Recaps

Wang Chen rented a shop and residence in Thousand Stars Immortal City so he could earn Spirit Stones refining artifacts and buy a treasure for condensing his Golden Core. After studying Nine Directions Artifact Refining and practicing for a month, he advanced the skill to Minor Accomplishment but had not yet opened for business.

• Wang Chen rented a storefront residence with an artifact-forging workshop and earthfire, while Su Ziling eagerly cleaned their new home.
• Wang Chen tested the earthfire with Little Cauldron and explained that he planned to sell Spirit Tools to earn enough for a Golden Core treasure.
• Wang Chen chose artifact refining over talisman-making because the talisman market was too competitive and offered little profit.
• Wang Chen bought materials and a revised copy of Nine Directions Artifact Refining from the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce, then studied and practiced the craft himself.
• Wang Chen raised Nine Directions Artifact Refining to Minor Accomplishment after a month of practice, though he had spent heavily without selling anything.

After three months of artifact refinement, Wang Chen forged a mid-grade Tier 2 flying sword named Frost Condensing and prepared to give it to Su Ziling. He left the Earthfire Chamber with the sword and asked whether she liked it.

• Wang Chen forged a flying sword in the Life-Giving Creation Cauldron and named it Frost Condensing.
• He fitted the sword with a hilt and scabbard, then checked that his Nine Directions Artifact Refining Technique had reached Great Accomplishment.
• Little Cauldron complained that Wang Chen had not used its power, and Wang Chen said he would need its help in the future.
• Wang Chen put away the cauldron and went to the second-floor bedroom, where Su Ziling was making the bed.
• Wang Chen gave Frost Condensing to Su Ziling, whose water affinity and sword cultivation made the flying sword suitable for her.

Wang Chen gave Su Ziling a Frost Condensing Sword, and their relationship grew more intimate after she acted on advice from neighbors. He continued advancing his artifact-refining skills and prepared to open his shop, first seeking certification and guild membership.

• Wang Chen gave Su Ziling the Frost Condensing Sword, which she found perfectly suited to her and promised to train with.
• Su Ziling explained that neighboring female cultivators had advised her on how to win Wang Chen's favor, and the two became intimate that night.
• Two months later, Wang Chen advanced the Nine Directions Artifact Refining Technique to the Grandmaster realm and refined a top-grade spirit artifact.
• As the five-month storefront rental neared its opening day, Wang Chen planned to apply for Artifact Refiner certification and join the Artifact Refiners' Guild.

Wang Chen took the Artifact Refiners' Guild assessment to earn three-star certification, carefully adapting to an unexpectedly high-grade refining furnace while concealing his full capabilities. With the assessment underway, he began crafting Three Profound Flying Daggers as his main test piece.

• Wang Chen applied for three-star Artifact Refiner certification at the Guild headquarters and paid the assessment fee.
• Wang Chen entered the earthfire chamber and discovered that the Guild had provided a third-grade refining furnace.
• Wang Chen spent a shichen partially refining the furnace and familiarizing himself with its workings and the earthfire.
• Wang Chen used low-grade materials to make three ordinary Magic Tools while continuing to learn the furnace's characteristics.
• Wang Chen began refining Three Profound Flying Daggers from profound iron, profound copper, and profound gold.

Wang Chen passed the Artifact Refiner assessment, joined the Artifact Refiners' Guild, and prepared to open his shop with Su Ziling. When the shop opened, the neighbors who had doubted it were stunned by its array of goods and their marked prices.

• Wang Chen forged an upper-grade, first-rate Three Profound Flying Dagger and passed the Artifact Refiner assessment.
• Wang Chen received his Artifact Refiner badge and joined the Artifact Refiners' Guild.
• Wang Chen returned home, celebrated with Su Ziling, and announced that they would open the shop in three days.
• Su Ziling arranged the opening ceremony, invited the neighbors, and helped prepare the shop.
• The neighbors attended the opening, and their doubts shifted when Wang Chen revealed shelves full of Magic Tools and Spirit Tools at eye-catching prices.

Wang Chen opened his shop by selling standardized Magic Tools and Spirit Tools at a steep discount, winning over skeptical customers. His free vanilla ice pops drew in neighbors and passersby, and by afternoon he had sold nearly one-third of his displayed stock.

