Chapter Summaries

Kang Dabao arranged for the Lu Household head and three cultivators to begin learning the caravan trade, while the Chongming Sect’s growing reputation brought three rogue cultivators seeking to join. After turning away two unsuitable applicants, Kang Dabao heard the third warn that trouble had come for the sect.

• Kang Dabao accepted He Dezong’s offer to help establish a Chongming Sect caravan, then chose the Lu Household head to lead a team with one cultivator from each of the other three households.
• News that Kang Dabao and the two households had wiped out three bandit groups spread through Pingrong County, and rogue cultivators began arriving to seek entry into the Chongming Sect.
• Kang Dabao received Du, the rogue cultivator who had guided them to the Jia Mountain Bandits, and accepted his old artifact-refining notebook while sending him away to await a decision.
• Kang Dabao rejected a female cultivator who tried to seduce him into accepting her into the sect.
• An elderly cultivator entered the hall and warned Kang Dabao that trouble had already come for the Chongming Sect.

Ji Wuwu revealed that the Ghost Horse Owls had secretly paid much of their profits to the Shi Household and the Grass Witch Cult, putting Kang Dabao’s sect in danger after their extermination. Kang sought help from nearby allies but found little support, so he agreed to pay tribute and forced the Xue Household to join the settlement.

• Ji Wuwu told Kang Dabao that Zhao Gu was Shi Li’s son and that the Ghost Horse Owls had sent profits to the Shi Household and the Grass Witch Cult.
• Kang Dabao consulted Yuan Jin, Pei Yi, and Jiang Qing, then sent them and himself to seek help from powerful neighbors.
• Half a month later, the group returned with no strong allies; Chen Ye had offered to contain the dispute if they paid 120 Spirit Stones each year.
• Kang Dabao agreed to pay 150 Spirit Stones and warned Xue Hu that the Xue Household had to join the settlement or face the other households’ attack.
• Jiang Qing delivered Kang Dabao’s terms to Xue Hu, who agreed and sent a clansman to contact the Shi Household.

A meeting between Kang Dabao, Shi Xiao, and Xue Hu turned into a fight after Shi Xiao unleashed two powerful spirit tigers and Chang Ghosts. Kang Dabao and the Xue Household were struggling against them when another Shi Household cultivator arrived, leaving Kang Dabao fearing he could not escape.

• Shi Xiao berated Kang Dabao, who threatened to fight rather than be intimidated, and Shi Xiao revealed two first-tier superior-grade striped tigers.
• As Xue Hu tried to mediate, Shi Xiao sent the tigers at Kang Dabao and summoned Chang Ghosts whose mournful song overwhelmed people across the Xue Household.
• The Chang Ghosts fed Xue Household corpses to the tigers, while Xue Hu struck one beast and then joined Kang Dabao and two other Xue Household cultivators in battle against Shi Xiao.
• Kang Dabao blasted through part of Shi Xiao’s ghost cocoon, but the ghosts’ song disrupted him as the armored tigers attacked and shattered his Golden Armor Round Shield.
• A Shi Household cultivator arrived on a spirit eagle and called Shi Xiao “Fourth Uncle,” while Kang Dabao feared he would be unable to escape.

The one-eyed shopkeeper met with Lady Chong to learn the Grass Witch Cult's stance on the Shi Household's possible conflict with the Chongming Sect, while she tried to recruit him and probe his knowledge of Kang Dabao. After receiving a secret message, he trapped Lady Chong and announced that she would have to pay for its news.

• Lady Chong told the one-eyed shopkeeper that the Grass Witch Cult would not interfere if the Shi Household sought revenge on the Chongming Sect, but it still expected its annual Spirit Stone payments.
• Lady Chong urged the one-eyed shopkeeper to return to the Grass Witch Cult and offered him a chief attendant position, but he refused to answer.
• Lady Chong speculated that the one-eyed shopkeeper knew something about Kang Dabao and Jiang Qing's cultivation method, but he tried to send her away.
• A messenger hawk brought the one-eyed shopkeeper a secret message, and he closed the shop's array after reading it.
• The one-eyed shopkeeper told Lady Chong she could not take her Spirit Stones and said she would have to pay to hear the news.

