Recaps

After Li Qingxi left, Wang Chen met Luo Zhen, a West Sea Sect cultivator, and paid for a recommendation that gave him a chance to take the sect’s entrance examination. He received temporary permission to travel through the West Sea Spirit Domain and prepared to pursue a place in the sect.

• Wang Chen and Li Qingxi reached the West Sea Spirit Domain and spent three peaceful months living and cultivating together near the Jade Dragon Mountain Range.
• Li Qingxi left Wang Chen a farewell letter and departed, so Wang Chen packed their belongings and burned their dwelling.
• Luo Zhen arrived and asked Wang Chen about his origins, cultivation level, and West Spirit Travel Permit.
• Wang Chen told Luo Zhen he wanted to join the West Sea Sect, and Luo Zhen explained that outsiders needed a recommendation to enter its assessments.
• Wang Chen gave Luo Zhen thirty thousand Spirit Stones for a recommendation scroll and another five thousand for a temporary identity Jade Tablet, then accepted the chance to take the entrance examination.

Wang Chen arrived at Datian Village to serve as its village chief for three years as part of an examination for entry into the West Sea Sect. He settled into the village chief’s residence, but sensed the villagers’ polite welcome concealed their reluctance to have him there.

• Wang Chen stopped a farmhand who challenged him and presented the scroll naming him Datian Village’s new village chief.
• Wang Chen gave three children Spirit Peaches and learned that the former village chief had disappeared two years earlier, leaving the elders to manage the village.
• Chen Anhe greeted Wang Chen, and Wang Chen revealed his Purple Mansion initial-stage cultivation and asked the villagers to help him pass his examination.
• Wang Chen moved into the village chief’s residence and noticed that Datian Village seemed to function smoothly without him and that Chen Anhe’s group subtly rejected his arrival.
• Chen Anhe gave Wang Chen the Village Chief’s Seal, which controlled a defensive formation protecting the residence and ancestral hall, and offered his great-granddaughter Xiao He to serve him.

Wang Chen struggled to gain the villagers’ acceptance as Datian Village’s new chief, then received an invitation from clan head Huang Deqi. He gave Xiao He two Foundation Establishment Pills and prepared to attend Huang Deqi’s banquet that evening.

• Wang Chen studied the Datian Gazette as he tried to learn more about Datian Village and understand why its villagers kept him at a distance.
• Huang Deqi sent Wang Chen an invitation to a banquet, and Wang Chen agreed to visit his home that evening despite suspecting a hidden motive.
• Wang Chen learned that Xiao He had been stuck at Mortal Transformation for two years and had never taken a Foundation Establishment Pill.
• Wang Chen gave Xiao He two Foundation Establishment Pills, and she gratefully pledged her loyalty to him.
• Wang Chen decided to take Xiao He to the county town for new clothes before attending Huang Deqi’s banquet.

Wang Chen took Xiao He to Wancheng City, promised her his Willow Leaf Flying Boat, and bought her fine clothes and personal items. Back in Datian Village, he visited the Huang Family and entered their residence while remaining wary of Huang Deqi’s confidence and possible backing.

• Wang Chen arrived in Wancheng City with Xiao He and promised to give her the Willow Leaf Flying Boat once she reached the middle Qi Condensation stage.
• Wang Chen observed Wancheng City’s prosperity and the low regard its residents showed for Purple Mansion cultivators.
• Wang Chen bought Xiao He three outfits and other personal items, including a Storage Talisman.
• Wang Chen and Xiao He returned to Datian Village and went to visit the Huang Family.
• Huang Deqi greeted Wang Chen at the gates, and Wang Chen entered the residence while concealing his suspicions.

After Huang Deqi, Chen Anhe, and an old woman plotted against him, Wang Chen investigated the West Sea Spirit Domain and suspected Datian Village concealed a scheme. He chose to hold his position, then took Xiao He to inspect the neglected fields assigned to the village chief.

• Huang Deqi, Chen Anhe, and the old woman discussed whether to share their plans with Wang Chen and decided they could kill him if he interfered.
• Huang Deqi revealed a spirit talisman from his granduncle ancestor, a Golden Core True Person, and claimed its power could match a high-level Purple Mansion's full-force strike.
• Wang Chen read the Records of the West Sea Domain, learned how the West Sea Sect governed its territory, and wondered whether Luo Zhen had deliberately sent him to Datian Village.
• Wang Chen burned the books and decided to avoid trouble unless it came looking for him.
• Wang Chen and Xiao He went to receive the village chief's one hundred mu of neglected residence fields, and Wang Chen refused Chen Anhe's offer to gather villagers to reclaim them.

