Chapter Summaries

Kang Dabao learned about Kang Changyi’s new military post and urged his eldest son to cultivate carefully while giving him supplies for protection. In Ying Prefecture, Jiang Qing left Fei Nanxi’s household, received a gift and warning from Fei Ye Shui, and departed as the Fei Household prepared for growing dangers in Mountain South.

• Kang Changyi told Kang Dabao about his well-paid appointment as a recording affairs military aide, and Kang Dabao advised him to serve Madam Qi respectfully, conceal his abilities, and prioritize cultivation.
• Kang Dabao gave Kang Changyi two pouches, including Lion Insects for protection, and sent him off with food prepared by his family.
• Jiang Qing prepared to leave Ying Prefecture, and Fei Nanxi arranged for him to travel to Cloud Horn Prefecture aboard a Myriad Treasures Trading Company flying boat while promising to send him a reforged spirit sword later.
• Fei Ye Shui summoned Jiang Qing, praised his mastery of Sword Essence, and gave him a nearly six-hundred-year-old void sword orchid before sending him away with Grass Thirteen.
• Fei Ye Shui warned Fei Nanxi to prepare the Fei Household and accelerate its relocation, citing ominous silence from the Earl of Nan'an and True Person Moon Hidden and his fears about Mountain South.

One month after leaving for Ying Prefecture, Jiang Qing returned to the Chongming Sect and learned how much it had grown and how its businesses and expenses were managed. The chapter ended when Kang Dabao emerged from seclusion with news that the Sima Office had issued a talisman edict and the land-opening campaign was about to begin.

• Jiang Qing arrived at Little Ring Mountain aboard a Myriad Treasures Trading Company flying boat, and Ye Zhengwen welcomed him back and praised his healed hand.
• Ye Zhengwen told Jiang Qing that Kang Da and Pei were in secluded cultivation while the sect prepared for the land-opening campaign.
• Jiang Qing learned that the Yue Household had sent spirit tea while Yue Lin sought mediation, and he discussed his experiences in Ying Prefecture with Ye Zhengwen.
• Duan Anle reported that the Chongming Sect had 1,113 registered disciples and detailed its fields, businesses, income, and expenses.
• Jiang Qing thanked Ye Zhengwen and praised him for managing the sect, then Kang Dabao arrived and announced that a talisman edict from the Sima Office signaled the land-opening campaign was about to begin.

Kang Dabao’s forces gathered Blue Spirit Toads for Attendant Luan to refine a Mystic Sha Qi-Continuing Pill for Pei Yi, but a message arrived just after the pill was made. The news revealed that Yuan Changsheng had lost his master, and Kang Dabao ordered mourning while continuing the military campaign.

• Gou Shangyi’s Book and Sword Gate party was overwhelmed by Blood-Eating Demon Elk and Blue-Patterned Toads until Ye Pingshui’s Azure Jue Guards rescued them.
• Ye Pingshui, Yuan Changsheng, and Wei Gu returned with Blue Spirit Toads, and Qin Sufu escorted their group safely toward the rear camp.
• Kang Dabao supplied the toads to Attendant Luan, who successfully refined a Mystic Sha Qi-Continuing Pill intended to save Pei Yi.
• A message reached the tent, and Kang Dabao told Yuan Changsheng that he no longer had a master; Kang ordered funeral arrangements and mourning white for the sect.
• Qin Sufu met Kang Dabao at the provincial court camp, and both men asked whether the other had known all along.

Kang Dabao confronted Qin Sufu about the death of Pei Yi’s sister-in-law, but neither man could settle whether Qin’s crime was justified by the lives he later saved. Ten days after Pei Yi’s death, Kang Dabao visited his coffin, promised to eradicate Evil Cultivators wherever Double Brightness held sway, and returned to the frontier.

