Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Lu Qingshan defeats five attackers from the Flying Bird Hall in a single exchange, disabling them by severing the tendons in their hands and feet.
• He then kills the charging black bear with one saber strike, judging that his strength can now challenge a True Qi Realm fighter.
• When the group questions the fallen men, Yan Zhang rejects Lu Qingshan’s offer to cooperate. Lu kills him, and the other four give up information.
• The siblings learn that the attackers were minor members of the Azure Jade Sect’s Flying Bird Hall, which handles intelligence and reconnaissance. They had been trying to spy on the War God Society across the border.
• Lu Qingshan pieces together the regional power struggle: the Return to Truth Sect controls several counties, the Azure Jade Sect holds others, and the prefectural city is divided among gangs. The Azure Jade Sect is also fighting the War God Society in neighboring Dangyang Prefecture.
• Since crossing into Dangyang territory could get them mistaken for spies, Lu chooses to head for Miaoyin City, a powerful border city where rival factions are deterred from acting openly.

Character development

• Lu Qingshan demonstrates the strength gained from switching to the Orthodox Grade Azure Origin Sword Art: his Internal Breath and saber skill let him overwhelm both the five men and the bear.
• He shows pragmatic restraint by offering the attackers a chance to cooperate, but acts decisively when Yan Zhang refuses.
• Lu Qingfeng expresses concern that the siblings’ growing conflicts with powerful sects will endanger them. Lu Qingshan responds by assessing the political landscape and choosing a safer destination.

Character interactions

• The five attackers’ confidence turns to terror after Lu Qingshan defeats them; four agree to cooperate, while Yan Zhang remains defiant and is killed.
• Lu Qingshan briefs Lu Qingfeng and Qingyu on what they have learned and explains why traveling directly into Dangyang Prefecture is risky.
• The siblings continue their journey together, now aiming for Miaoyin City.

Significant themes

• Strength and survival: Superior cultivation and skill allow Lu Qingshan to overcome overwhelming-looking threats.
• Pragmatism and mercy: He offers his enemies a chance to live, but does not hesitate when cooperation fails.
• Political complexity: The siblings’ escape takes them into a region divided among rival factions, where even minor encounters can carry broader consequences.
• Finding refuge amid conflict: Miaoyin City represents a possible haven because its powerful defenders keep competing factions in check.

Chapter Summary: “Third Life”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Lu Qingfeng, Lu Qingshan, and Lu Qingyu arrive at Miaoyin City, a prosperous and heavily fortified city founded by the powerful Daoist Miaoyin.
• The siblings are amazed by the city’s scale, wealth, crowds, and order, especially compared with Blackwood Stockade and their years in the wilderness.
• Lu Qingfeng discreetly steals money from a passerby to pay the entrance fee, then buys new clothes for himself and his siblings.
• He rents a small courtyard and decides to remain in Miaoyin City while studying its rules, opportunities, and potential sources of cultivation resources.
• Using his alchemical knowledge and remaining funds, Lu Qingfeng purchases a struggling pharmacy and reopens it as Black Sand Pharmacy.
• He sells weakened versions of his powerful medicines, especially:
  • Pure Spirit Powder, an effective antidote
  • Essence-Nourishing Pills, useful for healing internal and external injuries
• By dividing these medicines into multiple grades and reducing their effectiveness, Lu Qingfeng avoids attracting excessive attention while still building a profitable business.
• Black Sand Pharmacy quickly gains a reputation among martial wanderers, many of whom visit Miaoyin City because of injuries, poison, or conflicts with enemies.
• Unlike his experiences in Blackwood Stockade and the Return-to-Truth Sect, Lu Qingfeng encounters almost no harassment or violence. Miaoyin City’s strong law enforcement and the authority of City Lord Miaoyin provide a remarkably safe environment.
• After a month, the pharmacy is thriving, Lu Qingfeng has accumulated resources and refined additional pills, and his real-world cultivation begins progressing again.
• His third reincarnation in Primordial World concludes. Though his level, cultivation, and equipment reset, he retains extensive knowledge of cultivation, alchemy, talismans, artifact crafting, and beast taming.
• Lu Qingfeng realizes that he must focus more seriously on cultivation in the game, not merely on improving techniques and formulas, because his in-game progress directly affects his real-world advancement.
• He decides that, in this new life, he should seek a cultivation sect—ideally one skilled in alchemy, artifact crafting, and talisman-making—and find a master who can provide expert guidance.

2. Character Developments

• Lu Qingfeng demonstrates increased confidence, resourcefulness, and strategic caution. He transforms a poor pharmacy into a successful business while carefully concealing the true quality of his medicines.
• He becomes more aware of the limitations of relying solely on self-study and recognizes the value of sects, teachers, and specialized guidance.
• His priorities expand beyond survival and wealth: he now intends to balance cultivation, alchemy, talisman-making, artifact crafting, and long-term advancement.
• Lu Qingyu responds enthusiastically to city life, especially her new clothes. Her initial reluctance to leave the mountains disappears, showing her adaptability and youthful delight in improved living conditions.
• Lu Qingshan is similarly awed by the city and pleased with the siblings’ improved circumstances, though he receives less individual focus in the chapter.
• The siblings’ relationship remains warm and supportive, with Lu Qingfeng acting as their provider and protector.

3. Significant Themes

• Safety and stability after hardship: Miaoyin City represents a refuge and a transition from poverty, danger, and oppression toward security and prosperity.
• Resourcefulness and concealment: Lu Qingfeng uses his knowledge intelligently while deliberately weakening and disguising his medicines to avoid provoking powerful enemies or attracting unwanted attention.
• The value of expertise and mentorship: His memories of Daoist Huangluo convince him that guidance from a master can greatly reduce wasted effort and accelerate growth.
• Balancing worldly and spiritual advancement: Lu Qingfeng must manage a pharmacy, support his family, gather resources, and simultaneously pursue cultivation and technical studies.
• Accumulated knowledge as power: Even after his level and equipment reset, the skills and knowledge gained through previous reincarnations remain invaluable.
• From survival to ambition: The chapter marks a shift from merely escaping danger and establishing a foothold to deliberately planning a broader path toward mastery.

4. Character Interactions

• Lu Qingfeng leads both siblings into Miaoyin City, guiding them through their first impressions of the bustling metropolis.
• He buys new clothing for Qingshan and Qingyu, and warmly pats Qingyu’s head when she expresses her happiness.
• The siblings share a sense of relief and emotional satisfaction after securing a home and beginning a stable life.
• Lu Qingfeng’s interactions with customers and the city’s martial wanderers are primarily commercial, but these relationships help establish Black Sand Pharmacy’s reputation.
• His later reflections on Daoist Huangluo show how his past relationship with a knowledgeable senior influences his future plans, particularly his desire to join a sect and find a teacher.

Chapter Summary: Bingling Realm

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lu Qingfeng arrives in Sishui Town, located beneath Emerald Screen Mountain and the Spirit Mechanisms Institute.
• Unlike Black Sand Town, Sishui Town resembles an ordinary mortal settlement and lacks the usual beginner facilities for alchemy, artifact refining, and talisman-making.
• Because Lu Qingfeng’s Spiritual Root is only level 1, he realizes he cannot pass the Spirit Mechanisms Institute’s entrance examinations.
• He visits the central square to seek membership in one of the town’s guilds and chooses the Origin One Guild, which has a First-Rank Alchemist and two highly skilled alchemy apprentices.
• Guild recruiter Lu Hongwen tests Lu Qingfeng’s Spiritual Root and initially rejects him. However, after learning that Lu Qingfeng is a player from “outside,” he becomes much more welcoming.
• Lu Qingfeng proves that he is a genuine player by completing a special form visible only to players through the guild’s command token.
• Lu Hongwen explains Origin One Guild’s strength and introduces Lu Qingfeng to the wider geography and history of the Bingling Realm.

Character Development

• Lu Qingfeng demonstrates adaptability and practical judgment. Although his poor Spiritual Root prevents him from joining the local sect, he immediately seeks an alternative route through guild membership.
• His prior experience from another world helps him understand alchemy and recognize the value of Origin One Guild, even though his former knowledge of beginner towns is not useful here.
• Lu Qingfeng remains calm when mocked for his weak Spiritual Root, showing confidence in his ability to compensate through alchemy and player advantages.
• Lu Hongwen initially appears dismissive and indifferent toward Lu Qingfeng because of his poor aptitude. Once he realizes Lu Qingfeng is a player, however, his attitude changes dramatically, revealing the importance of player connections in the sparsely populated Bingling Realm.

Significant Themes

• Aptitude versus ability: Spiritual Root determines access to traditional cultivation paths, but Lu Qingfeng’s alchemy skills offer another way to gain status and opportunities.
• Pioneering and isolation: The Bingling Realm is an undeveloped world with fewer than three thousand players, making it very different from mature realms such as the Sky Fox Realm.
• Player identity and privilege: Guilds treat players differently from natives, and specialized systems allow players to verify one another.
• Adaptation to unfamiliar environments: Lu Qingfeng must abandon expectations formed from his previous life and learn the unique rules of this new region.
• World-building and cultivation history: The chapter establishes the origins, geography, political divisions, and developmental stage of the Bingling Realm.

