Chapter Summaries

Zhang Lingshan destroyed the Divine Sword Sect after sending Xia Ru to the Yama Ghost Realm, then spared the Heavenly Sword Gate after learning Jian Mingchen had protected people from the Nine Provinces Continent. The chapter ended with Jian Mingchen and Jian Wumei wondering whether Zhang Lingshan would soon ascend to the Immortal Realm.

• Zhang Lingshan trapped Xia Ru with his spear, sent a Divine Dew message to Xuanqing and the others, and left her behind before heading for the Divine Sword Sect.
• Le Bingyun urged He Yunhuan to flee, but Zhang Lingshan arrived and pulled the Divine Sword Sect into the Yama Ghost Realm, where its members became Ghostly Entities.
• Zhang Lingshan found the Divine Sword Inheritance but dismissed it, then went to the Heavenly Sword Gate and met Jian Mingchen, who asked him to spare the sect.
• Zhang Lingshan learned that Jian Mingchen had sheltered Jian Wumei and other people from the Nine Provinces Continent, so he spared the Heavenly Sword Gate and appointed Jian Mingchen its new gate master.
• Jian Wumei told Jian Mingchen that he had once opposed Zhang Lingshan, and the two wondered whether Zhang Lingshan would ascend to the Immortal Realm.

Zhang Lingshan spared the Azure Dragon Gate but went to Yuxuan City, where he exposed the Yuxuan City Lord’s false admiration and sent her and Fu Xuan into the Yama Ghost Realm. He then reached the Ascension Hall and asked Qi Shuyan to let him use a Teleportation Array.

• After the East Wind Tower Master told Zhang Lingshan that Li Jinglei had saved people from the Nine Provinces, Zhang spared the Azure Dragon Gate and headed for Yuxuan City.
• Fu Xuan urged the Yuxuan City Lord to flee, but she refused and cut off their communication; Fu Xuan then barged into her mansion and insisted on staying with her.
• When Zhang Lingshan arrived, the Yuxuan City Lord disowned Fu Xuan and professed her love for Zhang, while Fu Xuan realized she had only pretended to be aloof.
• Zhang Lingshan sent the Yuxuan City Lord and Fu Xuan into the Yama Ghost Realm, absorbed their bodies into Energy Points, and left for the Ascension Hall.
• Zhang Lingshan asked Qi Shuyan to let him lock onto the Teleportation Array of an Ascension Tower, and Qi Shuyan agreed to obey his commands.

Zhang Lingshan connected the Source River Cauldron to the Nine Provinces Continent, supplying it with Upper Realm Vital Qi and establishing a Heavenly Palace Formation to strengthen its people and expand its rules. He agreed to take Qi Shuyan with him through the Source River, then received Qi Shuyan’s imitation Fan Tian Seal.

• Zhang Lingshan linked the ascension formation to the Nine Provinces Continent and announced that he would send it Upper Realm Vital Qi and provide cultivation methods through a Heavenly Palace Formation.
• Zhang Lingshan and his nine clones completed the connecting and Heavenly Palace formations, distributing the Source River’s Vital Qi and arranging for cultivators to advance through the palace’s levels.
• Zhang Lingshan offered Qi Shuyan a wish, and Qi Shuyan asked to ascend through the Source River despite Zhang Lingshan warning him that ascension was a scam and could make him a slave.
• Qi Shuyan begged to accompany Zhang Lingshan to the Immortal Realm, and Zhang Lingshan agreed to secure them places through a message to Yi Chen.
• Qi Shuyan gave Zhang Lingshan a handmade imitation Fan Tian Seal, startling him with its name.

Zhang Lingshan studied the Space Rule in Qi Shuyan’s Fan Tian Seal, then used his new insight to search for the Space Interlayer where Zixuan City Lord was trapped. Along the way, he reunited with Chen Youming, demonstrated his Yama Ghost Realm, and finally found the interlayer hidden in a page of a book.

• Qi Shuyan explained that the Fan Tian Seal could strike through space, and Zhang Lingshan tested it before trading it for the Soul-Protecting Lamp.
• Zhang Lingshan studied the Fan Tian Seal and related texts for three days, advancing his understanding of the Space Rule enough to perceive layers of space.
• While searching for Zixuan City Lord’s Space Interlayer, Zhang Lingshan met Chen Youming and captured the two pursuers who had been hunting him.
• Zhang Lingshan demonstrated his Yama Ghost Realm, gave Chen Youming the pursuers’ Storage Bags, and destroyed Zhaoxuan City’s City Lord’s Mansion to remove the danger to him.
• Zhang Lingshan found the Space Interlayer concealed in a page of a book in a shop, where a hunched old man asked if he wanted to buy a book.

