There’s an important note at the end — please make sure to read it all, thank you! ٩(˘◊˘)۶
Xiao Jingting led several people to rent a secluded mountaintop on a small island, where they settled down to live.
After settling down, Xiao Jingting checked Old Monster Chihuo’s storage ring and said with disappointment: “Old Monster Chihuo was too poor. His storage ring only contained about ten high-grade Spirit Stones and thirty thousand mid-grade Spirit Stones.”
Xiao Xiaofan counted on his fingers and said: “Father, that seems like quite a lot.”
Xiao Jingting rolled his eyes and said: “What do you know! Old Monster Chihuo was a famous Golden Core ancestor for many years, and he was in the late Golden Core stage, only one step away from Nascent Soul. For an ordinary person, having this many Spirit Stones in their storage ring would naturally be good, but for such an old monster, it’s rather shabby.”
“You should know that your father’s wealth amounts to one hundred high-grade Spirit Stones! Moreover, your father was worth one hundred high-grade Spirit Stones when he was still in Foundation Establishment. Now that he’s achieved Golden Core, his wealth should multiply by four times.”
Xiao Xiaofan blinked his eyes, completely dazzled by Xiao Jingting’s boasting.
Lei Xuan looked at Xiao Jingting and said: “Uncle Xiao, it’s still quite a lot. How could Old Monster Chihuo compare to you! You are blessed with great fortune, beyond what ordinary people can reach!”
Chen Xu nodded and said: “Yes! Yes!”
Xiao Jingting sighed and thought to himself: It is quite a lot, but he has heavy burdens! Supporting a large family, plus those groups of Golden-Topped Red-Tailed Scorpions and Golden Bees, which are also very expensive to maintain. Not to mention all the flowers and plants in his space – as his strength improved, the quality of spirit herbs he needed also correspondingly increased.
Xu Mu’an waved the Fire Cloud Banner in his hand and said: “This magical artifact is good. If sold, it should be worth quite a few Spirit Stones.”
Lei Xuan quickly shook his head and said: “Uncle Xu, it can’t be sold.”
Chen Xu nodded and said: “Yes! Uncle Xu, this magical artifact is Chihuo Laozu’s natal treasure. Chihuo Laozu spent a great deal of effort on this magical artifact – it would be a pity to sell it.”
Xu Mu’an waved the magical artifact in his hand and said: “This magical artifact is indeed good.”
Chen Xu nodded solemnly and said: “Of course it is. Old Monster Chihuo spent hundreds of years collecting spirit fires. Most of his abilities are concentrated in this Fire Cloud Banner. Although the spirit fires Old Monster Chihuo found weren’t all top-grade, there are quite a lot of them, and when concentrated together, their power is extraordinary.”
“What’s rather unfortunate is that this is Old Monster Chihuo’s natal treasure. If others use it, they can at most unleash seventy percent of this treasure’s power. However, Uncle Xu, this magical artifact will be sufficient for you until mid-Golden Core stage.”
Xu Mu’an nodded and said: “Sounds good.”
Xiao Jingting’s group settled down on the rented mountaintop. Xiao Xiaofan wandered around the mountaintop and actually discovered a small Spirit Stone mine, which excited Xiao Jingting tremendously.
Xiao Jingting’s joy wasn’t because there were many Spirit Stones in the mine, but because he remembered his youngest son had this radar function and felt that it could be well developed and utilized in the future – perhaps they could quickly become wealthy.
Xiao Jingting decided to live on the island for a while and make other plans after spending all the Spirit Stones in his hands.
Ever since Xiao Jingting settled on the island, Golden Core lightning tribulations would appear on the mountaintop where he lived every few days.
To avoid attracting attention, Xiao Jingting set up a huge illusion array to distort these phenomena.
Many of the Golden-Topped Red-Tailed Scorpions and Golden Bees that Xiao Jingting brought out from the secret realm were already on the verge of advancement. They were only limited by the restrictions within the secret realm and couldn’t advance. After following Xiao Jingting out, they broke through their shackles one after another and entered Golden Core stage.
Xiao Xiaofan looked at the lightning tribulation in the sky and said: “Father’s insects have advanced to Golden Core again. Big brother, why hasn’t your mountain chicken advanced yet! It eats so much but still doesn’t advance.”
Little Flower Chicken looked at Xiao Xiaofan with complete disdain, expressing that those trash couldn’t compare to its naturally gifted self even after advancing.
Xiao Xiaodong sighed and said: “It says I’m holding it back. For Huahua to advance to Golden Core, it needs to wait until I reach Foundation Establishment Great Perfection at least.”
“Is that so! Then big brother, you need to work hard! But I think this mountain chicken is just making excuses,” Xiao Xiaofan said.
Xiao Xiaodong nodded and said: “I think so too.”
Little Flower Chicken looked at the two of them with embarrassed anger, squawking loudly.