Character Interactions

• Lu Qingfeng and Lu Hongwen’s first interaction begins with Lu Hongwen rejecting him after testing his Spiritual Root.
• Lu Qingfeng then reveals that he can make pills, prompting Lu Hongwen to reassess him.
• After confirming Lu Qingfeng is a player, Lu Hongwen becomes friendly, introduces himself, explains the guild’s advantages, and shares extensive information about the Bingling Realm.
• Their interaction establishes a potentially useful relationship: Lu Qingfeng gains access to guild resources and alchemical guidance, while Lu Hongwen gains another player recruit.

Chapter Summary: Wang Tao

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lu Hongwen brings Lu Qingfeng and six other recruits to Origin One Guild’s headquarters on Origin One Mountain outside Sishui Town.
• The six other recruits are natives with decent Spiritual Roots, including Qi Hai, whose four-point Spiritual Root could have qualified him for the Spirit Mechanisms Institute.
• Lu Hongwen reveals that he is a guild elder, a position just below the guild master and two vice guild masters.
• He also explains that Lu Qingfeng is only the seventh player in Origin One Guild, making him eligible to become an elder despite being newly recruited.
• At the guild’s Pill Refining Rooms, Lu Hongwen introduces Lu Qingfeng to Wang Tao, an accomplished alchemist, while noting that Yue—another alchemist—will meet him later.
• Lu Hongwen leaves to continue recruiting, assigning Wang Tao to show Lu Qingfeng around and evaluate his alchemy skills.
• Wang Tao tests Lu Qingfeng by having him process herbs and refine pills without a cultivation base.
• Lu Qingfeng successfully produces twelve high-quality Yellow Dragon Pills, demonstrating exceptional alchemical ability.
• Wang Tao notices that the pills have unusually strong medicinal effects. Lu Qingfeng attributes this to a secret technique that increases their efficacy by fifty percent, impressing Wang Tao.

Character Developments

• Lu Qingfeng: Begins integrating into Origin One Guild and discovers that, despite being newly arrived, he holds unusual value because he is a player and a highly skilled alchemist. His mastery is far greater than he openly reveals, reflecting the experience gained from his previous lives.
• Lu Hongwen: Is revealed to be an important guild elder rather than the seemingly ordinary figure Lu Qingfeng initially assumed. He becomes especially enthusiastic about Lu Qingfeng after learning that he is a player.
• Wang Tao: Introduced as a refined-looking but blunt and loud alchemist. He is practical and somewhat competitive, but quickly shows approval of Lu Qingfeng’s talent and agrees to guide him.
• Qi Hai: Established as a talented native recruit with a four-point Spiritual Root, though his decision to join Origin One Guild instead of the more prestigious Spirit Mechanisms Institute remains unexplained.

Significant Themes

• Hidden strength and underestimated ability: Lu Qingfeng appears to be an untrained newcomer but possesses vast experience and exceptional alchemical skill.
• Status and scarcity of players: Because there are fewer than three thousand players in the entire Bingling Realm, even a small guild values them highly. Lu Qingfeng’s player status immediately grants him a position of authority.
• Merit and competence: Wang Tao makes clear that Lu Qingfeng must prove his ability before receiving independent resources, emphasizing that status alone is not enough.
• Integration into a new community: The chapter marks Lu Qingfeng’s first real step into Origin One Guild and establishes the relationships and responsibilities he will develop there.

Character Interactions

• Lu Qingfeng and Lu Hongwen: Their friendly, informal exchanges show growing familiarity. Lu Qingfeng is surprised by Lu Hongwen’s status, while Lu Hongwen teases him about eventually becoming an elder.
• Lu Hongwen and Wang Tao: Their banter reflects a long-standing friendship. Wang Tao complains about Lu Hongwen’s loud voice nearly disrupting his pill refinement, while Lu Hongwen casually entrusts Lu Qingfeng to him.
• Lu Qingfeng and Wang Tao: Wang Tao tests Lu Qingfeng’s skills rather than simply accepting his claims. Lu Qingfeng responds confidently through action, and his successful refinement earns Wang Tao’s respect.
• Wang Tao and the apprentices: The apprentices clearly revere Wang Tao, highlighting his authority and reputation within the guild.

Chapter Summary: “Rights and Obligations—Please Vote!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After refining twelve Yellow Dragon Pills, Lu Qingfeng gives eleven back to Wang Tao, who keeps one to cover the cost of the ingredients.
• Wang Tao explains Origin One Guild’s treatment of players:
  • Lu Qingfeng becomes an elder immediately.
  • Guild missions are voluntary.
  • Players may freely access the guild’s pill formulas and basic cultivation techniques.
  • He will eventually receive his own Pill Refining Room.
• In exchange for these privileges, Lu Qingfeng must complete a modest number of pill-refining tasks each month. The guild will purchase the pills at eighty percent of market value after deducting material costs.
• Wang Tao also describes the benefits of training apprentices. Guild-trained apprentices’ pills are bought at seventy percent of market price, with the remaining ten percent going to the teacher.
• Lu Qingfeng is assigned a private courtyard with four low-Spiritual-Root servants and begins cultivating in its chamber.
• Using his enhanced Azure Origin Sword Art and high-quality Yellow Dragon Pills, he quickly reaches the first layer of the Embryonic Breath Realm and then raises his level to 2 before stopping because of strain on his meridians.
• Over the next three days, he alternates between cultivation, learning Origin One Mountain’s organization, and refining pills.
• He meets Yue Ran, the guild’s other top-grade pill-refining apprentice, who is quiet, reserved, and emotionally distant compared with Wang Tao.

Character Developments

• Lu Qingfeng: Begins integrating into Origin One Guild and recognizes that its player privileges are highly advantageous. He remains cautious and calculating, realizing that Wang Tao personally absorbed some of the material costs and feeling indebted to him. His previous experience teaching apprentices may become valuable.
• Wang Tao: Establishes himself as generous, straightforward, and experienced. He openly explains both the guild’s benefits and obligations, while quietly covering part of Lu Qingfeng’s refining expenses.
• Yue Ran: Is introduced as Wang Tao’s opposite—reserved, mature-seeming, and detached. Though not hostile toward Lu Qingfeng, he maintains a cool distance.
• The servants: Show deep respect toward Lu Qingfeng, hoping that serving a cultivator might eventually give them access to cultivation.

Significant Themes

• Rights and obligations: Privileges come with responsibilities; Lu Qingfeng receives exceptional treatment but must contribute through pill production and possibly teaching.
• Guild cooperation and economic incentives: The guild encourages skilled members to produce resources and train apprentices by sharing profits.
• Player–native relations: Players currently receive special treatment because they are scarce, though Lu Qingfeng predicts this distinction will disappear as more players arrive.
• Cultivation and efficiency: Superior techniques and pills allow Lu Qingfeng to progress rapidly while reducing pill consumption and toxin accumulation.
• Trust and reciprocity: Wang Tao’s willingness to cover costs creates an unspoken obligation for Lu Qingfeng, despite Wang Tao not demanding repayment.

Character Interactions

• Wang Tao acts as Lu Qingfeng’s mentor and guide, explaining guild policy, cultivation advice, refining obligations, and apprentice incentives.
• Lu Qingfeng listens carefully, evaluates the advantages of membership, and accepts Wang Tao’s arrangements without resistance.
• Lu Qingfeng’s quiet interactions with the courtyard servants establish a respectful but distant relationship.
• His meeting with Yue Ran contrasts Yue Ran’s reserved nature with Wang Tao’s sociability and suggests that Lu Qingfeng’s future relationships within the guild may vary considerably.

Chapter Summary: The Guildmaster Returns! The Puppets Astound!

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lu Qingfeng reaches Level 4 (18/20) and the peak of the Second Level of the Embryonic Breath Realm, nearing a breakthrough.
• Having developed inner breath, he can now use a proper alchemy furnace. He compares it with the slower medicinal ingredient processing table and considers collecting materials to begin learning artifact refinement.
• The Yuan Yi Guild’s guildmaster, Mu Yuanyi, returns from a dangerous mission with ten battle-damaged puppets: one enormous seven- or eight-zhang humanoid puppet and nine smaller ones.
• Lu Qingfeng learns that the puppets were refined by experts from the Spirit Mechanism Institute, which is backed by the powerful Hundred Crafts Sect. The largest puppet can defeat Demon Beasts below the Sixth Rank, while the smaller puppets can fight Fourth- and Fifth-Rank beasts.
• Wang Tao brings Lu Qingfeng to the guild’s forbidden back mountain to meet Mu Yuanyi and the guild’s strongest members.
• Mu Yuanyi immediately welcomes Lu Qingfeng as a fellow guild member and orders the construction of a third alchemy room for him, trusting Wang Tao and Yue’s assessment of his alchemical abilities.
• Mu Yuanyi explains that the guild had recently joined the Yama, Blood Wolf, and Azure Flame Guilds to suppress a beast tide near Dusk Mountain City.
• The groups ultimately killed a Sixth-Rank Three-Headed Giant Python, whose three heads wielded water, fire, and wind techniques and could devour or counter magical artifacts. The battle lasted more than two hours, and the Blood Wolf Guild’s prized Blood Wolf Puppet was severely damaged.

