Chapter Summaries

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ning Zheng and his group enter Pingchang City, noticing the use of spirit stones instead of magic coins, and the prevalence of cultivators with classical magic artifacts.
• Ning Zheng visits a book shop and learns about the distinction between "New Humans" (born without spiritual roots) and "Old Humans" (born with spiritual roots).
• He hypothesizes that Pingchang City is a historical mural or epic from the Immortal Path era, with each city gate corresponding to a sage and an era.

Character Developments

• Ning Zheng: Shows curiosity and insight, hypothesizing about the nature of Pingchang City and its connection to the Immortal Path era.
• Yan Hua and the others: Experience culture shock upon entering the city, acting like "aloof passersby" to fit in.

Significant Themes

• The contrast between the current era and the Immortal Path era, with different currencies and cultivator characteristics.
• The coexistence of humans and ghouls, and the inclusivity of Pingchang City.
• The exploration of history and the desire to understand the past.

Character Interactions

• Ning Zheng interacts with the book shop elder, learning about the distinction between New and Old Humans.
• Yan Hua and the others discuss their experiences and observations among themselves, displaying their excitement and curiosity.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ning Zheng arrives in Xinyi Continent City, feeling overwhelmed and lost due to its advanced nature compared to his small mountain village background.
• He explores the city, discovering signs of discrimination against "mortals" without spiritual roots, and learns about the city's various districts (auctions, accommodations, brothels, and shops).
• Ning Zheng visits a restaurant, exchanges currency, and inquires about the city's attractions, learning about an upcoming demonic beast suppression event.
• He heads to the auction house, finding it to be a massive shop selling resources from the Five Bodies Realm to the Three Origins Realm. He realizes it's the upstream wholesaler for the Pingchang City merchant alliance.

Character Developments

• Ning Zheng exhibits adaptability and curiosity as he navigates the unfamiliar city, showing a willingness to learn and explore.
• He demonstrates resourcefulness by considering the possibility of renting a shop in the city.

Significant Themes

• The coexistence and discrimination between humans and ghouls (demonstrated through signs and the waiter's explanations).
• The contrast between Ning Zheng's small-town background and the advanced, historical city he's now in.
• The commercialization and tourism industry in the graveyard area.

Character Interactions

• Ning Zheng interacts with a waiter who provides information about the city, its attractions, and the possibility of renting shops.
• He also encounters signs and establishments that reflect the city's attitudes towards "mortals" without spiritual roots.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ning Zheng visits a grand purchase hall filled with people from various eras.
• He learns about the dangerous nature of the place, likening it to a super-sized "Red Chamber" with its own rules and potential threats.
• He discovers a permanent teleportation array to Xinyi Continent City for sale at a cost of 1 million magic coins.
• He decides to purchase the teleportation array, understanding its strategic significance and the opportunity it presents.
• He also buys the product catalog for 100 magic coins.
• He successfully purchases and installs the teleportation array at his manor.

Character Developments

• Ning Zheng demonstrates caution and prudence in dealing with strangers, understanding the potential dangers of the place.
• He shows decisiveness in purchasing the teleportation array, recognizing its value and the opportunities it presents.
• Yan Hua, Er Ya, and the others show enthusiasm and excitement upon returning to the manor, eager to share their experiences.

Significant Themes

• The dangerous and deceptive nature of the afterlife, with potential threats disguised as the living or the dead.
• The strategic importance of teleportation arrays in accessing knowledge, resources, and opportunities.
• The value of decisiveness and seizing opportunities when they arise.

Character Interactions

• Ning Zheng has a brief interaction with a middle-aged man who apologizes for disturbing him, showing Ning Zheng's reluctance to engage in conversation.
• Yan Hua, Er Ya, and the others interact with the people inside the manor, excitedly sharing their experiences upon returning.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Yan Hua and others show off pictures from their "cameras" to the crowd, sparking excitement and curiosity about the new map.
• The team discusses the details of the new map, with some speculating about a new gacha pool.
• Ning Zheng leaves a message for the team to help screen procurement items and inspects the teleportation array.

