Chapter Summaries

Li Yunjing visited the Wushan Luozhen Sect, reunited with its sect master Fang Tong, and offered support to its struggling disciples. Fang Tong refused to leave Black Mountain until the Red Saber Sect was driven from the Luozhen Sect’s ancestral grounds, and Li Yunjing offered to handle them.

• Li Yunjing learned that the Wushan Luozhen Sect had twenty-seven disciples and introduced himself to sect master Fang Tong and five elders.
• Fang Tong and the elders confirmed their shared Luozhen Sect heritage and learned that Li Yunjing’s master, Nangong Chengyu, had died two years earlier.
• Li Yunjing distributed fifty Low-Grade Spirit Stones to each of the Wushan Luozhen Sect’s twenty-seven disciples and described the Qingyou Luozhen Sect’s prosperity.
• Li Yunjing invited Fang Tong and his sect to reunite with the Qingyou Luozhen Sect, but Fang Tong insisted on reclaiming their ancestral grounds from the Red Saber Sect first.
• Fang Tong said the Red Saber Sect had three Foundation Establishment Perfection cultivators, and Li Yunjing declared that he would deal with them.

Li Yunjing revealed that he was a Middle Golden Core cultivator and led Fang Tong and the Wushan Luozhen Sect back to reclaim their ancestral grounds from the Red Saber Sect. On their return, Fang Tong and the elders discovered that the Tree Ancestor and other key parts of the sect’s protective formation had disappeared.

• Li Yunjing told Fang Tong and the others that his cultivation was at the Middle Golden Core stage, reassuring them that the Red Saber Sect posed no threat.
• Fang Tong ordered the disciples to pack the important belongings, and Li Yunjing led the group from Flying Dragon Stronghold toward the Luozhen Sect’s ancestral grounds.
• Li Yunjing and Fang Tong’s group reached the Red Saber Sect’s gate, where Li Yunjing declared that he had come to reclaim the Luozhen Sect’s grounds.
• After entering the sect, Fang Tong and the elders noticed that the Tree Ancestor, Patriarch Wang’s stone statue, and other parts of the Luozhen Sect’s grounds were gone.

Li Yunjing confronted the Red Saber Sect for seizing the Qingyou Luozhen Sect’s ancestral land and killed its leader. Fang Tong chose to spare most of the sect, but Li Yunjing executed those responsible for Fang Yi’s death and declared the Red Saber Sect destroyed.

• The Red Saber Sect leader attacked Fang Tong, but Li Yunjing shattered his Law Technique and revealed he had come to reclaim the Luozhen Sect’s ancestral land.
• Li Yunjing killed the Red Saber Sect leader and summoned the sect’s members before him.
• Li Yunjing gave Fang Tong the choice of how to deal with the gathered sect, and Fang Tong decided to spare most of them.
• Fang Tong identified the two Foundation Establishment Perfection members and those who had killed Fang Yi, and Li Yunjing killed them.
• Li Yunjing warned the survivors that the Red Saber Sect had been destroyed and forbade them from acting in its name.

Li Yunjing and Fang Tong reclaimed the Luozhen Sect’s ancestral land and discussed the sect’s lost inherited Secret Methods and hidden treasures on Middle Wu Mountain. After learning the cache could be opened with Fang Tong’s key, Li Yunjing considered retrieving it, while Hong Xiuyuan reported that the Red Saber Sect had destroyed several important sites and their treasures were missing.

• Li Yunjing drove the Red Saber Sect members from the ancestral land, and Fang Tong welcomed him into Luozhen Hall.
• Li Yunjing asked Fang Tong about the Luozhen Sect’s inherited Secret Methods, and Fang Tong explained that its hidden treasures and most methods had been sealed on Middle Wu Mountain.
• Fang Tong gave Li Yunjing the three remaining third-grade Secret Methods, and Li Yunjing decided he wanted to retrieve the hidden treasures despite the dangers.
• Fang Tong said he had the key to open the cache’s seal and warned Li Yunjing that they might not be able to protect the treasures.
• Hong Xiuyuan reported that the Red Saber Sect had destroyed the Tree Ancestor, Wind Thunder Hall, and Golden Lock Hall, where the Luozhen Sect had enshrined two fourth-grade Law Treasures.

