Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary:

Gongyang Immortal Clan

Key Plot Points and Events

• Yang Genshuo examines two strangers who approach Yang Zhu and discovers that they belong to the ancient and mysterious Gongyang Immortal Clan. Both are only twenty-five but have reached the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment.
• Yang Zhu nearly reveals that he came from the Leap Mushroom, but Yang Genshuo immediately warns him through Divine Manifestation. Because the mushroom can transport people directly into open Legendary Lands, revealing its existence could make Yang Zhu a target.
• To conceal the truth, Yang Zhu claims that he arrived with his injured “aunt,” Mi Duo, and that he has lost his memories.
• The two cultivators, Gongyang Zhiruo and Gongyang Zisu, inspect Mi Duo and identify her condition as a soul injury. They offer to take Yang Zhu to someone who may be able to treat her.
• Yang Genshuo is suspicious, especially because the two seem to assume that Yang Zhu belongs to one of the Gongyang clans. Nevertheless, Yang Zhu desperately wants his mother healed, and the Ancestor permits him to accompany them—while reminding him to remain cautious.
• Zhiruo and Zisu transport Yang Zhu, Mi Duo, and the Galloping Mushroom to a magnificent sacred land hidden within a waterfall. The area possesses extraordinarily dense Spiritual Energy, far exceeding even the Yang Family’s best cultivation facilities.
• Yang Genshuo realizes that the sacred land is not a temporary Legendary Land but a permanent settlement inhabited by numerous members of the Gongyang clans. He speculates that this may be the hidden dwelling place of the Gongyang Ancient Immortal Clan.
• Zisu and Zhiruo place Yang Zhu in a courtyard and promise to find a specialist to treat Mi Duo. They present themselves as friendly relatives, calling him “Brother Zhu,” while Yang Zhu gratefully accepts their help.
• Once settled, Yang Zhu begins cultivating. The courtyard’s abundant Spiritual Energy causes his cultivation to rise rapidly.
• Yang Genshuo remains uneasy. He considers using the Gongyang Clan’s spatial channels to return to the Spirit Vast Continent and plans to seek information about the clan from an influential Yang Family member outside the Legendary Land.

Character Developments

• Yang Zhu shows both innocence and growing dependence on Yang Genshuo. He has almost no social experience and is unaccustomed to deception, but he trusts the Ancestor enough to follow his instructions and maintain the false story about his origins.
• Yang Zhu’s strongest motivation is his devotion to his unconscious mother. His hope that the Gongyang Clan can heal her makes him willing to enter an unfamiliar and potentially dangerous environment.
• Yang Genshuo becomes increasingly protective and strategic. He recognizes the danger posed by Yang Zhu’s ability to travel between Legendary Lands and carefully manages the boy’s lies. At the same time, he must balance suspicion against the possibility of gaining access to a cure and a route home.
• Gongyang Zhiruo initially appears polite and helpful but is somewhat condescending, criticizing Yang Zhu for grabbing her clothes. Her behavior suggests both social refinement and a sense of superiority.
• Gongyang Zisu adopts a gentle, reassuring manner and works to gain Yang Zhu’s trust. His repeated insistence that the Gongyang clan is upright may itself raise doubts about his sincerity.
• Mi Duo remains unconscious throughout the chapter, but her soul injury drives the main decision to accept the Gongyang cultivators’ assistance.

Significant Themes

• Innocence versus the dangers of the cultivation world: Yang Zhu’s honesty and lack of experience contrast sharply with Yang Genshuo’s awareness that powerful clans may exploit the weak.
• Trust and deception: Yang Zhu must lie about his identity and origins to survive, while Yang Genshuo questions whether the apparently benevolent Gongyang siblings are truly trustworthy.
• The danger of possessing rare treasures: The Leap Mushroom represents immense opportunity but also creates the threat of murder or exploitation if its abilities become known.
• Family and protection: Yang Zhu’s determination to save his mother reflects his loyalty, while Yang Genshuo acts as a guardian trying to protect both the boy and the Yang Family’s interests.
• Hidden worlds and ancient power: The chapter expands the mystery of Legendary Lands by suggesting that an Ancient Immortal Clan may have permanently settled inside one, explaining why such clans remain hidden from the outside world.
• Cultivation opportunity: The sacred land’s overwhelming Spiritual Energy shows how vastly different the Gongyang Clan’s resources are from those available to the Yang Family and the Spirit Vast Continent.

Important Character Interactions

• Yang Genshuo secretly instructs Yang Zhu not to reveal the Leap Mushroom’s existence, establishing the Ancestor’s role as his protector and adviser.
• Zhiruo and Zisu question Yang Zhu about his identity and origins. Their unusual questions imply that they already believe he may belong to a Gongyang clan.
• Zhiruo examines Mi Duo and acknowledges her soul injury, giving Yang Zhu hope that his mother can be saved.
• Yang Zhu clings to Zhiruo in excitement, prompting her to correct his behavior and revealing the social distance between them despite her apparent kindness.
• Zisu and Zhiruo deliberately reassure Yang Zhu, offer him shelter, and encourage him to call them “Brother Su” and “Sister Ruo.” Yang Zhu responds emotionally, believing they are far kinder than the people he encountered in the past.
• While the Gongyang siblings treat Yang Zhu warmly, Yang Genshuo remains skeptical and privately evaluates their motives, the nature of the sacred land, and the possibility of using their connections to return home.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Qi Dan Tower has become one of the Spirit Vast Continent’s three largest elixir businesses, rivaling Medicine Master Valley and the Zhao Family’s Heavenly Treasure Pavilion.
• Its success comes from exclusive, innovative elixirs, strong commercial strategy, and protection from both the Dragon Clan and Cloud Concealment Spirit Sect. Even Ghost Shadow Tower refuses assassination contracts against it.
• Yang Fushuo built Qi Dan Tower independently after falling out with the Yang Family. A past crisis—during which Little Fire Dragon protected him and caused conflict with powerful forces—pushed him to become self-reliant and determined to control his own fate.
• He partnered with his former master, Du Yuyan, in researching elixirs, eventually marrying her and having a son, Yang Qiangding.
• Yang Genshuo returns after a century and hesitates to contact Fushuo because of their unresolved cold war. He eventually manifests a message revealing that he is alive and back.
• Fushuo and his son recognize the Ancestor’s message. Yang Qiangding eagerly performs ancestral rites and asks about visiting the Immortal Realm.
• Yang Genshuo asks Fushuo to investigate the mysterious Ancient Immortal Clan, the Gongyang Family. Fushuo immediately agrees and mobilizes his information network.
• The chapter ends with Yang Genshuo noticing Fushuo’s slow cultivation progress and asking whether he fears being unable to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm.

Character Developments

• Yang Fushuo: Has transformed from a resentful and vulnerable family member into an independent, influential businessman and alchemist. Despite his achievements, he has become aware of his limited talent and doubts whether he can advance beyond the Golden Core Realm.
• Yang Genshuo: Feels pride and affection toward Fushuo, recognizing that they share similar intelligence, daring, and business instincts. He is also relieved that Fushuo still regards him as family.
• Yang Qiangding: Fushuo’s talented and carefree son, already at the Late Foundation Establishment stage at age forty-five. He is confident, playful, ambitious, and fascinated by the Ancestor and the Immortal Realm.
• Du Yuyan: Though absent in person, she is established as Fushuo’s former master, research partner, wife, and a major influence on his life.
• Yang Genshuo and Fushuo’s relationship: Their former conflict is not directly discussed, but their reunion gradually restores their familial bond.

Significant Themes

• Independence versus family obligation: Fushuo proves he can thrive without the Yang Family, while still retaining an emotional connection to the Ancestor.
• Talent, limitations, and destiny: Fushuo’s achievements cannot fully overcome his perceived cultivation ceiling, leading him to question whether effort alone can determine success.
• Inheritance across generations: Fushuo teaches alchemy to Qiangding, while Yang Genshuo’s influence continues through both Fushuo and the younger generation.
• Power through alliances and commerce: Qi Dan Tower’s position demonstrates how innovation, monopoly, political backing, and information networks can rival cultivation strength.
• Reconciliation and enduring family ties: After a century apart, old resentment fades, and communication reopens between Yang Genshuo and Fushuo.
• Mystery surrounding the Gongyang Family: Unlike other Ancient Immortal Clans, the Gongyang Family has no obvious signature technique or specialization, making its lack of distinctiveness suspicious.

Character Interactions

• Fushuo tests Qiangding’s alchemy knowledge, praises his talent, and encourages him to surpass his father.
• Qiangding innocently challenges Fushuo’s pessimism and enthusiastically addresses Yang Genshuo as “Ancestor.”
• Yang Genshuo and Qiangding communicate through golden divine text, with Qiangding formally kowtowing and receiving the promise of future assistance.
• Fushuo awkwardly manages his son’s bold questions while trying to preserve a respectful reunion with the Ancestor.
• Yang Genshuo and Fushuo avoid discussing their old conflict, instead speaking as though they are old friends reunited.
• Fushuo demonstrates his continued loyalty by offering help and agreeing to investigate the Gongyang Family.

Chapter Summary: “Pressure”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After a century, Yang Fushuo has only reached the Seventh Layer of the Golden Core Stage. Yang Genshuo reflects on how difficult it will be for him to reach Golden Core Great Perfection, let alone Nascent Soul.
• The Yang Family continues exploring the Legendary Land known as the White Granary. So far, the journey has involved only minor incidents, with no major opportunities or deadly events.
• The family receives intelligence that members of the Gongyang family have appeared in a dynasty under the jurisdiction of the Immortal Martial Sect.
• Yang Fushuo proposes sending his son Yang Qiangding, accompanied by five Golden Core cultivators, to investigate. Yang Genshuo agrees, and Qiangding departs for the Yan Yu Dynasty.
• Meanwhile, inside another Legendary Land, Yang Zhu is being cared for by Gongyang Zhiruo. She provides him with food and protection and arranges for a powerful clan elder to examine and potentially heal Yang Zhu’s injured mother.
• Yang Genshuo observes that the Gongyang Sixteen Clan possesses astonishing strength. Even this supposedly minor clan contains several Nascent Soul cultivators and could rival the Ten Great Immortal Sects.
• Yang Zhu’s weakened Leap Mushroom becomes hungry and requires mushroom-based spiritual plants to recover. Yang Genshuo asks Yang Fushuo to purchase large quantities of suitable substitutes.
• During this conversation, Yang Genshuo asks whether Fushuo knows of a mysterious Yang family member named Yang Min’an, but Fushuo has never heard of him.
• Fushuo then reveals that Yang Feng visited him eleven years earlier before entering a Legendary Land. Yang Feng was accompanied by a female cultivator named Mi Duo, for whom he also purchased elixirs.
• Yang Genshuo realizes that Mi Duo is almost certainly Yang Zhu’s mother, and that Yang Feng may be directly connected to Yang Zhu’s birth and disappearance.

Character Developments

• Yang Genshuo remains cautious and strategic, monitoring both Legendary Lands and analyzing their hidden rules. He also becomes increasingly focused on uncovering Yang Zhu’s origins.
• Yang Fushuo demonstrates responsibility and loyalty. Although he is no longer young, he continues managing the Qi Dan Tower effectively and readily supports the family’s needs.
• Yang Qiangding begins his first significant independent mission. His departure represents a step toward maturity and learning to operate beyond his father’s protection.
• Yang Zhu grows more comfortable with Gongyang Zhiruo and expresses both gratitude and embarrassment over depending on her. His strong premonition ability reassures Yang Genshuo that he is safe in the Gongyang clan.
• Gongyang Zhiruo is portrayed as generous and protective toward Yang Zhu, treating him almost like a younger brother and arranging aid for his mother.
• Yang Feng becomes a central mystery. His past connection with Mi Duo and disappearance into a Legendary Land strongly suggest that he knows the truth behind Yang Zhu’s origins.
• Mi Duo is identified as Yang Zhu’s mother. Fushuo’s recollection suggests she had a close emotional relationship with Yang Feng.

