Recaps

Wang Chen paid his grain in Yunyang City, then treated Cao Xiu to dinner and asked for advice about joining the Inner Sect. Cao Xiu explained the Inner Sect’s structure and warned Wang Chen to avoid trouble as he prepared to register at Sunset Peak the next day.

• The Spirit Planting Hall exposed a farmer who had watered his rice to increase its weight, beat him, and expelled him from the Outer Sect.
• Wang Chen paid more than sixteen hundred jin of rice, received ten sect contribution points, and stocked up on white rice and Demonic Beast Meat.
• Wang Chen invited Cao Xiu to dinner at Moon Invitation Tower and asked him about the Inner Sect before his planned registration at Sunset Peak.
• Cao Xiu described the nine peaks, their hierarchy, and Sunset Peak’s weak standing despite having the most Inner Sect Disciples.
• Cao Xiu advised Wang Chen to avoid matters that did not concern him, speak cautiously, endure when possible, and prioritize cultivation.

Wang Chen transferred his home and Spirit Field to Han Dashi, then left his life as an Outer Sect disciple behind and traveled to the mountain gate to re-register as an Inner Sect Disciple. On the way, he learned that Zhang Xiaoshan had died, and the chapter ended as a strange child appeared to question him at the gate.

• Wang Chen completed the transfer of his home and Spirit Field to Han Dashi and accepted thirty Lower Spirit for the deal.
• Wang Chen encountered Huang Cuihua carrying Zhang Xiaoshan’s ashes and learned from passersby that Zhang Xiaoshan had died.
• Wang Chen continued to Yunyang City, determined to leave his past behind and pursue cultivation.
• Wang Chen returned to the Yunyang Stone Tablet and offered the Mystic Tortoise a basket of Spirit Peaches before presenting his Inner Sect Disciple Jade Tablet.
• A gust of wind formed a plump child who looked Wang Chen over and asked, “Who goes there?”

Wang Chen reached the Yunyang Sect’s Inner Sect and avoided being extorted at the mountain gate before riding a Green Ox toward Sunset Peak. As he approached his new home, he strengthened his concealment and reflected on the dangers of Inner Sect life.

• Wang Chen met Fire Doll at the mountain gate, where the boy demanded a gift, but the Mystic Tortoise drove him off.
• The Mystic Tortoise explained Fire Doll’s family background and warned Wang Chen to keep his distance from him.
• Wang Chen exchanged White Corn for a ride and boarded the Green Ox bound for Sunset Peak.
• Wang Chen considered the Inner Sect’s fierce rivalries and activated his newly advanced Breath Concealment Technique.
• The Green Ox ran faster as it lost its sense of Wang Chen, and Sunset Peak came into view.
• Yuan Yuan poked its head out of Wang Chen’s spirit beast pouch and stared at the approaching peak.

Wang Chen climbed Sunset Peak to join the Inner Sect, where the sect registered his Soul Lamp and explained the peak’s scarce resources and paid duties. Asked which duty he wanted, he chose farming.

• Wang Chen paid a big green ox with White Corn and climbed the long stairs to Sunset Peak.
• Wang Chen reached the summit and entered the main hall to reinstate his immortal registry.
• Wang Chen lit a Life Lamp, and the Primordial Dao Stele protected his Divine Soul from its pull.
• Wang Chen told the middle-aged cultivator that Lu Defang had been his uncle and had passed away.
• The middle-aged cultivator explained that Sunset Peak offered compensation for part-time duties because its resources were scarce, and Wang Chen chose farming.

Wang Chen secured an assignment as a spirit plant farmer at the foot of Sunset Peak, choosing the quiet work to avoid Inner Sect disputes. As he headed to his new estate, he rejected a flying Magic Tool offered by the girl who had mocked him, unaware that she meant to apologize.

• Steward Gu questioned Wang Chen’s choice to become a spirit plant farmer, but Wang Chen insisted he had considered it carefully.
• Wang Chen gave Steward Gu a Storage Bag, and Steward Gu arranged an entire spirit-planting estate for him and updated his Identity Token.
• Wang Chen left the main hall, opened his welcome Storage Bag, and studied the Inner Sect Handbook as he descended the mountain.
• A goose-yellow-robed girl blocked Wang Chen with an auspicious cloud and offered to sell him a flying Magic Tool cheaply.
• Wang Chen suspected the girl was trying to trick him, refused her offer, and hurried away, leaving her angry that he had rejected her attempted apology.

Wang Chen settled into his new spirit plant manor, enjoyed a swim and meal with Yuan Yuan, and then traveled to Yunlong City. After entering the inner sect’s mysterious city, he concealed his aura as passersby scrutinized him.

