Chapter Summaries

Xu Wangliang and Wu Changli tracked the Sword Blade's scent through empty courtyards, but Chen Fei had hidden it in his Space Grid. After Pingyin County fell, Chen Fei and Chi Defeng shared a drink, and the Immortal Cloud Merchant Group arrived in Xingfen City offering passage for one thousand taels per person.

• Wu Changli's gu insect led Xu Wangliang and the Xu Clan Enshrined Elders to two empty courtyards, where they learned the Sword Blade's scent had last lingered two days earlier before disappearing.
• Chen Fei reflected on his fight with He Yuanqiu and revealed he had stored the Sword Blade and longbow in his Space Grid to avoid being tracked.
• Chi Defeng told Chen Fei that Pingyin County had fallen and shared the story of his youthful wish to see the jianghu over wine.
• Five days later, the Immortal Cloud Merchant Group arrived in Xingfen City and offered carriage tickets for one thousand taels per person.

Chen Fei and Chi Defeng paid to travel with the Immortal Cloud Merchant Group and prepared for the journey to Immortal Cloud City. Meanwhile, Xu Wangliang bribed Dong Yi to delay the group’s departure so he could search for his son’s killer, who he believed was among its passengers.

• Chen Fei and Chi Defeng paid one thousand taels each for tokens to follow the Immortal Cloud Merchant Group to Immortal Cloud City.
• Xu Liu tried to steal one of their tokens, but Chen Fei caught him and threw him to the ground before he fled into the crowd.
• Chen Fei and Chi Defeng bought supplies for the journey and returned to their courtyard after shaking off people following them.
• Xu Wangliang offered Dong Yi money to delay the merchant group’s departure so he could search for his son’s killer.
• Dong Yi initially refused, but accepted thirty-five thousand taels from Xu Wangliang and agreed to help.

Chen Fei and Chi Defeng prepared to leave with the Immortal Cloud Merchant Group after Xu Wangliang failed to identify his son’s killer. As the caravan headed toward Immortal Cloud City, Chen Fei heard an old man warn that joining the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect would not be easy.

• Dong Yi agreed to let Xu Wangliang search the merchant group for his son’s killer and arranged compensation for travelers delayed by the search.
• While they waited, Chen Fei perfected the Startling Devour Art, increasing his daily limit to seven Ever Floating Pills, and studied herbs to develop a Flying Mausoleum Pill recipe.
• Xu Wangliang and Wu Changli searched the departing travelers with a Blood Tasting Worm, but it showed no sign of Chen Fei or Chi Defeng.
• The Immortal Cloud Merchant Group set out, and Chen Fei listened as an old man said that entering the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect would be difficult.

Chen Fei learned about the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect’s admission requirements while traveling toward Immortal Cloud City, then encountered a strange bride emerging from a lonely hut. The bride’s appearance left a passenger entranced and harming himself as Old Man warned everyone away.

• Old Man explained that the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect usually required applicants to be under fifteen or, if older, under twenty and in the Marrow Refining Realm, with exceptional bones and comprehension possibly earning a special test.
• Chen Fei realized he was twenty-three and doubted his poor bones, though his unusually high comprehension might still give him a chance.
• Old Man said other sects near Immortal Cloud City also recruited disciples, and the merchant group continued safely along the rough road.
• On the seventh day, passengers spotted a lone thatched hut in a mountain hollow, and Old Man urgently told them to look away and get inside.
• A figure in a Phoenix Coronet and Bridal Robes emerged from the hut, and an entranced passenger dug at his own eyes.

Chen Fei and Chi Defeng traveled with the Immortal Cloud Merchant Group to Immortal Cloud City after surviving an encounter with a dangerous Weird. They arrived in the prosperous city and began looking for a place to live and continue selling medicine, but found that even renting a courtyard was costly.

• A Weird in a mountain hollow bewitched the merchant group, and the Old Man's warning helped prevent people from gouging out their eyes.
• Chen Fei realized the Weird's influence could affect him even without looking at it, while his Heart Cleansing Art and Bone-Attached Gangrene offered limited protection.
• The merchant group detoured around the Weird and reached a nearby city, where Chen Fei observed the greater prosperity and cultivation resources compared with Xingfen City.
• Chen Fei and Chi Defeng continued toward Immortal Cloud City, agreeing to keep selling medicine after they arrived.
• Chen Fei and Chi Defeng reached Immortal Cloud City, found lodging, and balked when an agent quoted two thousand taels a year for a courtyard.

