Chapter Summaries

Shen Jingchuan ordered a prototype horse carriage in the modern world, then returned to the otherworld to sell larger glass mirrors and buy wild ginseng. He left the medicine shop with two roots and continued building up goods across the two worlds.

• Shen Jingchuan bought seasonings, apples, and snacks in the modern world, then put them into his storage space.
• Shen Jingchuan approved Factory Director Zhou's 288,000-tael carriage prototype and paid a 100,000 deposit.
• Shen Jingchuan returned to the otherworld, ate a meal served by Yue'er, Qingshu, and Qinghua, then went to the general store.
• Shen Jingchuan sold the shopkeeper five larger glass mirrors for eight hundred taels in silver notes.
• Shen Jingchuan bought two wild ginseng roots, said to be over 160 years old, for two hundred taels.

Shen Jingchuan invited Lin Weiyuan and his sons to a housewarming meal, then shared apples with the stable horses and his maids. He left the horses protesting as he gave them the names Big Black and Little Black, while the remaining mare awaited her turn.

• Shen Jingchuan arranged to host Lin Weiyuan, Lin Shan, and Lin Yue for dinner three days later.
• Shen Jingchuan brought apples to the stable, where the horses and three maids eagerly ate them.
• Shen Jingchuan offered Liu Hu an apple and shared the last one between the two mares after the stallion refused it.
• Shen Jingchuan named the protesting stallion Big Black and the all-black mare Little Black.
• The mare with four white hooves watched anxiously as Shen Jingchuan prepared to name her next.

Shen Jingchuan named his third horse Treading Snow, settled into a routine between the two worlds, and prepared weapons and food for his meeting with the Lin father and son. The chapter ended with him bringing unfamiliar seasonings to the kitchen and preparing Madam Liu and Cui'er for the evening guests.

• Shen Jingchuan named the white-hooved horse Treading Snow and appeased Big Black, Little Black, and Treading Snow with milk candy.
• Shen Jingchuan traveled between the two worlds over several days, buying supplies in the modern world and bringing them to the other world.
• Shen Jingchuan summoned ten newly forged sabers and swords, asked Liu Hu to sharpen them, and let him keep one for self-defense.
• Shen Jingchuan bought hotpot ingredients and seasonings, then returned to the other world to prepare food for the Lin father and son.
• Shen Jingchuan brought bottles and jars of unfamiliar seasonings to Madam Liu and Cui'er and offered to show them how to use them.

Shen Jingchuan taught Madam Liu and the maids to cook with modern seasonings, then invited Lin Weiyuan’s family to the Shen Residence. Lin Qingyao and Ju'er joined the group, who gathered in the second courtyard.

• Shen Jingchuan taught Madam Liu and Cui'er to make tomato-braised beef brisket and stir-fried mutton, then explained how to prepare hot pot.
• Yue'er, Qingshu, and Qinghua joined Shen Jingchuan for a meal and eagerly ate the dishes he had taught the household to make.
• Shen Jingchuan visited the Zhenyuan Escort Agency and invited Lin Weiyuan, Lin Shan, and Lin Yue to the Shen Residence.
• Lin Weiyuan agreed to let Lin Qingyao come along, and Shen Jingchuan also welcomed Ju'er.
• Shen Jingchuan led the guests into the second courtyard after they were greeted at the residence.

Lin Qingyao and the Lin family learned that Shen Jingchuan’s three Whirlwind Horses had all acknowledged him, leaving them astonished and envious. Shen Jingchuan realized his casual answer sounded like a humblebrag and changed the subject by inviting them to see the gifts he had prepared.

• Yue'er led Lin Qingyao to the stables, where Lin Qingyao recognized Shen Jingchuan’s three horses as Whirlwind Horses.
• Liu Hu told Lin Qingyao that the horses were affectionate with Shen Jingchuan, and she realized all three had acknowledged him as their master.
• Lin Qingyao told Shen Jingchuan about the horses, prompting Lin Yue, Lin Shan, and Lin Weiyuan to ask to see them.
• Big Black, Little Black, and Treading Snow crowded around Shen Jingchuan while the Lin family watched in amazement.
• Lin Weiyuan explained how rare it was for even one Whirlwind Horse to acknowledge a master, and Shen Jingchuan felt embarrassed by his apparent boast.
• Shen Jingchuan invited the Lin family back to the main hall to see the gifts he had prepared.

