Chapter Summaries

Xu Xuan and Xu Qingchan visited Yue Capital Immortal Market, where they bought Xu Qingchan defensive and offensive artifacts and learned that the Black Water Gate was hunting a wounded female cultivator over a cold jade marrow vein. When Black Water Gate disciples arrived searching for her, Xu Xuan began forming a plan.

• Xu Xuan bought Xu Qingchan a middle-grade Autumn Water Sword and Jade Wave Shield at the Hundred Refinements Pavilion.
• The shopkeeper told Xu Xuan about an upcoming auction featuring stellar iron and the Black Water Gate's recent clashes along the Sinking Sand River.
• At the Windwatch Teahouse, Xu Xuan and Xu Qingchan overheard that a female cultivator had used the cold jade marrow vein to defeat Old Monster Wu, prompting the Black Water Gate to offer a five-hundred-spirit-stone reward for her capture.
• Three Black Water Gate disciples entered the teahouse and said Elder Wu had ordered them to find the injured female cultivator before the auction.
• Xu Xuan realized the Black Water Gate wanted to conceal the cold jade marrow vein and quietly formed a plan.

Xu Xuan and Xu Qingchan ambushed three Black Water Gate disciples, framed the Blazing Sun Lineage, and escaped while the rival groups turned against each other. Over a decade later, the Lingyan Xu Lineage had grown prosperous, but Xu Xuan worried that his age made Foundation Establishment extremely unlikely.

• Xu Qingchan lured Senior Brother Chen and two Black Water Gate disciples into a rear corridor, where Xu Xuan’s talismans and their combined attacks subdued all three.
• Xu Xuan erased Xu Qingchan’s aura from the detection jade disc, redirected it toward the Blazing Sun Lineage, and arranged for it to reach the Black Water Gate station.
• Elder Wu mistook the disc’s signal for evidence against the Blazing Sun Lineage and led Black Water Gate forces to attack its base while Xu Xuan and Xu Qingchan left the market.
• Xu Xuan ordered the Lingyan Xu Lineage to search secretly for the buried cold jade marrow vein and use the Azure Wood Sect’s protection to deter local troublemakers.
• Over a decade, the Lingyan Xu Lineage grew to a thousand members, Xu Xingzong neared Qi Refining, and Xu Qingchan reached the third level of Qi Refining.
• Xu Xuan reflected that he had passed the prime age for cultivation and that anyone who failed to reach Foundation Establishment before sixty faced slim odds of doing so later.

Xu Xuan accepted that he could not achieve Foundation Establishment in this life and prepared resources, teachings, and safeguards for his next reincarnation and the Lingyan Xu Lineage. After entrusting Xu Qingchan with the lineage’s future, he watched the sunset, ready to await his next life.

• Xu Xuan hid resources and jade slips in fortified cave abodes on Spiritual Expanse Mountain for his next life.
• Xu Xuan told Xu Qingchan that Foundation Establishment was beyond his reach and charged her with protecting the Xu Household alongside Xu Xingzong.
• Xu Xuan gave Xu Qingchan a bronze box key and instructed her to bring a future spiritually rooted boy of pure heart to a secret vault.
• Xu Xuan compiled the Xu Lineage Qi Refining Art, established cultivation schools and rewards, and expanded the Azure Mystery Hall’s reach.
• Xu Xuan completed his preparations and watched the blood-red sunset, resolved to wait for his next reincarnation.

After his third life ended, Xu Xuan received the white register Luminous Insight and the crimson register Dragon Vigor and Tiger Might before reincarnating as Xu Chen, the twelve-year-old son of the Marquis of Martial Might. With a metal and earth dual spiritual root, an Exotic Beast Soaring Serpent totem, and the gifts from his past lives, he had already built an unusually strong foundation on the northern frontier.

• Xu Xingzong refined acquired sharp metal qi, broke through to Qi Refining, and became the Lingyan Xu Lineage's third Qi Refining immortal master.
• Xu Xuan watched the lineage prosper and spent his final years in peace atop Spiritual Expanse Mountain.
• The Book of Time recorded Xu Xuan's third life and granted him the white register Luminous Insight for his steadfast will and lasting legacy.
• The Book of Time also granted Xu Xuan the crimson register Dragon Vigor and Tiger Might, strengthening his body's foundation for his next life.
• Xu Xuan reincarnated as Xu Chen, whose Exotic Beast Soaring Serpent totem had brought imperial disfavor and led him to grow up in his father's northern fief.
• Xu Chen practiced the Evergreen Technique and Body Rebirth Technique, using his registers' gifts to develop strong spiritual roots, comprehension, and physical strength.

Xu Xuan learned that the Second Prince and imperial factions were watching his rare Soaring Serpent Bloodline, while his parents forbade him from leaving the estate. After his father returned and confirmed the threat, Xu Xuan secretly arranged to stockpile grain and travel to Spiritual Expanse Mountain.

• Zhao Mang invited Xu Xuan to patrol the border, while Xu Qingwan urged him to take care of himself; the Second Prince Chen Jing arrived and showed interest in Xu Xuan's Soaring Serpent Bloodline.
• Chen Jingxuan told Xu Xuan that the Emperor and Grand Preceptor viewed his bloodline as an omen and warned that Chen Jing had come to monitor him.
• Xu Xuan asked to travel south, but Chen Jingxuan refused and said he must remain within the estate until his father returned.
• Xu Xuan cultivated at night and learned that Chen Jing's guards were watching his courtyard and that someone had tried to enter the study.
• Xu Yue returned and reported that the Demon Suppression Bureau was investigating Xu Xuan, though the grand elder of Purple Sun Gate had temporarily suppressed the matter.
• Xu Xuan secretly ordered a hidden guard to tell Cloud Arrival Trading House to buy and stockpile grain, then instructed the guard to take him to Spiritual Expanse Mountain.

