Chapter Summaries

After defeating Zhou Yu, Zhou Chun was confronted by a Corpse Demon Sect Violet Palace cultivator who turned hostile and tried to kill him. Zhou Chun summoned the Fire God Jackal to fight the man's third-tier Corpse Refining, while the cultivator continued attacking him with a coffin-nail artifact.

• A Corpse Demon Sect cultivator arrived at the battlefield and questioned Zhou Chun about his fight with Zhou Yu and his Spirit Beasts.
• The golden civet cat attacked Zhou Chun to avenge Zhou Yu, but the cultivator killed it with a black spike artifact and took its corpse.
• Zhou Chun fled, then stopped and answered the cultivator's questions about his Silver Lightning Thunder Python and Mysterious Armor Golden Feather, giving the false name Han Yuan.
• The cultivator attacked Zhou Chun without warning, but Zhou Chun blocked the blow with a Third-grade defensive talisman and released the Fire God Jackal.
• The cultivator released a third-tier Corpse Refining to battle the Fire God Jackal, then concealed himself behind a black banner and attacked Zhou Chun with the Coffin Nail artifact.
• Zhou Chun demanded to know why the cultivator was determined to kill him.

Zhou Chun struggled to survive a Violet Palace cultivator from the Corpse Demon Sect, relying on Bai Bai and the Fire God Jackal until a second Violet Palace cultivator arrived to help. The newcomer and Zhou Chun helped defeat the Corpse Demon Sect cultivator, leaving the long-bearded man to pursue and kill him.

• Zhou Chun used the Ancestor Revival technique to transform Bai Bai into a Thunder Flood Dragon, which struck the Corpse Refining with lightning and helped the Fire God Jackal hold it back.
• As Zhou Chun’s defensive talisman and Bai Bai’s transformation neared their limits, he urged the Fire God Jackal to end the fight; it powered up, drove off the Corpse Refining, and attacked the thin, tall man.
• A long-bearded Violet Palace cultivator appeared and attacked the thin, tall man, while Zhou Chun used a Third-rank offensive talisman and the Fire God Jackal joined the assault.
• The long-bearded cultivator kept the Corpse Refining occupied as the Fire God Jackal overwhelmed the thin, tall man, who fled and abandoned his Corpse Refining.
• The long-bearded cultivator used his vital blood to empower his Flying Sword, caught the fleeing man, and cut him in two.

After helping Zhao Xin kill a Corpse Demon Sect cultivator, Zhou Chun traveled with him to Immortal Cloud Market and divided the dead man’s belongings. The discovery of Rotten Corpse Moth eggs made Zhou Chun wary that the Zhou Family’s Insect-Driving Arts could draw the Corpse Demon Sect’s attention.

• Zhou Chun thanked Zhao Xin for saving him, and Zhao Xin offered to share the dead cultivator’s belongings before they left for Jing Kingdom.
• Zhao Xin told Zhou Chun that he had escaped the destruction of the Flying Cloud Sword Sect and still sought revenge on the Corpse Demon Sect, while Zhou Chun concealed his identity as Han Yuan.
• At Immortal Cloud Market, Zhou Chun examined Zhou Yu’s spoils, chose the embroidered handkerchief as his preferred magic tool, and found Toad Venom in her Storage Bag.
• Zhao Xin opened the dead Corpse Demon Sect cultivator’s Storage Bag, and Zhou Chun recognized several hundred Rotten Corpse Moth eggs inside.
• Zhao Xin explained that the Corpse Demon Sect was hunting insect cultivators to stop the moths from spreading, so Zhou Chun decided to warn his clansmen not to reveal their Insect-Driving Arts.
• Zhou Chun accepted half the Rotten Corpse Moth eggs and five thousand Spirit Coins, refused the other spoils, and left Zhao Xin after hearing that the Corpse Demon Sect had other weaknesses.

Zhou Chun approved Zhou Zhengyong’s plan to shelter the wild folk away from Dragon Rise Valley and brought Hou Dali to reinforce the outpost. Soon, Heavenly Mirror Rogue Cultivator’s successful Nascent Soul breakthrough shook Jing Kingdom, prompting Qing Weizi to seek guidance from Green Lotus Temple’s Ancestor.

