Chapter Summaries

Qin Fei killed the Gu-worm cultivator, rescued Shitou and his mother, and flew toward the Beast Tide’s aftermath while learning of Shi Yue’s talent for puppetry. After finding no sign of Tang Zhan among the dead, Qin Fei concluded they had likely gone to Repel the North City and set course there.

• The Gu-worm cultivator begged the Iron Guard to take him in, but Qin Fei had the puppet kill him and crush the worms that fled his body.
• Qin Fei took Shitou and his mother aboard the Divine Travel Boat, freed the kneeling Rogue Cultivators, and asked to be taken to the Beast Tide site.
• Shi Yue told Qin Fei how he had refined a Puppet Soldier, and Qin Fei praised his work and said he could reach the threshold of a First-Tier Puppet Master.
• The big yellow dog urged Qin Fei to take Shi Yue as a disciple and provide spirit materials for the Purple Flame Deer, but Qin Fei declined the discipleship and agreed to consider the beast’s needs.
• Qin Fei found that the beast-raising texts in the barbarian Storage Bags were unreadable, then saw many familiar dead from Shangyu Market without finding Tang Zhan or his companions.
• Qin Fei decided Tang Zhan and the others had probably gone to Repel the North City and directed the Divine Travel Boat there.

Qin Fei entered Repel the North City with Shitou and his mother, then hired a local guide to find the displaced cultivators from Shangyu Market. He learned that they had settled in the southeast and set off to meet them.

• Qin Fei paid for permanent passage tokens for himself, Shitou, and Shitou's mother, and learned that the Shangyu Market refugees had been settled in the south of the Heavenly Pivot District.
• Qin Fei parted ways with Shitou and his mother after they entered the city.
• Qin Fei spotted a puppet made by the Heavenly Secret Pavilion and wondered whether Yunxiu had come to Repel the North City.
• A young woman offered to guide Qin Fei around the city for one Spirit Stone a day.
• The guide recognized the Shangyu Market cultivators by their two-wheeled vehicles, and Qin Fei asked her to take him to them.

Qin Fei reunited with Tang Zhan and the others in Repel the North City, where he discovered that Old Zhang had been poisoned by a Gu worm. After removing it, he suspected the Blood Gu Sect and decided to investigate and avenge Old Zhang after attempting to break through to Foundation Establishment.

• A guide explained Repel the North City's districts and brought Qin Fei to the remote settlement where the Shangyu Market cultivators lived.
• Qin Fei reunited with Tang Zhan, Xu Meiniang, Tiezhu, Wang Hu, and the children, then learned that Old Zhang was gravely ill.
• Qin Fei used his Divine Sense and a vertical eye to find and remove a Gu worm from Old Zhang's chest, burning it to ash.
• Tang Zhan revealed that Old Zhang had argued with cultivators from the Blood Gu Sect over a house, leading Qin Fei to suspect they had planted the Gu.
• Qin Fei told Tang Zhan to investigate the Blood Gu Sect and warned the others that Old Zhang's lifespan had been greatly reduced.
• Qin Fei urged everyone to keep a low profile and announced that he would enter seclusion to break through to Foundation Establishment.

Qin Fei reassured the injured Old Zhang, then went to the Many Treasures Pavilion to buy a furnace for his upcoming seclusion and Foundation Establishment Pill attempt. He bought the Primordial Eight Trigrams Furnace and left one step closer to refining the pill.

• Qin Fei told Old Zhang to focus on recovering, and Old Zhang asked him to look after Youqing if he died.
• Qin Fei teased Old Zhang about leaving him a bigger inheritance, then promised not to seek revenge after Old Zhang warned him against stirring up trouble.
• Qin Fei visited the Many Treasures Pavilion and asked to see its second-tier Pill Furnaces.
• The shopkeeper showed Qin Fei three furnaces, and Qin Fei chose the Primordial Eight Trigrams Furnace for its ability to improve the chance of successfully forming pills.
• Qin Fei paid for the furnace after pretending to consult his ancestor, then left excited to be closer to making a Foundation Establishment Pill.