Significant Themes

• The pressure of cultivation and mortality: Yang Fushuo’s slow progress highlights the enormous difficulty of advancing from Golden Core to Nascent Soul and the uncertainty of a cultivator’s future.
• Protection through weakness and obscurity: Yang Zhu’s low cultivation makes him appear insignificant, allowing him to remain safe within the powerful Gongyang clan.
• Hidden origins and interconnected fate: Seemingly unrelated events from eleven years earlier—Yang Feng’s disappearance, Mi Duo’s presence, and Yang Zhu’s birth—begin to form a coherent mystery.
• Family support and responsibility: The Yang Family continues helping its members and allies through resources, missions, and protection, while Qiangding’s assignment reflects the next generation taking on responsibility.
• The vastness of the cultivation world: The Gongyang Sixteen Clan’s extraordinary power reveals that even major forces on the Spirit Vast Continent may be insignificant compared with ancient hidden clans.

Character Interactions

• Yang Genshuo and Yang Fushuo discuss cultivation progress, the Gongyang family investigation, and the deployment of Yang Qiangding. Their relationship combines strategic cooperation with mutual trust.
• Yang Fushuo and Yang Qiangding share an implicit father-son transition: Fushuo sends his son on a dangerous but controlled training mission.
• Yang Zhu and Gongyang Zhiruo bond over meals and conversation. Zhiruo reassures him that he need not repay her hospitality and promises help for his mother.
• Yang Zhu and Yang Genshuo communicate through spiritual awareness. Yang Zhu’s positive intuition about the Gongyang clan convinces Genshuo that he is not in danger.
• Yang Genshuo and Yang Fushuo uncover the connection between Yang Feng, Mi Duo, and Yang Zhu. Fushuo’s memories provide the first concrete lead in the search for Yang Zhu’s true parentage.

Chapter Summary: The Mystery of Yang Feng

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Yang Genshuo investigates Yang Zhu’s parentage and discovers a major contradiction: although Yang Feng is the obvious candidate for Yang Zhu’s father, the game’s blood-relation system indicates that he is actually the least likely person.
• Mi Duo, Yang Zhu’s mother, once entered the “Ten Thousand Miles Return Path” Legendary Land with Yang Feng. She gave birth to Yang Zhu a year later, but Yang Feng subsequently disappeared. Yang Genshuo suspects that the truth may involve another person, Yang Min’an, whose fate remains unknown.
• The investigation reaches a dead end because Yang Feng cannot be found and Mi Duo is unconscious. The key to solving the mystery may depend on Mi Duo recovering or Yang Qiangyou awakening. Yang Genshuo believes Yang Feng is trapped somewhere rather than dead, a belief shared by Yang Qiangwei.
• The immediate priority shifts from solving Yang Feng’s disappearance to bringing Yang Zhu home and protecting the Yang Family members trapped inside the Legendary Land’s White Granary.
• Within the White Granary, Yang Zhu and her group reach a large city surrounded by thousands of hostile Flowing Corpses. The creatures are former refugees transformed during the Great Calamity. They are physically tough, can infect others, and can throw living flesh masses that attack and infect defenders.
• The city’s soldiers fight desperately from the walls, using arrows and swords to stop the Flowing Corpses. Infected soldiers are immediately killed by their comrades to prevent further spread.
• Yang Zhu’s group debates whether to avoid the city. Puzzle Solver Number Six argues that the city is likely a mandatory part of the Legendary Land’s story and that the surrounding region may be even more dangerous.
• Yang Zhu sends her younger siblings, Yang Zhuyi and Yang Zhuyu, to scout for another route. Though frightened, they are forced to take responsibility and grow more independent. They return after attracting thirteen Flowing Corpses, which the group defeats.
• The group concludes that bypassing the city is impossible. The surrounding Flowing Corpses are closing in, while entering the city risks attack from both the monsters and the soldiers.
• Meanwhile, Yang Genshuo suddenly senses a major crisis elsewhere and shifts his attention to New Bright City. Ten Treasure Ships arrive, led by Ma Yan and carrying powerful cultivators. They demand that Yang Qiangjing open the city gates and confirm rumors that a new Legendary Land has appeared in the Great Nai Empire.
• The chapter ends with Yang Genshuo realizing that someone has leaked information about the Legendary Land.

2. Character Developments

• Yang Genshuo: His confidence as an investigator is shaken by the blood-relation paradox surrounding Yang Feng. He remains analytical and protective, prioritizing Yang Zhu’s safety and the survival of the Yang Family. His limited vision inside the Legendary Land frustrates him, forcing him to rely on the group’s decisions.
• Yang Zhu: She demonstrates strong leadership and practical judgment. Although she is afraid of the Flowing Corpses and uncertain about surviving the Legendary Land, she protects her team, evaluates risks, and deliberately pushes her younger siblings to become less dependent on her.
• Yang Zhuyi and Yang Zhuyu: Initially timid and reliant on Yang Zhu, they are compelled to scout dangerous territory. Their fear highlights their lack of experience, but their participation marks the beginning of their growth.
• Puzzle Solver Number Six: He acts as a strategic adviser, arguing that the city is likely an unavoidable story event and that retreat may lead to worse dangers. He also recognizes and praises Yang Zhu’s attempt to train her siblings while secretly arranging protection through his puppets.
• Yang Qiangjing: She faces external political and military pressure alone when Ma Yan arrives with a fleet of powerful cultivators. Her frost-like expression and refusal to immediately open the gates suggest that she is prepared to resist intimidation.
• Yang Feng and Mi Duo: Though absent from the immediate action, their past relationship drives the chapter’s central mystery. Yang Feng’s disappearance and apparent invisibility within the bloodline system become increasingly suspicious.

3. Significant Themes

• Mystery and contradictory truth: The chapter emphasizes that appearances and obvious deductions can be misleading. Yang Feng seems to be Yang Zhu’s father, yet the game’s supernatural evidence directly contradicts that assumption.
• Family responsibility and protection: Yang Zhu’s leadership reflects the burden of protecting younger relatives, while Yang Genshuo’s priorities center on rescuing and safeguarding the Yang Family.
• Growth through danger: Yang Zhu forces her siblings to face danger rather than remain sheltered, showing that survival requires developing courage and independence.
• Survival amid social collapse: The Flowing Corpses originated from desperate refugees created by famine, oppressive taxation, and the Great Calamity. Their transformation reflects how societal suffering can produce monstrous consequences.
• Strategic dilemmas: The group is trapped between several bad choices—fighting the enormous corpse tide, attempting to enter a hostile city, or risking an even worse danger by retreating.
• Information as power: The arrival of Ma Yan and the other cultivators demonstrates the danger of leaked information. Knowledge of the new Legendary Land immediately brings powerful outsiders to the Yang Family’s doorstep.

4. Character Interactions

• Yang Genshuo questions Yang Fushuo about Mi Duo and the “Ten Thousand Miles Return Path,” using his testimony to confirm that she once traveled with Yang Feng.
• Yang Genshuo communicates warnings and tactical information to Yang Zhu’s group through the Character Cards.
• Yang Zhu argues with her younger siblings when they hesitate to scout, using her authority as their elder sister to force them into taking responsibility.
• Yang Zhuyi appeals to Yang Genshuo for help, but he explains that the Legendary Land’s restrictions prevent him from seeing beyond their immediate field of vision.
• Number Six challenges Yang Zhu’s initial reluctance to confront the city and later supports her decision to secretly protect her siblings while making them participate.
• Ma Yan confronts Yang Qiangjing at New Bright City, using the presence of powerful cultivators to pressure her into opening the gates and revealing the truth about the Legendary Land.

Chapter Summary: “Yang Zhuxing’s Arrival!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Ma Clan Immortal Clan returns under the Myriad Beast Sect, bringing ten treasure ships filled with 251 Golden Core cultivators from the Spirit Vast Continent.
• Among them are several famous Half-step Nascent Soul experts, including:
  • Shi Xin, the Wine and Meat Monk
  • Han, the Evil Eye Prince
  • Shui Zhiliu, the Judge’s Brush
  • Shao Mei, the Yin Yang Fire
  • Jie Yu, the Formation Breaker
• The outsiders demand that Bright City lower its protective formation so they can enter the Legendary Land. They threaten the Yang Family while claiming they merely seek an opportunity for advancement.
• Yang Qiangjing refuses to yield, confidently challenging Jie Yu to break the city’s fifth-grade grand formation.
• Jie Yu, supported by four powerful experts, launches an attack using his formation-breaking treasures and a half-formed Heaven and Earth Dharma Idol. The other four simultaneously assault the formation with their own powerful techniques.
• The formation’s counterattack mode is activated through the mutated Life Divine Tree. Its corrosive green power destroys Jie Yu’s Dharma Idol, severely injures his hands, and damages his Dao Measuring Ruler.
• The four remaining experts continue attacking, but Yang Qiangjing deploys four Laser Towers. Their concentrated beams tear through space and instantly blast away all four attackers, destroying their Dharma Idols.
• The invading forces are left stunned and too frightened to advance.
• At the battle’s conclusion, Yang Zhuxing arrives at Bright City and is warmly welcomed by Yang Qiangjing. He delivers a message from his grandfather: the Yang Family should show mercy and avoid killing everyone who came from outside.

Character Developments

• Yang Qiangjing demonstrates exceptional authority, courage, and strategic confidence. Despite being only an early Golden Core cultivator, she remains completely composed before hundreds of stronger opponents and reveals that the Yang Family possesses far greater defensive power than outsiders expected.
• Jie Yu suffers a major humiliation. His reputation as a formation-breaking genius collapses when the fifth-grade formation destroys his Dharma Idol and forces him to sever both hands to stop the corrosion.
• Shi Xin, Han, Shui Zhiliu, and Shao Mei are introduced as dominant continental experts, but their confidence turns to terror when their combined attack is effortlessly countered by the Laser Towers.
• Yang Zhuxing makes a calm and mysterious entrance after the battle, suggesting that he has returned from an important mission involving his grandfather.
• Yang Genshuo becomes increasingly astonished by the Yang Family’s hidden strength and capabilities.

Significant Themes

• Hidden strength and underestimated power: The outsiders assume Bright City and the Yang Family are vulnerable because many family members are trapped in the Legendary Land, but the city’s defenses surpass their expectations.
• Pride versus preparation: The continental experts rely on fame and overwhelming numbers, while the Yang Family relies on long-term preparation, technology, formations, and strategic planning.
• Home and collective resistance: Bright City’s residents and the Heavenly Dragon Army unite against the outsiders, viewing the conflict as a defense of their homeland.
• Humility and restraint: The invading experts boast about their power, while the Yang Family ultimately receives a reminder to show mercy rather than pursue total destruction.
• Technological and magical advancement: The combination of the Life Divine Tree, fifth-grade formation, and Laser Towers demonstrates the Yang Family’s unusual fusion of cultivation and advanced weaponry.

Character Interactions

• The continental cultivators repeatedly pressure and threaten Yang Qiangjing, but she answers with mockery and directly challenges their strongest formation expert.
• Jie Yu asks the other experts to protect him while he dismantles the formation, revealing that even he fears acting alone.
• The people of Bright City encourage one another and volunteer to fight, while imprisoned cultivators cheer for the Yang Family’s defeat.
• Yang Qiangjing reassures the anxious city defenders and refuses to let them intervene prematurely, insisting that the attackers are not yet worthy of their involvement.
• After the battle, Yang Zhuxing and Yang Qiangjing share a tender family reunion. His message from his grandfather changes the tone from total victory to controlled mercy, leaving Yang Genshuo even more bewildered by the Yang Family’s true background.

