Recaps

Tang Yuan escaped Ascension City’s destruction by using the Mystic Spoon to hide in the Demon Realm, then returned three months later to find the island beneath the sea. After meeting Wu Ningning and learning she had survived because he sent her away, he resolved to cultivate faster and reconsidered whether his children should cultivate immortality.

• Tang Yuan killed the young Devil Cultivator and burned the bun shop owner’s family, then realized True Person Qin’s formation had trapped everyone in Ascension City.
• True Person Qin revealed his plan to consume the city’s inhabitants, while the Song Household’s patriarch rescued five Song youths, including Song Ping'an, after Song Ping'an reminded him of an Honored Guest Privilege Slip.
• Tang Yuan summoned Tang Yi, sent him to the Demon Realm, and escaped through the Mystic Spoon as True Person Qin and the patriarch sank Perching Clouds Island and Ascension City beneath the sea.
• After hiding in the Demon Realm for three months, Tang Yuan returned to the Human Realm, landed in the sea, and learned from Hou Fei that Perching Clouds Island had sunk.
• Tang Yuan met Wu Ningning, who thanked him for sending her away but still charged him for the Moon Jade Radiance, and he resolved to improve his cultivation and consider having his children cultivate immortality.

Tang Yuan considered whether his four children should take the Aperture-Opening Pills Hou Fei had made, knowing the pills carried a future body-possession price. He decided to let the children choose and planned to visit them that night, while his sons distributed crayfish meat in Dangwu Village.

• Hou Fei explained that the ten Aperture-Opening Pills could let Tang Yuan’s four non-cultivating children open their Innate Apertures, but recipients would owe her half their souls and one spirit and might later lose their bodies to her.
• Tang Yuan decided his children would choose whether to take the pills and said he would return to Dangwu Village that night.
• Hou Fei warned Tang Yuan to keep his distance from any children who chose to cultivate so his karmic ties would not endanger them.
• Tang Yuan recalled arranging for Tang Tiansong and his siblings to kill a stunned giant crayfish and share its meat with the village.
• Tang Tianshu led his brothers through Dangwu Village, beating a bronze gong and inviting villagers to receive crayfish and tofu.

Tang Tiansong and his siblings distributed crayfish meat to Dangwu Village, where Zhou Lixin defended their generosity and helped move the reluctant villagers along. Tang Tiansong revealed he had brought Yu Wei home after she saved his life and hoped to marry her, while Tang Tiandong worried about the consequences for the family’s engagement to the Ye Household; then Zhou Lixin summoned Tang Tiansong to meet the old village chief.

• Tang Tianshu announced the crayfish beast’s origins and the family’s decision to share its meat with the village.
• Tang Tiansong distributed crayfish meat while some villagers complained about the small portions and the danger of hunting in Three Graves Mountain.
• Zhou Lixin defended the Tang Household, then helped Tang Tiandong hurry past villagers who hesitated to accept their share.
• Tang Tiansong told Tang Tiandong that Yu Wei had saved him and had offered to become his concubine, but he wanted to make her his wife.
• Tang Tiandong worried that Tang Tiansong’s plans would anger the Ye Household, to which he was engaged.
• Zhou Lixin came to fetch Tang Tiansong because the old village chief had something important to discuss.

Tang Tiansong learned that Dangwu Village still had to send one of his younger brothers to the rat demon, so he agreed to seek a cultivator’s help in Huai’an City using five jade bottles his father had left behind. After leaving the village chief’s house, Tang Tiansong collapsed in his courtyard.

• Zhou Yi told Tang Tiansong that the village’s lot required one of his fifth or sixth brothers to be offered to the rat demon within two months.
• Zhou Yi explained that the demon rat was at most as strong as a sixth-layer Meridian Opening cultivator and proposed hiring a rogue cultivator to kill it.
• Tang Tiansong refused to involve his absent father and promised to kill the demon rat, though he admitted he was only a mortal.
• Tang Tiansong told Zhou Yi about the five jade bottles of Spiritual Qi his father had left and agreed to take them to Huai'an City to hire help.
• Zhou Yi advised Tang Tiansong to offer one bottle first and pay the rest only after the cultivator killed the demon rat.
• Tang Tiansong returned home, wished he could cultivate immortality like his father, and collapsed in his courtyard after a wave of dizziness.

