Chapter Summaries

The annual review confirmed that the Qin Clan’s territories were stable and Yingchuan’s spiritual vitality was slowly recovering. In his cave, Qin Lu refined poisons and corpse puppets while advancing his alchemy, leaving him able to barely make second-tier True Essence Pills as he prepared to refine Qi Condensation Pills.

• Zhang Han earned military merit by defending trade routes and purging evil entities and Bandit Cultivators, and the Qin Clan rewarded him with land to establish his lineage and Dao tradition.
• The annual review council ended after reports showed the territories were stable, infrastructure was complete, and the Ying River network was drawing wealth and settlers into Yingchuan.
• Qin Lu developed a hundred poisons, strengthened his poison sword arts, created the Five Poison Corpse Puppets, and expanded his Poison Cloud Technique.
• Qin Lu reached the Fifth Layer of Qi Condensation and recorded ways to improve his second-tier alchemy after examining his thirty-seventh attempt at a True Essence Pill.
• Qin Lu began barely succeeding at refining second-tier True Essence Pills, while the Qin Clan gathered ingredients and Gongsun Zhe supplied the Qi Condensation Pill Formula in hopes of receiving pills later.

Qin Lu received a recording of Qi Condensation Pill refinement and began studying it, while Qin Wu prepared to break through to Qi Condensation at Golden Sharpness Peak. The chapter left Qin Wu and Huang Ning’er together at the peak as their young sons watched them curiously.

• A green messenger snake delivered Qin Lu a Jade Slip, a recording stone, and a Qiankun Pouch filled with spirit medicines and poisonous materials.
• Qin Lu examined the recording and discovered that Gongsun Zhe had preserved demonstrations of several cultivators successfully refining high-grade Qi Condensation Pills.
• Qin Lu decided to study the recordings and arrange for the Zhang and Huang clans and the Hundred Arts Office to provide more ingredients before he refined pills.
• Qin Wu prepared to use Golden Sharpness Peak’s metal essence, a Gold-Transforming Spirit Fruit, and other treasures to support his breakthrough once Qin Lu refined a Qi Condensation Pill.
• Huang Ning’er offered to ask her family for Stone Crystal, but Qin Wu reassured her that he would make his breakthrough without her sacrificing her dignity.
• Qin Mingyue and Qin Mingzheng watched curiously as Qin Wu and Huang Ning’er were together at the peak.

Qin Hui approached Qi Condensation through his bond with the Tea King, while Cloud Dream Mountain’s Mr. Mengyu gave cryptic directions to a Zhang Clan messenger and a fake monk. The fake monk met with Mr. Mengyu, who pointed him toward the west or south.

• Qin Xiao hesitated over using the [Cauldron Primordial Dao-Seeking Method], while Qin Zhao and Qin Zhuang prepared for Qi Condensation through their spirit beasts.
• Qin Hui reached True Martial Completion with the Tea King’s nourishment and devoted himself to plants and alchemy, becoming half a wood demon.
• Lady Han left Spirit Tea Peak with her children after her twins were born without aptitude, while Qin Hui became known as a prodigy under Han Fei’s tutelage.
• Wang Xu told Mr. Mengyu that a fake monk and a member of the Xuan River Zhang Clan had come seeking an audience.
• Mr. Mengyu told the Zhang clansman to head west, and the man accepted the advice and returned to Pei City.
• Mr. Mengyu welcomed the fake monk, spoke with him at length, and advised him to seek Great Western Heaven or travel south toward the Vermilion Bird’s fire.

A fake monk sought direction from Mr. Mengyu, who told him to follow his own heart as he traveled south. Months later, Qin Lu successfully refined seven Qi Condensation Pills and began planning how to use them and his clan’s resources to enrich and strengthen the Qin Clan.

• Mr. Mengyu told the fake monk that the Great Western Heaven and Southern Bird Fire depended on his own heart and choices, and the fake monk descended the mountain and headed south.
• Qin Lu refined his first batch of Qi Condensation Pills, producing three pills, then began another batch.
• After several days, Qin Lu completed a second batch of four pills, bringing the total to seven, and planned to conceal some from the other Households.
• Qin Lu planned to auction a Qi Condensation Pill to attract factions, promote the Qin Clan, and develop a cultivation market on its territory.
• Qin Lu decided to profit from the female cultivators he had kept under control and reasoned that the Qin Clan’s prosperity justified sacrificing a few people for the welfare of the many.