Chapter Summary: “Compromise”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Yang Family reveals a terrifying new weapon: the Light Prism/Laser Tower, developed by Yang Qiangjing. Its single blast creates a spatial rift and destroys the Heaven-and-Earth Dharma Idol projections of four half-step Nascent Soul experts.
• Master Jie Yu survives only by severing his arm after being struck by the fifth-grade Guixu Formation. The four other experts are severely injured and forced to retreat.
• The cultivators’ fleet withdraws ten miles from Bright City, frightened by the Yang Family’s unexpected strength. They had believed the fifth-grade grand formation was the family’s greatest trump card.
• Ma Yan and Ma Bi are blamed for failing to investigate the Yang Family properly and are suspected of using the other cultivators as cannon fodder. To restore cooperation, they compensate the four injured experts with Heaven-grade Spiritual Beast Eggs.
• The gathered cultivators discuss how to overcome the Yang Family’s formations and fire-based weapons. Master Jie Yu becomes particularly interested in the source and principles of the formation’s power.
• Inside Bright City, Yang Qiangjing and Yang Genshuo assess the threat. Yang Qiangjing explains that the Laser Tower consumes fourth-grade Spiritual Materials and produces an annihilating force close to a Nascent Soul attack. The city has enough resources for roughly one hundred more shots.
• Yang Genshuo realizes that the Laser Tower’s principles—explosion and annihilation—may lead to an important technological breakthrough and plans to study them later.
• The outside forces attack again, this time using ten Treasure Ships in formation and placing Ma Yan and Ma Bi at the front. They threaten to exhaust the Laser Towers, besiege Bright City, slaughter its inhabitants, and intercept Yang Family members leaving the Legendary Land.
• Their threats cause panic among Bright City’s local cultivators. Yang Minyong nearly executes a frightened cultivator to suppress dissent, but Yang Zhuxing intervenes and prevents the situation from escalating.
• Rather than engage in a battle of mutual destruction, Yang Qiangjing offers to let the cultivators enter the Legendary Land—on the condition that they first sign a contract with the Yang Family.

Character Developments

• Yang Qiangjing is established as both a powerful defender and a pragmatic leader. Although she can repel the enemy, she recognizes that the Laser Tower’s ammunition is limited and seeks a sustainable political solution.
• Yang Genshuo is deeply impressed by the Laser Tower and begins thinking beyond the immediate conflict, recognizing its potential scientific and destructive principles.
• Ma Yan and Ma Bi shift from confident instigators to pressured negotiators. After their poor planning is exposed, they use wealth and diplomacy to preserve the alliance against the Yang Family.
• Master Jie Yu becomes cautious and introspective after the failed assault. His curiosity about the Yang Family’s technology and formations replaces his earlier confidence.
• Yang Zhuxing arrives as a promising fifth-generation talent. His unusual ability to grow stronger against powerful opponents, exceptional Spiritual Sense, and calm authority make him a valuable reinforcement.
• Yang Minyong demonstrates fierce loyalty but poor emotional control. His willingness to kill a frightened civilian contrasts with Yang Zhuxing’s restraint and highlights the need for balanced leadership.
• Yang Fu is shown to be farsighted and careful, having sent Yang Zhuxing before the crisis fully developed.

Significant Themes

• Deterrence versus limited resources: The Yang Family can dominate the first confrontation, but cannot rely indefinitely on finite ammunition.
• Pragmatism and compromise: Even overwhelming strength does not guarantee victory; Yang Qiangjing chooses negotiation to avoid a costly war.
• Greed and opportunism: The outsiders are driven by the Legendary Land’s treasures and are willing to besiege a city, kill civilians, and exploit returning cultivators.
• Technology challenging cultivation: The Laser Tower’s power approaches that of a Nascent Soul expert, unsettling cultivators and blurring the boundary between technological weapons and magical power.
• Leadership during crisis: The chapter contrasts Yang Qiangjing’s strategic calm, Yang Zhuxing’s measured intervention, and Yang Minyong’s brutal attempt to maintain order.
• Trust and political manipulation: The assembled cultivators must cooperate despite suspicion, while Ma Yan and Ma Bi try to maintain their alliance through compensation and persuasive rhetoric.

Character Interactions

• The four injured experts confront Ma Yan and Ma Bi over their lack of information; compensation temporarily repairs the alliance.
• Ma Yan and Ma Bi attempt to rally the cultivators by portraying the Yang Family as selfish hoarders of opportunity.
• Yang Qiangjing and Yang Genshuo discuss the Laser Tower’s capabilities, ammunition limits, and the need for a long-term plan.
• Yang Qiangjing questions Yang Zhuxing about his arrival and accepts him as a capable reinforcement, while warning him of the danger.
• Yang Zhuxing secretly eavesdrops on the enemy through Master Jie Yu’s isolation formation, demonstrating his unusual Spiritual Sense.
• Yang Minyong confronts a panicking cultivator, but Yang Zhuxing intervenes, preventing unnecessary violence.
• The chapter ends with Yang Qiangjing proposing a formal contract as the price for entering the White Granary of the Legendary Land, marking the beginning of a tense compromise.

Chapter Summary: “Shifting the Mindset”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Yang Family accepts that it cannot monopolize the newly opened Legendary Land, White Granary, after ten ships carrying more than two hundred Golden Core cultivators arrive.
• Yang Qiangjing turns the crisis into an opportunity by confronting the outsiders, demonstrating the power of the Yang Family’s Laser Tower, and heavily injuring several powerful cultivators, including Jie Yu.
• She proposes a binding contract for anyone wishing to enter the Legendary Land:
  1. Pay an entrance fee to compensate the Great Nai Empire.
  2. Remain outside Bright City and refrain from attacking the Yang Family or its citizens.
  3. Sell unwanted treasures to the Yang Family first, with the family providing a protected marketplace.
• After bargaining, the entrance fee is set at 3,000 Mid-grade Spirit Stones per person. The Yang Family even offers loans secured by Magic Treasures or other valuables.
• 251 Golden Core cultivators ultimately sign the contracts and enter White Granary through the yellow scroll. The Yang Family earns roughly 753,000 Mid-grade Spirit Stones.
• The contract is backed by the Destiny of the Great Nai Empire, making it impossible for the cultivators to violate it, even if they later reach the Nascent Soul Stage.
• Outside the Legendary Land, Yang Qiangjing and Yang Genshuo discuss whether the event was deliberately engineered. Yang Qiangjing suspects Yang Minrui may have played a role, though there is no evidence.
• Inside White Granary, the Yang Family’s groups encounter a fortified city, hostile soldiers, and intelligent Flowing Corpses. The soldiers refuse to open the gates and shoot at the cultivators, while the Flowing Corpses attempt to recruit them.
• Yang Min uses powerful Earth Methods to escape with his group and gathers vital information. The groups begin considering two possible strategies: convincing the soldiers to admit them or accepting the Flowing Corpse Leader’s invitation.
• The chapter ends as Yang Shuang prepares to act, potentially breaking the stalemate.

Character Developments

• Yang Qiangjing proves herself a capable leader and negotiator. Rather than reacting defensively, she uses the Yang Family’s military strength to force respect, then profits from the outsiders’ desperation.
• Yang Genshuo recognizes Yang Qiangjing’s success and continues monitoring events inside White Granary. He also becomes wary of possible internal manipulation by Yang Minrui.
• Yang Minrui is shown as highly competent at maintaining order and handling logistics. His possible involvement in the arrival of the outsiders introduces an element of suspicion around his motives.
• Yang Min demonstrates exceptional mastery of Earth Methods, successfully retreating from the city and returning with information despite facing both soldiers and Flowing Corpses.
• Jie Yu, previously confident enough to attack the Yang Family, is forced into a more cautious and cooperative position after witnessing Yang Qiangjing’s overwhelming power.
• Yang Zhu’s group relies on analysis and puzzle-solving rather than brute force, beginning to formulate alternative methods for progressing through the trial.

Significant Themes

• Turning danger into opportunity: The Yang Family cannot prevent outsiders from entering, but it transforms the invasion into financial gain, political leverage, and greater control.
• Power and respect: Yang Qiangjing’s successful negotiation depends on first demonstrating that the Yang Family cannot be bullied.
• Greed and obsession: The cultivators knowingly accept exploitative terms because the possibility of Nascent Soul advancement and priceless treasures outweighs the immediate cost.
• Order versus chaos: The contract, imperial Destiny, and Yang Family’s rules impose structure on a potentially violent scramble for treasure.
• Uncertainty and hidden motives: Yang Qiangjing’s suspicion of Yang Minrui suggests that the crisis may involve deeper manipulation within the Yang Family.
• Moral ambiguity: The Flowing Corpses are presented as monsters, yet they offer an ideological alternative to the tyrannical ruler, while the supposedly legitimate soldiers attack outsiders without question.

Important Character Interactions

• Yang Qiangjing and the visiting cultivators: She refuses their demands, threatens further violence, and then compels them to negotiate on the Yang Family’s terms.
• Yang Qiangjing and Ma Yan/Ma Bi: The Ma brothers attempt to resist the contract and negotiate the fee down to 3,000 Spirit Stones, only to realize that Yang Qiangjing had deliberately demanded 10,000 so she could accept their counteroffer.
• Yang Qiangjing and Yang Genshuo: They discuss the success of the negotiations and the possibility that Yang Minrui orchestrated or anticipated the crisis.
• Yang Min and the Flowing Corpse Leader: The Flowing Corpse Leader attempts to persuade Yang Min to join the rebellion, but Yang Min chooses neither side and escapes.
• Yang Zhu’s group and the other teams: Their analysis of Yang Min’s failed attempt helps the other groups understand that brute force is ineffective and that they must choose between political negotiation and cooperation with the Flowing Corpses.

Chapter Summary: “Two Choices”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Yang Shuang’s group decides to attack the Flowing Corpses rather than remain exposed outside the city. They plan to strike from behind while the city soldiers attack from the walls.
• The group is unusually powerful: four Heavenly Dragon Army warriors, three side-branch experts, two puzzle solvers with Golden Core Puppets, and Yang Shuang protected by a powerful formation plate.
• Their initial charge kills hundreds of Flowing Corpses, but the horde quickly redirects its forces toward them. Numerous elite Flowing Corpses and a commander join the attack.
• The group struggles against the seemingly fearless and nearly unkillable monsters. Their protective formation is rapidly worn down by poison, claws, blood, and sheer numbers.
• The Blood Demon Puppet uses Blood Sacrifice, draining the surrounding Flowing Corpses and slowing them. The spell is extremely effective but can only be reused after ten days.
• As the group becomes surrounded by tens of thousands of Flowing Corpses, Yang Shuang angrily demands help from the soldiers on the city walls. The soldiers eventually fire arrows to clear a path and allow the group to enter the city.
• The Blood Demon detonates its blood-filled demonic embryo, creating an opening. The survivors fly onto the city wall, though both Puppets are badly damaged.
• The garrison officer, Zhong Yi, welcomes them and asks them to prove that they are Grain Escorts. Yang Shuang displays half of their collected grain.
• Zhong Yi immediately requisitions the grain as military supplies, using the wartime emergency as justification. The group is escorted away, while the soldiers seize all the grain.
• Yang Shuang is pleased because he believes the grain-delivery mission may have ended, but the puzzle solvers and Yang Genshuo realize the group has been placed in serious danger.
• The group has learned that only grain from the Legendary Land can sustain them. Without it, they will eventually starve, and ordinary food is useless. Losing their entire supply may therefore lead to certain death.
• Yang Genshuo warns the other teams not to make the same mistake. Yang Min chooses another strategy: he fights alone, earning the city’s approval without offering any grain.
• Yang Min effortlessly destroys the Flowing Corpses in his path and clashes with their powerful leader. When the city guards call him a Grain Escort and invite him inside, he abandons the battle and flies to the wall with his companions.
• When Zhong Yi asks about their missing grain carts, Yang Min casually claims that rats ate them, ending the chapter on a humorous note.

Character Developments

• Yang Shuang shows courage and initiative, leading the assault despite his relatively weak personal cultivation. He also displays confidence, entitlement, and impulsiveness, especially when insulting the soldiers and assuming the story may have ended.
• The puzzle solvers remain practical and cautious. They understand the dangers of the situation, explain the Blood Sacrifice’s limitations, and immediately recognize that Zhong Yi’s confiscation of the grain is disastrous.
• Yang Qiangwei’s Puppet Ape Demon proves to be a formidable close-combat fighter, matching elite Flowing Corpses in strength, though it is eventually heavily injured.
• The Blood Demon Puppet demonstrates its strategic value by weakening a large number of Flowing Corpses and later creating an escape route through a massive detonation.
• Yang Genshuo acts as an observer and strategist, identifying the hidden survival rules of the Legendary Land and recognizing that the group’s apparent rescue has actually created a greater crisis.
• Yang Min learns from Yang Shuang’s mistake and adopts a superior approach: demonstrate strength, gain entry to the city, and avoid exposing or surrendering any grain.

