Chapter Summaries

Xu Qingtong defended the demonized garden balsam plantation from successive waves of Magic Beasts, using the Seven Sons Linked-Ring Saber to defeat a sixth-tier Fox-Tortoise Beast and wipe out the attackers. The next morning, Zhou Zhiren reported that the balsam had ripened, and Xu Qingtong ordered its harvest and delivery to his residence.

• As the Magic Beasts attacked the plantation, Xu Qingtong confronted the sixth-tier Fox-Tortoise Beast and killed it and its five fifth-tier subordinates.
• Xu Qingtong returned to the plantation and used the Seven Sons Linked-Ring Saber to kill the attacking fifth-tier Magic Beasts before directing Qin Baichuan and the guards to finish off the rest.
• Xu Qingtong told Qin Baichuan to handle the cleanup and losses, then ordered him to strengthen patrols because the demonized garden balsam was nearly ripe.
• The next morning, Zhou Zhiren told Xu Qingtong that the demonized garden balsam had ripened and that the workers were ready to harvest it.
• Xu Qingtong ordered Zhou Zhiren to harvest the fruit quickly and send it to his residence, then returned to Yalai Town.

Xu Qingtong delivered the Demonized Garden Balsam harvest, selected fruits for his World-Breaking Fruit experiments, and visited Lu Gui'nian and Ouye Tong in Hanshui City. Ouye Tong refined him a Yuanrong Crossbow, which Xu Qingtong eagerly examined.

• Xu Qingtong selected fourteen Demonized Garden Balsam fruits for World-Breaking Fruits and planned to refine the remaining fruits into weaker single-use treasures.
• Xu Qingtong delivered crates of fruit to Lu Gui'nian, confirmed he would leave the next day, and thanked him before departing.
• Xu Qingtong told Ouye Tong that he had found Ouyang Duoduo, an artifact-refining prodigy, as a successor to the Ouye Household's techniques.
• Xu Qingtong gave Ouye Tong a sixth-tier Fox-Tortoise Beast and asked him to refine a demonic crossbow that fired single-use pellets.
• Ouye Tong used Xu Qingtong's supplied materials to refine the high-grade demonic Yuanrong Crossbow, which could fire ten pellets in succession.

Xu Qingtong refined a new weapon, the Yuanrong Bolt, by combining a weakened World-Breaking Fruit with the Yuanrong Crossbow. After making four hundred bolts, he returned to the barrier between the Demon Realm and Central Province and entered the passage.

• Xu Qingtong refined the Yuanrong Crossbow, thanked Ouye Tong, and left Hanshui City after confirming no one was following him.
• At Lian Shaocheng's cave abode, Xu Qingtong refined fourteen demonized garden balsam fruits into nine World-Breaking Fruits, then studied the Ouye Household's Artifact Refining Technique to devise a weaker version.
• Xu Qingtong successfully refined a Weakened World-Breaking Fruit, tested it with the Yuanrong Crossbow, and named the resulting projectile a Yuanrong Bolt.
• Over the next half year, Xu Qingtong refined four hundred Yuanrong Bolts and kept ten demonized garden balsam fruits to take back to the Human Realm.
• Xu Qingtong decided not to visit the Qingbing Tribe, entered the Mountain Cave, broke through the barrier with a World-Breaking Fruit, and slipped into the pitch-black passage.

Xu Qingtong returned to Central Province and learned that Bai Feng had died during a failed Nascent Soul breakthrough after Guan Shangtian betrayed him. He confronted Guan Shangtian over Azure Wind Hall’s seized premises, but Guan Shangtian refused to return them.

• Xu Qingtong returned to Central Province through the passage and flew to Wei City.
• Xu Qingtong found Cui Yan in Azure Wind Hall’s new, secluded shop and learned that Bai Feng had died ten years earlier after Guan Shangtian attacked him during his heavenly tribulation.
• Cui Yan told Xu Qingtong that Guan Shangtian had become City Lord and purged Bai Feng’s allies, forcing Azure Wind Hall from its old premises.
• Xu Qingtong went to the City Lord’s Manor, incapacitated a gatekeeper with a Divine Sense Thorn, and severed Guan Shangtian’s divine sense.
• Xu Qingtong demanded that Guan Shangtian return Azure Wind Hall’s old premises, but Guan Shangtian refused and said the decision depended on his pleasure.

