Chapter Summaries

Yan Mingyi established her foundation, received Lin Changheng’s gift, and gave him the Hundred Refinements Spirit Puppet Manual. As Lin Changheng’s cultivation advanced to the foundation establishment fifth layer, an invitation arrived for Elder Kong’s Pill Dao celebration.

• Cheng Suling and Xu Maoling discussed Yan Mingyi’s breakthrough and returned to their islands as she completed her foundation establishment.
• Yan Mingyi thanked Lin Changheng for protecting her, received the Azure Congeal Spirit Artifact, and revealed that she had unlocked an upper-grade second-tier puppet inheritance.
• Lin Changheng examined the Hundred Refinements Spirit Puppet Manual, continued cultivating, and celebrated Yan Mingyi’s breakthrough with Cheng Suling and Xu Maoling.
• Lin Changheng tended his spiritual plant garden, learned that Elder Kong had become a Third-Tier Pill Master, and heard that the Huang Household’s conflict was nearing a settlement.
• Lin Changheng broke through to the foundation establishment fifth layer, then received an invitation to attend the ceremony celebrating Elder Kong’s Pill Dao advancement.

Lin Changheng visited the Huang Household after hearing about its recent war, learned that it had negotiated a ceasefire, and accepted its invitation to stay. Three days later, the household presented him with a box of more than fifty portions of powerful demon beast essence blood.

• Lin Changheng left Perching Moon Island for Elder Kong's ceremony, leaving Yan Mingyi and his spirit beasts to guard his home.
• Lin Changheng stopped at Spirit Vault Mountain, where Huang Household disciples verified his identity before Cook Zeng and Huang Linglin welcomed him.
• Lin Changheng learned that the Huang Household had reached a ceasefire under the Purple Pole Sect's supervision and that most of its Foundation Establishment cultivators were away on garrison duty.
• Huang Linglin invited Lin Changheng to stay for two days and promised the Huang Household's token of gratitude, so he accepted.
• Three days later, Huang Linglin, Cook Zeng, and Huang Tianlin presented Lin Changheng with a box containing a little over fifty portions of demon beast essence blood beyond the level of turbid baleful intent.

Lin Changheng received second-tier [Red-Eyed Fire Ogre] essence blood from the Huang Household and settled several old ties before returning to Floating Life Immortal City. After learning of old friends’ deaths and visiting the diminished [Hundred Herbs Shop], he gave Cheng Zhiyuan pills and departed, leaving the shop’s future in his hands.

• Lin Changheng recognized the Huang Household’s essence blood as second-tier [Red-Eyed Fire Ogre] blood and accepted their offer to provide more.
• Lin Changheng gave Huang Linglin a [Beauty-Preserving Pill] for Huang Lingsu, declined to meet her, and left the lineage grounds.
• Lin Changheng learned that a special auction would coincide with Elder Kong’s celebration and heard that the [Azure Firmament Sect] steward who had inflated the price of [eastwheel willow wood] had been punished for stealing sect resources.
• Lin Changheng visited the [Hundred Herbs Shop] and learned from Cheng Zhiyuan that Junior Brother Cheng had died five years earlier and the shop had shrunk.
• Lin Changheng gave Cheng Zhiyuan a Realm-Breaking Pill and Essence-Nourishing Pills, urged him to preserve the shop’s foundation, and departed.

Lin Changheng met Bai Hengwan before Elder Kong’s pill-master promotion ceremony and learned that Elder Kong would also recruit disciples there. When Bai Hengwan warned that True Disciple Yang might try to recruit him, she offered rare treasure-artifact materials in exchange for his clear support and future aid, leaving Lin Changheng to weigh the bargain.

• Lin Changheng met Bai Hengwan and discovered that her cultivation had reached the foundation establishment middle-stage peak.
• Bai Hengwan told Lin Changheng that Elder Kong would take disciples at the ceremony, and Lin declined to compete for a place.
• Lin Changheng collected a little over two hundred bottles of Azure Rain Mist Toad essence blood and returned the surplus to Bai Hengwan.
• Bai Hengwan warned Lin Changheng that True Disciple Yang might try to win him over, then asked for his help in her competition with her senior sister.
• Bai Hengwan showed Lin Changheng Earthcore Fire Marrow Iron, Nine-Heavens Stardust Sand, and Xun-Wind Thunder Liquid, offering one material in return for his support, future aid, and secrecy about their source.

Lin Changheng accepted Bai Hengwan’s offer of the Xun-Wind Thunder Liquid, completed spirit seizure of the Azure Rain Mist Toad treasure seed, and considered refining a treasure artifact embryo. At Elder Kong’s pill Dao celebration, he gained insights into advancing his pill mastery while Azure Mist Rogue Person assessed him from afar, and Lin Changheng sensed the gaze of a Core Formation cultivator.

