Chapter Summaries

Li Shiming was kidnapped by the wounded Escort Chief Wang, who poisoned him and forced him to obtain ingredients and brew medicine. Li Shiming secretly stored the pill in his Server Room Space, then agreed to deliver the medicine while Escort Chief Wang planned to kill him afterward.

• Escort Chief Wang held Li Shiming at knifepoint in the garden and forced him to swallow a Three Days Soul Severing Pill.
• Li Shiming secretly stored the pill in his Server Room Space, which had crossed over with him from his previous life.
• Li Shiming recognized the wounded man as Escort Chief Wang, the survivor of the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion attack.
• Escort Chief Wang gave Li Shiming a prescription and ordered him to buy ingredients, brew the medicine, and bring it to the Artificial Hill that night.
• Li Shiming agreed to help and left with the prescription while Escort Chief Wang decided he could not be allowed to live.

Li Shiming weighed how to handle Escort Chief Wang’s threat while spotting potentially poisonous beans in his courtyard. He prepared to brew the prescribed medicine, gathered parts for a generator, and requested the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion case files.

• Li Shiming decided to follow Escort Chief Wang’s instructions for now and turn to Li Wenyuan if he could not resolve the danger himself.
• Li Shiming recognized the black-tipped love beans Si Qin had received as potentially poisonous Rosary Pea and ordered her to gather every one that had been given away.
• Li Shiming copied the medicine prescription and summoned Mo Yan, who delivered the generator parts he had commissioned.
• Li Shiming praised Mo Yan’s work and paid him two taels of silver.
• Li Shiming ordered Mo Yan to buy the prescription’s ingredients and bring him the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion case files.

Li Shiming built a hand-cranked generator and used his consciousness to power it inside the Server Room, charging the Uninterruptible Power Supply but exhausting himself in the process. He was left wondering whether the stored electricity would be enough to start the IBMz15 Mainframe and give him access to its vast collection of knowledge.

• Li Shiming sent Si Qin away and assembled a generator, then confirmed it produced electricity by turning its crank.
• Li Shiming stored the generator in the Server Room and discovered he could spin its rotor with his consciousness.
• Li Shiming controlled the generator to produce 230 volts and connected it to the Uninterruptible Power Supply, whose indicator turned green as it stored electricity.
• Li Shiming stopped after half an hour when controlling the rotor caused a throbbing pain in his head, and he told Si Qin not to alarm anyone.
• Li Shiming rested and considered how starting the IBMz15 Mainframe could let him use its immense library of information, while failure would leave him to pursue the official career path his father had planned.

Li Shiming powered up the IBMz15 Mainframe and discovered that his consciousness could operate it and absorb large amounts of text into memory. After researching Rosary Peas and Abrin, he ordered Mo Yan to gather chemicals and equipment so he could prepare means to defend himself.

• Li Shiming reduced the IBMz15 Mainframe’s power consumption by shutting down most of its CPUs, memory, and storage.
• Li Shiming used his consciousness to operate the mainframe and copied Zhu Ziqing’s The Back View and nearly two million characters of Selected Classics into a document, finding he could recall the text while connected.
• Li Shiming searched the server for information on Rosary Peas and Abrin, then shut down the power-hungry hard drive array after transferring the extraction information into memory.
• Li Shiming wrote a list of materials for extracting Abrin and making other chemicals, then ordered Mo Yan to obtain everything within one shichen.
• Mo Yan agreed to gather the items through the estate’s connections after Li Shiming promised him a reward.

Li Shiming used his Server Room Space to create dangerous chemicals and learned from the Case Files that an immortal cultivator was hunting Escort Chief Wang. Intrigued by the possibility of cultivation, he took the medicine he had brewed and left for the garden alone.

• Li Shiming removed the generator's crank and gears to make a centrifuge, then reconsidered why he needed it when his consciousness could manipulate objects directly in the Server Room.
• Li Shiming processed the materials in the Server Room Space and prepared several chemicals, including Abrin and Nitroglycerin.
• Li Shiming had Mo Yan obtain parts for a furnace after finding that wood could not provide sufficiently high temperatures in the Server Room Space.
• Li Shiming read the Case Files and learned that a White-clad Man had killed seven escort masters and pursued Escort Chief Wang, with the files suspecting the attacker was an immortal cultivator.
• Li Shiming wondered whether Escort Chief Wang possessed something the immortal cultivator wanted and decided that the possibility of cultivation could change his plans.
• Li Shiming finished brewing the medicine, told Si Qin not to follow him, and left the courtyard carrying the food box.

Li Shiming poisoned Escort Chief Wang with Abrin after pretending to bring him healing medicine, and waited until he was certain Wang had died. He searched the corpse for the object a cultivator had apparently wanted, but found only a sword and silver.

