Chapter Summaries

Three months after Li Qiuchen vowed to seize Serene Valley, Li Yunjing advanced his cultivation and managed the Luozhen Sect as its resources and defenses grew. The sect’s prosperity remained stuck at nine, and its next major upgrades still depended on meeting further requirements.

• Li Wan rebuked Li Qiuchen for giving Li Yunjing spirit items and insulted him by comparing him to his dead brother, Li Mu; Li Qiuchen vowed to make the Li Household prosper and take Serene Valley.
• Li Yunjing reached the third level of the Greater Yin and Greater Yang True Fire Scripture and neared a breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.
• Li Yunjing collected Pure Spiritual Qi and Patriarch Incense Offering, but found that Luozhen Sect’s prosperity had stalled at nine.
• Li Yunjing gathered spirit chicken eggs and Condensed Spring Dew, while the Poultry Coop’s thirteen new chicks continued growing.
• Li Yunjing reviewed the cultivation room and mountain gate upgrades, which had strengthened the sect but left further improvements dependent on new requirements.

Li Yunjing considered upgrading the Luozhen Sect’s mountain gate to improve its Spiritual Qi, then heard Lü Hong’s report about growing chaos on Seven Ingenuities Mountain. He concluded that the six small lineages there posed little threat, leaving him confident about protecting the Wang Household.

• Li Yunjing decided to arrange construction of a Spirit Vein Pavilion and other buildings after Zhang Hongzhi finished his project.
• Zhang Hanpeng told Li Yunjing that Lü Hong had returned, and Li Yun-jing brought Lü Hong to Luozhen Hall to hear his report.
• Hu Ruizhu and Hu Ruiyang asked to travel outside the sect, and Zhang Hanpeng promised to speak to the Sect Master if they reached Mid-Stage Qi Refining.
• Lü Hong reported that rogue cultivators had gone missing on Seven Ingenuities Mountain, sparking clashes with small lineages and nearly costing the Zhao Household’s eldest young master his life.
• Li Yunjing learned that the six small lineages were weakened by a fading Spirit Vein and had no promising young members, so he judged them no threat to protecting the Wang Household.

Lü Hong reported that several Seven Ingenuities Mountain lineages were secretly growing Illusory Spirit Flowers and might be connected to bandit cultivators, prompting Li Yunjing to plan a report to the Immortal Alliance and consider how to protect the Wang Household. Mo Xuan and Shui Yao reached Foundation Establishment, and the sect’s prosperity increased as Li Yunjing planned a banquet.

• Lü Hong told Li Yunjing that the Zhao, Lu, and Tian Households were growing Illusory Spirit Flowers, while other lineages might follow suit and the Wang Household’s involvement was uncertain.
• Lü Hong reported leads suggesting bandit cultivators had instructed the Seven Ingenuities Mountain lineages to grow the flowers, and Li Yunjing decided to report the matter to the Immortal Alliance Xunxian Town Branch.
• Li Yunjing rewarded Lü Hong with Minor Merits, spirit stones, spirit chicken eggs, and Crimson Cloud Iron, then resolved to protect the Wang Household if it had stayed out of the flower trade.
• Li Yunjing sensed a spiritual Qi vortex above the cultivation rooms and guarded Mo Xuan and Shui Yao as they reached Foundation Establishment.
• Li Yunjing, Mo Xuan, and Shui Yao agreed to hold a Foundation Establishment banquet on the ninth day of the twelfth month, and a notification announced that the sect’s prosperity had increased by three.

Li Yunjing prepared for the Luozhen Sect’s Foundation Establishment banquet and upgraded several sect buildings, gaining new spiritual effects. After activating the sect-protecting formation, he decided to learn formation-building himself so he could safely deploy the Seventy-Two Sword Killing Formation.

• Li Yunjing assigned Mo Xuan, Shui Yao, and the five disciples to prepare banquet supplies while he planned to invite the Immortal Alliance, allied sects, and friendly factions.
• Li Yunjing upgraded the cultivation room to level four, adding a chance to temporarily increase comprehension during empowerment.
• Li Yunjing upgraded the Patriarch Hall to level three, giving worship a chance to produce a first-rank spiritual object.
• Li Yunjing upgraded the Poultry Coop to level four, which would eventually allow it to drop golden fertilizer and other materials.
• Li Yunjing activated the Sect Grand Hall’s protective formation around Serene Valley and considered adding the Seventy-Two Sword Killing Formation.
• Li Yunjing decided to learn formation-building himself because he did not trust outsiders with the formation diagram.

