Chapter Summaries

Lin Changheng survived a mysterious cultivator’s scrutiny, then fought a herd of Mystic Fire Rhinoceroses and harvested their resources. He began spirit-seizing their essence blood to gain a new fire-attribute treasure seed as the secret realm’s dangers continued to mount.

• A concealed female cultivator from the Purple Pole Sect watched Lin Changheng without being detected, then vanished after deciding not to interfere with him.
• Lin Changheng used his puppet to scout through concealed spatial rifts and encountered a cultivator fleeing a herd of Mystic Fire Rhinoceroses; when the man tried to divert the beasts toward him, Lin Changheng killed him.
• Lin Changheng fought the rhinoceros herd, using spatial rifts and the Soul-Striking Whip to kill many of the beasts, while he killed three cultivators who tried to steal his spoils.
• Lin Changheng drove off the surviving rhinoceroses, collected their essence blood, monster cores, and other materials, and recovered in a secluded spot.
• Lin Changheng began spirit-seizing Mystic Fire Rhinoceros essence blood, and the Origin Cauldron revealed a treasure seed with three possible innate talents.

Lin Changheng chose and refined the [Mystic Fire Furnace] talent, which let him harmonize and fuse his two flames into powerful new attacks. He avoided the secret realm’s increasingly dangerous core region, hunted [Mystic Fire Rhinoceroses] for more resources, and the chapter ended with him forcing his way into a fiery cavern nest as battles erupted elsewhere.

• Lin Changheng chose [Mystic Fire Furnace] over [Lava Heavy Armor] and [Frenzied Rhinoceros Charge], then refined the talent into himself.
• Lin Changheng used the furnace to harmonize [dark radiance mystic flame] and [nether abyss icefire], creating an [Ice-Fire Taiji Flame] and an unstable [Ice-Fire Yin-Yang Pearl] that caused a mountainside to collapse.
• Lin Changheng decided to stay out of the core region until its cultivators were weakened, and he discovered a five-hundred-year [Red Jade Sword Orchid] in a dead cultivator’s storage bag.
• Lin Changheng returned to the scarlet mountains to hunt [Mystic Fire Rhinoceroses] and search for more [Red Jade Sword Orchids].
• Purple Pole Sect and Extreme South Palace cultivators confronted each other over demon beast remains, while other cultivators fought beasts, seized treasures, and killed rivals across the core region.
• Lin Changheng, his black robes stained with blood, forced his way into a nest inside a fiery cavern.

Lin Changheng slaughtered the Mystic Fire Rhinoceroses, gained a fire-attribute earth spiritual root, and strengthened his Dark Radiance Mystic Flame before entering the secret realm’s core. After discovering centennial stone bamboo shoot milk and tracking the Purple Pole Sect cultivators who had concealed its source, he killed their guard and slipped into the Stone Hall to confront the two cultivators inside.

• Lin Changheng killed the Mystic Fire Rhinoceroses in their volcanic lair, spared two females and some young, and took two young rhinoceroses into the Heaven-in-a-Pot Space.
• Lin Changheng seized the rhinoceroses’ essence blood, gained a fire-attribute earth spiritual root, and improved his Ice-Fire Taiji Flame’s fusion and control.
• Lin Changheng fed mystic fire nature from the rhinoceros cores and Red Jade Sword Orchid to the Dark Radiance Mystic Flame, bringing it close to mid-grade third-tier.
• Lin Changheng found a concealed cave behind a heavy-water waterfall and discovered that its stone bamboo shoot milk included centennial stone bamboo shoot milk, a main ingredient for the Dust-Descending Pill.
• Lin Changheng tracked Jin Daoyao and two other Purple Pole Sect cultivators to an ancient Stone Hall, killed their guard, and entered through their concealment formation.

Lin Changheng ambushed Jin Daoyao and Senior Brother Yue while they tried to open a treasure chamber, then wore Yue down with repeated attacks and fire-escape tricks. He killed Yue, recovered the Centennial Stone Bamboo Shoot Milk and the jade box, and buried both cultivators in the Heaven-in-a-Pot Blessed Land.