• Li Shiming secretly put Abrin into Escort Chief Wang’s medicine and left after asking when Wang would give him the antidote.
• Escort Chief Wang drank the medicine, suffered the poison’s effects, and died despite trying to use Inner Energy to expel it.
• Li Shiming watched from hiding until he had confirmed Escort Chief Wang was dead, then cautiously approached the corpse.
• Li Shiming searched Escort Chief Wang’s body with a branch but found only a sword and loose silver, not the item the cultivator had sought.

Li Shiming used the IBMz15 Mainframe to find Escort Chief Wang’s hidden box and took its wooden sword while leaving the books behind as a decoy. After an immortal cultivator massacred the Mighty Escort Agency to draw Wang out, Li prepared a White Phosphorus trap in the buried box, hoping to protect himself when the cultivator came searching.

• Li Shiming digitized and replayed footage of the Artificial Hill until the IBMz15 Mainframe revealed a patch of grass concealing a wooden box.
• Li Shiming found two books, Five Elements Qi Absorption Art and Rune Inception, and a rune-covered Wooden Sword in the box.
• Li Shiming recorded the books, took the Wooden Sword, restored the hiding place, and removed Escort Chief Wang’s corpse and traces from the garden.
• Mo Yan told Li Shiming that the Mighty Escort Agency’s thirty-five members, including Escort Chief Wang’s family, had been killed.
• Li Shiming feared the immortal cultivator was searching for the Wooden Sword and decided to prepare another safeguard.
• Li Shiming made White Phosphorus and hid chemicals in the wooden box beside the Artificial Hill before covering the site again.

Shi Ximing used a Mid-Grade Qi Tracking Talisman to follow Escort Chief Wang, who had escaped after Shi Ximing attacked the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion and slaughtered the Mighty Escort Agency. The trail led Shi Ximing into the Government Office, where he entered the back garden to search for Wang and the inheritance.

• Shi Ximing sought Escort Chief Wang's ancestral inheritance, hoping to obtain a Superior-Grade Attack Magic Tool.
• Escort Chief Wang escaped the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion while seven escort leaders held Shi Ximing back, and the authorities began pursuing Shi Ximing after the attack killed seven people and injured several Xiucai.
• Unable to find Wang, Shi Ximing slaughtered everyone at the Mighty Escort Agency and used a Low-Grade Bloodline Tracking Talisman, but it failed to locate him.
• Shi Ximing used a Mid-Grade Qi Tracking Talisman on Wang's clothing and followed the spiritual resonance through Nanling City.
• The tracking trail led Shi Ximing to the Government Office, where he leaped into the back garden without alerting anyone.

Shi Ximing found Li Shiming’s hidden wooden box, triggering an explosion that killed him and devastated the garden. Li Shiming identified the remains as the cultivator’s and picked up his undamaged Leather Pouch.

• Shi Ximing tracked Escort Chief Wang’s lingering aura to the garden but found no trace of him leaving.
• Shi Ximing used Wood Spiritual Qi to locate and dig up Li Shiming’s hidden wooden box.
• Shi Ximing opened the box, igniting its White Phosphorus and causing the Nitroglycerin inside to explode, killing him and destroying the artificial hill.
• Li Shiming reassured Si Qin and went to inspect the blast site as Government Office staff and guards rushed toward the garden.
• Li Shiming found Shi Ximing’s remains and picked up the undamaged Leather Pouch beside them.

After an explosion in Li Wenyuan’s residence, Li Shiming learned that investigators had concluded an immortal cultivator had died in the garden. He left to study the cultivation items he had secretly obtained, while Nanling City was placed under martial law.

• Li Shiming stored the small Leather Pouch in his Server Room Space and went to see his father, Li Wenyuan.
• Li Wenyuan told Li Shiming that he had sent an urgent report to the Central Capital about the suspected immortal cultivation incident.
• Detective Zheng reported that investigators had found unusual white cloth and flesh containing energy unlike that of martial artists.
• Detective Zheng tested the cloth with his saber and concluded that the remains likely belonged to the White-robed Man from Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion.
• Li Wenyuan believed another immortal cultivator had killed the White-robed Man, while Li Shiming kept his own involvement secret and planned to examine his gains.
• Li Shiming returned to rest as officials calmed the city and prefectural soldiers patrolled Nanling City under martial law.

Li Shiming studied cultivation and talisman knowledge but could not sense Spiritual Qi, so he hoped to find cultivators in the Central Capital. When two Immortals arrived to inspect the garden site, he joined them because he had discovered it first.

