Chapter Summaries

After returning to Spirit Plant Peak, Lin Mo prepared for his likely advancement to the Inner Sect by arranging for Qin Sang Sang and Lin Xiaohe to manage his courtyard and spirit crops. He left the Spirit-Devouring Vine and valuable plants for himself, then planned to visit the Black Market that night to prepare for what came next.

• Lin Xiaohe and the Spirit Plant Courtyard disciples angrily offered to defend Lin Mo, but he told Yuan Jingtu he would settle the matter with Spirit Beast Peak after reaching Foundation Establishment.
• Lin Mo returned to his courtyard and found his spirit plants mature, then decided Qin Sang Sang and Lin Xiaohe would need supplies to manage the courtyard after he advanced to the Inner Sect.
• Lin Mo harvested the spirit fruit, planted a new crop, moved the Spirit-Devouring Vine, and discovered the Gu-Devouring Bee hiding among its roots before leaving it in the Back Courtyard.
• Lin Mo reinforced the Maze-Woven Golden Lock Formation with spirit stones and gave Qin Sang Sang a bottle of spirit liquid and the Formation Disc, instructing her to tend the spirit rice and spirit wheat.
• Lin Xiaohe worried about Lin Mo going to the Inner Sect, and Lin Mo decided to visit the Black Market that night to make preparations.

Lin Mo returned to the Black Market and traded his spirit fruits for a defensive Ice Moon Pendant and healing pills, preparing for a possible confrontation with Ding Yan. Black-Robed Du’s questions about the Tai Sui Gate deepened Lin Mo’s suspicion that the merchant had ties to it, and Lin Mo left intending to avoid him.

• Black-Robed Du recognized Lin Mo as the Spirit Plant Grand Competition champion, and Lin Mo traded his spirit fruits for thirty thousand contribution points’ worth of Ice Moon Pendant and six mystic-tier pills.
• Black-Robed Du explained that the pendant could block fire attacks below the third level of Foundation Establishment, though it had only three uses remaining.
• Lin Mo accepted the pendant and pills because he feared being caught unprepared against Ding Yan’s sword and fire techniques.
• Black-Robed Du asked Lin Mo whether he had considered his view that cultivation had no universally right or wrong path.
• Lin Mo answered that he only needed to believe his own path was not wrong, then left for Spirit Plant Peak resolved to avoid Black-Robed Du unless necessary.

Lin Mo learned that he had been promoted to the Inner Sect and visited the Spirit Plant Courtyard to thank those who had supported him. Yuan Jingtu warned him not to bring trouble upon the courtyard and explained that Cloud Crane High Person was unlikely to help because he was near death.

• A messenger told Lin Mo that he and Shen Chengqi would exchange Identity Tokens, with Shen remaining an outer elder and Lin entering the Inner Sect.
• Lin Mo gave the messenger a spirit stone and asked him to tell the Spirit Plant Courtyard elders that he would visit after breakfast.
• Lin Mo visited Yuan Jingtu, Wang Qiuru, Shen Chengqi, and Shen Chunfa, who welcomed him and discussed the courtyard's prospects.
• Yuan Jingtu warned Lin Mo to fulfill his duties in the Inner Sect without becoming arrogant or causing trouble for the Spirit Plant Courtyard.
• Lin Mo asked whether Cloud Crane High Person could support the courtyard, and Yuan Jingtu said Cloud Crane would likely die within three years unless they found a Life-Restoring Treasure.

Lin Mo discovered that the Treasure Gourd had infused his mid-grade spirit liquid into spirit spring water with a powerful, concentrated aura. After drinking just half a drop, he advanced from the early to the middle stage of the fifth layer of Qi Refining.

• Yuan Jingtu told Lin Mo to focus on cultivation before entering the Inner Sect and warned him not to lose himself in women; Lin Mo reaffirmed his pure yang and cautioned the elders about Gou Fengying's spiritheart vines.
• Wang Qiuru assured Lin Mo that the disciples had been told to avoid the spiritheart vines and handle them carefully.
• Back at his courtyard, Lin Mo noticed Lin Xiaohe's mysterious cool energy and remembered that he had forgotten to ask Black-Robed Du or Black-Robed Yang about it.
• Lin Mo opened the Treasure Gourd and found that the mid-grade spirit liquid had undergone Spirit Infusion after twenty-four hours, releasing an aura nearly as effective as low-grade spirit spring water.
• Lin Mo swallowed half a drop of mid-grade spirit spring water, and his cultivation rose from the early to the middle stage of the fifth layer of Qi Refining.

