Chapter Summaries

Bai Lin returned to her family for the New Year and blushed when her mother asked whether she had found someone she liked. At Li Ping’s annual gathering, the Shared Boat Association members reported their progress, with every member now at least in the mid Qi Refining stage.

• Bai Lin brought nourishing pills, divine weapons, and spirit jade accessories to her family during her New Year visit.
• Bai Lin denied having time to find someone she liked, but thought of Senior and blushed, prompting her parents to exchange knowing smiles.
• Li Ping hosted the Shared Boat Association’s annual gathering in his Cave Abode, where all six sworn siblings recounted their progress.
• Zhang Tie neared the ninth level of Qi Refining, while Gu Musheng remained at the seventh level and Cheng Yao prepared to attempt a breakthrough to the late stage.
• Qi Hanmo reached the fifth level of Qi Refining, Teng Feng reached a bottleneck at the fourth level and became a first-tier, low-grade Beast Tamer, and Bai Qing broke through to the fourth level.

Dai Sangyu’s Spirit-Linking Flying Sword broke free and led Windmist True Person to reveal that her long-dead senior brother had been reincarnated. Windmist True Person gave the sword to Dai Sangyu and instructed her to find and train him after she achieved Core Formation.

• Dai Sangyu’s Spirit-Linking Flying Sword erupted with azure light, absorbed spiritual energy, and flew toward the Immortal City’s protective formation.
• Windmist True Person caught the flying sword and told Dai Sangyu that it had sought its former master, her senior brother Xu, who had returned in a new life.
• Windmist True Person recalled how Xu had died fighting the Bloodshadow Sect two hundred years earlier, allowing the Heavenly Profound Sect’s survivors to escape.
• Dai Sangyu offered to search for Xu, but Windmist True Person told her to wait until she reached Core Formation and then take him as her disciple.
• Windmist True Person privately reasoned that Xu’s current life might only just have begun and believed he would possess a spirit root and a special sword physique.

Protector Yan decided to stop waiting and enlist Miao Rou in a plan to target Dai Sangyu and Li Ping. At the Shared Boat Association gathering, Li Ping distributed pills and considered revising the group’s oath before a powerful sword cry interrupted them.

• Protector Yan recognized the sword cry and, fearing Dai Sangyu’s core formation and his own failing assignment, asked Miao Rou to help him act against his enemies.
• Li Ping collected the members’ contributions, bringing the Foundation Establishment Fund to 1,150 spirit stones, and distributed cultivation pills to the group.
• Teng Feng told the association that he wanted to leave the Immortal City and raise demon beasts, while the others tried to dissuade him.
• Li Ping worried that Teng Feng’s death or cultivation deviation could make him break the association’s oath, and began forming a plan to close that loophole.
• A dragonlike sword cry pierced the formations around Li Ping’s cave abode, and Li Ping decided it was probably Windmist True Person practicing rather than an enemy attack.

Li Ping proposed a Successor Plan so members of the Shared Boat Association could pass their contributions and Foundation Establishment opportunity to a chosen person if they died, and the group adopted the rule. After the banquet, Bai Lin returned to High Ridge Mountain, where Bai Mingde took her to meet the Bai Family's ancestor.

• Li Ping proposed that each association member choose a successor to inherit their membership and contributions if they died, and the six members agreed to add the rule.
• Zhang Tie chose Old Lin as his successor, Bai Qing chose a younger male relative, and Gu Musheng, Cheng Yao, Qi Hanmo, and Teng Feng said they needed more time to decide.
• Li Ping recorded their choices, guided the six in cultivation, and returned to refining pills after they left at dawn.
• Bai Lin prepared to return to the city, but Bai Mingde told her the ancestor wanted to see her and took her to the Spirit Spring.
• The Bo Family Ancestor welcomed Bai Lin, who noticed his aged, withered appearance up close.

The Bo Family Ancestor concluded that Li Ping was patiently cultivating his relationship with Bai Lin, while Master Hu later asked whether Li Ping would match her with his disciple, Liu Yuan. After Bai Lin confessed that she loved Li Ping, he asked her to become his woman, and she agreed.

