Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• The chapter opens with the history of humanity’s interstellar expansion and the creation of the virtual-reality game Primordial World. During a pirate attack, one login ring falls into a spatial rift, hinting at a connection between the futuristic world and the cultivation world that follows.
• In Blackwood Village, sixteen-year-old Lu Qingfeng returns from laboring in the fields with his younger sister, Lu Qingyu.
• They learn that their younger brother, Lu Qingshan, has been noticed by the powerful Return to Truth Sect and selected as a handyman disciple.
• A villager named Zhou Quan attempts to use Qingshan’s rise to make peace with Lu Qingfeng and possibly arrange an interest in Qingyu, but Lu Qingfeng intimidates him into leaving.
• Lu Qingshan fears joining the sect, but Lu Qingfeng explains that refusal is impossible. He warns Qingshan to hide the family’s resentment toward the sect and focus on surviving and cultivating.
• Qingshan leaves with the sect’s representatives. Lu Qingfeng and Qingyu are left behind, worried about his fate.
• The chapter reveals the family’s history: their mother died in childbirth, their father Lu Shitou died after being punished by the sect when a crop failure left the family unable to pay tribute, and Lu Qingfeng has supported his siblings ever since.
• Lu Qingfeng visits Qingshan every seven days with food. Over several months, Qingshan becomes increasingly thin and covered in whip injuries, showing that the sect brutally abuses handyman disciples.
• Qingshan secretly teaches Lu Qingfeng the Guizhen Technique and Savage Bull Fist, cultivation methods obtained from the sect.
• Realizing that cultivation requires better food and resources, Lu Qingfeng decides to risk entering the western hills to hunt wild game, possibly using traps, in order to support both himself and Qingshan.

2. Character Developments

• Lu Qingfeng is revealed as intelligent, cautious, resilient, and deeply protective of his siblings. Though physically weak and trapped by poverty, he refuses to accept a powerless life and begins actively seeking a path to strength.
• Lu Qingshan is fearful and emotionally vulnerable, but he trusts his elder brother and gradually shows determination. Despite suffering abuse, he secretly risks punishment to pass cultivation knowledge to Lu Qingfeng.
• Lu Qingyu is outspoken, aggressive, and fiercely loyal. Her childish appearance contrasts with her bold, vengeful attitude. Although she teases Qingshan, her concern for him is evident in the food and herbs she prepares.
• Zhou Quan, once a bully, is now intimidated by Lu Qingfeng. His behavior demonstrates how the sect’s influence causes villagers to curry favor with anyone connected to potential power.
• The Return to Truth Sect is established as a cruel, oppressive force that enslaves the population, exploits handyman disciples, and treats human lives as disposable.

3. Significant Themes

• Oppression and resistance: The villagers live under the sect’s control, but Lu Qingfeng refuses to become emotionally numb or accept enslavement as inevitable.
• Family loyalty and sacrifice: Lu Qingfeng works relentlessly to protect his siblings, while Qingshan risks severe punishment to share cultivation knowledge.
• Powerlessness versus ambition: Poverty, weak physiques, and social oppression limit the siblings, yet cultivation offers a possible route toward survival and revenge.
• Survival and pragmatism: Lu Qingfeng emphasizes patience, concealment, and endurance rather than reckless resistance.
• The corrupt nature of authority: The sect presents itself as an immortal institution but behaves like a demonic regime, using violence and exploitation to maintain control.
• Opportunity hidden within danger: Qingshan’s forced recruitment exposes him to abuse, but it also gives the family access to cultivation techniques that may eventually change their fate.

4. Character Interactions

• Lu Qingfeng and Lu Qingyu share a warm but teasing relationship, with Qingyu constantly mocking Qingshan while clearly caring for both brothers.
• Lu Qingfeng confronts Zhou Quan and protects Qingyu from being treated as a bargaining tool.
• Lu Qingfeng gives Qingshan stern advice before his departure, urging him to suppress his hatred, survive, and become strong enough to seek revenge later.
• After Qingshan joins the sect, Lu Qingfeng maintains their bond through weekly visits and food deliveries.
• Qingshan hides his injuries to avoid worrying his brother, while Lu Qingfeng recognizes the truth and becomes increasingly determined to act.
• The siblings’ secret exchange of cultivation knowledge strengthens their shared resistance against the Return to Truth Sect.

Chapter Summary: “Primordial World”

Key Plot Points and Events

• On the night of his sixteenth birthday, Lu Qingfeng’s mysterious dragon-phoenix Login Ring activates and introduces him to the realistic online game Primordial World.
• The game is set in a mythological universe spanning the creation of Heaven and Earth by Pangu through major calamities such as:
  • The Beast Turmoil
  • The Dragon-Phoenix-Qilin struggle
  • The Dao-Demon War
  • The Witch-Demon Calamity
  • The Human Sovereign conflict
  • The Investiture of the Gods
  • The Journey to the West
  • The Shushan Sword Duel
• Lu Qingfeng logs into the game and appears at the Rebirth Pool, where many other sixteen-year-old players are arriving for the first time.
• He discovers that, unlike the game’s advertised true-body login, only his consciousness and soul have entered the game while his real body remains in Blackwood House.
• Inside the game, he receives an almost empty Attribute Panel: he is level zero, has no faction, spells, equipment, or cultivation, and possesses extremely poor root bone.
• The sole exceptional entry is the Yellow Court Scripture, a Dao Ancestor-tier cultivation art with three powerful traits:

Evolving Method

Dominion over All Arts

Karmic Power Erasure

• After witnessing powerful sword immortals flying through the sky, Lu Qingfeng realizes how vastly superior the game’s cultivation system is to the martial arts practiced by the Return to Truth Sect.
• He considers three possibilities concerning the game’s value to reality:
  1. Game items and abilities may be brought into the real world.
  2. Game cultivation and experience may be usable in reality, even if objects cannot be transferred.
  3. Nothing from the game may affect reality.
• Lu Qingfeng logs out and successfully summons his Attribute Panel in reality, proving that the game can influence the real world.
• He then attempts to cultivate the Yellow Court Scripture. Although there is no immediate change to his cultivation or lifespan, he confirms that the technique can be practiced outside the game.
• Encouraged, Lu Qingfeng logs back into Primordial World to investigate further and test whether cultivation, treasures, or other items can be materialized in reality.

Character Development

• Lu Qingfeng shifts from cautious curiosity to determined excitement. He immediately accepts the game’s opportunity without hesitation, recognizing it as a possible “late-arriving golden finger.”
• His years in the bleak and oppressive Blackwood Village have made him observant and pragmatic. Rather than becoming distracted by the game’s grandeur, he focuses on determining its practical value.
• He demonstrates strategic thinking by considering multiple explanations for the game’s influence on reality and planning experiments to test them.
• His successful cultivation of the Yellow Court Scripture gives him renewed hope. Even if materialization proves impossible, he now knows the game can potentially provide real-world cultivation methods.

Significant Themes

• Opportunity and transformation: The Login Ring offers Lu Qingfeng a chance to escape his powerless and impoverished circumstances.
• Reality versus illusion: The game is so realistic that it resembles another world, raising questions about whether the distinction between virtual and real still matters.
• Self-reliance and experimentation: Lu Qingfeng does not blindly trust the game’s claims; he tests each possibility himself.
• Hidden potential: Despite his terrible starting statistics, Lu Qingfeng possesses an extraordinary Dao Ancestor-tier cultivation art, suggesting that his apparent weakness conceals great advantages.
• Cultivation and power hierarchy: The contrast between ordinary martial artists and flying sword immortals establishes the vast scale of the Primordial World and the power Lu Qingfeng may eventually attain.
• Myth becoming reality: Familiar legends from Chinese mythology unfold before Lu Qingfeng, transforming stories of Pangu, Hongjun, the Dao-Demon War, and the Journey to the West into the setting of his new life.

Character Interactions

• Lu Qingfeng has little direct conversation with other characters in this chapter.
• He observes and shares the excitement of newly arrived players at the Rebirth Pool, whose cheers emphasize the importance of reaching sixteen and gaining access to the game.
• His sleeping sister, Qingyu, remains in Blackwood House throughout the events. Her faint snores provide a quiet contrast to Lu Qingfeng’s tense excitement and secret experimentation.
• Lu Qingfeng compares the sword immortals he witnesses with the Return to Truth Sect, indirectly highlighting the difference between the game’s supernatural cultivators and the limited martial practitioners known in reality.

