Chapter Summaries

Li Shiming survived the Thermite Bomb blast by hiding beneath Starlite, then escaped the Market and returned home with two Storage Bags. Their contents linked the dead cultivators to Old Cultivator Hao, and Li Shiming decided to avoid the Market until he joined the Sky Ocean Sect.

• Li Shiming emerged unharmed from beneath the charred Starlite covering and collected the two Storage Bags from the corpses.
• Li Shiming fled the mountain as cultivators reacted to the explosion, then changed his clothes and disguise before returning home.
• Li Shiming found a marked Low Grade Long Sword Magical Artifact and many talismans made with Old Cultivator Hao's distinctive bluish yellow Talisman Paper in the first Storage Bag.
• Li Shiming discovered another matching sword, more powerful talismans, Spirit Stones, talisman-making supplies, and a cultivation notebook in the second Storage Bag.
• Li Shiming resolved to ask Fellow Daoist Gu about nearby cultivator forces and to stay away from the Market until joining the Sky Ocean Sect.

Li Shiming saved an unidentified spiritual plant and learned about the dangers near the Market from Gu Jia, who also taught him basic uses of Spiritual Power. After testing his new understanding, Li Shiming continued studying his newly acquired spells while tending to the plants in the Server Room Space.

• Li Shiming sterilized and treated the spiritual plant’s roots, grafted its two branches onto them, and left its survival to chance.
• Gu Jia warned Li Shiming that a powerful cultivator had killed two Hao Family Cultivators near the Market and advised him not to go there for now.
• Li Shiming learned from Gu Jia that the Hao Family was a small Cultivation Family and that Central Capital had few such families because its spiritual qi was thin.
• After Gu Jia explained basic uses of Spiritual Power, Li Shiming knocked a paperweight off a desk with a palm strike from a distance and shattered it.
• Li Shiming monitored the Spirit Plants and used the IBMz15 Mainframe’s videos and images to comprehend the Body Lightening Art, Fireball Spell, and Object Manipulation Spell.

Li Shiming tested the Body Lightening Art, Fireball Spell, and Object Manipulation Spell outside Central Capital City, discovering how intent affected the spells and measuring their power and limitations. After completing his experiments, he returned to the city feeling that he could now be considered a true cultivator.

• Li Shiming cast the Body Lightening Art with intent drawn from riding in a Convertible Sports Car and ran at about one hundred and twenty kilometers per hour, faster than when using a Low-Grade Body Lightening Talisman.
• Li Shiming tried a Top Racehorse's galloping as a different intent and found that the resulting Body Lightening Art gave him roughly the same speed as the talisman.
• Li Shiming cast the Fireball Spell, which flew more than thirty meters, exploded against a tree, and continued burning the trunk with spiritual power.
• Li Shiming tested the Object Manipulation Spell while returning to Central Capital City, using it to float a copper coin and noting that it could only move light objects within five meters.
• Li Shiming concluded that the spells he had learned made him feel like a true cultivator.

Li Shiming discovered petroleum bubbling up in a poor village’s fields and bought the land, then refined the petroleum into fuel and used it to upgrade his power supply. As he prepared for life in the sect, he stockpiled fuel and processed ores while continuing his cultivation and tending the Unknown Spirit Plant.

• Li Shiming learned that Demon Water had ruined Liu Zi's Family’s fields, recognized it as petroleum, and bought the affected farmland at a generous price.
• Li Shiming refined the first petroleum into Diesel and Gasoline at a residence outside the city, while continuing his spellcasting practice and caring for the Unknown Spirit Plant.
• Steward Zhang arranged for carts of petroleum to be delivered, though he worried that Li Shiming was neglecting the upcoming Spring Examination.
• Li Shiming replaced his Steam Engine and old generator with a more powerful, steadier Diesel generator and stored fuel in Storage Bags and underground reserves.
• Mo Yan bought ores with Li Shiming’s gold and silver, and Li Shiming smelted them into metals using the Electric Arc Furnace.

On New Year's Day, Li Shiming practiced making Low-Grade Body Lightening Talismans and used the IBMz15 to analyze why each attempt failed. A message from Gu Jia invited him to a cultivator gathering at Heaven Water Pavilion, leaving Li Shiming with a chance to meet other cultivators.

• Feeling lonely on his first New Year in this world, Li Shiming took out the Snow Spirit Brush to practice making talismans.
• Li Shiming's first attempt failed when too much Talisman Ink flowed onto the paper, and the Talisman Paper exploded.
• Li Shiming replayed the failed attempt through the IBMz15 and identified how to control the Talisman Ink with Spiritual Power.
• Li Shiming practiced four more times, failed each attempt, and stopped after reaching his daily limit of five tries.
• A Hundred Li Transmission Talisman delivered Gu Jia's invitation for Li Shiming to attend a cultivator gathering on the third floor of Heaven Water Pavilion.

