Chapter Summaries

Xiao Hua traded two Qi Nurturing Pills for a young cultivator’s gold foil, then waited through the Bidding Convention’s unwanted items. The final offering was revealed as a complete earth-element cultivation technique reaching Foundation Establishment, and the hall erupted as Xiao Hua rose from his seat.

• Xiao Hua learned that convention guests did not bid against one another for items that had failed to sell, and he acquired three gold foils for ten mid-grade spirit stones.
• Xiao Hua asked a young cultivator to trade his gold foil and offered two Qi Nurturing Pills; the young cultivator accepted after consulting his senior brother.
• Xiao Hua waited through more rounds of unwanted items as An Chengmo prepared to present the convention’s final offering.
• An Chengmo revealed a complete earth-element cultivation technique that covered Qi Cultivation’s first through twelfth layers and could lead to Foundation Establishment.
• The cultivators from the Xunyan Sect, Seven Wonders Sect, and Shanghua Sect prepared to compete for the technique, while Xiao Hua stood up in excitement.

Xiao Hua discovered that the Heaven and Earth Manifestation, a complete Qi Cultivation technique, was being exchanged only for a hundred-year Mother-Child Spirit Fruit. He offered the fruit grown in his space, which astonished the technique’s owner, who took it and left Xiao Hua expecting to receive the technique.

• An Chengmo announced that the Heaven and Earth Manifestation was a high-grade earth-element technique, and its owner would accept only a hundred-year Mother-Child Spirit Fruit.
• Cultivators presented their fruit, and a Mihuan-clad cultivator produced a three-hundred-year specimen that surpassed Fellow Daoist Jiang’s offering from the Shanghua Sect.
• Xiao Hua realized that the fruit in his space had likely grown far beyond a hundred years and hurried onto the platform to offer it.
• The technique’s owner inspected the other cultivator’s fruit, then saw Xiao Hua’s fruit covered in golden-yellow runes and cried out in shock.
• The owner swiftly took Xiao Hua’s fruit, placed it in a jade box, and stored it, leaving Xiao Hua delighted and expecting the cultivation technique in return.

Xiao Hua traded an aged Mother-Child Spirit Fruit for the complete Heaven and Earth Manifestation cultivation art at the Treasure Appraisal Pavilion bidding convention, then left the hall and reunited with Xue Xue and Cai Zhuoxia. After Xue Xue departed, Cai Zhuoxia urged him to travel with her to Xihuang Town, and they reached Yanyuan City's quiet Teleportation Array courtyard.

• Xiao Hua used an array talisman to reveal the complete Heaven and Earth Manifestation cultivation art and exchanged it for his Mother-Child Spirit Fruit.
• Xiao Hua left the Treasure Appraisal Pavilion, stored his items, removed his Mihuan, and emerged without being recognized.
• Xiao Hua met Xue Xue, who praised his decision not to sell pills at the convention, while an early Foundation Establishment cultivator's divine sense briefly swept over him.
• Cai Zhuoxia joined Xiao Hua and Xue Xue, and Xue Xue called them perfect companions before leaving after receiving a communication talisman.
• Cai Zhuoxia asked Xiao Hua to accompany her to Xihuang Town, and they arrived at the Teleportation Array courtyard in Yanyuan City.

Xiao Hua and Cai Zhuoxia traveled from Yanyuan City to Xihuang Town by Teleportation Array. After arriving, Xiao Hua remained standing despite the teleportation’s crushing pressure, surprising the cultivators who received them.

• Xiao Hua and Cai Zhuoxia entered the teleportation hall, where a city guard confirmed that three other cultivators were scheduled to travel to Xihuang Town that day.
• The five cultivators each paid one high-grade spirit stone and received an array talisman to protect them from the Teleportation Array’s pressure.
• Cai Zhuoxia explained to Xiao Hua that the array talismans dispersed the force of long-distance teleportation, which could otherwise crush Qi Cultivation cultivators.
• Two late Foundation Establishment elders activated the array and sent Xiao Hua, Cai Zhuoxia, and the three other cultivators to their destination.
• Xiao Hua stayed upright after teleporting while Cai Zhuoxia and the other three cultivators collapsed, and he helped Cai Zhuoxia to a meditation cushion.