Xu Qingtong fought Guan Shangtian outside Wei City and killed him with the Yuanrong Crossbow. He returned to the City Lord's Manor, declared himself the new City Lord, and summoned everyone to hear his announcement.

• Guan Shangtian demanded half of Azure Wind Hall's profits, then challenged Xu Qingtong to fight outside Wei City when Xu refused.
• At Shuangjia Mountain, Guan Shangtian attacked Xu Qingtong with a water dragon, a flying sword, and an arrow-shooting bamboo tube, but Xu's defenses held.
• Xu Qingtong fired the Yuanrong Crossbow and blasted Guan Shangtian into fragments, then retrieved the bamboo tube and returned to Wei City.
• Xu Qingtong entered the City Lord's Manor, announced that Guan Shangtian was dead and that he was the new City Lord, and ordered everyone to gather at the Martial Arts Arena.
• Xu Qingtong told the gathered manor residents that he had slain Guan Shangtian in their fight and invited anyone with objections to speak.

Xu Qingtong took control of Wei City after Guan Shangtian’s death and began organizing the city’s administration. As he planned to stabilize Wei City before returning to Juxian Academy, an old acquaintance arrived to see him.

• Xu Qingtong let Guan Shangtian’s former steward and several others leave, then ordered the remaining manor staff to obey him as City Lord.
• Xu Qingtong appointed Cui Yan chief steward, ordered him to announce Xu Qingtong’s rule, and had Lan Xin Butterfly notify Lei Wei and the Sect Master at Juxian Academy.
• Xu Qingtong reduced rents and taxes to ease shopkeepers’ fears and appointed Feng Zihong commander of Wei City’s security.
• After Feng Zihong left to organize the guards, an unidentified visitor greeted Xu Qingtong as City Lord Xu and asked how he had been.

Xu Qingtong reunited with Nangong Zhen, who came both to visit and to help him manage Wei City on Juxian Academy’s behalf. After strangers arrived and trouble broke out in a shop, Nangong Zhen subdued one attacker, but the others summoned reinforcements, leaving a new group outside the city.

• Xu Qingtong welcomed his sworn elder brother Nangong Zhen and learned the Sect Master had sent him to help while leaving Wei City under Xu Qingtong’s personal control.
• Xu Qingtong told Nangong Zhen he planned to build a long-distance Teleportation Array and bring Siwen to Wei City.
• Lan Xin Butterfly warned Xu Qingtong that unfamiliar visitors, including Golden Core cultivators, had arrived, so he asked Feng Zihong to watch them and called Nangong Zhen for support.
• Several strangers attacked a shopkeeper over a forced transaction, and Feng Zihong fought them but was nearly overwhelmed.
• Nangong Zhen arrived and quickly subdued the group’s Golden Core cultivator, while the other attackers crushed Sound Transmission Jade Slips to summon help.
• Another group arrived outside Wei City after receiving the attackers’ message.

Xu Qingtong killed an attacking group at Wei City's north gate and punished the troublemakers Nangong Zhen had captured. He spared several survivors to spread word of his strength, and his reputation as “Old Devil Xu” soon reached across the Central Province.

• A group of twelve arrived at Wei City's north gate, and their blue-robed leader struck down a guard before Xu Qingtong confronted them.
• Xu Qingtong used the Time Law and Fengyi Sword to kill the blue-robed leader and another Golden Core Cultivator.
• Xu Qingtong used the Seven Sons Linked-Ring Saber and Turtle-Speed Technique to kill the remaining Golden Core Cultivator and all nine Foundation Establishment Cultivators.
• Nangong Zhen and Feng Zihong brought the captured troublemakers to Xu Qingtong, who killed one man for arguing and fined the others fifty thousand spirit stones each.
• Xu Qingtong let the surviving troublemakers leave so they could spread the word, and “Old Devil Xu” became known throughout the Central Province.

After stabilizing Wei City, Xu Qingtong returned to Juxian Academy, where three sect leaders challenged his right to govern the city. Shen Haotian backed Xu’s independence, and Jade Spring True Person left after threatening him.

