Chapter Summaries

Daoist Black Shoes rejected Kuang Liuting’s appeal for him to serve the Immortal Dynasty, citing its failures to protect Cloud Horn Prefecture. Back at the Chongming Sect, he gave Zhou Yixiu a Glazed Treasure Tree to care for, and Lu Yunniang arrived at the sect entrance as Kang Dabao and Zhou Yixiu returned.

• Kuang Liuting invited Daoist Black Shoes to serve the Immortal Dynasty, but Daoist Black Shoes challenged him over the prefectural court’s failures and refused to trust his promises.
• Daoist Black Shoes returned to the Chongming Sect and asked Zhou Yixiu whether he could keep a Glazed Treasure Tree alive; Zhou Yixiu admitted he could not identify it.
• Daoist Black Shoes offered to seek help elsewhere with the tree, and Kang Dabao thanked him for his generosity.
• Zhou Yixiu proposed charging the Lu Household more to gather nectar from the great locust tree, but Kang Dabao refused to break their agreement.
• Kang Dabao and Zhou Yixiu inspected the spirit fields, then found Lu Yunniang waiting at the sect entrance.

Pei Yi struggled with refining Wondrous Jade Pills while the Chongming Sect worked to restore its income through a caravan partnership. Kang Dabao considered a marriage alliance with the He Household but accepted Pei Yi’s loyalty to his existing engagement, then visited the injured Jin Shilun and discussed the sect’s future leadership.

• Pei Yi failed to refine a good batch of Wondrous Jade Pills and worried about the Chongming Sect’s finances.
• Zhou Yixiu told Pei Yi that Lu Yunniang had brought word that the He Household caravan’s routes could soon be divided with the sect.
• Kang Dabao suggested Pei Yi reconsider his engagement to the Kuai Household in favor of a marriage alliance with the He Household, but Pei Yi refused to break his promise.
• Kang Dabao visited the injured Jin Shilun, brought him food, and reflected that Jin Shilun had qualities suited to leading the sect despite his age and weak aptitude.
• Kang Dabao discussed the Dao with Jin Shilun and his other disciples before leaving them to continue his work.

Kang Dabao visited Yuan Jin, who had been working obsessively in his artifact workshop, and persuaded him to rest and prepare for a breakthrough. After seeing Yuan Jin reunited with Dong Ningxin and Dong Wanxi, Kang Dabao took Wu Meng and Yuan Ping'an with him and resolved to pursue Foundation Establishment with renewed determination.

• Dong Ningxin told Kang Dabao that Yuan Jin had shut himself in his workshop and was surviving on Grain Avoidance Pills, so Kang Dabao went to see him.
• Yuan Jin completed the shaping of a silver shield Law Artifact with Ye Pingshui’s help, then shared Ice Dew Wine and discussed Ye Pingshui and Zhou’s daughter Xinran with Kang Dabao.
• Kang Dabao urged Yuan Jin to balance work and rest, and Yuan Jin said he planned to enter seclusion and had a sixty percent chance of breaking through to Late Qi Refinement.
• Dong Ningxin and Dong Wanxi burst into tears when Yuan Jin came out, so Kang Dabao took Wu Meng and Yuan Ping'an away on a spirit boat.
• Wu Meng told Kang Dabao that his family and Chongming City’s common people were doing well, and Kang Dabao resolved to work toward Foundation Establishment.

Kang Dabao returned to the Chongming Sect, but a summons about the marketplace soon took him and Jiang Qing to the Pingrong County yamen. They found Luo Heng politically weakened and Tie Xishan thriving, just as Tie Liuyun arrived with Xiezhi Iron Guards.

• Kang Dabao encountered Nanny Sun near Cold Crow Mountain and reflected on Fei Shuhe's extensive surveillance of the local households.
• Kang Dabao gathered mountain vegetables with Wu Meng and Yuan Ping'an before Duan Anle's Gray Spirit Falcon delivered a summons concerning the marketplace.
• Jiang Qing insisted on accompanying Kang Dabao, and Ye Zhengwen urged Kang Dabao not to travel without support.
• Kang Dabao and Jiang Qing flew to the Pingrong County yamen and saw that Luo Heng was in poor spirits while Tie Xishan was flourishing.
• Tie Xishan warmly welcomed Kang Dabao and praised Jiang Qing before Tie Liuyun entered with a group of Xiezhi Iron Guards.

