Chapter Summaries

Shen Jingchuan introduced Elder Yang to spirit tea, carefully brewing it in small amounts because he did not know how a mortal would react. After Shen Jingchuan and Meng Ke felt its effects, Elder Yang tried a diluted bowl and experienced warmth and renewed vigor.

• Shen Jingchuan and Meng Ke ate most of Elder Yang's breakfast, so Elder Yang had the orderly bring more food.
• Elder Yang took out the spirit tea, but Shen Jingchuan stopped him and brewed only a small piece of one leaf.
• Shen Jingchuan drank a bowl first and felt mellow Spiritual Qi circulate through his meridians.
• Meng Ke drank her bowl, felt the Qi Refining First Layer bottleneck loosen, and refined the Spiritual Qi in her Dantian.
• Shen Jingchuan diluted Elder Yang's tea and told him to sip it slowly.
• Elder Yang tasted the tea and felt warmth spread through his body as sweat beaded on his forehead and back.

Shen Jingchuan returned home with Meng Ke and visited her mother to formally ask for her hand in marriage. Mother Meng accepted his betrothal gifts and agreed to the marriage, then asked how they would arrange the wedding.

• Shen Jingchuan and Meng Ke left Elder Yang, and the guards were ordered to keep what they saw secret.
• Shen Jingchuan returned to the West Mountain Separate Courtyard, sent Little Black back into his space, and told Meng Ke they would visit her mother.
• Shen Jingchuan drove Meng Ke to her family home and formally asked Mother Meng for her hand in marriage.
• Shen Jingchuan gave Mother Meng a jade pendant and Spirit Stones in a brocade pouch, explaining that they could protect her from harm.
• Mother Meng accepted the betrothal gifts and agreed to the marriage, then asked Shen Jingchuan how he planned to arrange the wedding.
• Meng Ke blushed and protested when Mother Meng teased her about wanting to move in with Shen Jingchuan.

Shen Jingchuan and Meng Ke discussed a small lawn wedding at his West Mountain villa, and Meng Ke’s mother warmly welcomed him into the family. They chose February 18, but Meng Ke objected when she realized it would mean an outdoor wedding in winter.

• Shen Jingchuan proposed holding a small buffet wedding at his West Mountain villa, and Meng Ke’s mother offered to arrange and pay for it.
• Meng Ke’s mother told Shen Jingchuan she cared more about his treating Meng Ke well than about his wealth, and he called her Mom.
• Meng Ke asked whether her father should be invited, and Shen Jingchuan said they should invite him; he interpreted her mother’s reaction as leaving the choice to Meng Ke.
• Meng Ke agreed to let her mother handle the preparations and asked Shen Jingchuan not to miss the wedding.
• Shen Jingchuan suggested holding the wedding on February 18, and Meng Ke agreed before realizing it would be a lawn wedding in the middle of winter.

Shen Jingchuan gave Meng Ke cultivation resources and arranged for her to meet his family elders before their wedding. At dinner, he introduced her to his relatives, who welcomed her warmly and focused their attention on her.

• Shen Jingchuan gave Meng Ke a Second-Tier Spirit Gathering Formation, Spirit Stones, and High-Grade Qi Nourishing Pills, encouraging her to reach the Qi Refining Fourth Layer.
• Shen Jingchuan told Meng Ke he wanted her to meet his uncle and aunt, and she happily agreed.
• Shen Jingchuan called his uncle and aunt, announced that he was getting married, and invited them to dinner at the Hua Family Courtyard.
• Shen Jingchuan brought Meng Ke to the Hua Family Courtyard, where his uncle, aunt, younger aunt and her husband, and cousins arrived.
• Shen Jingchuan introduced Meng Ke as his girlfriend and said they planned to marry next Spring Festival, then introduced her to his relatives.
• Meng Ke greeted the family, and the relatives liked her manners and beauty as the conversation turned to her.

Shen Jingchuan reunited Meng Ke with his maternal relatives, who welcomed her and gave her jewelry. He gave the four elders Life-Extending Pills, and after his maternal uncle visibly rejuvenated, his younger maternal aunt took one and stared at her reflection in shock.

• Meng Ke warmed to Shen Jingchuan's family, and his maternal aunts gave her gold earrings and jade bangles.
• Shen Jingchuan's relatives shared a lively meal and urged him to treat Meng Ke well.
• Shen Jingchuan gave his maternal uncle, his uncle's wife, his younger maternal aunt, and her husband a Life-Extending Pill, explaining its effects and warning them to keep it secret.
• Shen Jingchuan's maternal uncle took the pill and emerged looking more than ten years younger.
• Shen Jingchuan's younger maternal aunt took her pill and covered her mouth after seeing her changed reflection on her phone.

