Chapter Summaries

Qin Lu inventoried the wealth and inheritances he had obtained, while Zhang Xuan and Gongsun Zhe reacted to his breakthrough to Qi Condensation. The imperial court recognized the Qin Clan’s status and appointed Qin Lu to a commandery post, where he named the clan the Beichuan Qin Family.

• Qin Lu found hundreds of spirit stones, cultivation inheritances, law techniques, artifacts, seeds, and other valuables in the Qiankun Pouch, and planned to develop the Qin Family’s resources.
• Zhang Xuan learned that Qin Lu had reached Qi Condensation, accepted that the two families should remain allies, and ordered a more suitable Zhang Clan daughter to replace the original betrothed bride.
• Gongsun Zhe celebrated that his favor to Qin Lu had helped a future second-grade alchemist and could earn him several Qi Condensation Pills in return.
• A palace eunuch delivered the Zhou Emperor’s decree, permitting the Qin Clan to enter the commandery and appointing Qin Lu as eighth-grade Sima to advise on military defense alongside the commander.
• Qin Lu accepted the imperial decree and named his clan the Beichuan Qin Family.

Qin Lu established the Beichuan Qin Family’s control over Yingchuan County, reorganized its government and forces, and began constructing Ba City as a fortified stronghold. He authorized a second-tier Spirit Gathering Formation and asked formation master Huang to add a Mountain Guarding Formation afterward.

• After Bai Zhilang departed, Qin Lu planned to secure Yingchuan, negotiate with the Xuan River Zhang Clan, and strengthen the Qin Family’s cultivation and defenses.
• Months later, the Xuan River Zhang Clan withdrew from Yingchuan, and the imperial court formally conferred the title Beichuan Qin Family.
• Qin Lu became main Sima in the prefecture, while Zhao Gou became Yingchuan’s county magistrate and Qin Wen continued his studies in the prefecture.
• Wang Jian, Wang Ben, and Wang Li took command of the Qin Elite Soldiers, County Legion, and Black Dragon Legion, while Han Fei became county cheng and the Chen Family was pushed to the margins.
• The Qin Family transformed Bayi Town into Ba City, building walls along the mountain and river to create a fortified pass.
• Formation master Huang selected sites for a second-tier Spirit Gathering Formation, and Qin Lu approved construction and requested a Mountain Guarding Formation as well.

Huang Liang established a large Spirit Gathering Formation around the Qin clan’s territory and installed the Nine Jades Interlinked defensive formation around Muxuan Mountain. After paying for both formations, Qin Lu returned to study their controls, while Huang Liang quietly reappeared and vanished again.

• Huang Liang set up a Spirit Gathering Formation that drew Spiritual Qi into the canyon and Muxuan Mountain, warning Qin Lu that it would require long-term care to avoid exhausting the surrounding mountains.
• Huang Liang explained that cultivators breaking through within the formation could help replenish the mountains’ vital Qi.
• Qin Lu asked Huang Liang to add a comprehensive defensive formation for Muxuan Mountain, and they negotiated its price to 180 Spirit Stones.
• Huang Liang deployed the Nine Jades Interlinked formation, which combined nine functions and could block the might of Condensing Qi when operated together.
• Qin Lu paid for both formations and received their formation discs, and Huang Liang departed for Huanglian Township.
• Qin Lu returned to Muxuan Mountain to study the formations, while Huang Liang secretly reappeared nearby before vanishing once more.

Six years passed as the Daliang State weakened under threats from neighboring powers and internal conflict. At Bachuan Land, Qin Zhuang tended Spirit Deer Peak while Qin Hui developed three peaks for spirit crops and strengthened the Qin Clan’s cultivation economy.

• Six years passed as cultivators and major forces gathered around the looming conflict, while Daliang faced threats on every side and waited for its Core Formation Ancestor to die.
• Qin Zhuang managed Spirit Deer Peak, where giant deer demons bred and he spread spirit grain husks to nourish the mountain’s animals.
• Qin Hui mastered two First-Grade Spirit Plant inheritances and became a First-Grade Spirit Planter after years of research.
• Meng Ao brought his family to Ba City and offered Qin Hui an incomplete spirit plant inheritance, securing the Meng Family’s place under the Qin Clan’s protection.
• Qin Hui oversaw Five Grains Peak, Spirit Medicine Peak, and Spirit Tea Peak, where spirit crops could supply food, animal feed, basic spirit cuisine, and provisions.

