Chapter Summaries

After the Desolate Fire Sparrow broke the third-tier formation in the secret realm, Li Ping obtained a Spirit-Eye Jade that could provide third-tier spiritual qi and accelerate his cultivation. He entered the stone hall at the Secret Realm Core and had Jia Er open three Jade Boxes while he waited outside with the bird.

• The Desolate Fire Sparrow advanced to second-tier mid-grade and discovered something beyond the third-tier formation’s barrier.
• The bird’s innate spirit flame broke through the formation, allowing it to enter and retrieve a piece of Spirit-Eye Jade.
• Li Ping recognized the jade as a high-grade Spirit-Eye Stone and stored it, realizing it could shorten his path to the foundation establishment late stage.
• Li Ping and the Desolate Fire Sparrow explored the Secret Realm Core and found a stone hall with three Jade Boxes inside.
• Li Ping summoned Jia Er to open the Jade Boxes while he and the Desolate Fire Sparrow waited outside the hall.

Li Ping uncovered a Purple Qi Fruit, a Spirit-Eye Jade, and other treasures, then spent ten years cultivating in seclusion. Meanwhile, the Defender Alliance and the Four Demonic Sects negotiated a fragile peace over Donghua Mountain and access to the Qingyun Secret Realm as its opening approached.

• Li Ping discovered a Purple Qi Fruit that could help him refine an Essence Condensation Pill, along with an unidentified spirit liquid and a demon-related jade token.
• Li Ping recovered the third-tier Spirit-Eye Jade and formation equipment, then used the jade to accelerate his cultivation while planning to seek a spirit vein for core formation.
• Over ten years, the Four Demonic Sects seized Donghua Mountain, and the Defender Alliance fought them in a costly war after Xiao Changkong's death.
• Lu Old Devil proposed joint control of Donghua Mountain and the Qingyun Secret Realm, adding that he had reinforced the realm so Foundation Establishment Cultivators could enter safely.
• Huang Yunzi and Chixiaozi supported peace despite Qiu Changfeng's opposition, and the Defender Alliance agreed to negotiate over access to the Qingyun Secret Realm.
• The two sides argued over entry allocations until the day the Qingyun Secret Realm opened.

As Li Ping cultivated in the Qingyun Secret Realm, the Spirit Taming Sect’s six cultivators opened a hidden space beneath it, and Xiao Yunzhi followed them inside. The formation’s activation shook the ground around Li Ping’s cave abode, leaving him facing an unexplained upheaval.

• Li Ping reflected on reaching age eighty-eight and his progress toward the Foundation Establishment Late Stage before resuming cultivation.
• Eight Core Formation late stage cultivators opened the Qingyun Secret Realm, and Foundation Establishment cultivators entered as the outside leaders waited with their Life Tokens.
• Five Spirit Taming Sect cultivators waited at the secret realm’s core for Kun Hu, who arrived pursued by Xiao Yunzhi; she withdrew when she saw the others.
• Xiao Yunzhi discovered the six Spirit Taming Sect cultivators opening a hidden space and rushed through its passage before it closed.
• The formation’s activation caused the ground around Li Ping’s cave abode to split, revealing an immense formation beneath it.

Li Ping was teleported from his collapsing miniature Secret Realm into a much larger, lifeless Secret Realm and began exploring for a way out. Meanwhile, Xiao Yunzhi escaped with a sealed treasure as six Spirit Taming Sect cultivators pursued her, while the second layer of the Qingyun Secret Realm began to destabilize.

• Li Ping vanished when the Teleportation Formation activated, and his miniature Secret Realm dissolved in a spatial storm.
• Li Ping emerged in another Secret Realm, examined its four enormous mountains and empty landscape, and flew toward its center to look for danger and an exit.
• Xiao Yunzhi seized a taboo treasure from the black palace, and six Spirit Taming Sect cultivators attacked her as she fled.
• Kun Hu ordered the six cultivators to surround Xiao Yunzhi, while the second layer of the Qingyun Secret Realm slowly grew unstable.
• Lu Old Devil noticed the Secret Realm's entrance becoming unstable and proposed opening the passage, but Qiu Changfeng accused him of causing it.