Tie Liuyun assigned the reconstruction of Cloud Horn Prefecture’s markets and announced new rules that brought them under prefecture control, while granting Kang Dabao authority over Pingrong County’s market. The chapter left Kang with a lucrative new responsibility as the assembled officials reacted with surprise.

• Tie Liuyun told the officials that he would oversee market reconstruction and assigned Kang Dabao to handle compensation claims for Chongming Market, while Tie Xishan would review Linghe Market’s claims.
• Tie Liuyun gave Kang Dabao personal cultivation instruction, and Kang returned to his office before resuming cultivation and assessing his damaged equipment.
• After the county officials gathered, Tie Liuyun assigned Tie Xishan to administer Tanggu County because the prefecture court had not approved the Huo Household’s magistrate candidate.
• Tie Liuyun announced that the prefecture court would issue all market permits, take over the former sites of twenty-seven markets, and direct their reconstruction and revenues.
• Tie Liuyun declared that Kang Dabao would remain in overall charge of Pingrong County’s market instead of having a market commandant sent there, shocking the assembled officials.

Kang Dabao was appointed County Commandant, leaving him worried that the promotion would expose him to danger, while Fei Shuhe emerged from seclusion and learned that her family seemed to be neglecting her. The chapter left Fei Shuhe troubled by her prospects and beginning to resent the difference between her circumstances and her cousin Yaqing’s.

• Tie Liuyun announced Kang Dabao’s appointment as County Commandant, and the gathered officials offered him insincere congratulations.
• Kang Dabao left for the Chongming Sect to discuss the dangerous political situation with Daoist Black Shoes.
• Fei Shuhe emerged from a month of seclusion at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer and heard that Kang Dabao’s cultivation had improved.
• Nanny Sun told Fei Shuhe that the Fei Household had sent little news, that Elder Nanxi had formed a Golden Core, and that Fei Yonglian would marry into a powerful household.
• Fei Shuhe was hurt by the news of Fei Yonglian’s advantageous marriage, and Nanny Sun urged her to rely on her own cultivation.
• Fei Shuhe wondered why her uncle had not brought Yaqing to Cloud Horn Prefecture, then asked Nanny Sun to go for a walk.

Fei Shuhe watched Kang Dabao and the Chongming Sect harvest Zhou Yixiu’s white-flowered alfalfa, but she saw no hope in her husband and decided to return home to cultivate. The harvest continued in high spirits as Fei Shuhe turned away from the field.

• Nanny Sun prepared the attendants and supplies, then accompanied Fei Shuhe to the alfalfa fields on a Mystic Falcon.
• Zhou Yixiu had gathered Chongming Sect cultivators to harvest the crop before its brief flowering period ended, and Kang Dabao worked among them.
• Han Yundao proposed a Spirit Stone contest, while cultivators including Kang Rongquan, Zhou Xinran, Ji Wuwu, and Wei Gu competed to harvest quickly.
• Zhou Yixiu and Zhou Xinran sang harvest songs, lifting the workers’ spirits and turning the field into a lively gathering.
• Fei Shuhe judged Kang Dabao an unsuitable match and ordered the Mystic Falcon to take her home so she could cultivate.

After the alfalfa harvest, Duan Anle hosted a lively feast while Sect Leader Kang Da and Chongming Sect’s leaders discussed the prefectural court’s rebuilding of Chongming Market. The discussion ended with plans to consult Daoist Black Shoes, approach former Linghe Market merchants, and have Kang Da travel to Xuanwei City.

• Zhou Yixiu taught Kang Rongquan, Mo Ku, and Wei Gu how to preserve the harvested alfalfa in Chongming Sect’s new storehouse.
• Duan Anle invited his fellow disciples to his courtyard and gave Jin Shilun his prize Spirit Stones to prepare a feast.
• The disciples shared Spirit Cuisine and brought wine and other treats, while the younger children were allowed only small tastes of Spirit Wine.
• Kang Da explained the benefits and drawbacks of the prefectural court rebuilding Chongming Market, including its oversight, merchant compensation uncertainty, and Chongming Sect’s ten percent share of annual tax revenue.
• Ye Zhengwen proposed approaching former Linghe Market merchants, and Kang Da suggested recruiting a Foundation Establishment faction and asked Ye to approach Alchemist Chen Yu without making firm promises.
• Kang Da ended the meeting by saying he would visit Daoist Black Shoes and then travel to Xuanwei City the next morning.

