Chapter Summaries

As Reach the Summit prepared to open its pill shop, officials and rival factions debated whether Tang Yan could deliver on his claims, while the emperor learned of his bold publicity campaign and ordered the shop protected. By nightfall, the entire Imperial City was arguing over the pills and awaiting the shop’s opening.

• The Left Chancellor and Wufu Master dismissed Reach the Summit’s claims, arguing that the Imperial Pill Pavilion could not produce so many superior pills profitably.
• The Crown Prince and Qing Xuan told the emperor that Tang Yan had recruited Du Shu, chosen a shop location, and gathered Alchemy Masters to refine pills around the clock.
• The Crown Prince revealed that Tang Yan had sent the Imperial Guards through the city carrying advertisements for Reach the Summit, leaving the emperor and Elder Ling stunned.
• Elder Ling said the unfamiliar pills might give Reach the Summit a major advantage if their effects were genuine, but he could not confirm their authenticity.
• The emperor ordered officials to monitor the Heavenly Pill Palace and the Left Chancellor’s Residence and protect Reach the Summit from interference.
• People across the Imperial City debated the pills’ authenticity, placed bets, and eagerly awaited the shop’s opening the next morning.

Du Shu opened the Reach the Summit Shop in the Imperial City and announced its pill quality guarantees, inventory, and membership points system. The crowd welcomed the shop’s market-rate prices for common pills as a second sign was raised to reveal the Peerless Divine Pills’ prices and redemption requirements.

• Du Shu addressed the large crowd at the shop opening and explained that Reach the Summit was a faction whose shop sold superior-quality pills.
• Du Shu promised that every advertised Peerless Divine Pill was genuine and in stock, with refunds and compensation if its effects did not match the claims.
• Du Shu described the membership points system, including how customers could earn points by selling medicinal ingredients or purchasing pills.
• Du Shu revealed the prices of common pills, and the crowd approved when they found the prices matched market rates.
• A second wooden sign was raised to display the Peerless Divine Pills’ prices and the points needed to purchase them.

The Reach the Summit Imperial City Shop opened to overwhelming demand, selling out nearly all its pills almost immediately. Tang Yan ordered the Azure Dragon Academy to increase production and hinted that his earlier exchange of Star Value for silver would help address the shortage.

• Du Shu announced the shop's opening after revealing the prices and membership requirements for its pills.
• Customers crowded the shop, registered for membership, and bought pills in large quantities.
• Du Shu realized the shop lacked enough stock to meet the Imperial City's demand as its pills began selling out.
• Tang Yan redirected the counters to membership registration and other services while Imperial Guards helped maintain order.
• Tang Yan told Du Shu to urgently request more pills from the Azure Dragon Academy and collect them every three days.
• Du Shu questioned how the shop could build enough stock, and Tang Yan reminded him that he had exchanged all the Star Value for silver.

Tang Yan revealed that Reach the Summit’s pills had sold out in a morning and earned about one hundred million taels in net profit, while Du Shu hurried back to Azure Dragon Academy to refocus the shop on recruiting talent. The chapter ended with Tang Yan bristling after the Crown Prince questioned whether the sales figures were accurate.

• Tang Yan persuaded Du Shu to stop competing in Azure Dragon Academy’s ordinary pill market and make the shop’s main purpose recruiting talent, so Du Shu set off to bring Alchemy Masters back and ask about the Spirit Academy Competition.
• Tang Yan waited at the Imperial Pill Pavilion and discussed alchemy with its masters while they finished refining pills.
• Tang Yan told Ming Lie and the Alchemy Masters that all their pills had sold out before morning, prompting their jubilant celebration.
• The Crown Prince, Princess Qing Xuan, and Elder Ling arrived to congratulate Reach the Summit and asked about its revenue.
• Tang Yan reported about one hundred and forty million taels in sales and roughly one hundred million taels in net profit, then challenged the Crown Prince for doubting his figures.

Tang Yan explained how Reach the Summit's marketing drove record sales and convinced the Crown Prince to expand Alchemy Master recruitment across Tingxiang. After the Imperial Pill Pavilion pledged its support, Qing Xuan asked Tang Yan whether he resented serving the Imperial Family because of his father's letter.

