Chapter Summaries

Xiao Hua found a damaged demonic slip and competed with another masked cultivator to buy it, driving its supposed value to tens of thousands of supreme-grade spirit stones. The elderly owner refused to accept their bids and said she would trade the slip only for a Rejuvenation Pill, leaving Xiao Hua without it as the Bidding Convention approached.

• Xiao Hua spotted a black demonic slip with a missing corner at an elderly female cultivator’s stall and learned that she could not read its contents.
• Xiao Hua and another masked cultivator bid against each other, raising the price to tens of thousands of supreme-grade spirit stones before the owner asked them to agree on an exchange.
• The masked cultivator offered magical artifacts, pills, or cultivation techniques, while Xiao Hua also offered spirit herbs and other valuables.
• The elderly female cultivator rejected those offers and demanded a Rejuvenation Pill in exchange for the demonic slip.
• The female cultivator put the slip away and said she would trade it for a Rejuvenation Pill if either bidder brought one before the Bidding Convention began.

Xiao Hua discovered that the Youth-Preserving Pill he had refined could restore a cultivator’s youth and was known as a Rejuvenation Pill. The female cultivator traded him a damaged pill-refining jade slip for the pill, and Xiao Hua was left marveling at its unexpected value.

• The female cultivator tried to use her demon jade slip to secure a Rejuvenation Pill, while the Mihuan cultivator pressured her to honor their earlier agreement.
• Xiao Hua asked about the Rejuvenation Pill and realized its unusual appearance sounded like one of his Youth-Preserving Pills.
• Xiao Hua showed the female cultivator a Youth-Preserving Pill, and she offered a damaged jade slip containing Qi Cultivation pill formulas in exchange.
• The female cultivator swallowed the pill and began regaining her youth as her hair darkened and her wrinkles smoothed.
• The Mihuan cultivator recognized the pill’s effect and left, while Xiao Hua celebrated the discovery that his pills were Rejuvenation Pills.

Xiao Hua traded a Rejuvenation Pill for a demonic jade slip and a lead to more demonic artifacts, then studied incomplete pill recipes and realized he could use his own refining method to create pills from their ingredients. He displayed flying swords at a stall in hopes of acquiring more recipes, and began negotiating with a cultivator who possessed recipes for Foundation Establishment and Golden Core pills.

• A female cultivator recognized Xiao Hua's pill as a Rejuvenation Pill and exchanged it for a demonic jade slip, then gave him a communication talisman and jade slip as a lead to her sect's demonic artifacts.
• Xiao Hua found that the new jade slip listed the ingredients for many pills but omitted their refining methods, and concluded he could use his own method and medicinal knowledge to refine pills or devise recipes.
• Xiao Hua set up a stall with flying swords from Jiming Mountain and advertised that he wanted pill recipes.
• A Mihuan-clad cultivator asked what recipe Xiao Hua sought, and Xiao Hua requested the Azure Spirit Pill recipe.
• The cultivator said the Azure Spirit Pill recipe was worth more than the swords and asked for spirit stones, but Xiao Hua refused and proposed exchanging swords for incomplete recipes instead.
• The cultivator offered one incomplete Foundation Establishment recipe for a damaged sword or two for an intact one, and Xiao Hua began to bargain over the swords' value.

Xiao Hua traded flying swords for pill recipes and learned that the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi aberration was making traditional spirit herbs scarce, threatening to render old recipes useless. He realized the spirit herbs in his space might still work with those recipes and could make him immensely powerful, so he resolved to hide their origin as he headed deeper into the trading fair.

• Xiao Hua exchanged intact and damaged flying swords for a jade slip containing several pill recipes, including two for Golden Core cultivators.
• Xiao Hua told the masked cultivator that he collected recipes to study pill refinement, then asked why the cultivator had traded away such valuable recipes so readily.
• The cultivator explained that the recipes lacked refining methods and that changing spirit herbs would soon make them worthless.
• Xiao Hua recognized that the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi aberration was changing spirit herbs and pretended to regret the trade, but the cultivator fled with the swords.
• Xiao Hua realized his space-grown spirit herbs might substitute for the increasingly scarce herbs on Xiaoyu Continent and resolved to keep their origin secret.
• Xiao Hua continued toward the center of the trading fair, unaware that golden threads in his Buddhist fire had grown denser and darker.

