Chapter Summaries

Qi Yuan, the only disciple of Seven Colors Peak, attended Shinguang Sect’s recruitment ceremony despite waking late. As the new disciples prepared to choose a peak, Kang Fulu introduced the five peaks and their chief disciples.

• Qi Yuan ignored the morning bells, woke late, and headed down Seven Colors Peak to represent his peak at recruitment.
• Qi Yuan saw unusual information about a blade of grass and recalled that his eyes revealed hidden flaws and dangers in cultivation arts.
• Kang Fulu and the other chief disciples waited for Qi Yuan before beginning the recruitment ceremony.
• Qi Yuan arrived late and explained that he had gone to sleep too late the previous night.
• Kang Fulu introduced the five peaks and their chief disciples, then showcased his own accomplishments at Five Lights Peak.

At the Shinguang Sect’s disciple-selection ceremony, Qi Yuan assessed the seven Rank A newcomers and rejected them one by one. Jiang Lingsu, who had come to Seven Colors Peak after seeing a vision of catastrophe in the Universe Mirror, persuaded him to accept her.

• Newcomers with Rank B and Rank C evaluations chose their peaks, while the seven Rank A disciples waited for the senior disciples to select them.
• Zhuge Miao announced that Seven Colors Peak would choose first, and Kang Fulu worried Qi Yuan might take the talented black-clad youth he favored.
• Qi Yuan inspected the seven candidates and rejected them for reasons including suspicious motives, dangerous circumstances, and one girl’s interest in his master.
• Jiang Lingsu pleaded to join Seven Colors Peak, explaining that she had come after the Universe Mirror showed her a future catastrophe that the peak might survive.
• Jiang Lingsu offered to serve as Qi Yuan’s maid, and he agreed to accept her.

Qi Yuan accepted Jiang Lingsu as his junior sister and brought her to Seven Colors Peak, where she learned that Master Ruan Yixi could not be seen until they reached Core Formation. The chapter left Jiang Lingsu facing the prospect of building her own thatched cottage while Qi Yuan went about his plans.

• Qi Yuan agreed to take Jiang Lingsu as his junior sister, then offered to discuss Zhuge Miao’s Nourishing Essence Pill formula at dusk in exchange for a Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object.
• Zhuge Miao said Qi Yuan’s past insights had helped him, while Madman doubted Qi Yuan’s abilities and Xu Yiyi suggested he might have unusual insights.
• Jiang Lingsu asked Qi Yuan about Ruan Yixi, and he described his master as exquisitely beautiful and as having a good figure.
• Qi Yuan told Jiang Lingsu that Ruan Yixi lived at the summit and that they could not visit her until they reached Core Formation.
• Qi Yuan told Jiang Lingsu to use straw and wood in his courtyard to build herself a Thatched Cottage.

Jiang Lingsu built a thatched cottage at Qi Yuan’s insistence, then visited him to ask for Seven Colors Peak’s cultivation technique. Qi Yuan revealed that he was cultivating through his Game Jade Slip and warned that the peak’s technique was poisonous before handing her an incomplete version.

• Qi Yuan told Jiang Lingsu to build her own thatched cottage, and she reluctantly gathered materials and finished it.
• Jiang Lingsu entered Qi Yuan’s room and saw him playing with a Game Jade Slip.
• Jiang Lingsu asked what Qi Yuan was obsessed with, and he said he was obsessed with the game.
• Jiang Lingsu asked for Seven Colors Peak’s cultivation technique, and Qi Yuan warned her that it was poisonous.
• Qi Yuan gave Jiang Lingsu a jade slip containing the original first half of the technique and his unfinished revisions to the rest.

Jiang Lingsu questioned Qi Yuan’s claim that he could modify cultivation techniques, then examined his altered Seven Colors Flame Refining Art. Meanwhile, Qi Yuan cleared the Xuanyuan Forbidden Area in his game and received rewards, leaving him with a Divine Brush and fragments of Heavenly Dao.