• Wang Chen swam in the stream, caught a carp, and grilled it with Yuan Yuan.
• Wang Chen returned to his new manor and reflected on its fields, orchards, rent, and the work he needed to do.
• Wang Chen used a Jia Ma Talisman to travel to Yunlong City, lamenting that he lacked a flying magic tool.
• Wang Chen entered Yunlong City and felt out of place among the inner sect cultivators.
• Wang Chen drew in his aura and pushed the Breath Concealment Technique to its limit as others watched him.

Wang Chen used his Grand Completion Breath Concealment Technique to reach the Inner Sect Main Hall and claimed his free spell, choosing the Sword Control Technique. He then discovered that maintaining his estate and growing crops would cost far more than he expected.

• Wang Chen tested his Breath Concealment Technique by startling an Inner Guard cultivator who had failed to notice him.
• Wang Chen visited the Library Pavilion and used his Inner Sect benefit to learn the Sword Control Technique.
• Wang Chen went to the General Affairs Hall to buy Spirit Rice seeds and learned that his fields required specific seeds, spirit fertilizer, and two farming spells.
• Wang Chen discovered that he also had to pay two hundred and fifty Merit Points for half a year's estate rent.

After spending most of his Merit Points on spirit planter spells and rent, Wang Chen explored Yunlong City and traded his last Yin Qi Bead for a secondhand Willow Leaf Flying Boat. He returned to Sunset Peak by air, gradually learning to control the boat.

• Wang Chen realized that the Inner Sect demanded Merit Points for its best resources but remained confident in his choice to become a spirit planter.
• Wang Chen explored Yunlong City, found its prices high, and discovered a Marketplace run by Inner Sect Disciples.
• Wang Chen recognized the stallholder selling a Willow Leaf Flying Boat as Xie Ling'er, the girl he had met on Sunset Peak's stone steps.
• Wang Chen traded his last Yin Qi Bead to Xie Ling'er for the flying boat and learned that she was from Mingxiu Peak.
• Wang Chen refined and activated the Willow Leaf Flying Boat, then practiced flying it toward home.

Wang Chen used the Fire Crow Technique and Cloud Rain Art to clear weeds from his fifty mu of Spirit Fields, then tested whether the Wither and Flourish Art could eliminate their roots. He began rapidly training the spell while Yuan Yuan played nearby.

• Wang Chen burned the overgrown weeds across his Spirit Fields with six fire crows and used the Cloud Rain Art to extinguish the blaze, leaving ash to enrich the soil.
• Wang Chen tested the Wither and Flourish Art on a surviving weed and watched it flourish before withering into ash.
• Wang Chen checked the Cultivation Panel and decided to raise the spell’s proficiency to see whether it could solve the weed problem.
• Wang Chen used the Wither and Flourish Art on weeds repeatedly, replenishing his mana from the Evil-Exorcising Net when needed.
• Yuan Yuan ran over to Wang Chen, then burrowed into the soil to play while Wang Chen continued training the spell.

Wang Chen advanced the Wither and Flourish Art to Grandmaster and hurried to Sunset Peak for a Purple Mansion lecture. He discovered the peak’s inner disciples were divided into many rival groups, then recognized the lecturer as Venerable Changchun and settled in to listen.

• Wang Chen spent 10 Human Virtue points to raise the Wither and Flourish Art to Grandmaster, gaining the power to eradicate weeds across his Spirit Fields.
• Wang Chen rode his Willow Leaf Boat to Sunset Peak, prioritizing the public lecture despite having yet to sow his Spirit Rice.
• Wang Chen observed the many distinct and often hostile groups among Sunset Peak’s Inner Sect Disciples and chose a quiet seat at the edge.
• Venerable Changchun arrived and began the lecture, and Wang Chen recognized him as the spirit-stone-loving elder he had heard about before.
• Wang Chen found that Venerable Changchun taught well and became absorbed in the lecture.

Huang Yuxiu interrupted Changchun’s lecture to demand Spirit Stones, and Wang Chen returned to his quiet life of cultivation and farming. After failing to learn the Sword Control Technique with the Autumn Water Sword, he discovered that Yuan Yuan had brought him a mysterious black ring.

• Huang Yuxiu attacked Changchun during his lecture, demanded a hundred thousand Spirit Stones, and chased him away from Sunset Peak.
• Wang Chen returned to his manor, cultivated his fields, and used a Spirit Gathering Array to advance his cultivation.
• Wang Chen repeatedly failed to master the Sword Control Technique with the Autumn Water Sword and concluded he needed a Flying Sword to practice properly.
• Yuan Yuan returned from its burrowing adventures, and a jet-black ring suddenly appeared in Wang Chen’s palm.

