Chapter Summaries

Yang Lingrui met Li Qingwan, who rejected the marriage arrangement and spoke warmly with him, while concealing her conversation from others. After he left, Li Qingwan confronted Li Cheng over his scheme to involve the Yang Family, and Li Cheng revealed his despair at being unable to save her from becoming a furnace cauldron.

• Li Qingwan summoned a barrier in the inner courtyard and invited Yang Lingrui to explain his circumstances.
• Yang Lingrui recounted his journey and hardships, omitting or altering key details.
• Li Qingwan said she would not force him or the Yang Family into the marriage arrangement, then complimented his appearance as he left.
• Li Cheng asked Li Qingwan how the meeting went, and she told him she had refused the arrangement.
• Li Qingwan accused Li Cheng of dragging the Yang Family into danger, and he admitted he wanted her to leave and live freely.
• Li Qingwan said their situation could no longer be changed, and Li Cheng collapsed in despair over her fate and his inability to condense his origin.

Yang Lingrui attended the Golden Scale Dharma Assembly with Li Cheng and was judged by other young cultivators to have relied on pills to advance. The assembly began with Wangyue City Lord Song Kaiyang, Li Qingwan, and two Core Formation cultivators arriving to open the demonstration.

• Yang Lingrui traveled with the invited cultivators to the Dharma Assembly grounds, where they mistook his blocked spiritual flow for evidence that he had advanced by consuming pills.
• Yang Lingrui joined Li Cheng at the Li Family pavilion, and Li Cheng apologized for his sister's rejection of their marriage arrangement; Yang Lingrui said there was no need to apologize.
• Other cultivators dismissed the Yang Family as unimportant, unaware that the family intended to appear weak and develop quietly.
• Drumbeats announced the demonstration, and Li Yuande and other local leaders appeared on a cloud platform.
• Song Kaiyang arrived with Li Qingwan and two Core Formation cultivators, greeted the crowd, and announced that the demonstration would begin.

At the ceremony, Yang Lingrui watched Core Formation Cultivators demonstrate the Five Elements and Wind arts, gaining new insight into sorcery. Li Cheng led him to a display stand in the Hall of Hundred Arts, where Yang Lingrui set out four talismans and attracted his first customer.

• Three Core Formation Cultivators demonstrated the Five Elements Sorcery, showing how true essence could transform into different spells.
• A burly cultivator demonstrated Wind Sorcery, and Yang Lingrui realized spells could be mastered through understanding rather than fixed techniques.
• Li Cheng shielded Yang Lingrui from the lightning demonstration and told him a personal display stand had been arranged.
• Li Cheng escorted Yang Lingrui to the Hall of Hundred Arts and left to return to his duties.
• Yang Lingrui arranged four talismans at the stand, and a Daoist-robed cultivator asked the prices of his Calming and Evil-Repelling Talismans.

Yang Lingrui sold talismans at the Hall of Hundred Arts and earned seventy Spirit Crystals. As he prepared to leave, Pei Xuejian invited him to meet his young master from the Jingyun Peak Su Family, an aristocratic house interested in his Divine Movement Talisman.

• Yang Lingrui sold talismans to Xu Jian'an and other cultivators, earning seventy Spirit Crystals during the day.
• Pei Xuejian approached Yang Lingrui as he packed up and said his young master wished to meet him.
• Li Cheng recognized Pei Xuejian and revealed that he belonged to the Jingyun Peak Su Family, an aristocratic house.
• Pei Xuejian explained that his young master wanted to discuss how Yang Lingrui's Divine Movement Talisman might complement the Su Family's talisman arts inheritance.
• Yang Lingrui agreed to accompany Pei Xuejian to the pavilion, and Pei Xuejian promised to return him safely.

Yang Lingrui met Su Lingyun in the hidden upper section of the Li Family’s sanctuary, where Su Lingyun and Old Qin interrogated him about his family’s Divine Movement Talisman. After Chen Yang’s protection blocked Su Lingyun’s soul attack, Su Lingyun paid Yang Lingrui for a hundred talismans and sent him away, while the chapter ended with Su Lingyun killing the boy who had been holding stones.

