Chapter Summaries

At Prince Xin’s banquet, Jing Wen fought Wonderful Brush Scholar in a test of defensive strength and defeated him, forcing him to leave injured. Jing Wen sensed traces of the Demon Race in his opponent’s martial arts and followed a divine sense mark to investigate.

• Prince Xin introduced Wonderful Brush Scholar to the Young Prince, who tried to avoid becoming his disciple by bringing Jing Wen into the conversation.
• Jing Wen accepted Wonderful Brush Scholar’s challenge to exchange punches, and his first strike secretly numbed his opponent’s arm.
• Wonderful Brush Scholar’s full-force punch failed to move Jing Wen, and Jing Wen’s next blow forced him back three steps and left him bleeding.
• Wonderful Brush Scholar admitted defeat and left the banquet injured, while Prince Xin and the Young Prince reacted to Jing Wen’s strength.
• After the banquet ended, Jing Wen followed the divine sense mark he had placed on Wonderful Brush Scholar to uncover the source of his Demon Race aura.

Li Mogui revealed the Savage Bull Nine Transformations fragment and his knowledge of demon script to Jing Wen in exchange for a chance to become his disciple. Jing Wen tested Li Mogui’s spiritual roots and left him devastated by revealing that he had none.

• Li Mogui struggled to cultivate after losing his contest with Jing Wen, then recognized Jing Wen when he appeared in his bedroom and mistook him for an immortal.
• Jing Wen demanded Li Mogui’s cultivation art, and Li Mogui handed over a golden page containing the first three transformations of the Savage Bull Nine Transformations.
• Li Mogui translated part of the demon script, and Jing Wen questioned him about his use of blood essence; Li Mogui admitted that he had once tried human blood but claimed he had stopped.
• Jing Wen allowed Li Mogui to make a request in exchange for the golden page, and Li Mogui begged to become his disciple.
• Jing Wen summoned a spirit-testing stele, and Li Mogui learned that he had no spiritual root before collapsing among his books.

Jing Wen tested Wonderful Brush Scholar’s children and nephew, discovering that only his son, Li Ming, had a spiritual root. He offered Wonderful Brush Scholar the choice of taking Li Ming’s root to cultivate or letting Jing Wen train his son, leaving Wonderful Brush Scholar conflicted as he summoned distant relatives in hopes of finding another candidate.

• After the Spirit-Testing Stele failed to respond to Wonderful Brush Scholar, Jing Wen suggested he could seize a blood relative’s spiritual root and asked him to bring his family for testing.
• Su Yun and Su Zhi showed no spiritual roots, Li Ming’s test made the stele shine, and the nephew’s test produced no response.
• Jing Wen offered Wonderful Brush Scholar the choice of taking Li Ming’s spiritual root or letting Jing Wen train Li Ming, then promised to return in six months to five years and left pills and the Burning Blood Art.
• Jing Wen took the Spirit-Testing Stele with him, while Wonderful Brush Scholar wrote letters asking distant relatives to come to Capital City for testing.
• Wonderful Brush Scholar worried that none of his relatives would have a spiritual root and agonized over whether he could sacrifice Li Ming for his chance to cultivate.

Han Li recalled his encounter with Nangong Wan in the Blood-Colored Forbidden Land and concluded that strength was the only way to change his position. He resolved to use his trade connection with Jing Wen to pursue higher cultivation realms, leaving the Herb Garden determined to become strong enough to claim Nangong Wan as his cultivation partner.

• Han Li weighed refining Foundation Establishment Pills himself against trading his medicinal seedlings with Jing Wen, then crushed some seedlings while remembering Nangong Wan.
• Han Li recalled how a crimson sphere released pink mist that caused him and Nangong Wan to lose themselves in passion, and how she later ordered him to keep their encounter secret.
• Han Li remembered Nangong Wan's cold departure and realized he had lacked the strength to stand up to her.
• Han Li connected Jing Wen's Pure Man Reincarnation Art with Nangong Wan's Pure Woman Reincarnation Art and suspected they came from the same ancient cultivation clan.
• Han Li decided to use his trade with Jing Wen and the Heaven Wielding Bottle to pursue Foundation Establishment and eventually the nascent soul stage.
• Han Li sorted the seedlings for trade and vowed that no one would take Nangong Wan from him before walking back to his residence.