• Wang Chen invited Battle Cultivators and Hunter Cultivators to inspect his discounted Magic Tools and Spirit Tools.
• The cultivators found Wang Chen's equipment flawless and bought it, even borrowing Spirit Stones to secure the bargains.
• Wang Chen had Su Ziling hand out homemade vanilla ice pops to the neighbors and their children.
• Wang Chen gave ice pops to curious passersby, several of whom browsed his shelves and bought equipment.
• Wang Chen sold nearly one-third of his displayed Magic Tools and Spirit Tools by afternoon, replenishing some of the Spirit Stones he had spent on materials.

After the old district chief warned Wang Chen against extending his opening-day discounts, Wang Chen restored his prices and shifted to selling ice cream, which became popular across half the city. His success ended when imitators produced more ice cream at lower prices and crushed his business.

• Su Ziling tallied 574,000 Spirit Stones in sales, and Wang Chen clarified that the figure was turnover, not profit.
• The former district chief warned Wang Chen not to continue selling goods at discounted prices, and Wang Chen agreed to restore the original prices.
• Wang Chen and Su Ziling faced crowds seeking free ice cream, while sales of Magic Tools and spirit artifacts fell sharply.
• Wang Chen made more iceboxes and began selling packaged ice cream for one Lower Spirit per box, handing production to Su Ziling.
• Su Ziling expanded ice cream production, and Wang Chen's product became famous across half the city.
• Imitators copied Wang Chen's ice cream, produced more of it at lower prices, and drove his business down.

After a competitor’s low-priced ice cream shop ruined Wang Chen’s business, he turned his stock of iceboxes into refrigerators and launched them for sale. The chapter ended with Wang Chen and Su Ziling presenting the new product to a curious customer in Thousand Stars Immortal City.

• A rival shop undercut Wang Chen’s ice cream prices, and Su Ziling complained while Wang Chen accepted that he lacked the power to stop them.
• Su Ziling worried about the iceboxes they had made, so Wang Chen decided to repurpose them into refrigerators.
• Wang Chen commissioned refrigerator parts, refined Frost Magic Tool components, and assembled models in several styles and colors.
• Su Ziling displayed the refrigerators and offered buyers dessert recipes and ingredients with each purchase.
• Wang Chen promised a customer a full refund if the refrigerator used more than one Spirit Stone per day.

Wang Chen sold refrigerators in Thousand Stars Immortal City, earning over a million Lower Spirit Stones before imitators entered the market. After closing his shop, he met an old cultivator who asked which branch of the Wang Clan he came from.

• Su Ziling offered group-purchase discounts and ice pop ingredients, prompting customers to buy refrigerators in large numbers.
• Shopkeeper Zhang bought a refrigerator, saw how easily it could replace his ice pop shop, and set out to have craftsmen copy it.
• Wang Chen ramped up promotions and sold seventy percent of his refrigerators before imitations appeared on the market.
• Wang Chen and Su Ziling counted profits of over one million Lower Spirit Stones from five thousand refrigerators.
• An old cultivator arrived with two guards and asked Wang Chen which branch of the Wang Clan he came from.

Wang Xinchen, steward of the San Qun Wang Family, visited Wang Chen and revealed that the clan’s ancestor had ascended from the Mountain Sea Realm, suggesting Wang Chen might share the family bloodline. He offered the clan’s protection after Wang Chen’s inventions were copied, but Wang Chen remained wary and declined to presume a connection.

• Wang Xinchen introduced himself as a steward of the San Qun Wang Family and asked which Wang family branch Wang Chen belonged to.
• Wang Chen explained that he had relocated from Yongle Immortal City and denied any connection to the San Qun Wang Family.
• Wang Xinchen said the Wang clan’s founding ancestor had come from the Mountain Sea Realm and that the clan could test Wang Chen’s bloodline.
• Wang Xinchen implied that the San Qun Wang Family could have protected Wang Chen’s ice pops and refrigerators from being copied.
• Wang Chen declined to claim a place in the clan, suspecting that its protection would come with obligations.

Wang Chen accepted a large refrigerator order from the Wang Clan and completed it ahead of schedule, then learned that Hu Jiaojiao had found Seven-Leaf Black Ginseng. He left Thousand Stars Immortal City for Green Hill to obtain it and advance his plans to condense a high-grade Golden Core.

