Chapter Summaries

Chen Mu hid underground during a mutant beast invasion of the Jilong Dao Lower Courtyard, then ventured out to hunt lone beasts after the fighting subsided. He killed a giant cat with two techniques and realized how formidable he had become.

• Chen Mu gathered supplies and sheltered underground as flying mutant beasts swept over the Lower Courtyard and battles broke out.
• After the fighting quieted, Chen Mu emerged and heard rumors that someone had damaged the Prohibition nodes and that a demon had appeared in the mountains.
• Despite warnings to stay indoors, Chen Mu secretly searched the Yellow Sprout Rice Field and surrounding areas for lone mutant beasts.
• Chen Mu found a giant cat eating a resident's corpse, but it detected him and pounced.
• Chen Mu used the Five Ghosts Possession Great Method, Hundred Mile Qi Seal, and Hidden Sand Casting Shadow to kill the giant cat.

Chen Mu hunted mutant beasts in the Lower Courtyard and sold their hides, earning White Jade Coins while learning that he had discarded some valuable parts. With the beasts mostly cleared and his food stores secure, he returned to his shed and considered how to manage his supplies.

• Chen Mu discovered he could use Five Ghosts Possession briefly several times a day with only minor side effects, then finished hunting mutant beasts and collected seven hides.
• Chen Mu saw the devastated fields at the Lower Courtyard’s southern end and reflected on the farmers killed by the attacks.
• At Imperial Quality Pavilion, Le Yang'an bought Chen Mu’s hides for 260 White Jade Coins and explained that he had discarded valuable parts, prompting Chen Mu to resolve to buy Exotic Beast Analysis.
• Chen Mu returned to Tongtian Market, decided not to shelter there, and went back to his wooden shed in the Low Mountain Courtyard.
• Chen Mu counted 405 White Jade Coins, noted that he had stockpiled enough Yellow Sprout Rice for half a year, and planned to rely on cured meat and aquatic produce rather than mutant beast meat.

After the Mutant Beast invasion, Chen Mu used his farming skills and prepared well water to revive abandoned Yellow Sprout Rice fields for a large profit. He ended the chapter with seven hundred and five White Jade Coins, bringing a Flying Kite within reach, and an improved Void Weaving Technique.

• Chen Mu gained new meat-handling knowledge that raised his Culinary skill, then discussed Flying Kites and secret arts with Old Hao and Shang Huan.
• After Old Hao told him about abandoned fields in damaged planting districts, Chen Mu rented one hundred mu of Yellow Sprout Rice fields across five districts.
• Chen Mu secretly worked at night to fertilize, water, and weed the crops, using his Tier 3 Planting Technique and well water prepared with the White Jade Disk.
• At harvest, Steward Wu praised Chen Mu's crop and said his twenty mu would earn at least fifty White Jade.
• Chen Mu counted his earnings and found his total assets had reached seven hundred and five White Jade Coins; repeated travel had also advanced his Void Weaving Technique to Tier 3, allowing instant casting.

Chen Mu bought and struggled to fly an expensive Peregrine Falcon Flying Kite, while Lin Su received orders from True Person Bai Ta to go to Tianhe Water Mansion and seize control of Jilong Dao Lower Courtyard. Chen Mu ended the chapter lamenting that his status kept him from visiting Tianhe Water Mansion.

• Chen Mu visited Pearl Light Pavilion and bought a Peregrine Falcon Flying Kite for 569 White Jade Coins after rejecting the pricier model.
• Lin Su summoned True Person Bai Ta, who praised his work and promised him an Aperture Condensing Method if he took over Jilong Dao Lower Courtyard.
• True Person Bai Ta ordered Lin Su to go to Tianhe Water Mansion, where someone would meet him.
• Chen Mu practiced flying his new Kite, lost control, and stopped his fall with the Five Ghosts Black Cloud.
• Chen Mu dried his harvested Eggplant Night Grass and regretted that his laborer status prevented him from visiting Tianhe Water Mansion.