Li Ping found Xiao Yunzhi being hunted by six Spirit Taming Sect cultivators and prepared to intervene after learning they wanted a treasure. Xiao Yunzhi killed one pursuer with her fiery divine bird, and Li Ping launched an ambush as the remaining attackers moved in.

• Lu Old Devil denied Qiu Changfeng's accusation while the late-stage cultivators reopened the secret realm's entrance and waited for everyone to emerge.
• Li Ping hid beneath a Dark Cloak and spotted Xiao Yunzhi fleeing six Spirit Taming Sect cultivators, who were demanding a treasure.
• Xiao Yunzhi and the Blazing Sun Bird combined their power to form a giant fiery divine bird and attack the pursuers.
• Xiao Yunzhi's fiery divine bird crushed Junior Brother Zhuang, but the other five cultivators pressed their attack.
• Li Ping's hidden magical power made three middle-stage cultivators sluggish, and his flaming ring burst from the sand as the cultivators realized they were ambushed.

Li Ping and Xiao Yunzhi turned the battle against Kun Hu and the triangular-faced cultivator, using their treasures and puppets to defeat the stronger opponents. The Blood-Colored Small Sword killed both late-stage cultivators, leaving Li Ping to reflect on the danger of underestimating any enemy.

• Li Ping used the Blazing Fire Ring to kill three poisoned foundation establishment middle stage cultivators while Jia Yi’s arrows kept Kun Hu occupied.
• Xiao Yunzhi sent her divine flame bird after the triangular-faced cultivator and destroyed his demon beast as Li Ping’s Blazing Fire Ring talisman treasure burned out.
• Li Ping had Jia Er activate the Blood-Colored Small Sword talisman treasure while he and Kun Hu traded attacks and Jia Yi exhausted its power.
• Kun Hu focused his attack on Li Ping, but the Blood-Colored Small Sword killed Kun Hu and then sliced the triangular-faced cultivator in half.
• Li Ping reclaimed the sword talisman and considered how narrowly he had avoided its power when he fought Hua Hong.

Li Ping rescued Xiao Yunzhi and the Blazing Sun Bird after defeating the demon cultivators, then claimed the sealed evil object she had recovered. As the Qingyun Secret Realm began to shake, they struggled to leave, while outside Lu Old Devil and Qiu Changfeng pressed the others to keep its entrance open.

• Li Ping sent Jia Yi and Jia Er to catch Xiao Yunzhi and the Blazing Sun Bird, then took Storage Bags from Kun Hu and the triangular-faced cultivator.
• Xiao Yunzhi thanked Li Ping, and he demanded to see the treasure; she gave him a talisman-covered Jade Box containing an evil object.
• The secret realm shook violently, so Li Ping asked Xiao Yunzhi to take him out, only to learn she had assumed he knew how to leave.
• Huang Yan, Xiong Pohai, and Ji Shuwen emerged from the Qingyun Secret Realm, but Xiao Yunzhi and Lu Old Devil's six cultivators did not appear.
• Lu Old Devil's six cultivators' Life Tokens shattered while Qiu Changfeng waited for Xiao Yunzhi, and Hua Wuji urged the others to close the entrance.
• Hua Wuji began withdrawing his magical power, but Lu Old Devil and Qiu Changfeng both cried out for him to stop.

As the Qingyun Secret Realm collapsed, Li Ping and Xiao Yunzhi escaped through a teleportation formation hidden in a jade token. They emerged beneath a vast frozen landscape, and Li Ping wondered whether he was still in the Western Wasteland.

• Lu Old Devil and the other late-stage Core Formation cultivators failed to stop the Qingyun Secret Realm from collapsing, and Qiu Changfeng faked Xiao Yunzhi’s death by crushing a blank jade token.
• Li Ping learned that Xiao Yunzhi did not know how to leave the secret realm, so he carried her to the central palace to search for an exit.
• Li Ping found a jade token that activated a teleportation formation, and he and Xiao Yunzhi escaped just before the palace was swallowed by a spatial storm.
• Li Ping and Xiao Yunzhi arrived in an underground stone hall, where Xiao Yunzhi began recovering while Li Ping searched for a way out.
• Li Ping broke through a stone wall and discovered a vast world of ice and snow beneath the ice, then wondered if he was still in the Western Wasteland.

