Chapter Summaries

Li Yan and the Phantom Sect’s cultivators gathered as a storm gathered over Small Bamboo Peak, signaling that someone was undergoing a Core tribulation. The sect’s leaders cleared the area, Wei Zhongran and his wife arrived to guard their disciple, and the first lightning struck as the tribulation began.

• Li Yan sensed a storm approaching Small Bamboo Peak and flew up to watch the clouds gathering over its southeastern bamboo forest.
• Wei Chi Tuo, Li Changting, Zhao Min, and other cultivators arrived, but Yan Longzi ordered everyone below the Golden Core Realm to withdraw beyond a hundred li.
• Yan Longzi and the other Golden Core cultivators identified the tribulation as likely belonging to Li Wuyi and discussed the danger to anyone who remained nearby.
• Peak Master Yi went to protect a disciple in secluded cultivation, while Wei Zhongran and his wife emerged from seclusion and thanked the sect elders for guarding Li Wuyi.
• Li Yuyin and Wei Zhongran’s wife exchanged remarks as Yan Longzi watched the clouds, then lightning struck and thunder announced the start of the Core tribulation.

Li Wuyi began his Golden Core tribulation on Small Bamboo Peak while Li Yan and hundreds of Phantom Sect cultivators watched from a safe distance. The first lightning strike overwhelmed many observers, but Wei Zhongran arrived and encouraged Li Wuyi, easing the worry of his disciples.

• Li Yan flew away from Small Bamboo Peak and joined hundreds of Foundation Establishment cultivators gathered to observe Li Wuyi's Golden Core tribulation.
• Li Changting, Zhao Min, and Li Yan worried about Li Wuyi while False Core cultivators watched the gathering tribulation clouds closely.
• A massive lightning bolt struck, its thunder knocking dozens of Foundation Establishment cultivators unconscious and briefly sending Li Yan's flying sword out of control.
• Li Yan landed on a nearby mountain cliff, where Gong Chenying and Zhao Min noticed he had withstood the tribulation's initial pressure.
• Wei Zhongran's voice rang out, telling Li Wuyi to proceed and promising to handle everything, which reassured Li Changting, Zhao Min, and the others.

Li Yan witnessed the aftermath of Li Wuyi’s successful Golden Core tribulation and learned that Li Wuyi had endured it without assistance. As the sect arranged a celebration for him one month later, the disciples returned to their affairs and Wei Chi Tuo took over as Small Bamboo Peak’s Eldest Senior Brother.

• Li Yan watched the three-day pill tribulation from more than four hundred li away and reflected on its power and the value of facing a tribulation alone.
• Wei Chi Tuo returned with Li Yan and other disciples to Small Bamboo Peak, where Yan Longzi announced that Li Wuyi had formed his Golden Core through his own strength and would be celebrated in a month.
• The sect’s cultivators dispersed, discussing Li Wuyi’s new rank and resolving to pursue their own Golden Cores.
• Wei Zhongran praised Li Yan, Gong Chenying, and the other disciples for their progress before leaving with his wife.
• Wei Chi Tuo’s fellow disciples recognized that Li Wuyi’s advancement had changed their standing, and Wei Chi Tuo became Small Bamboo Peak’s Eldest Senior Brother.

Li Wuyi became a Golden Core elder of the Phantom Sect but publicly declared that he would remain Small Bamboo Peak’s Eldest Senior Brother and kneel to Wei Zhongran and his wife as his master and mother. The ceremony ended in uproar, and afterward Li Yan reflected on the gathering before resolving to cultivate diligently.

• A month after Li Wuyi entered seclusion, he emerged and attended the Phantom Sect ceremony for his promotion to Golden Core elder.
• Miao Wangqing learned that Li Wuyi had become her Martial Uncle and wondered how she would address him.
• Li Wuyi accepted his elder’s token, declined a cave abode on another peak, and declared that he would remain Small Bamboo Peak’s Eldest Senior Brother.
• Li Wuyi knelt before Wei Zhongran and his wife, moving Wei Zhongran to laughter and his wife to tears, while the ceremony’s attendees erupted in astonishment.
• After the ceremony, Small Bamboo Peak’s disciples gathered at Li Yan’s courtyard, where Li Wuyi beat Wei Chituo in a fistfight and called him the eternal number two.
• Li Yan remembered the gathering, then turned his attention to cultivating at Qi Condensation Realm Great Perfection.

