Recaps

After learning Seven Star Step, Lin Shisan practiced until he discovered its first signs of power. He then learned that Wang Yan’s disciples were plotting against him and had beaten Niu Geng to find him.

• Guan Yue berated Wang Yan for losing to Lin Shisan and urged the disciples to attack Lin Shisan before he formally joined Feng Xian’er’s tutelage.
• Lin Shisan studied Seven Star Step and practiced until he felt a tailwind beneath his feet and saw a speck of starlight at a landing point.
• Lin Shisan exhausted himself practicing, then restored his strength with an evolved apple and Body Tempering Liquid.
• Lin Shisan encountered the injured Niu Geng and used medicinal liquid from Mu Ling’er to heal him.
• Niu Geng told Lin Shisan that Wang Yan and two disciples had beaten him while asking about Lin Shisan, and warned that Guan Yue planned to kill him.

Lin Shisan ate breakfast with Feng Xian'er, then took the Danyang Sect’s second assessment, earning a four-star Dao Seed rating before facing the Ling Yun Stairway challenge. The chapter ended as he noticed Niu Geng had drawn a blank number tag for group placement.

• Lin Shisan cultivated, paid respects to his father, and visited Feng Xian'er, who teased him and served him deer penis soup before his examination.
• Feng Xian'er gave Lin Shisan valuable spiritual herbs and medicinal plants to prepare for the tests.
• Lin Shisan rode Feng Xian'er's cloud boat to Greenstone Plaza and barely passed the strength test with his body tempering eighth layer.
• Lin Shisan received a four-star Dao Seed rating, surprising him while Feng Xian'er slept through the proceedings.
• An immortal master introduced the hundred-step Ling Yun Stairway, where candidates needed to reach the thirtieth step to pass.
• Lin Shisan saw that Niu Geng's group number tag was blank after the candidates drew their tags.

Lin Shisan turned a rigged number-tag scheme to his advantage, prompting Feng Xian'er to secure him three valuable pills from Junior Brother Jin. As the Heavenly Ladder test began, Lin Shisan entered the climb and kicked one of the disciples who threatened him off the platform.

• Lin Shisan gave Niu Geng his valid number tag and took Niu Geng's blank one, then asked Feng Xian'er to inspect it.
• Junior Brother Jin tried to seize Lin Shisan's tag, but Feng Xian'er pressured him into giving Lin Shisan three Meridian Opening Pills worth five thousand Spirit Stones.
• The first two groups climbed the Heavenly Ladder, and only a small number of prospective disciples passed the early steps.
• Lin Shisan joined the third group, where three disciples who had crowded Niu Geng threatened him.
• Lin Shisan kicked the loudest disciple off the platform, and the other two backed away as the platform rose.

Lin Shisan climbed the Heavenly Ladder Test with the help of his spiritual energy and secretly kicked down prospective disciples who had bullied him. At the fifty-first step, he struck back at a scar-faced youth and left him suddenly in trouble.

• Feng Xian'er recognized that Guan Yue had arranged the tampered number tags and punished him with a barking black-dog mark on his forehead.
• Lin Shisan used the Black-and-White Grinding Disc to ease the ladder’s tenfold gravity and climbed ahead of the other prospective disciples.
• Lin Shisan kicked down two prospective disciples who had picked on him, and the watching elders stayed silent.
• As the climb eliminated most candidates, Lin Shisan found the scar-faced youth and the taller youth waiting for him near the fiftieth step.
• The scar-faced youth threatened Lin Shisan and attacked with a dagger, but Lin Shisan disarmed him and threw the dagger into his leg.
• The scar-faced youth reached the fifty-first step in pain, then felt his chest tighten.

Lin Shisan climbed the Lingyun Heavenly Ladder with Zhang Hao and Senior Brother Hong until Senior Brother Hong threw him onto the dangerous sixty-sixth step. There, Lin Shisan used Spirit Stones and his Jiaolong True Spirit to draw lightning from the clouds and begin starlight body tempering.