• The Bo Family Ancestor questioned Bai Lin about her work and life with Li Ping, then told Bai Mingde that Li Ping was nurturing his feelings for her rather than forcing her.
• Months later, Master Hu told Li Ping that his disciple had fallen for Bai Lin and asked Li Ping to bring them together.
• Li Ping rejected the idea and privately resented the thought of Liu Yuan pursuing Bai Lin.
• Li Ping asked Bai Lin what she thought of Master Hu's disciple, and she said she already loved Li Ping.
• Li Ping embraced Bai Lin and asked her to become his woman that night, and she agreed.

Li Ping and Bai Lin settled into married life, and Bai Lin advanced to the fourth layer of Qi Refining before visiting her family. At the Shared Boat Association’s annual gathering, its members reported their progress and decided who should inherit their contributions if they died.

• Li Ping welcomed Bai Lin as his wife and resolved not to leave behind any offspring because bloodline-targeting spells could threaten him.
• Master Hu congratulated Li Ping and gave him a bottle of pills, while Bai Lin cultivated diligently and broke through to the fourth layer of Qi Refining.
• Li Ping took Bai Lin shopping for new-year gifts, but refused to visit her family, so she returned home with the Bai Family elders without him.
• The Shared Boat Association gathered, and Li Ping noted the members’ cultivation progress, including Teng Feng’s return from traveling outside the Immortal City.
• Gu Musheng, Cheng Yao, Qi Hanmo, and Teng Feng named beneficiaries for their association contributions, and the Foundation Establishment Fund reached 1,740 spirit stones.

Protector Yan and Miao Rou prepared to capture a third-tier Blazing Arrow Eagle while its mate was away hunting. Miao Rou lured the injured female from her nest, revealing a giant scarlet egg beneath her.

• Li Ping returned to cultivation after learning that Master Hu had left Immortal City with his junior disciple.
• Protector Yan told Miao Rou that the male Blazing Arrow Eagle had gone hunting and instructed her to lure the female into the Blood Net Sky-Rope Formation.
• Miao Rou waited for Protector Yan’s signal, crushed the demon-luring pill, and spread its scent near the formation.
• The injured female Blazing Arrow Eagle succumbed to the scent and left her nest, exposing a person-tall scarlet egg.

Miao Rou lured a female Blazing Arrow Eagle away from her nest while Protector Yan stole its egg. They escaped the eagle’s pursuit with a Thousand-Mile Vanishing Talisman, and Protector Yan stayed behind to catch a turtle.

• Miao Rou used a Demon-Luring Pill to draw the female Blazing Arrow Eagle away from its nest and trapped it in the Blood Net Sky-Rope Formation.
• Protector Yan entered the nest, concealed the Third Tier Blazing Arrow Eagle egg with a Blood Talisman, and stored it in a Spirit Beast Bag.
• Miao Rou fled the valley as the eagle battered the formation, then met Protector Yan as he escaped the nest.
• The eagle broke free and charged at Miao Rou and Protector Yan, but Protector Yan crushed a Thousand-Mile Vanishing Talisman and transported them a thousand li away.
• Protector Yan told Miao Rou to take the egg to the Immortal City and said he would stay to catch a turtle.

Li Ping learned that a Beast Tide might be approaching Windmist Immortal City, while Gu Musheng borrowed Spirit Stones to speculate on rising prices. Far from the city, Teng Feng discovered an intact Teleportation Formation and decided to return with Li Ping to explore it.

• Zhang Tie warned Li Ping that low-tier Demon Beasts were growing more numerous near the Immortal City, and Li Ping told him to warn Teng Feng not to leave the city.
• Gu Musheng told Li Ping that prices were rising, then borrowed two thousand Spirit Stones to stockpile goods in case a Beast Tide erupted.
• Teng Feng fled a swarm of Bloodthirsty Ants into an underground cavern and found a palace protected by a Guardian Formation.
• Teng Feng buried the skeleton of a senior, found an intact entry token, and entered the palace.
• Teng Feng discovered an intact Teleportation Formation, chose not to use it, and left to ask Li Ping to explore it with him.