Yuan Yuan brought Wang Chen a Mystic Armor Ring and other treasures, while Wang Chen's plan to fund a Flying Sword by selling talismans collapsed because of a market alliance. He decided to sell Wang Shaoyuan's house to afford the weapon.

• Yuan Yuan gave Wang Chen a Mystic Armor Ring, a vine root, and a silver-gray stone that it had dug up.
• Wang Chen identified the ring as a defensive Magic Tool and put it on, then stored the unknown items to have them appraised in Yunyang City.
• Wang Chen discovered that Yunyang City's Talisman Shops had raised material costs and cut their purchase prices, making talisman sales barely profitable.
• Wang Chen decided to obtain a Flying Sword despite the failed talisman plan and resolved to sell Wang Shaoyuan's house.
• Wang Chen found a broker and put the house up for sale.

Wang Chen listed his Yunyang City house for sale and met Zhu Jingfang, whose cousin wanted to buy it. Wang Chen proposed exchanging the house for a custom Flying Sword from Zhu Jingfang’s grandfather, Huo Zhenghai, and waited for Zhu Jingfang’s answer.

• Wang Chen asked a broker to list his house for thirteen thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight Lower Spirit Stones, despite the broker’s doubts about the price.
• Wang Chen received Zhu Jingfang’s invitation, asked Cao Xiu about him, and agreed to meet at Moon Invitation Tower.
• Zhu Jingfang explained that his cousin wanted to buy Wang Chen’s house for the parents of a woman he hoped to become Dao companions with.
• Wang Chen asked Zhu Jingfang to introduce him to Huo Zhenghai, then proposed exchanging the house for a custom Flying Sword.
• Zhu Jingfang agreed to ask Huo Zhenghai about making the sword and promised Wang Chen an answer the next day.
• Wang Chen told Zhu Jingfang he wanted to become a Sword Cultivator and had the Flying Sword made early so he could nurture it.

Wang Chen commissioned a fire-aligned Flying Sword from Huo Zhenghai and collected it five days later. After blood-binding the sword, he used it to advance his Sword Control Technique to the beginner level.

• Zhu Jingfang brought Wang Chen to meet Huo Zhenghai in the Underground Fire Cave, where Wang Chen described his requirements for a custom Flying Sword.
• Wang Chen gave Huo Zhenghai his Outer-Heaven Meteorite Iron to add to the sword, and they signed a commission contract for him to collect it in five days.
• Wang Chen completed the house transfer in Yunyang City with Zhu Jingfang and his cousin.
• Wang Chen collected the finished Flying Sword and tested its sharpness, cutting his finger and blood-binding it.
• Wang Chen sent the Flying Sword through a door with his Sword Control Technique, gained experience, and reached the beginner level.

Wang Chen devoted himself to mastering the Sword Control Technique, gradually improving his flying sword skills despite his limited Mana and dwindling Human Virtue. After harvesting pears, he brought two baskets to the Black Tortoise, which stopped him before he could leave.

• Wang Chen reorganized his schedule to focus on cultivating the Five Elements Technique and practicing the Sword Control Technique, slowly mastering its basic forms.
• Wang Chen practiced with the Fire Crow Sword in a secluded forest, showing how it could cut through stone and return to its scabbard as his Sword Control Technique neared its next level.
• Wang Chen lamented his shortage of Human Virtue points and wished he could find another Evil Nest to farm.
• Wang Chen harvested fragrant pears, shared one with Yuan Yuan, and took two baskets to the Black Tortoise at the Inner Mountain Gate.
• The Black Tortoise sniffed out the pears and called Wang Chen back as he prepared to leave.

Wang Chen left the Mystic Tortoise after Yuan Yuan confronted it, and the old turtle later gave Yuan Yuan ten Vermilion Fruits. Wang Chen realized the fruits were powerful but let Yuan Yuan keep them as they continued toward Yunyang City.

• The Mystic Tortoise questioned Wang Chen’s motives for bringing it spirit fruits, and Wang Chen decided to leave.
• Yuan Yuan leaped onto the Mystic Tortoise and scratched inside the base of its neck, then returned to Wang Chen after the turtle asked to speak with it.
• The Mystic Tortoise drew in the spirit pears Wang Chen had brought and went back to sleep as Wang Chen departed for Yunyang City.
• Yuan Yuan presented Wang Chen with a Vermilion Fruit, whose spiritual aura caused him to experience Spirit Intoxication again.
• Yuan Yuan produced nine more Vermilion Fruits, and Wang Chen told it to keep all ten.

