Chapter Summaries

The Four Sects announced the Jialan Trial rankings, rewards, and an additional merit-point bonus for every surviving disciple. Wang Yu saw that he had placed second and headed to the Merit Exchange to spend his points, where he encountered Gu Lian leaving.

• Tian Yue announced that Wang Yu ranked second with 430 merit points, behind Gu Lian, who had 1,080.
• Lie Guang awarded each disciple who emerged from the secret realm 30 additional temporary merit points and said the trial would conclude in three days.
• Wang Yu returned to his lodging and considered exchanging his points for a Foundation Establishment Pill, Lesser Spirit-Gathering Array Discs, and a Blood Spirit Pill.
• Wang Yu went to the Merit Exchange, where Gu Lian winked at him before leaving without acknowledging him.
• Wang Yu greeted Uncle Jin and the three other Foundation Establishment cultivators seated behind the exchange counter.

Wang Yu exchanged all 460 of his temporary merit points for Lesser Spirit-Gathering Array discs, a Foundation Establishment Pill, and Breath-Regulating Pills. After learning that a slain Mara Sect disciple had ties to the hostile Myriad Beast Mountain, Wang Yu received an unexpected offer from Setting Sun Sect elder Meng to teach him artifact refining.

• Wang Yu examined the exchange list and chose the Lesser Spirit-Gathering Array discs, one Foundation Establishment Pill, and a bottle of Breath-Regulating Pills.
• The Black-Armored Man and the Thousand Bamboo Sect cultivator went upstairs to retrieve Wang Yu's treasures.
• A monk warned Wang Yu that Myriad Beast Mountain was hostile to his sect and explained the significance of its Fur-Cloaking Secret Method.
• Elder Meng invited Wang Yu to visit the Setting Sun Sect for artifact-refining instruction, and the monk revealed that Meng was one of its three Second-Tier Artifact Refiners.
• Uncle Jin returned with Wang Yu's treasures and expressed surprise at Meng's offer to teach him.

Wang Yu received his rewards for the Jialan Secret Realm expedition and inspected the valuable pills, including a Foundation Establishment Pill, before returning to cultivation. Three days later, as the Four Sects left the ruins, he reunited with Li Tianqi, the only other survivor from their group.

• Uncle Jin and a Thousand Bamboo Sect cultivator gave Wang Yu the Lesser Spirit-Gathering Array discs and his pill rewards, while Elder Meng offered to guide him in artifact refining.
• Wang Yu secured his rewards at his lodging, examined the pills, and considered why Elder Meng had offered to instruct him.
• Wang Yu fed the Blue-Gray Wolf Pup Demon Python flesh and resumed his cultivation while the camp collapsed into the ground three days later.
• Wang Yu spoke with the injured Li Tianqi aboard a flying vessel and mourned the companions who had died in the Jialan Secret Realm.
• Li Tianqi told Wang Yu that he had hidden his strength and said the group might have followed his lead if he had revealed it.

Wang Yu asked Li Tianqi about becoming a true disciple and learned how the sect assessed candidates and what advantages the position offered. Their discussion of qi refining and foundation establishment left Wang Yu considering the path toward great perfection and seeking the resources needed to advance.

• Wang Yu offered Li Tianqi a Grass Spirit Pill, but she explained her injuries were internal and had mostly healed.
• Li Tianqi explained that disciples could apply for true disciple status through the General Affairs Hall, which could also select prominent or talented disciples on its own.
• Li Tianqi warned Wang Yu that many inner disciples and foundation establishment elders might compete for a vacant position, and offered to introduce him to Uncle Gu.
• Li Tianqi said she was close to cultivating to perfection and could soon attempt foundation establishment, while Wang Yu said he needed a true disciple position to secure resources.
• Li Tianqi explained that the eleventh and twelfth levels of qi refining purified dharma power and could improve foundation establishment chances, though most cultivators should not delay their breakthrough for them.
• Li Tianqi told Wang Yu that great perfection might also help with a future golden core breakthrough, and Wang Yu thanked her for clarifying his cultivation options.

