Chapter Summaries

Lin Changheng traded the Dust-Descending Pills to Purple Thunder True Person for the roots of the Five-Element Nascent Soul-Nurturing Herb, then discovered that heavenly-secret threads had been attached to them. After severing the threads without tracing them to their source, he revived and planted the roots in his Heaven-in-a-Pot Blessed Land, and the Song Region army reached the Far-Pacifying Fortress on its way to the Yan-Jin front.

• Lin Changheng met Purple Thunder True Person aboard the Azure Firmament Sect's treasure boat and sampled tea made with leaves from living Thunderstrike Wood.
• Lin Changheng gave Purple Thunder True Person one premium and two standard Dust-Descending Pills, receiving the complete rootstock of the Five-Element Nascent Soul-Nurturing Herb in return.
• Lin Changheng celebrated the successful trade with Purple Thunder True Person and Boy Zhengwang, then returned to his cabin and found that the roots carried hidden heavenly-secret threads.
• Lin Changheng used his Candle Gaze Divine Ability to spot the threads and severed them without pursuing their source, suspecting that the Illusion-Breaking True Lord had set the trap.
• Lin Changheng spent four years of lifespan using the Glorious Life Divine Ability to revive and plant the roots in his Heaven-in-a-Pot Blessed Land.
• Three days later, Lin Changheng and Elder Kong saw the Song Region army arrive at the Far-Pacifying Fortress, where Elder Kong warned him about the carnage awaiting them at the front.

Lin Changheng joined the Song Region reinforcements in Jin Territory, improved his artifact-refining and formation skills, and settled into a fortified camp near the front. After arranging for his reputation as a pill master to spread discreetly, he received Millennium Spirit Milk from True Person Shouxuan and met his first Jin Territory client.

• Lin Changheng traveled with the Song Region craft masters to Jin Territory, where True Person Molten Gold and Formation Master Peng helped him advance his artifact refining and find a path toward becoming a third-tier formation master.
• The reinforcements established a camp near the front, and Lin Changheng chose a secluded tent, strengthened its defenses, and observed a battle between Core Formation cultivators from afar.
• Lin Changheng asked Purple Thunder True Person to discreetly praise his pill-refining skills among the Jin cultivators, hoping to attract clients without drawing too much attention from Yan Kingdom.
• Lin Changheng refined three Return-to-Truth Pills for True Person Shouxuan, who rewarded him with a bottle containing ten drops of Millennium Spirit Milk.
• A Jin Kingdom Core Formation cultivator arrived seeking pills after overhearing Lin Changheng offer to refine dual Core Formation pills for True Person Shouxuan.

Lin Changheng built his reputation among Jin cultivators by successfully refining pills, then learned that Medicine King Valley might resent his growing business. Boy Zhengwang revealed that the Yan Kingdom’s reduced offensives stemmed from a newly discovered large secret realm containing fourth-tier spirit veins and possible Nascent Soul opportunities, prompting Song and Jin to prepare an expedition into Yan.

• Lin Changheng accepted a commission from the Jin cultivator surnamed Ge, refined the Spirit-Elevating Expansive Earth Pills successfully, and asked Ge to recommend his services.
• After Lin Changheng publicized his breakthrough to third-tier mid-grade pill master, his reputation spread among Jin cultivators and requests for his pills increased.
• True Person Lustrous Light warned Lin Changheng that Medicine King Valley controlled Jin’s Pill Dao and might target him for competing with its monopoly.
• Lin Changheng decided not to retreat from Jin’s pill market, reasoning that Medicine King Valley would not risk provoking the Song reinforcements.
• Boy Zhengwang told Lin Changheng that a large secret realm had appeared in Yan, explaining the decline in fighting and the planned Song-Jin trade gathering.
• Boy Zhengwang revealed that Song and Jin Core Formation cultivators, accompanied by two Nascent Soul True Lords, would enter Yan to contest the secret realm, presenting both danger and opportunity.

