Chapter Summaries

Song Yan refined Qi-Nourishing Pills, sold them to Granny Qin, and searched Fireworker Stockade for materials to repair a Little Spirit Gathering Formation. He found an unusual bead among the discarded objects and examined it closely.

• Song Yan successfully refined seven Qi-Nourishing Pills and calculated that alchemy could provide him with modest cultivation income.
• Song Yan sold thirty pills to Granny Qin, who praised their quality and paid him seven Spirit Stones per bottle.
• Granny Qin privately examined one of Song Yan's pills and wondered how his pills could be so good when he was only at Qi Refining, fourth layer.
• Song Yan visited Fireworker Stockade and searched the discarded formation materials for pieces to repair a Little Spirit Gathering Formation.
• Song Yan picked up what he thought was a formation bead, noticed its strange feel, and took it out of his Storage Bag to inspect it.

Song Yan repaired a discarded formation plate and discovered that a strange stone bead contained a hidden realm and a rare Divine Sense cultivation mnemonic. After the realm shattered his Divine Sense and left him exhausted, he concealed the bead and fell asleep, unaware that a major event had occurred in the Dongyuan Sect.

• Song Yan repaired the Little Spirit Gathering Formation plate and confirmed that it worked.
• Song Yan examined the strange bead, broke its restriction, and was pulled into an ink-black illusory realm.
• Song Yan found and memorized a short mnemonic for cultivating Divine Sense from an ancient inscription.
• A gigantic black stele repeatedly attacked Song Yan, and the final strike shattered the illusory realm and exhausted his Divine Sense.
• Song Yan recognized the bead as a treasure, hid it in his Storage Bag, and fell asleep, unaware of a major event in the Dongyuan Sect.

Xuanyuan Sect elder Shen Yu brought two disciples to the Dongyuan Sect and judged its True Disciples while warning his companions not to provoke sect master Li Jun. Song Yan headed to the Pill Academy, where he learned Shen Yu would be giving a lecture.

• Hu Zheng left Shen Yu and the two Xuanyuan Sect disciples to return to the Pill Academy with Zhou Wen.
• Shen Yu questioned Wang Xi and the girl about the Dongyuan Sect's True Disciples, and Wang Xi dismissed them as only above average.
• Shen Yu cautioned Wang Xi that Li Jun could react violently if a valued disciple were killed, so they should avoid stirring up trouble before the Immortal Welcoming Gathering.
• Song Yan finished cultivating, then set out for the Pill Academy to complete his menial assignment and claim its reward.
• Lin Qing told Song Yan that Xuanyuan Sect elder Shen Yu would give the day's lecture and invited him to go together.

Song Yan attended Shen Yu’s pill-refining lectures, applied the advice to refine Qi-Nourishing Pills, and submitted one for assessment. When Wang Xi and Shen Huai sorted the disciples’ pills, they found one that caught their attention and reacted with surprise.

• Song Yan listened closely as Shen Yu taught the basics of refining Qi-Nourishing Pills, while many other disciples found the lesson unimpressive.
• Song Yan followed Shen Yu’s advice in the Pill Workshop and refined a batch of Qi-Nourishing Pills, feeling less fatigue and sensing that his divine sense might have improved.
• Song Yan submitted one of his pills, then attended the remaining lectures on alchemy and Yellow Sprout Pills.
• After the lectures ended, Shen Yu left Wang Xi and Shen Huai to sort the submitted pills and write comments, dismissing the Dongyuan Sect’s outer disciples’ skills.
• Wang Xi found a pill that made him stare in surprise, and Shen Huai noticed it and changed her expression when she examined it.

Wang Xi and Shen Huai discovered that Song Yan had refined nearly high-grade Qi-Nourishing Pills and chose him for an undisclosed deadly role. Song Yan broke through to the fifth layer of Qi Refining and began testing his strengthened Divine Sense with the black stone bead, uncovering its score rings.

• Wang Xi and Shen Huai examined a near-high-grade Qi-Nourishing Pill, traced it to Song Yan, and decided he would be the one chosen to die in the Dongyuan Sect.
• Song Yan used a Little Spirit Gathering Formation and Qi-Nourishing Pills to break through from the fourth to the fifth layer of Qi Refining.
• After several more days of cultivation, Song Yan ended his seclusion and found that his formation supplies and savings were exhausted.
• Song Yan discovered that the stone bead had turned black and found himself directly before the stone stele when he sent his Divine Sense inside.
• Song Yan cleaved apart three falling giant steles with his Divine Sense and saw three of the seventeen rings on the stele inscription light up.