Chapter Summary: “Exploration”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The chapter establishes the enormous scale of the Primordial World, describing its four continents, Four Seas, Nine Heavens, Nine Netherworlds, and countless surrounding worlds. Even after 3,800 years, players have explored only a tiny portion of it.
• Lu Qingfeng’s current location is identified as Black Sand Town, a beginner settlement in the Heavenly Fox Realm, within the Seven Swords Mountains and the Hundred Savage Mountain Archipelago.
• After exploring the town and learning about its guilds and workshops, Lu Qingfeng chooses to join Dustless Alchemy Workshop as an apprentice.
• By signing a contract, he receives:
  • The basic cultivation technique

Blazing Sun Scripture

• The

Elementary Guide to Alchemy

• Five

Yellow Dragon Pills

• Five

Grain-Repelling Pills

• A temporary Bluestone Talisman containing living and cultivation facilities
• Lu Qingfeng begins cultivating inside the Bluestone Talisman. Because of his extremely poor aptitude, he cannot sense qi through meditation alone.
• After consuming four Yellow Dragon Pills, he finally develops qi sensation and reaches the first level of the Later-Heaven Embryonic Breath Realm, becoming a Level 1 player.
• His status panel reveals that both the Blazing Sun Scripture and the alchemy manual can be evolved by spending experience points.
• Lu Qingfeng experiments with evolution, discovering that each technique requires ten experience points to complete. He invests one point into each, leaving both abilities in an unfinished “Evolving” state.
• Unable to complete either evolution, he exits the Primordial World.

Character Development

• Lu Qingfeng demonstrates caution, practicality, and determination. Rather than risk dying while hunting monsters, he chooses the safer route of joining a workshop and cultivating gradually.
• His poor natural aptitude remains a major obstacle, requiring four valuable pills just to enter the first cultivation realm. However, his persistence allows him to overcome this barrier.
• Reaching the Embryonic Breath Realm gives him renewed hope that he can cultivate in reality and escape an ordinary life.
• His curiosity about the evolution system shows his growing awareness that the Yellow Court Scripture’s “Evolving Method” trait may give him exceptional long-term potential.
• Memories of his former life and his past struggles in Blackwood Village resurface when he levels up, briefly revealing the emotional burden beneath his previously silent and gloomy personality.

Significant Themes

• Vastness and limitation: The world is almost unimaginably large, yet most players are confined to their birthplace because of geography, cultivation requirements, and danger.
• Cultivation versus risk: Safe cultivation is slow, while monster hunting offers faster advancement at the cost of death, lost progress, and damaged foundations.
• Talent and perseverance: Lu Qingfeng has almost no aptitude, but resources and persistence allow him to make progress where natural talent alone would otherwise determine success.
• The cost of failure and death: Death in the game has consequences far beyond ordinary games, including reincarnation, sixteen years of lost development, permanent foundation damage, or true death.
• Hidden potential and gradual growth: Basic techniques appear weak, but the evolution system hints that even inferior skills may eventually be transformed into something powerful.

Character Interactions

• Lu Qingfeng observes guild recruiters and other newcomers in Black Sand Town but does not form any significant personal relationships.
• His main interaction is with Dustless Alchemy Workshop, conducted through the contract system rather than face-to-face communication.
• The workshop functions as a beginner support system, providing resources and training in exchange for labor processing medicinal ingredients.
• Lu Qingfeng also mentally compares the Blazing Sun Scripture with the Guizhen Technique of the Return to Truth Sect, connecting his new cultivation path with his past knowledge from the martial world.

Chapter Summary: “The Hard Road of Cultivation”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lu Qingfeng confirms that knowledge and skill mastery from Primordial World can transfer into reality, but game-based levels, cultivation, internal energy, and physical attributes do not. His real-world status remains Level 0 with no cultivation, although he has successfully initiated the first layer of the Blazing Sun Scripture.
• In the game, he consumes his final Yellow Dragon Pill. Because he has already grasped the sense of qi, the pill grants him three experience points, bringing him to Level 1 with enough experience to advance further.
• Lu Qingfeng decides to cultivate the Blazing Sun Scripture in reality while working during the day and exploring the game at night.
• The next day, he and his younger sister, Lu Qingyu, fetch water and work in the fields. During their midday meal, their close and affectionate relationship is emphasized.
• Lu Qingfeng reveals that he has had a “fortuitous encounter” and intends to cultivate secretly. He asks Qingyu to keep watch for outsiders while he practices.
• Lu Qingyu enthusiastically agrees and privately expresses her desire to help rescue their brother, Lu Qingshan, from Huangzhi Mountain.
• Lu Qingfeng spends the entire afternoon cultivating in reality but fails to regain the sense of qi, despite having already achieved it in the game. He realizes that his Root Bone of 1 indicates exceptionally poor aptitude.
• Rather than becoming discouraged, he resolves to persevere or eventually learn alchemy in the game so he can produce more Yellow Dragon Pills.
• Afterward, he tells Qingyu that she can also cultivate once she learns to read and memorizes the meridians and acupoints. He imagines the three siblings eventually cultivating together and escaping their harsh life in Blackwood Village.

Character Development

• Lu Qingfeng: Gains a clearer understanding of the limits and benefits of the game-reality connection. His optimism and determination strengthen as he confronts his extremely poor natural aptitude. He remains cautious because of the danger posed by the Return to Truth Sect, but he now begins actively planning a better future for himself and his siblings.
• Lu Qingyu: Is shown to be loving, trusting, cheerful, and deeply loyal to her older brother. She eagerly accepts the responsibility of protecting him while he cultivates and reveals that she constantly thinks about rescuing Lu Qingshan. Her surprise at learning that girls can cultivate also broadens her hopes for the future.
• Lu Qingshan: Though absent, he remains an important motivation for both siblings, representing their family’s suffering and their goal of eventual rescue.

Significant Themes

• Perseverance against poor circumstances: Lu Qingfeng’s terrible aptitude makes cultivation difficult, but his access to the game and his refusal to give up offer him a path forward.
• Knowledge versus innate talent: The chapter contrasts transferable understanding and game-based resources with the unchangeable limitations of the physical body.
• Family loyalty and mutual dependence: The siblings survive through cooperation and affection, with Lu Qingfeng sacrificing for Qingyu and both remaining committed to rescuing Qingshan.
• Hope and transformation: Cultivation represents the possibility of escaping Blackwood Village’s oppressive social order and changing the family’s fate.
• Secrecy and danger: Lu Qingfeng must conceal his abilities because discovery by the Return to Truth Sect or local villagers could endanger the entire family.
• Gender and access to power: Qingyu’s realization that girls can cultivate challenges the restrictive assumptions created by the sect’s practice of selecting only boys.

Important Character Interactions

• Lu Qingfeng and Qingyu share food, tease one another, and demonstrate their strong sibling bond.
• Lu Qingfeng asks Qingyu to act as his lookout while he cultivates; she responds with excitement and secrecy.
• Qingyu links Lu Qingfeng’s cultivation directly to the hope of rescuing Qingshan.
• Lu Qingfeng reassures Qingyu that she too can cultivate, promising to teach her after she learns the necessary fundamentals.

Chapter Summary: “Death”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lu Qingfeng confirms that his younger sister, Lu Qingyu, can begin cultivating. Overjoyed at the possibility of becoming stronger and rescuing their brother Lu Qingshan, Qingyu eagerly asks to start learning to read.
• After cultivating the Flame-Yang Scripture, Lu Qingfeng becomes dangerously hungry. Because Houtian cultivation consumes bodily essence and cannot yet draw spiritual qi from the surroundings, ordinary food is essential.
• Their food shortage becomes an immediate concern. Their limited grain supply may not last until harvest, especially once Lu Qingshan joins the Return-to-Truth Sect and requires more nourishment.
• Lu Qingfeng uses his knowledge from the Alchemy Primer to identify and gather wild medicinal herbs, particularly licorice and atractylodes. He plans to process them as food and as substitutes for cultivation-supporting pills.
• He and Qingyu process and eat the licorice. Qingyu gives Lu Qingfeng part of her own coarse grain cake, showing concern for his health, while he begins teaching her to read.
• When Lu Qingfeng logs back into the Primordial World, he discovers that he has died from starvation. Although only several hours passed for him in reality, over three months passed in the game due to a roughly one-to-one-hundred time difference.
• He realizes that his body inside the Bluestone Talisman remained without food for more than two months. Since his Embryonic Breath Realm cultivation had not yet transformed his body beyond mortal needs, he eventually starved.
• Faced with the choice between revival and reincarnation, Lu Qingfeng chooses reincarnation. Revival would immediately restore him but damage his foundation and cultivation aptitude, while reincarnation costs only sixteen in-game years—equivalent to about two months in reality.
• He reincarnates in the current map, Black Sand Town, returning to level 0 while retaining the Yellow Court Scripture, Flame-Yang Scripture proficiency, and Alchemy Primer knowledge. He resolves to act far more cautiously in the future.

Character Developments

• Lu Qingfeng becomes more practical and resourceful, using his alchemical knowledge to address both starvation and the family’s cultivation needs. He also begins thinking strategically about preserving Lu Qingshan until he can become strong enough to challenge the Return-to-Truth Sect.
• Lu Qingyu is shown to be enthusiastic, obedient, and affectionate. Her excitement over cultivation reveals her desire to help rescue Lu Qingshan, while sharing her food demonstrates her growing concern for Lu Qingfeng.
• Lu Qingshan, though absent, remains a central motivation. The family’s poverty and his impending entry into the sect create pressure for Lu Qingfeng to find a way to sustain him.

