Chapter Summaries

Li Ping learned how the sects’ blockade had weakened the Immortal City, but refused requests to help stabilize its markets and continued cultivating. Nearly a year later, Yu Menghan explained that the dispute remained peaceful because the Defender Alliance was privately mediating while delaying its ruling.

• Gu Musheng and Zhang Tie told Li Ping that Purple Cloud Valley and its allies had cut off supplies to the Immortal City, and Zhang Tie warned that the city could sustain only a fraction of its cultivators.
• Li Ping refused Meng Qingyi’s and the Meng Family Ancestor’s requests to produce spirit talismans, choosing cultivation over helping the Immortal City.
• Over the following months, Li Ping saw the Immortal City decline as shops closed and prices rose, while Bai Lin relied on spirit rice from her family’s mountain and advanced toward Foundation Establishment.
• At year’s end, Yu Menghan told Li Ping that the Defender Alliance had not issued a ruling because Purple Cloud Valley and the Immortal City were members, and the Alliance was privately mediating their dispute.
• Li Ping concluded that the Alliance’s mediation would prevent the sides from fighting while they negotiated, and he thanked Yu Menghan for explaining the situation.

Dai Sangyu completed her transformation into a creation dao body and helped Madam Qi recover enough to disperse her Nascent Soul and seek reincarnation. Xiao Changkong mediated the dispute between Azure Dragon Mountain Lineage and Purple Cloud Valley, leaving Meng Qingyi to replace Dai Sangyu as Huang Yan’s Dao companion and the Meng Family furious over the arrangement.

• Dai Sangyu completed her physique transformation, then gave Madam Qi the requested treasures so she could recover and disperse her Nascent Soul.
• Madam Qi advised Dai Sangyu to temper her rigid temperament before vanishing in golden light.
• Xiao Changkong arrived at the Immortal City and heard Dai Sangyu and Windmist True Person explain the dispute with Huang Yunzi.
• Xiao Changkong mediated a settlement in which Azure Dragon Mountain Lineage ceded fifteen percent of the Immortal City's profits to Purple Cloud Valley and Meng Qingyi replaced Dai Sangyu as Huang Yan's Dao companion.
• The Meng Family Ancestor raged at the arrangement, but Meng Qingyi urged him to remain patient and said she had not been wronged.

Li Ping chose a damaged Ten-Thousand-Work Puppet as payment for treating Yu Menghan’s Seven-Colored Illusion Butterfly, and discovered that specific materials could grant him mastery of its crafting method. The Immortal City began recovering after the blockade ended, while Meng Qingyi faced an arranged marriage to Huang Yan.

• Huang Yunzi ordered Huang Yan to marry Meng Qingyi five years later after accepting Alliance Leader Xiao’s mediation and ending the blockade.
• Li Ping learned that the Meng Family had been forced to settle the dispute by marrying Meng Qingyi to Huang Yan, and he sympathized with his friend.
• The Immortal City recovered as the three sects lifted their blockade, while Bai Lin lamented losing the advantage of getting free spirit rice.
• Yu Menghan discovered that the Seven-Colored Illusion Butterfly had partially awakened, then offered Li Ping a choice of treasures as payment for three years of treatment.
• Li Ping selected the damaged Ten-Thousand-Work Puppet and saw a message revealing that specific materials would grant him the Heavenly Craft Sect’s third-tier puppet-crafting method.

Li Ping learned that Yan Liming had reappeared as a Foundation Establishment cultivator and prepared Yan Hengchuan to pursue the Foundation Seizure Method once he was strong enough. After giving Bai Lin a Foundation Establishment Pill, Li Ping discovered her quarters were empty during her seclusion and asked Yu Menghan to pay for two future treatments with millennial ironwood.

• Li Ping considered the rare materials and immense expense required to make a third-tier puppet, then returned to cultivation.
• Yan Hengchuan visited Li Ping and reported that Yan Liming's aura had reappeared and that Yan Liming had established his foundation and returned toward the Western Wasteland.
• Li Ping told Yan Hengchuan to keep cultivating until he reached the peak of the ninth layer of Qi Refining before they discussed their next move.
• Li Ping gave Bai Lin a Foundation Establishment Pill after confirming she had reached the peak of late Qi Refining, and she accepted it with a conflicted expression.
• When Li Ping checked on Bai Lin during the next month's butterfly treatment, he found her quarters empty, then escorted Yu Menghan inside and treated the Seven-Colored Illusion Butterfly.
• Li Ping asked Yu Menghan to provide a ten-foot section of millennial ironwood in exchange for his next two opportunities to select treasures.