• Qing Xuan and the Crown Prince praised Tang Yan's record-breaking sales, while Qing Xuan explained his marketing methods to the Alchemy Masters.
• Tang Yan said Reach the Summit could not produce enough pills to meet demand, and the Crown Prince promised to recruit at least three hundred Alchemy Masters within a month.
• Tang Yan urged the Crown Prince to make recruitment an ongoing effort because Reach the Summit planned to open shops throughout Tingxiang.
• Ming Lie and the Alchemy Masters pledged to support Tang Yan, and Tang Yan promised to teach them alchemy and help each advance by one grade within two years.
• After the Crown Prince left, Qing Xuan walked with Tang Yan by Brightheart Lake and asked whether he had any complaints about serving the Imperial Family because of his father's letter.

Qing Xuan showed Tang Yan the Imperial Family’s Four Directions Myriad Spirit Formation and offered him access to its spiritual-qi baptism as thanks for his service. The chapter ended with Ye Du learning that Tang Yan had badly injured Qiong’er at Azure Dragon Academy.

• Tang Yan told Qing Xuan that staying in Fragrance-Hearing had helped him expand Reach the Summit and that he had no complaints.
• Qing Xuan led Tang Yan through a hidden passage beneath the Imperial Palace to the Four Directions Myriad Spirit Formation, where lava surrounded a central platform guarded by four divine-beast statues.
• Qing Xuan explained that the formation would activate in a month and a half, compressing a month of cultivation into one day, and gave Tang Yan the key so he could use it before the Spirit Academy Competition.
• Tang Yan accepted the Imperial Family’s gift and thanked Qing Xuan, who invited him to return to Fragrance-Hearing if he ever grew tired of traveling.
• At Immortal-Gathering Palace, Ye Du raged over Qiong’er’s fate until the Grand Elder told him that Tang Yan had dealt the young master a vicious blow at Azure Dragon Academy.

Ye Du ordered the Grand Elder and six Heavenly Leaf Protectors to kill Tang Yan in the Imperial City. Meanwhile, Tang Yan strengthened the Imperial Family’s forces and Reach the Summit, then entrusted Mo Wei and He Zhang with managing affairs as he prepared to step away.

• After learning Tang Yan had killed Ye Qiong, Ye Du ordered the Grand Elder to take six Heavenly Leaf Protectors to the Imperial City and assassinate him.
• Tang Yan’s reforms stopped the Left Chancellor’s infiltration, restored wavering allies to the Imperial Family, and trained Mo Wei and He Zhang in administration.
• Reach the Summit recruited more Alchemy Masters, met the Imperial City’s pill demand, and brought the Imperial Family about thirty million taels of silver in daily profit.
• Tang Yan accumulated over a hundred medicinal plants in his Chaos Space and felt close to a breakthrough after more than twenty days of cultivation.
• Tang Yan told Mo Wei and He Zhang to manage affairs together for three days without consulting him, and Mo Wei realized Tang Yan was preparing to leave the Fragrance-Hearing Kingdom.

Yang Yi met with Wufu Master to discuss Lord Tang’s damage to their interests when Qin Shi and six Heavenly Leaf Protectors of the Immortal-Gathering Palace arrived seeking Tang Yan. The visitors and their hosts suspected Tang Yan was Lord Tang and agreed to kill him.

• Yang Yi and Wufu Master blamed Lord Tang for weakening the Left Chancellor's Residence and the Heavenly Pill Palace.
• Yang Yi recognized the Immortal-Gathering Palace token and welcomed Qin Shi and six Heavenly Leaf Protectors into his residence.
• Qin Shi asked Yang Yi to help locate Tang Yan so the Immortal-Gathering Palace could take him back, dead or alive.
• Yang Yi and Wufu Master connected Tang Yan to Lord Tang’s exploits, and Qin Shi joined them in deciding to kill Lord Tang.

The Left Chancellor and Wufu Master persuaded Qin Shi to capture Tang Yan by promising access to valuable pill formulas, then arranged an alliance with the Immortal-Gathering Palace. Tang Yan left the Imperial City and discovered two Heaven Tier pursuers, whom he confronted after luring them into a thicket.