Qin Fei spent his remaining Spirit Stones on materials for advancing his alchemy, then rented a cave abode in Area A of the Heavenly Pivot Mountain Range to cultivate and refine pills. After settling in and activating a concealment array, he prepared to begin the big yellow dog’s training to become a second-tier Alchemist.

• Qin Fei sold his remaining puppets at the black market and exchanged most of them for Mid-Grade Spirit Stones.
• Qin Fei traveled to the Heavenly Pivot Mountain Range and rented a secluded cave abode in Area A for three hundred Mid-Grade Spirit Stones a year.
• Qin Fei inspected the cave abode, activated the Black Tortoise Breath-Concealing Array, and summoned the big yellow dog.
• The big yellow dog said Qin Fei could become a second-tier Alchemist with its training method from High Person Danqing, and Qin Fei agreed to begin.

Qin Fei trained under Big Yellow in herb identification and fire control, then became a second-tier Alchemist and began preparing to refine a Foundation Establishment Pill. As Fairy Caiyi approached his rented cave abode, a Foundation Establishment phenomenon erupted around it.

• Big Yellow taught Qin Fei the Three-Turn Pill Tempering Method and tested his knowledge of herbs and their interactions.
• After three months of study, Qin Fei completed the herb-identification stage and began training his fire control with the Primordial Eight Trigrams Furnace.
• Qin Fei mastered fire control, practiced pill refining with Big Yellow, and successfully refined his first second-tier pill.
• Qin Fei renewed his cave abode lease, rested for three days, and instructed the Iron Guard to keep others away while he began refining the Foundation Establishment Pill.
• Fairy Caiyi arrived with a guide and saw a surge of Spiritual Qi around Qin Fei's cave abode, which she recognized as a Foundation Establishment phenomenon.

Qin Fei endured a dangerous Foundation Establishment breakthrough and emerged with unusually powerful Spiritual Power and Divine Sense. He declined Fairy Caiyi’s invitation to join the Li Fire Palace, then discovered that his new cultivation had advanced his Yama Pendant rank to Impermanence.

• Qin Fei nearly ran out of Spiritual Power during his breakthrough, but used Mid-Grade Spirit Stones to sustain it and successfully reached Foundation Establishment.
• The gathered cultivators congratulated Qin Fei, and he greeted Fairy Caiyi as a fellow Daoist before asking everyone to leave while he stabilized his cultivation.
• Fairy Caiyi apologized for having made Qin Fei refine puppets and invited him to join the Li Fire Palace, but Qin Fei declined because he preferred to live freely.
• Qin Fei returned to his secret chamber and assessed his increased Spiritual Power and Divine Sense, while reflecting that he had used only one Foundation Establishment Pill.
• The Yama Pendant promoted Qin Fei from Underworld Bureau to Impermanence, removing mandatory missions and granting him a monthly stipend of ten Mid-Grade Spirit Stones.

After reaching Foundation Establishment, Qin Fei studied the Creation Spirit-Bestowing Scripture and learned its techniques for giving puppets the spirituality of living creatures. Major factions invited him to join them, but he declined for now, and the chapter ended with the Beast Taming Sect, the Lin and Lu Households, and Yunxiu still waiting to speak with him.

• Qin Fei studied the Creation Spirit-Bestowing Scripture and learned how its Soul-Seizing Technique and Spirit-Bestowing Technique could make puppets lifelike.
• Three months after Qin Fei's breakthrough, representatives of major and minor factions gathered outside his cave abode to recruit him.
• Qin Fei welcomed the visitors with a feast and showed them his puppet maids and air conditioners.
• Qin Fei politely declined to join any faction for the time being, then gave each departing guest an air conditioner and a puppet maid.
• After the gathering ended, the sect master of the Beast Taming Sect, the Lin and Lu Households, and Yunxiu remained.