Li Ping and Xiao Yunzhi escaped the buried teleportation formation into an endless frozen wasteland, where Xiao explained the deadly origins and human-use restrictions of the Three-Yin Soul-Slaying Sword. After days of flying south without finding civilization, they spotted a sled pulled by huge dogs and went to investigate.

• Li Ping returned to the stone hall, inventoried his spoils, and replenished his magical power while Xiao Yunzhi recovered.
• Xiao Yunzhi woke, thanked Li Ping, and explained that the Three-Yin Soul-Slaying Sword could devastate human souls but would consume any human cultivator who tried to wield it.
• Li Ping and Xiao Yunzhi broke through the ice, buried the teleportation formation, and flew south in search of signs of life.
• After several days crossing the endless ice and snow, Li Ping spotted a massive sled pulled by strange, enormous dogs and decided to investigate.

Li Ping and Xiao Yunzhi discovered that they had been teleported to the Far North and visited Sky Valley Market Ward to learn about the region. Ma Fangshan explained that humanity relied on the Eight Great Main Cities to resist hostile foreign races, while a fourth-tier great demon reportedly lived in the Northern Sea.

• Li Ping and Xiao Yunzhi landed on a mortal sled, and Xiao Yunzhi spoke with its occupants in an ancient language to learn their location.
• Xiao Yunzhi concluded that they had arrived in the Far North, and she and Li Ping flew to Sky Valley Market Ward to seek information.
• Li Ping and Xiao Yunzhi entered the market ward, where its master, Ma Fangshan, met with them and answered Li Ping's questions.
• Ma Fangshan told Li Ping that the Far North was dominated by foreign races and that humanity organized its defenses around the Eight Great Main Cities.

Li Ping and Xiao Yunzhi reached Snowflight City, where they planned to cultivate until they could safely return to the Western Wasteland. There, Li Ping unexpectedly reunited with Ji Shuxuan, who had survived years of enslavement and made a home in the Far North.

• Li Ping and Xiao Yunzhi refused Ma Fangshan’s offer to rule Sky Valley Market Ward and set out for Snowflight City.
• Xiao Yunzhi decided to remain in the Far North and attempt Core Formation rather than risk bringing Lu Old Devil’s wrath upon the Academy.
• After more than ten days of travel, Li Ping and Xiao Yunzhi entered Snowflight City, registered as rogue cultivators, and chose to rent a cave abode together.
• Ji Shuxuan recognized Li Ping outside his shop and welcomed him and Xiao Yunzhi inside, where he introduced his wife, A Yun.
• Ji Shuxuan told Li Ping that the Tuluo people had captured him, that Xu Guike had rescued him, and that he had since settled in Snowflight City with A Yun and their children.

Li Ping and Xiao Yunzhi settled in Snowflight City, where they rented a secluded cave abode in Changping Ward and began living together. After Ji Shuxuan welcomed them with a banquet, Li Ping returned to the new residence with Xiao Yunzhi, who planned to secure it with a formation.

• Li Ping met Ji Shuxuan and A Yun, learned that Xu Guike and Lin had gone to the Ice Sea, and asked Ji Shuxuan about renting a residence.
• Ji Shuxuan guided Li Ping and Xiao Yunzhi to Changping Ward, where Li Ping chose a spacious, secluded cave abode and signed a ten-year lease.
• Li Ping learned that Xiao Yunzhi was a second-tier formation master and left the residence's formation to her.
• Ji Shuxuan hosted Li Ping and Xiao Yunzhi at Golden Goblet Tower, where Li Ping gave Ji Shuxuan's children a middle-grade spirit stone each.
• Li Ping and Xiao Yunzhi returned to their cave abode, each went to a separate room, and began living together.

After arriving in the Far North, Li Ping settled in Snowflight City, pursued cultivation and plans to expand his puppet arsenal, and spent years building resources. At exactly one hundred years old, he broke through to late-stage Foundation Establishment.