Xiao Hua joined Ziye and Fu Lu at Xuntian City’s Bidding Convention, where Si Xinyu explained the event’s rules and announced that one offering concerned a spirit artifact. The bidding was just beginning, and Xiao Hua’s curiosity was piqued by the possibility of a damaged spirit artifact.

• Xiao Hua met Ziye and Fu Lu near the convention’s entrance and put on his Mihuan before entering with them.
• Xiao Hua passed through the restrictions using his token, while Ziye and Fu Lu paid five high-grade spirit stones each.
• Si Xinyu welcomed the crowd, explained that the convention was open to Dao Sect disciples, and said battle-related items would incur no spirit-stone charge.
• Si Xinyu announced two pieces of good news, including an item that might help an artifact-refinement master create a spirit artifact.
• Xiao Hua wondered whether Xuntian City would auction a damaged spirit artifact.

Xiao Hua attended Xuntian City's Bidding Convention, where Zi Ye explained that spirit stones had grown more valuable amid the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi changes. Xiao Hua passed on bidding for pills and flying swords, found sword arts in a captured sword cultivator's storage bag, and watched the convention move on to other spoils of war.

• Xiao Hua warned Zi Ye that the rumored spirit artifact was likely a gimmick and that pursuing it could waste spirit stones or cost him his life.
• Zi Ye explained that magical artifacts had fallen in price because spirit stones had become precious, helping Xiao Hua understand the effects of the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi aberration.
• Xiao Hua declined to bid on Foundation Establishment pills, then eagerly inspected the flying swords and sword slips offered by Si Xinyu.
• Xiao Hua found a sword art in a captured sword cultivator's storage bag and avoided spending spirit stones on the auctioned sword arts.
• Si Xinyu concluded the flying sword bidding and announced that artifact cultivator and beast cultivator items would be next.

Xiao Hua bought a soul artifact to study, despite the other cultivators dismissing it as a worthless dried toad. Si Xinyu then introduced the Rejuvenation Pill, whose promise of restoring youthful beauty stunned the crowd and left Xiao Hua quietly proud.

• Si Xinyu presented a toad as a soul artifact and explained that no one knew how to use it.
• Xiao Hua bargained the soul artifact down to three hundred top-grade spirit stones and bought it.
• Ziye questioned Xiao Hua's purchase, and Xiao Hua claimed he wanted the battlefield fighter who captured it to receive the spirit stones.
• Si Xinyu announced the Rejuvenation Pill and said it could preserve young women's beauty and restore faded looks.
• Ziye marveled at the pill's promise while Xiao Hua secretly took pride in the attention it drew.

Si Xinyu presented a Rejuvenation Pill in an elaborate jade bottle, and its enchanting spectacle drove female cultivators to bid fiercely. Ziye ultimately gave up, while Xiao Hua wondered whether Tongmu City and Burial Flower Villa were connected to Chen Yi and her damaged Youth-Preserving Grass.

• Si Xinyu used the jade bottle’s spellwork to reveal the Rejuvenation Pill and depict its rejuvenating effects, captivating the auction audience.
• Female cultivators rapidly raised their bids, and Ziye struggled to compete despite Fu Lu warning that they lacked enough spirit stones.
• Xiao Hua tried to dissuade Ziye by pointing out that Tongmu City sold Youth-Preserving Pills, but Ziye explained they were auctioned only once a year.
• Ziye stopped bidding as the price climbed past three hundred and fifty thousand top-grade spirit stones, and Xiao Hua speculated that Tongmu City and Burial Flower Villa were tied to Chen Yi’s Youth-Preserving Grass.
• A Mihuan cultivator won the Rejuvenation Pill for three hundred and eighty thousand top-grade spirit stones, and Xiao Hua suggested that they leave.

Xiao Hua noticed a strange familiarity with the duckling presented as a beast cultivator at Xuntian City's bidding convention and suspected it was connected to what he had sensed at the Thunder Control Sect encampment. The duckling's bidding began at one hundred thousand top-grade spirit stones, and Si Xinyu predicted that its final price would surpass the Rejuvenation Pill's.

