Chapter Summaries

After Lord Yin Shan died, Kang Da arranged an elaborate mourning and burial before Daoist Black Shoes prepared to leave Chongming Sect in search of an Upper-Grade Golden Core. Daoist Black Shoes departed for the outer seas, leaving Kang Dabao to lead the sect and warning him to beware the Kuang Household and Fei Household.

• Kang Da ordered mourning rites across Ping and Jin counties, and the Chongming Sect held Lord Yin Shan's body in state for ten days.
• Qin Sufu took Lord Yin Shan to Fish Mountain Island for burial, while Kang Da warned the leaders of the Fish Mountain Fellow Cultivators Association.
• Daoist Black Shoes told Kang Da and He Wanying that he planned to leave Little Ring Mountain and might not return for a long time.
• Kang Da offered Daoist Black Shoes a Third Tier, middle-grade flying sword, and Daoist Black Shoes accepted it after recognizing Kang Da's filial intent.
• Daoist Black Shoes departed on the Solemn Autumn Sword for the outer seas after warning Kang Da about the Kuang Household and Fei Household.
• Kang Da watched Daoist Black Shoes leave and vowed to make the Chongming Sect's lineage flourish.

Fei Nanying and Juntian Bird found Daoist Black Shoes as he traveled toward the outer seas and tried to persuade him to return to serve Kuang Liuting. Daoist Black Shoes refused, declaring his ambition to form an Upper-Grade Golden Core, then asked Fei Nanying for a length of Azure Firmament Spirit Root.

• Fei Nanying learned that Daoist Black Shoes had left for the outer seas and predicted that Kuang Liuting would ask the Fei Household to bring him back.
• Fei Nanying received Kuang Liuting's order and set out to find Daoist Black Shoes, accompanied by Juntian Bird.
• Daoist Black Shoes visited the Myriad Treasures Trading Company in Tengwen Prefecture, searched for an Azure Firmament Spirit Root, and bought materials to nurture the Solemn Autumn Sword.
• Juntian Bird and Fei Nanying encountered Li Yun, who said he had come to recruit Daoist Black Shoes for the Two Instruments Sect rather than attack him.
• Fei Nanying and Juntian Bird found Daoist Black Shoes after he defeated three opponents, and they offered him resources and a chance to return.
• Daoist Black Shoes refused, revealed his ambition to form an Upper-Grade Golden Core, and asked Fei Nanying to give him a length of Azure Firmament Spirit Root.

Fei Nanying and Juntian Bird dismissed Daoist Black Shoes’s chances of forming an Upper-Grade Golden Core, while the Two Instruments Sect’s elders weighed the threats surrounding Kuang Liuting and their dependence on the Star-Picking Pavilion. The Grand Elder then visited Junior Brother Peng, whose plan to help the sect produce a True Person pointed toward the Cold Crow Mountain Range and its hidden powers.

• Juntian Bird told Fei Nanying that he lacked Ancestor Ye Shui’s boldness, but said he could still earn Daoist Black Shoes’s favor by treating the Chongming Sect and his nephew-in-law well.
• The Grand Elder of the Two Instruments Sect gathered the sect’s Golden Core cultivators and warned that Kuang Shenzhi might come to Shannan Circuit after visiting the Lanmeng Palace Master.
• The Grand Elder said the sect should avoid provoking the Cloud Horn Prefecture Court and might even surrender Jingnan Prefecture, while Xiang Tianxing’s growing power left them with few options.
• The Grand Elder visited Junior Brother Peng and saw his nearly completed supreme-grade Third Tier Law Treasure, which Peng had refined using fresh living souls collected by the sect.
• Junior Brother Peng proposed that the Two Instruments Sect produce its own True Person and pointed to the Cold Crow Mountain Range, saying its true masters were not the Mountain Barbarians.

As Sect Leader Kang Da prepared for his birthday, Chongming Sect disciples received assignments in the flourishing Chongming City, while Jin Shilun returned to the sect with He Yuanhe. The elders learned that the Fei Household’s Juntian Bird had seized a Third-Tier Demon Beast’s lair, prompting Kang Da to prepare for a likely mobilization and confront the sect’s increasingly precarious ties to the Fei Household.