Character Developments

• Lu Qingfeng: His cultivation and alchemy skills continue to advance. He becomes increasingly interested in artifact refinement and gains a broader understanding of the cultivation world’s dangers, powerful organizations, puppets, and demon beasts.
• Mu Yuanyi: Introduced as the capable and respected guildmaster of the Yuan Yi Guild, a Foundation Establishment cultivator and Spirit Mechanism Institute elder. He demonstrates decisiveness by accepting Lu Qingfeng without testing him and assigning him responsibility for a new alchemy room.
• Wang Tao: Acts as Lu Qingfeng’s guide and advocate, introducing him to the guildmaster and explaining the status and identities of the guild’s elite members.
• Zhang Zong: Revealed as a top-tier artifact-refinement apprentice studying puppetcraft.
• Yu Bufan: Introduced as a powerful sword cultivator whose combat strength ranks among the guild’s top three.
• The wider guild is shown to possess substantial strength: three Foundation Establishment cultivators, numerous advanced True Qi cultivators, and puppets that greatly increase their combat power.

Significant Themes

• Growth through cultivation and craftsmanship: Lu Qingfeng’s progress in alchemy parallels his growing interest in artifact refinement.
• The importance of tools and technology: Sophisticated alchemy furnaces and battle puppets significantly enhance cultivators’ abilities, demonstrating how craftsmanship can compensate for or magnify personal strength.
• Guild strength and cooperation: The beast tide requires several guilds to cooperate, emphasizing the dangers of powerful demon beasts and the necessity of alliances.
• Trust and recognition: Mu Yuanyi’s immediate acceptance of Lu Qingfeng reflects the value of reputation and the confidence placed in the judgments of experienced guild members.
• The vastness and danger of the cultivation world: Lu Qingfeng is exposed to stronger cultivators, advanced puppetcraft, rare demon beasts, and battles far beyond his previous experience.

Character Interactions

• Wang Tao praises Lu Qingfeng’s alchemical abilities to Mu Yuanyi, helping secure his position in the guild.
• Mu Yuanyi warmly welcomes Lu Qingfeng, calls the guild members brothers, and gives him authority over a new alchemy room.
• Mu Yuanyi introduces Lu Qingfeng to the guild’s elite cultivators, while Wang Tao privately clarifies their identities and importance.
• The guild members discuss the recent battle, allowing Lu Qingfeng to learn about the Three-Headed Giant Python, the allied guilds, and the destruction of the Blood Wolf Guild’s puppet.

Chapter Summary: “Eight Years—Please Vote!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lu Qingfeng reflects on the inevitability of combat in the cultivation world. He realizes that alchemy and artifact refinement alone cannot guarantee survival and that he must eventually master battle techniques, spells, treasures, and puppetry.
• Mu Yuanyi officially accepts Lu Qingfeng into the Yuan Yi Guild and appoints him as an Elder.
• Lu Qingfeng examines the guild system and learns that guilds possess levels and regional rankings. The Yuan Yi Guild is a Sixth-Grade guild, ranked 112th in the Bingling Realm, with 324 members.
• He discovers that a guild can eventually transform into a sect after reaching the required level and having a Spirit Void Stage cultivator preside over it.
• After Mu Yuanyi and the others return, Mount Yuan Yi becomes livelier, though Lu Qingfeng continues his disciplined routine of cultivation and alchemy.
• Half a month later, the Black Sand Alchemy Room is completed. It is a large facility modeled after the guild’s other major alchemy rooms, containing nine alchemy furnaces of various grades.
• Lu Qingfeng recruits guild apprentices to help operate the alchemy room. This benefits both sides: they assist with production and gain training, while Lu Qingfeng earns profits and repays the guild’s support.
• Over the next eight years, Lu Qingfeng’s progress accelerates dramatically. With the guild supplying materials and handling sales, he focuses on cultivation, pill refinement, and exchanging knowledge with Wang Tao and Yue Ran.
• Eight years later, Lu Qingfeng successfully refines a high-quality alchemy furnace in the Seven Profound Artifact Refinery. He rewards the nine apprentices who assisted him with thirty-six Yellow Dragon Pills.

Character Development

• Lu Qingfeng: Becomes more aware of the dangers of cultivation and the need to develop combat ability. He also grows rapidly as an alchemist and begins expanding into artifact refinement. His success, efficiency, and generosity strengthen his position within the guild.
• Mu Yuanyi: Demonstrates trust in Lu Qingfeng by making him an Elder and providing him with extensive resources, including a large alchemy facility.
• Wang Tao and Yue Ran: Continue serving as Lu Qingfeng’s companions in alchemy discussions and technical exchange, contributing to his ongoing development.
• The apprentices: Gain valuable experience working under Lu Qingfeng and hold him in high regard because of the effectiveness and rarity of his pills.

Significant Themes

• The necessity of struggle: Cultivation is portrayed as a path requiring combat and survival, not merely peaceful advancement through alchemy or crafting.
• Preparation and foundation: Lu Qingfeng believes that mastering skills and building resources must come before confronting enemies directly.
• Mutual benefit and cooperation: Lu Qingfeng’s relationship with the Yuan Yi Guild is based on reciprocal support—he receives materials and facilities while contributing pills, training, and expertise.
• Accelerated growth through resources: Compared with his earlier life, Lu Qingfeng advances much faster because he has organizational backing and can focus on his strengths.
• Generosity and loyalty: His gifts of Yellow Dragon Pills show appreciation toward his assistants and help build goodwill within the guild.

Character Interactions

• Mu Yuanyi formally elevates Lu Qingfeng to Elder, establishing a stronger connection between them.
• Lu Qingfeng collaborates with the Yuan Yi Guild by recruiting apprentices and using the Black Sand Alchemy Room as both a production center and training ground.
• He exchanges alchemy knowledge with Wang Tao and Yue Ran during evening discussions.
• After successfully refining the furnace, Lu Qingfeng thanks the nine apprentices with valuable Yellow Dragon Pills, earning their gratitude and excitement.

Chapter Summary: “Scarlet Flame Pill Cauldron”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lu Qingfeng completes the pill furnace he has spent eight years refining and prepares to test it.
• On his way out of the Seven Profound Artifact Refinery, he pauses to watch Zhang Zong forging a sword. Zhang’s precise hammering technique, the Wind-Thunder Hammer, deeply impresses him.
• Zhang Zong examines Lu Qingfeng’s newly completed pill furnace and discovers that its talisman arrangement is exceptionally sophisticated. He praises Lu Qingfeng’s artifact-refining talent, noting that the furnace’s design has elevated an otherwise ordinary artifact by an entire tier.
• Lu Qingfeng returns to the Black Sand Alchemy Room, which has grown considerably over the past eight years. It now contains six low-grade alchemy apprentices, forty-two medicine-refining apprentices, and Lu Qingfeng as its only Advanced Alchemy Apprentice.
• He tests the furnace, named the Scarlet Flame Pill Cauldron, in his private Fourth Rank alchemy room.
• The cauldron successfully expands through its size-alteration formation, gathers spiritual energy, and produces a persistent crimson flame. Lu Qingfeng confirms that all three talisman formations function properly.
• He concludes that the cauldron is a major success. Although technically only a First Rank Talisman Artifact with nine talismans, its optimized design allows it to outperform many Second-Order Talisman Artifacts.
• Lu Qingfeng reflects on the principles behind artifact refinement: materials can only support a limited number of talismans, so effective arrangement and refinement techniques are essential. His Technique Derivation · Enhancement improved the talisman formations by arranging them more efficiently.

Character Developments

• Lu Qingfeng demonstrates that his abilities extend beyond alchemy. His artifact-refining talent is now strong enough to surprise even Zhang Zong, the Yuan Yi Guild’s leading artifact refiner.
• He remains modest about his achievement, attributing the cauldron’s success to inspiration rather than revealing that he used experience points to enhance the refining method.
• Lu Qingfeng continues to pursue multiple disciplines instead of focusing exclusively on alchemy, showing his ambition, independence, and willingness to resist the expectations of others.
• Zhang Zong is established as a highly skilled artifact refiner with decades of experience in the Wind-Thunder Hammer technique. Despite his expertise, he sincerely recognizes Lu Qingfeng’s superior innovation in talisman arrangement.
• The Black Sand Alchemy Room’s expansion reflects Lu Qingfeng’s growing influence and success as an alchemist.

