Chapter Summaries

Wang Yu sought Master Sun’s advice on becoming a Second-Tier Artifact Refiner and began practicing with iron mother. After successfully making a crude second-tier flying knife, he continued working on a long saber in the Silver Hall’s artifact-refining room.

• Master Sun told Wang Yu that, as a True Disciple, he would have to gather second-tier materials and develop his skills without relying on the sect to train him.
• Xiao Wei lamented that years of artifact refining had delayed her cultivation, while Master Sun and Wang Yu encouraged her to keep working toward becoming a Certified Artifact Refiner.
• A month later, Wang Yu successfully refined a flying knife from iron mother after more than a dozen failed attempts and over twenty thousand Spirit Stones’ worth of material.
• Wang Yu tested the flying knife’s power, then visited the Scripture Pavilion and selected the twenty-four-inscription Wind Bolt Technique.
• Two months later, Wang Yu hammered metal into the shape of a long saber and began engraving it with pale-blue Inscription Patterns in the Silver Hall.

Heaven Toad Ancestor sent Wang Yu to the Setting Sun Sect to study the Crimson Sun Great Art and advised him to seek a spirit flame. As Wang Yu traveled to complete the sect’s assessment mission, he considered developing a powerful lifebound magical artifact.

• Heaven Toad Ancestor gave Wang Yu a mission jade slip, a temporary True Disciple token, and a Fire Crystal Bottle, and warned him to build a stable foundation while cultivating the Crimson Sun Great Art.
• Heaven Toad Ancestor and the Golden Toad discussed Wang Yu’s prospects, Mei’er’s flight from her marriage, and the growing pressure from the Demonic Path.
• Several days later, Wang Yu traveled by wooden boat with two spirit beasts while studying Formation Notes from Senior Brother Yun.
• Wang Yu considered inscribing formation seals into second-tier magical artifacts and wondered what could serve as his lifebound magical artifact.

Wang Yu visited Yin Linglong after reaching Foundation Establishment, and the Yin Household and neighboring lineages celebrated his return. He noticed that the mysterious celestial body Chang Geng had been appearing more often, leaving him curious about what the change meant.

• Wang Yu decided to save his final Taiyuan deduction opportunity and prioritized visiting the Yin Household before beginning the Setting Sun Sect's assessment mission.
• Wang Yu arrived at the Yin Household's new home, where Yin Linglong and the household cultivators welcomed him as their Patriarch.
• Neighboring lineages sent elders with lavish gifts to congratulate Wang Yu on reaching Foundation Establishment.
• Wang Yu and Yin Linglong spent the evening together, then discussed Chang Geng's increasingly frequent appearances and longer visibility.
• Wang Yu gave Yin Linglong a Morning Glory Jade pendant sent as a gift by the Jia lineage.

Wang Yu and Yin Linglong discussed her cultivation, the Yin Household’s prospects, and their hopes for a child before Wang Yu set out to investigate a demon-beast mission near Mapleleaf Town. He arrived to find the Tong Household’s village destroyed, while a bloodied girl fled through the mountains.

• Yin Linglong told Wang Yu she wanted a Youth-Restoring Pill, and he promised to look for one while arranging for the Yin Household to gather first-tier alchemy resources.
• Wang Yu urged Yin Linglong to focus on reaching foundation establishment so she could grow old with him and strengthen the Yin Household.
• Wang Yu left on a Flying Boat to investigate missing Setting Sun Sect disciples and reports of a ranked demon beast near Mapleleaf Town.
• A bloodied girl fled through the woods as flames and black vapor engulfed a village near Mapleleaf Town.
• Wang Yu reached the village ruins ten days later and realized that the Tong Household had been wiped out.

Wang Yu investigated the destroyed Tong Household village and discovered signs of a Yin Corpse Rat outbreak. Beneath a well, he found a hidden hall with a broken cage and bundles of preserved demonic rat corpses, leaving the creature’s escape and whereabouts unresolved.

• Wang Yu searched the ruins with Big Green and Little White and found a poisoned Tong Household member and a dead Skeleton Rat locked together.
• Wang Yu recognized the beast as a Skeleton Rat and inferred that a Yin Corpse Rat was likely nearby.
• Wang Yu found two more mutilated Tong Household corpses, burned them, and noticed signs of fighting but few bodies.
• Wang Yu detected a Restrictive Seal on a well and leaped through it into a hidden underground hall.
• Wang Yu found an empty, damaged iron cage and bundles of dried demonic rat corpses, including one whose demonic energy nearly reached the second tier.

Wang Yu investigated the ruined Tong Household, discovered that an enemy had used a disguised corpse and a gecko to attack him, and traced the evidence to a cave. He found three enormous stones that blocked his divine sense, leaving the identity and purpose of the enemy unresolved.