• Tang Jiu welcomed newly arrived outer disciples, who waited at the city lord’s residence and heard news of events around the sect before meeting He Yuanhe.
• He Yuanhe gave the disciples Law Artifacts, and Tang Jiu assigned them tasks in and around Chongming City while warning them not to harm the people.
• Jin Shilun traveled with He Yuanhe to the Chongming Sect, where Song Cheng told them Jiang Qing and several elders were in a closed meeting.
• Jiang Qing reported that the Fei Household’s Juntian Bird had seized a Third-Tier Demon Beast’s lair near Hong County, and Kang Da ordered preparations for possible forced labor and a large mobilization.
• Kang Da discussed his worsening relationship with his Fei Household uncle-in-law and acknowledged that he might have to sacrifice disciples to secure the sect’s place; he then asked Pei Yi to bring He Yuanhe in.

He Yuanhe visited the Chongming Sect and reunited with his younger brother and fellow disciples before asking Sect Leader Kang Da for help after the Bian Household seized the Foundation Establishment spirit item he had paid for. Kang Dabao refused to confront the powerful Stone Mountain Sect but gave Yuanhe a Five-Pattern Heavy Peak Stone instead, while privately vowing to remember the Bian Household's actions.

• He Yuanhe visited Sect Leader Kang Da, explained that Huang Ming of Flying Snow Peak was his master, and agreed to deliver Kang Dabao's letter to him.
• Jin Shilun brought He Yuanhe to He Yuanyi's courtyard, where He Yuanhe reunited with Yuanyi and joined a gathering of Chongming Sect disciples.
• Duan Anle came out of seclusion despite his injuries from failing Foundation Establishment and warmly welcomed He Yuanhe.
• He Degong brought He Yuanhe to Kang Dabao, where Yuanhe asked for help recovering a Foundation Establishment spirit item taken by the Bian Household.
• Kang Dabao declined to challenge the Stone Mountain Sect but gave He Yuanhe a Five-Pattern Heavy Peak Stone and promised to remember the Bian Household's wrongdoing.

Kang Dabao celebrated his sixty-fifth birthday, then founded the Double Brightness Alliance with neighboring powers to prepare for looming war and expand their spirit land. The alliance agreed to develop the Cold Crow Mountain Range, and the next morning militia from Ping and Jin Counties assembled below Little Ring Mountain.

• Kang Dabao hosted a birthday feast attended by local powers, and Kang Changyi impressed the guests with his cultivation and bearing.
• Kang Dabao warned the assembled leaders that war might soon come and proposed that their households form an alliance to protect one another.
• The household leaders signed Kang Dabao's favorable terms, establishing the Double Brightness Alliance.
• Kang Dabao proposed that the Chongming Sect, Ingenious Craftsman Fort, and Hemu Dao develop spirit land in the Cold Crow Mountain Range, and the alliance approved the plan.
• The alliance held a trade gathering, where Kang Dabao sold surplus artifacts and sent some of the proceeds to the county offices of Ping and Jin Counties.
• The next morning, local militia from Ping and Jin Counties gathered below the drill ground outside Little Ring Mountain.

Kang Dabao gathered and trained an army of Alliance elites, village troops, and Rogue Cultivators to enter the Cold Crow Mountain Range and open spirit soil. The force began its campaign by defeating Fire-Fang Tree Yaoguai, while commander Xiu Ming ordered the march onward after recording flaws in their map.

• Kang Dabao assembled more than three thousand cultivators, assigned their commanders, and established discipline before leading the force toward the Cold Crow Mountain Range.
• Jiang Qing led the Cloud Horn Volunteers at the front, and Xiu Ming's unit warned its troops to take Miasma-Warding Pills before crossing Four-Flower Miasma; several Rogue Cultivators were killed or injured along the way.
• Xiu Ming identified Fire-Fang Tree Yaoguai at the ruins of a Mountain Barbarian stockade and used mechanical puppets to draw them into an attack.
• You Xiaobao accidentally struck the tree yaoguai leader in the eye with a Golden Spear Talisman, and a seasoned cultivator then destroyed it with a silver crossbow bolt.
• Xiu Ming's unit killed or scattered the remaining Fire-Fang Tree Yaoguai, and Xiu Ming ordered a half-day rest before the troops continued their march.

