Chapter Summaries

Zhang Shi brought Zhang Chen’s family to Shen Qiu aboard the great ship and asked him for a Life-Protecting Pill, claiming they were descendants of the Upper Capital Zhang Family. Shen Qiu refused to provide the pill without proof and said he would have them escorted to the Zhang Family for verification.

• Zhang Shi persuaded the passenger ship’s steward to take her and the children to Shen Qiu, citing an urgent matter involving a Zhang Family descendant.
• Shen Qiu received Zhang Shi while playing chess with Jiang Nan and listened as she explained Zhang Chen’s situation and asked for a pill.
• Zhang Shi said the children’s ability to control Ghost Spirit Power proved their Zhang Family bloodline, but Shen Qiu privately feared that Zhang Chen might claim a share of the family fortune.
• Shen Qiu rejected the bloodline claim as insufficient proof and refused to hand over his Life-Protecting Pill.
• Shen Qiu said he would send Zhang Shi and the children to the Capital Zhang Family to verify their identity before considering the request.

Shen Qiu refused to help Zhang Chen directly, while Jiang Nan gave Zhang Shi a life-saving elixir and agreed to search for Zhang Family members. The family waited for Zhang Chen to awaken, but his soul remained missing and finding help proved difficult.

• Shen Qiu offered the Eight Treasures Heart-Locking Elixir only if Zhang Chen's bloodline was verified in the capital, and refused to save him before then.
• Jiang Nan inferred that Zhang Chen's identity was genuine and sent him the elixir her mother had left her.
• Zhang Shi gave the elixir to Zhang Chen, and Cheng Yu said the family could only wait while suspecting someone had taken his soul.
• After receiving no news of Zhang Family members along the route, Zhang Shi returned to ask Jiang Nan for help.
• Jiang Nan agreed to send people to search for Zhang Family members, and Zhang Shi thanked her for her kindness.

Shen Qiu ordered his steward to maneuver Zhang Shi into burning Zhang Chen’s body without directly using force. After the steward tampered with the ice preserving the corpse, pustules and a foul odor appeared, prompting passengers to demand cremation; the steward arrived as the crowd confronted Zhang Shi’s family.

• Shen Qiu told his steward to find a way to persuade the Zhang Family to burn Zhang Chen’s body while avoiding direct action.
• The steward brought Zhang Shi ice that he had tampered with, and Zhang Chen’s body developed pustules and a corpse stench the next day.
• Cheng Yu and Zhang Shi’s family rejected the passengers’ claims that Zhang Chen had a plague and refused to burn his body.
• Passengers demanded that the steward resolve the supposed plague, and he emerged as the crowd’s anger rose.

Zhang Shi and her children left the Shen family ship to protect Zhang Chen’s body, and Shen Qiu secretly arranged for the authorities to intercept them. Zhang Chen revived in the carriage and rushed to find Cheng Yu, who had fought the Cao Gang and was preparing to face another enemy alone.

• The Shen family steward pressured Zhang Shi to cremate Zhang Chen, but she refused and chose to leave the ship with her family.
• Shen Qiu told the steward to secretly alert local authorities that Zhang Shi’s family were Imperial Criminals so they would be arrested and sent north.
• Zhang Chen regained consciousness in the carriage as Zhang Tuowei and Zhang Fei grieved over him, and Zhang Shi rejoiced when she saw him alive.
• Zhang Shi told Zhang Chen that Cheng Yu had gone ahead to deal with bandits, so Zhang Chen vanished from the carriage and headed toward the fighting.
• After defeating the Cao Gang, a wounded Cheng Yu faced Zhang Chen’s arrival as she prepared to fight another powerful enemy.

After breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm, Zhang Chen reunited with Cheng Yu and his family, then began exploring the Primordial Spirit’s ability to perceive the Heaven and Earth Laws. He ended the chapter projecting his Primordial Spirit and seeing a strange new world.

