Recaps

Qin Fei reluctantly agreed to join Old Zhang as an outer-court attendant and was assigned to the Lin Household’s northern puppet scrapyard. He was stunned by the mountain of discarded puppets, but the Heavenly Craft Creation Pavilion revealed that many contained reusable materials or could be repaired, and he saw the scrapyard as a treasure trove.

• Old Zhang guilted Qin Fei into joining him as an outer-court attendant, and Qin Fei reluctantly agreed.
• Three days later, Qin Fei and Old Zhang traveled through the rapidly expanding Shangyu Market to the Lin Residence.
• The steward registered Qin Fei, then sent Lin Man to escort him to his new post.
• Lin Man took Qin Fei to the northern puppet scrapyard and explained that he should repair usable puppets without a set quota.
• The Heavenly Craft Creation Pavilion identified valuable parts and repairable puppets in the scrap pile, exciting Qin Fei.

Qin Fei built a concealed underground factory in the puppet scrapyard and began salvaging valuable designs and parts from discarded puppets. After meeting Old Zhang for a drink, he learned that demand for his Zhang Yu Motor Vehicles had surged, leaving him under pressure to produce more.

• Qin Fei agreed to repair the Lin Household’s discarded puppets, then returned to his courtyard to gather equipment and supplies.
• Qin Fei set up the Black Tortoise Breath-Concealing Array and used puppet soldiers to build a large underground factory beneath the scrapyard.
• Qin Fei searched the wreckage, finding useful designs and materials, including a special puppet called the Heavenly Mystery Key.
• Old Zhang visited Qin Fei, and they discussed their Attendant jobs before sharing drinks at the Gathering Immortals Pavilion.
• Qin Fei received Tang Zhan’s message that orders for Zhang Yu Motor Vehicles had surged and that he needed to increase production.

Over half a year, Qin Fei repaid his debt, focused on cultivation and puppet-making, and helped Shangyu Market prosper while his skills and cultivation advanced. After turning down Lin Man and chasing Tang Zhan and the others from his courtyard, he revealed that the merchant guild faced a second attack.

• Qin Fei increased production to meet soaring orders, repaid the merchant guild, and then balanced cultivation, puppet-making, and studying scrapped puppets.
• Qin Fei's puppet-making improved enough for him to identify flaws in other designs and craft a Heavenly Mystery Key, while demand for his puppets kept growing.
• Over six months, Shangyu Market strengthened its defenses and rebuilt, and Qin Fei made major progress in cultivation and renovated a courtyard in the scrapyard.
• Lin Man confessed her feelings to Qin Fei, but he tactfully turned her down because he wanted to focus on cultivation.
• Qin Fei chased Tang Zhan, Old Zhang, and the others out of his courtyard and told them that a second attack concerning the merchant guild was coming.

Qin Fei learned that killers were targeting the merchant association and prepared for their attack with the help of Senior Caiyi. After a month of waiting, he agreed to attend the lantern festival with Lin Man, where he would act as bait while Caiyi waited to capture anyone who attacked.

• Qin Fei discovered a Yama Pendant mission targeting him, Tang Zhan, and the merchant association, and Tang Zhan and Wang Hu prepared to fight back.
• Qin Fei urged Tang Zhan to ask Senior Caiyi to oversee an ambush, and she agreed to arrive in about half a month.
• Qin Fei deployed camouflaged Image-Recording Spiders and Wooden Kites, then returned to the scrap yard to study puppets in seclusion.
• Tang Zhan and the others avoided going out while the killers remained quiet, and the Lu and Lin Households announced a marriage that prompted a lantern festival in Shangyu Market.
• Senior Caiyi arrived in secret, and Tang Zhan asked Qin Fei to lure the killers at the festival while she waited in hiding.
• Lin Man invited Qin Fei to the lantern festival, and he accepted.

During the lantern festival, Qin Fei rejected Lin Man’s attempt to draw him into the Lin and Lu Households’ marriage dispute. On returning to the puppet scrapyard, he was ambushed by a Qi Refining Ninth Layer old man, but Fairy Caiyi arrived and discovered the Lu Household was searching for the Heavenly Mystery Key.