• Zhou Zhengyong asked to shelter the wild folk and settle their tribes, but Zhou Chun allowed it only if they stayed far from Dragon Rise Valley and learned nothing about it.
• Zhou Chun brought Hou Dali, the Vajra Spirit Monkey, to Dragon Rise Valley to fight alongside Zhou Zhengyong and the other cultivators.
• Zhou Daoquan welcomed Hou Dali’s arrival and said he could now explore the Wilderness Expanse while leaving Zhu Yunhe behind as a means of contact.
• News spread that Heavenly Mirror Rogue Cultivator had formed a Nascent Soul, alarming Zhou Chun and Zhou Mingde because Heavenly Mirror Villa might challenge the established powers.
• Qing Weizi realized Heavenly Mirror had concealed his breakthrough attempt, then went to Green Lotus Temple’s Ancestor and reported the news.
• Green Lotus Temple’s Ancestor reacted with shock and demanded that Qing Weizi explain what had happened.

Zhou Chun guided the Zhou Family through the hatching of Black Jade Toad eggs, rewarded Zhou Xinlan for obtaining Blue Feathered Fire Kite eggs, and oversaw Xinlan’s successful Foundation Establishment. Three years after True Person Heavenly Mirror formed his Nascent Soul, the Heavenly Mirror Villa invited the Zhou Family to the Sky Mirror Grand Assembly, leaving Zhou Chun to consider the rare opportunity.

• Zhou Mingde received Black Jade Toad eggs after the female toad laid them and died, but the hatchlings grew unusually slowly.
• Zhou Xinlan presented two Blue Feathered Fire Kite eggs to the Lineage and exchanged his Merit Points for a Foundation Establishment Pill.
• Zhou Chun decided that one bird egg should go to Zhou Xin Yan and reassured clansmen that two Foundation Establishment Pills remained available for exchange.
• Zhou Xinlan successfully established his foundation, becoming the Zhou Family’s seventh Foundation Establishment cultivator.
• Yan Chu delivered Zhou Chun an invitation to the Sky Mirror Grand Assembly, where True Person Heavenly Mirror would give a Dao lecture.
• After Yan Chu departed, Zhou Chun examined the invitation and hurried back to his mountain cave dwelling.

Zhou Chun and Zhou Mingde agreed the Zhou Family should attend Heavenly Mirror True Person’s Dao Lecture Assembly after learning Green Lotus Temple would not oppose participation. Zhou Daoyi led the family delegation to Heavenly Mirror Villa, where Heavenly Mirror True Person began lecturing on Qi Refining cultivation.

• Zhou Mingde decided the Zhou Family should follow other invited clans to the assembly, and Zhou Chun confirmed Green Lotus Temple would allow families under its jurisdiction to attend.
• Zhou Mingde assigned Zhou Daoyi to lead the delegation and chose Zhou Jiahe, Zhou Zhengyuan, and five younger cultivators to join him, Zhou Chun, and Su Yuzhen.
• Zhou Daoyi led the ten-person party to Heavenly Mirror Villa, where other cultivators recognized and praised the Zhou Family.
• At Heavenly Mirror Villa, Zhou Chun heard that the Three Great Sects had sent no Golden Core cultivators, and the gathering began two days later on the villa’s ceremonial plaza.
• Heavenly Mirror True Person addressed the assembled cultivators, then began explaining the foundations of Qi Refining cultivation, which Zhou Chun carefully memorized.

After True Person Heavenly Mirror’s three-day lecture, the Zhou Family learned that Mausoleum Prefecture had broken away from Green Lotus Temple and that Yu Jinghua had joined the newly established Sky Mirror Sect. Zhou Mingde’s fury over Yu Jinghua’s defection led him to begin revealing a secret from the time the Zhou Family split.