Xu Xuan passed the Cloud Arrival Trading House’s trials, advanced his cultivation, and uncovered signs of a threat from the Demon Suppression Bureau. After his father sent him to the Purple Sun Gate to grow stronger, Xu Xuan established himself by defeating a bullying disciple.

• Xu Xuan passed the trading house’s final assessment, received cultivation supplies, and ordered the managers to maintain his resources while obtaining a spear and manuals.
• Xu Xuan advanced to the Early Spirit Treasury Stage, planned purchases and investigations, then deflected a poisoned dart marked with the Demon Suppression Bureau’s runes.
• Xu Yue gave Xu Xuan a Purple Sun Gate token after questioning him about the attack and his trading house dealings.
• Xu Xuan entered the Purple Sun Gate as a nominal disciple and went to live at Green Bamboo Court.
• Dove Tiger tried to seize Xu Xuan’s assigned room, but Xu Xuan broke his arm with a punch and forced him to leave.

Xu Xuan spent his three-year term at the Purple Sun Gate cultivating, building his strength, and uncovering a clue linking a blood-colored jade pendant to the defunct Blood God Cult. As his departure approached, he learned the Chen Yue Imperial Family was investigating his soaring serpent bloodline, while the sect leader agreed to let him leave in three days.

• Xu Xuan defeated Liu Yunfeng barehanded, snapped his sword, and became too feared for the other outer disciples to challenge.
• Over two and a half years, Xu Xuan reached the qi sea pinnacle, mastered body-refinement techniques, studied the Scripture Pavilion, and earned the name “Ferocious God.”
• Xu Xuan killed an evil cultivator at Cloud Mountain Stockade and found a blood-colored jade pendant whose aura matched the dart that had struck him; he traced it to the Blood God Cult.
• After receiving his father's warning that his three-year term was ending, Xu Xuan packed his resources and prepared to leave the Purple Sun Gate.
• Su Yuqing told Xu Xuan that the Chen Yue Imperial Family's second prince was holding secret talks with the sect, then gave him a protective talisman before he departed.
• Chen Jing presented an imperial decree ordering an investigation into the soaring serpent bloodline, and Zhang Qingxuan agreed that Xu Xuan could leave the sect in three days.

Xu Xuan returned to the Purple Sun Gate and defied the second prince’s attempt to inspect his Soaring Serpent Bloodline, then journeyed to Spiritual Expanse Mountain to rejoin the Xu Lineage. Xu Xingzong welcomed him as a possible fulfillment of Ancestor Xuan’s prophecy and prepared to show him the ancestral grounds.

• Xu Xuan revealed his Spirit Treasury cultivation and powerful body, defeated the second prince’s attackers, and warned him that the state preceptor could not covet his bloodline.
• Xu Mingxuan told Xu Xingzong about the northern Xu branch and Xu Chen, prompting Xu Xingzong to ask the lineage to watch over him.
• Xu Xuan’s party reached Spiritual Expanse Mountain, where Xu Mingxuan welcomed them and led them through the formations.
• Xu Chen greeted Xu Xingzong and said he had returned to acknowledge his ancestors and sensed something he needed within the ancestral grounds.
• Xu Xingzong recognized Xu Chen’s resemblance to Ancestor Xuan, called him a possible fated figure, and eagerly led him onward.

Xu Xuan opened the Xu Lineage’s sealed inheritance vault and recovered the legacy he had left in a previous life. After five years of cultivation, he reached the first layer of Qi Refining and resolved to pursue Foundation Establishment while leaving the Lineage’s affairs to Xu Mingxuan.

• Xu Xuan solved the bronze puzzle box, used its talisman key to open the stone door, and entered the inheritance vault with Xu Xingzong and Xu Mingxuan.
• Xu Xuan received the inheritance jade slip, fully awakened the wisdom of his previous life, and shut himself inside the vault’s cultivation chamber.
• Xu Xuan activated the Spirit-Locking Array and cultivated with the chamber’s concentrated spiritual energy for five years.
• After receiving a metal-and-earth treasure from Xu Xingzong, Xu Xuan used it as his concordance object and broke through to the first layer of Qi Refining.
• Xu Xuan reflected on the Xu Lineage’s position and decided to pursue the Twelve-Story Tower of Qi Refining and an opportunity for Foundation Establishment.

After more than ten years of secluded cultivation, Xu Xuan reached the seventh layer of Qi Refining and returned to Spiritual Expanse Mountain. He learned that factions were challenging Xu Mingxuan’s leadership, offered to support him while staying out of the immediate dispute, then left to investigate the Sinking Sand River and the Black Water Gate.

• Xu Xuan emerged from seclusion at the seventh layer of Qi Refining and flew to Spiritual Expanse Mountain.
• Xu Mingxuan and the elders briefed Xu Xuan on the Lineage’s growth and the factions forming around Xu Linhai and Xu Linshan.
• Xu Mingxuan asked Xu Xuan for support against the elders’ ambitions, and Xu Xuan agreed while advising him not to upset the balance yet.
• A disciple reported that Xu Linhai wanted to discuss the copper mine shares, and Xu Mingxuan went to meet him while Xu Xuan stayed behind.
• Xu Xuan left Spiritual Expanse Mountain for the Sinking Sand River to investigate matters connected to Xu Qingchan’s injury by the Black Water Gate.