• Lin Changheng agreed to keep the source of Bai Hengwan’s materials confidential and chose the Xun-Wind Thunder Liquid as his reward.
• Lin Changheng absorbed the Azure Rain Mist Toad essence blood, completed spirit seizure, and gained Transcendent Mastery of Illusion Illusion Technique.
• Lin Changheng examined his restored dark-cyan wood and decided to gather materials to refine it into a treasure artifact embryo.
• Elder Kong began his Third-Tier Pill Dao celebration on Heavenly Inquiry Island and preached his understanding of the pill Dao.
• Bai Hengwan introduced Lin Changheng to her master, Azure Mist Rogue Person, who advised her to maintain a favorable connection with him without forcing him to choose sides.
• Lin Changheng drew insights from Elder Kong’s sermon and sensed a powerful gaze that he suspected belonged to a Core Formation cultivator.

After Elder Kong’s lecture and disciple selection, he privately guided Lin Changheng on how to advance in the pill dao. Lin Changheng applied that insight, reached the upper-grade second-tier pill master realm, and informed Elder Kong and Bai Hengwan before leaving.

• Lin Changheng reflected on the mysterious uses of [Wind-Sensing Spirit Discernment] and suspected old Daoist Wu Jiu had sought him because he possessed [Redcloud Mystic Flame].
• Elder Kong accepted three disciples, including candidates from the [Extreme South Palace], [Mystic Ice Valley], and a rogue cultivator’s lineage, while Luo Su was not selected.
• Elder Kong summoned Lin Changheng to Bamboo Grove Retreat and taught him to guide medicinal ingredients and harmonize with their properties rather than rely solely on precise flame control.
• After a month of intensive practice, Lin Changheng refined three premium mid-grade second-tier pills and then successfully produced an upper-grade second-tier elixir.
• Lin Changheng sent Elder Kong and Bai Hengwan messages announcing his breakthrough and expressing his farewell; both were astonished and pleased by his rapid advancement.

Bai Hengwan learned that Lin Changheng had become an upper-grade second-tier pill master, while Yang Ziling sent a secret message to Lin Changheng’s mysterious neighbor. As Lin Changheng returned to Jade Belt Lake, he found Xu Maoling and Cheng Suling under simultaneous attack and moved to rescue Cheng Suling before Perching Moon Island became the next target.

• Bai Hengwan regretted that Lin Changheng had already left, then considered how his pill-making breakthrough would affect their future cooperation.
• Yang Ziling dismissed reports of Lin Changheng’s breakthrough and sent a sealed jade talisman to the mysterious cultivator in Cave Abode Number Ninety-Seven, who crushed it before sneaking out that night.
• Lin Changheng hurried toward Jade Belt Lake and discovered attackers assaulting Xu Maoling’s Rising Sun Island and Cheng Suling’s Floating Star Island.
• Lin Changheng ordered Yan Mingyi to hold Perching Moon Island’s formation and sent Xiao Bai through the water toward Floating Star Island.
• Lin Changheng concealed himself and approached the rear of the battle, where Cheng Suling was fighting two attackers while in grave danger.

Lin Changheng intervened when Cheng Suling’s Talisman Treasure failed to kill the black-robed late-stage cultivator and saved her from death. After killing the cultivator, he helped Cheng Suling recover, leaving them together at the battlefield.

• Lin Changheng watched Cheng Suling fight two black-robed cultivators and recognized the middle-stage cultivator surnamed Luo as her former companion and betrayer.
• Cheng Suling used geomancy to fend off the Bone Shuttles and Blazing Flame Fork, then activated a Talisman Treasure that annihilated Luo after the late-stage cultivator exchanged their positions.
• The surviving late-stage cultivator attacked the wounded Cheng Suling, but Lin Changheng’s Heavenly Thunder Seed disrupted his strike and saved her.
• Lin Changheng used the Fifth-Level Illusion Art to distract the late-stage cultivator, then killed him with his azure-gold Flying Sword.
• Lin Changheng caught Cheng Suling, helped her sit and meditate, and gave her a healing Elixir.

Lin Changheng killed the attackers on Floating Star Island and prepared to aid Xu Maoling on Rising Sun Island. The attackers broke Rising Sun Island’s formation, leaving Xu Maoling to face three Foundation Establishment cultivators alone.

