batch and transparently coordinated with Bai Hengwan. Lin refined two Premium Foundation Establishment Pills in one batch, boosting his reputation across Floating Life Immortal City and leaving him with valuable pills and new attention from powerful cultivators.

• Deng Changsheng persuaded Qian Fusheng to obtain one variety of turbid baleful intent-level essence blood, which Qian sourced through a Lineage and sold to him at a premium while refusing to procure other varieties.
• Deng Changsheng returned to Floating Life Immortal City with over a hundred portions of essence blood, then left with more Spirit Stones and swore a Dao Oath to keep collecting for Lin Changheng or stay away for five years.
• True Disciple Yang brought Lin Changheng the seven-star spirit moon grass and requested Foundation Establishment Pills; Lin informed Bai Hengwan, who told him to begin a batch for her senior sister.
• Lin Changheng refined three Foundation Establishment Pills, including two Premium Foundation Establishment Pills, and distributed them to True Disciple Yang's junior, Lü Tong's companion, and himself on behalf of his friend.
• True Disciple Yang asked Lin Changheng about future cooperation, but he gave her a courteous, noncommittal answer before seeing her off.
• News of Lin Changheng's two Premium Foundation Establishment Pills spread through Floating Life Immortal City, bringing more visitors and polite approaches from late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Mo Zhaoli invited Lin Changheng to help hunt a second-tier Blue-Furred Tiger for rare Monster Cores that could earn them Ice Pool Jade Spring and help break through to the Foundation Establishment middle stage. Lin Changheng agreed to join her after finishing a batch of pills, and they planned to leave in half a month.

• Mo Zhaoli visited Lin Changheng and discovered that his Black-Armored Earth Turtle had advanced to the second tier, alongside his Deep Lake Spirit Clam.
• Mo Zhaoli explained that she and two sect friends had accepted a commission to gather rare materials in exchange for Ice Pool Jade Spring, which could loosen the bottleneck to the Foundation Establishment middle stage.
• Mo Zhaoli proposed hunting a pregnant Blue-Furred Tiger she had encountered years earlier, hoping to obtain its water-and-wind Monster Cores with Lin Changheng's help.
• Lin Changheng assessed his strength and agreed to accompany Mo Zhaoli after confirming the details of the hunt.
• Lin Changheng and Mo Zhaoli agreed to set out in half a month, after he finished refining Three-Turn Gold-Fixing Pills for a Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivator.

Lin Changheng reviewed his cultivation, abilities, and equipment to prepare for his first hunt in the Savage Wastes, then traveled there with Mo Zhaoli. They entered the Purple Pole Sect’s territory, where the Savage Wastes suppressed their spiritual senses, and Mo Zhaoli warned that they would soon need to leave the spell boat.

• Mo Zhaoli thanked Lin Changheng for taking her elixir commission, chatted with him, and left his cave abode after declining to stay overnight.
• Lin Changheng assessed his cultivation, divine abilities, demonic arts, spirit artifacts, talismans, and puppets, and decided to seek escape arts after the trip.
• Half a month later, Lin Changheng boarded Mo Zhaoli’s spell boat in disguise and left the Immortal City, while Yan Mingyi stayed behind to guard his cave abode.
• After traveling north through the Song Region, Lin Changheng and Mo Zhaoli turned west and crossed a fortified border wall into the Savage Wastes.
• The Savage Wastes suppressed Lin Changheng’s spiritual sense to a range of one hundred and fifty zhang, and Mo Zhaoli said they would soon need to leave the spell boat to avoid attracting demon beasts.

Lin Changheng and Mo Zhaoli hunted Demon Beasts together in the Savage Wastes, sharing the spoils and recalling their past as they traveled. After they killed a disguised Scarlet-Thread Demon Snake, its final attack nearly struck Mo Zhaoli, but Lin Changheng used his Fire-Control Divine Ability and Fire-Repelling Monster Art to stop it.

• Mo Zhaoli explained that many Foundation Establishment cultivators had died in the Beast Tide after flying into the sky and becoming trapped by attacking Demon Beasts.
• Mo Zhaoli led Lin Changheng through the forest, killing concealed Demon Beasts with precise strikes from her silver bracelet Spirit Artifact.
• Lin Changheng and Mo Zhaoli killed an early Second Tier demon deer, claimed its den, and agreed to divide its materials according to their contributions.
• Lin Changheng struck what appeared to be a crimson fruit, revealing a disguised Scarlet-Thread Demon Snake, and Mo Zhaoli killed it by striking its reverse scale.
• The snake unleashed a hidden thread of fire at Mo Zhaoli, but Lin Changheng controlled and repelled the attack before they destroyed the snake completely.

