Chapter Summaries

At the Trading Fair, Bai Shangli tried to force He Pingsheng to give up Qiao Huizhu in exchange for status in the Free and Carefree Immortal Sect, then threatened to kill him after the fair. He Pingsheng refused and considered ways to protect Qiao Huizhu, before a woman in black approached with news about heavenly fragrant cardamom.

• Bai Shangli lusted after Qiao Huizhu and offered He Pingsheng discipleship and power if he surrendered her.
• He Pingsheng refused Bai Shangli's offer, and Bai Shangli threatened to kill him once the Trading Fair ended.
• He Pingsheng reassured Qiao Huizhu and considered using his divine sense, a Golden Thunder Talisman, sword flight, or the Jinlan Treasure Robe to evade Bai Shangli.
• A woman in black asked He Pingsheng about trading two heavenly fragrant cardamoms for a supreme-grade spirit artifact shield.
• The woman in black said she had news about heavenly fragrant cardamom.

He Pingsheng agreed to trade a supreme-grade Spirit Artifact for the Black-Clad Woman’s lead on heavenly fragrant cardamom, then fled Skull Mountain with Qiao Huizhu to escape Bai Shangli. Back in his courtyard, they disguised themselves and entered seclusion to cultivate before meeting the woman in two months.

• The Black-Clad Woman told He Pingsheng she knew where a patch of heavenly fragrant cardamom grew, and he agreed to give her his supreme-grade Spirit Artifact if she showed him the plants.
• He Pingsheng sensed Bai Shangli spying on him and persuaded Qiao Huizhu to leave Skull Mountain before the Trading Fair ended.
• He Pingsheng and Qiao Huizhu escaped on his sword, and Bai Shangli pursued them but could not catch up.
• He Pingsheng disguised Qiao Huizhu and himself in their Redstone City courtyard, then activated its formations.
• He Pingsheng and Qiao Huizhu prepared to enter seclusion and cultivate for two months before meeting the Black-Clad Woman.

He Pingsheng enhanced several treasures and discovered two Heaven-tier Divine Sense abilities: one that could block attacks and one that could strike an enemy. He mastered Formless Big Dipper Nails, but its first use nearly exhausted his Divine Sense.

• He Pingsheng set up formations in his room, enhanced his pill flame, and refined the azure flame for concocting pills.
• The Treasure-Gathering Basin doubled his Golden Thunder Talismans and bitter hemp seeds and produced two Jade Slips containing Divine Sense abilities.
• He Pingsheng learned the Purple Mansion Nine-Shield Art could protect against Divine Sense attacks and Formless Big Dipper Nails could attack them.
• He Pingsheng chose to cultivate Formless Big Dipper Nails and, after consuming three Dual Spirit Pills over nearly two months, reached minor attainment.
• He Pingsheng summoned seven Divine Sense nails and struck the wooden doorframe, leaving seven deep marks while exhausting nearly all his Divine Sense.

He Pingsheng prepared for the trip to find heavenly fragrant cardamom and set out with Qiao Huizhu and Mi Rong. Mi Rong betrayed them by leading them into an ambush by Bai Shangli, who threatened Qiao Huizhu as He Pingsheng took a Dual Spirit Pill.

• He Pingsheng spent five days refining pills and checked Qiao Huizhu's progress, finding her at the tenth layer of Qi Refining.
• He Pingsheng gave Qiao Huizhu the Jinlan Treasure Robe and disguised her before they met the cultivator in black, who introduced herself as Mi Rong.
• He Pingsheng and Qiao Huizhu traveled west with Mi Rong toward Tianqiang Mountain in search of heavenly fragrant cardamom.
• After about two hours, Mi Rong landed on a peak, where Bai Shangli appeared and recognized that the pair had been in disguise.
• Mi Rong revealed that she had led He Pingsheng and Qiao Huizhu to Bai Shangli, who threatened them and targeted Qiao Huizhu.
• He Pingsheng took a supreme-grade Dual Spirit Pill as Bai Shangli mocked his cultivation and threatened to violate Qiao Huizhu.

