Chapter Summaries

Fang Yu declined to join Jin Guizi's expedition to the Autumn Moon Mountain Spirit Stone mine, choosing the safety of Mosquito Immortal City and his plans in the Dao of Qi Ingestion. After entering that world, he discovered that an imperial decree ordered the extermination of Great Peace Village, and the followers' fortune was rapidly fading.

• Fang Yu learned from Chen Cheng that Jin Guizi would lead the mining expedition and refused to volunteer despite Chen Cheng's offer to secure him a place.
• Jin Guizi announced that five Foundation Establishment Early Stage guest elders would accompany her to Autumn Moon Mountain, but Fang Yu suppressed his temptation to go.
• Fang Yu activated the Gathering Clouds Concealment Formation at Lotus Cave and used the Yuanchen Pearl to travel to the Dao of Qi Ingestion.
• Fang Yu sensed that the fortune tied to Great Peace Village was nearly extinguished and saw an imperial decree ordering officials to destroy the cult and punish anyone who sheltered it.

Fang Yu advanced his Phoenix Sets the Plains Ablaze Dao Foundation by consuming the Fire of Ten Thousand Households, then chose the Taiyi Profound Gate Orthodox Path and set out to protect the true spirits of Great Peace Village’s followers. In Anjing, he discovered that an imperial preceptor was suppressing the followers’ spirits and searching for him, so he headed toward the Immortal Cultivation Ward.

• Fang Yu sensed that Emperor Wude had destroyed Great Peace Village and accepted that he could not save its followers.
• Fang Yu cultivated in a mountain cave, where the lives represented by countless sparks nourished and stabilized his Dao Foundation.
• Fang Yu chose the Taiyi Profound Gate Orthodox Path and sensed that the followers’ true spirits had gathered in Anjing.
• Fang Yu reasoned that a cultivator from Mount Longhu was trying to consume the spirits and rode to Anjing to stop them.
• Fang Yu read an official notice stating that the imperial preceptor had built the Jade Capital Tower and raised the Human Sovereign Banner to suppress the followers’ spirits.
• Fang Yu suspected that the imperial preceptor had come from Mount Longhu and went with the crowd toward the Immortal Cultivation Ward.

Fang Yu tested Zhang Daochang by stirring the true spirits bound in the Human Sovereign Banner, but Zhang suppressed them with heavenly soldiers. Fang Yu left Anjing City and decided he would need to plan carefully before trying to reclaim the spirits.

• Fang Yu learned at a tea stall that Zhang Daochang had built the Jade Capital Tower and deduced that he belonged to Mount Longhu’s Celestial Master lineage.
• Fang Yu used the Yuanchen Pearl to stir the true spirits of Great Peace Village into revolt within the Human Sovereign Banner.
• Zhang Daochang followed the spirits to a deserted mountain, welcomed the chance to confront his unseen enemy, and failed to divine Fang Yu’s location.
• Zhang Daochang summoned heavenly soldiers from the Human Sovereign Banner, and they suppressed and devoured the rebellious spirits.
• Fang Yu left the tea stall and concluded that Zhang Daochang’s forces were too strong for him to challenge directly, so he would have to plan how to reclaim the spirits.

Fang Yu completed a portable Cloud Net Concealment Array, accepted a mission to help Array Master Zong build a grand third-tier array, and finished sending ordinary true spirits to be reincarnated in Great Scarlet Heaven. He left for Autumn Moon Mountain, while planning to use the nine remaining destined spirits for cultivation and future schemes.

• Fang Yu completed his portable Cloud Net Concealment Array after adding his own alterations and Dao of Qi Ingestion power.
• Fang Yu learned that Mosquito Immortal City had received its share of the Autumn Moon Mountain Spirit Stone mine and that Jin Guizi was recruiting miners.
• Fang Yu accepted a mission to help Array Master Zong establish a grand third-tier array at Autumn Moon Mountain Market, hoping to study its array patterns.
• Fang Yu traveled through Nine Fragrances Town and Chu Kingdom, reincarnating the ordinary true spirits from Great Peace Village into pregnant women.
• Fang Yu kept the nine destined true spirits for future cultivation and plans, then headed toward Autumn Moon Mountain to meet Array Master Zong.

Fang Yu helped Array Master Zong improve and build the foundations for the Lesser Thousand-Needle Nether River Formation, gaining array knowledge and cultivation time in return. More than two years later, Array Master Zong asked Fang Yu to forge the central array foundation after swearing a heart demon oath, and Fang Yu agreed.