• Lin Man asked Qin Fei whether he believed in arranged marriages, and he refused to involve himself in the Lin and Lu Households’ affairs.
• Qin Fei returned to the puppet scrapyard and found his recording spider crushed, then realized someone was searching the scrapyards for him.
• Qin Fei fled toward the scrapyard and sent a voice transmission to Senior Caiyi as a Qi Refining Ninth Layer old man pursued him.
• Qin Fei deployed the Flame Martial Envoy and his Flame Martial Guards, but the old man smashed his puppets and kept advancing.
• Fairy Caiyi appeared and used the Soul-Searching Technique on the old man, learning he belonged to the Lu Household and was seeking the Heavenly Mystery Key.

Fairy Caiyi discovered that the old man who attacked Qin Fei was bound by a soul restriction, then brought Qin Fei and the Heavenly Mystery Key to the Lin Household to discuss a secret realm. After Qin Fei recounted the attack and showed his recording, Fairy Caiyi proposed cooperating with the Lin Household and urged its patriarch to reward him.

• Fairy Caiyi's soul search triggered a golden lock that destroyed the old man's soul, and she concluded that he had been under a soul restriction.
• Qin Fei handed Fairy Caiyi the octagonal disc he had found in the scrapyard, hiding the identical copy in his Storage Bag.
• Fairy Caiyi carried Qin Fei by cloud to the Lin Household, where Lin Man and the household patriarch received them.
• Qin Fei recounted the attack and showed the image-recording stone, prompting the patriarch to suspect that a secret realm was about to appear and that the Lu Household meant to claim it.
• Fairy Caiyi revealed the Heavenly Mystery Key and proposed cooperating with the Lin Household, then reminded its patriarch to reward Qin Fei for finding it.

Qin Fei received Ice Silk Soft Armor from the Lin Household and learned that Lin Man’s marriage to the Lu Household had been postponed after the attack. He returned home to assess his losses and realized he needed to spend nearly all his remaining Spirit Stones rebuilding his puppet forces.

• Fairy Caiyi arranged for Qin Fei to receive Ice Silk Soft Armor and privately told him to visit her at the chamber of commerce after the current matter was settled.
• Lin Man apologized for her earlier questions, warned Qin Fei that her would-be husband from the Lu Household was a relentless madman, and led him into the Lineage treasury.
• Qin Fei took the armor and learned that Lin Man’s wedding had been postponed because the Lin Household intended to confront the Lu Household over the attack.
• Qin Fei left Lin Man and returned home, where he counted his destroyed puppets and estimated that rebuilding his forces would cost at least two hundred Spirit Stones.

Qin Fei restored his puppet army, broke through to the Sixth Level of Qi Refining, and learned that he needed more money to keep expanding his forces. Meanwhile, the discovery of a secret realm stirred conflict between the Lin Household and the Barbarian Tribe, and Qin Fei arrived at the merchant association just after Senior Caiyi captured its attackers.

• Qin Fei bought materials and Demon Beast meat, then spent several days refining puppets and cultivating.
• A secret realm was discovered near Shangyu Market, prompting clashes between the Lin Household and the Barbarian Tribe; the Lin Household postponed its marriage alliance with the Lu Household.
• Lu Tianchou reacted angrily to the secret realm news and ordered an investigation into Qin Fei as a backup plan.
• Qin Fei broke through to the Sixth Level of Qi Refining, increasing his spiritual power, Divine Sense, and ability to control puppets.
• Qin Fei rebuilt his puppet army but ran out of money, so he headed to the merchant association to take orders and meet Senior Caiyi.
• Tang Zhan told Qin Fei that Senior Caiyi had captured the assassins targeting the merchant association, and that she was waiting for him.

Qin Fei negotiated with Fairy Caiyi to increase his puppet production in exchange for her help if he ever approached Foundation Establishment, then learned more about Yama Hall and the Lu Household’s threat. He returned to the scrapyard, planned to muddy the trail of the Heavenly Mystery Key, and posted a Yama Hall contract on the Lu Household’s young master.