• Pei Xuejian led Yang Lingrui through an illusion array into a concealed garden above the Li Family’s pavilion, where he met Su Lingyun and Old Qin.
• Old Qin pressured Yang Lingrui to reveal the origin of his family’s talisman inheritance, and Su Lingyun attacked his sea of consciousness when Yang Lingrui could not name the ancestor’s former sect.
• Chen Yang’s consciousness protection repelled Su Lingyun’s soul attack, prompting Su Lingyun to suspect the Yang Family was connected to another force and to treat Yang Lingrui more cautiously.
• Su Lingyun offered Yang Lingrui 1,300 Spirit Crystals and three Rejuvenation Pills in exchange for one hundred Divine Movement Talismans, then had Pei Xuejian escort him away.
• After Yang Lingrui left, the boy carrying stones collapsed, and Su Lingyun killed him with a spiritual attack for putting the stones down.

Li Cheng received Yang Lingrui after the Su Family had mistreated him, but Pei Xuejian’s warning about the Li Family’s crisis left Li Cheng devastated. Yang Lingrui returned home determined to protect the Yang Family, grow strong enough to reach the Core Formation Realm, and one day repay the Su Family.

• Pei Xuejian returned Yang Lingrui to Li Cheng with a deathly pale face and dismissed Li Cheng’s objections about the Su Family’s treatment of its guest.
• Yang Lingrui claimed his injuries came from his own excitement and revealed that the Su Family had bought a hundred Divine Movement Talismans and given him five hundred Spirit Crystals as compensation.
• Pei Xuejian warned Li Cheng to spend time with Ancestor Yuande and Miss Qingwan, leaving Li Cheng shaken; Yang Lingrui then recovered by taking Li Cheng’s Qi Replenishing Pills.
• Yang Lingrui recognized that the Li Family’s troubles were too entrenched for him to help, while Li Cheng warned him to be cautious and said his own family was beyond saving.
• Yang Lingrui resolved to seize the chance to lead the Yang Family to survival by attaining the Core Formation Realm, trusting that the Immortal Venerable could help his family.
• Yang Lingrui vowed to repay the Su Family, Pei Xuejian, Su Lingyun, and Qin for the humiliation he had suffered.

Yang Lingrui sold the Yang Family’s talismans at the assembly and used the proceeds and other funds to buy spirit treasures for the family. After settling the purchases and thanking his helpers, he headed toward the newly opened Gambling Hall.

• Yang Lingrui sold his Fire Talismans and signed a five-year contract to supply a Fengling Town cultivator with thirty-six inferior-grade Fire Talismans each year.
• Yang Lingrui sold the remaining Calming Talismans and Evil-Repelling Talismans by dusk, earning forty Spirit Crystals.
• Yang Lingrui borrowed Yu Fenghuo and Liu Cheshui’s help to buy spirit treasures without drawing attention to the Yang Family’s spending.
• Yang Lingrui bought superior-grade Tiger Head Bracers, sold three Rejuvenation Pills for one thousand Spirit Crystals, and acquired a Black Sparrow Feather Fan.
• Yu Fenghuo gave Yang Lingrui the storage pouch containing additional spirit treasures, and Yang Lingrui paid Yu Fenghuo and Liu Cheshui two hundred Spirit Crystals as thanks.
• Yang Lingrui left the Li Family pavilion and went to look around the Gambling Hall.

Yang Lingrui explored the Dharma assembly, bought an Exotic Stone for the Yang Family’s Immortal Venerable, and decided that he had accomplished enough to return home early. He left the assembly behind after narrowly avoiding Moon Red Pavilion and watching the Dao Discussion Platform.