• Xiao Hua and Ziye started to leave the convention, but Si Xinyu announced the final item: a duckling said to be a beast cultivator's true form.
• Xiao Hua recognized the duckling as strangely familiar, and its gaze caused the Primordial Spirit in his Hand of Cause and Effect to ripple.
• Ziye explained that the duckling's soul rivaled that of an eighth-grade spiritual beast but might soon disperse, making it dangerous and difficult to extract.
• Xiao Hua said he opposed cruelty to any kind of cultivator, while Ziye teased him about his sympathy for the beast cultivator.
• Si Xinyu set the duckling's starting price at one hundred thousand top-grade spirit stones, and Xiao Hua abandoned the thought of bidding.
• A female cultivator objected to the price, but Si Xinyu insisted that the item was worth it and would ultimately sell for more than the Rejuvenation Pill.

At Xuntian City's Bidding Convention, Xiao Hua realized the auctioned spirit beast might be Dai Er and began bidding against Li Chengxu of the Immortal Music Sect. The price reached one million spirit stones, and Si Xinyu announced the punishment for anyone who bid without being able to pay.

• Li Chengxu outbid another Mihuan-clad cultivator for the spirit beast, revealed himself as a Golden Core Mid-stage cultivator, and offered four hundred thousand spirit stones on behalf of True Person Lan Yu.
• The spirit beast cried out and bled blue; Ziye began to identify a connection to the Myriad Monster Realm, and Xiao Hua suspected it was Dai Er.
• Xiao Hua bid five hundred thousand, rejecting Li Chengxu's request to yield the spirit beast and arguing that Xuntian City had to uphold its auction rules.
• Li Chengxu continued bidding against Xiao Hua, who raised the price to one million spirit stones.
• Li Chengxu questioned whether Xiao Hua could pay, and Si Xinyu warned that reckless bidders could lose their possessions and suffer severe punishment, including having their cultivation abolished.

Xiao Hua faced off against Li Chengxu in the bidding for the beast cultivator, while Si Xinyu checked their funds. After the Immortal Music Sect’s gathered resources fell short, Si Xinyu prepared to determine whether Xiao Hua had enough to win.

• Li Chengxu challenged Xiao Hua’s ability to pay, and Ziye gave Xiao Hua his storage bag to support his bid.
• Xiao Hua had Si Xinyu inspect his funds and mocked Li Chengxu for lacking the remaining spirit stones.
• Li Chengxu gathered spirit stones and valuables from Immortal Music Sect disciples to strengthen his bid.
• Xiao Hua presented another storage bag, startling Si Xinyu, and asked that the winner be allowed to leave without being tracked.
• Si Xinyu found that Li Chengxu’s storage bag contained no more acceptable payment and turned to ask Xiao Hua.

Xiao Hua won the beast cultivator’s true body at Xuntian City’s bidding convention by producing rare spiritual herbs worth more than Li Chengxu’s bid. After the convention, Si Xinyu recognized the herbs’ scarcity and saw an opportunity for Xuntian City’s Rejuvenation Pills, while Ziye defended trading away his valuables to help Xiao Hua.

• Si Xinyu valued Xiao Hua’s first storage pouch below Li Chengxu’s bid, but Xiao Hua produced another pouch with enough value to win the beast cultivator’s true body.
• Si Xinyu awarded Xiao Hua the beast cultivator, gave him a special Xuntian City token, and sent him away from the bidding platform.
• Li Chengxu left frustrated, while Si Xinyu realized Xiao Hua had offered exceptionally rare spiritual herbs and decided to report the matter to the City Lord.
• Si Xinyu considered how ongoing Rejuvenation Pill auctions could help Xuntian City surpass Tongmu City.
• Fu Lu complained that Ziye had traded away all his spirit stones and valuables, but Ziye said he had done it to help Xiao Hua and because he admired him.

Ziye feared Xiao Hua had taken his storage bag and abandoned him, but learned Xiao Hua had waited nearby and regained his trust. Meanwhile, Xiao Hua brought the wounded duck into his hidden space, where its behavior suggested it was Dai Er, and worried about the Empress's fate.

