Chapter Summaries

Ge Chenfeng refined a superior-quality third-grade Source Condensation Pill, restoring the Myriad Treasures House’s reputation and drawing a flood of orders. As Liu Fuyan arranged the contracts, she realized her feelings for Ge Hong were growing, while Zhang Qi nearly went to care for him before Liu Fuyan stopped her.

• Ge Chenfeng completed a superior-quality Source Condensation Pill, silencing the crowd’s doubts about the Myriad Treasures House.
• Ge Chenfeng offered to use his eight hundred thousand taels in refining fees to subsidize half-price purchases, and customers and faction representatives rushed to buy pills and place orders.
• Liu Fuyan watched the exhausted Ge Hong and reflected on how his repeated help had stirred feelings she had long kept guarded.
• Zhang Qi summoned Liu Fuyan to sign the waiting contracts, and Liu Fuyan told her to have others look after Ge Hong.
• Zhang Qi started toward the platform, but Liu Fuyan returned, stopped her, and took her to help with the contracts.

After Ge Hong's success at the alchemy gathering, Huangfu Yun punished Steward Chen but spared his life, then learned that the item he sought would appear at the Alliance Trade Fair. Gu Chenfeng and Liu Fuyan attended the Alliance Auction in disguise, where Gu Chenfeng sensed familiar figures and waited for the bidding to begin so he could seek the Century-Old Dragon Saliva Flower.

• A sword-bearing youth and a red-dressed young woman recognized Gu Chenfeng's strong alchemy talent and planned to approach him after completing their mission.
• Huangfu Yun confronted Steward Chen over the Exquisite Pavilion's defeat by Ge Hong and stopped him from taking his own life, severing one finger as punishment.
• Steward Chen told Huangfu Yun that the item he needed was among the final lots at the Alliance Trade Fair, and Huangfu Yun said the Myriad Treasures House might soon cease to be a threat.
• Gu Chenfeng and Liu Fuyan entered the Alliance Auction in disguise, and Liu Fuyan explained the auction rules while giving him suggestive hints.
• Gu Chenfeng used his mental power to detect Source Sea Realm cultivators and familiar attendees, including Steward Chen, Alchemist Huang, and the pair who had helped him.
• Gu Chenfeng learned that the private boxes were reserved for powerful nobles and waited for the auction to begin, hoping to obtain the Century-Old Dragon Saliva Flower.

Gu Chenfeng won the Dragon Saliva Flower after the Little Azure Snake disrupted Huang Wei’s bid, completing the ingredients for the Dragon-Elephant Bone Tempering Pill. He later passed on the Blood-Detonating Talismans and waited as the auction began presenting its final three showpiece items.

• Gu Chenfeng watched the early lots pass and waited for the Dragon Saliva Flower while Liu Fuyan promised to help him secure it.
• Gu Chenfeng bid on the nearly two-hundred-year-old Dragon Saliva Flower, and the Little Azure Snake revealed that Huang Wei needed it for a pill tied to his abusive schemes.
• The Little Azure Snake bit Huang Wei before he could raise his paddle, allowing Gu Chenfeng to win the flower for six hundred and ten low-grade Source Crystals.
• Gu Chenfeng thanked the Little Azure Snake and promised to help her regain her freedom, then raised the prices on lots sought by Huang Wei and Steward Chen.
• Gu Chenfeng declined to compete for the Blood-Detonating Talismans after a second-floor private room bid two thousand low-grade Source Crystals.
• The auctioneer announced that bidding on the final three showpiece items would begin.

Gu Chenfeng watched the Alliance Auction’s three finale items draw fierce bidding, but he could not afford the Blood Shadow Illusory Body Steps or the Storage Ring. When the Earth Dragon Crystal Marrow appeared, he sensed a dangerous, familiar presence in a private room and the white-robed young man inside sensed someone watching him.