• Xu Qingtong left Wei City in Nangong Zhen’s care and returned to Juxian Academy after receiving the Academy’s summons.
• Xu Qingtong reassured Yu Tiancheng that Du Siwen was safe, then reported to Zhong Ziqing and Lü Wenqiu before meeting Shen Haotian.
• Zheng Zongping, Jade Spring True Person, and Wei Qifeng questioned Xu Qingtong’s rule over Wei City, and Jade Spring True Person accused him of abusing its residents.
• Xu Qingtong confronted Jade Spring True Person and deterred his attack by displaying a Yuanrong Bolt.
• Shen Haotian declared that Juxian Academy would not interfere in Wei City’s affairs, and the three sect leaders departed after Zheng Zongping and Wei Qifeng withdrew their objections.
• Jade Spring True Person left with a threat for Xu Qingtong.

Xu Qingtong told Zhong Ziqing about his return from Qingzhou and asked to build a secret Teleportation Array on Tianhua Mountain so he could reach Bingzhou and bring Siwen back. After testing and linking the arrays on Tianhua Mountain and Red Moon Island, he established a route connecting Central and Bing Provinces.

• Xu Qingtong told Zhong Ziqing that the Teleportation Array to Qingzhou had been destroyed and said Yuqi was a possible suspect.
• Xu Qingtong asked Zhong Ziqing to let him build a private Teleportation Array on Tianhua Mountain to reach Bingzhou, and Zhong Ziqing agreed to guard it.
• Xu Qingtong dug a cave on Tianhua Mountain, refined an Anchor Point and a Teleportation Token, and built a long-distance Teleportation Array.
• Xu Qingtong used the new array to travel to Red Moon Island, then reconfigured its Teleportation Array to link both locations.
• Xu Qingtong used the linked array to return to Tianhua Mountain, completing a route connecting Central and Bing Provinces.

Xu Qingtong returned to Cloudsky Peak after completing the Teleportation Arrays between Tianhua Mountain and Red Moon Island, and invited his companions to travel to Central Province. He left to speak with the Witch Clan Chief after gathering their answers and arranging preparations, while Sect Leader Fang Tianqi remained undecided.

• Xu Qingtong reunited with Du Siwen on Cloudsky Peak and told her that the Teleportation Arrays would let them return to Central Province.
• Xu Qingtong and Du Siwen invited Gong Chu, Zhuang Shengren, and Ding Jiayue to join them; Gong Chu chose to remain with the Witch Clan, while Zhuang Shengren and Ding Jiayue agreed to go.
• Xu Qingtong asked Sect Leader Fang Tianqi to travel to Central Province, and Fang Tianqi requested time to consider the choice.
• Xu Qingtong invited Guo Tianyu, who agreed to go, and told him to prepare while Gloomwind Valley's affairs were arranged.
• Xu Qingtong traveled to the Witch Clan Territory to discuss matters with Clan Chief Shi Chengjun.

Xu Qingtong said farewell to the Witch Clan and Gloomwind Valley before taking his companions through a teleportation array back to Central Province. The group arrived at Tianhua Mountain, where Du Siwen recognized the place, and Xu Qingtong prepared to visit his Master and Uncle-Master Lü.

• Xu Qingtong told Shi Chengjun he was leaving for Central Province, promised to protect the Witch Clan's cultivation techniques, and asked him to care for Gong Chu and Gloomwind Valley.
• Fang Tianqi decided to remain in Bingzhou to rebuild Gloomwind Valley, while Gong Chu chose to stay with the Witch Clan; Xu Qingtong gave Gong Chu a command talisman to reach the flesh lingzhi on Cloudsky Peak.
• Xu Qingtong departed with Du Siwen, Guo Tianyu, Zhuang Shengren, and Ding Jiayue aboard the Dust-Exterminating Boat.
• Xu Qingtong activated the Teleportation Array on Red Moon Island, and the group arrived in a mountain cave on Tianhua Mountain.
• Du Siwen recognized Tianhua Mountain, and Xu Qingtong said he would take her to pay their respects to his Master and Uncle-Master Lü.

Xu Qingtong reunited with his master, senior sister, and old companions after returning to Central Province, and arranged for his friends to settle in Wei City. As they caught up, he revealed that the Ghost Cultivators had devastated Qingzhou and destroyed two of its three great sects.

