Chapter Summaries

Xu Yi learned the duties and limits of being a trial disciple, then studied his gains from the trial grounds to understand the cultivation world’s reliance on pills. After concluding that alchemy offered the clearest path forward, he swallowed an origin pill.

• Xu Yi read that trial disciples had to gather Crimson Pearl Grass, pay rent after their first year, and become Outer Sect Disciples within ten years or be expelled.
• Xu Yi counted more than 150 storage rings and 63 Ascension Tokens, finding nearly 600 origin pills, more than 20 Spirit Nurturing Pills, and over 100 books among his spoils.
• Xu Yi read Wang Jiangkun’s journal and learned that cultivators often abandoned weapons after reaching Spirit Nurturing Great Perfection, relying instead on their bodies and spiritual energy.
• Xu Yi studied the books and realized that abundant spiritual energy had made pills and alchemy central to cultivation, with origin pills especially important for reaching the Spirit Root Realm.
• Xu Yi decided to pursue alchemy despite regretting the Talisman Art he had mastered, then swallowed an origin pill.

Xu Yi tested how many Essence Pills his body could withstand, then woke after three days of sleep to learn about life among Xuanqing Sect’s probationary disciples. He received a gift from a visitor and set out to meet him with Qiu Wa.

• Xu Yi took Essence Pills until the seventh pill caused intense pain, then collapsed from exhaustion.
• Xu Yi woke three days later with Qiu Wa and Desolate Ancestor nearby, and rewarded Desolate Ancestor with a Spirit Nurturing Pill and a booklet.
• Desolate Ancestor told Xu Yi about the markets, missions, and prominent groups among the probationary disciples.
• Desolate Ancestor gave Xu Yi three Crimson Pearl Grass stalks left by a visitor who had asked Xu Yi to visit him.
• Xu Yi invited Qiu Wa to accompany him to meet the visitor, but she darted into the cave abode.

Xu Yi accepted Meng Fu’s invitation to join the Co-learning Society after attending its cultivation and alchemy exchange. He left encouraged by the group’s welcoming atmosphere, while Qiu Wa remained weak and the Ice Fire Rabbit continued recovering in a deep sleep.

• Xu Yi told Desolate Ancestor to stay behind, refine his spiritual energy, and exchange for two Sub-Orders, then visited Meng Fu.
• Meng Fu invited Xu Yi to attend a Co-learning Society exchange, and Xu Yi agreed because he wanted to learn about alchemy.
• Xu Yi returned to his cave abode, checked on the sleeping Qiu Wa and Ice Fire Rabbit, and placed extra restrictions around the rabbit.
• Desolate Ancestor told Xu Yi that his spiritual energy had turned pure purple and that his recovery was close to success.
• Xu Yi attended the Co-learning Society exchange, enjoyed its open atmosphere, and accepted Zhao Gan’s invitation to join.

Xu Yi joined the Co-learning Society and asked Meng Fu about learning alchemy, receiving an overview of its fundamentals and the long path to refining pills. He began attending the Society’s activities and studying alchemy, though his cultivation remained restless beneath the surface.

• Xu Yi joined the Co-learning Society, where Zhao Qian explained that membership required no formal procedures.
• After the introductions, Xu Yi asked Zhao Qian for guidance about alchemy, and Meng Fu answered his four basic questions.
• Meng Fu explained that beginners studied medicinal ingredients and spiritual energy, and that refining even basic pills usually took years of practice.
• Xu Yi thanked Meng Fu and agreed to attend the Society’s activities and meet its members regularly.
• Xu Yi began gathering medicinal ingredients and exchanging knowledge with Society members, especially enjoying their meetings every seven days.

Xu Yi learned that Jade Dew Spiritual Milk might appear at an exclusive exchange meet, and hoped to obtain it to help Qiu Wa. Desolate Ancestor investigated the event, then returned with grim news and confessed that he had failed Xu Yi.

• Xu Yi worried as Qiu Wa spent most of her time asleep and grew weaker.
• Desolate Ancestor told Xu Yi that an exchange meet at Wudang Peak might offer Jade Dew Spiritual Milk, based on information from Wang Long.
• Xu Yi judged the rumor plausible, gave Desolate Ancestor five Origin Pills, and ordered him to learn how to enter the meet.
• Xu Yi grew too agitated to focus while waiting for more information.
• Desolate Ancestor returned the next day, fell to his knees before Xu Yi, and said he had ruined his plans.

Xu Yi learned why the Five Lakes Merchant Alliance’s exchange meeting had restricted attendance, then accepted Meng Fu’s invitation to observe the Co-learning Society’s attempt to refine an Origin Pill. The refinement began in Zhao Gan’s alchemy room, with Chen Gong and Meng Fu stepping forward to assist.