• The Left Chancellor gave Qin Shi a detailed palace map and urged him to sneak in and kill Tang Yan, while Wufu Master used pills to persuade Qin Shi to capture him.
• Tang Yan left the Imperial Palace to study the Azure Fire Thunder Formation, and a spy reported his departure to the Left Chancellor.
• The Left Chancellor asked Qin Shi to ally with his residence, and Qin Shi agreed to remain in the Imperial City after killing Tang Yan in case the Imperial Family investigated.
• Tang Yan sensed six people following him, left the Imperial City, and outpaced the four Earth Tier martial artists while two Heaven Tier experts stayed close behind.
• Tang Yan entered a thicket, let the two pursuers search for him, then spoke from behind them.

Tang Yan captured two men who had been following him and learned they served the Left Chancellor's Residence. After disguising himself as Old Liu, he led Lord Tao and seven powerful companions toward a trap, but Qin Shi exposed his claim that Tang Yan was Lord Tang.

• Tang Yan threatened Old Liu with a venomous snake until Old Liu revealed that he and his companion were from the Left Chancellor's Residence and had been ordered to watch Tang Yan.
• Old Liu told Tang Yan that Lord Tao would track them by a special scent, so Tang Yan killed both men, took Old Liu's clothes, and assumed his appearance.
• Tang Yan met Lord Tao and seven others, pretended to be Old Liu, and led them toward the forest while considering how to use Spirit-Dispersing Powder against them.
• Tang Yan warned Lord Tao that Tang Yan might be Lord Tang, an important Imperial Family official, and argued that seizing him could endanger the Left Chancellor's Residence.
• Qin Shi revealed that the Left Chancellor already knew Tang Yan was Lord Tang, and Lord Tao ordered Tang Yan to apologize to Qin Shi, the Grand Elder of the Immortal-Gathering Palace.

Tang Yan was exposed as an impostor while the Immortal-Gathering Palace pursued him through the wilderness, and he used poison, a signal flare, and a bluff about an Ancient Magic Artifact to stall Grand Elder Qin. The chapter left Tang Yan surrounded as Lord Tao urged Qin Shi to capture him despite the threat of the Artifact Pavilion.

• Lord Tao recognized that Tang Yan was not Liu Xiongchao, while Elder Qin and the others discovered that Spirit-Dispersing Powder had weakened their True Qi.
• Tang Yan attacked a Heavenly Leaf Protector, then fled as the poisoned Immortal-Gathering Palace members pursued him.
• Grand Elder Qin caught up and struck at Tang Yan, who fought back with Qi Meridian Transformation, Flame Burst Palm, and the Heaven-Earth Creation Flame before escaping again.
• Tang Yan launched a Signal Flare toward the Imperial City and claimed that his fan was an Ancient Magic Artifact given to him by Shen Shan of the Artifact Pavilion.
• Qin Shi hesitated to attack because of Tang Yan's claimed ties to the Artifact Pavilion, while Lord Tao urged him to seize Tang Yan and verify his identity later.

Tang Yan fought Qin Shi and the six Heavenly Leaf Protectors in the Southern Suburbs, using the battle to hone his skills despite suffering severe injuries. As an Imperial Family expert approached, Qin Shi struck Tang Yan in the back and ordered a retreat, believing he had killed him.

• Yu Juechen spotted a Reach the Summit signal flare while flying toward the Imperial Palace and shouted an emergency warning to Tang Yan and Old Du.
• Lord Tao's deduction prompted Qin Shi to attack Tang Yan, who threw his folding fan as a feint and broke Qin Shi's fingers with his heavy sword.
• Tang Yan exchanged blows with Qin Shi, adapting his tactics as he fought despite the gap in their strength and accumulated wounds.
• Qin Shi called on the six Heavenly Leaf Protectors to attack Tang Yan together, leaving him badly injured and close to losing consciousness.
• An oppressive presence approached, and Qin Shi ordered the Protectors to pin Tang Yan down before striking him in the back with a full-powered blow.
• Believing Tang Yan could not survive the strike, Qin Shi ordered his group to retreat.

Tang Yan lay near death after an assassination attempt, and Elder Ling could offer little hope of saving him. Zi Yun, Du Shu, and Yu Juechen threatened the Imperial Family unless it identified the attackers and protected Tang Yan, leaving the palace officials under pressure to act quickly.