• The auctioneer revealed that the earth-grade Movement Technique, Blood Shadow Illusory Body Steps, was incomplete but could be cultivated, and a bidder in an upstairs private room won it for nine thousand low-grade Source Crystals.
• Gu Chenfeng regretted losing the Movement Technique, which suited him and could potentially be completed with his Enlightenment Platform, but he lacked the funds and refused to ask Liu Fuyan for help.
• Bidders from upstairs private rooms competed for the Storage Ring, which sold for fifteen thousand low-grade Source Crystals to a room whose owner had not bid earlier.
• The auctioneer introduced the Earth Dragon Crystal Marrow, and Liu Fuyan explained its rarity and rumored ability to improve a martial artist’s body and cultivation aptitude.
• Gu Chenfeng sensed a dangerous, familiar aura from the southeastern private room, while the white-robed young man inside sensed that someone was observing him.

Gu Chenfeng recognized the Huangfu Lineage's young master at the auction and grew suspicious when the man stopped bidding on the Earth Dragon Crystal Marrow. He hurriedly led Liu Fuyan off the mountain by an untraveled trail just as the young master ordered Black Dragon to begin.

• A powerful source core realm presence enforced the auction rules before bidding began on the Earth Dragon Crystal Marrow.
• The southeastern private room bid twenty thousand low-grade source crystals, and Gu Chenfeng heard Steward Chen and Alchemist Huang identify its occupant as the Huangfu Lineage's young master, who needed the marrow to repair his damaged foundation.
• Gu Chenfeng connected the young master to the plots against him, while the young man and woman and two private rooms competed for the marrow; the southwestern room won with a bid of thirty-six thousand low-grade source crystals.
• Gu Chenfeng grew suspicious that the young master had bought only the Blood-Detonating Talismans and urgently left the auction with Liu Fuyan, avoiding the main road for a dark forest trail.
• The young man changed into black robes and ordered Black Dragon to begin.

Gu Chenfeng realized that the Huangfu Lineage was robbing the Alliance Auction and fled Roosting Phoenix Mountain with Liu Fuyan. As they neared the mountainside, a scouting bird spotted them, and enemies closed in from three directions.

• Gu Chenfeng grabbed Liu Fuyan and hurried into the forest, explaining that a major disaster was about to happen.
• Crimson Flame Talismans exploded along several mountain paths, and attackers began robbing and killing auction attendees.
• Gu Chenfeng concluded that the Huangfu Lineage was behind the raids and kept fleeing with Liu Fuyan, avoiding battles beyond his strength.
• A night-scouting bird spotted Gu Chenfeng and Liu Fuyan, and he sensed enemies approaching from both sides and below.

As Gu Chenfeng carried Liu Fuyan down Roosting Phoenix Mountain, he killed successive groups of Huangfu Lineage death warriors and left Liu Fuyan stunned by his strength and increasingly drawn to him. Near the mountain’s foot, two Source Sea Realm fighters blocked their escape while the trained bird continued to track them.

• Gu Chenfeng killed seven or eight black-clad warriors in an instant while holding Liu Fuyan, shocking her with his speed and power.
• Gu Chenfeng fought through more ambushes, killing a Source Qi Realm Eight-Star leader with one punch as Liu Fuyan felt safer and began to imagine being with him.
• Gu Chenfeng continued using his gray Source Qi without revealing his identity as the Third Young Master of the Gu Family, while the bird kept watch overhead.
• Gu Chenfeng killed a Source Qi Realm Nine-Star warrior near the foot of the mountain, then sensed two much stronger opponents approaching.
• Two Source Sea Realm fighters appeared and blocked Gu Chenfeng and Liu Fuyan’s path as the bird cried overhead.

Gu Chenfeng fought and killed two Huangfu Lineage deathsworn who blocked his way on Roosting Phoenix Mountain, revealing his combined internal and external cultivation. He rejoined Liu Fuyan, but warned that it was already too late to continue down the mountain.

• Gu Chenfeng sent Liu Fuyan into the woods, then drew the two black-clad men’s attention by asking how many Huangfu Lineage fighters had been sent.
• Gu Chenfeng unleashed his full strength, killed the weaker black-clad man, and took a sword wound to his shoulder that failed to pierce his bones.
• Gu Chenfeng exchanged saber and sword strikes with the Black-Clad Swordsman and gradually overwhelmed him with his combined internal and external cultivation.
• Gu Chenfeng killed the Black-Clad Swordsman after seven or eight breaths, just as Liu Fuyan returned and witnessed the fight’s end.
• Liu Fuyan asked whether they should keep heading down the mountain, and Gu Chenfeng gravely replied that it was too late.