Li Shiming attended a New Year gathering of cultivators at Heaven Water Pavilion, where Gu Jia introduced him to the assembled cultivators. The group discussed moving their Market into the city after attacks drove customers away, while Li Shiming discovered that Gu Jia’s Spirit Tea brought him close to Qi Refining Stage 3.

• Li Shiming entered Heaven Water Pavilion and reached the concealed gathering on its third floor.
• Gu Jia introduced Li Shiming to twenty-six cultivators and asked them to look after him.
• Cultivator Deng explained that the Market had lost visitors after two Hao Family cultivators were killed, prompting a proposal to move it into the city.
• Gu Jia questioned the cultivators about their true reasons for moving the Market and offered Li Shiming Spirit Tea.
• Li Shiming drank the Spirit Tea and gained enough Spiritual Power to come close to Qi Refining Stage 3.

Li Shiming learned that his earlier purchases and disclosures had made market cultivators mistake him for an easy target, while Gu Jia agreed to move the market inside the city through the Immortal Ascension Gathering. As Old Cultivator Hao tested Li Shiming’s spell, Li Shiming hid his abilities and left Hao believing he had been mistaken about him.

• Cultivators Deng and Zhang explained how Li Shiming’s purchase of three secret manuals had exposed him as a newcomer, and Gu Jia linked the market’s suspicions to the Hao family cultivators he had killed.
• Cultivator Deng and Cultivator Zhang asked Gu Jia to move the market inside the city and offered to pay fifty percent more; Gu Jia agreed.
• The rogue cultivators began sharing cultivation experience, and Gu Jia secretly warned Li Shiming not to rely on their advice before joining the sect.
• Old Cultivator Hao approached Li Shiming and offered to analyze his Body Lightening Art, while Li Shiming used IBMz15’s facial analysis to recognize Hao’s false smile.
• Li Shiming pretended to cast the Body Lightening Art slowly, and Old Cultivator Hao concluded that he had been mistaken.

Li Shiming suspected Old Cultivator Hao had recognized him as the cultivator who bought the secret manual, and he worried that the Hao family might target him. After returning home, he decided to build a surveillance device and began preparing a Drone from equipment in IBMz15’s maintenance cabinet.

• Old Cultivator Hao tested Li Shiming with the Body Lightening Art, then concluded that he had mistaken Li Shiming for the cultivator who bought Talisman Paper.
• Li Shiming remained wary of Old Cultivator Hao and considered how easily the Hao family could overpower him.
• Li Shiming returned from the gathering with a map showing the factions and cultivator dwellings around Central Capital.
• Li Shiming considered building a Drone but found that he lacked the chips needed for one and could not afford or safely obtain a Defense Formation.
• Li Shiming concluded that IBMz15’s components had not worn down during his three months in the Cultivation World and selected a Fiber Fusion Splicer from its maintenance cabinet to dismantle for Drone parts.

Li Shiming finished building a drone and camera-based security system, then confirmed that his grafted Spirit Tea Tree was recovering. After more than a hundred failed attempts, he successfully crafted three Low-Grade Body Lightening Talismans and realized his success rate was nearly certain.

• Li Shiming used a camouflaged drone and four camera probes to monitor his courtyard and finally felt secure from possible intruders.
• Li Shiming checked the grafted Unknown Spirit Plant in the Server Room Space and identified it as a recovering Spirit Tea Tree.
• Li Shiming reflected on his repeated failures while practicing the Low-Grade Body Lightening Talisman and prepared another attempt.
• Li Shiming successfully drew three Low-Grade Body Lightening Talismans and concluded that his success rate was close to one hundred percent.

Li Shiming prepared for the Spring Examination while the Hao Family identified him as a suspect in the deaths of their cultivators and sent Old Fourth to kill him. As Old Fourth entered Li Shiming’s courtyard under invisibility, Li Shiming detected him with his thermal-imaging Goggles and readied his Geng Metal Talismans.

• Li Shiming accumulated a large stock of self-made Talismans, then paused crafting to restore his cultivation and prepare for the Spring Examination.
• Old Cultivator Hao reviewed evidence linking Li Shiming to the deaths of Prince Shun, Li Wenfeng, and the Hao Family cultivators.
• Old Fourth volunteered to assassinate Li Shiming, and Old Cultivator Hao gave him two Invisibility Talismans and ordered him to act cautiously.
• Li Shiming noticed an alarm from his Goggles and used thermal imaging to spot the invisible cultivator climbing over his courtyard wall.
• Li Shiming took out ten Low-Grade Geng Metal Talismans as Old Fourth entered the courtyard and assessed the guards and the unprotected residence.