• Zhou Chun learned from True Person Heavenly Mirror’s lectures and the question-and-answer session, then returned with the Zhou Family to record their insights for absent clan members.
• Twelve days after the assembly, dozens of Mausoleum Prefecture families pledged allegiance to Heavenly Mirror Villa, which became Sky Mirror Sect, while the Three Great Sects remained silent.
• Zhou Chun reported the changes to Zhou Mingde and Zhou Daoyi, who advised the Zhou Family to stay silent and told Zhou Chun to avoid Dragon Rise Valley.
• Yu Jinghua defected from Spirit Beast Manor to Sky Mirror Sect and was appointed its Vice Sect Master.
• Zhou Mingde explained that he was angry because Yu Jinghua had handed the Zhou Family legacy to outsiders, then began recounting a secret from the family split.

Zhou Mingde revealed that he had restrained Yu Jinghua with a magic artifact containing a strand of Yu Jinghua’s Primordial Spirit Origin, then negotiated its return for several treasures. As the Zhou Family divided the spoils, Zhou Chun received a cultivation-boosting jade pendant and learned that Jingyang Sect and Zhengyang Palace had declared war on the Corpse Demon Sect.

• Zhou Mingde told Zhou Chun that he had used the artifact containing Yu Jinghua’s Primordial Spirit Origin to keep Yu Jinghua from harming the Zhou Family, and Zhou Chun advised trading it back rather than giving it to Green Lotus Temple.
• Yu Jinghua visited Zhou Mingde at Nine Peaks Ridge, and the two agreed that Yu Jinghua would return several treasures he had embezzled in exchange for the artifact.
• Zhou Mingde assigned the Spirit Origin Jade to Zhou Chun, kept the Fourth Rank magic talisman, sent the damaged Spirit Controlling Banner to the Ancestral Shrine, and gave the Talisman Treasure to Zhou Daoyi for Zhou Daoquan.
• Zhou Chun tested the Spirit Origin Jade and found that it increased his cultivation efficiency by fifty percent.
• Zhou Chun received an Eagle Dispatch reporting that Jingyang Sect and Zhengyang Palace had joined forces to declare war on the Corpse Demon Sect.

Zhou Chun kept the Zhou Family out of the coming war in Feng Kingdom and refused the Li and You Families’ invitation to return there, while the family continued building its position in Jing Kingdom. After supplying Dragon Rise Valley and addressing the death warriors’ falling morale, Zhou Chun used up nearly all the Foundation Establishment Pills and reconsidered the family’s exchange rules.

• Zhou Chun rejected the Li and You Families’ plan to return to Feng Kingdom and kept the Zhou Family from pledging allegiance to Sky Mirror Sect.
• Zhou Zhengbai exchanged five thousand Merit Points for a Foundation Establishment Pill, and Zhou Chun delivered supplies to Dragon Rise Valley as its death warriors faced growing losses.
• Zhou Chun offered the death warriors rest after successful expeditions and a chance to leave Dragon Rise Valley after making sufficient contributions, then asked Zhou Zhengyong to assess Xu Fu.
• Zhou Chun agreed to keep observing Xu Fu and said he might help him achieve Foundation Establishment if he proved trustworthy.
• Zhou Zhengqing exchanged Merit Points for another Foundation Establishment Pill, leaving only the pill reserved for Zhou Xin Yan and prompting Zhou Chun to consider changing the exchange rules.

Zhou Chun persuaded the Zhou Family elders to raise the exchange price for Foundation Establishment Pills and prepare to obtain a Foundation Building Fruit Tree as an alternative. He led the family’s Violet Palace cultivators to Thunder Lizard Island, where they found the tree guarded by powerful Thunder Lizard Beasts and began their assault.

• Zhou Chun proposed raising the Foundation Establishment Pill exchange price to seven thousand Lineage Merit Points and offering Foundation Building Fruits and other auxiliary items at lower prices.
• The elders approved the new exchange rules and secretly agreed to seize the Foundation Building Fruit Tree, sending the family’s main forces to retrieve it.
• Zhou Mingde led Zhou Daoyi, Zhou Chun, and Zhou Daoquan to Dragon Abyss Marsh, where Lu Ran guided them to Thunder Lizard Island and warned them that killing its beasts might provoke a fourth-tier Demonic Beast.
• The four Zhou Family cultivators reached the island’s central pool and found the ripe Foundation Building Fruit Tree guarded by two third-tier mid-grade Thunder Lizard Beasts and a swarm of others.
• Zhou Mingde ordered Zhou Daoyi to help him hold off the beasts while Zhou Chun assisted Zhou Daoquan in transplanting the tree.