Significant Themes

• Appearance versus reality: Zhong Yi appears righteous and honorable but quickly exploits the group by confiscating their supplies.
• The danger of trusting authority: The city’s soldiers initially watch the group struggle, then accept them only when their usefulness is proven. Their “welcome” is ultimately a form of robbery.
• Survival through understanding hidden rules: The group’s survival depends not merely on reaching the capital but on preserving the special grain required by the Legendary Land.
• Strength and strategy: Raw power allows Yang Min to enter the city safely, while Yang Shuang’s reckless strategy leads to the loss of vital resources.
• Bureaucratic exploitation: Wartime authority allows officials to seize private property, turning the Grain Escorts’ mission into a trap.
• Humor amid danger: Yang Shuang’s exaggerated complaints and Yang Min’s absurd explanation that rats ate the grain provide comic relief in an otherwise desperate situation.

Character Interactions

• Yang Shuang commands and encourages the group while relying heavily on his allies’ superior combat abilities and his defensive treasures.
• He praises the Blood Demon Puppet’s effectiveness without initially understanding its long cooldown, revealing his limited knowledge of their resources.
• His angry confrontation with the city soldiers pressures them into helping, while the puzzle solver’s more diplomatic appeal makes the group’s request sound reasonable.
• Zhong Yi maintains a polite exterior with Yang Shuang but manipulates the situation to seize the grain.
• The puzzle solvers and Yang Genshuo privately recognize the danger, contrasting with Yang Shuang’s naïve optimism.
• Yang Genshuo warns the other Yang Family teams, leading Yang Min to alter his approach.
• Yang Min’s strength earns the city’s invitation, and his dry lie about the grain being eaten by rats contrasts sharply with Yang Shuang’s costly honesty.

Chapter Summary: “Gathering”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Yang Min refuses to surrender the grain he has stored in his Storage Ring, believing the soldiers would not dare rob him. The group learns that Guangning City’s grain shortage is caused by a combination of rat infestations, embezzlement by the post station, and corrupt officials withholding supplies.
• Yang Min and his companions are escorted to a military camp, where they unexpectedly reunite with Yang Shuang’s group. This reveals that the separate teams’ paths can converge within the Legendary Land, rather than remaining isolated scenarios.
• More Yang Family teams successfully enter Guangning City, including those led by Yang Qiangjin and Yang Zhu. The reunification greatly strengthens the family, allowing previously cautious teams to consider more ambitious strategies.
• A weaker Yang Family group, lacking even a Golden Core cultivator, becomes trapped outside the city by a horde of Flowing Corpses. Following the Ancestor’s advice, they display their collected grain and claim to be Grain Escorts.
• Zhong Yi and the city soldiers immediately mobilize to protect the grain, firing a massive volley of arrows that clears a path through the Flowing Corpses. The group reaches the city safely, though Zhong Yi confiscates all their grain.
• Once inside, the teams realize that people outside the city could not perceive them because they may have existed in separate spatial “worlds.” Entry into the city caused their timelines or spaces to merge.
• The major Yang Family branches and members of the Heavenly Dragon Army gather in the military camp for their first coordinated meeting.
• Yang Shuang attempts to speak first but is sharply dismissed by Yang Qiangjin, who dislikes his past behavior. The Ancestor reflects that the Yang Family is generally sound, though the recent generation contains many mediocre or irresponsible descendants.
• Yang Qiangjin and Yang Min warn that Guangning City is not necessarily safe. Its deserted streets, closed households, powerful soldiers, and apparent surveillance suggest that the city conceals a larger danger.
• The chapter ends with Yang Qiangjin and Yang Min preparing to investigate the city and determine Zhong Yi’s motives.

Character Developments

• Yang Min remains calm, strategic, and protective of the group. He understands that open confrontation with the soldiers would be premature and supports gathering information before acting.
• Yang Qiangjin reveals her full confidence and leadership ability now that she is reunited with the family. Her spatial techniques, combined with Yang Min’s abilities, may allow them to challenge stronger Monsters. She is also fiercely protective of the Yang Family and openly hostile toward Yang Shuang’s misconduct.
• Yang Shuang is portrayed as selfish, reckless, and resentful. He is angry that his grain was taken and immediately demands that everyone share their supplies if necessary, though he is still dependent on the family for survival.
• Yang Zhuguo’s group demonstrates courage despite their weakness. Their willingness to risk themselves, combined with the Ancestor’s advice, allows them to enter the city.
• Yang Genshuo, the Ancestor and observer of the teams, gains a clearer understanding of the Legendary Land’s rules. He realizes that the scenario allows spatial convergence and that the Yang Family’s large numbers are a significant advantage.
• Zhong Yi appears pragmatic and heavily motivated by grain. He acts generously only when supplies are offered, suggesting that his apparent heroism may be driven by necessity or greed rather than genuine benevolence.
• The Ancestor also reassesses the Yang Family’s descendants, recognizing that their rapid population growth has produced both promising talents and many ordinary or unambitious members.

Significant Themes

• Strength in numbers: The reunion of the scattered teams transforms the Yang Family’s situation, emphasizing cooperation as a force greater than individual strength.
• Resource scarcity and corruption: Grain determines relationships and behavior throughout the chapter. Officials, soldiers, and survivors are all influenced by shortages, revealing how desperation encourages exploitation.
• Trust and suspicion: Although the soldiers help the Grain Escorts, their confiscation of the supplies and surveillance of the camp make their true intentions uncertain.
• Family responsibility: Stronger members feel obligated to protect weaker relatives, even when those relatives are unpleasant or undeserving. Yang Qiangjin’s protection of Li Minsi and Yang Min’s promise not to abandon anyone highlight this duty.
• Talent versus quantity: The Yang Family has grown large, but not all descendants possess equal aptitude or ambition. The Ancestor accepts that some will excel while others may simply live ordinary lives.
• Hidden rules and spatial manipulation: The Legendary Land continues to operate according to mysterious laws, with separate groups occupying overlapping but initially inaccessible spaces.

Character Interactions

• Yang Min and Zhong Yi: Their conversation establishes the city’s grain crisis and exposes the corruption of the post station.
• Yang Min and Yang Shuang’s group: Their reunion confirms that the scattered teams can merge, changing the family’s strategy.
• Yang Qiangjin and Yang Min: They recognize that their combined abilities could overcome powerful enemies, provided the rest of the family remains safe.
• Zhong Yi and Yang Zhuguo’s group: Zhong Yi ignores them until their grain is displayed, then orders the army to protect them and later confiscates their supplies.
• Yang Qiangjin and Yang Shuang: She humiliates and silences him, making clear that she considers him unworthy of authority because of his past behavior.
• Yang Min and Yang Shuang: Yang Min restrains Yang Shuang’s impulsiveness while reassuring him that the family will not abandon him.
• Yang Qiangjin and Yang Min at the conclusion: They agree to investigate Guangning City together, shifting the group from mere survival toward uncovering the city’s hidden secrets.

Chapter Summary: “Regret”

Key Plot Points and Events

• In Bright City, Yang Qiangjing summons Yang Genshuo and reveals that she expects increasing turmoil in the coming months. She asks him to contact the other three dynasties and mobilize their armies in preparation for threats beyond her control.
• Inside the Legendary Land, the Yang Family reorganizes:
  • Yang Min and Yang Qiangjin investigate the county town.
  • The puzzle solvers pool their discoveries and develop new strategies.
  • The Heavenly Dragon Army reunites and restores its battle formations, including the powerful laser sword formation and Army Soul.
  • The Yang Family’s collateral branches support the direct line by handling practical duties.
• Yang Zhushuang displays his usual arrogance, ordering others around despite limited ability. Yang Zhu challenges him to prove his strength, causing him to retreat and stop causing trouble. Their exchange highlights both his dependence on his influential father and his occasional usefulness in dangerous situations.
• Yang Genshuo reflects on the Yang Family’s lack of publicly recognized Nascent Soul experts. Yang Feng is missing, while Yang Fu can only use his Nascent Soul-level strength once without exposing himself. This weakness causes outside forces to pressure the Yang Family over the Legendary Land.
• Yang Genshuo emphasizes that Yang Zhu is the family’s greatest hope. With Saint Grade Talent and no bottlenecks before the Deity Transformation Realm, Yang Zhu could become a supreme cultivator if he receives sufficient resources.
• Yang Zhu brings his comatose mother, Mi Duo, to meet Gongyang Lan, the Clan Leader of the Gongyang Sixteen Clans. Yang Genshuo discovers that Gongyang Lan is a terrifying Deity Transformation Stage Layer 2 cultivator, revealing the extraordinary strength of the Ancient Immortal Clans.
• Yang Genshuo questions why such powerful clans remain hidden and whether figures previously considered enemies may have merely been insignificant peripheral members of these ancient families.
• He also remembers the Trial Tower’s lost reward. Yang Qiangjing explains that Chen Miao of the Chen Family ultimately cleared the 100th floor fifty years earlier, taking first place after Yang Qiangzheng failed to complete the challenge. The Trial Tower’s ranking scrolls disappeared afterward, and the Flowing Water Tribe’s Legendary Land was discovered soon after.
• Yang Qiangjing expresses lasting resentment toward Yang Qiangzheng, believing his selfish actions prevented the Yang Family from claiming the reward. She nevertheless takes comfort in the possibility that Yang Zhu’s return will secure the family’s future.
• At the chapter’s end, Yang Zhu begs Gongyang Lan to save Mi Duo. Gongyang Lan ignores the injuries at first and instead examines the Galloping Mushroom, asking where it came from.

Character Developments

• Yang Qiangjing: Becomes more cautious and strategically minded, anticipating conflict and preparing the Yang Family’s allies. Her old regret over Yang Qiangzheng’s failure remains unresolved.
• Yang Genshuo: Acts as a mediator and planner, transmitting orders between worlds. He gains a deeper understanding of the terrifying power of the Ancient Immortal Clans and becomes increasingly concerned about their unclear motives.
• Yang Zhu: Is established as the Yang Family’s most important future asset because of his extraordinary talent. He also demonstrates filial devotion by caring for Mi Duo and pleading for her rescue.
• Yang Zhushuang: Remains arrogant and dependent on family status, but the chapter acknowledges that his decisive actions helped his group survive. His cowardice when challenged exposes the gap between his boasting and his true confidence.
• Gongyang Lan: Is introduced as an immensely powerful and enigmatic clan leader. Her immediate interest in the Galloping Mushroom suggests that it may possess an unusual origin or significance.
• Yang Qiangzheng: Though absent, he becomes central to the chapter’s emotional conflict. His failure to clear the Trial Tower’s final floor is remembered as a major lost opportunity for the Yang Family.

Significant Themes

• Regret and missed opportunities: The chapter centers on the Yang Family’s inability to claim the Trial Tower’s ultimate reward and Yang Qiangjing’s continuing anger toward her brother.
• Preparation for coming conflict: The reorganization of armies, puzzle solvers, and family branches shows the Yang Family transforming from a scattered group into a coordinated force.
• Hidden strength and uncertainty: The Ancient Immortal Clans possess power far beyond the Yang Family’s expectations, yet their goals remain mysterious and potentially dangerous.
• Family hierarchy and responsibility: The direct and collateral branches have unequal status, while powerful figures influence how others behave. The family’s survival depends on cooperation despite these divisions.
• Hope in the next generation: Yang Zhu represents the Yang Family’s potential future dominance and may provide the authority the family currently lacks.
• Filial loyalty: Yang Zhu’s determination to save his mother contrasts with the selfishness attributed to Yang Qiangzheng.