Tang Yuan left home after entrusting Tang Tiansong with family responsibilities, cultivation supplies, and the Mystic Spoon, whose immortal could grant the siblings Aperture-Opening Pills at a cost. Tang Tiansong and his siblings chose to cultivate, while Hou Fei prepared to give them time to reconsider and privately planned around Tang Tianya’s future.

• Tang Yuan told Tang Tiansong that he and his siblings could cultivate with the Mystic Spoon Immortal Venerable’s help, but warned that the Immortal would take part of their souls and later possess one of them.
• Tang Yuan left cultivation supplies for his children and Tang Miao, asked Tang Tiansong to protect their family, and departed north on his flying shuttle.
• Tang Tiansong, Tang Tianlan, Tang Tianzi, and Tang Tiandong summoned the Mystic Spoon Immortal Venerable and asked for guidance in beginning cultivation.
• Hou Fei revealed that Tang Jincan was spying from a hill, then knocked him unconscious when Tang Tiandong and Tang Tianzi wanted to punish him.
• The four siblings said they had decided to cultivate, but Hou Fei gave them another cup of tea to reconsider and explained how difficult cultivation could be.

The four Tang siblings chose to cultivate immortality to protect their household and Dangwu Village from mortal and immortal threats. After receiving Aperture-Opening Pills and resources from Tang Yuan, they discovered that his cultivation manual for Tang Miao was a higher grade than theirs, and Tang Tiandong proposed using the Seven Stars Sword to kill Tang Jincan.

• Tang Tiansong, Tang Tianzi, Tang Tianlan, and Tang Tiandong resolved to cultivate immortality because their family and village faced threats from rival lineages and Western Rong savages.
• The four siblings asked the Earth Flood Dragon, Hou Fei, for Aperture-Opening Pills, and he made them Aperture Openers after taking half a soul and one spirit from each.
• Hou Fei gave Tang Tiansong a Jade Slip containing the secret method Burning Life, Dream Unfinished, then withdrew into the Mystic Spoon to cultivate.
• Tang Tiansong distributed Tang Yuan's cultivation resources and explained that their father had left them one hundred and nine Spirit Stones, a Seven Stars Sword, and other supplies.
• Tang Tiandong noticed that Tang Miao had received the lower-tier fifth-grade Spirit Mystic Jade Flow Art, while the siblings had the upper-tier sixth-grade Spirit Pivot Sand Flow Art; Tang Tiansong insisted they follow Tang Yuan's arrangements.
• Tang Tiandong asked to borrow the Seven Stars Sword so he could kill Tang Jincan and dedicate his blood to the blade.

Tang Tiansong decided to protect Jin Can despite his mistreatment of the family and planned to hire a cultivator to kill the demon rat. The next morning, Cui Xueyong visited with gifts and revealed that he had found a Qi Refining cultivator willing to kill it for free.

• Tang Tiandong urged Tang Tiansong to punish Jin Can for bullying Tang Miao and Tang Jin Feng, but Tang Tiansong planned to rescue and warn him instead.
• Tang Tiansong decided to take Tang Tianzi, Tang Tianzi, and Tang Tiandong to Huai'an City to seek help against the Meridian Opening Sixth Layer demon rat, while worrying that hiring a Qi Refining cultivator would cost ten Spirit Stones.
• Cui Xueyong arrived at dawn with two golden black carp, pork, sweets, and five jin of spirit rice, saying he had come to seek Tang Tiansong's martial arts advice and visit Tang Tianzi.
• Tang Tiansong refused to let Cui Xueyong give the Tang Household the valuable spirit rice, so Cui Xueyong agreed to take it back.
• Cui Xueyong formed a soundproof barrier and told Tang Tiansong that he had found a Qi Refining First Layer cultivator who would kill the demon rat for free.

