Chapter Summaries

After learning that a deceased Heavenly Thunder Sect grand elder had been a fourth-tier pill refiner, Li Ping considered seeking information about the elder’s alchemy furnace and techniques without attracting the sect’s attention. As he prepared to visit the Black Market’s Shadowkill Tower, Wei Yiling approached him at the White-Gathering Pavilion and asked whether he had heard of the Great Harmony Society.

• Li Ping decided that the grand elder’s death might give him a chance to study the elder’s fourth-tier alchemy techniques, but he resolved to proceed cautiously.
• Li Ping visited the White-Gathering Pavilion and asked Chu Xiu and Chen Guang where he could obtain information.
• Chu Xiu recommended the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion for public information, while Chen Guang suggested that Shadowkill Tower sold confidential intelligence in the Black Market.
• Li Ping chose to seek out Shadowkill Tower, then encountered Wei Yiling and another woman entering the pavilion.
• Wei Yiling asked Li Ping whether he had heard of the Great Harmony Society.

Li Ping rejected Wei Yiling’s attempt to recruit him into the Great Harmony Society, but let her and Feng Xishuang explain their predicament. Wei Yiling asked him to remove the restrictions placed on their divine souls and offered an opportunity related to advancing to Nascent Soul in return.

• Li Ping refused to join the Great Harmony Society and left the White-Gathering Pavilion, while Wei Yiling and Feng Xishuang followed him to the Riverside Cave Abode.
• Li Ping repeatedly dismissed Wei Yiling’s appeals until she admitted that she had come to ask him for a favor.
• Wei Yiling explained that a Nascent Soul Cultivator had forced her and Feng Xishuang to join the Great Harmony Society after they went to the Eastern Sea Four Fiends’ lair.
• Wei Yiling asked Li Ping to remove the restrictions in their divine souls and assured him that the Nascent Soul Cultivator did not know of his involvement in killing the Four Fiends.
• Li Ping asked Wei Yiling to explain the opportunity related to advancing to Nascent Soul that she had promised him.

Li Ping learned that Wei Yiling possessed a spirit-gathering body and a rare true phoenix pill essence that could greatly improve his chances of forming a nascent soul. After confirming her constitution, he agreed to try removing the restrictions in her and Feng Xishuang’s divine souls.

• Li Ping considered his chances of forming a nascent soul and asked Wei Yiling about the opportunity she had mentioned.
• Wei Yiling sent Feng Xishuang away and revealed that she possessed a spirit-gathering body.
• Wei Yiling showed Li Ping the markings on her back, and he confirmed her constitution was genuine.
• Li Ping learned that Wei Yiling’s true phoenix pill essence could significantly raise his chances of forming a nascent soul and save him years of cultivation.
• Li Ping told Wei Yiling he would do his best to remove the restrictions in her and Feng Xishuang’s divine souls.

Li Ping discovered that Wei Yiling and Feng Xishuang were bound by Soul Devouring Restrictions and devised a way to remove them by cutting away the affected portions of their divine souls. He offered to teach them a divine sense cultivation method and pass on fourth-tier Puppet Art if they joined the Heavenly Craft Sect and helped rebuild its legacy.

• Wei Yiling trusted Li Ping to examine the restriction in her divine soul, and he identified it as a Soul Devouring Restriction.
• Li Ping discovered that Feng Xishuang had the same restriction and realized destroying it directly would destroy their divine souls.
• Li Ping tested his method by cutting a small piece of Wei Yiling's divine soul away along with the restriction, leaving her weakened but alive.
• Li Ping explained that he could remove the restrictions by repeatedly cutting away the affected soul until the women had replaced their divine souls through cultivation.
• Li Ping offered Wei Yiling and Feng Xishuang the Myriad Spirits Divine Sense Art and future access to the fourth-tier Puppet Art inheritance if they joined the Heavenly Craft Sect and helped rebuild its legacy.