Lin Changheng completed his first third-tier formation, becoming a Third-Tier Formation Master, then tested it in a secluded forest and killed a Medicine King Valley Grand Elder who had been sent to capture him. A soul search and the destruction of a tracking material revealed True Person Lustrous Light’s role in the plot, while the slain cultivator’s belongings yielded valuable pill formulas and a Jin Territory legacy.

• Boy Zhengwang told Lin Changheng he planned to enter the sealed secret realm, while Lin chose to avoid it and asked about the Frontline Fortress trading gathering.
• Lin Changheng crafted 108 formation flags and three formation disks, broke through to become a Third-Tier Formation Master, and slept for two days from exhaustion.
• Lin Changheng traveled to a secluded forest, tested the Origin-Locking Immortal-Trapping Formation and Blood Baleful Heaven-and-Earth Prison Formation, and concealed himself when a crimson-robed cultivator arrived tracking him.
• Lin Changheng trapped the Medicine King Valley Grand Elder and killed him with his flying swords, demonic arts, and Nether Abyss Iceflame.
• Lin Changheng searched the Grand Elder’s soul and learned that Medicine King Valley and True Person Lustrous Light had conspired to track and capture him.
• Lin Changheng burned the tracking material hidden in True Person Lustrous Light’s gift, then discovered pill formulas and a Third-Tier Pill Dao Technique Legacy among the Grand Elder’s possessions.

Lin Changheng killed a Medicine King Valley cultivator, erased the lingering traces of their encounter, and reached East-Guard Fortress, where he studied Jin Territory pill recipes and considered a secret-realm expedition. At the fortress, his Candle Gaze revealed the Hehuan Sect cultivator True Person Lustrous Light and a companion whose presence made his Myriad Manifestations Origin Sword resonate with a likely Primordial Jianmu relic.

• Lin Changheng buried the red-robed cultivator, added his soul to the Black Soul Banner, and claimed Jin Territory pill formulas, a third-tier Pill Dao legacy, and other treasures from the cultivator's Storage Bag.
• Lin Changheng used the true intent of the Candle Gaze Divine Ability to erase the faint heavenly-secret traces left by the battle, then hurried to East-Guard Fortress to establish an alibi.
• Lin Changheng entered the fortress, examined the Jin Territory Pill Dao legacy, and found formulas for the Fire-Refined True Body Pill and Five Elements Beast-Origin Powder, which he planned to use for himself and his spirit beasts.
• Purple Thunder True Person invited Lin Changheng to join him and Boy Zhengwang in the Yan Kingdom secret realm; Lin Changheng confirmed he had concealed his strength but declined for the time being.
• Lin Changheng spotted True Person Lustrous Light among four Hehuan Sect cultivators, and one of his Myriad Manifestations Origin Swords resonated with the younger male cultivator beside him, suggesting he carried a Primordial Jianmu relic.

Lin Changheng traded for valuable inheritances and materials at a Core Formation gathering, including a third-tier high-grade Pill Dao inheritance and a controllable fire beast. Afterward, he examined a binding-formation inheritance and found it especially useful.

• Lin Changheng bought a third-tier mid-grade Formation Inheritance from True Person Wandering the Mountains, then bought a third-tier high-grade Pill Dao inheritance from him after revealing his identity as Pill Master Ten Thousand Longevity.
• Lin Changheng visited the Hehuan Sect stall, where True Person Lustrous Light introduced True Person Yukong, True Person Desire Chastity, and True Person Yujie; Lin Changheng concealed his hostility and left without trading.
• Lin Changheng startled the late-stage cultivator Fellow Daoist Zhen by swiftly evading his approach, then traded Demonic Path goods for an elderly, controllable fire beast with a Nether Void bloodline and five-element spirit materials.
• Lin Changheng traded with other cultivators for more five-element spirit materials and flame-essence items, sold much of his accumulated spoils, and joined Song Region cultivators for a gathering at the Eastward-Gazing Tower.
• Lin Changheng returned to his inn, removed the restrictions from the Formation Inheritance, and discovered that the Essential Secrets of the Eight Winds Returning to Concealment Binding Formation was a comprehensive guide to binding formations.

