Chapter Summaries

Yang Lingrui entered the Western Expedition Illusory Realm competition and learned that Su Lingyun had placed a bounty on his head. He killed the first hunter, then lured five more into gathering together while concealing himself, and prepared to strike.

• Hong Guang sent the cultivators into the illusory realm, where they would compete for the final twenty-two spectator seats by collecting Martial Fortune.
• A cultivator tracked down Yang Lingrui and attacked him for the bounty, but Yang Lingrui killed him and discovered the compass guiding the hunters to him.
• Yang Lingrui identified Su Lingyun as the likely source of the bounty and used Hidden Wind in Qi to learn that five more hunters were after him.
• Yang Lingrui spent several days drawing the five hunters toward a desolate clearing near the illusory realm's edge.
• The five hunters searched for Yang Lingrui, unaware that he was concealed nearby with a Spirit Concealment Talisman; once they gathered, he readied a deep-blue talisman.

Yang Lingrui killed the five pursuers with the Five Thunders Talisman and resumed hunting Ghost Soldiers and ghost generals. At the Myriad Transformation Sect’s recruitment assessment, Yang Lingshu’s talent test unexpectedly showed mostly white light with only a patch of azure.

• Yang Lingrui searched the five charred bodies, found their storage pouches too damaged to open, and set off to hunt Ghost Soldiers and ghost generals.
• At the Myriad Transformation Sect’s recruitment day, Yang Lingshu met Pan Qi, who approached him while looking to make useful connections.
• Elder Gu explained the five talent grades and warned the seven preselected Direct Disciple candidates that their positions could be withdrawn if they failed the assessment.
• Two prominent-family candidates displayed violet talent, while Pan Qi and three others showed azure light and were assigned according to their spiritual affinities.
• Yang Lingshu touched the treasure pearl, which showed mostly white light with a patch of azure, leaving him below the expected third-grade talent.

Yang Lingshu concealed his extraordinary aptitude during his test, then revealed Crimson Purple talent and Water Wood Double Resonance, shocking the Myriad Transformation Sect. The chapter ended with Elder Gu asking whether he would cultivate under Elder Mo, the reclusive master of Senior Disciple Brother Xiao Yize.

• Lü Fangxuan rebuffed a cultivator who mocked Yang Lingshu's apparent fourth-grade talent.
• Yang Lingshu reflected on the Yang Family's plan to serve as bait in the Dynasty's next consolidation and decided to make himself a valuable piece in the game.
• Yang Lingshu activated the Spirit Pearl, which turned Crimson Purple, and Elder Gu confirmed his Water Wood Double Resonance.
• Han Jingyi and Ge Yan greeted Yang Lingshu and learned that the Yang Family had risen with support from Lord He Shenglai.
• Elder Gu asked Yang Lingshu whether he was willing to cultivate under Elder Mo.

The Yang Family held its ten-year aptitude test for 596 children, hoping to find new cultivators. Yang Liu was the only one among the main family and its branches to show complete Qi Meridians, while testing continued with the South Bank’s adopted children.

• At the Myriad Transformation Sect’s recruitment, Yang Lingshu joined Elder Mo, and Lü Fangxuan entered the inner sect and was assigned to live near Elder Mo’s peak.
• Zhao Qi gave Yang Lingqing the roster of 596 children, and Yang Lingqing and Wu Tong prepared to conduct the Yang Family’s aptitude test.
• Yang Lingqing agreed to let Yang Yuanhong accompany them down the mountain after he promised to behave.
• The Yang Family welcomed the three with ceremony, and Yang Lingqing and Zhao Qi used their abilities to create a golden staircase to the testing platform.
• Yang Liu became the only one of the 24 main-family children and 212 branch children to have complete Qi Meridians.
• Yang Lingqing began testing the 360 adopted children from the South Bank.

During the South Bank children’s assessment, Zhou Qing accused the Yang Family of exploiting the common people, then revealed himself as an eighth-level Qi Gathering infiltrator when Zhao Qi ordered him arrested. Yang Lingqing subdued him with the family-protecting grand array, and four accomplices were killed by spells from Pine Mountain.