Xiao Hua and Cai Zhuoxia arrived in Xihuang Town and learned that several cultivators, including Pu Jianyuan and his disciples, were heading toward Yanlin Mountain Marsh. As they traveled, Xiao Hua asked why others believed he had a Universe Shifting Token, and Cai Zhuoxia promised to explain after they landed.

• A Foundation Establishment elder named Mo Guang questioned Xiao Hua about a Universe Shifting Token after he arrived in the Teleportation Array without collapsing.
• Pu Jianyuan and three cultivators arrived in Xihuang Town, and Cai Zhuoxia recovered from the teleportation and left with Xiao Hua.
• Cai Zhuoxia watched Pu Jianyuan depart toward Yanlin Mountain Marsh, then took a route angled away from the other cultivators.
• Ling Zhengyi brought Xue Xue and three others to Yanyuan City's Teleportation Array and paid to travel to Xihuang Town ahead of schedule.
• Xiao Hua asked Cai Zhuoxia what a Universe Shifting Token was, and she agreed to explain after they landed for the night.

Cai Zhuoxia explained the Universe Shifting Token to Xiao Hua, while both wrestled with unspoken feelings and misunderstandings. Xiao Hua studied Heaven and Earth Manifestation, chose to keep practicing the Nameless Incantation for now, and emerged from seclusion when Cai Zhuoxia called him back toward Yanlin Mountain Marsh.

• Cai Zhuoxia explained that the Universe Shifting Token aided long-distance teleportation and teased Xiao Hua about meeting Xue Xue, while Xiao Hua misunderstood her feelings and retreated into the cave.
• Cai Zhuoxia reflected on her affection for Li Zongbao and wondered whether he would remember her.
• Xiao Hua examined Heaven and Earth Manifestation, judged it superior to Burning Heaven Art, and decided to switch cultivation methods only after completing the low stage of Qi Cultivation.
• Xiao Hua compared its divine-sense incantation with the Nameless Incantation and chose to continue using the method he already knew.
• Xiao Hua practiced drawing spiritual qi from top-grade fire-element spirit stones and took a Jinglian Pill during three days of seclusion.
• Cai Zhuoxia sent for Xiao Hua on the fourth morning and led him back toward Yanlin Mountain Marsh.

Xiao Hua and Cai Zhuoxia approached Yanlin Mountain Marsh as a strange voice calling for its mother sounded in Xiao Hua’s heart and violent tremors shook the region. At the source, Pu Jianyuan and Ling Zhengyi’s clans fought over a spell formation until a Golden Web Spider seized their magical artifacts and fled toward the mountain.

• Cai Zhuoxia and Xiao Hua discussed their arrival at Yanlin Mountain Marsh, where Xiao Hua noted his cultivation had advanced during their journey.
• A violent rumble and surge of spiritual qi struck, and Xiao Hua heard a voice calling, “Mother... where are you... Mother...” before he and Cai Zhuoxia landed in the forest.
• Cai Zhuoxia insisted that she and Xiao Hua continue toward the marsh despite the danger, suspecting the Pu family and the other cultivators had caused the disturbance.
• At a basin in Yanlin Mountain Marsh, Pu Jianyuan and Ling Zhengyi accused each other of betraying their agreement to break a spell formation, which had killed many disciples and injured Xue Xue.
• Pu Jianyuan and Ling Zhengyi began fighting, but a Golden Web Spider stole their magical artifacts and escaped as both Foundation Establishment cultivators pursued it.
• An unseen cultivator’s booming voice announced that the Pu and Ling families’ arrival had confirmed his suspicions about the strange events.

Mo Guang intervened in the Ling and Pu families’ struggle over a formation hiding Fire Marrow Blazing Crystals, then agreed to help them break it in exchange for thirty percent of the crystals. The families restarted their formation-breaking ritual, and their crimson hooks began transforming into sun and moon shapes.

• Mo Guang arrived on the Golden Web Spider, subdued the fighting cultivators, and asked Ling Zhengyi and Pu Jianyuan why their families had turned against each other.
• Pu Jianyuan explained that the Xunyan Sect was offering secretly transmitted spells for Fire Marrow Blazing Crystals, while Ling Zhengyi confirmed the crystals lay beneath the formation.
• Mo Guang offered to help break the formation, and Ling Zhengyi and Pu Jianyuan agreed that he would receive thirty percent of the crystals.
• Ling Zhengyi and Pu Jianyuan positioned their surviving disciples around the formation and instructed them to charge and activate their yellow talismans.
• Ling Zhengyi and Pu Jianyuan ignited their matching crimson hooks and shaped them into a sun and a moon.

