Chapter Summaries

Li Yan entered the stone chamber for Yellow Qi Valley’s internal selection and learned the rules from the Ming sisters. Elder Liu and Deacon Li arrived to oversee the assessment, and Elder Liu explained the three-round selection and its first poison-counteracting test.

• A group of six Spirit Transformation cultivators discussed ensuring at least five of them became core elite disciples, and their leader dismissed Li Yan as an unremarkable alchemist.
• Li Yan greeted the Ming sisters and asked about the selection, and Ming Qi explained that ten candidates would be chosen through three rounds conducted over several days.
• Elder Liu and Deacon Li arrived, and Elder Liu announced that Deacon Li would supervise fairness and approve the final selections.
• Elder Liu explained that all candidates would face the same three rounds, choose one stone chamber, and use its sixth-grade earth fire and Void Refinement cauldron.
• Elder Liu described the first round: candidates had to test a poisonous fourth-grade pill themselves, request ingredients, make an antidote, and neutralize the poison in a demon beast within a hundred breaths.

Li Yan began the pill-refining assessment by testing the Stone Chamber and identifying the red Pill as a hallucinogenic poison. As he considered refining an antidote under observation, he worried that using his Severed Poison method would expose his abilities.

• Deacon Li answered the disciples’ final questions, and Elder Liu began the twelve-hour assessment by distributing poison Pills and directing everyone to choose a Stone Chamber.
• Li Yan entered a chamber, tested its pill furnace and array, then activated them by fitting his jade pendant into the Stone Gate.
• Elder Liu activated the monitoring array, while Deacon Li reviewed the nine recommended disciples and complained that unqualified candidates were being given opportunities.
• Li Yan cut a tiny slice from the Pill and touched it to his skin, then recognized its hallucinogenic poison after briefly seeing a blurred image.
• Li Yan swallowed a thicker slice, confirmed that the hallucination lasted only an instant, and considered making an antidote with Severed Poison without revealing his method on camera.

Li Yan recognized that his Fragmented Poison Body could neutralize the red poison pill and planned how to conceal his method. Ming Qi and other alchemists examined the pill’s ingredients, while Ming Yu and a handsome young man used their own techniques to analyze it.

• Li Yan sensed his Fragmented Poison Body poisons reacting to the red pill and began considering how to identify an antidote without revealing his knowledge.
• Ming Qi recovered from the pill’s illusion, then separated its components with medicinal liquid and recorded likely ingredients, including Pulingzi, Moling Horn, and Luoming Grass or Willow Luogen.
• Ming Qi tested the remaining strands of smoke one by one, exhausting herself before beginning another round of analysis.
• Ming Yu used a method similar to Ming Qi’s to study the red pill in another stone chamber.
• A handsome young man melted half the red pill with his cultivated pure-yang flame, spread the resulting medicinal liquid across a rotating jade bowl, and began recording his findings.

Li Yan identified a way to counter the red pill’s Scattered Poison and decided to aim for first place in the trial, using his knowledge of the poison while concealing his methods. He began refining a pill to support his strategy, but two contestants emerged from their Stone Chambers just as his pills formed.

• Elder Liu and Steward Li observed the contestants, while Steward Li recorded the poor performances of six disciples.
• Li Yan submitted a jade slip listing raw materials after determining that mixing two kinds of Scattered Poison could counter the illusion poison.
• Li Yan decided he needed to win the first trial to secure a place in the top ten and help Senior Sister Bai awaken sooner.
• Li Yan received the requested ingredients and began refining a pill, disguising his process among ordinary materials.
• After three hours, Li Yan sensed three pills forming in his furnace, then noticed that two contestants had opened their Stone Gates and come out.

Li Yan neared the completion of his pill, while Yan Qingchen became the first to present his pills and begin the poison-removal assessment. Yan Qingchen’s pills restored the Azureflame Earth Dragon within twelve breaths, leaving him confident as the assessment continued.

• Li Yan opened his furnace and used a golden thread to bind the unstable black pill as it tried to condense.
• Yan Qingchen and Ming Qi emerged from their Stone Chambers, and Yan Qingchen presented his three freshly refined pills first.
• Elder Liu and Steward Li verified Yan Qingchen’s pills and gave him an Azureflame Earth Dragon poisoned by an illusion pill to treat within one hundred breaths.
• Yan Qingchen fed the beast all three of his antidote pills just as Steward Li administered the poison pill and released the beast’s seal.
• The Azureflame Earth Dragon recovered after twelve breaths, and Yan Qingchen rejoiced at his success.