Chen Fei and Chi Defeng settled in Immortal Cloud City, where Chen Fei learned that the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect had tightened its disciple-recruitment rules. On recruitment day, Chen Fei arrived at the sect’s mountain gate with a large crowd, uncertain whether he could meet the requirements.

• Chen Fei rented a courtyard with Chi Defeng and learned that the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect now required entrants with prior martial skills to reach Bone Forging Realm by fifteen or Marrow Refining Realm by eighteen.
• Chen Fei and Chi Defeng gathered information around Immortal Cloud City, and Chi Defeng found a source of herbs for Light Spirit Pills.
• Chen Fei gave Chi Defeng one hundred Light Spirit Pills, which a buyer purchased for eight taels of silver each after inspecting them with a needle.
• Chen Fei spent the afternoon refining pills and practicing swordsmanship and Bow Technique before the recruitment test.
• Chen Fei traveled to the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect’s mountain gate, where a large crowd had gathered before dawn.

Chen Fei was turned away by the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect because its recruitment rules excluded older martial artists, so he sought out another sect. He joined the Yuan Chen Sword Sect provisionally and had to master its sword technique within half a year to become a true disciple.

• Fan Shiyu announced that the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect would test only applicants who met strict age and cultivation requirements, and refused to test anyone over eighteen.
• After the crowd protested, Fan Shiyu silenced them with his Aura and ordered those who failed to qualify to disperse.
• Chen Fei paid a broker for information about nearby sects, but ruled out the Sinking Water Pavilion, Long Rainbow Sect, and Big Dipper Pavilion because of their restrictions.
• Chen Fei chose to try the Yuan Chen Sword Sect and asked the broker about its Thunderclap Sword, whose origins and flaws the broker could not confirm.
• Chen Fei became an Outer Sect Disciple of the Yuan Chen Sword Sect after paying one hundred taels, and received a secret manual that he had to master within half a year to pass the test.

After joining the Yuan Chen Sword Sect, Chen Fei studied and quickly mastered its Initial Origin Sword, then went to take the test for advancement. The chapter ended with him facing Yang Chuanzhen on the martial testing platform, ready to demonstrate the sword art.

• Chen Fei told Chi Defeng that the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect had rejected him and showed him his Yuan Chen Sword Sect Waist Token.
• Chen Fei read the Initial Origin Sword manual, used his Panel to simplify it, and practiced until his proficiency rose.
• Over seven days, Chen Fei refined pills, cultivated, and trained in the Initial Origin Sword while keeping his pill sales below one hundred a day.
• After reaching Great Perfection in the Initial Origin Sword, Chen Fei went to the Yuan Chen Sword Sect to take the advancement test.
• Yang Chuanzhen warned Chen Fei about the consequences of failing, then faced him on the martial testing platform and told him to unleash the sword art at full strength.

Chen Fei passed the Yuan Chen Sword Sect’s promotion test and was assigned Feng Xiupu as his master. After Feng Xiupu saw Chen Fei’s sword skill but judged his aptitude poor, Chen Fei received the Tongyuan Art and returned to his quarters to study it.

• Chen Fei fought Yang Chuanzhen with the Initial Origin Sword and won after Yang Chuanzhen raised his strength to the Marrow Refining Realm.
• The attendant disciple registered Chen Fei, gave him a new Waist Token, and explained the sect’s lost inheritances and rules for accessing them.
• The attendant disciple brought Chen Fei to Feng Xiupu, who initially objected to taking another disciple but asked Chen Fei to demonstrate the Initial Origin Sword.
• Feng Xiupu was impressed by Chen Fei’s sword technique, assigned him the Tongyuan Art, and told him to come meet his Senior Brothers the next morning.
• Feng Xiupu tested Chen Fei’s aptitude and privately concluded that his future martial progress would be limited; Chen Fei returned to his quarters eager to read the Tongyuan Art.

Chen Fei studied the Tongyuan Art, fused it with the Startling Devour Art, and simplified its first level so he could cultivate it by circulating the Startling Devour Art. At Feng Xiupu’s courtyard, Chen Fei met his fellow disciples and was assigned Guo Linshan as a guide to the technique.

• Chen Fei learned that the Tongyuan Art had five layers and would grant the giant strength and Iron Bone traits at the third and fifth layers.
• Chen Fei fused the Startling Devour Art into the Tongyuan Art’s first level, then simplified the result into the Startling Devour Art.
• Chen Fei returned to Immortal Cloud City and told Chi Defeng to bring medicinal pills to him at the Yuan Chen Sword Sect in the future.
• Chen Fei met Luo Jun and other disciples waiting outside Feng Xiupu’s courtyard.
• Feng Xiupu taught the disciples the basics of the Tongyuan Art and asked Guo Linshan to answer Chen Fei’s questions about cultivation.