Qin Fei rejected Guo Nanshan’s offer to join the Beast Taming Sect but agreed to become its guest elder in exchange for help raising his Purple Flame Deer. He then met with the Lin and Lu Households, where the Lin Household’s patriarch proposed that Qin Fei marry his daughter Lin Man.

• Guo Nanshan offered Qin Fei leadership of the Beast Taming Sect and instruction in beast taming, but Qin Fei declined to join or buy the sect’s secret method.
• Guo Nanshan offered Qin Fei the position of guest elder and promised to find someone to help raise his Purple Flame Deer, and Qin Fei accepted.
• Qin Fei asked the Lin Household’s patriarch and the Lu Household’s second elder why they had come, then demanded an apology from the Lu Household for its past attempts to kill him.
• The Lin Household’s patriarch tried to ease the tension and proposed that Qin Fei marry his daughter Lin Man.

Qin Fei refused the Lin and Lu patriarchs’ attempts to win him over, then agreed to craft a Puppet Core for Yunxiu in exchange for the Nine Revolutions Golden Core Technique. The big yellow dog revealed that the technique required a body-refining method and said Lu Tianchou had practiced it, while Qin Fei turned his attention to dealing with Old Zhang.

• Qin Fei rejected the Lin and Lu patriarchs’ offers and watched the Lu patriarch leave with a cold gaze.
• Yunxiu explained that the Heavenly Secret Pavilion needed help and asked Qin Fei to craft a Puppet Core, offering a Jade Slip as payment.
• Qin Fei read the Nine Revolutions Golden Core Technique and accepted Yunxiu’s offer, agreeing to craft the core.
• The big yellow dog explained that the technique was meant to be paired with body refinement and named Lu Tianchou as someone who had practiced it.
• Qin Fei set aside the search for the body-refining method and decided it was time to deal with Old Zhang’s matter.

Qin Fei returned to find Tang Zhan’s family threatened by the Blood Gu Sect over the missing children, Ping'an and Lening. He escorted the sect’s messenger into the Nether River District, intending to confront the sect master and bring the children home.

• The gaunt man demanded that someone accept a Gu implant in exchange for Ping'an and Lening, and Tang Zhan and Xu Meiniang argued over who should go.
• Qin Fei appeared, revealed his Foundation Establishment cultivation, killed the Blood Gu Sect’s men, and forced the surviving gaunt man to lead him to the sect.
• Qin Fei told Tang Zhan and the others to wait while he went to retrieve the children.
• On the way to the Nether River District, Qin Fei lowered his aura to Qi Refining Seventh Layer and learned that the district was a lawless haven for evil cultivators.
• The gaunt man used the Blood Gu Sect’s token to get them past groups collecting tolls and praised the sect master, Blood Gu Rogue Person.
• Qin Fei learned that the sect’s Gu implants drained victims’ Essence Blood and resolved to confront the sect master over the children.

Qin Fei reached the Blood Gu Sect and found Tang Ping'an and Tang Lening unharmed, but the sect master began a blood sacrifice to the Gu God. As a fight erupted between Blood Gu Rogue Person and a bewitching Daoist, Qin Fei rescued the children and disappeared.

• Qin Fei arrived at the Blood Gu Sect with Liang and learned that Blood Gu Rogue Person planned to sacrifice Tang Ping'an and Tang Lening to feed the Gu.
• Qin Fei used his vertical eye to see the children inside a restricted residence and confirmed they were unharmed.
• Blood Gu Rogue Person began the blood sacrifice, but a bewitching Daoist arrived and attacked the children with black Qi.
• Blood Gu Rogue Person blocked the attack, but the black Qi destroyed his Gu insects as the guests fled and the estate's barrier trapped them.
• Qin Fei vanished from Liang's side, and Liang was killed by black Qi while Tang Ping'an and Tang Lening disappeared from the altar.
• Blood Gu Rogue Person roared, asking who had stolen the children before the sacrifice was complete.