Lin Changheng acquired valuable formation and pill-making inheritances, took in the aged Molten-Core Flood Dragon Turtle, and returned to the Miasma-Shadow Ancient Forest to check the broken teleportation formation. With the Yan Kingdom secret realm drawing powerful cultivators away, he traveled to Ultimate Bliss Immortal City to target the Hehuan Sect and investigate a Nascent Soul ruin tied to an ancient jade talisman.

• Lin Changheng studied the Eight-Wind Returning-to-Storage Binding Formation Essentials and Medicine King Valley's Third-Tier Superior Grade Pill Dao Inheritance, then settled the Molten-Core Flood Dragon Turtle in his blessed land and named it Old Chi.
• Lin Changheng examined his trading gains and, after several years passed, returned to the Miasma-Shadow Ancient Forest and confirmed that the ancient teleportation formation remained unusable.
• Lin Changheng learned that Song, Jin, and Yan had reached a preliminary agreement over the newly emerged secret realm, declined Purple Thunder True Person's invitation, and used the distraction to capture Medicine King Valley's True Person Fen Shi as an agent.
• Lin Changheng traveled to Ultimate Bliss Immortal City to exploit the Hehuan Sect's weakened defenses and investigate the Nascent Soul Cave-Dwelling Ruins, which he suspected were connected to his ancient Jade Talisman Fragment.
• Lin Changheng observed the Hehuan Sect's Heavenly Desire Tower, then watched Xiao Hei, Little Qing, and Old Chi converse in his blessed land before reminding Old Chi to provide two drops of blood.

Lin Changheng refined the Molten-Core Flood Dragon Turtle’s [Longevity] talent, adding twenty years to his lifespan, then captured True Person Yujie after killing her False Core companion and overpowering her. He learned that Yujie was True Person Lustrous Light’s Dao companion.

• Lin Changheng collected two drops of essence blood from the [Molten-Core Flood Dragon Turtle] and refined its [Longevity] talent, increasing his lifespan from 646 to 666 years and bringing his fire spiritual root to seventy-nine strands.
• After two months watching the [Hehuan Sect] encampment, Lin Changheng followed a False Core cultivator and True Person Yujie out of [Ultimate Bliss Immortal City] into a remote mountain range.
• Lin Changheng struck the pair with his divine sense and killed the False Core cultivator with his Red-Gold Flying Sword.
• True Person Yujie used Spirit-Ensnaring Lure against Lin Changheng, but he resisted and overwhelmed her defenses with his swords and the Hundred-Grievance Blood Corpse.
• Lin Changheng suppressed Yujie’s escape attempt, beat her until she surrendered, and used the Spirit-Sealing Life Spring Otherworldly Art to control her.
• Lin Changheng learned from True Person Yujie that she was True Person Lustrous Light’s Dao companion.

Lin Changheng learned about the Nascent Soul herbs and treasures taken from the ruins, then discovered that the late Core Formation rogue cultivator approaching him was the granduncle of the man he had killed. The Hemp-Cloth Elder attacked despite True Person Yujie's denial, and Lin Changheng prepared to test his arts against him.

• True Person Yujie explained the Hehuan Sect's two cultivation paths and revealed who had obtained several Nascent Soul-forming herbs from the ruins.
• Lin Changheng questioned True Person Yujie about the Hehuan Sect's plans and agreed to let her blame the purple-robed False Core cultivator's death on a late Core Formation rogue cultivator.
• Lin Changheng searched the purple-robed cultivator's soul and discovered that the rogue cultivator was his granduncle, the Hemp-Cloth Elder.
• The Hemp-Cloth Elder arrived, recognized Lin Changheng, and questioned him about Jun'er's death.
• The Hemp-Cloth Elder attacked Lin Changheng and True Person Yujie with a fire dragon from his Vermilion Gourd, and Lin Changheng welcomed the chance to test his arts.

Lin Changheng fought the late Core Formation Hemp-Cloth Elder, overcame his three fire dragons and ancient Dust-Returning Vase, and killed him with a series of crushing punches. True Person Yujie survived and watched from a distance as Lin Changheng prevailed.

