Chapter Summaries

Zhou Mingde learned that Lin Hongyu wanted the Zhou Family to help assassinate a rival Red Dragon Guardian, offering to end her demands for personnel in exchange. As the family prepared for the mission, Zhou Daoyi’s Azure Cloud Python began transforming into a Flood Dragon, triggering a strange phenomenon at Nine Peaks Ridge.

• Zhou Mingde returned from a trade and told Zhou Daoyi and Zhou Chun that Lin Hongyu planned to meet him in person, prompting them to suspect she needed the Zhou Family’s help against a rival within the Dragon Transformation Sect.
• Zhou Mingde met Lin Hongyu a year later and learned she wanted the Zhou Family to kill a female Red Dragon Guardian who competed with her, promising to stop demanding personnel if they succeeded.
• Lin Hongyu gave Zhou Mingde a Poison Dragon Cone Talisman Artifact and said the target would be isolated in six months, while Zhou Mingde argued that the Zhou Family could use the assassination to escape Lin Hongyu’s control.
• Zhou Daoyi’s Azure Cloud Python began transforming into a Flood Dragon, and he ordered the Zhou Family into wartime status and expelled non-family cultivators from Nine Peaks Ridge.
• Zhou Chongshan activated the Mountain Protecting Grand Formation to suppress the gathering clouds, while the Zhou Family cultivators inside witnessed a shocking scene.

After Zhou Daoyi’s Azure Cloud Python transformed into a third-tier Azure Flood Dragon, Zhou Chun suggested building its lair in the Underground River, and the two traveled downstream to investigate. They emerged in a vast marsh beyond Misty Prefecture and discovered a settlement of the Scaly Frog Tribe, apparently in Dragon Abyss Marsh.

• Zhou Mingde warned the Zhou Family cultivators to keep the Azure Flood Dragon’s transformation secret, and they turned away outsiders’ questions with “No comment.”
• Zhou Chun proposed building the Flood Dragon’s Lair in the Underground River beneath the Poison Thorn Fish pool, and Zhou Mingde approved an investigation with Zhou Daoyi.
• Zhou Chun and Zhou Daoyi explored the Underground River on the Azure Flood Dragon, which carried them thousands of li downstream in less than a day.
• Zhou Daoyi and Zhou Chun emerged into a vast marsh and flew toward nearby buildings to find out where they were.
• Zhou Chun recognized the inhabitants as the Scaly Frog Tribe, and he and Zhou Daoyi suspected they had reached Dragon Abyss Marsh.

Zhou Daoyi and Zhou Chun discovered that the Underground River led to Dragon Abyss Marsh, raising concerns about the Azure Flood Dragon’s future nest and the danger of the Flood Dragon clan. After Zhou Mingde considered using the passage as an escape route, new intelligence revealed a chance to strike a target near Dragon Abyss Marsh, and the Zhou Family began assessing whether the route could support the operation.

• Zhou Daoyi and Zhou Chun reached Dragon Abyss Marsh through the Underground River and worried that the Flood Dragon clan might lure the Azure Flood Dragon away.
• Zhou Chun found three Scale Frog spellcasters in their settlement, but Zhou Daoyi urged him to leave without disturbing them.
• Zhou Daoyi and Zhou Chun returned to the Lineage and told Zhou Mingde about the hidden passage, which he recognized as a possible escape route for the Zhou Family.
• Zhou Daoyi searched for two months for another suitable nesting site, but the Azure Flood Dragon preferred the Underground River and continued to worry him.
• Lin Hongyu sent Zhou Mingde intelligence that the target would travel alone to its birth Lineage in half a month, creating an opportunity to strike.
• Zhou Mingde proposed using the passage into Dragon Abyss Marsh to escape after the operation and asked Zhou Daoyi and Zhou Chun to determine how close its exit was to the target’s location.

Zhou Mingde and Zhou Daoyi traveled through the Underground River to Dragon Abyss Marsh and ambushed Chen Linlin, the target of their assassination. They killed her with the Poison Dragon Cone, but she burned herself and her belongings to ashes after warning that her husband would seek revenge.