Tang Tiansong and Cui Xueyong discussed the Tang siblings’ sudden ability to cultivate, and Cui explained that a century-old crayfish could have opened Tang Tianzi’s aperture. Tang Tiansong set out with Tianzi for Huai'an City to hire help against the demon rat, while Tang Tianlan and Tang Tiandong searched the back mountain for the spirit mansion mentioned in Tang Yuan’s letter.

• Cui Xueyong noticed Spiritual Qi in Tang Tiansong and explained that eating a century-old crayfish could open a Late Aperture Opener’s Innate Aperture.
• Cui Xueyong offered to ask his family’s guest elder to kill the Meridian Opening Sixth Layer demon rat, but Tang Tiansong said he would first seek a cultivator in Huai'an City.
• Tang Tiansong arranged for Tang Miao to keep Cui Xueyong occupied while he and Tang Tianzi prepared to leave.
• Tang Tiansong and Tang Tianzi used Spirit Gathering Pills and Divine Travel Talismans to travel swiftly toward Huai'an City.
• Tang Tiansong and Tang Tianzi passed several cultivation households and villages on their route toward Pingyang Commandery.

Tang Tiansong and Tang Tianzi struggled to choose what to buy with their limited Spirit Stones, then visited Cui Household Village to seek help with killing the Demon Rat. There, Cui Xueyong defied his family’s arranged marriage and insisted he would marry Tang Tianzi.

• Tang Tiansong and Tang Tianzi learned that hiring a cultivator to kill the Demon Beast cost more than their household could afford, so they bought several basic Law Technique Jade Slips and headed home.
• Tang Tiansong told Tang Tianzi to conceal their father’s wealth and planned to test Second Uncle’s three sons with Aperture Recognition Pills before buying them cultivation manuals.
• Tang Tianzi asked to buy the Purple Lightning Pellet Talisman Secret Technique and proposed using their Great Kun Moonlight Spiritual Qi to refine powerful talismans.
• Tang Tiansong agreed to buy the technique if it remained unsold after they killed the Demon Rat, even if he had to give up buying cultivation techniques for himself.
• Tang Tiansong and Tang Tianzi presented Cui Lihai with a Red-banded Snake beast core and gold, and Cui Lihai questioned whether the Cui Household had any reason to deal with their poor household.
• Cui Xueyong declared that he would marry Tang Tianzi rather than accept his family’s arranged marriage, threatening to become a monk if they refused.

Cui Xueyong defied his father, Cui Lihai, to insist on marrying Tang Tianzi, while Tang Tiansong sought the Cui Household’s help against a demonic rat. The households signed a contract for the Cui Household’s guest elder to kill it, with Tang Tianzi agreeing to marry Cui Xueyong if the Tang Household failed to repay ten Spirit Stones within five years.

• Cui Xueyong argued that he should be allowed to marry the woman he chose, and Cui Xuebin challenged whether Tang Tianzi met the family’s requirements.
• Tang Tiansong said his father was a Rogue Cultivator at the Middle Stage of Qi Refinement and confirmed that the four eldest Tang siblings had opened their [Innate Apertures].
• Cui Xueyong asked Cui Lihai to help the Tang Household by sending the Cui guest elder to kill the demonic rat.
• Cui Lihai offered the guest elder’s services for the beast core and ten Spirit Stones, and Tang Tiansong proposed paying five now and ten more within five years.
• Tang Tianzi agreed to marry Cui Xueyong if the Tang Household could not pay within five years, and Cui Xuebin added that Xueyong must take at least five concubines.
• The Cui and Tang households signed a spirit Incantation contract, exchanged five Spirit Stones, and agreed on a time to kill the demonic rat.

Tang Tiansong planned to earn Spirit Stones by hunting Demon Beasts, while the Tang siblings began cultivating in Carefree Cave. He accompanied Shen Kun to confront a demon rat, then the chapter shifted to the siblings cultivating at home as Tang Tiansong waited outside the mine.