Li Ping learned that Bai Lin had given her Foundation Establishment Pill to her younger brother, Bai Zhengheng, and cut ties with her by replacing her household duties with a Ten-Thousand-Work Puppet. After the Bai Family came to apologize and offered Bai Ya to manage his cave abode, Li Ping refused and returned to cultivating.

• Yu Menghan agreed to arrange ten feet of millennial ironwood as Li Ping's payment.
• Li Ping read Bai Lin's letter explaining that she had given her Foundation Establishment Pill to Bai Zhengheng, then tore up the letter and decided she would not return to Immortal Peach Mountain.
• Li Ping activated the Ten-Thousand-Work Puppet and assigned it the chores Bai Lin had handled.
• The Bai Family's Bo Family Ancestor, Bai Qing, Bai Zhengheng, and Bai Ya visited Li Ping after Bai Zhengheng reached Foundation Establishment and apologized for Bai Lin's decision.
• The Bo Family Ancestor offered Bai Ya to manage Li Ping's cave abode, but Li Ping refused and returned to his Training Room to cultivate.

After years of cultivating and preparing to confront Yan Liming, Li Ping finally broke through to the foundation establishment middle stage at over seventy. The chapter left him stronger and closer to pursuing Yan Liming, who had gone deep into the Grasslands.

• Zhang Tie, Gu Musheng, Cheng Yao, and Bai Qing visited Li Ping and mistook his puppet servant for a refined corpse before he explained the lost art of puppetry.
• Zhang Tie told Li Ping that Lin Yue had replaced Meng Qingyi as Stewardship Head, and the group discussed their uncertain standing under Dai Sangyu’s growing influence.
• Li Ping asked Gu Musheng to obtain a second-tier upper-grade talisman maker inheritance and the materials needed to use it.
• Gu Musheng brought Li Ping the inheritance and jade-cleansing wood, and reported that Lin Yue’s goodwill toward Qi Hanmo had helped him, Zhang Tie, and Cheng Yao gain greater autonomy.
• Yan Hengchuan told Li Ping that Yan Liming had traveled north through Yan and the Liang Kingdom into the Grasslands, and Li Ping told him to keep cultivating until they were ready to pursue him.
• After another year of cultivation, Li Ping broke through to the foundation establishment middle stage at over seventy.

After reaching the Foundation Establishment middle stage, Li Ping prepared to help Yan Hengchuan establish his foundation and settle his promise to the Yan Household. He left Immortal Peach Mountain to pursue Yan Liming, who remained in the Grasslands, and began crafting powerful spirit talismans aboard his flying boat.

• Li Ping tested his increased magical power and divine sense, discovering that the Blood Rakshasa Banner could form protective armor from its blood mist.
• Yu Menghan brought the Seven-Colored Illusion Butterfly for treatment, congratulated Li Ping on his breakthrough, and told him that millennial ironwood could reach Windmist Immortal City within four years.
• Li Ping told Yu Menghan he would pause the butterfly's treatment while he helped Yan Hengchuan establish his foundation, then informed the Meng Family Ancestor and left a letter for Zhang Tie and the others before departing.
• Li Ping picked up Yan Hengchuan at Rosy Cloud Mountain, and Yan Hengchuan sensed that Yan Liming was still in the Grasslands.
• Li Ping ordered Yan Hengchuan to steer the flying boat toward the Grasslands, concealed himself in blood mist, and began crafting second-tier upper-grade Wild Thunder Talismans.

Li Ping and Yan Hengchuan arrived at Heavenly Wound Immortal City, where Li Ping disguised himself and bought intelligence about the Tuluo Grasslands before continuing north. The chapter left them traveling toward the grasslands with Li Ping studying several reports to plan his search for Yan Liming.

• Li Ping and Yan Hengchuan entered Heavenly Wound Immortal City, the Heavenly Roam Sect’s open trading city, where Li Ping sought information before risking a journey into Tuluo territory.
• Li Ping disguised himself as the scarred Xiong Dahai and visited a major shop to request a map and intelligence from its manager, Xue Lingyan.
• Xue Lingyan sold Li Ping a report detailing Tuluo tribes’ recent locations and dangerous places on the grasslands.
• Li Ping bought additional intelligence reports from other shops, restored his appearance, and returned to the inn to study them.
• The next morning, Li Ping and Yan Hengchuan left the city aboard the Flying Boat and headed north.

Li Ping and Yan Hengchuan tracked Yan Liming to the heart of the powerful Blackwater Tribe, where Core Formation cultivators made an attack too dangerous. Li Ping chose to wait for Yan Liming to leave, troubled by a premonition that the cultivator’s purpose could threaten his own safety.