He Pingsheng killed Bai Shangli with his Formless Big Dipper Nails after using a supreme-grade Third-Grade Talisman as a distraction, then captured the traitorous Mi Rong. Aboard the Cloud-Piercing Boat, Mi Rong explained how Bai Shangli had forced her to betray He Pingsheng, and He ordered her to lead them to heavenly fragrant cardamom.

• Bai Shangli threatened He Pingsheng and Qiao Huizhu, but He Pingsheng used a supreme-grade Third-Grade Talisman to distract him.
• He Pingsheng struck Bai Shangli with seven Formless Big Dipper Nails, killing him despite the strain on his divine sense.
• He Pingsheng stopped Mi Rong from escaping, knocked her unconscious with poisoned thorns, and recovered with a supreme-grade Soul-Restoring Pill.
• He Pingsheng burned Bai Shangli's corpse, took his crimson storage ring, and left on the Cloud-Piercing Boat with Qiao Huizhu and Mi Rong.
• Mi Rong admitted that Bai Shangli had captured and threatened her, forcing her to lure He Pingsheng out of the city.
• He Pingsheng warned Mi Rong not to flee and ordered her to lead them to heavenly fragrant cardamom, promising that her fate would depend on her performance.

He Pingsheng and Qiao Huizhu traveled toward the Mi Household to obtain Heavenly Fragrant Cardamom, while He Pingsheng sorted and enhanced the spoils from Bai Shangli. The chapter left them approaching the Mi Household after He Pingsheng killed Mi Rong to keep her from revealing that he had killed Bai Shangli.

• He Pingsheng searched Bai Shangli's ring, found spirit stones, artifacts, talismans, and the soul-filled Thousand Souls Banner, and decided not to refine the banner.
• During the flight, He Pingsheng enhanced the talismans, Flying Boat, and storage ring, then gave Qiao Huizhu a new ring and some spirit stones.
• Mi Rong revealed that she belonged to the Mi Household on Tianqiang Mountain and had fled after its head threatened to cripple her cultivation.
• Mi Rong said she could not enter the household and offered to give up the Sacred Wood Shield, but He Pingsheng bound her with Thorn Vines and left her unconscious in a ravine.
• He Pingsheng searched Mi Rong's Storage Bag and headed with Qiao Huizhu toward the Mi Household.

He Pingsheng and Qiao Huizhu visited the Mi Household to obtain two Heavenly Fragrant Cardamom seeds for restoring Qiao Huizhu’s spirit root. The Mi Household Ancestor gave them the seeds for free, leaving He Pingsheng stunned as they prepared to continue her recovery.

• He Pingsheng and Qiao Huizhu entered the Mi Household and asked its Internal Affairs elder to sell them two Heavenly Fragrant Cardamom seeds.
• The elder explained that the seeds belonged to the Mi Household Ancestor and went to ask his permission.
• The Mi Household Ancestor questioned Qiao Huizhu and had the elder verify that her spirit root remained blocked.
• The Mi Household Ancestor gave He Pingsheng two seeds without charge and wished Qiao Huizhu success in reshaping her spirit root.

He Pingsheng obtained heavenly fragrant cardamom from the Mi Household and used it to restore Qiao Huizhu’s spirit root before entering seclusion. After eleven years, he reached the tenth layer of Foundation Establishment, hit a bottleneck, and prepared to travel in search of spirit fruits containing the power of laws.

• He Pingsheng accepted the heavenly fragrant cardamom from the Mi Household and learned that its ancestor was named Mi Zangyuan.
• He Pingsheng refined a supreme-grade Spirit-Nurturing Pill, and Qiao Huizhu used it to restore her spirit root.
• He Pingsheng sold a pill flame and the Cloud-Piercing Boat, enhanced the Thousand Souls Banner into two banners, and began cultivating in seclusion.
• Over the next year, Qiao Huizhu returned to the sixth layer of Foundation Establishment while He Pingsheng reached the fourth layer.
• After another ten years, He Pingsheng reached the tenth layer of Foundation Establishment across his five dantian and encountered a bottleneck requiring spirit fruits containing the power of laws.
• He Pingsheng mastered several divine abilities, learned to set up third-grade formations, and decided to travel in search of the spirit fruits.