• Tang Tiansong reassured Tang Tianzi that she would not have to marry Cui Xueyong against her wishes and proposed hunting low-level Demon Beasts to earn Spirit Stones.
• Tang Tianlan and Tang Tiandong found a spirit spring cave abode behind Dangwu Village and named it Carefree Cave, where the siblings began cultivating.
• Tang Tiandong discovered that he had an Earth Spirit Root, and Tang Tiansong reached the Meridian Opening First Layer after cultivating for over a month.
• Tang Tiansong led Shen Kun to the demon rat's cave and explained how the beast had terrorized the miners and demanded tribute.
• Shen Kun entered the mine to kill the Meridian Opening Sixth Layer demon rat while Tang Tiansong waited outside, prepared for the possibility that Shen Kun might fail.
• At Carefree Cave, Tang Tianlan gave up her turn cultivating inside to Tang Tiandong because the spirit spring could support only two or three cultivators at once.

Tang Tiansong learned that Shen Kun had lied about killing the demon rat, and the wounded beast attacked him outside the mine. Badly injured and unable to escape, Tang Tiansong ran into the mine with the demon rat close behind.

• Tang Tianlan told Tang Tiandong that the family needed to seek stronger cultivation opportunities, and Tang Tiandong revealed that Tang Tiansong had ordered the family to flee if he failed to return by midnight.
• Shen Kun emerged from the mine with the demon rat's severed tail, claimed he had killed the beast, and made Tang Tiansong sign a spirit incantation contract.
• After Shen Kun left, Tang Tiansong began burying the villagers' remains near the mine entrance.
• The demon rat appeared alive, and Tang Tiansong realized Shen Kun had only cut off its tail and lied about killing it.
• The demon rat shattered Tang Tiansong's golden shield and tore open his chest, forcing him to flee into the mine with the beast pursuing him.

Tang Tiansong escaped a demon rat in the coal mine by using explosive talismans and the tunnel traps, while Tang Tiandong and Tang Tianzi rushed to help after Tang Tianya foresaw his danger. The siblings suspected the Golden Yang Gate had sent the demon rat to weaken villages near Gazing Dragon Lake while pursuing a great fortuitous opportunity near Dangwu Village.

• Tang Tiansong collapsed a mine tunnel with an explosive talisman, then used a map of the tunnels to plan against the pursuing demon rat.
• Tang Tianya saw a vision of Tang Tiansong bleeding while a large rat chased him, prompting Tang Tiandong and Tang Tianzi to go to the mine despite Tang Tiansong's warning.
• Tang Tiandong and Tang Tianzi reached the coal mine and found Tang Tiansong unharmed after he had lured the demon rat into a steel-spike trap.
• Tang Tiansong said Shen Kun had failed to kill the demon rat and reported that it had spoken of the Golden Yang Gate deliberately placing it near the villages.
• Tang Tiandong and Tang Tiansong suspected the Golden Yang Gate was seeking the great fortuitous opportunity expected near Dangwu Village in ten or twenty years.

Tang Tiansong, Tang Tianzi, and Tang Tiandong survived the Demon Rat and cleared the coal and copper mines of low-level Demon Beasts with the Mystic Spoon’s help. As they headed home, Tang Tianzi chose to save a dying white short-tailed cat, while Tang Tiandong argued that they should take its beast core.

• The Mystic Spoon killed the Demon Rat with a single attack after Tang Tiandong charged at it holding the spoon.
• Tang Tiansong urged Tang Tianzi and Tang Tiandong to focus on cultivation so the Tang Household could claim the coming opportunity near Dangwu Yuan.
• The siblings harvested the Demon Rat and asked the Earth Flood Dragon inside the Mystic Spoon to clear the Demon Beasts from the coal mine.
• The Earth Flood Dragon also helped them clear the copper mine, and they finished near sunset.
• Tang Tianzi cradled a dying white short-tailed cat rescued from the mine, and she refused Tang Tiandong’s suggestion to take its beast core.