• The scar-faced youth died after Lin Shisan pushed him onto the fifty-first step, and Feng Xian'er defended Lin Shisan’s actions.
• Lin Shisan climbed with Zhang Hao and Senior Brother Hong, reaching the fifty-fifth step together.
• The three continued to the sixtieth step, where Lin Shisan pretended he could go no farther.
• Senior Brother Hong used a secret treasure to toss Lin Shisan six steps upward, leaving him alone on the sixty-sixth step beneath lightning and crushing pressure.
• Lin Shisan formed a pattern with one hundred and eight Spirit Stones and sent his Jiaolong True Spirit into the clouds to channel lightning for starlight body tempering.

Lin Shisan endured the Heavenly Ladder’s starlight tempering and evolved his zero-star Taiji Wheel Dao Seed into a One-Star Dao Seed. He climbed to the eightieth step, setting a century-old Danyang Sect record and drawing the Ling Tian Lineage’s attention.

• The Jiaolong True Spirit’s starlight nearly broke Lin Shisan’s spine, but the returning power and his Black-and-White Grinding Disc helped him endure and strengthen his spiritual power.
• Feng Xian’er wanted to intervene, but Junior Brother Jin and the trainee immortal masters warned that doing so would violate the rules and put Lin Shisan at greater risk.
• Zhang Hao tried to climb to Lin Shisan, but he could not reach the sixty-first step and collapsed from exhaustion.
• Lin Shisan’s Taiji Wheel gained a star marking and became a One-Star Dao Seed as the starlight tempering advanced his strength.
• Lin Shisan climbed to the seventieth and then the eightieth step, setting a Danyang Sect record and impressing Feng Xian’er.

Lin Shisan stopped at the eightieth step of the heavenly stairway after a mysterious warning, then passed the trial and learned that ninety-five candidates had secured admission to the Danyang Sect. Back at the Courtyard, he rejected Steward Ling’s offer to become a Ling Family Outer Servant and sent him away.

• Feng Xian'er warned Lin Shisan not to climb any higher, and he withdrew from the heavenly stairway at the eightieth step while searching unsuccessfully for Aunt Mei and Hu Niu.
• Lin Shisan thanked Feng Xian'er, who offered him another bowl of soup, and the remaining candidates continued the trial; Niu Geng reached the forty-fifth step.
• Ninety-five of the four hundred and fifty-two candidates passed the stairway trial, and the sect scheduled the alchemy test for the morning after a day of rest.
• A pale-faced middle-aged man entered Lin Shisan's Courtyard and introduced himself as Steward Ling of the Ling Household.
• Steward Ling offered Lin Shisan a place as a Ling Family Outer Servant, but Lin Shisan refused and ordered him to leave.

Lin Shisan refused Steward Ling’s demand to join the Ling Household and fought back when the steward attacked him. Feng Xian’er intervened, drove Steward Ling away, and killed him, leaving the gathered disciples stunned.

• Steward Ling flew into a rage when Lin Shisan ordered him to leave and drew his flying sword to force Lin Shisan to kneel.
• Lin Shisan blocked Steward Ling’s attacks with liquefied spiritual power, astonishing the disciples and the three apprentice Immortal Lords watching.
• Steward Ling demanded one last time that Lin Shisan come with him, then attacked when Lin Shisan refused.
• Steward Ling struck aside two Immortal Lords who tried to intervene and sent his flying sword toward Lin Shisan’s chest.
• Feng Xian’er appeared, twisted Steward Ling’s flying sword into a braided cruller, and hurled him away.
• Steward Ling threatened Feng Xian’er, but she struck him down in a red mist that scattered into the wind.

After Feng Xian'er rescued Lin Shisan from the Ling Household, he read messages from Hu Niu and then received desperate cries for help from Long Yan'er. He pleaded with Feng Xian'er to go with him to Qingyang, but she refused, leaving him desperate to save the Long Household.

• Feng Xian'er took Lin Shisan back to her courtyard, gave him Deer Whip Soup, and dismissed the disciples who had gathered.
• Lin Shisan read Hu Niu's messages from Nine Nether Mountain and learned she was doing well with Aunt Mei and had begun cultivating.
• Lin Shisan received Long Yan'er's messages saying a bad man was attacking her, Auntie, and Grandpa and wanted to make Auntie his Furnace Cauldron.
• Lin Shisan told Feng Xian'er about Long Yan'er's danger and asked to go to Qingyang, but Feng Xian'er refused because the Alchemy Test was the day after tomorrow.
• Feng Xian'er recognized the Long Household name and its ancestor's connection to the Danyang Sect, while Long Yan'er's cries for help continued to come through the Message Stone.