Important Character Interactions

• Yang Qiangjing and Yang Genshuo: Discuss preparations for future turmoil and the mobilization of the other dynasties.
• Yang Zhu and Yang Zhushuang: Trade insults over competence, with Yang Zhushuang boasting about his past actions before avoiding a proposed spar.
• Yang Qiangjing and Yang Genshuo: Revisit the Trial Tower, Chen Miao’s victory, and Yang Qiangzheng’s failure, exposing Qiangjing’s unresolved bitterness.
• Yang Zhu and Gongyang Lan: Yang Zhu humbly begs for help, while Gongyang Lan demonstrates overwhelming power by effortlessly taking the Galloping Mushroom and questioning its origin.

Chapter Summary: Activating the Leap Mushroom, Fleeing Back to the Mushroom World

Key Plot Points and Events

• Gongyang Lan discovers Yang Zhu’s Galloping Mushroom and immediately recognizes that it is not a normal Spiritual Beast, but a rare Mushroom Spirit.
• She examines its bond with Yang Zhu and severs the blue symbiotic connection between them. The Mushroom Spirit explodes, causing Yang Zhu severe soul pain and leaving behind small mushrooms.
• Yang Zhu becomes furious and mourns the loss of his companion, but suppresses his anger when Gongyang Lan threatens to withhold treatment from his injured mother, Mi Duo.
• Gongyang Lan realizes Yang Zhu is an “outsider” and begins interrogating him about his origins and the source of his unusual mushrooms.
• She uses the Truth Bell, a powerful artifact supposedly capable of exposing lies. However, Yang Zhu’s Sacred Word technique makes him sincerely believe his fabricated claim that he has forgotten his past, allowing him to pass the test.
• Yang Genshuo, observing through Yang Zhu, recognizes that Gongyang Lan never intended to heal Mi Duo. She is only pretending in order to investigate and seize Yang Zhu’s secrets, particularly the Mushroom Spirits.
• Guided by Yang Genshuo, Yang Zhu asks to place his mother in the servant quarters before accompanying Gongyang Lan. There, he secretly activates a spatial technique connected to the Mushroom World.
• A flash of white light erupts, and Yang Zhu and Mi Duo disappear. Gongyang Lan arrives too late and is shocked that a Qi Refinement cultivator has escaped using spatial magic.
• The chapter ends with Gongyang Lan furious and bewildered, while Gongyang Zhiruo quietly feels relieved that Yang Zhu has managed to escape.

Character Developments

• Yang Zhu: Initially overwhelmed by grief and anger after the Galloping Mushroom’s death, he demonstrates loyalty, filial devotion, and emotional resilience. Though terrified, he prioritizes saving his mother and follows Yang Genshuo’s instructions. His Sacred Word technique and willingness to deceive a powerful cultivator reveal increasing cleverness and self-control.
• Yang Genshuo: Acts as Yang Zhu’s strategist and protector. He analyzes Gongyang Lan’s behavior, identifies her deception, and devises the escape plan using Yang Zhu’s hidden abilities.
• Gongyang Lan: Presented as powerful, arrogant, manipulative, and emotionally detached. She treats Yang Zhu and the Mushroom Spirit as objects for experimentation, underestimates him because of his low cultivation level, and is humiliated when he escapes.
• Gongyang Zisu: Initially curious about Yang Zhu and obedient to Gongyang Lan, but becomes cautious once the situation grows tense.
• Gongyang Zhiruo: Shows more sympathy toward Yang Zhu than the others. She genuinely believes Gongyang Lan may heal Mi Duo and is secretly relieved by Yang Zhu’s escape.
• Mi Duo: Remains unconscious and vulnerable, serving as Yang Zhu’s primary motivation and the reason he tolerates Gongyang Lan’s threats.

Significant Themes

• Power and contempt: Gongyang Lan’s immense cultivation makes her dismissive of weaker beings, illustrating how absolute power can produce cruelty and indifference.
• Loyalty and companionship: Yang Zhu’s grief over the Galloping Mushroom’s death emphasizes that the Mushroom Spirit was a true companion rather than a mere beast or tool.
• Filial devotion: Yang Zhu repeatedly risks himself and suppresses his anger because he is determined to save his mother.
• Deception and perception: Yang Zhu’s Sacred Word allows him to deceive the Truth Bell, while Yang Genshuo relies on reading Gongyang Lan’s expressions to uncover her true intentions.
• Underestimating the weak: Gongyang Lan assumes a Qi Refinement cultivator cannot threaten or escape her, but Yang Zhu’s unusual techniques and hidden resources overturn her expectations.
• Freedom versus exploitation: The Gongyang family views Yang Zhu and his Mushroom Spirits as sources of knowledge or power, while Yang Zhu struggles to protect himself, his mother, and his remaining companions.

Character Interactions

• Gongyang Lan’s examination of the Galloping Mushroom establishes her dominance and disregard for Yang Zhu’s feelings.
• Her destruction of the Mushroom Spirit creates a direct emotional and moral conflict with Yang Zhu.
• Yang Zhu confronts Gongyang Lan over the killing, but her mention of Mi Duo’s treatment forces him to yield.
• Yang Genshuo privately guides Yang Zhu through the interrogation, helping him maintain his false story and recognize Gongyang Lan’s malicious intentions.
• Gongyang Lan deceives Yang Zhu by promising to heal Mi Duo, while openly admitting to Gongyang Zisu and Gongyang Zhiruo that she has no intention of doing so.
• Yang Zhu ultimately outmaneuvers Gongyang Lan, escaping with Mi Duo and leaving the powerful elder stunned and enraged.

Chapter Summary: “Mushroom Power”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Yang Zhu collapses after escaping Gongyang Lan’s control, suffering severe physical and spiritual damage. Yang Genshuo uses multiple Blessings and borrowed Yang Family Talents to stabilize and heal him.
• Yang Genshuo realizes that the Immortal Leap Mushroom gains “mushroom power” by absorbing Mushroom Spirits. The death of the Galloping Mushroom had charged it by 10%.
• To activate the Leap Mushroom, Yang Zhu sacrifices eighteen Entangle Mushrooms that are spiritually bonded to him. The process causes agonizing soul pain, but he endures it silently to save himself and his unconscious mother, Mi Duo.
• The Leap Mushroom successfully transports Yang Zhu back to the Mushroom World. Though the escape succeeds, Yang Zhu loses most of his Mushroom Spirits and falls into a weakened, unconscious state.
• Yang Genshuo concludes that the Mushroom World may be safer than the outside world, particularly because Gongyang Lan intends to exploit Yang Zhu to locate Mushroom Spirits and may eventually experiment on him.
• Rather than fast-forwarding events, Yang Genshuo organizes the Yang Family’s problems into urgent and non-urgent tasks. His immediate priorities are:
  • Completing the Legendary Land’s story before rival cultivators overtake the Yang Family.
  • Recharging Yang Zhu’s Leap Mushroom.
  • Exploring the potential of other Mushroom Spirits.
• Yang Genshuo speculates that the Leap Mushroom might be able to transport Yang Zhu directly to the activated Legendary Land White Granary, potentially rescuing him and allowing the Yang Family to protect him.
• He also lists longer-term goals: finding the missing Yang Feng, healing Mi Duo, establishing contact with the Gongyang Family, and investigating the Dragon Clan’s knowledge of Ancient Immortal Clans and Legendary Lands.

Character Developments

• Yang Zhu demonstrates exceptional determination and endurance. Despite extreme pain, he sacrifices his bonded Entangle Mushrooms without complaint to protect himself and Mi Duo. His survival becomes central to the Yang Family’s plans.
• Yang Genshuo becomes more cautious and strategic. His trust in the outside world declines after witnessing Gongyang Lan’s cruelty, and he begins to view the Mushroom World as a valuable refuge rather than merely a place to escape.
• Gongyang Lan is revealed as arrogant, manipulative, and dangerous. She keeps Yang Zhu alive only because she wants information about the Mushroom Spirits and their locations.
• Mi Duo remains unconscious and mysterious. Her damaged soul and connection to Yang Zhu’s origins make her recovery an important future objective.
• The wider Yang Family is shown to possess powerful support abilities, with various members lending Yang Zhu their Talents through Yang Genshuo’s intervention.

Significant Themes

• Survival through sacrifice: Yang Zhu’s escape requires him to give up valuable Mushroom Spirits and endure terrible spiritual pain.
• The danger of human ambition: The outside world, especially Gongyang Lan, may be more threatening than the seemingly bleak Mushroom World.
• Strategic planning amid chaos: Yang Genshuo recognizes that constant emergencies have prevented him from forming a coherent plan, so he begins prioritizing the Yang Family’s objectives.
• Untapped potential: The Mushroom World and its rule-bound Mushroom Spirits may provide powerful resources and allies for the Yang Family.
• Freedom and control: The Leap Mushroom represents a means of escaping powerful enemies and reclaiming control over Yang Zhu’s fate.

Character Interactions

• Yang Genshuo supports Yang Zhu through Blessings and borrowed Talents, helping him survive the aftermath of his escape.
• Yang Zhu protects Mi Duo while secretly transferring his Entangle Mushrooms into the Leap Mushroom, choosing her safety and his freedom over his own comfort.
• Yang Genshuo contrasts his protective relationship with Yang Zhu against Gongyang Lan’s exploitative treatment of him.
• The Yang Family’s future plans involve cooperation among members, including Yang Qiangding’s contact with the Gongyang Family and Yang Qiangyou’s potential discussions with the Dragon Clan.

Chapter Summary: “Two Bloom”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Yang Genshuo finishes handling routine matters and inspects the newly completed Immortal Qi Group headquarters on Mount Jiuhua. The 18-story building, with three underground levels, will serve as the company’s public headquarters and a cover for the cultivation base being constructed behind the mountain.
• He orders the company to resume normal operations, move employees into the new building, and prepare for several upcoming guests, including military representatives and other undisclosed visitors.
• Yang begins planning a Spiritual Beast park using demon cores acquired from the Yang Family. He asks Guo Xiaozhi to obtain powerful, healthy animals—ideally iron-eating beasts, though brown bears and tigers are considered acceptable alternatives—to serve as stronger foundations for creating Spiritual Beasts.
• Guo Xiaozhi, Cheng Bo, and Liang Xuetong have all reached the Innate Grandmaster realm. Yang also assigns Jiang Changshou to accompany Guo Xiaozhi, both for assistance and security.
• With enemy activity around Mount Jiuhua temporarily reduced, Yang decides that his people must begin living and working more normally rather than remaining isolated on the mountain. He remains wary of the TW Organization, which has likely improved its ability to detect disguises and infiltration.
• Yang plans to personally capture a wealthy celebrity suspected of being connected to the TW Organization. Rather than relying on outsiders, he orders Lin Bai and Tian Zhe to establish an independent intelligence network capable of locating and monitoring the organization’s members.
• In the Cultivation World, Yang Qiangjin reports disturbing discoveries in Guangning City: civilians are confined indoors, soldiers prevent communication with them, and a sealed, blackened camp within the barracks contains apparent cries of suffering. Food stolen from the Yang Family is being sent into this forbidden area.
• The Yang Family debates whether to leave Guangning City and continue toward the capital or investigate the city’s mystery. Yang Genshuo decides that they must uncover the truth and any hidden opportunity within three days, before a stronger pursuing force arrives.
• Yang Zhu awakens in the Mushroom World after suffering severe bodily and spiritual injuries. With a Spirit Nurturing Pill and other medicine, he begins recovering.

Character Developments

• Yang Genshuo becomes more decisive and strategic. He shifts from personally handling every matter to delegating responsibilities while focusing on larger threats, intelligence gathering, and long-term development.
• Guo Xiaozhi has successfully become an Innate Grandmaster and demonstrates increased physical strength and confidence. He is entrusted with acquiring rare animals for Yang’s Spiritual Beast project.
• Tian Zhe is given greater responsibility, particularly in recruiting personnel for an intelligence organization.
• Lin Bai begins transitioning from a passive information source into an active investigator under Yang’s direction.
• The Yang Family has grown into a more organized force, with Yang Qiangjin and Yang Min acting as leaders among the Golden Core cultivators and puzzle solvers.
• Yang Zhu survives his dangerous ordeal, though his Spiritual Sense is badly damaged. His survival strengthens the Yang Family’s position in the Mushroom World.