• Lin Changheng overheard Jin Daoyao and Senior Brother Yue discuss their preparations and waited in hiding for them to break the chamber’s restrictions.
• Lin Changheng attacked with the Ice-Fire Yin-Yang Pearl, gravely wounding Jin Daoyao and injuring Senior Brother Yue before fighting Yue in the corridor.
• Senior Brother Yue brought out a True-Core-Level Talisman Treasure, but Lin Changheng escaped through the stone hall’s lamps with the Fire Escape Demonic Art.
• Lin Changheng returned and repeatedly forced Yue to activate and withdraw the talisman treasure, exhausting Yue’s strength and its spiritual potency.
• Lin Changheng severed Yue’s hand with the Dark Radiance Mystic Flame and killed him with the Azure-Purple Sword Embryo; Yue had already killed the dying Jin Daoyao.
• Lin Changheng took the True-Core-Level Talisman Treasure, the Centennial Stone Bamboo Shoot Milk, and the jade box, then buried both corpses in the Heaven-in-a-Pot Blessed Land.

Lin Changheng failed to breach the Stone Hall’s formations, then reached the secret realm’s core and discovered traces of a powerful lightning cultivator. Deep underground, a Purple Pole Sect woman killed the guardian Black Tortoise and prepared to seize the Chaos Pearl, but a gray-clad Foundation Establishment cultivator appeared just as she was about to claim it.

• Lin Changheng failed to penetrate the Stone Hall’s central and right-hand formations and decided to prioritize improving his formation skills.
• True Person Cloud Crane and True Person Lingfeng learned that elite disciples from both factions had died, and they speculated that an unknown threat was active inside the secret realm.
• Lin Changheng reached the core region, recognized the lightning traces as belonging to the cultivator who had once injured Deng Changsheng, and began following them while forming a plan.
• A Purple Robe woman revealed that the Purple Pole Sect had spent 240 years scheming to control the secret realm by killing its Millennium Black Tortoise guardian and claiming the Chaos Pearl.
• The Purple Robe woman detected a hidden intruder and attacked, forcing a gray-clad Foundation Establishment cultivator out of concealment before he greeted her with brazen admiration.

Lin Changheng secretly entered the underground chamber, where True Person Xuanji and a gray-clad Jin Kingdom cultivator fought over the Secret Realm Core. He disrupted their deal, stole Qilin-Patterned Purple Gold, and escaped their attacks, but remained nearby weighing his next move against the badly injured True Person Xuanji.

• The gray-clad cultivator revealed that the Purple Robe woman was a Core Formation cultivator and fought her with lightning arts, talismans, and a Golden Core Talisman Treasure.
• Lin Changheng followed the Heaven-in-a-Pot singularity's spatial resonance into the hidden chamber and spotted True Person Xuanji, the gray-clad cultivator, the Secret Realm Core, and the Black Tortoise corpse.
• The gray-clad cultivator offered to leave in exchange for the Five-Element Fan, then accepted Qilin-Patterned Purple Gold when True Person Xuanji refused; Lin Changheng fired lightning arrows, stole the metal, and fled.
• True Person Xuanji and the gray-clad cultivator attacked Lin Changheng as he escaped, but he survived and then struck the gray-clad cultivator with an Ice-Fire Yin-Yang Pearl.
• The wounded gray-clad cultivator attacked the Secret Realm Core with his Golden Core Talisman Treasure, forcing True Person Xuanji to protect it, then escaped with a Minor Teleportation Talisman.
• Lin Changheng hid nearby with the Qilin-Patterned Purple Gold and considered what to do about the severely injured but enraged True Person Xuanji.

Lin Changheng tried to exploit the struggle over the Chaos Pearl, but the Millennium Black Tortoise revived and shattered it during a desperate attack, triggering the secret realm’s collapse. He escaped after killing a fleeing Extreme South Palace cultivator, while the surviving disciples poured through an early-opened exit and reported the catastrophe.