The Qin Lineage organized its spirit peaks and established resources, governance institutions, and private territories for the family branches. The chapter ended with the six sects taking shape across the spirit mountains while ten peaks remained reserved for cultivation.

• The chapter described how the Qin Lineage controlled the cultivation holy land and used low- and middle-realm warriors as labor and resources.
• The Zhao Family managed Spirit Medicine Peak, where the Nine-Mystic Spirit Pagoda was cultivated to supply a key ingredient for Qi Condensation Pills.
• Qin Hui oversaw Spirit Tea Peak, where the Han Family tended Awakening Soul Tea Trees and Qin Hui’s Tea King had reached the second tier.
• Qin Xiao established the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall, Attendant Hall, and Law Enforcement Hall, along with Broad Spirit Peak for leased cave abodes and Cavern Profound Peak as his family branch’s private territory.
• Qin Wu established Military Martial Peak and Golden Sharpness Peak, Qin Wen opened Wenge Peak to house his lineage’s archives and heritage, and Qin Zhao divided his holdings between Black Dragon Peak and Dao-Seeking Peak.
• The six sects took shape across the spirit mountains, while the remaining ten peaks were left for spirit grasses, trees, and ley-line cultivation.

Qin Lu broke through to the Qi Condensation Second Layer, then tracked down and slaughtered a group of spies hiding near Ba Lake. He brought two survivors back to Muxuan Mountain’s dungeon, where the Qin Clan planned to question them and use them as blood sources.

• Qin Lu reached the Qi Condensation Second Layer but worried that his poor talent would keep him from attaining the Dao Foundation realm.
• The Qing Centipede told Qin Lu that someone had been spying on Wenge Peak, and Qin Lu followed the intruder’s trail to Ba Lake.
• Qin Lu shattered a concealed formation and attacked the group of warriors, killing most of them with the Jinyuan Needle, the Tai'e Sword, and poison.
• Qin Lu captured the two remaining survivors and took them toward Ba City while the Qing Centipede fed on the corpses.
• At Muxuan Mountain, two new prisoners arrived at the Qin Clan’s dungeon, where an interrogator urged them to confess.

Qin Lu interrogated Zhuo Wu and learned that the Floating Cloud Sword Sect was poisoning the Ba River and investigating his clan’s connection to the Cangnong Qi Clan. After verifying Zhuo Wu’s account, Qin Lu spared him temporarily and killed his fellow apprentice.

• Qin Lu intimidated two captured Floating Cloud Sword Sect disciples, and Zhuo Wu agreed to confess.
• Zhuo Wu explained that his sect planned to occupy Yingchuan County as a foothold for the coming war and had poisoned the Ba River to weaken Qin Lu’s clan.
• Zhuo Wu revealed that the sect suspected Qin Lu’s clan had inherited the Cangnong Qi Clan’s legacy after an elder acquired a Purple Rhyme Mysterious Qi Pill from Han Xuan.
• Qin Lu realized that defective pills from his early experiments had exposed clues about the Cangnong Qi Clan and considered spreading rumors to cover his past.
• Qin Lu knocked Zhuo Wu unconscious, questioned the other disciple, confirmed the account, and killed him.

Qin Lu learned that the Daliang factions were preparing a probe against Zhengyuan Dao District and made plans to protect his family before leaving with Zhuo Wen. In Longchuan, he joined a gathering of cultivators and learned that the group was divided by a clash between local clans and central authority.

• Qin Lu read the commandery governor’s letter and concluded that the proposed attack on Zhengyuan Dao District was a probe of Daliang’s strength.
• Qin Lu instructed Qin Xiao to safeguard the family, investigate the poisoned water at Ba Lake, watch for strangers, and spread embellished accounts of their lineage.
• Qin Lu warned Qin Xiao to lead his younger brothers to the frontier if necessary, then took Zhuo Wen and departed.
• Qin Lu arrived at a gathering on a peak in Longchuan Prefecture and met Huang Liang, Zhang Xuan, Gongsun Zhe, Wu Yanmian, and other cultivators.
• Huang Liang drew Qin Lu and Zhang Xuan into an isolation array and explained that the gathering’s factions reflected a conflict between local powerful clans and central authority.

