Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• The Autumn Moon Assessment begins: a written exam on the first day, followed by practical trials in Trauma Medicine, Acupuncture and Moxibustion, and Herbal Medicine. Grade A is exceptionally rare.
• Zhao Xing needs a perfect score. He works through the written questions confidently, drawing on his lessons and medical knowledge; answering them also increases his proficiency in diagnostic analysis.
• A difficult acupuncture question tests whether he understands the difference between moderate and severe lung poisoning. He reasons that a patient who can still breathe should receive direct needling of the Lung Meridian, rather than having it sealed as in the more severe case.
• The exam is disrupted when the county Priest catches a candidate cheating with a wandering ghost hidden in his brush. The candidate is expelled, and Zhao realizes that Spirit Eyes would have let him see the ghost himself.

Character developments

• Zhao Xing shows strong preparation and sound judgment. Rather than simply repeating a memorized treatment, he applies the underlying principles to a subtly different case. His drive for a perfect score remains central.
• Lin Ziwu is capable but anxious about earning a high grade, pressured by his father’s ultimatum to inherit the family business if he fails again.
• Feng Jiangxue and Lü Qingyang, disguised as Pang Yuanzhi, appear composed and confident, reinforcing their standing among Yulin Hall’s strongest candidates.
• Fang Chuan, with only a Grade D result previously, struggles more than the top candidates.
• The cheating incident highlights the Priest’s vigilance and Zhao’s lack of Spirit Eyes, a skill he had never thought necessary to learn.

Significant themes

• Understanding versus rote memorization: Zhao’s success depends on grasping why treatments differ, not merely recalling procedures.
• Merit and pressure: The assessment’s severe grading raises the stakes for ambitious candidates and those facing family expectations.
• Integrity and supernatural deception: The ghost-assisted cheating shows that even a medical examination can involve occult methods, while strict oversight enforces fairness.

Character interactions

• Lin Ziwu confides his worries to Zhao, who reassures him.
• Zhao and the other candidates work under the scrutiny of the exam officials, including the stern county Priest, whose gaze unsettles Zhao.
• The Priest removes the cheating candidate despite his pleas. Other examinees whisper about the ghost, while Zhao observes the aftermath and tries to infer what happened.

Key plot points and events

• After the first day’s written exam, Zhao Xing joins fellow apprentices Yuan Jia and Lin Ziwu to settle a dispute over an answer.
• The examiners reveal that Zhao Xing earned a perfect score. His result impresses Zhong Yue, who jokingly tries to obtain him as an apprentice from Zheng Yulin.
• Realizing Zhao Xing may be capable of advancing unusually quickly, Zheng Yulin considers arranging a special recommendation for him to sit the Dao Examination this year. He asks Zhong Yue for a recommendation slot, but they may also need Lu Wan’s support.
• The second day tests practical trauma medicine at Hundred Beasts Park. Lin Ziwu explains that veterinary medicine is an exceptionally demanding, prestigious specialty, focused on rare beasts and especially valuable to the military and wealthy families.
• Zhao Xing is assigned to treat a White-Eyed Ape at Gathering Yuan Seventh Level. The animal has external injuries, and the examiners instruct him to treat it using the room’s supplies.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhao Xing remains calm and sociable, but his perfect score establishes him as an exceptional candidate and prompts consideration of an early Dao Examination.
• Zheng Yulin moves from pride in his apprentice to seriously weighing whether to seek him an exceptional nomination.
• Zhong Yue is playful and bargaining-minded, but becomes serious when discussing the recommendation. He recognizes that his own influence may not be enough without Lu Wan.
• Lin Ziwu acts as Zhao Xing’s companion and explains the demands and status of veterinary practice.
• The elders’ teasing exchange—especially Zheng Yulin and Zhong Yue’s mock bargaining—shows their familiar, competitive rapport.

Significant themes

• Talent and advancement: Zhao Xing’s outstanding performance may let him bypass the usual pace of training.
• Mentorship and opportunity: His prospects depend not only on ability but also on senior physicians’ recommendations and influence.
• Specialization and social value: Veterinary medicine requires far broader training than human medicine, yet its scarcity and importance to powerful interests bring high status.
• Practical competence: The second exam shifts from written knowledge to treating a valuable, potentially dangerous creature under limited conditions.