Li Yunjing learned about the Wind Thunder Pearl’s departure and the Luozhen Sect’s golden locks, which raised the possibility that his master, Nangong Chengyu, was still alive in his tomb. He helped Fang Tong’s people agree to join the Qingyou Luozhen Sect, then refused an invitation from three Golden Core cultivators.

• Fang Tong explained that the Wind Thunder Pearl had fled after the Luozhen Sect failed to supply enough Wind Thunder Sand, while the golden lock remained in his possession.
• Li Yunjing recognized the lock as identical to one Nangong Chengyu had handled, and Hong Xiuyuan said Luozhen records spoke of nine locks that could supposedly bring the dead back to life.
• Li Yunjing wondered whether Nangong Chengyu had used his lock to preserve his life, but hesitated to open his master’s coffin because it would be disrespectful if he was mistaken.
• Fang Tong and the Wushan Luozhen Sect’s elders and disciples agreed to leave Black Mountain and merge with the Qingyou Luozhen Sect.
• As the group left the sect, three Golden Core cultivators invited Li Yunjing to visit them, but he declined.

Li Yunjing returned to Flying Dragon Stronghold and met a group of impoverished cultivators seeking work with the Luozhen Treasure Pavilion. He agreed to send assessors to Black Mountain, leaving Fang Tong concerned about trusting Rogue Cultivators.

• Fang Tong criticized the Golden Core cultivators who had left, and Li Yunjing reminded him that people often acted that way.
• Li Yunjing and his companions returned to Flying Dragon Stronghold, where Rogue Cultivators and sect leaders asked him for a way to survive.
• A cultivator explained that his friends had prospered by partnering with the Luozhen Treasure Pavilion and asked Li Yunjing to arrange similar cooperation.
• Li Yunjing said partners needed an exceptional skill, and the cultivator introduced Fellow Daoist Meng, an inheritor of the Seven Embroideries Pavilion who could make robes.
• The cultivator offered to have his group handle the earlier stages of robe production, and Li Yunjing agreed to send people to assess them in about five days.
• Fang Tong questioned whether Li Yunjing would employ the group if they passed, warning that Rogue Cultivators could not be trusted too much.

Li Yunjing brought Fang Tong and the others back toward the Luozhen Sect while Ding Qifeng formed his Golden Core, triggering breakthroughs among the sect's disciples. Ding Qifeng promised three days of free spiritual pills before welcoming the returning Sect Master.

• Li Yunjing collected the Luozhen Sect's belongings from the Flying Dragon Stronghold with Fang Tong and the others, then bought a flying ship for their return.
• Ding Qifeng's core formation manifested a giant Pill Furnace and golden rain that raised every disciple in the Luozhen Sect by at least one minor realm.
• Mo Xuan and Shui Yao reached the Foundation Establishment Late Stage, while Hu An and Wang Shanming entered Foundation Establishment.
• Ding Qifeng emerged as a Golden Core True Person and received congratulations from the Luozhen Sect's disciples.
• Ding Qifeng announced that he would refine pills for three days and distribute spiritual pills for free.
• Ding Qifeng spotted the approaching flying ship and welcomed the Sect Master back to the sect.

Li Yunjing welcomed the people from the Luozhen Sect's ancestral land into the Qingyou Luozhen Sect, where they were astonished by its rich Spiritual Qi and honored its patriarchs. He proposed organizing the sect into multiple halls, and the gathered leaders agreed while Li Yunjing sent someone to seek Gu Lin's opinion.

• Li Yunjing returned to the Luozhen Sect and learned that Ding Qifeng, Mo Xuan, Shui Yao, Hu An, Wang Shanming, and the other disciples had advanced in cultivation.
• Li Yunjing explained that the people aboard the flying ship came from the ruined Luozhen Sect's ancestral land, then brought them down to join the Qingyou Luozhen Sect.
• Fang Tong and the others marveled at the sect's Spiritual Qi and buildings, met its leaders, and paid their respects in the Patriarch Hall.
• Fang Tong offered to step down as sect master, and Li Yunjing proposed creating several halls to organize the sect and assign its elders.
• Mo Xuan, Shui Yao, Ding Qifeng, Fang Tong, and the five elders from the Wushan Luozhen Sect agreed to Li Yunjing's proposal, and Li Yunjing sent someone to ask Gu Lin for his opinion.