• Fairy Caiyi asked Qin Fei to restore his puppet output and offered to protect him from the Lu Household; Qin Fei instead secured her promise to help if he reached the threshold of Foundation Establishment.
• Qin Fei asked about Zhang Youqing and the killers, and Fairy Caiyi explained that the attackers belonged to Yama Hall and showed him her Impermanence pendant and mask.
• Qin Fei accepted a large batch of puppet orders from Fairy Caiyi and collected more orders from Wang Hu.
• Qin Fei spotted two Qi Refining Third Layer cultivators from the Lu Household watching his scrapyard, then decided to make duplicate Heavenly Mystery Keys and spread them through the market.
• Qin Fei used his Yama Pendant to post a five-hundred-Spirit-Stone task to kill the young master of the Lu Household in Shangyu Market.

After expanding his puppet workforce, Qin Fei mass-produced goods and unlocked blueprints for Spirit Energy Wings and the Desolate Rock Ghost Python. Meanwhile, Lu Tianchou discovered a bounty on himself and responded to Yama Hall’s warning by destroying his Yama Pendant again.

• Qin Fei expanded his Technician Number Ones to five hundred and used them to mass-produce puppets for Wang Hu and the merchant association.
• Qin Fei’s crafting raised the Heavenly Craft Creation Pavilion to level seven and unlocked the Spirit Energy Wings and Desolate Rock Ghost Python blueprints.
• Lu Tianchou learned that an outsider had tried to assassinate him and that the assassin carried a fake Heavenly Mystery Key and a Yama Pendant.
• Lu Tianchou found a five-hundred-Spirit-Stone bounty on himself in the Yama Pendant and crushed it after hearing that destroying it incurred a fine.
• The Yama Pendant reformed and warned Lu Tianchou that Impermanence would come for him if he destroyed it again, so he smashed it once more.

After two months of crafting puppets and saving Spirit Stones, Qin Fei went to the Divine Weapon Pavilion to buy defensive Law Artifacts. He used the Flame Martial Envoy’s imposing presence to reach the second floor and was shown the shop’s treasured artifacts.

• Qin Fei used his earnings from crafting puppets to cultivate with Spirit Stones and decided to strengthen his defenses amid the growing chaos over Heavenly Mystery Keys.
• Qin Fei entered the Divine Weapon Pavilion disguised as a Qi Refining Third Layer cultivator and was turned away from the second floor after refusing to show his funds.
• Qin Fei left, then returned disguised alongside the Flame Martial Envoy, whose Late Qi Refining presence let them pass without verification.
• Qin Fei asked the shopkeeper for the finest defensive Law Artifacts, and the old man brought out two wooden boxes, revealing a small bronze bell in the first.

Qin Fei and the Flame Martial Envoy bought the Soul-Startling Bell and Crimson Flame Shield from the Divine Weapon Pavilion, paying with Battle Puppets and Spirit Stones. After evading suspicious followers and returning home, Qin Fei focused on studying the shield’s ritual refinement method.

• The old man showed the Flame Martial Envoy the Soul-Startling Bell and offered the Crimson Flame Shield with a ritual refinement method, and Qin Fei questioned the shield’s price.
• Qin Fei offered a Sixth Level Qi Refining Battle Puppet in exchange, and the old man agreed to accept it toward the purchase.
• Qin Fei paid for both treasures with four Desolate Rock Giant Python puppets and another one hundred and sixty Spirit Stones.
• Qin Fei planted small spiders along the paths and used the Wooden Kite to watch the marketplace before shaking off suspicious followers.
• Qin Fei returned home in disguise, activated the defensive array, and began studying the ritual refinement method.

Qin Fei refined his Law Artifacts and improved his ability to control and wield them while the secret realm dispute was settled. He met with Tiezhu, who returned from military service with alarming news about the secret realm’s first explorers.

• Qin Fei used the artifact refining method to imprint his soul on the Soul-Startling Bell, then refined the Crimson Flame Shield and Still Water Sword.
• Humans and barbarians agreed to divide the secret realm at its central river, while the Lin Household and Lu Household gave up trying to monopolize it.
• Qin Fei tested his refined Crimson Flame Shield against the Flame Martial Envoy’s attack and emerged unharmed, then spent several days practicing with his Law Artifacts.
• Tiezhu returned after more than half a year in the army and met Qin Fei, Xu Meiniang, and their companions at the Gathering Immortals Pavilion.
• Tiezhu described his battles against the barbarians and revealed that the first group to explore the secret realm had been almost completely wiped out.