Mo Guang, Ling Zhengyi, and Pu Jianyuan combined their power and matching sun-and-moon implements to break the formation, but its strange response left them unable to control the implements. As the formation tore open and a gigantic fire ape emerged from beneath it, Mo Guang fled into the air.

• Ling Zhengyi and Pu Jianyuan placed their sunlike and moonlike hooks into the formation, then the three cultivators and the disciples channeled their power into a rising phantom image.
• The phantom image became a winged bird and lifted the formation’s radiance, but a black-and-white trace appeared and forced the cultivators to withdraw their power.
• Mo Guang questioned why the Fire Marrow Blazing Crystal was so heavily guarded, while Ling Zhengyi and Pu Jianyuan explained its ancient use in cultivation.
• The formation’s black-and-white colors spread, and Ling Zhengyi and Pu Jianyuan discovered that they could no longer retrieve their magical implements.
• A fiery-red arm tore through the formation, and a gigantic fire ape leaped out above surging magma as Mo Guang tried to escape.

A fifth-grade Fire Ape escaped its spell array and killed Mo Guang before Pu Jianyuan used a magic artifact to drive it away. Meanwhile, Xiao Hua and Cai Zhuoxia reached Yanlin Mountain Marsh and headed toward the basin where the array had broken, finding it covered in magma.

• The Fire Ape burst out of the spell array, and its pressure forced the fleeing disciples to crash to the ground.
• Pu Jianyuan and Ling Zhengyi revealed magic artifacts and tried to subdue the Fire Ape, but its fireballs blasted them away.
• The Fire Ape caught Mo Guang, destroyed his flying sword, killed him, and ate his brain.
• Pu Jianyuan’s artifact struck the Fire Ape with red and white light, forcing it to flee, while Ling Zhengyi followed at a distance.
• Xiao Hua and Cai Zhuoxia reached Yanlin Mountain Marsh and discussed its rocky landscape as they flew toward the earlier explosion.
• Xiao Hua and Cai Zhuoxia arrived at the basin and found it covered by a thick layer of magma, with the disciples gone.

Xiao Hua and Cai Zhuoxia entered a deep cave beneath the fire marsh in search of treasure, but their talismans failed and they fell into the magma. Xiao Hua survived through mysterious hand seals, while Cai Zhuoxia was mortally wounded and revealed her true appearance and final requests.

• Xiao Hua and Cai Zhuoxia agreed to split any Fire Marrow Blazing Crystals equally and descended into the cave, while Xue Xue recovered atop a nearby peak.
• At the cave’s bottom, Xiao Hua and Cai Zhuoxia spotted fire-element spirit stones, but their Flight and Weak Water Talismans suddenly failed and they fell toward the magma.
• Xiao Hua instinctively formed unfamiliar seals that created a shield and let him move through the magma, but Cai Zhuoxia fell onto her back and suffered fatal burns.
• After Xiao Hua gave Cai Zhuoxia a Wutuodan, she woke and revealed that she had disguised her appearance and was near death.
• Cai Zhuoxia asked Xiao Hua to deliver her share and the Huanhua Sect Good Karma Token to her younger sister, Fairy Hongxia, and to ask Hongxia for the Cai family’s transformation technique.
• Cai Zhuoxia told Xiao Hua that she had invited him to the Cai family hoping to introduce him to Hongxia, then began coughing and losing consciousness.

Cai Zhuoxia died after entrusting Xiao Hua with her belongings, a message for Li Zongbao, and a request to look after the Cai Family of Luyang. Trapped beneath a restricted magma lake, Xiao Hua searched for a way out and discovered a Fire Marrow Blazing Crystal.

• Cai Zhuoxia confessed her feelings for Li Zongbao, asked Xiao Hua to deliver him her silk pouch, and entrusted the Cai Family of Luyang to his care.
• Cai Zhuoxia died, and Xiao Hua placed her corpse and belongings in his storage space so he could bring them back to Luyang.
• Xiao Hua collected supreme-grade spirit stones from the walls and magma while using Fire Evasion and Qingyi Pills to survive.
• Xiao Hua found an invisible restriction enclosing the magma lake and an impassable barrier beneath it, leaving him trapped.
• Xiao Hua spotted and stored a Fire Marrow Blazing Crystal while still searching for an escape.