Yan Qingchen and Ming Qi passed the first trial after quickly neutralizing poison in Demon Beasts, then Li Yan emerged unexpectedly soon and presented an unusual black pill with no visible pill patterns. The chapter left Elder Liu and Deacon Li examining Li Yan's pill while the others wondered about its quality.

• Elder Liu and Deacon Li verified Yan Qingchen's pills and confirmed that he had neutralized the Demon Beast's poison in twelve breaths, making him the first to pass.
• Ming Qi presented four fourth-grade pills and fed them to another Demon Beast, which awakened after fifteen breaths, earning her second place.
• Li Yan emerged from his stone chamber before the other recommended candidates, surprising Elder Liu, Deacon Li, Yan Qingchen, and Ming Qi.
• Li Yan presented a single black pill, and Elder Liu and Deacon Li found that it had no visible pill patterns and could not be judged by appearance alone.
• Elder Liu and Deacon Li considered whether Li Yan's pill was ineffective or made by an unconventional method, while Yan Qingchen began to suspect it might be unusual.

Li Yan shocked the alchemy assessment by neutralizing the poison in five breaths and taking first place in the opening round. After the top ten were settled, Elder Liu began the second assessment, which required the disciples to identify fifty herbs from three thousand under strict rules.

• Li Yan gave the azureflame earth dragon his disguised pill, and it recovered from the hallucinogenic poison in five breaths.
• Elder Liu announced Li Yan had passed in first place, seven breaths ahead of Yan Qingchen, while Mingqi and Liu Siyu also placed among the leading contestants.
• The first round ended with Li Yan ranked first and Mingyu among the top ten; Deacon Li investigated suspicious material requests but found nothing unusual about Li Yan's.
• Elder Liu announced the second assessment: contestants had one day and night to identify fifty specified herbs among three thousand, with severe punishment for rule violations.

Li Yan began the herb-identification assessment and discovered that many specimens were deliberately difficult to distinguish from lookalikes. After identifying ten herbs, he struggled to confirm Yangsuyun, while the other disciples used varied methods and continued to make progress.

• Li Yan memorized the fifty herb names, examined the supplied specimens, and realized Yellow Qi Valley had mixed in many near-identical varieties.
• Li Yan identified ten herbs before getting stuck choosing among four possible Yangsuyun specimens.
• Li Yan tested sap from the four Yangsuyun candidates on his arm but found only slight differences in how quickly they caused numbness.
• Yan Qingchen used yellow pill powder to distinguish one herb from a group of nine, then faced another difficult cluster.
• Ming Qi used a technique that produced white beams in her eyes to examine five herbs.
• Another cultivator refined herbs into medicinal liquid and used it to identify a specimen, as disciples across the chambers employed different methods.

Li Yan used his five-elements perception to identify medicinal herbs more accurately, then planned how to submit a result that would not draw too much attention. As the second-round results came in, Ming Qi and Liu Siyu took the lead, while Li Yan and Yan Shichen remained in their chambers.

• Li Yan concluded that his unaided knowledge had let him identify only twenty-three herbs, so he used the five elements laws to examine the remaining specimens.
• Li Yan recalled discovering that five-elements perception could reveal a herb’s attributes and authenticity, and used that method to narrow down the candidates before him.
• Li Yan planned to exchange some herbs on his way out if he identified too many, so his final submission would match what Elder Liu and Deacon Li had observed.
• Elder Liu and Deacon Li discussed the provisional rankings, noting that Li Yan had stalled at twenty-three herbs while Yan Shichen and Ming Qi had collected more than thirty.
• Liu Siyu took the provisional lead with thirty-seven correct identifications, then Ming Qi surpassed her with forty correct; Li Yan and Yan Shichen remained the only disciples in the chambers.

Yan Qingchen finished the second round in first place with forty-five herbs correctly identified, while Li Yan placed second with forty-two. After the contestants rested, Elder Liu announced that the third round would test their ability to grow Iron Su Dragonleaf Trees by purifying medicinal solutions before watering the seeds.

• Mingqi warned Mingyu to be cautious around Li Yan, who had repeatedly surprised others with his results.
• Yan Qingchen emerged from his stone chamber and submitted fifty herbs, including forty-five correctly identified ones, taking first place in the round.
• Li Yan emerged near the twelve-hour limit and was confirmed in second place with forty-two correct identifications.
• The second round's results placed four Nascent Soul Cultivators in the top ten, and Li Yan felt relieved after the round ended.
• Elder Liu announced that contestants had to purify medicinal solutions and grow an Iron Su Dragonleaf Tree to five inches tall within twelve hours, using no more than three seeds.