• Elder Ling told Qing Xuan and the others that Tang Yan had suffered severe external and internal injuries, and that only a mysterious power sustaining him offered hope.
• Zi Yun demanded that the Imperial Family investigate the attack and warned that Purple Bamboo City would crush the Heavenly Soldier Pavilion if it failed to protect Tang Yan.
• Zi Yun ordered everyone to remain in the courtyard until the would-be assassins were identified, while Qing Xuan promised an answer within three days.
• Du Shu threatened to move the Reach the Summit Shop out of Tingxiang, putting the Imperial Family’s finances and military position at risk.
• Yu Juechen threatened to have the Rakshasa Gate destroy the Left Chancellor and then the Imperial Family if anything happened to Tang Yan.

Tang Yan lay unconscious with shattered heart meridians while the Heaven-Earth Creation Cauldron slowly supplied Spiritual Qi to keep him alive and heal him. Little Dot guarded him from anyone approaching, and the chapter ended with Qing Xuan’s group learning that Tang Yan was stable as a report arrived.

• The emperor ordered his people to avoid clashing with Tang Yan’s camp, cooperate with its demands, and investigate the attack using the Imperial Family’s intelligence resources.
• Qing Xuan declared that anyone plotting against Tang Yan was an enemy of Tingxiang and ordered a thorough investigation while the group waited for him to recover.
• Little Dot tried to use its blood essence to heal Tang Yan, while the Heaven-Earth Creation Cauldron gradually restored his shattered heart meridians with Spiritual Qi.
• Tang Yan realized the cauldron was limiting its Spiritual Qi because his weakened body could not withstand more, and he waited calmly as it repaired him.
• Little Dot blocked Elder Ling from examining Tang Yan, then told Zi Yun that Tang Yan was safe and should not be disturbed.
• Elder Ling confirmed that Tang Yan was in no immediate danger, and a member of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion hurried into the courtyard with a report.

After Tang Yan nearly died, the Heaven-Earth Creation Cauldron healed him and helped him advance two grades to Heaven Tier Third Grade. Meanwhile, the Imperial Family learned the Immortal-Gathering Palace had joined the conflict, and Yu Juechen returned to the Rakshasa Gate having reached the Heaven Tier.

• A spy reported that seven mysterious experts from the southwest had attacked Tang Yan, and Ye Haohao identified their leader as Qin Shi, Grand Elder of the Immortal-Gathering Palace.
• Zi Yun vowed to avenge Tang Yan and left for Purple Bamboo City, while Yu Juechen departed for the Rakshasa Gate and Du Shu also left the Imperial City.
• The Heaven-Earth Creation Cauldron consumed eighteen spirit herbs, healed Tang Yan, and released spiritual qi that raised his cultivation to Heaven Tier Third Grade.
• Yu Qingyun heard that Yu Juechen had returned and summoned him to the martial arts platform.
• Yu Juechen greeted his father and announced that he had reached the Heaven Tier.

Yu Juechen returned to the Rakshasa Gate as a heaven-tier expert and asked his father, Yu Qingyun, to lead an attack on the Immortal-Gathering Palace after Tang Yan was gravely wounded. After hearing how Tang Yan had changed Yu Juechen’s life, Yu Qingyun understood his son’s loyalty and ambition to remain with Reach the Summit and pursue greater horizons.

• Yu Qingyun discovered that Yu Juechen had risen from the ninth grade of the profound tier to the heaven tier, but Yu Juechen said he had no intention of taking over the Rakshasa Gate’s affairs.
• Yu Juechen asked to lead the Rakshasa Gate Elite against the Immortal-Gathering Palace because its assassins had gravely wounded Tang Yan, and Yu Qingyun warned him of the Palace’s hidden strength.
• Yu Juechen called Tang Yan his brother and credited him with helping him overcome his cowardice and advance to the heaven tier.
• Yu Juechen recounted his experiences with Tang Yan, and Yu Qingyun came to recognize Tang Yan’s loyalty and the debt the Rakshasa Gate owed him.
• Yu Juechen told Yu Qingyun he hoped to stay with Reach the Summit and venture beyond the Lower Plane without regrets, leaving his father shaken by his son’s ambitions.

Yu Juechen and Zi Yun persuaded their fathers to support Tang Yan, and both groups set out for the Imperial City. In Miaoye City, Du Shu proposed an alliance between Reach the Summit and the Wonderful Elixir Workshop, then stunned its leaders by offering them only ten percent of profits from pills made with his formulas.