Xiu Ming’s forces survived their first battles in the Cold Crow Mountain Range, while Jiang Qing coordinated the wider campaign and investigated missing teams and stronger Demon Beasts. Ming Zhe delivered supplies to Xiu Ming’s battered unit, where You Xiaobao defended the Chongming caravan, then learned that Jiang Qing had gone to Old Crow Mountain.

• Xiu Ming stabilized Xing Bing’s injuries, rewarded You Xiaobao for his efforts, and sent reports of the Fire-Fang Tree Yaoguai victory back to the main army.
• Jin Shilun told Jiang Qing that eleven of nineteen teams had completed their orders, four were in stalemates, two needed help, and two had vanished; Jiang Qing sent Li Mingyuan and Ji Yunsheng to investigate and ordered aid for the teams in danger.
• Jiang Qing learned that Ye had spotted signs of a Second-Tier Demon Beast near the Jia-Chou Military Stockade, reviewed the campaign’s spoils, and ordered the units to keep pressing forward.
• Ming Zhe met Yuan Changsheng and Guest Elder Cai at a new brewery, then heard that the elusive Blood-Shadow Leopard had killed Chongming cultivators and wounded Lu Xingbei.
• Ming Zhe brought supplies to Xiu Ming’s position, where You Xiaobao silenced complaints about high prices by pointing out that the Chongming caravan had kept essential battlefield goods affordable.
• Xiu Ming told Ming Zhe that Jiang Qing had gone to Old Crow Mountain after an iron-feathered bird scattered Jin County militiamen, and Ming Zhe set out to find him.

Jiang Qing killed the Iron-Feathered Bird and reunited with Ming Zhe, while a hidden green-eyed beast regretted its failed scheme and vowed to settle old scores with Jiang Qing and Kang Dabao. At the command tent, Kang Dabao organized the wounded and the expedition’s next steps before suspecting the beast was plotting against the Chongming Sect.

• Jiang Qing fought and killed the wounded Iron-Feathered Bird in a cave, then harvested its materials and meat before escaping as the cave collapsed.
• Jiang Qing met Ming Zhe, warned him about the increased number of dangerous Demon Beasts, and sensed a hostile presence nearby.
• A green-eyed figure revealed that it had planned to use the Iron-Feathered Bird against Jiang Qing, regretted losing the beast, and vowed to settle its scores with Jiang Qing and Kang Dabao.
• Ma Yanwen reported the heavy casualties among the two hundred soldiers, and Kang Dabao ordered the wounded transported safely while assigning duties to the volunteers and returning Rogue Cultivators.
• Kang Dabao urged Li Mingyuan and Mo Wen to seize a Second-Tier Spirit Vein and suspected that an armored beast was deliberately plotting against the Chongming Sect.

Fei Shuhe worried that the Chongming Sect’s growing undertaking would demand more of Kang Dabao and the family, while learning that the sect was preparing to develop newly secured spirit lands. At Cold Crow Mountain, attacks and a vast beast horde revealed that the alliance faced a far greater danger than expected, and Xiu Ming warned that the horde was heading for the rear army’s command post.

• Fei Shuhe questioned Yuan Jin and Zhou Yixiu about Kang Dabao’s progress, and they reported that the alliance had secured several Second-Tier Spirit Veins and was preparing to withdraw troops and develop the lands.
• Fei Shuhe sent Nanny Sun to visit her son at Martial Armor Mountain, hoping she might bring back information from the Ying Mountain Army.
• Song Cheng learned from Du Qing that Red Dog Wolves had slaughtered much of a Jin County militia company and that the Ma Household had also suffered a beast ambush.
• Du Qing said the sect leader had ended the spirit-land expansion for now and planned to reorganize Rogue Cultivator volunteers and strengthen the formations.
• Xiu Ming arrived gravely wounded and reported that a vast beast horde had swept past the mine, with Second-Tier Demon Beasts among it, toward the Jia-Chou Military Stronghold and the rear army’s command tent.