Wang Chen took over the abandoned Chief's Fields and used his spells to clear and prepare the land before ordering Shattered Silver wheat planted. He began visiting the fields daily to hasten the crop's growth, leaving the villagers and local leaders puzzled and somewhat less wary of him.

• Chen Anhe introduced Old Yuan Tou, whose name was Yuan Fang, as the former caretaker of the Chief's Fields.
• Wang Chen inspected the overgrown fields, then burned away the weeds across all hundred mu with his Fire Crow spell.
• Wang Chen cast the Cloud Rain Art to soak the cleared fields and gave Old Yuan Tou a Storage Bag of Shattered Silver wheat seeds to plant.
• Old Yuan Tou warned Wang Chen that the planting season had passed, but Wang Chen told him to proceed and cover the expenses.
• Wang Chen cast the Cloud and Rain Spell over the newly sown fields every day, while rumors about his farming spread through Datian Village and Huang Deqi and Chen Anhe lowered their guard somewhat.

Wang Chen tended his Spirit Fields in Datian Village, using farming to cultivate and showcasing his skill at finding and eliminating pests. As the villagers grew accustomed to him, people who had been watching him decided to find him something to do.

• Wang Chen used the Spring Rain Fertilization Technique on his Spirit Fields, then ate lunch prepared by Xiao He.
• Wang Chen scanned the wheat with his Divine Sense and found twenty-three disguised Leaf-Eating Insects.
• Wang Chen used Gengjin Finger to kill the insects in his fields within ten breaths.
• Wang Chen returned to the Village Chief's residence, greeting villagers who had grown more comfortable with him and increasingly recognized his down-to-earth manner.
• Some people watching Wang Chen decided to find something for him to do.

Wang Chen arbitrated a dispute between Old Chen’s sons, using a simple method to divide their inheritance. Afterward, he realized the dispute had been used to test him, while Huang Deqi and Chen Anhe discussed replacing him as village chief.

• Xiao He told Wang Chen that Chen Anhe had summoned him to the Three-Surname Ancestral Hall over Old Chen’s family dispute.
• Chen Anhe explained that Old Chen’s sons could not agree on how to divide their father’s estate, and Wang Chen ordered the elder brother to split it into two portions for the younger brother to choose from.
• Chen Anhe backed Wang Chen’s decision, and Wang Chen left, suspecting the inheritance dispute had been a deliberate probe of his authority.
• After the villagers dispersed, Chen Anhe asked Huang Deqi why they were targeting Wang Chen, and Huang Deqi said they might need to replace the village chief again.
• Huang Deqi dismissed Chen Anhe’s concerns and said he would arrange the matter himself.

Huang Deqi learned that Wang Chen had been recommended by the feared Luo Zhen and postponed his plan to replace the village chief, instead arranging to burden Wang Chen with village affairs. The next day, villagers brought Wang Chen a rush of reports about a missing cow, Burrowing Rats in the fields, and bandits who had abducted two people.

• Huang Deqi received word that Luo Zhen had recommended Wang Chen for the post of Datian Village chief, alarming Chen Anhe.
• Huang Deqi told Chen Anhe to postpone replacing Wang Chen and arrange village matters for him to handle.
• Huang Deqi urged Temple Priestess Xu to speed up their plan, but she warned that haste could expose them.
• Wang Chen returned to the Village Chief's residence, where Xiao He asked whether his earlier matter had been resolved.
• An old villager reported a missing cow, farmers reported Burrowing Rats in their Spirit Fields, and villagers reported a bandit attack that left two people abducted.

Wang Chen investigated the abduction of two Datian Village residents by masked bandits and used a Tracking Talisman to reveal their trail. He pursued the clues into the forest, leaving the bandits’ whereabouts unresolved.

• Wang Chen silenced the villagers, healed the injured survivor, and heard how gray-clad, masked bandits had abducted two people.
• Wang Chen questioned the villagers about the bandits and learned that kidnappings had happened in the area before.
• Wang Chen took the survivor to the attack site, then sent him back while setting off to pursue the bandits.
• Wang Chen searched the forest, found faint footprints with his Divine Sense, and used a Tracking Talisman to make the trail visible.

Wang Chen tracked the abductors to a ravine and confronted a group of armed bandits. He slaughtered most of them, shattered a hidden cultivator’s Flying Sword with his bare fist, and left the middle-aged female cultivator under attack from a Fire Crow.