Li Yan prepared to enter seclusion to cultivate the Gui Water True Scripture and Qiongqi Purgatory Art, while Zhao Min struggled with her feelings after receiving his message. Over the next year, the Phantom Sect flourished, even as its Nascent Soul ancestors secretly investigated disappearances across the cultivation world.

• Li Yan planned to focus on cultivation and messaged Gong Chenying and Zhao Min before entering seclusion.
• Gong Chenying urged Li Yan to cultivate carefully, while Zhao Min replied that he did not need to report his affairs to her.
• Zhao Min recalled waiting for Li Yan’s message and wondered whether she felt a sense of connection before heading to cultivate.
• Li Wuyi discussed Zhao Min’s feelings for Li Yan with Wei Zhongran and the woman in palace robes, who suspected Zhao Min’s calm reaction concealed something.
• The Phantom Sect’s disciples pursued cultivation and missions, and more than a dozen Qi Condensation Realm disciples established their foundations over the following year.
• Nascent Soul ancestors investigated alongside other sects as cultivation lineages vanished, and the affected groups suppressed news and dealt with witnesses.

While the Four Fiends of Small Bamboo made their names through deadly missions, Li Yan secluded himself in the secret realm to prepare for Foundation Establishment. As his spiritual energy neared liquefaction, his Disjointed Poison Body began to split, threatening his breakthrough.

• Wei Chituo and Yun Chunqu took on deadly missions, killed a newly Golden Core cultivator, and continued risking their lives after recovering.
• Wen Xinliang and Lin Daqiao began carrying out assassinations and covert killings, and the four disciples became known as the Four Fiends of Small Bamboo.
• Gong Chenying stayed at the spirit plant garden to cultivate, while Li Yan remained out of contact in the secret realm.
• Li Yan reached the late tenth level of Qi Condensation, received a Foundation Establishment Pill from Wei Zhongran, and entered seclusion intending to establish his foundation.
• Li Yan reached perfected Qi Condensation and spent ten months stabilizing his spiritual power as Ping Tu watched it grow dense enough to liquefy.
• As Li Yan neared Foundation Establishment, his Disjointed Poison Body began to split.

Li Yan began attempting Foundation Establishment and sensed the fleeting path of white jade stairs in the void. As the stairs faded and Ping Tu prepared to intervene with a Foundation Establishment Pill, Li Yan surged toward them, ending the chapter just as he shot into the beam of light.

• Li Yan sensed an opportunity to break through and saw a beam of light containing jade stairs in the void.
• A yellow point appeared on Li Yan's forehead as the black qi around him withdrew, and Ping Tu recognized that his Foundation Establishment attempt had begun.
• Ping Tu watched Li Yan struggle against the force repelling him from the stairs and prepared a Foundation Establishment Pill in case he needed help.
• Li Yan drew on his Five Elements spiritual power and advanced toward the stairs as their light began to fade.
• Li Yan merged his spiritual power into black water-attributed energy, propelled himself forward, and shot into the beam of light.

Li Yan successfully established his foundation and entered a nine-tier trial, where each step strengthened his spiritual power but brought crushing pressure. After reaching the fifth tier and recovering, he began forcing his way toward the sixth while Ping Tu watched, keeping the Foundation Establishment Pill ready in case he needed help.

• Ping Tu stopped just before feeding Li Yan the Foundation Establishment Pill when Li Yan's breakthrough erupted, and Li Yan began expelling impurities as his spiritual power vats transformed.
• Li Yan entered a white realm of nine jade steps and learned that he had achieved Foundation Establishment at the Threshold of the Dao.
• Li Yan climbed to the fifth step, triggering successive announcements of Foundation Establishment achievements and greatly expanding his five spiritual power vats.
• Li Yan collapsed when he first tried to reach the sixth step, then rested until his spiritual power and strength recovered.
• Li Yan attempted the sixth step again under overwhelming pressure, while Ping Tu watched and kept the pill ready rather than intervening.