• Fang Yu arrived at Autumn Moon Mountain Market and showed Array Master Zong flaws in the array foundation design, proposing changes that could save materials and increase the formation's power.
• Fang Yu forged a revised insect-nest array foundation, and Array Master Zong tested it with the city lord's Red-Beaked Mosquito Demons and praised its improved capacity and strength.
• Array Master Zong promised Fang Yu three contributions for his help, while Fang Yu planned to use the man's trust to learn more about third-tier grand formations.
• Fang Yu forged array foundations and asked Array Master Zong about array patterns as the formation was built; he also cultivated and improved his Spirit Root to Fire Element Mid-Grade.
• More than two years later, Array Master Zong asked Fang Yu to forge a redesigned central array foundation, requiring him to swear not to reveal its array patterns; Fang Yu agreed.

After completing the formation at Autumn Moon Mountain, Fang Yu investigated reincarnated true spirits in the Great Scarlet Heaven and discovered he could not gather the Fire of Ten Thousand Households there. He returned toward Mosquito Immortal City, where Jin Guizi confronted him with a swarm of demons, revealing that his predicted great fortune had another meaning.

• Jin Guizi praised Array Master Zong for completing the Lesser Thousand-Needle Nether River Formation, while Zong credited Fang Yu’s help and promised him assignment credit.
• Fang Yu studied the formation’s patterns and considered replicating it, then calculated that leaving Autumn Moon Mountain would bring great fortune.
• Fang Yu checked the reincarnated true spirits and found them all to be ordinary mortals without Spirit Roots, but his attempt to kindle the Fire of Ten Thousand Households failed.
• Fang Yu concluded that he could not cultivate Qi Ingestion Cultivation Methods in the Great Scarlet Heaven and returned toward Mosquito Immortal City.
• Jin Guizi intercepted Fang Yu outside the city and released countless seven-spotted ladybug demons to surround him.

Fang Yu killed Jin Guizi after she tried to silence him for knowing secrets of Mosquito Immortal City’s formation, then escaped with her belongings. At his cave abode, he found a rare Gu-control cultivation method and discovered that the Yuanchen Pearl could remove the imprints on Jin Guizi’s Gu insects; he planned to practice the method and seek a second-tier spiritual land.

• Jin Guizi explained that she had been ordered to kill Fang Yu because his unknown origins and knowledge of the Lesser Thousand-Needle Nether River Formation threatened Mosquito Immortal City’s secrets.
• Fang Yu revealed his Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivation, and Jin Guizi attacked him with her spirit insects while summoning Qian Chongzi for help.
• Fang Yu used his Red Lotus Karmic Fire to destroy Jin Guizi’s insects, killed her with the Flowing Flame True Fire Sword, and fled with her corpse.
• Qian Chongzi arrived, found Jin Guizi dead, and concluded that Fang Yu was a major threat because he knew the spirit patterns of the Autumn Moon Mountain Market formation.
• Fang Yu searched Jin Guizi’s Storage Bag and found over ten thousand middle-grade Spirit Stones, several treasures, and the Thousand-Thread Gu Control Method, which could increase Divine Sense.
• Fang Yu used the Yuanchen Pearl to purify the imprints on a Gu insect and planned to learn the method, build the Lesser Thousand-Needle Nether River Formation, and find a second-tier spiritual land.

Fang Yu rescued the Zhuang Household from bandit cultivators and took up residence at their ancestral grounds, posing as Danyangzi, an old friend of their late ancestor. He planned to use the valley for quiet cultivation while keeping the Household in place to avoid dealing with the Cloud Spirit Sect.

• Bandit cultivators breached the Zhuang Household’s formation, and Zhuang Yun prepared to hold them off so the surviving descendants could escape.
• Fang Yu arrived as Danyangzi and burned the bandit cultivators to ash, allowing some early-stage cultivators to flee and spread word of his strength.
• Zhuang Yun suspected Fang Yu wanted the ancestral grounds, but Fang Yu claimed the late Zhuang ancestor had once saved his life and offered to protect the Household.
• Zhuang Yun begged Fang Yu to stay, and Fang Yu agreed to remain until another Foundation Establishment cultivator could secure the Household’s foundation.
• Fang Yu settled in Cold Mountain Valley and privately resolved to use the Zhuang Household as cover so he could avoid obligations to the Cloud Spirit Sect.

Fang Yu strengthened the Zhuang Household’s defenses and funded its recovery while warning off the Li Household’s attempt to test him. After defeating Li Xiuyuan without killing him, Fang Yu hoped the display would secure him time to cultivate and pursue the Dao of Qi Ingestion.

