Chapter Summaries

A Pill Workshop Venerable reconsidered his confidence after studying the Yang Clan's extraordinary pill, while Yang Yuanzhao entered the Three-Tier Alchemy Assembly with help from Chen Huaien. The chapter left Yang Yuanzhao observing He Xinxian and the other alchemists as Chen Huaien assessed their origins.

• The newly advanced Mystic Insight Venerable realized that even his skill and rank could not shield him from the age's shifting tides, and his senior brother urged him to study the Yang Clan's pill.
• He Xinxian and two other alchemists with Upper Realm auras entered the Pill Workshop to take the Three-Tier Alchemy Assembly's trials, and Yang Yuanzhao brought the elderly cultivator along.
• Yang Yuanzhao passed the entry tests in ingredient identification, pill analysis, and reconstructing a damaged pill by relaying Chen Huaien's guidance.
• Yang Yuanzhao saw that He Xinxian and the other two had also passed, then asked Chen Huaien to assess their pill-refining techniques.
• Chen Huaien judged the two Rogue Cultivator alchemists to be ordinary and suspected that they had learned from an ancient alchemy text.

The first round of the Pill Ceremony assessment tested the alchemists’ ability to refine pills, while Chen Yang and Chen Huaien investigated cultivators influenced by an Upper Realm will. He Xinxian was selected for the Pill Origin Ceremony as bait, and the assessment eliminated another group of contestants.

• The Pill Workshop divided the surviving alchemists into four groups and arranged them in separate grotto-houses to refine pills.
• The Rogue Cultivator elder chose a late-stage Spiritual Connection recipe, while Yang Yuanzhao and He Xinxian chose perfected recipes.
• Chen Huaien observed He Xinxian’s unusually precise handling of alchemy and suspected that an Upper Realm will had influenced her.
• Chen Yang detected a foreign fragment in He Xinxian’s soul and decided to place her in the Pill Origin Ceremony to draw out the Upper Realm will.
• Chen Yang disrupted two other alchemists influenced by Upper Realm techniques, causing them to fail the assessment and avoid the next ceremony.
• The first round ended, and roughly another third of the cultivators were eliminated.

Li Huazhong explained the second-round assessment, in which pairs would help him complete flawed pill formulas inside hidden realms, and gave the contestants a chance to demonstrate their skills. Yang Yuanzhao began refining a Spirit-Stabilizing Essence-Nourishing Pill, impressing the others with his precise control of fire.

• Li Huazhong revealed five hidden realms and distributed incomplete internal pill formulas for the assessment.
• Li Huazhong explained that two cultivators would assist him with each pill and had to fill in the missing refining steps to form it successfully.
• Li Huazhong provided ingredients for Spirit-Stabilizing Essence-Nourishing Pills so the contestants could demonstrate their skills before choosing partners.
• Yang Yuanzhao volunteered to refine first and began preparing the pill.
• Yang Yuanzhao used precisely controlled flames to circulate heat through the furnace, astonishing He Xinxian and drawing Li Huazhong's interest in his fire technique.

He Xinxian mistook Yang Yuanzhao’s immortal power for a clue that he was pursuing the same Immortal Treasure she wanted, so she sought to partner with him in the Pill Origin Ceremony assessment. She offered him part of a valuable ancient alchemical text, and he asked for the rest.

• He Xinxian sensed immortal power in Yang Yuanzhao and decided he could help her pass the assessment and reveal more about his secrets.
• Li Huazhong praised Yang Yuanzhao’s pill-forming skills, and the other nine alchemists each demonstrated their own strengths as they successfully formed pills.
• He Xinxian approached Yang Yuanzhao to propose partnering, but he questioned what she could offer him.
• He Xinxian sent Yang Yuanzhao the first volume of an ancient alchemical text through Thought Transmission and offered him its first half if he partnered with her.
• Yang Yuanzhao showed interest in the text and asked He Xinxian what it would take to obtain the second half as well.

Chen Yang concluded that the Upper Realm cultivator had caused Li Huazhong’s master to die during Tribulation Crossing and instructed Xiao Yao and Yang Yuanzhao to help He Xinxian lure out the Ascendant Will. After the alchemists passed the second trial, Li Huazhong led the six successful participants to Medicine God Valley.

• Chen Yang connected the timing of Li Huazhong’s master’s failed tribulation with the Upper Realm cultivator’s descent spell and resolved to grow strong enough to confront that cultivator.
• Chen Yang secretly told Xiao Yao and Yang Yuanzhao to assist He Xinxian from the shadows and draw out the Ascendant Will.
• Li Huazhong completed the pill after Xiao Yao and Yang Yuanzhao supplied the missing parts of its formula, and both passed the second trial.
• Six of the ten alchemists advanced, and Li Huazhong brought them to Medicine God Valley, his secluded cultivation retreat.