• Cheng Yu, badly wounded after fighting her way toward Zhang Chen, fainted when she found him alive, and he healed her and carried her back to Zhang Shi.
• Zhang Chen reassured Zhang Shi, Zhang Fei, and Zhang Tuowei, then learned that Jiang Nan had helped them escape the boat and suspected Shen Qiu had tried to keep him from reaching Jinling.
• Zhang Chen examined his new Nascent Soul cultivation and considered how his Primordial Spirit differed from Yin and Yang Spirits.
• Cheng Yu awoke healed, thanked Zhang Chen for promising to repay her kindness, and chased after him when he teased her by rubbing her head.
• That night, Zhang Chen projected his Primordial Spirit and saw a world unlike any he had encountered before.

Zhang Chen discovered that he could perceive Heaven and Earth Laws, but his Primordial Spirit could endure the strain for only a hundred breaths. The Great Sovereign Demon King taught him the Nascent Soul Entrustment Method and urged him to entrust his Primordial Spirit to the Heaven Reaching Jianmu, leaving Zhang Chen to weigh its importance to his future cultivation.

• Zhang Chen saw Heaven and Earth Laws as threads and recognized those tied to Divine Ability Power he already possessed.
• Zhang Chen’s Primordial Spirit grew exhausted after a short period of observing the laws, and the Great Sovereign Demon King explained that a supplementary secret art could extend the time.
• The Great Sovereign Demon King passed Zhang Chen the Nascent Soul Entrustment Method, which required an innate object or treasure to serve as a vessel for his Primordial Spirit.
• Zhang Chen considered several treasures, including the Golden Twisting Scissors, Yin Yang Millstone, Buzhou Seal, and Elixir Furnace, as possible entrustment objects.
• The Great Sovereign Demon King recommended the Heaven Reaching Jianmu, arguing that it could grow alongside Zhang Chen and provide the innate foundation needed to reach a supreme realm.

Zhang Chen imprinted his Primordial Spirit on the Heaven Reaching Jianmu sapling and discovered that it strengthened his cultivation and comprehension of the laws. He began nourishing his treasures with Innate Qi and considered how to find a body-tempering method, deciding he could eventually create his own path by studying the Heaven and Earth Laws.

• Zhang Chen placed a spiritual imprint on the Heaven Reaching Jianmu sapling, gaining preliminary control over it.
• Zhang Chen extended the sapling’s roots into Ba Snake Space, restoring the Ascension Pool’s production of Innate liquid, and used Time Power to accelerate its growth.
• Zhang Chen used the sapling’s aid to comprehend the Heaven and Earth Laws for an hour, then learned that his Primordial Spirit had gained innate aptitude.
• Zhang Chen fed Innate Qi to the Heaven and Earth Treasure Mirror, Ascension Pool, Elixir Furnace, and Golden Twisting Scissors, awakening mysterious functions in the treasures.
• Zhang Chen asked Great Sovereign Demon King about his next cultivation steps, then considered seeking the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art or forging his own path through studying the laws.

Zhang Chen considered how to obtain the arts needed to forge a Dharma Body and learned that the Great Black Dog had likely fallen into the Material World. As he and his family traveled onward, he noticed the spread of the Incense Divine Path and approached a suspicious checkpoint, unsure whether money could keep the constables from causing trouble.

• Zhang Chen concluded that the Great Black Dog might know where to find Mysterious Art Transformations and Giant Sky Opening, and the Great Sovereign Demon King said the dog was likely in the Material World.
• Zhang Chen discovered his family had little money, went to the battlefield to collect silver from the bandits’ corpses, and planned to grow medicinal herbs for income.
• Zhang Chen and Cheng Yu saw gods rising through the Incense Divine Path and discussed its risks and the growing hardships ordinary people would face.
• Zhang Chen spotted constables inspecting travelers at a roadside checkpoint and led his family toward them, hoping money could resolve the problem.

Zhang Chen’s group was exposed at a checkpoint, but he subdued the officials and spared them. He investigated the travel-permit leak in Guangji Prefecture, ruled out the permit broker, and left still uncertain how the court had learned their information.