Lin Mo advanced to the middle fifth layer of Qi Refining with mid-grade spirit spring water, then left the Spirit Plant Courtyard to join the Inner Sect. Lü Di brought him to a cramped courtyard on Sect Master Peak, where Lin Mo learned that Spirit Plant Courtyard disciples were looked down on and asked which hall he would join.

• Lin Mo used mid-grade spirit spring water to advance to the middle fifth layer of Qi Refining, leaving his dantian depleted before refilling it through cultivation.
• Lin Mo considered testing whether mid-grade spirit spring water could further mutate his plants, but the messenger disciple arrived to summon him to Sect Master Peak.
• Lin Mo said goodbye to Qin Sang Sang and Lin Xiaohe, then rode Lü Di's flying sword away amid the Spirit Plant Courtyard's send-off.
• Lü Di brought Lin Mo to a small, secluded courtyard on Sect Master Peak instead of the Sect Master's Main Hall.
• Lü Di explained that Spirit Plant Courtyard disciples were poorly regarded on Sect Master Peak and that Wang Erhu had faced ostracism in the War Hall.
• Lin Mo asked Lü Di which hall he would belong to as an inner sect disciple.

After being assigned humiliating servant duties as an Inner Sect disciple, Lin Mo was ordered by Elder Hua to cultivate a Fire Lotus Root in the deadly Heaven-Burning Valley for Ding Yan. Lü Di gave him a Snow-Patterned Lotus seed for protection, and Lin Mo set off determined to survive and establish himself in the Inner Sect.

• Lü Di told Lin Mo that he had been assigned to the Inner Sect Service Hall, whose disciples performed servant work.
• Elder Hua arrived with Ding Yan and ordered Lin Mo to cultivate a Seven-Foot Fire Lotus Root in Heaven-Burning Valley, threatening him through the two girls Lin Mo guided.
• Ding Yan warned Lin Mo that Elder Hua would blame him if he failed, then left without waiting for an answer.
• Lü Di explained the valley's deadly fire poison and gave Lin Mo a Snow-Patterned Lotus seed to offer some protection.
• Lin Mo accepted the task, and Lü Di took him toward Heaven-Burning Valley on his flying sword.
• As they left Sect Master Peak, Lin Mo vowed to return alive and make those who looked down on him and Spirit Plant Peak regret it.

Lin Mo struggled to survive the concentrated fire poison in Heaven-Burning Valley after Lü Di left him in the Inner Valley. He planted the Snow-Patterned Lotus Seed and used mid-grade spirit spring water, causing it to mutate and advance in rank, and its icy aura shielded him from the poison.

• Lü Di noticed Lin Mo was unusually resistant to the outer valley's fire poison, and Lin Mo explained that his five-system cultivation helped him endure it.
• Lü Di brought Lin Mo to the Inner Valley, warned him about the stronger fire poison, and left after Lin Mo showed no immediate signs of serious poisoning.
• After Lü Di departed, Lin Mo coughed up blood and took pills and spirit spring water while circulating the Four Seas Formula, but realized the poison was damaging him faster than he could recover.
• Lin Mo planted the Snow-Patterned Lotus Seed and watered it with two drops of mid-grade spirit spring water.
• The lotus mutated and advanced in rank, releasing an icy aura that completely shielded Lin Mo from the fire poison.

Lin Mo cultivated a mutated Snow-Patterned Lotus into a seventh-rank Iceheart Lotus and used it to search the fire-poisonous heart of Heaven-Burning Valley for Fire Lotus Root. After finding none on the surface and running out of food, he descended into a fissure and spotted what he sought near the magma.