Jing Wen investigated Jin Ruogu’s sudden rise and traded for Han Li’s rare spirit medicine seedlings, then probed Han Li about Nangong Wan. He left Han Li reeling after revealing that Nangong Wan was nearly two hundred years old and close to the Golden Core late stage.

• Jing Wen learned that Jin Ruogu had returned to the Yellow Maple Valley for secluded cultivation, suspected he was a reincarnated cultivator, and headed toward the Market in disguise.
• Han Li offered Jing Wen spirit medicine seedlings from the Blood-Colored Forbidden Land, and Jing Wen traded ten drops of Green Liquid for each of seven plants.
• Jing Wen questioned Han Li about the Blood-Colored Trial and used his reaction to infer that Han Li had taken Nangong Wan’s primal yin.
• Jing Wen told Han Li that Nangong Wan was almost two hundred years old and had reached the Golden Core mid stage years earlier, leaving Han Li shocked and discouraged.

Jing Wen teased Han Li about his feelings for Nangong Wan, then explained why he had little connection to her and offered to fulfill Han Li’s wishes for a price. He revealed the existence of upper realms and urged Han Li to advance steadily, promising to help him ascend to the Spirit Realm.

• Jing Wen teased Han Li for thinking about Nangong Wan and offered to help him pursue her, but Han Li insisted his admiration was sincere.
• Jing Wen warned Han Li that he could arrange even violent deeds for the right price, then explained that his Pure Man Reincarnation Art was only one of many arts and that Nangong Wan was unimportant compared with Han Li’s special constitution.
• Han Li asked Jing Wen about his cultivation level, and Jing Wen instead began explaining that cultivators in their realm could reach only the peak of early Deity Transformation before needing to ascend.
• Jing Wen told Han Li about the Spirit Realm and offered to sell him a Spirit Realm Ascension Token, but Han Li recognized that his immediate priority was cultivation.
• Jing Wen described the Immortal Realm and worlds beyond it, then advised Han Li to build his foundation and promised to help him ascend to the Spirit Realm.

Han Li exchanged Green Liquid with Jing Wen for Foundation Establishment Pills and learned that Jing Wen could help him reach the Spirit Realm. Jing Wen prepared to refine the pills, secretly matured five-hundred-year-old Heavenly Spirit Fruits, and completed three batches of pills in the Drunken Immortal Tower.

• Han Li feared Jing Wen’s insight into Nangong Wan’s secret but accepted his offer to help him ascend to the Spirit Realm.
• Han Li gave Jing Wen thirty drops of Green Liquid, bringing their agreed total to one hundred drops, and Jing Wen offered to refine three Foundation Establishment Pills for him the next day.
• Han Li asked Jing Wen whether his Plant-and-Wood Sacred Body could one day surpass Jing Wen’s cultivation, and Jing Wen hinted that endless transactions might make Han Li wait a very long time.
• Jing Wen rented a rear courtyard with earthfire at the Drunken Immortal Tower and set up an incomplete Five Elements Reversal Formation to conceal it.
• Jing Wen used fifteen drops of Green Liquid to mature three Heavenly Spirit Fruit seedlings to five hundred years, then refined ten Foundation Establishment Pills from them.

Venerable Golden Light rediscovered hope in cultivation, uncovered the Jin Family’s hidden history, and reported that Physician Jiang had bought the Nine-Turn Pill formula Jing Wen wanted. Jing Wen rewarded him and ordered him to investigate Physician Jiang, preparing to settle an old score himself.

• Venerable Golden Light reached the qi refining fourth layer, restrained his urge to kill Enchantress, and traveled to the Yellow Maple Valley market to investigate Jin Ruogu.
• Venerable Golden Light’s Qin Family Genealogy transformed into the Jin Family Immortal Genealogy, revealing that his ancestors had fled the Upper Realm and changed their surname to Qin in Qin Yeling.
• Venerable Golden Light told Jing Wen that Physician Jiang of the Hundred Herbs Pavilion had bought the Nine-Turn Pill formula for eight hundred spirit stones and was secluded at the Listening Rain Pavilion.
• Jing Wen rewarded Venerable Golden Light with pills, spirit stones, and the full Burning Blood Art manual, then ordered him to keep watching Physician Jiang.
• Jing Wen learned that Physician Jiang was at late foundation establishment and vowed to make him suffer with Soul Search over his mother’s murder and the stolen opportunity.