Li Shiming killed Old Fourth, a Hao family cultivator who had infiltrated his study, and discovered that the Hao family was behind the attempted assassination. He left Central Capital City and surveyed the Hao family estate, preparing to confront the remaining cultivators.

• Old Fourth slipped into Li Shiming's residence, knocked Si Qin unconscious, and tried to open the study door while planning to kill Li Shiming without using offensive spiritual power.
• Li Shiming spotted Old Fourth with the Infrared Probe and killed him with two volleys of Geng Metal Needles before checking that Si Qin was safe.
• Li Shiming searched Old Fourth's Storage Bag, found Hao family weapons and other supplies, and decided to deal with the Hao family himself.
• Li Shiming left Central Capital City at full speed and reached the Hao family estate about half an hour later.
• Li Shiming used a Drone and Monocular Telescope to survey the estate, count its occupants, and locate four likely Hao Family Cultivators.

Li Shiming waited for a chance to infiltrate the Hao Family compound and used hypnosis to turn Hao Jin into an unwitting accomplice. He left Hao Jin carrying jars inside while he concealed himself beneath soil near the compound.

• Li Shiming spotted Hao Jin leaving the Hao Family compound before dawn and followed him toward a vegetable garden.
• Li Shiming threatened Hao Jin with a sword and forced him to swallow a pill, claiming it would kill him in three days without an antidote.
• Li Shiming hypnotized Hao Jin with his Pocket Watch and ordered him to forget their meeting and carry the jars inside as though they were wine he had prepared.
• Hao Jin carried two jars through the compound's small gate, then went back out to collect the remaining jars.
• Li Shiming covered himself with Starlife material and buried himself beneath weed-covered soil near the Hao Family compound.

Li Shiming destroyed the Hao Family compound with more than two hundred kilograms of Nitroglycerin and searched the ruins afterward. He found three cultivators dead, discovered a Spiritual Vein and Spirit Soil, and unearthed a Bamboo Root.

• Hao Jin carried four jars of Nitroglycerin into the Hao Family compound while under Li Shiming's Hypnosis.
• The jars exploded in sequence, and the Defense Formation trapped and magnified the blast before collapsing and destroying the compound.
• Li Shiming waited for the fires to cool, then used his Drone and Infrared Mode to search the ruins and found no survivors.
• Li Shiming found three charred cultivators and recovered their usable Storage Bags, but could not locate the fourth cultivator or his Storage Bag.
• Li Shiming sensed a Spiritual Vein beneath the former courtyard and dug up Spirit Soil and a surviving section of Bamboo Root.

After returning home from killing the Hao Family, Li Shiming examined the loot from their storage bags and learned about their talisman-making inheritance. He equipped himself with the clan head’s larger storage bag and stored the remaining supplies, including talisman spirit bamboo and spirit soil, in his Server Room Space.

• Li Shiming returned home at seven in the morning, avoiding pedestrians with his drone, and reassured Si Qin that he had gotten up early to exercise.
• Li Shiming opened three storage bags and found magical artifacts, pills, talisman-making tools, books, spirit herbs, a thousand spirit stones, and a large stock of talisman paper.
• Li Shiming read the spell books and Evergreen Art, then studied Hao Family Talisman Tradition and learned how talisman spirit bamboo was used to make talisman paper and invisibility talismans.
• Li Shiming moved his usual belongings into the Hao Family clan head’s five-cubic-meter storage bag and put the other bags and the remaining supplies into his Server Room Space.

Li Shiming examined Spirit Soil in the Server Room Space, discovered it contained thousands of hidden Insect Eggs, and began restoring his Talisman Spirit Bamboo. Gu Jia summoned him after the Hao Family was wiped out, and the four remaining clan heads asked to stay in Central Capital as they feared the attacker might be a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

• Li Shiming used his consciousness to separate more than ten thousand Insect Eggs from Spirit Soil and stored them in a porcelain bottle.
• Li Shiming prepared Nutrient Solution, sterilized the Talisman Spirit Bamboo, and treated it with the Spring Breeze Transforming Rain Art.
• Gu Jia sent Li Shiming an urgent message after the Hao Family was wiped out, and Li Shiming went alone to meet him.
• The four remaining clan heads arrived and asked Gu Jia for permission to stay in Central Capital long term.
• The Liu Family Head described how the Hao Family's active Defense Formation had been breached and its cultivators killed instantly, leading Gu Jia to suspect a Foundation Establishment cultivator was responsible.

Gu Jia secured a share of the Micro Spiritual Vein for himself while allowing the rogue cultivators to remain in a designated area of the city under strict conditions. Li Shiming passed the Great Examination as a Tribute Scholar and arrived for the Palace Examination, where he saw Gu Jia waiting nearby.