Significant Themes

• Expansion and institution-building: Yang Genshuo is transforming Immortal Qi Group from a secluded operation into a functioning organization with headquarters, employees, intelligence agents, and specialized projects.
• Preparation for open conflict: The threat from the TW Organization is becoming more serious, prompting Yang to improve security, intelligence, and internal capabilities.
• Delegation and leadership: Yang recognizes that he cannot manage everything himself and begins relying on trained subordinates and structured teams.
• Risk versus opportunity: The Yang Family must choose between the safety of leaving Guangning City and the potential rewards of investigating its mysteries. Yang favors decisive action before their enemies arrive.
• Mystery and hidden truths: The sealed barracks, suffering civilians, missing officials, and black mist suggest that Guangning City contains a major secret tied to the Legendary Land’s larger story.

Character Interactions

• Yang Genshuo and Tian Zhe: Tian enthusiastically shows Yang the completed headquarters, while Yang confirms the building’s purpose and future use.
• Yang Genshuo and Guo Xiaozhi: Yang assigns Guo the task of obtaining powerful animals. Their exchange is informal and humorous, but it also shows Guo’s loyalty and growing capability.
• Yang Genshuo and Lin Bai: Yang instructs Lin Bai to investigate the suspected TW Organization member and explains why an internal intelligence network is safer than hiring outsiders.
• Yang Genshuo and his parents/Lin Yue: He continues maintaining personal relationships by comforting his parents and speaking with Lin Yue, who is gradually learning to speak.
• Yang Genshuo and the Yang Family: Through Spiritual Sense, he guides the family’s meeting in Guangning City, overrules the cautious faction, and orders them to investigate the forbidden barracks.
• Yang Qiangjin, Yang Min, Yang Zhu, and Yang Shuang: Their debate reveals differing attitudes toward danger—caution, responsibility, and aggressive confidence—before Yang Genshuo imposes a unified strategy.
• Yang Genshuo and Yang Zhu: Yang is relieved when Yang Zhu awakens and immediately helps him treat his damaged Spiritual Sense.

Chapter Summary: Capturing Mushroom Spirits

Key Plot Points and Events

• Yang Zhu recovers roughly eighty percent from his injuries through Yang Genshuo’s blessings, elixirs, and cultivation. He then breaks through from Qi Refinement Layer One to Layer Two.
• Because the Mushroom World is dark and devoid of spiritual energy, Yang Zhu’s Light Spiritual Root cannot function effectively. Yang Genshuo decides that the mountain’s small shaft of sunlight is the best temporary cultivation site available.
• At Yang Genshuo’s instruction, Yang Zhu builds a simple shelter for his unconscious mother, Mi Duo, using Standard Building Blocks.
• Yang Zhu begins capturing Entangle Mushrooms and feeding them directly to the Leap Mushroom inside his body. After consuming twenty, he restores enough Mushroom Power to activate the Leap ability.
• Continued absorption allows the Leap Mushroom to store additional charges. Yang Zhu eventually reaches its current maximum capacity of three spatial leaps.
• Yang Genshuo and Yang Zhu discuss whether the weak Entangle Mushrooms can repair the damaged Leap Mushroom. They conclude that the mushrooms provide only enough inferior energy to fuel its minimum functions, not restore its deeper abilities.
• Yang Zhu attaches eighteen Entangle Mushrooms to his body, along with two already connected mushrooms, creating a large mushroom structure on his back. Though painful, the symbiotic mushrooms improve his combat and travel abilities and can serve as emergency energy reserves.
• Yang Zhu leaves Mi Duo safely in the shelter and uses the Leap Mushroom for the first time. He arrives in a sunlit forest rather than returning to the Gongyang Family, avoiding a potentially deadly situation.
• A second leap transports him to a desert filled with poisonous insects and Spiritual Beasts. Despite the change in terrain, he remains in the same broader world, recognizable by the distant floating holy land and Star Sand Waterfall.
• With only one leap remaining and no clear way to reach another Legendary Land, Yang Genshuo advises Yang Zhu to remain there, study the area, and take advantage of its abundant sunlight for cultivation.

Character Developments

• Yang Zhu demonstrates rapid recovery, strong perseverance, and improved cultivation talent. His advancement is especially meaningful because the Mushroom World suppresses his Light Spiritual Root.
• He becomes more willing to endure severe pain for survival, repeatedly forming symbiotic connections with Entangle Mushrooms despite the agony involved.
• Yang Zhu grows more cautious and responsible by leaving Mi Duo in a safe shelter rather than risking her life during the teleportation experiment. His promise to protect and rescue her highlights his filial devotion.
• Yang Genshuo acts as Yang Zhu’s guide and strategist, carefully managing the risks of testing the Leap Mushroom. He also observes Yang Zhu’s determination and compares him to Yang Feng in his youth.
• Yang Genshuo recognizes that the Yang Family’s collective efforts in Guangning City are progressing efficiently without his direct intervention, allowing him to focus on Yang Zhu’s situation.

Significant Themes

• Adaptation under harsh conditions: Yang Zhu must compensate for a world that suppresses his natural Light Spiritual Root by gathering mushrooms, using elixirs, and exploiting scarce sunlight.
• Perseverance and sacrifice: His willingness to endure repeated physical pain reflects the extreme sacrifices required to survive and grow stronger.
• Safety versus exploration: The Leap Mushroom provides a potential escape route, but its destination is unpredictable, forcing Yang Zhu and Yang Genshuo to balance curiosity with caution.
• Family protection and responsibility: Yang Zhu’s concern for Mi Duo motivates his decisions and demonstrates his maturity.
• Potential versus limitation: The Leap Mushroom possesses hidden abilities, but its damaged state and low-quality energy sources restrict its current power.
• Collective strength: Yang Genshuo reflects on how efficiently the Yang Family operates when its members combine their abilities, contrasting their coordinated progress with his own reduced need to intervene.

Character Interactions

• Yang Genshuo encourages and instructs Yang Zhu throughout his recovery, cultivation, mushroom gathering, and teleportation experiments.
• Yang Zhu trusts Yang Genshuo’s guidance but also reports his own sensations and discoveries, such as the Leap Mushroom’s storage limit and its inability to repair itself with Entangle Mushroom energy.
• Yang Zhu expresses love and reassurance toward his unconscious mother, Mi Duo, promising to return and free her from the Mushroom World.
• Yang Genshuo and Yang Zhu share relief when the first leap does not return them to the dangerous Gongyang Family location.
• After the second leap, the two work together to interpret the new environment and decide to remain there temporarily.

Chapter Summary: “Dueling”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Yang Genshuo and Yang Zhu remain in a desolate desert-like region, which Yang Genshuo tentatively names the “Gongyang World.” The area contains strong Spiritual Power, oases, poisonous insects, Spiritual Trees, and Spirit Fruits, but no obvious intelligent life.
• Yang Genshuo continues wondering why the Leap Mushroom repeatedly teleports to this Legendary Land and suspects that the Gongyang Family may have survived here since ancient times.
• A new group of six Yang Family members arrives at the White Granary. They include direct descendants Yang Minhuan and Yang Zhuling, collateral relatives, and Heavenly Dragon Army soldiers. They reveal that several people died during their journey, including Yang Minhuan’s young son, Xiao Liang.
• The survivors mourn their dead and re-establish faith in Yang Genshuo, allowing them to hear his voice and receive his guidance.
• The family has infiltrated Guangning City and bribed patrol soldiers to investigate the secrets of its military camp, especially the mysterious black tent controlled by Zhong Yi.
• Yang Qiangjin and Yang Min enter the tent and discover numerous grotesque, swollen “fat soldiers” locked in cages. These creatures constantly cry that they are hungry despite their enormous stomachs.
• Yang Genshuo identifies them through a Character Card as former Guangning City soldiers who starved after the Imperial Court stopped supplying them. They were tricked into eating “Guanyin Cakes,” which caused them to die after filling their bodies with earth. Their remaining souls possess abilities such as Gluttony, Gather Earth, Charge, and Self-destruct.
• Meanwhile, Yang Zhu investigates an old woman in the city who has information about Zhong Yi. The woman explains that Zhong Yi is not exploiting the city for personal gain. He is struggling to defend Guangning City against starving refugees and flowing corpses while receiving no grain from the Imperial Court.
• The city’s harsh defenses and refusal to open its gates are intended to prevent infiltrators and refugee rebels from taking control, not simply to obstruct the Yang Family.
• The old woman gives Yang Zhu a Protective Jade, an Earth-grade treasure that can block one fatal attack inside the White Granary. It will become a Mysterious Treasure if taken out of the Legendary Land.
• After learning the truth, Yang Zhu realizes that Zhong Yi may be a righteous official acting under desperate circumstances. However, Yang Genshuo informs her that Yang Qiangjin and Yang Min have already begun fighting Zhong Yi inside the tent, prompting Yang Zhu and her group to hurry there.

Character Developments

• Yang Genshuo displays increasing concern for the Yang Family’s descendants. The deaths of Xiao Liang and other family members remind him how vulnerable the clan was in its earliest days and make him hope that more descendants survive.
• Yang Minhuan breaks down emotionally after reaching safety, grieving the death of his son. His sorrow reveals the human cost of the journey and the dangers faced by family members outside Yang Genshuo’s direct observation.
• Yang Min remains composed and practical, comforting the survivors while organizing the investigation into Guangning City.
• Yang Qiangjin and Yang Min act boldly and cooperatively, infiltrating the black tent and confronting its secrets. Their confidence comes partly from knowing Yang Genshuo can support them if necessary.
• Yang Zhu develops from suspicion toward Zhong Yi to a more nuanced understanding of his actions. She demonstrates initiative by investigating the old woman and recognizes that the city’s apparent oppression may be the result of wartime necessity.
• Zhong Yi is initially viewed as a corrupt or secretive ruler, but the old woman’s testimony presents him as a protective official forced into morally disturbing decisions by famine, invasion, and the Imperial Court’s neglect.

Significant Themes

• Family, sacrifice, and survival: The deaths of soldiers and Xiao Liang emphasize the cost of preserving the Yang Family and the importance of protecting future generations.
• Inherited potential and perseverance: Yang Genshuo reflects on how the family rose from Yang Shi, a lone mortal in Qingshi Town, to a powerful Immortal Clan, suggesting that even seemingly ordinary descendants can contribute greatly.
• The ambiguity of morality: Zhong Yi’s behavior appears suspicious because he withholds grain and hides the fat soldiers, but the truth reveals that his choices are driven by famine and the need to defend civilians.
• Faith and protection: Newly arrived descendants gain access to Yang Genshuo’s guidance by restoring their faith. The Protective Jade also embodies the moral power of the city’s “good people,” turning kindness and merit into literal protection.
• War’s distortion of humanity: The fat soldiers are tragic remnants of starvation and political abandonment. Their monstrous bodies and endless hunger demonstrate how war and neglect can transform people into something barely human.
• Knowledge versus assumption: The Yang Family initially judges Zhong Yi based on incomplete information. Investigation reveals that the city’s apparent hostility has a defensive purpose, showing the importance of uncovering hidden circumstances before acting.

Character Interactions

• Yang Min comforts the grieving Yang Minhuan and encourages him to continue despite his loss.
• The surviving family members support one another while mourning the dead and re-establishing their connection to Yang Genshuo.
• Yang Min and Yang Qiangjin coordinate their infiltration of the military camp, relying on bribed patrol guards and their combined strength.
• Yang Qiangjin and Yang Min react with pity as well as fear toward the imprisoned fat soldiers, recognizing that the creatures are victims rather than ordinary enemies.
• Yang Zhu questions the old woman, who urges her not to oppose Zhong Yi and explains the city’s desperate situation.
• Yang Genshuo communicates with Yang Zhu throughout the investigation, clarifying the discoveries and warning her that the others have already entered combat.
• By the chapter’s end, Yang Qiangjin and Yang Min are dueling Zhong Yi, while Yang Zhu rushes to intervene with her group.