Qin Lu learned how Huang Liang and Zhang Xuan planned to remain neutral amid the conflict between local lineages and imperial cultivators, then agreed to join them in targeting the Floating Cloud Sword Sect. The Myriad Li Rivers and Mountains Map transported their group to Zhuyun Space, where Zhuo Wen identified their location near his sect.

• Huang Liang explained the struggle between the local lineages, the imperial court, and cultivators caught between them, while Zhang Xuan said he had allied with Qin Lu and Huang Liang for protection.
• Qin Lu revealed that Zhuo Wen belonged to the Floating Cloud Sword Sect and proposed using him to lure out and kill the sect's two Qi Condensation cultivators; Huang Liang and Zhang Xuan agreed.
• An old man used the Myriad Li Rivers and Mountains Map to send cultivators toward their chosen targets, and Qin Lu, Huang Liang, Zhang Xuan, and Zhuo Wen entered the map together.
• The group arrived in a bamboo forest in Zhuyun Space, and Zhuo Wen explained that the Floating Cloud Sword Sect lay north of Yunmeng Marsh.

Zhuo Wen lured Ancestor Liuyun into a trap by claiming to have found a Nine-Tiered Flower, and Ancestor Liuyun personally traveled to investigate despite Xuanshan’s doubts. At Yunmeng Marsh, the Three Talents Scarlet Fire Yuan-Closing Formation sprang shut around them, and Zhang Xuan, Qin Lu, and Huang Liang attacked.

• Zhuo Wen told Ancestor Liuyun and Xuanshan that he had found a Nine-Tiered Flower and escaped a pursuing insect-monster, concealing his discovery of the Qi Household.
• Xuanshan warned that Zhuo Wen’s story was suspicious, but Ancestor Liuyun decided to investigate the alleged treasure himself.
• Ancestor Liuyun took Zhuo Wen south toward Yunmeng Marsh while Xuanshan stayed behind to guard the Floating Cloud Sword Sect.
• A Three Talents Scarlet Fire Yuan-Closing Formation trapped Ancestor Liuyun at a nameless shallow pool, revealing Zhuo Wen’s betrayal.
• Zhuo Wen vomited out a Three-Foot Qing Centipede, which released Yi Wood Toxic Miasma as Zhang Xuan, Qin Lu, and Huang Liang attacked Ancestor Liuyun.

Qin Lu, Huang Liang, and Zhang Xuan defeated Ancestor Liuyun after a perilous battle, and Qin Lu thanked the others for saving his life. They then headed for the Floating Cloud Sword Sect, where Xuanshan prepared to face them after learning his master had died.

• Ancestor Liuyun broke through the array and attacks, nearly killing Qin Lu before a soul technique and Huang Liang’s intervention saved him.
• Huang Liang and the others wore down the poisoned Ancestor Liuyun until he died, and the three men gained greater trust in one another.
• Qin Lu thanked Huang Liang and Zhang Xuan for saving him, then handed them Ancestor Liuyun’s Qiankun Pouch and magic sword.
• Xuanshan saw his master’s life tablet break, mourned him, and activated the Floating Cloud Sword Sect’s protective array.
• Xuanshan confronted the approaching Huang Liang, Zhang Xuan, and Qin Lu, demanding their names and challenging them to fight.

Huang Liang, Qin Lu, and Zhang Xuan trapped the Floating Cloud Sword Sect and killed its ancestor, Xuanshan, before breaking the sect’s defenses and flooding the mountain with poison. They discovered that some core disciples had escaped through an underground passage, but Zhang Xuan urged the attackers to withdraw after completing their raid.

• Huang Liang activated the Essence-Sealing Spirit-Locking Formation while Qin Lu unleashed his poisonous miasma against the sect’s defenses.
• Xuanshan rallied the disciples who would fight and led them out of the formation to attack the invaders.
• Huang Liang stunned Xuanshan with Soul Suppression, and Qin Lu’s Jinyuan Needle pierced him before Huang Liang killed him with a punch.
• Huang Liang and Qin Lu broke the sect-guarding formation, and Qin Lu’s poison swept through the Floating Cloud Sword Sect, killing many disciples and an elder.
• Huang Liang found that core disciples had escaped through an underground passage, and Zhang Xuan recommended withdrawing after their surprise attack succeeded.