After the Tang family celebrated Tang Tiansong’s victory over the Demon Rat, Miao recognized the white short-tailed cat as Tang Qilang and ordered it killed. The cat revealed its intelligence and addressed Miao as its godmother, leaving the Tang siblings wondering how their absent father was connected to it.

• Tang Tiansong told Miao that Tang Miao could cultivate, that he had reorganized the village night patrol, and that he planned to develop the coal and copper mines.
• Tang Tianya brought the white short-tailed cat to the gathering, and Miao recognized it as a vicious beast and urged Tang Tiansong to kill it.
• Tang Tiansong restrained the cat while Tang Tianlan attacked it with the Seven Stars Sword, but the cat caught the blade and blasted Tang Tiansong away.
• The short-tailed cat spoke in human language, and Miao asked whether it was Tang Qilang.
• Tang Qilang knelt and greeted Miao as his godmother, prompting the six Tang siblings to wonder whether their father was involved.

Tang Tiansong learned that the creature they had rescued was Tang Qilang, a white lynx from Three Graves Mountain and the siblings’ father’s godson. He proposed that Qilang guide the Tang siblings through the mountain to hunt Demon Beasts and find resources, and Qilang agreed in exchange for more pills from Tang Yuan.

• Miao explained how Tang Yuan had spared the lynx years earlier, leading him to take Miao and Tang Yuan as godparents and receive the name Tang Qilang.
• Qilang transformed into a young man, greeted the six Tang siblings, and revealed that he had let a demon rat capture him so he could eventually eat its beast core.
• Tang Tiansong gave Qilang the demon rat’s beast core and later asked whether he knew Three Graves Mountain well.
• Tang Tiansong proposed that the four siblings hunt Demon Beasts and search for treasures with Qilang guiding them in return for an equal share of their gains.
• Qilang accepted but asked Tang Tiansong to request more of Tang Yuan’s pills, saying he could wait as long as a hundred years.

Tang Yuan returned to Golden Shell Island and began alternating cultivation in the Human Realm and Demon Realm while waiting for Li Bai to emerge from seclusion. Later, Tang Tiansong arrived at the Ye Household to break off his engagement, and Ye Hailiang reacted angrily as Tiansong apologized.

• Tang Yuan reached Golden Shell Island after more than three months of travel and decided to cultivate there for four years before returning to the Holy Cardamom Sect.
• Tang Yuan spent half of each month cultivating on Golden Shell Island and the other half improving his cultivation in the Demon Realm.
• Tang Tiansong told Tang Miao he planned to break off his engagement to the Ye Household's second daughter because he loved Yu Wei and intended to marry her.
• Tang Tiansong offered Tang Miao half his time in Carefree Cave and warned him to keep their cultivation resources secret, especially from Tang Jincan.
• Tang Tiansong and Tang Miao met Ye Hailiang at the Ye Household, where Ye Hailiang resented the broken engagement and Tang Tiansong apologized.

Tang Tiansong dissolved his engagement to the Ye Household by agreeing to pay sixteen Spirit Stones, hoping to protect Ye Hailiang’s daughter from the stigma of becoming a widow if he died on Three Graves Mountain. Later, he inspected Gazing Dragon Lake and found evidence that its soil could support life if he found a source of water.

• Tang Tiansong apologized to Ye Hailiang and offered compensation to end the engagement, while Tang Miao explained that Tang Tiansong planned to risk his life hunting Demon Beasts on Three Graves Mountain.
• Ye Hailiang demanded sixteen Spirit Stones, and Tang Miao protested and threatened the Ye Household, but Tang Tiansong agreed to pay.
• Ye Hailiang accepted the compensation and dissolved his daughter’s engagement to Tang Tiansong, who hoped to marry Yu Wei openly in a few years.
• On the second day of the second month in 4038, Tang Tiansong examined the barren site where Tang Yuan had tried to establish a cultivation land beside Gazing Dragon Lake.
• Tang Tiansong found fine earth and fragments of roots and plants in the sand, and concluded that the land could become fertile if he found a source of water.