Sect Leader Kang Da received a beast-taming guide from Daoist Black Shoes and learned why the Earl of Nan'an was preparing to move against the Two Instruments Sect. Meanwhile, Lu Xun led a He Household caravan toward Tanggu County, where bandits warned them that a violent new force had taken over a nearby stronghold.

• Daoist Black Shoes gave Kang Dabao a beast-taming guide and explained that the Two Instruments Sect had provoked the Earl of Nan'an by using a Three Incense Cult cultivator to attack Tanggu County.
• Kang Dabao discussed Chongming Market and his plans with Daoist Black Shoes, then set out with Jiang Qing.
• Lu Xun traveled with a He Household caravan whose guards stayed alert for roving bandits along the unsettled roads.
• At a mountain pass, a bandit leader recognized the He Household banner, collected road fees, and warned that newcomers from Pingrong County had taken over the Ma Household Stockade.
• The He Household member had Du Qing enhance the caravan's banner so the new force would recognize them, then ordered the caravan onward.

Shao Meng, Shao Wei, and their fellow outlaws ambushed the He Household caravan, overpowering its guards and cultivators. Lu Xun invoked Kang Dabao and the Chongming Sect, prompting the bandits to verify Du Qing’s sect token and halt the attack.

• Shao Meng and the other new chiefs of Ma Household Stockade prepared to rob the approaching He Household caravan, hoping to earn Spirit Stones for treating their injuries.
• The caravan crossed the roadblock under guard, but Shao Meng’s group launched a surprise attack, capturing the caravan leader and trapping two Late Qi Refinement elders.
• He Degong and Du Qing fought back as Lu Xun and the other caravan cultivators struggled against Shao Wei, the one-eyed whip wielder, and their underlings.
• Lu Xun recognized Shao Meng and claimed the caravan had been entrusted to Sect Leader Kang of the Chongming Sect, while He Degong revealed that He Dezong was his brother.
• The one-eyed cultivator found Du Qing’s Chongming Sect token, and Shao Wei ordered the bandits to stop, sparing the remaining caravan members.

The Shao siblings and the Two Sha of the Feng Household released He Degong’s nephew and let the caravan pass after learning of Kang Dabao’s influence. Back at the Chongming Sect, He Degong thanked Kang Dabao and handed him the caravan, while Kang told him that Foundation Establishment powers would also open shops in Chongming Market.

• Shao Wei accepted He Degong’s apology and Spirit Stones, then ordered his group to let the caravan pass.
• Shao Meng resented Kang Dabao, while Shao Wei and the Feng brothers warned that he was too powerful to offend.
• Kang Dabao examined his disciples’ knowledge of sect scriptures and scolded them before He Degong’s party arrived.
• Du Qing, Lu Xun, and He Degong greeted Kang Dabao, and He Degong recounted how Kang’s reputation had saved the caravan.
• Kang Dabao told He Degong that the Yunjiao Gun Household and the Illusory Sword Alliance would open shops in Chongming Market.
• He Degong announced that his elder brother had entrusted the fully staffed caravan to the Chongming Sect, and Kang Dabao accepted it gratefully.

Kang Dabao helped the prefectural court rebuild Chongming Market as a trade market, benefiting from its generous spending and winning back local support. The market was officially upgraded to the Double Brightness Trade Market, and its newly appointed acting lieutenant turned out to be someone Kang Dabao recognized.

• He Dezong sent word that the He Household would open a shop in Chongming Market and place Lu Xun's caravan under the Chongming Sect's control.
• The prefectural court's comptrollers arrived, and Deng oversaw plans to expand the market into a trade market.
• Deng's court paid laborers and suppliers in Spirit Stones, allowing Kang Dabao and allied factions to profit from construction contracts.
• Kang Dabao summoned Wei Gu to work alongside the court's formation masters, hoping he would learn enough to study the Spirit Stone vein formation notes.
• Kang Dabao saw the market's sign changed to announce the Double Brightness Trade Market, then learned the prefectural court had appointed a new acting lieutenant whom he recognized.