• Jiang Lingsu accepted Qi Yuan’s technique jade slip and warned him not to alter or recklessly cultivate the art.
• Jiang Lingsu inspected the Seven Colors Flame Refining Art and noticed that Qi Yuan had modified its latter portion.
• Qi Yuan slaughtered demons in the Xuanyuan Forbidden Area, where his game strength helped improve his cultivation in reality.
• Qi Yuan entered Xuanyuan Hall and defeated the final Mad Pen boss with his Summer Eight Slashes technique.
• The Xuanyuan Forbidden Area dungeon was cleared, and Qi Yuan received ten fragments of Heavenly Dao and a Divine Brush.

Qi Yuan used a Fragment of Heavenly Dao and a Divine Brush to add a ladder-entry rule to Xuanyuan Forbidden Area, then went out walking his pet Kitchen Knife. After Zhuge Miao defended him from mockery and brought him an incomplete Nourishing Essence Pill formula, Qi Yuan examined it and identified changes that could improve the pill.

• Qi Yuan accepted the Fragment of Heavenly Dao, which gave him authority over Xuanyuan Forbidden Area, and used the Divine Brush to write a rule allowing anyone carrying a ladder to enter.
• Qi Yuan left Seven Colors Peak to walk his leashed Kitchen Knife and invited Jiang Lingsu to come along, but she refused after seeing his unusual pet.
• Qi Yuan encountered a long-legged Shinguang Sect disciple walking her spirit beast, Little Ao, and said it might develop spiritual intelligence in a few thousand years while his Kitchen Knife could awaken within a year.
• Zhuge Miao rebuked the onlookers for laughing at Qi Yuan and apologized for arriving late to see him.
• Zhuge Miao gave Qi Yuan an incomplete Nourishing Essence Pill formula and offered a Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object for his advice.
• Qi Yuan suggested replacing Zhu Huang with Ligustrum and the missing Yang Gu with Xiao Tai Hua, which would improve the pill's effects by fifty percent and reduce its toxicity.

Qi Yuan identified flaws in Zhuge Miao’s Nourishing Essence Pill formula and received an Amethyst Jade Bamboo as payment. Zhuge Miao later learned Xu Langhu had found the complete formula, but decided to compare it with Qi Yuan’s advice and test both by refining pills.

• Qi Yuan suggested replacing Zhu Huang with ligustrum and adding Yang Gu, or Xiao Tai Hua instead, to improve Zhuge Miao’s Nourishing Essence Pill formula.
• Zhuge Miao gave Qi Yuan an eighth-grade Amethyst Jade Bamboo as payment and warned him that offending Ruan Yixi had cost him valuable support.
• Qi Yuan refused to apologize to Ruan Yixi, then left with his Kitchen Knife after Zhuge Miao stopped him from saying more.
• Xu Langhu arrived with a complete Nourishing Essence Pill formula and protested that Zhuge Miao had traded the Amethyst Jade Bamboo to Qi Yuan.
• Zhuge Miao defended his decision and said he would compare the complete formula with Qi Yuan’s advice and refine several batches of pills.

Qi Yuan reconnected with his long-lost online friend, Jin Li, the Empress of the Nanqian Kingdom, through the Exquisite Jade Tide. Their casual conversation revealed that Qi Yuan had been exploring the Four Great Forbidden Areas, alarming Jin Li.

• Qi Yuan returned to Seven Colors Peak, freed the Kitchen Knife, and entered the Game Jade Slip.
• Qi Yuan saw his missing friend online and messaged her, recalling their past conversations and lost chance to play together.
• Jin Li, exhausted by political threats and Aunt Qin’s serious injury, recognized Qi Yuan’s message through the Exquisite Jade Tide and replied.
• Qi Yuan invited Jin Li to hunt monsters together, and she explained that she was bathing and could not leave.
• Qi Yuan told Jin Li he had been in Xuanyuan Forbidden Area and was heading to Attire Forbidden Area, leaving her stunned by the danger of those places.