Kang Dabao fought Shi Xiao and the Shi Household cultivators, but Shi Xiao withdrew after his nephew urgently warned him of something. Badly injured, Kang Dabao joined Jiang Qing and ordered him to summon the sect so they could pursue Shi Xiao and kill him before he left Cold Crow Mountain.

• Kang Dabao wounded the Shi Household cultivator and drove him to call for Shi Xiao's help.
• Shi Xiao struck Kang Dabao with his snake staff, but Kang Dabao's Delusion-Breaking Golden Eyes damaged the artifact.
• The Shi Household cultivator urgently told Shi Xiao something, prompting Shi Xiao to leave with him on the great tigers and abandon the injured Xue Household cultivators.
• Kang Dabao ignored his injuries and hurried away, while Xue Hu wondered where Shi Xiao had gone and feared the Shi Household would return.
• Jiang Qing arrived, and Kang Dabao ordered him to summon Second Brother and Junior Brother Pei so they could pursue and kill Shi Xiao.

Shi Xiao and Shi Feng raced through the forest toward their household, but Pei Yi and Yuan Jin ambushed them while Jiang Qing fought Shi Xiao. Shi Xiao completed a spell that summoned another witch beast, leaving Jiang Qing facing the creature.

• Shi Feng asked Shi Xiao to rest, but Shi Xiao scolded him and ordered him to keep going.
• Pei Yi attacked from hiding, pierced Shi Feng with the Bright Light Spike, and escaped Shi Xiao’s poison arrows using the Wood Release Technique.
• Yuan Jin joined Pei Yi against the two great tigers while Jiang Qing engaged Shi Xiao with his flying sword.
• Shi Xiao began drawing a rune on yellow paper as Jiang Qing intensified his attacks, damaging Shi Xiao’s snake staff but failing to stop the spell.
• Shi Xiao completed the rune and summoned a witch beast, which repelled Jiang Qing’s Seven Luminaries Heart-Slaying Sword with bone spikes.

Shi Li slaughtered much of his own clan to refine a Blood Foundation Pill, hoping to reach Foundation Establishment, but the pill fell short and his chances were poor. After Chen Ye arrived to arrest him, Shi Li asked whether he had seen his pill-condensing technique.

• Shi Li stood amid the ruins of Jingshen City, mourning his murdered relatives as he continued stirring their remains in a cauldron.
• Chen Ye arrived on orders from the prefect and urged Shi Li to surrender and seek forgiveness.
• Shi Li explained that he had killed his direct descendants and collateral relatives to gather enough ingredients for the Blood Foundation Pill, but the mixture lacked purity.
• Shi Li completed a dark pill, while Chen Ye explained that its recipe promised a strong chance of Foundation Establishment if properly refined.
• Shi Li admitted that his age and failing Qi and blood would have left him with only a five percent chance of success, then asked Chen Ye whether he had watched his technique.

Chen Ye fought his senior brother Shi Li, who had attempted to refine a Blood Foundation Pill and killed his descendants in fear of death. Shi Li chose to die, and Chen Ye took the failed pill, his resolve renewed.

• Shi Li mocked Chen Ye for wanting to learn about the Blood Foundation Pill, and the two exchanged techniques in a fierce duel.
• Chen Ye's White Bone Demon God broke both of Shi Li's hands, but Shi Li praised Chen Ye and stopped fighting.
• Shi Li confessed that he no longer wanted to live and urged Chen Ye to abandon his pursuit of Foundation Establishment.
• Shi Li severed his own heart meridian and died while Chen Ye watched beside him.
• At sunrise, Chen Ye took the ink-black pill from Shi Li's hand and examined it alongside a person he had fetched from a distant corner.