Chen Mu practiced flying and adjusted his cultivation plans while Lin Su suspected him of taking the Exquisite Jade Disk. As Chen Mu prepared to expand his Calming Spirit Pill production, the White Jade Disk’s daily cost had risen, and Lu Ku felt the effects of a long-awaited change.

• Chen Mu practiced piloting the Flying Kite, raised his Piloting proficiency, and noted that limited mana kept him from flying for long.
• Lin Su reconsidered Mo Wuzhou as a suspect and turned his suspicion toward Chen Mu, believing a spirit armor technique could explain the vanished Dao Seal.
• Chen Mu reviewed his proficiency panel, planned to resume the Void Weaving Technique, and discovered that reciting the Heart-Linking Incantation gave him a faint sense of the Sevenfold Heart-Linking Gu’s location.
• Lu Ku felt his bones tremble and heard a resonant hum, then accepted that Gongsun Sheng had no fondness for him or his companions.
• Chen Mu planted Eggplant Night Grass seedlings and calculated that selling Calming Spirit Pills through Shang Huan and Le Yang'an would offset the White Jade Disk’s increased daily consumption.

Chen Mu discovered that the Heart-Linking Incantation let him share the senses of the Seven Siblings of Wushan, while they learned to detect his remote sensing and planned to keep their crimes hidden. Meanwhile, Lin Su delivered the Lower Courtyard’s Prohibition records to Yang Huan and helped Chongshan Dao plan an attack for two months later.

• Chen Mu used the Heart-Linking Incantation to observe Lu Ku and the other siblings discussing cultivation, then severed the connection.
• Lu Ku told the Seven Siblings of Wushan that they could detect Chen Mu’s remote sensing and urged them to stop their activities whenever he watched.
• The siblings agreed to conceal their actions more carefully by eliminating witnesses and disposing of evidence and corpses.
• Lin Su arrived at the Tianhe Water Mansion and gave Yang Huan records of the Lower Courtyard’s Prohibition nodes and their changes.
• Lin Su advised Yang Huan that the Lower Courtyard would be most vulnerable in two months, and Yang Huan said he would handle Song Wuji.

Chen Mu discovered that feeding the Five Ghosts Bag Mutant Beast meat had made it grow, then rented a Fishbone Boat and caught river fish to feed it. After a day of fishing, he saw no further change and returned to Tongtian Market with five baskets of fish.

• Chen Mu made Calming Spirit Pills and decided against pursuing the Heavenly Demon Rebirth Method, choosing to cultivate his Shattering-Illusion Technique instead.
• Chen Mu noticed a gap between the Five Ghosts Bag and its wooden rack and realized the bag had grown, possibly from being fed Mutant Beast Meat.
• Chen Mu rented Ding 36 Boat at Tongtian Market’s dock and eagerly piloted the Fishbone Boat across the Heaven-Reaching River.
• Chen Mu used improved Drunken Bait and the Heartless Bell to lure and catch large numbers of Mutant Beast Fish to feed the Five Ghosts Bag.
• Chen Mu found that the Five Ghosts Bag did not seem to have changed further, filled five bamboo baskets with fish, and sailed back.

Chen Mu turned fishing for small fry into a steady income, but the Seven Siblings of Wushan tried to extort him into working for them. When his Heart-Linking Rope made Ai Ji and Xu Rao panic, Chen Mu instead made them pay him, then used remote sensing to uncover their ongoing scheme against lone fishermen.

• Chen Mu earned White Jade Coins by catching small fish on the Heaven-Reaching River and continued fishing for seven or eight days.
• Ai Ji and Xu Rao confronted Chen Mu with a forged gambling debt and tried to force him to work for them.
• Chen Mu activated the Heart-Linking Rope, causing Ai Ji to abandon the threat and offer to buy Chen Mu's catch instead.
• Chen Mu demanded ten White Jade Coins, and Ai Ji paid him despite his anger.
• Chen Mu remotely sensed the Seven Siblings of Wushan for three days and discovered they were coercing lone fishermen into catching fish for them.