Qi Yuan told Jin Li that he had cleared Xuanyuan Forbidden Area and reached Attire Forbidden Area, leaving her intrigued enough to request records about the forbidden area. Meanwhile, Sima Ting confronted the injured Aunt Qin and declared that Jin Li was no longer fit to rule Nanqian Kingdom.

• Qi Yuan told Jin Li he had spent over half a year clearing Xuanyuan Forbidden Area and described its strongest monster, the Mad Pen.
• Qi Yuan explained that Xuanyuan Forbidden Area could be entered by carrying a ladder, then ended their conversation after arriving at Attire Forbidden Area.
• Jin Li worried over Nanqian Kingdom’s internal and external threats, including the southern war and the Southern Feng Crown Prince’s impending visit.
• Jin Li ordered a maid to bring her every Library Pavilion record concerning Xuanyuan Forbidden Area.
• Sima Ting visited the injured Aunt Qin and argued that Jin Li had lost the right to remain Empress.

Jin Li searched the records for a way to enter the Xuanyuan Forbidden Area and found a description matching the creature Qi Yuan had called Mad Pen, making her suspect he had truly been there. With Aunt Qin gravely wounded and the duel approaching, Jin Li prepared to leave the palace for the forbidden area while Qi Yuan stood among strange creatures in the Attire Forbidden Area.

• Sima Ting threatened Aunt Qin for the Imperial Treasury key and warned that the Southern Feng Crown Prince would arrive before the duel, then left after grievously wounding her.
• Jin Li read records about the Xuanyuan Forbidden Area and learned that its Nine Flower Qi Luo could heal Aunt Qin and perhaps help her reach the emperor rank.
• Jin Li found a record describing a fox-tailed, pen-like creature that attacked at night and recognized it as Mad Pen, the beast Qi Yuan had described.
• Jin Li messaged Qi Yuan to ask whether he had really entered the Xuanyuan Forbidden Area, but he did not reply.
• Jin Li ordered preparations to leave the palace the next day and sent Qilin Guard to investigate the Attire Forbidden Area.
• Qi Yuan stood in the Attire Forbidden Area with the Great Treasure Sword on his shoulder, examining the strange creatures ahead.

Qi Yuan escaped from the Attire Forbidden Area, reassured Jin Li that the Xuanyuan Forbidden Area was safe, and then logged off. The next morning, he asked Jiang Lingsu for techniques to help him create his own cultivation method, leaving with a jade slip full of them.

• Qi Yuan fled from the Clothing Monsters in the Attire Forbidden Area, then dug a pit to hide in and told Jin Li she could safely enter the Xuanyuan Forbidden Area with a ladder.
• Qi Yuan logged off after telling Jin Li he would hunt monsters again tomorrow, and Jin Li wished him a safe night.
• Sima Ting learned that Jin Li had sought information about the Xuanyuan Forbidden Area and ordered people to follow her.
• Qi Yuan woke early and met Jiang Lingsu, who teased him about looking weak.
• Qi Yuan asked Jiang Lingsu for hundreds of techniques so he could create his own cultivation method, and she lent him a Technique Jade Slip.

Qi Yuan created the Qi Yuan Sutra after studying cultivation techniques, then fell asleep wondering about Jin Li. At the Xuanyuan Forbidden Area, Jin Li followed his advice to carry ladders and watched prisoners walk through its supposedly impassable barrier, while Hua Yue went to deal with spies watching them.

• Qi Yuan studied the techniques in Jiang Lingsu's jade slip for two days and created the flawed Qi Yuan Sutra, which could be cultivated to Qi Refining Completion without turning its cultivator into Resources.
• Exhausted, Qi Yuan fell asleep before entering the Game Jade Slip and wondered how Jin Li was doing.
• Jin Li arrived at the Xuanyuan Forbidden Area with her Imperial Guards, three death-row prisoners, and ladders, despite hearing that nothing unusual had happened inside.
• Jin Li ordered the prisoners to carry their ladders toward the barrier, following Qi Yuan's claim that doing so might let them enter.
• The prisoners carrying ladders passed through the barrier, astonishing Jin Li, her guards, and two men spying for Grand Chancellor Sima Ting.
• Jin Li ordered Hua Yue to deal with the spies as she watched the forbidden area with a complicated expression.