Tang Tiansong diverted spring water from Dangwu Mountain to reclaim farmland around Boxwood Cottage while he and his siblings spent years cultivating and hunting Demon Beasts in Three Graves Mountain. By 4040, Tang Tianya had begun cultivation and Cui Xueyong was courting Tang Tianzi, while Tang Tianlan remained uninterested in marriage.

• Tang Tiansong organized Dangwu Village to channel Wenqu Spring to Boxwood Cottage and built up the residence and surrounding farmland.
• Tang Tiansong and the white lynx hunted Demon Beasts together in Three Graves Mountain, and Tang Tiansong gradually learned to trust the lynx.
• Tang Tiansong later brought Tang Tianlan, Tang Tianzi, and Tang Tiandong to hunt with him, while Tang Tiandong and Tang Miao cultivated in Carefree Cave.
• At age nine, Tang Tianya swore a Mystic Incantation oath, surrendered half a soul and one spirit, and took an Aperture-Opening Pill to begin cultivating.
• In 4040, Cui Xueyong teased Tang Tianzi about marriage, and Tang Tianlan suggested he formally ask for her hand; Tang Tianzi said he should wait, while Tang Tianlan said she had no interest in romance.

Cui Xueyong recognized that Tang Miao’s feelings for his cousin Sister Tianlan were unsettling his cultivation and warned that they could lead to Qi Deviation. He advised Tang Miao to study at Emptiness and Form Temple, leaving him considering Buddhist teachings as a way to calm his heart.

• Cui Xueyong confronted Tang Miao about his romantic feelings for Sister Tianlan, and Tang Miao admitted he loved her despite their being paternal cousins.
• Cui Xueyong explained how Tang Miao’s childhood gratitude and closeness to Sister Tianlan had shaped his feelings, and warned that Qi Deviation could corrupt his nature and endanger her family.
• Tang Miao resolved to train diligently and help Sister Tianlan, while saying he would take his own life if he sensed Qi Deviation coming.
• Cui Xueyong recommended that Tang Miao visit Emptiness and Form Temple to study its calming scriptures as a lay practitioner.
• Cui Xueyong described the five major paths of cultivation and mocked Buddhist disciples’ restrictions on marriage, meat, and wine.

Tang Tiansong explained that he was rushing his cultivation and seeking Qi Refining Stage pills to prepare the Tang Household for a coming opportunity near Dangwu Village. Cui Xueyong hinted that a marketplace selling such pills was nearby, leaving the Tang siblings wondering what he meant.

• Tang Miao and Cui Xueyong returned to the others after Tang Miao agreed to cook dinner.
• Tang Tiandong warned Tang Tiansong that his rapid cultivation and heavy use of pills could ruin his chances of Foundation Establishment.
• Tang Tiansong said he wanted to gain strength before a great fortuitous opportunity appeared near Dangwu Village in about ten years.
• Tang Tiansong told Cui Xueyong that Qi Refining Stage pills were scarce and that the white lynx had warned them against killing too many Qi Refining Stage Demon Beasts.
• Cui Xueyong claimed a marketplace where they could obtain Qi Refining Stage pills was right on the Tang Household's doorstep, confusing the Tang siblings.

Cui Xueyong told the Tang siblings about the Purple Moon Lake Market in the center of Gazing Dragon Lake, where they could sell beast cores and buy supplies despite the desert’s cultivation-restricting formation. Tang Tiansong learned that entry cost one Spirit Stone, with goods accepted as collateral, and that the market’s founder protected visitors within five hundred li.