Song Yan advanced to Qi Refining fifth layer and received a mission to travel to his hometown, Shiliang Town, where rogue cultivators had appeared. After Song Yan left, Lin Qing revealed that Song Yan and Shao Sichao had not existed in his previous life.

• Song Yan lit twelve rings in the Stone Bead’s monument trial before ending the attempt and reflecting on his cultivation and lack of resources.
• Song Yan received a Sound Transmission Talisman from Lin Qing assigning him a mission in Shiliang Town to deal with rogue cultivators.
• Song Yan visited Lin Qing, who congratulated him on reaching Qi Refining fifth layer and gave him the mission Jade Slip and supplies.
• Lin Qing watched Song Yan leave, then examined bamboo plaques and wondered why Song Yan and Shao Sichao were present when neither had existed in his previous life.

Sheng Nian confronted Lu Xiaowei and his fellow cultivators when they tried to take the Meng family's daughter, but an unseen ally intervened before Sheng Nian could be killed. Song Yan revealed himself as a Dongyuan Sect disciple and ordered the intruders to leave, leaving Lu Xiaowei gravely wounded.

• Zhao Fengcheng and Sheng Nian challenged Lu Xiaowei and his two fellow disciples over their attempt to take the Meng family's daughter.
• Lu Xiaowei threatened the townsfolk, and Sheng Nian drew his saber and attacked him.
• An unseen person threw a teacup that interrupted Lu Xiaowei's strike, then used vines and flames to help Sheng Nian wound Lu Xiaowei.
• The unseen speaker revealed himself as Song Yan, a Dongyuan Sect disciple, and ordered the three cultivators to leave Shiliang Town.

Song Yan returned to Shiliang Town, drove off Lu Xiaowei and his companions, and reunited with the Sheng and Meng families. Afterward, Lu Xiaowei and his junior brothers suspected that the person their master wanted them to find was constable Sheng.

• Song Yan confronted Lu Xiaowei and his two junior brothers, and they withdrew after he warned them to leave town.
• Song Yan told Zhao Fengcheng he intended to investigate the strangers’ supposed search for a fortuitous opportunity in Shiliang Town.
• Song Yan joked with the wounded Sheng Nian and reunited with Sheng Yun and the Meng family, offering to have Zhao Fengcheng test Meng Lu’s spiritual roots.
• Song Yan greeted the townspeople and went with the Sheng family to share a meal.
• At Peach Blossom Pavilion, Lu Xiaowei and his junior brothers concluded that their master’s target was probably the constable surnamed Sheng, not Song Yan.

Song Yan visited his family in Shiliang Town, paid respects at Grandpa’s grave, and went to Wuxi Valley to see Xiao He. He told her he would take her with him when he returned to the Dongyuan Immortal Sect.

• Song Yan ate with Sheng Yun and Sheng Nian, then discussed the growing number of visitors to Shiliang Town and the chance to enter the Sheyang Sect Inner Sect with a Disciple Token.
• Song Yan visited Grandpa’s grave on Qingshi Mountain and reflected on his upbringing, Grandpa’s death, and whether cultivators could truly attain eternal life.
• Song Yan entered Wuxi Valley and found Xiao He waiting in the cave, where she changed from a cold, snake-like creature into a little girl.
• Song Yan told Xiao He he would soon return to the sect and would not come back for a long time, prompting her to cry and threaten to eat people.
• Song Yan invited Xiao He to come with him, and she accepted, burying her face in his robes.

Song Yan detected three suspicious cultivators with a sect tracking talisman and took Xiao He to intercept them, suspecting they were behind the villagers’ disappearances and the attack on Constable Ling. As the cultivators approached the waterfall valley, Song Yan’s vines struck first.

• Song Yan read the name “Five-Star Pulse Seizing” on the steles in the Two-Pole Realm and noticed that his Divine Sense had improved.
• A sect tracking talisman revealed three nearby cultivators, and Song Yan brought Xiao He out to confront them.
• Song Yan suspected the cultivators of abducting a woman, injuring Constable Ling, and making three Yunding Village residents disappear.
• Song Yan and Xiao He waited at the waterfall cliff while the three cultivators approached, planning to abduct Sheng and flee.
• The cultivator carrying a Ghost Bell heard it ring, and vines erupted from the ground to snare his ankles.

Song Yan confronted Lu Xiaowei over his plots involving A-Nian and the missing villagers, then fought the walking corpses Lu Xiaowei unleashed. After Lu Xiaowei died, bloodstained paper figures emerged from the ashes and one appeared to memorize Song Yan’s face.