• Wang Xinchen ordered three hundred refrigerators from Wang Chen and paid a deposit, explaining that the Wang Clan would not mistreat a talented member of the same surname.
• Wang Chen completed the Wang Clan's refrigerator order more than ten days early and began considering how to earn enough Spirit Stones to obtain the treasures he needed for his Golden Core.
• Wang Chen learned that he still lacked Seven-Leaf Black Ginseng and Ten-Thousand-Year Star Sand, while suitable Black Ginseng substitutes did not meet his standards.
• Hu Jiaojiao contacted Wang Chen after emerging from seclusion and told him that he had to travel to Green Hill to collect the Seven-Leaf Black Ginseng.
• Wang Chen entrusted the shop to Su Ziling and quietly departed Thousand Stars Immortal City for Green Hill.

Wang Chen traveled toward Green Hill to find Hu Jiaojiao and obtain the Seven-Leaf Black Ginseng, surviving a terrifying encounter in the wilderness before reaching Changsheng Immortal City. After a young thief tried to steal his Storage Bag, Wang Chen ignored him and stopped at a busy wine house to eat.

• Wang Chen camped in a sealed cave, but ominous footsteps approached during the night and passed by while he concealed himself with the Mystic Mirage Dragon Art.
• The next morning, Wang Chen found a huge clawed footprint near his cave and hurried toward Changsheng Immortal City.
• Wang Chen entered Changsheng Immortal City, a crowded waystation outside the Nine Provinces Immortal Alliance system, and paid ten Spirit Stones to get in.
• A Qi Refining boy tried to steal Wang Chen's Storage Bag, but Wang Chen dodged him and scared him off with a glimpse of his aura.
• Wang Chen chose not to pursue the organized thieves and entered Gao Ji Wine House to eat.

Wang Chen killed a boy and Old Biao after they confronted him in a tavern, then used his external core to pass himself off as a Golden Core True Person. He left the city to avoid scrutiny, but an unfathomable old man emerged from the woods after following him.

• Old Biao entered the tavern with Tiger Cub and accused Wang Chen of bullying the boy.
• Wang Chen killed Tiger Cub with a golden beam and punched Old Biao to death when he attacked.
• Wang Chen revealed Golden Core pressure, and the tavern owner agreed that Old Biao and the boy deserved their deaths.
• Wang Chen paid two Medium Spirit Stones for his meal and the bodies, then left the tavern and headed out of the city.
• Wang Chen sensed someone following him in the woods and challenged them, prompting a white-haired old man of unfathomable cultivation to appear.

Wang Chen met Hu Fei, who agreed to take him to Green Hill in three days, and warned him that the man he had killed had powerful connections. Wang Chen returned to Changsheng Immortal City in disguise and came across a Jade Unsealing stall.

• Wang Chen learned that the mysterious old man was Hu Fei and asked him to take him to Green Hill.
• Hu Fei took the bead from Hu Jiaojiao’s message talisman, revealed that she had pleaded on Wang Chen’s behalf, and told him to return in three days.
• Hu Fei warned Wang Chen that Old Biao had connections and told him to stop flaunting his external pellet.
• Wang Chen changed his appearance and cultivation level, then reentered Changsheng Immortal City without trouble.
• Wang Chen explored the lively night market, bought food, and went to watch a vendor offer Ancient Sealed Jade to the highest bidder.

Wang Chen won a damaged piece of Ancient Sealed Jade and found an unreadable old book inside. The next morning, he saw that he was wanted for killing Black Old Biao and learned that a Golden Core True Person had tried to divine his location; the search was actually connected to the first person Wang Chen had killed, a half-grown boy who looked like a beggar.

• Wang Chen bid one thousand Spirit Stones on five pieces of Ancient Sealed Jade and won Number Twenty-Seven.
• Wang Chen took the cracked jade to his inn, opened it, and found an ancient book whose script he could not read.
• Wang Chen saw a wanted notice offering five thousand Spirit Stones for information and fifty thousand for his capture or death.
• Wang Chen listened to tea-house patrons discuss Black Old Biao’s death and sensed that someone had tried to locate him with the Heavenly Secret Art.
• Wang Chen learned that the divination was connected not to Black Old Biao, but to the half-grown boy who had been the first person Wang Chen killed.

Wang Chen was drugged by Hu Fei and taken to Green Hill, the fox clan’s sacred land, where he tried to find Hu Jiaojiao. He befriended a wary young fox woman with ice cream and waited for her to bring Hu Jiaojiao.

