Chapter Summaries

Li Ping settled on Donghua Mountain, established himself as a Third-Tier Pill Refiner, and patiently weighed how to deal with Zhou Lingyan while she and two allies plotted to seize his Two-Polarity Starflame and enslave him. After a year of cautious cultivation, Zhou Lingyan sent a message asking to visit him again.

• Li Ping rented a modest third-tier cave abode and considered using Soft Wyrm Powder to capture Zhou Lingyan, while Zhou Lingyan planned to poison him with Soul-Silencing Liquid.
• Li Ping hosted a housewarming feast, announced that he was a Third-Tier Pill Refiner, and learned that Feng Guan had died exploring an ancient cultivator cave abode.
• Zhou Lingyan commissioned Thousand-Cascade Pills from Li Ping, but he completed the batch and refused to be drawn in by her attempt to undress.
• Zhou Lingyan, Red Thunder Old Monster, and Old Devil Wu discussed subduing Li Ping, taking his Two-Polarity Starflame, and forcing him to refine pills for them.
• After living on Donghua Mountain for a year and resuming slow cultivation, Li Ping received Zhou Lingyan's Sound Transmission Talisman asking to visit.

Li Ping and Zhou Lingyan each tried to use a drink to poison the other after striking a pill-refining deal. They raised cups containing their mixed wines, with neither yet knowing whether the other's poison would take effect.

• Zhou Lingyan asked Li Ping to refine the Acacia Sect's herbs so she could manipulate the reported pill losses and test his skill; he agreed to take half the pills as payment.
• Li Ping planned to use the collaboration to lower Zhou Lingyan's guard and make her drink Soft Wyrm Powder, while Zhou Lingyan planned to drug him with Soul-Silencing Liquid and keep him as a pill-refining slave.
• A Flying Boat carrying a man and a woman left the Grasslands and headed toward Windmist Immortal City.
• Months later, Li Ping delivered half the pills to Zhou Lingyan, who was delighted by his high success rate.
• Li Ping invited Zhou Lingyan to share Millennium Azureflame Brew laced with Soft Wyrm Powder, and she offered Thunder Pulp Jade Nectar containing her own poison.
• Li Ping mixed the two wines in their cups, and he and Zhou Lingyan raised them to drink.

Li Ping discovered that Zhou Lingyan and her two Core Formation accomplices had targeted him for the Two-Polarity Starflame, and he used Soul Search to uncover their plan. After disguising himself as Zhou Lingyan and returning to her cave abode, he began looking for a way past Red Thunder Old Monster and Old Devil Wu so he could reach the Acacia Sect's Secret Arts Pavilion.

• Li Ping and Zhou Lingyan secretly poisoned each other’s wine, but Li Ping’s Longevity Art neutralized both toxins, and he subdued her.
• Li Ping performed a Soul Search on Zhou Lingyan and learned that she, Red Thunder Old Monster, and Old Devil Wu had killed True Person Blazing Fire and sought the Two-Polarity Starflame he had traded away.
• Li Ping realized that releasing Zhou Lingyan or killing her accomplices could expose him to danger, leaving him unsure how to handle the situation.
• Red Thunder Old Monster and Old Devil Wu watched Li Jingyu’s cave abode and speculated that Zhou Lingyan had failed to get the starflame.
• Li Ping disguised himself as Zhou Lingyan, returned to her cave abode, and searched it while planning how to evade the two cultivators and visit the Acacia Sect's Secret Arts Pavilion.

Li Ping escaped Donghua Mountain through its Mountain-Guarding Array with the help of the Earth Spirit Mouse and Desolate Fire Sparrow. Red Thunder Old Monster and Old Devil Wu discovered that Zhou Lingyan and Li Jingyu had both vanished, and set out for the Ancient Cultivator Cave Abode.

• Li Ping rejected the idea of entering the Ancient Cultivator Cave Abode and used the Earth Spirit Mouse and Desolate Fire Sparrow to flee underground.
• The Desolate Fire Sparrow melted an opening through Donghua Mountain's formation, allowing Li Ping and the two beasts to escape unnoticed.
• Old Devil Wu went to Zhou Lingyan's cave abode, but she did not answer his Sound Transmission Talisman.
• Red Thunder Old Monster and Old Devil Wu opened Zhou Lingyan's cave abode and found it empty, then discovered Li Jingyu had vanished too.
• Red Thunder Old Monster proposed that he and Old Devil Wu go to the Ancient Cultivator Cave Abode, where he had set up a third-tier formation.