Significant Themes

• Innovation over materials: The chapter emphasizes that clever design and efficient talisman arrangement can compensate for inferior or limited materials.
• Mastery through experimentation: Lu Qingfeng’s artifact is the result of years of practice, refinement, and repeated improvement.
• Hidden advantages and strategic secrecy: Lu Qingfeng conceals the true source of his success—his enhancement ability—while allowing others to believe it comes from natural inspiration.
• Multidisciplinary talent: The contrast between alchemy and artifact refinement highlights Lu Qingfeng’s unusual versatility.
• Recognition of excellence: Zhang Zong’s admiration shows that true skill is respected even among experts, and that Lu Qingfeng is beginning to gain recognition beyond his original field.

Character Interactions

• Lu Qingfeng and Zhang Zong share a respectful, increasingly familiar relationship built through years of work at the Seven Profound Artifact Refinery.
• Zhang Zong evaluates and praises the Scarlet Flame Pill Cauldron, while Lu Qingfeng compliments Zhang’s Wind-Thunder Hammer technique.
• Their discussion becomes an exchange of technical knowledge, with Zhang questioning Lu Qingfeng’s inspired talisman arrangement and Lu Qingfeng learning from Zhang’s forging expertise.
• Zhang mentions Mu Yuanyi, whose repeated attempts to persuade Lu Qingfeng to focus solely on alchemy have indirectly involved Zhang. This creates a lighthearted contrast between Mu Yuanyi’s commercial priorities and Lu Qingfeng’s personal pursuit of broader cultivation and craftsmanship.
• The apprentices at the Black Sand Alchemy Room respectfully greet Lu Qingfeng, demonstrating his authority and status within the alchemy room.

Chapter Summary: “Puppet”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lu Qingfeng reflects on the differences between First Rank and Second-Order Talisman Artifacts. Although artifacts are normally classified by the number of talismans they contain, superior refinement techniques can allow a lower-ranked artifact to rival a higher-ranked one.
• Thanks to the Technique Derivation trait of the Yellow Court Scripture, Lu Qingfeng can optimize talisman arrays and improve artifacts as long as he has enough experience points.
• He realizes that because he successfully refined the Scarlet Flame Pill Cauldron in the game, he should also be able to create it in reality. This would greatly improve his alchemy and free him from relying on an ordinary stove.
• Lu Qingfeng reviews the extreme difficulty of artifact refinement, which combines the challenges of alchemy and talisman refinement:
  • Processing and combining ores and metals
  • Controlling heat and forging force
  • Precisely manipulating inner breath
  • Tracing Erosion Script within the artifact
  • Arranging the inscriptions into complex talisman arrays
• His eight years of work on the Scarlet Flame Pill Cauldron have allowed him to master fine inner-breath control and the tracing of Erosion Script. Future artifact refinement will therefore be much faster.
• Having treated the cauldron as an experiment, Lu Qingfeng decides to focus next on Mechanism Arts and puppet refinement.
• He begins studying Mechanism Arts manuals obtained from the guild after completing his regular pill-refinement work.

Character Development

• Lu Qingfeng grows more confident in his artifact-refining abilities after overcoming the foundational difficulties of inner-breath control and Erosion Script.
• He establishes a clear long-term strategy: specialize in cultivation, alchemy, and puppet refinement rather than spending excessive effort creating many different Talisman Artifacts.
• His combat philosophy becomes more defined. Rather than personally engaging in close combat, he plans to rely on large numbers of puppets to overwhelm powerful enemies.
• His experience-point advantage and the hundredfold time difference give him confidence that he can master puppet refinement despite its complexity.

Significant Themes

• Mastery through persistence: Lu Qingfeng’s eight years of practice demonstrate that highly technical skills can eventually be mastered through repeated experimentation.
• The value of specialization: He recognizes that limited materials and personal usage make excessive Talisman Artifact production inefficient, while puppets can provide scalable strength.
• Technology and cultivation: Mechanism Arts combine craftsmanship, physics, mechanical design, artifact refinement, and talisman inscription, resembling advanced technology or robotics.
• Strength through numbers: Lu Qingfeng favors a “sea of puppets” strategy, using mass-produced constructs as expendable forces rather than relying solely on individual power.
• Game advantages applied to reality: His in-game accomplishments, experience points, and time advantage directly shape his real-world cultivation and crafting plans.

Character Interactions

• Lu Qingfeng compares his own progress with Zhang Zong, a highly skilled artifact-refining apprentice who has studied puppet refinement for more than twenty years but can only make weak support puppets. Unlike Zhang Zong, Lu Qingfeng has enough time to pursue the discipline without sacrificing his other goals.
• He recalls Mu Yuanyi’s Giant Puppet, a heavily armed construct equipped with a powerful sword, shield, hidden White Bone Funeral Arrows, and strong defensive capabilities. Mu Yuanyi controls it from within through a control hub, multiplying his combat strength.
• Lu Qingfeng studies this human-controlled “mech-like” design but concludes that it is not the type of puppet he wants to create, implying that he intends to develop a different and likely more autonomous approach.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Lu Qingfeng studies puppet mechanisms in the Primordial World. He understands that puppets rely on a Spiritual Pivot Formation to gather or receive power and a Spirit-Control Talisman Formation to obey commands. A Thousand Mechanisms Stone lets a cultivator control a puppet through encoded talismans, but Lu Qingfeng hopes to develop remote or autonomous control. Such advanced techniques are closely guarded by major institutions.
• After completing his study, Lu Qingfeng logs out of the Primordial World and returns to Miaoyin City.
• Two months after the siblings’ arrival, their apothecary is thriving. Lu Qingfeng’s effective medicines have brought in money, allowing him to hire staff while the siblings focus on cultivation.
• Their progress is substantial: Lu Qingyu has stabilized at the first Embryonic Breath layer, Lu Qingshan has reached the third, and Lu Qingfeng has advanced to the fourth. His Orthodox-Grade Azure Origin Sword Art gives him far more and higher-quality Internal Breath than his former beginner-level method.
• Lu Qingshan delivers an invitation from Kang Zizai, owner of Linchuan Apothecary, to a gathering at Four Seasons Tower. Lu Qingfeng suspects the other shopkeeper may be interested in his recipes or seeking to harm him, but decides to attend and find out.

Character developments

• Lu Qingfeng has grown markedly stronger and more confident. He believes he can contend with newly advanced True Qi Realm opponents who use lower-grade cultivation methods, though he remains wary of stronger practitioners. He also continues pursuing technical expertise, now turning from alchemy toward puppet refinement.
• Lu Qingshan has reached the third Embryonic Breath layer but remains deeply suspicious of outsiders, shaped by the siblings’ past dangers. He urges Lu Qingfeng not to attend the banquet.
• Lu Qingyu has consolidated her first-layer cultivation and is close to breaking through.

Character interactions

• Lu Qingfeng explains puppet-control principles through his reflections on the limitations of manually directing large puppets and his ambition to improve the Thousand Mechanisms Stone.
• Lu Qingshan brings Lu Qingfeng Kang Zizai’s letter and warns him that the invitation may be a trap.
• Lu Qingfeng acknowledges the risk but argues that Four Seasons Tower is in a busy area, making an open attack unlikely. He chooses to attend, leaving the siblings to decide what to do next after learning Kang Zizai’s intentions.

Significant themes

• Knowledge and innovation: Lu Qingfeng seeks to push beyond established puppet-control methods, even though advanced techniques are restricted.
• Cultivation and unequal power: The quality of a cultivation method dramatically affects strength, not merely the practitioner’s realm.
• Caution versus opportunity: Lu Qingshan’s hard-earned mistrust clashes with Lu Qingfeng’s willingness to investigate a potentially useful meeting.
• Prosperity and risk: The apothecary’s success supports the siblings’ growth but may also attract the attention of competitors.

Chapter Summary: “Trial! Cooperation!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lu Qingfeng attends a banquet at Four Seasons Tower hosted by Kang Zizai, owner of Linchuan Pharmacy, along with several major pharmacy owners in Miaoyin City.
• Kang and the others reveal that the Green Jade Sect wants to purchase the ten medicinal formulas controlled by Lu Qingfeng, including the recipes that support Black Sand Pharmacy.
• Lu Qingfeng refuses to sell, recognizing that surrendering the formulas would allow the powerful Green Jade Sect to overwhelm his business and threaten the resources supporting his siblings’ cultivation.
• Kang proposes an alternative arrangement: the Green Jade Sect will supply medicinal ingredients, while Black Sand Pharmacy produces and sells ten medicines, with profits settled through money or other resources.
• Lu Qingfeng accepts the cooperation, securing a stable source of herbs and a potential supply of materials for his future puppet-refining research.
• After Lu Qingfeng leaves, Kang and the other pharmacy owners admit that the banquet was partly a test. They suspect that Lu Qingfeng has a powerful hidden backer because of his unusual survival, cultivation, and success in Miaoyin City.
• Lu Qingfeng correctly realizes that the banquet was an attempt to investigate him. He decides the cooperation is useful but understands that it may eventually expose the fact that he has no powerful patron.
• Returning home, Lu Qingfeng reassures Lu Qingshan and Lu Qingyu. He warns them to remain vigilant, especially around strangers, since the Green Jade Sect might target them if it cannot uncover information through him.
• He then answers their cultivation questions before returning to the Primordial World.