Li Ping persuaded Wei Yiling and Feng Xishuang to join the Heavenly Craft Sect and began removing their Soul Devouring Restrictions by cutting away pieces of their divine souls. He then entered Spirit Firmament City's black market in disguise to seek information about the Heavenly Thunder Sect and its deceased fourth-tier pill refiner.

• Wei Yiling and Feng Xishuang agreed to join the Heavenly Craft Sect and help rebuild its orthodoxy.
• Li Ping taught the women the first level of the Myriad Spirits Divine Sense Art and removed a small piece of each woman's divine soul, telling them to cultivate while they recovered.
• Li Ping left his cave abode to pursue the fourth-tier alchemy furnace and transformed into Yan Buping before heading for the black market.
• Li Ping entered the black market and went to the Shadowkill Tower.
• Li Ping asked a Snake-Masked Man to sell him information about the Heavenly Thunder Sect and its deceased fourth-tier pill refiner.

Li Ping bought heavenly-grade intelligence on the Pill Saint and the Heavenly Thunder Sect, hoping to find a way to obtain the Pill Saint’s Alchemy Furnace. After studying the Jade Slip at his cave abode, he discovered information that made him pause and consider his next move.

• Li Ping paid twenty thousand spirit stones to the Snake-Masked Man for heavenly-grade intelligence about the Pill Saint and the Heavenly Thunder Sect.
• Li Ping left the Shadowkill Tower, traded demonic cultivators’ belongings and bought pill-refining materials in the Black Market, but found no supreme yang wood.
• Li Ping read the Jade Slip at the Riverside Cave Abode and learned about the Pill Saint’s legacy, the Heavenly Thunder Sect’s reduced influence, and the Xu Household’s power.
• Li Ping learned that the Heavenly Thunder Sect’s disciples and descendants had inherited most of the Pill Saint’s possessions, including the Alchemy Furnace.
• Li Ping encountered a piece of intelligence that made him freeze and turn thoughtful.

Li Ping discovered that Red Thunder Old Monster had been Xu Zhuochen, an expelled descendant of the Pill Sage, and decided to use his Heavenly Thunder Token and identity to enter the Xu Household. He reached the Heavenly Thunder Sect for the Pill Sage’s funeral and presented himself as Xu Zhuochen returning to pay his respects.

• Li Ping identified the antique token from Red Thunder Old Monster’s Storage Bag as the Xu Household’s Heavenly Thunder Token and realized Red Thunder might have been Sage Xu’s lost descendant.
• Li Ping planned to impersonate the dying Red Thunder Old Monster, visit the Xu Household to obtain an Alchemy Furnace, and leave before anyone could investigate him.
• Li Ping used the Bloodwing Escape Art to reach the Azure Cloud Mountain Range in less than a month, where cultivators had gathered for the Pill Sage’s funeral.
• Li Ping arrived in the guise of a red-haired old man and declared himself Xu Zhuochen, an unworthy descendant returning to pay his respects.

The Xu Household's elders debated whether to recognize Li Ping as the expelled Xu Zhuochen, weighing his value as a core formation cultivator and third-tier pill refiner against the wealth they might have to share. Li Ping remained in a guest courtyard, presenting himself as a grieving elder while the household's attendants already embraced him as Ancestor Zhuochen.

• Xu Xingzhou told the Xu Household's elders that Li Ping's Heavenly Thunder Token was genuine and that he shared their bloodline, though he could not confirm his identity.
• Four core formation elders opposed acknowledging Li Ping, while Xu Xingzhou argued that another cultivator and third-tier pill refiner could strengthen the household.
• Xu Moyan pointed out that Li Ping was advanced in years, and Xu Xingzhou said Li Ping had returned only to pay respects to the deceased ancestor.
• The four elders began arguing over which branch would care for Li Ping and benefit from his remaining years and fortune.
• Li Ping stayed quietly in the guest courtyard, rewarded his attendants with pills, and acted as though he mourned the ancestor.
• The low-ranking Xu Household cultivators decided that Li Ping must be their beloved Ancestor Zhuochen because of his kindness to them.