Qin Fei learned that the secret realm near Shangyu Market was the ruins of the Heavenly Secrets Sect, where a previous expedition had been devastated by puppets. He trained with Tiezhu to improve his combat skills as tensions over the ruins grew, leaving the Lin Household and Lu Household in open conflict.

• Tiezhu told Qin Fei and the others that the secret realm was the Heavenly Secrets Sect's ruins, filled with hostile puppets, and that a large expedition had nearly been wiped out.
• Old Zhang asked whether the ruins held a treasure that could heal his damaged meridians, and Tiezhu admitted that they did but were too dangerous for him to reach.
• Qin Fei asked Tiezhu to spar with him, then welcomed him with an expensive meal that Old Zhang and the others joined after discovering it.
• Qin Fei sparred with Tiezhu for several days without using puppets, learning from Tiezhu's battlefield experience while often losing at first.
• More cultivators poured into the secret realm, and the conflict between the Lin Household and the Lu Household erupted openly.

As the Lin and Lu Households’ secret-realm conflict spread into Shangyu Market, Qin Fei continued cultivating, studying puppets, and improving his formation skills. When a worker told him that Old Shen had died and that the latest delivery was the last, Qin Fei stopped him to find out what had happened.

• The Lin and Lu Households’ dispute over a medicinal herb escalated into battles in the secret realm, while Qin Fei trained with Tiezhu and rewarded him with a Superior-Grade Law Artifact.
• After two months, fighting between the households intensified, and Qin Fei learned that their Foundation Establishment cultivators had clashed in the secret realm.
• Qin Fei studied the newly delivered puppets, gathered rare materials, advanced into first-tier formation mastery, and recorded the strange markings he found on them.
• The conflict spread into Shangyu Market, where the Lu Household attacked Lin businesses, including the Wondrous Pill Pavilion, and Qin Fei returned home to cultivate in seclusion.
• A worker delivering the final batch of scrapped puppets told Qin Fei that Old Shen was dead and that he planned to quit, so Qin Fei stopped him and asked how Old Shen had died.

After Old Shen’s death, Qin Fei stayed wary of the Lin Household while helping Tang Zhan and Xu Meiniang prepare for their child’s arrival. Their celebration at the Gathering Immortals Pavilion was interrupted by a battle between the Lin and Lu Household ancestors, forcing Qin Fei and his companions to fight Lu Household attackers and protect Meiniang.

• A newcomer told Qin Fei that the Lin Household had tricked Old Shen into a fatal clash with the Lu Household, leaving Qin Fei worried he might be used the same way.
• Qin Fei brought spirit herbs to the chamber of commerce and suggested the names Tang Ping'an and Tang Lening for Tang Zhan and Xu Meiniang’s unborn child.
• The group set out for the Gathering Immortals Pavilion, but a Foundation Establishment battle between the Lin and Lu Household ancestors erupted nearby.
• Lu Household men attacked the group; Old Zhang stayed behind with Qin Fei and Wang Hu while Tang Zhan escorted Xu Meiniang away.
• Wang Hu drew three attackers into his golden alms bowl, and Qin Fei and Old Zhang prepared to hold off the remaining two.

Qin Fei and Old Zhang fought the Lu Household cultivators with the help of an arsenal of puppets and talismans, turning the battle against their stronger opponents. Qin Fei killed the long-bearded cultivator, and Wang Hu emerged from the golden bowl carrying two severed heads as another enemy fled.

• Qin Fei summoned Flame Martial Guards and two Desolate Rock Ghost Pythons, while the Lu Household cultivators split up to attack him and Old Zhang.
• A Flame Martial Envoy protected Old Zhang, who overwhelmed the scar-faced man by hurling talismans at him until he was blasted to pieces.
• The long-bearded man attacked Qin Fei with a silver mirror, but Qin Fei sheltered inside the Crimson Flame Shield as his puppets counterattacked.
• The long-bearded man tried to flee, but Qin Fei’s python delayed him and a flying sword pierced his brow after a bell disrupted his movements.
• Wang Hu burst out of the golden bowl carrying two severed heads, while another Lu Household cultivator fled and Wang Hu shouted after him.