Li Ping disguised himself as Zhou Lingyan to enter the Acacia Sect, where he copied records about Teleportation Formations and Great Zhou before leaving. Shao Guang pursued him, and Li Ping stopped to face the approaching Core Formation cultivator.

• Li Ping crossed into the Azure Dusk Kingdom while refining Zhou Lingyan’s Lotus Radiance Mirror and arrived at the Acacia Sect disguised as her.
• Li Ping entered the Secret Arts Pavilion and copied a guide to Teleportation Formations along with selected experiences and miscellaneous accounts.
• Shao Guang learned that Zhou Lingyan had returned to the sect, became angry over her interference with his plans, and later set off after her.
• Li Ping left the Acacia Sect and considered how to deal with Zhou Lingyan after leaving demonic territory.
• A Core Formation cultivator caught up with Li Ping and addressed him as Junior Sister Zhou, prompting Li Ping to stop and face him.

Li Ping, disguised as Zhou Lingyan, killed Shao Guang with the Dragon-Slaying Guillotine and fled before the Acacia Sect could investigate. In the sect’s Life Token hall, attendants discovered that Shao Guang and Matriarch Zhou had both fallen, leaving the cause of the deaths a mystery.

• Shao Guang confronted Li Ping over the spirit herbs, but Li Ping attacked him with the Essence-Devouring Sword and Mysterious One.
• Li Ping brought out the Dragon-Slaying Guillotine and destroyed Shao Guang’s Jade-Green Orb, defenses, and life.
• Mysterious One took Shao Guang’s Storage Bag and cremated his body while Li Ping escaped using the Bloodwing Escape Art.
• An Acacia Sect attendant noticed Shao Guang’s Life Token had shattered and rushed to report his death.
• The attendant and his junior sister watched Matriarch Zhou’s Life Token crumble, and he wondered what was happening.

After killing Shao Guang and Zhou Lingyan, Li Ping returned to Donghua Mountain to gather materials for repairing a Teleportation Formation while Acacia Sect grand elder Yin Jiumu investigated the deaths. Meanwhile, a sword-wielding young man confronted Qu Youkong in the Cloudmist Mountains and sent him fleeing with a display of overwhelming power.

• Li Ping escaped nearly a thousand li using the Bloodwing Escape Art, killed the unconscious Zhou Lingyan, burned her corpse, and discarded Shao Guang's Storage Bag and unwanted contents.
• Yin Jiumu investigated the site of Shao Guang's death, concluded that an unknown attacker had killed both Core Formation cultivators, and decided to question Red Thunder about Zhou Lingyan's time at Donghua Mountain.
• Li Ping studied the Teleportation Formation's requirements, reached Donghua Mountain Market Ward under his own name, and bought most of the materials needed for its repair.
• Li Ping rented an inn room and refined pills, including resources for the Earth Spirit Mouse's breakthrough and bloodline purification.
• A cold young man challenged Qu Youkong above a river in the Cloudmist Mountains, drew a sword that filled the sky with cold light, and drove Qu Youkong to flee.

Li Ping heard that a Ridgefort elder was pressuring a Foundation Establishment cultivator surnamed Meng to become his concubine and suspected she was Meng Wanjun. He went to her cave abode and arrived as she was being threatened into accepting.

• Xu Guike learned from Qu Youkong that Meng Zixing and Meng Qingyi had joined the Three Sects in killing his grandmaster and master, then burned Qu Youkong's corpse.
• Li Ping learned that the Acacia Sect had put a bounty on Li Jingyu and that the Three Sects had sealed the Cloudmist Mountains after Qu Youkong's death.
• Li Ping overheard that Ridgefort's grand elder wanted to take a wealthy Foundation Establishment cultivator surnamed Meng as his concubine and suspected she was Meng Wanjun.
• Li Ping flew to Meng Wanjun's cave abode and found a middle-aged woman threatening her with the Meng Family's safety while urging her to accept Senior Sheng.
• Meng Wanjun recognized Li Ping when he arrived in the courtyard and greeted him with delight.