• Zhou Mingde and Zhou Daoyi secretly investigated Dragon Abyss Marsh and found a nearby route to their target, then returned to prepare for the operation.
• Zhou Mingde and Zhou Daoyi rode the Azure Flood Dragon to pursue Chen Linlin after she left the Chen Family on her Blazing Dragon Colt.
• Chen Linlin mistook them for Dragon-Controlling Envoys before realizing they were assassins and fleeing from their attack.
• Chen Linlin used the Dragon Transformation Secret Manual to fight the Azure Flood Dragon and Fire God Jackal while Zhou Mingde prepared the Poison Dragon Cone.
• Zhou Mingde struck Chen Linlin with the Poison Dragon Cone, and she succumbed to its poison after identifying Lin Hongyu as the likely instigator.
• Chen Linlin warned that her husband would avenge her, then burned herself and her belongings to ashes.

Zhou Mingde and Zhou Daoyi escaped Xiao Zhengyang after killing Chen Linlin and returned safely to the Zhou Family. At the family shrine, Zhou Chun sentenced Zhou Zhenghuan for betraying a secret, but Zhou Mingde arrived just as the punishment was about to begin.

• Xiao Zhengyang tracked the killers toward Dragon Abyss Marsh, but Zhou Mingde and Zhou Daoyi misled him and escaped into the marsh before returning to Misty Prefecture.
• Zhou Chun gathered the clansmen and accused Zhou Zhenghuan of taking twenty Spirit Coins from outsiders to reveal the Cloud Python’s transformation into a Flood Dragon.
• Zhou Zhenghuan claimed he had been drunk and wronged, but the clansmen condemned him after Zhou Chun confirmed the evidence.
• Zhou Chun sentenced Zhou Zhenghuan to have his cultivation crippled and spend the rest of his life imprisoned within the mountain gate.
• Zhou Jiakui gave up pleading for his son and beat him in anger, while Zhou Chun prepared to carry out the punishment.
• Zhou Mingde appeared before the Ancestral Shrine and said he would carry out the punishment himself.

Zhou Mingde punished Zhou Zhenghuan for leaking the Azure Flood Dragon secret, while Zhou Chun uncovered that Tang Hu was a Zhang Family spy and helped contain the breach. After Zhou Mingde erased the memories of three Rogue Cultivators, the Zhou Family warned the Zhang Family, and Zhou Chun entered seclusion to switch cultivation methods.

• Zhou Mingde crippled Zhou Zhenghuan's cultivation and ordered Zhou Jiakui to keep him confined to his mountain.
• Zhou Chun told Zhou Mingde and Zhou Daoyi that Tang Hu had bribed Zhou Zhenghuan to learn about the Azure Flood Dragon and was a spy planted by the Zhang Family of Tiantai Mountain.
• Zhou Mingde and Zhou Daoyi confirmed their operation had succeeded, then agreed to keep the third-tier Flood Dragon secret; Zhou Mingde accepted Zhou Chun's request to spare the three Rogue Cultivators by erasing their memories.
• Zhou Mingde erased the three Rogue Cultivators' memories, Zhou Chun compensated them, and the Zhou Family sent Tang Hu's head to the Zhang Family as a warning.
• Zhang Kaida received Tang Hu's head and sent an apology of one thousand Spirit Coins to the Zhou Family, while Zhou Chun began seclusion to cultivate the Golden Cauldron Profound Manual.

Zhou Chun completed the dangerous transition to the Golden Cauldron Profound Manual, forging a Dao Cauldron and adapting his meridians to its powerful Golden Soup mana. He discovered that the technique greatly increased his cultivation speed and combat strength, and he gained the Golden Cauldron Profound Light ability.