• Lin Mo harvested the matured Iceheart Lotus, which purified the air around him and protected him from the fire poison.
• Lin Mo searched the Inner Valley for half a month but found no Fire Lotus Root, while the fire poison and hunger wore him down.
• Lin Mo ate his remaining Golden-Light Wheat seeds, prepared pills and spirit spring water, and leaped into a fissure.
• Lin Mo descended to the connected depths beneath the fissures and searched among the magma and black rocks.
• Lin Mo spotted something near a broad stretch of magma and exclaimed that he had found it.

Lin Mo found a fire lotus with two separate roots and divided its roots and seeds between his Storage Bags before hiding in Heaven-Burning Valley to cultivate. After eating an iceheart lotus, his dantian flooded with water-element spiritual energy and began to freeze, so he swallowed a fire lotus root to counter it.

• Lin Mo uprooted a fire lotus that turned out to have two roots, then kept one root and half its seeds while reserving the rest for Hua.
• Lin Mo decided to delay reporting back to Hua and cultivate in a hidden cave in the outer reaches of Heaven-Burning Valley.
• Lin Mo set up a Concealment Formation, ate fire lotus seeds, and cultivated with mid-grade spirit spring water until his dantian filled with spiritual energy.
• Lin Mo wondered whether eating the iceheart lotus would let him resist the valley's fire poison, then swallowed its petals and heart.
• The iceheart lotus flooded Lin Mo's dantian with water-element spiritual energy and threatened to freeze him, so he quickly ate a fire lotus root.

Lin Mo survived the violent clash between the Fire Lotus Root and Iceheart Lotus by using spirit spring water and Myriad Trees Flourishing to balance his spiritual energy. He discovered that he had gained an Ice Spiritual Root and advanced to sixth-layer Qi Refining perfection, then wondered whether spiritual sense could reveal the Treasure Gourd’s secrets.

• Lin Mo used three drops of spirit spring water and Myriad Trees Flourishing to calm the ice and fire fighting in his dantian.
• Lin Mo sensed a separate vortex of ice-element spiritual energy alongside the five elements and realized he had gained an Ice Spiritual Root.
• Lin Mo found that his cultivation had advanced to sixth-layer Qi Refining perfection and hit the threshold before the seventh layer.
• Lin Mo concluded that the spirit plants and spirit spring water had strengthened his life force and identified the gourd’s mysterious aura as vitality essence.
• Lin Mo wondered whether he could examine the Treasure Gourd with spiritual sense.

Lin Mo explored the Treasure Gourd and discovered it contained a vast world with a stream of spirit spring water formed from the liquid he had poured into it. He figured out how to leave, then returned to the Azure Cloud Sect while planning how to explain his rapid cultivation progress.

• Lin Mo sent his divine sense into the Treasure Gourd and found himself physically inside a hidden mountain world.
• Lin Mo followed a stream of spirit spring water and realized it had likely formed from the liquid he had poured into the gourd.
• Lin Mo willed himself out of the gourd and reappeared in his cave, then wondered whether the gourd vanished while he was inside.
• Lin Mo recognized that his cultivation had advanced from the early fifth layer to the peak of the sixth layer of Qi Refining in less than half a month and decided not to advance further before returning.
• Lin Mo packed away the spirit stones from his Concealment Formation and returned to the Azure Cloud Sect.

Lin Mo returned to Azure Cloud Sect and paid Service Hall guards to secure their help getting past the mountain gate. At the summit, he encountered a familiar disciple who told him that Senior Brother Ding Yan had died and feared being sent to fight the Tai Sui Gate.

• Lin Mo explained to the guards that Elder Hua had sent him away, then gave them spirit stones to learn the inner sect’s rules for leaving the mountain.
• Lin Mo paid Xu Ziling and the other Service Hall guards a thousand spirit stones to overlook his future trips down the mountain.
• Lin Mo reached the summit and saw Elder Hua leave with more than twenty War Hall disciples, apparently heading to fight the Tai Sui Gate.
• A familiar disciple recognized Lin Mo, said they had worried he would not return from Heaven-Burning Valley, and revealed that Senior Brother Ding Yan had died.