Li Ping protected Meng Wanjun from Sheng Hu’s attempt to force her into becoming his Dao companion and agreed to duel him at Cloud Brocade Cliff. Meanwhile, Huang Yunzi and the other cultivators investigated Qu Youkong’s death and considered whether Li Ping had a personal grudge against him.

• Li Ping learned that Sheng Hu had tried to force Meng Wanjun to become his concubine and stayed with her to protect her.
• Sheng Hu came to confront Li Ping, demanded that he stop interfering, and challenged him to a duel after Li Ping refused to decide Meng Wanjun’s marriage for her.
• Li Ping accepted Sheng Hu’s challenge at Cloud Brocade Cliff in ten days and reassured the worried Meng Wanjun that Sheng Hu was no match for him.
• Huang Yunzi questioned why Qu Youkong had been targeted, and Ji Shuwen suggested the attacker might have had a personal grudge against him.
• Huang Yunzi recalled that Qu Youkong had clashed with Li Ping over a Meng Family girl, but Ji Shuwen argued Li Ping was unlikely to have attacked the Purple Cloud Valley and was probably weaker than Qu Youkong.

Li Ping used a theft of Ridgefort’s millennium spirit herbs to lure Sheng Hu away from the Market Ward and ambush him on his return. The chapter ended as Sheng Hu blocked Li Ping’s Flying Sword and recognized the cloaked attacker as Yan Liming.

• Li Ping left Meng Wanjun and planned to kill Sheng Hu before their scheduled duel.
• Sheng Hu arranged witnesses for the duel, then learned a mysterious Demon Beast had stolen millennium spirit herbs from Ridgefort.
• Li Ping sent the Earth Spirit Mouse and Desolate Fire Sparrow to steal another herb, intending to escalate to killing Ridgefort’s sect master if Sheng Hu did not return.
• Sheng Hu returned to Ridgefort to protect the sect, while Li Ping waited nearby in Li Jingyu’s appearance.
• Li Ping ambushed Sheng Hu with the Essence-Devouring Sword, but Sheng Hu blocked it with a transformed seal and recognized the attacker as Yan Liming.

Li Ping killed Sheng Hu after learning he had targeted Meng Wanjun, then discovered through Soul Search that she had awakened the ancient Dragon-Tender Bloodline. He returned toward Donghua Mountain, intending to ask Meng Wanjun what she wanted before deciding how to protect her.

• Li Ping and Mysterious One cornered Sheng Hu, and Li Ping used the Bloodwing Escape Art and Dragon-Slaying Guillotine to capture and kill him.
• Li Ping searched Sheng Hu's soul, burned his corpse, and returned toward Donghua Mountain after reflecting on the risks of his close-combat tactic.
• News that Li Jingyu had killed Sheng Hu spread across the Western Wastes, and Ridgefort became vulnerable without its Core Formation Cultivator.
• Li Ping learned that Sheng Hu had coveted Meng Wanjun because she had awakened the ancient Dragon-Tender Bloodline, which made her gifted at nurturing spirit beasts.
• Li Ping worried that other cultivators might exploit Meng Wanjun and decided to ask what she wanted when he returned.

Li Ping revealed Meng Wanjun's Dragon-Tender Bloodline, warned her to keep it secret, and let her stay with him to care for his spirit beasts. Meanwhile, Teng Feng formed his golden core in the Eastern Sea and considered returning to the Western Wasteland.

• Li Ping told Meng Wanjun that Sheng Hu had targeted her Dragon-Tender Bloodline and advised her to study beast taming while keeping her talent hidden.
• Meng Wanjun offered to give herself to Li Ping, and he let her stay with him and care for his spirit beasts instead.
• Li Ping moved Meng Wanjun into a third-tier cave abode, set up his formation, and entrusted her with the Desolate Fire Sparrow and Earth Spirit Mouse while he secluded himself.
• Teng Feng emerged from years of cultivation having formed his golden core, and Minggu told him to refine Minggu's Life-Bound Treasure first.
• Teng Feng received recruitment messages from cultivators and considered returning to the Western Wasteland.

Li Ping settled into life on Donghua Mountain, advanced the Earth Spirit Mouse, and learned that Huang Yunzi had died. Yan Hengchuan and his family visited Li Ping, where Yan Jing offered him a spirit herb and received cultivation pills in return.