Chen Mu kept the Lu Ku group under surveillance while fishing and cultivating at the Heaven-Reaching River, and the group devised a way to work around his inspections. After selling his catch, Chen Mu met Old Hao at the dock and let him believe fishing was barely profitable.

• Chen Mu sabotaged the Lu Ku group's schemes and watched until they stayed home to cultivate, then resumed fishing while waiting for the Five Ghosts Bag to grow.
• Lu Ku identified a pattern in Gongsun Sheng's Remote Sensing and proposed scheduling cultivation during inspections while having dock troublemakers carry out their plan to control the Fishermen.
• Chen Mu used Drunken Bait and the Heartless Bell to stun mutant fish, collected them with Five Ghosts Black Smoke, and checked his Fire Cloud Incantation progress.
• At the dock, Chen Mu saw a fisherman receive a large payment for a giant toad, then waited for Old Hao to arrive by ship.
• Old Hao advised Chen Mu that independent fishing paid poorly and recommended returning to farming, while Chen Mu concealed that he earned about thirty White Jade Coins a month.

Chen Mu drove off another group of fishermen who came after his profitable fishing business, then filled the Five Ghosts Bag with a huge haul before a Black Dragon erupted from the Heaven-Reaching River and headed toward Jilong Dao. The chapter ended with Chen Mu realizing the dragon had called out Dao Lord Dongli’s name.

• Lu Ku and his companions discussed how more people they hired to catch trash fish had vanished without a trace, so Lu Ku ordered them to stop recruiting.
• Scarface and four other men confronted Chen Mu on the river, but Chen Mu crushed their boat and bodies with Hundred Mile Qi Seal before Five Ghosts Black Smoke swallowed them.
• Chen Mu realized that his fishing success had attracted repeated attacks and decided to stop fishing there for a while after one final trip.
• Chen Mu filled more than ten bamboo baskets and fed the catch into the Five Ghosts Bag until evening.
• A Black Dragon burst from the Heaven-Reaching River, destroyed the nearby mountainside with crimson lightning, roared for Dongli, and shot toward Jilong Dao.

Chen Mu watched Chongshan Dao attack the Jilong Dao Lower Courtyard, then returned after the attackers withdrew and found the dead. He buried two victims and resolved to carry their dreams of pursuing the Dao Path forward, while looting the ruins for valuables.

• Chen Mu saw Chongshan Dao disciples attack the Jilong Dao Lower Courtyard and waited at a river bend rather than join the fight.
• After a fierce battle with Song Wuji, the Black Ape Giant howled, and Chongshan Dao withdrew from the Lower Courtyard.
• Chen Mu returned to the district and found a slain gray-clad attendant and a Horned Man beside a collapsed house.
• Chen Mu buried both corpses and reflected on the hardships faced by people pursuing the Dao Path.
• Chen Mu vowed to carry the dead people's dreams forward and used Black Smoke to gather valuables from the ruins.

Lin Su worried that Chen Mu might have been caught in the fighting, while the Wushan Six Siblings encountered a masked killer who called himself The Solitary Star, Lu Zhishen, also known as Dream Weaver. After Chen Mu returned to Low Hill with a bag of loot, an unseen attacker ambushed him and demanded to know about the Exquisite Jade Disk.

• Lin Su feared the White Jade Disk might fail after the problem with the Aperture Condensing Secret Technique, but believed Chen Mu had likely stayed clear of the fighting.
• Shi Xian used Divine Listening to locate a wounded Chongshan Dao disciple, and the Wushan Six Siblings hurried to the nearby burning courtyard.
• The masked man killed the bald strongman, took his bag, introduced himself as The Solitary Star, Lu Zhishen, also known as Dream Weaver, and buried the body before vanishing.
• Chen Mu returned to Low Hill with the belongings he had gathered, reflected on the upheaval, and considered buying an identity in Tianhe Water Mansion.
• An attacker concealed by thick fog pierced Chen Mu's Spirit Armor and Spiritual Light with black arrows, but Chen Mu halted them with Hundred Mile Qi Seal.
• The unseen attacker addressed Chen Mu and asked about the Exquisite Jade Disk, alarming him.