• Zhou Qing denounced the Yang Family before the South Bank children, accusing it of burdening commoners while favoring clan descendants.
• Zhao Qi answered Zhou Qing’s accusations, while Yang Lingqing and Yang Yuanhong suspected he had been directed by someone behind the scenes.
• Zhao Qi ordered Zhou Qing taken to the dungeon, and Zhou Qing unleashed Eighth Level Qi Gathering power and attacked him.
• Zhao Qi blocked Zhou Qing with a Golden Light Talisman, and Yang Lingqing used the family-protecting grand array to pin him down alive.
• Four accomplices exposed themselves and prepared to attack South Bank, but four spell lights from Pine Mountain killed them instantly.

Chen Yang uncovered an infiltration of six Eighth Level Qi Gathering cultivators and helped the Yang Family capture or kill them, while Zhou Qing died after the formation drained his lifespan. Yang Lingqing resumed aptitude testing, selected Dai Wei, and ordered tighter controls across the South and North Banks; the chapter ended with Gao Hui seeing Zhou Qing’s corpse in the dungeon.

• Chen Yang searched the Yang Family’s territory with his consciousness, found a concealed Late Stage Realm cultivator, and had Zhao Qi bring him back unconscious.
• Zhou Qing aged into a withered old man after the formation pinned him, and Chen Yang ordered his imprisonment while aptitude testing resumed.
• Yang Feiyun called the children forward, and Yang Lingqing selected Dai Wei after discovering he had complete Qi Meridians.
• Yang Lingqing ordered the villages named and bounded, required newcomers and merchants to register, and established a monthly mountain-worship ceremony.
• Zhao Qi and Elder Yu returned from Sanglu Valley to the Main Family, where Gao Hui saw Zhou Qing dead in the dungeon.

Yang Lingqing and Gao Hui uncovered Blood Feather Hall’s infiltration plot after examining Zhou Qing and captured a surviving cultivator for the Dynasty to interrogate. After the Yang Family thanked Chen Yang and made plans to prevent future attacks, Elder Yu took Dai Wei as his disciple and North Bank and South Bank began reorganizing.

• Gao Hui and Elder Yu identified Zhou Qing’s technique as Blood Feather Hall’s Blood Drinking Method, and Gao Hui took the captured cultivator to White Stone to report the infiltration.
• Yang Lingqing thanked Chen Yang for protecting South Bank, and Chen Yang ordered monthly worship and searches to prevent further incursions.
• Elder Yu praised Yang Liu and accepted Dai Wei as his disciple, then began teaching both children about cultivation.
• North Bank merged its clans into a village called Chongyang, while South Bank postponed settlement planning until the Zhou Family’s fate was decided.
• Yang Feiyun spared the Zhou Family after Zhou Liang pleaded for mercy and ordered them to help with South Bank’s construction and defenses.

Yang Lingrui secured seventh place in the selection and obtained a Spectator Seat, while Su Lingyun grew angry after Su Lixue rejected him. The chapter ended with Su Lingyun ordering Old Qin to bring Ye Lan to him, despite knowing she belonged to Young Master Yu.

• Yang Lingrui returned from the illusory realm with enough Martial Fortune to place seventh, and the rankings showed Ye Lan first and Li Qingwan second.
• Hong Guang announced the twenty-two successful candidates and offered rewards from the Dynasty Treasury to those who had survived but failed to qualify.
• Yang Lingrui joined He Shenglai, who mocked Su Lingyun after the Su Family's chosen candidates died in the illusory realm.
• Su Lixue rebuffed Su Lingyun and stayed with her academy disciples, leaving him visibly disappointed.
• Unable to meditate that night, Su Lingyun ordered Old Qin to bring Ye Lan and gave him a jade token to ensure he obeyed.

Li Yuande prepared to demonstrate Qi Descent to Essence Condensation before Consort Xi and the assembled cultivators. As Xuan Zhou brought him to the center of the viewing platform, four Core Formation Cultivators took positions around him to guard and monitor him.