Jing Wen struggled with the growing baleful qi in his Purple Mansion, took a Clearheart Pill, and reflected on how it had begun affecting his judgment and treatment of others. After reassuring Chen Qiaoqian about their past encounter and promising her a Foundation Establishment Pill in two years, he resolved to hide his strength and cultivate the Fiendish Demon Art.

• Jing Wen noticed his Iceheart Pill had become less effective, examined the baleful qi eroding his divine sense, and took a Clearheart Pill.
• Chen Qiaoqian brought Jing Wen a list of pill formulas, and he rewarded her work by reducing her task time by four months and promising her a Foundation Establishment Pill in two years.
• Chen Qiaoqian nervously asked Jing Wen about the time he had seen her without clothes, and he teased her until she fled the courtyard.
• Jing Wen reflected that impatience, disdain for his subordinates, and baleful qi had made him too harsh and recognized that his limited cultivation constrained him.
• Jing Wen resolved to hide his brilliance and began cultivating the Fiendish Demon Art.

Jing Wen visited Doctor Jiang to buy the Nine-Turn Pill formula and discovered that Doctor Jiang had several versions, including one he had improved himself. Their conversation sparked Jing Wen’s plan to work with talented alchemists, and he began examining the formulas for further improvements.

• Jing Wen paid Doctor Jiang 800 Spirit Stones for a copy of the Nine-Turn Pill formula.
• Doctor Jiang revealed that he already had the formula and had experimented with multiple versions, including one he improved himself.
• Jing Wen explained that studying past formulas could help alchemists innovate, and Doctor Jiang excitedly called him a kindred spirit.
• Doctor Jiang showed Jing Wen two original Nine-Turn Pill formulas and his improved version, which Jing Wen compared with the formula he had bought.
• Jing Wen questioned the reduced amount of purple spirit flower in Doctor Jiang’s improved formula and asked whether any remained in the residue after refinement.
• Doctor Jiang said that no traces of purple spirit herb had been found in the residue.

Jing Wen persuaded Doctor Jiang to pursue systematic research into pill formulas, proposing efficient experiments and promising to provide the herbs and resources. The chapter ended with them planning to study Iceheart Pill formulas, while Jing Wen envisioned a periodic table of spirit medicine properties.

• Jing Wen suggested that purple spirit herb might act as a medicinal catalyst and proposed testing whether purple lily could replace it in a pill formula.
• Doctor Jiang recognized that Jing Wen's reasoning addressed a mystery that had troubled him for decades and shared his old notes on classifying medicinal ingredients.
• Jing Wen proposed using a systematic research method, beginning with low-grade pills and studying only herbs connected to the Nine-Turn Pill and their substitutes.
• Jing Wen promised to supply the herbs and funding, and Doctor Jiang became interested in the possibility that their research could lead to a Golden Core-forming pill.
• Jing Wen proposed comparing existing pill formulas and theoretical findings before conducting experiments, then arranged to begin organizing Iceheart Pill formulas with Doctor Jiang the next day.
• As Jing Wen left, Doctor Jiang asked which school he had studied under, and Jing Wen gave a mysterious answer while imagining a periodic table for spirit medicine properties.

Jing Wen refined Nine-Turn Pills and used them to advance to middle Foundation Establishment, while Doctor Jiang’s Pill Dao research produced a system for classifying medicinal properties. Facing depleted funds and scarce ingredients, Jing Wen arranged to supply Doctor Jiang and looked toward the Black Fiend Cult’s resources.

• Jing Wen successfully refined six Third-Grade Nine-Turn Pills after exhausting much of his Green Liquid.
• Jing Wen used a Nine-Turn Pill and a Clearheart Pill to cultivate with the Fiendish Demon Art, then emerged half a year later at middle Foundation Establishment.
• Jing Wen reviewed Doctor Jiang’s research, which classified medicinal properties and documented many working Iceheart Pill formulas.
• Doctor Jiang explained that balancing medicinal potency required six ingredients, despite the new classification system making ingredient selection far more efficient.
• Jing Wen told Doctor Jiang he was nearly out of Spirit Stones, then promised to send steadfast heart grass while planning to withdraw from the research.
• Jing Wen used two drops of Green Liquid to grow a hundred steadfast heart grass plants and considered returning to inherit the Black Fiend Cult’s resources.