• An official recognized Zhang Chen’s travel permit and ordered his group seized, so Zhang Chen buried the officials in the earth and took the documents naming his group as fugitives.
• Zhang Chen spared the officials, reasoning that they were only following orders, and warned Cheng Yu that more officials might block their route.
• Zhang Chen used the Heaven and Earth Treasure Mirror to locate the boy who had arranged their permits and confronted him at home.
• The boy denied leaking the information, and Zhang Chen threatened his mother to test his claim; the boy insisted he knew nothing, so Zhang Chen vanished without harming her.
• The boy’s blind mother awoke able to see after Zhang Chen secretly restored her sight, while Zhang Chen concluded that the leak had likely come from his family’s actions during his absence.

After suspecting the Shen Family had arranged for his family to be intercepted, Zhang Chen forged travel permits and questioned the County Magistrate, but learned the tip had been sent anonymously. He led his family past checkpoints under concealed identities, and by winter they reached the outskirts of Jinling City.

• Zhang Chen questioned Zhang Shi about what happened after he fell unconscious and concluded that Shen Qiu was likely behind the trouble with their journey.
• Zhang Chen entered the county office, forged travel permits, and discovered that the County Magistrate was pursuing the Incense Divine Path.
• Zhang Chen used the Blood Control Technique to stop the County Magistrate’s divine power and learned that an anonymous person had reported the family.
• Zhang Chen returned to camp, noticed the Demon Horse absorbing moon essence, and later gave his family forged travel permits with new identities.
• Zhang Chen sent a hunting falcon ahead and guided his family around checkpoints, using their abilities when necessary to avoid inspection.
• Zhang Chen’s family traveled from summer into winter and reached the outskirts of Jinling City.

Zhang Chen reached Jinling City with his family but found its gates too strictly guarded for their flawed Travel Permits. He used the Heaven and Earth Treasure Mirror to locate Jiang Nan, accidentally spied on her while she bathed, and left her alerted to the intrusion.

• Zhang Chen surveyed Jinling City and recognized the strength of its five tenth-rank deities before deciding to visit the Shen Family despite the danger.
• Zhang Chen went ahead to inspect the city gates and found that guards carefully checked travelers' permits, accents, appearances, and physiques.
• Zhang Chen returned to camp, where Cheng Yu suggested asking the young lady from Guangji for help, and Zhang Shi gave him her sachet to trace her aura.
• Zhang Chen used the Heaven and Earth Treasure Mirror on the sachet and accidentally saw Jiang Nan bathing.
• Jiang Nan's jade detected the spying, and she dressed quickly, wondering who had used divine power against her.

Zhang Chen secured Jiang Nan’s help to bring his family into Jinling City, then traveled with them to the city gates. As they prepared to enter, Zhang Chen promised Zhang Shi that the family would stay together.

• Zhang Chen visited Jiang Nan, explained that his family could not enter Jinling City, and accepted her offer to bring them inside in her carriage the next morning.
• Jiang Nan blushed after realizing Zhang Chen had secretly watched her, while Zhang Chen understood the misunderstanding and left embarrassed.
• Zhang Chen returned to his family and told them Jiang Nan would help them enter the city; Zhang Shi gave him a woven pouch for his Elixir Furnace, and the others asked her to make pouches for them too.
• The family camped outside Jinling City overnight, then followed Jiang Nan’s carriage toward the gates after they opened at daybreak.
• Zhang Shi suggested that Zhang Chen and the children acknowledge their kin at the Shen Family while she found work elsewhere, but Zhang Chen insisted they would not separate.

Zhang Chen's family followed the Shen Family's outing to Jinling, where Jiang Nan arranged a way for them to enter the city. She told Zhang Chen that his cousin Zhang Gaoqiu was in Jinling for Mystic Academy's selection, and Zhang Chen decided to seek admission after building up his skills in seclusion.