• Kang Dabao asked Qin Sufu when he had learned about Pei Yi’s death, and Qin recalled how Pei Yi’s resemblance to his mother and Pei’s avoidance had made him suspect the truth.
• Kang Dabao recounted Pei Yi’s account of Qin Sufu killing Pei Yi’s second brother while trying to dispel Gossamer Powder, and explained that Pei Yi had kept the incident secret until a witness reported it.
• Qin Sufu defended his later service saving countless people, challenged Kang Dabao to consider whether he would have been judged differently if the woman had not been Pei Yi’s sister-in-law, and let Kang Dabao leave without a resolution.
• Ten days later, Kang Dabao returned to Little Ring Mountain and visited Pei Yi’s coffin, where he heard that Pei Yi had asked the sect leader to put the greater good ahead of the Pei Household.
• Kang Dabao told Pei Yi’s gathered disciples that he and Pei had been unable to answer each other’s questions, then vowed that wherever Double Brightness held sway, no Evil Cultivator would survive if the sect could prevent it.
• Kang Dabao memorized Pei Yi’s face and departed for the frontier without looking back.

Two years into the land-clearing campaign, Senior Cultivator Wufeng grew anxious about his lack of achievements and went to Bearfall Peak, where Fei Tianqin favored Jiang Qing and kept Wufeng waiting. After advising Jiang Qing and resolving his cultivation questions, Fei Tianqin learned that the Crimson Realm Life-Prolonging Pill was with Pu Honggu and began considering how to obtain it.

• Senior Cultivator Wufeng killed the leader of a Thunderbone Eagle flock, then learned that the Double Brightness Alliance was clearing territory he had hoped to claim for his sect.
• Senior Cultivator Wufeng abandoned the search for more battle merits and headed to Bearfall Peak to ask Fei Tianqin to let him return to Ding Prefecture.
• Jiang Qing led Bian Hu, Xu Liuxian, Yang Xun, and Yang Huang to Bearfall Peak, where the Fei Household completed a Rock Golden Body for the mountain.
• Fei Tianqin summoned Jiang Qing ahead of Senior Cultivator Wufeng, discussed sword Dao and cultivation with him for three days, and urged him to pursue better opportunities.
• Senior Cultivator Wufeng injured Yang Xun while waiting outside, and Yang Xun silently vowed to surpass him.
• Fei Tianqin learned from Daoist Peng that Pu Honggu had the Crimson Realm Life-Prolonging Pill and considered killing to secure the Blood Qi needed to make another.

After taking the Primordial Gourd’s spirit dew, Kang Dabao advanced the Primordial Ancient Body and full moon manifestation to major accomplishment, though his cultivation aptitude and prospects for Core Formation did not change. He emerged from seclusion to learn that the Earl of Nan'an had returned and that conflict was spreading across several regions, leaving the Chongming Sect on alert.

• Lu Yunniang sought marriage alliances with Niu Kuang and Sun Fu, and Yuan Jin approved the matches and arranged resources and people to help them establish households.
• Yuan Jin and Ye Zhengwen discussed disciples marrying into local families and agreed to set rules allowing such marriages for disciples with merit or those retiring due to injury.
• Kang Dabao reviewed his progress in seclusion, drank the spirit dew, and advanced his Primordial Ancient Body and full moon manifestation to major accomplishment.
• After emerging from seclusion, Kang Dabao learned that the Earl of Nan'an had returned from the Billowing Dream Palace.
• Ye Zhengwen reported rumors of imperial forces moving toward Mountain South, fighting near Jingnan Prefecture, renewed Hongyi Sect activity in Ding Prefecture, and troops gathering in the Mountain North Circuit.
• Kang Dabao read Fei Nanying's message confirming the earl's return and questioned why he had come back after only a few peaceful years.

Kuang Liuting left Billowing Dream Palace and returned to Xuanwei City as rumors of rebellion stirred across the circuits. At a grand ceremony attended by powerful cultivators, the Wei Emperor elevated him to Duke of Qin and appointed him commander of military affairs in the Mountain South and Mountain North Circuits, while Kang Dabao sensed the Emperor’s projection watching him.