• Li Ping concealed the Flying Boat with the Nightfall cloak and had Yan Hengchuan sense Yan Liming’s location in Tuluo territory.
• Yan Hengchuan led Li Ping to the Blackwater Tribe, but Li Ping stopped outside after learning that Core Formation cultivators guarded it.
• Li Ping and Yan Hengchuan circled the tribe and marked Yan Liming’s position in its heart, among the Tuluo cultivators.
• Li Ping speculated that Yan Liming had ties to the tribe and decided to wait in hiding until he left rather than risk exposing their presence.
• As they waited in a canyon, Li Ping sensed that Yan Liming’s mission might affect his safety and resolved to force him to reveal its purpose.

Li Ping pursued Yan Liming far from the Blackwater Tribe and attacked him as he traveled toward the Liang Kingdom. Li Ping and the Desolate Fire Sparrow destroyed Yan Liming’s Blood Sea Domain, and Yan Liming realized Li Ping had added something to it.

• After waiting a year for Yan Liming to leave the Blackwater Tribe, Li Ping followed him toward the Liang Kingdom with Yan Hengchuan tracking his location.
• Once they were over a thousand li from the tribe, Li Ping left Yan Hengchuan with the Flying Boat and raced after Yan Liming in a blood cloud.
• Yan Liming spotted Li Ping pursuing him and tried to deter him by invoking the Bloodshadow Church, but Li Ping entered his Blood Sea Domain and cut down its blood sprites.
• Li Ping summoned the Desolate Fire Sparrow, which burned away Yan Liming’s Blood Sea Domain and forced him to reclaim its remaining blood mist.
• Li Ping told Yan Liming that he had added extra ingredients to the Blood Sea Domain, and Yan Liming’s expression changed drastically.

Li Ping captured Yan Liming after poisoning him and exploiting Yan Hengchuan’s ability to track him, then brought him to a remote Cave Abode so Yan Hengchuan could use the Foundation Seizure Method. As the ritual began, Li Ping prepared to intervene if needed and planned to question Yan Liming’s living soul afterward.

• Li Ping poisoned Yan Liming through the Blood Sea Domain, baited him into destroying the Purple Shadow Sword with a black bead, then used the Bloodwing Escape Art to steal his Storage Bag and capture him.
• Li Ping took Yan Hengchuan and the bound Yan Liming to a remote Cave Abode in the Greenstone Mountains, where he set up a formation and removed the blood-eroding poison.
• Yan Hengchuan recognized Yan Liming as the man who had tried to turn him into a blood puppet and began the Foundation Seizure Method to take his cultivation foundation.
• Li Ping silenced Yan Hengchuan’s explanations, added restrictions to Yan Liming, and knocked him unconscious before the ritual continued.
• Yan Hengchuan sent a blood shadow into Yan Liming, causing him to writhe in pain, while Li Ping watched and planned to question his living soul and use it to inherit the Third-Tier Puppet Art.

After extracting intelligence from Yan Liming’s living soul, Li Ping learned that the Four Demonic Sects and six great Tuluo tribes planned to invade the Defender Alliance together. He spread the warning anonymously through the Yan Kingdom, Liang Kingdom, and Jixia, but Xiao Yunzhi recognized him just as he prepared to leave.

• Li Ping tortured Yan Liming into revealing that the Four Demonic Sects had allied with six great Tuluo tribes to attack the Defender Alliance from the east and north.
• Li Ping dropped Yan Hengchuan off at Heavenly Wound Immortal City, where Yan Hengchuan set out for the Jiang Kingdom and Li Ping disguised himself as Xiong Dahai.
• Li Ping anonymously spread the invasion rumor in Heavenly Wound Immortal City, prompting the Heavenly Roam Sect to investigate and send warnings.
• Li Ping traveled to Qiyang Immortal City and spread the same rumor, leading the Rosy Cloud Sect to investigate and notify the Heavenly Roam Sect and the Defender Alliance.
• Li Ping went to Jixia in disguise and prepared to leave after spreading the news, but Xiao Yunzhi stopped him and greeted him as Fellow Daoist Yan.

Li Ping returned to Windmist Immortal City after spreading news of the Four Demonic Sects and Tuluo People’s invasion, then discovered instructions for the Zhou Tian Star Banners in Yan Liming’s Storage Bag. He questioned Yan Liming’s living soul about the silver plate and began considering whether he could perform a Soul Search after advancing his cultivation.