• Lin Changheng gave Cheng Suling an elixir, gathered the battle spoils, and set out to check on Xu Maoling.
• The silver-white-masked cultivator sent Jia San to investigate Floating Star Island, where Lin Changheng ambushed and killed him with the Black Seal Platform and Void-Hiding Blade.
• Lin Changheng collected Jia San’s Storage Bag and shield, then arranged for the Deep Lake Spirit Clam to conceal itself near Rising Sun Island.
• The silver-white-masked cultivator used a Second-Tier Formation-Breaking Talisman to destroy Rising Sun Island’s formation, injuring Xu Maoling with the backlash.
• Xu Maoling fought off the masked cultivator, Jia Yi, and Jia Er with earth spells and his sickle after they charged him.

Lin Changheng helped Xu Maoling defeat the attackers threatening Rising Sun Island, then killed their silver-masked leader and confirmed that Floating Star Island was safe as well. After returning to Perching Moon Island, he comforted Yan Mingyi and counted his spoils, including the rare gui water essence, which could aid Core Formation.

• Lin Changheng killed Jia Er and Jia Yi while Xu Maoling held off the silver-masked cultivator, then the Deep Lake Spirit Clam wounded the fleeing leader and Lin Changheng beheaded him.
• Lin Changheng searched the leader’s soul but found its important memories sealed, then accepted Xu Maoling’s gratitude and left him to repair Rising Sun Island.
• Lin Changheng visited Cheng Suling on Floating Star Island and told her that all the attackers had been killed, easing her fears of another assault.
• Back on Perching Moon Island, Lin Changheng reassured Yan Mingyi, praised Xiao Bai for stopping the leader’s escape, and reflected that the balance among the three islands had shifted.
• Lin Changheng sorted the five Storage Bags and counted more than eighty thousand low-grade spirit stones’ worth of currency, along with rare gui water essence that could assist Core Formation.

Lin Changheng secured Gui Water Essence and five-element spirit resin, then helped Xu Maoling and Cheng Suling agree on an account of the attack at Jade Belt Lake. When the Purple Pole Sect investigated Chu Lingyu’s death, Zhen Xinghe accepted their explanation but imposed higher rent and warned them against another disturbance.

• Lin Changheng identified Gui Water Essence as a Core Formation aid and found five-element spirit resin and other materials for a future Treasure Artifact Embryo in the silver-masked cultivator’s Storage Bag.
• The Purple Pole Sect learned that Chu Lingyu had died during the attack on Jade Belt Lake and ordered a Law Enforcement Team to investigate while senior figures rejected harsher measures.
• Mo Zhaoli informed Lin Changheng that the sect intended to act and that she had advanced to the Foundation Establishment Fifth Layer.
• Xu Maoling and Cheng Suling told Lin Changheng how the cultivator surnamed Luo had lured them into a trap, and the three coordinated what they would tell the sect’s investigators.
• Zhen Xinghe arrived at Jade Belt Lake and questioned Lin Changheng, Xu Maoling, and Cheng Suling, who described the attackers as masked robbers and attributed their victory to teamwork and a spent talisman treasure.
• Zhen Xinghe ordered the three to submit evidence and detailed accounts, raised their rent and tribute by thirty percent for five years, and left after warning them not to cause another disturbance.

After a year and a half in seclusion, Lin Changheng uncovered that his wood fragment was a remnant of the Primordial Jianmu and emerged to prepare for his hundredth birthday. Three days before the celebration, Tantai Feiyue and Xu Hanji arrived, prompting an awkward meeting with Yan Mingyi.

• Lin Changheng finished refining the charred layer from the blue-green wood and realized it was a fragment of the Primordial Jianmu, a supreme material for crafting a Treasure Artifact Embryo.
• During his seclusion, Lin Changheng formed new treasure seeds, strengthened his abilities, and improved his escape techniques while Yan Mingyi prepared Perching Moon Island for his birthday.
• Lin Changheng emerged from seclusion, approved Yan Mingyi's guest list, and learned that Island Lord Xu and Fairy Cheng planned to attend.
• Three days before the celebration, Tantai Feiyue and Xu Hanji arrived at Perching Moon Island, and Lin Changheng greeted them warmly.
• Yan Mingyi introduced herself as Lin Changheng's concubine, and the three women exchanged polite greetings before gathering in the lakeside pavilion for tea.

Lin Changheng refined Black-Spined Vulture essence blood, greatly enhancing his Insight talent, then hosted a crowded hundredth-birthday banquet attended by powerful clans and sects. The celebration reached a climax when a Spirit Boat from Floating Life Immortal City arrived bearing True Disciple Bai Wan.