• Yang Lingrui toured the Gambling Hall but refused to spend Spirit Crystals on its games.
• Yang Lingrui bought the Red-nosed Daoist’s Exotic Stone for thirty Spirit Crystals after bargaining him down from his initial demand.
• Yang Lingrui left Moon Red Pavilion without entering after the matchmakers noticed him.
• Yang Lingrui watched the Qi Gathering Cultivators fight at the Dao Discussion Platform, then returned to his courtyard.
• Yang Lingrui reviewed what he had accomplished and decided to leave the Dharma assembly early and return home.

Yang Lingrui left the Golden Scale Dharma Assembly early, while Li Yuande told Li Cheng that the Li Family could not be saved and revealed his plan to secure a future for Li Cheng and Li Qingwan. Li Yuande prepared to sacrifice his life to win Qingwan fifteen years of protection from the Dynasty, and urged Li Cheng to support the promising Yang Family.

• Yang Lingrui decided to leave the assembly and bid farewell to Li Cheng, who agreed that leaving early would help him avoid danger.
• Li Yuande appeared in Li Cheng's room and told him that the Li Family's fortune had run dry, while apologizing for his own failures as its ancestor.
• Li Yuande revealed a corpse resembling Li Cheng and told him it was part of a plan to ensure Li Cheng survived.
• Li Yuande said he had agreed to demonstrate a failed Core Formation attempt to the Dynasty in exchange for fifteen years of protection for Li Qingwan.
• Li Cheng praised the Yang Family's potential, and Li Yuande instructed him to help them if they faced hardship.

Yang Lingrui received a letter from Yang Guanfeng and a protective treasure from Gao Hui before leaving Wangyue City for home. Three cultivators pursued him to rob him, but Yang Lingrui discovered them and prepared to fight back.

• Yang Lingrui told Gao Hui that he would leave early, then learned from Yang Guanfeng's letter that the ancestor was safe at the border and had sent the family Spirit Crystals and a Purple Heaven Flower.
• Gao Hui gave Yang Lingrui a Wind-Assisting Bead to protect him on the journey home, and Yang Lingrui accepted it as a return gift for the Yang Family's past help.
• Three masked cultivators, including a female cultivator from Yellow Flower Valley, followed Yang Lingrui after learning from the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion that he carried valuable treasures.
• Yang Lingrui detected the pursuers with Hidden Wind in Qi and continued beyond Wangyue City's jurisdiction, where the three caught up to him.
• Yang Lingrui decided not to flee and prepared to deal with the cultivators who intended to rob and kill him.

Yang Lingrui revealed his strength after three cultivators tried to rob him, defeating them with spells and talismans. Before killing the last attacker, he learned that the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion had sold information about him for two hundred Spirit Crystals.

• Yang Lingrui killed the first cultivator with a wind spell after the man demanded to search his storage pouch.
• Yang Lingrui used his talismans and spirit treasures to evade the remaining pair’s attacks, then killed the wood-art cultivator.
• Yang Lingrui overwhelmed the Yellow Flower Valley female cultivator and injured her with hidden currents of wind.
• Yang Lingrui learned that the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion had sold information about him for two hundred Spirit Crystals, then beheaded the female cultivator.
• Yang Lingrui searched the three bodies and burned their remains with fire talismans.

Yang Lingrui was ambushed by a scarred scholar cultivator who wanted his face, and the two fought after Yang Lingrui tried to flee. The scholar saw through Yang Lingrui’s bluff and believed he had the advantage, leaving their confrontation unresolved.

• Yang Lingrui encountered a late Qi Gathering scholar cultivator who said he wanted Yang Lingrui’s face rather than his treasures.
• Yang Lingrui threw fire talismans and fled, but the scholar caught up with him and blocked his path.
• Yang Lingrui threatened to ruin his own face, causing the scholar to offer Spirit Crystals and approach him.
• The scholar suddenly attacked Yang Lingrui with an ink-wash arrow, but Yang Lingrui blocked it with an Adamantine Talisman and countered with a Mountain-Splitting Talisman.
• Yang Lingrui bluffed that the scholar would be the one to die, but the scholar noticed his trembling mouth and concluded he was pretending to be confident.