Plot points and events

• Zhao Xing examines a badly injured White-Eyed Ape and identifies four challenges: treating multiple wounds, setting fractures, safely removing an arrowhead near a major artery, and treating miasma poisoning.
• He cleans and treats the ape’s bleeding wounds with a fine knife and medicinal powders, then carefully removes the barbed arrowhead. When it tears the artery, he uses acupuncture points, styptic powder, and qi fire to stop the bleeding.
• During the delicate extraction, Zhao Xing’s Fine-Knife Technique advances from level two to level three.
• He resets the ape’s fractured bones and splints its limbs. The ape wakes after roughly two hours, revealing that candidates have only that long to work safely, despite the exam’s stated four-hour duration.
• Examiner Zhong Yue inspects the treatment and finds it exceptionally precise: the bleeding has stopped, the poison has receded, and the wounds are healing well. He praises Zhao Xing’s work and asks about his short period of study.

Character developments

• Zhao Xing demonstrates strong diagnostic ability, practical skill, composure under pressure, and sound judgment about treatment order.
• His technical growth is confirmed by his mid-procedure advancement in Fine-Knife Technique.
• Zhong Yue’s professional respect for Zhao Xing grows, and Zhao Xing responds to his curiosity with modesty and tact.

Themes

• Knowledge put into practice: Zhao Xing’s medical learning becomes effective through careful hands-on work.
• Precision and composure: A mistake during the arrowhead extraction could have killed the ape, but Zhao Xing remains focused.
• Hidden constraints and adaptability: The true deadline is shorter than advertised, so success depends on recognizing risks and adjusting quickly.
• Progress through pressure: Zhao Xing’s skill breakthrough comes while he is fully absorbed in a demanding task.

Character interactions

• Zhao Xing works carefully to keep the ape calm, speaking to it when it wakes; it settles as he finishes bandaging it.
• Zhong Yue and a clerk assess the results, with Zhong Yue’s inspection turning into clear admiration.
• Zhao Xing politely credits his training and flatters Zhong Yue, leaving the examiner favorably disposed toward him.

Plot points and events

• Set before Zhao Xing contracted True Spirit Heavenly Poison, the story follows a separate strand of the larger karma war surrounding him.
• Mountain Cat, Inverted Sheep, and Junni Dog are caught by an ancient Demon Race mechanism that draws powerful beasts into demon kingdoms when they reach certain cultivation thresholds.
• The three are transported to the Celestial Demon Kingdom and imprisoned in a small world inside a spatial bag belonging to the Horned Goat Emperor Lord, a Reincarnation Emperor Lord.
• Mountain Cat wakes first and tries to revive his companions, but cannot break through the barrier protecting Sheep’s consciousness.
• The Emperor Lord questions Mountain Cat about Zhao Xing, hoping the pets might lead him to the target he had meant to capture. When Mountain Cat cannot provide useful information, the Emperor Lord concludes that his spell simply went awry and that the pets have little value to Zhao Xing.
• He plans to take them to the Demon God Hall, then kill them, regarding their service to a human as betrayal of the Demon Race.

Character developments and interactions

• Mountain Cat shifts from alarm to cautious defiance. He threatens the captor by invoking Zhao Xing and other possible rescuers, but restrains himself when the Emperor Lord hurts his companions.
• The Horned Goat Emperor Lord begins with some hope that the pets could help him find Zhao Xing, then grows contemptuous when he learns they have been separated from Zhao Xing for centuries. He treats them as failed mission cargo and presumed traitors.
• Mountain Cat’s attempts to wake Dog and Sheep show his concern for his companions; the Emperor Lord uses their vulnerability to pressure him.

Significant themes

• Fate and unintended consequences: The Emperor Lord’s Karma Attraction Technique misses its intended target and pulls in Zhao Xing’s pets instead.
• Loyalty and identity: The Emperor Lord sees service to a human as disqualifying the pets from belonging to the Demon Race, while Mountain Cat remains loyal to Zhao Xing and protective of his friends.
• Powerlessness and survival: Facing an overwhelmingly stronger captor, Mountain Cat must prioritize endurance and look for a chance to escape.