Li Yan endured the crushing pressure on the sixth stair, used the Foundation Establishment Pill Ping Tu gave him to recover, and advanced through the seventh stair’s Arrayed Cauldrons Foundation Establishment. He reached the eighth stair just as the staircase began collapsing from below, leaving his survival uncertain.

• Li Yan was pinned to the sixth stair and began sliding off until the Foundation Establishment Pill Ping Tu administered filled him with spiritual power and healed his injuries.
• Li Yan stood on the sixth stair and completed Formation Slaughter Foundation Establishment, then used the pill’s remaining power to climb to the seventh.
• Li Yan completed Arrayed Cauldrons Foundation Establishment on the seventh stair, discovering that five cauldrons had replaced his spiritual power vats.
• Li Yan forced his foot onto the eighth stair as the pill’s power neared its limit, despite the mounting pressure and pain.
• The staircase shook and began shattering from the first stair upward, with the destruction reaching the sixth while Li Yan stood precariously on the eighth.

Li Yan struggled to climb from the seventh step to the eighth during his Foundation Establishment trial as his Disjointed Poison Body broke through and sent his spiritual power into chaos. After the Qiongqi Purgatory Art restored his strength and he reached the ninth step, a mysterious voice stopped him and the eighth step began to shatter.

• The seventh step crumbled beneath Li Yan, leaving him clinging to the eighth with sticky fluid produced by his Disjointed Twelve poison.
• Li Yan realized his Disjointed Poison Body was breaking through, and its turmoil sent his spiritual power out of control as the eighth step's pressure forced him downward.
• As Li Yan's adhesive grip failed, he instinctively assumed a posture that activated the Qiongqi Purgatory Art and blasted the separating poison body into pieces.
• Li Yan used his renewed strength to pull himself upright onto the eighth step and plant one foot on the ninth.
• A cold voice warned Li Yan, froze him in midair, and the eighth step beneath his other foot began to shatter.

Li Yan completed a ninth-step foundation establishment, awakening wind and thunder within his body as Ping Tu concealed the resulting disturbance. After discovering that his cultivation and Disjointed Poison Body had transformed, Li Yan explored his expanded sea of consciousness and reached for the Foundation Establishment techniques awaiting him.

• Li Yan resisted the Heavenly Dao's pressure and stood on the ninth step, completing his foundation establishment.
• Ping Tu suppressed the wind-and-thunder phenomenon within Li Yan to prevent a tribulation and hide the disturbance from powerful cultivators.
• Li Yan awoke, bowed to Ping Tu, and examined his Disjointed Poison Body, discovering eighteen new separated sections in addition to the original twelve.
• Li Yan inspected his dantian and found a vast spiritual lake with five dark cauldrons, then realized his sea of consciousness had expanded to around ten thousand zhang.
• Li Yan returned above the black lake in his sea of consciousness and reached for the Gui Water True Scripture's Foundation Establishment method and the Five Immortals Sect's immortal techniques.

Li Yan learned two Gui Water techniques and discovered that the Qiongqi Purgatory Art had advanced unexpectedly. Ping Tu offered a way to protect Li Yan's essence soul from the Phantom Sect's soul-lamp requirement, while Sun Guoshu argued with a shopkeeper over a herb Li Yan had supposedly ordered.

• Li Yan studied the Guiyi Water-Parting Spike and Night Concealment and Stealth techniques, but lacked the materials to refine the spikes.
• Li Yan found that the Qiongqi Purgatory Art had reached the middle stage of its first layer and agreed to consolidate his Foundation Establishment realm before seeking materials.
• Li Yan asked Ping Tu how to avoid leaving a wisp of his essence soul with the Phantom Sect, and Ping Tu proposed refining a similar essence soul from a demon beast.
• Li Yan agreed to remain in the secret chamber for forty-nine days to nourish the substitute soul and fell asleep.
• At Peiyang Market, Sun Guoshu tried to persuade Hu San to keep a five-hundred-year-old Nine Dragons Root herb for Li Yan, but Hu San demanded payment after waiting four months.

Sun Guoshu struggled to buy the Nine Dragons Root for Li Yan while Li Yan remained in seclusion, and finally risked going to the Phantom Sect for help. Bai Rou bought the root, paid Sun Guoshu for the other materials, and gave him money and sound transmission talismans to continue handling Li Yan’s affairs.