• Lin Changheng proposed trading with True Person Xuanji for the black tortoise’s demon core and heart essence blood, but the supposedly dead Millennium Black Tortoise revived and attacked her.
• Lin Changheng rushed for the Chaos Pearl, discovered it was bound to the stone pillar and earth veins, then persuaded True Person Xuanji to join him against the tortoise.
• As the tortoise was dying, it fired three Earth-Yellow Destruction Beams; one struck the Chaos Pearl and shattered it, while Lin Changheng absorbed some of the released spatial origin.
• The shattered pearl destabilized the underground chamber and the entire secret realm, forcing Lin Changheng to flee as True Person Xuanji continued fighting the tortoise.
• During his escape, Lin Changheng ambushed and killed an Extreme South Palace cultivator, took his Storage Bag, and continued toward the exit.
• Outside the secret realm, True Person Cloud Crane, True Person Lingfeng, Sun, and Song opened the exit early, and escaping cultivators reported that the realm was collapsing.

Lin Changheng escaped the collapsing Sixty-Year Secret Realm as True Person Lingfeng hunted the Thunder-Arts Golden Cultivator, who escaped with a second Minor Teleportation Talisman. After the realm was destroyed and the sects tallied their survivors’ spoils, Lin Changheng discovered that his Heaven-in-a-Pot Blessed Land had expanded enormously and began reviewing his gains.

• Lin Changheng hid among the injured cultivators while waiting for the Thunder-Arts Golden Cultivator to emerge from the collapsing realm.
• True Person Lingfeng used Thunder-Seeking Thunder to identify the gray-robed Thunder-Arts Golden Cultivator, who blocked Lingfeng’s attacks with a Golden Core Talisman Treasure before escaping with a second Minor Teleportation Talisman.
• The Thunder-Arts Golden Cultivator accused the Extreme South Palace of persecuting minor cultivators, prompting a crowd of cultivators to flee; Lin Changheng escaped in the confusion.
• True Person Xuanji emerged and secretly told True Person Cloud Crane that the secret realm’s core had shattered and revealed another Stone Box before the portal collapsed completely.
• After fleeing more than fifty li, Lin Changheng killed a rogue cultivator who had followed him, then discovered that his Heaven-in-a-Pot Blessed Land had expanded to nearly a hundred zhang across.
• Lin Changheng inspected his collected Storage Bags and found valuable treasures, including two auxiliary ingredients for the Return-to-Truth Pill.

Lin Changheng inventoried his secret-realm spoils, completed his ingredients for both Core Formation pills, and discovered a method for forging a replica of the ancient River-Calming Pearl. After returning to Jade Belt Lake, he prepared Yan Mingyi and the Xu Family women for his prolonged absence, then left to continue pursuing Core Formation.

• Lin Changheng found rare Core Formation pill ingredients, craft inheritances, and a concealed Treasure Artifact Embryo among the Storage Bags he had collected.
• Lin Changheng opened the protected Jade Box and discovered an ancient method for forging a replica of the River-Calming Pearl.
• Lin Changheng left Gentleman Yu two bottles of gentle elixirs and a cultivation method for his granddaughter, who possessed mixed spiritual roots.
• Lin Changheng returned to Jade Belt Lake, refined Youth-Preserving Pills and cultivation elixirs, and gave Yan Mingyi and the Xu Family women pills, spirit artifacts, and protective arrangements.
• Lin Changheng and Yan Mingyi agreed that she would join the Xu Family women while he pursued Core Formation, and Lin Changheng then left Jade Belt Lake heading south.

Lin Changheng visited Bai Hengwan in Floating Life Immortal City, where his new status as a Third-Tier Pill Master strengthened their alliance and brought him Core Formation insights. After his reputation spread and powerful cultivators sent congratulations, Azure Mist Rogue Person’s envoy delivered five drops of the rare Xun-Wind Thunder Liquid Lin Changheng needed for his Sword Embryos.

• Lin Changheng met Bai Hengwan, revealed his Third-Tier Pill Master status, received her Core Formation insights, and asked her to seek more Xun-Wind Thunder Liquid.
• Lin Changheng practiced the Mirage-Tower Illusion Concealment Art and discussed pill dao with Elder Kong, who also gave him insights into forming a False Core.
• Zhao Guangjing befriended Lin Changheng after accepting Bai Hengwan’s victory in the True Disciple contest, while True Disciple Yang sent congratulations but did not visit.
• News of Lin Changheng’s advancement spread across Floating Life Immortal City and the surrounding regions, drawing cultivators and envoys bearing gifts.
• Azure Mist Rogue Person’s envoy delivered a congratulatory gift containing five drops of Xun-Wind Thunder Liquid.