• Zhou Chun prepared his meridians with protective medicine, absorbed Metal Qi, and forged a Four Directions Cauldron in his dantian.
• Zhou Chun tempered the cauldron with Foundation Establishment True Fire and vital blood essence, then used it to refine Metal Qi and spiritual energy into Golden Soup mana.
• Zhou Chun endured severe pain as he circulated the new mana through his meridians, then used Meridian Nourishing Pills to repair and strengthen them.
• Zhou Chun restored his mana pool and found that the Golden Cauldron Profound Manual refined spiritual energy far faster and produced much higher-quality mana than his former technique.
• Zhou Chun tested Golden Soup mana and Golden Cauldron Profound Light, finding that they empowered his magic tools and gave him powerful attacks and defenses against Foundation Establishment opponents.

After completing his secluded cultivation, Zhou Chun resumed managing the Zhou Family and helped its elders decide to fund Zhou Zhengyuan’s Foundation Establishment. Hu Changyou then came to Misty Prefecture to recruit Zhou Chun’s help against a vast rat plague in Azure Prefecture.

• Zhou Chun emerged from seclusion after switching to the Golden Cauldron Profound Manual, and Zhou Mingde told him to keep the manual secret.
• Zhou Chun reunited with Rock Earth Turtle and Bai Bai, reviewed Lineage affairs, and learned that Hu Changyou had sent him three letters asking for help.
• Zhou Chun changed several Lineage appointments and reported that the family’s membership, finances, and morale had improved.
• Zhou Daoyi proposed using the Lineage’s savings to buy Zhou Zhengyuan a Foundation Establishment Pill, and the elders agreed on conditions for the support.
• Hu Changyou visited Zhou Chun at Spirit Beast Hall and explained that a second-rank mutated Golden Rat King had bred a huge rat clan that was ravaging mining areas in Azure Prefecture.

Zhou Chun negotiated with the Zhao Family to exterminate a mutated Golden Rat King in exchange for Earth Spirit Stone Milk. After learning that the nest lay beside an Earth Vein Node, he entered its narrow tunnel with Bai Bai to confront the rat swarm.

• Zhou Chun rejected Azure Prefecture's offer of two thousand Spirit Coins and requested spiritual items or information that could help his Spirit Pet advance.
• Hu Changyou returned with the Zhao Family's offer of a bowl of Earth Spirit Stone Milk, and Zhou Chun agreed to take the mission.
• Zhou Mingde approved Zhou Chun's trip and sent the Fire God Jackal with him for protection, while Zhou Chun traveled to Azure Prefecture with Hu Changyou.
• Zhou Chun told Zhao Deyan he had a sixty to seventy percent chance of defeating the low-tier mutated Golden Rat King, and Zhao Deyan confirmed its rank and promised the reward.
• After the Zhao Family warned him about the tunnel's dangers, Zhou Chun chose to enter with Silver Lightning Thunder Python Bai Bai, and Zhao Deyan let him proceed.

Zhou Chun and Silver Lightning Thunder Python Bai Bai fought through the Golden Rat swarm and captured the mutated Golden Rat King. With the swarm still attacking and the Zhao Clan paying for Golden Rat corpses, Zhou Chun considered exploiting their attempts to rescue their leader to earn more Spirit Coins.

• Zhou Chun rode through the Rat Tunnel behind Bai Bai as Golden Rats attacked, while the hidden mutated Golden Rat King directed the swarm and fought back with a Golden Light Blade.
• Zhou Chun and Bai Bai reached the underground nest, where Bai Bai blasted the gathered rats and Zhou Chun used a black gourd to spread poisonous smoke.
• Zhou Chun tracked the mutated Golden Rat King and sent Bai Bai after it, while he held off the swarm with his magic tools and protective light.
• The mutated Golden Rat King charged Zhou Chun, but he caught it underground with the Flying Dragon Snatcher and prevented it from escaping.
• Bai Bai pursued the wounded King underground and electrocuted it unconscious as the Golden Rats continued attacking Zhou Chun.
• Zhou Chun, low on magic power, considered delaying the King’s death so he could kill more Golden Rats and collect the Zhao Clan’s reward.