• Li Ping considered his plans in the Far North, including finding puppet materials and information about the Myriad Spirits Divine Sense Art, then resumed cultivation.
• Li Ping asked Ji Shuxuan to gather puppet materials and investigate the Heavenly Craft Sect, while Xiao Yunzhi set up a formation that could warn them of divine sense probing.
• Over the next six years, Li Ping sold talismans and pills for profit, gathered materials, and refined an offensive puppet named Jia San.
• Li Ping renewed his cave abode lease and continued cultivating through the following years.
• At exactly one hundred years old, Li Ping broke through to late-stage Foundation Establishment.

Li Ping broke through to the Foundation Establishment late stage at age one hundred, revealed to Xiao Yunzhi that he was a Second-Tier Upper-Grade Pill Refiner, and celebrated with a birthday banquet. The chapter ended with Xiao Yunzhi wistfully admiring Ji Shuxuan’s family life, while Li Ping reminded her that cultivators who failed to reach Core Formation would eventually die.

• Li Ping stabilized his breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment late stage and emerged from seclusion, where Xiao Yunzhi congratulated him.
• Li Ping released the Desolate Fire Sparrow, and it happily played with Xiao Yunzhi’s Blazing Sun Bird before both birds ate his Beast-Feeding Pills.
• Li Ping told Xiao Yunzhi that he had refined the Second-Tier Beast-Feeding Pills himself and clarified that he was a Second-Tier Upper-Grade Pill Refiner.
• Li Ping held his hundredth birthday banquet, welcomed Ji Shuxuan and his family, and gave pills to Ji Shuxuan’s three children.
• Ji Shuxuan reported that Xu Guike and Lin had not returned from hunting demonic beasts in the Ice Sea, and he thanked Li Ping for helping the family shop by selling Spirit Talismans there.
• After the banquet, Xiao Yunzhi said she envied Ji Shuxuan and his wife’s ordinary family life, but Li Ping reminded her that without Core Formation, cultivators would eventually die.

After arriving in Snowflight City, Li Ping drew the Snowflight Sect’s attention as a second-tier upper-grade pill refiner, while he agreed to refine Golden Crane Pills for the sect’s logistics deacon. He completed the batch in two days, leaving Mei Hao astonished as he inspected the pills.

• Li Ping planned to gather enough spirit herbs and cultivate ties with the Snowflight Sect so he could use Snowflight City’s third-tier spiritual vein for his future Core Formation attempt.
• The Snowflight Sect’s elders, True Person Mu Yun and True Person Qian Xue, learned that a second-tier upper-grade pill refiner had arrived and told Tong'er to investigate his skill and background before recruiting him.
• Mei Hao, a Snowflight Sect logistics deacon, asked Li Ping to refine Golden Crane Pills, and Li Ping accepted after agreeing on a nonrefundable deposit and fee.
• Mei Hao supplied the spirit herbs and a second-tier mid-grade Demon Core, then watched Li Ping casually begin refining while suspecting he was a fraud.
• Two days later, Li Ping produced ten pills and handed them to Mei Hao for inspection, leaving him stunned that the refinement was already finished.

Mei Hao confirmed that Li Ping had refined ten exceptional Golden Crane Pills in just two days, and Shi Yutong rewarded him with the pills before later visiting Li Ping herself. After explaining her Snowfolk heritage, Shi Yutong tried to draw closer to Li Ping, whose words sounded familiar as Xiao Yunzhi emerged from the Training Room.

• Mei Hao inspected the ten exceptional Golden Crane Pills Li Ping had refined and paid the remaining fee.
• Mei Hao reported Li Ping's alchemy to Shi Yutong, who examined the pills and gave the bottle to Mei Hao as a reward.
• More than half a year later, Shi Yutong visited Li Ping with Mei Hao, then spoke with Li Ping alone after Mei Hao left.
• Shi Yutong explained that her mother was one of the Snowfolk and asked Li Ping to keep her heritage secret.
• Shi Yutong asked Li Ping to call her Yutong and said they felt like old friends, and Xiao Yunzhi came out of the Training Room.

Li Ping refined Sweet Dew Pills for Shi Yutong, who was impressed by his skill and considered recruiting him as a guest elder of the Snowflight Sect. Their conversation turned to the Heavenly Craft Sect, and Shi Yutong revealed that an Ice Sea great demon had destroyed it over a thousand years ago.