After the prefectural court confirmed the Shi Household’s destruction and issued a warrant for Shi Xiao, Kang Dabao settled back into leading the Chongming Sect. As his disciples developed their skills and the sect prospered, he imagined becoming its founding restorer.

• Kang Dabao learned from the county notice that Shi Li had been killed, the Shi Household had been wiped out, and Shi Xiao was wanted dead or alive.
• Kang Dabao recruited Ji Wuwu to relay confidential reports and took in the Rogue Cultivator surnamed Du to help with caravan work.
• Kang Dabao asked Yuan Jin to forge a new shield after learning the Golden Armor Round Shield could not be repaired.
• Pei Yi resumed studying pill refining, while Jiang Qing recovered from his injuries and prepared to pursue the Qi Refining Seventh Layer.
• Kang Dabao surveyed the thriving Chongming Sect and planned its future spirit fields, beast enclosure, market, and specialist trades.

Pei Yi treated Kang Dabao’s badly injured arms while Yuan Jin and Jiang Qing went to buy an expensive tiger-bone salve and investigate Lady Guo near Xuanwei City. The chapter ended with Pei Yi entrusting Martial Uncle Li’s Foundation Establishment insights to Kang Dabao, adding them to Chongming’s inheritance.

• Pei Yi said Kang Dabao’s arms had improved little despite months of treatment, and Yuan Jin proposed buying costly tiger-bone salve.
• Jiang Qing said Ji Wuwu had located Lady Guo near Xuanwei City, then took Yuan Jin with him to find her and buy the medicine.
• Pei Yi reported that Rongquan was progressing well, Anle showed promise with spirit beasts, and Yundao and Mo'er struggled with cultivation.
• Kang Dabao asked about Pei Que, and Pei Yi explained why he had chosen the Metal and Fire Formula for his son.
• Pei Yi gave Kang Dabao Martial Uncle Li’s Foundation Establishment insights, and Kang Dabao accepted them for the Chongming Sect.

Two years later, the Chongming Sect’s young disciples pursued cultivation and their own responsibilities as Kang Rongquan excelled at farming and Duan Anle managed the beast garden. Jin Shilun received Spirit Awakening Powder and encouragement to try Drawing Spirit into the Body again, leaving him eager for his next attempt.

• Kang Rongquan used metal Qi to kill pests in the spirit fields, then told Jin Shilun that his Red Spirit Grain crop was likely to lose money.
• Duan Anle delivered Qi Condensation Pills and Spirit Awakening Powder to the disciples and told Jin Shilun that Pei Que would guard his next attempt to draw spirit into his body.
• Jiang Qing struck Jin Shilun with a ruler for losing focus during evening lessons and made the disciples recite their text.
• Han Yundao hosted a Dao gathering where he and several young disciples shared their cultivation experiences, and the group talked until midnight.
• Jin Shilun returned to his room excitedly staring at the Spirit Awakening Powder.

Pei Yi refined Grain Avoidance Pills as the Chongming Sect prepared to open Chongming Market, with Kang Dabao arranging shops, publicity, and goods for sale. After settling the market’s plans, Kang Dabao turned his attention to cultivation and intended to emerge from seclusion after reaching the sixth layer of Qi Refining.

• Pei Yi refined fourteen Grain Avoidance Pills from three portions of ingredients and judged his yield modest but defect-free.
• Kang Dabao persuaded the Ye, Lu, and Xue Households to support Chongming Market and publicized its opening with help from He Dezong and the He Household.
• Kang Dabao assigned shops to the Chongming Sect, the He Household, and the Fellow Cultivators Association, but the Ming Household rebuffed him and he left one shop vacant.
• Kang Dabao ignored Xue Hu’s request for a shop and reviewed the goods the Xue, Lu, and Ye Households could sell at the market.
• Kang Dabao arranged Chongming Pavilion to sell Pei Yi’s pills and Yuan Jin’s Law Artifacts on consignment, then finished planning the market and prepared to cultivate toward the sixth layer of Qi Refining.