Li Yan chose the low-grade medicinal liquid in the third round of Yellow Qi Valley’s selection, then made the top ten and became a core elite disciple. He learned that his new authority did not grant entry to the Ancient Hall of Inheritance, which he could access only by earning reward authority through sect contribution points.

• Li Yan chose the green medicinal liquid for the third assessment, while Yan Qingchen chose red liquid and Ming Qi and Liu Siyu chose yellow liquid.
• Elder Liu announced the ten successful candidates; Li Yan placed twenty-third in the third round but qualified through his strong results in the first two rounds.
• Elder Liu explained the core elite disciples’ rights and duties, and Li Yan discovered that his new identity token did not permit entry to the Ancient Hall of Inheritance.
• After two months of inquiries, Li Yan learned that core elite disciples had basic and reward authority, and that access to certain sect resources required contribution points earned through tasks.

Li Yan sought a way to earn the eighty thousand sect contribution points needed to enter the Ancient Hall of Inheritance, which would open in less than seven years. After earning three hundred points at the Pill Emperor Tower, he searched the mission hall and considered a high-risk mission to hunt a fifth-rank Earth Rhinoceros Violet-Gold Dragon Python.

• Li Yan concluded that reaching the top thousand core elite disciples through the Pill Emperor Tower was beyond his current alchemy ability, so he planned to accumulate contribution points instead.
• Li Yan challenged the Pill Emperor Tower and reached the fourth floor, where his pill furnaces exploded while he competed against a tower spirit refining third-grade pills.
• Li Yan learned that he had earned three hundred contribution points from the tower's first three floors and decided not to waste time waiting in line for another attempt.
• Li Yan searched the mission hall and focused on a mission offering one thousand five hundred contribution points for an intact horn from a fifth-rank Earth Rhinoceros Violet-Gold Dragon Python.

After four years of completing dangerous sect tasks, Li Yan returned to Yellow Qi Valley to submit a task and claim its contribution points. He had accumulated about fifty thousand points and presented a purple, starlit flower to the steward examining his completion.

• Li Yan accepted the single-person task to find a fifth-tier Earth Rhinoceros Purple-Gold Dragon Python, despite the risk of failing and owing compensation.
• Li Yan spent four years taking mostly high-risk tasks, sometimes failing and paying compensation to preserve his contribution points.
• Li Yan found and killed the Earth Rhinoceros Purple-Gold Dragon Python before other cultivators arrived, using Gui Water Immortal Sect spells and soul arts.
• Li Yan returned to Yellow Qi Valley to submit his latest task, expecting to receive one thousand sect contribution points and bring his total to around fifty thousand.
• Li Yan greeted several fellow disciples at the Elite Mission Hall and handed his token to the Nascent Soul steward surnamed Sun.
• Li Yan placed a purple flower dotted with starlight on the table, and Sun carefully examined it.

Li Yan completed a dangerous mission to retrieve a nearly five-hundred-year-old Purple Star Flower and received eight hundred sect contribution points. At the mission board, he focused on a high-risk pill escort mission offering three thousand points per person and accepted it.

• Li Yan escaped a swarm of Double-Eyed Mystic Bees after taking the Purple Star Flower, surviving the queen bee's poisonous sting with his Fragmented Poison Body.
• Cultivator Sun assessed the flower as about four hundred and eighty years old and awarded Li Yan eight hundred sect contribution points.
• Li Yan asked Cultivator Sun about lucrative missions, and Sun listed several possibilities before Li Yan checked them at the mission board.
• Li Yan chose the mission to escort pills to Idle Crane Manor, which required six middle-stage Spirit Transformation cultivators or above and paid three thousand contribution points per person.
• Li Yan swiped his token toward the pill escort mission, sending a streak of light down from the board.

Li Yan accepted a dangerous mission to escort Pills to Idle Crane Manor after learning how its rewards depended on delivering all six portions. He returned to his courtyard to rest and await the two remaining members of the team.

• Li Yan asked Senior Sister Wang how far Idle Crane Manor was and learned it lay about seven hundred thousand li from the sect.
• Senior Sister Wang explained that six cultivators had to divide the Pills among themselves and that the full reward required all six portions to reach their destination.
• Li Yan weighed the mission's high risk against the chance to earn three thousand contribution points and accepted it, hoping to help heal Senior Sister Bai.
• Li Yan returned to his courtyard to rest, knowing that four people had accepted the mission and that two more were needed before the team could depart.

Li Yan joined a mission team at the Elite Mission Hall, where a powerful elder openly objected to the number of mid-stage Spirit Transformation cultivators. The elder then tried to withdraw, but the steward said the mission could not be abandoned, leaving the team watching as the confrontation escalated.