Chapter Summary: “Grain Shortage”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Kinoe overwhelms Yang Qiangjin and Yang Min in battle. His spear techniques manifest an entire army, extinguishing Yang Qiangjin’s flames and overpowering Yang Min’s demonized Earth-and-Water projection.
• Kinoe’s true cultivation is revealed as the Anomaly Realm, a martial realm beyond Nirvana. His strength is comparable to, or even superior to, a cultivator with a complete Heaven and Earth Dharma Idol.
• Believing the Yang family members to be spies for the Flowing Corpses, Kinoe prepares to kill them. Yang Min attempts to negotiate, but Kinoe remains unmoved until Yang Genshuo offers him grain.
• The Yang family gives Kinoe another 50,000 jin of grain, causing him to halt his attack. Kinoe explains that his starving soldiers are dead men maintained through supernatural means so they can continue defending Guangning City.
• Kinoe blames the corrupt Imperial Court for withholding soldiers’ pay and grain, leaving border troops and civilians to starve while the empire collapses into rebellion and famine.
• Before departing, Kinoe warns the Yang family to watch the Flowing Corpses and gives them a Destiny Stone, an Earth-grade mysterious treasure that grants its bearer +10 Destiny.
• The group debates whether to remain in Guangning City to search for more treasures or proceed toward the Capital City. Because pursuing Golden Core cultivators are closing in, most favor leaving quickly.
• Yang Min insists on waiting for missing Yang family members rather than abandoning them. The group agrees to wait two days, while avoiding further sacrifices of their limited grain.

Character Developments

• Kinoe/Zhong Yi: Revealed to be an extraordinarily powerful Anomaly Realm martial artist and a stern but righteous general. Despite using dead soldiers in battle, he is motivated by loyalty to his troops and responsibility toward Guangning City. His harshness softens after recognizing the Yang family’s willingness to provide food.
• Yang Qiangjin: Demonstrates skill with spatial and flame techniques but realizes that her abilities are insufficient against Kinoe. She becomes more cautious and recognizes the importance of preserving the Destiny Stone.
• Yang Min: Uses his full demonic transformation but is still defeated, showing the gap between his power and Kinoe’s. He displays scholarly knowledge of cultivation realms and later reveals strong loyalty by advocating for missing family members.
• Yang Genshuo: Acts as strategist and negotiator. His quick offer of grain saves the group, and he analyzes Kinoe’s motives, the value of the Destiny Stone, and the strategic importance of advancing the storyline.
• Yang Zhu and the other family members: Become more relaxed after the crisis ends but remain divided between seeking additional treasures and prioritizing survival.

Significant Themes

• Starvation and wartime suffering: The chapter emphasizes how hunger dehumanizes both the living and the dead. Kinoe’s soldiers are forced to continue fighting after death because they were denied food and proper rest.
• Corruption and failed government: Kinoe and the Yang family condemn the Imperial Court for exploiting soldiers, worsening famine, and allowing refugees and rebellions to spread.
• Duty and sacrifice: Kinoe sacrifices his soldiers’ peace for the survival of the city, while the Yang family must choose between preserving their own grain and helping others.
• Family loyalty: Yang Min’s refusal to leave behind missing relatives reinforces the principle that the Yang family does not abandon its own members.
• Resources versus morality: Grain functions as both a survival necessity and a bargaining tool. The group must constantly weigh compassion and potential rewards against the danger of exhausting its supplies.
• Destiny and opportunity: The Destiny Stone introduces the possibility of directly altering a person’s fate, raising questions about whether destiny can create a “Son of Destiny” and how such power might benefit the Yang family.

Character Interactions

• Kinoe and the Yang family begin as enemies, with Kinoe treating them as possible military spies.
• Yang Qiangjin and Yang Min fight together but are decisively outmatched, forcing them to rely on Yang Genshuo’s negotiation.
• Yang Genshuo communicates through the group and uses grain to establish peace with Kinoe.
• Kinoe and Yang Min bond briefly over their shared hatred of the corrupt Imperial Court.
• Kinoe gives the group the Destiny Stone as a gesture of assistance and trust, while warning them about the Flowing Corpses.
• The Yang family debates strategy collectively, with Yang Genshuo urging caution and Yang Min prioritizing the rescue of absent family members.
• The chapter ends with the group united around a compromise: wait two days for the missing members, search for opportunities without sacrificing more grain, and then continue toward the next stage of the Legendary Land.

Chapter Summary: “Rapid Advancement”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After waiting two days, Yang Genshuo’s group gathers three more groups of Yang Family members and expands to 347 people, recovering over half of those who entered the White Granary.
• Before leaving Guangning City, they say farewell to General Zhong Yi, who remains behind to protect the civilians despite his contempt for the Imperial Court. Zhong asks them to remind the Emperor not to forget the frontier soldiers.
• The enlarged group travels toward the capital to transport grain. Their increased strength allows them to effortlessly destroy small groups of Flowing Corpses.
• The army discovers and raids a mountain stronghold inhabited by bandits and spirits. After killing the leaders and looting the camp, they obtain:
  • Three Mortal Grade Mysterious Treasures
  • One Earth-grade Mysterious Treasure
  • Additional grain
• Back in Guangning City, the Flowing Corpses are becoming stronger, forcing Yang Zhu to end his cultivation and prepare to help defend the city.
• Yang Genshuo reassures Yang Zhu that his mother is safe, protected by a Grain-abstinence Pill and defensive formation. Instead of confronting a powerful Foundation Establishment scorpion, Yang Genshuo gives him five Wisdom Fruits.
• With formations, Spirit Stones, elixirs, and spiritual energy prepared, Yang Zhu consumes a Wisdom Fruit. His cultivation advances at an astonishing rate:
  • From the second layer of Qi Refinement
  • To the third and fourth layers
  • Ultimately to the third layer of Foundation Establishment
• His Saint Grade talent and the Wisdom Fruit also allow him to automatically master several light-based techniques from the Canon of Light, including Light Bind.
• Yang Zhu easily subdues the giant scorpion that once seemed impossible to defeat. However, Yang Genshuo detects a nearby Golden Core cultivator from the Gongyang Family, so Yang Zhu immediately returns to the Mushroom World through the Leap Mushroom.
• The chapter ends with Yang Zhu checking on his mother and preparing to replenish the Leap Mushroom’s power before hunting stronger Mushroom Spirits.

Character Developments

• Yang Genshuo: Gains confidence in leading a large, powerful force and realizes that the White Granary’s dangers are no longer threatening to the united Yang Family army. He also demonstrates careful long-term planning by using the Wisdom Fruit to accelerate Yang Zhu’s growth.
• Yang Zhu: Develops from a weak second-layer Qi Refinement cultivator into a third-layer Foundation Establishment expert within only a few days. His talent, combat potential, and mastery of light techniques are revealed to be extraordinary. He also shows strong trust in Yang Genshuo by immediately obeying the order to retreat.
• Yang Qiangjin, Yang Min, and the Heavenly Dragon Army: Display efficient battlefield coordination and overwhelming combat ability, confidently destroying Flowing Corpses and raiding the mountain stronghold.
• Zhong Yi: Is further characterized as a disillusioned but responsible general. Though he despises the dynasty, he remains devoted to protecting the people of Guangning City.
• Yang Zhu’s mother: Remains physically vulnerable but is protected through Yang Genshuo’s preparations, highlighting the family’s concern for her safety.

Significant Themes

• Strength through unity: The large Yang Family force transforms previously terrifying threats into manageable obstacles.
• Preparation and strategic growth: Yang Genshuo emphasizes proper conditions, defensive formations, spiritual resources, and timing before allowing Yang Zhu to consume the Wisdom Fruit.
• Rapid advancement versus foundation stability: The Wisdom Fruit provides immense power but carries the danger of qi deviation if used recklessly, stressing the need for controlled cultivation.
• Loyalty beyond institutions: Zhong Yi protects civilians rather than serving the Imperial Court, showing that personal duty and concern for the people can outlast loyalty to a corrupt dynasty.
• Family protection and guidance: Yang Genshuo continually watches over Yang Zhu and his mother, acting as both guardian and mentor.
• Power changing perspective: Once Yang Zhu advances, creatures and dangers that once inspired fear become easily subdued, illustrating how cultivation changes one’s understanding of the world.

Character Interactions

• Zhong Yi and the departing Yang Family group: Zhong expresses disappointment in their mission but respectfully wishes them safety and asks them to question the Emperor about the forgotten frontier soldiers.
• Yang Qiangjin and the Heavenly Dragon Army: He directs the troops to eliminate Flowing Corpses, while the officers execute the Laser Sword Formation with discipline.
• Yang Genshuo and Yang Zhu: Their exchange combines humor and mentorship. Yang Zhu initially misunderstands Yang Genshuo’s instructions as a demand to cultivate under life-threatening pressure, but Yang Genshuo instead provides a direct shortcut through the Wisdom Fruit.
• Yang Zhu and the giant scorpion: Their relationship reverses completely. The scorpion initially appears overwhelmingly powerful, but after Yang Zhu’s advancement, he defeats and binds it effortlessly.
• Yang Genshuo, Yang Zhu, and the Gongyang cultivator: Yang Genshuo detects the approaching danger and orders an immediate retreat, preventing Yang Zhu from encountering a Golden Core expert.

Chapter Summary: “White Granary, Capital City”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Yang Zhu, now at Foundation Establishment Layer 3, easily subdues a giant desert scorpion that previously ruled a desert oasis. Yang Genshuo identifies it as a Soul of Legend, born in the Legendary Land known as “Five Gods Play.”
• The scorpion carries the blessing of an Earth God, confirming that the Gongyang World is a Legendary Land with ties to powerful divine beings. Yang Genshuo orders Yang Zhu to keep it alive until they can determine whether killing it outside its original world would still grant the Earth God’s power.
• Yang Zhu harvests sixty Entangle Mushrooms to restore the Leap Mushroom’s power. Rather than immediately ascending again, Yang Genshuo warns him to avoid a nearby Golden Core cultivator who might detect or pursue him.
• Yang Zhu is sent to capture two Earth-grade Mushroom Spirits, both to train his newly increased strength and to obtain useful resources. Yang Genshuo hopes that feeding the Leap Mushroom enough resources will restore its Immortal Mushroom abilities and allow Yang Zhu to escape the Five Gods Play World.
• Yang Genshuo considers a backup escape route through the twenty dynasties under the Immortal Martial Sect, regions where Nascent Soul cultivators cannot act freely.
• The Immortal Martial Sect is described as maintaining friendly relations with the Ancient Immortal Clans, offering them special living areas, transportation, auctions, and other privileges.

Yang Qiangding’s Search

• Yang Qiangding arrives at the Immortal Martial Sect with ten Golden Core guards to search for the elusive Gongyang family.
• After three days of unsuccessful inquiries, his companions grow impatient, but Yang Qiangding remains calm. He trusts the intelligence obtained from the Ghost Shadow Tower and believes they only need to find a clue rather than search every dynasty directly.
• News then spreads that a new Legendary Land has opened in the Moonrise Dynasty. Yang Qiangding correctly predicts that the Gongyang family will likely be drawn to such a major opportunity.
• He and his guards board a Treasure Ship to the Moonrise Dynasty. Yang Genshuo scans the ship but finds no one with the Gongyang surname.

The Legendary Land Event

• Upon arriving, Yang Qiangding finds a large gathering of cultivators and merchants preparing for the Legendary Land. Vendors sell protective talismans, magic treasures, Grain-abstinence Pills, and trained Tiger Demons.
• Yang Qiangding observes that elderly cultivators are entering first because they have little time left and are willing to risk death for a chance at extending their lives. Younger cultivators hesitate because they believe they still have future opportunities.
• Hoping to intercept members of the Gongyang family, Yang Qiangding sets up a stall selling pills and waits for a week. Although he earns many Spirit Stones, no Gongyang cultivators appear. He concludes they may have already left or that new intelligence will be required.

White Granary Developments

• Meanwhile, Yang Qiangjin and Yang Min lead their team through the White Granary with overwhelming efficiency.
• Their unified force destroys minor threats—including corpses, devils, bandits, strange creatures, and other hostile entities—while avoiding casualties among the main group. Only a few expendable Puppets die.
• They recover enough grain to replace supplies previously lost in Guangning City and still retain a surplus.
• After a week of rapid advances, the team reaches the towering red walls of the Capital City, marking their arrival at the chapter’s destination.

