Chapter Summaries

Fang Yu compelled Zhuang Xian to join a plan to seize a Golden Core opportunity, then investigated the Thousand-Needle Nether River Formation around Mosquito Immortal City. He distributed a diagram of its suspected weak points and headed to the Autumn Moon Mountain spirit mine to inspect changes to the formation there.

• Fang Yu revealed his Foundation Establishment Great Perfection cultivation, forcing Zhuang Xian to pledge the Zhuang Household's cooperation in his plan.
• Fang Yu spent several months studying Mosquito Immortal City's Thousand-Needle Nether River Formation and recorded a hundred possible weak points.
• Fang Yu gave Zhuang Xian a formation diagram and ordered him to distribute copies discreetly across the Yue Kingdom and Tang Kingdom while watching Mosquito Immortal City.
• Fang Yu calculated that his fortune had shifted to uncertain and went to the Autumn Moon Mountain spirit mine to examine its formation.

Fang Yu entered Autumn Moon Mountain Market under a disguise and used an old teacup to gain an audience with Chen Cheng. He revealed his identity as Lü Bu and tried to recruit Chen Cheng to help the Heavenly Strategy Manor seize the spirit mine, but Chen Cheng distrusted the offer.

• Fang Yu studied the modified grand formation and concluded he could still break it because he had helped build it.
• Fang Yu disguised himself as a Qi Refining cultivator, stayed at the Wondrous Sound House, and arranged through Xiao Taohong to meet Chen Cheng.
• Fang Yu showed Chen Cheng the teacup he had once used in Mosquito Immortal City, prompting Chen Cheng to invite him into a private room.
• Fang Yu revealed himself as Lü Bu and claimed Jin Guizi had been killed by a True Disciple of the Heavenly Strategy Manor, not by him.
• Fang Yu said he had come under orders to win over Chen Cheng and the other four cultivators, offering them ten percent of the mine if they let the True Disciple break the formation.
• Chen Cheng rejected the offer as empty promises and warned that he might not live to enjoy the promised share.

Fang Yu persuaded Chen Cheng to help him seize Autumn Moon Mountain Market by offering powerful artifacts and a share of the spirit mine. Months later, after Mosquito Immortal City’s formation weaknesses were exposed by repeated probes, Fang Yu ordered Zhuang Xian to signal Chen Cheng and prepare their forces.

• Fang Yu offered Chen Cheng four high-grade Spirit Artifacts, a share of the spirit mine, and a formation plate in exchange for helping him take Autumn Moon Mountain Market.
• Chen Cheng accepted the plan, and Fang Yu agreed to let him choose when to gather the other guards after the grand formation was broken.
• Fang Yu used Minor Fortune to confirm Chen Cheng had not betrayed him and continued planning how to seize the market.
• Months later, Zhuang Xian reported that Bandit Cultivators were probing Mosquito Immortal City's grand formation at a marked weak point.
• Fang Yu tracked the Law Enforcement Team's patrols, identified the formation's exposed weaknesses, and ordered Zhuang Xian to signal Chen Cheng and ready their forces.

At Chen Cheng’s one hundred and eightieth birthday banquet, Fairy Crimson Refinement and two other Foundation Establishment cultivators arrived unexpectedly. Chen Cheng activated a Cloud Net Concealment Array to trap them as someone attacked the larger array from outside, leaving the guests divided over his intentions.

• Chen Cheng hosted a birthday banquet and welcomed Fairy Crimson Refinement and the Foundation Establishment cultivators from two other countries.
• Fairy Crimson Refinement took the seat of honor, and Chen Cheng excused himself to inspect the entertainment he had prepared.
• At the hour of the pig, Chen Cheng activated the Cloud Net Concealment Array and trapped the banquet guests inside.
• Fairy Crimson Refinement realized someone was attacking the great array and accused Chen Cheng of rebelling against Mosquito Immortal City.
• Chen Cheng told the other Foundation Establishment cultivators to wait for a spectacle and a fortuitous opportunity, while the two foreign cultivators tried to break out.

Fang Yu and Zhuang Xian seized Autumn Moon Mountain Market while Chen Cheng helped break Fairy Crimson Refinement’s formation. Fairy Crimson Refinement was killed as she tried to flee, and Chen Cheng urged the remaining Foundation Establishment cultivators to surrender.