• Lin Changheng severed the fire dragon attacking True Person Yujie and gave her an elixir so she could recover and support him from afar.
• The Hemp-Cloth Elder attacked Lin Changheng with three fire dragons, but Lin Changheng destroyed them with his swords, Spirit-Commanding Secret Art, and Hundred-Grievance Blood Corpse.
• Lin Changheng and the Hemp-Cloth Elder exchanged attacks until Lin Changheng trapped him in mist, then the elder used the ancient Dust-Returning Vase to absorb it and unleash powerful suction.
• Lin Changheng countered the Dust-Returning Vase with his ancient Spirit Mirror and used talismans and a concealed attack to close in on the Hemp-Cloth Elder.
• Lin Changheng battered the Hemp-Cloth Elder through his defenses, ignored his pleas for mercy, and punched through his chest, killing him.

Lin Changheng killed the late Core Formation Hemp-Cloth Elder, claimed his treasures, and refined the powerful [Dust-Returning Vase]. After using the [Bodhi Essence Jujubes] and other resources to advance to the fifth layer of Core Formation, he found that True Person Yujie had sent him new information about the [Nascent Soul Cave-Dwelling Ruins].

• Lin Changheng defeated and killed the Hemp-Cloth Elder, took his ancient treasures, and searched his memories while True Person Yujie witnessed his victory.
• Lin Changheng tested True Person Yujie's loyalty, then left with her and disposed of the Hemp-Cloth Elder's body in the [Heaven-in-a-Pot Blessed Land].
• Lin Changheng returned alone to the small city near the [Nascent Soul Cave-Dwelling Ruins], revisited his old courtyard, and searched the storage bags of the Hemp-Cloth Elder and the [Hehuan Sect] cultivator.
• Lin Changheng found two [Bodhi Essence Jujubes] and chose to consume them, then spent two days refining the ancient treasure [Dust-Returning Vase] into the Five-Colored Jade-Cleansing Bottle.
• After three months of cultivation, Lin Changheng advanced to the fifth layer of Core Formation and found a message from True Person Yujie containing the latest information on the [Nascent Soul Cave-Dwelling Ruins].

Lin Changheng used information from True Person Yujie to assess the defenses around the Nascent Soul Cave-Dwelling Ruins and the coming contest over Yan Kingdom’s large secret realm, then infiltrated the ruins as Li Feiyu. After finding the ruins stripped bare, he followed a faint burnt smell and discovered another late core formation cultivator repairing a hidden lightning array.

• True Person Yujie informed Lin Changheng that the ruins were guarded by a quasi-fourth-tier formation and a lax Foundation Establishment squad, and that the three kingdoms had barred Nascent Soul True Lords from Yan Kingdom’s large secret realm.
• Lin Changheng traveled to the ruins as Li Feiyu and used Nether Abyss Iceflame, black-gold flame, and Fire Escape Demonic Art to slip through the formation unnoticed.
• Lin Changheng explored the thoroughly looted cave dwelling and found no spirit medicine, spirit soil, or other obvious treasures.
• Lin Changheng detected a fresh burnt smell inside the ruins, concealed himself with several arts, and followed it through the winding passages.
• A stern-faced late core formation cultivator worked on a Spirit Gathering Array while discharging lightning, and Lin Changheng spotted a concealed Lightning Array ahead and smiled.

Lin Changheng dismantled the hidden lightning formations in the Nascent Soul Cave-Dwelling Ruins and ambushed the gray-clad Thunder-Arts Golden Cultivator, whom he had encountered before. The cultivator activated a one-way teleportation formation, but Lin Changheng wounded him with a flying sword before he could escape.

• Lin Changheng detected and destroyed the lightning traps, then replaced them with formations of his own as he advanced through the passages.
• Lin Changheng located the gray-clad cultivator in a stone chamber and prepared a three-colored flame pearl while summoning his flying swords.
• The gray-clad cultivator tried to escape the chamber, but Lin Changheng's giant sword blocked the entrance, and the man recognized him from their past encounter.
• Lin Changheng detonated the Threefold Treasure Flame Pearl, which destroyed the cultivator's defenses but left him alive with minor injuries.
• The gray-clad cultivator activated a concealed one-way teleportation formation, but Lin Changheng's sword pierced his chest before he could leave.
• The wounded cultivator clamped his muscles around the sword and used lightning to try to paralyze and restrain it.