Zhou Chun exterminated the mutated Golden Rat King and discovered a special ore that might have caused its evolution. He secured the Earth Spirit Stone Milk from Zhao Deyan, then surprised him with thousands of rat corpses to claim the promised reward.

• Zhou Chun and Bai Bai killed the mutated Golden Rat King after slaughtering thousands of Golden Rats, while Bai Bai ate the young in the nest.
• Zhou Chun searched the rat nest, stored away its Spirit Gold Ore, and found a special ore rich in Earthen Spirit Power in the king’s lair.
• Zhou Chun emerged with the Rat King’s corpse and told the Zhao Family cultivator that thousands of Golden Rat corpses remained below.
• Zhao Deyan arrived and gave Zhou Chun the Earth Spirit Stone Milk, which Zhou Chun verified before refusing Zhao Deyan’s offer to buy the Rat King’s corpse.
• Zhao Deyan was shocked by the more than 3,700 corpses Zhou Chun had counted, but agreed to pay three Spirit Coins for each and sent three Qi Refinement cultivators down with Bai Bai.

After earning a fortune for killing the mutated Golden Rat King, Zhou Chun returned to Nine Peaks Ridge and discovered that mutated ore might help his Rock Earth Turtle evolve. He buried it at an Earth Vein Node to test the idea, then set out for an underground auction in Mausoleum Prefecture, hoping for a chance to lure Master Jiang out.

• Zhou Chun collected 3,900 Golden Rat corpses from Zhao Deyan in exchange for 11,700 Spirit Coins and returned safely to Nine Peaks Ridge.
• Zhou Mingde identified the special ore as Brilliant Iron Ore transformed by Earth Element power, and Zhou Chun gave a piece to his Rock Earth Turtle to digest.
• After the Rock Earth Turtle reported that its bloodline had become more active, Zhou Chun fed it the remaining mutated ore and Earth Spirit Stone Milk, then buried it at a Nine Peaks Ridge Earth Vein Node with Zhou Mingde and Zhou Chongshan's help.
• Zhou Chun practiced the Flowing Light Golden Rainbow secret art while waiting for the Rock Earth Turtle, and nearly reached the technique's threshold after more than five months.
• The Zhou Family sent Zhou Chun to an underground auction at East Ling Market in Mausoleum Prefecture because a Foundation Establishment Pill might appear, and he wondered whether he could lure Master Jiang out.

Zhou Chun attended East Ling Market’s Underground Auction to buy a Foundation Establishment Pill, but lost the bidding to a determined female cultivator. He acquired a Sun Radiance Golden Wheel and an eight-hundred-year Red Essence Ganoderma, then left the auction under the watchful eyes of other bidders.

• Zhou Chun obtained an Underground Auction token from Jin Ji General Store and briefly watched Master Jiang’s medicine shop before waiting for the auction.
• Zhou Chun bid up to 9,900 Spirit Coins for a Foundation Establishment Pill, but a mid Foundation Establishment female cultivator won it for 10,000.
• Two Violet Palace cultivators competed for a thousand-year Polygonatum, and one bought it for 8,300 Spirit Coins before they both left.
• Zhou Chun outbid the remaining competitors and bought the Sun Radiance Golden Wheel for 10,800 Spirit Coins.
• Zhou Chun recognized a bidder in a black robe as possibly Master Jiang and won the eight-hundred-year Red Essence Ganoderma for 7,100 Spirit Coins.
• Zhou Chun collected the Red Essence Ganoderma and noticed that other cultivators were watching him after his conspicuous spending.

After the Underground Auction, Zhou Chun confronted Master Jiang and a masked ally who pursued him, revealing his identity and unleashing the Fire God Jackal. The ensuing battle left Zhou Chun under pressure from the two late Foundation Establishment cultivators and their powerful magic tools as the wolf-masked cultivator prepared another attack.