• Tantai Feiyue visited Lin Changheng in his cultivation chamber, and he revealed that he could likely defeat an ordinary late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.
• Lin Changheng used the Xu Family’s Black-Spined Vulture essence blood to advance his Insight Otherworldly Art and gained far sharper vision for detecting formations’ weak points and energy flows.
• Lin Changheng checked his spiritual roots and anticipated receiving Red-Eyed Fire essence blood from the Huang Household to raise his fire spiritual root.
• Guests flocked to Perching Moon Island for Lin Changheng’s hundredth-birthday banquet, and the Huang Household, the Sun Clan, and Mo Zhaoli presented gifts.
• A Spirit Boat from Floating Life Immortal City arrived above the island, and the guests recognized True Disciple Bai Wan aboard it.

At his centennial birthday banquet, Lin Changheng received valuable gifts and recognition from Elder Kong, while the guests departed and his companions returned to their own affairs. In seclusion, Lin Changheng absorbed the Red-Eyed Fire Ogre treasure seeds, gaining a high-grade fire spiritual root and preparing to explore their talents.

• Bai Hengwan arrived on Elder Kong’s orders and gave Lin Changheng an upper-grade second-tier pill furnace and a Three-Turn Azure Spirit Pill.
• Lin Changheng hosted his birthday banquet, where the guests’ attitudes toward him changed after Bai Hengwan’s visit.
• After the guests departed, Mo Zhaoli left for sect tasks, and Lin Changheng gave her a storage bag and urged her to prioritize her safety.
• Lin Changheng studied the Red-Eyed Fire Ogre’s Spirit-Burning Power Boost, Flame-Light Shadow Split, and Divine Blood Curse Seal, and decided the curse seal could help control enemies.
• Lin Changheng absorbed two Red-Eyed Fire Ogre treasure seeds and discovered his fire spiritual root had reached fifty-one wisps of spirit resonance, making it high-grade.

Lin Changheng tested his transformed high-grade fire spiritual root and refined a more powerful version of his Divine Blood Curse Seal Otherworldly Art before learning of major upheavals across the Song Region. As instability spread, he resolved to strengthen himself and considered joining Mo Zhaoli on a Purple Pole Sect expedition into the Savage Wastes.

• Lin Changheng discovered that his fifty-one-strand fire spiritual root greatly improved his cultivation efficiency and the purity of his magical power.
• Lin Changheng tested the second-layer Divine Blood Curse Seal Otherworldly Art on a wolf demon beast, then spent two months combining the art with the Redcloud Mystic Flame to create a stronger curse seal.
• Lin Changheng learned from Yan Mingyi that his birthday gifts were worth nearly forty thousand low-grade spirit stones and let her distribute some of them.
• Over the next five years, Lin Changheng heard of another beast tide in the Azure Rosy Clouds Temple's territory, rising tensions between Mystic Ice Valley and Yellow Maple Cliff, and turmoil in the Jin Kingdom.
• Lin Changheng recognized that he needed to improve his strength, but he still lacked century-old warm jade for his Treasure Artifact Embryo and sought more nether void essence blood for his treasure seeds.
• Lin Changheng considered Mo Zhaoli's invitation to help clear demonic beasts from a transforming Spirit Land in the Savage Wastes, where the Purple Pole Sect would send a False Core Cultivator and a formation master.

Lin Changheng prepared for Mo Zhaoli's mission and met her at Golden Sands Market Ward before joining the other Foundation Establishment cultivators. The gathering turned tense when Senior Sister Ye mocked Lin Changheng's ability, prompting Mo Zhaoli to defend him.

• Lin Changheng accepted Mo Zhaoli's invitation, inspected his weapons and supplies, and gave spirit artifacts to Mo Zhaoli, Tantai Feiyue, Yan Mingyi, and Xu Hanji.
• Lin Changheng secretly left Perching Moon Island, disguised himself, and met Mo Zhaoli at Golden Sands Market Ward, where she explained that the Purple Pole Sect was short on manpower and allowed members to hire outside help.
• Lin Changheng and Mo Zhaoli traveled to a sand mountain and joined six other Foundation Establishment cultivators, including a False Core Cultivator carrying a Treasure Artifact Embryo and formation master Jin Daoyao.
• Senior Sister Ye questioned Lin Changheng's usefulness, and Mo Zhaoli sharply defended him.

Lin Changheng and Mo Zhaoli joined True Person Linghu’s expedition into a dangerous quasi-third-tier spirit land, where Ye Qingwu’s feud with Mo Zhaoli threatened to complicate the mission. After the group split up to clear the basin and establish a formation, Lin Changheng used his unusual perception to guide Mo Zhaoli through the overgrown terrain and prepared to attack a swarm of Red-Winged Demon Bees.