Character Developments

• Lu Qingfeng: His year of cultivation and experiences have transformed him from a frail, hunched youth into a composed, mature, and intimidating figure. He demonstrates strategic judgment by refusing to sell his formulas while accepting a mutually beneficial partnership. He also becomes increasingly aware of the dangers posed by both the Green Jade Sect and Miaoyin City’s lord.
• Kang Zizai: He is shown to be experienced, cautious, and politically perceptive. Though his initial attempt to obtain the formulas fails, he smoothly shifts to proposing cooperation and plans to use the partnership to investigate Lu Qingfeng’s background.
• Lu Qingshan: He remains quiet and cautious, sharing Qingyu’s concern for Lu Qingfeng’s safety.
• Lu Qingyu: Her protectiveness and anxiety are emphasized. She worries that the banquet may have been a trap involving poison or violence, then urges Lu Qingfeng to be more careful.
• The Green Jade Sect: It is established as powerful and resourceful, interested in acquiring Lu Qingfeng’s formulas and potentially willing to investigate or pressure his family.

Significant Themes

• Caution and hidden motives: Polite social interactions conceal probing, negotiation, and possible threats.
• Strategic cooperation: Lu Qingfeng balances independence with practical alliances, accepting help without surrendering his most valuable advantage.
• Power and vulnerability: Even commercial success attracts the attention of stronger forces. Lu Qingfeng realizes that his family’s safety depends on increasing their strength.
• Family loyalty and protection: The siblings’ concern for one another reinforces their close bond and motivates Lu Qingfeng’s efforts to grow stronger.
• Preparation for future conflict: The cooperation provides resources for cultivation and puppet refinement, while also setting up possible future exposure or confrontation.

Important Character Interactions

• Lu Qingfeng and Kang Zizai: Their cordial conversation is actually a negotiation and mutual test. Lu Qingfeng refuses the sale but accepts cooperation, while Kang attempts to uncover the source of his confidence and success.
• Kang Zizai and the other pharmacy owners: They analyze Lu Qingfeng after his departure and agree that he likely has an unknown expert supporting him.
• Lu Qingfeng, Lu Qingshan, and Lu Qingyu: The siblings discuss the banquet and possible dangers. Lu Qingfeng gives them security instructions, while Qingyu expresses her anxiety and affection through repeated warnings.

Chapter Summary: “Breadth in Ten Fields Cannot Match Mastery in One!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After entering the game, Lu Qingfeng reviews his progress and reflects on the need to specialize rather than divide his attention among alchemy, talisman-making, and artifact forging.
• He abandons talismans, which are consumable and increasingly ineffective relative to his growing combat strength, and decides to focus on artifact forging instead. Even low-grade Talisman Artifacts would provide more lasting value and could be used to equip himself comprehensively.
• Alchemy remains essential because Lu Qingfeng and his siblings have limited innate potential and depend on pills to advance. He concentrates on three important formulas: the Golden Marrow Pellet, Qi-Combining Pill, and Qi Circulation Powder.
• With help from Grandmaster Alchemy Apprentices Wang Tao and Yue Ran, First-Rank Alchemist Mu Yuanyi, and other experts in the Yuan Yi Guild, Lu Qingfeng masters these formulas and prepares to apply his knowledge in reality.
• After eight years, his cultivation reaches the Ninth Stage of the Embryonic Breath Realm. He is only a step away from Level 20 and plans to advance to Level 21, thereby breaking through to the True Qi Realm.
• The Yuan Yi Guild has grown stronger, now possessing five Foundation Establishment cultivators and hundreds of True Qi Realm experts. Lu Qingfeng benefits greatly from their guidance and abundant resources.
• Lu Qingfeng takes a bottle of Qi-Combining Pills and prepares for his breakthrough. He chooses them over rarer top-grade pills so that the experience will better prepare him for attempting the breakthrough in reality.

Character Development

• Lu Qingfeng becomes more disciplined and strategic, recognizing that spreading himself across too many crafts would prevent true mastery. He chooses alchemy and artifact forging as the most practical paths.
• His cultivation progresses rapidly due to pills, expert instruction, and the resources available through the Yuan Yi Guild.
• He demonstrates increasing awareness of long-term risks, especially the danger of an unstable foundation caused by excessive reliance on pills.
• His confidence in the Orthodox-tier Azure Origin Sword Art grows. The technique’s sword qi can purge Pill Poison and stabilize his foundation, allowing him to cultivate with pills more freely.
• He is nearing a major milestone: transitioning from inner breath to pure True Qi and opening his lower dantian.

Significant Themes

• Specialization versus breadth: Mastery in one field is more valuable than shallow knowledge of many disciplines.
• Resources and opportunity: Pills, expert guidance, and institutional support can dramatically accelerate cultivation, even for those with poor innate potential.
• Innate talent versus perseverance: Although innate potential determines the usual limits and speed of cultivation, determination, rare methods, pills, and fortune can allow individuals to defy expectations.
• The risks of shortcuts: Pills provide rapid advancement but may damage one’s foundation through Pill Poison; powerful cultivation methods are needed to offset these dangers.
• Preparation for reality: Lu Qingfeng treats game-world breakthroughs as practice for real life, making his choices cautiously and prioritizing reliable experience over the most powerful resources.

Character Interactions

• Lu Qingfeng and Wang Tao/Yue Ran: Their expertise as Grandmaster Alchemy Apprentices helps him master important pill formulas.
• Lu Qingfeng and Mu Yuanyi: Mu Yuanyi, a First-Rank Alchemist, serves as an important consultant, teaching him alchemy and the principles of breaking through to the True Qi Realm.
• Lu Qingfeng and Yuan Yi Guild experts: True Qi Realm and Foundation Establishment cultivators provide guidance, answer his cultivation questions, and help him avoid common mistakes.
• Lu Qingfeng and his siblings: His concern for their limited innate potential motivates his commitment to mastering alchemy and producing suitable pills for their advancement.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lu Qingfeng attempts to advance from the ninth level of the Embryonic Breath Realm to the True Qi Realm using Qi-Union Pills.
• His first pill fails to break the bottleneck, and he spends five days repeatedly refining pills and attempting breakthroughs.
• On his eighth pill, his inner breath finally smashes through the bottleneck. It condenses into a hair-thin strand of powerful true qi, while his dantian opens, marking his successful advancement to the True Qi Realm.
• Two months later, Zhang Zong returns from a difficult mission with Mu Yuanyi’s combat squad. He reports that unexplained beast tides have spread throughout Yue Kingdom’s southern border.
• The beast tides may be connected to the Ghost Spirit Sect, a powerful demonic sect and longtime rival of Yue Kingdom’s righteous Hundred Crafts Sect.
• The Primordial Unity Guild is assigned heavy pill-refining duties by the Spirit Mechanism Institute to support the response to the beast tides.
• Zhang Zong invites Lu Qingfeng to a major auction in Sishui Town, jointly organized by several guilds. Lu agrees to attend, expecting valuable items to appear after the recent battles.
• Before the auction, Lu Qingfeng completes his assigned alchemy work while continuing to cultivate and study puppet crafting.

Character Developments

• Lu Qingfeng successfully reaches the True Qi Realm, gaining a major increase in strength and beginning a new stage of cultivation.
• His failure with the first several pills demonstrates his patience and determination; instead of becoming discouraged, he methodically continues his attempts.
• He remains responsible and loyal to the Primordial Unity Guild, accepting its demanding pill-refining assignments without complaint.
• Lu also broadens his expertise by studying puppet crafting, though he recognizes that it is vastly more complex than ordinary artifact refinement.
• Zhang Zong returns visibly exhausted from the beast-tide campaign, suggesting that the mission was unusually dangerous. Despite his fatigue, he continues to think about the guild’s responsibilities and Lu’s future opportunities.

Significant Themes

• Persistence and gradual advancement: Lu’s breakthrough requires repeated failure, preparation, and sustained effort rather than a single effortless success.
• Transformation and power: The conversion of inner breath into true qi symbolizes a qualitative leap, not merely an increase in quantity.
• Duty amid growing danger: The guilds must continue fulfilling their roles despite the spreading beast tides and the possible intervention of the Ghost Spirit Sect.
• Expanding mastery: Lu’s interest in alchemy, cultivation, and puppet crafting reflects his ambition to develop multiple forms of expertise.
• Political and sectarian conflict: The beast tide may be part of a larger scheme involving the rivalry between the righteous sects of Yue Kingdom and the demonic sects of neighboring kingdoms.