After returning from the Jialan Secret Realm, Wang Yu underwent the Four Symbols Sect’s examination for possible Demonic Path seals. Uncle Gu questioned him with the Ghost-Faced Dove painting’s spirit-soul-detecting power, ending by asking whether Wang Yu had found anything related to forming a nascent soul.

• The Four Symbols Sect trapped returning disciples on Heaven-Pillar Mountain and announced that all of them had to be examined for hidden restrictive seals.
• Wang Yu entered a stone house for his examination and discovered that Uncle Gu was conducting it.
• Uncle Gu activated the Two-Headed Ghost-Faced Dove painting and explained that it would react to falsehoods or abnormal spirit-soul fluctuations.
• Wang Yu truthfully answered questions about his first meeting with Uncle Gu and confirmed that he had killed three Demonic Path True Disciples in the secret realm.
• Uncle Gu asked Wang Yu whether he had obtained any clues or items related to forming a nascent soul.

Wang Yu told Uncle Gu that he and Yuantong had encountered Gong Yue, the artifact spirit of the Moon-Refining Mirror, in the Jialan Secret Realm, prompting the Four Symbols Sect’s Golden Core Ancestors to gather. Silver Cloud Ancestor arrived, and the ancestors prepared to hear Wang Yu’s account.

• Wang Yu reported his encounter with Gong Yue and the Moon-Refining Mirror to Uncle Gu, naming Yuantong as a witness.
• Uncle Gu stopped Wang Yu and sent communication talismans to summon the Golden Core Ancestors.
• Heaven Toad Ancestor arrived and told Wang Yu to wait for Blazing Fire Ancestor and Ouyang.
• Blazing Fire Ancestor appeared through an icy blue statue and said he was suppressing the six desires passion poison.
• Silver Cloud Ancestor entered in silver humanoid armor, and Wang Yu recognized him as the ancestor of White Tiger Mountain.

Wang Yu recounted his encounter with Gong Yue and the Moon-Refining Mirror in the Jialan Secret Realm to Heaven Toad Ancestor, Silver Cloud Ancestor, and Blazing Fire Ancestor. Afterward, Heaven Toad Ancestor asked to inspect the Green Wind Wolf cub Gong Yue had given Wang Yu.

• Wang Yu asked whether he should include the secret task he and Ximen Mei had carried out, and Heaven Toad Ancestor told him to tell everything.
• Silver Cloud Ancestor and Blazing Fire Ancestor discussed the blood origin mushrooms and the possibility of refining Nine-Origin Life-Saving Pills.
• Wang Yu described finding Gong Yue, the events at the temple ruins, and Gong Yue's transformation of the moon into the Moon-Refining Mirror; the three Ancestors questioned him about the details.
• Wang Yu said Gong Yue had given him a Green Wind Wolf cub, and Heaven Toad Ancestor asked to see it.
• Wang Yu brought out the sleepy cub, and Heaven Toad Ancestor drew it into his hand as Silver Cloud Ancestor and Blazing Fire Ancestor watched.

Heaven Toad Ancestor and Blazing Fire Ancestor examined Wang Yu’s Green Wind Wolf cub and found it carried an unusual Iron-Winged Wolf bloodline, so Heaven Toad Ancestor kept it for study. While the Ancestors inspected Wang Yu’s secret-realm spoils, they discovered White Bone Fiends carrying Living Soul Banner artifact embryos and questioned Wang Yu about where he had found them.

• Heaven Toad Ancestor and Blazing Fire Ancestor examined the Green Wind Wolf cub, identified its hidden Iron-Winged Wolf bloodline, and agreed it showed no sign of tampering.
• Heaven Toad Ancestor drugged, bound, and stored the cub, telling Wang Yu he would keep it for study and offer a reward in exchange.
• Silver Cloud Ancestor asked to inspect Wang Yu’s Storage Bags, and Wang Yu handed over all his bags, including his Spirit Beast Bag.
• The Ancestors examined Wang Yu’s belongings with their divine sense, and Heaven Toad Ancestor identified a first-tier spirit tea tree among them.
• Blazing Fire Ancestor recognized black banners held by the White Bone Fiends as Living Soul Banner artifact embryos and described their unusual, sinister method of refinement.
• Heaven Toad Ancestor asked Wang Yu where he had obtained the White Bone Fiends, wondering whether they had come from the Jialan Secret Realm.