Yang Lingrui and the scholar nearly killed each other, but Zhao Qi arrived and finished the scholar off. Zhao Qi carried the wounded Yang Lingrui toward the Yang Family after explaining that Yang Lingqing had sent him to rescue him.

• Yang Lingrui used a high-quality Mountain-Splitting Talisman to break the scholar’s shield, leaving both men gravely wounded but the scholar still alive.
• As the scholar crawled toward Yang Lingrui to kill him, Zhao Qi’s bell attack distracted him and a golden spell struck him down.
• Zhao Qi attacked the scholar’s vital points, searched his belongings, and burned his body to ashes.
• After Zhao Qi gave Yang Lingrui spiritual liquid and a medicinal pill, Yang Lingrui told him to keep the scholar’s belongings, and Zhao Qi carried him away.
• Yang Lingrui learned that Yang Lingqing had sent Zhao Qi to find him using an imprint in Zhao Qi’s sea of consciousness.

Yang Lingrui returned to the Yang Family, recovered from his injuries, and told Yang Lingqing and Chen Yang about his journey and the powerful forces he encountered. The family concluded that the Su Family’s mistaken assumptions might shield them from scrutiny, while the strange signs at Sanglu Valley remained unresolved.

• Zhao Qi told Yang Lingrui that Elder Yu and Yang Linghu had gone to Sanglu Valley after Qinghe Town sought aid, and Yang Lingrui feared a calamity had struck the sealed valley.
• After three days of travel, Zhao Qi brought Yang Lingrui home, where Yang Lingqing took him to Chen Yang for healing; Yang Lingrui also delivered Yang Guanfeng’s letter.
• Yang Lingrui recounted the Dharma assembly and his encounters with the great Lineages, giving Chen Yang a clearer picture of the Lingyuan Realm and the Tiger Chasing Dynasty’s political balance.
• Yang Lingqing praised Li Cheng’s conduct and said the Yang Family should repay him if it gained strength, then analyzed what the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion likely knew about Yang Lingrui.
• Yang Lingqing concluded that the Su Family had mistaken the Yang Family for another force’s arrangement, and that this misunderstanding might give the family room to develop unnoticed.

Chen Yang devoured the hollow Exotic Stone Yang Lingrui brought back and gained a powerful black armor-like defensive shell. After testing it against a Mountain-Splitting Talisman, the group returned to the ancestral hall to inspect Yang Lingrui’s other spoils.

• Yang Lingrui and Yang Lingqing offered Chen Yang the pitch-black Exotic Stone, and he discovered it was hollow inside.
• Chen Yang ate the Exotic Stone and transformed its energy into a protective shell that could block spiritual sense and harden over his body.
• Chen Yang asked Yang Lingqing to test the shell with her defective Mountain-Splitting Talisman while Yang Lingrui worried the attack might hurt him.
• The talisman’s force was deflected into a rock wall, leaving Chen Yang’s shell undamaged; he judged its defense to have reached Qi Gathering Perfection.
• Back at the Yang Family ancestral hall, Yang Lingqing opened the scholar cultivator’s storage pouches and found spirit ink, an inkstone, and painting paper to go with his spirit brush.

After recovering spoils from their battle, Yang Lingqing and Yang Lingrui helped Wu Tong attempt to Condense her Qi Mansion after three years of diligent cultivation. Wu Tong endured severe pain and succeeded in achieving Qi Gathering, while Chen Yang witnessed mysterious powers of prayer come to her aid.

• Chen Yang gained Qi Gathering-level talisman tools, and the group recovered Spirit Crystals, human-skin masks, cultivation methods, and a spell art from the defeated cultivators.
• Yang Lingrui gave Yang Lingqing the Earth Element Magic Disk and told her Wu Tong was about to Condense her Qi Mansion.
• Wu Tong drew spiritual qi into her dantian, endured agonizing pain as it stretched, and continued despite Yang Lingqing and Yang Lingrui's concern.
• Chen Yang stopped Yang Lingqing and Yang Lingrui from interfering, while Wu Tong drew strength from a vision of her parents and formed her Qi Mansion.
• Yang Lingqing caught the unconscious Wu Tong and confirmed her success, while Chen Yang sensed prayer power from Wu San and an unknown force from Wu Tong's mother's grave reach her before the latter merged into him.