The completed Qi Condensation Pill drew powerful clans and cultivators toward Yingchuan, while the Beichuan Qin Family’s ability to produce the pills promised to strengthen its lineage. At Golden Sharpness Peak, Qin Wu used the pill and several spiritual resources to break through to Qi Condensation.

• Zhang Xuan, Huang Liang, Gongsun Zhe, Mr. Mengyu, and Wang Xu set out for Yingchuan after hearing that the Qi Condensation Pill was complete.
• The Beichuan Qin Family’s supply of Qi Condensation Pills was described as a way to preserve its succession of Qi Condensation cultivators and support even disciples with weaker aptitude.
• Qin Wu prepared for his breakthrough at Golden Sharpness Peak with a Qi Condensation Pill, Stone Crystal, Soul-Awakening Tea, Calm-Spirit Incense, and other resources.
• Qin Wu used the Cauldron Primordial Dao-Seeking Method to raise his aptitude before beginning his breakthrough.
• After his progress stalled, Qin Wu swallowed the Gold-Transforming Spirit Fruit, refined his True Essence into spiritual liquid, and successfully broke through to Qi Condensation.

Qin Wu reached Qi Condensation, prompting praise from the gathered clan leaders and Gongsun Zhe. Qin Lu then proposed auctioning a Qi Condensation Pill and holding a joint gathering, leaving Gongsun Zhe cautiously willing to cooperate.

• Qin Wu achieved Qi Condensation at Golden Sharpness Peak as spiritual phenomena gathered around the mountain.
• Zhang Xuan praised Qin Wu and reflected on how the Zhang Clan lagged behind the Huang and Qin Clans in wealth and inherited arts.
• Gongsun Zhe praised Qin Wu’s Metal Dao talent and potential as an artifact refiner or sword cultivator.
• Qin Lu invited Huang Liang, Zhang Xuan, and Gongsun Zhe to Welcoming Guests Peak and gave each a Qi Condensation Pill.
• Qin Lu announced that he would auction the remaining pill in a year and asked the others to spread the news, prompting Gongsun Zhe to worry about the Hundred Arts Office and Longchuan Bazaar.
• Qin Lu offered Gongsun Zhe a sword and proposed that the clans and Hundred Arts Office cooperate in a gathering every ten years, and Gongsun Zhe agreed to proceed so long as Longchuan was not harmed.

Qin Lu commissioned Gongsun Zhe to reforge Tai'e into a Law Treasure Proto-embryo, then agreed to give Mr. Mengyu a Qi Condensation Pill in exchange for divining the Qi Clan's remnants. Mr. Mengyu broke through on Wenge Peak and revealed a vision of a young swordsman at sea, suggesting that Qi was hiding in the Abyss Sea.

• Qin Lu gave Gongsun Zhe spiritual materials and Spirit Stones to reforge Tai'e into a Law Treasure Proto-embryo, promising him a Qi Condensation Pill as well.
• After the others left, Mr. Mengyu met Qin Lu privately and offered to locate the Qi Clan's remnants in exchange for a Qi Condensation Pill.
• Qin Lu accepted Mr. Mengyu's proposal, and Mr. Mengyu chose to break through on Wenge Peak, promising Rosy Cloud Spirit Rain if he succeeded.
• Mr. Mengyu gathered Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi and completed his Qi Condensation breakthrough in a quarter of an hour without consuming the pill.
• Mr. Mengyu used divination to reveal a young swordsman aboard a ship in the Abyss Sea and told Qin Lu that Qi was hidden there like a flood dragon.

Meng Yu pledged Cloud Dream Mountain’s allegiance to the Qin Clan after reaching Qi Condensation, while the Qin Family’s growing influence drew attention across Da Zhou. Qin Xiao later sent Qin Zhao to the coast to investigate the Cangnong Qi Clan and establish a foothold, as a formation concealed Spirit Tea Peak.