• Yu Qingyun agreed to consider supporting Tang Yan after Yu Juechen urged him, and thirteen Azure Cranes flew from Rakshasa Gate toward the Imperial City.
• Zi Yun told Zi Xian she wanted to send troops against the Immortal-Gathering Palace, and he agreed to join the expedition; seventeen spirit beasts then departed Purple Bamboo City for the Imperial City.
• Du Shu gained an audience with Ji Li and the elders of the Wonderful Elixir Workshop by presenting bottles of pills.
• Du Shu identified the Explosive Spirit Pill and Frenzied Origin Pill, claimed he had many more formulas, and proposed taking over the Heavenly Pill Palace's market within a month.
• Du Shu offered the Wonderful Elixir Workshop sixty percent of western-region profits from its existing pills, but only ten percent of profits from pills made using his formulas, provoking three powerful auras.

Du Shu tried to persuade Ji Li and the Wonderful Elixir Workshop to cooperate with Reach the Summit Pill Shop, offering at least six rare pill formulas in exchange for ten percent of the profits. He revealed that Reach the Summit was already driving the Heavenly Pill Palace from the Imperial City, leaving Ji Li and the others worried that the Heavenly Pill Palace would target their market next.

• Du Shu argued that specialty pills had repeatedly shifted the market and revived the Wonderful Elixir Workshop, proving that new formulas could change its fortunes.
• Du Shu offered the Wonderful Elixir Workshop at least six rare pill formulas and identified himself as the shopkeeper of Reach the Summit Pill Shop.
• Ji Li questioned whether a ten-percent profit share justified the extra work for the workshop’s alchemy masters.
• Du Shu explained that Reach the Summit had Imperial Family support and was close to saturating the Imperial City’s pill market after forcing the Heavenly Pill Palace into retreat.
• Du Shu warned that the Heavenly Pill Palace would turn against the Wonderful Elixir Workshop if driven from the Western Region, and said Reach the Summit planned to expand beyond that region.

Du Shu pressured Ji Li into an agreement between the Wonderful Elixir Workshop and the Reach the Summit Pill Shop, promising the Workshop markets across five kingdoms. When Du Shu revealed that Reach the Summit was led by Tang Yan, Wu Xuan recognized the name and described the Tang Yan she knew, leaving Du Shu stunned.

• Ji Li negotiated with Du Shu and agreed that the Wonderful Elixir Workshop would receive a twenty-percent share from pills made with Reach the Summit's formulas.
• Du Shu presented a contract requiring the Workshop to refine Reach the Summit's requested pills, then promised that it could expand into the markets of all Five Kingdoms.
• Wu Xuan questioned Du Shu about the alliance, and he explained that Reach the Summit sought to suppress the Heavenly Pill Palace and the Left Chancellor's forces.
• Wu Xuan asked who led Reach the Summit, and Du Shu said its leader was Tang Yan, the source of its pill formulas.
• Wu Xuan described Tang Yan as the seventeen-year-old eldest son of the Tang Family in Cloud City who studied at Azure Dragon Academy, and asked Du Shu whether he resembled the Tang Yan he knew.

After learning that Tang Yan had been attacked, the Wonderful Elixir Workshop pledged a permanent partnership with him and prepared to oppose the Heavenly Pill Palace. Tang Yan awoke from his injuries and asked the Crown Prince for a secluded place to cultivate.

• Wu Xuan recognized Tang Yan as her old friend, and Du Shu told her and Ji Li about the assassination attempt against him.
• Ji Li committed the Wonderful Elixir Workshop to a permanent alliance and ordered its Alchemy Masters to practice the fundamentals fifty thousand times while Du Shu arranged for the Heavenly Soldier Pavilion to screen them.
• Du Shu hurried back toward the Imperial City with information about the workshop’s Alchemy Masters, while Wu Xuan and Ji Li praised Tang Yan and his associates.
• Tang Yan awoke with Little Dot beside him, and Jing Wuhen told him that Zi Yun and Yu Juechen had gone to seek support from their lineages.
• The Crown Prince, Qing Xuan, and Elder Ling visited Tang Yan; after examining him, Elder Ling found no serious lasting injury.
• Tang Yan asked the Crown Prince for a place to cultivate, and the Crown Prince suggested a secret chamber.