Li Huazhong learned from Wen Buyuan that his master's failed Tribulation Crossing was likely connected to a real Immortal Treasure, and he understood the meaning of his master's final words as a refusal to accept an immortal fate against his Dao. He returned to the Pill Workshop to investigate the Immortal Treasure secret and recognized that He Xinxian's presence stirred his master's lingering remnant.

• Li Huazhong spent three years investigating his master's failed Tribulation Crossing before paying Wen Buyuan to seek answers at the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion.
• Wen Buyuan told Li Huazhong that the Immortal Treasure rumors were true and that his master's death was likely connected to them.
• The mysterious master of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion sent Li Huazhong the pronouncement, “Immortal fate is hard to defy; hard to become immortal fate,” which helped him understand his master's final words.
• Li Huazhong began tracking Immortal Treasure news and returned to the Pill Workshop to serve as an examiner at the Three-Tier Alchemy Assembly.
• When He Xinxian appeared, Li Huazhong sensed that she carried a secret connected to his master's death, but he did not use a soul-searching technique on her.

Yang Yuanzhao and He Xinxian passed the Three-Tier Alchemy Assembly assessment after obtaining Pill-Breath Spiritual Resonance, but He Xinxian feared that the Immortal’s power inside her had exposed itself to Li Huazhong. Li Huazhong kept his suspicions to himself, leaving He Xinxian unaware that he had noticed something unusual.

• Li Huazhong ended the assessment, and Yang Yuanzhao and He Xinxian were the only two of the six who passed.
• Yang Yuanzhao congratulated He Xinxian, while she hid her anxiety over the Immortal’s power forcibly drawing Pill-Breath Spiritual Resonance into her body.
• He Xinxian worried that the power’s uncontrolled intervention had revealed her secret to Li Huazhong and might bring disaster upon her.
• Yang Yuanzhao and He Xinxian thanked Li Huazhong, whose calm expression reassured He Xinxian that he had not detected the power.
• Li Huazhong chose not to expose what he had perceived, since other pill cultivators would still take the assessment and might be He Xinxian’s accomplices.

Chen Yang’s hidden assistance helped an elderly independent alchemist pass the Pill Origin Ceremony assessments, while Li Huazhong watched him as a possible danger in the Profound Pill Secret Realm. Meanwhile, Xiao Yao continued tempering her dragon body in the Furnacefire Grotto-Heaven’s lava.

• Chen Yang arranged with Yang Yuanxing and Yang Lingshu to recruit the elderly alchemist as Heaven-Clearing Academy’s future Grand Elder of Alchemy, and used his divine power to help him pass the assessment.
• On the fiftieth day of the assessments, the elderly alchemist used the power of an Upper Immortal to overcome difficulties and entered the Pill Origin Ceremony.
• Li Huazhong resolved to watch the elderly, peak-Spiritual Connection cultivator closely during the ceremony and the treasure hunt in case he tried to prove his Dao recklessly.
• Xiao Yao’s avatar kicked the last two Spiritual Connection cultivators carrying Upper Realm auras out of the Furnacefire Grotto-Heaven, while the other six of the nine discovered cultivators vanished in a great fog.
• Xiao Yao completed the foundational reshaping of her body and began painfully shedding and regrowing her dragon scales in the lava.

Xiao Yao, the Xuanhuang Dynasty’s Eldest Princess, visited the mountain and met several young royal descendants. After warning Xiao Chen and Xiao Yu about the dangers within the royal clan, she was recognized by Xiao Ning and left the gathered descendants awed and uneasy.

• Xiao Yu and Xiao Chen learned Xiao Yao was the Eldest Princess and bowed to her.
• Xiao Yao asked whether the siblings knew how their elder brothers had died, then advised them to understand the royal clan’s dangers and act with care.
• Xiao Chen and Xiao Yu followed Xiao Yao up the mountain and encountered Xiao Ning leading other royal descendants.
• Xiao Ning recognized Xiao Yao, sent a clansman to alert the elders at the summit, and led the group in paying respects to the princess.

After more than three years of cultivation, Xiao Jin and Xiao Yu reached the Essence Condensation Sixth Layer and discussed why Xiao Yao had summoned the imperial clan’s young cultivators. Xiao Yao began testing their skills by sparring with them, and the chapter left Xiao Jin and Xiao Yu ready to enter the hall and face her.