• Desolate Ancestor told Xu Yi he had paid Wang Long an Origin Pill to learn that the Five Lakes Merchant Alliance organized the exchange meeting and that a liaison elder controlled the limited invitations.
• Xu Yi asked Desolate Ancestor to keep searching for a way into the meeting, then heard Meng Fu announce that Zhao Gan and the Co-learning Society would attempt to refine an Origin Pill.
• Meng Fu invited Xu Yi to observe the refinement, and Xu Yi agreed, promising to treat the members to a feast afterward.
• Xu Yi entered Zhao Gan’s alchemy room, where the Co-learning Society members and an unfamiliar blue-faced man had gathered.
• After Zhao Gan lit Spirit-Calming Incense and the room observed a period of silence, the blue-faced man sent him a pill furnace, and Zhao Gan placed it over the earthfire.
• Chen Gong and Meng Fu stepped forward as the refinement began.

The Co-learning Society attempted to refine an Essence Pill together, but repeated failures exhausted the participants and ruined their ingredients. Chen Gong’s final attempt failed after he forced his dwindling spiritual power, leaving him injured while Zhao Gan urged him to focus on what he had learned.

• Zhao Gan, Meng Fu, and Chen Gong joined forces to clear impurities from the ingredients, then Zhao Gan added the precious Essence Fruit.
• Zhao Gan’s batch failed, and after a female cultivator took his place, Chen Gong’s next attempt failed as well.
• Xu Yi joked about treating everyone to dinner, easing the tense mood and encouraging the group to continue.
• The group wasted two more batches, and Chen Gong began another attempt after taking restorative powder.
• Chen Gong passed the first hurdle but exhausted himself forcing the refinement, causing the furnace to explode and leaving him coughing up purple blood.
• Zhao Gan reassured the injured Chen Gong and urged him to reflect on what he had learned.

After repeated failures threatened the pill-refining trial, Xu Yi joined Meng Fu and Qing Ye for the final batch and helped them succeed. The group produced 323 pills, though the Earthfire’s allotted time ran out immediately afterward.

• Meng Fu and Zhao Gan resumed refining after a half-hour break, but three batches failed in a row.
• Zhao Gan asked Xu Yi to take a turn, and Xu Yi agreed while Qing Ye joined him for the final set of ingredients.
• Xu Yi’s spiritual power stabilized the furnace’s airflow, and a phoenix cry announced that the first stage had succeeded.
• Meng Fu added the Essence Fruit and completed the second stage, producing a large batch of pills.
• Zhao Gan counted 323 pills as the Earthfire went out, and Xu Yi began calculating the group’s costs.

The trial disciples reviewed their successful Origin Pill refining and suspected Xu Yi’s converted Golden Spiritual Energy had helped stabilize the auxiliary agent. After discussing the lessons, Zhao Gan began dividing the pills but first paid Fan Jiu for renting his furnace.

• Meng Fu explained that the unusually stable auxiliary agent had helped the group fuse the Essence Fruit and produce 323 Origin Pills.
• Qing Ye and Meng Fu credited Xu Yi’s precise spiritual energy control, and Xu Yi revealed that he had completed spiritual energy conversion.
• Zhao Gan ended the speculation and led the group in reviewing the refining process on Green Flat while someone recorded their findings in a booklet.
• Zhao Gan offered Fan Jiu three Origin Pills as payment and a bonus for renting the pill furnace.

After the Co-learning Society refined Origin Pills, Fan Jiu demanded extra pills for his furnace and revealed their success to the Righteous Qi Society. With the Righteous Qi Society and True Desire Society converging on Green Flat, Zhao Gan faced growing pressure to explain what had happened.

• Fan Jiu demanded ten more Origin Pills from Zhao Gan, who agreed and handed them over to keep the dispute quiet.
• Fan Jiu's Righteous Qi Society leader, Du Chuan, arrived with four members and challenged the Co-learning Society over Fan Jiu's supposed share.
• Meng Fu stopped Hong Fei from attacking Fan Jiu and urged the Co-learning Society to follow Zhao Gan's lead.
• Dong Qingke arrived with members of the True Desire Society, and Zhao Gan lowered the barrier to let them and Du Chuan's group onto Green Flat.
• Dong Qingke asked Zhao Gan what had happened after receiving a message that the Co-learning Society had refined Origin Pills and someone was causing trouble.

The Co-learning Society and Du Chuan’s group disputed the share of Origin Pills, with Zhao Gan relying on Dong Qingke to mediate. Dong Qingke betrayed Zhao Gan by writing a settlement giving Fan Jiu forty-nine percent, leaving Zhao Gan to accept responsibility and plead for the Co-learning Society’s safety.