Lin Changheng gathered the materials and information he needed to prepare for Core Formation, then arranged passage to Yuanshan Kingdom, where he could attempt it away from the Extreme South Palace’s scrutiny. He left the Song Kingdom aboard a merchant guild Spirit Boat and reunited with Gao Jingshu, whose attentions suggested Zhu Fugui had arranged their meeting.

• Azure Mist Rogue Person and Bai Hengwan provided Lin Changheng with additional xun-wind thunder liquid, and he left for Extreme Mountain Immortal City after cultivating his concealment art.
• At the Flying Immortal Pleasure Barge, Lin Changheng learned that Song and Jin were moving toward peace because Yan had grown powerful, and that Moon-Embracing True Person had formed a true core rather than a golden core.
• Lin Changheng resolved not to attempt Core Formation in the Song Region and visited Zhu Fugui, selling him more than a dozen Spirit Artifacts and asking about safer places to form his core.
• Zhu Fugui told Lin Changheng about Yuanshan Kingdom’s neutrality and spirit-vein cave residences, gave him a regional map, and arranged free passage on a merchant caravan Spirit Boat.
• A month later, Lin Changheng boarded the Spirit Boat and met Gao Jingshu, who had reached early-stage Foundation Establishment and soon made him a new enchanted robe.

Lin Changheng arrived at Origin Immortal City, rented a secluded residence on a mid-grade third-tier spirit vein, and prepared for Core Formation under the city’s protections. After three years of seclusion and tempering his magical power with twin flames, he finished refining it and stood ready for the next stage of his breakthrough.

• Lin Changheng accepted Gao Jingshu’s handcrafted robe and gave her pills and a protective pendant in return, then parted from her when the spirit boat reached the Yuanshan Kingdom.
• Lin Changheng arrived at Origin Immortal City and learned from Huang Xiaowu about the city’s governing alliance, rules, and cave-residence rentals.
• Lin Changheng rented Cloudmist District No. 21 for five years and met his neighbor, Daoist Mo Gu, who secretly probed his wealth and cultivation.
• Lin Changheng installed the Nine-Palace Spirit-Locking Mountain-Suppressing Formation, moved the cave’s cold spring water into his Heaven-in-a-Pot Blessed Land, and began secluded preparations for Core Formation.
• After three years without leaving his cave, Lin Changheng completed the twin-flame tempering of his liquid magical power and declared it pure and dense.

After preparing for Core Formation, Lin Changheng harvested the Azure Sky White Tiger treasure seed and refined a premium Return-to-Truth Pill. He renewed his cave lease and attended a Secret Shop gathering, where he unexpectedly recognized a woman among the attendants.

• Lin Changheng drew two drops of essence blood from Little Qing and harvested the Azure Sky White Tiger treasure seed, increasing his divine sense and strengthening his Cloud-Concealment Otherworldly Art.
• Daoist Mo Gu suspected that Lin Changheng had died during years of seclusion and coveted the wealth he imagined was inside the sealed residence.
• Lin Changheng refined a Premium Return-to-Truth Pill and an Inferior Return-to-Truth Pill, then rested before renewing his cave lease.
• A steward invited Lin Changheng to a Secret Shop, and Lin Changheng accepted after checking the mark placed on his residence token.
• Lin Changheng entered the underground gathering in disguise and declined to select an attendant until he recognized a woman among them and pointed her out.

Lin Changheng reunited with Su Shuangjiang at a secret auction, rescued her from the shop, and learned of a possible damaged Ancient Treasure in the Yue Kingdom. He entered seclusion with pills and the Heaven-Shrouding Secret Art to pursue core formation, and six months later spiritual energy began gathering around him.