E Yuan led a massive Demon Beast horde against the Jia-Chou Military Stronghold, demanding that the Chongming Sect’s allies abandon the defense. Kang Dabao rallied the cultivators and held the line as E Yuan launched a coordinated assault on the wall.

• Kang Dabao ordered Ma Yanwen to send more messages, gather the scattered camps, and organize reinforcements under Yuan Jin rather than let them arrive separately.
• Red-Clawed Scaled Oxen charged the formation, and Ming Hun directed the defenders to deploy crossbows, puppets, and water-element talismans.
• Kang Dabao hurried to the western wall after hearing that Lu Xingbei was injured, but Lu Xingbei explained that he had only spat out collected blood.
• E Yuan appeared before the stronghold, revealed that he sought revenge for his dead brothers, and urged cultivators unaffiliated with the Chongming Sect to leave.
• Lu Xingbei slapped and rebuked a disciple who proposed abandoning the defense, then helped restore order among the Cold Mountain Sect cultivators.
• E Yuan sent a Golden-Horned Woolly Rhinoceros and more than a dozen second-tier Demon Beasts charging at the wall.

The Demon Beasts breached the western auxiliary formation at Jia-Chou Military Stronghold, but Kang Dabao arrived and cut through the attacking horde while Wei Gu and the formation masters tried to repair the breach. E Yuan confronted Kang Dabao, who held him off behind the Immortal Game Disc while the repairs remained unfinished.

• Mo Wen and Lu Xingbei helped repel the beasts, and the defenders killed the Azure Wind Falcon and wounded the Blood-Shadow Leopard, while E Yuan watched the assault.
• The Star-Shooting Crossbows began failing as E Yuan drove the beasts into a renewed charge that broke through the western auxiliary formation.
• Mo Wen tried to hold the breach while Lu Xingbei retreated, but Ji Yunsheng stopped him and Kang Dabao arrived to kill the Blood-Shadow Leopard and two other Second-Tier Demon Beasts.
• Kang Dabao unleashed his Lion Insects to clear a path as Wei Gu and the formation masters worked to repair the breach, while Ji Yunsheng and Mo Wen organized the defenders.
• E Yuan attacked Kang Dabao with the Serrated Teeth Grand Formation, but Little Qi blocked it and Kang Dabao used the Immortal Game Disc to stop E Yuan's green-glazed arrows.
• Kang Dabao learned that the auxiliary formation could not be abandoned and prepared to face E Yuan while Wei Gu estimated the repair would take half a quarter hour.

Yuan Jin tightened Chongming Sect’s preparations as losses mounted and outside authorities offered little help, while Kang Dabao fought E Yuan and the beast tide at the Jia-Chou Military Stronghold. The formation was repaired just in time to save Kang Dabao, and the defenders prepared to hold out for reinforcements.

• Yuan Jin handled provisions, allied sect arrangements, and battle preparations while Zhou Yixiu reported heavy losses among the disciples at the stronghold.
• Ye Zhengwen reported that the governor’s office and Sima Office had not promised troops, and the group learned that Niu Kuang’s disciple Xing had died.
• Yuan Jin ordered late-arriving households punished and threatened to kill any clans that missed future deadlines, despite Sun Fu’s protests.
• Kang Dabao used his Lion Insects, Immortal Game Disc, and a talisman treasure to hold back E Yuan and the beast tide as Ji Yunsheng’s Cold Mountain Sect disciples fought beside him.
• With his forces nearly spent, Kang Dabao retreated into the stronghold after the formation was restored in half a cup of tea, and Wei Gu received praise for his work.
• E Yuan failed to break through the repaired formation, while Kang Dabao urged the defenders to hold their posts until reinforcements arrived.

At the Green Lotus Courtyard, Fei Shuhe prepared Yuan Xiyue and Zhang Qingran for a dangerous mission to help ensure Kang Da returned safely, while Huo Ying insisted on helping too. At the Bing-Zi Military Stronghold, Song Cheng’s defenders took a brief respite from the retreating demon beasts before a long howl sent them rushing back to their positions.