After breaking through to the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining, Kang Dabao tended his spirit beast Little Qi and welcomed Jin Shilun’s success in Drawing Spirit into the Body. He formally accepted Jin Shilun as his disciple, gave him initial guidance, and sent him to study with Pei Yi.

• Kang Dabao broke through to the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining and began refining the Garrison Earth Azure Origin Shield.
• Kang Dabao played with Little Qi, the spirit beast Lord Yin Shan had sent, and named it after learning its kind could grow into a second-tier spirit beast.
• Kang Dabao emerged from his cloud chamber and found Jin Shilun waiting after successfully Drawing Spirit into the Body.
• Jin Shilun bowed to Kang Dabao and addressed him as Master for the first time.
• Kang Dabao instructed Jin Shilun, gave him several volumes to memorize, and sent him to find Pei Yi.

Kang Dabao traveled to Han City to seek a trade permit for Chongming Market from the Yue Household, whose authority over southern Cloud Horn Prefecture’s markets came from its alliance with the Two Instruments Sect. After spending days cultivating connections, he waited in a long line to meet the permit master, but the doorkeeper began turning applicants away before his turn arrived.

• The chapter explained how the Immortal Dynasty’s influence in Cloud Horn Prefecture had waned while the Two Instruments Sect regained control, leaving counties such as Pingrong in a power vacuum.
• The Han City Yue Household gained authority to administer trade permits and taxes for markets across southern Cloud Horn Prefecture, and its backing helped protect registered markets from bandits.
• Kang Dabao rode to Han City and used the He Household’s connections to meet a third-rank Yue Household steward.
• Kang Dabao spent dozens of Spirit Stones and five days wining and dining the steward to secure a brief meeting with the permit master.
• Kang Dabao reached the master’s gate early but waited in line until dusk, when the doorkeeper sent applicants away and slapped a man who protested.

Kang Dabao secured a ten-year trading permit for Chongming Market and opened it with free first-year stalls for Rogue Cultivators, drawing steady business. After two profitable months, Ye Pinglin rushed in to warn Sect Master Kang that something terrible had happened.

• Kang Dabao bribed the Yue Household attendant, won the master’s approval, and received a trading permit extended to ten years.
• Kang Dabao returned to Chongming Market and showed the permit to the other households, while Xue Hu worried the Chongming Sect might dominate the region.
• Kang Dabao opened Chongming Market and allowed Rogue Cultivators to set up stalls free for the first year, bringing in hundreds of cultivators.
• Kang Dabao kept watch as the market operated for two months, with lodging and spirit-food sales doing better than the first-floor shops.
• Sect Master Kang calculated that the market would repay its investment in three years before Ye Pinglin rushed in with news of trouble.

After six Rogue Cultivators were found beheaded outside Chongming Market, Kang Dabao promised to investigate, but fear drove away customers and a patrol squad failed to find the killer. Just as the market’s crisis deepened, the information Kang had requested finally arrived.

• Ye Pinglin told Kang Dabao about the discovery, and Kang went to the road outside Chongming Market with the Lu and Xue Household stewards.
• Kang Dabao found six Rogue Cultivators’ severed heads arranged in a tower and promised the onlookers he would investigate.
• Over the next ten days, fear of the killer spread and business at Chongming Market steadily declined.
• Kuai Wu arrived from Tanggu County, organized the households into a patrol squad, and led searches that failed to find the culprit.
• Kang Dabao received the information he had been waiting for as the market’s crisis worsened.

Jiang Qing learned that Dai Yuanjiang had backed the Bai Household cultivators who attacked Chongming Sect, and he and Yuan Jin captured the group. The chapter ended with all six Bai cultivators beheaded and their heads ordered displayed at Linghe Market, publicly implicating Dai Yuanjiang.