Lin Mo learned that Ding Yan had supposedly died fighting a foundation establishment fiend and accepted Wang Erhu’s request to deliver his savings to his parents if he failed to return. After returning to Spirit Plant Peak, Lin Mo tested whether entering the Treasure Gourd with his divine sense could hide him from others, then emerged from it.

• Wang Erhu told Lin Mo that Ding Yan had died and entrusted him with spirit stones and spirit liquid for Wang Erhu’s parents if he did not return.
• Wang Erhu said Ding Yan had been refined alive into a Tai Sui Pill after encountering a foundation establishment fiend from the Tai Sui Gate, but Lin Mo doubted the account.
• Lin Mo learned that Cloud Crane High Person lived near the summit and postponed visiting him to avoid exposing the Treasure Gourd.
• Lin Mo left Sect Master Peak and returned to his old courtyard on Spirit Plant Peak, where Lin Xiaohe and Qin Sang Sang welcomed him.
• Lin Mo ordered the girls to wait outside, entered the Treasure Gourd’s Mysterious Microcosm with his divine sense, and returned to the main room after about ten breaths.

Lin Mo discovered that the Treasure Gourd made time pass ten times faster inside and concealed itself while he was within it. He left for Sect Master Peak, planning to use the gourd for cultivation and growing spirit plants while keeping its secret.

• Lin Mo learned that Qin Sang Sang and Lin Xiaohe had experienced only four breaths while he had spent about fourteen breaths outside the Treasure Gourd.
• Lin Mo tested the gourd again and found that two hundred breaths inside corresponded to about twenty breaths outside, while the gourd disappeared from the room with him.
• Lin Mo realized he could use the gourd to cultivate and grow spirit plants much faster without anyone discovering the secret.
• Lin Mo told Qin Sang Sang and Lin Xiaohe to keep quiet about his concealment spell and gave them an explanation to use if Steward Wang came asking.
• Lin Mo said goodbye to Qin Sang Sang and Lin Xiaohe, collected the Spirit-Devouring Vine, the Gu-Devouring Bee, and spirit seeds, then returned to Sect Master Peak.

Lin Mo tested the Treasure Gourd’s limits and found that spirit plants did not grow faster or advance again with mid-grade spirit spring water, though the Gu-Devouring Bee formed a golden cocoon after receiving a drop. After staging a haggard appearance and reporting his mission to Lü Di, Lin Mo asked to see Senior Cloud Crane, claiming he might help prolong his life and form his golden core.

• Lin Mo found that spirit plants inside the Treasure Gourd grew at the same rate as outside and could mutate and advance only once, while the Gu-Devouring Bee entered a golden cocoon after drinking mid-grade spirit spring water.
• Lin Mo diluted spirit spring water into a jade bottle, bled himself until he looked haggard, and hurried to the Mountain Summit Plaza.
• Lü Di saw Lin Mo’s appearance and asked whether he had returned from Heaven-Burning Valley with the Fire Lotus Root.
• Lin Mo gave Lü Di the Storage Bag containing the Fire Lotus Root and twelve lotus seeds, then claimed that the Snow-Patterned Lotus had helped him survive fire poison and reach sixth-layer Qi Refining perfection.
• Lü Di offered to arrange care for Lin Mo’s spirit field, but Lin Mo asked to meet Senior Cloud Crane and said he might help him prolong his life and form his golden core.

Lin Mo brought Cloud Crane High Person a life-restoring spirit liquid, leading Cloud Crane to mistake it for a sacrifice of Lin Mo’s vitality. Cloud Crane accepted the gift and offered Lin Mo a formation booklet, while Lin Mo asked to learn from him after he formed his Golden Core.

• Lü Di took Lin Mo to the Guest Elder Residence to meet Cloud Crane High Person.
• Cloud Crane emerged after hearing Lin Mo’s name, but initially thought Lin Mo was mocking his failing health.
• Lin Mo offered Cloud Crane a jade bottle of spirit liquid and said it might restore his vitality and allow him to form a Golden Core.
• Cloud Crane mistakenly believed Lin Mo had sacrificed his own essence blood to make the liquid and offered him a booklet on wood spirit formations in return.
• Lin Mo accepted the booklet and asked Cloud Crane to share his Golden Core insights after his breakthrough.