• Pei Yi told Fei Shuhe that the expedition would take about ten days to organize, and she urged harsher discipline for cultivators who defied orders.
• Fei Shuhe confronted Yuan Xiyue and Zhang Qingran and demanded that they risk their lives to help protect Kang Da.
• Fei Shuhe showed the women a letter requesting an antidote to their Joy Powder, but warned that they had no choice if Kang Da failed to return.
• Huo Ying asked to join Fei Shuhe, who reassured her and took her back inside to discuss matters.
• At the Bing-Zi Military Stronghold, Song Cheng’s defenders repaired their formation and gathered materials while the demon beasts rested.
• A prolonged howl rose from the beast pack, and Song Cheng ordered everyone back to their positions.

Jiang Qing returned to Bing-Zi Military Stronghold after killing the Copper-Eyed Jackal leader, but his injuries forced him to prepare to leave for Jia-Chou Military Stronghold. Meanwhile, Yuan Jin led a hastily assembled relief force toward Jia-Chou, and Ye Zhengwen left the sect after receiving a message from a familiar woman.

• Jiang Qing drove the Copper-Eyed Jackals back after killing their Second-Tier Lower-Grade leader, then told Song Cheng that he had found only three places with survivors on his way from Old Crow Mountain.
• Jiang Qing warned Song Cheng not to rush to Jia-Chou Military Stronghold and instructed him to join Ming Zhe at Old Crow Mountain only after confirming the area was safe; Jiang Qing then vomited blood and asked for supplies before departing.
• Yuan Jin and Ye Zhengwen agreed to send troops within five days, with Yuan Jin leading the relief force while Ye Zhengwen stayed behind to help protect the sect.
• Fei Wen and Fei Nanben arrived to assist the rescue, and Yuan Jin later marched out with more than two thousand cultivators, including eight Foundation Establishment cultivators.
• Ye Zhengwen received a message talisman, went alone to the secluded cliff it described, and met a familiar woman who asked whether he remembered her.

Yan Qingwei sent a Core Lord to aid the Chongming Sect, while the Double Brightness Alliance’s reinforcements rushed toward the besieged Jia-Chou Military Stronghold. As the defenders struggled with failing equipment and fraying morale, Kang Dabao noticed that Third was outside.

• Yan Qingwei confirmed that Kang Dabao and the Chongming Sect’s leaders were trapped in the Cold Crow Mountain Range and said a Core Lord had already gone to rescue them.
• The Double Brightness Alliance’s reinforcements sped toward the Cold Crow Mountain Range, where Yuan Changsheng worried about leading a company of Rogue Cultivators into battle.
• At Jia-Chou Military Stronghold, the defenders’ equipment broke, the western subsidiary array fell, and cultivators argued about abandoning the fight.
• The Shan commander and an Ingenious Craftsman Fort artificer urged the wavering defenders to hold out for reinforcements, and a winged tiger’s attack forced them back into battle.
• Mo Wen and Shan Shijie apologized to Kang Dabao for their subordinates’ complaints, but Kang Dabao dismissed their concerns and asked why Third was outside.

At the Cloud Horn Prefecture branch, Jiang Hongdao persuaded the Fearless Tower’s Deputy Tower Master to proceed with a plan involving Yan and Kang Dabao, hoping to preserve the tower’s investment in Daoist Black Shoes’s connections. At Jia-Chou Military Stronghold, Kang Dabao rescued Jiang Qing as the defenses collapsed, but the alliance retreated to the inner stronghold; a flying boat carrying reinforcements arrived as they continued to hold out.

• Jiang Hongdao argued that the Fearless Tower should save Kang Dabao because his powerful connections might prove useful, and the Deputy Tower Master reluctantly approved his plan involving Yan.
• Jiang Qing fought through the beast horde toward Jia-Chou Military Stronghold after a Silver-Bristled Hound exposed his concealment, and Kang Dabao descended from the wall to rescue him.
• Shan Shijie warned Kang Dabao that the western trapping formation was breaking, and E Yuan’s Jade Crocodile broke through as Kang Dabao pushed Jiang Qing inside the formation.
• Kang Dabao used the Neck Metal Mace to shatter E Yuan’s tooth array, then escaped into the formation after the talisman treasure was spent.
• The eastern, northern, and southern subsidiary formations fell, Lu Xingbei died, and the surviving Double Brightness Alliance cultivators retreated to the inner stronghold.
• A flying boat carrying eight Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Double Brightness Alliance arrived above Jia-Chou Military Stronghold.