Chen Fei visited Guo Linshan for cultivation guidance and discovered Luo Jun had lied about needing to pay a greeting gift. That night, an unknown attacker beat Luo Jun severely, leaving him unable to identify who had assaulted him.

• Luo Jun told Chen Fei that disciples had to give Guo Linshan at least one hundred taels as a greeting gift, and Chen Fei doubted the claim.
• Chi Defeng reported that more pill stalls had opened nearby, making it easier for him to sell Chen Fei's pills without drawing attention.
• Chen Fei refined pills, then visited Guo Linshan, who answered his questions without asking for a gift and told him he would join a sect mission in a few days.
• Chen Fei realized Luo Jun had misled him and decided to confront him that evening.
• An unknown attacker ambushed Luo Jun at his home, covered him with a burlap sack, and beat him until he repeatedly lost consciousness.
• Luo Jun woke badly bruised and in pain, wondering who had attacked him.

Chen Fei learned that joining the Pill Refiner Alliance could protect him while he sold pills, so he traveled to its station in Immortal Cloud City. After a guard stopped Chi Defeng at the entrance, Chen Fei went inside to take the alliance’s test.

• Chen Fei asked Guo Linshan about the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect’s herb-collecting mission and the risks of selling pills.
• Guo Linshan told Chen Fei that the Pill Refiner Alliance offered pill refiners protection and a place to exchange knowledge, but required applicants to pass a test.
• Chen Fei returned to Immortal Cloud City and found the alliance’s station with Chi Defeng.
• A guard barred Chi Defeng from entering because he was not a pill refiner, while Chen Fei entered to take the test.

Chen Fei passed the Pill Refiner Alliance’s Ninth Grade assessment by quickly refining an excellent Light Spirit Pill and received his identity token. He then applied to be assessed as an Eighth Grade Pill Master, and Qin Jinglan brought him to a Pill Room where an old Pill Master awaited.

• Chen Fei paid the fee and began the Light Spirit Pill test while Qin Jinglan recorded his work.
• Chen Fei refined plump, high-quality Light Spirit Pills in just over a quarter of an hour, surprising Qin Jinglan.
• The alliance verified Chen Fei’s pills and recording, approved him as a Ninth Grade Pill Master, and gave him a Jade Token.
• Chen Fei learned that refining the Ever Floating Pill could qualify him as an Eighth Grade Pill Master and applied for that assessment.
• Qin Jinglan led Chen Fei to another Pill Room, where an old Pill Master was waiting for him to begin.

Chen Fei passed the Eighth Grade Pill Master assessment after refining Ever Floating Pills to an exceptional standard, but he could not continue without the Flying Mausoleum Pill recipe. He declined Duan Zhilie's offer to introduce him to Noble Families, received his new Jade Token, and reassured Chi Defeng that selling pills on North Street should now be safer.

• Chen Fei refined Ever Floating Pills so skillfully that Duan Zhilie judged them even better than his own.
• Duan Zhilie invited Chen Fei to continue the assessment, but Chen Fei explained that he lacked the Flying Mausoleum Pill recipe.
• Chen Fei asked Duan Zhilie to sell him the recipe, then declined an introduction to Noble Families after learning it could not be privately traded.
• The Pill Refiner Alliance verified Chen Fei's results, passed his assessment, and issued him a new Jade Token.
• Chen Fei asked Qin Jinglan about displaying the Alliance's mark and learned he could use its medicine bottles when selling pills.
• Chen Fei met Chi Defeng outside and said the Jade Token would let him buy Alliance medicine bottles and sell pills with less trouble.

Chen Fei perfected the Tongyuan Art First Level in a few days, astonishing Guo Linshan and Feng Xiupu. Feng Xiupu taught him the Second Level, which Chen Fei expected to master within ten days.

• Chen Fei reached perfection in the Tongyuan Art First Level and found that its cultivation effect had improved by about ten percent.
• Chen Fei asked Guo Linshan when Feng Xiupu would teach him other martial arts, and Guo Linshan explained that outstanding progress could earn him further instruction.
• Chen Fei demonstrated his mastery of the Tongyuan Art First Level, leaving Guo Linshan astonished at how quickly he had learned it.
• Guo Linshan took Chen Fei to meet Feng Xiupu, who confirmed Chen Fei's progress and taught him the Tongyuan Art Second Level.
• Chen Fei estimated that he could perfect the Second Level within ten days, surprising both Guo Linshan and Feng Xiupu.