• Li Shiming learned that he needed Spiritual Qi to cultivate, make Talismans, or open his Storage Bag, but he could not sense any.
• He recorded books from the manor study and nearby temples into the IBMz15 Mainframe to deepen his understanding of the Five Elements Qi Absorption Art.
• Li Shiming decided to pursue the Autumn Examination so he could travel to the Central Capital and seek cultivators.
• Li Wenyuan arrived in the garden with two young Immortals, whose rune-patterned pouches revealed their identities.
• Li Shiming offered to accompany them to inspect the site he had discovered first, and the male Immortal agreed.

Senior Brother Zhao and Junior Sister Zheng investigated the site of the dead cultivator’s powerful attack in Nanling City but found no traces of Spiritual Qi or the culprit. They stayed under Li Wenyuan’s hospitality, and after another fruitless search the next day, they planned to leave if they found nothing by the following day.

• Senior Brother Zhao examined the deep pit with a Jade Ruler and concluded that the powerful strike had left no detectable Spiritual Qi and was not made by an Innate Martial Artist.
• Senior Brother Zhao recorded his findings and asked Li Wenyuan to arrange nearby lodging while he and Junior Sister Zheng continued investigating.
• Li Wenyuan welcomed the cultivators into the Guest Courtyards and told Li Shiming that Central Capital had sent no official documents about their mission.
• Senior Brother Zhao set up a Defensive Formation over the courtyards, while Junior Sister Zheng secured her room and used a Spirit Gathering Disk to cultivate.
• Senior Brother Zhao and Junior Sister Zheng searched Nanling City the next day but found no trace of a cultivator, so they planned to stay one more day before returning.

Senior Brother Zhao and Junior Sister Zheng tracked down Ge Tianqing, a Rogue Cultivator whose spell had triggered their formation, and attacked him on a Nanling City street. Ge Tianqing wounded and enraged, unleashed a stack of talismans at Senior Brother Zhao, who retreated and left Junior Sister Zheng exposed.

• Ge Tianqing entered Nanling City after dark to buy food, unaware that Senior Brother Zhao's formation could detect his Light Body Technique.
• Senior Brother Zhao and Junior Sister Zheng confronted Ge Tianqing, identified him as a late-stage qi refining cultivator, and readied their Magic Artifacts.
• Senior Brother Zhao struck with his Mid-Grade Longsword Magical Artifact while Junior Sister Zheng's concealed hairpin wounded Ge Tianqing's shoulder.
• Ge Tianqing retaliated by hurling a stack of elementary talismans at Senior Brother Zhao, who activated a defense talisman and retreated, leaving Junior Sister Zheng exposed.

Ge Tianqing killed Junior Sister Zheng and escaped after detonating his magical artifact, leaving Senior Brother Zhao gravely injured. Li Shiming learned that the cultivators had vanished from the Guest Courtyard, while Li Wenyuan dismissed concerns about his Ministry of Revenue evaluation.

• Ge Tianqing killed Junior Sister Zheng with his Iron Hammer Magical Artifact and fled using a Blood Guiding Talisman after taking her Storage Bag.
• Senior Brother Zhao survived the Iron Hammer Magical Artifact's explosion, collected Junior Sister Zheng's corpse, and escaped on a Small Flying Boat despite his grave injuries.
• Li Shiming heard that a battle had devastated Siqian Street and sent matrons to check whether the two cultivators remained in the Guest Courtyard.
• Li Shiming confirmed that the guests had disappeared, and Li Wenyuan reported that Junior Sister Zheng had died while the two male cultivators fled.
• Li Wenyuan told Li Shiming that he was not concerned about the Ministry of Revenue evaluation because he had no intention of returning to the Central Capital.

Li Shiming searched the guest courtyards for traces of the cultivators and discovered a Spirit Gathering Disk. Using it, he sensed Spiritual Qi for the first time, reached the Qi Refining First Level, and stored the disk in the Server Room Space, where it continued gathering Spiritual Qi.

• Li Wenyuan told Li Shiming to rest before the Autumn Examination and stayed behind to handle the arriving officials.
• Li Shiming searched the cultivators’ guest courtyards and found nothing in the first one.
• In the second courtyard, Li Shiming discovered a glowing Spirit Gathering Disk and tested it before sitting down to cultivate.
• With the disk’s help, Li Shiming sensed Spiritual Qi, circulated it through the Five Elements Qi Absorption Art, and formed a Spiritual Qi Vortex at his chest.
• Li Shiming reached the Qi Refining First Level, noticed that cultivation had expelled filth from his body, and stored the still-active Spirit Gathering Disk in the Server Room Space.