• Lin Changheng recognized Su Shuangjiang, his old acquaintance from Zichuan Market, and discreetly revealed his identity during the secret gathering.
• Su Shuangjiang told Lin Changheng how a trusted companion betrayed her group after they found a core formation cultivator’s hidden cave abode, leading to her capture and demonic restrictions.
• Lin Changheng examined Su Shuangjiang’s restriction and promised to seek a way to remove it, then bought the Heaven-Shrouding Secret Art, which could suppress core-formation phenomena.
• Su Shuangjiang recalled that the cave abode contained a damaged bronze mirror that might be an Ancient Treasure, but said the ambushers had stolen it with her Storage Bag.
• Lin Changheng paid to take Su Shuangjiang from the Secret Shop and brought her to his cave abode, where he told her to wait while he entered seclusion.
• Lin Changheng prepared the ingredients for the Dust-Descending Pill and the Heaven-Shrouding Secret Art; six months later, spiritual energy surged toward him as he sat with two bottles of Premium Pills.

Lin Changheng secluded himself in Cave Abode Twenty-One and successfully formed a lower-tier golden core, concealing the true scale of his breakthrough with the Heaven-Shrouding Secret Art. After stabilizing his cultivation and discovering his lifespan had increased to 645 years, he exhaled a brilliant white flame.

• Lin Changheng absorbed the Premium Return-to-Truth Pill and formed a nascent core, then used the Fine Dust-Descending Pill to stabilize and improve it.
• Su Shuangjiang sensed the disturbance and realized Lin Changheng was attempting core formation, while cultivators nearby watched a separate core-formation phenomenon in the Mountain Shoulder District.
• Lin Changheng used the Heaven-Shrouding Secret Art to suppress his golden core phenomenon, misleading observers as the spiritual energy cloud contracted.
• Lin Changheng absorbed the descending spiritual energy and completed his breakthrough, forming a lower-tier golden core; Su Shuangjiang recognized his success.
• A withered figure in a dark palace divined the arrival of another potential successor and lamented that the next one would lack affinity for his art.
• After two months, Lin Changheng stabilized his golden core, found that his lifespan had risen to 645 years, and exhaled a brilliant white flame.

Lin Changheng completed his core formation, fused his three flames, forged his natal treasure artifact, and removed the demonic restriction in Su Shuangjiang. After meeting local cultivators and considering offers from the Immortal City Alliance and the Extreme South Palace, he sought a reliable source of demon beast materials and finally found a promising lead through a merchant association.

• Lin Changheng tested his new Natal Pill Flame, fused it with the Dark Radiance Mystic Flame and Nether Abyss Icefire, and discovered his divine sense could reach nineteen li.
• Lin Changheng finished tempering his Azure-Purple Sword Embryo with golden core magical power and Natal Pill Flame, completing his natal treasure artifact.
• Lin Changheng used his twin flames to remove Su Shuangjiang's demonic restriction, captured the escaping demonic qi origin, and gave her a Vein-Nourishing Origin-Communicating Pill to aid her recovery.
• Lin Changheng read the invitations and visiting cards he had received, including one from the Extreme South Palace, then visited nearby Core Formation cultivators and met Daoist Mo Gu in public.
• Lin Changheng met with the Immortal City Alliance but declined to join, while True Person Jingmu and True Person Huanshu discussed the danger of regional turmoil and the need to recruit him.
• Lin Changheng transformed the true intent of his Glorious Life Divine Ability and, after meeting representatives of three merchant associations, heard the answer he wanted from the fourth.

Lin Changheng secured a Great Shun Merchant Association partnership, obtained Wind-Splitting Falcon essence blood and the materials to forge his two remaining Natal Treasure Artifacts, then began refining them in seclusion. After Su Shuangjiang advanced to the Foundation Establishment Late Stage, Lin emerged from seclusion ready to travel to the Yue Region.

• Lin Changheng shattered True Person Dong’s Spirit-Appraising Mirror with his divine sense, then accepted Dong’s apology and learned that the Great Shun Merchant Association could procure Wind-Splitting Falcon essence blood from the Lu Kingdom.
• Lin agreed to become the association’s Senior Attendant in exchange for resource-gathering support, and Dong publicly announced his appointment to the association’s staff and customers.
• Lin obtained nine drops of Wind-Splitting Falcon essence blood and accumulated the materials needed to forge his two remaining Treasure Artifact Sword Embryos through the merchant associations of Origin Immortal City.
• Lin declined the Extreme South Palace’s offer to join it, returned to Cave Abode Twenty-One, and entered seclusion to forge his Natal Treasure Artifacts.
• Su Shuangjiang broke through to the Foundation Establishment Late Stage while Lin was refining his swords.
• Lin emerged from seclusion after several months, ready to travel to the Yue Region.