• Wang Chen followed the abductors’ tracks into the forest, where gray-clad bandits surrounded him with rune-engraved crossbows.
• The bandit leader admitted nothing about the villagers, but Wang Chen recognized that the group was stalling and attacked with Thunder Sound Sword Qi.
• The leader escaped the sword strike using a spirit talisman, while the other bandits fired crossbow bolts and tried to form a battle formation.
• Wang Chen dodged the bolts and used the Wind Thunder Sword to kill bandits before they could organize.
• Wang Chen sensed a hidden attack, punched the middle-aged female cultivator’s Flying Sword apart, and watched as a Fire Crow swooped toward her.

Wang Chen pursued the bandit leader to a hidden den and broke into its cave, where a Spirit Sealing Array trapped him. Surrounded by armed bandits and attacked with crossbow bolts and blades, he faced a dangerous fight with his Mana suppressed.

• Wang Chen killed the middle-aged female cultivator who ambushed him, and the bandits fled in different directions.
• Wang Chen pursued the bandit leader through the forest while concealing his presence and tracking him with Divine Sense.
• Wang Chen used the Cave Truth Technique to reveal an Illusion Array concealing the den's entrance, then broke through the stone doorway and entered.
• Wang Chen advanced into the karst cave and triggered a Spirit Sealing Array that restricted his Mana and cut off nearby spiritual energy.
• The bandit leader revealed himself with armed followers and ordered them to attack Wang Chen with crossbow bolts as three innate experts closed in.

Wang Chen survived the bandits’ Spirit Sealing Array and ambush by revealing his powerful Body Cultivation, then slaughtered the attackers with his Sword Pellet. He found an underground prison full of captured villagers and was recognized by Xu Lao Si.

• Wang Chen’s bronze body shattered the crossbow bolts and broke the weapons of the three Innate Martial Artists, killing them in succession.
• Wang Chen destroyed the stalactite pillars sustaining the Spirit Sealing Array, restoring the flow of spiritual energy.
• Wang Chen pursued and killed the bandit leader, then used his Sword Pellet to cut down dozens of fleeing bandits.
• Wang Chen searched the hideout and discovered an underground prison holding twenty to thirty villagers and farmers.
• Xu Lao Si recognized Wang Chen and called on him to rescue the prisoners.

Wang Chen interrogated a captured bandit and learned that the gang had been abducting villagers to work in a Purple Copper Mine. He promised to spare the bandit if he led him to the mine, and Chen Hu agreed.

• Wang Chen freed the imprisoned villagers and learned that they had been captured in the mountains within the past two days.
• Wang Chen brought the unconscious bandit Chen Hu before him and questioned him about the villagers’ intended destination.
• After Chen Hu refused to answer, Wang Chen used Marrow Extraction Soul Piercing Finger to break his resistance.
• Chen Hu revealed that the bandits planned to send the villagers to a Purple Copper Mine.
• Wang Chen promised to spare Chen Hu if he led him to the mine, and Chen Hu agreed to guide him there.

Wang Chen led Xu Lao Si and four villagers to the Gray Wolf Bandits’ Purple Copper Mine after learning about its defenses from Chen Hu. He destroyed the bandits’ stronghold and killed their fleeing Great Leader, leaving the surviving villagers waiting for his command.

• Wang Chen offered the rescued villagers the choice of returning home or following him to the mine, and Xu Lao Si and four others chose to join him.
• Chen Hu led Wang Chen’s group through a secret passage and revealed the mine’s defenses and the Great Leader’s abilities.
• After Wang Chen let Chen Hu go, Xu Lao Si ambushed and killed him, and Wang Chen gave Xu Lao Si Chen Hu’s Storage Bag.
• Wang Chen ordered the villagers to hide, then flew toward the mine and destroyed its watchtower with a Fire Crow.
• The Great Leader tried to flee after launching his copper hammer at Wang Chen, but Wang Chen deflected the Magic Tool and pinned him to the ground with the Wind Thunder Sword.
• Wang Chen unleashed a rain of fire across the mine, setting dozens of bandits ablaze.

Wang Chen killed the Gray Wolf Bandits, recovered a great store of wealth, and freed hundreds of miners from the mine. After leading them to safety, he returned underground and discovered a Mandarin Duck Mirror concealed in the tunnel wall.