A level-two Beast Tide warning sent mortals and Qi Refining Lineages into the Immortal City, while stronger clans prepared to defend their own grounds and merchants profited from rising prices. The Wang Family Ancestor decided to fight on the front lines despite knowing he had little time left, entrusting his Lineage to the Meng Family Ancestor.

• The Immortal City evacuated millions of nearby mortals and sheltered Qi Refining Lineages as Demon Beasts appeared in increasing numbers.
• The Bai Family gathered its mortal members inside Water Curtain Radiance and prepared to defend its Ancestral Grounds, while some cultivators hunted isolated beasts.
• Gu Musheng told Li Ping that he had sold half his Beast Tide supplies for a profit and delivered spirit stones, planning to wait before selling the rest.
• The Meng Family Ancestor reflected on the fortune his family had made by stockpiling and selling supplies as prices rose.
• The Wang Family Ancestor told the Meng Family Ancestor he would resign as steward and die fighting the Beast Tide to protect his Lineage's future.
• The Meng Family Ancestor agreed to look after the Wang Family, and the Wang Family Ancestor began arranging matters for his Lineage after his death.

Teng Feng fled the Demon Beasts through the Teleportation Formation and arrived in Great Zhou, where the remnant soul Minggu revealed his past and offered to guide his cultivation. With the formation back in the Cloudmist Mountains destroyed, Teng Feng could not return, and Minggu told him to learn Great Zhou’s language and find a place to cultivate.

• Teng Feng was wounded by a Jade-Patterned Spider and learned from Minggu that a third-tier Demon Beast was approaching.
• Teng Feng entered the Teleportation Formation to escape, and the Blazing Arrow Eagle arrived and destroyed the Guardian Formation, palace, and Teleportation Formation.
• Teng Feng appeared in a cave in Great Zhou and asked Minggu where they were and who he was.
• Minggu explained that he had once been lord of the Western Wasteland, described how he had been poisoned and exiled, and promised Teng Feng help reaching Core Formation and Nascent Soul Formation.
• Teng Feng suspected Minggu had driven him into the Teleportation Formation and asked what to do next, so Minggu told him to learn Great Zhou’s language and find somewhere to cultivate.

The Bai Family learned that a massive beast tide was approaching High Ridge Mountain and decided to defend the lineage while seeking Li Ping’s aid. Protector Yan revealed that he had engineered the attack to lure Li Ping out of the Immortal City, and a Bai Family cultivator arrived at Li Ping’s cave to beg him for help.

• Bai Mingde told the Bai Family’s senior cultivators that five second-tier demon beasts and thousands of lesser beasts would reach High Ridge Mountain within hours.
• The Bo Family Ancestor insisted that the Bai Family defend High Ridge Mountain rather than abandon its mortals, and said he had asked Li Ping to help.
• The Bo Family Ancestor privately admitted that Li Ping’s aid was uncertain and ordered Bai Mingde to evacuate younger cultivators if the formation fell.
• Protector Yan watched the activated formation and revealed that he had deliberately lured the beast tide to draw Li Ping out of the Immortal City.
• A late Qi Refining Bai Family cultivator knelt before Li Ping and begged him to save the family while Bai Lin watched anxiously.

Li Ping refused to defend High Ridge Mountain in person but gave the Bai Family five second-tier mid-grade Flameburst Talismans. Bai Lin returned to her family as the Beast Tide besieged the mountain, while Protector Yan left after failing to draw Li Ping out.

• A Bai Family cultivator told Li Ping that five second-tier Demon Beasts had surrounded High Ridge Mountain and begged him to help defend it.
• Li Ping refused to go but gave the messenger five Flameburst Talismans and claimed he had bought them at the Black Market.
• Bai Lin asked Li Ping to let her return to High Ridge Mountain, and he agreed; she left in tears.
• The Bai Family messenger and Bai Lin entered the mountain's formation with the Bo Family Ancestor's help, while Li Ping suspected the Beast Tide was unusual.
• Protector Yan cursed Li Ping for refusing to help the Bai Family, then left.