• After the auction, Zhou Chun traveled through the mountains and scared off a mid Foundation Establishment cultivator who had approached him.
• Master Jiang and a wolf-masked late Foundation Establishment cultivator caught up with Zhou Chun, and Zhou revealed his identity and released the Fire God Jackal.
• The wolf-masked cultivator agreed to help Master Jiang attack Zhou Chun, while Master Jiang used a Talisman Treasure to fight the Fire God Jackal.
• Zhou Chun released Bai Bai to fight the wolf-masked cultivator, but the man’s magic tools and black-water attacks overwhelmed Zhou Chun’s defenses.
• As Zhou Chun struggled to resist corrosive black liquid, the wolf-masked cultivator activated two second-tier mid-grade magic talismans.

Zhou Chun used the Ancestor Revival secret art to turn Bai Bai into a Thunder Flood Dragon and killed the wolf-faced masked cultivator after a fierce battle. He then discovered that Fire God Jackal had been poisoned and hurried back to the Lineage for help.

• The wolf-faced masked cultivator enhanced his treasure bottle with blood essence, but Zhou Chun cast Ancestor Revival and Bai Bai transformed into a Thunder Flood Dragon, destroying the black mist snake.
• Zhou Chun and Bai Bai forced the masked cultivator to flee, then pursued him as Bai Bai bombarded him with stored Lightning Spell Orbs.
• The masked cultivator used another blood-essence secret art to break Zhou Chun's Profound Light Shield and wound him, but Bai Bai's counterattack overwhelmed him until Ancestor Revival wore off.
• Fire God Jackal arrived poisoned, and Zhou Chun's detoxifying Spirit Pills barely helped; he put the beast in his Spirit Beast Pouch and set out for the Lineage to seek treatment.
• Zhou Chun collected the corpses of the masked cultivator and Master Jiang, recovered his magical power along the way, and returned to the Lineage fourteen hours later.

Zhou Chun and Zhou Mingde found a way to cure the Fire God Jackal’s Purple Crow Snake venom, then discussed the retaliation likely to follow Zhou Chun’s killings. Zhou Chun proposed settling the feud with a Deathmatch a year later, and Zhou Mingde sent him to seek Green Lotus Temple’s mediation.

• Zhou Mingde identified the Fire God Jackal’s poison as Purple Crow Snake venom, and Zhou Chun brought him the Eight Hundred Year Red Essence Ganoderma to trade for a cure.
• Zhou Mingde obtained detoxifying pills from the Li Family, and the Fire God Jackal began recovering after taking one.
• Zhou Chun inspected the wolf-faced masked cultivator’s spoils and worried that the powerful backers of the men he killed would retaliate against the Zhou Family.
• Zhou Chun proposed a Deathmatch with the opposing forces, scheduled a year later so his spirit pets could recover or grow stronger.
• Zhou Mingde approved the plan and instructed Zhou Chun to visit Fellow Daoist Mingxia at Green Lotus Temple with most of Master Jiang’s belongings.

After Zhou Chun killed Master Jiang and a masked cultivator, he sought Daoist Mingxia’s help to settle the conflict with the Jiang Family. She returned with news that both the Jiang Family and Heavenly Mirror Villa might pursue him, then offered a secret and dangerous method to protect the Zhou Family.

• Zhou Mingde divided Master Jiang’s seized valuables, and Zhou Chun took the relevant items to Green Lotus Temple to ask Daoist Mingxia for help.
• Zhou Chun told Daoist Mingxia how he had killed Master Jiang and said he had a seventy percent chance of winning a life-and-death duel; she agreed to approach the Jiang Family.
• Liu Qingshan accepted Zhou Chun’s invitation to join the Zhou Family after Liu Shiyun established her Foundation, and Liu Shiyun arranged for her senior sister to make Zhou Chun a magic robe from a second-rank Golden Rat King hide.
• Daoist Mingxia returned and reported that the Jiang Family rejected a duel and that the masked cultivator Zhou Chun had killed was connected to Heavenly Mirror Villa and the Heavenly Mirror Rogue Cultivator.
• Daoist Mingxia offered Zhou Chun a secret, dangerous method that could protect him and the Zhou Family, warning him not to reveal what she was about to disclose.