• Xiao Yunzhi’s Blazing Sun Bird recognized Li Ping despite his disguise, but Li Ping denied being Fellow Daoist Yan and flew away.
• Xiao Yunzhi attended a gathering of Jixia Foundation Establishment Cultivators, heard Song Yushu announce the invasion news, and suspected Li Ping had spread it.
• Li Ping sold the contents of Yan Liming’s Storage Bag and found a silver plate containing instructions for the three hundred and sixty-five Zhou Tian Star Banners.
• Li Ping learned that the banners could harness stellar power for attacks and Star Escape, and might form the Zhou Tian Star-Dipper Array if made with rare materials.
• Li Ping questioned Yan Liming’s living soul about the silver plate, but Yan Liming claimed he had found it in a Qi Refining cultivator’s Storage Bag.
• Li Ping considered delaying his plans to inherit Third Tier Puppet craft and hoped that reaching the Foundation Establishment Late Stage would let him perform a Soul Search on Yan Liming.

Li Ping returned to Windmist Immortal City, improved the Seven-Colored Illusion Butterfly’s condition, and learned that Yu Menghan’s life was bound to it. After visiting the Meng Family Ancestor, Li Ping warned him about rumors of an alliance between the Four Demonic Sects and the Tuluo People, setting his covert move in motion.

• Li Ping returned to Windmist Immortal City and treated the Seven-Colored Illusion Butterfly with three times his usual dose of Longevity Art magical power.
• Li Ping told Yu Menghan that the butterfly could recover within a year, and she promised to bring him the millennial ironwood at the next treatment.
• Yu Menghan reflected on Li Ping’s suspiciously improved treatment and revealed that the butterfly was life-bound to her, so its death would prevent her from advancing further.
• Li Ping paid two years of rent to the Meng Family Ancestor and accepted an invitation to Meng Qingyi’s wedding next month.
• Li Ping told the Meng Family Ancestor rumors he had spread about the Four Demonic Sects allying with the Tuluo People and urged him to prepare for war.

Li Ping’s casual warning about a possible alliance between the Four Demonic Sects and the Tuluo people proved true, prompting the Defender Alliance to prepare for war. The Meng Family Ancestor brought the warning to Huang Yunzi and ended by begging him to uphold justice.

• Li Ping returned to his cave abode on Immortal Peach Mountain and resumed alchemy and cultivation after reflecting on the conflict between the Immortal City and the Purple Cloud Valley.
• You Zichong confirmed that the six Tuluo tribes were marching south, escaped a pursuing High Priest with a Minor Teleportation Talisman, and the High Priest ordered his forces to hasten their invasion of the Yan Kingdom.
• Xiao Changkong told the Jixia meeting that the Four Demonic Sects had mobilized and that the Tuluo alliance was likely real, then assigned forces to defend the northern kingdoms and resist the Four Demonic Sects.
• The Meng Family Ancestor traveled to the Purple Cloud Valley and told Huang Yunzi that the Four Demonic Sects had allied with the Tuluo people, explaining that he had heard the warning from a friend returning from Jixia.
• Huang Yunzi questioned why the Meng Family Ancestor had come to him instead of Bai Yurong, and the Meng Family Ancestor knelt and begged him to uphold justice.

Li Ping learned that Dai Sangyu’s Inspection Steward was named Xu Guike, a name that matched his master Yan Guike’s and left him determined to meet the man at Meng Qingyi’s wedding. Meanwhile, Huang Yunzi heard new information after the Meng Family Ancestor pleaded for help and summoned him back to discuss it.

• Zhang Tie and Gu Musheng visited Li Ping and complained that Xu Guike’s inspections were disrupting their work in the Immortal City.
• Li Ping reacted with shock when Gu Musheng revealed the Inspection Steward’s name was Xu Guike, then decided to wait for Meng Qingyi’s wedding to meet him.
• Zhang Tie and Gu Musheng left, with Gu Musheng explaining that he had avoided arranging a separate meeting because he did not know why Li Ping wanted to see Xu Guike.
• Li Ping considered whether Xu Guike was connected to his master Yan Guike and returned to his Training Room to calm himself.
• Huang Yunzi told the Meng Family Ancestor he would decide whether to help after receiving information about the reported invasion, then summoned him back after the Purple Cloud Valley Stewardship Head delivered a message.

The Meng Family Ancestor told Meng Qingyi about his secret alliance with Huang Yunzi to protect the Meng Family and keep Meng Qingyi as city lord, and Meng Qingyi reluctantly agreed to go along with the plan. On the day of Huang Yan and Meng Qingyi’s wedding banquet, Li Ping arrived at Azure Dragon Mountain, unaware that the scheme was about to unfold.