• Fang Yu repaired and upgraded the Zhuang Household’s Five Directions Raging Fire Array, then gave Zhuang Yun its secondary control and a thousand mid-grade Spirit Stones to restore the household’s businesses and buy spiritual materials.
• Fang Yu refused the Li Household’s invitation to Green Bamboo Mountain and told Zhuang Yun that anyone with business could visit Old Cold Mountain, while warning that challengers would not return.
• Fang Yu built a separate second-tier Cloud Net Concealment Array at Cold Mountain Valley and linked it to the mountain’s earth veins, while avoiding its use because it could reveal his identity as Lü Bu.
• Li Xiuyuan arrived to test Fang Yu, but Fang Yu’s apparent Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivation frightened him, and Fang Yu’s fireballs cracked Li Xiuyuan’s life-bound Spirit Artifact.
• Fang Yu let Li Xiuyuan flee after teaching him a lesson, expecting the Li Household and other clans to think twice before challenging the Zhuang Household.

Fang Yu arranged for Zhao Heming, a reincarnated true spirit, to cultivate the Azure Splendor Deliverance method and began sending other true spirits to reincarnate. He planned to use them as pawns in the dangerous Dao of Qi Ingestion while concealing his involvement.

• An infant who remembered dying in his previous life was born to Squire Zhao and named Zhao Heming, and his past-life memories became distinct from his new identity.
• At his first-birthday selection, Zhao Heming chose a book, hoping to study and eventually overthrow Emperor Wude.
• The book revealed a primer that taught Zhao Heming to read, then showed him the Azure Yang Troop-Mustering Register and its Azure Splendor Deliverance cultivation method.
• Zhao Heming gathered solar essence under the morning sun as Fang Yu watched and confirmed that the Hairy Head Sun destiny suited the method.
• Fang Yu used the Yuanchen Pearl and Phoenix Sets the Plains Ablaze to maintain a concealed connection to Zhao Heming, then sought families for more true spirits to reincarnate.
• Fang Yu sent true spirits into new lives, where they obtained unaltered Qi Ingestion methods, and resolved to recover any who died if he could.

Two years later, Fang Yu left to resume Qi Refining but intervened in a battle after recognizing Tie Feng, the disciple who had once tried to sacrifice him. He discovered that Tie Feng was with Qiu Xuanlong, a Mount Longmen core disciple pursuing a Water Virtue path, and withdrew as the fortress burned.

• Fang Yu saw elite soldiers preparing to attack a fortress and continued on, reflecting on the private conflicts spreading after Emperor Wude unified the realm.
• Fang Yu recognized Tie Feng among the fighters and used Phoenix Sets the Plains Ablaze to empower the outnumbered soldiers and turn the battle against the fortress defenders.
• Qiu Xuanlong appeared and attacked the flame soldiers with his black dragon sword, prompting Fang Yu to divine his identity and flee rather than risk confronting him.
• Tie Feng and Qiu Xuanlong killed the flame soldiers, but Tie Feng's rain talisman intensified the Fire of Ten Thousand Households and left the fortress ablaze.
• Qiu Xuanlong identified the fire as a Phoenix Mountain technique and said the hidden cultivator likely supported the Embroidered Tiger; he welcomed the strengthening opposition as a step toward his own rise to the Purple Mansion realm.

Fang Yu advanced his cultivation and prepared a disposable formation to ambush Tie Feng, while discovering that one of the reincarnated true spirits had died after foolishly revealing himself. He concealed his fortune and headed for Anjing, ready to put his plan into motion.

• Fang Yu considered the coming conflict and prepared to breed more Gu insects for a formation that could kill Tie Feng.
• Zhuang Ling delivered collected spiritual materials to Fang Yu, who rewarded her and accepted her offer to attend to him.
• Three years later, Fang Yu reached the Eighth Layer of Foundation Establishment and discovered that Wang Jing had died after claiming to be the General of Great Peace at age four.
• Fang Yu reflected on choosing suitable reincarnation starting points and inspected the completed third-tier Lesser Thousand-Needle Nether River Formation.
• Fang Yu gathered native Gu insects into the formation, concealed his cultivation and fate with the Yuanchen Pearl, and flew toward Anjing.

Fang Yu met Emperor Wude in secret and offered him a formation and heart fire to help him resist the Dragon-Tiger Great Elixir scheme. Emperor Wude accepted the gifts and decided to hold a grand court assembly and grant an amnesty throughout the realm.