Shen Jingchuan gave his four elders rejuvenating pills and warned them to keep their transformation secret. He revealed that cultivation was real and tested them for Spirit Roots, but none had any.

• Shen Jingchuan's aunt saw that the pill had made her look young again, and she teased her husband into swallowing his pill; the other aunt took hers too.
• Shen Jingchuan told the elders to conceal their changed appearances and contact Meng Ke if they were threatened.
• Shen Jingchuan revealed the cultivation world, demonstrated a flame at his fingertips, and offered to test the elders for Spirit Roots.
• All four elders tried the Spirit Testing Stone, but it stayed dull, and Shen Jingchuan comforted them about having no Spirit Roots.
• After the family chatted and his elders left, Shen Jingchuan took Meng Ke home and kissed her downstairs.

Shen Jingchuan moved rice from the modern world to Yuxi Prefecture and learned from Hu Tieniu that the imperial court was mobilizing troops for an attack. After filling ten official granaries with grain, he left Hu Tieniu better supplied as the coming conflict drew closer.

• Shen Jingchuan ordered Meng Ke to buy another thousand tons of rice, then transported the five hundred tons already in the warehouse to the other world.
• Back in his other-world residence, Shen Jingchuan reunited with Xiaoyue, learned that the others were cultivating or resting, and cultivated through the night.
• Shen Jingchuan traveled to Yuxi Prefecture and met Hu Tieniu, who reported that the troops were training well and their morale was high.
• Hu Tieniu told Shen Jingchuan that imperial forces were gathering in the capital and might attack soon, while the northern border remained quiet.
• Shen Jingchuan released his stored rice into ten of Yuxi Prefecture's official granaries, leaving Hu Tieniu relieved by the new supplies.

Shen Jingchuan approved Hu Tieniu’s plan to defend Yuxi Prefecture, wear down the government troops, and then march on the Capital. He collected gold and jade from Hu Tieniu’s treasury as payment for his supplies before flying back to Azure Cloud Stronghold, while Hu Tieniu wished he had a Spirit Root so he could cultivate too.

• Hu Tieniu described his plan to defend the city, weaken the government troops, and counterattack toward the Capital, and Shen Jingchuan agreed.
• Shen Jingchuan told Hu Tieniu to claim he had sold the supplies to him so their exchange would appear legitimate, then asked for a modest payment.
• Hu Tieniu revealed that Yuxi Prefecture’s tax silver and the Four Great Lineages’ seized property had filled the treasury, and insisted Shen Jingchuan take half the wealth.
• At the treasury, Shen Jingchuan took all the gold, along with jade ornaments and several crafted gold and silver items, but left the paintings, calligraphy, and other silver.
• Shen Jingchuan flew toward Azure Cloud Stronghold, and Hu Tieniu watched him go while wishing he had a Spirit Root.

As the imperial army threatened Azure Cloud Stronghold, Shen Jingchuan decided to reveal his ring’s space to his family while keeping his time-travel ability secret. He told them that Su Qingshu and Su Qinghua were inside and prepared to take everyone there.

• Shen Jingchuan returned to Azure Cloud Stronghold, where Ju'er and Qinghe greeted him and attended to him.
• Worried that cultivators might join the coming battle, Shen Jingchuan considered moving his family into the ring’s space for safety.
• Shen Jingchuan decided to reveal the space to his family but conceal his ability to travel through time and space.
• The family gathered for lunch, and Shen Jingchuan asked everyone to keep his revelation secret from outsiders.
• Shen Jingchuan told the family that Su Qingshu and Su Qinghua were in a space belonging to the Shen Household, then offered to take them inside.

Shen Jingchuan brought his family into the ring's space, where they met Xian'er and learned she had taught him his cultivation. He arranged temporary shelter for everyone and ordered houses to make the growing settlement more comfortable.

• Shen Jingchuan brought Lin Qingyao, Bai Ruoli, Ju'er, Yue'er, and Qinghe into the ring's space, where Qingshu and Qinghua greeted them and they found Big Black, Little Black, and Treading Snow.
• Shen Jingchuan introduced Xian'er, who welcomed everyone and offered to answer their cultivation questions.
• Shen Jingchuan told the group that Xian'er had taught him his cultivation and Cultivation Methods, shocking them.
• Shen Jingchuan collected fifty or sixty four-wheeled carriages from Factory Director Zhou and delivered a thousand tons of rice and flour to Hu Tieniu.
• Shen Jingchuan assigned each person a carriage to sleep in and ordered ten furnished houses from Factory Director Zhou, planning for everyone to move in when they arrived.

Shen Jingchuan explained to Meng Ke how the value of Spirit Stones and cultivation supplies dwarfed the gold and jade he had brought back. He reassured her that she should keep cultivating and sell the treasures to help him, leaving her willing to manage the sales.