Character Developments

• Yan Hua expresses his desire to become the protagonist and climb to the top, hinting at his ambition.
• Ning Zheng shows his strategic thinking by delegating procurement tasks to the team and assessing the teleportation array's wear and tear.

Significant Themes

• Ambition and determination (Yan Hua's desire to climb to the top)
• Teamwork and delegation (Ning Zheng's use of the team's energy to help with procurement)
• The challenges and difficulties of being a channel merchant (Ning Zheng's realization about the teleportation costs)

Character Interactions

• Yan Hua interacts with the crowd, showing off pictures and hinting at his desire to manage a shop in the new map.
• Ning Zheng interacts with the team remotely, delegating tasks and leaving instructions.
• The team members discuss the new map and gacha pool, with some expressing their dissatisfaction with missing out on the previous gacha pool.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Jiu Cai Rong discovers a magic artifact booklet containing hundreds of thousands of pages listing heavenly materials and earthly treasures.
• The group decides to divide the task of reviewing the booklet, but Jiu Cai Rong ends up doing most of the work.
• They identify three significant items: Spirit Invocation Talisman, Knowledge Seeking Grass, and Soul Planting Secret Technique.

Character Developments

• Jiu Cai Rong shows dedication and responsibility in handling the task, but also feels overwhelmed.
• Ning Zheng, in prison, enjoys performances and reflects on the temptations of worldly pleasures disrupting his cultivation.

Significant Themes

• The pursuit of knowledge and experience for personal growth and faction development.
• The consequences and side effects of using powerful cultivation methods.
• The value of magic coins and the potential for pay-to-win systems in the game.

Character Interactions

• Jiu Cai Rong interacts with Su Yu Niang and others, discussing the division of labor and the significance of the discovered items.
• Ning Zheng interacts with the forum members, discussing the potential benefits and drawbacks of the identified items.
• The Medical Fairy Maiden and Shao Chai Kun have a humorous exchange about the latter's desire for cosmetic surgery.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ning Zheng faces financial constraints due to blacksmithing technology bottlenecks and infrastructure costs.
• He plans to develop further by creating new magic artifacts and finding buyers, and by participating in the imperial court's projects.
• A major update is announced for the "Sword Forging Competition," introducing a new map (Xinyi Continent City), new mechanics, and a new hidden xianxia worldview.
• Ning Zheng purchases spirit invocation tablets from the auction house to absorb knowledge and experience from powerful blacksmiths.

Character Developments

• Ning Zheng becomes more aware of the financial struggles of developing forces and the importance of money in cultivation.
• Jiu Cai Rong, the fake Planner, continues to manage the game's updates and announcements.

Significant Themes

• The importance of money and resources in cultivation and development.
• The exploration of new lands and opportunities in the game world.
• The absorption of knowledge and experience from powerful individuals.

Character Interactions

• Ning Zheng interacts with the woman in charge at the auction house, who provides him with information about the spirit invocation tablets.
• Jiu Cai Rong interacts with the blacksmiths, updating them on the game's new developments.

Key Plot Points and Events

• The maidservant and a young lady discuss the modification of women's chests using the Blood Separation Flower, suggesting a clinic that performs such procedures.
• The Medical Fairy Maiden and her ember babies discuss opening a general store in the city, with the Medical Fairy Maiden also practicing medicine there.
• Ning Zheng returns with 10,000 spirit-invoking tablets and discusses the forging of a mid-grade blacksmith with Jiu Cai Rong.
• Ning Zheng uses 30,000 luck value to acquire a Soul-Bewitching Bell, which he uses to influence the blacksmiths' memories upon their return to their own worlds.

Character Developments

• The maidservant shows cleverness and understanding of the world's changes.
• The young lady expresses empathy for those who have undergone modifications.
• The Medical Fairy Maiden shows interest in expanding her business to the city.
• Ning Zheng demonstrates his willingness to invest in the manor's development and uses his luck value to protect the blacksmiths' memories.

Significant Themes

• The pursuit of beauty and modification of one's appearance.
• The change of careers and industry for survival.
• The use of luck value to influence reality and protect the blacksmiths' memories.

