Chapter Summaries

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.

Lin Shisan confronted Gai Jiuyou inside the Nine Yang Cauldron, where she recognized his growth-type Taiji Wheel and tried to seize it. After the Little Black Cauldron and Lin Shisan’s Taiji Seal stopped her attacks, Gai Jiuyou trapped him with her Heaven-Swallowing Demonic Art, and he called for Master Feng Xian’er.

• Gai Jiuyou appeared before Lin Shisan and offered to reveal who killed his father if he released her.
• Gai Jiuyou recognized Lin Shisan’s Taiji Wheel and attacked to take his Dao Seed, but the Little Black Cauldron severed her energy hand.
• Lin Shisan noticed the Taiji Seal on Gai Jiuyou’s forehead and struck her with the same seal, disrupting her projection.
• Gai Jiuyou used the Heaven-Swallowing Demonic Art to trap Lin Shisan and began pulling the Taiji Wheel from his dantian.
• Lin Shisan called for Master Feng Xian’er to save him.

Lin Shisan and Gu Mengli fought Gai Jiuyou’s black hole with the Gu family’s Heavenly Star Seal. After their seals merged and shattered Gai Jiuyou’s projection, they fell from the air with Gu Mengli’s ribbon still spinning Lin Shisan toward her.

• Gu Mengli left the warded room and used her purple ribbon and Divine Sense to keep Lin Shisan from being swallowed by Gai Jiuyou’s black hole.
• Gai Jiuyou recognized Gu Mengli’s star seal, drew both juniors into the black hole’s pull, and attacked them with her Killing Intent.
• Gu Mengli asked Lin Shisan to reinforce her star seal with his Xiantian Gang Qi, and he recognized it as the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Sha Pattern.
• Lin Shisan summoned the Jiaolong True Spirit and merged his own Heavenly Gang and Earthly Sha Pattern with Gu Mengli’s seal.
• The combined seal cracked Gai Jiuyou’s projection and black hole, sending Lin Shisan and Gu Mengli falling from the air.
• Gu Mengli tried to dodge Lin Shisan, but her ribbon kept him spinning back toward her like a kite.

Lin Shisan and Gu Mengli were trapped by Gai Jiuyou, who drained their Spiritual Power, but Lin Shisan used the Nine Tribulations Taiji Art to disrupt her attack. As Gai Jiuyou tried to seize his Taiji Wheel, Lin Shisan survived a surge of starlight and broke through to Body Tempering Great Perfection.

• Gai Jiuyou spun Lin Shisan and Gu Mengli with her purple ribbon and began devouring their Spiritual Power and Divine Sense.
• Lin Shisan’s Jiaolong True Spirit raised a restriction, letting him use the Heavenly Secret Seal to interrupt Gai Jiuyou’s devouring.
• Hong Tong caught Gu Mengli as she fell, then joined her in blocking Gai Jiuyou’s tentacles while Lin Shisan drew in overwhelming Power of Starlight.
• Gai Jiuyou sent a tentacle toward Lin Shisan’s Dantian, but the Little Black Cauldron severed it and the Taiji Wheel absorbed its Spiritual Power.
• Lin Shisan’s nine Body Tempering halos linked into a circle, advancing him to Body Tempering Great Perfection and shocking Gai Jiuyou.

Feng Xian'er rescued Lin Shisan from Gai Jiuyou’s attack with the Nine-Phoenix Heart-Exterminating Mirror, but Gai Jiuyou captured him and threatened Feng Xian'er. As Aunt Mei threatened Hu Niu to force Lin Shisan to save Gai Jiuyou, Lin Shisan blocked her surveillance and Feng Xian'er unleashed the mirror’s innate power, leaving Gai Jiuyou badly burned.

• Gai Jiuyou attacked Lin Shisan for his Taiji Wheel, but Feng Xian'er arrived and reflected her tentacle’s force with the Nine-Phoenix Heart-Exterminating Mirror.
• Gai Jiuyou seized Lin Shisan in a black vortex and demanded that Feng Xian'er surrender the mirror to save him.
• Aunt Mei threatened Hu Niu through the Message Stone, demanding that Lin Shisan find a way to rescue Gai Jiuyou.
• Lin Shisan used his remaining strength to throw the Message Stone into the Little Black Cauldron, cutting off Aunt Mei’s view of the Nine Yang Pavilion.
• Feng Xian'er offered Gai Jiuyou the mirror in exchange for Lin Shisan, then activated part of its innate divine power and burned Gai Jiuyou as the black vortex began to break apart.

Gai Jiuyou’s final attack against Lin Shisan was stopped by a mysterious Seven-Colored Light Shield from his Little Black Cauldron, and her projection was sealed away again. As Feng Xian'er and the four mighty cultivators questioned the shield, Lin Shisan pretended he did not know where it came from.

• The four mighty cultivators joined forces to seal Gai Jiuyou, who unleashed her remaining power at Lin Shisan.
• Gai Jiuyou’s tentacle killed Zhang Hao, while Gu Mengli and Hong Tong tried and failed to protect Lin Shisan.
• The Little Black Cauldron produced a Seven-Colored Light Shield that blocked Gai Jiuyou’s attack and left Lin Shisan unharmed.
• Gai Jiuyou’s projection vanished as the seal closed, returning her true body to the Nine Yang Cauldron.
• Feng Xian'er and the four mighty cultivators questioned Lin Shisan about the shield, and he claimed he did not know what it was.