Significant Themes

• The cost of cultivation: Advancement requires resources, food, and preparation; ambition alone cannot overcome physical limitations.
• Resourcefulness and survival: Lu Qingfeng turns theoretical alchemical knowledge into a practical means of feeding and supporting his family.
• Time and opportunity: The hundredfold time difference is both a major advantage and a dangerous trap. It gives Lu Qingfeng accelerated development but makes neglecting the game world disastrous.
• Sacrifice and family responsibility: Lu Qingfeng prioritizes his siblings’ survival and future, accepting personal setbacks to protect them.
• Caution after failure: His starvation death teaches him that even seemingly minor oversights can erase months of progress.

Character Interactions

• Lu Qingyu supports Lu Qingfeng physically after cultivation leaves him weak and later shares her food with him.
• Lu Qingfeng reassures Qingyu about cultivation and begins teaching her literacy that same night.
• Their affectionate sibling relationship is emphasized through Qingyu’s excitement, teasing comparison with Lu Qingshan, and willingness to sacrifice part of her meal.
• Lu Qingfeng’s thoughts about Lu Qingshan show that his actions are driven not only by personal advancement but also by protecting and preparing his family.

Chapter Summary: “Two Months”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lu Qingfeng gathers medicinal herbs in the outskirts of the Blackwind Mountains, gradually venturing deeper as the nearby herbs become scarce.
• At dusk, he is attacked by a swift Red Civet Beast. Though it severely scratches his chest, Lu Qingfeng uses his inner breath and woodcutting knife to kill it.
• He returns secretly to Blackwood Stockade, where Lu Qingyu treats his wounds with medicinal powders. He admits that he was reckless and promises to return earlier in the future.
• Two months have passed since Lu Qingfeng began cultivating in reality and first entered the game Primordial World. He has only reached the Embryonic Breath Realm First Stage, producing a small amount of basic-quality inner breath.
• His alchemical knowledge has improved: through gathering and processing herbs in reality, and studying in the game, he advances Alchemy Primer to Minor Accomplishment.
• Lu Qingfeng logs into Primordial World, where his body remains trapped in the Reincarnation Pool and unable to move, but his mind can continue studying and reflecting.
• Thanks to the game’s time difference, one night in reality gives him roughly forty days in the game. Over the elapsed period, he has spent many years thinking about cultivation, alchemy, and his future plans.
• He resolves to use his renewed access to the game to find a way to deal with the Return-to-Truth Sect.

Character Developments

• Lu Qingfeng becomes more capable but remains cautious. His cultivation has begun, yet his slow progress frustrates him, and his poor aptitude prevents him from advancing quickly in the Flame-Yang Scripture.
• The encounter with the Red Civet Beast exposes the danger of overconfidence and teaches him to recognize the limits of his current strength.
• He becomes increasingly disciplined in integrating practical experience with game-based study, using the time difference to compensate for his weak aptitude and limited real-world time.
• Lu Qingyu shows deep concern for her brother, treating his wounds, scolding him for taking unnecessary risks, and emphasizing their close sibling bond.

Significant Themes

• Slow cultivation and perseverance: Advancement is difficult even with prior knowledge, forcing Lu Qingfeng to rely on patience and sustained effort.
• The value of time: The game’s enormous time differential becomes Lu Qingfeng’s greatest advantage, allowing him to accumulate years of study despite only two months passing in reality.
• Risk and survival: The Red Civet Beast attack demonstrates that even seemingly minor dangers can become lethal when Lu Qingfeng ventures beyond his limits.
• Practical knowledge versus innate talent: Although Lu Qingfeng’s aptitude is poor, he can still improve through observation, repetition, and diligent study—particularly in alchemy.
• Family and responsibility: Lu Qingfeng’s determination to protect Lu Qingyu influences his decisions, while her concern reminds him that his actions affect more than himself.

Character Interactions

• Lu Qingfeng fights the Red Civet Beast alone, relying on his newly cultivated inner breath and improvised weapons.
• Afterward, Lu Qingyu tends to his injuries, cries over his condition, and reprimands him for returning late. Lu Qingfeng reassures and comforts her, promising to act more carefully.
• The chapter ends with Lu Qingfeng and Lu Qingyu together at home, as she urges him to rest and he quietly prepares to return to the game and confront the larger threat posed by the Return-to-Truth Sect.

Chapter Summary: “Returning to the Primordial World”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lu Qingfeng returns to the Primordial World through the Reincarnation Pool. Although only two months passed in reality, sixteen years elapsed in the game world.
• He returns to Black Sand Town intending to resume his alchemy training at the Dust-Severing Alchemy Workshop, where he previously learned the Flame-Yang Scripture and Alchemy Primer.
• He discovers that the Dust-Severing Alchemy Workshop went bankrupt seven or eight years earlier and was replaced by the Luosheng Alchemy Workshop, founded by Grandmaster Luo Sheng.
• Lu Qingfeng signs a new contract with the Luosheng Alchemy Workshop and receives:
  • The Azure Wood Method
  • Alchemy Analysis
  • Yellow Dragon Pills
  • Fasting Pills
  • A Bluestone Talisman
• He immediately learns the new cultivation method and alchemy text. The Azure Wood Method is comparable to the Flame-Yang Scripture, while Alchemy Analysis contains new and improved methods for processing medicinal ingredients.
• Because Lu Qingfeng had already cultivated the Flame-Yang Scripture twice, he chooses to continue using it rather than start over with the Azure Wood Method.
• After consuming two Yellow Dragon Pills, he reaches the Embryonic Breath Realm First Stage, progressing more quickly than during his first cultivation attempt.
• Using the Bluestone Talisman, he accepts missions to process medicinal ingredients. His previous experience allows him to process roughly 100–120 batches per day with an 85% success rate.
• Over the course of a month, he earns enough rewards to obtain four additional Yellow Dragon Pills. Together with the pills he already possessed, these raise him to Level 3 and the Embryonic Breath Realm Second Stage.
• Once he accumulates enough experience, Lu Qingfeng discovers that the system can derive cultivation methods in three ways:
  • Enhancement, which may improve quality or grant traits
  • Advancement, which increases the number of layers and raises the cultivation limit
  • Fusion, which combines multiple cultivation methods
• He fuses the Flame-Yang Scripture with the Azure Wood Method, creating the new Azure Wood Flame-Yang Scripture.
• The fusion produces no additional traits or obvious increase in grade, leaving Lu Qingfeng uncertain about its strength. He decides to cultivate it and test its effects.

Character Development

• Lu Qingfeng demonstrates greater confidence and efficiency after reincarnation. His previous experience allows him to navigate the alchemy workshop system, cultivate quickly, and process ingredients at a high success rate.
• He becomes more ambitious after learning about cultivation-method derivation. The discovery convinces him that he may eventually create or improve powerful cultivation methods independently rather than relying on limited external resources.
• His attitude shifts from simply rebuilding his cultivation to recognizing the enormous long-term potential of his system abilities.
• Lu Qingfeng also shows practical adaptability: although he obtains a new wood-aspected method, he chooses the familiar Flame-Yang Scripture because it is more efficient for immediate progress.

Significant Themes

• Rebirth and opportunity: Reincarnation gives Lu Qingfeng another chance to exploit past knowledge while also forcing him to adapt to a changed world.
• Time and change: Sixteen years have transformed Black Sand Town and destroyed institutions Lu Qingfeng once relied on, emphasizing that the world continues to evolve without him.
• Accumulation and efficiency: His expertise in alchemy lets him gain resources far faster than ordinary newcomers.
• Self-reliance and limitless growth: The derivation system suggests that Lu Qingfeng can eventually create increasingly powerful cultivation methods without depending entirely on sects or outside experts.
• Knowledge as power: His experience from reality and his previous life in the Primordial World give him a decisive advantage.
• Experimentation: The fusion of the two cultivation methods marks the beginning of Lu Qingfeng testing and developing a personalized path of cultivation.

Character Interactions

• Lu Qingfeng interacts with a gray-robed clerk at the Luosheng Alchemy Workshop. The clerk explains the workshop’s history and promotes its services, displaying the professional, commercial nature of the new establishment.
• Lu Qingfeng signs a contract with the workshop, establishing a practical relationship based on processing medicinal ingredients in exchange for pills and other rewards.
• His most important “interaction” is with the system itself, which reveals the derivation functions and allows him to merge the Azure Wood Method with the Flame-Yang Scripture.

Chapter Summary: “Market”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lu Qingfeng tests the effects of modifying his cultivation method, the Azure Wood Flame-Yang Scripture, after previously fusing the Azure Wood Method with the Flame-Yang Scripture.
• He discovers that strengthening a cultivation method is much more effective than fusing methods. The strengthened scripture circulates more smoothly and significantly improves his cultivation speed.
• A second strengthening or fusion requires much more experience—twenty points instead of ten—leaving Lu Qingfeng without enough experience to continue improving the scripture.
• He instead strengthens Alchemy Analysis, which contains methods for processing forty-nine medicinal ingredients. The upgraded manual provides more detailed information, simpler procedures, and better efficiency.
• Lu Qingfeng estimates that his ingredient-processing efficiency will rise by 20–30%, with a success rate approaching 90%. This could reduce the time needed to exchange for a Yellow Dragon Pill from eight days to only three or four.
• Overwhelmed by the day’s discoveries, he leaves the Bluestone Talisman for the first time in a month and explores Black Sand Town.
• In the town’s marketplace, he encounters numerous cultivation goods, including talisman artifacts, pills, talismans, ores, and other materials.
• He studies several powerful talisman artifacts, especially the Blacksteel Flying Shield, Invisible Needles, Cloud-Treading Boots, and Golden Fu Mother-and-Son Blades, imagining that these items could make him nearly invincible at his current cultivation levels.
• However, the rarity and cost of their materials—such as Black Iron, refined metals, and monster hides—make artifact refinement impractical in reality for now.
• Lu Qingfeng concludes that cultivation, alchemy, and possibly talisman-making are more immediately useful than artifact refinement. Before he can organize his plans further, a nearby stall owner interrupts him.