Character Interactions

• The maidservant and the young lady discuss the changes in the world and the clinic's services.
• The Medical Fairy Maiden and her ember babies discuss opening a general store in the city.
• Ning Zheng and Jiu Cai Rong discuss the forging of a mid-grade blacksmith.
• Ning Zheng interacts with the luck gambling table to acquire the Soul-Bewitching Bell.

Key Plot Points and Events

• The steward's room is filled with spirit invocation tablets, which contain residual soul fragments of other people's memories.
• Jiu Cai Rong and others discuss the value and origin of these tablets, revealing that they are made from the souls of deceased cultivators.
• It's revealed that families often sell the turbid energy (residual souls) of their deceased elders to be made into spirit tablets, while keeping the ember shells (soul shells) for ancestral graves.
• The group realizes that the useless fellow villagers of heaven and earth they've encountered were likely sold off by their families after death.

Character Developments

• Jiu Cai Rong: Shows knowledge about spirit invocation tablets and their origins.
• Dao Jiujiu: Provides insight into the limitations of learning from experience books.
• Su Yu Niang: Expresses the perspective of the world's customs regarding the treatment of deceased elders.

Significant Themes

• The value of life and death in the cultivation world.
• The concept of "great filial piety to the nation over small filial piety to the family."
• The coexistence of the living and the dead, and the impact on societal norms.

Character Interactions

• Jiu Cai Rong, Dao Jiujiu, and Su Yu Niang discuss the spirit invocation tablets and their implications.
• The group interacts with the blacksmiths, who are interested in buying professional experience books to improve their skills.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Dao Jiujiu invokes a mid-level spirit, a former high-level blacksmith, using an invoking spirits card.
• The invoked spirit, Elder Zhang, agrees to teach Dao Jiujiu blacksmithing skills.
• They visit the blacksmith shop, where Elder Zhang is surprised to find a group of blacksmiths forging iron enthusiastically, seemingly resurrected from a forging furnace.

Character Developments

• Dao Jiujiu demonstrates his determination and resourcefulness by choosing a mid-level invoking spirits card despite its high cost.
• Elder Zhang shows his fiery personality and willingness to share his knowledge before his residual soul dissipates.

Significant Themes

• The value of skills and knowledge over cultivation realm in determining success.
• The power and limitations of invoking spirits cards and techniques.

Character Interactions

• Dao Jiujiu and Elder Zhang: Dao Jiujiu allows Elder Zhang to control his body to teach him blacksmithing.
• Jiu Cai Rong and Elder Zhang: Jiu Cai Rong tries to impress Elder Zhang and seek his advice on forging techniques.
• The blacksmiths and Elder Zhang: The blacksmiths try to hide their true forging process from Elder Zhang initially but later seek his guidance enthusiastically.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Elder Zhang spends the day teaching the "Navy" blacksmiths how to forge weapons, offering guidance and pointers.
• The blacksmiths reveal their true purpose: they are forging weapons using the bones of their deceased lovers, who are now ghouls, to leave a trace of them in the human world.
• Elder Zhang, moved by their story, decides not to resist the memory inheritance and shares his smithing knowledge before passing away.

Character Developments

• Elder Zhang: Realizes the true nature of the "Navy" and their tragic past, decides to help them before his death.
• The "Navy" blacksmiths: Reveal their true purpose and the tragic love story behind it, showing their devotion and determination to honor their lovers' memories.

Significant Themes

• Love and Loss: The blacksmiths' devotion to their deceased lovers and their desire to honor their memories is a central theme.
• Trust and Deception: The blacksmiths' deception of Elder Zhang highlights the theme of trust and its betrayal.
• Fate and Coincidence: The chance encounter between Elder Zhang and the blacksmiths, and the tragic events that brought them together, explore the theme of fate and coincidence.

Character Interactions

• Elder Zhang and the "Navy" blacksmiths: Initially, Elder Zhang is suspicious of the blacksmiths, but as they share their story, he becomes sympathetic and decides to help them.
• The blacksmiths among themselves: They show camaraderie and support for each other, working together to achieve their goal of honoring their lovers' memories.
• Elder Zhang and the Medical Fairy Maiden: She tries to warn Elder Zhang about the blacksmiths' true nature, but he chooses to believe their story.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ning Zheng successfully invokes Elder Zhang's spirit for forging lessons but nearly faces a compatibility issue.
• The village hosts a bonfire party, and the Women's Song and Dance Troupe performs, earning each participant one magic coin.
• The online forum is abuzz with criticism of players who scammed Elder Zhang.