After Qin Fei and his companions rescued Tang Zhan and Xu Meiniang, they decided to lie low and seek Senior Caiyi’s help against the Lu Household. Back at his secluded scrapyard, Qin Fei found advanced Technique Methods in a captured Storage Bag and considered how to break through to Late Qi Refining before the Lu Household retaliated.

• Qin Fei, Wang Hu, and Old Zhang killed the fleeing cultivator, then hurried to help Tang Zhan.
• Qin Fei and his companions joined Tang Zhan’s fight and killed all three Lu Household cultivators attacking him.
• Tang Zhan thanked them, and the group agreed to hide and notify Senior Caiyi after discussing the Lu Household’s likely retaliation.
• Qin Fei returned to the puppet scrapyard, examined a captured Storage Bag, and tested a powerful silver mirror Law Artifact.
• Qin Fei found a Jade Slip containing advanced Technique Methods and sent messages to Tang Zhan and Wang Hu to ask about breaking through to Late Qi Refining.

Qin Fei sought more Stage-Breaking Pills while the Lu Household faced a growing threat from Yama Hall. He and Wang Hu entered a hidden black-market passage to negotiate with an alchemist.

• Qin Fei asked Tang Zhan and Wang Hu to search for Stage-Breaking Pills as he cultivated and studied patterns recorded from scrapped puppets.
• A Foundation Establishment cultivator attacked Lu Tianchou, and Lu Household Ancestors confronted him over provoking Yama Hall; Lu Tianchou defied his father and left.
• Tang Zhan obtained two Stage-Breaking Pills, while Wang Hu found one for sale and learned that its seller was an alchemist who might refine more.
• Qin Fei posted a Yama Hall task offering five hundred Spirit Stones per pill and went with Wang Hu to negotiate with the black-market seller.
• Wang Hu presented a token at a secluded pawnshop, paid the gatekeeper, and led Qin Fei through a hidden doorway into the black market.

Qin Fei and Wang Hu tracked down an alchemist who could refine Stage-Breaking Pills and discovered he was raising Gu in an attempt to prolong his mother's life. When his transformed mother attacked and swallowed his head, Qin Fei destroyed her and kept the alchemist alive for the pills.

• Wang Hu told Qin Fei that the black market had been established by a Foundation Establishment cultivator connected to the Azure Wood Palace.
• The alchemist refused Wang Hu's request to refine Stage-Breaking Pills, so Qin Fei and Wang Hu left and watched the stall until its owner departed.
• Qin Fei and Wang Hu followed the alchemist to his hut and saw him feed his Gu-infected mother a bowl of insect eggs.
• The old woman transformed and swallowed the alchemist's head, prompting Qin Fei to destroy her with the Still Water Sword while Wang Hu blasted the escaping Gu insects.
• Qin Fei stabilized the alchemist, who slowly opened his eyes.

Qin Fei obtained ten Stage-Breaking Pills after the death of the pill-refining man and entered secluded cultivation while Shangyu Market and the secret realm grew more dangerous. The chapter left Yunxiu trapped in Qin Fei’s mist-covered puppet scrapyard after her pursuers were killed, with a path opening before her.

• The pill-refining man used his remaining vitality to refine five Stage-Breaking Pills for Qin Fei, then died after refusing treatment.
• Qin Fei and Wang Hu buried the man, and Qin Fei returned to the puppet scrapyard with the pills.
• Qin Fei received two more Stage-Breaking Pills from Tang Zhan and obtained three through the Yama Pendant, bringing his total to ten before entering secluded cultivation.
• Fairy Caiyi and Daoist Fuchen contended in the secret realm’s core region, then Fairy Caiyi rushed ahead toward its treasures as other cultivators followed.
• Yunxiu fled into the puppet scrapyard, where a thick mist killed her pursuers and then opened a narrow path before her.

Qin Fei broke through to Late Qi Refining after using nine Stage-Breaking Pills, then refused Yunxiu’s request to help claim the Heavenly Secrets Sect’s secret-realm treasures. As Yunxiu recovered at his scrapyard, she recognized markings on his discarded puppets as characters unique to her sect, prompting Qin Fei to ask if she could read them.