• Zhang Chen reassured Zhang Shi that he would protect and provide for her as the family followed the Shen Family's carriage.
• At the lakeside, Zhang Chen observed Jiang Nan with the Shen Family's young people and noticed an unusual evil aura around Zhang Gaoqiu.
• After the Shen Family's party departed by boat, Jiang Nan invited Zhang Chen's family to hide in her carriage and told him Zhang Gaoqiu was his cousin from the Capital Zhang Family.
• Jiang Nan explained that Zhang Gaoqiu had failed Mystic Academy's capital selection and was in Jinling to try again, urging Zhang Chen to pursue the academy's opportunities.
• Zhang Chen entered the carriage with his family and decided to spend ten years improving his skills before seeking admission to Mystic Academy.

Zhang Chen witnessed the Red-Clad Woman’s private moment, which stirred his desires and led the Great Sovereign Demon King to warn him that his Six Thieves had awakened. After bringing his family into Jinling City and settling them at an inn, Zhang Chen began preparing to visit the Shen Family and sought a way to earn money.

• Zhang Chen watched Zhang Gaoqiu and the Red-Clad Woman in the forest, then was discovered and chased away after a bug landed on her exposed skin.
• Zhang Chen struggled to meditate, and the Great Sovereign Demon King explained that his awakened Six Thieves could drain his Essence, Qi, and Spirit.
• Zhang Chen followed the Shen Family’s convoy back to Jinling City and reunited with Zhang Shi, Cheng Yu, Zhang Tuowei, and Zhang Fei.
• Zhang Chen booked rooms at an inn, fed his family, and told Zhang Shi they should prepare gifts before visiting the Shen Family.
• Zhang Chen bought one hundred ginseng seeds and used his Ascension Pool to grow them, then ordered new clothes for his family.

Zhang Chen cultivated ginseng with Time Power and Innate Qi, then sold the exceptional specimen at Shangjia Medical Clinic. He left with thirteen thousand taels of silver, avoiding attention while the clinic kept the ginseng for a possible sale to Chongzheng Academy’s Dean Zhou.

• Zhang Chen used the Ascension Pool, Innate Qi, and Time Power to grow abundant ginseng, then stored the harvest and rested at an inn.
• Zhang Chen brought a huge specimen to Shangjia Medical Clinic, where Wang Chong recognized its exceptional quality and mentioned Dean Zhou’s reward for rare ginseng.
• Wang Dan inspected and tasted the ginseng, then offered Zhang Chen thirteen thousand taels of silver or the option of taking it to Chongzheng Academy for Dean Zhou to name a price.
• Wang Dan warned Zhang Chen that selling the ginseng elsewhere could attract dangerous attention, and Zhang Chen agreed to sell it to the clinic.
• Wang Chong paid Zhang Chen in banknotes and loose silver, and Zhang Chen left without counting the money.

Zhang Chen brought his family to the Shen Residence to visit his maternal grandmother, the Old Madam, but Zhang Gaoqiu denied knowing him and ordered the guards to attack. Zhang Chen took control of the lead guard with a drop of blood as the confrontation began.

• Zhang Chen spent his newly acquired silver on gifts and set out with his family for the Shen Residence, bringing a gaunt Demon Horse as a meeting gift for his fiancée.
• At the Shen Residence gates, a guard demanded five taels to deliver Zhang Chen’s message and doubted his claim that the Old Madam was his maternal grandmother.
• Zhang Chen identified himself as the son of Zhang KeCheng, but Zhang Gaoqiu pretended not to know him and called him a swindler.
• Zhang Gaoqiu ordered the guards to drive Zhang Chen away, then hurried inside while worrying that Zhang Chen’s arrival would disrupt his plans.
• As the guards charged, Zhang Chen sent a drop of blood to possess and control the lead guard.

Zhang Chen brought his family to the Shen mansion, where Wang Xifeng recognized him as the son of the eldest young lady and arranged for his identity to be checked. After settling into his mother’s former courtyard, Zhang Chen met his Second Uncle, Shen Xu, who welcomed the family but said they must first be examined for possession.