• Wang Chen dismissed the threat of the Golden Core cultivator who had issued his wanted notice and spent two days shopping in Changsheng Immortal City, where he lost several thousand Spirit Stones on three Ancient Sealed Jade pieces.
• Wang Chen returned to meet Hu Fei, who used a technique to knock him unconscious.
• Wang Chen awoke in a valley at Green Hill, surrounded by fox children who panicked when he revealed he was human.
• Wang Chen told a young fox woman that he had come at Hu Jiaojiao’s invitation and asked her to bring Hu Jiaojiao to him.
• Wang Chen made ice cream for the young fox woman, who eagerly ate it and demanded more.

Wang Chen reunited with Hu Jiaojiao in fox territory and learned that she had recently condensed a high-grade Golden Core. She gave him the Seven-Leaf Black Ginseng he needed for his own Golden Core attempt, leaving him more determined to succeed.

• Wang Chen shared his ice cream with the fox children and Hu Jiaojiao, easing his worries about being in demon territory.
• Wang Chen discovered that Hu Jiaojiao had condensed her Golden Core a month earlier, and she credited the Black Ginseng Child with helping her achieve a high-grade core.
• Hu Jiaojiao welcomed Wang Chen into her spacious Magic Treasure home, served him Spiritual Tea made with a leaf shed by the Black Ginseng Child, and explained her Golden Core breakthrough.
• Hu Jiaojiao gave Wang Chen the Seven-Leaf Black Ginseng he had been seeking.
• Wang Chen recognized that he still needed Ten-Thousand-Year Star Sand and resolved to pursue a high-grade Golden Core of his own.

After securing the Seven-Leaf Black Ginseng, Wang Chen had gathered seven of the eight treasures needed to condense a Golden Core and offered Hu Jiaojiao help with her natal Magic Treasure. He discovered that the damaged Upper Clarity Qiankun Mirror matched her five innate divine abilities and gave it to her, leaving them sharing a tender moment.

• Wang Chen told Hu Jiaojiao about his store and his ability to refine Magic Treasures, and she asked for his advice on choosing a natal Magic Treasure.
• Hu Jiaojiao revealed that she had awakened five innate divine abilities and, trusting Wang Chen, described each one to him.
• Wang Chen realized that three of her abilities suited the Upper Clarity Qiankun Mirror, a damaged treasure he rarely used.
• Wang Chen gave Hu Jiaojiao the Upper Clarity Qiankun Mirror, and she accepted as he held her hand.

Hu Jiaojiao gave Wang Chen the mysterious bead she wore as a necklace, but her powerful mother intervened and confronted him. She revealed that the pendant was the priceless Chaos Bead, which could help Golden Core cultivators comprehend the Great Dao and form a Nascent Soul.

• Hu Jiaojiao gave Wang Chen her necklace, and the Primordial Dao Stele reacted violently to its Crystal Bead.
• Hu Jiaojiao's mother appeared, overwhelmed Wang Chen with her presence, and criticized her daughter's feelings for him.
• Hu Jiaojiao's mother pulled her aside and questioned Wang Chen about the Upper Clarity Qiankun Mirror he had given her.
• Wang Chen explained that he had received the mirror from Kou Shihai, and Hu Jiaojiao's mother identified it as one of the Nine Ancient Mirrors.
• Hu Jiaojiao's mother revealed that the pendant was the Chaos Bead she had given Hu Jiaojiao after she condensed a high-grade Golden Core.

Wang Chen agreed to enter the small world linked to the World-Asking Bell and retrieve the Qingqiu Fox Clan’s lost Mysterious Fox Token. Hu Jiaojiao activated the bell and entered first to protect him, and Wang Chen followed her inside.

• The palace-robed woman demanded that Wang Chen retrieve the Mysterious Fox Token from the dangerous small world or leave behind the Chaos Bead and his Divine Soul.
• Wang Chen accepted the task, and the woman gave him an hour to prepare before departing.
• Hu Jiaojiao apologized to Wang Chen, then kissed him and activated the World-Asking Bell.
• Hu Jiaojiao vanished into the small world, and Wang Chen immediately grabbed the bell and followed her.
• The palace-robed woman appeared beside the bell and regretted pushing her daughter, but could only wait for the two to return.