Li Yunjing visited Xunxian Town to report suspected bandit cultivators on Seven Ingenuities Mountain and invite allies to the Luozhen Sect’s Foundation Establishment Banquet. Wang Qianxue revealed her past with Li Yunjing’s late master, and Li Yunjing ended the chapter meeting Jiang Chuan to commission a second-tier Spirit Artifact.

• Li Yunjing invited Su Zhen to the Luozhen Sect’s Foundation Establishment Banquet after telling him that two more members of the sect had reached Foundation Establishment.
• Li Yunjing told Wang Qianxue that disciples had found suspected bandit cultivators growing forbidden Illusory Spirit Flowers on Seven Ingenuities Mountain, and Wang Qianxue promised to investigate and alert him if the lineages were involved.
• Li Yunjing invited Wang Qianxue to the banquet, and she revealed that she and Nangong Chengyu had once nearly become dao companions before his dangerous search for a millennial vermilion fruit ended their relationship.
• Li Yunjing invited Jin Wuxu, Li Mingjie, and other acquaintances in Xunxian Town to the banquet, then went to the Hundred Artifacts Pavilion to find Jiang Chuan and commission a second-tier Spirit Artifact.
• Jiang Chuan welcomed Li Yunjing and asked what cultivation realm he had reached.

Li Yunjing visited Jiang Chuan to have a Yin-Yang Primordial Magnet Stone checked and commissioned a second-grade magic sword. He invited Jiang Chuan and Gu Lin to the Luozhen Sect’s Foundation Establishment banquet and proposed that the Hundred Artifacts Pavilion become a branch of the sect, leaving Gu Lin curious and Li Yunjing determined to pursue the idea.

• Li Yunjing revealed that he had reached Foundation Establishment, then asked Jiang Chuan to inspect the Yin-Yang Primordial Magnet Stone; Jiang Chuan found nothing wrong with it.
• Li Yunjing commissioned Jiang Chuan to forge a fire-aligned second-grade magic sword for three hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones.
• Li Yunjing told Jiang Chuan that he, Mo Xuan, and Shui Yao would celebrate their Foundation Establishment breakthroughs at a Luozhen Sect banquet on December ninth, then encouraged Jiang Chuan to join the sect.
• Li Yunjing proposed that Jiang Chuan bring the Hundred Artifacts Pavilion into the Luozhen Sect as a branch, but Jiang Chuan warned him that his master might hear.
• Gu Lin entered, heard Li Yunjing’s proposal, and asked what benefits the Luozhen Sect could offer; Li Yunjing invited him to the banquet and said time would prove the value of joining.
• Li Yunjing left the Hundred Artifacts Pavilion determined to eventually add the Luozhen Sect’s name to its sign.

Li Yunjing invited several sects to the Luozhen Sect’s Foundation Establishment banquet, then set out to invite the alchemist Ding Qifeng. On the way, he rescued Departing Maple Sect disciples from bandit cultivators and summoned the Immortal Alliance; its reinforcements arrived, led by Huo Junrui.

• Li Yunjing told Zhang Yuan to invite Zhang Hongzhi to the Luozhen Sect’s Foundation Establishment banquet, then invited four sects, which all agreed to attend.
• Li Yunjing remembered Ding Qifeng, a second-grade alchemist and friend of Nangong Chengyu, and headed toward his location to invite him.
• Li Yunjing discovered Qi Refining cultivators fighting and used his Foundation Establishment Divine Sense and arcane light to capture the bandits and save the Departing Maple Sect disciples.
• Xu Taihong identified the bandits as cultivators from Purple Bamboo Pool, but Li Yunjing could not get useful answers from them.
• Li Yunjing contacted the Immortal Alliance through his token and waited with Xu Taihong and the other disciples for help.
• A flying ship arrived, and Huo Junrui emerged before Li Yunjing.

Li Yunjing visited Ding Qifeng at Pill Furnace Mountain to invite him to the Luozhen Sect’s joint Foundation Establishment banquet and received guidance on alchemy. After Ding agreed to attend, Li Yunjing asked him to join the sect as its chief alchemist.