Lin Changheng and Mo Zhaoli tracked a Blue-Furred Tiger family to a waterfall and spent half a month studying the tigers before preparing an ambush. Lin Changheng also discovered that the male tiger carried the Azure Flower Moon Lotus he needed, and the chapter ended as their attack on the returning female tiger began.

• Lin Changheng and Mo Zhaoli divided the Scarlet-Thread Demon Snake's valuable remains and continued toward the Blue-Furred Tiger's territory.
• Lin Changheng detected cultivators fighting a demon beast and led Mo Zhaoli around them rather than getting involved.
• At the waterfall, Lin Changheng and Mo Zhaoli watched the Blue-Furred Tiger family and learned that the female had likely given birth while a powerful male visited periodically.
• Lin Changheng spotted the male carrying an Azure Flower Moon Lotus, the final main ingredient he needed for a Youth-Preserving Pill.
• After the male tiger left, Lin Changheng deployed a Deep Lake Spirit Clam and activated a Mirage Water-Curtain Formation while Mo Zhaoli kept watch.
• When the female returned from hunting, Mo Zhaoli attacked it with three silver projectiles as Lin Changheng activated the formation and released a Black Tortoise into the ground.

Lin Changheng and Mo Zhaoli used coordinated attacks and their allies to kill the Blue-Furred Tiger. Lin Changheng entered the hidden cavern behind the waterfall while Mo Zhaoli harvested the tiger’s corpse.

• The Blue-Furred Tiger deflected the first attacks and damaged Lin Changheng’s Flowing Light Sword, but his metal puppet blocked her counterattack.
• Mo Zhaoli wounded the tiger with Ice Soul Needles, and Lin Changheng bound her with a vine net while the Black-Armored Earth Turtle trapped her with earth spikes and pillars.
• The Deep Lake Spirit Clam pierced the Blue-Furred Tiger’s throat with a water arrow, and Lin Changheng and Mo Zhaoli delivered the finishing blows.
• Lin Changheng checked the tiger’s corpse with Redcloud Mystic Flame, then told Mo Zhaoli to harvest it and clean up the scene.
• Lin Changheng flew through the waterfall and proceeded deeper into the hidden cavern, leaving Mo Zhaoli to cut apart the tiger’s corpse.

Lin Changheng searched the Blue-Furred Tiger's cave, found two newborn cubs and valuable items, then escaped with Mo Zhaoli before the male tiger returned. After the tiger killed two cultivators who had taken shelter in its cave, Lin Changheng and Mo Zhaoli reached the Song Region and divided their spoils, including the cubs.

• Lin Changheng discovered two newborn Demon Tiger Cubs in the cavern and decided to take them rather than kill them.
• Lin Changheng collected a damaged Azure Flower Moon Lotus, five pieces of ore, and two water-and-wind monster cores hidden beneath the nest.
• Lin Changheng and Mo Zhaoli dismantled their formation and fled before the late second-tier Blue-Furred Male Tiger returned.
• Two cultivators entered the cavern and settled inside, but the returning Blue-Furred Male Tiger killed them after sensing their presence and failing to find its cubs.
• Lin Changheng and Mo Zhaoli crossed into the Song Region, rested in an abandoned cave, and examined the spoils, including the cubs.

Lin Changheng returned to Floating Life Immortal City with a Blue-Furred Tiger Cub and the treasures needed for his next breakthrough, then spent three years cultivating until he reached the peak of the Foundation Establishment third layer. With the Ice Pool Jade Spring and Foundation Establishment Spirit Treasure ready, he prepared to restore himself before attempting the breakthrough.

• Mo Zhaoli and Lin Changheng each took a Blue-Furred Tiger Cub and divided the ores and other spoils from the hunt.
• Lin Changheng returned to Cave Abode Number Ninety-Eight, reunited with Yan Mingyi, and entrusted her with caring for his new cub alongside his other spirit beasts.
• Lin Changheng began secluded cultivation, aiming to refine Youth-Preserving Pills and raise his cultivation; Mo Zhaoli later delivered the Ice Pool Jade Spring and Foundation Establishment Spirit Treasure.
• After three years of cultivation, Lin Changheng reached the peak of the Foundation Establishment third layer at age eighty-five and decided to rest before attempting a breakthrough.
• Lin Changheng checked his growing spirit beasts and herb garden, reflecting that he had already refined two proper Youth-Preserving Pills and one inferior pill.