Chapter Summaries

Kang Dabao met Lang Yi at Crane Spirit Mountain with a letter from Sima Fei, hoping to learn Wood techniques and pursue Foundation Establishment. Lang Yi welcomed him and offered a Second Tier Spirit Vein chamber and a collection of 166 annotated texts, leaving Kang Dabao to begin a demanding five-year course of study.

• Mr. Wen scolded He Degong, but changed his manner after Kang Dabao introduced himself as the Chongming Sect leader and mentioned Sima Fei’s letter.
• Lang Yi welcomed Kang Dabao after reading Sima Fei’s letter and sent Wen Liu to reward He Degong with a Law Artifact for bringing him there.
• Lang Yi showed Kang Dabao his expansive cave abode and explained that he hoped Sima Fei’s favor might help him secure a chance to extend his life.
• Lang Yi gave Kang Dabao a token for a quiet chamber with a Second Tier Spirit Vein and offered to teach him Wood techniques.
• Lang Yi presented 166 annotated Wood technique texts and estimated that Kang Dabao would need five years to study them; Kang Dabao accepted the opportunity and hoped his jade jue would help.

Kang Dabao reached Qi Refinement Ninth Layer after two years studying Lang Yi’s wood art texts, while Jiang Qing’s actions helped secure the He Household. Having completed his stay on Crane Spirit Mountain, Kang Dabao left to return home.

• Kang Dabao received Jiang Qing’s letter and a poorly prepared pig knuckle, and learned that Jiang Qing had secured allies for the He Household before setting out with Duan Anle.
• Kang Dabao studied the wood art texts, used the jade jue to gain insights, and raised his cultivation to Qi Refinement Ninth Layer over two years.
• Lang Yi examined Kang Dabao’s progress and accepted that their exchange had benefited both of them, though he had not obtained the resources he wanted from Sima Fei.
• Kang Dabao asked to leave Crane Spirit Mountain, and Lang Yi sent Wen Liu to escort him down the mountain.
• Kang Dabao parted from Wen Liu and looked back at Crane Spirit Mountain, saying that he could finally return and see home.

Chongming Small Pavilion prospered while the Illusory Sword Alliance struggled to compete, and Deacon Zhang had to pay the market’s customary fees. Duan Anle returned to the market and reunited with his fellow disciples, who learned that Kang Da had likely arrived back at the sect.

• Deacon Zhang paid the patrolmen their customary fees, then lost a potential sale when they chose to buy from Chongming Small Pavilion instead.
• Duan Anle entered the market with his caravan, gave the gate patrolmen their entrance fee and a tip, and met Pei Que at the Ming Household warehouse.
• Pei Que told Duan Anle that he and Junior Brothers He and Ming had helped the Kuai Household defeat the bandit cultivator Hong Qin, and that Kang and Mo were recruiting harvesters for the Tea-Colored Grain at Heng Mountain.
• Duan Anle and Pei Que joined Zhou Xinran, Ye Pingshui, and Huo Ying at Chongming Small Pavilion, where they exchanged news about the sect and its recent affairs.
• Kang Rongquan reported that recruitment for the harvest had gone smoothly, and Mo Ku announced that Lu Kang had seen Kang Da heading toward the sect’s mountain gate.

Yuan Jin managed Chongming Sect affairs while Kang Dabao returned early from Crane Spirit Mountain and resumed cultivating. In seclusion, Kang Dabao drank the Primordial Gourd’s spirit dew and discovered its latest effect after ten days of recovery.

• Yuan Jin reviewed Pingrong County’s tribute lists with Ye Zhengwen and instructed him to sort the gifts with Pei and Anle.
• Yuan Jin ordered action against Widow Ma’s market gossip and told Zhou Yixiu to pressure the Fellow Cultivators Association over the Green Bamboo Gang’s estate.
• Kang Dabao returned after two years away, said he had gained a little from seeking instruction, and went to cultivate in his cloud chamber.
• Kang Dabao carefully opened the Primordial Gourd and drank the spirit dew it had produced during its latest cycle.
• After ten days of regulating his breathing, Kang Dabao opened his eyes and lamented that the result was not what he had expected.