Character Interactions

• Lu and Zhang Zong speak after Zhang’s return. Zhang congratulates Lu on his advancement but quickly shifts the conversation to the worsening regional crisis.
• Zhang explains the possible involvement of the Ghost Spirit Sect and warns Lu that the Primordial Unity Guild will face significant pill-production demands.
• Their exchange shows mutual trust: Zhang openly shares important intelligence, while Lu is willing to shoulder the guild’s responsibilities.
• Zhang then encourages Lu to attend the upcoming auction, offering him a chance to obtain useful resources before future beast tides or battles erupt.

Chapter Summary: “Auction”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After failing nine times to refine a puppet from scratch, Lu Qingfeng realizes that studying an existing puppet would greatly improve his work.
• He asks Mu Yuanyi to purchase two low-grade puppets from the Spirit Mechanism Institute. However, the Institute is fully occupied fighting beast tides and opposing the Ghost Spirit Sect, so its puppets are essential military assets and unlikely to be sold cheaply.
• Unable to obtain a sample, Lu Qingfeng continues refining puppets himself. He studies the different types of puppets—humanoid, beast-shaped, remotely controlled, independently operated, combat, auxiliary, and specialized models.
• He focuses on humanoid puppets, learning that their construction requires a suitable frame, specialized materials, and complex talisman arrays.
• Mu Yuanyi’s enormous sixth-level puppet is discussed. It can display fourth-realm Foundation Establishment strength, but its construction requires extremely rare materials, making such a puppet impossible for Lu Qingfeng to reproduce for now.
• Lu Qingfeng instead concentrates on smaller puppets and spends three days improving his understanding of beast tendons and other materials used in puppet construction.
• A small auction jointly organized by the major guilds of Sishui Town begins. Lu Qingfeng attends with Mu Yuanyi, Zhang Zong, Wang Tao, and other senior members of the Primordial Unity Guild.
• The auction is expected to contain demon-beast materials, damaged puppets, and broken magical artifacts—potentially valuable for Lu Qingfeng’s research.
• At the auction venue, Lu Qingfeng learns more about Sishui Town’s social structure, the growing number of independent cultivators, and how cultivation families may develop over time.

Character Development

• Lu Qingfeng: Becomes increasingly dedicated to puppet refinement. His repeated failures do not discourage him; instead, they push him toward more systematic study of puppet categories, materials, frames, and talisman arrays. He also gains a broader understanding of the cultivation world and becomes more immersed in it.
• Mu Yuanyi: Continues to support Lu Qingfeng by attempting to obtain puppets for him and offering practical advice about auction purchases and guild resources. His own giant puppet demonstrates his considerable strength and status.
• Zhang Zong and Wang Tao: Act as knowledgeable companions, helping Lu Qingfeng understand the value of damaged puppets and the workings of the auction.
• Independent cultivators and guild members: Their presence illustrates the expanding cultivation population around Sishui and Pingshan Town and the growing influence of guilds.

Significant Themes

• Persistence and experimentation: Lu Qingfeng’s failures lead him to refine his methods rather than abandon his goal.
• Scarcity of resources: Powerful cultivation tools depend on rare materials, wartime demand, and access to specialized institutions.
• War’s impact on society: The beast tides and Ghost Spirit Sect conflict disrupt trade, raise prices, and make puppets strategic military assets.
• Growth of the cultivation world: The chapter expands the setting through its auction system, guild hierarchy, independent cultivators, and the gradual emergence of cultivation families.
• Knowledge through observation: Lu Qingfeng recognizes that dismantling and studying existing artifacts is an important path to mastering puppet refinement.

Character Interactions

• Lu Qingfeng asks Mu Yuanyi for help obtaining low-grade puppets, and Mu agrees despite warning him that the Spirit Mechanism Institute may refuse or charge greatly inflated prices.
• Mu Yuanyi and Zhang Zong encourage Lu Qingfeng to attend the auction, pointing out that damaged puppets and artifacts could serve as research materials.
• Mu Yuanyi jokingly suggests that Lu Qingfeng sell useful salvaged parts back to the Primordial Unity Guild after studying them, showing their cooperative relationship.
• While traveling to the auction, Lu Qingfeng questions the number of independent cultivators present, prompting Mu Yuanyi, Wang Tao, and the others to explain the development of Sishui Town and its surrounding cultivation society.

Chapter Summary: “The Auction Concludes”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• The grand auction begins under the supervision of Mo Tiannan, a renowned Foundation Establishment independent cultivator. He explains the bidding rules, including the use of Spirit Stones or appraised collateral and the possibility of adding newly submitted treasures during the auction.
• The first item, the Divine Wind Boat, is introduced as a Second Rank flying Magical Artifact refined by the famous artifact refiner Han the Hermit. Its bidding rises from 220 to 327 Spirit Stones, where it is purchased by the Sky River Guild.
• The auction continues with numerous Magical Artifacts, Talisman Artifacts, demonic beast materials, medicinal pills, incomplete cultivation methods, and other treasures. Lu Qingfeng finds most of these either unaffordable or irrelevant to his needs.
• Several damaged puppets are auctioned. Although a badly damaged Third-Grade Puppet is overpriced at five Spirit Stones, Lu Qingfeng later purchases another damaged puppet for only one Spirit Stone.
• Near the auction’s end, Lu Qingfeng obtains:
  • A small, remotely controlled Second-Grade humanoid puppet for thirty Spirit Stone Fragments.
  • The Huang Clan Puppet Notes, containing the lifelong research of puppet expert Huang Tiangu, for eight Spirit Stones.
  • An incomplete Spirit-Nurturing Pill formula for slightly more than twenty Spirit Stone Fragments.
• The auction concludes successfully after more than two hundred items are sold. Its strong reception suggests that the Mystic Mechanisms Auction House may become a permanent institution.
• Lu Qingfeng returns to Mount Yuan Yi with Zhang Zong, Yue Ran, and others rather than remaining in Sishui Town.

2. Character Developments

• Lu Qingfeng realizes that his personal wealth—approximately twenty-eight Spirit Stones—is insignificant compared with the pooled resources of large guilds. This humbles him but also clarifies the economic difference between individual cultivators and organized guilds.
• Despite lacking the wealth to compete for major treasures, Lu Qingfeng demonstrates good judgment and patience, waiting for items relevant to his own research rather than wasting money on powerful but unsuitable artifacts.
• His confidence in the Technique Derivation ability becomes increasingly apparent. Unlike other buyers, he is certain that Huang Tiangu’s notes and the incomplete Spirit-Nurturing Pill formula may be useful because he can potentially restore or expand upon them.
• Zhang Zong displays expertise in artifact refinement and auction values. He recognizes the inflated price of the Six Ren Guild’s damaged puppet and advises Lu Qingfeng not to bid impulsively.
• Mo Tiannan establishes himself as a capable and charismatic auction host, successfully creating excitement and lending credibility to the event.
• Huang Tiangu, though absent, becomes important through his research legacy. His lifelong but limited work on remotely controlled puppets provides Lu Qingfeng with a promising foundation for future development.

3. Significant Themes

• Wealth and inequality: The auction emphasizes the enormous financial gap between wealthy guilds and individual cultivators. Guilds can casually spend hundreds of Spirit Stones, while Lu Qingfeng must carefully evaluate purchases.
• Practical value over prestige: Lu Qingfeng ignores prestigious Magical Artifacts and focuses on objects that support his cultivation, artifact refinement, and research.
• Potential hidden in failure: Damaged puppets, incomplete formulas, and unsuccessful research may still contain great value when placed in the hands of someone capable of improving them.
• Innovation and perseverance: Huang Tiangu’s decades of obscure puppet research are not entirely successful, but his ideas may help inspire future breakthroughs. The chapter values accumulated knowledge even when its original creator could not fully realize it.
• Calculated investment: Lu Qingfeng’s purchases reflect long-term planning. He spends modestly on materials and knowledge that may produce much greater benefits through derivation and experimentation.

4. Character Interactions

• Mo Tiannan interacts with the entire auction hall, using his authority and dramatic presentation to maintain excitement and encourage bidding.
• Lu Qingfeng and Zhang Zong discuss the value of the damaged puppets. Zhang warns Lu Qingfeng against overpaying, while Lu Qingfeng accepts his advice and later buys a cheaper puppet.
• Wang Tao reassures Lu Qingfeng that the wealthy bidders are using guild funds rather than personal fortunes, easing Lu Qingfeng’s embarrassment about his comparatively small savings.
• Lu Qingfeng’s shared interests with Zhang Zong in artifact refinement are reinforced when both recognize the significance of Han the Hermit and Huang Tiangu’s puppet research.
• Lu Qingfeng later travels back to Mount Yuan Yi with Zhang Zong, Yue Ran, and other companions, ending the chapter on a quiet return after the excitement of the auction.