The One-Legged Masked Man and Si Wu attacked the Long Household to force Long Shuang'er into marriage and seize the Biluō Purple Cauldron. Lin Shisan arrived in time to save Little Yan'er, unmasked the attacker as Ouyang Xiao, and faced his old enemy.

• Si Wu and Ouyang Xiao broke into the Long Household and subdued Long Tianming and Long Tianliang while demanding the Biluō Purple Cauldron and Long Shuang'er's marriage.
• Ouyang Xiao seized Little Yan'er and threatened to cut off her leg to lure Lin Shisan out.
• Long Shuang'er offered to marry Si Wu's father if Ouyang Xiao spared Yan'er and the Long Household, but Ouyang Xiao kept counting and pinned her in place.
• Lin Shisan arrived aboard a cloud ship, knocked Ouyang Xiao's sword aside with a Taiji Seal, and caught Little Yan'er.
• The Taiji Seal cracked Ouyang Xiao's mask, revealing him as Zhao Xun's former disciple, and Ouyang Xiao fixed his hatred on Lin Shisan.

Lin Shisan confronted Ouyang Xiao and discovered that Long Qingshan was possessed by Ning Jiuying, a Demon Sect protector seeking his lost demon spirit. Feng Xian'er drove Ning Jiuying back into Long Qingshan, who seized Long Yan'er as a hostage, leaving Lin Shisan trying to stop Feng Xian'er from killing him.

• Long Yan'er clung to Lin Shisan, who recognized Ouyang Xiao and demanded that he reveal who was behind him.
• Lin Shisan attacked the sleeping Long Qingshan, whose demonic qi awakened and identified itself as Ning Jiuying.
• Ning Jiuying tried to seize the demon spirit inside Lin Shisan, but Lin Shisan blocked the attack with the Reverse Scale and suppressed his own demon spirit with the Taiji Seal.
• Ning Jiuying unleashed the Heaven-Swallowing Demonic Art, drawing people and objects into a black hole until Feng Xian'er arrived and countered it with a jade pearl.
• Feng Xian'er struck Ning Jiuying's skull, forcing it back into Long Qingshan, who grabbed Long Yan'er and threatened to kill her.
• Lin Shisan stopped Feng Xian'er from attacking Long Qingshan, and Feng Xian'er teased him about being eager to spare his prospective father-in-law.

Lin Shisan chased Ouyang Xiao and Si Wu into an ambush, then defeated their demonic-energy-controlled fighters and killed both men. After Ouyang Xiao’s death, Lin Shisan discovered that he craved the taste of blood.

• Feng Xian'er sent Lin Shisan after Ouyang Xiao and Si Wu while she stayed with Long Shuang'er and the others.
• Lin Shisan followed an Earth-Escape Talisman into an alley, where Ouyang Xiao and Si Wu ambushed him with eight accomplices.
• Ouyang Xiao ordered the demonic-energy-controlled fighters to attack, and Lin Shisan killed two before striking down Si Wu.
• Lin Shisan used the demon spirit to remove the demonic energy from the six surviving fighters and forced Ouyang Xiao to kneel.
• Lin Shisan beheaded Ouyang Xiao, then felt a powerful craving for blood and wanted to devour it.

After Lin Shisan defeated Ouyang Xiao and the others, he collected their spoils and rushed back to the Long Household when Feng Xian’er warned that Long Qingshan was near death. Long Qingshan gave him the Biluō Purple Cauldron as a keepsake, while Feng Xian’er recognized its name but could not remember why it sounded familiar.