• Wang Yu collected the incomplete Demon Rat corpses from the underground hall and called Little White and Big Green back to him.
• Big Green brought Wang Yu an unconscious girl from the Tong Household, but she revealed green slit pupils and tried to stab him.
• Wang Yu snapped the girl's neck and kicked her away before she exploded; he then exposed a hidden gecko carrying a Blood-Colored Talisman.
• A man speaking through the talisman hinted that he and Wang Yu would meet soon, then destroyed the gecko and talisman in a burst of flame.
• Wang Yu found black blood and white hairs in the girl's remains, identified her as a Refined Corpse, and followed Big Green to a cave.
• Wang Yu found three enormous white stones in the cave and discovered that they blocked his divine sense.

Wang Yu discovered the strange remains of three Setting Sun Sect disciples and escaped a swarm of Skeleton Rats as a second-tier Demon Beast and a Demonic Path cultivator approached. He prepared for the confrontation and repelled the enemy’s barrage of Crimson Fireballs, while Big Green and Little White fought the rats.

• Wang Yu shattered three boulders, found the skeletal remains of Setting Sun Sect disciples, and discovered that the rock fragments could numb his fingers.
• After Big Green and Little White warned him of danger, Wang Yu collected the bodies and broken rocks, then burst through the cave roof and saw black miasma approaching.
• Wang Yu spotted seventy or eighty Skeleton Rats surrounding the rocky area and sent Big Green and Little White to fight them while he flew toward the miasma.
• Wang Yu judged that the approaching enemy was likely a Foundation Establishment Demonic Path cultivator and prepared his spells and magical items for battle.
• The enemy launched dozens of Crimson Fireballs, but Wang Yu formed a wall of flame that swallowed the attack.

Wang Yu fought a demonic cultivator riding a monstrous rat, using his Floating Cannons and Mount Mi Seal to seemingly kill the rider. The rat survived and launched a surprise attack alongside a second assailant emerging from the coffin, leaving Wang Yu in immediate danger.

• Wang Yu fired his Floating Cannons at the tall demonic cultivator, piercing the opponent’s Iron Shield and wounding his chest.
• Wang Yu used the Mount Mi Seal to overwhelm the demonic cultivator’s shield and smash his upper body apart.
• The monstrous rat engulfed itself in flame and vanished, then reappeared beside Wang Yu as his Flame Veil collapsed.
• A short figure sprang from the coffin on the rat’s back and attacked Wang Yu with a dark-green net and a pitch-black iron spike.

Wang Yu fought the Green-Robed Dwarf and his giant Yin Corpse Rat, using his defenses and swift movement to batter the beast and trap it briefly in a mist formation. As the Green-Robed Dwarf sent the black iron spike at him again, the fight remained unresolved.

• Wang Yu deflected the black iron spike with a breath of killing intent and wounded the giant rat with his flying knife.
• The Green-Robed Dwarf attacked Wang Yu with green flames while the rat fired a beam and the iron spike struck his defenses.
• Wang Yu burst his remaining barrier and used the Blue-Red Fire Wheels to evade the attacks and strike the rat twice with golden palms.
• Wang Yu summoned three Pale Blue Banners to engulf the rat in white mist and hold it briefly.
• The Green-Robed Dwarf recovered and sent the black iron spike shooting toward Wang Yu again.

Wang Yu killed the short man in green robes by destroying his body and spirit soul, then discovered that the Yin Corpse Rat had dissolved after its master died. He recovered the rat’s strange bat wings and investigated a stone-like trench, where touching a branch left his finger numb.

• Wang Yu used the black flying knife and a Floating Cannon Platform to fatally wound the short man in green robes, then burned away his spirit soul after it fled into a Jade Pendant.
• Wang Yu noted the dangers of fighting Foundation Establishment Cultivators and resolved to strengthen his body and seek an automatic defensive secret art.
• Wang Yu found the dense forest silent, recalled his Pale Blue Banners, and saw that the Yin Corpse Rat had vanished while Big Green and Little White chased the remaining Skeleton Rats.
• Wang Yu discovered that the Yin Corpse Rat had dissolved into a poisonous black pool, leaving behind a pair of Flesh-Red Bat Wings, which he collected.
• Wang Yu examined a straight trench and nearby grayish-white trees, then touched a branch and felt a numbing sensation spread from his fingertip.

Wang Yu discovered that the Yin Corpse Rat had been assembled from rare demon-beast parts and examined a mysterious Silver Talisman recovered after the short man’s self-detonation. The talisman contained venom and a corpse-refining secret art whose author was a Demonic Path cultivator surnamed Tong, leaving Wang Yu with new questions about the Tong Household’s connection to the Mara Sect.