Zhou Chun and the Zhou cultivators extracted the Foundation Building Fruit Tree from Thunder Lizard Island and fled with it while the Thunder Lizard Beasts fought to stop them. After Zhou Mingde and Zhou Daoquan escaped, a fourth-tier Thunder Flood Dragon arrived and pursued the Azure Flood Dragon and its riders.

• Zhou Daoquan dug up the Foundation Building Fruit Tree while Zhou Chun and his Spirit Pets held back the Thunder Lizard Beasts, and the Azure Flood Dragon drove the beasts away with a powerful storm.
• Zhou Daoquan secured the tree in a jade vat, and Zhou Daoyi and Zhou Chun fled with it on the Azure Flood Dragon while Zhou Mingde and Zhou Daoquan stayed behind to cover their retreat.
• Zhou Daoquan wounded a Thunder Lizard Beast with a Talisman Treasure and escaped, while Zhou Mingde used Flowing Fire Star Escape after seeing a Thunder Lizard Beast shatter a silver scale with lightning.
• A fourth-tier Thunder Flood Dragon arrived at Thunder Lizard Island, recognized that the Foundation Building Fruit Tree had been stolen, and set off after the Azure Flood Dragon.

Zhou Chun returned the Foundation Building Fruit Tree safely to the Zhou Family, but Zhou Daoyi remained missing after the group fled the Thunder Lizard Island. While searching for news of him, Zhou Chun joined Zhou Zhengyong to investigate a frigid cave where an exotic beast was rumored to dwell.

• Zhou Mingde and Zhou Daoyi split from Zhou Chun to evade a possible fourth-tier Demonic Beast, and Zhou Chun escorted the Foundation Building Fruit Tree back with the Fire God Jackal guarding him.
• Zhou Chun met Lu Ran at the Dragon Abyss Marsh, then continued home after Zhou Mingde returned injured and told him to take the tree back to the family.
• Zhou Chun planted the Foundation Building Fruit Tree at Nine Peaks Ridge, but Zhou Daoyi failed to return; Zhou Mingde later explained that Zhou Daoquan had come back while Daoyi remained missing.
• Zhou Chun waited months for news of Zhou Daoyi, while the Zhou Family mourned his disappearance and Zhou Chun placed four of the tree’s fourteen fruits in the family treasury.
• Zhou Zhengyong told Zhou Chun about a freezing cave where a scouting spirit pet had died, and Zhou Chun joined him and Xu Fu to investigate.
• Zhou Chun found that spiritual sense could not pass far into the cave fissure, so he sent a Mysterious Armor Golden Feather Demonic Insect inside using the Insect Puppet Technique.

Zhou Chun entered a freezing cavern to investigate the force blocking spiritual sense and discovered strange bats and a passage of blue ice. At the passage’s end, he found a naked middle-aged man standing in a cold spring, and he suspected the man had made the strange roar.

• Zhou Chun sent a Mysterious Armor Golden Feather into the cold mist, saw it freeze, and decided to investigate the cavern himself with Zhou Zhengyong and Xu Fu guarding outside.
• Zhou Chun and Silver Lightning Thunder Python Bai Bai fought off blue-black bat Demonic Beasts, with Bai Bai killing nearly half before the survivors fled into the mist.
• Zhou Chun stored Bai Bai and rode the Golden Winged Tiger into the cold mist, where the tiger’s Killing Wind defeated a larger swarm of bats.
• A strange roar left the Golden Winged Tiger trembling with instinctive fear, so Zhou Chun stored it and continued alone.
• Zhou Chun crossed a passage of blue ice using the Flame Sparrow Pot for warmth and found a cold spring containing an ice-encased middle-aged man.