• Meng Yu told Qin Lu that he would remain in seclusion on Cloud Dream Mountain and teach at the Daoist Learning Academy, and Qin Lu accepted his allegiance while warning him to obey Qin Clan rules.
• The Qin Family’s prestige rose as news spread of its Qi Condensation cultivators, Second-Tier spirit beast, Qi Condensation Pill, and Qin Lu’s new Rank-2 Alchemist status.
• Qin Xiao agreed to let Zhang Liang, Liu Ji, and Xiao He leave Hanbang and keep their fiefs for the time being.
• Qin Xiao ordered Qin Zhao to take the Shadow Guards to the Extreme Abyss Strait, investigate the Cangnong Qi Clan, and prepare a coastal foothold for the Qin Clan.
• Qin Zhao and several dozen men left Qinchuan, and the Dragon-Gazing Sect appeared on Da Zhou’s coast.
• A great formation shrouded Spirit Tea Peak, and a light rain fell over the mountain.

Qin Hui accepted his role in sustaining the Qin Clan’s pill production while the clan planned Ba City’s expansion into separate zones for its lineage, cultivators, and commoners. Meanwhile, Qin Wu subdued a Golden-Winged Black Bird and sealed a master-servant contract with it.

• Qin Hui agreed to master pill formulas and prepare pills for the coming Auction, despite his body and little brother turning wooden.
• The Qin Clan planned to restrict the area around Muxuan Mountain as its inheritance grounds and separate its immortals from ordinary people.
• The Qin Clan designated Ba City as an inner city for Warriors and cultivator businesses, while planning to attract Rogue Cultivators and integrate their descendants into its forces.
• The clan expanded the outer city for Warriors’ mortal relatives and wealthy commoners, making Ba City a prosperous center under its rule.
• Qin Wu caught the First-Tier Superior-Grade Golden-Winged Black Bird after tracking it across several prefectures and sealed a master-servant contract with it.

Qin Wu captured the Golden-Winged Black Bird and planned to establish it as a guardian beast for the Martial Branch while building his descendants’ prospects. As he traveled north to the Chuanlong Minor Gathering, he saw the gathering’s growing crowds and the prosperity and grandeur of the Qin Clan’s territory.

• Qin Wu placed the Golden-Winged Black Bird in a Spirit Beast Jade, intending to breed it as a guardian beast and a source of mounts and artifact materials for the Martial Branch.
• Qin Wu recalled his plans to strengthen Golden Sharpness Peak and prepare resources and an artifact-refining inheritance for his sons, especially Qin Mingzheng.
• Qin Wu set out for Yingchuan, where caravans and powerful factions from across the region were gathering for the Chuanlong Minor Gathering.
• Yunchuan City became a transfer point for travelers, and the influx of factions boosted trade in the region’s aquatic products and spirit materials.
• Travelers reached Yingchuan City, where the Wuzhi Mountains’ peach blossoms and the Qin Clan’s Peach Blossom Red drew visitors.
• Boats traveling the Ba River passed enormous Qin Clan carvings and a colossal emperor statue, displays that impressed visiting factions and cultivators.

Qin Wu returned to the Beichuan Qin Clan, whose strength drew widespread attention, while Qin Lu hosted nearly thirty Qi Condensation cultivators at a gathering to trade treasures. Qin Lu acquired numerous wood-path resources intended to support his cultivation through Late Qi Condensation.

• Qin Wu arrived at Qianlong Port and flew toward the Qin Clan, while onlookers praised his talent and killing power.
• The gathering displayed the Beichuan Qin Clan’s growing strength, including seven Qi Condensation cultivators among the Qin and Huang Clans.
• Qin Lu welcomed the gathered cultivators and began a treasure exchange, offering pills, artifacts, and the clan’s Soul-Awakening Tea.
• Qin Lu traded for wood-path treasures, an insect heart, tree marrow crystals, and other resources that could sustain his cultivation to Late Qi Condensation.

At the Chuanlong Minor Gathering, Qin Lu traded for rare spirit seeds and heard the cultivation insights of other cultivators while two minor clans sought his protection. He considered accepting them as Qin Clan subordinates, which could expand the clan’s trade and prepare it to claim resources from the future Blood-Colored Plain.

• Qin Lu and the other cultivators traded Spirit Objects, formations, and other treasures, and Qin Lu collected unusual spirit seeds for cultivation and pill-making.
• The gathering shifted to sharing cultivation insights, and minor clans sought connections with Qin Lu and Huang Liang, prominent cultivators of the four arts.
• The Lingyun Su Clan and Huaize Gan Clan approached Qin Lu for protection and proposed connecting their territories to the Qin Clan’s waterway trade.
• Qin Lu considered how subjugating the two clans could extend the Qin Clan’s trade and influence across Muyun and Longchuan prefectures.
• Qin Lu saw the Su and Gan clans as potential outposts near the Blood-Colored Plain, which he expected to become a resource-rich cultivation haven.