• Li Yunjing handed bandit cultivators from Purple Bamboo Pool over to Huo Junrui, who also promised to report the Departing Maple Sect disciples’ bravery.
• Li Yunjing reached Pill Furnace Mountain and was admitted to Ding Qifeng’s courtyard.
• Li Yunjing invited Ding Qifeng to the banquet celebrating his and his junior siblings’ Foundation Establishment; Ding learned Li Yunjing had achieved Heaven Grade Foundation Establishment.
• Ding Qifeng accepted the invitation and answered Li Yunjing’s questions about alchemy.
• Li Yunjing invited Ding Qifeng to join the Luozhen Sect as its chief alchemist.

Li Yunjing asked Ding Qifeng to join the Luozhen Sect, and Ding agreed if the sect could supply the rare spirit medicines he needed for pill refining. Li Yunjing bought ingredients for Jade Lingzhi Pills at Pill Furnace Mountain and returned to find Mo Xuan and the disciples making dinner.

• Li Yunjing asked Ding Qifeng to join the Luozhen Sect, and Ding agreed on the condition that the sect could meet his pill-refining needs.
• Li Yunjing searched the Pill Furnace Mountain market for spirit medicines to cultivate and use in pill refining.
• Li Yunjing bought a Golden Yang Lingzhi and an Azure Flame Flower from Lei Yang for seventy-five Low-Grade Spirit Stones, then invited him to bring future finds to the Luozhen Sect.
• Li Yunjing returned to the Luozhen Sect and found Mo Xuan cooking dinner with Zhang Hanpeng and the other four disciples.

Li Yunjing learned that the Wang Household was threatened by the Zhao Household and the Heavenly Star Bandits, then agreed to intervene after Wang Shanming revealed the Wang Household had severed ties with the bandits. He sent Mo Xuan to assist the Wang Household and began preparing to refine Jade Lingzhi Pills.

• Li Yunjing studied the Jade Lingzhi Pill Formula and planned to refine pills using Golden Yang Lingzhi, Azure Flame Flower, and Moon Flow Radiance.
• Wang Shanming arrived at the Luozhen Sect and begged Li Yunjing to protect the Wang Household from the Zhao Household.
• Li Yunjing confronted Wang Shanming about the Zhao Household planting Illusory Spirit Flowers and discovered the Wang Household had expelled members who secretly planted them.
• Wang Shanming revealed the Heavenly Star Bandits had pressured the local lineages and planned to help the Zhao Household attack the Wang Household that night.
• Li Yunjing agreed to intervene and sent Mo Xuan and Wang Shanming to Xunxian Town to seek assistance through the Immortal Alliance.
• Li Yunjing retrieved Moon Flow Radiance from the Patriarch Hall and activated the Alchemy Chamber to begin refining pills.

Li Yunjing refined two ordinary Jade Lingzhi Pills, then confronted Golden-Feathered Eagles attacking the Luozhen Sect’s spirit birds and marked them so he could capture their flock later. He advanced to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage and waited anxiously for Mo Xuan, who returned at dawn after investigating a possible attack on the Wang Household.

• Li Yunjing refined seven Jade Lingzhi Pills, but five were ruined and two were usable; reviewing his mistakes improved his confidence in refining them again.
• Lü Hong alerted Li Yunjing to trouble at the Poultry Coop, where three Golden-Feathered Eagles were fighting the Green-Headed Cranes and guinea fowl.
• Li Yunjing restrained the eagles, marked them, and let them escape so he could find and capture their whole flock for the Luozhen Sect.
• Li Yunjing cultivated through the night and advanced from the Foundation Establishment Early Stage to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.
• Li Yunjing waited for Mo Xuan, concerned about a possible Zhao Household and Heavenly Star Bandits attack on the Wang Household; Mo Xuan returned at seven in the morning, and Li Yunjing told him to rest before important business.

Mo Xuan reported that the Wang Household had become a subordinate of the Luozhen Sect, and Li Yunjing approved its contract. After visiting his late master Nangong Chengyu's grave, Li Yunjing found an unsent letter addressed to Wang Qianxue in the cottage.