• Fang Yu destroyed five formation bases while Zhuang Xian imposed a curfew and Zhuang Household disciples slaughtered cultivators in the streets.
• Fang Yu broke into Fairy Crimson Refinement’s cave abode, disabled the central formation, and began replacing its core formation base.
• Chen Cheng’s formation plate cracked under the attackers’ assault, and Fairy Crimson Refinement escaped the collapsing Cloud Net Concealment Array.
• Fairy Crimson Refinement fled toward the market’s outskirts, but a mosquito tide and a barrier trapped her and left only her Storage Bag behind.
• Chen Cheng offered the surviving Foundation Establishment cultivators their lives and a fortuitous opportunity if they surrendered, while three high-grade Spirit Artifacts appeared beside his friends.

Fang Yu took control of Autumn Moon Mountain Market, negotiated shares in its spirit mine, and strengthened its defenses while rival Golden Core powers remained occupied elsewhere. With the market running again and Mosquito Immortal City unable to act freely, he believed his plan could secure a Golden Core opportunity.

• Fang Yu offered the four Foundation Establishment cultivators a share of the mine and promised the Heavenly Strategy Manor and Yellow Sand Sect shares in exchange for Golden Core opportunities.
• Fang Yu set new rules for the market, giving miners twenty percent of their Spirit Stones and allowing them to leave freely, while Zhuang Xian and Chen Cheng replaced the original stewards.
• Fang Yu embedded the Lesser Thousand-Needle Nether River Formation within the market's existing grand formation, creating two layers of defense.
• After more than a month, Zhuang Xian reported that Daoist Mosquito was staying in Mosquito Immortal City and Daoist Thousand Insects remained occupied attacking the Cloud Spirit Sect.
• Fang Yu concluded that the rival powers would be unable to focus on the market for several years, and his divination showed a slightly auspicious outcome.

Daoist Thousand Insects received orders from Daoist Mosquito to leave the Cloud Spirit Sect encampment and reclaim the Autumn Moon Mountain spirit mine, while treating Danyangzi as a Golden Core-level threat. Fang Yu sensed the incoming army and prepared to face it after surveying the mine’s immense stockpile of spirit ore.

• Daoist Mosquito told Qian Chongzi that Mosquito Immortal City could not spare its forces while the Black Sand Sect and Heavenly Strategy Manor threatened its grand array.
• Daoist Mosquito ordered Qian Chongzi to reclaim Autumn Moon Mountain cautiously and warned him that Danyangzi could fight like a Golden Core cultivator.
• Qian Chongzi ordered the army to break camp and fly toward Autumn Moon Mountain.
• Fang Yu received a minor fortune omen, went to the spirit mine warehouse, and summoned the others to meet him.
• Fang Yu discovered the warehouse held about thirty million pieces of low-grade spirit ore and over 1.2 million pieces of mid-grade spirit ore.

Fang Yu prepared Autumn Moon Mountain Market for Daoist Thousand Insects’ attack, distributing Spirit Stones and warning the cultivators to defend the mine. As the grand formation closed, Daoist Thousand Insects arrived with Array Master Zong, who agreed to help break it.

• Fang Yu distributed twenty percent of the Spirit Stones among Zhuang Xian, Chen Cheng, and the other cultivators, and threatened to execute anyone who shirked their duty.
• Fang Yu gave the cultivators an hour to arrange for their Lineages and send people out of the market before the formation closed.
• Zhuang Xian sent elders away with Spirit Stones and gave Zhuang Tian a million Spirit Stones to deliver a message to Cloud Spirit Sect and then flee the Chu Kingdom.
• Zhuang Tian reported that Daoist Thousand Insects’ army had left Cloud Spirit Sect and was heading toward Autumn Moon Mountain.
• Autumn Moon Mountain’s grand formation closed before Daoist Thousand Insects and Array Master Zong arrived, and Array Master Zong agreed to examine its flaws and break it.

Fang Yu and the defenders held Autumn Moon Mountain against Daoist Thousand Insects for months, but Array Master Zong found the great array’s flaw and helped destroy it. As Mosquito Immortal City attacked the market, Fang Yu gathered Zhuang Xian and Chen Cheng at the mine entrance and activated another array.