• Yunxiu arrived at Qin Fei’s courtyard and was astonished to find that he had reached Late Qi Refining.
• Qin Fei recalled how he used nine Stage-Breaking Pills to break through and discovered that his Spiritual Power and divine soul had greatly improved.
• Yunxiu revealed that she had publicized the secret realm’s location after finding the Lin and Lu Households occupying the former Heavenly Secrets Sect ruins.
• Yunxiu urged Qin Fei to help her reach the secret realm’s core and offered to share its treasures, but he refused and invited her to recover at his scrapyard instead.
• While staying there, Yunxiu recognized the discarded puppets as belonging to her sect and identified their unique markings, so Qin Fei asked whether she could read the characters.

Qin Fei learned the strange seal script from Yunxiu before she left, but he could not yet decipher how to arrange the characters. He then joined his friends to celebrate Tiezhu’s breakthrough and discovered that he too had reached Late Qi Refining.

• Qin Fei persuaded Yunxiu to teach him her sect’s small seal script, and he recorded and memorized the characters while she recovered.
• Yunxiu left to travel to the secret realm, and Qin Fei returned to studying the characters but could not determine their proper order.
• Tang Zhan told Qin Fei that Tiezhu had reached Late Qi Refining, and Qin Fei went to celebrate with their friends at the Gathering Immortals Pavilion.
• Qin Fei’s friends sensed that he had also reached Late Qi Refining and celebrated their team’s growing strength.
• The group shared cultivation insights over a meal, then raised their cups and toasted to the hope of becoming Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Wang Hu explained the resources needed for Foundation Establishment as Qin Fei and the others discussed the dangerous struggle around the Heavenly Secrets Sect’s hundred-story tower. Back at the puppet scrapyard, Qin Fei received a mandatory Underworld Bureau task ordering him to map the tower in three days.

• Wang Hu told Qin Fei and the others that Foundation Establishment required abundant Spiritual Qi, materials to nourish Spirit Roots, and a Foundation Establishment Pill, whose scarcity and low breakthrough odds discouraged the group.
• The group discussed the secret realm’s tower and learned that Daoist Fuchen had forced Fairy Caiyi onto the defensive before the Foundation Establishment cultivators turned their attention to the tower.
• Qin Fei urged everyone to prepare for Foundation Establishment so they could protect themselves amid the conflict between Shangyu Market’s great lineages.
• Qin Fei returned to the puppet scrapyard and used the Yama Pendant to post tasks seeking metal, wood, water, and fire spiritual materials for his Spirit Roots.
• The Yama Pendant assigned Qin Fei a mandatory task to assemble with Underworld Bureau Seventy-Seven at the Heavenly Mystery Secret Realm in three days and map the tower’s structure and murals, warning that Impermanence would reclaim the pendant if he refused.

Qin Fei reluctantly accepted Yama Hall’s mandatory mission to document the hundred-story tower in the Heavenly Mystery Secret Realm and prepared for the dangerous trip. After arriving, he discovered a gu cultivator from his past was targeting him, but the Impermanence Envoy assigned them to separate teams and warned everyone against disrupting the mission.

• Qin Fei learned that he could not refuse his mandatory Yama Hall mission, so he planned to enter the secret realm, record the tower, and leave without pursuing treasures.
• Qin Fei upgraded the Heavenly Craft Creation Pavilion, unlocked a handheld game console puppet, and stocked up on medicines, pills, talismans, and formations before departing.
• Qin Fei arrived at a remote valley in the secret realm wearing the Seventy-Seven mask and learned from Fifty-Eight that an Impermanence Envoy would lead the mission.
• The Impermanence Envoy arrived with two Underworld Bureau members, including the gu cultivator Qin Fei recognized as the man who had raised a gu using his own mother.
• Qin Fei found and erased the hidden mark the gu cultivator had placed on him, then told the Impermanence Envoy that they had an old grievance.
• The Impermanence Envoy assigned Qin Fei to partner with Fifty-Eight, placed the gu cultivator on another team, and warned everyone not to fight or interfere with the mission.