Chen Ergou woke in Little Stone Village with strange gaps in his memory and familiar actions he could not explain, then went to work in the fields. After he stood up to a boy who tried to take his water bucket, a punch knocked him unconscious and unleashed a flood of memories.

• Chen Ergou woke from a strange dream, ate breakfast, and recalled his life with his father, Chen Qiaoshan, in Little Stone Village.
• Chen Qiaoshan joined the hunting party while Chen Ergou went to weed and water their sweet potato field.
• Chen Ergou unexpectedly formed a familiar hand seal and sensed something unusual near the river, though he saw nothing.
• A sturdy boy and his companions demanded Chen Ergou's bucket, but Chen Ergou refused and tried to pass them.
• The sturdy boy punched Chen Ergou in the head, and Chen Ergou collapsed as countless sealed memories flooded his mind.

After awakening to memories of another person, Chen Ergou gained the cultivation art Heavenly Dragon Vajra Righteous Dharma and decided to practice it on his own. By nightfall, he had successfully reached the Skin Tempering realm.

• Chen Ergou seized the burly youth's wrist, shoved him into a companion, and frightened the youths into fleeing.
• After finishing the work on his family's fields, Chen Ergou dreamed of an ancient stone stele and woke with foul-smelling grime on his body and a cultivation mnemonic in his mind.
• Chen Ergou recognized the mnemonic as the Heavenly Dragon Vajra Righteous Dharma and hurried through his farmwork so he could try cultivating it.
• Chen Ergou practiced the art without guidance, and his skin and flesh tempered smoothly until he achieved Skin Tempering.

Chen Ergou successfully tempered his skin, then discovered that his new strength came with a ravenous hunger. The next morning, he defeated Lu Bao in a fight, surprising the villagers and leaving everyone wondering how he had become so powerful.

• Chen Ergou confirmed that his skin-tempering had succeeded and ate the family's entire supply of cured meat to satisfy his hunger.
• Chen Ergou slept until dawn, ate a pot of sweet potatoes, and set out to plow the fields.
• Lu Bao and his cousin confronted Chen Ergou, demanding that he kneel and apologize for beating the cousin.
• Lu Bao attacked Chen Ergou with a spiked metal gauntlet, but Chen Ergou struck him with a punch that sent him flying and left him badly injured.
• Lu Bao and his cousin fled as villagers gathered, and Chen Ergou continued on his way.

After gaining strength from the Heavenly Dragon Vajra Righteous Dharma, Chen Ergou learned that Chen Qiaoshan had died on a hunt and fought off relatives who tried to take advantage of him. Exhausted, hungry, and overwhelmed by grief, he collapsed at home with his life fading.

• Chen Ergou celebrated his new strength and hoped to teach the Heavenly Dragon Vajra Righteous Dharma to Chen Qiaoshan.
• A farmer told Chen Ergou that something had happened to his father, and Uncle Yan reported that a third-rank ferocious beast had killed Chen Qiaoshan and taken his body.
• Chen Ergou endured his father's funeral, after which the hunting party left him a fat desolate sheep as compensation.
• Fourth Uncle and his companions arrived after the funeral, greedily eyed the sheep, and tried to make Chen Ergou live with them.
• Chen Ergou kicked Fourth Uncle and beat the group until they fled, then collapsed from grief, hunger, thirst, and exhaustion.

Wang Chen awakened in the World-Asking Bell's world with no Mana or Magic Treasures, then recovered by eating Wasteland Sheep meat and resumed cultivating the Heavenly Dragon Vajra Righteous Dharma. He resolved to grow stronger, find Hu Jiaojiao and the Mysterious Fox Token, and began considering how to obtain more nourishing beast meat.

• Wang Chen regained his memories and realized he had been living as Chen Ergou in the World-Asking Bell's world, where he had no cultivation, Mana, or Magic Treasures.
• Wang Chen recalled that he needed to find Hu Jiaojiao and the Mysterious Fox Token, and resolved to become stronger through the Heavenly Dragon Vajra Righteous Dharma.
• Wang Chen processed the Wasteland Sheep, smoked most of its meat, and ate nearly thirty jin to restore his strength and vitality.
• Wang Chen assessed his Bronze Skin cultivation and the lack of information about the mist-shrouded world beyond Little Stone Village.
• Wang Chen resumed cultivating and realized that desolate beast meat could fuel his training, prompting him to wonder about the benefits of higher-level ferocious beast meat.