Li Shiming refined his cultivation routine around the Spirit Gathering Disk and examined Shi Ximing's Storage Bag, discovering the tools and notes left by a spirit planter. He gained useful knowledge and potential resources, but his Spiritual Power was still too weak to practice spells or choose a cultivation profession.

• Li Shiming returned to his courtyard, bathed, and reflected on the three days he had spent stabilizing his Spiritual Qi Vortex.
• Li Shiming realized the Spirit Gathering Disk's glowing stones were being consumed and calculated that the disk had about twenty-five days of use remaining.
• Li Shiming found that the disk raised the Spiritual Qi concentration in the Server Room Space and began storing it there whenever he was not cultivating.
• Li Shiming used Spiritual Qi to open Shi Ximing's Storage Bag and found cultivation tools, Spirit Rice, gold and silver, weapons, a White Robe, and five booklets.
• Li Shiming read Shi Ximing's spirit-planting notes and identified twenty-three talismans, but decided to save them and recognized that he lacked the Spiritual Power to learn spells.

Li Shiming built an Electric Arc Furnace and used it to manufacture a Steam Engine, giving him a steady source of electricity for the Server Room Space. With the Autumn Examination three days away, he also reached the peak of the first level of the Five Elements Qi Absorption Art and activated the IBMz15 Mainframe at full capacity.

• Li Shiming spent five days using coal to fire two Silicon Carbide Rods and assembled them into an Electric Arc Furnace.
• Li Shiming used the Uninterruptible Power Supply to melt metals and form precise alloy parts for a Steam Engine.
• Li Shiming assembled the Steam Engine, which drove a generator that replenished the Uninterruptible Power Supply with electricity.
• Li Shiming improved the generator with a micron-level roller bearing, allowing it to power the furnace and keep the IBMz15 Mainframe running without sleep mode.
• Li Shiming reached the peak of the first level of the Five Elements Qi Absorption Art and planned to learn three low-level Spells after the Autumn Examination.
• Li Shiming activated the IBMz15 Mainframe's full computing capacity and adjusted its data connection to prevent the flood of information from overwhelming his brain.

Li Shiming took the Autumn Examination in Nanling Prefecture, finishing the tests with ease while cultivating in his cell and advancing to Qi Refining Second Level. After the three-day examination ended, he emerged energetic and was spotted by Si Qin and Mo Yan.

• Li Shiming arrived at the Imperial Examination Hall, passed the soldiers’ search, and entered his examination cell despite having his prepared snacks crushed.
• Li Shiming quickly completed the first day’s Tie Jing questions and cultivated with the Spirit Gathering Disk overnight, reaching Qi Refining Second Level.
• Li Shiming answered the obscure classics questions on the second day using the Li Family’s Selected Classics.
• Li Shiming waited two hours before writing a Policy Essay chosen from the IBMz15 Mainframe’s historical database, then finished the third day’s examination.
• Si Qin and Mo Yan waited outside as the exhausted candidates left, and Mo Yan recognized the bright-eyed Li Shiming among them.

Li Shiming struggled to cast the Spring Breeze Transforming Rain Art and realized it required an artistic conception, not just correctly drawn runes. By using the IBMz15 Mainframe to simulate spring rain through all five senses, he successfully cast the spell for the first time.

• Li Shiming tried the Spring Breeze Transforming Rain Art, but the rune dissipated and consumed a third of the spiritual power in his Spiritual Qi Vortex.
• Li Shiming reconsidered the meaning of “Intent Manifests the Art” and suspected that casting required the artistic conception of spring breeze transforming into rain.
• Li Shiming wrote a program that connected the IBMz15 Mainframe to all five of his senses and used it to recreate the sensations of spring rain.
• Li Shiming formed the artistic conception of spring breeze transforming into rain and cast the spell, producing dark clouds and rain over roughly twenty square meters.

Li Shiming tested the effect of the Spring Breeze Transforming Rain Art on camellias, harvested and processed the improved leaves, and discovered the tea held a trace of spiritual qi. He then learned that he had passed the provincial exam and earned Second Scholar, while Li Wenyuan regretted that his own influence had kept Li Shiming from First Place.

• Li Shiming tasted a camellia leaf watered by the Spring Breeze Transforming Rain Art and found its quality had improved.
• Li Shiming harvested the affected camellias, stir-fried the leaves in his Server Room Space, and brewed tea with a trace of spiritual qi.
• Li Shiming packed three jars of tea and went to the Government Office, where Professor Zhou congratulated him without explaining why.
• Li Wenyuan told Li Shiming that the Autumn Examination results had arrived and that he had passed the provincial exam.
• Li Wenyuan revealed that Li Shiming had earned Second Scholar because the chief examiner avoided making him First Place to prevent suspicion, and said Li Wenyuan's influence had affected the decision.