Shen Jingchuan gave Lin Weiyuan, Lin Shan, and Lin Yue fine sabers and Lin Qingyao a short sword, then secured Lin Weiyuan’s agreement to teach him basic martial arts. The group accepted the gifts and shared a hot pot meal with Shen Jingchuan’s potent liquor.

• Shen Jingchuan presented Lin Qingyao with a short sword and offered three sabers to Lin Weiyuan and his sons.
• Lin Weiyuan, Lin Shan, Lin Yue, and Lin Qingyao admired the exceptional weapons, then hesitated to accept the costly gifts.
• Shen Jingchuan asked Lin Weiyuan to teach him martial arts, and Lin Weiyuan agreed to teach him basic techniques while withholding the Lin Household’s secret arts.
• Lin Weiyuan and his sons accepted the weapons as gifts for teaching Shen Jingchuan, and Lin Qingyao kept her short sword.
• Shen Jingchuan served the group hot pot and strong liquor, which they enjoyed as they ate and chatted.

Shen Jingchuan learned how Lin Weiyuan’s escort was attacked by mysterious killers targeting a scholar, and accepted the carriage Lin had bought afterward. The next morning, Shen brought new saddles to the stable, where they fit his three horses perfectly, and he prepared to try mounting Big Black.

• Lin Weiyuan told Shen Jingchuan that more than twenty men in black attacked his escort and focused on a scholar traveling with them.
• Lin Weiyuan explained that the attackers killed the scholar and his coachman, while Qingyao escaped after Shen Jingchuan rescued her; he offered Shen the carriage he had bought from the county head constable.
• Shen Jingchuan accepted Lin Weiyuan’s carriage and returned to the modern world for the night.
• Shen Jingchuan collected six saddles delivered to his home and brought them to the other world.
• Shen Jingchuan and Liu Hu fitted riding saddles to Big Black, Little Black, and Treading Snow, then checked the three pack saddles.
• Shen Jingchuan put the riding saddle on Big Black and got ready to mount him with a backward jump.

Shen Jingchuan mounted and rode Big Black, then received a carriage and horse from the escort agency. After Big Black fought the new chestnut horse and overturned the carriage, Shen Jingchuan inspected the damage and discovered a wooden box beneath the broken driver’s seat.

• Shen Jingchuan vaulted onto Big Black and rode him around the courtyard before affectionately petting him and the other horses.
• An escort delivered a black-lacquered carriage and a chestnut horse on behalf of Chief Escort Lin, and Shen Jingchuan thanked him.
• After lunch, Shen Jingchuan heard a crash and found Big Black standing over the injured chestnut horse beside the overturned carriage.
• Liu Hu explained that Big Black had started a fight by stealing the chestnut horse’s feed, and the horse had grazed his leg during the scuffle.
• Shen Jingchuan sent the chestnut horse to a separate stall and examined the damaged carriage, finding a black-lacquered wooden box beneath the broken driver’s seat.

Shen Jingchuan opened the hidden wooden box and found six unfamiliar milky-white crystals and an old breathing manual. He decided the manual seemed harmless and worth learning for its health benefits.

• Shen Jingchuan told Liu Hu to have the chestnut horse treated, keep it apart from Big Black, and arrange for a carpenter to repair the carriage.
• Shen Jingchuan fed Big Black, Little Black, and Treading Snow milk candy and returned to his bedroom to inspect the wooden box.
• Shen Jingchuan found a concealed button on the box and pressed it, causing the lid to unlock safely.
• Shen Jingchuan unwrapped six cold, semitransparent milky-white stones and found a thread-bound booklet beneath them.
• Shen Jingchuan read the booklet's title, "Everlasting Spring Breathing Instruction," and judged its breathing exercises worth learning.

After Shen Jingchuan hid the crystals and booklet from the scholar’s carriage in his ring, the ring absorbed the crystals’ Spiritual Qi and awakened its artifact spirit, Xian'er. Xian'er introduced herself and appeared as an illusory woman in Shen Jingchuan’s mind.

• Shen Jingchuan decided not to tell Lin Weiyuan about the box because he feared being drawn into the conflict behind the scholar’s murder.
• Shen Jingchuan stored the crystals and booklet in his ring, which began glowing in nine colors.
• Xian'er spoke to Shen Jingchuan and explained that she was the ring’s artifact spirit, awakened after the ring absorbed the Spirit Stones’ Spiritual Qi.
• Shen Jingchuan found that the six crystals had turned into grayish-white powder inside the box.
• Xian'er formed an illusory image of a woman in Shen Jingchuan’s mind.