• Li Yuande prepared for the demonstration in the royal courtyard while Xuan Zhou checked that he was ready and told him that his beloved had obtained a spectator seat.
• Yang Lingrui, Li Qingwan, Ye Lan, and the other young cultivators gathered at Chaori Hall, where Li Qingwan supported Ye Lan by channeling spiritual energy into her.
• Imperial music and incense cleansed the young cultivators' bodies and eased Ye Lan's condition.
• Consort Xi arrived, accepted the crowd's greetings, and ordered the demonstration to begin.
• Xuan Zhou brought Li Yuande to the center of the viewing platform on a lotus-leaf platform, where four Core Formation Cultivators took positions around him.

Li Yuande demonstrated the methods of tempering true essence by repeatedly shattering and restoring parts of his body, enduring severe agony while Zi He and Li Qingwan watched. After completing the demonstration, he began the final step of breaking through to the Core Formation Realm: condensing an Origin Core.

• Li Yuande told Zi He and Li Qingwan to watch closely, then began tempering true essence while revealing every change in his body.
• When his first strand of true essence threatened to explode, Li Yuande redirected it into his left wrist, and four Core Formation Cultivators restored his shattered arm.
• Li Yuande demonstrated four more incorrect tempering methods, having his right arm, both legs, and the right side of his chest blasted apart and restored.
• Li Yuande tempered twenty strands of true essence, kneaded them apart, and repeated the process while Li Qingwan wept and Zi He hid his anguish.
• After four hours and eight demonstrations, Li Yuande recovered his strength and began condensing an Origin Core.

Li Yuande demonstrated several core-forming methods before using the dangerous Core Condensation Technique and destroying his nearly completed Origin Core. He then underwent Ghost Transformation to break through to Core Formation, fought the imperial cultivators, and vanished after Consort Xi struck him with a jade hairpin, leaving his escaped intent with an unknown recipient.

• Li Yuande demonstrated four core-forming methods, astonishing the cultivators who watched.
• He began the dangerous Core Condensation Technique, and the four Late Essence Condensation cultivators activated the viewing platform's defenses.
• After forming his Origin Core almost to completion, Li Yuande crushed it and triggered an explosion that destroyed his body.
• Li Yuande used Ghost Transformation to reach the middle stage of the Fourth Layer of Core Formation, then drove back the four cultivators who attacked him.
• Xuan Zhou confronted Li Yuande, but Consort Xi struck him with a jade hairpin, shattering his ghostly body as his intent escaped.
• Consort Xi ended the ceremony, and Yang Lingrui heard Li Yuande's voice telling him to keep something safe.

Chen Yang received Li Yuande’s carefully organized cultivation insights and shared the Essential Secrets for Ascending the Twelve Floors of Qi Gathering with Yang Lingqing and Elder Yu. Yang Lingqing rapidly advanced to the peak of the Fourth Layer, while Elder Yu realized his blocked cultivation path might still allow him to break through.

• Chen Yang discovered that Ling Rui had sent him Li Yuande’s insights, including methods for Qi Gathering cultivation and other techniques.
• Chen Yang transmitted the Essential Secrets for Ascending the Twelve Floors of Qi Gathering to Yang Lingqing, who used the guidance to advance to the peak of the Fourth Layer.
• Chen Yang healed Yang Liu’s scraped hands and knees with a ray of green light while she continued cultivating.
• Chen Yang sent the middle-to-late-stage cultivation secrets to Elder Yu, who realized he might be able to overcome the block in his Dao Path and break through again.

After Chen Yang’s teachings strengthened the Yang Family and helped Yang Lingshu advance, Li Yuande’s insights spread among young cultivators across the dynasty. The chapter then shifted to Wanghai City, where two scarred Black Tiger Camp veterans entered through the city gates.