Key events

• The demon world is divided between the Innate Bloodline School, which prizes natural instincts and beast form, and the Spiritual Bloodline School, which values spiritual cultivation and transformation.
• The Horned Goat Emperor Lord, a hard-line Innate Bloodline follower, bullies a serpent demon for taking human form.
• Reporting to the Demon God Hall, he explains that his mission to investigate a human conflict involving Zhao Xing failed. He presents three captured demons—Proud Sky Cat, Inverted Sheep, and Howling Sky Dog—whom he claims are insignificant to Zhao Xing.
• Divine General Huanli senses a karmic link to Zhao Xing and glimpses that Zhao may become a god. He orders that the three demons be handled under normal procedures, preventing their immediate execution.
• The Horned Goat Emperor Lord instead sends them to the perilous Starfrost Ancient World, disguising their punishment as training. He intimidates the ship’s captain into taking them.

Character developments and interactions

• Horned Goat Emperor Lord shows his prejudice against transformed demons and his vindictiveness when frustrated. He obeys Huanli’s order outwardly but finds a way to endanger the captives.
• Divine General Huanli acts cautiously: he protects the three demons because of their possible future usefulness and his sensed connection to Zhao Xing, while avoiding an open confrontation with the rival faction.
• The serpent demon submits rather than challenge the powerful Emperor Lord.
• The green ox captain recognizes the danger of the assignment but, intimidated and bribed, cannot refuse.

Significant themes

• Ideological conflict within the Demon Race: rival beliefs about nature, transformation, and cultivation shape prejudice and power struggles.
• Power and coercion: weaker demons and officials have little choice when confronting powerful figures.
• Fate and karma: Huanli’s vision suggests Zhao Xing’s future importance and links events across time.
• Cruelty disguised as procedure: the formal order to train the captives becomes a pretext for sending them into deadly danger.

Plot points and events

• The three companions—Mountain Cat, Howling Sky Dog, and Illusory Heaven Sheep—are dumped from a spatial bag aboard a great ship by Yu Qing, an azure-furred bull demon. Mountain Cat lands safely and catches Illusory Heaven, but Howling Sky Dog hits the floor hard.
• After learning that a black goat abducted them, Yu Qing explains that he is taking them to the Starfrost Ancient World for a trial. He gives Mountain Cat a jade slip of information, then leaves them to fend for themselves.
• Mountain Cat reads that they are deep in Demon Race territory and aboard a Void Ancient Ship. The Starfrost Ancient World is a dangerous Nirvana Realm where survival is the trial’s main objective.
• He tries to contact his allies through his hidden Heaven and Earth Treasure Mirror, but the device cannot reach anyone from the void layer. Though it also holds supplies and useful knowledge, he keeps it secret for now.
• Mountain Cat awakens his companions. They discover their belongings and food are gone, and he begins to explain their situation.

Character developments and interactions

• Mountain Cat moves cautiously rather than confronting Yu Qing, recognizing the demon’s power and prioritizing his companions’ safety. He remains worried but forces himself to think clearly and take responsibility for the group.
• Yu Qing is detached from the conflict between the Demon Race’s factions and uninterested in questioning the captives. Still, he follows his duty as their guardian by providing information.
• Heaven Defier is alarmed by how far from home they have been taken, but steadies himself by thinking of his master and focusing on caring for the others.
• Howling Sky Dog wakes in a panic, then quickly shifts to asking for food. Illusory Heaven is confused and looks to Mountain Cat for an explanation.

Significant themes

• Survival and responsibility: The coming trial is explicitly about staying alive, and Mountain Cat must protect the group.
• Displacement and isolation: The companions are stranded in enemy territory with no reliable way to contact home.
• Pragmatism amid danger: Mountain Cat restrains his fear and uses what information and resources he has, while Yu Qing avoids taking sides in broader political conflicts.