• Sun Guoshu reserved the Nine Dragons Root for Li Yan but ran short of spirit stones as Hu San pressed him to complete the purchase.
• Hu San threatened to sell the root, so Sun Guoshu went to the Phantom Sect after borrowing and gathering all the spirit stones he could.
• The patrol disciples learned that Li Yan was in seclusion, but Sun Guoshu convinced them to contact Bai Rou by describing her and swearing she had been present when Li Yan gave him instructions.
• Bai Rou recognized Sun Guoshu and agreed to go to Peiyang Market to buy the Nine Dragons Root for Li Yan.
• Bai Rou paid for the root and Sun Guoshu’s supplementary materials, then gave him five thousand spirit stones and ten sound transmission talismans to continue his work.
• Sun Guoshu escorted Bai Rou back to the Phantom Sect, then returned to the market in triumph.

After emerging from a year and a half of seclusion with Foundation Establishment, Li Yan caught up on messages, met with Wei Zhongran, and formally became his disciple. He prepared to leave the Wangliang Sect soon, but the soul lamps revealed Zhao Min’s unexpected connection to Small Bamboo Peak, and Wei Zhongran’s reaction left Li Yan with unanswered questions.

• Li Yan emerged from seclusion, discovered Sun Guoshu’s messages about the Nine Dragons Root, and learned Bai Rou had secured it and the other materials for him.
• Li Yan replied to Gong Chenying, Bai Rou, and Wei Zhongran, then told his master he had reached Foundation Establishment.
• Wei Zhongran learned Li Yan had achieved seventh-tier Foundation Establishment and formally accepted him as a disciple after Li Yan completed the simple rites.
• Li Yan discussed Foundation Establishment with Wei Zhongran, gained new insights, and planned to leave the sect to visit his parents and search for the Boundless Wandering tree.
• Wei Zhongran took Li Yan to the Treasure Pavilion to extract his soul essence, where Li Yan saw Zhao Min’s soul lamp among those kept on Small Bamboo Peak.
• Wei Zhongran selected a soul lamp while showing an unusual, fleeting expression that Li Yan could not understand.

Li Yan lit his soul lamp, received Wei Zhongran’s help preparing for a journey home, and settled several matters with Bai Rou before leaving the sect. He returned to Small Bamboo Peak late for his appointment with Gong Chenying and found her waiting by his courtyard.

• Li Yan placed his refined soul in a soul lamp, and Wei Zhongran noticed that his cultivation seemed deeper than he had claimed but chose not to press him.
• Wei Zhongran gave Li Yan a jade slip with a route map and records of teleportation formations for his journey home.
• Li Yan visited Bai Rou, exchanged cultivation insights with her, gave her spirit stones, and received the foundational chapter of Mu Liu Sect’s puppet mechanisms.
• Li Yan bought medicinal pills at Laojun Peak and learned that Mei Bucai, Ding Yiwei, Cheng Jingnian, Wu Shixi, and other disciples had entered seclusion to cultivate.
• Li Yan hurried back to Small Bamboo Peak after realizing he was late for his appointment with Gong Chenying and saw her waiting by his courtyard.

Li Yan reunited with Gong Chen Ying, who tested his strengthened body after his Foundation Establishment and learned his unusual power might stem from the Fragmented Poison Body. Li Yan and Gong Chen Ying agreed to travel together to visit his parents and clarify their relationship with their fellow disciples.

• Li Yan welcomed Gong Chen Ying into his courtyard and told her his cultivation had stabilized and his Qiongqi Purgatory Art had reached the middle stage of the first level.
• Gong Chen Ying sparred with Li Yan and was astonished when he absorbed her stronger-than-intended strike while controlling the resulting shockwave.
• Li Yan explained that his Fragmented Poison Body had changed during his Foundation Establishment; Gong Chen Ying warned him to cultivate cautiously and learned he had reached seventh-tier Foundation Establishment.
• Li Yan told Gong Chen Ying he planned to visit his parents and seek materials for a natal magic treasure, and she agreed to accompany him.
• Gong Chen Ying said she had rejected Third Senior Brother and that she and Li Yan should make their relationship clear; Li Yan agreed, and they decided to depart the next morning.