Kang Dabao met Xu Yingshi, the new acting commandant of the Double Brightness Trade Market, and considered the prefectural court’s motives for placing powerful outsiders around him. While overseeing the market’s construction, Kang Dabao reunited with Huo Ying, whose fortunes had fallen after several upheavals, and she watched him with renewed interest.

• Xu Yingshi greeted Kang Dabao with open contempt, and Deng smoothed over the exchange by explaining that Xu was always forthright.
• Kang Dabao judged Xu too powerful and well-connected to challenge, and suspected the prefectural court had placed both Xu and Deng near him as a warning or restraint.
• Kang Dabao continued managing shop assignments and market plans while the elderly accountant handled most of the other work.
• He Degong helped the elderly accountant with the market’s practical affairs and earned praise from the Foundation Establishment cultivator behind the He Household.
• At the bustling construction site, Kang Dabao greeted Huo Ying, who had moved there after losing her prosperous position in Xuanwei City.
• Huo Ying reflected on Kang Dabao’s rise and watched him leave, newly considering him as a potential partner.

Widow Ma secured a shopfront in Double Brightness Trade Market by giving Kang Dabao a Breakthrough Pill, while Huo Ying sought his protection by spending the night with him. The chapter left Huo Ying uncertain whether Kang Dabao would help her as she faced growing danger within the Illusory Sword Alliance.

• Widow Ma and Lady Chong asked Kang Dabao for a shopfront, and Widow Ma offered him a Breakthrough Pill in exchange for his help.
• Kang Dabao promised to arrange Widow Ma's shopfront within ten days, and she rewarded Lady Chong with warm jade for accompanying her.
• Kang Dabao returned to his quarters and spent the night with Huo Ying, who had arranged to meet him there in hopes of gaining his protection.
• Kang Dabao told Huo Ying to stay in his quarters for the next few days, then left to complete the handover of Pingrong County's affairs with Tie Xishan.
• Huo Ying worried that Kang Dabao had made no promise to support her and hoped she had chosen the right person to rely on amid the Illusory Sword Alliance's hostility.

Kang Dabao was drawn into a dispute over a blue silver vein discovered by the Kuai Household after Tie Liuyun offered him a share if he helped challenge the Huo Household. Daoist Black Shoes backed the alliance, but the dispute escalated into violence, and Huo Bing and Tie Liuyun arranged three fights to decide who would claim the vein.

• Kang Dabao met Tie Xishan in Pingrong County and learned that Luo Heng would take over as county chief clerk while Luo Heng accepted the assignment to send laborers to Tanggu County.
• Tie Liuyun found Kang Dabao at an entertainment house and recruited him to help the Kuai Household contest the Huo Household’s claim to a blue silver vein.
• Kang Dabao consulted Daoist Black Shoes, who agreed to join the contest and set a sixty-forty split, with shares for the Fei Household and Chongming Sect.
• Kang Dabao, Jiang Qing, Pei Yi, and Yuan Jin arrived at the Kuai Household, and Kang Dabao drove off Huo Household members who had come to take possession of the vein.
• The Huo Household retaliated by smashing Kuai Household shops, killing members of its direct line, and digging up its ancestral graves.
• Huo Bing and Tie Liuyun agreed to settle the dispute with three fights in half a month, with the winner taking all.

The Kuai Household and the Huo Household began their three-match contest over a mine, and Tie Xishan and Yuan Jin each won their match for the Kuai Household. After the Huo Household fell behind two matches to none, its head asked Commander Tie for one more match.

• Tie Xishan defeated Huo Yuanyi with a combination of techniques and poison, giving the Kuai Household the first victory.
• Daoist Black Shoes and Tie Liuyun arrived with other Foundation Establishment cultivators, who had gathered because of the Spirit Stone mine in Tanggu County.
• Daoist Black Shoes encouraged Yuan Jin and praised his mastery of the White Ape Scripture before the second match.
• Yuan Jin overwhelmed the Huo Household's married-in son-in-law and won the second match for the Kuai Household.
• The Huo Household's head, angered by the two losses, asked Commander Tie to allow another match.

The Kuai Household accepted the Huo Household’s wager of eighty mu of superior-grade spirit farmland and sent Sect Leader Kang Da to fight the third arena match. Kang Da feigned weakness before defeating Qu He, giving the Kuai Household all three victories and leaving the Huo Household representative furious.