Chapter Summary: “A Decade in the Blink of an Eye! Major Merit Accomplished!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After returning from the auction, Lu Qingfeng resumes cultivation and research at Mount Yuan Yi.
• His progress slows dramatically upon reaching the True Qi Realm. Advancing through its many levels requires vastly more experience, while ordinary medicinal pills no longer benefit him.
• He recognizes that breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Stage will be difficult, especially because the True Qi Realm contains several bottlenecks and his lifespan has only increased to one hundred years.
• Lu Qingfeng remains optimistic because time passes much faster in the game than in reality. He plans to use several in-game lifetimes to accumulate experience and overcome the bottlenecks through persistence.
• He seeks advice from Zhang Zong, Wang Tao, Lu Hongwen, Mu Yuanyi, and others, focusing on thoroughly mastering cultivation rather than advancing quickly.
• Under Zhang Zong’s guidance, Lu Qingfeng’s puppet-crafting skills improve. As the Yuan Yi Guild expands, he builds the Black Sand Artifact Refining Room beside his alchemy room to conduct private puppet research.
• After eighteen years in this lifetime—eight years spent mastering artifact refining and mechanism fundamentals, followed by ten years of intensive puppet experimentation—Lu Qingfeng successfully creates and controls a refined Metal Puppet.
• He tests the puppet’s movement, agility, durability, and resistance by attacking it with martial techniques and spells. Despite sustaining severe visible damage, the puppet remains functional.
• Lu Qingfeng celebrates the achievement as a major breakthrough in his puppet research.

Character Developments

• Lu Qingfeng: Becomes more patient, disciplined, and strategically minded. Rather than despairing over his slowed cultivation, he adopts a long-term approach based on repeated lifetimes and accumulated experience. He also develops from an alchemist with basic puppet knowledge into a skilled puppet researcher.
• Zhang Zong: Serves as an important mentor in puppet crafting, sharing decades of experience and helping Lu Qingfeng advance more quickly.
• Yuan Yi Guild members: Their organization grows substantially over the decade, making Lu Qingfeng more conscious of his responsibilities and the need to maintain an independent workspace.
• Lu Qingfeng’s collaborators: Zhang Zong, Mu Yuanyi, Wang Tao, and others continue to support his cultivation and research by answering questions and helping him overcome technical obstacles.

Significant Themes

• Persistence and long-term planning: Lu Qingfeng refuses to be discouraged by slow cultivation, believing that repeated attempts across multiple lifetimes will eventually lead to success.
• Mastery through patience: He emphasizes understanding every cultivation barrier and technical principle rather than pursuing rapid but unstable progress.
• The cost of innovation: Puppet crafting requires extensive time, money, materials, and repeated failure. Lu Qingfeng spends more than a hundred Spirit Stones from his alchemy earnings on experiments.
• Knowledge and hidden expertise: Puppet crafting is difficult and expensive enough that even experienced craftsmen often abandon it, while sects carefully guard advanced techniques.
• Achievement through accumulation: Lu Qingfeng’s breakthrough results from years of foundational study, experimentation, failure, and refinement rather than sudden inspiration or luck.

Character Interactions

• Lu Qingfeng frequently consults Zhang Zong and other trusted associates about cultivation bottlenecks.
• Zhang Zong’s experience at the Seven Profound Artifact Refinery directly contributes to Lu Qingfeng’s progress in puppet construction.
• Lu Qingfeng’s growing involvement in Zhang Zong’s workshop creates the need for him to build the Black Sand Artifact Refining Room, preserving harmony within the expanding Yuan Yi Guild.
• His successful Metal Puppet demonstrates the practical culmination of knowledge gathered from the Yuan Yi Guild, Zhang Zong, the Huang Clan Puppet Notes, and his own years of experimentation.

Chapter Summary: Micro Puppet: Truth-Extinguishing Type One!

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lu Qingfeng successfully designs his first balanced combat puppet, naming it Truth-Extinguishing Type One to symbolize his determination to destroy the Return-to-Truth Sect.
• The puppet is built for physical combat:
  • Its legs contain Stability and Speed Formations.
  • Its arms contain Colossal Strength Talisman Formations.
  • Its eyes contain Clarity and Precision Formations.
  • Its spiritual energy enhances all these formations.
• Lu Qingfeng plans several future development paths for the puppet, including:
  • Long-range combat with bows and arrows.
  • Melee combat using martial arts engraved into the Thousand-Mechanism Stone and body.
  • Long-range spellcasting through additional spell formations.
• After years of failed experiments caused by poor designs, weak defenses, excessive weight, or mismatched formations, Lu Qingfeng finally creates a relatively complete and balanced model.
• He intends to refine more puppets while developing compatible weapons such as bows, swords, sabers, spears, and shields.
• Lu Qingfeng greatly improves the Thousand-Mechanism Stone, increasing its control range from five zhang to one thousand zhang through repeated integration and strengthening.
• However, direct control remains limited by the user’s mental capacity. Lu Qingfeng realizes that controlling a large “sea of puppets” will require autonomous puppet control rather than direct manipulation.
• Suspecting that the key lies in the Spirit-Control Array, he strengthens it independently without rebuilding the entire puppet.
• The experiment succeeds:
  • The puppet suffers no negative effects.
  • Its reaction speed and sensing range improve dramatically.
  • After three strengthenings, the array grows from forty to one hundred formations, and its sensing range expands to four thousand zhang.
• Most importantly, Truth-Extinguishing Type One gains the ability to understand and execute commands autonomously. It successfully spins, punches, runs, jumps, and even attacks Lu Qingfeng when ordered.

Character Development

• Lu Qingfeng demonstrates persistence, technical creativity, and a methodical approach to experimentation. Years of failure have taught him to prioritize balance and to avoid strengthening isolated components recklessly.
• His ambitions expand from creating a single powerful puppet to developing an entire autonomous army or “sea of puppets.”
• He becomes more confident in his theories after successfully strengthening the Spirit-Control Array, confirming that autonomous control is possible.

Significant Themes

• Persistence through failure: Lu Qingfeng’s success results from repeated experimentation and revision rather than immediate talent.
• Innovation and adaptation: He combines, separates, strengthens, and derives existing techniques to improve puppet refinement.
• Balance and systems thinking: A puppet must function as a complete system; improving one part can damage the whole if done carelessly.
• The limits of individual control: Human mental capacity restricts the number of puppets one person can operate, motivating the search for autonomy.
• Preparation for future conflict: The puppet’s name and offensive design reflect Lu Qingfeng’s ongoing opposition to the Return-to-Truth Sect.

Character Interactions

• Lu Qingfeng interacts primarily with Truth-Extinguishing Type One, testing its movement, reaction speed, sensing range, and obedience.
• His commands evolve from simple instructions such as “spin in circles” and “punch” to the complex order “attack me,” proving that the puppet can independently interpret and execute commands.
• Huang Tiangu and the Hundred Crafts Sect are discussed as sources of advanced puppet knowledge, though they do not appear directly in the chapter.

Chapter Summary: “Strengthen! Truth-Annihilator Type One (Wu)!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lu Qingfeng successfully tests Truth-Annihilator Type One, confirming that it can independently execute attack commands rather than merely following basic movement instructions.
• He analyzes the effects of upgrading the Thousand Mechanisms Stone and

Spirit Control Formation

• The Thousand Mechanisms Stone’s formation capacity and sensing range increase dramatically.
• After five enhancements to each component, the puppet’s effective control range reaches roughly four thousand li, enough to cover the entire Shangyang Kingdom from Miaoyin City.
• Lu Qingfeng spends accumulated experience points to enhance both the control system and the puppet itself.
• Five rounds of whole-puppet enhancement raise Truth-Annihilator Type One from an Embryonic Breath Realm-level construct to Truth-Annihilator Type One (Wu), whose combat power reaches the second layer of the True Qi Realm.
• Four months later, six completed Truth-Annihilator Type One (Wu) puppets stand ready.
• Lu Qingfeng decides that the design is now mature enough for practical use. He plans to improve his refining proficiency in the game before mass-producing the puppets in reality, where materials are scarce and failure would be costly.
• He has already arranged for the Azure Jade Sect to stockpile the necessary ores and materials.

Character Development

• Lu Qingfeng grows increasingly confident in his mechanical and formation-based cultivation path. He recognizes that his puppet-making ability allows him to compensate for his own slow cultivation progress.
• Although he worries that advancing through the True Qi Realm may take too long to reach Foundation Establishment, he remains calm and pragmatic. He views his current life as a valuable opportunity to gain experience for future reincarnations.
• His approach becomes more strategic: rather than pursuing immediate personal cultivation alone, he focuses on developing powerful autonomous puppets and long-range control systems.
• Lu Qingfeng also demonstrates patience and caution by refusing to rush into large-scale real-world production before mastering the design in the game.