Jing Wen killed two cultivators on the road from Yellow Maple Valley Market and collected their Storage Bags before flying away. At the Covering Moon Sect Market, Enchantress recalled how she had built her position as an information gatherer and prepared to exploit what she had learned from Jing Wen, though she still had another foundation establishment cultivator’s banquet to attend.

• Jing Wen ambushed a Daoist couple, killed them with his nine azure sword streaks, and took their belongings.
• Jing Wen burned the corpses, reflected on his haul of twenty Storage Bags, and flew away from Yellow Maple Valley Market.
• Enchantress received three Spirit Stones from a foundation establishment cultivator and recalled hearing him mention a Black Market auction in a month.
• Enchantress remembered her years as Venerable Golden Light’s concubine, her cultivation, and how Jing Wen had supplied her with resources before sending her to gather information at the Covering Moon Sect Market.
• Enchantress used her work at the Hundred Flowers Tower to collect information from cultivators and sent Jing Wen a message, believing an opportunity was approaching.
• Enchantress took a Healing Pill and prepared to recover before attending a foundation establishment cultivator’s banquet four hours later.

Jing Wen changed his plans to meet the Enchantress at the Covering Moon Sect Market, where he discovered a sinister mark on her neck and learned that a cultivator had been draining her primordial yin. He decided to find the culprit and take the secret dual cultivation technique, while the Enchantress remained wary of his self-interested protection.

• Jing Wen chose to visit the Covering Moon Sect Market first after hearing from the Enchantress about a Black Market auction and from Xin Ruoyin that the formation was seventy percent complete.
• The Enchantress presented Jing Wen with the cave abode’s jade token, and he carefully inspected the abode before entering.
• Jing Wen noticed a sinister red mark on the Enchantress’s neck and questioned her about her experiences at the Hundred Flowers Tower.
• The Enchantress recalled a guest whose visits left her unusually excited and much weaker, but she could not remember the details afterward.
• Jing Wen identified the mark as a demon seed from a secret dual cultivation technique that was draining the Enchantress’s primordial yin.
• Jing Wen vowed to deal with the person who had harmed the Enchantress and showed interest in acquiring the technique, while she concealed her distrust of him.

The chapter opened with Senior Brother Jing Wen announcing that he might be unable to continue his current novel and inviting readers to follow his new book, where unfinished stories would continue. It then showed how Senior Brother Li’s apparent generosity toward Zhao Qingqing had made her indebted and trapped, leaving her to return to him in three months.

• Senior Brother Jing Wen announced that circumstances beyond his control might prevent him from finishing his current novel and invited readers to read his new book.
• The announcement promised that the unfinished stories of the Black Fiend Cult, Zhang Ling'er, the Enchantress, and the Wonderful Brush Scholar would continue in the new book.
• Three years earlier, Senior Brother Li had discovered Zhao Qingqing's Profound Yin Meridian and helped her enter Qi Refining, First Layer.
• Senior Brother Li had transferred Zhao Qingqing out of the mining slaves, given her an outer-sect position and cultivation resources, and protected her from abuse, binding her to him through favors.
• Senior Brother Li ordered Zhao Qingqing to return in three months, and she left knowing that her cultivation and life remained under his control.

Jing Wen nearly sacrificed Wuling City to complete his forbidden cultivation, but Enchantress’s sacrifice and the memories of those who lit lamps helped him reclaim the light within himself. He returned to a humble life, passed away a century later, and left behind a legacy of light that continued through the mortal world.

• Jing Wen prepared to use the souls of Wuling City’s residents as fuel for his cultivation, while Enchantress reminded him of his childhood and the Heart-Guarding Flower seed.
• Enchantress detonated the demon seed within her, shattered the altar, and sent Jing Wen into darkness with a final message about lighting a lamp.
• Jing Wen encountered Lin Yan, A Ying, Lu Wei, Xi, and Xing Ya in a snowfield, and accepted their call to abandon his obsession and protect the light.
• Jing Wen returned to his body, planted the Heart-Guarding Flower seed in his chest, and became a humble cultivator whose lamp inspired people across the world.
• Jing Wen died in seated meditation a hundred years later, leaving a Pill Formula and words about passing the flame on to those who followed.