Key plot points and events

• Heaven Defier, Howling Sky Dog, and Illusory Heaven learn from their jade slip that they are being sent to the dangerous Starfrost Ancient World. They can leave only by surviving for three solar years or gathering enough rare treasures to qualify for early extraction.
• Since they have only just reached the minimum cultivation level and their treasures have been confiscated, Heaven Defier decides their best strategy is to focus on survival and strengthen themselves aboard the ship before arrival.
• Heaven Defier leaves their room in his true form to seek advice from Yu Qing, the ship’s guardian. On the crowded ship, larger demons shove past Mountain Cat, and a Golden Giant Lion even kicks at him; Mountain Cat dodges and hides his anger.
• Yu Qing explains that treasure-task participants must contact the roaming guardian ship through their jade slips, and that they must have all required items when the ship arrives or lose their chance to leave early.
• The travelers will be placed on one of thirteen Realm Stars. Their strength, resources, and dangers vary, but powerful earth-vein forces make it difficult or impossible to fly away from some stars. Cold Star offers the richest resources but is exceptionally dangerous; even Desolate Origin Star, the weakest, is perilous and harsh enough to threaten Mountain Cat’s survival.
• Yu Qing refuses to offer special help and warns Mountain Cat not to discuss the experience he mentioned. He tells him to prepare instead. Mountain Cat returns to his room.

Character developments and interactions

• Heaven Defier takes charge, steadies Howling Sky Dog, supports Illusory Heaven’s assessment, and chooses caution over pursuing the collection tasks. He later approaches Yu Qing in his true form to seek practical information.
• Illusory Heaven shows clear-headedness by recognizing that the treasure route is unrealistic for their newly advanced group.
• Howling Sky Dog is anxious about their situation and the worry their absence will cause, but accepts Heaven Defier’s direction.
• Mountain Cat remains composed despite being treated roughly by stronger demons. He carefully gathers information and tries to build rapport with Yu Qing, but learns that the guardian will not bend the rules or grant favors.
• Yu Qing is blunt and detached: he answers procedural questions but emphasizes the danger of the trial and the importance of preparation.

Significant themes

• Survival over ambition: The group must prioritize staying alive rather than pursuing a difficult shortcut home.
• Power and vulnerability: Mountain Cat’s small, fragile form leaves him exposed to casual aggression from stronger demons.
• Risk and choice: Each Realm Star offers different rewards and hazards, and choosing a destination may determine whether survival is possible.
• Rules and personal responsibility: The trial’s strict conditions leave little room for help or exceptions; preparation is the characters’ main protection.

Plot points and events

• After a month aboard the Void Ancient Ship, the demon passengers are told to select one of thirteen Realm Star portals within six hours or be assigned at random.
• Heaven Defier advises his companions—Sky Howl and Illusory Heaven—to wait until the deadline, hoping their low cultivation will attract less notice. The three are new to the Dao Domain Realm and want to avoid revealing how inexperienced they are.
• They choose Desolate Origin Star, which has drawn about 40 percent of the demons. Heaven Defier reasons that, although it may be crowded at first, stronger arrivals will likely leave once its limited treasures are exhausted.
• The portal sends them into the star’s atmosphere, where intense gravity, harsh astral winds, and scarce qi make flight difficult. Heaven Defier uses his Dao Domain to slow their fall and shield his companions.
• After landing, he conceals their auras and steers them away from forests and the ocean. They soon discover that powerful battles are raging nearby—and, after Illusory Heaven senses the surroundings, realize fighting is occurring in every direction.

Character developments and interactions

• Heaven Defier (Mountain Cat) becomes more cautious and responsible, mindful that Sky Howl’s and Illusory Heaven’s safety now rests on him. He makes the destination choice, protects them during their descent, and gives them instructions by voice transmission.
• Sky Howl is restless and curious about the Demon Race, but recognizes that his inability to understand its languages could expose them. The frightening descent and nearby battles leave him panicked.
• Illusory Heaven questions whether Desolate Origin Star is truly the safest choice, then helps assess their surroundings by sensing battles and psychic techniques in multiple directions.
• The trio cooperate closely: Heaven Defier leads and protects, while his companions follow his guidance and contribute what they can.

Significant themes

• Caution and responsibility: In unfamiliar territory, Heaven Defier must think ahead rather than rely on the support he had at home.
• Survival under uncertainty: Their chosen “safest” destination proves immediately dangerous, showing how little control they have over their circumstances.
• Strength and vulnerability: Their Dao Domain cultivation helps Heaven Defier protect the others, but the star’s hostile environment and nearby high-level fighters expose the limits of their abilities.
• Curiosity versus prudence: The demons are eager to explore their people’s homeland, yet survival requires restraint.