Gu Chenfeng and Liu Fuyan were cornered by three powerful black-clad men, who offered to spare Gu Chenfeng if he joined their master and killed Liu Fuyan. Gu Chenfeng stalled them until Big Bear attacked, then carried the unconscious Liu Fuyan toward the foot of the mountain.

• Three black-clad men arrived, including a Source Sea Realm Six-Star leader, and recognized Gu Chenfeng as Ge Hong and Liu Fuyan as a Myriad Treasures House steward.
• The leader offered to spare Ge Hong if he submitted to his master, but demanded that he kill Liu Fuyan to prove his loyalty.
• Gu Chenfeng claimed Liu Fuyan was his lover and pretended to undress her, then secretly knocked her unconscious.
• Big Bear ambushed the black-clad men and crushed the two Source Sea Realm Four-Star fighters, while their leader narrowly escaped the attack.
• Gu Chenfeng told Big Bear to handle the leader and carried Liu Fuyan toward the foot of the mountain.

Gu Chenfeng returned to Roosting Phoenix Mountain to check on Big Bear, who was fighting the Huangfu Lineage’s death warriors, and disguised himself as one of them while looting their supplies. He intercepted Chen Xu and Alchemist Huang on the mountain path, then killed both after they revealed the death warriors’ countersign.

• Gu Chenfeng left Liu Fuyan unconscious with Second Bear on a nearby hill and decided to return to Roosting Phoenix Mountain when Big Bear failed to respond to his signal.
• Gu Chenfeng found the battlefield littered with dead Huangfu Lineage death warriors, collected their treasures, and changed into their black clothes and a identifying bracelet.
• Gu Chenfeng followed the battle uphill, looting more bundles until he encountered Chen Xu and Alchemist Huang heading down the mountain.
• Gu Chenfeng demanded the countersign from Chen Xu, then killed him when he gave only part of it.
• Alchemist Huang recited the full countersign, and Gu Chenfeng killed him as well.

Gu Chenfeng returned to the battlefield and found Big Bear overwhelming three Huangfu Lineage fighters, including the young man wearing the Storage Ring. After Gu Chenfeng secretly directed Big Bear to target the ring’s owner, the battle turned against the black-clad group, and the young man realized the bear wanted his ring.

• Gu Chenfeng stripped Chen Xu and Alchemist Huang of their treasures, then hurried toward the battlefield and found Big Bear fighting three black-clad men.
• Gu Chenfeng recognized the young man’s Blood-Detonating Talisman and Storage Ring and considered killing him to claim his treasures.
• The black-clad fighters revealed that they were waiting for reinforcements, while Big Bear’s strength kept them on the defensive.
• Gu Chenfeng secretly urged Big Bear to focus on the young man, forcing the other two fighters to defend him as their injuries worsened.
• The young man noticed Big Bear staring at his Storage Ring and suspected the bear had come to steal it.

Gu Chenfeng tried to ambush Huangfu Yun while Big Bear attacked him, but Huangfu Yun mistook Gu Chenfeng for one of his death warriors and handed him the Storage Ring. Gu Chenfeng fled with the ring, while Big Bear unexpectedly ran down the mountain in another direction.

• Gu Chenfeng hid along the black-clad men's retreat route and prepared to backstab the badly injured Huangfu Yun.
• Huangfu Yun detected Gu Chenfeng, then mistook him for a Huangfu death warrior after he gave the countersign.
• Huangfu Yun tossed Gu Chenfeng the Storage Ring and ordered him to carry it toward the Imperial Capital.
• Gu Chenfeng ran down the mountain with the ring as Huangfu Yun and the two black-clad men prepared to retreat.
• Big Bear ignored the direction Gu Chenfeng had taken and fled down the mountain another way.

Huangfu Yun realized that a disguised black-clad man had infiltrated the chaos on Roosting Phoenix Mountain, looted the Huangfu Lineage’s seized goods, and attempted to kill him. He ordered a wide search, determined to capture the man and recover the storage ring, but the fugitive remained at large.