• Cui Xueyong explained that a cultivators' market stood at Purple Moon Islet, an oasis formed around a spring in the center of the Gazing Dragon Lake Desert.
• Cui Xueyong recounted the legendary battle in which the Great Sage Immortal Lord and the divine dragons had fought the heavenly devil, leaving Gazing Dragon Lake dried up and its dragons extinct.
• Tang Tiansong hoped the market would let him sell future Qi Refining Stage beast cores, since the Tang Household needed Spirit Stones for weapons, pills, talismans, and formations.
• Tang Tiandong questioned Cui Xueyong about the dragons he had seen in Huai'an City, and Cui Xueyong distinguished the Long Household’s giant dragons from the extinct divine dragons.
• Tang Tiansong asked about the market’s admission fee, and Cui Xueyong said visitors paid one Spirit Stone or offered goods as collateral and received protection within five hundred li of the market.

Tang Tiandong, Tang Tianya, and Cui Xueyong visited Purple Moon Lake Market to learn prices and sell beast cores, then confronted a stall owner who falsely accused Tang Tianya of breaking dragon egg fossils. The chapter ended as Tang Tiandong considered how to respond to the attempted scam.

• Tang Tiansong sent Tang Tiandong and Cui Xueyong to Purple Moon Lake Market to sell beast cores and told them to bring Tang Tianya along.
• The Earth Flood Dragon noticed a Purple Jade Huang appear when Tang Tiandong mentioned the Great Sage Immortal Lord, the Divine Dragon, and the Heavenly Demon, then sent a strand of Divine Sense into Tang Pingan's soul.
• Tang Tiandong, Tang Tianya, and Cui Xueyong traveled by flying boat to Purple Moon Islet, paid three Spirit Stones for admission, and explored the market.
• The three sold their beast cores for twenty-eight Spirit Stones, and Tang Tiandong calculated how much they might earn by hunting Demon Beasts.
• A stall owner accused Tang Tianya of breaking three Divine Dragon egg fossils and demanded ten Spirit Stones, though Tang Tianya had not touched them.
• Tang Tiandong questioned Cui Xueyong, learned the stall owner had pushed the fossils over, and tightened his grip on Azure Edge.

Tang Tiandong and the others encountered a scammer selling dragon egg fossils at Purple Moon Lake Market, but a masked cultivator named Tong Lingling intervened. Tang Tianya chose three defective fossils, which the Earth Flood Dragon’s split consciousness recognized as unusual before falling dormant.

• Tang Tiandong considered paying Feng San for the dragon egg fossils until Tong Lingling accused Feng San of swindling customers and explained the fossils’ uses.
• Tong Lingling revealed she had repeatedly bought fossils hoping to hatch a giant dragon, then told Tang Tianya that Feng San’s fossils were suitable for medicine but could not hatch dragons.
• Feng San identified Tong Lingling as a member of the Tong Household and sold Tang Tiandong seven Spirit Stones’ worth of fossils.
• Tang Tianya chose three second-grade fossils, and when no first-grade fossils remained, Tang Tiandong let him take three defective ones instead.
• The Earth Flood Dragon’s split consciousness sensed that one red, one green, and one purple defective fossil glowed unusually, made Tang Tianya pick them, and then fell dormant.

Tang Tiansong expanded the Tang Household’s influence while balancing its military and mining needs against the welfare of its people. As he considered cultivating the life-burning method to protect his clan, he argued against overworking the villagers and left the household’s growth dependent on patience and their support.

• The Earth Flood Dragon infused Great Kun Moonlight into three fossilized dragon eggs, and they showed faint signs of vitality.
• By year 4041, Tang Tiansong had made Dangwu Village the center of a town governing five settlements, with 30,951 people and 3,000 full-time soldiers.
• Tang Tiansong considered cultivating Burning Life, Dream Unfinished, a Qi Refining method that sacrificed the cultivator’s life for the Tang Household.
• Tang Tiandong returned from the mines and reported that Tang Miao had spent three months at Emptiness and Form Temple, though he continued sending letters.
• Tang Tiandong proposed increasing coal and copper production to gain more Spirit Stones, but Tang Tiansong warned that squeezing the villagers could divide the clan and drive people away.