• Lin Shisan’s demonic state faded, and the terrified survivors fled after he let them go.
• Lin Shisan searched the defeated men and took their Spirit Stones, talismans, herbs, pills, Flying Sword Embryo, and Heaven-Swallowing Demonic Art.
• Feng Xian’er sent Lin Shisan an urgent message that Long Qingshan was clinging to life, so he hurried to the Long Household.
• Lin Shisan found Long Qingshan gravely ill and Feng Xian’er holding the tiny figure she had extracted from him, Ning Jiuying.
• Long Qingshan asked Long Shuang’er to give Lin Shisan the Biluō Purple Cauldron and requested that he help the Long Household if it ever faced trouble.
• Lin Shisan hesitated to accept the cauldron, while Feng Xian’er wondered where she had heard its name.

After Long Qingshan died, Lin Shisan promised to protect Long Yan'er and accepted the Biluō Purple Cauldron, while Feng Xian'er agreed to take the girl as a nominal disciple. Back at the Danyang Sect, Lin Shisan opened the cauldron and discovered a mysterious flame pattern appearing on it.

• Long Qingshan died after entrusting the Biluō Purple Cauldron to Lin Shisan, who promised to care for Long Yan'er.
• Feng Xian'er agreed to take Long Yan'er as a nominal disciple, and Lin Shisan left the Long Household with the cauldron while the girl stayed to observe seven days of mourning.
• On the way back, Lin Shisan told Feng Xian'er about his past and his demonic influence, and she said his choices would show whether he was truly a demon or an immortal.
• After returning to the Danyang Sect, Lin Shisan opened the Biluō Purple Cauldron effortlessly but found nothing unusual about it.
• As Lin Shisan rested with his eyes closed, a thumb-sized flame pattern appeared on the cauldron.

Lin Shisan entered the Danyang Sect’s final Grand Examination test, where the top three could observe the Nine Yang Cauldron for three days. He prepared to refine pills with the Biluō Purple Cauldron as Guan Yue arranged to sabotage him.

• Lin Shisan drank Feng Xian’er’s Deer Whip Soup and confirmed that he had memorized the spirit herbs for the alchemy test.
• At Greenstone Plaza, Junior Brother Jin announced that the top three would receive a Meridian Opening Pill and three days to observe the Nine Yang Cauldron.
• Niu Geng encouraged Lin Shisan, while Guan Yue secretly ordered another disciple to interfere with his test and promised a Meridian Opening Pill in return.
• Lin Shisan entered Alchemy Chamber Forty-Five, steadied his mind with the Nine Heavens True Dragon Art, and summoned the Biluō Purple Cauldron to begin refining pills.

Lin Shisan used the Biluō Purple Cauldron and the Jiaolong True Spirit’s Dragon Breath Fire to refine a Spirit-Gathering Pill with three marks, while a fourth mark began to form. Before the pill could finish, someone broke into Alchemy Chamber Number Forty-Five and launched a Black Poison Needle at him.

• Lin Shisan added Feng Xian’er’s Hundred-Year Spirit-Gathering Grass to the cauldron, and the Biluō Purple Cauldron suppressed the violent medicinal properties.
• Feng Xian’er sensed a second-grade pill aura, while Zhang Qiling and Deacon Ling watched Alchemy Chamber Number Forty-Five and doubted Lin Shisan could complete the pill.
• Lin Shisan formed the Spirit-Gathering Pill but could not make its marks with his own pill fire.
• The Jiaolong True Spirit breathed Dragon Breath Fire into the cauldron, and Lin Shisan formed three pill marks as a fourth began to appear.
• An intruder shattered the chamber’s restriction and shot a Black Poison Needle toward Lin Shisan.

Lin Shisan survived Guan Yue’s poisoned needle and the explosion of his cauldron to complete a second-rank, four-mark Spirit-Gathering Pill. He won first place in the competition, earning the chance to observe the Nine Yang Cauldron, while Feng Xian’er restrained Guan Yue.

• Guan Yue sent a poisoned needle at Lin Shisan, but Lin Shisan’s Reverse Scale blocked it while he continued refining his pill.
• Lin Shisan completed the fourth Pill Mark, then the Biluō Purple Cauldron exploded and blasted him through the chamber wall.
• Lin Shisan revealed the undamaged, four-mark Spirit-Gathering Pill and confronted the retreating Guan Yue.
• Feng Xian’er immobilized Guan Yue, checked on Lin Shisan, and accepted his pill for judging.
• Junior Brother Jin announced Lin Shisan as the first-place winner with a second-rank Spirit-Gathering Pill.