He Pingsheng learned that the City Lord's Manor was auctioning shops in Redstone City and attended the auction, planning to buy one to help search for Qiao Xiaoqiao. The auction began with only a small crowd of powerful cultivators, and He Pingsheng was left waiting to bid.

• Ling Zhiwang visited He Pingsheng and gave him a token for an auction of shops scheduled in three days.
• He Pingsheng prepared for the auction, which offered shops that Qiao Huizhu hoped to use to find Qiao Xiaoqiao.
• Ling Zhiwang reserved He Pingsheng a VIP seat and asked whether he planned to open a formation shop.
• He Pingsheng said he would open an alchemy shop, leaving Ling Zhiwang puzzled by his claim that pill refining and formation work had something in common.
• He Pingsheng took his VIP seat at the dedicated shop auction, where fewer than two hundred peak Foundation Establishment and Golden Core cultivators had gathered.

He Pingsheng attended Redstone City's auction and bought the right to operate a tiny shop in the bustling Jiazi District near the City Lord's Manor. After paying the full hundred years of taxes, he left with a City Lord's Manor cultivator to inspect the shop.

• A Golden Core Stage cultivator from the City Lord's Manor opened the auction and explained the ratings and terms for the shop premises.
• He Pingsheng ignored the early lots and waited for a small shop in a busy location with little spiritual energy.
• He Pingsheng bid on the Jiazi District shop and secured its hundred-year operating rights for seven million nine hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones.
• He Pingsheng paid the full hundred years of taxes and received the shop's Token and a tax payment plaque.
• He Pingsheng agreed to go with a female cultivator from the City Lord's Manor to inspect the shop.

He Pingsheng secured a shop in Redstone City and prepared it to sell pills, naming it the Qiao Xiaoqiao Alchemy Shop. Ling Zhiwang then brought him to a private gathering where formation manuals and a trade were expected to be discussed.

• He Pingsheng accepted Ling Zhiwang's invitation to a trading fair after hearing that a formation-specialist clan's friend planned to sell advanced formation manuals.
• He Pingsheng inspected his new shop near the City Lord's Manor, learned it included a courtyard, and registered it to sell first- through third-grade pills.
• He Pingsheng named the shop the Qiao Xiaoqiao Alchemy Shop and cleaned the premises in preparation for opening it.
• Ling Zhiwang led He Pingsheng to his courtyard, where four Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators were waiting around a table.
• Ling Zhiwang closed the door, sat down, and began introducing the attendees and explaining the gathering.

He Pingsheng attended Ling Zhiwang’s trading fair, exchanged treasures, and offered a complete heaven tier cultivation technique for the Lin Lineage’s fifth-grade Formation Compendium. The chapter ended before Lin Zifang responded to his offer.

• Ling Zhiwang introduced He Pingsheng to Bai Ni, Baiyun, Lin Zifang, and Ming Xuan, explaining their cultivation and backgrounds.
• Ling Zhiwang offered his Water Affection Sword, and Bai Ni offered twelve second-grade Beauty-Restoring Pills.
• He Pingsheng traded a drop of spirit liquid and two supreme-grade Ice Arrow Talismans for Bai Ni’s pills.
• He Pingsheng offered his supreme-grade Sacred Wood Shield, but rejected the other attendees’ trade offers as insufficient.
• Lin Zifang showed He Pingsheng the first and second halves of the Lin Lineage’s Formation Compendium, which contained formations up to fifth grade.
• He Pingsheng offered Lin Zifang a complete heaven tier cultivation technique for the Formation Compendium.

He Pingsheng traded a complete Heaven Tier cultivation technique for the Lin Lineage’s formation manual and discovered that a formation resembling the one his master used was actually meant to pass down the Great Void Grand Mystic Scripture. The chapter left him expecting to understand his master’s intentions when he reached the Golden Core Realm.