• The Meng Family Ancestor revealed to Meng Qingyi that he had allied with Huang Yunzi to cancel the marriage and secure Meng Qingyi’s future as city lord.
• Meng Qingyi questioned the plan but accepted that he could not oppose his ancestor without endangering the Meng Family.
• Twenty days later, guests gathered at Azure Dragon Mountain for Huang Yan and Meng Qingyi’s wedding banquet.
• Li Ping arrived with Wu Feng, presented the Meng Family Ancestor with second-tier mid-grade spirit talismans, and disclosed that he had learned to make them.
• The Meng Family Ancestor wondered whether Li Ping had shared the invasion news with an ulterior motive, then resumed welcoming guests.

At the Meng Family wedding feast, Li Ping met Xu Guike and suspected he might be his master’s reincarnation. The banquet was interrupted by news that Dai Sangyu had killed Windmist True Person, leaving the gathered cultivators stunned as Huang Yunzi entered the hall.

• Li Ping met Xu Guike, and the two felt an inexplicable familiarity; Li Ping planned to test whether Xu Guike was his master’s reincarnation after the feast.
• Huang Yunzi arrived at the Immortal City ahead of the groom’s procession, while Dai Sangyu remained in seclusion.
• Windmist True Person gave Meng Qingyi two Jade Heart Awl talisman treasures and apologized for the marriage arrangement, and Meng Qingyi concealed his grim resolve.
• Guests gathered for the wedding feast, where Li Ping greeted Guo Feng, Ning Wuxu, Wang Xingwei, and Cheng Yao.
• A thunderous commotion erupted outside, and the Meng Family Ancestor announced that Dai Sangyu had killed Windmist True Person and Little Azure Dragon before Huang Yunzi killed Dai Sangyu.
• Huang Yunzi entered the hall, and his late-stage Core Formation spiritual pressure silenced the shocked guests.

After Dai Sangyu and Windmist True Person were killed, Meng Qingyi reclaimed the position of Azure Dragon Mountain’s Stewardship Head as the Meng Family consolidated control of Immortal City. The chapter reveals that nine Core Formation cultivators from three sects had ambushed the pair with help from the Meng Family, leaving the fate of the city and the consequences of defying the Defender Alliance unresolved.

• The Meng Family Ancestor canceled the wedding, and Xu Guike challenged Meng Qingyi to provide proof that Dai Sangyu had murdered her master; Meng Qingyi said the matter still required investigation.
• Li Ping left Azure Dragon Mountain after warning Xu Guike to be cautious, then returned to wait for news from the lineage members still on the mountain.
• The Meng Family Ancestor proposed removing Lin Yue as Stewardship Head and restoring Meng Qingyi; Cheng Yao, Zhang Tie, Gu Musheng, and the others supported the proposal, and Meng Qingyi took the position again.
• Meng Qingyi issued orders that restored order on Azure Dragon Mountain while the Meng Family Ancestor accompanied Huang Yunzi to the summit palace.
• The chapter revealed that nine Core Formation cultivators from Purple Cloud Valley, the Sword-Washing Pool, and the Greenwood Sect had secretly entered Immortal City with the Meng Family’s help and ambushed Windmist True Person and Dai Sangyu.

The Meng Family Ancestor and Huang Yunzi seized control of Windmist Immortal City and fabricated evidence that Dai Sangyu had colluded with demonic cultivators. Li Ping learned that Lin Yue and Xu Guike were alive but under investigation, and the chapter ended with Meng Qingyi assigning them to join a force sent to reinforce the Yan Kingdom.

• Huang Yunzi and the Meng Family Ancestor divided the city's revenue among three sects and agreed to blame Dai Sangyu for colluding with the Demonic Path and murdering her master.
• Cheng Yao told Li Ping that Meng Qingyi had reclaimed the sect head position, while Lin Yue and Xu Guike remained under temporary house arrest.
• Li Ping concluded that the Meng Family Ancestor had joined forces with Huang Yunzi to kill Windmist True Person and Dai Sangyu, and resolved to stay cautious and focus on cultivation.
• Rumors spread that a demonic artifact found among Dai Sangyu's belongings proved she had been an undercover agent, though Li Ping knew she had despised demonic cultivators.
• Meng Qingyi announced the investigation's findings, then assigned Xiong Pohai, Ye Chen, Lin Yue, Xu Guike, and others to accompany Huang Yunzi to reinforce the Yan Kingdom.