• Fu Lu warned Ziye that Xiao Hua had taken advantage of him, and Ziye left Xuntian City with his attendants expecting to find Xiao Hua outside the market.
• An attendant recalled a cloaked cultivator who had silently gestured to them before heading back toward the market, and Ziye realized Xiao Hua had left a sign for him.
• Xiao Hua placed the wounded duck in his space, where its eye, its reaction to Little Yellow, and its attempt to rest beside it convinced him it might be Dai Er.
• Xiao Hua worried that the Empress might have fallen and vowed to find her killer and repay her kindness.
• Ziye found Xiao Hua in a teahouse, thanked him for restoring his trust in people, and left with him.

Xiao Hua gave Ziye his belongings back, supplied him with pills and rice seeds to distribute, and uncovered Li Chengxu’s plans to target him. Back at the Thunder Control Sect’s stronghold, Xiao Hua met with Qian Yuan and Qian Qian, who had a matter to discuss with him.

• Xiao Hua returned Ziye’s storage bag and gave him Rejuvenation Pills and spiritual herbs, asking him to distribute rice seeds among nearby common folk.
• Ziye gave Xiao Hua a jade token, accepted his communication talisman, and left Xuntian City with Fu Lu.
• Li Chengxu revealed that he had followed Ziye and planned to obtain the beast cultivator’s soul while seeking a chance to kill Xiao Hua.
• Xiao Hua, who had secretly watched Li Chengxu, returned to the Thunder Control Sect’s stronghold without encountering him.
• Qian Yuan and Qian Qian greeted Xiao Hua at the stronghold, and Cui Hongshen persuaded him to hear Qian Yuan out.

Xiao Hua refused Qian Yuan and Qian Qian’s request to join his squad, then studied the demonic jade slip and realized he needed a way to use spirit fire and lightning to repair Qiu Yin Liu. He went to Xuntian City’s artifact-refining site and confronted a guard who had abandoned his post, leaving the guard alarmed as Xiao Hua continued into the cave.

• Qian Yuan apologized to Xiao Hua and asked to join Cui Hongshen’s First Squad, but Xiao Hua rejected the request and left the decision to Cui Hongshen.
• Cui Hongshen let Qian Yuan and Qian Qian depart, while Zhen Huo marveled that two Dry Thunder Palace disciples had sought a place in the squad.
• Xiao Hua checked the injured duckling and read the demonic jade slip, then considered how to use his spirit fire and lightning to fuse Qiu Yin Liu’s broken sections.
• Xiao Hua decided to visit Xuntian City’s artifact-refining site and told Zhen Huo he would remain within the stronghold before leaving.
• Xiao Hua entered the cave and argued with a Xuntian City guard who accused him of trespassing; when Xiao Hua continued deeper inside, the guard realized his absence from the entrance might be exposed.

Xiao Hua paid to enter Xuntian City's Alchemy Cave and secured a quiet room for repairing his magic artifact, while his commanding manner made the city guard suspect his true strength. At the Immortal Music Sect stronghold, Li Chengxu grew impatient over missing reports and sent Huang Yong to trace Zheng Jie, who had been tracking possible Sword Cultivator swordsmen.

• Xiao Hua confronted the city guard over his treatment of Thunder Control Sect disciples, paid for an extended stay, and received token thirteen for a quiet room.
• The city guard reflected that Xiao Hua's bearing seemed more like that of a Golden Core cultivator than an early Foundation Establishment cultivator.
• Li Chengxu received no useful information about Xiao Hua and worried that Zheng Jie had not returned from tracking several cultivators.
• Li Chengxu ordered Huang Yong to use his identification token at Xuntian City's teleportation array to find Zheng Jie's destination and trail.
• Li Chengxu warned Huang Yong that Zheng Jie might be tracking Sword Cultivator swordsmen, then angrily demanded updates about the Fire Fierce Mountain stronghold.

Li Chengxu investigated the disappearance of Zheng Jie and two other Immortal Music Sect cultivators while plotting to seize the spirit beast’s true body from Xiao Hua. Unaware of the investigation, Xiao Hua continued deeper into Xuntian City’s silent underground avenues.