• Elder Yu revealed his true name, thanked Chen Yang, and began closed-door cultivation as Chen Yang distributed copied cultivation secrets to Yang Family members.
• Over the next month, Yang Lingqing reached the Fifth Level of Qi Gathering, Elder Yu reached the seventh level, and Yang Liu condensed her qi palace, while other Yang Family cultivators also advanced.
• Yang Lingshu began cultivating the Water Wood Heavenly Heart Art under Mo Xian, then received Chen Yang’s delayed Thought Transmission and broke through several obstacles in his practice.
• Young cultivators across the Tiger Chasing Dynasty, including He Shenglai, Su Lingyun, and Shen Yue, returned to their families or sects to cultivate after benefiting from Li Yuande’s demonstration.
• At dusk, a city guard captain let a scarred middle-aged soldier and his crippled servant from the Black Tiger Camp enter Wanghai City after checking their documents.

After ten years on the Eastern Region border, Yang Guanfeng and Han Wang were recalled to Wanghai City and learned that their family ties and battlefield records had drawn the Dynasty’s attention. They swore loyalty before being told the details of a task for which they had been selected.

• Yang Guanfeng and Han Wang settled into an inn after registering in Wanghai City, and reminisced about their ten years fighting together on the border.
• Yang Guanfeng suspected their recall was connected to the Yang Family.
• Guo Jiming explained to a Dynasty official that the He Family had recommended the pair, and the official selected them as guards for a training expedition.
• Yang Guanfeng and Han Wang met Guo Jiming and two imperial officials at the Immortal Patrol Division the next day.
• Yang Guanfeng swallowed a pill and swore a blood oath of loyalty to the Dynasty before hearing the task’s details.

Yang Guanfeng and Han Wang accepted orders to guard Princess Yingxuan, who was sent to train at the eastern border. They reached a relatively quiet southern garrison, where Yang Guanfeng took command of a squad and prepared the recruits for their first battlefield duty.

• Yang Guanfeng and Han Wang swore oaths, then accepted a secret order to escort Princess Yingxuan to the eastern border.
• Yang Guanfeng met Yingxuan in a hidden chamber and advised her to cut her hair before they set out that night.
• Du Yuan warned a cultivator secretly guarding Yingxuan that the Eastern Region was dangerous, then questioned whether the Dynasty had assigned her a capable protector.
• As they traveled, Yang Guanfeng taught Yingxuan how to survive at the front and warned her not to underestimate ordinary soldiers.
• Half a month later, Yang Guanfeng, Han Wang, and Yingxuan arrived at a southern frontline garrison and joined two new cultivator recruits in Yang Guanfeng's squad.
• Yang Guanfeng told the squad to rest and assemble at the hour of the Rabbit the next morning to clear the battlefield.

The chapter explained how sect involvement had made the Eastern Region border war increasingly dangerous, then followed Yingxuan, Yang Guanfeng, and Han Wang as they responded to a sudden attack. Han Wang tried to keep two inexperienced new cultivators safe, but an enemy cultivator entered the battle and turned the tide against Tiger Chasing’s forces.

• The border situation deteriorated after sects began supporting the Third Prince and Seventh Prince, raising cultivator casualties and making the fighting more volatile.
• Yingxuan met two newly arrived cultivators from Molin, who assumed the war would soon end and planned to visit her home in Qiulu.
• War drums sounded during the night, and Yang Guanfeng ordered Yingxuan to join him as the main assault while Han Wang led the two newcomers as decoys.
• Han Wang warned the two cultivators to follow his orders and keep their protective gear on, then concealed them on high ground to draw out the enemy’s Serpent Crossbow positions.
• A Third Level of Qi Gathering cultivator charged from the enemy formation and quickly reversed the Tiger Chasing side’s advantage.

Han Wang’s warning about the Eastern Wilderness weapons proved fatal when a disobedient cultivator was killed by poisoned Serpent Crossbow bolts and Human Lightning. After revealing Tiger Chasing’s Heart Fire Technique, Han Wang used another cultivator to draw the crossbows’ fire while he attacked, but the enemy commander targeted Han Wang instead.