Qin Fei rescued Tang Ping'an and the other child while the sinister Daoist used two paper figures to attack Blood Gu Rogue Person. After the paper figures turned on the trapped cultivators, Qin Fei faced them and decided to capture the heartfire figure for Cloud Treader.

• The sinister Daoist sent his paper figures to pierce Blood Gu Rogue Person's cocoon and burn him with heartfire, while Qin Fei secretly rescued Tang Ping'an and the other child into his Mustard Seed Space.
• The paper figures turned on the trapped cultivators, and one devoured the sinister Daoist after he fled the residence with both arms missing.
• Qin Fei attacked the fang-mouthed paper figure with the Still Water Sword, but it chewed the sword to pieces as the other paper figure moved to surround him.
• The heartfire paper figure attacked Qin Fei's sea of consciousness, but his Divine Sense extinguished its flames; the Purple Flame Deer then showed interest in it.
• After the big yellow dog offered to conceal the paper figure's presence, Qin Fei asked it to come home with him.

Qin Fei captured two paper figures, extracted Blood Gu Rogue Person’s spirituality, and escaped the ruined Blood Gu Sect with a Gu larva. Five days later, he returned to the Heavenly Pivot District and reunited with Tang Zhan, Xu Meiniang, and the children as they gathered to celebrate his return.

• Qin Fei sealed the paper figures in jade boxes with the Five Lightning Ghost-Suppressing Technique, then collected their fangs and the cultivators’ Storage Bags.
• Qin Fei killed the dying Blood Gu Rogue Person with the Soul-Seizing Technique and sealed the extracted spirituality in a jade bottle for later use.
• Qin Fei watched the Gu worms in the statue breed until one larva remained, collected it, burned down the residence, and left the Blood Gu Sect.
• Qin Fei traveled in disguise to the Heavenly Pivot District, avoiding attention from Ghost Mother.
• Xu Meiniang reunited with the two children, Tang Zhan thanked Qin Fei, and the group welcomed him back.
• Qin Fei invited everyone to drink at the Gathering Immortals Pavilion, where they discussed the beast tide’s destruction of the Lin and Lu Households.

Qin Fei reunited with his old companions, helped them choose to join the Heavenly Secret Pavilion, and offered them Foundation Establishment Pills. While examining the spoils from two slain Foundation Establishment cultivators, he discovered a ranking entry for the Blood Amber Spirit Gu.

• Qin Fei invited Tang Zhan and the others to join the Heavenly Secret Pavilion, and Yunxiu welcomed their decision.
• Qin Fei shared advice about Foundation Establishment and offered to sell his companions Foundation Establishment Pills for ten thousand Spirit Stones each.
• After the gathering, Qin Fei returned to the Heavenly Pivot Mountain Range and searched the Storage Bags of Blood Gu Rogue Person and the sinister-looking Daoist.
• Qin Fei found a Jade Slip containing an illustrated guide to Gu insects and the Northern Plains Strange Gu Rankings.
• Qin Fei read that the third-ranked Blood Amber Spirit Gu hid in its host's bloodline and changed from white to dark red after feeding on Essence Blood.

Qin Fei investigated a Gu worm that might be the rare Blood Amber Spirit Gu, examined the uncanny Daoist’s possessions, and used Blood Gu Rogue Person’s soul to bestow spirit upon Iron Guard. After half a month, Iron Guard became a lifelike man, and the transformation drew attention from nearby cultivators.

• Qin Fei studied the Blood Amber Spirit Gu and planned to visit the Beast Taming Sect for Demon Beast Essence Blood to test his Gu worm.
• Qin Fei searched the uncanny Daoist’s Storage Bag, finding Spirit Stones, useful reference books, and the Tumbling Phoenix and Nurturing Luan Art.
• Qin Fei had Iron Guard knock the fanged paper figure’s newly grown teeth out and asked the heartfire paper figure to ignite its flame again.
• Qin Fei began bestowing spirit upon Iron Guard with Blood Gu Rogue Person’s soul, using his Law Power and Spirit Stones to sustain the process.
• Half a month later, Iron Guard emerged as a lifelike man, while cultivators outside Qin Fei’s cave abode wondered at the sudden pressure and thunder.