• Fang Yu used the earth veins and his mosquitoes to defend the great array against Daoist Thousand Insects’ mosquitoes and five poisons.
• After months of attrition, Array Master Zong found the array’s pattern and directed Daoist Thousand Insects’ mosquitoes to tear open several breaches.
• The great array collapsed, and Qian Chongzi ordered Mosquito Immortal City’s cultivators to slaughter everyone in Autumn Moon Mountain’s market.
• Fang Yu, Zhuang Xian, and Chen Cheng fled toward the mine entrance, while Qian Chongzi pursued them.
• Fang Yu activated an array disk, raising pillars of fire and surrounding the Autumn Moon Mountain spirit mine with a sea of blazing red lotuses.

Fang Yu trapped Daoist Thousand Insects in a third-tier fire formation, but the cultivator’s ice silkworm let him withstand its flames. After Array Master Zong was killed and Daoist Thousand Insects held out for more than a month, Fang Yu intensified the fire to pressure him.

• Daoist Thousand Insects summoned a third-tier ice silkworm to protect himself from Fang Yu’s formation, while Fang Yu realized the beast made his opponent equivalent to two Golden Core cultivators.
• Fang Yu reassured Zhuang Xian and Chen Cheng, then used a red sword line to kill Array Master Zong before he could escape and potentially help Daoist Thousand Insects.
• Daoist Thousand Insects tried to break through the formation for more than ten days, then switched to defense as Fang Yu waited for him to weaken or for Daoist Mosquito to arrive.
• After more than a month passed without help from Daoist Mosquito or the Cloud Spirit Sect, Fang Yu used his Molten Edge Flow Dao Foundation to consume the Red Lotus Karmic Fire and turn the flames purple, hoping to pressure Daoist Thousand Insects.

Fang Yu trapped Qian Chongzi in a fiery grand formation, intending to refine a pill using a Golden Core, and demanded a third-tier Demon Beast's Inner Core in exchange for his release. Daoist Mosquito paid the price, and Qian Chongzi escaped, but Fang Yu took the dying Ice Silkworm as well.

• Fang Yu kept the flames slowly draining Qian Chongzi and the Ice Silkworm until Qian Chongzi offered him Mosquito Immortal City's Golden Core Formation Pill formula.
• Fang Yu examined the formula, then revealed he intended to use Qian Chongzi's Golden Core as a pill ingredient unless Mosquito Immortal City provided a third-tier Demon Beast's Inner Core.
• Fang Yu lifted the grand formation's concealment, and Qian Chongzi called out to Daoist Mosquito for help.
• Daoist Mosquito arrived and sent Fang Yu a third-tier earth-attribute Demon Beast's Inner Core in exchange for Qian Chongzi's release.
• As Qian Chongzi left the formation, Fang Yu used a red thread to pierce the dying Ice Silkworm and take its corpse, prompting Qian Chongzi to demand an explanation.

Fang Yu drove off Mosquito Immortal City’s forces and offered the four Golden Core powers shares of Autumn Moon Mountain’s spirit mine to prevent further conflict. After restoring the mine and repairing its array, he learned that the powers would send delegations to negotiate.

• Fang Yu confirmed that the ice silkworm had no Inner Core, then offered Daoist Mosquito an alliance and twenty percent of the spirit mine.
• Daoist Mosquito returned to Mosquito Immortal City with Qian Chongzi and agreed to act as an intermediary, judging that accepting Fang Yu’s offer was safer than fighting him.
• Daoist Mosquito told Qian Chongzi that the four powers would tacitly accept Fang Yu’s occupation, while expecting his attempt to form a Golden Core to fail.
• Fang Yu kept Autumn Moon Mountain’s great array fully active until the outside threat had passed, then ordered Zhuang Xian and Chen Cheng to restore the mine and repaired the outer array.
• A messenger from Mosquito Immortal City told Fang Yu that the four Golden Core powers would send delegations to negotiate the spirit mine’s shares.

Fang Yu strengthened Autumn Moon Mountain Market and the Autumn Moon Chamber of Commerce while monitoring the four Golden Core factions and acquiring ingredients for Golden Core Formation Pills. Through the Yuanchen Pearl, he learned Zhao Heming had become Zhang Daochang’s Mount Longhu disciple, then stopped sensing him before attracting the attention of powerful figures.