• Wang Yu identified the petrifying beast as a Stone Bat Rat and confirmed that its wings had been transplanted onto the Yin Corpse Rat.
• Wang Yu wondered whether the Mara Sect or the Tong Household had refined the corpse demon, then retrieved the short man’s Black Iron Spike and Pitch-Black Small Shield.
• Wang Yu activated the Silver Talisman and discovered that it could enter his divine sense sea and transform into a small bottle.
• Wang Yu found a separate space inside the bottle containing the collected venom and a pale white jade slip.
• Wang Yu read the jade slip’s corpse-refining methods and experimental records, and learned that their author was a Demonic Path cultivator surnamed Tong.

Wang Yu failed to remove a mysterious silver talisman from his divine sense sea, then finished clearing the Tong Household ruins and headed to the Setting Sun Sect to report his completed task. He reached Heavenly Sun Valley and was met by Setting Sun Sect disciples, who summoned Martial Uncle Xin.

• Wang Yu discovered that the silver talisman could not be stored, restrained, or driven from his divine sense sea, and decided to seek Heaven Toad Ancestor's help if necessary.
• Wang Yu burned the Skeleton Rat corpses, treated Big Green and Little White's wounds, and retrieved a fragment of a black Jade Pendant carrying the demonic cultivator's aura.
• Wang Yu flew toward the Setting Sun Sect with evidence of his completed assessment task and looked forward to visiting the sect's fire-rich Heavenly Sun Valley.
• Twenty days later, two Setting Sun Sect disciples stopped Wang Yu near the sect headquarters and checked his temporary True Disciple Token.
• The male disciple contacted Martial Uncle Xin, and a middle-aged monk arrived on an enormous red sword.

Wang Yu arrived at the Setting Sun Sect and learned that the Heavenly Net Demon Venerable was rumored to have reached Nascent Soul and threatened the Four Sects. Xin Geng guided him toward the sect’s city, where they encountered its Guardian Array seal.

• Xin Geng welcomed Wang Yu and escorted him toward the Setting Sun Sect’s headquarters in Heavenly Sun Valley.
• Xin Geng explained the city’s districts and told Wang Yu he could live in the Setting Sun Tower if his assessment assignment caused no problems.
• Xin Geng said Zhu Wuyan had earned the name Little Demon Venerable after killing three Foundation Establishment cultivators.
• Xin Geng revealed that the Mara Sect’s chief grand elder, the Heavenly Net Demon Venerable, was rumored to have formed a nascent soul and to be preparing an attack on the Four Sects.
• Xin Geng explained that people avoided speaking the Demon Venerable’s title for fear he might sense them, then halted at the Guardian Array and presented a white token to its outer seal.

Wang Yu completed his assessment by proving he had slain Jiao Sanchi and exchanged the Green-Robed Dwarf’s magical artifact for contribution points. He chose to try the difficult Crimson Sun Great Art despite Elder Xu and Xin Geng warning him about its costs and obstacles.

• Wang Yu presented the demon rat corpses and Jade Pendant fragment to Elder Xu and recounted his battle with the Green-Robed Dwarf and the Yin Corpse Rat.
• Elder Xu identified the Heaven-Piercing Awl as Jiao Sanchi’s Life-Bound Magical Artifact, and Wang Yu exchanged it for twelve thousand contribution points.
• Elder Xu removed the seal on Wang Yu’s True Disciple Token and credited him with the exchange disciples’ bonus of five thousand contribution points.
• Xin Geng and Elder Xu warned Wang Yu that the Crimson Sun Great Art required immense resources, a spirit flame, and difficult breakthroughs.
• Wang Yu decided to try studying the Crimson Sun Great Art first and switch to another cultivation art if he could not succeed.

Wang Yu settled into his Setting Sun Sect cave abode and studied the first-level formula of the Crimson Sun Great Art, learning that its powerful cultivation required extensive resources and preparation. After discovering Wang Yu had killed Jiao Sanchi, a sect disciple abandoned plans to confront him over his choice of cultivation art.

• Elder Xu told a fellow disciple that Wang Yu still intended to cultivate the Crimson Sun Great Art, and the man considered persuading him to change his mind.
• Elder Xu revealed that Wang Yu had killed Jiao Sanchi and surrendered his Life-Bound Magical Artifact, causing the man to give up confronting him and postpone renting the Azure Sun Lamp.
• Xin Geng escorted Wang Yu to a cave abode in the High Tower, where Wang Yu inspected its facilities and decided to reinforce its restrictive seals himself.
• Wang Yu set up warning arrays in the cave abode and then used overclocking mode to study the first-level formula of the Crimson Sun Great Art.
• Wang Yu learned that the art required a spirit flame to temper his meridians and relied on pills, fire-rich cultivation sites, and other costly resources to advance.