After advancing to Core Formation, Lin Changheng planned a search for an ancient treasure with Su Shuangjiang while remaining wary of a fellow cultivator’s invitation to join a rogue-cultivator circle. He reached the flooded cave beneath the Falling Star River and discovered that its Core Formation owner had apparently cultivated there without a spirit vein, leaving him to wonder what had taken its place.

• Lin Changheng completed his Myriad Manifestations Origin Sword and learned that Su Shuangjiang had advanced to the late stage of Foundation Establishment; she told him about the underwater abode and a spare communication talisman that could help them find the traitor who betrayed her.
• Daoist Mo Gu invited Lin Changheng to meet other rogue Core Formation cultivators, but Lin Changheng deferred the gathering until he finished nurturing his treasure and resolved to stay cautious.
• Lin Changheng exposed his Core Formation cultivation at the Mountain Spirit Hall to force a steward to refund his rent, then left Origin Immortal City with Su Shuangjiang for the Yue Kingdom.
• The pair split up near the Falling Star River: Su Shuangjiang went to retrieve her spare communication talisman, while Lin Changheng searched for the underwater abode.
• Lin Changheng entered the flooded cave, killed an attacking fish demon, and found that the Core Formation cultivator’s extensive abode had no spirit vein; he considered whether one had been removed or replaced by something else.

Lin Changheng traced the spirit energy in an abandoned river cave to a Spirit Eye Herb stolen by Lü Liangze’s accomplices, then helped Su Shuangjiang take revenge and learned that the treasures had reached Blood Moon Demon Cult leaders. After posing as Lü Liangze, Lin lured Venerable Red Soul into a secluded cave and launched a surprise attack.

• Lin Changheng found no trace of a spirit vein in the underwater cave and concluded that its former owner had possessed a spirit eye object; he gathered aquatic plants and creatures for his Heaven-in-a-Pot Blessed Land.
• Su Shuangjiang brought Lin the untouched contact talisman and recalled an emerald-green herb that had grown beside the cave owner’s meditation seat, confirming Lin’s suspicion that it was a Spirit Eye Herb.
• Lin and Su Shuangjiang confronted Lü Liangze at the Zhao household; Su killed his two companions and maimed him, while Lin suppressed his Demonic Artifact and searched his memories before Su finished him.
• Lin learned that Venerable Red Soul had taken the damaged Ancient Treasure while True Person Shattered Calamity held the Spirit Eye Herb, and he kept Lü Liangze’s Ghost-Head Jade Talisman while giving Su the recovered storage bags.
• Lin impersonated Lü Liangze and lured Venerable Red Soul into a secluded cave by promising him a prepared Hundred-Grievance Blood Corpse; once Red Soul’s guard dropped, Lin spat out a sword-shaped attack.

Lin Changheng killed Venerable Red Soul, claimed the damaged ancient bronze mirror and the unfinished Hundred-Grievance Blood Corpse, and spent the next year strengthening his sword techniques and completing a second Myriad Manifestations Origin Sword. After Su Shuangjiang brought him information about their former attackers, he took her to a demonic stronghold, where she killed the first target.

• Lin Changheng ambushed and killed Venerable Red Soul, taking his damaged ancient bronze mirror and storing the Hundred-Grievance Blood Corpse for Yan Mingyi to complete.
• Over the following year, Lin Changheng advanced the Light-Splitting, Shadow-Transforming Sword Manual to its seventh layer and completed his second Myriad Manifestations Origin Sword, allowing him to wield two True Sword-Light Images.
• Su Shuangjiang reported rumors of flood-dragon-blooded beasts near Golden Sand Beach and gave Lin Changheng a Jade Slip identifying five or six accomplices who had ambushed them.
• Lin Changheng took Su Shuangjiang to a demonic mine and subdued the Foundation Establishment late-stage cultivator she recognized as one of their attackers.
• Su Shuangjiang severed the old man's head with her Spirit Artifact, and Lin Changheng cleared the mine and prepared to take her to the next target.