After emerging from seclusion, Kang Dabao reviewed the Chongming Sect’s finances and affairs, then entered seclusion to attempt Foundation Establishment. He succeeded in forming a Dao foundation that could change its color, endured an unexpected vision of his mother, and returned as a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

• Kang Dabao emerged from seclusion with a jade-colored Dantian and spirit spring, then summoned the sect’s disciples to report on its affairs.
• Pei Yi, Zhou Yixiu, Duan Anle, Zhou Xinran, Chu Huer, and Yuan Jin reported on the sect’s disciples, income, operations, and expenses; Kang Dabao promoted Zhou Yixiu and fined Niu Kuang and Chu Huer over Chongming City’s failures.
• Kang Dabao told his elders and Yuan Jin that he would attempt Foundation Establishment, then received guidance from Daoist Black Shoes and entered a stone chamber.
• Kang Dabao set aside his Foundation Establishment Pills and spirit items, formed a Dao lotus, and watched it change from green to purple and then jade; he discovered that he could alter its color and chose to display ice-colored leaves.
• Kang Dabao experienced a vision of his mother during a tribulation and called out to her before coming to himself.
• Daoist Black Shoes saw Kang Dabao emerge, and the Chongming Sect announced that Kang Dabao had achieved Foundation Establishment on the twenty-fifth day of the third month of Qianfeng year 432.

Shan Sheng brought Shan Xuerong to the Chongming Sect, where he discovered that Kang Dabao’s recent Foundation Establishment had drawn a crowd of powerful congratulatory guests. After Kang Dabao teased him about a supposed divorce agreement, a message arrived that someone from Mi Household Stockade had come to beg forgiveness.

• Shan Sheng scolded Shan Xuerong for returning to her maiden family and brought her aboard a flying boat to the Chongming Sect.
• At Little Ring Mountain, Shan Sheng learned that the Chongming Sect was recruiting young children and saw the many families waiting to apply.
• Pei Que welcomed Shan Sheng and led him up the mountain, where he met the Four Friends of Cold Mountain playing chess.
• Kang Dabao welcomed Shan Sheng into a reception hall filled with leaders of Foundation Establishment forces, and Shan Sheng realized he had arrived late.
• Kang Dabao asked whether Shan Sheng had come to deliver a divorce agreement for Shan Xuerong, then revealed he had been joking.
• Kang Rongquan sent Kang Dabao a message that someone from Mi Household Stockade had arrived to beg forgiveness.

Fei Shuhe wrestled with her pride and jealousy after Sect Leader Kang Da left her room quickly, while Kang Dabao rejected Mi Household Stockade’s insincere apology and saw off the Foundation Establishment guests. After the guests departed, he returned to the council hall and began reviewing Pei Yi’s list of cultivation seedlings.

• Fei Shuhe brooded over Sect Leader Kang Da’s brief visit, and Nanny Sun comforted her and advised her about returning to the Fei Household with him.
• Nanny Sun inspected the Green Lotus Courtyard’s defenses and heard from the beast handler about a spectacle the Golden-Feathered Owl had spotted outside the Chongming Sect.
• Kang Dabao and Jiang Qing confronted Mi Household Stockade’s messengers, and Kang Dabao ordered them to take their injured leader back and tell him to come apologize in person.
• Jiang Qing shaved the tattoo-faced messenger’s head with his flying sword, and the Four Friends of Cold Mountain lightened the mood before joining Kang Dabao and Jiang Qing for drinks.
• Kang Dabao hosted a farewell banquet for the Foundation Establishment guests, then returned to the council hall and examined Pei Yi’s list of cultivation seedlings.