• Du Chuan demanded half of the Origin Pills from the Co-learning Society, and Dong Qingke agreed to mediate after Zhao Gan privately offered him twenty pills.
• Dong Qingke raised a mist barrier and had Du Chuan and Zhao Gan sign a blank settlement document before he filled it in.
• Meng Fu warned Zhao Gan that Dong Qingke might not be trustworthy, but Zhao Gan signed anyway because he felt he had no other choice.
• Dong Qingke wrote that the Co-learning Society would give Fan Jiu forty-nine percent of the pill proceeds, and Zhao Gan spat blood when he saw the terms.
• Du Chuan insisted that Zhao Gan honor the signed agreement, while Zhao Gan accepted blame and warned him not to harm the Co-learning Society.

Xu Yi intervened when Du Chuan tried to extort pills from the Co-learning Society, beating Du Chuan and the Righteous Qi Society members and forcing Steward Hu to accept responsibility for the incident. The chapter left Steward Hu holding Du Chuan’s storage bracelet, afraid that accepting it would bring trouble.

• Meng Fu agreed to hand over half the pills, but Xu Yi demanded that the group summon Steward Hu to uphold the rules.
• Du Chuan bribed Steward Hu with two essence pills, then grabbed Zhao Gan and demanded payment until Chen Gong offered the pills himself.
• Xu Yi struck Du Chuan and slammed the four Righteous Qi Society members into the ground when they attacked him.
• Xu Yi seized Steward Hu, ruined Du Chuan’s dantian, and cited the disciple-fighting rules as he paid a twenty-pill fine plus two pills for Steward Hu.
• Xu Yi took Du Chuan’s storage bracelet and gave it to Steward Hu, who accepted it anxiously and worried he would be blamed for whatever it contained.

Xu Yi extorted Steward Hu and the four members of the Righteous Qi Society, then used threats and torture to force them under his control. He left them alive but secured written leverage over Hu and dictated false confessions from the four.

• Xu Yi took nearly forty Origin Pills from Du Chuan and the four members of the Righteous Qi Society, keeping thirty and giving ten to Steward Hu.
• Xu Yi threatened to kill the four, then made Steward Hu write and sign a document to secure his cooperation.
• Xu Yi dictated confessions claiming the four had plotted against Du Chuan and destroyed his Qi Sea.
• Steward Hu beat the four after Xu Yi accused them of disrespecting him, but Xu Yi knocked out Hu's teeth and tortured him with an Origin Seal Bead.
• Xu Yi restored Steward Hu with spirit liquid and explained that Hu's apparent submission had not been enough to trust him.

Xu Yi forced Steward Hu and the Righteous Qi Society to back down, then made Dong Qingke surrender his storage bracelets and sign a confession. After Steward Hu left with the Righteous Qi Society, Xu Yi faced the stunned Co-learning Society members, knowing his cover as their junior was over.

• Xu Yi made Steward Hu accept responsibility, collected the Righteous Qi Society members' written statements, and ordered them to leave with him.
• Xu Yi had Dong Qingke hand over four storage bracelets and sign a written confession along with his companions.
• Steward Hu slapped Du Chuan unconscious again and ordered that he be dealt with at a public hearing in Qitian Mountain Valley.
• Xu Yi dismissed Steward Hu and the Righteous Qi Society, keeping the True Desire Society behind.
• Xu Yi asked Zhao Gan and the others how they wanted to deal with Dong Qingke, but the Co-learning Society members remained too shocked to answer.

Xu Yi dealt with the Co-learning Society’s betrayers and faced a crowd demanding a share of its Primordial Core. When Jing Long tried to absorb the society under the guise of an alliance, Xu Yi accepted and positioned himself as its vice president handling external affairs.

• Xu Yi kicked Dong Qingke out, then ordered Meng Fu to subdue Fan Jiu and the others to clean up before opening Green Flat’s gate.
• Dong Qingke dispersed the mist, revealing more than a hundred people from six groups demanding a share of the Co-learning Society’s Primordial Core.
• Meng Fu warned Xu Yi that Jing Long, head of the powerful Startling Dragon Society, was approaching and advised him to be cautious.
• Jing Long condemned the crowd’s demands, then proposed making the Co-learning Society a brother society of his own group.
• Xu Yi accepted Jing Long’s proposal and claimed to be the Co-learning Society’s newly appointed vice president, with Zhao Gan confirming his role.

Xu Yi defeated Jing Long and took his invitation to the Five Lakes Merchant Alliance’s exchange gathering. Dong Qingke revealed Jing Long’s role in Tong Mei’s death, leaving Jing Long exposed and unable to deny the accusation.