Character Developments

• Ning Zheng reflects on the village's growth and his dreams for the future.
• Elder Zhang, though tricked, displays intelligence by hiding and planning an attack.
• Shao Chai Kun gains attention for his actions and faces criticism from Nightly Crazy Cultivator Sixth Body.

Significant Themes

• The importance of compatibility in spirit invocation, similar to traditional folk customs.
• The impact of AI-designed NPCs on game difficulty.
• The introduction of Experience Books as temporary mini-instances with random guest masters.

Character Interactions

• Ning Zheng and Su Yu Niang interact positively, with Su Yu Niang inspiring the female prisoners.
• Ning Zheng reflects on the village's growth and his dreams, contrasting with the online forum's criticism of players.
• Nightly Crazy Cultivator Sixth Body criticizes Shao Chai Kun for his actions and flamboyant behavior.

Key Plot Points and Events

• The manor's inhabitants discuss experience books and their impact on resources.
• They suggest capturing high-level pets and Old Ancestors for experience books, but the idea is dismissed.
• The future stages of experience books are analyzed: Mass Purchases, Professional Mentors, and Skill Learning.
• Dao Jiujiu takes a Mid-grade experience book, becoming a Mid-grade blacksmith.
• He decides not to take another book to digest the first one first.

Character Developments

• Ning Zheng: Struggles with the financial burden of experience books but can't convince others to release their Old Ancestors.
• Dao Jiujiu: Becomes a Mid-grade blacksmith after taking an experience book, feels the impact of the book's effects.
• Jiu Cai Rong: Encourages Dao Jiujiu to take another experience book but respects his decision to digest the first one first.

Significant Themes

• The cost and accessibility of experience books.
• The evolution of professional development and skill learning.
• The financial burden of raising high-level professions.

Character Interactions

• Ning Zheng and the other inhabitants discuss experience books and their future implications.
• Dao Jiujiu and Jiu Cai Rong discuss Dao Jiujiu's experience book and future plans.
• Shao Chai Kun and Medical Fairy Maiden bicker playfully, entertaining the others.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ning Zheng calculates the manor's finances, realizing most of the initial three million magic coins have been spent.
• He faces a choice: continue producing low-grade magic artifacts or invest heavily in developing mid-grade weapons.
• He decides to challenge the mid-grade market but knows it requires a significant investment with uncertain returns.
• Ning Zheng plans to acquire polluted spiritual plants from tomb owners to cultivate mid-grade spiritual roots.
• He contacts the Shi family to help secure over ten instance bosses, each guarding a tomb with polluted spiritual plants.

Character Developments

• Ning Zheng shows strategic thinking and willingness to invest in the manor's growth, even with uncertain outcomes.
• Shi Youxing, despite initial reluctance, agrees to help Ning Zheng, seeing the potential profit in the deal.

Significant Themes

• Investment and risk: Ning Zheng weighs the potential profits and losses of developing mid-grade weapons.
• Resource acquisition: The manor needs to secure more spiritual plants to cultivate mid-grade spiritual roots.
• Instance bosses: The tomb owners become 'bosses' that Ning Zheng needs to defeat to acquire the resources.

Character Interactions

• Ning Zheng interacts with Shi Youxing, convincing him to help secure the polluted spiritual plants.
• Ning Zheng communicates with Yan Hua about preparing terraced fields for future meat fields, showing trust in his capabilities.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ning Zheng decides to open a shop in Xinyi Continent City to sell Mid-grade magic artifacts and accessories.
• He leases a shop for 15,000 magic coins a year, including security measures.
• The shop is to be managed by Yu Jin Jiu Cai Rong and two Yu Jin, with Ning Zheng planning to set up a formation to prevent people inside from leaving.