• Kuang Liuting departed Billowing Dream Palace aboard the Chi Dragon Jade Carriage after Deputy Envoy Chiguang presented him with a bag of demon remains, and Kuang Chexiao chose not to stop him.
• Kuang Chexiao discussed the Great Wei imperial clan’s decline with Deputy Envoy Jinyun and ordered the Dark Abyss Merfolk Guard to continue drilling.
• Kang Dabao received a summons to Xuanwei City, where he learned that important figures from several Nascent Soul powers had gathered for an undisclosed ceremony.
• Kang Dabao and his family entered the Sword-Nurturing Hall as Kuang Liuting arrived, and the gathered cultivators welcomed an imperial envoy and prostrated themselves.
• The imperial envoy proclaimed Kuang Liuting Duke of Qin and commander of military affairs in both circuits, granting him authority to establish an office equal in honors to the Three Administrations.
• The Wei Emperor appeared through an Immortal Shadow Stone, bestowed a Great Abyss Capital cave abode and the Azure Nether Whip on Kuang Liuting, and warned that loyal ministers would be rewarded as upheaval began; Kang Dabao felt the Emperor’s gaze rest on him.

After the Emperor of Wei appointed Kang Dabao Duke of Qin, Kang Dabao attended the banquet and learned that Funeng might regard him as a Buddha Enemy. Fei Tianqin examined a ring given by Head Jiada and then took Kang Dabao to meet Kuang Liuting and the True Persons, where the Duke of Qin and Grand Eunuch Wei were also expected to see him.

• Yang Wuwei told Kang Dabao that he planned to attempt Core Formation with a Formless Bai Ze Pill, and Cao Xianlu described how his own attempt had failed when his Core theory could not awaken the Dao lotus.
• Head Jiada approached Kang Dabao, explained that Funeng's master intended to make Kang Dabao his Buddha Enemy, and gave him an Ancient Ink Ring that countered Buddhist cultivators.
• Fei Tianqin identified the ring as a defective Law Treasure effective against Golden Core Buddhist cultivators and told Kang Dabao that the Duke of Qin wanted to meet him.
• Fei Tianqin took Kang Dabao to the gathering where Kuang Liuting and the True Persons were discussing matters, and Kang Dabao realized the Emperor of Wei might also want to see him.

Kuang Liuting discussed the Star-Picking Pavilion’s refusal to surrender Shannan Circuit and the Hehuan Sect’s relocation with his advisers. True Person Moon Hidden offered the Three Ting Prefectures to the Hehuan Sect and proposed suppressing Mountain North’s unruly families, while Kang Dabao left having gained a clearer role in the Duke of Qin’s plans.

• Kuang Liuting asked his advisers how to handle Bai Canhong’s refusal to submit and move the Star-Picking Pavilion to Yellow Work Island, and they urged caution rather than provoking rebellion.
• Fei Nanying raised the Hehuan Sect’s required move to Mountain South, and True Person Moon Hidden offered the Three Ting Prefectures of Mountain North as its new base.
• True Person Moon Hidden proposed eliminating Mountain North’s rebellious families, and Grand Eunuch Wei and Kuang Liuting agreed that the matter should be planned carefully.
• Grand Eunuch Wei questioned Kang Dabao about a Chenjiang Kang Clan that claimed kinship with him, and Kang Dabao denied knowing of the connection.
• After Grand Eunuch Wei warned Kuang Liuting that Great Wei should be governed jointly by imperial descendants, great sects, and noble families, Fei Tianqin told Kang Dabao to prepare to clear the Three Ting Prefectures for the Hehuan Sect.

The Chongming Sect prepared a Sword Discussion Assembly to recruit talent and strengthen its forces amid plans to pacify the Three Ting Prefectures. Jin Shilun returned to Little Ring Mountain after learning of the coming competitions, while Kang Dabao assigned Ye Zhengwen to organize the assembly and screen potential recruits.

• Kang Dabao returned from Xuanwei City with Fei Shuhe’s noble patent and Kang Changxi’s honorary post, then saw Fei Shuhe proudly clutch her patent on the journey home.
• Three months later, Jin Shilun visited Zhou Xinran at Double Brightness Trade Market and learned that the Chongming Sect planned a Sword Discussion Assembly with Foundation Establishment resources as prizes.
• Zhou Xinran told Jin Shilun that the sect would also relax admission standards for the Immortal Ascension Assembly and hold a sect-wide competition the following year.
• Jin Shilun completed his assignment and briefly reunited with Mo'er before heading to Little Ring Mountain to stay near the sect.
• Kang Dabao confirmed the Sword Discussion Assembly’s preparations with Ye Zhengwen and ordered careful recruitment of skilled, reliable cultivators.
• Kang Dabao considered the coming campaign and directed the Chongming Sect to build its strength and prepare for the dangers beyond its borders.