• Gu Jia ordered the four clan leaders to leave the Micro Spiritual Vein untouched until the Immortal Ascension Gathering and claimed a share of its future benefits.
• The clan leaders negotiated with Gu Jia, who allowed rogue cultivators to stay long-term in a designated part of the city after they accepted his conditions.
• Li Shiming focused on cultivation, spells, and talisman crafting while the Great Examination took place, then learned that he had ranked as a Tribute Scholar.
• Si Qin reminded Li Shiming that the Palace Examination was approaching, and he later joined the other Tribute Scholars at the imperial palace.
• Li Shiming spotted Gu Jia beside the Hall of Heavenly Worship as the Palace Examination began.

Emperor Jin Geng awarded Li Shiming Tanhua for his brilliant Palace Examination essay, while Gu Jia kept him from attending the ceremony. After learning that cultivation offered the chance to extend his life, Li Shiming’s resolve to pursue it grew firm.

• Emperor Jin Geng admired Li Shiming’s essay but, knowing he was a cultivator, chose to award him Tanhua rather than make him Number One Scholar or place him among lesser candidates.
• Gu Jia summoned Li Shiming in the Imperial Palace and persuaded him that, as a cultivator, he should not attend the ceremony and bow to the emperor.
• Gu Jia used a sect formation array to show Li Shiming the ceremony in real time, where Emperor Jin Geng accepted Li Shiming’s absence without anger.
• Li Shiming asked Gu Jia whether cultivation could grant immortality, and Gu Jia explained that Qi Refining cultivators could live nearly two hundred years while Foundation Establishment cultivators lived at least two hundred.
• Li Shiming resolved to pursue cultivation and use his resources and knowledge to seek a longer life.

Gu Jia investigated the murder of a Rogue Cultivator in Central Capital City and discovered that a powerful Bronze Corpse was involved, prompting him to alert the sect and offer a reward for leads. Meanwhile, Li Shiming continued living modestly and used the Talisman Spirit Bamboo shoots in his Spiritual Food.

• Gu Jia found that a Refined Corpse had drained a Rogue Cultivator's blood, and the Liu Clan Leader asked him to seek justice.
• Gu Jia tracked the Yin-Cold Qi to the city wall, where the Intermediate Tracking Talisman lost the target.
• Gu Jia inferred that the Refined Corpse was at least a middle-stage Bronze Corpse and offered Rogue Cultivators resources worth five hundred Spirit Stones for information.
• Li Shiming remained in his current home despite receiving a large residence and a Successful Candidate plaque from the palace.
• Li Shiming ate Spiritual Rice and stir-fried Spiritual Bamboo Shoot, which he harvested from the fast-growing Talisman Spirit Bamboo in the Server Room Space.

Li Shiming learned that a corpse-refining cultivator had been killing people in Central Capital and took precautions against the dangerous threat. He returned home after discovering the killer might be connected to the Hao Family Massacre.

• Li Shiming reached the peak of Qi Refining Second Level but chose not to harvest leaves from his slowly growing Spirit Tea Tree.
• Gu Jia sent Li Shiming a warning about a cultivator controlling refining corpses and gave him a Hundred Li Transmission Talisman to call for help.
• Li Shiming visited the Liu Clan Leader, who told him that a Qi Refining Stage 3 cultivator had recently been killed by a refining corpse.
• The Liu Clan Leader said the killer might be at Mid- or Late-Stage Qi Refining and could be connected to the cultivator behind the Hao Family Massacre.
• Li Shiming left before dark and hurried home to avoid encountering the killer.

After more rogue cultivators were found drained of blood, Li Shiming tracked a strange, cold figure and discovered the residence of the suspected corpse-refining cultivator. He summoned Gu Jia and a Foundation Establishment cultivator, who praised his cultivation and prospects for entering the Sky Ocean Sect.

• Two rogue cultivators carrying out Zhang Family commissions disappeared and were later found drained of blood, prompting the rogue cultivators to seek protection and Gu Jia to raise the mission reward.
• Li Shiming used an invisible Drone and thermal imaging to spot a Dark Blue Figure moving through the city, then followed it from a distance.
• The figure merged with a red figure near the city wall, and Li Shiming tracked the red figure to an ordinary residence.
• Li Shiming sent a Hundred Li Transmission Talisman to Gu Jia, then showed him the suspected cultivator's residence.
• Gu Jia arrived with a Foundation Establishment cultivator and told Li Shiming to address the senior as Martial Uncle.
• The Foundation Establishment cultivator praised Li Shiming's Qi Refining Second Level Peak cultivation and said he should have no problem entering the Sky Ocean Sect.