Character Development

• Lu Qingfeng becomes more analytical about the game’s mechanics. He recognizes that fusion is unpredictable, while strengthening produces direct and reliable improvements.
• His priorities shift from merely raising his cultivation-method level to improving the practical resources that support cultivation, especially alchemy.
• He gains greater confidence after seeing how much the strengthened Alchemy Analysis can improve his pill production.
• At the same time, he becomes more aware of his limitations: his poor aptitude, lack of experience, limited finances, and shortage of materials prevent him from quickly mastering every cultivation-related profession.
• His understanding of the cultivation world broadens as he explores Black Sand Town and observes the sharp divide between cultivators and ordinary people.

Significant Themes

• Strengthening versus fusion: Direct improvement is portrayed as more dependable than combining different systems, which may produce uncertain or even inferior results.
• Cultivation as a resource-dependent path: Advancement requires not only talent and effort but also pills, materials, tools, and specialized knowledge.
• Aptitude and inequality: Lu Qingfeng reflects that aptitude determines who can enter cultivation at all, creating a vast divide between mortals and cultivators.
• Practical planning and prioritization: Rather than pursuing flashy weapons immediately, Lu Qingfeng identifies alchemy as the most realistic way to accelerate his progress.
• The difficulty of cultivation: Even with the game’s hundredfold time advantage, learning alchemy, talisman-making, and artifact refinement remains a long and demanding process.

Character Interactions

• Lu Qingfeng has no major extended interaction in this chapter, but he repeatedly questions marketplace vendors about their talisman artifacts and materials.
• These exchanges help him evaluate the functions, prices, and requirements of various items.
• At the end of the chapter, a stall owner addresses Lu Qingfeng impatiently, asking why he is lingering at the stall instead of cultivating or earning money. This interrupts Lu Qingfeng’s thoughts and sets up the next interaction.

Plot and events

• In the West City Market, Lu Qingfeng meets talisman seller Huang Luo, who warns him that neglecting cultivation can leave a beginner’s path hopeless. Lu Qingfeng realizes he has been occupying part of Huang’s stall and moves aside, but Huang soon ends the conversation.
• Lu Qingfeng continues cultivating and processing herbs inside the Bluestone Talisman. By reinforcing Alchemy Analysis twice, he greatly increases his processing speed and earns enough herbs to exchange for pills more efficiently.
• After reaching level 3 again, he upgrades the manual. Its first upgrade adds a Grain-Repelling Pill formula; a second adds the Yellow Dragon Pill formula as well. Excited by the prospect of learning alchemy, Lu Qingfeng postpones improving his cultivation scripture.
• Balancing game and real life, Lu Qingfeng works his family’s fields, cultivates, gathers herbs, and regularly logs into the game to eat Grain-Repelling Pills. He cannot let the fields lapse: failing to pay the Return to Truth Sect’s tribute would bring serious trouble.
• After three years and four months in-game—about two years of time spent actively inside the game—Lu Qingfeng’s character remains low-level, but he has developed an unusually extensive collection of refined techniques, spells, and alchemical knowledge.

Character developments

• Lu Qingfeng becomes increasingly methodical, prioritizing improvements to Alchemy Analysis because they make his pill-producing work more efficient than improving his cultivation scripture would.
• He is resourceful and forward-looking, recognizing that access to pill formulas could eventually help him advance in both the game and reality. At the same time, he remains cautious about the Return to Truth Sect and attentive to practical survival.
• Huang Luo appears more experienced and concerned about Lu Qingfeng’s prospects, though his warning also reflects irritation at the younger man’s apparent idleness.

Themes and interactions

• Efficiency and long-term planning: Lu Qingfeng weighs upgrades by their practical payoff, while adapting his schedule to make the most of the game’s time difference.
• Knowledge as power: Upgrading a foundational alchemy manual unlocks increasingly valuable formulas, potentially opening a path to independent pill-making.
• Survival under constraint: Lu Qingfeng must balance cultivation against farming and tribute obligations; advancement cannot come at the cost of his family’s immediate needs.
• Brief mentor-like encounter: Huang Luo offers advice, but their exchange ends awkwardly when Lu Qingfeng misunderstands or only partially responds to the warning, leaving the two without a meaningful connection.

Chapter Summary: White Jade True Formula

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lu Qingfeng reflects on more than three years of relentless cultivation and alchemy practice.
• After four enhancements costing 150 experience points, he upgrades the Azure Wood Flame-Yang Scripture to the Exquisite Tier, a cultivation method capable of supporting advancement toward the Golden Core Realm.
• The enhanced scripture doubles his inner breath at the same cultivation level and grants the Flame-Yang Power trait, significantly improving his endurance, explosive strength, and fire-based techniques.
• His current combat abilities include:
  • Firebolt Technique for ranged attacks
  • Heart-Burning Palm for close combat
  • Smoke-Winding Steps for mobility and retreat
  • Heavenly Eye Technique for assessing opponents
• Lu Qingfeng identifies defensive ability as his only major weakness and asks Daoist Huangluo to help locate a suitable body-tempering martial art.
• At the marketplace, Lu Qingfeng trades with Fang Jiu, who returns from Silverlight Mountain with a Blood Spirit Herb and several other gains. Fang exchanges 300 portions of basic medicinal herbs for Fasting Pills and buys talismans from Huangluo’s stall.
• The chapter explains Lu Qingfeng’s growing alchemy business. His enhanced formulas produce Fasting Pills that are more effective than ordinary versions and yield roughly triple the profit, though his continuing research into Yellow Dragon Pills consumes enormous resources.
• Daoist Huangluo eventually brings him the White Jade True Formula, a powerful defensive martial art. Though it costs five Spirit Stone Fragments, Huangluo pays in advance and allows Lu Qingfeng to repay him later.

Character Developments

• Lu Qingfeng demonstrates exceptional perseverance, careful planning, and practical combat strategy. Though his cultivation level remains at the First Layer of the Embryonic Breath Realm, his improved foundation makes him far stronger than ordinary cultivators at the same level.
• He continues balancing cultivation, spell practice, alchemy, commerce, and resource management despite having poor innate talent.
• His alchemical skill has become a dependable source of income, but his attempts to refine Yellow Dragon Pills remain inefficient and financially draining.
• Daoist Huangluo is established as a supportive and somewhat stern mentor-like figure. He worries that Lu Qingfeng focuses too much on auxiliary skills while neglecting cultivation, yet still helps him obtain the defensive technique and lends him the necessary money.
• Fang Jiu is portrayed as an experienced, good-humored cultivator who actively seeks opportunities to break through his cultivation bottleneck.

Significant Themes

• Accumulation beneath apparent stagnation: Lu Qingfeng’s cultivation level has barely changed, but his foundations, inner breath quality, and combat power have improved dramatically.
• The value of specialization: Rather than learning countless techniques, Lu Qingfeng carefully chooses spells that cover ranged combat, close combat, movement, and reconnaissance.
• Resource scarcity and economic struggle: Alchemy and cultivation require vast investments, and even profitable pill-making cannot fully offset the cost of experimentation.
• Perseverance despite low talent: Lu Qingfeng compensates for his poor innate aptitude through effort, enhancement abilities, planning, and patience.
• Mutual assistance and relationships: Lu Qingfeng’s business with Fang Jiu and his arrangement with Huangluo show how cooperation and trust help him survive in the cultivation world.

Character Interactions

• Lu Qingfeng and Fang Jiu exchange pills and medicinal herbs, maintaining a friendly trading relationship. Lu Qingfeng also encourages Fang to purchase Huangluo’s talismans.
• Lu Qingfeng’s partnership with Daoist Huangluo allows him to sell pills without paying stall fees while helping Huangluo market talismans.
• Huangluo lectures Lu Qingfeng about prioritizing cultivation, then supports him by securing the White Jade True Formula and advancing its cost.
• Lu Qingfeng gratefully accepts Huangluo’s help and promises to repay the debt, marking a stronger bond of trust between them.