• Li Yan arrived at room C Seventeen and met Xie Xingzhi, Jiang Tingye, a quiet young-looking cultivator, and a brown-robed elder who disparaged Li Yan's cultivation.
• Xie Xingzhi introduced Jiang Tingye and encouraged Li Yan and the others to cooperate on the mission.
• Ming Qi arrived and greeted Li Yan, worsening the brown-robed elder's dissatisfaction with the team's strength.
• A white-robed steward entered and confirmed everyone had arrived, prompting the brown-robed elder to ask about withdrawing from the mission.
• The steward said Senior Yang could not withdraw, and the elder erupted with anger and pressure as the others watched.

Li Yan and five fellow disciples were assigned to escort sealed storage rings, despite Yang Zun's attempt to withdraw from the mission. The group set out along Yang Zun's route, and Li Yan and Ming Qi discussed his reputation for accepting missions.

• The white-robed steward refused Yang Zun's demand to cancel the mission and distributed six sealed storage rings and a jade slip.
• Li Yan and the others found that powerful restrictions prevented them from inspecting the rings, and the steward said the recipients would be able to remove the seals.
• After studying the route, the six disciples set out, and they learned one another's names and backgrounds.
• Yang Zun drew Xie Xingzhi and Jiang Tingye into a group at the front, while Li Yan flew with Ming Qi and Xu Yihua followed behind.
• Ming Qi remarked on Li Yan's many Mission Hall assignments, and Li Yan claimed he accepted low-level missions because his cultivation resources and aptitude were limited.

Li Yan and five fellow cultivators flew toward Leisure Crane Manor through a storm and a region of dangerous floating mountains. When Li Yan sensed something amiss near two peaks, the others found nothing, but he stayed behind to keep searching as the group prepared to move on.

• Ming Qi and Li Yan discussed the Pill Emperor Tower, and Ming Qi said Yan Qingchen had recently broken through its sixth floor.
• The six cultivators flew for two days toward Leisure Crane Manor, resting twice and keeping watch over their surroundings.
• A torrential storm began as the group reached a region of floating peaks inhabited by powerful Demon Beasts and Demon Cultivators.
• Li Yan stopped before two enormous peaks and warned the others that something ahead made him uncomfortable, though he could not identify the danger.
• Yang Zun and the others searched the area, found nothing unusual, and started flying onward, but Li Yan remained in place to continue probing.

Li Yan and Ming Qi split from Yang Zun’s group after insisting on avoiding the person-shaped peaks, where Li Yan sensed an unexplained disturbance. As they detoured through the rain, an unseen assailant attacked them, and Ming Qi intercepted a giant hammer with a kick.

• Li Yan refused to enter the peaks and rejected Yang Zun’s demand to hand over his mission item, while Xie Xingzhi and Jiang Tingye confronted him.
• Ming Qi sided with Li Yan, but Xu Yihua chose to continue ahead with Yang Zun’s group, splitting the six cultivators into two parties.
• Yang Zun, Xie Xingzhi, and Jiang Tingye discussed retaliating against Li Yan and Ming Qi after the mission, while Xu Yihua stayed quiet and relieved he had avoided a fight.
• Ming Qi told Li Yan that she had briefly sensed an unsettling fluctuation near the peaks, but Li Yan said his own warning came only from an inexplicable feeling.
• Li Yan abruptly sensed danger and warned Ming Qi as an unseen attacker struck; Ming Qi accelerated and blocked a giant hammer with a powerful kick.

Li Yan and Ming Qi were ambushed by Night Eagle assassins while traveling toward Idle Crane Manor. Li Yan defeated one attacker and learned that Night Eagle had been hired to intercept Yellow Qi Valley cultivators, while Ming Qi and her pursuer vanished into the rain.

• Ming Qi was struck by a peak late-stage Spirit Transformation cultivator wielding a massive hammer and sent flying into the rain as he pursued her.
• Li Yan countered a late-stage Spirit Transformation assassin's sword with raindrops propelled by his punch, shattering the sword and badly wounding the attacker.
• Li Yan restrained the unconscious black-clothed cultivator, performed a Soul Search, and learned he belonged to the Night Eagle assassination organization.
• Li Yan found that Night Eagle had been hired to kill Yellow Qi Valley cultivators bound for Idle Crane Manor and seize their cargo, but the assassin did not know who hired them.
• Li Yan realized the attackers could be tracking the group and using the area's unavoidable, complicated terrain to set repeated ambushes.