Feng Xian'er confronted Zhang Qiling over Guan Yue's attack on her disciple and crippled Guan Yue while warning the gathered deacons not to target her disciple again. Zhang Qiling recognized her Nine-Phoenix Heart-Exterminating Mirror and backed down, knowing Guan Yue had been caught in the wrong.

• Feng Xian'er confronted Zhang Qiling over Guan Yue planting poisoned needles and blowing up her disciple's Alchemy Chamber.
• Feng Xian'er seized Guan Yue and used her power to destroy his meridians and ruin his cultivation.
• Zhang Qiling attacked Feng Xian'er, but she shattered his energy hand and wounded him with a flick of her hand.
• Feng Xian'er inflicted the ten thousand ants heart-devouring gu on Guan Yue and warned everyone that he would suffer without dying.
• Zhang Qiling recognized Feng Xian'er's Nine-Phoenix Heart-Exterminating Mirror and chose to endure the humiliation, knowing Guan Yue was at fault.

Lin Shisan’s second-grade Spirit-Gathering Pill drew Old Zhou’s attention, but Feng Xian’er revealed that Lin was her junior brother and made Old Zhou give him gifts instead of taking him as a disciple. She then brought Lin away and made him drink a huge bowl of Deer Whip Soup, leaving him feeling feverish and fearing what Feng Xian’er intended.

• Old Zhou inspected Lin Shisan’s second-grade Spirit-Gathering Pill and asked to meet its maker.
• After learning Lin Shisan had refined it, Old Zhou offered to take him as a disciple.
• Feng Xian’er claimed Lin Shisan as her junior brother and said she was accepting him on her master’s behalf, so Old Zhou gave Lin a scroll and a ring instead.
• Feng Xian’er pressured Zhang Qiling and Deacon Ling into giving Lin first-meeting gifts, then took him away on her cloud boat.
• Feng Xian’er made Lin drink a basin of Deer Whip Soup, and Lin felt his body catch fire and feared she was going to force him.

Feng Xian'er purged the Nine-Tailed Centipede Poison from Lin Shisan, helping him advance to the ninth level of Body Tempering. After consolidating his cultivation and examining the Heaven-Swallowing Demonic Art, Lin Shisan received a message from Mu Ling'er ordering him to steal the Nine Yang Cauldron, and suspected the Danyang Sect had Demon Cave spies.

• Feng Xian'er forced Lin Shisan to endure a boiling medicinal bath and fire-attribute water snakes while she expelled the Nine-Tailed Centipede Poison.
• Lin Shisan discovered he had reached the ninth level of Body Tempering, and Feng Xian'er left him seven bowls of Deer Whip Soup before going away on business.
• Lin Shisan stabilized his Dao fruit over five days and threw the Heaven-Swallowing Demonic Art into the Little Black Cauldron after learning its dangers.
• Worried when Hu Niu and Mu Ling'er did not answer his messages, Lin Shisan found Mu Ling'er's note telling him to bring a ghost flower to the Nine Yang Pavilion and steal the Nine Yang Cauldron.
• Lin Shisan searched the Courtyard for a demon watcher and concluded that the Danyang Sect might contain Demon Cave spies.

Lin Shisan accompanied Feng Xian'er to study the Nine Yang Cauldron, while worrying that she had discovered his secret messages and the Ghost Flower. He learned the cauldron could consume divine sense and kill with lingering resentment, then arrived at the pavilion as the other Grand Examination leaders and sect representatives gathered.

• Lin Shisan woke to Feng Xian'er’s return and worried she had found Mu Ling'er’s Message Stone or learned about the Ghost Flower.
• Feng Xian'er told Lin Shisan that she had come to escort him to study the Nine Yang Cauldron.
• Feng Xian'er explained the cauldron’s history and warned Lin Shisan to stay at least three meters away and never probe it with his divine sense.
• Lin Shisan suspected that demons or powerful beings might be sealed inside the cauldron as he and Feng Xian'er walked to the pavilion.
• Lin Shisan and Feng Xian'er reached the pavilion, where Zhang Hao, the third-place female disciple, and Hong Tong had also gathered.