Kang Dabao reviewed the Chongming Sect’s new disciples and approved Pei Yi’s plan to recruit skilled Rogue Cultivators as guest instructors. He then removed Niu Kuang as guardian of Chongming City, appointed He Yuanbing in his place, and ordered reforms to the city’s leadership and mortal administration before turning to discuss the Double Brightness Caravan.

• Kang Dabao reviewed the admission list, which included two disciples with Triple Spirit Roots and seven with Four Spirit Roots, and Pei Yi proposed hiring skilled Rogue Cultivators as guest instructors.
• Kang Dabao approved Pei Yi’s proposal but instructed him to examine candidates’ skill, character, and judgment before hiring them.
• Chu Huer revealed that Niu Kuang had missed the meeting after taking too many areca flower slices, and Pei Yi asked Kang Dabao to remove him as guardian of Chongming City.
• Kang Dabao agreed to remove Niu Kuang and appointed He Yuanbing to serve as Chongming City’s guardian for two years.
• Kang Dabao ordered He Yuanbing to assess the new city lord and enforce rules on concubinage, household registration, slavery, and population growth.
• Kang Dabao began discussing the Double Brightness Caravan with his junior brothers.

Kang Dabao chose a prestigious wood Cultivation Method for his path beyond Foundation Establishment, then arranged to deal with Mi Household Stockade. Ma Wenhan agreed to support the Chongming Sect, leaving the Mi chief facing an attack by four Foundation Establishment cultivators.

• Kang Dabao selected the Green Goat Pine Discourse Scripture, a method that would take years to switch to, and prepared to settle the matter with Mi Household Stockade.
• The Mi chief learned Old Ghost Feng demanded three thousand Spirit Stones and killed a trusted underling in a fit of rage.
• The Mi chief decided to resist the Chongming Sect long enough to negotiate, relying on three invited Rogue Cultivators and the stockade’s shamanic soldiers.
• Kang Dabao, Jiang Qing, and Shan Sheng pressed Ma Wenhan to choose a side, and Ma Wenhan agreed to help pacify Mi Household Stockade.
• Ma Wenhan accepted the Chongming Sect’s intervention in hopes of reclaiming the stockade’s spiritual land while avoiding a costly fight for his own household.

Duan Anle learned that Madam Huo was pregnant and feared the news might threaten the sect’s principal line, but Pei Yi reassured him that the sect leader and his wife welcomed the pregnancy. After Duan Anle and Pei Que left, Pei Yi’s brief joy at seeing his disciple reunite with his brothers gave way to a surge of buried resentment.

• Duan Anle received a letter from home, then told He Yuanbing that he and Ming Zhe would leave for Changyun County with the sect’s party under Martial Uncle Chu.
• Pei Que announced that Madam Huo was pregnant, and Duan Anle ordered the others to keep the news secret before taking Pei Que to Pei Yi.
• Pei Yi made Duan Anle help clean the Alchemy Chamber, then explained that the sect leader’s wife had welcomed Madam Huo’s pregnancy and that the spirit pill was meant to protect her.
• Pei Yi let Yuan Changsheng skip his Core Thesis recitation so he could catch up with Duan Anle and Pei Que.
• After the younger disciples left, Pei Yi’s smile faded, resentment overwhelmed him, and he withdrew to the meditation room.

Chu Huer led the Chongming Sect disciples to the Changyun Ma Household, where they learned of a proposed marriage alliance and prepared to help attack Mi Household Stockade. The battle began with the Ma Household assaulting the stockade, but an unknown witchfire killed several attackers and left Kang Dabao doubting they could take it quickly.