Li Yunjing organized the Luozhen Sect into several halls and appointed their masters. After the others departed, he considered the sect’s remaining priorities, but Mo Xuan returned to ask how disciples would be assigned to the halls.

• Li Yunjing established the Pill Refining Hall under Ding Qifeng and the Artifact Refining Hall under Gu Lin, assigning the Hundred Artifacts Pavilion’s disciples to the latter.
• Li Yunjing appointed Fang Tong to lead the Discipline Hall, and Fang Tong asked that Hong Xiuyuan and the other four elders be assigned elsewhere; Li Yunjing said they would initially help manage the hall.
• Li Yunjing appointed Mo Xuan to the Battle Hall and Shui Yao to the Hundred Affairs Hall.
• Li Yunjing planned a Spirit Plant Hall led temporarily by Ding Qifeng to guide Nangong Ye, and made himself temporary master of the Beast Taming Hall.
• After the hall plans were approved, Li Yunjing asked Mo Xuan to summon Liu Qingsong and the others to arrange construction, then considered retrieving the secret treasury and checking his master’s grave.
• Mo Xuan returned and asked Li Yunjing how disciples would be assigned to the halls.

Li Yunjing explained his plans for hall disciples and their cultivation arts, then upgraded the Patriarch Hall after Hu An and Wang Shanming reached Foundation Establishment. Fang Tong revealed that Fang Hexuan had once visited the Wushan Luozhen Sect while seeking a secret treasure, but Li Yunjing still had no way to meet the patriarch.

• Li Yunjing told Mo Xuan that outer and inner disciples could join halls through selection or examinations, while True Disciples would be divided into hall and sect ranks.
• Li Yunjing said the sect’s seven core Dao arts would remain available to all True Disciples, while he would seek or deduce separate inherited arts for the halls.
• Li Yunjing learned that Hu An and Wang Shanming had reached Foundation Establishment and went to upgrade the Patriarch Hall.
• Fang Tong told Li Yunjing that Fang Hexuan had once returned to the Wushan Luozhen Sect to ask about a secret treasure, then disappeared after going there.
• Li Yunjing explained that Fang Hexuan had appeared only in his dreams, and Fang Tong left after paying respects to the patriarch’s portrait.
• Li Yunjing met the Patriarch Hall’s requirements and upgraded it to level five.

Li Yunjing upgraded the Patriarch Hall and Spirit Fields after Chen Xing became a first-grade spirit farmer and Ge Shuyuan’s group cultivated a new spirit-rice variety. He then visited Nangong Chengyu’s grave and prepared to open the coffin to learn whether his master was alive or dead.

• Li Yunjing upgraded the Patriarch Hall, which gained stronger spiritual effects and a chance to permanently increase disciples’ Root Bone.
• Zhang Hanpeng told Li Yunjing that Chen Xing had become a first-grade spirit farmer, completing half the Spirit Fields’ upgrade requirements.
• Ge Shuyuan and Zhang Hanpeng showed Li Yunjing a new spirit-rice variety whose mature crops were at least fifty percent higher quality, though its success rate remained low.
• Li Yunjing upgraded the Spirit Fields and told Ge Shuyuan to keep expanding their area.
• Li Yunjing visited Nangong Chengyu’s grave, made offerings, and said he intended to open the coffin to verify whether his master was alive or dead.

Li Yunjing opened his master Nangong Chengyu’s grave and discovered that the gold lock had preserved his life. He gave Nangong Chengyu the Hundred Star Dew, which began purging the poison, and returned to the Luozhen Sect with his master secured in his storage ring.

• Li Yunjing concealed the gravesite with a formation, dug up Nangong Chengyu’s grave, and opened the stone coffin.
• Li Yunjing confirmed that Nangong Chengyu wore a gold lock identical to Fang Tong’s, but could initially sense no sign of life.
• Nangong Chengyu opened his eyes twice in response to Li Yunjing, confirming that he was still alive.
• Li Yunjing tested the Gold Spirit Pill, then gave Nangong Chengyu the Hundred Star Dew after his master responded to it.
• Nangong Chengyu told Li Yunjing to guard him for three days while the poison was purged, and Li Yunjing restored the grave and returned to the Luozhen Sect.

Li Yunjing waited for Nangong Chengyu to recover, then learned that his master had survived but lost his cultivation and could never use Law Power again. After catching up and discussing the unknown poisoner, Nangong Chengyu insisted on revealing that he was alive and asked Li Yunjing to bring him a golden lock.