Zhang and Huang decided to lie low while waiting for Da Zhou’s next move, as the war against Daliang escalated. Da Zhou destroyed the Zhengyuan Sect and planned to pressure the border cautiously, while Qin Xiao mobilized his forces to advance along the Ying River.

• Zhang and Huang chose to hide among common people instead of fleeing, intending to exploit the coming border conflict and seize territory if Daliang collapsed.
• At Jade Tiger Pass, a rugged commander ordered five cultivators to intercept three attackers fleeing south after the Floating Cloud Sword Sect fell, then dispatched reinforcements to the Bamboo Slip Sect.
• Elder Xia used the Nine Provinces Cauldron to break the Zhengyuan Sect’s Third-Tier array, and Ji destroyed the sect while the others searched and stood guard.
• Elder Xia sensed that Daliang’s Golden Core True Person remained stable, so he urged his allies to fortify their position and let Chiyuan State test Daliang first.
• Qin Xiao worried about his father but ordered Wang Jian, Wang Li, the Qin Elite Soldiers, and the Black Dragon Legion to march out and prepare to strike upriver along the Ying River.

Qin Xiao led the Qin Clan and its allies in launching a northern campaign against Daliang, while Da Zhou mobilized forces across its borderlands. The chapter left the invasion underway on a massive scale, with armies advancing by land, river, and air.

• Wang Jian assembled two hundred Qin Elite Soldiers and joined the Black Dragon Legion and County Legion forces preparing to march north.
• The Wang Family arranged boats and supplies, and Zhang Ruoxuan brought an army from the Xuan River Zhang Clan to join the campaign.
• Qin Xiao drew his sword at Qianlong Port and ordered the army to head north against Daliang, prompting soldiers, commoners, and Warrior forces to follow.
• Xiao He told Liu Ji that the campaign would succeed because Da Zhou was strong and prospering while Daliang was weak.
• Frontier authorities mobilized millions of troops, and Da Zhou dispatched the Xuan Prefecture, Golden Province, and Yan Province Dao Soldiers to invade Daliang from three directions.

A fleet carrying Zhang Xuan, Huang Liang, and Qin Lu sailed north along the Ying River toward the secondary battlefield. When a Daliang cultivator attacked the fleet, Zhang Xuan drew him into a duel and poison killed him, after which Huang Liang and Qin Lu discussed Huang Liang’s Spirit-Concealing Gauze.

• Seven Black Armor Crocodiles guided the fleet upstream through the Ying River and out of the mountains.
• A white-robed Daliang cultivator spotted the fleet and sent cloud soldiers to attack it.
• Zhang Xuan appeared and used a crimson fire python to destroy the cloud soldiers, then challenged the cultivator.
• The white-robed cultivator’s body grew numb from poison, and he fell to his death before Huang Liang and Qin Lu appeared.
• Qin Lu praised Huang Liang’s Spirit-Concealing Gauze, and Huang Liang explained its limits and gave him a scroll about the Spirit-Avoiding Insect.

Qin Lu planned to seize the northern shore of Yunmeng Marsh for the Qin Clan and ordered Qin Xiao to lead troops against its towns. After learning Qin Xiao’s wife was expecting the clan’s third-generation heir, Qin Lu announced the generation names and rules for entering the clan genealogy; the group then prepared to secure their new territory.

• Qin Lu gave Qin Xiao a map of Yunmeng Marsh and tasked him with conquering the populated northern shore while promising to protect him from Qi Condensation cultivators.
• Qin Xiao told Qin Lu that his wife, Zhang, was pregnant with the eldest grandson of the Qin Clan’s third generation.
• Qin Lu announced twenty generation names, starting with Ming, and said descendants needed aptitude or outstanding service to receive a generation character and enter the genealogy.
• Qin Xiao agreed to enforce clan laws and establish rules after the war, while Qin Lu, Qin Xiao, and Zhang Xuan went into hiding to watch over the troops.
• Qin Lu reflected on the cost of claiming the territory, his decision to leave the Floating Cloud Sword Sect’s legacy and the sword cultivators’ possessions to Huang and Zhang, and the inheritance texts he had copied.
• Qin Lu chose a first-tier winemaking inheritance for the Qin Clan, which could complement its expertise in Spirit Plants and pills.