Disguised as Xu Zhuochen, Li Ping met with Xu Xingzhou and Xu Moyan, who questioned his history and intentions. His plan to return to the Eastern Sea after paying respects convinced them of his identity, while Xu Xingzhou still tried to persuade him to remain with the Xu Household.

• Li Ping considered the Xu Household’s plans to cremate Sage Xu and avoided asking about the Alchemy Furnace.
• Xu Xingzhou decided to ask Xu Zhuochen what he wanted and brought Xu Moyan along to assess him.
• Li Ping recounted a prepared story about his years as a rogue cultivator in the Eastern Sea.
• Li Ping said he would return to the Eastern Sea after paying respects to the ancestor, easing Xu Xingzhou and Xu Moyan’s suspicions.
• Xu Xingzhou and Xu Moyan tried to persuade Li Ping to stay, but he refused and showed no interest in joining the Xu Household.

Xu Xingzhou and Xu Moyan became convinced that Li Ping was Xu Zhuochen and discussed trying to keep him with the Xu Household. Li Ping decided to infiltrate the ancestral grounds at night and question Xu Moyan about Sage Xu’s Alchemy Furnace, leaving him hidden underground near the family head’s location.

• Xu Moyan suggested that Qingque attend to Xu Zhuochen, and Xu Xingzhou agreed while accepting that he might leave.
• Li Ping had the Earth Spirit Mouse memorize Xu Moyan’s aura and decided to act that night before his false identity was exposed.
• Li Ping and his spirit beasts traveled underground toward the Xu Family Main Branch, avoiding the attention of stronger cultivators.
• The Desolate Fire Sparrow used its Vermilion Bird Fan to burn an opening through a formation barrier, allowing them to enter the Xu Household’s Ancestral Grounds unnoticed.
• Following Xu Moyan’s scent, Li Ping stopped underground beneath a spot with many people nearby and waited cautiously.

Li Ping infiltrated the Xu Household to learn what had happened to Sage Xu’s alchemy furnace, then left after discovering it belonged to Chao Xuan, a powerful Core Formation cultivator. Xu Moyan found Li Ping’s farewell letter and learned that Ancestor Zhuochen had departed.

• Xu Moyan reflected on the Xu Household elders’ attempts to recruit Ancestor Zhuochen and planned to bring Qingque to meet him the next day.
• Li Ping entered Xu Moyan’s cave abode, searched his memories without harming him, and erased his recollection of the attack.
• Xu Moyan woke confused, then found Ancestor Zhuochen gone the next morning and read his farewell letter with Qingque.
• Li Ping left the Heavenly Thunder Sect and learned from Xu Moyan’s memories that Sage Xu’s alchemy furnace had gone to his disciple Chao Xuan.
• Li Ping decided he would have to plan for the long term because Chao Xuan was a powerful Core Formation late stage cultivator and would not trade away his master’s bequest.

After returning to Spirit Firmament City, Li Ping turned two hundred and resumed treating Wei Yiling and Feng Xishuang for their Soul Devouring Restrictions. He confirmed that his method worked, then gave both women the Heavenly Craft Sect’s third-tier puppet inheritance, leaving Wei Yiling daunted by its cost.

• Li Ping abandoned his plan to take Sage Xu’s alchemy furnace from Chao Xuan and considered waiting for a chance to seize it or hiring Shadowkill Tower assassins.
• Li Ping returned to Spirit Firmament City and reflected on reaching two hundred years of age and having roughly four hundred years of life remaining.
• Wei Yiling and Feng Xishuang told Li Ping that the Myriad Spirits Divine Sense Art had helped them restore the parts of their divine souls he had removed.
• Li Ping confirmed that Wei Yiling’s restored soul was free of the Soul Devouring Restriction, then removed another small portion from her divine soul.
• Li Ping found that Feng Xishuang had restored and strengthened her divine soul, then removed a larger portion of the restricted soul, estimating she would recover sooner than Wei Yiling.
• Li Ping gave both women jade slips containing the Heavenly Craft Sect’s third-tier puppet inheritance after they swore not to share it, and Wei Yiling balked at the materials’ cost.