Xiao Hua escaped the magma cavern only to be captured by Ling Zhengyi, who accused him of pursuing Xue Xue and tried to throw him back into the opening. Xue Xue intervened and secured his release, but Ling Zhengyi stopped Xiao Hua as he was about to leave.

• Trapped beneath the basin, Xiao Hua climbed the stone wall with his demonic spear tip and Profound Iron needle, then used a Flight Talisman to reach the cavern opening.
• Ling Zhengyi blocked Xiao Hua’s exit, recognized him from Yanyuan City, and demanded to know why he had come to Yanlin Mountain Marsh.
• Xiao Hua told Ling Zhengyi about the magma, the restriction, and Cai Zhuoxia’s fall, while denying that he had obtained anything.
• Ling Zhengyi accused Xiao Hua of pursuing Xue Xue, imprisoned him, and began lowering him toward the magma cavern.
• Xue Xue appeared and persuaded Ling Zhengyi to release Xiao Hua, then told him to leave without discussing Misty Mountain’s involvement.
• As Xiao Hua prepared to depart, Ling Zhengyi called him back.

Xiao Hua received an imitation magic artifact and its refining method from Ling Zhengyi, who urged him to establish his foundation and visit Misty Mountain. After Xiao Hua left, Pu Jianyuan arrived searching for his missing inherited artifact, and he and Ling Zhengyi searched the cave before preparing to depart.

• Ling Zhengyi revealed his identity as Misty Mountain’s head and gave Xiao Hua an imitation magic artifact and its refining method.
• Ling Zhengyi warned Xiao Hua that Yanyuan City might make trouble and advised him not to use the Teleportation Array.
• After Xiao Hua left, Pu Jianyuan accused Ling Zhengyi of taking his artifact, but Ling Zhengyi denied it and swore a heart oath.
• Ling Zhengyi and Pu Jianyuan entered the cave to search for the artifact, but they found nothing.
• Ling Zhengyi sent Xue Xue to gather the family disciples and agreed with Pu Jianyuan to leave the site undisturbed.
• Pu Jianyuan remained behind to search for his artifact and wondered whether Ling Zhengyi had truly not taken it.

Xiao Hua fled far from the scarlet mountains, then overheard Pu Qi and Ling Chongya reveal that the magic tool Ling Zhengyi had given him belonged to the Pu family and could subdue the Fire Ape. After realizing the teleportation routes were watched and his storage might be inspected, Xiao Hua chose to fly directly to Yanyuan City with Cai Zhuoxia’s body in a coffin.

• Xiao Hua hid in a cave to refine the remaining medicinal power from his Qingyi Pills, then stored Ling Zhengyi’s magic tool and booklet in his space and continued fleeing.
• After losing his way, Xiao Hua hid by a stream and overheard Pu Qi and Ling Chongya discuss the Pu family’s inherited magic tool and their search for it.
• Pu Qi revealed that the Fire Ape had knocked the magic tool away and that Pu Jianyuan knew it had not been refined; Ling Chongya agreed to investigate Ling Zhengyi.
• Xiao Hua realized Ling Zhengyi’s magic tool was the Pu family’s Soul Restraining magic tool and considered using it to subdue the Fire Ape.
• Xiao Hua decided not to use the guarded Teleportation Array, carved a crude coffin for Cai Zhuoxia, and set out to fly directly to Yanyuan City.

After returning to Yanyuan City, Xiao Hua found the Teleportation Array too closely guarded to use and learned that reaching Luyang Town required crossing the dangerous Xudi Mountain Range. He decided to seek a place with the Fu Family, and the chapter ended as he went to meet Shopkeeper Fu Yingmin.

• Xiao Hua arrived at Yanyuan City after a month of cultivating and flying, having reached the middle of the Qi Cultivation fourth layer while carrying Cai Zhuoxia's corpse.
• Xiao Hua concealed himself with Mi Huan, but the guards required travelers using the Teleportation Array to show their original appearances unless they had a shop-issued token.
• Xiao Hua learned that Luyang Town lay beyond the perilous Xudi Mountain Range and considered postponing the journey rather than risking the crossing.
• Xiao Hua overheard Fu Yingmin seeking disciples for the Fu Family and realized joining them could help him leave Yanyuan City and travel toward Luyang Town.
• Xiao Hua learned that the Yanlin Mountain Marsh upheaval and Mo Guang's death had prompted strict inspections at Yanyuan City's Teleportation Array.
• After waiting two days, Xiao Hua visited the Fu Family's Talisman Shop and asked the clerk to notify Fu Yingmin.