Lin Changheng discovered that the Antique Jade Talisman Fragment activated the hidden teleportation formation and followed Qiu into a strange forest, where he caught up with him after a series of battles and injuries. Qiu survived Lin Changheng’s second Three-Colored Flame Pearl, but Lin Changheng confronted him in the cave, with three Flying Swords ready to attack.

• Qiu escaped the Nascent Soul Cave-Dwelling Ruins through a one-way teleportation formation, taking Lin Changheng’s Myriad Manifestations Origin Sword with him.
• Lin Changheng found a fan-shaped socket in the formation and inserted the Antique Jade Talisman Fragment, which activated the formation and transported him after Qiu.
• At the ruins’ camp, True Person Martial Bone and Cloudmist Adept ordered the cultivators to patrol while they flew toward the ruins to investigate cautiously.
• Qiu reached a forest, killed an emerald-green leopard demon beast, and hid in a cave to treat his sword wounds.
• Lin Changheng’s Three-Colored Flame Pearl struck Qiu in the cave, but Qiu survived behind a Defensive Treasure Talisman and layers of defenses.
• Lin Changheng entered the cave with three Flying Swords, and Qiu prepared to fight as Lin Changheng said he still had more pearls but would not waste one on him.

Lin Changheng survived Qiu’s Nascent Soul talisman treasure, overcame his lightning and body-tempering techniques, and killed him. After searching Qiu’s soul, Lin Changheng discovered information that left him stunned.

• Qiu unleashed a Nascent Soul talisman treasure, but Lin Changheng escaped its devastating strike using his armor, ancient treasures, and Wood-Escaping Technique.
• Lin Changheng pursued Qiu, used the Spirit-Binding Mirror to restrain his treasure artifact, and wounded him while confirming that the Hundred-Grievance Blood Corpse’s threads were vulnerable to lightning.
• Qiu drank a bloody secret medicine and charged Lin Changheng, but Lin Changheng defeated him in a series of close-range clashes and crippled him.
• Lin Changheng sealed Qiu’s dantian and killed him with a flying sword after Qiu conceded defeat.
• Lin Changheng searched Qiu’s soul and was left shocked by what he learned.

Lin Changheng hid in a cave inside the still-unemerged Yan Kingdom secret realm, extracted thunder-attribute essence blood from the slain Thunder Cultivator Qiu, and gained a Thunder Spiritual Root. After studying the Thunder Transformation into a Hundred Weapons Art, he tested his new thunder techniques and demonstrated that he could shape lightning into weapons.

• Lin Changheng killed a demon wasp that ambushed him, then fled to a concealed cave and set up a defensive formation.
• Lin Changheng learned from Qiu's memories that the secret realm had not fully emerged and that he had seven days to explore it before cultivators from the three kingdoms arrived.
• Lin Changheng rejected the idea of controlling Qiu, extracted nine drops of thunder-attribute essence blood, and watched Qiu's soul dissolve when a hidden talisman activated.
• Lin Changheng searched Qiu's Storage Bag and found a Nascent-Soul-Level Talisman Treasure, thunder materials, and several cultivation and craft inheritances.
• Lin Changheng used five drops of essence blood to manifest and incorporate the Thunderclap Mystic Root, gaining a Thunder Spiritual Root with twenty-seven strands of Spirit Resonance.
• Lin Changheng learned the Thunder Transformation into a Hundred Weapons Art and shaped lightning into saber, spear, and sword attacks that split a boulder.

Lin Changheng explored the Yan Kingdom Large Secret Realm, improved his thunder techniques, and hunted demon beasts while following Cultivator Qiu’s clues. He reached Mistbound Valley, pushed into its poisonous core, and discovered that the demon snake colony there yielded Nether Void essence blood.