Jin Li and her Imperial Guards entered the Xuanyuan Forbidden Area by carrying ladders, confirming Qi Yuan’s method worked and allowing them to gather abundant Spiritual Herbs. They set out for the depths to find Emperor Grade medicines, especially Nine Flower Qi Luo, while the beasts continued to avoid them.

• Jin Li ordered the guards to keep the ladder method secret and watched prisoners enter the forbidden area, where an Azure Gang Tiger killed two but spared the one clutching a ladder.
• Jin Li recognized that Qi Yuan had told her the truth and led the Imperial Guards into the forbidden area with their ladders.
• The group harvested numerous Spiritual Herbs, including twenty-three King Grade Spiritual Medicines in one hour.
• Jin Li decided to venture into the depths for Emperor Grade Spiritual Medicines and Nine Flower Qi Luo to heal Aunt Qin and help her advance.
• Jin Li and the guards walked deeper among ferocious beasts that avoided them, prompting the Imperial Guard Commander to wonder who had revealed the ladder method.

Qi Yuan returned Jiang Lingsu’s Technique Jade Slip and went to a lecture to learn about Foundation Establishment as he worked on his cultivation technique. The lecture introduced him to Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment, which the teacher admitted he knew little about and began to speculate on.

• Qi Yuan told Jiang Lingsu he had created a cultivation technique that could currently be cultivated only to Qi Refining Completion, and she warned him not to alter techniques carelessly.
• Qi Yuan went to a Shinguang Sect lecture to learn about Foundation Establishment grades and found himself the center of attention as Seven Colors Peak’s chief senior disciple.
• Xu Renshan explained the grades of Foundation Establishment and said Immortal Grade Foundation Establishment could offer hope of becoming a true immortal.
• Qi Yuan asked Xu Renshan about Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment, and Xu Renshan admitted he had only guesses before beginning to explain them.

Xu Renshan explained that Heaven Vein Qi could enable Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment, while Qi Yuan concluded that he needed to use Heavenly Dao itself and considered whether his Fragment of Heavenly Dao could serve. He returned to the game to seek more fragments, but after killing a group of Attire Demons, he discovered that a large force had detected him and was closing in.

• Xu Renshan taught the Shinguang Sect disciples about precious Foundation Establishment Spiritual Objects, and Qi Yuan left after gaining sudden inspiration about Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment.
• Xu Renshan told the disciples that Heaven Vein Qi was the rare object that could enable Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment.
• Qi Yuan reasoned that he needed to refine Heavenly Dao itself and wondered whether the Fragment of Heavenly Dao he obtained in the Xuanyuan Forbidden Area could serve as his Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object.
• Qi Yuan entered the game, messaged Jin Li about the Xuanyuan Forbidden Area, and began hunting Attire Demons in the Attire Forbidden Area to gain experience and seek Heavenly Dao fragments.
• Qi Yuan used his golden sword to kill a dozen low-level Attire Demons, but more than a hundred others rushed toward their location and drew near him, forcing him to flee.

After Qi Yuan asked Jin Li for information about the Attire Forbidden Area, she searched for records and learned Duke Yu had detailed books about it. Jin Li endured three hours of humiliation to obtain the books, leaving with them despite her injured legs.

• Qi Yuan escaped a swarm of Attire Demons and messaged Jin Li about the danger and his questions about the forbidden area's monsters.
• Sima Ting learned that Jin Li had returned to the palace and discussed his plan to seize power after Old Madam Qin was defeated.
• Jin Li read Qi Yuan's messages and promised to search for information about the Attire Forbidden Area.
• Dong Shishun told Jin Li that Duke Yu might have detailed records because the old Duke had visited the forbidden area.
• Jin Li went to Duke Yu's Residence, knelt in mourning for three hours, and left with the books she had sought.