Xiao Hua sought to join the Fu Family as a talisman maker, only to learn that advancing within the family could require changing his surname and joining its line of inheritance. Elder Liu assessed his abilities and asked him to demonstrate an Ice Thorn Talisman, leaving Xiao Hua to begin drawing one.

• Xiao Hua told Fu Yingmin he wanted to join the Fu Family and study talisman making, and Fu Yingmin agreed to recommend him to Elder Liu.
• Fu Yingmin explained the differences between peripheral talisman makers and disciples who inherited the teachings, including the latter's obligation to take the Fu surname.
• Xiao Hua chose to begin as a peripheral talisman maker rather than change his surname.
• Fu Yingmin introduced Xiao Hua to Elder Liu, who questioned his cultivation and low-grade talisman skills.
• Elder Liu ordered Xiao Hua to demonstrate an Ice Thorn Talisman, and Xiao Hua took out his materials and began drawing.

Xiao Hua demonstrated his talisman-making skills to Liu Yun and Fu Yingmin, earning acceptance into the Fu family despite his shallow cultivation. After agreeing to travel to Jinhua Mountain, he arranged to make a detour to Lin Yu Town, then set out from Yanyuan City in disguise.

• Xiao Hua refined a low-grade Ice Spike Talisman, but Liu Yun initially rejected him as an outer talisman maker because it did not meet the Fu family's requirements.
• Xiao Hua refined a middle-grade Fireball Talisman, and Liu Yun accepted him into the Fu family.
• Xiao Hua attempted to make a Restraint Talisman, but the talisman paper caught fire; Liu Yun and Fu Yingmin recognized his exceptional skill and decided to seek the inscription method so he could specialize in making them.
• Fu Yingmin gave Xiao Hua Liu Yun's token and planned to take him to Jinhua Mountain, but Xiao Hua asked to handle personal business in Lin Yu Town first.
• Three days later, Xiao Hua left the Fu Family shops, put on Mihuan, and headed for the Teleportation Array in Yanyuan City, thinking that Lin Yu Town lay along one of the routes to Jinhua Mountain.

Xiao Hua used a Fu Family identity token to pass Yanyuan City's checks and traveled through Lin Yu Town while disguised as a senior. After reaching the outskirts, he parted from a late Foundation Establishment cultivator and flew toward Luyang Town, which he recognized by Yangding Mountain.

• Xiao Hua presented his Fu Family token at Yanyuan City's Teleportation Array and was allowed to keep wearing Mi Huan.
• City guards stopped a Thunder Control Sect cultivator and made him reveal his identity before he traveled with Xiao Hua to Lin Yu Town.
• The late Foundation Establishment cultivator took Xiao Hua away from the array and demanded that he remove Mi Huan, then flew off after discovering Xiao Hua had only Qi Cultivation fourth layer cultivation.
• Xiao Hua flew toward Luyang Town for more than ten days while cultivating with Jinglian Pills and top-grade fire-element spirit stones.
• Xiao Hua spotted Yangding Mountain and recognized that Luyang Town lay at its foot.

Xiao Hua visited Luyang Town to find the Cai family and met a blind stonemason whose decades of persistence renewed Xiao Hua’s resolve to cultivate. He left with the mason’s granddaughter Mei'er, flying her toward the Cai family’s home.

• Xiao Hua admired the stone carvings outside Luyang Town and learned from a blind old man that he had carved them over twenty years after the townspeople helped him through hardship.
• The old man recognized that Xiao Hua sought the Cai family, and his words about persistence helped Xiao Hua reconsider his anxiety over slow cultivation progress.
• Xiao Hua offered the old man a top-grade Wutuodan, but the old man refused it and introduced his granddaughter Mei'er.
• Xiao Hua agreed to let Mei'er guide him to the Cai family and promised to pay for their transport.
• After learning the Cai family was about two hours away by donkey cart, Xiao Hua took Mei'er into the air, while townspeople watched them depart.