“Father’s Golden-Topped Red-Tailed Scorpions are amazing at mining. Big brother, can your chicken mine? How about letting it mine – making use of waste. Look at it eating so much every day without doing any work, acting like a master all day long,” Xiao Xiaofan said.
Little Flower Chicken angrily sprayed a large puff of blue mist at Xiao Xiaofan and snatched away the roasted meat from his hand.
“Damn thing,” Xiao Xiaofan cursed irritably.
“Eat quickly, eat quickly. After eating, let’s go hunt demons,” Chen Xu said with high spirits. Chen Xu felt this place was good – no one knew who he was, so no one would try to kidnap him to threaten his grandfather, and likewise, no one would be respectfully fearful of him because of his grandfather’s status.
“Young Master Chen, I didn’t expect you to like fighting so much!” Xiao Xiaofan said with surprise.
Chen Xu smiled and said: “It’s very interesting! Plus, we can earn Spirit Stones.” After becoming a single spiritual root, Chen Xu’s cultivation advanced extremely quickly. Worried about unstable realm foundation, Chen Xu actively participated in demon beast hunting activities.
There was a Commerce Alliance branch store on the island. After hunting demon beasts, they would send them to that shop, and the prices offered were fairly reasonable.
…
Commerce Alliance Ye Family Branch Store.
“Miss, they’re here,” a middle-aged woman in green clothes said to the female cultivator beside her.
Ye Jinlan looked at Xiao Xiaofan and the others downstairs and said: “Aunt Fang, it’s these few?”
Ye Fang nodded and said: “Yes, these cultivators often come to sell demon beast remains, and they all seem quite capable.”
Ye Jinlan looked at the several cultivators below and said: “They all look quite young.”
Ye Fang nodded and said: “Don’t let their young age fool you – all four of them have reached mid-Foundation Establishment stage. Their aptitude must be extraordinary. Even the genius cultivators in our family can’t compare to these few.”
Ye Jinlan shook her head and said: “That’s not necessarily true. Maybe they used pills to boost their cultivation. If they used pills to boost it, forming cores will be difficult.”
“Those kids don’t look like they used pills to boost their cultivation. I sent people to spy on them – this group is very capable in combat, and they all have powerful magical artifacts. It seems someone is backing them, and that person is not weak,” Ye Fang said.
“Do you know the background of this group?” Ye Jinlan asked.
Ye Fang shook her head and said: “Not yet. I’ve been watching this group for a long time. They appeared suddenly, and after appearing, they rented a mountaintop on the island.”
“Since this group moved in, golden light often emanates from the mountaintop where they live. Some cultivators suspected treasures were being born and secretly snuck in. As a result, they either died or were beaten out. A mid-Golden Core cultivator also seemed to want to go in and investigate, but after going in, he never came out. There should be experts on the island.”
Ye Jinlan thought for a moment and said: “Observe them more to see if the person behind these kids is really worth winning over.”
Ye Fang nodded and said: “That’s good.”
Ye Jinlan looked at the several cultivators below. Xiao Xiaodong seemed to sense something and looked up at the people upstairs.
Ye Jinlan frowned. Chen Xu tugged at Xiao Xiaodong’s sleeve and said: “Let’s go.”
Xiao Xiaodong nodded and said: “Alright.”
“Aunt Fang, that kid just now seemed to notice me,” Ye Jinlan said.
Ye Fang smiled and said: “It looks like that kid’s soul power is quite high.”
…
“You’re back?” Xiao Jingting looked at the few kids and said.
Xiao Xiaofan nodded and said: “Yes! Father, are you going to take another medicinal bath?”
Xiao Jingting nodded and said: “Yes! Do you want to bathe together?”
Xiao Xiaofan quickly shook his head, indicating it wasn’t necessary. Xiao Xiaofan had also bathed in the medicinal soup Xiao Jingting used – it was extremely painful. After bathing once, Xiao Xiaofan didn’t want to do it again.
Xiao Jingting had been cultivating the Heavenly Demon Body Tempering Art for some time now. This technique really wasn’t meant for humans to practice – it was extremely painful to cultivate, and practicing this technique required massive resources. Just preparing a medicinal soup required hundreds of types of spirit herbs. If Xiao Jingting didn’t have his jade pendant space, he wouldn’t dare think of practicing this technique.
Although it was painful, thinking about Spirit Transformation stage made Xiao Jingting’s heart flutter with excitement.
Xiao Jingting had copied the technique for the other kids. Except for Lei Xuan, who was interested in this technique, the others seemed rather uninterested. Chen Xu stated that cultivating the Heavenly Demon Body Tempering Art to great completion was even harder than reaching Spirit Transformation stage – this technique was rather useless.
“Father, I feel like someone is always watching us. When we go out hunting, I always feel someone observing from the side,” Xiao Xiaodong said.
“You’re all so outstanding, being watched is unavoidable,” Xiao Jingting said.
“Father, it seems like no one has secretly snuck in these past few days. No one has come to our door to get beaten up,” Xiao Xiaofan said with some regret.
Xiao Jingting nodded and said: “Yes!”