• Chu Huer brought the Chongming Sect disciples safely to the Changyun Ma Household, where they settled in before the coming battle.
• Ye Yaoling told Duan Anle and the others that Ma Household cultivators had lingered outside her courtyard, and they urged Ming Zhe not to provoke a dispute.
• Pei Que reported that the Ma Household wanted a marriage alliance with the Chongming Sect, and Kang Dabao said the proposal was nearly settled.
• Kang Dabao, Jiang Qing, Chu Huer, and Ma Wenhan led their forces to Mi Household Stockade, where the Mi chief and three Foundation Establishment rogue cultivators prepared to defend the formation.
• Ma Wenhan rallied the Ma Household cultivators with his copper bell and began the assault, but witchfire burst from the stockade and killed several people at the front.

The Ma Household and Chongming Sect attacked the Mi Household Stockade, where Soul-Scorching Witchfire and the stockade’s formation made the battle costly. Feng’s failed attempt to seize Ma Wenhan ended in a chaotic retreat; both sides suffered heavy casualties, and Ma Wenhan was left facing his wounded disciples.

• Shan Sheng and Ma Wenhan recognized the Mi Household’s Soul-Scorching Witchfire as a mountain barbarian technique, while Ma Wenhan used his bell and fan to defend the Ma Household forces.
• The Ma Household battered the stockade’s formation, and Kang Dabao’s damaged Star-Shooting Crossbow struck the witch soldiers, though Feng and the old woman blocked its later bolts.
• Feng opened a gap in the formation and attacked Ma Wenhan, but Jiang Qing intervened and drove him back as Kang Dabao joined the fight.
• Feng used his golden armor and silver wings to break through the Ma Household cultivators, while the Mi Household chief led a hundred witch soldiers out to scatter them.
• Kang Dabao disrupted the witch soldiers’ formation and cut off several dozen, but Feng and the chief withdrew into the stockade with their remaining forces.
• The battle ended with more than a hundred casualties, and Ma Wenhan looked over the wounded and dying Ma Household disciples as a hunting falcon cried overhead.

Kang Dabao arranged reinforcements while the Chongming Sect and the Ma Household continued their assault on Mi Household Stockade. The defenders’ hired Foundation Establishment cultivators turned against the Mi Household’s chief, and Kang Dabao entered the fallen stockade as fighting continued.

• Kang Dabao arranged to bring patrolmen from the Double Brightness Trade Market and a hundred clansmen from the Jade Moon Shan Household to reinforce the assault.
• Kang Dabao, Jiang Qing, and Ma Wenhan led another attack that damaged a foundation of Mi Household Stockade’s grand formation while the defenders’ morale weakened.
• The Toothless Old Man and the Foundation Establishment old woman plotted to let the stockade’s defenders kill the Mi Household’s chief, while the Foundation Establishment cultivator surnamed Feng refused to join their scheme.
• The Mi Household’s chief was killed during an uprising, Old Ghost Feng fled, and a scholar emerged carrying the chief’s head to beg surrender.
• Kang Dabao recognized the scholar, spared his life, and led the Chongming Sect into the stockade while Ma Wenhan and Shan Sheng entered ahead of him and fighting continued inside.

Jiang Qing and the Chongming Sect helped the Changyun Ma Household defeat the Mi Household Stockade, and the survivors divided the spoils before Kang Dabao led his disciples home. Upon returning to the sect, Kang Dabao found a bloodshot-eyed woman kowtowing before Sect Leader He's memorial tablet.

• Shan Sheng, Ma Wenhan, and Jiang Qing killed the Toothless Old Man after he used a blood-draining Evil Method to strengthen his body and slaughter Ma Household cultivators.
• Jiang Qing, Shan Sheng, and Ma Wenhan divided the Toothless Old Man's treasures, with Jiang Qing choosing cultivation pills and Shan Sheng taking the Horned Dragon Grass.
• Kang Dabao searched the Mi Household Stockade for its shaman-soldier training method, but found only copied notes, then had the disciples divide the stockade's remaining supplies with the Ma Household.
• The Ma Household wiped out the remaining shaman soldiers, while Kang Dabao spared the scholar who had opened the stockade and sent word that reinforcements were unnecessary.
• Kang Dabao accepted a thousand Spirit Stones from Ma Wenhan and led the Chongming Sect disciples away, rejecting the prospect of a marriage alliance with the Ma Household.
• Kang Dabao returned to the sect and found a woman with bloodshot eyes kowtowing before Sect Leader He's memorial tablet.