Wang Yu presented the items he had obtained from slain enemies, and the Golden Core ancestors identified the Greenlight Armor as pieces of a powerful six-part set. After questioning him about the Moon-Refining Mirror, the ancestors decided against searching his soul and left the mirror’s fate unresolved because of the danger of provoking High Person Jialan.

• Wang Yu explained that he had taken the White Bone Fiends and damaged White Bone Statue from a Black Soul Sect disciple, and Heaven Toad Ancestor ordered Gu Fei to investigate the disciple’s background and ties to the Heavenly Nether Sect.
• Silver Cloud Ancestor identified Wang Yu’s two Greenlight Armor pieces as parts of a six-piece imitation of the third-tier Green Flood Dragon Armor and returned them to him.
• Heaven Toad Ancestor returned Wang Yu’s Spirit Beast Bag, and the ancestors let him keep the rest of his collected items.
• Silver Cloud Ancestor, Heaven Toad Ancestor, and Blazing Fire Ancestor used their methods to verify Wang Yu’s account and concluded that they should not risk damaging his spirit soul by searching it.
• The ancestors decided to leave the Moon-Refining Mirror and Gong Yue alone for now, wary of the artifact spirit and the possibility that High Person Jialan was still alive.
• Silver Cloud Ancestor departed, and Blazing Fire Ancestor asked Heaven Toad Ancestor whether he planned to make Wang Yu his direct disciple.

Heaven Toad Ancestor gave Wang Yu rewards and set strict conditions for him as a Registered Disciple. Wang Yu agreed not to seek out Ximen Mei and left the stone house, while Heaven Toad Ancestor called Gu Fei back inside.

• Heaven Toad Ancestor confronted Blazing Fire Ancestor about Wang Yu, and Blazing Fire Ancestor denied having any further plans for him.
• Heaven Toad Ancestor gave Wang Yu three Jade Water Pills and the final Greenlight Armor component as rewards.
• Heaven Toad Ancestor told Wang Yu not to publicize his Registered Disciple status and not to see Ximen Mei until her marriage.
• Wang Yu accepted the conditions, and Heaven Toad Ancestor said he might accept him as a true disciple after he reached foundation establishment.
• Wang Yu left the stone house, exchanged congratulations with Gu Fei, and told him that Heaven Toad Ancestor was calling him inside.

After returning from the Jialan Secret Realm, Wang Yu discovered that Little White had transformed into a giant egg and could control water from inside it. He left Big Green to guard the egg and searched his books for information about spirit beast mutations.

• Wang Yu waited for the restrictive seal to lift, then flew back to his cave abode to check on Big Green and Little White.
• Wang Yu found Big Green in the pond and saw Little White manipulate the water from inside a large mound.
• Wang Yu used the Water-Repelling Spell to approach the mound and discovered a giant egg beneath its coating of black sludge.
• Wang Yu sensed Little White's heartbeat and affectionate divine sense inside the shell, but found that it could not hatch yet.
• Wang Yu told Big Green to guard the egg, then entered his study to search for a book about spirit beast mutations.

Wang Yu read Fengxiangzi's account of demon beast mutations and suspected Little White was undergoing one inside an egg. He brought Uncle Li to inspect the Iron-Head Crocodile, and Uncle Li began testing the eggshell with a Spirit-Testing Stone.

• Wang Yu read Fengxiangzi's account of mutations and learned that Stone-Rock Pythons could mutate inside hardened egg-shaped shells.
• Wang Yu went to the Spirit Beast Hall and asked Uncle Li to examine Little White.
• Uncle Li drained the pond with a bronze gourd, revealing Big Green and the mud-covered mound containing Little White.
• Wang Yu explained Little White's apparent ability to control the pond's water, and Uncle Li suspected that ability might be tied to its mutation.
• Uncle Li uncovered part of the eggshell and pressed a Spirit-Testing Stone against it to examine Little White's attributes.