• Mo Xuan told Li Yunjing how the Immortal Alliance captured the Heavenly Star Bandits and punished the six lineages that attacked the Wang Household.
• Mo Xuan presented the Wang Household's contract, and Li Yunjing approved it and stamped it with the Luozhen Sect's seal for preliminary signing.
• Lin Xuan arrived to cook for the Foundation Establishment Banquet and gave Li Yunjing a small gift, which Li Yunjing sent to the Scripture Repository.
• Li Yunjing left Shui Yao in charge and visited Nangong Chengyu's grave to pay his respects.
• Li Yunjing tidied Nangong Chengyu's cottage and found a letter addressed to Wang Qianxue, then decided to read it.

Li Yunjing found Nangong Chengyu’s long-undelivered apology letter to Wang Qianxue, then hosted a Foundation Establishment Banquet that drew several influential guests. Wang Qianxue arrived with Huo Junrui and new Immortal Alliance deacon Li Jie, who praised Li Yunjing’s actions against the bandit cultivators and said they would discuss the matter after the banquet.

• Li Yunjing found Nangong Chengyu’s apology letter to Wang Qianxue in his master’s cottage and took it with him.
• Li Yunjing welcomed Departing Maple Sect leader Su Zhen and his party, then received Treasure Gathering Pavilion shopkeeper Luo Qiyuan at the banquet.
• Li Yunjing greeted second-rank Alchemist Ding Qifeng, who agreed to stay longer at the Luozhen Sect.
• Li Yunjing waited at the mountain gate for Wang Qianxue, who arrived with Huo Junrui and new Immortal Alliance deacon Li Jie.
• Li Jie praised Li Yunjing for his handling of the bandit cultivators and said they would talk after the banquet.

Li Yunjing hosted the Luozhen Sect’s Foundation Establishment Banquet, where guests sought new dealings and alliances with the sect. The Immortal Alliance deacons revealed that Li Yunjing’s help had earned their branch a commendation and the chance to expand.

• Li Yunjing welcomed Wang Qianxue, Huo Junrui, and Li Jie, then announced the banquet and toasted his guests.
• Luo Qiyuan asked to buy more spiritual chicken eggs, explaining their value and warning that the Golden Scale Sect was interested; Li Yunjing agreed to provide fifty eggs.
• Su Zhen asked Li Yunjing to form an alliance with the Departing Maple Sect, and Li Yunjing said he would consider it.
• Li Jie told Li Yunjing that the bandit cultivators he had handed over helped the Immortal Alliance crack a major case, earning its Xunxian Town branch a commendation and permission to expand.

At Li Yunjing’s Foundation Establishment banquet, Huo Junrui publicly revealed that Li had achieved Heaven-Grade Foundation Establishment, while Wang Qianxue explained that reporting it earlier could have improved the Luozhen Sect’s Immortal Alliance rating. Wang then disclosed the Heavenly Star Bandits’ activity and organized the gathered factions to help destroy their den.

• Huo Junrui learned that Li Yunjing had reached Heaven-Grade Foundation Establishment and announced it to everyone at the training ground.
• Wang Qianxue used Li’s Immortal Alliance Token to reveal that the Luozhen Sect had risen to a lower-middle rating, but would have to wait a year before applying for another assessment.
• Wang Qianxue told the banquet guests that six lineages on Seven Ingenuities Mountain had grown Illusory Spirit Flowers for the Heavenly Star Bandits, and that Li Yunjing had reported the danger.
• Wang Qianxue revealed that the Immortal Alliance had captured two Heavenly Star Bandits and learned they were recruiting rogue cultivators at a nearby den.
• Li Yunjing and the other gathered factions agreed to cooperate in eliminating the bandit den and await the Immortal Alliance’s orders.

After the guests departed from the Luozhen Sect’s Foundation Establishment Banquet, Wang Qianxue read a letter from Li Yunjing’s master, Nangong Chengyu, and revealed that his death may not have been caused by illness. Li Yunjing suspected that someone had poisoned Nangong Chengyu, but he did not know who or why.

• Jin Wuxu, Luo Qiyuan, and Jiang Chuan left the Luozhen Sect with their companions, and Jiang Chuan warned Li Yunjing that Gu Lin might resent him while forging his artifact.
• Li Yunjing told Jiang Chuan he still intended to bring the Hundred Artifacts Pavilion into the Luozhen Sect within a year.
• Li Yunjing gave Wang Qianxue the letter from Nangong Chengyu, and she asked where his grave was after reading it.
• Wang Qianxue told Li Yunjing that Nangong Chengyu’s death had another cause, explaining that his medicinal spirit physique made illness unlikely.
• Li Yunjing considered the evidence and suspected that Nangong Chengyu had been killed by a rare, high-grade poison.