Chapter Summary: “Preparing to Escape—Please Vote”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Over two months in the Primordial World, Lu Qingfeng concentrates on refining Fasting Pills. He produces 1,780 pills and earns a net profit equivalent to 308 Yellow Dragon Pills, though he still falls short of his goal of 500.
• Because of the hundredfold time difference between the Primordial World and Blackwood Stockade, only one night passes in the real world while Lu Qingfeng spends months cultivating and preparing.
• Five months after joining the Return-to-Truth Sect, Lu Qingshan tells Lu Qingfeng that an inner-chamber disciple, Wu Yuan, has selected him as one of six servant disciples for a dangerous mission across the Chengyang River.
• The far shore is filled with ferocious beasts, poisonous creatures, demons, and monsters. Servant disciples have an extremely low survival rate, with fewer than one-tenth typically surviving after several years.
• Lu Qingshan reveals a mysterious bluish-purple jade pendant he found on Yellow Lingzhi Mountain. After blood was dripped onto it, the pendant allowed him to control a powerful corpse beneath the mountain, though doing so completely drained his strength.
• Fearing that Qingshan will die on the mission, Lu Qingfeng decides they must escape rather than rely on luck. He plans to kill Wu Yuan, seize the group’s boat, travel downstream, and flee beyond Nine-Palisade County with Qingshan and eventually Qingyu.
• Lu Qingfeng proves his strength by using the Heart-Burning Palm to leave a deep imprint in a tree, convincing Qingshan that he may truly be capable of killing Wu Yuan.
• On the way home, Lu Qingfeng carefully analyzes the escape plan: he must avoid additional enemies, make effective use of his three Firebolt Technique attacks, learn to row, and prepare medicines against insects, poison, and wild beasts.
• The chapter ends with Lu Qingfeng viewing the dangerous mission as both a crisis and a possible opportunity to break free from the Return-to-Truth Sect and Blackwood Stockade.

Character Developments

• Lu Qingfeng has become more capable and decisive after gaining strength through cultivation, alchemy, and spells in the Primordial World. He shifts from cautious preparation to immediate action when Qingshan’s life is threatened.
• He demonstrates strategic thinking by anticipating possible complications and planning countermeasures rather than acting impulsively.
• Lu Qingshan has grown sturdier, less timid, and more independent after five months in the sect, but he remains frightened by the prospect of crossing the river. His willingness to reveal the jade pendant shows both trust in Lu Qingfeng and his desperation.
• Qingshan’s emotional maturity is evident in his attempt to face death bravely, but his longing for his younger sister, Qingyu, reveals his vulnerability and youth.
• The mysterious jade pendant and corpse suggest that Qingshan may possess an important hidden inheritance or fortuitous opportunity.

Significant Themes

• Family loyalty and sacrifice: Lu Qingfeng refuses to abandon Qingshan to an almost certain death, even though the rescue plan is dangerous and poorly prepared.
• Preparation versus luck: The sect treats survival as a matter of luck, while Lu Qingfeng insists that life and death cannot be entrusted to chance.
• Growth through adversity: Both brothers have developed physically and psychologically under difficult circumstances.
• Crisis as opportunity: The forced mission may provide the brothers with their best chance to escape the sect’s control and begin a new life.
• The power of time and cultivation: Lu Qingfeng’s progress depends heavily on the Primordial World’s accelerated time, allowing him to acquire wealth, techniques, and confidence.
• Freedom versus confinement: The Return-to-Truth Sect functions as a cage, and escaping it represents the first step toward pursuing cultivation and immortality on their own terms.

Character Interactions

• Lu Qingshan regularly reports his experiences in the sect to Lu Qingfeng and seeks his advice, reflecting their close brotherly bond.
• Qingshan confides in Lu Qingfeng about the jade pendant and asks him to keep it if he dies, even entrusting him with the possibility of avenging him.
• Lu Qingfeng comforts Qingshan, promises that he will see Qingyu again, and reassures him that he has a plan.
• When Qingshan doubts that Lu Qingfeng can defeat Wu Yuan, Lu Qingfeng demonstrates his strength physically, replacing fear with cautious hope.
• Their conversation transforms Qingshan’s mission from a forced death march into a planned escape attempt led by Lu Qingfeng.

Chapter Summary: “Action!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lu Qingfeng tells his sister, Lu Qingyu, that in three days they will secretly go to the dock near Yellow Lingzhi Mountain, rescue their brother Lu Qingshan, and flee Blackwood Stockade.
• Qingyu reacts with complete trust and excitement, while Lu Qingfeng reflects on the family’s years of suffering under the Return-to-Truth Sect.
• On the appointed night, Lu Qingfeng carries Qingyu out of Blackwood Stockade and hides near the dock. They wait until dawn for Qingshan’s group to arrive.
• Lu Qingshan appears with Wu Yuan, an inner disciple of the Return-to-Truth Sect, and five other servants. Lu Qingfeng confirms through Qingshan’s hidden arm that their escape plan is still intact.
• Lu Qingfeng and Qingyu deliberately approach the group, pretending to have come merely to see Qingshan off. When Wu Yuan questions them, Qingshan takes the blame and is brutally kicked, injuring him.
• Wu Yuan then expresses an intention to abuse Qingyu. This provokes Lu Qingfeng into abandoning his disguise and attacking.
• Lu Qingfeng uses the Firebolt Technique twice. The first attack disarms Wu Yuan; the second strikes him directly in the face, overwhelming his defensive Turtle Shell technique.
• Wu Yuan is burned to death, clearing the way for the siblings’ escape.

Character Developments

• Lu Qingfeng has grown physically and spiritually stronger through cultivation, but remains aware of his lack of real combat experience. Despite his nervousness, he successfully maintains a deception and executes a deadly ambush.
• Lu Qingyu shows absolute faith in her elder brother. Though frightened during the escape and confrontation, she remains obedient and determined to reunite with Qingshan.
• Lu Qingshan demonstrates loyalty by taking responsibility for informing his siblings, even when doing so results in Wu Yuan’s violence. His injuries intensify Qingfeng’s resolve.
• Wu Yuan is revealed as cruel, arrogant, and predatory. His authority as an inner disciple makes him careless, and his brutality toward Qingshan and Qingyu ultimately leads to his death.

Significant Themes

• Family loyalty and reunion: The siblings’ shared determination to escape highlights their devotion and emotional dependence on one another.
• Oppression and resistance: The Return-to-Truth Sect symbolizes the exploitative power controlling their lives, while Qingfeng’s cultivation enables him to resist it.
• Growth through cultivation: Qingfeng’s physical improvement parallels his increasing courage and ability to protect his family.
• Deception and strategy: Rather than relying on open strength, Qingfeng disguises his intentions, waits for the right moment, and exploits Wu Yuan’s overconfidence.
• Justice and revenge: Wu Yuan’s violence toward the helpless becomes the immediate cause of his destruction.

Character Interactions

• Qingfeng and Qingyu share a trusting, affectionate relationship, with Qingyu relying entirely on her brother’s protection.
• Qingfeng and Qingshan communicate indirectly through their planned signals, both understanding the danger of revealing their intentions.
• Wu Yuan’s abusive treatment of Qingshan and threatening interest in Qingyu creates the decisive conflict.
• Qingfeng’s protective response transforms the meeting from a farewell into a confrontation, ending with Wu Yuan’s death.

Chapter Summary: “Today, the Fish Leapt in the Vast Sea!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lu Qingfeng arrives in time to find Wu Yuan severely injuring Lu Qingshan. Before Wu Yuan can finish him, Qingfeng kills Wu Yuan with a powerful flame technique, leaving him a charred corpse.
• At Lu Qingshan’s insistence, Qingfeng kills Wu Yuan’s five servants as well, preventing them from reporting what happened. He then carries the injured Qingshan and Qingyu to the dock.
• Qingfeng steals a small boat, unties the others to delay pursuit, and takes his siblings downstream along the Chengyang River. He believes they can escape the Return-to-Truth Sect once they leave Nine-Palisade County.
• At the sect’s dock, Chief Zhao Zhou investigates the massacre. Evidence reveals that Lu Qingshan is missing and that the Lu siblings have fled, likely with knowledge of forbidden teachings and unusual flame arts.
• Zhao Zhou sends pursuers to follow the river and orders nearby settlements to search the banks. He suspects the siblings possess either a powerful opportunity or outside assistance, but believes the river’s hidden reefs near Ningkou Stockade will prevent their escape.
• During the journey, Qingyu fears that Qingshan is dying, but Qingfeng explains that he has merely fallen asleep after taking medicine. Qingyu discovers the many scars left by the sect’s abuse and vows that the siblings will return one day to destroy the Return-to-Truth Sect.

Character Developments

• Lu Qingfeng demonstrates decisive strength and ruthlessness. Although he once struggled emotionally with killing, he now acts without hesitation when protecting his siblings. His confidence and sense of liberation grow as they escape.
• Lu Qingshan remains badly injured but reveals his determination and resentment toward the sect. He urges Qingfeng to eliminate the servants, showing that he understands the danger of leaving witnesses alive.
• Lu Qingyu shifts from fear and grief to anger and resolve. Seeing Qingshan’s scars awakens her hatred of the sect and strengthens her desire for revenge.
• Zhao Zhou is established as an intelligent and dangerous leader. Rather than reacting blindly, he reconstructs the crime, identifies Qingfeng’s unusual abilities, and plans to exploit the river’s geography to trap the fugitives.
• Wu Yuan is revealed to have underestimated the Lu brothers. Although he intended to use them rather than immediately kill them, his arrogance ultimately leads to his death.