Significant Themes

• Accumulation and perseverance: Lu Qingfeng treats setbacks and slow cultivation as preparation for future attempts rather than permanent failures.
• Technology replacing personal limitations: Through formations, puppets, and remote control, he turns his weakness in cultivation speed into a military advantage.
• Optimization and gradual refinement: Each enhancement improves not only raw strength but also intelligence, range, formation capacity, and coordination.
• Preparation before action: The chapter emphasizes careful testing, material stockpiling, and proficiency-building before committing valuable real-world resources.
• Power through scale: Lu Qingfeng imagines transforming immortal cultivation into a “troop-spamming game,” suggesting the future importance of mass-produced, remotely controlled puppet forces.

Character Interactions

• Lu Qingfeng’s primary interaction is with Truth-Annihilator Type One, testing whether it can understand and carry out commands autonomously.
• He mentally compares the puppet’s developing intelligence to that of a Cloud Sparrow, using the bird’s improvement after taking Yellow Chestnut Pellets as an analogy for the puppet’s enhanced comprehension.
• His plans are indirectly connected to the Azure Jade Sect, which cooperates with him by gathering the ores and materials needed for future puppet production.
• The chapter also references figures such as Huang Tiangu and Mu Yuanyi to compare the capacity and combat ranks of different Thousand Mechanisms Stones and puppets, placing Lu Qingfeng’s creation within the broader cultivation world.

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• After more than ten years of development and numerous failed experiments, Lu Qingfeng finally completes the enhanced Truth-Annihilator Type One puppet.
• He calculates its production cost at roughly one Spirit Stone, while comparable second-grade puppets sell for seven to twenty Spirit Stones. This gives him an enormous potential profit margin, far exceeding his earnings from alchemy.
• Lu Qingfeng realizes that mass production could expose the puppet’s unusual value and endanger the Primordial Unity Guild. He therefore decides not to reveal the puppet’s true specifications or openly purchase large quantities of identical materials.
• To disguise his activities, he plans to mix first- and second-grade puppet materials when buying supplies, accumulate reserves gradually, and eventually stop selling once his own needs are met.
• He weakens the original puppet’s perception range and control formation, creating a cheaper external-sale model called Truth-Annihilator Type Two.
• Type Two is a second-grade, remote-controlled puppet with a perception range of one thousand meters and combat strength equivalent to the second level of the True Qi Realm.
• Lu Qingfeng retains the far superior Type One for personal use: an autonomous puppet with a perception range of four thousand li.
• Twenty-five days later, he brings the first Type Two to the Primordial Unity Guild for testing. Lu Hongwen fights it while suppressing his own strength, confirming its combat ability and serious lack of practical martial techniques.

2. Character Developments

• Lu Qingfeng demonstrates growing expertise in puppet crafting and business strategy. He is initially excited by the puppet’s extraordinary profitability but quickly becomes cautious, recognizing that excessive profit could attract suspicion and danger.
• He becomes more secretive and strategic, deliberately limiting the external version of his invention while preserving the strongest model for himself.
• Lu Hongwen has already reached the Foundation Establishment Realm and shows superior close-combat skill. Even while suppressing his strength, he easily outmaneuvers the Type Two.
• Mu Yuanyi and Zhang Zong are present during the puppet’s evaluation, representing the guild’s involvement and providing witnesses to its capabilities.

3. Significant Themes

• Profit versus security: Lu Qingfeng’s discovery could make him wealthy, but its value also creates risks of exposure, greed, and conflict.
• Caution and concealment: Rather than pursuing immediate mass production, Lu Qingfeng chooses gradual accumulation and deception to protect himself and the guild.
• Innovation and refinement: The chapter emphasizes repeated experimentation, failure, enhancement, and strategic weakening to create different versions of the same invention.
• Power is more than raw strength: Although the Type Two possesses respectable combat power, its limited fighting methods make it far less effective than a trained cultivator.
• Self-interest and responsibility: Lu Qingfeng must balance his personal gains against the possibility of bringing disaster to the Primordial Unity Guild.

4. Character Interactions

• Lu Qingfeng discusses and demonstrates the new puppet alongside Mu Yuanyi and Zhang Zong.
• Lu Hongwen tests the Type Two in direct combat, suppressing his power to assess the puppet fairly. The puppet can match a second-level True Qi Realm attack, but Lu Hongwen’s martial skill allows him to dominate it effortlessly.
• Lu Qingfeng remotely controls the puppet and stops it immediately when Lu Hongwen ends the test, highlighting his precise command over the creation.
• The chapter concludes with author acknowledgments and a humorous aside about another cultivation novel ending prematurely.

Chapter Summary: “Officially Finalized!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lu Hongwen tests Lu Qingfeng’s newly completed Truth-Extinguishing Type II puppet alongside Mu Yuanyi and Zhang Zong.
• The puppet meets the basic standards of a second-tier puppet, possessing True Qi Realm-level defense, attack power, and speed. However, Lu Hongwen identifies a major flaw: its combat style is too rigid for close-quarters fighting.
• Lu Qingfeng explains that he originally designed the puppet primarily for long-range combat, intending to equip it with a bow and arrows. Its arms therefore contain only the Great Strength Rune Array.
• Mu Yuanyi points out that Lu Qingfeng has designed the puppet according to his own needs rather than the broader market. Different users require different configurations:
  • Exploration-focused cultivators need speed and close-combat ability.
  • Wealthy True Qi Realm cultivators need durable guardians capable of both ranged and melee combat.
• Realizing the commercial potential, Lu Qingfeng retreats to his artifact-refining room and spends seven months modifying the puppet.
• He successfully creates two specialized models:
  • Exploration Version: Equipped with Wind-Controlling Art, Heart-Burning Palm, Great Strength Art, Earth-Escape Art, and Precision Art. It excels in mobility and close combat but still requires a bow and arrows for ranged attacks.
  • Guardian Version: Equipped with Heart-Burning Palm, Cloak Blade Art, Great Strength Art, Golden Light Art, and Fireball Art. It can fight at both close and long range and becomes stronger when paired with a talisman-artifact sword and shield.
• Mu Yuanyi tests both versions and is pleased with their performance. He places the first order: ten Exploration Version puppets for the Yuanyi Guild.
• Based on rising puppet prices caused by the conflict between the Ghost Spirit Sect and Hundred Ingenuities Sect, Mu Yuanyi recommends prices of twelve to thirteen spirit stones for the Exploration Version and around fourteen for the Guardian Version.
• Lu Qingfeng deliberately lowers the prices to eleven spirit stones and thirteen spirit stones, prioritizing sales volume, proficiency growth, and the rapid accumulation of forces in reality.
• He grants the Yuanyi Guild a twenty-percent discount and allows Mu Yuanyi and the guild to continue handling material purchases and sales, as they do with his pills.
• The two puppet models officially enter the market.

Character Developments

• Lu Qingfeng demonstrates humility and adaptability. Although initially embarrassed that he overlooked market needs, he quickly learns from Mu Yuanyi’s advice and successfully redesigns his invention.
• He reveals a strategic business mindset, choosing lower prices to maximize sales, improve refining proficiency, and support his larger plans in reality.
• His loyalty toward the Yuanyi Guild becomes clear when he offers a generous discount as repayment for their past support.
• Mu Yuanyi acts as both a trusted friend and business adviser. He accurately identifies the target customers for the puppets, helps establish their market value, and becomes Lu Qingfeng’s first commercial partner.
• Lu Hongwen reinforces his reputation as an experienced Foundation Establishment cultivator by quickly detecting the puppet’s weakness.
• Zhang Zong remains involved as a practical observer, examining the puppet directly during the evaluation.

Significant Themes

• Innovation through feedback: Lu Qingfeng’s invention improves when he accepts criticism and considers the needs of actual users.
• Practicality over personal assumptions: A technically successful creation is not automatically commercially useful; understanding the customer is essential.
• Long-term strategy: Lu Qingfeng sacrifices some immediate profit to increase production volume, refining proficiency, and future influence.
• Loyalty and reciprocity: His discount for the Yuanyi Guild reflects gratitude and strengthens existing relationships.
• Preparation and power-building: Although the puppet business occurs in the game world, Lu Qingfeng’s ultimate goal is to accumulate resources and forces for use in reality.

Important Character Interactions

• Lu Hongwen gives Lu Qingfeng direct technical criticism after testing the original puppet.
• Mu Yuanyi challenges Lu Qingfeng’s assumptions by asking who would actually buy a second-tier puppet, leading Lu Qingfeng to recognize the need for specialized designs.
• Lu Qingfeng and Mu Yuanyi cooperate closely on product development, pricing, distribution, and sales.
• Mu Yuanyi’s purchase of ten Exploration Versions marks the beginning of Lu Qingfeng’s official puppet business and confirms the Yuanyi Guild as his primary commercial partner.