• Chen Cheng toasted the Foundation Establishment guardians and celebrated the rewards he expected from Danyangzi’s array and the market’s new arrangement.
• Zhuang Xian reported on the factions, Rogue Cultivators, Mosquito Immortal City, and the Chamber of Commerce’s expansion to Fang Yu.
• Fang Yu ordered Zhuang Xian to watch the Golden Core factions closely and offer high prices for Golden Core Formation Pill ingredients rather than use bandit methods.
• Fang Yu learned through the Yuanchen Pearl that Zhao Heming had gathered ghost soldiers during the An Kingdom turmoil and become Zhang Daochang’s initiated disciple at Mount Longhu.
• Fang Yu stopped sensing Zhao Heming when the Yuanchen Pearl warned that continuing might alert Zhang Daochang or another major figure.

Fang Yu reflected on Qiu Xuanlong’s rebellion in An Kingdom before returning to Autumn Moon Mountain Market, where he finally gathered the ingredients to refine Golden Core Formation Pills. He successfully produced three pills and felt confident about forming his Golden Core.

• Fang Yu realized Qiu Xuanlong had caused floods to create the conditions for rebellion and was raising an army in the name of the Great Peace Fist.
• Two years later, Fang Yu visited the thriving Autumn Moon Mountain Market and bought a map of its increasingly complex mines.
• Zhuang Xian delivered a Storage Bag containing the final supplementary ingredient Fang Yu needed and told him the Cloud Spirit Sect wanted to offer him a guest elder position and a Golden Core opportunity.
• Fang Yu refused to meet the Cloud Spirit Sect envoy and began refining a Golden Core Formation Pill with the ingredients he had gathered.
• After forty-nine days, Fang Yu successfully refined three Golden Core Formation Pills and declared that they would help him form his core.

Fang Yu rejected the Cloud Spirit Sect’s offer of access to its secret realm and sealed the spirit mine to gather third-tier Spiritual Qi for his Core Formation breakthrough. After preparing in the mine for three months, he took a Golden Core Formation Pill and began absorbing Spiritual Qi from the ore vein.

• Zhuang Xian told Fang Yu that the Cloud Spirit Sect offered him a secret-realm entry in exchange for joining, but Fang Yu rejected the offer and ordered the envoy sent away.
• Fang Yu told Chen Cheng to close the spirit mine and clear it of miners, citing the dangerous labyrinthine tunnels and promising to discuss objections in person.
• Over the next month, Chen Cheng and the Law Enforcement Team evacuated the miners and sealed the mine under Fang Yu’s orders.
• Fang Yu entered the mine alone and set up a Spirit Gathering Formation to concentrate Spiritual Qi enough for his breakthrough, despite the risk of depleting the ore vein.
• After three months of preparation, Fang Yu took a Golden Core Formation Pill, and the formation began drawing Spiritual Qi from throughout the mine into a growing vortex around him.

Fang Yu successfully formed his Golden Core in the sealed Autumn Moon Mountain spirit mine, then demanded larger shares of the mine from the four great Golden Core forces. He told Chen Cheng and Zhuang Xian that the mine was depleted and announced he planned to leave the Western Extremity for the Eastern Lands without them.

• Chen Cheng told the four guardians that the mine was sealed for repairs, but a Spiritual Qi tide convinced them Danyangzi was breaking through to the Golden Core realm.
• Fang Yu compressed his core, endured the destruction and restoration of his meridians, and successfully formed his Golden Core.
• Fang Yu emerged atop a red lotus, and Chen Cheng, Zhuang Xian, and the four guardians congratulated Ancestor Danyang.
• Fang Yu ordered each of the four great Golden Core forces to offer another ten percent of the spirit mine as a congratulatory gift, and the guardians hurried to inform their sects.
• Fang Yu told Chen Cheng and Zhuang Xian that the mine was nearly exhausted and that he intended to travel to the Eastern Lands, offering each man twenty percent of the stored spirit ore to leave with his clan.
• Zhuang Xian worried that Fang Yu's departure would leave the Zhuang Household vulnerable to the four great Golden Core forces.

After Ancestor Danyang reached the Golden Core Realm, Fang Yu closed Autumn Moon Mountain Market, dismantled its formations, and prepared to leave the Western Extremity for the Eastern Lands. He crossed into a desert without Spiritual Qi, where something beneath the sand began draining his resources and Divine Sense.