Zhou Chun discovered a powerful figure frozen in a remote ice cavern, and Zhou Mingde joined him to investigate the strange roar and the ice sculpture. When they broke the ice, a White Toad emerged, devoured the cavern’s cold qi, and chose Zhou Chun as it rushed toward him.

• Zhou Chun found that the ice sculpture resisted his attacks and heard a strange roar coming from inside it.
• Zhou Chun reported the discovery to Zhou Mingde, who traveled with him to the cavern and examined the sculpture.
• Zhou Mingde’s Fire God Jackal refused to attack the sculpture, but Zhou Mingde pressed on, believing it might contain a valuable treasure.
• Zhou Mingde’s assault eventually pierced the ice, triggering a burst of power that injured both him and Zhou Chun.
• A White Toad emerged from the man’s body, swallowed the cavern’s cold qi, and chose Zhou Chun over Zhou Mingde before charging at him.

After the White Toad entered Zhou Chun, he awoke with a mysterious White Jade Bead in his dantian, and Zhou Mingde guessed it was a powerful magic treasure with the toad as its artifact spirit. Zhou Chun remained unable to contact the bead, while Zhou Daoyi finally arrived outside Dragon Rise Valley.

• The White Toad lunged into Zhou Chun, and Zhou Mingde held a Flying Sword at his neck until Zhou Chun awoke and confirmed that a White Jade Bead had appeared in his dantian.
• Zhou Chun released his Spirit Pets and Demonic Insects, and their obedience convinced Zhou Mingde that Zhou Chun had not been possessed.
• Zhou Chun and Zhou Mingde found the corpse missing from the cold spring and returned to Nine Peaks Ridge without sealing the ice cavern entrance.
• Zhou Mingde could not detect the bead and guessed that it was a powerful magic treasure whose White Toad was an artifact spirit, possibly derived from a Fifth Rank Demon King's Primordial Spirit.
• Zhou Chun returned to his residence and repeatedly failed to touch or communicate with the bead, while discovering that it did not interfere with his cultivation.
• Zhou Daoyi emerged from the woods outside Dragon Rise Valley and said he had finally arrived.

Zhou Daoyi returned to the Zhou Family badly injured after surviving several demonic-beast attacks, and Zhou Chun resumed managing the family as it grew stronger over the next five years. The chapter ended with Zhou Chun reflecting on the passing of Wang Zhixiong and the Wang Family’s uncertain future.

• Zhou Daoyi told Zhou Daoquan how he escaped a Thunder Flood Dragon but was then injured in battles with a Dragon Scale Golden Shark, a Poison Eye Water Demon, and two Wind Thunder Sables.
• Zhou Daoquan escorted Zhou Daoyi back to Nine Peaks Ridge, where Zhou Chun and the Zhou Family rejoiced at his safe return before he went into seclusion to heal.
• Over the next five years, Zhou Chun managed a stable period for the Zhou Family as Zhou Xindie and Xu Fu achieved Foundation Establishment, while two other cultivators died attempting it.
• Zhou Chun restarted training death warriors at Dragon Rise Valley, where Xu Fu and the others mapped the area, discovered a Spirit Jade ore vein, and searched for a new outpost.
• The Zhou Family’s resources and cultivation industries expanded, strengthening its members and bringing the Zheng and Xin generations into positions of responsibility.
• Zhou Chun received news that Wang Zhixiong had died of old age and reflected on the possibility that the Wang Family was beginning to decline.

Zhou Chun broke through to the Foundation Establishment Late Stage, and Zhou Mingde pledged the Zhou Family’s savings to help him prepare to open the Violet Palace. Two months later, Lin Hongyu asked the Zhou Family to support her bid for a Golden Core formation item, leaving Zhou Mingde, Zhou Daoyi, and Zhou Chun to weigh the costly request.

• At ninety-six, Zhou Chun successfully advanced to the Foundation Establishment Late Stage after cultivating for sixty years since Foundation Establishment.
• Zhou Chun told Zhou Mingde he planned to consolidate his cultivation and seek spiritual items for opening the Violet Palace.
• Zhou Mingde offered up to two hundred thousand Spirit Coins from the Zhou Family’s funds to support Zhou Chun’s attempt, and Zhou Chun accepted the offer with gratitude.
• Two months later, Lin Hongyu returned from the Yang Kingdom and asked the Zhou Family to help her attend a Great Zhou Country auction and obtain an item for forming her Golden Core.
• After Lin Hongyu went to rest, Zhou Mingde asked Zhou Daoyi and Zhou Chun how to respond, and both remained silent as they considered the risks and costs.