• The Huo Household offered eighty mu of First-Tier Superior-Grade spirit farmland for an extra match, and Daoist Black Shoes agreed to the contest.
• Daoist Black Shoes chose Sect Leader Kang Da to fight instead of Jiang Qing, despite Tie Liuyun’s objections.
• Qu He attacked Kang Da with fire techniques and a flying sword, while Kang Da relied on his shield and appeared to struggle.
• Kang Da revealed two powerful streaks of golden light that broke Qu He’s defenses, forcing the referee to intervene before Qu was killed.
• The referee declared the Kuai Household the winner, and Tie Liuyun rejected the Huo Household representative’s demand for another match.

Tie Liuyun brought local Foundation Establishment cultivators into the prefectural court’s New Cloud Alliance, which included the Chongming Sect and Hemu Dao and gained shared management of a Spirit Stone mine. After the alliance’s first meeting stalled over mining arrangements, Ye Zhen introduced a newly issued task.

• Kuai En explained the blue-silver ore vein’s size and mining hazards, while Kang Dabao praised its value to the Chongming Sect.
• Tie Liuyun persuaded several Foundation Establishment cultivators to serve the prefectural court, and Yue Lan arrived to challenge them before leaving after Daoist Black Shoes refused his warning.
• Daoist Black Shoes told the Chongming Sect’s younger cultivators that the New Cloud Alliance’s five parties would share the Spirit Stone mine’s proceeds for one sixty-year cycle.
• Kang Dabao returned a Storage Bag and added a Spirit Stone fragment at the home of a woman whose child’s father had died.
• Ye Zhen chaired the New Cloud Alliance’s first meeting, where Daoist Black Shoes accepted the deputy alliance leader position and the members failed to agree on mining arrangements.
• Ye Zhen raised a newly issued task as the meeting’s final agenda item.

Kang Dabao arranged funding with Tie Liuyun for the Chongming Sect’s blue-silver mine and met He Dezong, who warned him that Chen Ye had appeared near Tanggu County. Chen Ye visited Lady Chong and a cultivator from Zi Maple Valley, then left while the pair began an affair.

• Tie Liuyun calculated the blue-silver mine’s startup costs, and Kang Dabao supplied Spirit Stones, artifacts, and the Four Ghosts of the Liu Household to cover the Chongming Sect’s share.
• Tie Liuyun told Kang Dabao to prepare twenty or thirty thousand Spirit Stones for the Spirit Stone mine, and Kang Dabao left with his junior brothers.
• Kang Dabao and his companions met He Dezong at a tavern, where He Dezong said Yuanhe had become a True Disciple of the Stone Mountain Sect and agreed to investigate nearby beast herds.
• He Dezong warned Kang Dabao that he had seen Chen Ye outside Tanggu County City and said he was still seeking news of Moon Fern and Hong Qin.
• Chen Ye met Lady Chong and a cultivator surnamed Shen at a teahouse, discussed visiting the Huo Household, and left after the Shen cultivator promised to arrange a meeting with Senior Shen.
• After Chen Ye left, the Shen cultivator and Lady Chong began an affair, while Chen Ye walked away without showing any reaction.

Chen Ye offered Shen Ang Yang-Nourishing Water and Spirit Stones in exchange for the Change Yin technique, but Shen Ang refused and later ambushed him to seize his valuables. Chen Ye killed Shen Ang with a combination of Witch Beasts, talismans, poisoned sand, and his own strange abilities, then hid with Shen Ang’s sword still embedded in his chest.

• Chen Ye visited Shen Ang at Zi Maple Valley’s outpost and offered Second-Tier Yang-Nourishing Water and eight thousand Spirit Stones for the Change Yin technique, but Shen Ang denied possessing it.
• Chen Ye abandoned his plans to buy Foundation Establishment items, indulged with Lady Chong, and left Tanggu County with her by carriage.
• Shen Ang ambushed Chen Ye on a secluded road, seeking to take his valuables, and Chen Ye fought back with his White Bone Banner, talismans, Witch Beasts, and Water-Swallowing Technique.
• Chen Ye’s poisoned black sand and yellow smoke overwhelmed Shen Ang, leaving the Foundation Establishment cultivator unable to control his spiritual power.
• Chen Ye severed Shen Ang’s head, cleaned up the scene, and hobbled away to hide with Shen Ang’s flying sword still lodged in his chest.