He Wanying returned to the Chongming Sect with her husband, Feng Wan, and reunited with Kang Dabao and the other senior brothers, who learned that the couple had been driven into hardship by debt and pursuers. Meanwhile, the Two Instruments Sect planned to resettle several weakened powers in White Sand County under the new Changning Sect and use Chen Ye to undermine the Chongming Sect.

• He Wanying returned to the Chongming Sect after nearly thirty years away, and Yuan Jin confronted her over her past actions and disgrace to the sect.
• Kang Dabao returned and stopped Yuan Jin and Jiang Qing from fighting; he scolded them, questioned He Wanying, and learned that she had been supporting Feng Wan while a Qi Refinement gang pursued them.
• Yuan Jin explained that Feng Wan had found a planted Storage Bag, bringing the couple under threat, and that they had escaped by using an antidote, spirit incense, and Blood-Dousing Powder.
• Song Xueqiao told Chen Ye that the Feng Prefecture Ge Household, True Spirit Gate, and Chang County Lin Household would relocate to White Sand County and form the Changning Sect.
• Song Xueqiao said Jiang Yuan intended for Chen Ye to lead the Changning Sect and weaken the Chongming Sect, which Kuang Liuting had helped restore as a Foundation Establishment power.

Kang Dabao cultivated a powerful body-tempering method and assessed the growth of his spirit beasts while the Chongming Sect prepared to announce Huo Ying’s pregnancy to Fei Shuhe. Fei Shuhe welcomed the news and gave the child a precious jade pendant, while the chapter ended with Attendant Chen being summoned by the sect leader.

• Kang Dabao left He Wanying and her husband in the care of Chu Huer and the other disciples, then comprehended the first volume of Northern Night Palace's True Explanation of the Primordial Ancient Body.
• Kang Dabao considered gathering Moon Scale Stone Juice for body tempering and evaluated Little Qi and the growing Silver-Armored Lion Insect swarm before returning to cultivation.
• A Golden-Feathered Owl reported that the Chongming Sect had briefly hung a red announcement at its archway, and Nanny Sun relayed the news to Fei Shuhe.
• Ye Zhengwen and Zhou Yixiu visited Fei Shuhe to announce Huo Ying’s pregnancy, and Fei Shuhe gave the unborn child a rare spirit-nurturing jade pendant.
• Fei Shuhe instructed Nanny Sun to inform her family of the happy news and told Yu'er she would arrange a marriage for Brother Yi if he had a Spirit Root.
• A middle-aged Foundation Establishment cultivator watched the Golden-Feathered Owl fly away, then an old man carrying a spirit corpse told Attendant Chen that the sect leader was summoning him.

Sect Leader Kang Da emerged from seclusion, learned about the sect’s new spirit-planting method, and met Daoist Black Shoes to discuss He Wanying’s danger and the New Cloud Alliance’s mining quotas. Meanwhile, news of a disturbance at Double Brightness Trade Market reached Market Commandant Deng Baichuan, who recognized the cultivator named in a new appointment and decided to consult Kang Dabao.

• Sect Leader Kang Da met his half-year-old son Changyi and heard Zhou Yixiu explain his method for cultivating the Glazed Treasure Tree with gathered sun and moon Qi.
• Sect Leader Kang Da visited Daoist Black Shoes, who explained that He Wanying’s husband Feng Wan had been targeted because of his Clear Spirit Physique and urged Kang Da not to surrender him to the Yuan Household.
• Daoist Black Shoes told Sect Leader Kang Da to attend a New Cloud Alliance meeting and renegotiate the Tanggu County Spirit Stone mine quotas, seeking a twenty-percent share for himself while retaining Hemu Dao’s five percent.
• Jin Shilun questioned Master Fu and Master Guo about the disturbance at Mandarin Duck Hall and learned that a Foundation Establishment cultivator had taken Lady Chong and badly wounded Attendant Lan during the pursuit.
• Deng Baichuan received Jin Shilun’s message and a reply about appointing another attendant, then recognized the person named in it and decided to speak with Kang Dabao.