Qin Fei presented Iron Guard as a newly established cultivator, then visited the Beast Taming Sect to arrange care for his Purple Flame Deer. Qiu Muxue diagnosed the fawn’s blocked meridians, and Qin Fei invited her to his abode to discuss treatment.

• Qin Fei introduced Iron Guard to the visiting cultivators as a friend who had just broken through to Foundation Establishment, and they accepted the explanation.
• Qin Fei left for the Beast Taming Sect to discuss raising his Purple Flame Deer and obtain Demon Beast Essence Blood.
• The guards recognized Qin Fei from a portrait and told him that Guo Nanshan was in seclusion, so Qiu Muxue would receive him.
• Qiu Muxue identified Nether Flame Grass and Phoenix Flame Flower as the cause of the Purple Flame Deer’s obstructed meridians and stalled cultivation.
• Qin Fei, satisfied with Qiu Muxue’s diagnosis, invited her back to his abode to discuss the matter further.

Qin Fei brought Qiu Muxue to his cave abode and learned how to make Heart Fire safe for Cloud Treader to absorb. After refining the energy into a pill, he fed it to Cloud Treader, whose flame mutated and gained a trace of soul power.

• Qin Fei flew with Qiu Muxue to the Heavenly Pivot Mountain Range and gave her a restriction token so she could care for the Purple Flame Deer.
• Qiu Muxue explained that Qin Fei could strip away Heart Fire's harmful properties and leave its energy for Cloud Treader to absorb.
• Qiu Muxue visited daily to care for Cloud Treader, and his meridian blockages cleared as her cultivation improved in the cave abode.
• Qin Fei refined Heart Fire energy into a pill and tested it on a Fire Fox, which gained Heart Fire properties without being harmed.
• Qin Fei fed the pill to Cloud Treader, whose flame turned purple and acquired a trace of soul power.

Qin Fei identified a rare Blood Amber Spirit Gu and completed a ritual to bind it, while Guo Nanshan urged Qiu Muxue to pursue Qin Fei so he might protect the Beast Taming Sect. Qin Fei successfully bonded the Gu and discovered that his spirit eye could still detect it.

• Guo Nanshan told Qiu Muxue that Qin Fei was far stronger than an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator and urged her to make her feelings clear because the Beast Taming Sect needed his protection.
• Qin Fei confirmed that the Gu worm was a Blood Amber Spirit Gu and prepared a Blood Pact ritual using Essence Blood from low-tier Demon Beasts.
• Qiu Muxue delivered the Essence Blood, and Qin Fei dismissed her before beginning the ritual.
• Over ten days, Qin Fei fed his own Essence Blood into the Gu's cocoon until it fused with the larva and became undetectable to his Divine Sense.
• Qin Fei opened his Illusion-Breaking Spirit Eye, spotted the Blood Amber Spirit Gu, and concluded that its ability to evade detection would still be useful.

Qin Fei planned to use the Blood Amber Spirit Gu on Demon Beasts and barbarians while arranging a sales channel for his puppets through Yunxiu's Heavenly Secret Pavilion. After refining the Puppet Core, he set out to visit the Puppet Association and meet Wei Zhao.

• Qin Fei asked Qiu Muxue to bring him low-tier Demon Beasts, then mistakenly assumed her embarrassment meant she was dealing with her Gui Water and told her to rest.
• Qin Fei focused on cultivating Cloud Treader and sent Iron Guard to gather information about potential Gu hosts among the Barbarian Tribe and Demon Beasts.
• Qin Fei discussed selling several puppets through Yunxiu's Heavenly Secret Pavilion, claiming they came from the Puppet Association.
• Qin Fei refined the Puppet Core using one portion of Yunxiu's materials and kept the other two portions.
• Qin Fei posted a sign refusing visitors and went to visit Wei Zhao at the Puppet Association.