Character Development and Interactions

• Yang Zhu grows more confident and eager to cultivate after reaching Foundation Establishment Layer 3, but Yang Genshuo repeatedly restrains his impulsiveness and emphasizes caution, preparation, and practical training.
• Yang Genshuo continues acting as Yang Zhu’s strategist and protector. He also expands his attention to Yang Qiangding’s search now that the White Granary group has merged and reduced his workload.
• Yang Qiangding is portrayed as composed, logical, and resourceful. Rather than panicking over the lack of information, he turns the Legendary Land’s opening into an opportunity to draw out the Gongyang family.
• Yang Qiangding’s conversations with his guards reveal his practical worldview: wealth can solve many problems, and patience is more valuable than frantic searching.
• Yang Genshuo is impressed by Qiangding’s insight into the differing motivations of older and younger cultivators.

Significant Themes

• Power and progression: The shift from Qi Refinement to Foundation Establishment demonstrates how rapidly former difficulties become manageable after a breakthrough.
• Caution versus haste: Yang Zhu’s eagerness is repeatedly tempered by Yang Genshuo’s warnings that reckless action could expose him to stronger enemies.
• Opportunity and desperation: The Legendary Land attracts cultivators willing to risk death, especially elders seeking a final chance at survival or longevity.
• Strategic patience: Yang Qiangding succeeds not through immediate confrontation, but by anticipating where the Gongyang family is likely to go.
• Resources and preparation: Mushrooms, pills, talismans, puppets, and grain all function as essential tools for survival, emphasizing that advancement depends as much on logistics as on strength.
• Teamwork and overwhelming force: Yang Qiangjin and Yang Min’s united team transforms previously dangerous areas into manageable battlefields, showing the power of coordination and accumulated resources.

Chapter Summary: “Time Acceleration”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• The Yang Family reaches the blood-red Capital City, the apparent final destination of the Legendary Land. The city is shrouded in darkness and black smoke, creating an ominous atmosphere.
• Before entering, Yang Genshuo realizes that Yang Mink’s farming group has been left behind. Since the group took a separate route to cultivate crops and stockpile food, they must now travel alone through the dangerous stretch between Guangning City and the Capital.
• The main group establishes a camp outside the Capital City and waits for Yang Mink’s party to finish harvesting. Yang Mink expects to collect roughly 100,000 catties of golden rice.
• Yang Zhu captures and bonds with an Earth-grade Bewitching Mushroom. The Mushroom Spirit lives through his eyes and grants him the ability to release an invisible, mind-affecting mist. Its power is strongest against weaker opponents.
• Yang Genshuo explains that the weakened Leap Mushroom needs many more high-grade Mushroom Spirits to recover. Yang Zhu continues hunting them, hoping eventually to avenge his lost Galloping Mushroom against the powerful “old hag” who killed or took it.
• Reflecting on the Yang Family’s growth, Yang Genshuo becomes increasingly convinced that a large, united family—with talented descendants such as Yang Zhu—will eventually dominate the Spirit Vast Continent.
• Yang Genshuo activates the fast-forward function for seven days. During this period:
  • Yang Mink’s team advances rapidly by using their story-related advantages.
  • The main group defeats Flowing Corpse troops and collects four treasures.
  • Yang Zhu captures more Mushroom Spirits.
  • News spreads of the Yang Family’s “fees” for entering the Legendary Land, causing outside cultivators to complain.
  • Yang Fujian follows rumors to the Moon Rise Dynasty and begins a new Legendary Land journey.
• The fast-forward ends when Yang Qiangding finally encounters the three Gongyang Family members he has been seeking: one Golden Core cultivator and two Foundation Establishment cultivators.
• Yang Qiangding devises a scheme to prevent them from entering the Legendary Land. Yang Family members disguise themselves as kidnappers, seize the three, seal their cultivation, and stage a rescue operation.
• The kidnappers threaten and mistreat the Gongyang descendants, who reveal their prestigious ancestry but are ignored.
• Yang Fushuo and Yang Qiangding then “rescue” them from the fake demonic cultivators and bring them to Qi Dan Tower, offering healing pills and presenting themselves as benevolent protectors.

2. Character Developments

• Yang Genshuo acts as both protector and overseer of the family. His concern over Yang Mink’s absence shows his growing responsibility for every branch of the family. He also becomes more ambitious, imagining Yang Zhu’s descendants as the foundation of the Yang Family’s future dominance.
• Yang Mink remains practical and resourceful. His farming strategy provides valuable supplies, though it temporarily isolates his group and puts them at risk.
• Yang Zhu grows stronger through his bond with the Bewitching Mushroom. He gains a new combat and control ability while continuing his long-term goal of defeating the powerful enemy responsible for taking his Galloping Mushroom.
• Yang Qiangding demonstrates strategic intelligence and initiative. Rather than confronting the Gongyang descendants directly, he creates an elaborate kidnapping-and-rescue plot.
• Yang Fushuo and Yang Qiangding reveal a willingness to use deception and theatrical manipulation to achieve their objectives, presenting themselves as righteous rescuers after arranging the danger themselves.
• The Gongyang descendants are shown to be inexperienced and vulnerable despite their prestigious lineage. Their confidence in the reputation of their Ancient Immortal Clan cannot protect them from ordinary worldly dangers.

3. Significant Themes

• Family unity and collective strength: Yang Genshuo emphasizes that blood relatives may disagree, but they will unite when the family is threatened. The chapter presents the Yang Family’s expanding population as a strategic advantage.
• Growth through descendants: Yang Genshuo views exceptional descendants such as Yang Zhu not merely as individuals but as sources of future generations capable of reaching the Deity Transformation Realm.
• Preparation versus immediate progress: Yang Mink’s farming and Yang Zhu’s Mushroom Spirit hunting show the value of long-term preparation, even when such approaches temporarily lag behind the main group.
• Power and manipulation: The staged kidnapping and rescue demonstrate how appearances can be used as weapons. The Yang Family controls the situation by manufacturing both the threat and the solution.
• Reputation versus actual strength: The Gongyang Family’s prestigious name proves useless when their members lack sufficient personal power, while the Yang Family’s influence increasingly comes from practical strength and coordination.
• Expansion and ambition: Yang Genshuo’s vision has grown from survival to continental dominance, with the family’s future success tied to population, talent, and inherited advantages.

4. Character Interactions

• Yang Genshuo reassures the family before the Capital City and coordinates with Yang Qiangjin and Yang Min regarding the delayed farming group.
• He advises Yang Mink to hurry while recognizing the usefulness of his food supplies.
• Yang Zhu enthusiastically consults Yang Genshuo about whether to consume or preserve the Bewitching Mushroom, leading to his new bonded ability.
• Yang Zhu discusses his desire for revenge against the “old hag,” while Yang Genshuo reminds him that defeating a Deity Transformation expert will require tremendous growth.
• Members of the family joke about one another’s laziness, but the teasing reinforces their closeness and loyalty.
• Yang Qiangding presents his plan to Yang Genshuo, who praises his ingenuity.
• Yang Fushuo and Yang Qiangding manipulate the three Gongyang descendants by first allowing them to be kidnapped, then rescuing them and offering healing pills, establishing trust while concealing their true intentions.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Yang Fushuo and Yang Qiangding successfully deceive three members of the Gongyang Family by pretending to rescue them from demonic cultivators. The three cultivators, believing them to be benefactors, reveal information about their origins and the mysterious Gongyang Immortal Clan.
• The Gongyang cultivators explain that their family lives in a hidden sanctuary accessible mainly through bloodline connections. Outsiders can enter only with an invitation and the gatekeeper’s approval. Their own low status prevents them from freely inviting others or making major decisions.
• Yang Fushuo realizes they are still concealing important information, but hopes their status as “pawns” may still allow them to help locate or extract the person sought by the Yang Family’s Ancestor. Yang Qiangding is instructed to cultivate their trust.
• Yang Zhu continues hunting Mushroom Spirits. Although progress is slow—only one new Earth-grade Mushroom Spirit is captured in a week—his repeated battles stabilize his cultivation and sharpen his combat abilities.
• Yang Mink reaches Guangning City and encounters over sixty Golden Core cultivators divided into factions. Mistaking his late arrival for weakness, they force him to surrender 5,000 jin of grain. Yang Mink pretends to be frightened, then reveals afterward that he intentionally avoided conflict and successfully preserved his strength and dignity.
• Yang Mink reunites with the main Yang Family group, bringing their total number to 398. The family learns that the Da Nai Dynasty is collapsing: the court is bankrupt, officials are corrupt, military supplies are being embezzled, and Flowing Corpses are spreading amid widespread riots and refugee crises.
• The group enters the Capital City using a Grain Escort permit. They are led to the capital’s courier station by Guard Li, a powerful sixth-rank official.
• Yang Genshuo discovers through the Character Card that Guard Li is secretly a Flowing Corpse, despite appearing completely human. This suggests that Flowing Corpses may already have infiltrated the capital and that the dynasty’s collapse is imminent.
• At the courier station, Guard Li demands that the Yang Family hand over their grain so his men can deliver it to the treasury. Yang Qiangjin refuses, and Guard Li surrounds the group with Imperial Guards.
• Yang Min publicly invokes the law and the Yang Family’s status as meritorious Grain Escorts. The family members then loudly accuse Guard Li of bullying civilians. Fearing the consequences of attacking them openly in the capital, Guard Li withdraws his aura and abandons the immediate confrontation, warning them that he will remember their defiance.

Character Developments

• Yang Fushuo demonstrates strategic deception and careful interrogation, while recognizing that the Gongyang cultivators are withholding information.
• Yang Qiangding shows sharp judgment by detecting the Gongyang trio’s evasiveness. Because of his lower cultivation, he is chosen to interact with them and appear less threatening.
• Yang Zhu grows through constant combat with Mushroom Spirits, gradually revealing the strength of his Saint Grade Talent.
• Yang Mink proves himself resourceful and composed. Although he appears weak and submits to the Golden Core cultivators, he avoids a dangerous battle and uses the encounter to protect his group.
• Yang Min and Yang Qiangjin act as firm leaders in the capital, refusing to surrender the grain and using the dynasty’s laws and public pressure to restrain Guard Li.
• Yang Genshuo remains the family’s crucial observer, detecting Guard Li’s hidden identity and warning the family of the danger within the capital.

Significant Themes

• Deception and strategic performance: The Yang Family repeatedly survives by hiding its true strength, manipulating enemies, and presenting carefully chosen appearances.
• Hidden identities and infiltration: The Gongyang Family conceals its secrets, while Guard Li’s apparent humanity hides his identity as a Flowing Corpse.
• Political and social collapse: The Da Nai Dynasty’s corruption, famine, refugee crisis, and military disorder show a civilization nearing destruction from within.
• Unity and collective strategy: The Yang Family insists on acting together, maintaining a common position despite uncertainty about whether they should support the dynasty or the Flowing Corpses.
• The danger of the unknown: Although the family can prepare for visible Flowing Corpse attacks, the hidden corruption inside the capital presents a far greater threat.
• Moral and strategic uncertainty: The family considers whether joining the Flowing Corpses might have altered the story’s course, but chooses to continue fighting them and complete its mission.

Character Interactions

• The Gongyang trio treats Yang Fushuo and Yang Qiangding as lifesaving benefactors, allowing the father and son to question them freely.
• Yang Fushuo and Yang Qiangding privately discuss the trio’s hidden motives and how best to manipulate their trust.
• Yang Mink relies emotionally on his older brother, Yang Min, whose presence gives him confidence after the dangers of traveling alone.
• Yang Mink and the Golden Core cultivators engage in a staged power imbalance: they bully him into surrendering grain, while he secretly mocks their lack of unity and strategic awareness.
• Yang Min, Yang Qiangjin, and the rest of the family coordinate mentally to confront Guard Li without directly fighting him.
• Guard Li attempts to intimidate the Yang Family with his aura and soldiers, but their public appeal to the law forces him to retreat, establishing a tense unresolved conflict between him and the family.