Wang Yu learned that Little White was undergoing a risky second mutation, and Uncle Li agreed to stay nearby to observe it. After settling his spirit beasts and sorting through his Jialan Secret Realm gains, Wang Yu took the Strange Python’s small emerald horn to ask Uncle Li about it.

• Uncle Li used the Spirit-Testing Stone and found that the Iron-Head Crocodile’s water and earth attributes had reversed during its second mutation, which might fail or produce poor talent.
• Wang Yu declined to halt the mutation because Uncle Li’s method could kill Little White, and he agreed to let Uncle Li build a hut beside his cave abode to monitor the giant egg.
• Uncle Li congratulated Wang Yu on his achievements in the Jialan Secret Realm and offered to help him seek support for becoming a True Disciple, but Wang Yu chose to wait for definite news.
• Wang Yu brought Big Green into his cave abode, comforted Little White through his divine sense, and stored the White Spirit Tea Tree for the Yin Household.
• Wang Yu sorted the secret-realm spoils, setting aside white bones and White Bone Fiends for the White Bone Yin Demon Banner while reserving the Strange Python and Giant Wild Boar flesh for his spirit beasts.
• Wang Yu took the Strange Python’s emerald horn outside to ask Uncle Li what it was.

Wang Yu learned that the Strange Python's horn contained likely Gray Flood Dragon ancestral essence blood, which could be valuable or help his Iron-Eater Crocodile bloodline if refined into a pill. He declined Uncle Li's offer to buy it and sold Demonic Path artifacts and other materials to the Spirit Goods Pavilion, then asked for help identifying a blood-red pill.

• Uncle Li explained that the blood threads in the horn were likely Gray Flood Dragon ancestral essence blood and could sell for six or seven thousand spirit stones.
• Wang Yu considered using the essence blood for his Iron-Eater Crocodile bloodline, and Uncle Li warned him it had to be refined into a pill before he could take it.
• Uncle Li offered six thousand spirit stones for the horn, but Wang Yu declined and said he might sell it to him later.
• Wang Yu sold fourteen Demonic Path magical artifacts to the Spirit Goods Pavilion for six thousand three hundred spirit stones.
• Wang Yu sold a python gallbladder, a golden-yellow eyeball, an azure scale, and an enormous fang for three thousand spirit stones, then asked the pavilion official to identify a blood-red medicinal pill.

Wang Yu had the Spirit Goods Pavilion appraise several pills and two gourds of poisonous liquid, discovering that an unidentified pill was a supreme-grade Water Cloud Pill. He refused to sell it and learned that its usefulness might depend on the quality of his water spirit root.

• The middle-aged man identified Wang Yu’s red pills as Blood-Burning Pills, and Wang Yu sold ten while keeping five.
• The middle-aged man appraised Wang Yu’s two gourds of Greenback Scorpion venom and offered 2,500 spirit stones per gourd.
• The middle-aged man removed a false shell from Wang Yu’s black pill and revealed a supreme-grade Water Cloud Pill with spirituality.
• The middle-aged man offered to buy the Water Cloud Pill, but Wang Yu declined and said he might reconsider later.
• The middle-aged man pointed out that Wang Yu’s water spirit root was weaker than his fire spirit root, and Wang Yu asked whether he could still take the pill.

Wang Yu traded a supreme-grade Water Cloud Pill to Fan Tian for a chance to learn alchemy and applied for the true disciple assessment. Back in his cave, he considered how an alchemist could refine his Jade Flame Fruit into pills to advance his cultivation.