Daoist Mingxia asked Zhou Chun to infiltrate the Dragon Transformation Sect as a Green Lotus Temple spy, explaining the risks and secrets of its Dragon Transformation Secret Manual. Zhou Chun agreed after securing a maximum thirty-year term and a reward, then revealed he possessed relics from an ancient Dragon Transformation Sect cultivator and went with Mingxia to meet the temple master.

• Daoist Mingxia explained that the Jing Kingdom’s sects feared the Dragon Transformation Sect’s alliance with the Flood Dragon clan and wanted Zhou Chun to infiltrate it.
• Daoist Mingxia revealed how Flood Dragon Spirit Blood and the Dragon Transformation Secret Manual controlled the sect’s hierarchy, and said Zhou Chun could avoid the Dragon Soul Heart Seed by staying below the third layer.
• Zhou Chun demanded a defined end to the mission, and Daoist Mingxia returned with the temple master’s terms: he could leave after at most thirty years and would receive thirty thousand Spirit Coins.
• Zhou Chun agreed to the mission and told Daoist Mingxia that he had relics from a Dragon Transformation Sect cultivator who lived more than eight hundred years ago.
• Daoist Mingxia took Zhou Chun to meet the Green Lotus Temple’s temple master and seek priority support for his infiltration.

Zhou Chun prepared to infiltrate the Dragon Transformation Sect with the Green Lotus Temple’s support, while the Rock Earth Turtle completed its evolution and awakened as a second-rank mutated Mid-grade Demonic Beast. The chapter left Zhou Chun back at Nine Peaks Ridge, discovering the turtle’s new Metal attribute and powerful spells.

• Zhou Chun told Qing Weizi about the Dragon Transformation Sect relics and agreed to infiltrate the sect, then endured a test of his will and learned he would be taught the Heart Lotus True Method and given a Purple Jade Soul Lotus.
• Zhou Chun returned to Nine Peaks Ridge, informed Zhou Mingde of the plan, and arranged a concealed contact point with Zhou Daoyi near Dragon Abyss Marsh.
• Zhou Chun returned to the Green Lotus Temple, cultivated the Heart Lotus True Method, and worked with Daoist Mingxia to build a believable Rogue Cultivator identity for entering the Dragon Transformation Sect.
• The Green Lotus Temple prepared a false trail and story for Zhou Chun, while he exchanged unsuitable magical artifacts and received approval to bring Silver Lightning Thunder Python Bai Bai.
• After a year and a half, Zhou Chun learned the Rock Earth Turtle had awakened and hurried back to Nine Peaks Ridge.
• Zhou Chun found that the Rock Earth Turtle had become a second-rank mutated Mid-grade Demonic Beast, gained a Metal attribute, and mastered five second-rank spells.

After Stone evolved into a Golden Armor Rock Turtle, Zhou Chun strengthened his Spiritual Sense with a Purple Jade Soul Lotus and traveled to Feng Kingdom under a Rogue Cultivator identity. He found the Zhou Family’s former homeland oppressed by the She Family and ended the chapter watching the She Family’s procession seize a Zhou Family girl for a forced funeral marriage.

• Stone evolved into a Golden Armor Rock Turtle and gained five powerful second rank spells, making it strong enough to contend with Bai Bai.
• Zhou Chun consumed Daoist Mingxia’s Purple Jade Soul Lotus seed, strengthening his Spiritual Sense enough to resist ordinary Golden Core cultivators’ mind-questioning trials.
• After Green Lotus Temple arranged a substitute’s Rogue Cultivator history for him, Zhou Chun traveled to Feng Kingdom and surveyed the former Three Absolute Sect mountain gate, now held by the She Family.
• Zhou Chun found Zhou City impoverished and learned that the She Family had abused the remaining Zhou Family mortals, seized their cemetery and homes, and forced women into concubinage.
• Zhou Chun heard that the She Family’s wedding procession was taking Yu Die to be buried with a dead person, while Zhou Family mortals feared that resisting would endanger her and her sisters-in-law.