Wang Chen met Wei Xiong in Yunyang City, congratulated him on Wei Lian’s advancement, and gave him gifts before returning to Sunset Peak. There he met the newly settled Zhao Huai’an, whose cold manner made Wang Chen wary, and discovered Yuan Yuan had left five Vermilion Fruits for him.

• Wang Chen met Wei Xiong at a tavern, learned Wei Lian had reached the innate realm, and gave Wei Xiong two hundred jin of fragrant pears in an Essence Blood Storage Talisman.
• Wang Chen delivered fragrant pears to Cao Xiu at the outer sect Discipline Hall and returned to his estate on Sunset Peak.
• Wang Chen found Zhao Huai’an reclaiming fields beside his Spirit Field and recognized him as the rogue cultivator who had reported the Human Hunting Case.
• Wang Chen invited Zhao Huai’an to visit, but Zhao Huai’an remained cold, leaving Wang Chen irritated and suspicious of his new neighbor.
• Wang Chen returned home and found five Vermilion Fruits on the table after Yuan Yuan had slipped away.

After Vermilion Fruits improved Wang Chen’s Spiritual Root and accelerated his cultivation, he tried to keep his distance from wary neighbor Zhao Huai'an. Lu Hong’s follower Du Yuankui then ordered Wang Chen to spy on Zhao Huai'an, and Wang Chen went to visit his neighbor after accepting the surveillance tools.

• Wang Chen ate four Vermilion Fruits from Yuan Yuan, which strengthened his bones and raised his Spiritual Root by one point.
• Wang Chen found that his cultivation had become smoother and expected to attempt a breakthrough to the eighth level of Qi Condensation by early December.
• Wang Chen decided not to offer Zhao Huai'an farming advice, understanding that the disgraced cultivator had reason to distrust others.
• Du Yuankui visited Wang Chen on Lu Hong’s orders and told him to report Zhao Huai'an’s movements, giving him Ten-Hour Mandarin Duck Mirrors and Message Cranes.
• After Du Yuankui left, Wang Chen took the mirrors and headed to Zhao Huai'an’s house.

Wang Chen warned Zhao Huai'an about Lu Hong's surveillance scheme, and Zhao decided to leave Sunset Peak and pursue greater strength. After Zhao vanished, Du Yuankui reclaimed the Mandarin Duck Mirrors, leaving Wang Chen to consider the injustice a source of Heavenly Merit.

• Wang Chen told Zhao Huai'an that Lu Hong had sent him Mandarin Duck Mirrors to monitor him, and Zhao Huai'an said he would not put Wang Chen in a difficult position.
• Old Hu urged Zhao Huai'an to leave for the Outer Region, win the position of Sunset Peak's chief disciple, and pursue the Sect Master's disciple position to learn the Cloud Dragon Nine Transformations.
• Zhao Huai'an resolved to claim the chief disciple position and prepare for the threats surrounding him.
• Wang Chen watched his home for two days, confirmed Zhao Huai'an had fled, and sent a Crane Message to Du Yuankui.
• Du Yuankui took back the Mandarin Duck Mirrors despite having said they were a gift, and Wang Chen silently considered the unpaid labor and loss a source of Heavenly Merit.

Wang Chen harvested his Spirit Rice, shared the new crop with Yuan Yuan and Black Tortoise, and used the nourishing rice to support his cultivation. As his Five Elements Technique reached the peak of the seventh level, he began attempting to break through to the eighth.

• Wang Chen practiced his Flying Sword techniques until his Sword Control Technique reached 207/300, then returned to his manor with Yuan Yuan.
• Wang Chen hired two Valley Guests, who harvested and processed the fifty mu of Spirit Fields, yielding just over eight thousand jin of rice.
• Wang Chen steamed Yellow Millet Rice and Black Sesame Rice, shared the Yellow Millet Rice with Yuan Yuan, and prepared more for her to take to Black Tortoise.
• Wang Chen ate the Black Sesame Rice and recognized that the mid-grade Spirit Rice could help accelerate his cultivation.
• When the first winter snow fell, Wang Chen's Five Elements Technique reached 699/700, and he activated his Spirit Gathering Array to attempt a breakthrough to the eighth level.

After reaching the eighth level of Qi Condensation, Wang Chen faced a shortage of Spirit Stones and Merit Points and decided to take sect missions to earn the points required to remain in the Inner Sect. He advanced his body-refining art to its fourth layer, suppressed the Heavenly Dragon True Form with the Primordial Dao Stele, and achieved a Vajra Indestructible body.