Character Developments

• Ning Zheng shows strategic thinking in opening the shop and planning its management.
• Jiu Cai Rong demonstrates his eagerness to go out and explore, as well as his responsibility in managing the shop.
• The Medical Fairy Maiden suggests using Ning Zheng's embers to create ember artifacts, showing her cunning and ambition.

Significant Themes

• Expansion and Growth: Ning Zheng's decision to open a shop in the continent city signifies his ambition to expand his influence and business.
• Security and Protection: The shop's security measures and the planned formation reflect Ning Zheng's concern for protecting his interests and people.
• Ambition and Cunning: Characters like the Medical Fairy Maiden exhibit ambition and cunning, driving the plot forward and creating opportunities for growth and conflict.

Character Interactions

• Ning Zheng and Jiu Cai Rong: They work together, with Ning Zheng providing guidance and Jiu Cai Rong handling the details of managing the shop.
• Ning Zheng and Shopkeeper Lu: They interact professionally, with Shopkeeper Lu showing kindness and Ning Zheng maintaining a mysterious demeanor.
• The Manor's Residents: They discuss and plan the shop's management and the development of Mid-grade magic artifacts, demonstrating their unity and shared goals.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ning Zheng opens a weapon shop in the city, hiring Medical Fairy Maiden and Su Yu Niang to run it.
• The shop is initially met with hostility and lack of customers due to the natives' disdain for mortals without spiritual roots.
• Su Yu Niang uses unconventional marketing tactics to attract customers, initially with no success.
• The shop gains attention from local cultivators and ghouls, who start visiting out of curiosity.

Character Developments

• Ning Zheng shows decisiveness and efficiency in opening the shop.
• Su Yu Niang demonstrates adaptability and creativity in her marketing strategies.
• The Medical Fairy Maiden shows dedication to her medical practice.
• Local cultivators and ghouls show initial hostility but later curiosity towards the shop.

Significant Themes

• Discrimination against mortals without spiritual roots.
• The power of unconventional marketing and customer service.
• The potential for business growth despite initial adversity.

Character Interactions

• Ning Zheng interacts with her subordinates, showing confidence in their abilities.
• Su Yu Niang interacts with local cultivators and ghouls, using empathy and praise to win them over.
• Local cultivators and ghouls interact with each other, discussing the shop's unusual methods and growing curiosity.

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Youjian Shop becomes popular among ghouls in just four days.
• Shopkeeper Lu visits the shop, seeking a consultation with the Medical Fairy Maiden.
• The Medical Fairy Maiden presents her cosmetic surgery services, including a "Big Breasts, No Brains" package for living people and simple modifications with nutritional oral liquid gifts for ghouls.

Character Developments

• The Medical Fairy Maiden demonstrates her professionalism and business acumen in presenting her cosmetic surgery services.
• Shopkeeper Lu shows her knowledge of the market and potential opportunities for the shop's products.

Significant Themes

• The pursuit of beauty and self-improvement spans across different realms and species.
• The shop caters to both living people and ghouls, bridging the gap between the two worlds.

Character Interactions

• The Medical Fairy Maiden and Shopkeeper Lu discuss the shop's services and potential business opportunities.
• The Medical Fairy Maiden and Su Yu Niang work together to present their services and products to Shopkeeper Lu.

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Medical Fairy Maiden and her group arrive at Xinyi Continent City, triggering a main quest to restore the glory of the Blood Separation Flower family.
• They learn about the beast-fighting arena in Scale Gate, which was once managed by a member of their family.
• Shopkeeper Lu reveals that the family's decline was likely due to a major event a century ago, not targeted attacks.
• The group discovers that the Tenth Ancestor, the Meat Field Mature Older Woman, is alive and a high-level Three Origins Realm cultivator.

Character Developments

• Ning Zheng: She realizes the advantages and disadvantages of returning to Scale Gate and decides to listen to Shopkeeper Lu for more information.
• Shopkeeper Lu: She reveals that she was sent to Scale Gate to find the tomb owner and offers guidance to the group.
• The Medical Fairy Maiden: She learns about her family's past and the possibility of restoring their glory.