• Li Yunjing stayed in his cave abode and cultivated for three days while Nangong Chengyu healed inside the stone coffin.
• Nangong Chengyu emerged from the coffin, and Li Yunjing discovered that poison had ruined his meridians and left him without cultivation.
• Li Yunjing told Nangong Chengyu about his achievements and the Luozhen Sect, then urged him to make amends to Wang Qianxue.
• Li Yunjing asked whether the Su Household had poisoned Nangong Chengyu, but Nangong Chengyu said he did not know who had done it.
• Nangong Chengyu asked Li Yunjing to show him the sect and declared he would let his enemies know he was alive.
• Nangong Chengyu told Li Yunjing that there was something he should know and asked him to bring the golden lock; Li Yunjing handed it to him.

Nangong Chengyu revealed that the Longevity Lock could resurrect him as long as it remained intact, then reunited with Mo Xuan and toured the Luozhen Sect. The chapter ended with Ding Qifeng confronting him and suspecting that a corpse monster had taken his body.

• Nangong Chengyu told Li Yunjing that the Longevity Lock granted immortality and warned him to keep its secret from everyone else.
• Li Yunjing showed Nangong Chengyu the Luozhen Sect and explained its recent changes, attributing them to Ancestor Fang Hexuan.
• Mo Xuan encountered Nangong Chengyu, verified his identity with a private childhood secret, and learned that his master had returned.
• Nangong Chengyu praised Mo Xuan and learned that he and Shui Yao had become dao companions, so Mo Xuan went to tell her the news.
• Ding Qifeng entered Luozhen Hall, questioned Nangong Chengyu's return, and suspected that a corpse monster had occupied his body.

Nangong Chengyu convinced Ding Qifeng that he was truly alive by recalling their private past, then reunited with Shui Yao. Li Yunjing brought Nangong Ye to the Luozhen Grand Hall, where she saw her father and called out to him.

• Li Yunjing shielded Nangong Chengyu from Ding Qifeng's presence, and Nangong Chengyu proved his identity by recalling their private pact and visit to the Drunken Spring Pavilion.
• Ding Qifeng accepted that Nangong Chengyu was himself and asked why he had faked his death, but Nangong Chengyu said he could not explain yet.
• Shui Yao rushed into the hall and embraced Nangong Chengyu, while Ding Qifeng and Li Yunjing gave them privacy.
• In the medicine garden, Nangong Ye told Li Yunjing that the yellow dragon ginseng had warned her of a robber stealing earth Qi underground.
• Li Yunjing told Nangong Ye that her father was alive and brought her to the Luozhen Grand Hall, where she saw Nangong Chengyu and called, "Dad!"

Li Yunjing planned to search the Luozhen Sect’s hidden treasure for clues about the nine golden locks and sought Wang Qianxue’s help after Xiao Tianxing said he was unavailable. Wang Qianxue arrived at the Spirit Cuisine Pavilion, where Li Yunjing prepared to reveal that Nangong Chengyu had returned to life.

• Fang Tong suggested that the Luozhen Sect’s hidden treasure might contain clues to the other seven golden locks, and Li Yunjing decided to visit it before the Five Towns Grand Competition.
• Xiao Tianxing told Li Yunjing he could not accompany him, but revealed that Wang Qianxue had formed her core and would soon leave seclusion; he also said Zhang Jianchen would attend the competition.
• Li Yunjing contacted Wang Qianxue, asked whether she could accompany him to the hidden treasure, and hinted that Nangong Chengyu was no longer in his grave.
• The Luozhen Sect’s disciples celebrated Nangong Chengyu’s return and treated the Hall of Rebirth as a holy place, while Li Yunjing kept the true cause secret.
• Li Yunjing brought Nangong Chengyu to the Spirit Cuisine Pavilion, where a disciple told him that Wang Qianxue had arrived to see him.
• Wang Qianxue anxiously asked Li Yunjing whether Nangong Chengyu’s body had been stolen, and he led her toward the pavilion, promising a surprise.

Wang Qianxue reunited with Nangong Chengyu after learning he had come back to life, and the two reconciled. The next morning, Li Yunjing, Fang Tong, and Wang Qianxue departed for the Black Mountain Secret Treasury, whose location Fang Tong knew.