• Huangfu Yun and two black-clad experts pursued the fleeing death warrior but found no trace of him.
• Guest Elder Xu and Black Dragon arrived, and Black Dragon revealed that two people had escaped the mountain before the giant bear attacked.
• Huangfu Yun ordered his men to withdraw, disguise themselves as Gu Lineage guards, cover up the operation, and search for the black-clad man.
• Reports of looted corpses and the deaths of Chen Xu and Alchemist Huang helped Huangfu Yun reconstruct how the man had doubled back in disguise and approached the battle.
• Huangfu Yun realized the man had intended to kill him and ordered Black Dragon and Guest Elder Xu to lead the search while checkpoints were established around the area.

Huangfu Yun’s search of Roosting Phoenix Mountain was interrupted when Gu Yanshuang and the Tiger Guard claimed imperial authority over the area. After the Tiger Guard overpowered Black Dragon’s show of force and threatened to kill anyone who remained, Huangfu Yun agreed to withdraw, though he concealed his anger.

• Huangfu Yun led Huangfu Lineage guards in a standoff with a thousand Tiger Guard cavalrymen commanded by Gu Yanshuang.
• Gu Yanshuang questioned Huangfu Yun’s operation, then offered to take charge of the mountain and pursue the culprits.
• Black Dragon challenged Gu Yanshuang, but the Tiger Guard’s coordinated spear formation forced him to retreat.
• Gu Yanshuang presented an imperial token and declared she was taking charge to investigate possible Barbarian Tribe spies.
• Gu Yanshuang ordered the Huangfu Lineage to withdraw or be killed, and Huangfu Yun agreed to leave while hiding his killing intent.

Gu Chenfeng escaped the Huangfu Lineage’s search with Liu Fuyan and reunited with Gu Yanshuang, who explained the power of the empire’s martial realms and revealed that their grandfather was the Great Li Dynasty’s first grandmaster. Back in the capital, Gu Chenfeng broke through the mental barrier on the Storage Ring and discovered its contents, leaving him overjoyed.

• Gu Yanshuang found Gu Chenfeng and the unconscious Liu Fuyan in a cave after the Huangfu Lineage’s forces left Roosting Phoenix Mountain, and Gu Chenfeng lied about how they had ended up there.
• Gu Chenfeng told Gu Yanshuang about the attack on Roosting Phoenix Mountain, and she identified the Huangfu Lineage as the likely culprits.
• Gu Yanshuang explained how armies could defeat Source Core Realm experts, described the threat posed by Source Spirit Realm experts, and said their grandfather was the dynasty’s first grandmaster.
• Gu Yanshuang escorted the survivors to the capital, where Gu Chenfeng sent Liu Fuyan back to Myriad Treasures House and returned to his room with the Storage Ring.
• Gu Chenfeng broke through the Storage Ring’s mental barrier and saw its contents, becoming ecstatic.

Gu Chenfeng discovered that the Storage Ring contained the stolen auction treasures, then refined a Top-Grade Dragon-Elephant Bone Tempering Pill to advance his physique. After swallowing it, he began absorbing its fierce medicinal power, and faint gold appeared in the silver radiance covering his body.

• Gu Chenfeng found the Blood Shadow Illusory Body Steps, Earth Dragon Crystal Marrow, and nine Blood-Detonating Talismans inside the Storage Ring.
• Huangfu Yun broke his spiritual imprint while searching for the ring, suffered a backlash, and vowed to punish the thief.
• Emperor Xuan ordered an investigation into the auction robbery, while officials from the Gu Lineage Faction took charge and the Huangfu Lineage faced political setbacks.
• Gu Chenfeng raised his alchemy skill to the pinnacle of a Third-Grade Alchemist and refined a Top-Grade Dragon-Elephant Bone Tempering Pill.
• Gu Chenfeng swallowed the pill and used the Iron Elephant Art and Heaven-Opening Creation Art to absorb its power as gold began to appear in his silver radiance.

Gu Chenfeng broke through the limits of External Cultivation Great Perfection, then advanced his Source Qi cultivation and received a Great Pill and a phoenix hairpin from Liu Fuyan. Meanwhile, Huangfu Hong revealed his plan to destroy the Gu Lineage and assigned Huangfu Yun to exploit a staged disturbance involving Barbarian Tribe spies.