Significant Themes

• The theme of restoration and redemption, as the Blood Separation Flower family seeks to regain their former glory.
• The concept of "hide-and-seek" is introduced, with ancient sages disguising themselves and playing games with humans.

Character Interactions

• Ning Zheng and Shopkeeper Lu: They exchange information, with Shopkeeper Lu providing insights into the city's history and the ancient sages' habits.
• The Medical Fairy Maiden and Shopkeeper Lu: They discuss the Meat Field Mature Older Woman and the possibility of contacting her.
• The group members: They work together to extract information from Shopkeeper Lu and plan their next steps.

Key Plot Points and Events

• The group discusses the strategic importance of Xinyi Continent City and the potential of their shops.
• They learn that Jian Xin and his group are planning to head to the capital, possibly as a trap to lure out cultists.
• Shopkeeper Lu warns them about potential threats from local ghouls.

Character Developments

• Shopkeeper Lu shows his knowledge of politics and strategy, impressing the group.
• The Medical Fairy Maiden (Sword Fairy Maiden in disguise) enjoys the excitement of being an "ordinary" shopkeeper while listening to big shots discuss their plans.

Significant Themes

• The strategic importance of Xinyi Continent City as a historical and political hub.
• The tension between the imperial court and the cults, with both sides engaging in a game of strategy.
• The excitement and potential of the current era, with major events unfolding and the possibility of influencing them.

Character Interactions

• Shopkeeper Lu shares his insights with the group, fostering a sense of camaraderie.
• The Medical Fairy Maiden enjoys the irony of her situation, being a powerful figure in disguise among the common people.
• Ning Zheng encounters a pickpocket gang, leading to a drop in his luck value, hinting at potential danger or misfortune.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ning Zheng recovers his stolen storage bag from a girl named Xiao Gao.
• He treats her to noodles, and they engage in a power struggle over the food.
• Ning Zheng forces Xiao Gao to eat her vegetables, much to her displeasure.
• He then drugs her and takes her to his shop.

Character Developments

• Ning Zheng: He demonstrates his cunning and assertiveness in dealing with Xiao Gao.
• Xiao Gao: She reveals her rebellious nature and love for role-playing, but also shows shock and fear when Ning Zheng takes her.

Significant Themes

• Role-playing and novelty-seeking behavior.
• Power dynamics and manipulation.
• The struggle between the rich and the poor, and the exploitation of tourists.

Character Interactions

• Ning Zheng and Xiao Gao: Their interaction is a power struggle, with Ning Zheng asserting dominance and Xiao Gao initially resisting but ultimately complying due to her role-playing tendencies.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ning Zheng tries out the blacksmith's analysis method and captures a little beggar, Xiao Gao, to work in the shop.
• He visits a crowded plaza where children are being tested for spiritual roots.
• Xiao Gao wakes up in the shop and is introduced to its operations by Su Yu Niang.
• The Medical Fairy Maiden attempts to repair Xiao Gao's scars.
• Ning Zheng returns home and checks the forum, finding rapid shop development and the appearance of mid-level professionals in blacksmithing and spirit farming.

Character Developments

• Ning Zheng: He continues to explore the city, planning to capture more characters to work in the shop.
• Xiao Gao: She wakes up in the shop, revealing her past as an orphan and her hope to participate in the Immortal Seeking Gathering.
• Su Yu Niang: She takes an interest in Xiao Gao and plans to use her to gather information.
• The Medical Fairy Maiden: She attempts to repair Xiao Gao's scars but finds it challenging due to Xiao Gao's unique condition.

Significant Themes

• The disparity between those with and without spiritual roots in ancient times.
• The hope of parents for their children to become powerful cultivators.
• The challenge of finding and recruiting hidden characters in the city.

Character Interactions

• Ning Zheng and Xiao Gao: Ning Zheng captures Xiao Gao and brings her to the shop, treating her kindly but firmly.
• Su Yu Niang and Xiao Gao: Su Yu Niang takes an interest in Xiao Gao and plans to use her to gather information, showing compassion towards her.
• The Medical Fairy Maiden and Xiao Gao: The Medical Fairy Maiden attempts to repair Xiao Gao's scars but finds it challenging, showing sympathy towards Xiao Gao's condition.