Zhang Lingshan discovered a mysterious, indestructible page that held Zixuan City Lord inside and rescued him to learn about it. After investigating the page’s space, Zhang Lingshan let Zhang Zixin enter, and she decided to live there so she could accompany him to the Immortal Realm.

• Zhang Lingshan bought a strange-tales book and found an indestructible page containing Zixuan City Lord in a sealed space.
• Zhang Lingshan explored the page with his divine sense and learned that Zixuan City Lord had been trapped there after his Purple Sand resonated with it.
• Zhang Lingshan pulled Zixuan City Lord out, and the Yama Ghost Realm forced him to reveal his suspicion that the page came from the Earth Book.
• Zhang Lingshan sent Zhang Zixin into the page’s space, where she found its scenery and incomplete rules resembled his Portable Dwelling.
• Zhang Zixin decided to live inside the page so Zhang Lingshan could take her with him to the Immortal Realm.

Zhang Lingshan prepared to ascend to the Immortal Realm with Qi Shuyan, while storing his companions and the Violet Qi Golden Silkworm inside the Single Page. After the group arrived in Anning City, the newly ascended were surrounded by soldiers and learned that the Immortal Realm treated them as captives.

• Zhang Lingshan sent Zhang Zixin, Zhang Jinxuan, and Zhang Lingshe into the Single Page and asked them to study the Violet Qi Golden Silkworm cocoon.
• Zhang Lingshan and Qi Shuyan set out for the Source River, where Zhang Lingshan continued cultivating while Qi Shuyan went to meet Yi Chen.
• Yi Chen brought Qi Shuyan, Zhang Lingshan, and eight other ascenders to the Source River Teleportation Array and warned them about dangers during the journey.
• Yi Chen activated the array, and Zhang Lingshan and the others arrived in an Ascension Pit in Anning City, in the Great Qing Dynasty.
• A general ordered the ascenders to line up and threatened to kill anyone who looked around or spoke without permission.
• When a purple-robed man asked whether they were in the Immortal Realm, the general struck him with an unseen whip, leaving the ascenders terrified and fearing they would be enslaved.

Zhang Lingshan and Qi Shuyan arrived in the Immortal Realm with Yi Chen, who used Fei Zhan’s warrant to secure them preferential treatment. After bathing in Immortal Spirit Liquid, Zhang Lingshan concealed part of his spirit-root abilities and tested as a three-element Mixed Spirit Root.

• The newly arrived Dharma Aspect Realm experts were forced to surrender their belongings, bathe in the Immortal Spirit Liquid pond, and undergo spirit-root testing, where a woman was revealed to have a fire-attribute Heavenly Spirit Root.
• Yi Chen introduced himself to Fei Zhan as Yi Fengliu’s clansman, gave him a Storage Ring, and obtained a warrant to help Zhang Lingshan and Qi Shuyan bypass the line and receive easier posts.
• Zhang Lingshan followed Yi Chen’s lead through the pond, gained Energy Points from the Immortal Spirit Liquid, and kept his valuable Storage Ring hidden in his Pouch Space.
• After Yi Chen warned Qi Shuyan about the danger of being exposed as a Heavenly Spirit Root, Zhang Lingshan tested first and made the Detection Stone Stele show earth, fire, and water elements.
• Zhang Lingshan concealed his metal element and presented himself as a three-element Mixed Spirit Root to avoid drawing attention while seeking an easier job.

Zhang Lingshan and Qi Shuyan secured assignments at the Artifact Refining Pavilion, where they began work extracting molten metal. Their new workplace proved dangerous and exhausting, and they learned that few workers survived long enough to advance.

• Qi Shuyan tested as having a gold, water, and fire Three-element Mixed Spirit Root, and Yi Chen brought him and Zhang Lingshan to steward Lian Zhengjie for assignments.
• Lian Zhengjie assigned Qi Shuyan to the Artifact Refining Pavilion as an aspiring artifact refiner and Zhang Lingshan as his fire boy.
• Yi Chen returned to the Mortal Realm, and Zhang Lingshan privately decided Yi Chen had earned a place as his trusted aide.
• Zhang Lingshan and Qi Shuyan reported to the Artifact Refining Pavilion, where Steward Hu assigned them furnaces and explained how to qualify for promotion.
• Fire worker Wei Sheng warned them that the work was perilous, and they saw a white-haired old worker collapse after completing his extraction.