• Ancestor Danyang’s Golden Core breakthrough led to the closure of Autumn Moon Mountain Market, and Zhuang Xian, Chen Cheng, and the other cultivators departed.
• Fang Yu decided to leave the Western Extremity because the ruined Spirit Stone mine could no longer support his cultivation and the sects might unite against him.
• Fang Yu dismantled Autumn Moon Mountain’s formations, refined the inner formation into the Red Lotus Karmic Fire Formation, and saw the mountain’s Spirit Vein decline to the first tier.
• Fang Yu traveled east through the Ten Thousand Demon Mountain Range and entered a desert where Spiritual Qi and his Law Power rapidly dissipated.
• Fang Yu discovered that a force beneath the desert drained a Spirit Stone and even his Divine Sense, but he stopped investigating and hurried onward.

Three years after entering the Land of Severed Spiritual Qi, Fang Yu reached the Eastern Lands and arranged passage to Ascension Immortal City. Months later, the heartfire he had given Embroidered Tiger reacted, showing him Embroidered Tiger leading a ritual that armed soldiers with phoenix flames and tiger masks for battle.

• Fang Yu emerged from the Land of Severed Spiritual Qi and reached White Deer Ferry Crossing, where he learned that a White Deer Sect treasure ship would sail to Ascension Immortal City in a year.
• Fang Yu bought a second-class ticket and a route map, then settled at the White Deer Inn while exploring the market.
• Months later, Fang Yu sensed the heartfire within Embroidered Tiger reacting and returned to his room to connect with the Yuanchen Pearl.
• Fang Yu witnessed Embroidered Tiger summon a fire phoenix that empowered the soldiers fighting the rebels with blazing armor and weapons.
• Embroidered Tiger transformed the flames into tiger masks for the soldiers, and Fang Yu wondered whether the scene showed the final battle before vanishing from his room.

Qiu Xuanlong’s Dragonfish suppressed Embroidered Tiger’s Phoenix Sets the Plains Ablaze on the battlefield, while Fang Yu revealed himself through Zhao Heming to Zhang Daochang and demanded the release of the true spirits. Fang Yu then gathered a fire phoenix over Anjing and sent it diving toward the Jade Capital Tower, where Zhang Daochang answered with an Azure Sun.

• Qiu Xuanlong summoned a Dragonfish that transformed into a black dragon and unleashed a great river, weakening the Dao soldiers’ flames and restoring the rebels’ morale.
• Qiu Xuanlong warned Tie Feng that he had only temporarily suppressed Phoenix Sets the Plains Ablaze and suspected the Goldstone Sect was behind Embroidered Tiger’s Dao Foundation.
• Zhang Daochang explained the battle’s turning point to Zhao Heming and revealed that Qiu Xuanlong’s Dragonfish countered the fire technique.
• Fang Yu took control of Zhao Heming’s voice, revealed his identity to Zhang Daochang, and argued that Zhang should release the millions of true spirits in the Human Sovereign Banner.
• Fang Yu gathered sparks from across Anjing into a fire phoenix and sent it toward the Jade Capital Tower, while Zhang Daochang conjured an Azure Sun to meet the attack.

Fang Yu recovered the ten million true spirits and revealed himself as an ancient-method cultivator, but Zhang Daochang escaped his Purple Mansion formation. A lightning tribulation descended on Fang Yu, and Zhang Daochang weighed the chance to use it to form his Purple Mansion against the risk of death.

• Zhang Daochang used Azure Splendor Deliverance to counter Fang Yu's Phoenix Sets the Plains Ablaze, and Fang Yu withdrew the fire phoenix to avoid losing his Dao Attainment.
• Zhang Daochang released the ten million true spirits from the Human Sovereign Banner, and Fang Yu called them back into his sea of consciousness to complete his true spirit.
• Zhang Daochang placed a talisman over Zhao Heming, put him to sleep, and flew after the departing true spirits.
• Fang Yu revealed his Golden Core presence and activated a Purple Mansion formation to trap Zhang Daochang, who escaped with a silver-armored heavenly general.
• Zhang Daochang recognized Fang Yu as an ancient-method cultivator, and a lightning tribulation gathered over the area.
• Zhang Daochang considered whether surviving a bolt of heavenly lightning could let him form his Purple Mansion, despite the danger of being killed.