Gu Mengli explained Lin Shisan’s inheritance as a gift from the Nine Yang Cauldron’s spirit, and the elders accepted her account while Feng Xian’er protected Lin Shisan’s claim to the Nine Nether Alchemy Scripture. As Feng Xian’er took him away, she warned that fully understanding the scripture would have marked him as corrupted by the Demon Sect.

• Gu Mengli claimed she saw a senior artifact spirit give Lin Shisan the Nine Nether Alchemy Scripture and protective power, and the elders accepted her explanation.
• Feng Xian’er warned the four elders not to covet Lin Shisan’s inheritance, then left the Nine Yang Pavilion with him after thanking Gu Mengli and Hong Tong for helping him.
• Elder Gu summoned Gu Mengli, while the Ling Household took Hong Tong away and questioned him about what had happened.
• On Feng Xian’er’s cloud boat, Lin Shisan admitted that the scripture had entered his Divine Sense Sea but that he understood little of it.
• Feng Xian’er explained that the scripture contained Demon Sect methods and that anyone at Lin Shisan’s level who understood it would have been considered corrupted.

Lin Shisan questioned Feng Xian'er about Gai Jiuyou and learned the tragic story behind her fall to demonic cultivation. Outside the sect, Aunt Mei nearly killed Hu Niu over the failed plan to rescue Gai Jiuyou, but the appearance of the Nine Nether Emperor's Order convinced her that the Demon Venerable had escaped.

• Feng Xian'er questioned Lin Shisan about Gu Mengli, then accepted his explanation that Gai Jiuyou had revealed her identity to him.
• Lin Shisan asked about Feng Xian'er's background, and she said the Nine-Phoenix Heart-Exterminating Mirror recognized only her.
• Feng Xian'er described how Gai Jiuyou rose from an ordinary mortal, was betrayed by her beloved, and took revenge on the Immortal Alliance.
• Aunt Mei learned that Lin Shisan had thrown the Message Stone into the Little Black Cauldron and tightened her grip on Hu Niu's neck despite Mu Ling'er's pleas.
• The Nine Nether Emperor's Order appeared on Aunt Mei's wrist, and she exclaimed that the Demon Venerable had escaped.
• Aunt Mei's killing intent faded, and she released Hu Niu while murmuring that the Demon Venerable's return was near.

Feng Xian'er brought Lin Shisan to Cold Moon Peak, laid down rules for his new life, and warned him to conceal the Nine Nether Alchemy Scripture. Lin Shisan settled into his new home and clumsily made chicken soup under his master's guidance, leaving him hopeful that he had found a stable place to stay.

• Feng Xian'er told Lin Shisan to cook three meals a day, drink Deer Whip Soup every evening, and follow her rules on Cold Moon Peak.
• Feng Xian'er ordered Lin Shisan to deny that he possessed the Nine Nether Alchemy Scripture and explained that revealing it would put him in danger; she urged him to keep and study it rather than surrender it to the Sect.
• Lin Shisan asked whether keeping the scripture might lead him onto the demonic path, and Feng Xian'er mocked his lack of the makings of a demon.
• Feng Xian'er showed Lin Shisan the bamboo cottages prepared for him on Cold Moon Peak and told him to make something from the kitchen ingredients.
• Lin Shisan tried to stew a chicken with little idea how to cook, but with Feng Xian'er's help he made soup that she drank and called all right.

Lin Shisan reflected on the Little Black Cauldron’s mysterious power, then learned Feng Xian’er’s pill-refining methods and began to understand the spirit of medicinal ingredients. Feng Xian’er revealed that Gu Mengli would visit Cold Moon Peak the next day, leaving Lin Shisan wondering why she was coming.

• Lin Shisan put away the Little Black Cauldron and cultivated with the Nine Heavens True Dragon Art, consolidating his Body Tempering Great Perfection while finding that the golden cocoon around his dantian still blocked his meridians.
• Lin Shisan prepared breakfast the next morning, and Feng Xian’er told him she would teach him the Danyang Sect’s basic pill-refining methods before he studied the Nine Nether Alchemy Scripture.
• Feng Xian’er demonstrated how to sense medicinal properties and the spirit within a pill, refining an ordinary Spirit-Gathering Pill into a third-grade Spirit Pill with five Pill Marks.
• Lin Shisan’s first attempt produced only a first-grade Spirit Pill, but after refining ten batches under Feng Xian’er’s guidance, he made a second-grade pill with three Pill Marks and found the feel of the process.
• Feng Xian’er told Lin Shisan to prepare for a guest from the Gu Household the next day, then identified the guest as Gu Mengli, leaving him bewildered.

Lin Shisan accepted an invitation from the Gu Household to attend an alchemy gathering at Heavenly Star Pavilion and spent three days preparing under Feng Xian’er’s guidance. He arrived with his master and found Zhang Qiling and Deacon Ling among the guests as Gu Mengli greeted them.

• Gu Mengli visited Cold Moon Peak, invited Feng Xian’er and Lin Shisan to the Gu Household’s alchemy gathering, and gave Lin Shisan Clearheart Pills in thanks for his help at the Nine Yang Pavilion.
• Lin Shisan accepted the invitation and gave Gu Mengli a jar of his homemade wine; Feng Xian’er suggested that Gu Mengli had come especially to see him.
• Feng Xian’er urged Lin Shisan to prepare, and he practiced alchemy for three days until he could consistently refine second-grade spirit pills.
• Feng Xian’er and Lin Shisan traveled by Cloud Boat to Heavenly Star Pavilion, where a Gu Household middle-aged man welcomed them and led them inside.
• Lin Shisan spotted Zhang Qiling and Deacon Ling among the guests, sat with Feng Xian’er, and watched Gu Mengli emerge from the rear hall to greet them.