Qinghe Town Chief Tian Yu asked the Yang Family to help suppress the yin energy in Sanglu Valley so he could delay reporting the danger until after his promotion. Elder Yu returned to consult the family, while Tian Yu suspected a junior would make the decision and planned to exploit him.

• Elder Yu discovered that yin energy was leaking from the Zhang Family’s intact protective formation in Sanglu Valley and warned Tian Yu that a sinister presence was inside.
• Tian Yu asked Elder Yu to suppress the yin energy for three months so he could secure his promotion before reporting the danger to the Dynasty.
• Tian Yu admitted that he was willing to let Qinghe’s commoners die if it protected his future, and Yang Linghu condemned him.
• Tian Yu offered Elder Yu an inferior Marrow Cleansing Pill in exchange for the Yang Family’s help, but Elder Yu returned home to discuss the offer.
• After Elder Yu and Yang Linghu left, Tian Yu guessed that a junior managed the Yang Family’s affairs and decided he could lure that junior into a trap.

Yang Lingqing saw through Tian Yu’s attempt to manipulate the Yang Family into resolving the Sanglu Valley crisis for his benefit. She decided the family would still address the danger, but on its own terms and while settling accounts with Tian Yu.

• Yang Linghu and Elder Yu debated Tian Yu’s proposal and worried it might be a scheme.
• Yang Lingrui returned safely, reported that Yang Guanfeng was safe, and gave Yang Linghu Tiger Head Bracers.
• Yang Lingrui argued that the Yang Family should reject the Marrow Cleansing Pill and not abandon the people affected by the crisis.
• Yang Lingqing explained that Tian Yu was steering the family into either accepting blame or doing his work without reward.
• Yang Lingqing said the family would handle the matter strategically and settle accounts with Tian Yu.

Yang Lingqing prepared the Yang Family to intervene in Qinghe after ghosts from Sanglu Valley overwhelmed the town, while keeping Tian Yu from drawing the family into the crisis on his terms. With Gao Hui’s support and four hundred Evil-Repelling Talismans ready, the family arrived in Qinghe and began rescuing villagers from the ghosts.

• Elder Yu told Tian Yu that the Yang Family could not help because it had a contract to make talismans, leaving Tian Yu to face Qinghe’s growing ghost attacks alone.
• Yang Lingrui conveyed Yang Lingqing’s proposal to Gao Hui, who agreed to support the Yang Family’s plan.
• As the ghosts grew more dangerous and casualties mounted, Tian Yu reported the crisis to the Dynasty.
• Yang Linghu counted four hundred Evil-Repelling Talismans, and Yang Lingqing ordered the Yang Family to set out for Qinghe with Gao Hui.
• Yang Linghu destroyed a powerful Yin-infused Mountain Ghost that was attacking villagers and gave them Evil-Repelling Talismans with instructions for using them.

Yang Lingrui and the Yang Family helped suppress Qinghe’s ghostly attacks, then joined Tian Yu and Gao Hui to guard Sanglu Valley as its formation weakened. On the tenth day, corrupted members of the Zhang Family burst from the valley, and Yang Lingrui confronted Zhang Yao.

• Yang Lingrui and the other Yang Family cultivators distributed Evil-Repelling Talismans and slew mountain ghosts across Qinghe’s villages.
• Gao Hui brought talismans to Tian Yu, and the two traveled to Sanglu Valley to coordinate with Elder Yu and the Yang Family cultivators.
• Elder Yu reported that the Zhang Family’s formation was close to collapsing and assigned the three groups to guard the valley’s exits.
• On the tenth day, Zhang Tiansheng and several yin ghosts emerged, and Elder Yu struck Zhang Tiansheng back into the valley before pursuing him.
• Yang Lingrui recognized the corrupted Zhang Yao among the evil things and stepped forward to fight him.