Chen Fei learned the Starry Night Sword and Soul Chasing Step from Feng Xiupu, who used the difficult arts to assess his comprehension. Guo Linshan told Chen Fei their mission would begin in five days, and Chen returned home to check his Panel.

• Chen Fei asked Feng Xiupu to teach him sword and movement techniques, and Feng gave him the Starry Night Sword and Soul Chasing Step manuals.
• Feng Xiupu explained that the defensive Starry Night Sword would help Chen Fei protect himself, while Soul Chasing Step excelled at long-distance escape.
• Chen Fei learned both arts to beginner level during Feng Xiupu's lessons.
• Feng Xiupu privately considered that Chen Fei's rapid progress might reflect exceptional comprehension and a higher martial potential.
• Guo Linshan told Chen Fei their mission would begin in five days, and Chen returned to his house to inspect his Panel.

Chen Fei trained his new cultivation arts while supervising the Yuan Chen Sword Sect’s herb-gathering mission, until an attack on the herb convoy brought the Long Rainbow Sect into confrontation with the camp. Kuang Dingbo arrived accusing a herb gatherer of trespassing and challenged the disciples, leaving the standoff unresolved.

• Chen Fei simplified Tongyuan Art Second Level, Starry Night Sword, and Soul Chasing Step, then spent days cultivating them.
• Chen Fei entered the mountains with Guo Linshan and the others to supervise herb gatherers on a compulsory sect mission.
• Luo Jun greeted Chen Fei and complained that he still intended to punish whoever had ambushed him.
• Chen Fei returned to camp after learning that attackers had struck the herb convoy and that Shi Dahe had escaped back badly injured.
• Kuang Dingbo of the Long Rainbow Sect seized and threw down a herb gatherer, then claimed the gatherer had trespassed and challenged the Yuan Chen Sword Sect disciples.

The Yuan Chen Sword Sect faced Kuang Dingbo of the Long Rainbow Sect, who used an accusation against a herb gatherer to demand a contest for medicinal herbs. Guo Linshan drove Kuang Dingbo away, then reported that two junior brothers had died and the Divine Flame Sect might have attacked them.

• Kuang Dingbo accused a herb gatherer of stealing medicinal herbs and kicked him, but Chen Fei caught and treated the injured man.
• Kuang Dingbo proposed a fight between the sects with several carts of medicinal herbs at stake, while Wen Ziqian objected to him challenging Bone Forging Realm disciples.
• Guo Linshan arrived and fought Kuang Dingbo, forcing him to retreat after their clash left both with minor injuries.
• Guo Linshan told the disciples that two junior brothers had died and said the traces suggested the Divine Flame Sect was responsible.

After the Divine Flame Sect was suspected of attacking the Yuan Chen Sword Sect’s herb convoy, Qian Lindu arrived to investigate and promised to escort future herb shipments. That night, Chen Fei completed his training in the Soul Chasing Step and Starry Night Sword, leaving him with greatly improved speed and swordsmanship.

• The disciples identified the attackers as members of the Divine Flame Sect, and Guo Linshan said the Long Rainbow Sect might or might not have been involved.
• Guo Linshan told Chen Fei he had perfected the Tongyuan Art’s fifth level and planned to attempt the Viscera Refining Realm after the mission.
• Qian Lindu arrived, heard Guo Linshan’s account of the attack and Kuang Dingbo’s interference, and said he would escort some future herb shipments.
• That night, Chen Fei practiced while Guo Linshan watched and reflected on Chen Fei’s diligence and potential.
• Chen Fei perfected the Soul Chasing Step and Starry Night Sword, demonstrating his increased speed and sword strikes from a treetop.

Chen Fei and Guo Linshan followed the Bone-Attached Gangrene’s reaction to a weak weird and discovered distant voices that might belong to the Divine Flame Sect. Chen Fei ran back to summon Qian Lindu, but another weird began charging toward him.

• Qian Lindu escorted the herb convoy to Immortal Cloud City, and it arrived safely without attack.
• Three days passed without further attacks on the convoy or the other sects.
• Chen Fei felt the Bone-Attached Gangrene react and told Guo Linshan that a weird might be nearby.
• Chen Fei and Guo Linshan followed the reaction nearly ten li, then heard voices in an area where no sect was stationed.
• Guo Linshan went to investigate from a distance while Chen Fei hurried back to fetch Qian Lindu and reinforcements.
• The Bone-Attached Gangrene became increasingly active as another weird charged toward Chen Fei.