• Li Ping collected spirit herbs, spirit stones, and other resources from Ridgefort as compensation for Sheng Hu's canceled duel.
• Li Ping told Meng Wanjun to call him Young Master and spent the following year searching for cultivation materials while continuing his training.
• Li Ping fed the Earth Spirit Mouse a Millennium Bloodline Fruit and a prepared pill, and the mouse later advanced to the late stage of the second tier.
• Meng Wanjun told Li Ping that Huang Yunzi had died after reaching the end of his lifespan, leaving six publicly known late-stage Core Formation cultivators in the Western Wastes.
• Yan Hengchuan and his wife visited Li Ping with their son Yan Jing, who presented Li Ping with a seven-hundred-year-old spirit herb.
• Li Ping gave Yan Jing a bottle of Vitality-Nourishing Pills, and Yan Jing accepted them after his father urged him to thank their ancestor.

Li Ping considered the shifting balance among the Defender Alliance’s factions, sent letters to Windmist Immortal City, and cultivated while the Western Region Alliance searched for a mysterious Sword Cultivator. After learning the killer might be Xu Guike, Li Ping worried that his revenge against the alliance was reckless.

• Li Ping learned that Huang Yunzi’s death had weakened the Western Region Alliance and might let the Academy regain influence, though he intended to stay out of the coming conflict.
• Yan Hengchuan and his family left the Donghua Mountain Market Ward, and Li Ping asked Yan Jing to deliver letters to Zhang Tie, Gu Musheng, and the Meng Family.
• Red Thunder Old Monster learned that someone was seeking void crystal and concluded that Zhou Lingyan and Li Jingyu had discovered a legendary teleportation formation; he decided to notify Yin Jiumu and help capture them.
• Li Ping stopped searching the Market Ward for void crystal and spent the next year cultivating and refining third-tier pills.
• News reached Li Ping that a Greenwood Sect elder had been killed by a mysterious Sword Cultivator, and he suspected Xu Guike had returned to avenge his master.
• Li Ping worried that Xu Guike might be taking on the Western Region Alliance’s remaining Core Formation Cultivators alone.

Li Ping sought information about the mysterious Sword Cultivator suspected to be Xu Guike, then learned about Windmist Immortal City’s troubles from Cheng Yao and Wang Xingwei. He agreed to help Wang Xingwei bid for a Core Formation Treasure at the Grand Auction, and ended by reading Ji Shuwen’s letter.

• Li Ping sent letters to Ji Shuwen and Zhang Tie to learn more about the Sword Cultivator who had returned from the Far North and begun killing Core Formation Cultivators.
• A year later, Cheng Yao and Wang Xingwei visited Li Ping, and he learned Wang Xingwei had reached the late stage of Foundation Establishment.
• Cheng Yao explained that Purple Cloud Valley had taken the families’ posts in Windmist Immortal City, while Ji Shuwen had later helped them regain influence as city lord.
• Cheng Yao told Li Ping that the mysterious Sword Cultivator had killed Senior Qu and Senior Zhao, prompting Purple Cloud Valley to seal off the Cloudmist Mountains.
• Cheng Yao asked Li Ping to bid on a Core Formation Treasure for Wang Xingwei at the Grand Auction, and Li Ping agreed.
• After Cheng Yao and Wang Xingwei left, Li Ping read Ji Shuwen’s reply.

Li Ping considered Ji Shuwen’s veiled appeal for help but decided to stay out of Windmist Immortal City’s politics while still intending to aid Wang Xingwei’s attempt at core formation. As the grand auction approached, he obtained its item list and summoned Cheng Yao and Wang Xingwei after finding two core formation treasures listed.

• Li Ping interpreted Ji Shuwen’s letter as an invitation to join Windmist Immortal City and a veiled request to help Wang Xingwei, but resolved to avoid the city’s political turmoil while supporting Wang Xingwei for the sake of their old ties.
• Li Ping returned to cultivation, then learned from Meng Wanjun that Lü Huan had taken over the Ling Kingdom after Sheng Hu’s death and that Cheng Yao and Wang Xingwei had settled on Donghua Mountain.
• Li Ping reasoned that Xu Guike was likely lying low until he could strike the Three Sects with an advantage, and continued cultivating as the Western Wasteland remained tense but quiet.
• With one year remaining before the grand auction, Li Ping asked Meng Wanjun to obtain its item list, hoping to secure several spiritual materials, especially void crystal.
• After receiving the sealed auction list, Li Ping summoned Cheng Yao and Wang Xingwei and told them it included two core formation treasures: Jadeglory Essence and Heaven-Cleansing Water.