• Xu Yi asked Jing Long about his exchange-gathering invitation, then defeated him with a single sword strike and knocked down the Startling Dragon Society members.
• Xu Yi ordered Dong Qingke to torment Jing Long and took Jing Long’s storage bracelet, finding the invitation inside.
• Xu Yi asked Dong Qingke how to handle Jing Long’s powerful connections, and Dong Qingke said Jing Long could be made to stay quiet by writing down a confession.
• Dong Qingke accused Jing Long of murdering Tong Mei in Red Maple Forest and framing two scapegoats, and Jing Long’s composure crumbled.

Xu Yi used Dong Qingke’s Ruyi Pearl to expose Jing Long as Tong Mei’s murderer and forced Jing Long and Dong Qingke to leave the Co-learning Society. He reassured the society’s members, and they ended the tense meeting by reading a mocking note about True Man Scarlet Fire.

• Jing Long refused to confess in writing, but Dong Qingke revealed a Ruyi Pearl recording that showed Jing Long’s reactions to the account of Tong Mei’s death.
• After the Righteous Qi Society members released Jing Long, he killed his own followers and begged Xu Yi to spare him in exchange for his strength.
• Dong Qingke and the True Desire Society members knelt and pleaded with Xu Yi not to trust Jing Long, while Jing Long threatened them through voice transmission.
• Xu Yi dismissed Jing Long and Dong Qingke, and their groups cleaned up the blood before leaving.
• Chen Gong gave Xu Yi the origin pills, and Xu Yi reassured the Co-learning Society that he would protect its members and not use force against them.
• Xu Yi showed everyone Steward Hu’s promissory note, which bore the words “True Man Scarlet Fire is a dog,” making the society members laugh.

Xu Yi left the Co-learning Society after dealing with the alchemy room dispute, then prepared to pursue spirit milk at an exchange meeting on Ziyang Mountain. The chapter ended with him entering the hidden meeting hall in disguise.

• Xu Yi and the others decided not to confront Fan Jiu because an Inner Sect Disciple owned the pill furnace, and Xu Yi left the Co-learning Society with more than four hundred origin pills from the seized wealth.
• After Xu Yi departed, the Co-learning Society members debated his frightening reputation and concluded they had no choice but to adapt to him.
• Xu Yi returned to his cave, checked on Qiu Wa, sorted his spoils, and later set out with Qiu Wa and the Ice Fire Rabbit.
• The Desolate Ancestor told Xu Yi about the exchange meeting on Ziyang Mountain, but Xu Yi showed him an invitation and flew off to attend.
• Xu Yi traveled by river and forest, reached Ziyang Mountain at midnight in a black robe, and entered the stone chamber after the guards verified his invitation.

Xu Yi found that the Jade Dew Spiritual Milk would cost far more than he expected, so he sold his Ascension Tokens to the Five Lakes Merchant Alliance for an advance of Origin Pills. He left the exchange with just over three thousand Origin Pills to spend at the auction.

• Xu Yi checked the auction list and learned that three drops of Jade Dew Spiritual Milk were estimated to sell for five hundred Origin Pills.
• Xu Yi summoned Five Lakes Merchant Alliance manager Jiang Ming to discuss exchanging a valuable treasure for credit.
• Jiang Ming dismissed Xu Yi’s first Ascension Token, but Xu Yi then showed him all sixty-three tokens.
• Jiang Ming recognized Xu Yi as an extraordinary cultivator from the lower realm and offered twenty-five Origin Pills per token.
• Xu Yi accepted the offer, and Jiang Ming completed the exchange, leaving Xu Yi with just over three thousand Origin Pills and more than sixty Spirit Nurturing Pills.

Xu Yi tricked Manager Jiang into revealing his greed for the Black Origin Bead and Golden Soul Fruit, then subdued him and implanted a Many-Legged Worm. Jiang Ming was left under Xu Yi’s control, warned that his safety depended on Xu Yi staying alive.

• Jiang Ming questioned Xu Yi about his invitation and urged him to show any treasures from the lower realm.
• Xu Yi showed Jiang Ming the Black Origin Bead, and Jiang Ming offered an advance of one thousand Origin Pills.
• Xu Yi revealed a Golden Soul Fruit, then struck Jiang Ming while he was distracted and forced a Many-Legged Worm into him.
• Xu Yi explained that he had planned the ambush because he suspected Jiang Ming would covet his treasures.
• Xu Yi told Jiang Ming that the worm would cause unbearable pain if activated and that Jiang Ming should hope Xu Yi remained safe.