Wang Yu considered how to fund his cultivation of the Crimson Sun Great Art and met with Gu Lian, who warned him about the art’s difficulty and revealed Elder Meng’s connection to his artifact-refining lineage. The chapter ended with Wang Yu realizing he had neglected Elder Meng’s invitation and worrying that he had offended him.

• Wang Yu decided he needed to become a second-tier artifact refiner and alchemist to support his cultivation and sought guidance from a second-tier refiner.
• Gu Lian visited Wang Yu, praised his progress, and said a Blood Spirit Pill had awakened another innate bloodline ability in him.
• Gu Lian warned Wang Yu that most true disciples who tried the Crimson Sun Great Art had failed to advance and advised him to switch arts if he made no progress within a year.
• Gu Lian reminded Wang Yu that Elder Meng had invited him to the Setting Sun Sect for artifact-refining guidance, then explained that Master Sun had studied under Elder Meng and that Wang Yu belonged to Elder Meng’s artifact-refining lineage.
• Wang Yu realized he had failed to visit Elder Meng after the Jialan Secret Realm and worried that he had offended the elder.

Wang Yu visited Lie Guang and Doctor Meng in the Setting Sun Sect, securing Lie Guang’s support and Doctor Meng’s guidance in second-tier artifact refining. After buying fire-attribute food for his cultivation, Wang Yu entered Taiyuan and spat out a Silver Talisman that transformed into the phantom of a Silver Vial.

• Wang Yu told Gu Lian that Heaven Toad had sent him to seek out Lie Guang, and Gu Lian congratulated him on becoming Heaven Toad’s disciple.
• Wang Yu visited Lie Guang, recounted what had happened in the Jialan Secret Realm, and received permission to approach Lie Guang whenever he encountered trouble in the Setting Sun Sect.
• Wang Yu demonstrated his inscription skills to Doctor Meng, who agreed to guide him in second-tier artifact refining.
• Wang Yu bought more than a thousand spirit stones’ worth of fire-attribute Medicinal Meat and spirit rice for his cultivation.
• Wang Yu entered Taiyuan and spat out a Silver Talisman, which transformed into the phantom image of a Silver Vial.

Wang Yu tested how the mysterious Silver Talisman brought stored items into Taiyuan's login interface and confirmed that magical artifacts, talismans, and materials could be used there. He refined a first-tier, middle-grade flying knife from flame iron, but still could not create the material or knife from crystalline light alone.

• Wang Yu discovered that the Silver Talisman brought stored venom into the Silver Hall, though he could not recreate the venom from crystalline light.
• Wang Yu brought out a White Bone Banner, a Great Wind Talisman, and flame iron, then confirmed that the banner and talisman worked normally in the hall.
• Wang Yu formed an Artifact Refining Room and an Earthfire Chamber, then used the flame iron to refine a first-tier, middle-grade flying knife.
• Wang Yu tested whether he could create another flying knife from crystalline light, but it fell apart, so he began forming flame iron instead.

Wang Yu discovered that the Silver Talisman could carry real objects into the Taiyuan Login Interface, though doing so wore it down, and decided to keep it for the rare opportunities it offered. He set aside other pursuits to master the first level of the Crimson Sun Great Art, then learned that renting the Azure Sun Lamp would cost far more contribution points than he expected.

• Wang Yu tested the Silver Talisman and confirmed that objects created inside the Login Interface could not be brought out, while real objects returned intact and the talisman blurred when he carried them into the hall.
• Wang Yu realized the talisman could let him use real materials in the Silver Hall and chose not to destroy it, despite its gradual wear.
• Wang Yu resolved to prioritize mastering the first-level formula of the Crimson Sun Great Art and entered overclocked synchronization mode to study its jade slip.
• Three days later, Wang Yu learned that renting the Azure Sun Lamp required three thousand contribution points, plus another two thousand to have two Foundation Establishment cultivators activate it.

Wang Yu arranged to use the Azure Sun Lamp for marrow washing and meridian cleansing before practicing the Crimson Sun Great Art, with help from Lie Guang’s disciple. He then acquired cultivation notes and began studying them in his tower cave abode.

• Wang Yu learned that using the Azure Sun Lamp required two Foundation Establishment Cultivators, extra medicines, and a fire-rich chamber, so he rented Pure Flame Chamber Room Yi-1 for three days.
• The red-robed man gave Wang Yu the sealed Azure Sun Lamp and arranged to recruit experienced Foundation Establishment Cultivators to assist with the marrow washing.
• Lie Guang told his disciple that Tian Chan had asked him to look after Wang Yu, and the red-robed man contacted Senior Sister Liu about accepting the task.
• Wang Yu visited the Setting Sun Sect’s Scripture Pavilion and exchanged spirit stones and contribution points for accounts of Crimson Sun Great Art cultivation experience.
• Wang Yu returned to his tower cave abode and began studying a jade slip containing cultivation notes from a former Golden Core Ancestor.