• He Pingsheng revealed the complete, all-spirit-root Harmonious Union Scripture, and Lin Zifang traded the original Formation Compendium for its transcribed copy.
• While reading the Formation Compendium, He Pingsheng found the Heavenly Demon Soul-Fusing Transmission Formation and realized it was an inheritance formation, not a soul seizure formation.
• He Pingsheng concluded that his master had intended to pass down the Great Void Grand Mystic Scripture, which he expected to awaken after he formed a golden core.
• After confirming the scripture’s transcription had no errors, Lin Zifang returned the Sacred Wood Shield and left with the Harmonious Union Scripture.

He Pingsheng stocked and opened Qiao Xiaoqiao's Alchemy Shop while searching for a way past his cultivation bottleneck. A customer asking for bottleneck-breaking treasures triggered He Pingsheng's recognition, and he stopped the man before he could leave.

• He Pingsheng lent Ling Zhiwang the Sacred Wood Shield in exchange for news of treasures that could break cultivation bottlenecks.
• He Pingsheng enhanced alchemy ingredients, pills, and formation manuals, then spent two months refining pills and studying the [Heavenly Moon Divine Formation].
• He Pingsheng opened Qiao Xiaoqiao's Alchemy Shop, protected it with formations, and waited for customers.
• A middle-aged cultivator asked He Pingsheng for bottleneck-breaking treasures, then returned to ask where he could find them.
• The cultivator said he only hoped his granddaughter could break through, and He Pingsheng recognized him and asked him to wait.

He Pingsheng reunited with Uncle Cheng and Xiao He, welcomed them into his alchemy shop, and made Xiao He his disciple. While Xiao He sorted through his jade slips, she found a list of new disciples of the Free and Carefree Immortal Sect that included Qiao Xiaoqiao.

• He Pingsheng recognized Uncle Cheng, learned that he and Xiao He both had single fire spirit roots, and reminded them how he had given them a cultivation method and supplies.
• Uncle Cheng brought Xiao He to meet He Pingsheng, and she recognized him after he explained his disguise and recalled their past.
• Xiao He told He Pingsheng how she and her grandfather had cultivated, traveled from the Qi Kingdom to Redstone City, and settled there.
• He Pingsheng made Xiao He his disciple and offered Uncle Cheng a place at his alchemy shop to help look after it.
• A few days later, Xiao He gave He Pingsheng a jade slip listing newly admitted disciples of the Free and Carefree Immortal Sect, and he spotted Qiao Xiaoqiao's name.

He Pingsheng discovered a newly admitted disciples list linking Qiao Xiaoqiao to the Free and Carefree Immortal Sect and decided to investigate after Qiao Huizhu returned. At his alchemy shop, a customer bought a supreme-grade Beauty-Restoring Pill and watched her appearance improve beyond simply regaining her youth.

• He Pingsheng recognized a jade slip as the Free and Carefree Immortal Sect's newly admitted disciples list and found Qiao Xiaoqiao's name on it.
• He Pingsheng told Xiao He to keep sorting and decided to wait for Qiao Huizhu before visiting the sect.
• A Daoist nun visited He Pingsheng's shop, bought middle-grade Spirit-Gathering Pills, then exchanged them for a supreme-grade Beauty-Restoring Pill.
• The Daoist nun swallowed the Beauty-Restoring Pill, regained her youthful appearance, and then became noticeably more beautiful.

He Pingsheng’s Alchemy Shop became famous for its potent pills, and he planned to close it for a month after selling out. Lin Zifang arrived seeking Origin-Reaching Pills and hinted at a third way to break through a bottleneck, leaving He Pingsheng eager to hear his explanation.