True Person Moon Hidden attacked the Li Valley Jin Household and North Mallow Sect at Xuanxiao Mountain, but Jin Fengqing and Wenfengzi ambushed him and left him injured. As the fighting spread across Mountain North Circuit and the Chongming Sect prepared for possible conscription, Kang Dabao gave Jiang Qing an External Core Method.

• True Person Moon Hidden led Five Old Mothers Mountain forces to Xuanxiao Mountain and attacked the Zhoutian Star-Attracting Formation with cannons, a spiritual musket, and his jade ruler.
• Jin Fengqing arrived and fought True Person Moon Hidden, then lured him away from the battle; Wenfengzi joined the ambush and injured him.
• After True Person Moon Hidden and Jin Fengqing failed to return, the battle at Xuanxiao Mountain paused, while the rebels gained an advantage across Mountain North Circuit.
• Kang Dabao learned that Wenfengzi had been sheltered by the Li Valley Jin Household and ordered the Chongming Sect to prepare its competition and expand the Crimson Zhang Guard.
• Kang Dabao took Jiang Qing to the cloud chamber and handed him an inner core and Jade Slips containing the External Core Method.

Kang Dabao entrusted Jiang Qing with a True-Grade Golden Core and the External Core Method to strengthen the Chongming Sect. After disappointing results at the duke's Sword Discussion Assembly, Jiang Qing returned with two disciples and learned that the sect was recruiting troops ahead of an expected war.

• Kang Dabao gave Jiang Qing the Tribulation Qi Cauldron Core Instruction and a True-Grade Golden Core, instructing him to master the method within ten years.
• Kang Dabao reflected on the promises he had made to secure Fei Shuhe's consent and hoped Jiang Qing's increased strength would help the Chongming Sect gain independence.
• Wei Gu and Jin Shilun returned disappointed from the Sword Discussion Assembly after failing to win Foundation Establishment resources.
• Jiang Qing tried to console Wei Gu and Jin Shilun, revealed that he had declined a deputy general post, and brought them back to the sect.
• Ye Zhengwen told Jiang Qing that the sect's local tournament would select recruits for a second battalion of the Crimson Zhang Guard.
• Ye Zhengwen confirmed that preparations for war were underway and that troops would be sent out after the sect competition.

The Double Brightness Alliance defeated the Crimson Heart Cult in three battles and began clearing its allies from Fa Prefecture, but the cult's Dao Child then advanced to Golden Core and destroyed the Yunwei Zheng Household's army. You Xiaobao's volunteer unit was ordered to abandon its rest and march to reinforce the besieged forces.

• Yang Xun won the Chongming Sect's Sword Discussion Assembly, while Kang Dabao removed retired disciples Du Qing and Mo Gu from the recruitment list and resolved to fight for the sect's revival.
• Duan Anle and Kang Rongquan's Pine Wind Volunteers defeated the Mysterious Duke Gate's forces, and You Xiaobao gathered battlefield spoils before returning late to his unit's tent.
• Madam Qi, Kang Dabao, Jiang Qing, Yuan Jin, and the Double Brightness Alliance's forces won three battles against the Crimson Heart Cult, forcing its survivors to retreat to Wild Goose Return Mountain.
• Kang Dabao sent the Pine Wind Volunteers and Pingjin Militia to suppress the Crimson Heart Cult's allied households across Fa Prefecture.
• You Xiaobao bought discounted cultivation supplies from He Chang, then returned to find the camp in alarm and his Gui Unit being assembled.
• Jiang Zhong ordered the Gui Unit to march to Zhangwen County after Dong Hu told You Xiaobao that the Crimson Heart Cult's Dao Child had reached Golden Core, the Yunwei Zheng Household's army had been wiped out, and Zheng Taibai was missing.