• Jiang Qing obtained information from Shopkeeper Ye identifying Dai Yuanjiang and six Bai Household cultivators, and learned that Kang Dabao had reserved Ye a shop in Chongming Market.
• At West River Manor, Yuan Jin attacked Bai Wu, broke his red-smoke techniques, and was stopped by Jiang Qing before he could kill him.
• Jiang Qing and Yuan Jin took Bai Wu and five other Bai Household cultivators to Linghe Market, where Bai Wu accused Dai Yuanjiang of ordering their crimes.
• Dai Yuanjiang declared that the six cultivators deserved death, and Yuan Jin and Jiang Qing beheaded them as the market crowd watched.
• Yuan Jin proposed displaying the severed heads at the market gates, and Dai Yuanjiang reluctantly agreed while Kang Dabao watched from the crowd.

Kang Dabao’s strategy damaged Linghe Market’s reputation while Jiang Qing’s patrols made Chongming Market safer and brought back business. With Linghe Market struggling under Evil Cultivator attacks and complaints from merchants, Dai Yuanjiang consulted its major shareholders, who disagreed over whether to fight Chongming Market or negotiate.

• Kang Dabao used the accusations against Dai Yuanjiang to spread suspicion of Linghe Market and improve Chongming Market’s standing by comparison.
• Six months later, Kang Dabao kept about twenty patrol members and appointed Jiang Qing captain, and Jiang Qing’s patrols drove Evil Cultivators away from Chongming Market.
• The Evil Cultivators returned to Linghe Market’s surroundings, where their worsening attacks hurt business and left Dai Yuanjiang unable to satisfy the merchants.
• Dai Yuanjiang called Linghe Market’s major shareholders together to decide whether to fight Chongming Market or negotiate.
• The dark-faced old man urged an attack on the Chongming Sect, while the red-haired man warned of its possible hidden strength and favored caution.
• Alchemist Chen Yu advised negotiating first and fighting only if the talks failed.

Kang Rongquan received his first Law Artifact and overheard Kang Dabao and Yuan Jin discussing a deal that would ease tensions between their households. Kang Dabao and Yuan Jin agreed to keep the peace for now, while Kang Rongquan hurried away to refine his new silver ring.

• Kang Rongquan received a silver ring Law Artifact from Yuan Jin for answering a question during morning lessons.
• Kang Dabao asked Kang Rongquan to have food and drink brought to his cloud room, and Kang Rongquan helped Jin Shilun and the others prepare a meal.
• Kang Rongquan overheard Kang Dabao and Yuan Jin say they had agreed to avoid an arena match and accept terms that included disbanding the patrol team within a year.
• Kang Dabao said the agreement would preserve peace for the next few years and mentioned that Little Sanzi could reach Foundation Establishment in that time.
• Yuan Jin caught Kang Rongquan listening outside the door, warned him not to repeat the conversation, and Kang Rongquan left to refine his Law Artifact.

Han Yundao and Duan Anle killed the female ghost haunting White Ram Monastery and uncovered the bodies of the women whose resentment had helped create it. They discovered a spiritual scholar tree beneath the monastery and went to Pingrong County to buy a Yin-aspect treasure to preserve it.

• He Muxian worried about the female ghost and summoned Han Yundao and Duan Anle, who confronted him about hiding that she had practiced dual cultivation with him.
• Han Yundao and Duan Anle fought the female ghost; Han Yundao was stunned by her mournful cry, but Duan Anle captured and destroyed her with his purple-gold steel whip.
• Duan Anle led Han Yundao to a sealed well, where they found the corpses of twelve young women, and He Muxian identified the first disciple killed by the ghost as the culprit.
• Duan Anle explained that the women’s resentment and the Yin-rich well had helped the scholar tree recover its spiritual essence, so Han Yundao bought a Yin-aspect spiritual treasure to protect it.
• Han Yundao told Duan Anle that the Pingrong County yamen had posted another notice collecting taxes, and they laughed about it.