• Li Ping introduced Xiao Yunzhi as his younger sister and rebuffed Shi Yutong's suggestive remarks, while Xiao Yunzhi returned indoors to cultivate.
• Shi Yutong asked Li Ping to refine Sweet Dew Pills, and he agreed after inspecting her ingredients.
• Ten days later, Li Ping produced ten exceptional pills, prompting Shi Yutong to consider recruiting him as a guest elder.
• Shi Yutong asked about Li Ping's interest in puppetry and told him the Heavenly Craft Sect had once ruled the Far North with its third-tier puppets.
• Shi Yutong explained that an Ice Sea Ice Flood Dragon destroyed the Heavenly Craft Sect's headquarters, devoured its cultivators and millions of mortals, and shattered its third-tier spirit land over a thousand years ago.

Shi Yutong explained that the Ice Flood Dragon destroyed the Heavenly Craft Sect after its cultivators hunted the dragon’s prey to refine third-tier puppets, and she warned Li Ping not to provoke it. She offered to ask the other main cities about the Heavenly Craft Sect’s divine sense method, then Xiao Yunzhi confronted Li Ping about whether he truly saw her as a younger sister.

• Shi Yutong told Li Ping that the Ice Flood Dragon had destroyed the Heavenly Craft Sect because its cultivators repeatedly hunted third-tier demon beasts in the Ice Sea for puppet souls.
• Shi Yutong explained that a Great Zhou academy head had severely wounded the dragon but could not kill it after it escaped into the Ice Sea, and she urged Li Ping to avoid provoking it.
• Li Ping asked Shi Yutong about the Heavenly Craft Sect’s divine sense cultivation method, and she promised to seek leads from the other main cities.
• After Shi Yutong left, Xiao Yunzhi asked Li Ping plaintively whether he really thought of her as a younger sister.
• Li Ping teased Xiao Yunzhi about dressing as a man, and she complained that he had enjoyed talking with Shi Yutong before he told her not to imitate her.

A concealed humanoid puppet failed to kill the fourth-tier Ice Flood Dragon, which retaliated by driving demon beasts out of the Ice Sea before finally leaving after a three-year search. Three years earlier, Li Ping met Xu Guike and Lin Yue in Snowflight City, learned of the Ice Sea’s sudden unrest, and acquired materials for another puppet.

• The Ice Flood Dragon discovered that its captured demon beast was a puppet, survived its explosive attack, and searched in vain for the human behind it.
• The Ice Flood Dragon drove low-tier demon beasts toward the Far North, then hid nearby for three years before concluding that its attacker had escaped.
• A humanoid puppet emerged from concealment and determined that it needed a fourth-tier body to have any hope of killing the Ice Flood Dragon.
• Xu Guike and Lin Yue visited Li Ping in Snowflight City, where Xu Guike described the Ice Sea demon beasts’ unexplained rampage.
• Xu Guike offered Li Ping materials from his demon-hunting trip, giving Li Ping enough to plan his fourth second-tier upper-grade offensive puppet.

As the Ice Sea beast tide threatened Snowflight City, Li Ping helped prepare for the fighting while prioritizing his cultivation and safety. Three years later, Xiao Yunzhi reached peak foundation establishment, and she and Li Ping discussed where she could attempt core formation.

• Xu Guike gave Li Ping spirit materials in repayment for saving his life, and Li Ping gave him second-tier mid-grade spirit talismans.
• Li Ping learned from Shi Yutong that the beast tide was severe, though the fourth-tier Ice Flood Dragon had not appeared; he also heard that the complete Myriad Spirits Divine Sense Art might be in Silver Moon City.
• Li Ping agreed to refine healing and recovery pills for Shi Yutong, then learned that Snowflight City was evacuating nearby spirit lands as demon beasts approached.
• As demon beasts began appearing near Snowflight City, Li Ping bought second-tier upper-grade materials and refined two more puppets, but remained limited to controlling three at once.
• After three years of cultivation, Xiao Yunzhi reached peak foundation establishment, and she and Li Ping discussed finding third-tier spirit land for her core formation attempt.