Shen Jingchuan learned that the ring could refine ordinary items and that storing Spirit Stones could restore Xian'er and strengthen its abilities. After its refinement improved his food, he returned to the modern world, received the full payment for his jadeite, and went to meet Meng Ke.

• Xian'er explained that the ring could refine items, and that Spirit Stones would nourish her and help restore the ring's abilities.
• Shen Jingchuan let Xian'er rest, then fell asleep after their conversation left him dizzy and tired.
• Back in the modern world, Shen Jingchuan ate ingredients from the ring and felt their refined quality ease his fatigue.
• Shen Jingchuan saw that Meng Ke had transferred the full twenty-five million and read her estimate that the jadeite could sell for five or six hundred million.
• Shen Jingchuan researched jade appraisal and medicinal herbs through the night, then went to Meng Ke's jade shop the next morning.

Shen Jingchuan gave Meng Ke a century-old wild mountain ginseng root, leaving her to decide whether to sell it to Professor Wen in exchange for his valuable favor. Meng Ke and Shen Jingchuan drove to Professor Wen’s residence, where the guards let them through.

• Meng Ke told Shen Jingchuan that Professor Wen was seeking century-old wild mountain ginseng, and Shen Jingchuan revealed he had one.
• Shen Jingchuan gave Meng Ke the ginseng and told her she could sell it, keep it, or use it as she wished.
• Meng Ke sent Professor Wen photos of the ginseng, and he called to say he was almost certain it was the kind he wanted and asked her to bring it to him.
• Meng Ke agreed to take the ginseng to Professor Wen, and Shen Jingchuan went with her.
• Meng Ke drove Shen Jingchuan to Professor Wen’s residence at West Mountain, where guards recognized their appointment and let them enter.

Meng Ke and Shen Jingchuan brought his rare wild ginseng to Professor Wen, who bought it at the regular market price and promised them medical help in the future. After spending the afternoon together, Meng Ke revealed that she was an illegitimate daughter of a wealthy, influential family.

• Meng Ke introduced Shen Jingchuan to Professor Wen, who examined the ginseng and confirmed it was at least 150 years old.
• Shen Jingchuan let Meng Ke decide the terms, and Professor Wen offered twice the highest market price and promised them his medical assistance.
• Meng Ke declined the extra payment, and Professor Wen insisted they stay for lunch before seeing them off.
• Meng Ke and Shen Jingchuan shopped, watched a movie, and went to dinner at her favorite private kitchen.
• While discussing their university days and her wealthy family, Meng Ke told Shen Jingchuan she was an illegitimate daughter.

Meng Ke told Shen Jingchuan about her parents’ history and admitted that she feared being lied to, and he promised to cherish her. She lent him a car, taught him to drive, and they shared a kiss before he drove home.

• Meng Ke explained that her father had concealed his existing family from her mother, who raised her alone, and said her mother had never forgiven him.
• Meng Ke told Shen Jingchuan she feared being deceived or disappointed, and he promised to stay by her side and cherish her.
• Meng Ke offered Shen Jingchuan her BMW because he lacked a license plate quota, saying she would drive her mother’s car instead.
• Meng Ke taught Shen Jingchuan the car’s controls and let him practice driving before he drove them to her apartment complex.
• Shen Jingchuan kissed Meng Ke outside her building, and she hurried inside, blushing, while he drove home slowly.

Shen Jingchuan brought new clothes and glass mirrors for Xiao Yue'er, Su Qingshu, and Su Qingyue, then began learning martial arts from Lin Weiyuan. After practicing a breathing method from an old booklet, he felt warmth spread through his body and his training fatigue fade.

• Shen Jingchuan promised Xiao Yue'er more candy, then surprised her, Su Qingshu, and Su Qingyue with new clothes and glass mirrors.
• Shen Jingchuan scolded Big Black for injuring the new bay horse, named the horse Little Red, and made Big Black promise not to bully him again.
• Shen Jingchuan visited the Lin Escort Agency, where Lin Weiyuan taught him the Three-Body Posture and three basic saber moves.
• Shen Jingchuan studied the Everlasting Spring Breathing Instruction and practiced its breathing and Qi-circulation method for the afternoon.
• Shen Jingchuan finished practicing with warmth spreading through his body, and his soreness and fatigue eased.

Over the week, Shen Jingchuan and Meng Ke grew closer while he continued practicing in the other world. At lunch with Professor Wen, Shen learned that the ginseng he had supplied dramatically improved the old chief’s health, and Professor Wen asked him to find more, offering tens of millions for a root.