• Song Yan trapped Lu Xiaowei and his companion with vines, questioned Lu Xiaowei about his master, A-Nian, and the missing villagers, and Xiao He incapacitated the companion.
• Lu Xiaowei summoned three coffins containing the missing villagers as walking corpses, and one seized Song Yan’s flying sword and hurled it back at him.
• Song Yan used Fireball Technique to repel the corpses’ poisonous mist, then sent Law Artifact fragments through Lu Xiaowei and pulled the black nails from the corpses’ foreheads.
• Lu Xiaowei revealed that his master intended to claim the human realm, then died without showing remorse.
• Song Yan burned Lu Xiaowei and the dead companion, but three bloodstained paper figures crawled from the ashes, and Lu Xiaowei’s figure appeared to memorize Song Yan’s face.

Song Yan killed Lu Xiaowei and his companions, discovered evidence of a surviving Devil Cultivator and a blood-refining pill, and decided to report the clues to his sect. Before returning, he gave Zhao Fengcheng Qi-Nourishing Pills and headed into town to warn Sheng Nian and the others.

• Song Yan found that three paper figures had emerged from the corpses, pinned them down with Law Artifact fragments, and watched red lights escape northwest.
• Song Yan searched Lu Xiaowei's belongings and found a recipe and pills for the Spirit-Transforming Blood Pill, which could give cultivation aptitude to mortals but used gruesome ingredients.
• Song Yan decided to report the Devil Cultivator clues to his sect and sell the remaining items to Granny Qin, then buried the villagers' bodies.
• Song Yan left Qingshi Mountain and gave Zhao Fengcheng a bottle of Qi-Nourishing Pills in repayment for bringing him into the Dongyuan Sect.
• Song Yan told Xiao He they would visit Sheng Nian, Da Rong, and the others before going to the immortal mountain, so he could warn them about the Rogue Cultivator of Xin Mountain's interest in Sheng Nian.

Song Yan returned to Shiliang Town, told Sheng Nian that he had killed the three cultivators who had targeted the town, and urged him to leave when the opportunity arose. Back at Dongyuan Sect, Song Yan reported evidence of devil cultivators and brought the remaining suspicious items to Qin Xijun to identify and price.

• Song Yan visited the Meng Family Clinic and learned that Sheng Nian had not known the Rogue Cultivator of Xin Mountain, then admitted he had killed the three men sent to Shiliang.
• Song Yan secretly advised Sheng Nian to take his disciple token and try his luck at the Sheyang Sect when he left Shiliang.
• At the Dongyuan Sect's Miscellaneous Affairs Hall, Song Yan gave Lin Qing three black nails and recorded his account of the devil cultivators, earning extra sect contribution points.
• Song Yan went to Lingyuan Marsh Market and laid out his suspicious items for Qin Xijun to identify.

Song Yan brought the Devil Cultivator’s belongings to Granny Qin, who arranged to take him to the Spirit Source Marsh Night Market to sell them. He returned to his cave abode to train his Divine Sense, while a joint sect mission at Silent Valley was later posted with Song Yan among the assigned disciples.

• Song Yan told Granny Qin how he had obtained the Devil Cultivator’s goods, and she said she would take him to the Spirit Source Marsh Night Market to fence them.
• After Song Yan left, Lu Ziye visited Granny Qin and tried to persuade her to return, but she rejected the Qin lineage and sent him away.
• Song Yan cleaned the blood from the flying sword, then practiced the nameless mnemonic to strengthen his Divine Sense and open the Two-Pole Realm’s points of light.
• On April eleventh, outer sect disciples saw a joint mission posted for Silent Valley, led by Xu Ziqing and including Lu Ziye, Shao Sichao, Gu Qingqing, Tang Lin, and Song Yan.
• An ordinary-looking youth in the crowd noticed Song Yan’s name on the mission list and studied it thoughtfully.

Song Yan broke through a bottleneck in his Divine Sense and shattered all seventeen ink steles in the Two-Pole Realm, awakening the legacy of the Sword Sect. Four days later, he learned that the ruined sect had made him an outer disciple and that its Sword Planting Art required him to disperse his cultivation and begin again.

• Song Yan strengthened his Divine Sense, extending its reach to about twenty-four or twenty-five zhang.
• Song Yan shattered all seventeen ink steles in the Two-Pole Realm, and the marks formed the words “Sword Sect.”
• A vision of an immense immortal sect appeared, then inky runes and a message entered Song Yan’s mind and left him unconscious.
• Song Yan awoke three days later and interpreted the message as saying the Sword Sect had been destroyed and its former master had entrusted him with its token and teachings.
• At Sunwatch Rock, Song Yan learned that practicing the Sword Planting Art required him to disperse his cultivation and start over.

Song Yan studied the Sword Sect’s cultivation method and struggled with its demand that he destroy his cultivation, so he postponed the choice until after an upcoming assignment at Jiran Valley. He then went with Granny Qin to the Night Market, where admission fees quickly drained his Spirit Stones.