The Zhou Family agreed to provide Lin Hongyu with limited financial support for her Golden Core formation, and Zhou Chun helped sell her Earth Origin Crystal Jade ore. After Shanyangzi bought the remaining ore, Zhou Mingde and Zhou Chun began planning to accompany Lin Hongyu to an auction in the Great Zhou Country.

• Zhou Chun proposed giving Lin Hongyu all the liquid funds the Zhou Family could spare, postponing his own Violet Palace breakthrough.
• Lin Hongyu estimated she needed at least six or seven hundred thousand Spirit Coins and agreed to combine her ore proceeds with the Zhou Family’s two hundred thousand Spirit Coins.
• Zhou Daoyi accompanied Lin Hongyu to retrieve her Earth Origin Crystal Jade ore, while Zhou Chun searched for buyers and sold a little over one hundred thousand Spirit Coins’ worth.
• Shanyangzi visited the Zhou Family, bought its remaining ore for more than one hundred and thirty-five thousand Spirit Coins, and offered to purchase future supplies at market price.
• Zhou Mingde and Zhou Chun discussed traveling with Lin Hongyu to the Great Zhou Country auction rather than entrusting her with the funds alone.

Zhou Daoyi and Zhou Chun joined Lin Hongyu on a journey to Great Zhou Country so she could attend a grand auction and seek a Core Formation opportunity. They reached the capital’s bustling Xiandu Market and bought a lower-grade private room for the auction, which was still about a month away.

• The Zhou Family decided that Zhou Daoyi and Zhou Chun would accompany Lin Hongyu to Great Zhou Country, where Zhou Chun also hoped to find a treasure to help him open his Violet Palace.
• Zhou Daoyi and Zhou Chun reached Lin Hongyu’s stronghold in Yang Kingdom, where Zhou Daoyi reported that he had sold the remaining Earth Origin Crystal Jade ore and brought 470,000 Spirit Coins.
• Lin Hongyu added 220,000 Spirit Coins she had gathered, bringing their auction funds to 700,000, then left the next morning with Zhou Daoyi and Zhou Chun.
• The three traveled for nearly a month to Great Zhou Country, learned that the auction was a once-in-a-century event in the capital, and hurried there with only about a month remaining.
• The three explored Xiandu Market, found its crowds and cultivation resources far beyond those of markets they had previously visited, and went to the Huihai Merchant Guild to buy auction access.
• Zhou Daoyi purchased a lower-grade private room for 5,000 Spirit Coins, which included room for two attendants and six months’ use of a small courtyard.

Zhou Chun and his companions explored Xiandu Market, sold rare treasures to replenish the Zhou Family’s funds, and attended the grand auction. When a Soul Stabilizing Pill that could assist with opening the Violet Palace appeared, Zhou Chun bid ninety-five thousand Spirit Coins from Room 57, and the auctioneer asked if anyone would raise the price.

• Zhou Chun complained about the auction’s thousand-Spirit-Coin admission fee, while Zhou Daoyi accepted the cost and led the group to their complimentary courtyard.
• During a month in Xiandu Market, Zhou Chun sold rare spiritual objects for high prices and received more than forty-seven thousand Spirit Coins from Su Yuzhen as a loan.
• At the auction, Zhou Daoyi suggested buying Demonic Beast Illustrated Manuals for the Zhou Family, and Zhou Chun agreed to handle it afterward.
• Zhou Chun and his companions watched a Poison Dragon Lizard egg sell for 195,000 Spirit Coins and discussed giving the Zhou Family’s Iron Essence to Lin Hongyu if she formed her Golden Core.
• When Liu Mengyan presented a Soul Stabilizing Pill, Zhou Chun bid 95,000 Spirit Coins from Room 57.