• Shen Jingchuan practiced his saber and breathing instruction in the other world while his relationship with Meng Ke advanced in the modern world.
• Meng Ke told Shen Jingchuan that Professor Wen had invited them to lunch, and they accepted the invitation.
• Professor Wen asked Shen Jingchuan whether he could find more of the unusual ginseng he had supplied before.
• Professor Wen explained that the ginseng had helped the old chief recover and had made his internal organs function as if they were four or five years younger.
• Shen Jingchuan suspected the ancestral ring’s Spiritual Qi had enhanced the ginseng, but he concealed his knowledge and said he had found it by chance.
• Professor Wen offered ten million or tens of millions for another root, leaving Meng Ke stunned by the offer and newly aware of Shen Jingchuan’s hidden depths.

Shen Jingchuan agreed to seek more rare ginseng for Professor Wen, who needed it for Elder Yang, and later obtained two roots nearly two hundred years old. He arranged to bring them to the sanatorium with Meng Ke.

• Shen Jingchuan told Professor Wen that finding more ginseng depended on a fortuitous opportunity, and Professor Wen asked him to try for the sake of a high-status patient.
• Professor Wen reported to Elder Yang that Shen Jingchuan would contact his connections, and Elder Yang warned him not to pressure the young man.
• Meng Ke told Shen Jingchuan not to risk himself or reveal secrets he wanted to keep, and he reassured her that he would not do anything illegal.
• Shen Jingchuan went to the other world, sold mirrors, and stored five old mountain ginseng roots in his ring's space.
• Three days later, Shen Jingchuan called Professor Wen and said he had obtained two nearly two-hundred-year-old roots, then offered to bring them over with Meng Ke.

Shen Jingchuan brought Meng Ke two exceptional old mountain ginseng roots, sold them to Professor Wen for fifty million yuan, and strengthened their connection. Professor Wen later told Elder Yang that the ginseng could further restore his health, and Elder Yang persuaded Professor Wen to take some as well.

• Shen Jingchuan picked up Meng Ke and took her to the nameless courtyard to meet Professor Wen.
• Shen Jingchuan presented Professor Wen with two ginseng roots, which Professor Wen estimated were at least 180 years old and agreed to buy for fifty million yuan, including the difference owed for the previous root.
• Professor Wen transferred the money to Meng Ke, and Shen Jingchuan and Meng Ke left after lunch.
• Professor Wen told Elder Yang that the ginseng had helped restore his health and that another course could improve his physical condition further.
• Elder Yang offered Professor Wen some of the ginseng, and Professor Wen agreed to take it and record its effects.

Shen Jingchuan accompanied Meng Ke to her jewelry store, where her persistent suitor Huang Zeyu confronted them and Shen Jingchuan knocked him down with a single slap. After Meng Ke explained Huang Zeyu’s background and past harassment, Huang called for help and began plotting against them, unaware he was heading toward his death.

• Shen Jingchuan and Meng Ke met Huang Zeyu outside her jewelry store, and Meng Ke introduced Shen Jingchuan as her fiancé.
• Huang Zeyu tried to give Meng Ke a Cartier gift and block their way, so Shen Jingchuan slapped him down and broke several of his teeth.
• Meng Ke explained that Huang Zeyu had harassed her for years and warned Shen Jingchuan that Huang’s wealthy family had connections and indulged him.
• Shen Jingchuan reassured Meng Ke that he would handle any trouble, while privately reflecting that he would kill anyone who crossed his limits.
• Huang Zeyu drove away furious and made two phone calls to begin plotting against Shen Jingchuan and Meng Ke.

Shen Jingchuan focused on building wealth and connections so he could find Spirit Stones, while continuing to travel between worlds and care for Xian'er. After Professor Wen invited him to dinner, Shen learned that the ginseng he had supplied had restored the old superior’s health, and he considered providing more roots to help the man’s ailing comrades.

• Meng Ke told Shen Jingchuan that the polished jade bangles and other pieces were top-grade glass-type jade and could sell for at least four hundred million.
• Shen Jingchuan decided he needed to build wealth, connections, and a reputation in the other world to improve his chances of finding Spirit Stones.
• Professor Wen invited Shen Jingchuan and Meng Ke to dinner at his home to discuss an important matter.
• Shen Jingchuan and Meng Ke noticed that Professor Wen looked considerably younger when they arrived at his compound.
• Professor Wen explained that Shen’s ginseng had restored his old superior’s health to that of a sixty-year-old and that two ailing comrades might also benefit.
• Shen Jingchuan weighed the risks and decided that supplying a few more ginseng roots could earn money and build useful connections.