• Han Wang ordered the hotheaded cultivator back to camp, but the man defied him and charged into battle.
• Serpent Crossbow bolts poisoned the cultivator and disabled his spiritual energy, allowing Human Lightning warriors to kill him in an explosion.
• Han Wang escaped with the remaining cultivator, who saw a Third Level cultivator die when Tiger Chasing’s Heart Fire Technique ignited within him.
• Han Wang explained the Heart Fire Technique and sent the surviving cultivator across the battlefield to lure the Serpent Crossbows into firing.
• Han Wang entered the battlefield behind the decoy, but the Eastern Wilderness commander ordered the crossbows to target Han Wang instead.

Yang Guanfeng, Yingxuan, and Han Wang defeated an Eastern Wilderness force, captured a late-stage cultivator, and explained to Fang Yu how the front lines treated war as a matter of costs. After further battles and a costly victory at the Central Region front, Fang Yu died exchanging his life for an enemy cultivator, while Yang Guanfeng, Yingxuan, and Han Wang were badly wounded.

• Han Wang evaded the Serpent Crossbows while Yang Guanfeng and Yingxuan attacked the Eastern Wilderness cultivators and marked two fleeing enemies for the Tiger Cannon.
• The Tiger Cannon struck the fleeing cultivators, killing one and leaving another unconscious, and the Tiger Chasing force routed the enemy and took more than two thousand eight hundred prisoners.
• Yang Guanfeng told Fang Yu that war was about controlling costs, and the squad returned to camp to report its victory.
• Over the next month, Yang Guanfeng, Yingxuan, Han Wang, and Fang Yu repelled six small attacks before their camp received orders to join the Central Region front.
• During a twenty-day pitched battle that ended in a costly Tiger Chasing victory, Yang Guanfeng and Yingxuan were wounded, Fang Yu died killing a sixth-level cultivator, and Han Wang was severely injured while retrieving Fang Yu's body.

Yang Guanfeng and Yingxuan joined a mobile squad sent to aid a retreating northern force, then discovered that the supposed rear guard were Eastern Wilderness cultivators targeting Yingxuan. As Yang Guanfeng fled with her, a Tiger Chasing Core Formation Cultivator intervened to stop the pursuing enemy expert.

• Yang Guanfeng and Yingxuan were reassigned to an eight-man mobile squad and traveled north to support a retreating force.
• The squad helped the troops cross a river, and Yang Guanfeng led Yingxuan and two others to find the four cultivators covering the rear.
• Yang Guanfeng recognized that the four were Eastern Wilderness impostors, and he and his companions fought them.
• The enemy leader recognized Yingxuan from a secret description and sent a Thought Transmission before Yang Guanfeng carried her toward the Tiger Chasing border.
• An Eastern Wilderness Core Formation Cultivator pursued them with soul pressure, but a Tiger Chasing Core Formation Cultivator appeared and broke its influence.

Yingxuan realized that Tiger Chasing’s plans had left her with little chance of escaping her fate, while Eastern Wilderness cultivators attacked her escort. After a sword cultivator killed the Tiger Chasing guardian, a Spiritual Connection barrier protected Yingxuan and Yang Guanfeng as the attackers waited for it to fail.

• The Tiger Chasing guardian trapped an Eastern Wilderness cultivator in a Water Prison Sorcery, but Yingxuan recognized the attacker’s arrival as a sign of the danger tied to her bloodline.
• Two Essence Condensation Ninth Layer cultivators arrived, and the Tiger Chasing guardian fled toward home before an Eastern Wilderness sword cultivator struck him down and shattered his Origin Core.
• Consort Xi discussed Yingxuan’s fate with a faceless Dynasty official and ordered an attendant to deliver a white silk ribbon to Consort Shu.
• Consort Xi received news of the Emperor’s will, ended the chess game, and dispersed her avatar.
• The Eastern Wilderness sword cultivator failed to cut through the Spiritual Connection barrier protecting Yang Guanfeng and Yingxuan, then waited with his companions for it to weaken.