Lin Mo gave Cloud Crane High Person five drops of mid-grade spirit spring water, restoring the elder’s vitality and prompting him to warn Lin Mo to keep the secret. Cloud Crane High Person then showed Lin Mo the Azure Cloud Primordial Defense Formation, an unfinished formation between the eighth and seventh grades, and urged him to study it.

• Cloud Crane High Person dismissed Lü Di and privately asked Lin Mo how much essence blood he had lost making the bottle’s contents.
• Lin Mo reassured Cloud Crane High Person that his foundations were unharmed and encouraged him to try the vitality essence.
• Cloud Crane High Person sensed the vitality in the bottle, drank all five drops, and regained his vigor.
• Cloud Crane High Person warned Lin Mo to keep the secret from everyone except Lü Di because his essence blood could draw danger.
• Cloud Crane High Person showed Lin Mo the Azure Cloud Primordial Defense Formation and handed him its Formation Disc to study.

Lin Mo studied the Azure Cloud Primordial Defense Formation and learned that the Azure Cloud Sword Mound lay at the heart of both the formation and the sect. Cloud Crane High Person arranged an opportunity for Lin Mo to visit the forbidden ground while the sect prepared to guard his attempt at Golden Core.

• Lin Mo memorized the moving patterns of the Azure Cloud Primordial Defense Formation, and Cloud Crane High Person praised his comprehension and noticed his rapid cultivation progress.
• Cloud Crane High Person explained that studying the formation consumed his lifespan and that its patterns originated in the Ancient Sword Cultivator Ruins, now known as the Azure Cloud Sword Mound.
• Lin Mo secretly resolved to sneak into the forbidden ground, and Cloud Crane High Person told him the formation needed no guards against anyone short of a Nascent Soul cultivator.
• Cloud Crane High Person promised to support Lin Mo and Spirit Plant Peak if he condensed his Golden Core, then announced that he would reveal his planned breakthrough attempt in three days.
• Cloud Crane High Person said the sect would be tightly guarded during his attempt, giving Lin Mo the best chance to visit the Forbidden Sword Mound, and Lin Mo hinted that he intended to go.

Lin Mo used the Treasure Gourd’s spirit spring water to reach the seventh layer of Qi Refining, then investigated Ding Yan’s reported death. He became convinced Ding Yan was still alive and feared Elder Hua would not return from the mission to avenge him.

• Lin Mo drank ten drops of mid-grade spirit spring water inside the Treasure Gourd and broke through to the seventh layer of Qi Refining.
• Lin Mo tested his new strength and divine sense, and noted that the gourd’s time passed ten times faster than time outside.
• Lin Mo went to the Sect Affairs Hall and asked whether Ding Yan’s Life Token had shattered; a disciple confirmed it had.
• Lin Mo learned that Life Tokens were difficult, but not impossible, to destroy, and left the hall still suspicious about Ding Yan’s fate.
• Lin Mo returned to his courtyard and concluded that Ding Yan was not dead and Elder Hua might not survive the mission to avenge him.

Lin Mo harvested advanced spirit plants in the Gourd Space and waited for Cloud Crane High Person to attempt forming a golden core, hoping to use the opportunity to enter the Forbidden Sword Mound. Cloud Crane High Person began his breakthrough under heavy protection, but the six-nine thunderfire tribulation gathered above Sect Master Peak.

• Lin Mo harvested iceheart lotuses, Fire Lotus Roots, golden-light wheat, and purple-patterned rice, and he consumed one Fire Lotus Root and one iceheart lotus.
• Lin Mo inspected the Spirit-Devouring Vine and sleeping Gu-Devouring Bee, then waited in his courtyard for Cloud Crane High Person to begin forming his golden core.
• Han Kang learned that Cloud Crane High Person had restored his vitality and ordered the sect elders to guard him and activate the Forbidden Ground Formation around Sect Master Peak.
• The formation raised a pale golden barrier around Sect Master Peak as Han Kang and the elders guarded Cloud Crane High Person.
• Six layers of thunderclouds gathered above Sect Master Peak, revealing that Cloud Crane High Person faced a six-nine thunderfire tribulation.