Chapter Summaries

Li Ping won a section of supreme yang wood at the Spirit Firmament City Grand Auction, securing the materials needed to attempt third-tier body refinement and awaken the Delusion-Piercing Golden Eye. He later withdrew from bidding on five-element grass and watched as the final item, a Soul-Fixing Pill, sparked fierce competition.

• Bidders drove the price of supreme yang wood to thirty thousand spirit stones before Li Ping entered the contest with a bid of thirty-five thousand.
• Li Ping refused Qin Cang of the Supreme Unity Gate's request to yield the supreme yang wood and won it for forty thousand spirit stones.
• Li Ping paid for the supreme yang wood, completing his collection of materials for awakening the Delusion-Piercing Golden Eye, then chose not to bid further to avoid attracting attention.
• Li Ping briefly bid on an eight-thousand-year-old stalk of five-element grass but withdrew when its price reached a hundred and seventy thousand spirit stones.
• Yu Ya presented the Soul-Fixing Pill as the final auction item, and its price quickly rose above two hundred thousand spirit stones.

Li Ping guided Feng Xishuang through a flaw in her puppet and decided she and Wei Yiling could help rebuild the Heavenly Craft Sect’s lineage. He then began using rare spirit materials to break through to third-tier body refinement, leaving the result unknown.

• Li Ping recalled the Soul-Fixing Pill’s auction price and considered the greater value of Wei Yiling’s true phoenix pill essence.
• Feng Xishuang showed Li Ping her nearly completed first-tier upper-grade puppet, and he identified a flaw in its spiritual power conversion core.
• Li Ping encouraged Feng Xishuang to keep studying puppetry and considered entrusting her and Wei Yiling with rebuilding the Heavenly Craft Sect’s lineage.
• Li Ping refined rare spirit materials into spiritual liquid and began cultivating with it to reach third-tier body refinement.
• Li Ping’s body underwent intense reconstruction as vast quantities of spiritual qi flowed into his Training Room.

Li Ping reached third-tier body refinement, gained the Delusion-Piercing Golden Eye, and discovered that his lifespan had risen to 750 years. Meanwhile, the Blood Wheel King learned that his Life-Bound Corpse Pearl had been stolen and sold to the Three Elders of the Spirit Firmament, though he believed its hiding place kept it beyond their reach.

• Meng Wanjun sensed a sustained disturbance in spiritual qi around Li Ping's training room and later noticed that it had stopped.
• Li Ping opened his Delusion-Piercing Golden Eye and tested its abilities to perceive all things, shatter evil and slay demons, and pierce the void.
• Li Ping discovered that third-tier body refinement had extended his lifespan to 750 years and greatly increased his strength and durability.
• The Blood Wheel King killed a black-robed cultivator while searching for information about his stolen Life-Bound Corpse Pearl.
• The Blood Wheel King learned that the thief had sold his Life-Bound Corpse Pearl to the Three Elders of the Spirit Firmament and suspected it was hidden inside a special magic artifact.

After reaching third-tier body refinement, Li Ping discovered that he could transform into nonhuman creatures and planned to advance both his cultivation and artifact-refining skills. He divided his fourth-tier Lunar Coldflame, leaving one life-bound flame and one unclaimed flame.

• Li Ping transformed into several demon beasts and found that his body and golden core changed in appearance, though his divine soul, magic power, and abilities did not become those of the creatures.
• Li Ping planned to cultivate body refinement alongside qi refining, seek star-aspected materials, and improve his artifact-refining skills before refining the Zhou Tian Star Banners.
• Li Ping examined the Lunar Coldflame, which had reached fourth tier and could deliver a powerful attack at the cost of his magic power and vital essence.
• Li Ping divided the Lunar Coldflame into two equal flames, one life-bound and the other unclaimed.