• Wang Chen reached the eighth level of Qi Condensation and spent two days consolidating his realm.
• Wang Chen realized his Spirit Stones and Merit Points were nearly exhausted and that he needed to earn at least one thousand Merit Points through sect missions.
• Wang Chen used 1 point of Heavenly Merit to advance the Heavenly Dragon Vajra Righteous Dharma to its fourth layer.
• The Heavenly Dragon True Form surged against Wang Chen's Dao heart during the breakthrough, so he brought out the Dragon-Subduing Sarira.
• The Primordial Dao Stele absorbed the Sarira and suppressed the Heavenly Dragon True Form, leaving Wang Chen with a flawless fit between his Physique and Divine Soul.
• Wang Chen gained two Physique points and achieved a Vajra Indestructible body.

The theft of the Great Majestic Heavenly Dragon’s reverse scale forced Heavenly Dragon Temple to stop promoting the Heavenly Dragon Vajra Righteous Dharma, while Wang Chen gained an unexplained 500,000 Unsealing Points. After selling his possessions to buy Vajra Butter and stabilizing his Vajra Indestructible body, Wang Chen went to accept a sect mission.

• The abbot calmed the rampaging Heavenly Dragon in the True Soul Painting and discovered its reverse scale had been stolen.
• The abbot ordered Heavenly Dragon Temple to recall copies of the Heavenly Dragon Vajra Righteous Dharma and raised the price of Vajra Butter fivefold.
• Wang Chen saw that the Primordial Dao Stele had gained 500,000 Unsealing Points after he suppressed the Heavenly Dragon True Form.
• Wang Chen sold possessions across Yunyang City and the Outer Sect cities, then used the proceeds to buy 176 bottles of Vajra Butter.
• Wang Chen spent three days stabilizing his Vajra Indestructible body before heading to the Sect Affairs Hall to accept a mission.

Wang Chen traveled to a Ruined City to hunt Evil Spirits for sect contributions, but rejected the city itself as too dangerous. He found a Black tier Ghost Groom leading a wedding procession and killed it with the Fire Crow Sword.

• Wang Chen accepted long-term tasks to hunt Gray-Eyed Bandits and collect Yin Qi Beads, then headed for the Ruined City.
• Wang Chen waited until nightfall and saw ghostly lanterns reveal a bustling illusion inside the ruins, but decided the spirit there was not a suitable target.
• Wang Chen encountered a Ghost Groom leading a wedding procession toward the Ruined City and recognized it as a Black tier malevolent spirit.
• Wang Chen attacked with the Fire Crow Sword, burned through the Ghost Groom's defenses, and killed it along with its white horse.
• Wang Chen gained 95 Human Virtue.

Wang Chen destroyed Ghost Groom and the wedding procession’s Evil Spirits, then fled when a colossal being emerged from Ruined City to avenge the groom. He escaped the first strike, but the massive threat remained behind him.

• Wang Chen killed Ghost Groom with the Fire Crow Flying Sword and gained Sword Control Technique experience.
• Wang Chen used Exorcism Talismans and Vajra Fist to kill the Shapeshifting Fiends and pursue the fleeing Lantern Puppets, raising his Human Virtue points above three hundred.
• The Ghost Matchmaker ambushed Wang Chen with Yin Baleful spikes, but he trapped and destroyed her with the Heavenly Net to Punish Evil, which yielded a Yin Qi Bead.
• Wang Chen stopped pursuing the remaining Lantern Puppets when they fled into Ruined City and chose to retreat.
• A colossal being burst out of the ground in Ruined City and roared that someone had killed its groom.
• Wang Chen fled northwest with Shadowless Divine Movement as the being’s enormous palm smashed down where he had stood.

A giant Grudge-level Evil Spirit sent Gray-Eyed Bandits after Wang Chen to capture him alive. Wang Chen prepared the battlefield with Exorcism Talismans and attacked with fire crows, but the bandits evaded some of his spells and surrounded him with Wind Blades.

• A giant Evil Spirit emerged from the earth near Ruined City, released Gray-Eyed Bandits from blood cocoons, and ordered them to bring Wang Chen back alive.
• Wang Chen fled into the wilderness, sensed pursuers closing in, and recognized a chance to gain Human Virtue points by fighting them.
• Wang Chen scattered Exorcism Talismans to fill the battlefield with pure Yang energy and summoned six fire crows with the Fire Crow Technique.
• The fire crows struck three Gray-Eyed Bandits, while the others dodged and launched a barrage of Wind Blades at Wang Chen.
• Wang Chen blocked the Wind Blades with a spiritual shield as more Gray-Eyed Bandits appeared around him.