The Double Brightness Alliance battered the Crimson Heart Cult’s Third Tier grand formation with coordinated troops and Star-Hunting Crossbow Platforms, eventually breaking through and launching an assault. Kang Dabao and Jiang Qing fought the cult’s False Core elders, and the chapter ended with the master of Yellow Forest Mountain fleeing toward the recovering Dao Child.

• Kang Dabao told the alliance leaders that Zheng Taibai was likely feigning serious injury, while the Zheng Household’s private army prepared to withdraw and reinforcements were expected.
• Ten days later, Yang Xun led the Crimson Zhang Guards against the formation’s black rain and red mist, sacrificing soldiers and ordering the execution of those lost in its mirage.
• Yuan Jin committed the Azure Jue Guard while Jiang Qing and Mo Wen prepared the Star-Hunting Crossbow Platforms, whose volleys damaged the formation’s crucial points.
• Chu Yanran struck the weakened formation, and the Double Brightness Alliance broke through before Kang Dabao led the Azure Jue Guard into the cult’s ranks.
• Kang Dabao and Jiang Qing fought the master of Yellow Forest Mountain and the Crimson Heart Cult’s second elder; Jiang Qing killed the second elder, while the master escaped toward the Dao Child’s secluded retreat.

The Double Brightness Alliance broke the Crimson Heart Cult’s bone eagle formation, while Bian Hu and Jiang Qing each killed a False Core cultivator. Sect Leader Kang Da defeated the Yellow Forest Mountain master, and when the Crimson Heart Cult Dao Child emerged from seclusion to intervene, Kang Da had already taken the old cultivator’s head and faced him without fear.

• The Crimson Heart Cult’s law enforcement elder rallied nearly five hundred bone eagles and drove back the Double Brightness Alliance’s weaker formations until Jiang Qing returned carrying the second elder’s head.
• Bian Hu committed the Stone Mountain Sect’s forces, and Mo Wen’s Star-Shooting Crossbows shattered the bone eagle formation before Bian Hu killed the law enforcement elder.
• Sect Leader Kang Da and Jiang Qing pursued the Yellow Forest Mountain master, who escaped into restricted terrain before returning with eighteen flesh-and-blood puppets to block them.
• Kang Dabao fought the Yellow Forest Mountain master while Jiang Qing destroyed one puppet and broke free, allowing Kang Dabao to strike down the old cultivator.
• The Crimson Heart Cult Dao Child emerged and ordered Kang Da to spare the Yellow Forest Mountain master, but Kang Da killed him and challenged the Dao Child with his golden eyes.

Gu Chengsen, the newly formed Golden Core Dao Child of the Crimson Heart Cult, fought Kang Dabao and Jiang Qing while still weakened by his injuries. After Yuan Jin brought the Azure Jue Guard into battle and the formation joined the assault, Gu Chengsen fled, leaving the Crimson Heart Cult's mountain gate in danger.

• Gu Chengsen confronted Kang Dabao and Jiang Qing, who had killed cultists and arrived at the Crimson Heart Cult's stronghold.
• Gu Chengsen used his bronze lock and golden Qi to overpower the two men, damaging Kang Dabao's Immortal Game Disc and Jiang Qing's sword.
• Kang Dabao rescued Jiang Qing from Gu Chengsen's attack, and the brothers endured his renewed assault without retreating.
• Yuan Jin led the Azure Jue Guard and Bian Hu onto the battlefield, where the Azure Jue Six-Leaf Battle Lotus Formation withstood Gu Chengsen's attacks and countered.
• Kang Dabao, Jiang Qing, and Bian Hu struck Gu Chengsen together, and he fled rather than risk further injury.

The Double Brightness Alliance drove back the Crimson Heart Cult’s leaders and reclaimed all fourteen counties of Fa Prefecture, while the campaign at Xuanxiao Mountain stalled despite Wenfengzi’s injury. Fei Tianqin demanded to know how much more Blood Qi was needed to sustain his side’s deception.