Significant Themes

• Escape and liberation: The river journey symbolizes the family breaking free from years of oppression.
• Revenge and justice: The Lu siblings’ suffering creates a lasting determination to return and overthrow the Return-to-Truth Sect.
• Family loyalty: Qingfeng risks everything to save Qingshan and Qingyu, while the siblings rely on and protect one another.
• Transformation through violence: Qingfeng’s first killings troubled him, but repeated danger has hardened him into someone capable of immediate, calculated action.
• Underestimation and hidden potential: The sect dismisses the Lu family as insignificant, failing to recognize Qingfeng’s abilities and the opportunity they have obtained.
• Freedom versus control: The vast river and open world contrast with the sect’s oppressive authority, though Zhao Zhou’s pursuit shows that freedom remains precarious.

Character Interactions

• Qingfeng comforts and protects Qingshan after killing Wu Yuan, then follows Qingshan’s request to eliminate the five servants.
• Qingyu tends to the injured Qingshan and initially panics when he appears unconscious, only to realize he is resting after taking medicine. Her frustration briefly turns humorous when she learns he is not dying.
• Qingyu’s discovery of Qingshan’s scars leads to an emotional exchange with Qingfeng, in which both reaffirm their promise to return and destroy the sect.
• Zhao Zhou interacts with his investigators and forensic disciple, using their reports to infer how Wu Yuan died and where the Lu siblings may have gone.
• The chapter ends with the Lu family united in flight, carrying both the trauma of the past and a firm promise of future retaliation.

Chapter Summary: “Hiding in the Mountains”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The three Lu siblings—Lu Qingfeng, Lu Qingshan, and Lu Qingyu—escape Yellow Lingzhi Mountain by boat after killing Wu Yuan and several menial disciples.
• Their boat enters dangerous rapids filled with exposed rocks and hidden reefs. It is repeatedly damaged and begins to sink.
• Lu Qingfeng steers the boat toward the northern bank, avoiding the far more dangerous southern territory controlled by demons and monsters. The boat sinks as soon as they reach shore.
• Stranded on a narrow rock ledge beneath a steep cliff, Lu Qingfeng climbs the cliff alone, gathers vines, braids them into ropes, and uses them to pull Qingyu and the unconscious Qingshan to safety.
• After resting, the siblings realize they have escaped the Return-to-Truth Sect but do not know their exact location. They decide to travel east, avoiding the sect’s forces to the north.
• The dense mountain forest quickly disorients them. Because Qingshan is badly wounded and Qingyu is young and frail, Lu Qingfeng abandons the idea of traveling farther and chooses to hide and recover.
• On Nameless Cliff Mountain, Lu Qingfeng constructs a crude wooden shelter while Qingyu insists that Qingshan rest instead of helping.
• That night, the siblings share a rare peaceful moment beside a fire. Lu Qingfeng returns Qingshan’s violet-blue jade pendant and notebook, which records the punishments and abuses Qingshan endured in the sect.

Character Developments

• Lu Qingfeng demonstrates leadership, courage, and practical judgment. He navigates the perilous river, climbs the cliff, gathers supplies, and prioritizes his siblings’ safety despite exhaustion. His fear of the Return-to-Truth Sect remains deeply ingrained, but he begins to experience freedom after leaving its control.
• Lu Qingshan awakens after the escape and is overwhelmed with relief. He breaks down crying, revealing the emotional damage caused by his time in the sect. Despite his injuries, he instinctively tries to help build the shelter, showing his desire to contribute rather than remain helpless.
• Lu Qingyu remains energetic, blunt, and protective. She cares for Qingshan, stops him from worsening his injuries, and comforts him when he cries. Her happiness at their newfound freedom shows how severely Blackwood Stockade had restricted her life.
• The siblings collectively begin transitioning from survival under oppression to a freer, more affectionate family life.

Significant Themes

• Escape and freedom: Leaving the Return-to-Truth Sect represents liberation from years of fear, violence, and forced obedience.
• Family loyalty and protection: Lu Qingfeng repeatedly risks himself for his siblings, while Qingyu and Qingshan support one another emotionally.
• Trauma and recovery: Qingshan’s wounds and emotional collapse reveal the lasting effects of abuse. The mountain refuge offers both physical safety and the possibility of healing.
• The dangers of freedom: Although the siblings escape the sect, the wilderness is confusing and full of predators, emphasizing that freedom brings new risks and uncertainty.
• Hope and domestic peace: The simple hut, bonfire, and sibling banter contrast sharply with their former lives, suggesting that even a crude shelter can feel like a home when they are together.
• Memory and justice: Qingshan’s notebook preserves the record of punishments inflicted on him, serving as both a reminder of his suffering and a quiet record of the wrongs committed against him.

Character Interactions

• Lu Qingfeng gives Qingyu careful instructions during the escape and personally rescues both siblings from the riverbank.
• Qingyu tends to Qingshan while they wait for Qingfeng, then comforts him when he cries after realizing they have escaped.
• Qingyu and Qingshan resume their familiar bickering when she prevents him from helping with the hut, but the exchange reflects affection rather than hostility.
• Lu Qingfeng reassures Qingshan, supports Qingyu’s judgment, and returns Qingshan’s treasured belongings.
• Qingyu’s curiosity about the notebook creates a lighthearted family moment, while its contents reveal the harsh treatment Qingshan suffered under the sect.

Chapter Summary: “Time Flies”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lu Qingfeng learns the identities of the people who abused his younger brother, Lu Qingshan, in the Return-to-Truth Sect, especially the steward Zhang Chong and the disciple Qian Han.
• He promises Qingshan that, within three to five years, the three siblings will return to Yellow Lingzhi Mountain and demand revenge.
• Lu Qingfeng assigns Qingshan to teach Lu Qingyu literacy, meridians, and acupoints, while he teaches Qingshan a proper cultivation method instead of the flawed Return-to-Truth Method.
• Using his enhanced Heavenly Eye Technique, Lu Qingfeng discovers that both siblings have extremely poor aptitude: Qingshan has an aptitude of 2, while Qingyu has only 1. Nevertheless, he believes the Primordial World can compensate for their lack of talent.
• To protect the family, Lu Qingfeng prepares their forest shelter with sulfur, insect-repellent powder, and a vine warning barrier before entering the Primordial World.
• Over five years of game time, he focuses on alchemy and preparation. He refines Fasting Pills and Yellow Dragon Pills, acquires formulas for Breath-Restoring Pills, Essence-Nourishing Pills, and Fragrant Entanglement Pellets, and develops Pure Spirit Powder as an antidote.
• He also plans to learn a saber technique, talisman creation, and eventually artifact refinement, prioritizing practical survival tools.
• After mastering Yellow Dragon Pills and improving his alchemy, Lu Qingfeng’s resources and cultivation prospects improve significantly.
• Their location is eventually discovered by five Return-to-Truth Sect disciples. Lu Qingfeng confronts them alone.
• Using Smoke-Winding Steps and the Cloak Blade Technique, he kills four attackers with overwhelming ease and captures the fifth.
• The surviving disciple reveals that the group was sent to find the three siblings and provides information about the wider search operation. Lu Qingfeng then kills him as well and collects the weapons.

Character Developments

• Lu Qingfeng becomes increasingly protective, strategic, and confident. He shifts from merely escaping danger to actively preparing for revenge and future confrontations.
• His enhanced abilities—alchemy, Heavenly Eye Technique, movement skills, and saber mastery—establish him as far stronger than ordinary Return-to-Truth Sect disciples.
• Lu Qingshan remains traumatized by his time as a servant disciple but gains renewed faith in Lu Qingfeng after witnessing him defeat Wu Yuan and the five attackers. He begins taking responsibility for Qingyu’s education and protection.
• Lu Qingyu displays strong emotional loyalty and eagerness to learn cultivation. Her anger toward those who abused Qingshan reveals her fierce attachment to her brothers.
• The siblings’ extremely poor cultivation aptitude is revealed, but Lu Qingfeng refuses to treat this as a permanent limitation.

Significant Themes

• Family loyalty and protection: Lu Qingfeng’s main motivation is safeguarding his siblings and repaying the suffering they endured.
• Revenge and justice: The abused siblings’ desire for retribution becomes a long-term goal, while Lu Qingfeng methodically prepares for it.
• Effort versus innate talent: Although all three siblings possess unusually poor aptitude, Lu Qingfeng believes knowledge, resources, and the Primordial World can overcome natural limitations.
• Preparation and foresight: Survival depends not only on strength but also on food, medicine, poison, weapons, defensive measures, and information.
• The passage of time: The chapter emphasizes how years of game time allow Lu Qingfeng to accumulate skills and resources while only a short period passes in reality.
• Power and vulnerability: The Return-to-Truth Sect appears formidable, yet its lower-level disciples are helpless against Lu Qingfeng’s rapidly growing abilities.

Character Interactions

• Lu Qingfeng questions Qingshan about his abusers and reassures him that their tormentors will eventually be punished.
• He organizes the siblings’ education, assigning Qingshan to teach Qingyu while personally guiding Qingshan’s cultivation.
• Qingyu reacts passionately to Qingshan’s abuse and urges the family to begin studying immediately.
• During the attack, Qingshan attempts to protect Qingyu despite his fear, while Lu Qingfeng orders him to retreat and handles the attackers himself.
• Lu Qingfeng interrogates the surviving disciple after defeating the group, using the man’s fear to uncover the Return-to-Truth Sect’s search efforts before ending the threat.