Li Ping considered which high-tier craft inheritances to pursue and planned to seek a third-tier spirit vein in the Eastern Sea, but his spiritual intuition warned him that leaving Spirit Firmament City would bring mortal danger. He suspected a Nascent Soul cultivator was waiting outside, checked on Wei Yiling and Feng Xishuang, and decided to remain in the city despite finding no sign that the Great Harmony Society had discovered his actions.

• Li Ping reviewed the craft inheritances he possessed and decided to learn corpse refining, pursue the top-grade formation inheritance, and leave talisman making to chance.
• Li Ping considered searching the Eastern Sea for an unclaimed third-tier high-grade spirit vein, but his spiritual intuition warned him of danger whenever he contemplated leaving Spirit Firmament City.
• Li Ping narrowed his plans to staying within the city and concluded that a likely Nascent Soul cultivator was lying in wait outside its walls.
• Li Ping suspected the Great Harmony Society might target him because he had removed Wei Yiling and Feng Xishuang's Soul Devouring Restrictions, and hurried to check on them.
• Li Ping found Wei Yiling and Feng Xishuang well and learned that the Great Harmony Society's higher-ups had noticed no change in their restrictions.
• Li Ping remained unable to identify who was waiting for him and decided to stay inside Spirit Firmament City.

Li Ping searched for extreme yin qi but could not risk traveling to Northern Mang Mountain, so he returned to cultivation. Three years later, he learned how a mortal Confucian Sect disciple had forced the Spirit Firmament Lineage to execute a criminal elder, leaving Li Ping pondering the power of righteous vitality.

• Li Ping failed to find extreme yin qi in the black market and asked the shops to watch for news before returning to his cave abode.
• After three years, Li Ping saw that the Earth Spirit Mouse was nearing a breakthrough and asked Meng Wanjun to buy a treasure to help it reach the third tier.
• Li Ping advised Meng Wanjun on her cultivation and planned to give her an Essence-Origin Pill when she reached the Foundation Establishment late-stage bottleneck.
• Meng Wanjun told Li Ping that a Confucian Sect disciple had exposed a Spirit Firmament Lineage guest elder who had slaughtered a cultivation family, forcing Pei Yanzhi to execute him publicly.
• Meng Wanjun explained that the mortal disciple had earned the Confucian Sect's respect through his enduring righteous vitality, prompting Li Ping to reflect on the matter.

Li Ping continued his quiet routine while Feng Xishuang and Wei Yiling prepared to leave on a Great Harmony Society mission to Northern Mang Mountain. At the White-Gathering Pavilion, he saw how Chu Xiu had regained his drive after starting a family and reflected on the change.

• Li Ping and Meng Wanjun discussed the Confucian Sect's influence and the Spirit Firmament Lineage's defeat, then Meng reminded him to inspect the Pavilion's secondhand magical artifacts.
• Li Ping told Feng Xishuang she would likely remove her Soul Devouring Restrictions in seven or eight years and advised Wei Yiling to learn from her.
• Feng Xishuang and Wei Yiling told Li Ping the Great Harmony Society had ordered them to capture a core formation realm malevolent ghost at Northern Mang Mountain.
• Li Ping declined to accompany them and asked them to collect extreme yin qi if they found any.
• After finding nothing useful among the artifacts, Li Ping watched Chu Xiu work cheerfully and learned that Chu Xiu's children had renewed his determination to provide for their future.

Li Ping received four liters of extreme yin qi from Wei Yiling and Feng Xishuang after they returned from a dangerous mission. He treated Wei Yiling’s injuries and learned how much danger she had faced to obtain the resource for him.

• Li Ping remained trapped in Spirit Firmament City by a Nascent Soul Cultivator waiting outside, then failed to find extreme yin qi at the Black Market.
• After another year, Wei Yiling and Feng Xishuang returned from their mission and gave Li Ping a jade bottle containing four liters of extreme yin qi.
• Feng Xishuang revealed that Wei Yiling had insisted on fighting a group of powerful zombies to collect the extreme yin qi and had been injured.
• Li Ping thanked both women and offered to treat Wei Yiling, who blushed and gave him her hand.
• Li Ping used the Longevity Art to remove the zombies’ lingering killing intent from Wei Yiling’s body.