Wang Qianxue told Li Yunjing she would continue investigating Nangong Chengyu’s death, while Li Yunjing focused on hosting Ding Qifeng at the Luozhen Sect. Ding Qifeng improved the Alchemy Chamber’s array and taught Li Yunjing to refine True Condensation Pills, then noticed the pills turned out differently than expected.

• Wang Qianxue promised to investigate Nangong Chengyu’s death and urged Li Yunjing to rebuild the Luozhen Sect before leaving for Nangong Chengyu’s grave.
• Li Yunjing gave Ding Qifeng and his two alchemy attendants private guest rooms in his cave abode.
• Ding Qifeng corrected an array pattern at the Alchemy Chamber, improving its spirit flame and reducing Spirit Stone consumption.
• Ding Qifeng taught Li Yunjing how to refine True Condensation Pills, with Li Yunjing assisting during the process.
• Ding Qifeng collected the finished pills and noticed their quality differed from what he expected, giving him new ideas for refining them more efficiently.

Li Yunjing learned that the Alchemy Chamber was improving Ding Qifeng’s pill-refining insights and distributed the Foundation Establishment banquet gifts among the Luozhen Sect. The next day, he set out for Xunxian Town to plan building upgrades and buy supplies, weighing those costs against the materials needed for a sword formation.

• Ding Qifeng noticed that refining pills in the Alchemy Chamber gave him deeper insights, while Li Yunjing kept the chamber’s effects mysterious.
• Li Yunjing listed Ding Qifeng’s eight True Condensation Pills for exchange and entrusted them to Mo Xuan for safekeeping.
• Shui Yao showed Li Yunjing the banquet gifts, including 5,673 Low-Grade Spirit Stones and several spiritual items, and he rewarded her and the five disciples with Spirit Stones.
• Li Yunjing planned to upgrade the sect’s buildings and later establish structures such as a Heroic Spirit Monument and a Luozhen Sect market.
• The next morning, Li Yunjing left Mo Xuan in charge and headed to Xunxian Town to buy a formations primer, consider building upgrades, and assess the cost of materials for the Seventy-Two Sword Killing Formation.

Li Yunjing visited the Treasure Gathering Pavilion to buy materials for upgrading buildings at the Luozhen Sect and received Heaven-Character VIP status. Luo Qiyuan then told him the Golden Scale Sect had learned about the spirit chicken eggs, and Li Yunjing agreed to meet them and discuss cooperation.

• Li Yunjing noticed cultivators in Xunxian Town treating him with admiration after news spread of the Luozhen Sect’s three Foundation Establishment cultivators and his Heaven-Grade Foundation Establishment.
• Duan Yang gave Li Yunjing a Heaven-Character VIP Token issued by the Heaven and Earth Treasure Gathering Pavilion and escorted him to the third floor.
• Li Yunjing ordered materials to upgrade the scripture library, Disciple Quarters, training grounds, Alchemy Chamber, and herb garden.
• Luo Qiyuan explained that the Golden Scale Sect wanted to meet Li Yunjing because wild Golden-Feathered Eagles had told them about the spirit chicken eggs.
• Li Yunjing suspected the eagles he had encountered at the Poultry Coop had revealed the eggs and agreed to meet the Golden Scale Sect.

Li Yunjing collected materials from the Treasure Gathering Pavilion using his new hundred-thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stone credit limit, then spotted and bought a damaged pagoda that might contain a sect’s core inheritance. He left Xunxian Town and hurried back to the Luozhen Sect with the pagoda and his purchases.

• Duan Yang told Li Yunjing that his Heaven-Character VIP Token came with a hundred-thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stone credit limit and gave him a Storage Bag for free.
• Li Yunjing obtained the materials he needed, along with twenty-four first-grade Law Swords, one second-grade Law Sword, and introductory formation books.
• Li Yunjing noticed an inscription on a damaged pagoda at a street stall suggesting it held a Dao lineage’s true inheritance, then bought it for sixty-three Low-Grade Spirit Stones.
• After Li Yunjing left, cultivators rushed to buy the vendor’s remaining Law Artifacts, believing his patronage proved they were valuable.
• Li Yunjing left Xunxian Town using Wind-Riding Escape and hurried back to the Luozhen Sect.