• Kang Dabao ordered the alliance to pursue the Crimson Heart Cult’s scattered remnants, while Chu Yanran fought Exalted Cultivator Honggu.
• Exalted Cultivator Honggu unleashed his bone spear and ghostly powers, but Chu Yanran overwhelmed him and forced him to flee.
• Chu Yanran burned the Crimson Heart Cult’s remaining formation masters, and Kang Dabao reported that all fourteen counties in Fa Prefecture had been reclaimed.
• At Xuanxiao Mountain, True Person Moon Hidden wounded Wenfengzi but withdrew when the mountain’s formation held and his forces made little progress.
• Fei Tianqin returned to his tent and demanded that the sinister Daoist tell him how much more Blood Qi they needed.

Zhou Yixiu managed Wild Fox Mountain’s spirit fields after the losses in Fa Prefecture, while Mo Ku learned that the Chongming Sect would remain involved in the fighting. At Xuanxiao Mountain, Kang Da worried about the widening war and his stalled Golden Core cultivation, while Fei Tianqin received a completed pill and prepared to return to Ying Prefecture.

• Zhou Yixiu assigned work across the spirit fields and urged Rogue Cultivator crop cultivators to study for a chance to join the Chongming Sect.
• Mo Ku asked Zhou Yixiu about the victory in Fa Prefecture, learned the territory was reserved for Five Old Mothers Mountain, and watched wounded disciples return aboard the Kui Star Shuttle.
• Kang Da considered how a prolonged Nascent Soul war could ruin the Chongming Sect and concluded that forming his Golden Core was urgent.
• Kang Da failed to make progress on his core theory and could not find Fei Tianqin to ask for advice.
• A gaunt Daoist presented Fei Tianqin with a pill made from numerous spiritual materials, and Fei Tianqin said Jin Fengqing would soon die and ordered preparations to return to Ying Prefecture.

Fei Tianqin ordered a full assault on Xuanxiao Mountain after Daoist Peng continued refining the life-prolonging pill and Kang Dabao learned that the coming battle was unusual. The assault broke the mountain’s grand formation, and the chapter ended with word that Fei Tianqin had killed Jin Fengqing.

• Fei Tianqin dismissed Daoist Peng’s suggestion to prolong the fighting, promised him rewards if the pill helped his younger brother, and left him to continue refining it.
• Yang Wuwei shared his costly Core Formation notes with Kang Dabao and Jiang Qing, and the three discussed the Dao together.
• Fei Enwen warned Kang Dabao that the assault on Xuanxiao Mountain was imminent and secretly told him to stay close to the Ying Mountain Army and avoid reckless advances.
• True Person Moon Hidden joined Fei Tianqin in preparing a major attack, and Shu Zhengde’s imperial troops and allied forces struck Xuanxiao Mountain’s grand formation.
• The Ten Thousand Talismans Sect and the Thousand Ox Guards helped break through the Mountain North forces’ defenses as Fei Tianqin led the assault and engaged Jin Fengqing.
• After several hours of fighting, Kang Dabao heard that Fei Tianqin had killed Jin Fengqing.

Fei Tianqin and True Person Moon Hidden fought Mountain North’s forces while the allied armies battled across the field, until an imperial message abruptly halted the fighting. In the Great Abyss Capital, the Emperor of Wei ordered Mountain North’s households relocated and suspended the Duke of Qin’s plans to take control of Shannan and Mountain North Circuits.

• Fei Tianqin revealed that Jin Fengqing had escaped through a death-substitution method, then drove through the opposing forces as Wenfengzi attacked him and True Person Moon Hidden intervened.
• True Person Moon Hidden and Wenfengzi fought with their inherited techniques and treasures, leaving Moon Hidden with the advantage but neither able to finish the other.
• Shu Zhengde’s imperial troops and the Ying Mountain Army broke through enemy formations, while Kang Dabao defeated Fu Bingguan and helped the Azure Jue Guard turn back its opponents.
• Fei Enwen’s warning prompted Kang Da and the Ying Mountain Army to withdraw, and explosions inflicted heavy casualties before Grand Eunuch Wei’s projected message brought the battle to a halt.
• The Emperor of Wei ordered Mountain North’s households moved to Guanxi Circuit, sent the Hehuan Sect to serve under the Duke of Qin, and suspended the Duke’s plans for Shannan and Mountain North Circuits.