Qin Lu secured the Su and Gan Clans’ submission and arranged a land-for-inheritance deal with Zhang Xuan. Days later, the Chuanlong Minor Gathering began with a prestigious auction, where Qin Wu presided and the first lot sold for sixteen Spirit Stones.

• Qin Lu asked Su Wanchang and Gan Ling to send promising young disciples to his clan’s Daoist Learning Academy, and they agreed to the arrangement.
• Qin Lu asked Zhang Xuan for the Zhang Clan’s northwest territory, and Zhang Xuan agreed to trade it for a Second-Tier Spirit Plant inheritance.
• Qin Lu promised to give Zhang Xuan the original inheritance his clan had obtained after destroying the Blue Wave Sect.
• The merchant associations and cultivation factions arrived, and the Chuanlong Minor Gathering’s auction opened with strict ticket, cultivation, and asset requirements.
• Qin Wu began the auction by offering three lots of Second-Tier yellow pear fruit, and the first lot sold for sixteen Spirit Stones.

The Qin Clan’s auction sold Azure Spiritual Dew, common resources, and Second-Tier products for enormous sums, enriching the clan and drawing fierce competition from cultivators. It left the auction’s Qi Condensation factions battling over the final goods, including Qin Lu’s Greater Muxuan Pills.

• The Azure Spiritual Dew sparked bidding and sold for forty-seven Spirit Stones before its effects as an Origin-Nurturing Spiritual Object became known, driving its later value much higher.
• True Martial factions competed for low-grade spiritual fruits and other items, spending their savings while the Qin Clan profited from clearing out its stock.
• Qin Xiao regarded the Qin Clan’s auction as a merciful way to strengthen the clan and Qinchuan, despite the hardship it imposed on poorer factions.
• The auction passed one hundred lots and moved to Second-Tier Law Artifacts, formations, talismans, and pills, which only Qi Condensation factions could afford to bid on.
• The Greater Muxuan Pill, improved by Qin Lu to aid cultivation, sold in eight bottles for nearly three hundred Spirit Stones.

The Chuanlong Minor Gathering ended with the Qi Condensation Pill selling for 180 Spirit Stones, while the Qin, Su, and Gan Clans advanced their alliance and canal plans. An urgent report then informed Qin Xiao that Chiyuan State had fallen after its Ancestor died fighting Daliang’s Core Formation Ancestor, and the Demon-Quelling True Person had taken over Daliang.

• A Qi Condensation High Stage cultivator silenced the auction hall and bought the Qi Condensation Pill for 180 Spirit Stones.
• After the gathering ended, Rogue Cultivators settled in Qin territory, and the Su and Gan Clans announced they were joining the Beichuan Qin Family.
• The Qin Clan took over the Huai River’s upper reaches, established Huai Water Cave, and began building the Huai-Ying Canal with help from the Su and Gan Clans.
• Qin Xiao read an urgent report that Chiyuan State’s Ancestor and Daliang’s Core Formation Ancestor had perished together after Daliang’s Ancestor, Da Zhou’s Ancestor, and the Demon-Quelling True Person besieged Chiyuan State.
• Qin Xiao learned that the Demon-Quelling True Person had taken over Daliang.

Qin Lu anticipated Da Zhou’s invasion of Daliang after Chiyuan’s collapse and prepared the Qin Clan for war. Da Zhou mobilized forces across the continent, and at Dao-Seeking Peak Huang Liang chose to lead his clan northwest toward the fiercest fighting.

• Qin Lu explained to Qin Xiao how Da Zhou had engineered the fall of Chiyuan and planned to invade Daliang, then ordered the Qin forces to prepare for a northern campaign.
• Qin Lu assigned Qin Wu command of the troops, kept Qin Xiao and others to defend the rear, and directed the clan’s subordinate forces and allies to contribute troops and supplies.
• An imperial envoy summoned Longchuan’s Qi Condensation cultivators, and the Huang, Qin, Zhang, and Hundred Arts Office assembled ten combatants for the campaign.
• Da Zhou gathered more than a thousand cultivators, deployed five army corps, and assembled eight openly displayed Dao Foundation cultivators for its offensives against Daliang.
• At Dao-Seeking Peak, Huang Liang said the Huang Clan would fight northwest toward Daliang’s capital, seeking a chance to advance beyond the Qi Condensation realm.