• Xiao Yu asked Xiao Jin why Xiao Yao had arrived, and Xiao Jin guessed she wanted to assess their skills and spar with them.
• Xiao Yao blasted two True Person clan cultivators out of the hall, then ordered the remaining Spiritual Connection Realm cultivators inside.
• The two injured cultivators reassured the others that Xiao Yao’s sparring would not damage their foundations, though they suffered painful injuries.
• Xiao Yao sent the seven Spiritual Connection Realm cultivators flying from the hall, leaving five unconscious and two barely conscious.
• Xiao Jin and Xiao Yu stepped forward voluntarily, determined to fight Xiao Yao despite knowing she was stronger.

Xiao Yao attended the Pill Origin Ceremony with several top young cultivators following her, making her first formal appearance before Azure Waves’ powers. Before the ceremony began, she learned that Sword Immortal Taicang would oversee their operation in the Secret Realm.

• The Pill Workshop Venerable created a private seat for Xiao Yao, and the Elders recognized the importance of her arrival.
• Xiao Yao took her seat with Han Fenghua, Xiao Jin, Xiao Yu, and Long Shou behind her; Long Shou reflected that his defeat to her had exposed flaws in his cultivation.
• Han Fenghua told Xiao Yao that the others would cooperate with them in the Secret Realm.
• Xiao Yao learned that Sword Immortal Taicang from Meishan would serve as Celestial Overseer and welcomed the news.

At the Pill Origin Ceremony venue, Kang An worried about his missing Third Sister until Fan Ting reassured him, while Yang Yuanzhao tried to learn more about He Xinxian’s alchemy tome. He Xinxian returned to her cave dwelling and found an unfamiliar elderly cultivator waiting outside.

• Kang An told Fan Ting that he feared for Third Sister, who had given her crystal to Kang An and Kang Chen and had not completed the trial.
• Fan Ting comforted Kang An, suggesting Third Sister might have entered the ceremony by another means, and led him away to see what their Second Sister had found.
• Yang Yuanzhao asked He Xinxian about the latter half of an ancient alchemy tome while they played chess, but she avoided the subject.
• He Xinxian returned to her cave dwelling after the chess game and found an unfamiliar elderly cultivator waiting outside.

Wang Sanjin revealed that he had fused the immortal power with his divine soul and claimed he had subdued its remnant will. He offered to teach He Xinxian how to tame it in exchange for her help in the upcoming Secret Realm treasure hunt.

• Wang Sanjin released his immortal power, and He Xinxian warned him that the Venerables guarding the area could discover it.
• Wang Sanjin said the immortal power had gone unnoticed by a Daoist Academy Venerable, the True Intent examiner, and the Medicine God.
• He Xinxian asked how Wang Sanjin knew she had not mastered the immortal power, and he showed her how deeply he had fused it with his divine soul.
• Wang Sanjin said he had defeated the remnant will of the immortal power and that it had since submitted to him.
• Wang Sanjin offered to teach He Xinxian his methods for taming immortal power if she joined him in the Secret Realm treasure hunt.

Wang Sanjin gave He Xinxian written instructions for controlling the immortal power, but the ink secretly weakened her senses and helped the power invade her sea of consciousness. Just as Wang Sanjin expected his scheme to succeed, he sensed the Immortal Treasure’s aura, while Yang Yuanzhao arrived to summon He Xinxian and Wang Sanjin to meet Lord Medicine God.

• He Xinxian agreed to join forces with Wang Sanjin but insisted that he teach her in writing.
• Wang Sanjin gave He Xinxian notes, and she used their method to suppress the immortal power within her.
• The notes released a scent that weakened He Xinxian’s senses as the immortal power reached toward her sea of consciousness.
• Wang Sanjin sensed He Xinxian’s condition through the ink and expected the immortal power to take control of her.
• Wang Sanjin sensed the Immortal Treasure’s aura, and Yang Yuanzhao arrived at He Xinxian’s cave to summon her and Wang Sanjin to meet Lord Medicine God.

The Pill Origin Ceremony began with a Venerable’s pill-refining exposition, while Li Huazhong watched He Xinxian and Wang Sanjin for signs of their Immortal Treasures’ influence. He suspected Azure Waves’ peak experts were already investigating the treasures and realized he might not be alone in opposing them.

• The Pill Workshop opened the Pill Origin Ceremony with the Venerable’s exposition, allowing cultivators from many Dao paths to gain insight.
• Li Huazhong brought Yang Yuanzhao, He Xinxian, and Wang Sanjin to a nearby viewing platform and observed their reactions.
• Li Huazhong found Yang Yuanzhao’s identity convincing, but saw that Wang Sanjin’s Dao comprehension was being driven by his Immortal Treasure while He Xinxian’s insights remained her own.
• Li Huazhong suspected the Immortal Treasures were a means for higher cultivators to control Azure Waves and reasoned that the region’s peak experts had already begun taking action.
• Li Huazhong saw the newly added guest seat as a possible sign that Xiao Yao and other great-house cultivators had come to investigate the Immortal Treasures.