Kang Dabao learned that Yue Feng had been appointed an Attendant at the Double Brightness Trade Market, and Sima Fei warned him about Yue Feng’s brother while urging him to carry an offer to Daoist Black Shoes. Meanwhile, the newly formed Changning Sect considered which New Cloud Alliance member to target and settled on troubled Zi Maple Valley as a possible opportunity.

• Sima Fei told Kang Dabao that Yue Wen, Yue Feng’s younger brother, had tried to kill him and warned him to be cautious of Yue Feng.
• Sima Fei asked Kang Dabao to tell Daoist Black Shoes that he could gain a Prefecture Court position and perhaps a Nascent Soul True Person as a mentor after reaching Core Formation.
• Kang Dabao left the banquet, declined the advances of local Foundation Establishment lineages, and greeted Qi Duoluo warmly at Master Qi’s shop.
• Dai Fu warned Chen Ye not to cause trouble at the Double Brightness Trade Market and discussed the New Cloud Alliance’s recent activity with the Changning Sect elders.
• Chen Ye proposed targeting Zi Maple Valley because its internal strife left it vulnerable.

Sect Leader Kang Da and Jiang Qing attended a New Cloud Alliance meeting hosted by Ye Zhen, where the alliance discussed reallocating shares in the Tanggu County Spirit Stone vein. The chapter ended as Shen Baiyue interrupted Ye Zhen’s proposal to speak.

• Sect Leader Kang Da and Jiang Qing arrived at Brocade Splendor Mountain, where Ye Zhen welcomed them and agreed to summon the New Cloud Alliance representatives.
• The alliance members gathered at the Book and Sword Gate, shared cultivation insights at a Dao gathering, and exchanged spiritual items.
• Jiang Qing won one bottle of Yellow Dragon Hundred Leaf Pills with a high bid, while Kang Da later bought a training puppet for fifteen hundred Spirit Stones.
• Ye Zhen proposed reducing the Jade Moon Shan Household’s and Zi Maple Valley’s shares in the Tanggu County Spirit Stone vein while keeping Hemu Dao’s share unchanged.
• Shen Baiyue stood to object before Ye Zhen could announce the Chongming Sect’s proposed share.

Ye Zhen settled the New Cloud Alliance’s Spirit Stone vein quotas after Shen Baiyue’s objections failed, while Kang Dabao avoided a fight by invoking Daoist Black Shoes and the Fei Household. As Kang Dabao traveled to inspect the vein, he learned that Shen Baiyue had been killed and Tie Liuyun had arrived at the Book and Sword Gate demanding an explanation.

• Shen Baiyue challenged Ye Zhen’s proposed quota cuts for Zi Maple Valley and the Jade Moon Shan Household, but the other household leaders did not support him.
• Ye Zhen announced shares of two tenths for the Chongming Sect, two and a half tenths for Fellow Daoist Black Shoes, and three tenths for the Book and Sword Gate; Shen Baiyue objected and asked Kang Dabao to give Zi Maple Valley five hundredths.
• Kang Dabao rejected Shen Baiyue’s request and discouraged his challenge to a fight by saying he would consult Daoist Black Shoes and the Fei Household.
• Shen Baiyue threatened to seek Commander Tie’s judgment and left; Shen Xing declined to oppose the settlement, and Ye Zhen finalized it.
• Kang Dabao set out for Tanggu County to inspect the Spirit Stone vein accounts and the blue-silver vein, then learned Shen Baiyue was dead and Tie Liuyun had come to demand an explanation.