Li Ping healed Wei Yiling and Feng Xishuang, then learned how they had captured a core formation ghost and brought back extreme yin qi and two bronze corpses. After compensating them with pills, he prepared the Soul Refining Pearl, extreme yin qi, and spirit stones to enter an inheritance illusion.

• Li Ping healed Wei Yiling and Feng Xishuang, removing some of each woman's Soul Devouring Restriction in the process.
• Wei Yiling told Li Ping that she and Feng Xishuang had captured a core formation ghost for the Great Harmony Society and defeated a nest of zombies while gathering extreme yin qi.
• Wei Yiling produced two green-haired bronze corpses whose divine souls she had shattered, and Li Ping agreed to take them in exchange for four bottles of cultivation pills.
• Feng Xishuang and Wei Yiling accepted the pills and left after speaking with Li Ping.
• Li Ping arranged the Soul Refining Pearl, extreme yin qi, and a thousand mid-grade spirit stones, then entered the inheritance illusion.

Ye Xu became Zhao Du’s disciple after his family was massacred, then killed Zhao Du and pursued a way to resurrect his sister, whom Zhao Du had refined into a life-bound corpse. His increasingly brutal research failed, and he died alone after hiding her corpse in a secret abode.

• Ye Xu discovered his family dead and learned that Zhao Du planned to refine his sister into a life-bound corpse, so he persuaded Zhao Du to kill the entire village instead.
• Ye Xu followed Zhao Du through the cultivation world, cultivated to core formation, and killed his master while vowing to avenge him and resurrect his sister.
• Ye Xu refined a fourth-tier Silver-Winged Yaksha, then infiltrated the Yin Corpse Sect, killed Zhao Du’s senior brother, and formed his nascent soul using the sect’s spirit vein.
• Ye Xu returned to the Yin Corpse Sect as its second supreme elder and killed those who had wronged Zhao Du.
• Ye Xu conducted forbidden experiments on mortals and cultivators to find a way to resurrect his sister, but his research failed and his followers fled or died.
• Ye Xu hid his sister’s life-bound corpse in a secret abode and died alone in a tomb he had prepared.

Li Ping inherited Ye Xu’s fourth-tier corpse-refining knowledge and discovered that the Soul Refining Pearl had concealed a Life-Bound Corpse Pearl. He realized Ye Xu had become a fourth-tier Corpse King waiting outside Spirit Firmament City, and sealed the pearl before reconsidering whether to leave.

• Li Ping recovered from the inheritance illusion and learned that Ye Xu had pursued corpse refining in an attempt to revive his sister.
• Li Ping found a fourth-tier lower-grade Corpse Refining Craftsman branch on the Inheritance Tree and decided to prioritize his cultivation over studying the art.
• Li Ping discovered a golden Life-Bound Corpse Pearl where the Soul Refining Pearl had rested and inferred that the pearl had hidden it inside a secret space.
• Li Ping sealed and talisman-wrapped the Life-Bound Corpse Pearl, then used a secret art to remove any foreign aura from himself.
• Li Ping concluded that Ye Xu had become a fourth-tier Corpse King and was likely lying in wait outside Spirit Firmament City.

Li Ping secured the Blood Wheel King's Life-Bound Corpse Pearl and chose to remain in Spirit Firmament City while he cultivated. After Wei Yiling and Feng Xishuang returned from a mission for the Great Harmony Society, he removed Feng Xishuang's Soul Devouring Restriction completely, while Wei Yiling still needed years of cultivation to be free.