Ever since he killed that mid-Golden Core cultivator who snuck in last time, his mountaintop had become much quieter.
What was rather unfortunate was that the mid-Golden Core cultivator was even poorer than the previous Old Monster Chihuo. After obtaining that mid-Golden Core cultivator’s storage ring, Xiao Jingting felt he might have misunderstood Old Monster Chihuo. Old Monster Chihuo was already considered wealthy – there were countless Golden Core cultivators poorer than him.
To conceal the fact that his demon beasts were advancing to Golden Core, Xiao Jingting set up a huge illusion array. Unfortunately, the illusion array couldn’t completely hide the phenomena of his subordinates advancing to Golden Core, but it would alter the phenomena to some extent. As a result, a bunch of people thought treasures were being born on the mountaintop where he lived.
“Father, we sold all the demon beasts we hunted. Here are the Spirit Stones,” Xiao Xiaodong said.
Xiao Jingting waved his hand and said: “The Spirit Stones you earned yourselves, keep them for yourselves.”
Xiao Xiaodong nodded and said: “Alright.”
Xiao Jingting glanced at Xiao Xiaodong. The cultivation progress of all the kids was about the same – currently all in mid-Foundation Establishment stage. Xiao Jingting couldn’t help but feel a bit smug. Using the time cultivation room to gain nine years of advantage, he had finally pulled ahead of these kids somewhat. Otherwise, he should be at the same level as these little brats now.
“Big brother, big brother, I made several types of drinks and honey cakes. Do you want to eat them?” Xiao Xiaojin bounced over.
When Chen Xu heard Xiao Xiaojin’s words, his eyes immediately lit up. Xiao Xiaojin’s drinks were made with spirit spring water, and the honey cakes were made with Golden Bee honey. After eating them a few times, Chen Xu immediately became Xiao Xiaojin’s loyal fan.
“Yes, yes,” Chen Xu said eagerly.
“Then Brother Xu, come with me,” Xiao Xiaojin said warmly.
Chen Xu followed Xiao Xiaojin happily.
Xiao Xiaodong looked at Chen Xu and Xiao Xiaojin’s retreating figures and said gloomily: “Little brother and Chen Xu have such a good relationship.”
Xiao Jingting looked at Xiao Xiaodong’s expression, patted his shoulder, and said: “So you need to work harder!”
Xiao Xiaodong: “…”
Pineapple : So Xiaojin is not a ger …… ?? hahahaha
Actually I’m still waiting for the author to drop something like that, Xiaojin being clearly a male ! lol I’m editing chapter 200and while most things confirm he’s male, there are still little hints that could be read as “ger.”
But really, aside from Chen Xu and Xu Mu’an, there’s no explicit “ger” terminology for the other characters. The author completely forgot about the whole Gender trope
So I’m just gonna stop overthinking the gender stuff and enjoy the ride. At the end of the day, it doesn’t change much, it’s all about cultivation and golden fingers…
CULTIVATION LEVELS (Lowest to Highest)
- Qi Refinement
- Sub-levels: 1st layer, 2nd layer, 3rd layer, 4th layer, 5th layer, etc.
- The entry level for cultivation
- Foundation Establishment
Sub-levels:
- Early Foundation Establishment (築基初期)
- Middle Foundation Establishment (築基中期)
- Late Foundation Establishment (築基後期)
- Foundation Establishment Great Perfection (築基大圓滿)
- Where most cultivators in the story operate
- Golden Core (金丹期)
Sub-levels:
- Early Golden Core (金丹初期)
- Middle Golden Core (金丹中期)
- Late Golden Core (金丹後期)
- Considered “ancestors” by lower levels
- Nascent Soul (元嬰期)
Sub-levels:
- Early Nascent Soul (元嬰初期)
- Middle Nascent Soul (元嬰中期)
- Late Nascent Soul (元嬰後期)
- Spirit Transformation (化神期)
- Sub-levels: Not specified, but likely follows similar pattern
- Examples: Tianshen Sect has one, mentioned as incredibly rare
- Notes: So rare that having one makes a sect dominant
Rain here !
I really did my best with this story from the very beginning, trying to add as much detail as possible since the author leaves so many gaps. For people who care about details, it can get pretty frustrating. I’ve searched everywhere — forums, Weibo, etc. — and the conclusion is the same: everyone agrees there’s often a lot of missing info. Honestly, it’s starting to stress me out, so from now on the team and I will just focus on translating without digging too much. I don’t want to end up disliking this novel — I just want to enjoy reading it without pressure.
Lots of chapters are currently being edited, and the team couldn’t finish everything in time for the Summer Event, but that’s okay! As soon as I get the green light, I’ll drop a whole bunch of chapters for you guys! ୧(˃◡ु˂)୨
The next part looks super exciting!! New arc means new powers! ┌(⌤◡⌤)┘
Oh by the way, there won’t be any update next week — but there will be the week after! That’s why I added this bonus chapter to make it up to you guys, haha
Thanks so much for your hard work!