Jin Li found information about the Attire Demons and shared it with Qi Yuan, who learned their connection weakened at night. Their conversation grew more personal as they discussed meeting, Jin Li’s identity as the Empress of Nanqian, and the threats facing her kingdom; Qi Yuan suggested she read the Great Man’s Dragon-Slaying Art.

• Jin Li searched Duke Yu's Residence records, discovered the Attire Demons shared information but were less connected at night, and sent Qi Yuan her findings and a map of dangerous areas.
• Qi Yuan read Jin Li’s messages, realized night might give him an advantage against the Attire Demons, and chatted with her while waiting for darkness.
• Qi Yuan asked what Jin Li looked like and suggested they meet; Jin Li agreed.
• Qi Yuan asked about Jin Li’s identity and difficulties, and she revealed that she was the Empress of the Nanqian Kingdom, threatened by Grand Chancellor Sima Ting, the Northern Khan Royal Court, and demon beasts.
• Qi Yuan advised Jin Li to read the Great Man’s Dragon-Slaying Art, then said it cost only about a hundred jin of grain, leaving her stunned.

Qi Yuan heard that Black Mountain Sect disciples were suspected of murdering families and assaulting brides near Rong City, while the Golden Light Hall went to investigate. At night, he entered the Attire Forbidden Area and discovered that the Attire Demons' senses weakened enough for him to kill them before they woke.

• Qi Yuan told Jin Li he would try to subdue demons in the Attire Forbidden Area to help her, then left the game and planned to grind at night.
• Qi Yuan encountered Golden Light Hall disciples led by Zheng Jianghe as they hurried toward Rong City to investigate a series of murders blamed on Black Mountain Sect disciples.
• Qi Yuan shared chicken soup with Jiang Lingsu before logging into the Attire Forbidden Area after dark.
• Qi Yuan found that the Attire Demons' senses and coordination weakened at night, allowing him to kill the first thirty without detection.
• The Attire Demons woke in confusion, and Qi Yuan recognized the chance to begin hunting them in earnest.

Qi Yuan slaughtered Attire Demons in the Attire Forbidden Area overnight, reached level 84, and fled when they began coordinating their attacks. The next day, he learned that the Black Mountain Sect had taken back Chu Tianxiong after he was captured for heinous crimes, and injured Zheng Jianghe in the process.

• Qi Yuan killed Attire Demons through the night, gained two levels, and buried himself to escape their organized pursuit.
• Qi Yuan messaged Jin Li, logged off before his mind was overwhelmed, and lamented that he was powerful in the game but meek in reality.
• Qi Yuan met Jiang Lingsu, Jiang Ran, and a freckled young woman outside his courtyard and asked what had upset them.
• Jiang Ran and Jiang Lingsu told Qi Yuan that Chu Tianxiong had committed terrible crimes in Rong City, but a Black Mountain Sect elder had taken him from Zheng Jianghe and injured Zheng Jianghe.
• Qi Yuan said villains never had good endings, and Jiang Lingsu affirmed that good and evil would eventually receive their due.

Qi Yuan learned that Shinguang Sect would host a Foundation Establishment Tournament for the rare Yellow Flower Fruit and was ordered to compete on the sect’s behalf. The chapter left him asking the sect master whether the Great Shang Empress was beautiful.

• Jin Li learned that Sima Ting had given Nanfeng Nation’s National Teacher a powerful medicine, threatening Aunt Qin’s chances in their battle six days later.
• Jin Li told Aunt Qin to keep her recovery secret while she searched for a way to increase Aunt Qin’s strength in time.
• Withered Wood True Lord told Qi Yuan that Shinguang Sect would host a Foundation Establishment Tournament in half a month, with the Yellow Flower Fruit as its prize.
• Withered Wood True Lord ordered Qi Yuan to represent Shinguang Sect and try to win the Yellow Flower Fruit, and Qi Yuan reluctantly agreed.
• Qi Yuan stopped before leaving and asked Withered Wood True Lord whether the Great Shang Empress was beautiful.