Chapter Summary: “Forty-Two Years”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lu Qingfeng kills five members of the Return-to-Truth Sect’s Outer Enforcement Squad using his enhanced Cloak Blade Technique. Despite facing opponents at the Embryonic Breath First and Second Layers, he defeats them quickly and remains unharmed.
• From one of the attackers, Lu Qingfeng learns that the Return-to-Truth Sect has discovered their hiding place. However, the sect is currently engaged in a major conflict with another eastern sect, limiting the forces it can send after him.
• Since the Return-to-Truth Sect’s Punishment Hall continues actively searching for them, Lu Qingfeng, Lu Qingshan, and Lu Qingyu immediately decide to relocate.
• Recognizing the need for additional protection, Lu Qingfeng abandons his plan to focus solely on alchemy and begins studying Talisman refinement.
• He asks Daoist Huangluo for help obtaining Fire-Spirit Cinnabar and receives several instructional jade slips covering cinnabar preparation, talisman brushes, talisman paper, and low-grade Talismans.
• Lu Qingfeng’s reputation has grown substantially through his high-quality Fasting Pills and Yellow Dragon Pills. His partnership with the powerful Imperial City Guild provides him with ingredients and a reliable market for his pills.
• After recording Daoist Huangluo’s materials into his attribute panel, Lu Qingfeng begins learning to prepare cinnabar, manufacture talisman paper, and craft talisman brushes.
• The chapter ends with a major time skip: forty-two years pass while Lu Qingfeng practices Talisman refinement.

Character Developments

• Lu Qingfeng demonstrates overwhelming combat ability, with the enhanced Cloak Blade Technique elevating him to a level far beyond what his cultivation realm suggests. He is also shown to be practical and adaptable, quickly changing his priorities when the danger from the Return-to-Truth Sect increases.
• His growing success in alchemy makes him nearly as famous as Daoist Huangluo among the cultivators of Black Sand Town. His business partnership with the Imperial City Guild further establishes his influence and resources.
• Lu Qingfeng continues pursuing multiple fields—martial arts, alchemy, and now Talisman refinement—reflecting his relentless ambition and willingness to invest decades in preparation.
• Lu Qingyu remains energetic and battle-minded, focusing on learning the Cloak Blade Technique rather than being disturbed by the corpses of the enemies.
• Lu Qingshan is more cautious and thoughtful. He immediately recognizes the danger posed by the Return-to-Truth Sect and understands the necessity of relocating.
• Daoist Huangluo acts as a mentor and friend. Though he criticizes Lu Qingfeng for spreading himself too thin, he still provides valuable instructional materials and acknowledges their longstanding relationship.

Significant Themes

• Preparation and survival: Lu Qingfeng responds to renewed danger by developing new skills rather than relying solely on his existing strength.
• Mastery through persistence: His accomplishments in martial arts and alchemy—and his willingness to spend forty-two years studying Talismans—emphasize the importance of long-term dedication.
• Balancing multiple paths: The chapter explores Lu Qingfeng’s unusual ability to pursue alchemy, martial arts, business, and Talisman refinement simultaneously.
• Friendship and mutual assistance: Lu Qingfeng and Daoist Huangluo support each other professionally, with their cooperation benefiting both men.
• Hidden strength and strategic advantage: Lu Qingfeng’s true capabilities far exceed what his cultivation level suggests, allowing him to defeat stronger opponents and survive dangerous circumstances.

Important Character Interactions

• Lu Qingyu excitedly asks Lu Qingfeng to teach her the Cloak Blade Technique, while Lu Qingshan questions him about the identity and strength of their attackers.
• Lu Qingfeng reassures Lu Qingshan that the Return-to-Truth Sect is currently distracted by a larger conflict, though relocation remains necessary.
• Daoist Huangluo scolds Lu Qingfeng for taking up Talisman refinement instead of concentrating on alchemy, but ultimately gives him the materials needed to begin.
• Lu Qingfeng downplays his role in helping Daoist Huangluo connect with the Imperial City Guild, while Huangluo regards the favor as significant repayment for their cooperation.

Chapter Summary: “The End Is Near! Please Vote!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lu Qingfeng, Lu Qingshan, and Lu Qingyu spend five months fleeing through the mountains from the Return-to-Truth Sect, followed by another two months hiding to ensure the pursuit has ended.
• The siblings face both enemy pursuers and dangerous wild beasts. Lu Qingfeng kills a powerful Embryonic Breath Realm, Seventh-Layer pursuer, after an extremely dangerous battle.
• During the escape, Lu Qingfeng gathers herbs and refines Yellow Dragon Pills, raising his cultivation to the Embryonic Breath Realm, Third Layer.
• He replaces the “Azure Wood Flame-Yang Scripture” with the incomplete “Azure Origin Sword Art,” enhancing it five times through Technique Derivation and raising it from Exquisite Tier to Heterodox Tier.
• The improved sword art gives Lu Qingfeng vastly greater inner breath and combat strength. Although he has only mastered its first trait, Azure Origin Sword Radiance, he becomes nearly unmatched among Embryonic Breath cultivators.
• Lu Qingshan advances to the Embryonic Breath Realm, Second Layer and can fight opponents several layers above himself. Lu Qingyu reaches the First Layer and can contend with Third-Layer cultivators.
• In the game world, Lu Qingfeng has aged into a sixty-seven-year-old man after nearly fifty years of cultivation and crafting. He reaches the Embryonic Breath Realm, Fifth Layer.
• Over forty-two years, he becomes renowned throughout Black Sand Town for producing exceptionally powerful low-grade pills and talismans. He masters numerous alchemical recipes, talismans, techniques, and basic crafting skills.
• Knowing his lifespan is nearly exhausted, Lu Qingfeng summons his four remaining disciples and distributes his knowledge through jade slips.
• He rejects Peng Hai’s attempt to find lifespan-extending herbs, accepts death calmly, and leaves Black Sand Town alone to await reincarnation.

Character Development

• Lu Qingfeng: Grows from a fugitive struggling to survive into a highly capable cultivator, alchemist, and talisman crafter. His combat power, technical expertise, and reputation all increase dramatically. Despite his approaching death, he remains composed and accepts fate without desperation.
• Lu Qingshan: Develops rapidly under Lu Qingfeng’s guidance, becoming a strong fighter capable of challenging cultivators several levels above him.
• Lu Qingyu: Though her aptitude is weaker and her cultivation begins later, she steadily enters the Embryonic Breath Realm and gains respectable combat ability.
• The four disciples: Peng Hai, Lei He, Yao Jiusi, and Ji Fu demonstrate loyalty and emotional attachment to Lu Qingfeng. Their inheritance of his techniques and recipes gives them valuable resources for their future cultivation.

Significant Themes

• Survival and growth through hardship: Constant flight and danger force the siblings to improve rapidly.
• The value of knowledge and innovation: Lu Qingfeng’s Technique Derivation ability transforms an incomplete cultivation method into an exceptionally powerful art.
• Mortality and acceptance: Although Lu Qingfeng possesses considerable skill and fame, he cannot escape the limits of his lifespan. He chooses to accept death rather than pursue an uncertain and costly extension of life.
• Legacy: By passing his knowledge to his disciples, Lu Qingfeng ensures that his accomplishments will continue after his death.
• The contrast between worlds: His rapid development in the real world is mirrored by decades of painstaking progress in the game, highlighting the importance of time and accumulated experience.

Character Interactions

• The three siblings rely on one another throughout their dangerous escape, with Lu Qingfeng serving as their protector and mentor.
• Lu Qingfeng’s battle with the Seventh-Layer Return-to-Truth Sect pursuer becomes a crucial turning point in their survival.
• His four disciples respond with grief and loyalty when he announces that his death is near. Peng Hai specifically tries to find a way to extend his master’s life.
• Lu Qingfeng calmly refuses their efforts and instead gives them the tools and knowledge necessary to continue his work, turning his final interaction with them into an act of mentorship and farewell.

Chapter Summary

Plot Points and Events

• Lu Qingfeng enters Violet Silk Gorge, a dangerous region between Silverlight Mountain and Thunderclap Mountain filled with savage and demonic beasts.
• Using his enhanced Heavenly Eye Technique, he identifies the strength and weaknesses of nearby beasts, especially the lightning weakness of Iron-Crest Beasts.
• He annihilates entire packs of low-level savage beasts with Thundercloud Talismans, rapidly gaining experience while keeping his character level artificially fixed at ten.
• By maintaining a low level, Lu Qingfeng exploits the game’s experience system: stronger beasts continue granting him large experience rewards without reducing his gains as his own level rises.
• He spends thousands of experience points improving the Azure Origin Sword Art, while also refining and upgrading pill formulas and talismans.
• After exhausting his stockpile of powerful talismans, he has slaughtered numerous savage-beast packs and gathered enough experience to raise the Azure Origin Sword Art from Heterodox Tier to Orthodox Tier.
• The upgraded sword art now contains twenty-seven levels and can ultimately support cultivation as high as the Earth Immortal realm, making it an extraordinarily valuable technique.
• His slaughter attracts a Seventh-Rank Ironwing Thunder Eagle, a beast comparable to a great Spirit Void cultivator. It instantly destroys Lu Qingfeng and his Blacksteel Flying Shield with a lightning attack.
• Lu Qingfeng accepts the death as intentional. His in-game lifespan was nearly exhausted, and he had chosen to die rather than risk the unknown consequences of dying naturally.
• He selects reincarnation on a random map instead of returning to Black Sand Town, hoping to avoid revealing his reincarnated identity and discover new opportunities. His new life begins in the Ascension Pool, with sixteen years required before he can resume his journey.