• Lin Changheng advanced Thunder Transformation into a Hundred Weapons Art to Proficient and found that his divine sense had expanded to more than forty-two li.
• Lin Changheng followed the black river, mastered the beginner level of Lightning Flash, Startling Swan, and killed a late-third-tier Pitch-Black Toad for its Nether Void essence blood and water-attribute demon core.
• Lin Changheng avoided the ominous snowy mountain and located Mistbound Valley, where his Six-Colored Divine Light and Candle Gaze let him see through the mist and its illusions.
• Lin Changheng killed mist-hiding beasts and illusion butterflies in the outer and inner layers, then used Mist-Scattering Divine Ability to keep poisonous mist away as he entered the core layer.
• Lin Changheng searched the black forest for Nether Void bloodlines and found that a demon snake colony contained Nether Void essence blood.

Lin Changheng discovered a cave in Mistbound Valley containing a Golden Lotus Seed that tested his heart with deadly illusions, then overcame the trial and took the seed and lotus. Pulling the lotus free caused the cavern and surrounding mountains to collapse, but Lin escaped and returned to hunting demon serpents amid the chaos.

• Lin Changheng found a cave where mist suppressed his magical power, divine sense, storage bag, and treasure artifacts, though his body cultivation and Heaven-in-a-Pot Divine Ability still worked.
• Lin Changheng entered the cavern and found a Golden Lotus Seed, three skeletons, and other remains, then fell into illusions that he defeated by reaffirming his resolve.
• Lin Changheng realized the Golden Lotus Seed had drawn previous cultivators into the blood pool and killed them, then crossed the pool and plucked the seed, which cleared his mind.
• Lin Changheng used his full body strength to uproot the lotus, drained more than half the pool’s scarlet water into the Heaven-in-a-Pot Blessed Land, and escaped as the cavern and mountain range collapsed.
• Lin Changheng recovered his magical power and divine sense outside the poisonous mist, then returned to the valley to kill fleeing demon serpents and gather their essence blood.

Lin Changheng slaughtered the demon snakes of Mistbound Valley, killed their late third-tier leader, and brought the valley’s treasure lotus and spoils to safety. After integrating the Ancient Gloomwood Snake’s poison talent and recovering overnight, he left the Black River to explore the secret realm’s remaining locations before it opened to other cultivators.

• Lin Changheng harvested demon snake essence blood throughout Mistbound Valley and killed the late third-tier Ancient Gloomwood Snake with his sword, lightning, flames, and River-Calming Pearl.
• Lin Changheng slew the fleeing snakes, gathered their corpses, then avoided the snowy mountain and hid in a concealed underwater cave beside the Black River.
• Lin Changheng replanted the treasure lotus in the Heaven-in-a-Pot Blessed Land and spent a year of lifespan restoring its vitality.
• Lin Changheng used the Ancient Gloomwood Snake essence blood to complete spirit seizure and integrated the Thousand-Poison Spirit Erosion talent, gaining the ability to absorb, store, and release toxins.
• Lin Changheng assessed his new spiritual resonance and collected armor and demon cores, then recovered overnight and departed to explore the secret realm’s remaining three locations.

Lin Changheng escaped four late-third-tier demon beasts after taking a five-colored lingzhi, and Old Chi revealed the identities of rare treasures and gave him two Nascent Soul pill formulas. As Lin Changheng began refining the lingzhi, the Yan Kingdom secret realm appeared before cultivators from three kingdoms and four Nascent Soul True Lords.

• Lin Changheng escaped the desert after stealing a five-colored lingzhi from the territory of four powerful demon beasts.
• Old Chi identified Lin Changheng’s earth-breath soil and nine-pattern yellow court lotus, then gave him the formulas for the Illusion-Breaking Pill and Nascent Soul Transformation Pill.
• Lin Changheng placed the earth-breath soil in the heaven-in-a-pot blessed land, where Xiao Hei absorbed its earth qi, and found that another treasure site had vanished.
• Lin Changheng used Blood-Shadow Escape to break through the demon beasts’ encirclement, then prepared to refine the immature five-colored lingzhi before the secret realm opened.
• Forty Core Formation Cultivators from Song, Jin, and Yan gathered before the opening Yan Kingdom secret realm as Illusion-Breaking True Lord and Azure Firmament True Lord discussed the dangers facing their kingdoms.