• Wang Chen took the Great Leader of the Gray Wolf Bandits' copper hammer and Storage Bag, finding more than thirty thousand Spirit Stones and over ten thousand jin of refined Purple Copper.
• Wang Chen found the abducted miners, introduced himself as the village chief of Datian Village, and freed them from their seals.
• Wang Chen and two miners searched the passages, rescued four to five hundred miners, and killed more than thirty hidden bandits.
• Wang Chen led the miners to the surface, told them to wait, and returned to inspect a deep passage.
• Wang Chen used his Divine Sense to locate and draw a concealed Mandarin Duck Mirror from the tunnel wall.

Wang Chen discovered a hidden passage monitored by a Mandarin Duck Mirror and found a blood pool and altar where a black-robed cultivator was performing an evil ritual. Their battle began underground, and the chapter ended with Wang Chen surviving a devastating blood blade strike with only a faint wound.

• Wang Chen found and shattered a concealed Mandarin Duck Mirror, then broke through a rock wall to reveal a hidden passage.
• Wang Chen entered an underground Cave Dwelling and saw a blood pool, an altar, and a black-robed cultivator.
• The black-robed cultivator attacked with a blood curtain, a bloody palm, and flying skulls, but Wang Chen destroyed them with his Geng Metal Qi energy and Vajra Fist.
• Wang Chen's fist force battered the cultivator's blood-light barrier and nearly destroyed the blood pool's defenses.
• The black-robed cultivator crushed a blood-red skull and sent a blood blade through Wang Chen's armor, but Wang Chen steadied himself with only a faint line of blood on his chest.

Wang Chen fought a powerful demon cultivator hidden beneath the mine and defeated him with his Sword Pellet after the man unleashed his life-bound poison blood. He left the foe bound and sealed, then sent a silver shuttle through the rock and waited for someone to arrive.

• The black-robed cultivator's Nirvana Blood Ray failed to harm Wang Chen, who recognized his opponent's Heavenly Dragon Vajra Righteous Dharma.
• The black-robed cultivator defended himself with regenerating blood-red tentacles as Wang Chen attacked with his Wind Thunder Sword and Meteor Fire Talismans.
• Wang Chen rushed the altar and shattered the cultivator's blood claw with a Vajra Fist, forcing him to spray corrosive essence blood.
• Wang Chen's Sword Pellet pierced the blood mist and destroyed the black-robed cultivator's Sea of Consciousness, while Wang Chen leapt clear of the poison.
• Wang Chen bound and sealed the apparently dead cultivator, sent a silver shuttle through the rock, and waited beside him.

Chen Anhe and Huang Deqi feared that Wang Chen had discovered their connection to the Gray Wolf Bandits, while Wang Chen captured a wanted demonic cultivator and earned great merit. Luo Zhen revealed that the reward could secure Wang Chen the rank of Inner Sect Disciple, and Wang Chen offered to share the merit with him.

• Chen Anhe joined Huang Deqi and the elderly woman surnamed Xu in plotting their next move after Wang Chen went missing in the mountains.
• Luo Zhen arrived in Wang Chen's mine Cave Dwelling and recognized the nearly completed Myriad Transformation Fiendish Blood Pool.
• Wang Chen handed Luo Zhen the captured demonic cultivator and explained how he had uncovered and disrupted the scheme.
• Luo Zhen removed the captive's disguise and identified him as the wanted Yuan Shenkui.
• Luo Zhen told Wang Chen that capturing Yuan Shenkui earned five thousand merit points, enough to exchange for Inner Sect Disciple rank.
• Wang Chen offered to share the merit with Luo Zhen, crediting him for recommending him.

Wang Chen shared the merit from rescuing the miners with Luo Zhen, then returned the captives to Datian Village. After sensing Chen Anhe’s fear, Wang Chen left him alone, while Chen Anhe and Huang Deqi plotted to frame Wang Chen by spreading a rumor about Treasure Daoist’s hidden treasure.

• Wang Chen agreed to share the bounty merit with Luo Zhen, who told him to return the villagers to Datian Village and wait for news.
• Wang Chen led several hundred rescued miners home, where their families and villagers welcomed them with tearful reunions and thanks.
• Wang Chen sensed Chen Anhe’s guilty fear but took no action against him and sent the villagers home.
• Chen Anhe rushed to the ancestral hall and urged Huang Deqi and the Houtu Temple Priestess to flee, fearing their involvement had been exposed.
• Huang Deqi rejected the idea of fleeing and proposed praising Wang Chen while spreading a rumor that he had obtained Treasure Daoist’s hidden treasure from the Gray-Eyed Bandits.