Character Development

• Lu Qingfeng shifts from cautious cultivation and accumulation in Black Sand Town to aggressive, calculated risk-taking.
• He demonstrates a deep understanding of the game’s mechanics, deliberately controlling his level to maximize experience gains.
• His wealth, accumulated through highly profitable alchemy and talisman production, allows him to undertake an otherwise impossible campaign of mass slaughter.
• He becomes more ambitious in strengthening his foundation, prioritizing the Azure Origin Sword Art over further improvements to already highly enhanced pill and talisman formulas.
• Although he fears death, he shows greater composure and strategic acceptance of it, treating reincarnation as part of a long-term plan.

Significant Themes

• Risk versus reward: Lu Qingfeng knowingly enters a lethal region to obtain experience and improve his cultivation art before his lifespan ends.
• Exploitation of systems: His success comes from manipulating the rules governing levels, experience, talismans, and reincarnation.
• Preparation and accumulation: Decades of crafting pills and talismans provide the wealth and resources needed for his breakthrough.
• The cost of power: Even after becoming overwhelmingly strong against low-level enemies, Lu Qingfeng remains helpless before a truly powerful savage beast.
• Renewal and uncertainty: Reincarnation offers both danger and opportunity, allowing him to abandon familiar advantages in exchange for a fresh start.

Character Interactions

• Lu Qingfeng has no meaningful human interactions in the chapter; his primary encounters are with savage beasts.
• He fights Iron-Crest Beasts and several other Second-Rank packs using talismans and his analytical abilities.
• His final “interaction” is with the Ironwing Thunder Eagle, whose overwhelming power exposes the limits of his current defenses.
• His indirect relationships with the Imperial City Guild, the newly established Imperial City Sect, Daoist Huangluo, and Black Sand Town’s cultivators influence his decision to leave rather than risk exposing his reincarnated identity.

Chapter Summary: “Preparing to Leave the Mountains”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Six months pass in reality while Lu Qingfeng, Lu Qingshan, and Lu Qingyu hide and cultivate in the mountains after escaping the Return Truth Sect.
• The siblings train together, with Lu Qingfeng easily overpowering Lu Qingshan during a saber sparring session.
• Lu Qingfeng has spent the equivalent of forty-eight years cultivating in the game, repeatedly practicing the first five layers of the Embryonic Breath Realm. This experience allows him to progress rapidly despite his poor Spiritual Root.
• Their cultivation levels are:
  • Lu Qingfeng: Third Layer of the Embryonic Breath Realm
  • Lu Qingshan: Second Layer
  • Lu Qingyu: First Layer
• Their supply of medicinal herbs is no longer sufficient because all three now require more Yellow Dragon Pills. Although the surrounding herbs have not run out, gathering them personally is too inefficient.
• Lu Qingfeng decides that the siblings must leave the mountains and travel to a county town, where they can buy herbs and obtain resources through contact with ordinary society.
• They plan to depart at dawn after spending one final night in the forest.

Character Developments

• Lu Qingfeng remains the group’s leader and strategist. His decades of game experience have made him calm, knowledgeable, and mature beyond his apparent age. He recognizes that isolated cultivation will limit their growth and chooses the more practical path of entering society.
• Lu Qingshan has recovered fully from his injuries and reached the Second Layer of the Embryonic Breath Realm. Though much weaker than Lu Qingfeng, he is becoming more confident and claims he is no longer afraid of the Return Truth Sect or the outside world.
• Lu Qingyu has begun cultivating and reached the First Layer. She remains playful and energetic, teasing Lu Qingshan during the sparring session, but becomes visibly nervous when faced with the prospect of leaving their familiar mountain refuge.
• The siblings have grown physically stronger and healed from their previous injuries, but their long isolation has also made them emotionally attached to their current way of life.

Significant Themes

• The limits of isolation: The siblings cannot rely indefinitely on gathering herbs and cultivating alone. Progress requires access to resources and cooperation with wider society.
• Preparation and adaptability: Lu Qingfeng’s mapmaking, planning, and careful organization demonstrate the importance of preparation before entering unfamiliar territory.
• Experience versus innate talent: Lu Qingfeng’s exceptional cultivation knowledge compensates for his poor Spiritual Root, allowing him to advance faster than Lu Qingshan.
• Fear of change: Although the mountains have been dangerous, they have also become a place of safety. Leaving represents both an opportunity and a return to uncertainty.
• Family dependence and responsibility: Lu Qingfeng guides and protects his younger siblings, while Lu Qingshan and Lu Qingyu trust his judgment even when they are hesitant.

Character Interactions

• Lu Qingshan and Lu Qingfeng spar while Lu Qingyu enthusiastically cheers for her eldest brother and mocks the second.
• Lu Qingfeng allows the younger two to joke and argue, showing his quiet affection and patience.
• When Lu Qingshan and Lu Qingyu hesitate about leaving, Lu Qingfeng gently challenges them by asking whether they are afraid, then gives them time to adjust rather than forcing them to discuss their feelings.
• The chapter ends with Lu Qingfeng preparing their limited possessions—including pills, Talismans, the Wolf-Hair Talisman Brush, and the Nine-Ring Saber—while the other two siblings privately struggle with anxiety about their new destination.

Summary of “Encounter”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lu Qingfeng, Lu Qingshan, and Lu Qingyu travel northeast toward Lanjiang County, accompanied by three trained Yunque Birds.
• The birds were hatched from eggs Lu Qingyu found months earlier and were later tamed by Lu Qingfeng using the Beast-Taming Art. Fed spiritually enhanced Yellow Millet Pills, they developed intelligence and became useful scouts.
• The Yunque Birds help the siblings avoid beasts, detect danger, and complete their rough map of the surrounding region.
• After roughly ten days, one bird reports the presence of five humans nearby. Since the siblings need information about the region, Lu Qingfeng decides to approach them cautiously.
• The siblings prepare Earth-Escaping Talismans in case the strangers are powerful or belong to the Return Truth Sect.
• The five men, led by a hawk-nosed man named Yan Zhang, are fleeing a massive black bear. Rather than continue running, Yan Zhang deliberately redirects the bear toward Lu Qingfeng and his siblings, intending to use them as bait.
• Lu Qingfeng recognizes the men’s malicious intent and decides there is no reason to spare them. He assesses their strength with the Heavenly Eye Technique and finds that even Yan Zhang, the strongest, is only at the third layer of the Embryonic Breath Realm.
• Lu Qingshan and Lu Qingyu prepare Golden Light Talismans while Lu Qingfeng steps forward with his Nine-Ring Saber to confront Yan Zhang and the approaching bear.

Character Developments

• Lu Qingfeng demonstrates increasing confidence, strategic thinking, and mastery of his resources. He uses the Yunque Birds for reconnaissance, evaluates the strangers’ cultivation, and remains calm despite the danger.
• Lu Qingyu is affectionate and protective toward her Yunque Bird, Xiao Jiu, frequently feeding it and treating it almost like a companion. Her earlier nervousness about entering the county town fades during the journey, showing growing emotional stability.
• Lu Qingshan acts as the more practical and restrained sibling, objecting to Lu Qingyu overfeeding the birds but still caring for his own bird, Xiao Ba.
• Together, the siblings show improved coordination and preparedness, relying on scouting birds, talismans, and Lu Qingfeng’s combat ability.

Significant Themes

• Ingenuity and adaptation: The siblings turn seemingly weak Yunque Birds into valuable survival tools through taming and cultivation.
• Preparedness versus recklessness: Their careful use of scouts and talismans contrasts with Yan Zhang’s desperate and ruthless decision to sacrifice strangers.
• Moral contrast: Lu Qingfeng initially seeks peaceful contact for information, but Yan Zhang’s attempt to use them as bait removes any hesitation about fighting back.
• Growth through hardship: Life in the wilderness has made the siblings more capable, alert, and united.
• The danger of appearances: Yan Zhang assumes the young travelers are helpless, underestimating Lu Qingfeng’s cultivation and abilities.

Character Interactions

• Lu Qingyu lovingly indulges Xiao Jiu, while Lu Qingshan criticizes her for feeding the birds too often, creating a lighthearted sibling exchange.
• Lu Qingfeng mediates their familiar bickering with resigned patience.
• The three siblings discuss how to handle the approaching strangers and agree to keep their talismans ready.
• Yan Zhang and his companions reveal their selfishness by intentionally steering the black bear toward the siblings.
• Yan Zhang arrogantly orders the siblings aside and attacks, while Lu Qingfeng positions himself between the enemy and his younger siblings, preparing to defend them.