• Li Ping sealed the Blood Wheel King's Life-Bound Corpse Pearl and resolved to wait until he was far stronger before using it against the corpse king.
• The Blood Wheel King discovered that he had lost his Life-Bound Corpse Pearl and fled toward Northern Mang Mountain.
• Li Ping spent three years cultivating in Spirit Firmament City, handling White-Gathering Pavilion business and treating Wei Yiling and Feng Xishuang.
• Wei Yiling and Feng Xishuang returned from a mission to find Dragon-Pattern Fruits, and Li Ping enjoyed the fruits they brought back.
• Li Ping removed Feng Xishuang's Soul Devouring Restriction completely, while Wei Yiling's slower progress left her needing another fourteen or fifteen years.

After Li Ping cured Feng Xishuang, Wei Yiling mistook his encouragement as a demand for her promised reward and decided to give him her true phoenix pill essence. The chapter ended with Li Ping and Wei Yiling becoming intimate in his Training Room.

• Feng Xishuang confirmed that the Soul Devouring Restriction in her divine soul had been removed, and Li Ping advised her on second-tier puppet craftsmanship.
• Wei Yiling interpreted Li Ping's words as a reminder of her promise and privately resolved to give him her true phoenix pill essence.
• After Feng Xishuang left, Wei Yiling asked Li Ping to speak with her alone and led him into his Training Room.
• Wei Yiling undressed and offered Li Ping her true phoenix pill essence, and Li Ping embraced her.
• Li Ping and Wei Yiling became intimate, and the encounter eventually came to an end.

Li Ping and Wei Yiling became intimate, and Li Ping refined true phoenix pill essence that greatly accelerated his cultivation and strengthened his golden core. Wei Yiling left the Riverside Cave Abode after her pride led Li Ping to misunderstand that she did not want to become Dao companions, leaving their relationship unresolved.

• Li Ping helped the unsteady Wei Yiling after their first intimate encounter and admitted to himself that he had been rougher than intended.
• Li Ping absorbed the true phoenix pill essence, gaining cultivation progress equivalent to nearly half a year and adding a jade phoenix pattern to his Marsh Water Life-Nourishing Art golden core.
• Li Ping asked Wei Yiling what she wanted to do next and offered to take responsibility for their relationship.
• Wei Yiling insisted that their intimacy need not bind them, though she secretly hoped Li Ping would coax her.
• Li Ping accepted Wei Yiling's words and told her his door would always be open, so she left the Riverside Cave Abode regretting that her pride had thwarted his unspoken offer.

Li Ping refined the true phoenix pill essence and advanced to the core formation middle stage, then considered his growing strength and plans for the future. Wei Yiling visited him, and her reaction to his thanks left Meng Wanjun suspicious as Li Ping invited her to talk.

• Li Ping decided to wait twenty years before leaving Spirit Firmament City to nourish his Copper Corpses and pursue the Formation Dao in the Eastern Sea.
• Li Ping refined the true phoenix pill essence over a year and advanced to the core formation middle stage, greatly increasing his magic power and divine sense.
• Li Ping emerged from seclusion and told Meng Wanjun that he had broken through.
• Wei Yiling arrived, and Li Ping thanked her for making his breakthrough possible, causing her to blush.
• Meng Wanjun grew wary of Wei Yiling's attitude as Li Ping invited her to the pavilion and asked Meng Wanjun to brew Spirit Tea.

Li Ping met He Chuan, who wanted him to refine pills but could not pay with pills or star-aspected materials. He Chuan offered news of a hidden faction’s Underground Auction sixteen years away, where Li Ping might find the materials he needed.

• Li Ping told Wei Yiling that she would likely be free of the Soul Devouring Restriction in about fifteen years and asked about her Puppet Art studies, but she avoided giving a clear answer.
• Meng Wanjun told Li Ping that the White-Gathering Pavilion was operating normally and that a cultivator wanted to discuss a pill-refining commission in person.
• Li Ping inspected several secondhand magic artifacts from Chu Xiu but found nothing worthwhile.
• He Chuan asked Li Ping to refine a batch of pills, but explained that he could offer neither a share of the pills nor star-aspected materials.
• He Chuan told Li Ping about a hidden faction’s Underground Auction for core formation cultivators and above, scheduled for sixteen years later, where star-aspected materials might be available.