• Fan Tian revealed that he was one of the sect’s two second-tier alchemists and offered Wang Yu a favor for the Water Cloud Pill.
• Wang Yu offered Fan Tian the pill in exchange for alchemy instruction, and Fan Tian agreed to take him as an apprentice in three days.
• Fan Tian gave Wang Yu a Guidance Talisman and nearly twenty thousand spirit stones for his sold goods; Wang Yu kept two gourds of green-backed scorpion venom.
• Wang Yu registered at the General Affairs Hall for the true disciple assessment and returned to his cave abode.
• Wang Yu decided that trading the Water Cloud Pill was worthwhile because it could not help him yet, while an alchemist might refine his Jade Flame Fruit into pills useful for his cultivation.

Wang Yu discovered that the Clear Spirit Gourd contained only water, raising suspicions about Daoist Chongyun, but set the mystery aside to prepare for the True Disciple assessment. He tested his Greenlight Armor and found that its arm blades and defensive barrier were powerful and compatible with his Breathing Technique.

• Wang Yu opened the Clear Spirit Gourd inside a sealed, airless barrier and found that it held only ordinary water.
• Wang Yu suspected that Daoist Chongyun might have deceived him and considered investigating his grave, but postponed doing so.
• Wang Yu decided to focus on passing the True Disciple assessment and improving his strength.
• Wang Yu assembled the three pieces of Greenlight Armor and tested the golden blades formed by its Arm Armor.
• Wang Yu activated the armor set’s defensive barrier, enlarged his body with the Breathing Technique, and confirmed that the armor expanded with him and resisted his punch.

Wang Yu tested the Greenlight Armor’s formidable defensive power, while Heaven-Pillar Mountain’s elders debated whether he should become a true disciple. Gu Fei privately informed Sect Master Kang of something that changed his decision, leaving the remaining position unresolved in public.

• Wang Yu reinforced the Greenlight Armor with golden spirit inscriptions and struck himself, confirming that its barrier quickly recovered from his strongest punch.
• Junior Brother Yu urged Sect Master Kang to grant Wang Yu true disciple status, while elders from the Li and Yun Households argued for Li Er and Yun Cang instead.
• Sect Master Kang and the elders reserved one of the two available true disciple positions for Azure Dragon Mountain and began discussing how to fill the other.
• Gu Fei arrived at the Elders' Council and privately told Sect Master Kang information connected to Uncle-Master Sky Toad.
• Sect Master Kang thanked Gu Fei and said he now knew what to do, but did not reveal his decision to the assembled elders.

Wang Yu tested the Login Interface’s ability to recreate objects and honed his artifact refining, while discovering that items he had not personally made could not be reproduced reliably. He was summoned from the Silver Hall by Yu Bin, who had come to assess his application to become a True Disciple.

• Wang Yu found that he could not reliably control multiple Parent-Child Floating Mirrors and concluded he needed to reach Foundation Establishment and condense divine thought.
• Wang Yu recreated his artifact-refining workshop and stone house in the Silver Hall, then forged a Ranked Magical Artifact without overclocking mode.
• Wang Yu failed to reproduce Ximen Mei’s Little Maitreya Cloud Banner Talisman Treasure and found that the Jade Water Pill he recreated dissolved when he tried to consume it.
• Wang Yu received a Communication Talisman from Yu Bin, an executive elder of the General Affairs Hall, who ordered him to come outside so Yu Bin could assess his True Disciple application.

Wang Yu underwent an assessment for True Disciple status, in which he had to withstand a full-powered strike from the newly Foundation Establishment cultivator Yun Cang. Yun Cang attacked with the Fierce Bull Hammer, and the chapter ended as its hurricane-like strike crashed into Wang Yu’s three-layer Flame Veil shield.

• Yu Bin and Yun Cang arrived at Wang Yu’s cave abode to assess his application for True Disciple status.
• Yu Bin explained that Wang Yu had to withstand Yun Cang’s full-powered strike to pass the assessment.
• Uncle Li warned Wang Yu that Yun Cang was the Yun Household’s candidate for True Disciple status.
• Yun Cang revealed the Fierce Bull Hammer, while Wang Yu enlarged his body and raised the Parent-Child Floating Mirror’s Flame Veil defenses.
• Yun Cang sent the hammer’s hurricane crashing into the thick shield Wang Yu formed above himself.