• Li Yunjing led Wang Qianxue to Nangong Chengyu, and she reunited with him and Nangong Ye.
• Li Yunjing explained that the Luozhen Sect's founding ancestor had intervened to bring Nangong Chengyu back to life, and Wang Qianxue accepted the explanation.
• Li Yunjing and the others shared Hou Zihao's spirit dishes, and Wang Qianxue and Nangong Chengyu resolved their differences in private.
• Wang Qianxue agreed to travel to Black Mountain with Li Yunjing, and Fang Tong said the treasury's location had been passed down to Wushan Luozhen Sect leaders.
• The next morning, Li Yunjing, Fang Tong, and Wang Qianxue left the Luozhen Sect aboard Wang Qianxue's Fish Boat, while Nangong Chengyu stayed behind.

Li Yunjing inspected the Dharma robe workshop at the Luozhen Sect's ancestral grounds before traveling with Fang Tong and Wang Qianxue to the secret treasury. Fang Tong activated the formation between two mountains, and golden and rainbow light flooded the entrance.

• Li Yunjing arrived at the Luozhen Sect's ancestral grounds and met Guan Xingzhou, who showed him the Heavenly Silk Silkworm breeding area and Dharma robe workshop.
• Li Yunjing examined the Flowing Firelight robe, approved of Guan Xingzhou's work, and encouraged the Rogue Cultivators to keep working hard.
• Li Yunjing, Fang Tong, and Wang Qianxue crossed the strange-rock boundary, where Fang Tong explained that the stone people had Stone Disease and some had petrified into rocks.
• Fang Tong led Li Yunjing and Wang Qianxue between the two mountains that guarded the secret treasury and explained that the Luozhen Sect's founding ancestor had built a formation there.
• Fang Tong activated a stone disc, causing the formation to rumble and golden and seven-colored light to surge from the mountain peaks.

Li Yunjing, Wang Qianxue, and Fang Tong entered the Luozhen Sect’s hidden treasury and found Three-Lives Life-Restoring Pills, while outsiders gathered at its entrance. After discovering the treasury’s three suns were the Luozhen Sect’s Three Sun Wheels, they heard a voice ask whether they were cultivators of the sect.

• Fang Tong explained that the treasury’s spectacular appearance was meant to announce the Luozhen Sect’s return, and Li Yunjing, Wang Qianxue, and Fang Tong entered before he shut its door.
• Three streaks of light reached the mountains outside and decided to wait for the hidden treasury to open again.
• Li Yunjing, Wang Qianxue, and Fang Tong found three Three-Lives Life-Restoring Pills, and Li Yunjing gave one to Wang Qianxue in exchange for a treasure from her father.
• Li Yunjing collected the remaining pills and the jade tray, then searched the hall with Fang Tong before they went outside.
• Fang Tong recognized the three cultivation-enhancing suns as the Luozhen Sect’s Three Sun Wheels, and an unknown voice confirmed it and asked whether they were cultivators of the Luozhen Sect.

Li Yunjing and his companions met Fang Hexuan, the Luozhen Sect patriarch who had been trapped in the hidden treasure for nearly eight hundred years and had reached Spirit Transformation. Fang Hexuan helped preserve Li Yunjing’s secret, learned of the threat to Nangong Chengyu, and led them to the hidden treasure’s remaining riches as they sought a way out.

• Fang Hexuan appeared before Li Yunjing, Fang Tong, and Wang Qianxue, and Li Yunjing recognized him as the Luozhen Sect patriarch.
• Li Yunjing told Fang Hexuan how the sect had declined and later recovered, while Fang Tong credited the sect’s wonders to Fang Hexuan; Fang Hexuan understood Li Yunjing’s lie and agreed to support it.
• Fang Hexuan explained that the hidden treasure had pulled him inside when he sought a way to enter it, and revealed that its resources had helped him reach Spirit Transformation.
• Li Yunjing told Fang Hexuan about Nangong Chengyu’s Longevity Lock, and Wang Qianxue privately identified those responsible, prompting Fang Hexuan to promise they would settle the score.
• Fang Hexuan led the group to the remaining treasures and explained that he could not enter the hall containing the Three-Lives Life-Restoring Pill or find a way out.
• Li Yunjing, Fang Tong, and Wang Qianxue were stunned by the vast trove of treasures laid across the place.