Qin Lu led the Qin Clan north to Liuyuan, while Zhang Xuan’s group chose a cautious route through the war. Months later, Qin Wu prepared the army to attack Mingde City, and Meng Yu’s divination foretold moderate good fortune.

• Qin Lu set out for Liuyuan with his newly risen Qi Condensation followers, while Zhang Xuan planned to avoid major battles and target small clans.
• Gongsun Zhe gave Qin Lu a prototype Law Treasure and materials, and Qin Lu agreed to reserve a future treasure for him.
• Qin Lu ordered the three armies to march on Liuyuan.
• Months later, Qin Lu’s forces prepared to attack Mingde City as the Yangzhou Dao Soldiers organized their first assault.
• Meng Yu divined the battle’s prospects and saw a sign of moderate good fortune.

Qin Lu's forces attacked Mingde City, where Qin Wu, Su Wanchang, and Gan Ling fought three Daliang cultivators. When the enemy tried to retreat, five Five Poison Corpse Puppets appeared and used their deadly toxins to surround them.

• Qin Lu ordered Su Wanchang and Gan Ling to test Mingde City's defenses while Qin Wu and the other corps held in reserve.
• Qin Wu attacked the three Daliang cultivators with a torrent of golden weapons, while Su Wanchang and Gan Ling protected him and countered their attacks.
• Su Wanchang and Gan Ling used pills to sustain their assault and severely wounded the wood-path cultivator, forcing the three Daliang cultivators to retreat toward Mingde City's formation.
• Five black-robed figures cut off the retreat, and the Daliang cultivators realized they were puppets rather than living cultivators.
• Qin Wu, Su Wanchang, and Gan Ling surrounded the enemy as the Five Poison Corpse Puppets deployed poisonous smoke, emotional toxins, paralytic toxins, and poisons targeting the organs.

Qin Wu and the insect swarm overwhelmed Mingde City after the three Daliang cultivators died, while Meng Yu painted the Bird and Insect Fortune-Seizing Painting. Several hundred miles north, Qin Lu trapped a fleeing female cultivator and offered to spare her sect if she helped him cultivate and divide up Liuyuan.

• The wood-path cultivator died after losing his tongue and succumbing to poison, while the water-path cultivator and earth-path cultivator also met brutal deaths.
• A Spirit Beast Jade released tens of thousands of insects, which swarmed Mingde City and slaughtered its defenders.
• Qin Wu ordered his forces to break through the pass and slaughter the city as he rode the Golden-Winged Black Bird.
• Meng Yu used five-element Spiritual Power, golden Sha Qi, and the secrets of heaven to paint the Bird and Insect Fortune-Seizing Painting.
• Qin Lu intercepted a fleeing female cultivator and offered to spare her sect if it submitted to his clan and she helped him cultivate and divide up Liuyuan.
• The female cultivator hesitated as Qin Lu's pink house centipede released heart-bewitching poison.

Qin Lu defeated Qiao Mei’s Jade Radiance Flesh Puppet and captured her, forcing her to offer the Jade Maiden Sect in exchange for her life. After learning about Liuyuan Dao District’s factions and conflicts, he promised to protect the sect and give it a place free from outside control.

• Qin Lu cut down Qiao Mei’s Jade Radiance Flesh Puppet with Tai'e and searched the surrounding woods with poisonous miasma.
• Qiao Mei fled when her jade hairpin disguise was destroyed, but Qin Lu caught her and threatened to kill her.
• Qiao Mei offered the Jade Maiden Sect as slaves and servants, so Qin Lu released her and placed a house centipede in her Dantian.
• Qiao Mei told Qin Lu about the Jade Maiden Sect, the factions in Liuyuan Dao District, and the conflict between Madam Flower Willow and the Yan Miao Bai Clan’s ancestor.
• Qin Lu promised to protect the Jade Maiden Sect and give it a place where it would no longer be controlled by others, and Qiao Mei agreed.