As the Beast Tide gathered around Windmist Immortal City, Li Ping learned that two Blazing Arrow Eagles were leading Demon Beasts in repeated attacks. After the first major battle killed many cultivators, including the Wang Family Ancestor, Fairy Meng arrived to ask Li Ping for a favor.

• Gu Musheng and Zhang Tie reported that Demon Beasts were appearing near the city, forcing low-level cultivators to stay inside and Foundation Establishment Cultivators to hunt in teams.
• Miao Rou removed the Blood Talisman from a Blazing Arrow Eagle egg, allowing its parents to sense it and summon other Demon Beasts toward the Immortal City.
• Gu Musheng gave Li Ping his share of their profits and reported that Windmist True Person had driven away two third-tier Blazing Arrow Eagles.
• The Blazing Arrow Eagles continued attacking the city's formation as first-tier and second-tier Demon Beasts gathered, and Li Ping watched Windmist True Person and Little Azure Dragon defend the city.
• Zhang Tie reported that the first major battle had killed many cultivators, including two Foundation Establishment Cultivators and the Wang Family Ancestor.
• Fairy Meng, Meng Qingyi, visited Li Ping and hurriedly asked him for a favor.

Meng Qingyi recruited Li Ping to make spirit talismans for the Immortal City during the beast tide, while Wang Xingwei learned that his ancestor had died and collapsed from grief. At High Ridge Mountain, the Bo Family Ancestor and the Bai Family members killed an eighteen-clawed Jade Spider and prepared to hunt a second-tier Six-Legged Woolly Ox.

• Meng Qingyi asked Li Ping to supply spirit talismans to the Immortal City in exchange for military merit, and Li Ping agreed to provide up to fifteen second-tier lower-grade talismans each month.
• A blue-robed old man on Azure Dragon Mountain watched two Blazing Arrow Eagles and waited for a suspected Demon Cultivator to reveal himself.
• Wang Xingwei heard that his Foundation Establishment ancestor had died in battle, remembered how well the ancestor had treated him, and collapsed in the street.
• Cheng Yao carried the unconscious Wang Xingwei back to the Spirit Herb Garden and decided to ask Bai Qing to examine him.
• The Bo Family Ancestor and the Bai Family members killed an eighteen-clawed Jade Spider at High Ridge Mountain, then set out to hunt a second-tier Six-Legged Woolly Ox.

As the demon beast siege worsened and Windmist True Person was injured, Li Ping secured a second-tier upper-grade defensive shield and prepared to make talismans for his safety. Meanwhile, Protector Yan watched the battle and waited for Dai Sangyu, abandoning his chance to attack Windmist True Person after sensing the danger.

• Li Ping exchanged military merits for a second-tier mid-grade Talisman Brush and later commissioned Wu Feng to make a shield from a late second-tier turtle demon shell.
• After the siege continued for months and Windmist True Person was injured, Li Ping collected the completed Tortoise Shell Shield from Wu Feng.
• Wu Feng told Li Ping that the Immortal City had begun forcibly conscripting rogue cultivators to defend its walls.
• Li Ping returned to his Cave Abode and decided to spend his time making second-tier mid-grade spirit talismans instead of cultivating.
• Protector Yan considered using the demon beasts to kill Windmist True Person or Little Azure Dragon, but spiritual intuition warned him away from attacking a core formation cultivator.
• Protector Yan resumed watching the battle line for Dai Sangyu, keeping his mission to stop the sword cultivator from reaching core formation in mind.

As Windmist True Person and Little Azure Dragon lost ground against the beast tide, Dai Sangyu revealed her Mending Heaven Spirit Body to persuade Senior Huang to intervene. Senior Huang agreed, and his attack helped Little Azure Dragon kill the female Blazing Arrow Eagle, turning the battle in the Immortal City's favor.