Key plot points and events

• Heaven Defier, Illusory Heaven, and Howling Sky Dog find themselves trapped between four overlapping Dao domains, where battles between powerful Demon Race geniuses make even standing still dangerous.
• Heaven Defier uses the Heaven and Earth Treasure Mirror to steady himself and decides they must flee northwest. He swallows Illusory Heaven and Howling Sky Dog for protection, then transforms into a tiny, lightning-fast form with the Major Divine Ability Rice Grain Sky Mixing Art.
• Their escape leads them through the territory of Xu, a tree demon who has built deadly formations from roots and earth veins. Xu attacks, dismissing Heaven Defier’s plea to pass through.
• Heaven Defier survives the formation by using Great Five-Element Earth Vein Escape, a Shennong spell taught by his human allies. Xu recognizes the technique and, being a genuine practitioner of the spiritual school himself, lets him go.
• After escaping into a cave, Heaven Defier resolves to study the spells stored in the mirror so he can protect his siblings. Before he can begin, a far more powerful demon, Di Hou, captures him with blood waves and confronts him.

Character developments

• Heaven Defier acts decisively despite fear and severe suppression. Under pressure, he successfully casts a Major Shennong spell he had never mastered before, and his near-death escape prompts him to take his training seriously.
• Illusory Heaven is frightened and disoriented, while Howling Sky Dog breaks down in terror. Both rely on Heaven Defier to lead them to safety.
• Xu is introduced as a formidable but principled opponent: he initially attacks intruders without hesitation, yet spares Heaven Defier after recognizing a genuine spiritual-school practitioner.
• Di Hou emerges as the next threat, and his appearance leaves Heaven Defier seemingly trapped again.

Significant themes

• Survival amid overwhelming power: The gap between realms makes escape, rather than combat, the only realistic choice.
• Preparation and growth through crisis: Heaven Defier’s desperate success with an unfamiliar spell reveals the value of skills and guidance he had previously taken for granted.
• Brutal competition and moral distinctions: The Demon Race’s trial permits killing outsiders, but Xu’s respect for authentic spiritual cultivation tempers that violence.
• Allies’ influence: The teachings and protection of Heaven Defier’s human mentors become crucial to his survival.

Character interactions

• Heaven Defier comforts and protects his companions by carrying them inside him and choosing an escape route.
• Xu ignores Heaven Defier’s plea at first, then changes course after identifying the Shennong spell and recognizing their shared spiritual-school background.
• Heaven Defier’s thoughts turn to the many allies who taught him, and he vows to study alongside Howling Sky Dog.
• Di Hou’s sudden intervention ends the reprieve, setting up a new confrontation.

Mountain Cat used his story and Fate Master divination to persuade Di Hou to spare him, but Di Hou swallowed him and later spat him out. After Mountain Cat found a possible way to survive by studying the Heaven and Earth Treasure Mirror, Di Hou threatened to kill him again, and Mountain Cat pleaded that he could still be useful.

• Mountain Cat recognized Di Hou as a young but formidable member of one of the Demon Race's Hundred Strong Races and used Fate Master divination to seek a way to survive.
• Mountain Cat recounted his hardships and travels with his human pets, holding Di Hou's interest with stories about life among the weak and poor.
• Di Hou admitted he had not come to the Starfrost Ancient World to eat demons, but warned Mountain Cat he would be useless once his stories ran out, then swallowed him.
• Inside Di Hou's stomach, Mountain Cat replenished his strength and immersed himself in the Heaven and Earth Treasure Mirror's knowledge, hoping to find a way out.
• Di Hou spat Mountain Cat out after his sudden enlightenment and threatened to kill him for ignoring his calls, so Mountain Cat shouted that he could still be useful.

Mountain Cat used his Agricultural Official spells to persuade Di Hou to spare him, then pledged loyalty under a soul-threatening mark. Di Hou revealed that he had captured over a hundred demons and forced them to gather rare treasures on Desolate Origin Star.

• Mountain Cat demonstrated powerful Agricultural Official spells and offered to grow food for Di Hou.
• Di Hou agreed to spare Mountain Cat and make him a vassal if he pledged loyalty, then placed a Black Mark in his sea of consciousness.
• Di Hou spat out over a hundred captured demons and subdued them with a Soul-Suppressing Roar.
• Di Hou revealed that the demons' marks would destroy their souls if they fled and ordered them to gather treasures for him.
• Di Hou promised freedom to anyone who collected ten kinds of rare treasures and threatened to execute anyone who contributed nothing within one-tenth of a solar year.