Yuan Jin led the Double Brightness Alliance in a desperate battle against E Yuan’s beast horde, while Kang Da defended the stronghold. Chu Yanran arrived at the last moment, drove E Yuan to ruin, and let Kang Da deliver the killing blow, leaving the beasts in retreat.

• Yuan Jin organized the reinforcements, and the Star-Shooting Crossbows checked the beast horde after Xu Liuxian’s Cold Mountain Sect vanguard broke apart under attack.
• Yuan Jin led the alliance with the Azure Jue Six-Leaf Battle Lotus Formation, while Zhang Qingran directed the crossbows and Yuan Xiyue sustained her Buddhist chant.
• E Yuan committed more beasts to the attack, but Kang Da led the stronghold’s defenders out to strike the horde from behind.
• Yang Jue and the Ying Mountain Army approached, while Fei Zhongyun and his companion hesitated over when to intervene.
• Chu Yanran arrived as a Golden Core cultivator and badly wounded E Yuan; Kang Da then killed the beast with Slaughter and Extermination.
• The beast horde retreated, and Kang Da presented E Yuan’s beast core to Chu Yanran, who rebuked the arriving forces for waiting so long.

Han Ningyue confronted Fei Nanying and Fei Granny Liu over their treatment of Fei Shuhe and Kang Dabao, while Kang Dabao’s alliance continued clearing the beast horde and opening spirit land. News of Kuang Liuting’s core formation and upheaval across the Great Wei Immortal Dynasty culminated in his departure for the outer sea, signaling the beginning of an age of chaos.

• Han Ningyue rebuked Fei Nanying and Fei Granny Liu for abandoning Kang Dabao and Fei Shuhe, and Fei Nanying promised to protect Kang Dabao and settle the Chongming Sect’s old grievance with Ancestor Ye Shui.
• Fei Nanying received Kang Dabao’s substantial birthday gift for Han Ningyue and arranged for the household to share it among its branches, then asked that Qi Changyi be invited to meet Madam.
• Kang Dabao thanked Chu Yanran and Yang Jue, reorganized the Double Brightness Alliance after the battle, and hired the Myriad Treasures Trading Company to fund rewards and compensation.
• Yuan Jin later led the alliance in clearing much of the beast horde and opening a thousand li of spirit land before news spread that Kuang Liuting had formed his core.
• Reports described the imperial guards’ defeat of the Blood Sword Sect, the retreat of True Persons from other sects, and mounting turmoil across the Great Wei Immortal Dynasty.
• True Person Moon Hidden visited the Master of the Star-Picking Pavilion, then boarded the Chi Dragon Jade Carriage with Kuang Liuting for the outer sea, and the age of chaos began.

As the Double Brightness Alliance recruited Rogue Cultivators to settle newly opened territory, Sun Fu assessed applicants for spirit lands and negotiated their terms. Yuan Changsheng arrived to help You Xiaobao claim a suitable holding, just as the Chongming Sect’s bell announced the sect had gained another Foundation Establishment cultivator.

• News spread that Yuan Buwen had surrendered to the prefectural government, the Double Brightness Alliance would distribute spirit lands, and several powers had moved up or expanded their recruitment.
• Sun Fu interviewed applicants at Little Ring Mountain, arranged a spirit land for Dong Hu because of his ties to Dong Liu'er, and recorded Hu Mingsheng's household for later consideration.
• Chen Yi chose the fire-vein spirit land Firestone Hollow but left to gather the deposit, while Sun Fu dismissed Bai Fang after assessing her weak qualifications.
• Sun Fu offered You Xiaobao Phoenix Forest Mountain on reduced terms, but You Xiaobao could not afford the deposit and asked to see safer, cheaper land instead.
• Yuan Changsheng arrived, gave You Xiaobao a Storage Bag, and spoke privately with Sun Fu as the Chongming Sect's ceremonial bell rang twenty-four times to announce a new Foundation Establishment cultivator.