Zhang Lingshan began refining Black Meteorite Iron in the Artifact Refining Hall and stunned Wei Sheng with his speed and purity, showing the potential to advance to Iron Rank. After learning that extra work earned Immortal Spirit Pills, he chose to keep refining so he could collect them and increase his Energy Points.

• Zhang Lingshan activated his furnace and impressed Wei Sheng and the other workers with the strength of his flame.
• Zhang Lingshan refined Black Meteorite Iron to eighty percent purity in under half an hour, while Qi Shuyan had not yet fully melted his piece.
• Wei Sheng explained that sixty percent purity was enough to pass, and that Zhang Lingshan could send his refined metal through the teleportation groove.
• Zhang Lingshan learned that extra items earned bottles of Immortal Spirit Pills, which he could use to increase his Energy Points.
• Zhang Lingshan started another piece of Black Meteorite Iron, eager to refine enough items to earn pills.

Zhang Lingshan earned Immortal Spirit Pills by refining metal in the Artifact Refining Pavilion and used them to strengthen Qi Shuyan’s flame. After six days, Wei Sheng offered to demonstrate the precise temperature needed to extract White Cloud Steel, which Zhang Lingshan had just begun working with.

• Zhang Lingshan received a bowl of Spirit Rice Meal and eight bottles of Immortal Spirit Pills for his first day’s work, then learned that the rice and pills could increase his Energy Points and Immortal Divine Sense.
• During the night’s rest, Zhang Lingshan studied artifact-refining books in his Pouch Space while the Soul Tree in his mind quietly grew.
• The next day, Zhang Lingshan refined fifteen pieces of Black Meteorite Iron by stopping at sixty percent purity, earning eleven bottles of Immortal Spirit Pills.
• Zhang Lingshan gave pills to Wei Sheng and Qi Shuyan, secretly infusing them with Divine Dew so Qi Shuyan could strengthen his flame.
• After six days, Zhang Lingshan moved on to extracting White Cloud Steel, and Wei Sheng offered to demonstrate the precise temperature required.

Zhang Lingshan learned to refine several new materials while Song Yi advanced to Iron Rank, then used his accumulated energy to fuse the Xuantian True Scripture with Derive Myriad Techniques. The fusion left him incapacitated at his furnace, and Qi Shuyan and Wei Sheng covered his work and cared for him as he endured the process.

• Wei Sheng taught Zhang Lingshan how to control the temperature while refining White Cloud Steel, and Song Yi achieved one hundred percent purity in Jade Copper Steel and advanced to Iron Rank.
• Zhang Lingshan refined sixteen pieces of White Cloud Steel, rewarded Wei Sheng with Immortal Spirit Pills, and helped Qi Shuyan strengthen his flame.
• Over the following days, Zhang Lingshan refined Crimson Roar Sand and other materials while learning their distinctive properties.
• After accumulating one Rang of energy, Zhang Lingshan entered the Gate of All Wonders at night and used his points to fuse the Xuantian True Scripture with Derive Myriad Techniques.
• The fusion left Zhang Lingshan unable to work, so Qi Shuyan and Wei Sheng split his quota and completed his refining for the day.
• Qi Shuyan fed Zhang Lingshan his Spirit Rice Meal, and Zhang Lingshan's expression began to ease.

Zhang Lingshan recovered after deducing the first layer of the Myriad Techniques True Scripture, then used his improved skills to help Wei Sheng and Qi Shuyan refine materials and earn rewards. After months of work, Qi Shuyan nearly mastered Jade Copper Steel and proposed that the three leave together once Zhang Lingshan and Wei Sheng caught up.