At the Pill Origin Ceremony, the Pill Workshop Venerable revealed that the sentient Mystic Pill he had refined wanted to choose its own master. He set the rules for the selection and drew eligible cultivators into the venue to meet it.

• Chen Yang told Chen Huaien he would send him to the Pill Workshop for further study once the higher cultivator matter had progressed.
• The Mystic Pill dodged the Pill Workshop Venerable when he tried to retrieve it from the furnace, displaying its sentience to the assembled cultivators.
• The Pill Workshop Venerable explained that the Mystic Pill wanted to choose a cultivator it favored as its master.
• The Pill Workshop Venerable announced that cultivators below the Mystic Insight Realm could approach the pill and try to earn its recognition.
• The Pill Workshop Venerable used spatial power to surround the furnace and draw cultivators from the mountain pavilions and viewing platforms into the center of the venue.

Wang Sanjin used immortal power to race through the curtain and reach the pill furnace first, prompting powerful clans to send their own cultivators into the trial. As the others watched, he reflected on how the Immortal Treasure’s power had carried him beyond the limits of his former life.

• He Xinxian suppressed her immortal power and entered the curtain, while Wang Sanjin used immortal power to speed ahead.
• Wang Sanjin quickly passed Yang Yuanzhao, prompting the great clans to send their disciples into the curtain.
• Ning Jiu asked Ling Shuang about Nangong Jingxin, and Ling Shuang identified her as a talented early-stage True Intent cultivator.
• Ning Jiu said Xiao Yao’s strength left no suspense about the mysterious pill, and Ling Shuang promised to arrange a discussion of the Dao between them.
• Wang Sanjin emerged from the curtain and reached the azure pill furnace, reflecting on how the Immortal Treasure had changed his fate.

Nangong Jingxin and Yang Yuanzhao tested their auras against the Mysterious Pill, but only Yang Yuanzhao drew its strong interest before Wang Sanjin secretly interfered. As more cultivators entered the core area, Wang Sanjin continued plotting to steal Yang Yuanzhao’s treasure once they reached the Secret Realm.

• Nangong Jingxin cast golden light into the pill furnace, but the Mysterious Pill’s spirit thread circled her before returning inside.
• Yang Yuanzhao offered scarlet fire true essence, attracting the Mysterious Pill’s intent, which surged toward the spirit pearl in his body.
• Wang Sanjin secretly used immortal power to distract the Mysterious Pill and make its mysterious intent withdraw from Yang Yuanzhao.
• Yang Yuanzhao asked Chen Yang for instructions, then pretended to lament that he could not keep the mysterious intent.
• Wang Sanjin comforted Yang Yuanzhao while plotting to seize his Immortal Treasure in the Secret Realm.
• Han Fenghua and other cultivators arrived in the core area at Xiao Yao’s instruction.

Xiao Yao effortlessly took the mystic pill from Wang Sanjin despite his immortal power, leaving the cultivators stunned. After they recognized her and discussed her immense fortune and status, Yang Yuanzhao approached the shaken Wang Sanjin to lament how close he had come.

• Wang Sanjin tried to use his immortal power to reclaim the mystic pill from Xiao Yao, but it had no effect.
• Xiao Yao put away the mystic pill and returned to the uppermost space without speaking.
• The cultivators discussed the masked female cultivator and gradually recognized Xiao Yao, then speculated about her presence at the Pill Origin Ceremony and the Danyuan Secret Realm.
• The cultivators acknowledged that Xiao Yao's fortune and standing had eclipsed every other contender at the ceremony.
• Yang Yuanzhao approached Wang Sanjin and regretted that he had been so close to subduing the mystic pill.

Li Huazhong invited Yang Yuanzhao, He Xinxian, and Wang Sanjin to enter the Danyuan Secret Realm with him, while Wang Sanjin’s strange behavior and He Xinxian’s doubts revealed the immortal power’s influence over them. Li Huazhong recognized that He Xinxian could still be saved and intervened when Wang Sanjin tried to affect her, before the ceremony moved on to the Living Pill Capture.

• Li Huazhong invited Yang Yuanzhao, He Xinxian, and Wang Sanjin to accompany him into the Danyuan Secret Realm as pill apprentices, and all three accepted.
• He Xinxian began to suspect that immortal power had been steering her toward the Secret Realm and felt an overwhelming fatigue in her sea of consciousness.
• Wang Sanjin reached for He Xinxian under the guise of concern, but Li Huazhong blocked him and used dharma light to restore her clarity.
• Li Huazhong sensed He Xinxian’s struggling will and resolved to save her from the evil immortal’s influence.
• The Pill Origin Ceremony held more opportunities for visiting cultivators, including the eagerly anticipated Living Pill Capture.