Li Ping learned that Meng Wanjun’s Dragon-Tapping Art could purify a spirit beast’s bloodline, though each use cost her a third of her bloodline energy and required decades to recover. After reviewing the Pavilion’s business and disappointing secondhand artifacts, he returned to the Shadowkill Tower to seek intelligence on Chao Xuan.

• Meng Wanjun told Li Ping that the White-Gathering Pavilion’s sales were going well, but three secondhand magic artifacts awaited his appraisal and there was still no news of supreme yang wood.
• Meng Wanjun showed Li Ping that her Earthrock Python had reached the second tier and explained that her awakened Dragon-Tapping Art had purified its bloodline.
• Meng Wanjun offered to use her two remaining Dragon-Tapping Art uses on Li Ping’s Earth Spirit Mouse and Desolate Fire Sparrow, but Li Ping told her to save them for a dragon-blooded spirit beast.
• Li Ping instructed Meng Wanjun to buy a third-tier beast-taming legacy, then found that only one of the three secondhand artifacts was for production and that its legacy was merely second-tier.
• Li Ping visited the Shadowkill Tower disguised as Yan Buping and asked the snake-masked Core Formation cultivator for detailed intelligence on Chao Xuan.

Li Ping bought Earth Grade intelligence on Chao Xuan from Shadowkill Tower and learned that the alchemist had remained on Azure Cloud Mountain for more than two hundred years. With Chao Xuan protected by the Heavenly Thunder Sect and unlikely to leave, Li Ping decided to wait for a safer opportunity.

• Li Ping paid fifteen hundred spirit stones for detailed intelligence on Chao Xuan and learned he could pay a smaller fee to update it later.
• Li Ping decided against asking Shadowkill Tower for intelligence on supreme yang wood because it might expose his identity and interests.
• Li Ping left the Black Market and planned to search for supreme yang wood at Spirit Firmament City's grand auction in five years.
• Li Ping read that Chao Xuan was a Core Formation Late Stage alchemist who belonged to a clan integrated into the Heavenly Thunder Sect.
• Li Ping learned Chao Xuan had not left Azure Cloud Mountain in more than two hundred years and concluded that attacking or luring him out would be too risky.

Li Ping continued cultivating while managing his plans for Chao Xuan and treating Wei Yiling and Feng Xishuang. The women completed a Great Harmony Society mission safely, and Li Ping resumed appraising secondhand magic artifacts at the White-Gathering Pavilion.

• Li Ping learned that the Great Harmony Society had ordered Wei Yiling and Feng Xishuang to travel to the Eastern Sea and help hunt a third-tier late stage demon beast, and he told them to stay safe.
• Li Ping checked the Shadowkill Tower for news and learned that Chao Xuan had remained on Azure Cloud Mountain, so he decided to seek updates only every two years.
• Li Ping returned to the White-Gathering Pavilion and considered changing his alchemy commissions once his innate spirit vigor became saturated, with the aim of preparing for a second golden core.
• Wei Yiling and Feng Xishuang returned safely after joining eight other Core Formation Middle Stage cultivators to kill the demon beast under a veiled female cultivator's command.
• Li Ping reminded the women to prioritize survival over contribution points, then examined more than ten secondhand magic artifacts at the White-Gathering Pavilion.

Li Ping reflected on Chu Xiu’s betrayal by his disciple and checked on the progress of his spirit beasts. As Spirit Firmament City prepared for its once-in-a-century auction, he wondered whether Chao Xuan had arrived and hurried to the Black Market.