• Wei Sheng and Qi Shuyan fed their Spirit Rice Meal to Zhang Lingshan while taking on extra refining work, and Zhang Lingshan sensed how exhausted they were.
• Zhang Lingshan calmed himself, influenced the figures inside the Gate of All Wonders, and completed the first layer of the Myriad Techniques True Scripture.
• Zhang Lingshan awoke fully recovered, refined Azure Chromium, Rakshasa Gold, and Jade Copper Steel quickly, and shared Immortal Spirit Pills with Wei Sheng and Qi Shuyan.
• Over the next two months, Zhang Lingshan helped Qi Shuyan advance to refining Jade Copper Steel while planning to balance reward-earning with improving purity.
• Qi Shuyan became close to mastering Jade Copper Steel and told Zhang Lingshan and Wei Sheng that they would leave together once both of them succeeded.

Qi Shuyan, Zhang Lingshan, and Wei Sheng advanced to Iron Rank after refining Jade Copper Steel, then left the first-floor hall despite the other Fire Boys' demands for their method. On the Second Layer, Steward Qian Puzhi separated Wei Sheng from Qi Shuyan and led Zhang Lingshan to a larger refining hall with the same restrictions.

• Qi Shuyan and Zhang Lingshan refined Jade Copper Steel to one hundred percent purity and received Iron Rank badges.
• Wei Sheng burned his lifespan to finish refining Jade Copper Steel, earned an Iron Rank badge, and prompted the other Fire Boys to crowd around demanding the method.
• Zhang Lingshan drove back the Fire Boys, and the three newly promoted Iron Rank workers left the first-floor hall together.
• Steward Hu congratulated them at the stairway and sent them up to the Second Layer.
• Steward Qian Puzhi assigned Wei Sheng separately, then brought Zhang Lingshan to the Second Layer's larger refining hall and explained its rules.

Zhang Lingshan began refining Sinking Star Iron on the Second Layer while Qi Shuyan and Wei Sheng started artifact refining under better conditions. Wei Sheng succeeded with Qi Shuyan’s help, but Song Yi was stripped of his artifact-refiner status and sent to tend the fire, where he encountered Zhang Lingshan.

• Zhang Lingshan read the Second Layer’s rules and began refining Sinking Star Iron, which required greater skill than he expected.
• Qi Shuyan and Wei Sheng entered the Artifact Refining Hall; Qi Shuyan quickly began work on a Clear Wind Sword while Wei Sheng struggled to focus.
• Wei Sheng failed his first attempt but received a bowl of rice, while Qi Shuyan revealed he had refined two items and gave Wei Sheng an Immortal Spirit Pill.
• Qi Shuyan managed to refine only eight pills overnight, while Wei Sheng focused himself and successfully completed a Clear Wind Sword.
• Qian Puzhi revoked Song Yi’s artifact-refiner status after three consecutive days of failure and took him to the Refining Hall to tend the fire.
• Zhang Lingshan saw Song Yi arrive and asked why he had only come to the Second Layer then.

Song Yi struggled to survive as a fire boy after being demoted from the Artifact Refining Hall, while Zhang Lingshan recognized his unusual spiritual talent. The two exchanged techniques, leaving Song Yi with a Flame Tempering Method tailored to help him improve.

• Song Yi discovered that his Identity Iron Token had been changed from an artifact-refining token to a fire token, confirming his demotion.
• Song Yi endured the Second Layer's increasingly difficult refining quotas, coughing blood to refine extra materials and earn Immortal Spirit Pills.
• Song Yi asked Zhang Lingshan to trade his Spirit Tempering Method for Zhang Lingshan's Flame Tempering Method.
• Song Yi transmitted his self-created Spirit Tempering Method to Zhang Lingshan, and Zhang Lingshan felt his Soul Tree grow slightly in response.
• Zhang Lingshan taught Song Yi an improved Xuantian Extreme Fire Technique designed to let him absorb flame power from the Refining Hall.

Zhang Lingshan’s Flame Tempering Method transformed Song Yi’s prospects, while Zhang Lingshan continued refining materials and learning about spirit-rice farming. After six months on the second floor, both men purified Mysterious Jade Essence completely, and Zhang Lingshan received a Bronze Identification Token but remained far from becoming a True Immortal.