• Emperor Wude questioned Fang Yu about the mountain’s decree, but Fang Yu explained that he had come to offer him a chance to escape his fate as medicine for a true dragon.
• Fang Yu gave Emperor Wude the Ten Thousand Gu Dragon-Devouring Formation and heart fire, urging him to oppose Mount Longmen and rally the people’s strength.
• Emperor Wude resisted Fang Yu’s attempt to influence him, then agreed to give him the Dragon-Tiger Great Elixir ritual and accepted Fang Yu’s offer of future help.
• Emperor Wude recalled how Mount Longmen’s decrees had weakened the realm and how Zhang Daochang had told him his hope lay with Great Peace Village.
• After the eunuch returned with the buns, Emperor Wude ordered a grand court assembly in three days and announced an amnesty throughout the realm.

Fang Yu studied the Eight Desolations Spirit-Illuminating Scripture and watched Embroidered Tiger’s reforms spread his heartfire among the people of An Kingdom. After learning that Qian Chongzi had reached the Golden Core realm, Fang Yu warned the Zhuang Household to withdraw its assets and disciples before a predicted war began.

• Fang Yu examined the Eight Desolations Spirit-Illuminating Scripture, judged its cultivation flaws and requirements, and set it aside as a possible reference for the future.
• Embroidered Tiger granted an amnesty, cleared Safe Village’s name, and reduced taxes, helping Fang Yu’s heartfire spread to more than ten million people.
• After more than two years, Zhuang Yun delivered an invitation to Qian Chongzi’s Golden Core ceremony and asked whether Zhuang Xian could attend in his place.
• Fang Yu ordered Zhuang Yun to sell the Zhuang Household’s properties, bring its resources home, and summon its scattered disciples, predicting Mosquito Immortal City would soon attack the Cloud Spirit Sect.

Zhuang Yun sold the Zhuang Household’s remaining shop in Mosquito Immortal City, sent its spiritual materials back to Old Cold Mountain, and attended Daoist Thousand Insects’ Golden Core ceremony. The banquet turned into a public confrontation with the Cloud Spirit Sect as Daoist Thousand Insects pressured the Chu Kingdom’s Lineages to accuse it of oppression, and Zhuang Yun joined them to protect his household.

• Zhuang Yun ordered the shopkeeper to sell the Zhuang Household’s centrally located shop, then used the proceeds to buy spiritual materials and sent them to Zhuang Xian with instructions to succeed him if he did not return.
• Zhuang Yun presented the Zhuang Clan’s gift at Daoist Thousand Insects’ Golden Core ceremony and took his seat among the Chu Kingdom’s Lineages.
• Daoist Thousand Insects arrived at dusk, and the ceremony continued with a banquet, performances, and Spirit Cuisine.
• Old Man Luo interrupted the banquet and accused the Cloud Spirit Sect of seizing his spiritual fields and driving him out.
• Daoist Thousand Insects used his Golden Core pressure to confront the Cloud Spirit Sect envoy and invite the Chu Kingdom’s Lineages to report their grievances.
• Zhuang Yun, unable to withstand the pressure and fearing for his life, cried out for Daoist Thousand Insects to stand up for the Zhuang Household.

Fang Yu advised the Zhuang Household to stay out of the war between Mosquito Immortal City and the Cloud Spirit Sect while he refined pills in Cold Mountain Valley. When Cloud Spirit Sect envoys demanded cultivators, Fang Yu ordered Zhuang Yun to kill them, forcing the Zhuang Household to break with the sect.

• Zhuang Yun reported Mosquito Immortal City's declaration of war and its demand that the Chu Kingdom's great clans choose sides, and Fang Yu told him to seal Old Cold Mountain and remain neutral.
• Fang Yu used spirit materials gathered by the Zhuang Household to refine pills, producing a successful batch several months later.
• Cloud Spirit Sect envoys arrived and demanded that the Zhuang Household send one Foundation Establishment cultivator and three Qi Refining Late Stage cultivators to the sect.
• Zhuang Yun refused the demand, claiming the Household had no cultivators available, and the leading envoy threatened to have the clan exterminated.
• Fang Yu secretly ordered Zhuang Yun to kill the envoys, so Zhuang Yun expanded the array, trapped them, and ordered the Zhuang Household to attack.
• The Zhuang Household members killed all the envoys, and Fang Yu concluded that they had to choose Mosquito Immortal City's side rather than remain neutral.