Cheng Yao chose to bid on Heaven-Cleansing Water to help Wang Xingwei reach core formation, and Li Ping agreed to assist her at the grand auction. The auction’s final day began with Li Ping buying Meng Wanjun a robe, while Cheng Yao anxiously awaited the Core Formation Treasures.

• Cheng Yao decided to bid on Heaven-Cleansing Water, and Li Ping offered to lend her up to ten thousand spirit stones if needed.
• A year later, cultivators crowded Donghua Mountain for the grand auction, while Li Ping waited for the core formation exchange gathering to find the treasures he needed.
• Cheng Yao brought Wang Xingwei to Li Ping’s Cave Abode on the auction’s final day, and Li Ping escorted them to a VIP room in the Heavenly Treasure Hall.
• Li Ping won a Flowing Gauze Skirt for Meng Wanjun and gave it to her as a reward for caring for his spirit beasts.
• The auctioneer began introducing Jadeglory Essence, and Cheng Yao watched anxiously as bidding on the Core Formation Treasures approached.

At the auction, Cheng Yao won the Heaven-Cleansing Water for forty-three thousand spirit stones to help Wang Xingwei attempt Core Formation. The Cloud-Splitting Shears went up for bidding as the final and most valuable item, and the price quickly climbed past fifty thousand.

• Lü Huan won the Jadeglory Essence for twenty-two thousand spirit stones, hoping to support his lineage's younger generation.
• The bidding for Heaven-Cleansing Water began at twenty-eight thousand spirit stones, and Cheng Yao waited until the price reached forty thousand before joining in.
• Cheng Yao outbid the competition at forty-three thousand spirit stones and secured the Heaven-Cleansing Water after confirming she had enough funds.
• After the Heaven-Cleansing Water was delivered, Cheng Yao warned Wang Xingwei not to fail at Core Formation, while Li Ping watched the auction continue.
• Elderly man surnamed Gu presented the Cloud-Splitting Shears, and Core Formation cultivators rapidly raised its price beyond fifty thousand spirit stones.

Li Ping attended the core formation exchange gathering in disguise, hoping to obtain several rare materials. After other cultivators offered an array of goods, he put several bottles of third-tier cultivation-advancing pills up for trade and named the materials he wanted.

• Cheng Yao and Wang Xingwei told Li Ping their plans to return to Windmist Immortal City and focus on rebuilding the Wang Family’s spirit stone reserves, while Wang Xingwei agreed to remain on Donghua Mountain and cultivate.
• Meng Wanjun put on the Flowing Gauze Skirt and asked Li Ping to inspect its lining, but he told her to focus on cultivation before leaving for the gathering.
• Li Ping disguised himself and entered the Smokecloud Hall, where Red Thunder Old Monster opened the exchange by seeking a third-tier Two-Polarity Starflame.
• Red Thunder Old Monster failed to find a trade, and successive cultivators exchanged items ranging from yinblood gold and furnace cauldrons to treasures and spirit materials.
• Li Ping offered seven or eight bottles of third-tier cultivation-advancing pills in exchange for golden dawn dew, supreme yang wood, Eight-Treasure Spirit Spring Water, and void crystal.

Li Ping offered third-tier pills at an exchange gathering while Red Thunder Old Monster secretly investigated his identity and dangled a chance to obtain void crystal. Li Ping agreed to meet Red Thunder’s supposed contact in ten days but decided to avoid the trade and wait until he was stronger before confronting Red Thunder.

• Junior Brother Kan used his Yin-Pole Blood Eyes to see that the disguised cultivator onstage was a sallow-faced stranger, and Red Thunder Old Monster suspected he was connected to Li Jingyu.
• Li Ping traded a bottle of pills for a third-tier Earthrock Python demon core and an Earthrock Python egg, then rejected the other offers.
• Red Thunder Old Monster told Li Ping that a friend with void crystal would arrive on Donghua Mountain in ten days, and Li Ping agreed to meet him.
• Li Ping left the hall and decided the suspicious offer was too risky, planning to wait until he reached the Core Formation Middle Stage before dealing with Red Thunder Old Monster.