Lin Su confronted Chen Mu over the Exquisite Jade Disk and attacked him with powerful mist and arrow Secret Arts, but Chen Mu broke free and deflected every strike. The chapter ended with both men baffled: Chen Mu thought Lin Su was holding back, while Lin Su had already exhausted his strength.

• Lin Su accused Chen Mu of possessing the Exquisite Jade Disk and linked him to Dong Cheng's death, then demanded that Chen Mu hand over the disk.
• Chen Mu considered fleeing, but Lin Su bound him with Mist Spirit and attacked him with Yin Fiend Secret Arrows.
• Chen Mu activated the Five Ghosts Possession Great Method and easily broke through the binding, blasting the arrows away with Hundred Mile Qi Seal.
• Lin Su summoned Mist Giant Spirit and then launched his strongest attack, Yin Fiend Armor Piercer, but Chen Mu shattered the mist hand and swatted the arrow aside.
• Chen Mu demanded that Lin Su stop holding back, while Lin Su realized Chen Mu had withstood everything despite Lin Su using his full strength.

Chen Mu killed Lin Su, concealed the evidence, and pretended he had spent the night away from his residence. At the pavilion, he learned that the Supervisor planned to abandon the Jilong Dao Lower Courtyard and lead willing disciples into the mountains.

• Chen Mu used the Fire Cloud Gourd to clear the fog, then charged Lin Su and beat him to death with Hidden Sand Casting Shadow and a relentless barrage of punches.
• Chen Mu, weakened by Five Ghosts Possession, hid Lin Su's body, destroyed the underground passage, and burned down the Low Hill Courtyard to cover his tracks.
• Chen Mu met Shang Huan and Old Hao at the gathering point and claimed he had stayed near the Heaven-Reaching River all night.
• Chen Mu observed the gathered disciples and memorized the faces of several who had taken advantage of the chaos to cause trouble.
• A Black-Clad Supervisor announced that the Supervisor would abandon the Lower Courtyard and that disciples could join the expedition into the mountains or give up their status.

After the Jilong Dao Lower Courtyard was abandoned, Chen Mu joined the group heading into the mountains and learned that its Water Vein had been cut off. As the group cleared a path through the wilderness, he practiced the Void Weaving Technique and worried about his slow progress in the Shattering-Illusion Technique.

• The Black-Clad Supervisor announced that the Lower Courtyard was being abandoned, and Chen Mu decided to leave because he still wanted to buy the Sensing Secret Technique.
• A month later, Chen Mu and the others cleared a route through the mountains, where Liang killed a swarm of poisonous blue moths with bizarre movements.
• Shang Huan told Chen Mu that Supervisor Song had abandoned the Lower Courtyard because its underground Water Vein had been cut off.
• Chen Mu practiced the Void Weaving Technique while traveling, but found that his Hundred Intents Shattering-Illusion Technique was progressing slowly without Earth Spirit Vital Qi.

Chen Mu and the Jilong Dao Lower Courtyard traveled south to Moon Embracing Mountain, where they rebuilt their settlement and resumed farming. After settling in, Chen Mu finished a secret underground chamber for resting and cultivating.

• Chen Mu advanced his Void Weaving Technique to Tier 4 and used it to travel more easily through the mountains.
• As the group traveled south, an unknown mutant beast swallowed twenty or thirty people before escaping underground, spreading fear among the travelers.
• The group reached Moon Embracing Mountain and learned that Supervisor Song had killed an awakened Cold Moon Toad to claim the territory.
• The Jilong Dao Lower Courtyard spent two months clearing the southern mountainside, building terraces, and establishing its new settlement.
• Chen Mu finished a hidden chamber beneath his cabin and settled down on its soft couch.

Chen Mu found that shortages at Cold Moon Workshop had stopped him from making Calming Spirit Pills and cut off his income, so he sorted through a haul of items and White Jade Coins to fund his cultivation. After reaching a limit in the Void Weaving Technique, he tested Divine Travel Thousand Miles in the forest, but ran out of mana and crashed into a tree.