Li Yan prepared to leave the sect with Gong Chenying, receiving generous travel gifts from Wei Zhongran and his senior brothers. He learned Zhao Min would join them, and Gong Chenying explained that she had invited her to ease the consequences of their relationship and their journey together.

• Li Wuyi gave Li Yan a pouch of spirit stones, high-grade pills, and gold from Wei Zhongran, then handed him another pouch of spirit stones as a gift from the senior siblings.
• Li Yan and Li Wuyi walked together to the sect gate, reminiscing as they crossed the ink-bamboo passage.
• Li Yan discovered that Zhao Min, who had recently advanced to the late stage of Foundation Establishment, would travel with him and Gong Chenying.
• Gong Chenying admitted she had arranged for Zhao Min to join them so their journey would look less like a private trip between a man and a woman and give their third senior brother time to calm down.
• Gong Chenying told Li Yan that she understood Zhao Min's feelings for him and regretted having come between them.

Li Yan traveled with Zhao Min and Gong Chenying toward the mortal world, after learning Zhao Min longed to experience ordinary life and Gong Chenying had decided to join them. As they flew away from the sect, Li Wuyi asked Li Yan to help ease Zhao Min’s troubled heart, while Li Yan hoped the journey would bring her peace.

• Gong Chenying told Li Yan that Zhao Min longed for mortal life and had agreed to travel with them, then reassured him after he vowed his feelings were for her and Zhao Min alone.
• Li Wuyi explained that Gong Chenying would guide the journey, and Zhao Min summoned an emerald gourd and led Li Yan and Gong Chenying away from the sect.
• Li Wuyi privately asked Li Yan to care for Zhao Min and help untie the knot in her heart as the group departed.
• Li Yan, Zhao Min, and Gong Chenying used a teleportation array and followed Gong Chenying’s directions through the sect’s territory toward the mortal world.
• As the two women chatted cheerfully during their flight, Li Yan reflected on Zhao Min’s longing and hoped the trip would help her state of mind before she returned to cultivation.

Li Yan and his two companions traveled through a chain of sects and lineages toward Great Green Mountain, using teleportation arrays and collecting hospitality along the way. After reaching a concealed array guarded by Xu An of Blood Leaf Sect, Li Yan considered the Crimson Mother Essence he had obtained and its possible origins, leaving Blood Leaf Sect with a token promising his aid three times.

• Li Yan and his companions crossed six sects and four lineages, whose cultivators treated them with deference after seeing their Phantom Sect token and sensing their strength.
• Li Yan's group arrived at Blood Leaf Sect's concealed teleportation array, where Xu An recognized their high-ranking gray token and opened the hidden exit.
• Li Yan recalled that Blood Leaf High Person had given him a piece of Crimson Mother Essence in exchange for the hope of Phantom Sect's protection.
• Blood Leaf High Person explained that he had found the stone in Pure Land Sect's Northern Underworld Demon-Suppression Tower after surviving a deadly struggle.
• Li Yan considered the stone's origins and his interest in Blood Leaf High Person's secret art, but decided not to seize the art.
• Li Yan gave Blood Leaf High Person a jade slip allowing him to call on Li Yan three times, then Blood Leaf High Person sent the group on their way through the teleportation array.

Li Yan and his companions reached the area near Green Mountain Pass and flew toward Great Green Mountain, where his family lived. After years without news, Li Yan’s family continued to miss him, and the chapter ended with Li Yan and the two women arriving at the village road.

• Li Yan checked the jade-slip map and confirmed that Green Mountain Pass lay ten thousand li away, then set off with Zhao Min and Gong Chenying on the emerald-green gourd.
• At Great Green Mountain, Li Wei harvested wheat with Uncle Chang while his wife Xiaoyu and mother brought food, and Uncle Chang grew gloomy when Fifth was mentioned.
• Li Yan’s family recalled that he had vanished after being transferred by imperial order years earlier, and that Li Wei had since married and named his son Li Wenwu, or Little Wu, in Fifth’s memory.
• Just after noon, Li Yan and the two women reached the official road outside the small mountain village and looked toward the path into Great Green Mountain.