Lin Shisan entered the Nine Yang Pavilion and discovered that its runes revealed living insights into the Dao of Alchemy. By circulating the Nine Heavens True Dragon Art, he awakened the cauldron’s runes and saw a vision of an alchemist using the Five Elements Circulation Method.

• Lin Shisan greeted Zhang Hao, accepted Hong Tong’s apology while warning him about future choices, and awkwardly introduced himself to Gu Mengli.
• Lin Shisan, Zhang Hao, Gu Mengli, and Hong Tong entered the Nine Yang Pavilion and used a teleportation formation to reach its starry interior.
• Lin Shisan entered his assigned room and saw the Nine Yang Cauldron, then sat down to steady himself before observing it.
• Lin Shisan circulated the Nine Heavens True Dragon Art, and when he completed nine greater celestial circuits, the cauldron’s runes lit up.
• Lin Shisan realized the runes contained living Alchemy Scripture and cautiously touched one with his divine sense.
• Lin Shisan saw a vision of a white-haired old man refining pills with the Five Elements Circulation Method.

Lin Shisan studied the Nine Yang Cauldron’s runes and gained a deeper understanding of pill refinement, including the Nine-Turn Soul-Returning Pill recipe. He tested the techniques with the Biluō Purple Cauldron and began refining second-grade Spirit-Gathering Pills with greater ease.

• Lin Shisan realized that pill refinement required adapting to the herbs, conditions, and changing circumstances rather than mechanically following a recipe.
• A rune revealed the Nine-Turn Soul-Returning Pill recipe, which required the Nine Yang Cauldron, the Biluō Purple Cauldron, and dragon vein blood.
• Lin Shisan studied more runes and learned a violent method that used divine sense to gather medicinal properties after they exploded.
• After a day of study, Lin Shisan used his spirit fire and the Biluō Purple Cauldron to refine a first-grade Spirit-Gathering Pill, then used the explosive method to make a second-grade pill.
• Lin Shisan refined another second-grade Spirit-Gathering Pill more easily, reducing the time required by a quarter.

Lin Shisan refined a Three-Mark Spirit-Gathering Pill and watched the Ghost Flower bloom inside the Biluō Purple Cauldron, awakening the Nine Yang Cauldron and revealing an ancient alchemy legacy. After receiving the Nine Nether Alchemy Scripture, his cultivation surged, but a golden cocoon enveloped his Dantian instead of opening the meridian realm.

• Lin Shisan comprehended Rune-Infused Alchemy and used his own insights to refine a Three-Mark Spirit-Gathering Pill with his spirit fire.
• The Ghost Flower bloomed inside the Biluō Purple Cauldron and sent spectral green light into the Nine Yang Cauldron, activating its runes.
• The activated runes overwhelmed Lin Shisan with alchemy knowledge and formed a white-haired old man, who granted him the Nine Nether Alchemy Scripture.
• The old man explained that the Danyang Sect and Nine Nether Mountain shared the Dao of Alchemy, then dispersed into starlight that entered Lin Shisan's body.
• Lin Shisan's cultivation rose to the peak of the body tempering ninth stage, but a golden cocoon sealed his Dantian instead of the meridian realm opening.

Lin Shisan nearly lost his mind after stepping outside the warded room and being pulled into illusions around the Nine Yang Cauldron. He discovered that Gai Jiuyou was sealed inside it and rejected her offer to help him take revenge in exchange for freeing her.

• Lin Shisan resisted illusions of Feng Xian'er, Hu Niu, and his father, Lin Qinghan, but rushed from the warded room when he saw Lin Qinghan being attacked.
• Trapped in darkness, Lin Shisan recalled Feng Xian'er's warning about the Nine Yang Cauldron and struck himself with the Taiji Seal to break a seductive illusion.
• Lin Shisan returned to the warded room and realized that a dangerous being was sealed inside the Nine Yang Cauldron, possibly connected to the Demon Sect of Nine Nether Mountain.
• An unfamiliar female voice identified herself as Gai Jiuyou and offered to help Lin Shisan avenge his father if he freed her.
• Lin Shisan questioned Gai Jiuyou's promises, and she flew into a rage at his skepticism.