Qin Lu repurposed the cultivators’ corpses to cultivate new poisons, then joined the campaign to reclaim territory from the Floating Cloud Sword Sect. As Da Zhou’s forces advanced, Zhang Liang revealed his military talent while fighting alongside Liu Ji.

• Qin Lu searched the white-robed cultivator’s corpse, used it and the sword cultivators’ remains as vessels to cultivate poison, and divided the spoils, giving Huang Liang his share of the Spirit Stones to repay his debt.
• Several days later, the fleet split into five groups and landed along the northern shore, where Wang Ben’s County Legion captured a small city and began expanding Da Zhou’s territory.
• Li Xin led one force in reclaiming towns and villages and killing Floating Cloud Sword Sect remnants, while Wang Jian led the Qin Elite Soldiers against the sect’s garrisons.
• Wang Li’s Black Dragon Legion and Liu Ji’s Hanbang force swept through enemy positions, with Fan Kuai fighting at the head of Liu Ji’s men.
• Zhang Liang directed Liu Ji’s troops through a series of attacks and withdrawals that broke the enemy formation, and Liu Ji praised him and learned that he was a disciple of the Xuan River Zhang Clan whose courtesy name was Zifang.

Qin Xiao conquered the northern shore of Yunmeng Marsh, imposed Qin rule, and reorganized the region, while Qin Lu turned Wenjian Mountain into Dao-Seeking Peak to cultivate poison. The chapter ended with Qin Lu establishing the Myriad Poisons Pool as his cultivation site.

• A blind wandering practitioner found the orphaned Wang Xu, comforted him, and took him along to help survivors.
• Qin Xiao reclaimed the prosperous northern shore, established strict laws, and granted territories to meritorious followers, including Liu Ji and the wandering practitioner.
• Qin Xiao renamed Wenjian Mountain Dao-Seeking Peak, and Qin Lu prepared it as a mountain for cultivating poisons.
• Qin Xiao allowed the Xuan River Zhang Clan's army to plunder, using the resulting resentment and later peacekeeping to strengthen Qin rule.
• Qin Lu built the Myriad Poisons Pool at Dao-Seeking Peak to nourish his Toxic Miasma Spirit Body and improve his cultivation.

Qin Lu investigated Yingchuan’s barren earth veins and considered repairing them after reaching the Dao Foundation Realm. He then received Meng Ao’s offering and recognized the treasure as possibly the heart of a fallen Wood Demon.

• Qin Lu learned from ancient records that Qin Feizi’s fall may have severed Yingchuan’s spiritual vitality and wondered whether Qin Feizi was his ancestor.
• Qin Lu considered repairing Yingchuan’s earth veins and connecting its spiritual vitality to transform the county into a cultivator’s haven.
• Qin Xiao reported the Qin Clan’s gains from Yunmeng Marsh, and Qin Lu ordered a spirit orchard and a separate spirit-beast peak to be established.
• Meng Ao visited Qin Lu and presented an unidentified treasure he believed was at least a Second-Tier spirit object.
• Qin Lu examined the dark-brown treasure and suspected it was the heart of a fallen Wood Demon.

Meng Ao sacrificed his family and himself to protect the Heart of a Wood Demon and secure a future for his son, and Qin Lu rewarded the Meng Family with land and resources. As the war’s violence spread and Jade Tiger Pass fell, Qin Lu studied the heart and concluded it came from a peak Third-Tier yang wood tree.

• Qin Lu recognized the Heart of a Wood Demon as a rare treasure suited to his Dao Foundation and questioned Meng Ao about its origins and witnesses.
• Meng Ao revealed that he had killed the mortal household where he found the heart and offered his family’s lives in exchange for a chance for a clan member to earn military glory.
• Qin Lu praised Meng Ao’s loyalty, promised protection and status for the Meng Family, and ordered him to settle his affairs before dying.
• Meng Ao transferred his position to Meng Wu, then killed himself; Qin Lu granted the Meng Family Meng Mountain, supplies, and a Qi Condensation cultivation method.
• Qin Lu’s allies raided across Zhengyuan Dao District as cultivators slaughtered civilians and armies, while Xia Yuan captured Jade Tiger Pass and Wu Yong’s Dao Foundation was sealed in its blood lake.
• Qin Lu examined the Heart of a Wood Demon and estimated it was at least three thousand years old, from a yang wood tree that had reached the peak of the Third Tier.