Wang Chen sorted through the Gray Wolf Bandits' spoils and handed the captured demonic cultivator Yuan Shenkui over to Luo Zhen. The West Sea Sect then arrested Datian Village's leaders for aiding Yuan Shenkui, leaving the village in turmoil as Wang Chen reassured its frightened residents.

• Wang Chen and Xiao He sorted the bandits' Storage Bags, finding more than seventy thousand Spirit Stones and other valuable items.
• Wang Chen gave Xiao He a golden hairpin for helping him, then gazed at the moon and thought of his beloved.
• After receiving a message talisman, Wang Chen watched West Sea Sect Battle Cultivators arrive at Datian Village and arrest Huang Deqi, Chen Anhe, Temple Priestess Xu, and other local leaders.
• Wang Chen calmed the frightened villagers and returned to the Village Chief's residence, where he spoke with Luo Zhen.
• Luo Zhen explained that Huang Deqi and the others had helped Yuan Shenkui sell Purple Copper ore and gather resources for years, enabling him to build the Myriad Transformation Fiendish Blood Pool.

Luo Zhen explained that Huang Deqi, Chen Anhe, and Temple Priestess Xu had colluded with Yuan Shenkui in hopes of obtaining Myriad Transformation Pills, though Yuan had intended to sacrifice them. After Luo Zhen left Datian Village with the three leaders and their followers, Wang Chen took charge of the village and waited for news about his reward and Inner Sect Disciple qualification.

• Luo Zhen told Wang Chen that the three leaders had helped Yuan Shenkui for promised Myriad Transformation Pills, which Yuan planned to keep for himself and obtain by sacrificing them.
• Luo Zhen said Yuan Shenkui had been sent to the sect and promised Wang Chen his reward after review; Wang Chen asked only for qualification to become an Inner Sect Disciple.
• Luo Zhen returned Yuan Shenkui's Storage Bag to Wang Chen, and Wang Chen thanked him for his assistance.
• Luo Zhen's War Hall Battle Cultivators confiscated the assets of Huang Deqi and the other two leaders before taking them, their relatives, and their subordinates away from Datian Village.
• Wang Chen became the village's new pillar after villagers learned that the three leaders had helped abduct people for Yuan Shenkui's blood pool.
• Wang Chen managed village affairs while continuing his cultivation, but even after the autumn harvest, Luo Zhen had sent no news beyond a communication talisman.

After discovering that Datian Village’s public granary was empty, Wang Chen assigned its management to the village elders and returned to cultivation. When Little Ya sought help for her gravely wounded grandfather, Wang Chen rushed to their home and saved the old man with medicine.

• Wang Chen found the public granary empty and told the elders to redo its accounts and manage it from then on.
• Little Ya came to the village chief’s residence and begged Xiao He to save her grandfather.
• Wang Chen took Xiao He and Little Ya to the family’s home, where Little Ya’s grandfather lay unconscious and badly wounded.
• Wang Chen treated the old man with a Healing Pill and Trauma Powder, and he regained consciousness.
• Little Ya wept with relief and kowtowed to Wang Chen in gratitude.

After seeing Little Ya’s family struggle to survive, Wang Chen decided to create lasting support for Datian Village’s poorest households and improve village life before he left. The elders agreed to help establish the new programs.

• Wang Chen learned from Xiao He that many poor village households, especially those with outside surnames, lacked clan support.
• Wang Chen proposed identifying Five Guarantees Households and providing food, clothing, medical care, shelter, and burial assistance from the public treasury.
• Wang Chen offered to fund the first winter’s assistance and proposed a Guard Team whose organized hunts would support the treasury, with members earning work points for their contributions.
• Wang Chen proposed building Datian Primary School, providing enrolled children with free lunch, and covering its initial costs himself.
• Elder Chen pledged his help, and Elders Huang and Xu also declared their support.

Wang Chen oversaw Datian Village’s Guard Team as it hunted a herd of Tusked Boars, then sent the hunters deeper into the mountains to gather provisions for winter. With the villagers’ confidence boosted by Wang Chen’s support, the team continued its hunt.

• Xiao Hong and the Guard Team ambushed a herd of Tusked Boars with armor-piercing arrows and killed them.
• Wang Chen praised the hunters and told Xiao Hong to hurry the work so they could scout farther ahead.
• Xiao Hong reflected on how Wang Chen’s leadership had made him captain and equipped the Guard Team with weapons, armor, and Storage Bags.
• The hunters processed and stored the boars, rested briefly, and continued deeper into the mountains to stockpile meat for winter.