• Li Ping declined to study the secondhand flute’s musician legacy and learned that Chu Xiu’s disciple had left the Leisurely Cloud Sect to marry into the Zhao family, whose cultivators broke Chu Xiu’s leg.
• Li Ping considered how Chu Xiu had been betrayed despite sacrificing for his sect, then returned to his Riverside Cave Abode.
• Li Ping found the Desolate Fire Sparrow thriving and the Earth Spirit Mouse nearing a potential breakthrough to the third tier, and considered seeking a dragon-blooded spirit beast.
• Meng Wanjun told Li Ping that the White-Gathering Pavilion’s business and alchemy commissions had surged ahead of Spirit Firmament City’s grand auction.
• Li Ping wondered whether Chao Xuan had come to the city for the auction, disguised himself, and flew to the Black Market.

Li Ping learned that Chao Xuan remained at the Heavenly Thunder Sect, then discovered and bought a Soul Refining Pearl containing a fourth-tier corpse-refining legacy. He returned to the Riverside Cave Abode with the legacy in hand, leaving it up to himself whether to pursue the craft.

• Li Ping traded with the Shadowkill Tower and learned that Chao Xuan was still cultivating at the Heavenly Thunder Sect.
• Li Ping browsed the Black Market and found a Soul Refining Pearl at a black-robed cultivator's stall.
• Li Ping discovered that the pearl held a fourth-tier Corpse Refining Craftsman's legacy, which required three liters of extreme yin qi to inherit.
• Li Ping paid the black-robed cultivator a thousand spirit stones for the pearl.
• Li Ping bought two common spirit materials, left the Black Market, and returned to the Riverside Cave Abode.

Li Ping acquired a formation abacus containing a third-tier top-grade Formation Dao legacy and planned to use formation skills with his future Star Banners. After completing his alchemy commissions, he headed to Spirit Firmament City’s grand auction to gather the legacy’s required nourishment.

• Li Ping bought a formation abacus from a Foundation Establishment cultivator and planned to inherit its Formation Dao legacy.
• Li Ping explained his plan to modify his Star Banners so he could deploy killing formations quickly, using stellar power stored in radiant pole starwood.
• Li Ping learned Chu Xiu had abandoned his goal of reviving the Leisurely Cloud Sect and advised him to find a companion.
• Li Ping completed his outstanding alchemy commissions, then told Meng Wanjun the White-Gathering Pavilion would stop accepting ordinary third-tier alchemy commissions.
• Li Ping went to the Inner Third Ring to gather the materials and spirit stones needed for the Formation Dao legacy at the grand auction.

Li Ping disguised himself while exploring Spirit Firmament City's market ward before the auction, while Fairy Spirit Butterfly sensed that he might be nearby and recalled their past connection. Li Ping found no useful inheritance at the stalls and entered the auction hall as the grand auction was about to begin.

• Li Ping changed his appearance and searched the market ward for rare materials and valuable cultivation inheritances.
• At an Immortal Feast, Fairy Spirit Butterfly sensed a familiar aura and wondered whether Li Ping had come to Spirit Firmament City.
• Fairy Spirit Butterfly recalled asking Li Ping to join the Yinghai Trading Company and decided not to search for him, despite suspecting he might be nearby.
• Pei Yanzhi told Fairy Spirit Butterfly that the auction would feature eight-thousand-year-old five-element grass, which interested her.
• Li Ping found more than ten secondhand artifacts containing inheritances but found none worth learning, then headed into the auction hall.

Li Ping attended the Spirit Firmament City Grand Auction, avoided approaching Yu Menghan, and bought several materials for a Formation Dao inheritance. By the auction’s final day, he had gathered all five elemental materials but still had no news of supreme yang wood.

• Li Ping entered a private box at the auction and recognized Yu Menghan, but chose to keep his distance from her and her powerful associates.
• Yu Ya, a late-stage Core Formation Cultivator and Spirit Firmament City Attendant, opened the auction by selling a lifebound flying sword, which another cultivator bought for fifty thousand spirit stones.
• Li Ping won a piece of third-tier top-grade nine-eyed jade and nine jin of third-tier top-grade gold-carved stone.
• Li Ping bid twenty thousand spirit stones for a third-tier top-grade Flame Sun Pearl.
• By the final day, Li Ping had collected all five elemental spirit materials but had not found supreme yang wood.