• Xu Qingtong brought Du Siwen to Zhong Ziqing and Lü Wenqiu, who praised their cultivation and agreed that his three companions should settle in Wei City.
• Xu Qingtong left with Du Siwen to fetch Zhuang Shengren, Guo Tianyu, and Ding Jiayue, then introduced them to Yu Tiancheng, who welcomed Guo Tianyu and Zhuang Shengren.
• Xu Qingtong visited his cousin Chen Ruoling, learned she was preparing to form her Golden Core, and reunited with her, Duoduo, Lei Wei, and Fu Xingzhi.
• Xu Qingtong learned that Chen Ruoling had reached peak late-stage Foundation Establishment, Lei Wei had reached mid-stage Golden Core, and both of his disciples had advanced in cultivation.
• Xu Qingtong told his companions that the Ghost Cultivators in Qing and Bing Provinces had caused severe losses, destroying Biluozong and the Azure Sea Gate and leaving only Gloomwind Valley among the three great sects.

Xu Qingtong brought Duoduo, Guo Tianyu, Zhuang Shengren, and Ding Jiayue to Wei City to help manage it, while Chen Ruoling stayed at Juxian Academy to prepare for core formation. After settling his friends into the City Lord's Manor and introducing them to Nangong Zhen, Xu Qingtong saw Nangong Zhen off as he returned to the Academy.

• Xu Qingtong agreed to take Duoduo to Wei City but told Chen Ruoling, Lei Wei, and Xingzhi to remain at Juxian Academy.
• Xu Qingtong led Du Siwen, Duoduo, Guo Tianyu, Zhuang Shengren, and Ding Jiayue from the Academy to Wei City under cover of night.
• Xu Qingtong arrived at the City Lord's Manor and ordered Cui Yan to arrange lodgings for his friends, including an Earthfire Chamber for Duoduo.
• Xu Qingtong introduced Guo Tianyu, Zhuang Shengren, and the others to Nangong Zhen so they could coordinate in Wei City.
• Nangong Zhen said he had completed his task and returned to the Academy, while Xu Qingtong thanked him and affirmed that he remained Wei City's Vice City Lord.

Xu Qingtong assigned duties in Wei City, left Duoduo to temper her divine sense in the Soul-Refining Pool, and returned to Juxian Academy with Du Siwen. After explaining the Five Elements to Chen Ruoling, he helped trigger her Minor Heavenly Tribulation and left her preparing to break through to the Golden Core.

• Xu Qingtong appointed Guo Tianyu Wei City's Vice City Lord, Zhuang its commander, and Jia Yue Deputy Chief Steward, then ordered Du Siwen to prepare for Nascent Soul formation.
• Xu Qingtong instructed Duoduo to cultivate her divine sense in the Soul-Refining Pool and gave her Spirit-Nourishing Pills after its pain improved her divine sense.
• Xu Qingtong returned to Juxian Academy with Du Siwen, who went to seek guidance from Lü about Nascent Soul formation.
• Xu Qingtong explained the Five Elements to Chen Ruoling, and her spiritual power began circulating as tribulation clouds gathered over her cave abode.
• Chen Ruoling realized her Minor Heavenly Tribulation had arrived, and Xu Qingtong urged her outside to prepare for her Golden Core breakthrough.

Xu Qingtong helped Chen Ruoling survive her Core Formation tribulation, and she formed a golden core while her Five-Element Exquisite Bracelets became her Life-Bound Treasure. He then learned from Zhong Ziqing how to pursue Nascent Soul Formation with his five golden cores, and their discussion deepened his understanding of the Five Elements.

• Xu Qingtong gave Chen Ruoling an Ice Spirit Pill and earth milk, then instructed her on using the Five Elements Treasures to withstand her tribulation.
• Chen Ruoling faced her Heart Tribulation and began enduring the heavenly lightning while Xu Qingtong and Sect Master Shen Haotian watched.
• Xu Qingtong taught Chen Ruoling the Heavenly Fire Body-Tempering Art, helping her divert lightning from the Five-Element Exquisite Bracelets and survive the tribulation.
• Chen Ruoling formed her golden core, and the Five-Element Exquisite Bracelets transformed into her Life-Bound Treasure.
• Zhong Ziqing proposed that Xu Qingtong reunite his five Dao heart seeds before shattering his five golden cores to form an all-attribute ancestral nascent soul.
• Xu Qingtong shared his Five Elements insights with Zhong Ziqing, whose explanations gave him new understanding as the Dao heart seeds within his golden cores flickered.