• Zhang Lingshan taught Song Yi a customized Flame Tempering Method containing a trace of his flame power, and Song Yi found his refining easier the next day.
• Song Yi worried that Zhang Lingshan’s Spirit Tempering Method was making him cough blood, while Zhang Lingshan reassured him and declined the Immortal Spirit Pills Song Yi offered.
• After thirty days, Song Yi’s flames had more than doubled in strength without blood loss, and he realized Zhang Lingshan had given him a new future.
• Song Yi told Zhang Lingshan how he had grown Mid-Grade Spirit Rice and entered the Artifact Refining Pavilion, describing the hardship and harsh rewards faced by spirit-rice farmers.
• Zhang Lingshan and Song Yi exchanged refining experience as they worked on Mysterious Jade Essence, and both eventually purified it to one hundred percent.
• After half a year on the second floor, Zhang Lingshan received a Bronze Identification Token and wondered how Qi Shuyan, Wei Sheng, and the others were doing.

After reaching the Artifact Refining Pavilion’s Third Layer, Zhang Lingshan and Song Yi learned its merit-point system and spent a month refining materials to build up their balances. Just as they considered how to afford a Weapon Refining Room, an announcement called for specialists in water-type materials to assist artifact refiner Pei Daoming.

• Zhao Chuanying explained that Third Layer members had no daily quotas or free meals and had to earn merit points for food and access to Weapon Refining Rooms.
• Song Yi learned that a fire boy needed three hundred merit points to rent a Weapon Refining Room, then joined Zhang Lingshan in choosing and refining materials suited to their spiritual roots.
• Zhang Lingshan and Song Yi worked intensively for a month, each saving sixty merit points, while Zhang Lingshan wondered why Qi Shuyan had not yet advanced to the Third Layer.
• Zhang Lingshan suggested that they apply to share a Weapon Refining Room, but Song Yi said they would need a third person to join them.
• The Refining Hall doors burst open, and an announcer invited specialists in water-type materials to register for Pei Daoming’s refining session, offering sixty merit points whether it succeeded or failed.

Zhang Lingshan entered Artifact Master Pei Daoming’s fire-worker selection, hoping to earn merit points and gain a chance to refine alongside him. He passed the first two rounds, but the upcoming test with first-grade material left him uncertain as the candidates rested before the final selection.

• After learning successful assistants could earn at least three hundred merit points and have expenses reimbursed, Zhang Lingshan decided to take Pei Daoming’s test.
• Jiang Yan began the selection with Blue Sea Iron, requiring candidates to refine it to seventy-five percent purity, and Zhang Lingshan passed.
• In the second round, Zhang Lingshan refined Water Dragon Silver to the required purity and passed, while fewer than thirty candidates remained.
• Jiang Yan announced a two-hour rest before a third round using first-grade material, and said Pei Daoming needed two water-element fire workers.

During the four-hour rest, Zhang Lingshan secretly tested refining Tortoise Shell Gold and discovered how difficult first-class materials were to purify. He returned for Jiang Yan’s Falling River Gold test and held on until only six people remained, leaving the selection unresolved.

• Zhang Lingshan exchanged for supplies and used his rest period to practice refining Tortoise Shell Gold, which took two hours to melt.
• Zhang Lingshan purified the molten Tortoise Shell Gold to only thirty-seven percent, then discarded it and replenished his strength.
• Jiang Yan announced that the third round would require refining Falling River Gold, and Zhang Lingshan deliberately set his flame intensity just below the strongest contestant’s.
• One by one, contestants exhausted themselves and stopped refining, while Jiang Yan let them remain and watch quietly.
• Zhang Lingshan and five experienced fire workers were the last six still refining; one veteran withdrew at sixty percent and asked to stay to see who passed.

Zhang Lingshan and Gu Nanxiang passed Pei Daoming’s selection to assist with artifact refining. Pei offered them Merit Point loans for cultivation treasures under strict repayment terms, and Zhang questioned how failure and repayment would be judged before Jiang Yan began explaining.

• Zhang Lingshan pretended to be exhausted after refining Falling River Gold to seventy-one percent purity, while Gu Nanxiang reached seventy-four percent and fainted.
• Jiang Yan announced that Gu Nanxiang and Zhang Lingshan had passed the selection, and the gathered Fire Workers congratulated Zhang.
• Jiang Yan brought the two to Pei Daoming, who offered Zhang a loan of one thousand Merit Points for a Flame Crystal and Gu Nanxiang two thousand for a Divine Thought Crystal.
• Pei Daoming said the loans would be forgiven if the artifact refining succeeded, but failure would require double repayment, prompting Zhang to ask how responsibility and repayment would be determined.
• Pei Daoming told Jiang Yan to answer, and Jiang Yan began by saying that failure would be judged by whether the Fire Workers’ refined material met the required purity.