• He Pingsheng learned from a Heartbond Talisman that Qiao Huizhu would return in three days and kept Qiao Xiaoqiao’s situation from her for now.
• He Pingsheng limited his Alchemy Shop’s daily pill sales and told Xiao He to announce a month-long closure after the day’s stock sold out.
• Xiao He told He Pingsheng that Lin Zifang had come to see him, and He Pingsheng recognized him from the Private Trading Fair.
• Lin Zifang asked He Pingsheng to refine Origin-Reaching Pills from five sets of ingredients and revealed that he had reached the twelfth layer of the Foundation Establishment Realm without treasures or a fortuitous opportunity.
• He Pingsheng promised to provide a batch of high-grade Origin-Reaching Pills and asked Lin Zifang to explain how he had broken through.

He Pingsheng refined and sold high-grade Origin-Reaching Pills while waiting for Qiao Huizhu to return. When he showed her a list of the Free and Carefree Immortal Sect’s former disciples, she discovered her sister Qiao Xiaoqiao’s name and feared Bai Shangli had harmed her, so He Pingsheng proposed they investigate together.

• Lin Zifang told He Pingsheng that practicing the harvesting method of the Harmonious Union Scripture had helped him break through a bottleneck.
• He Pingsheng enhanced Lin Zifang’s ingredients, refined waste pills, enhanced them into Origin-Reaching Pills, and later gave Lin Zifang twelve high-grade pills.
• He Pingsheng put high-grade Origin-Reaching Pills up for sale and left the shop in Uncle Cheng’s care while Cheng Xiao He cultivated.
• Qiao Huizhu returned, heard about Uncle Cheng’s unusual path to cultivation, and was sent out of the room when He Pingsheng wanted to speak with her privately.
• He Pingsheng showed Qiao Huizhu a jade slip listing former disciples of the Free and Carefree Immortal Sect, and she found Qiao Xiaoqiao’s name.
• Qiao Huizhu feared Bai Shangli had harmed Qiao Xiaoqiao, so He Pingsheng suggested they go together to the Free and Carefree Immortal Sect to look for her.

He Pingsheng and Qiao Huizhu traveled to the Free and Carefree Immortal Sect to find Qiao Huizhu’s sister, Qiao Xiaoqiao. When Qiao Xiaoqiao arrived, she mistook Qiao Huizhu for a stranger and angrily demanded to know where her sister was.

• He Pingsheng told Qiao Huizhu that the Free and Carefree Immortal Sect was on Wuxian Mountain and persuaded her to wait until the next day before going.
• He Pingsheng took Qiao Huizhu to Wuxian Mountain aboard the Eight-Treasure Ship, reaching the sect in three days.
• A crane-riding disciple learned they were seeking Qiao Xiaoqiao and escorted them to the Outer Sect Deacon Hall.
• Senior Brother Zhan learned Qiao Xiaoqiao’s name and history, then told them she was a personal disciple of the Azure Cloud Ancestor at the Immortal Talisman Garden.
• Qiao Xiaoqiao arrived at the hall, mistook Qiao Huizhu for another woman, and demanded to know where her sister was.

Qiao Huizhu reunited with Qiao Xiaoqiao at the Free and Carefree Immortal Sect and learned how the younger woman had survived their years apart. Qiao Xiaoqiao invited Qiao Huizhu and He Pingsheng to join the sect, and He Pingsheng remained doubtful that the Azure Cloud Immortal Maiden would accept him.

• Qiao Huizhu revealed her true appearance, and she and Qiao Xiaoqiao embraced and cried together.
• Qiao Xiaoqiao brought Qiao Huizhu and He Pingsheng to Divine Light Hall on Azure Cloud Peak and explained that an evil cultivator had robbed her, leaving her unable to use her Heartbond Talisman.
• Qiao Xiaoqiao said she had nearly become Elder Bai's disciple but joined the Azure Cloud Immortal Maiden after Elder Bai died.
• He Pingsheng told Qiao Xiaoqiao that he and Qiao Huizhu had found her through their Qiao Xiaoqiao Alchemy Shop in Redstone City.
• Qiao Xiaoqiao invited Qiao Huizhu and He Pingsheng to join the Free and Carefree Immortal Sect, while He Pingsheng doubted the sect would accept his five-element spiritual root.