• Chen Mu failed to find five ingredients needed for Calming Spirit Pills at Hundred Herbs Pavilion or the nearby street market, leaving him without his usual source of income.
• Chen Mu considered joining a Hunting Team but rejected the danger and instead sorted through miscellaneous items from his Five Ghosts Bag.
• Chen Mu found 627 White Jade Coins and other goods, raising his total wealth to 753 White Jade Coins.
• Chen Mu celebrated with a feast, then checked the Gray Wall and saw that his Void Weaving Technique had reached another limit.
• Chen Mu used Divine Travel Thousand Miles to race through the forest, but his mana ran out and he crashed through a small tree.

Chen Mu became increasingly frightened by the Shattering-Illusion Technique’s ability to absorb his attention, while Mutant Beasts damaged his Yellow Sprout Rice Field. As Moon Embracing Mountain faced a growing beast threat and Song Wuji ordered Lower Academy Disciples into the mountains, Chen Mu decided he needed to use Spirit-Disturbing Miasma to protect his crops.

• Chen Mu noticed the Shattering-Illusion Technique repeatedly drawing him into the black sphere, and he resolved to slow his practice and seek guidance at the Scripture Transmission Courtyard.
• Chen Mu found no useful information about the Shattering-Illusion Technique in the Scripture Transmission Courtyard and later stopped practicing after losing track of time again.
• Chen Mu discovered that Mutant Beasts had destroyed at least half a mu of his Yellow Sprout Rice Field and decided to set up Spirit-Disturbing Miasma.
• Song Wuji learned that Mutant Beasts were migrating toward Moon Embracing Mountain and ordered Lower Academy Disciples to clear them out, despite Liang Yi warning of severe casualties.
• Chen Mu, Old Hao, and Shang Huan discussed the damage Mutant Beasts had done to nearby rice fields, and Shang Huan hinted that he wanted Chen Mu’s Spirit-Disturbing Miasma.

Chen Mu sought information on Spiritual Light Sensing disciples and selected Liang Cheng as a target, while the Seven Siblings of Wushan realized Gongsun Sheng was listening to them. Chen Mu abducted Liang Cheng, who immediately offered his money and information, leaving Chen Mu stunned by his cooperation.

• Chen Mu wondered how disciples in the Affairs Office and Patrol Institute had overcome the Shattering-Illusion Technique bottleneck.
• The Seven Siblings of Wushan discussed robbing a hunting team, then learned Gongsun Sheng had overheard them and wanted a list of Spiritual Light Sensing disciples.
• Two days later, Chen Mu reviewed the detailed list and chose Liang Cheng, an honest Affairs Office worker with a regular routine.
• Chen Mu bound Liang Cheng with an invisible force and questioned him while disguised as a masked killer.
• Liang Cheng offered his hidden White Jade Coin and shared information about Lower Courtyard disciples and Supervisor Song's injuries, leaving Chen Mu speechless.

Chen Mu used Liang Cheng’s identity to attend Zhuang Fu’s Pòwàng lesson and learned that hunger or fear could interrupt deep immersion. After half a month of practice, Chen Mu passed through the black sphere in his Jade Seed, drew Earth Spirit Vital Qi into his body, and formed Divine Intent Talismans.

• Chen Mu questioned Liang Cheng about his cultivation instruction and learned that Liang Cheng had paid for lessons from Zhuang Fu and Xin Yi.
• Chen Mu attended Zhuang Fu’s lesson in Liang Cheng’s place and asked how to handle becoming immersed in the Shattering-Illusion Technique.
• Zhuang Fu advised Chen Mu to embrace immersion and described staying immersed for a year by having someone feed him Fasting Pills.
• Liang Cheng woke safely, mourned the White Jade Coins spent on the lesson, and found a booklet of Pòwàng cultivation insights left behind.
• Chen Mu realized hunger and instinctive fear could interrupt immersion, and he trained to overcome his fear of the black sphere in his Jade Seed.
• Chen Mu passed through the black sphere, returned to his body surrounded by Earth Spirit Vital Qi, and saw Divine Intent Talismans appear within his Jade Seed.