• Song Yan read that the Sword-Planting Technique required him to sever his spirit roots, disperse his cultivation, and plant a Sword Dao seed, but he decided not to risk it before completing his assignment.
• Song Yan learned that he would join a sect assignment at Jiran Valley and tried condensing Sword Essence from spiritual power, though the process consumed a great deal of it.
• Song Yan found useful Basic Sword Arts in the Spirit Transformation Chapter and saved his contribution points by deciding not to buy an offensive spell scroll.
• Song Yan and Granny Qin arrived at the Night Market under altered appearances, using the names Qin Yue and Tong Chuping.
• Song Yan paid six Spirit Stones for their admission after Granny Qin pretended to flirt with him, then Chen Qi told him that the spirit pet required another Spirit Stone.

Song Yan entered the Spirit Source Marsh night market with Qin Xijun after Chen Qi discovered Xiao He, and learned how the market served cultivators from across the region. Left to browse alone, Song Yan bought a book about the immortal path after passing over a stallholder’s illicit texts.

• Song Yan paid Chen Qi and entered the night market with Qin Xijun, who teased him about Xiao He and then let the little snake demon show herself.
• Qin Xijun explained that the night market welcomed lineages, rogue cultivators, and disciples from minor sects, though it still had rules.
• Qin Xijun left Song Yan to sell his goods while she went to meet an old acquaintance.
• Song Yan browsed the market and encountered a stallholder trying to sell banned books through private delivery.
• Song Yan bought a two-Spirit-Stone book about the sights and customs of the immortal path.

Song Yan, using the name Tong Chuping, met Ke Huai and a group of cultivators who invited him to a private trading gathering after explaining that the night market auction would not accept his ordinary wares. As the gathering began, Song Yan considered trading his unusual items for materials related to techniques he had read about.

• Song Yan decided to seek buyers for his goods and information about ancient sword cultivators and demon beasts at the night market.
• Ke Huai introduced himself and invited Song Yan to barter with his group of cultivators.
• Song Yan learned that the auction house accepted only valuable spiritual items and that its auction had already begun, so he agreed to join the group's trading gathering.
• Ke Huai brought Song Yan and the others to a private room at Carefree Heart Pavilion and explained the simple turn-taking rules for their trades.
• Song Yan considered what to ask for in exchange for his Spirit-Transforming Blood Pills and Yin Corpse Puppet Rebirth Nail, then recalled descriptions from the Spirit-Transforming Treatise General Outline and the Sword-Planting Technique.

Song Yan attended Ke Huai’s barter gathering and traded Spirit-Transforming Blood Pills and Yin Corpse Puppet Rebirth Nails for three bottles of Yellow Sprout Pills. After the gathering, Rong Xiaofeng and Wu Huaguo asked to speak with him privately.

• Ke Huai traded with Zhou Jiasheng, exchanging Yellow Sprout Pills for Zhou Jiasheng’s Cold Jade Flower seedling.
• Rong Xiaofeng obtained Zhou Jiasheng’s low-grade defensive Law Artifact, while Lin Xiaoyu failed to trade her mysterious talisman.
• Song Yan offered Spirit-Transforming Blood Pills and two Yin Corpse Puppet Rebirth Nails, explaining that he had destroyed the sinister pill formula.
• Rong Xiaofeng and Wu Huaguo offered three bottles of Yellow Sprout Pills for Song Yan’s items and asked to speak with him alone after the gathering.
• Lin Xiaoyu traded a Purple Flame Talisman for Rong Xiaofeng and Wu Huaguo’s matched pair of mother-and-child flying blades.

After a night-market trade, Song Yan accepted Wu Huaguo and her husband’s invitation to help explore a Foundation Establishment cultivator’s cave abode in a year and a half. He returned to the sect to cultivate, while Liu Yuechan noticed Song Yan’s name among the cultivators assigned to an upcoming joint mission and found it familiar.

• Song Yan stayed behind after the trading session and learned that Wu Huaguo and her husband had information about a rogue cultivator’s cave abode that might contain lightning- or fire-element Supreme Spiritual Objects.
• Wu Huaguo and her husband invited Song Yan to join their expedition, and she revealed that she could tell he was lying only about his name.
• Song Yan agreed to meet with them in a year and a half, then returned to his cave abode with three bottles of Yellow Sprout Pills.
• Song Yan decided to focus on cultivating his Divine Sense and Sword Essence before leaving on his joint sect mission.
• Liu Yuechan found Qingqing and Xiaoyun looking up the male cultivators on their mission and noticed Song Yan’s name, which she thought she had heard before.