• Li Chengxu suspected Xiao Hua had passed the spirit storage pouch to Huo Ping and vowed to kill Xiao Hua if he could not recover the beast cultivator’s true body openly.
• Huang Yong reported that Zheng Jie’s mark led to an empty frozen area, and Li Chengxu ordered him to keep the three cultivators’ disappearance secret.
• Li Chengxu confirmed that Zheng Jie and the other two cultivators’ Life Spirit Tablets had shattered, proving they had died.
• A disguised Qi Cultivation disciple told Li Chengxu that Xiao Hua had not left the Thunder Control Sect’s stronghold and belonged to the First Squad; Li Chengxu ordered the disciple to watch for him.
• Xiao Hua followed the city guard’s directions deeper into Xuntian City and reached several broad, silent avenues lined with gates and courtyards.

Xiao Hua tested the facilities in Xuntian City’s thirteenth quiet chamber and found that Lingmou Zhu Fire could help repair Qiu Yin Liu. He then deciphered the white bones he had bought, discovering that they contained authentic, if mostly incomplete, soul cultivation techniques.

• Xiao Hua opened the thirteenth quiet chamber, inspected its earth fire and artifact-refining materials, and complained that the materials were overpriced.
• Xiao Hua tried to use his spirit fire on Qiu Yin Liu, realized it could not refine artifacts, and turned to Lingmou Zhu Fire instead.
• Lingmou Zhu Fire began reacting with Qiu Yin Liu’s broken sections, so Xiao Hua decided to attempt a full repair after returning to Myriad Thunder Valley.
• Xiao Hua used his soul threads to read the green-seal-script writing on the white bones and spent half a day identifying their contents.
• After ten days of reflection, Xiao Hua realized that earlier translations had distorted the soul cultivation techniques and learned that the bones held mostly incomplete methods, with some reaching Qi Heaven cultivation.

Xiao Hua cultivated his soul and tested a toad soul artifact that greatly enhanced his Soul Capturing Bells, then reviewed a strange secret art and prepared to try refining the Azure Spirit Pill. The chapter ended with him inspecting and tasting the required spirit herbs beside his pill furnace.

• Xiao Hua used the Primordial Spirit's fluctuations and dancing soul threads to advance his soul cultivation toward the second layer of heaven.
• Xiao Hua activated the dried toad soul artifact, whose tongue struck the Soul Capturing Bells and made them powerful enough to disrupt or capture nearby cultivators' souls.
• Xiao Hua reconsidered a damaged jade talisman's strange body-tempering secret art and assigned it, along with several related techniques, to a Primordial Spirit fragment for further study.
• Xiao Hua examined the Azure Spirit Pill formula and found that it listed the spirit herbs but omitted the refining method.
• Xiao Hua summoned his Three-legged Vermilion Bird Phoenix Pattern Furnace, lit Samadhi True Fire, and inspected and tasted the herbs needed for the pill.

Xiao Hua uncovered a hidden soul artifact inside the Medicine King Cauldron and glimpsed Yaonong Peak, though he could not yet reveal its mysteries. He also studied sword cultivators’ techniques and learned how they temper the Primordial Spirit through flying swords, leaving him with a new insight into controlling multiple swords.

• Xiao Hua reconsidered the complexity of pill formulas, then suspected the Medicine King Cauldron concealed something connected to the legend of Yaonong Peak.
• Xiao Hua used artifact-refining techniques to strip away the cauldron and reveal an incense burner, then struck it through the toad with his soul threads and briefly saw Yaonong Peak in its green radiance.
• Xiao Hua put the incense burner away, refined Azure Spirit Pills, and found several more sword jade slips among the storage bags from Jiming Mountain.
• Xiao Hua studied the sword arts and realized they trained cultivators to temper their Primordial Spirits while cultivating flying swords; he practiced by controlling Zhu Meng.
• Xiao Hua concluded that sword cultivators could control multiple swords by placing imprints of the Primordial Spirit on other Sword Pellets, rather than splitting the Primordial Spirit further.