• Gu Chenfeng refined the Dragon-Elephant Bone Tempering Pill, strengthening his body enough to contend with and kill early-stage Source Sea Realm martial artists.
• Gu Chenfeng entered seclusion on the Enlightenment Platform and advanced to Source Qi Realm Nine-Star.
• Gu Chenfeng visited the Myriad Treasures House, learned Liu Fuyan had left for headquarters, and received her box containing a Great Pill, cultivation pills, and a phoenix hairpin.
• Huangfu Yun recovered from his injuries and reported that his Source Qi cultivation was nearing a breakthrough to the Source Core Realm.
• Huangfu Hong revealed that he had learned Gu Beiwu was weakening and planned to bring down the Gu Lineage before the emperor could intervene.
• Huangfu Hong tasked Huangfu Yun with carrying out the scheme involving Barbarian Tribe spies and exploiting the weaknesses of Gu Yanshuang and Gu Lingxiao.

Gu Chenfeng arrived at the Gu Lineage’s mineral vein after advancing to the three-star Source Sea Realm, where Su Wanyue and Shangguan Bingxin were ready to break the Li Fire Return to Origin Formation. As the three prepared to proceed, Gu Chenfeng returned Su Wanyue’s Lifebound Gu, and Shangguan Bingxin agreed to consider trading her ancient jade pendant for a comparable treasure.

• Gu Chenfeng traveled alone to the mineral vein, carrying weapons, supplies, and pills in his Storage Ring after making major gains in cultivation and martial techniques.
• Gu Chenfeng joined Su Wanyue and Shangguan Bingxin at the mine, where the women had weakened the Li Fire Return to Origin Formation with the Profound Water Spirit-Covering Formation and concealed the site with a Spirit-Concealing Formation.
• Shangguan Bingxin offered to privately trade her ancient jade pendant if Gu Chenfeng provided a treasure of comparable value.
• Gu Chenfeng returned Su Wanyue’s Lifebound Gu, restoring her strength and easing her doubts about his intentions.
• Shangguan Bingxin announced that it was time to begin breaking the formation.

Gu Chenfeng, Su Wanyue, and Shangguan Bingxin broke through the mine’s defenses and survived its deadly formations, discovering that the passage concealed dangers beyond an ordinary mineral vein. The chapter ended as thousands of Jade Light Bone-Eroding Gu burst from glowing stalactite orbs and swarmed toward them.

• Shangguan Bingxin and Su Wanyue helped the Four Directions Gate disciples break the Li Fire Return to Origin Formation, and Gu Chenfeng led the group into the mine.
• As Sword Qi filled the passage, Yan Sihai turned back while Gu Chenfeng, Su Wanyue, and Shangguan Bingxin pressed on.
• Shangguan Bingxin identified the Nine Palaces Bewildering-Kill Formation and guided Gu Chenfeng and Su Wanyue safely across its lethal traps.
• The three entered a limestone cavern where Su Wanyue recognized the glowing orbs as Jade Light Bone-Eroding Gu.
• The orbs burst open, releasing thousands of Gu Insects that swarmed toward Gu Chenfeng, Su Wanyue, and Shangguan Bingxin.

Gu Chenfeng, Su Wanyue, and Shangguan Bingxin fought their way through a cavern full of bone-eroding Gu Insects toward the exit. After the Bone-Eroding Gu King began to detonate, Gu Chenfeng carried both women through the curtain of light as the cavern exploded behind them.

• Su Wanyue used her Scarlet Gu Insects and Shangguan Bingxin used icy sword light to hold back the bone-eroding Gu Insects, but the swarm overwhelmed their defenses.
• Gu Chenfeng shielded himself from the insects with his Astral Qi and led the group forward, clearing a path with his fists.
• A Bone-Eroding Gu King emerged from a glowing sphere, and Su Wanyue's Lifebound Gu trapped it in a Light Cocoon.
• The Gu King began to detonate, and its frenzied swarm slowed the trio as they raced toward the exit.
• Gu Chenfeng grabbed Su Wanyue and Shangguan Bingxin and carried them through the curtain of light just before the explosion swept toward them.