Li Ping accepted He Chuan’s auction token as payment for refining pills, then verified the underground auction’s credibility through the Shadowkill Tower. While browsing the Black Market afterward, he heard that a stall was offering soul-nourishing wood and went to investigate.

• He Chuan explained how the century-spaced underground auction worked and offered Li Ping his extra token in exchange for pill refining, swearing a heavenly dao oath that the auction was real.
• After several days, Li Ping finished refining He Chuan’s pills and received the dull gray token, which would reveal the auction location in eleven years and grant entry in sixteen.
• Li Ping visited the Shadowkill Tower and bought intelligence confirming He Chuan’s account and noting that the auction had operated safely more than ten times.
• Li Ping strolled through the Black Market and, after hearing a crowd discuss soul-nourishing wood, moved toward the stall to inspect it.

Li Ping bought a severely damaged piece of soul-nourishing wood after realizing his Longevity Art's magic power might be able to restore its vitality. Back at his cave abode, he began testing that possibility.

• Li Ping found a badly damaged, second-tier piece of soul-nourishing wood at a market stall, but the black-robed seller demanded an unreasonable price.
• The seller mentioned Three-Lights Divine Water as a way to restore the wood, prompting Li Ping to wonder whether his Longevity Art's magic power could heal it.
• Li Ping exchanged a bottle of Sweet Dew Pills for the soul-nourishing wood and later confirmed that He Chuan's information about the underground auction was accurate.
• In his cave abode's Training Room, Li Ping sent a wisp of Longevity Art magic power into the damaged wood to try to repair it.

Li Ping revived the soul-nourishing wood with the Longevity Art and planted it on Gray Island, then spent three years cultivating and checked on his spirit beasts. After leaving seclusion, he gave Meng Wanjun Essence-Origin Pills to help her attempt a breakthrough to the late stage of foundation establishment.

• Li Ping infused the damaged soul-nourishing wood with Longevity Art magic power, restoring its roots and vitality before planting it on Gray Island.
• Li Ping kept the radiant pole starwood on Gray Island for safety and resumed cultivating, while the island's time acceleration for both spiritwoods became five hundredfold.
• Three years later, Li Ping reflected on his slow progress in the middle stage of core formation and found that the Earth Spirit Mouse had reached the threshold of the third tier.
• Li Ping examined the Earth Spirit Mouse and fed it and the Desolate Fire Sparrow spirit food.
• Meng Wanjun returned from the White-Gathering Pavilion, and Li Ping gave her four Essence-Origin Pills to prepare for a breakthrough to the late stage of foundation establishment.

Li Ping learned that Wei Yiling and Feng Xishuang had completed a Great Harmony Society mission and returned with a millennium jade condensation grass. After removing Wei Yiling’s Soul Devouring Restriction for now, he told her it would take about ten more years to free her completely.

• Meng Wanjun told Li Ping that Wei Yiling and Feng Xishuang had left the city on a mission, and he guessed they were working for the Great Harmony Society.
• Li Ping examined the secondhand magic artifacts at the White-Gathering Pavilion, then overheard Chu Xiu angrily reject a former disciple who brought him spirit stones.
• After a year of secluded cultivation, Li Ping emerged and removed more of the Soul Devouring Restriction from Wei Yiling’s divine soul.
• Wei Yiling told Li Ping that she and Feng Xishuang had killed a Core Formation Early Stage demon cultivator and retrieved a millennium jade condensation grass with its Bloodline Fruit still growing.
• Li Ping said Wei Yiling would need about ten more years of treatment before the Soul Devouring Restriction was completely removed, and she showed her joy at the prospect of freedom.