• Shen Jingchuan gave Meng Ke the gold and jade he had acquired from Hu Tieniu and told her to sell them gradually.
• Meng Ke estimated the treasures were worth billions, but Shen Jingchuan told her one Spirit Stone was worth five million yuan.
• Meng Ke realized her daily cultivation consumed at least forty Spirit Stones, and Shen Jingchuan explained that his high-grade pills cost even more.
• Shen Jingchuan reassured Meng Ke that he had plenty of supplies and urged her to advance her cultivation.
• Shen Jingchuan explained that Spirit Stones had little cash value in their world and that selling the treasures would help him, so Meng Ke agreed to do it.

Shen Jingchuan sold valuables through Meng Ke and asked her to buy more rice, then flew toward the Capital and scattered grain among famine victims, directing them north to Yuxi Prefecture. He reached the Capital at evening and found a large imperial army encamped outside.

• Meng Ke agreed to sell Shen Jingchuan's valuables and buy another thousand tons of rice despite not knowing why he needed it.
• Shen Jingchuan spent half a month traveling between worlds, cultivating, and upgrading pills, talismans, and a Spirit Gathering Formation.
• Shen Jingchuan rode Little Black toward the Capital and dropped rice for refugees and villagers, ordering them to divide it fairly and directing them to Yuxi Prefecture.
• Thousands of famine victims turned north after hearing Shen Jingchuan's instructions from the sky.
• Shen Jingchuan arrived near the Capital at evening, saw three imperial army camps with more than two hundred thousand troops, and walked toward the city gate.

Shen Jingchuan visited Great Confucian Yan and Yan Shuyao in the Capital, where he revealed the suffering he had witnessed in the famine-stricken regions. He learned Yan Chongli had been dismissed and confined at home after trying to secure disaster relief and expose corrupt officials.

• Shen Jingchuan entered the Capital without a travel permit by revealing that he was an immortal master, then went to visit Great Confucian Yan.
• Great Confucian Yan welcomed Shen Jingchuan, and Yan Shuyao teased her junior brother for delaying his visit.
• Shen Jingchuan told Yan Chongli that he knew Hu Tieniu, the rebellion's leader, and explained that corrupt officials had driven him to rebel.
• Yan Shuyao discovered Shen Jingchuan had reached the Qi Refining Seventh Layer and warned him about the imperial clan's powerful ancestor.
• Shen Jingchuan described the famine, the people dying and selling their children, and how he had scattered rice to help them.
• Yan Shuyao revealed that Yan Chongli had been dismissed and confined at home after memorializing the court to open granaries and investigate officials who stole relief grain.

Shen Jingchuan gave Yan Chongli a rare pill that extended his life by fifty years, restoring his health and youthful appearance. Yan Shuyao thanked Shen Jingchuan and, after asking whether he would look down on her, asked him to help her cultivate.

• Shen Jingchuan presented Yan Chongli with a Life-Extending Pill that could add fifty years to his life.
• Yan Shuyao explained that she had asked the Third Princess to find a pill that added ten years, and Shen Jingchuan warned that taking it would prevent Yan Chongli from benefiting from his stronger pill.
• Yan Chongli accepted the pill and swallowed it, regaining his health and youthful appearance as grime seeped from his skin.
• Yan Shuyao thanked Shen Jingchuan for saving her father and asked if he would look down on her as his cultivation advanced.
• Yan Shuyao told Shen Jingchuan she feared falling behind him and asked him to help her cultivate.

Shen Jingchuan gave Yan Shuyao pills, Spirit Stones, and a Storage Ring to help her cultivation, while keeping the source of his wealth secret. Yan Chongli, troubled by his inability to repay Shen Jingchuan’s generosity, proposed betrothing his daughter to him.

• Shen Jingchuan decided against sharing the Five Phases Spirit Guiding Instruction with Yan Shuyao but gave her ten High-Grade Qi Gathering Pills, over a hundred Spirit Stones, and a Storage Ring.
• Yan Shuyao refined the ring, stored her gifts inside, and accepted Shen Jingchuan’s refusal to reveal how he had obtained them.
• Shen Jingchuan asked Yan Shuyao to thank him by preparing a meal, and Yan Chongli entered the hall looking healthy after recovering.
• Yan Shuyao told Yan Chongli about the gifts, and Shen Jingchuan defended her by explaining that he had insisted she take them.
• Yan Chongli, unable to think of a way to repay Shen Jingchuan, declared that he would betroth his daughter to him.

Yan Chongli asked Yan Shuyao whether she would marry Shen Jingchuan, and she left the decision to her father, effectively accepting. Shen Jingchuan revealed he already had two wives, but Yan Chongli approved of the match, leaving Shen Jingchuan pleased and rationalizing his willingness to take another wife.