• Dai Sangyu left the city wall and flew to Azure Dragon Mountain to ask Senior Huang to save the Immortal City.
• Senior Huang refused to act because he wanted to wait for Demon Cultivators, while Li Ping watched the battle and prepared for a possible retreat.
• Dai Sangyu revealed her Mending Heaven Spirit Body and agreed to become Senior Huang's junior's Dao companion after reaching Core Formation in exchange for his help.
• A yellow dragon phantom struck the female Blazing Arrow Eagle with a spear, and Little Azure Dragon restrained her as the phantom pierced her neck and killed her.
• A figure with terrifying spiritual pressure rose from Azure Dragon Mountain, and Li Ping watched in shock as the battlefield's situation reversed.

Li Ping watched the Core Formation cultivators end the demon beast siege and returned to cultivate, while Windmist True Person learned that Dai Sangyu had not sworn an oath to Huang Yunzi. Protector Yan reported that Dai Sangyu had abandoned the sword Dao, and his uncle approved a Core Formation Treasure for him.

• Senior Huang, Windmist True Person, and Little Azure Dragon drove off the Blazing Arrow Eagle and slaughtered the demon beasts attacking the Immortal City.
• Li Ping resolved to keep a low profile until he reached Core Formation, then returned to Immortal Peach Mountain.
• Windmist True Person agreed to split the Blazing Arrow Eagle's materials and demon core with Senior Huang, who accepted half and asked her to refine the core into Foundation Establishment Pills.
• Dai Sangyu told Windmist True Person she had revealed her special constitution to Huang Yunzi but had not sworn an oath, leaving Windmist True Person melancholy about her limited time before Senior Brother Xu could return to protect the city.
• Protector Yan contacted his uncle, then reported that Dai Sangyu had abandoned the sword Dao; his uncle approved a Core Formation Treasure and told him to prepare for Core Formation.

After the beast tide ended, Li Ping spent his military merit on a flying boat and learned that Bai Lin was safe, while Teng Feng remained missing. At the Shared Boat Association's gathering, Li Ping urged Zhang Tie to consider bidding for a Foundation Establishment Pill, but Zhang Tie left to consult his master.

• Li Ping exchanged his military merit for a Floating Shadow Shuttle and later tested the flying boat.
• Master Hu returned to the Immortal City, and Li Ping told him that his concubine had gone to visit her family.
• Teng Feng failed to attend the association's gathering, so Li Ping proposed waiting another year before declaring him dead and returning his contribution to his family.
• Li Ping and the other members contributed 570 spirit stones, bringing the foundation establishment fund to 2,310 spirit stones.
• Bai Qing reported that the Bai Family had survived the beast tide and that Bai Lin was safe at High Ridge Mountain.
• Li Ping offered Zhang Tie a 500-spirit-stone loan toward bidding for a Foundation Establishment Pill, and Zhang Tie left to discuss it with his master.

Cheng Yao learned that Wang Xingwei had been dismissed and that the Wang Family faced expulsion after a scandal over swindling rogue cultivators. As the clan sought help, the Meng Family Ancestor told Wang Qu Yan that only the True Person at Azure Dragon Mountain could save them.

• Cheng Yao asked Qi Hanmo and Bai Qing to diagnose Wang Xingwei, but neither his healthy body nor Qi Hanmo's flute playing woke him.
• Cheng Yao discovered Wang Xingwei's stipend had been suspended because the Wang Family's scandal had made the Immortal City stop overlooking his absence.
• Cheng Yao went to the Wang Family Ancestral Grounds and found rogue cultivators demanding compensation for the spirit stones the Wang Family had swindled from them.
• Li Ping learned from Master Hu that Wang Li had used access to the Immortal City's Secret Arts Pavilion to scam cultivators, and that rivalries within the city had helped the scandal erupt after his death.
• Wang Qu Yan admitted to the Meng Family Ancestor that Wang Li had cheated thirty-four cultivators out of 3,400 spirit stones, and the Ancestor instructed the clan to kneel at Azure Dragon Mountain and beg the True Person's forgiveness.