• True Person Linghu silenced the cultivators’ quarrel and led them by Spirit Boat into the Savage Wastes, where the group faced demon beasts and eventually reached the spirit-land basin.
• Mo Zhaoli told Lin Changheng that Ye Qingwu had once tried to kill her for a valuable cultivation opportunity and still intended to take it back.
• Ye Qingwu tested Lin Changheng with a Charm Technique, but his strengthened soul resisted it, leaving her suspicious of his abilities.
• True Person Linghu assigned the cultivators separate areas to clear and formations to prepare, while he and Jin Daoyao established the formation’s core.
• Lin Changheng and Mo Zhaoli entered their northwestern area, and Lin Changheng used his divine light to overcome the limits on Divine Sense and vision.
• Lin Changheng prepared a condensed Redcloud Mystic Flame attack against a swarm of Red-Winged Demon Bees while Mo Zhaoli readied wood spells to seal the area.

Lin Changheng and Mo Zhaoli cleared demon beasts while establishing formation foundations, and Lin discovered lavafire crystal that could strengthen his Redcloud Mystic Flame. They spent the night together in the cavern, sitting closer than before as the story left their relationship quietly drawing nearer.

• Lin Changheng destroyed the Red-Winged Queen Bee’s colony, and Mo Zhaoli captured the surviving queen before revealing her Insect Control Inheritance and giving him a copy of the Ancient Insect Emperor Scroll.
• Lin Changheng found an Earthfire Lizard nest, and Mo Zhaoli killed its newly advanced second-tier guardian and buried a formation foundation nearby.
• Lin Changheng entered the cave, killed the remaining lizards, harvested Scarlet Flame Grass, and followed the Redcloud Mystic Flame’s response to find flowing flame stone essence and an Earthfire Cavern containing three pieces of lavafire crystal.
• Mo Zhaoli guarded the tunnel while Lin Changheng explored, then accepted half of the flowing flame stone essence after he told her he had kept the lavafire crystal for himself.
• After night fell, Lin Changheng and Mo Zhaoli stayed in the cavern, set up protective formations, and sat together by the fire with their shoulders touching.

Lin Changheng and Mo Zhaoli grew closer before discovering and killing two late-stage second-tier Thick-Earth Berserk Bears. The bears’ essence blood let Lin Changheng transform the Black-Armored Earth Turtle Treasure Seed and integrate the Earth Control art, leaving him with greatly enhanced Divine Sense.

• Lin Changheng kissed Mo Zhaoli, deepening their bond after eighty years of companionship.
• Lin Changheng found two Thick-Earth Berserk Bears and planned an ambush with Mo Zhaoli.
• Lin Changheng and Mo Zhaoli wounded the male bear, then separated the pair when the female emerged from its cave.
• Lin Changheng killed the male bear, then joined Mo Zhaoli to defeat the female bear.
• Mo Zhaoli harvested the bears while Lin Changheng gathered their essence blood and cave roots.
• Lin Changheng absorbed ten portions of bear essence blood, transformed the Black-Armored Earth Turtle Treasure Seed, integrated Earth Control, and extended his Divine Sense to four hundred and eighty zhang.

Lin Changheng explored his new Earth-Control Demonic Art, then fought alongside Mo Zhaoli and obtained Nether Void Essence Blood from two Jade Banyan Bloods. When Ye Qingwu ambushed them and attacked, Lin Changheng revealed newly acquired powers and branded her soul with an improved Divine Blood Curse Seal, leaving her trapped under its threat.

• Lin Changheng tested the Earth-Control Demonic Art, used it to seize control of a second-tier talisman’s stone lances, and reflected on how demonic arts complemented divine abilities.
• Lin Changheng and Mo Zhaoli killed two Jade Banyan Bloods, with Lin Changheng using an earth wall to create an opening for Mo Zhaoli’s Borrowed Blade Golden Light to strike the final blow.
• Ye Qingwu appeared, demanded the serpent corpses, and attacked Lin Changheng; he dodged her hidden nail and secretly transformed the Azure Rain Mist Toad Treasure Seed using Nether Void Essence Blood.
• Mo Zhaoli rejected Ye Qingwu’s attempt to provoke distrust, while Lin Changheng completed the transformation and acquired the Illusion Demonic Art.
• Ye Qingwu attacked with Poison Spirit Manifestation, but Lin Changheng’s Redcloud Mystic Flame purified her poison waves and his Illusion Demonic Art left her defenseless.
• Lin Changheng struck Ye Qingwu with his improved Divine Blood Curse Seal, branding her soul and making her scream in terror.