Xu Qingtong reunited his five Dao Heart Seeds and prepared his body for shattering his cores to form a Nascent Soul. After tempering his dantian and Niwang Palace, he hurried to join his wife as she prepared to attempt her Nascent Soul breakthrough.

• Xu Qingtong contemplated Zhong Ziqing’s teachings and united his five Dao Heart Seeds into a yin-yang twin fish while deciding he was not yet ready to shatter his cores.
• Zhong Ziqing proposed enlarging Xu Qingtong’s dantian with elixirs or strengthening it through lightning tempering.
• Xu Qingtong used his incarnation’s Raging Thunder Finger to temper his dantian for over half a year, then spent another three months tempering his Niwang Palace.
• Xu Qingtong refined elixirs for his own Nascent Soul attempt, then received Lü Wenqiu’s message that his wife was about to attempt her breakthrough.
• Xu Qingtong went to Lü Wenqiu’s cave abode, but Zhong Ziqing directed him to the valley on the Back Mountain.

Du Siwen endured nine thunder tribulations and advanced to the Nascent Soul Realm, after which Xu Qingtong sensed his own tribulation approaching. He passed his heart demon tribulation and began facing the lightning, with the second bolt descending at the chapter’s end.

• Xu Qingtong brought Du Siwen elixirs and the Mysterious Light Mirror to help her face her Nascent Soul tribulation.
• Du Siwen passed her heart demon tribulation and endured nine thunder tribulations, shattering both Lü Wenqiu’s shield and the Mysterious Light Mirror before forming her Nascent Soul.
• After witnessing Du Siwen’s breakthrough, Xu Qingtong sensed his own tribulation nearing and followed Zhong Ziqing to a separate place to prepare.
• Xu Qingtong shattered his five Golden Cores, passed a half-day heart demon tribulation, and began forming his Nascent Soul.
• Xu Qingtong withstood the first bolt of tribulation lightning, and the second bolt descended half an hour later.

Xu Qingtong struggled to form his Nascent Soul while enduring the heavenly tribulation, using the Dao Heart Seed to tame his five-element spiritual power and relying on treasures to withstand the increasingly powerful lightning. He survived the ninth bolt and completed his tribulation, but the chapter ended with him looking at the sky in alarm.

• Xu Qingtong's first attempt to form a life embryo shattered, but he recalled a classic and used the Dao Heart Seed to merge his spiritual power into chaos and form a nascent soul.
• Xu Qingtong completed Nascent Soul formation as the fourth bolt struck, then used the Heavenly Fire Body-Tempering Art to heal and nourish his nascent soul.
• Xu Qingtong used the Five Elements Divine Seals to withstand the fifth through eighth bolts and temper the treasures until they advanced to high-grade treasures.
• Xu Qingtong drank Monkey-Brewed Wine and used the Three Saints Bell to withstand the ninth bolt, which lasted nearly two hours before dissipating.
• Xu Qingtong declared that he had made it through, then looked up at the sky and turned green.

Xu Qingtong survived twelve tribulation bolts, destroyed the final bolt with his Yuanrong Crossbow, and successfully formed his nascent soul. After receiving the immortal light’s tempering, he began stabilizing his cultivation, while Zhong Ziqing told Lü Wenqiu about his astonishing tribulation.

• Xu Qingtong endured the tenth and eleventh tribulation bolts as the Three Saints Bell and Heart-Guarding Mirror shattered, then prepared to face another bolt without risking his Life-Bound Treasure.
• Xu Qingtong fired ten Yuanrong Bolts from his Yuanrong Crossbow and blasted away the tribulation clouds before the next bolt could fall.
• Xu Qingtong received the immortal light and discovered that his nascent soul rapidly recovered while he exposed it to the tempering.
• Zhong Ziqing told Xu Qingtong to stabilize his newly formed nascent soul, then met Lü Wenqiu and revealed that Xu Qingtong had survived twelve bolts and destroyed the final one before it struck.