As the Chu Kingdom descended into chaos, the Zhuang Household set out to seek Foundation Establishment opportunities while Fang Yu continued cultivating and tracking events through his reincarnated true spirits. Two years later, he learned Zhao Heming had gained the Mother and Child Ghosts as his first Yin Soldiers, and saw that Embroidered Tiger had restored order in the An Kingdom despite Mount Longmen's likely interference.

• Zhuang Xian warned Zhuang Yun that involving Ancestor Danyang in the household's plans could put a future Foundation Establishment opportunity at risk, and Zhuang Yun handed him the household-head token.
• Zhuang Xian joined Zhuang Yun and the other elders in seeking opportunities outside the clan, and the East Spirit Mountain Market's formation later fell to hundreds of Bandit Cultivators.
• After two years of cultivation, Fang Yu had accumulated eighty-seven drops of Law Power and realized his pills had become less effective.
• Fang Yu learned that Zhao Heming had restored the souls of Huang Cuicui and her child, who killed the scholar responsible and became the Mother and Child Ghosts among the Five Rampant Yin Soldiers.
• Fang Yu observed that Emperor Wude and Embroidered Tiger had brought the An Kingdom back toward peace, but expected Mount Longmen to provoke further turmoil to aid Qiu Xuanlong.

After Zhuang Yun died obtaining a Gold Jade Lingzhi, Zhuang Xian became head of the Zhuang Household and asked Fang Yu to refine Foundation Establishment Pills. Fang Yu made four pills, gave one to Zhuang Xian for his breakthrough, and used the other three to reach the Foundation Establishment Ninth Layer, leaving him ten drops of Law Power short of False Core.

• Zhuang Yun spent his lifespan using a secret technique to catch a cultivator carrying the Gold Jade Lingzhi, then died after Zhuang Xian and the others killed their quarry.
• Zhuang Xian brought Zhuang Yun's household-head token and the Gold Jade Lingzhi to Fang Yu, who accepted him as the next head and agreed to refine pills.
• Fang Yu refined four standard-grade Foundation Establishment Pills with the Gold Jade Lingzhi, producing pills with ten percent more medicinal power than his previous batch.
• Fang Yu gave Zhuang Xian one pill and told him to prepare to attempt Foundation Establishment outside the valley.
• Fang Yu consumed the remaining three pills and reached the Foundation Establishment Ninth Layer with ninety drops of liquid Law Power, ten short of False Core.

Six months later, Zhuang Xian achieved Foundation Establishment and met with Fang Yu, who agreed to remain in Cold Mountain Valley and continue helping the Zhuang Household. Zhuang Xian left planning to use his new standing to secure more resources, while Fang Yu returned to his quiet routine in the valley.

• Zhuang Xian emerged from seclusion after achieving Foundation Establishment, and the Zhuang Household members congratulated him.
• Zhuang Xian thanked Fang Yu, who treated him as a peer and offered to leave Cold Mountain Valley now that the household had its own Foundation Establishment cultivator.
• Zhuang Xian pleaded for Fang Yu to stay, and Fang Yu agreed to remain as a guest and refine pills for the Zhuang Household in exchange for spiritual materials.
• Zhuang Xian left and privately resolved to increase the household’s tribute while using Fang Yu’s promise to pursue more Foundation Establishment Pills.
• Zhuang Xian summoned the branch elders to the ancestral hall to discuss seizing more resources, while Fang Yu harvested spiritual chives and cooked them with green-shelled eggs.

After reaching Foundation Establishment Ninth Layer Great Perfection at one hundred, Fang Yu planned to seize the Autumn Moon Mountain mine and disrupt Mosquito Immortal City's siege of the Cloud Spirit Sect. He refined the risky plan through divination, then offered Zhuang Xian a chance to stake the Zhuang Household on a heaven-shaking opportunity.

• Fang Yu reached Foundation Establishment Ninth Layer Great Perfection at the age of one hundred and began seeking a way to obtain a Golden Core Formation Pill formula.
• Fang Yu assessed the war between Mosquito Immortal City and the Cloud Spirit Sect and identified the Autumn Moon Mountain mine as the likely place to create a new variable.
• Fang Yu considered using his formation knowledge to take the mine, but his divination warned that the plan would bring misfortune.
• Fang Yu revised the plan until divination showed minor misfortune, then decided to make preparations and adjust as events unfolded.
• Fang Yu summoned Zhuang Xian and offered the Zhuang Household a fortuitous opportunity that could either bring it great success or destroy the entire clan.