• Captain Lai stopped the guards and reported Zhang Chen’s arrival to Lai Changrong, who learned that Zhang Chen was Zhang KeCheng’s son and had a marriage agreement with the Shen family’s eldest daughter.
• Wang Xifeng recognized Zhang Chen as the eldest young lady’s son and ordered Lai Changrong to bring him inside for identity verification.
• Lai Changrong led Zhang Chen and his family into the mansion and settled them in Litchi Fragrance Garden, his mother’s former residence.
• Shen Xu met Zhang Chen and welcomed his family after recognizing his resemblance to Zhang KeCheng and his mother.
• Zhang Chen introduced Zhang Fei as his own little sister and explained how Zhang Shi had raised them through hardship.
• Shen Xu examined Zhang Chen and Zhang Tuowei and said they must also be checked for possession before the verification could proceed.

After Shen Xu confirmed Zhang Chen’s bloodline and soul, Shen Ling confronted him over their engagement and his past misconduct, while Zhang Chen learned she was his fiancée. Shen Ling stormed away but turned back to attack him, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• Shen Xu tested Zhang Chen with a jade disk, confirmed his bloodline and soul were genuine, and invited him to meet the old madam the next day.
• Qing Que told Shen Ling that her fiancé Zhang Chen had arrived, and Shen Ling resolved to make him cancel their engagement because she loved Zhang Gaoqiu.
• Shen Ling stormed into Zhang Chen’s residence with Jiang Nan and attacked him with her sword, but Jiang Nan restrained her.
• Shen Ling insulted Zhang Chen and demanded that he break off the engagement, while Zhang Chen rebuked her for her crude behavior.
• Jiang Nan dragged Shen Ling away, but Shen Ling turned back with her sword as Zhang Chen planned to retrieve his mother’s belongings and leave the Shen Family’s affairs behind.

Zhang Chen and his family met the Shen Family’s Grand Matriarch, who urged him to marry Shen Ling, but Shen Ling rejected him and Shen Zhen revealed she had already been promised to Zhang Gaoqiu. Zhang Chen demanded the return of his mother’s betrothal gifts, while the Shen elders postponed the decision and tried to find a compromise.

• Lai Changrong brought Zhang Chen and his family to meet the Grand Matriarch, who welcomed them and promised to provide for their needs.
• The Grand Matriarch told Zhang Chen to marry Shen Ling, but Shen Ling refused and was slapped before storming out.
• Shen Zhen revealed that Shen Ling had privately pledged herself to Zhang Gaoqiu, and he apologized to Zhang Chen for the situation.
• Zhang Chen said he would accept ending the engagement if the Shen Family returned the betrothal gifts his mother had left behind.
• Wang Xifeng proposed choosing another Shen Family girl for Zhang Chen, but he rejected the offer and insisted on the return of the gifts if Shen Ling would not marry him.
• The Grand Matriarch postponed the marriage decision, and Zhang Shi protested that promising Shen Ling to two men would humiliate Zhang Chen and damage the Shen Family’s reputation.

Shen Zhen and the Shen Family promised to protect Zhang Chen from the officials who came seeking an Imperial Criminal, while Shen Ling revealed that the family wanted the treasure his mother left behind. Zhang Chen stayed in Jinling to investigate the treasure and received new identity documents as Shen Chen, though he suspected the Shen Family would not let him leave.

• Shen Zhen persuaded Zhang Chen to remain in the Shen Residence and assured him that the arranged marriage to Shen Ling would proceed.
• Steward Lai reported that Jinling Prefecture officials had arrived with a writ seeking an Imperial Criminal, and the Shen Family vowed to shield Zhang Chen and arrange a false identity.
• At Litchi Fragrance Garden, Shen Ling told Zhang Chen that her uncles wanted his mother's treasure and had used Zhang Gaoqiu to try to break its restriction.
• Zhang Chen decided not to act recklessly against the Shen Family, whose rear compound held the aura of a tenth-rank god, and planned to find and take the treasure.
• Shen Xu gave Zhang Chen new household registration documents identifying him and his family as members of the Shen family, with Zhang Chen renamed Shen Chen.