• Yan Chongli proposed that Shen Jingchuan marry Yan Shuyao, and Shen Jingchuan hesitated because he wanted to know whether she agreed.
• Yan Chongli asked Yan Shuyao directly, and she said she would do as her father wished before running from the hall.
• Yan Chongli reflected that he approved of Shen Jingchuan and had arranged the proposal to bring the pair's mutual feelings into the open.
• Shen Jingchuan realized Yan Shuyao had accepted, then told Yan Chongli that he already had two wives.
• Yan Chongli assured Shen Jingchuan that Yan Shuyao would not be a concubine and said she knew what life in Yuxi Prefecture was like.
• Shen Jingchuan welcomed the prospect of marrying Yan Shuyao and justified breaking his earlier resolve not to take another wife.

Shen Jingchuan agreed to marry Yan Chongli’s daughter, and Yan Chongli summoned his son Yan Wenbin to help arrange the match. Yan Wenbin welcomed his future brother-in-law, but as the family discussed poetry over dinner, Shen Jingchuan worried that he knew little about composing it.

• Yan Chongli teased Shen Jingchuan about finding his daughter beautiful, then urged him to arrange a formal proposal soon.
• Yan Chongli summoned Yan Wenbin, who warmly greeted Shen Jingchuan and praised his reputation as a gifted romantic scholar.
• Yan Wenbin noticed Yan Chongli’s youthful appearance, and Yan Chongli explained that Shen Jingchuan had given him medicine that made him younger.
• Yan Chongli told Yan Wenbin that he had promised his daughter to Shen Jingchuan, leaving Yan Wenbin uneasy but resigned to the match.
• Yan Chongli and Yan Wenbin discussed poetry during the banquet, making Shen Jingchuan fear that his copied poems would not withstand scrutiny.

Shen Jingchuan impressed Yan Chongli and Yan Wenbin by composing a poem about wine, a small stove, and falling snow at the feast. After Yan Shuyao learned that Shen Jingchuan had written it, he left the Yan residence to stay at an inn for the night.

• Yan Wenbin asked Shen Jingchuan to compose a poem, and Shen Jingchuan recited one inspired by the wine, stove, and snow.
• Yan Chongli and Yan Wenbin praised Shen Jingchuan's poem for its vivid imagery and plain, moving words.
• A serving maid hurried to Yan Shuyao and had her write down the poem; Yan Shuyao admired it and learned that Shen Jingchuan had composed it.
• Yan Shuyao blushed when the maid teased her about Shen Jingchuan, then chased the maid around the room.
• Shen Jingchuan declined to stay at the Yan residence after the marriage was discussed and left to find an inn for the night.

Shen Jingchuan reunited with Xu Mo and Zhou Tong at the Xu residence, where he learned that powerful royals had seized Zhou Tong’s family business and imprisoned his father. Xu Mo warned that his own family might soon be in danger, and Shen Jingchuan went with him to meet his father.

• Shen Jingchuan found the Xu residence and Xu Mo welcomed him inside, where Zhou Tong was waiting.
• Xu Mo told Shen Jingchuan that an army was gathering near Yuxi Prefecture and might march on the city soon.
• Zhou Tong explained that Prince Jing’s Heir and the third prince had targeted his family’s carriage business, leading to his father’s arrest and forcing Zhou Tong to hide at the Xu residence.
• Shen Jingchuan condemned the court’s treatment of the people, while Xu Mo explained that his father and other upright officials were preparing a memorial urging relief for disaster victims.
• Xu Mo urged Shen Jingchuan to take Zhou Tong somewhere safe, then a servant summoned Xu Mo and Shen Jingchuan to meet Xu Mo’s father in the front hall.

Shen Jingchuan warned Xu Jingting against seeking an imperial decree to negotiate with the Yuxi rebels, then offered him a Life-Extending Pill as a gift. Xu Jingting accepted it, but Shen Jingchuan urged him to take it immediately.

• Xu Jingting asked Shen Jingchuan about the drought and rebellion in Yuxi Prefecture, and Shen described the suffering and the rebels' relief efforts.
• Xu Jingting revealed that he planned to submit a joint memorial and seek an imperial decree so he could personally offer the rebels amnesty.
• Shen Jingchuan warned that the rebels might defeat the underprepared government troops and urged Xu Jingting to wait before going to Yuxi Prefecture.
• Thinking of a way to keep Xu Jingting from risking his life, Shen Jingchuan offered him a Life-Extending Pill as a greeting gift.
• Xu Jingting accepted the pill after Shen Jingchuan explained it was a personal gift, but Shen insisted that he take it at once.