Chapter Summaries

Daoist Unspoken explained why Lu Yang was not yet ready for most advanced sword techniques and recounted how he created Sword Opens Heaven's Gate. The Undying Fairy told Lu Yang that ancient swordsman Liu Ningxuan created Man and Sword as One, but Lu Yang refused to learn it, so Daoist Unspoken offered to teach him how to comprehend the sword.

• Daoist Unspoken listed sword techniques Lu Yang could not yet learn and explained that he had created Sword Opens Heaven's Gate to break the seal confining him to Heaven Gate Peak.
• The Undying Fairy told Lu Yang that Liu Ningxuan, the Zither and Sword Venerable, had created Man and Sword as One and lost to her after becoming permanently fused with his sword.
• Daoist Unspoken offered to teach Lu Yang Man and Sword as One, but Lu Yang refused.
• Daoist Unspoken decided to teach Lu Yang how to comprehend the sword instead.

Daoist Unspeaking explained the Sword Dao to Lu Yang, who meditated on pursuing the ultimate in offense. When Daoist Unspeaking left Ask Dao Sect, a crowd of marriage-proposal parties attacked him, forcing him to retreat inside.

• Daoist Unspeaking told Lu Yang that the Sword Spirit Root focused on attack and that comprehending the Sword Dao required a clear purpose.
• Lu Yang said he wanted to comprehend the Sword Dao to protect those around him, but Daoist Unspeaking corrected him and urged him to pursue the ultimate in offense.
• Daoist Unspeaking explained that the Sword Dao’s pursuit was reflected in Lu Yang’s powerful “Break” formula, and Lu Yang began meditating on the lesson.
• The Undying Fairy listened from Lu Yang’s mental space and gained insight into the Sword Dao.
• Daoist Unspeaking left the sect, but a crowd of marriage-proposal parties attacked him at the mountain gate, so he retreated back inside.

Lu Yang and his senior sister tried to figure out how to deal with marriage delegations gathering outside Ask Dao Sect to find Daoist Buyu. Buyu escaped by sending the First Elder to impersonate him, and days later Tao Yaoye asked Lu Yang to join her on a mission.

• Daoist Buyu complained that his attackers had frightened him and that the Merchant Guild had refused to sell him insurance.
• Lu Yang learned that marriage delegations wanted to enter Ask Dao Sect to meet Daoist Buyu, and he and his senior sister considered how to protect him.
• Lu Yang and his senior sister asked the Seventh Elder about ways to keep a powerful cultivator alive, and he suggested reporting the man to the authorities.
• Daoist Buyu announced that he would escape by having the First Elder impersonate him in a neighboring province.
• The marriage delegations pursued the First Elder, allowing Daoist Buyu to leave Ask Dao Sect safely.
• A few days later, Tao Yaoye asked Lu Yang to accompany her on a mission.

Lu Yang agreed to accompany Tao Yaoye on a sect mission investigating a strange painting in the Song household. After learning about the Song official from a local wonton-stall owner, they ran into Lanting, and the chapter ended with Tao Yaoye and Lanting trading pointed remarks.

• Tao Yaoye asked Lu Yang to join her on a mission, and he agreed after deciding a cultivator of the mortal world should leave seclusion and gain experience.
• Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye traveled to Yuanhe County to investigate the Song household's painting, which made eerie sounds at midnight.
• Before visiting the Song household, Lu Yang questioned a wonton-stall owner, who said the Song official had suddenly begun doing business after years of failure and later became prosperous and charitable.
• Lanting recognized Lu Yang at the wonton stall, and Tao Yaoye stepped between them as they exchanged barbed greetings.
• Lu Yang asked the stall owner to bring another bowl of wontons while Tao Yaoye and Lanting continued their tense conversation.

Lu Yang, Tao Yaoye, and Lan Ting compared what they had learned about Master Song’s cursed painting and went to investigate his home. As Tao Yaoye and Lan Ting traded pointed compliments, the Everlasting Fairy concluded that both wanted Lu Yang to take them as disciples.

• Lu Yang, Tao Yaoye, and Lan Ting ate wontons and discovered they had all been sent to investigate Master Song’s strange painting.
• Lan Ting told Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye that Master Song had found the painting after losing his fortune in the mountains, then became successful soon after.
• Tao Yaoye and Lan Ting walked arm in arm while exchanging friendly but competitive remarks about Lu Yang and their abilities.
• Lu Yang encouraged Lan Ting about her fighting skill, and she said she had hoped to spar with Tao Yaoye.
• Lu Yang asked the Everlasting Fairy why Tao Yaoye and Lan Ting were acting strangely, and she decided they both wanted him to take them as disciples.

Lu Yang, Tao Yaoye, and Lanting arrived at the Song household to investigate a mysterious painting, but before they could meet Master Song, he was found dead in his locked study. The chapter left Lu Yang and the others facing a locked-room murder alongside the strange painting.

• Lu Yang, Tao Yaoye, and Lanting introduced themselves to Song Tian and learned about the Song family and the painting that had followed them through two moves.
• Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye sensed strong yin energy in the Song household as Song Tian's siblings arrived and discussed their family troubles.
• The steward reported that Master Song had died, shocking the Song family and the three cultivators.
• Song Tian and the others found Master Song's body inside his study, whose doors and windows had been locked from within.

Tao Yaoye and Lanting investigated Song Yuanwai’s apparent murder while his family accused one another and revealed their motives. Lu Yang revived Song Yuanwai with a soul-returning pill, and Song Yuanwai identified the painting as the killer.

• Tao Yaoye and Lanting examined the sealed study, where Tao Yaoye noticed a small hole in the damaged window.
• Song Qing accused Song Tian of killing their father, and the siblings traded accusations based on their motives and clues in the room.
• Tao Yaoye questioned the family about their whereabouts and noticed there was no teacup despite Song Lian'er claiming she had brought Song Yuanwai tea.
• Song Lian'er revealed that Song Yuanwai had thrown the teacup, and the housekeeper confessed that Zhou Lang was his illegitimate son.
• Tao Yaoye and Lanting debated whether Song Lian'er, the housekeeper, or Song Qing had killed Song Yuanwai.
• Lu Yang used a soul-returning pill to revive Song Yuanwai, who named the painting as the killer.

After Magistrate Song was resurrected, he explained that a sentient scroll had helped him grow wealthy in exchange for his soul. Lu Yang invoked Great Xia's Criminal Code against the washerwoman spirit, but she claimed the law did not apply to magical treasures, leaving Lu Yang ready to destroy her.

• Magistrate Song told Lu Yang, Tao Yaoye, and Lan Ting that the scroll had helped him become a wealthy merchant after he promised it his soul.
• Magistrate Song led the group to a secret chamber, where the scroll came alive and its washerwoman spirit demanded his soul.
• Lu Yang cited Great Xia's Criminal Code, arguing that consent to a deal resulting in death was invalid and that the washerwoman had committed attempted murder.
• The washerwoman claimed magical treasures were outside the Criminal Code's jurisdiction, so Lu Yang said he could smash the ownerless scroll to pieces.

Lu Yang, Tao Yaoye, and Lanting fought the Painted Woman, who trapped them inside her scroll and tried to bargain for her life by granting wishes. The Painted Woman’s attempt to confess to Lu Yang on behalf of the two women failed, and she accidentally released them, leaving Lu Yang confused about how they escaped.

• The Painted Woman flooded the secret chamber, but Lu Yang, Tao Yaoye, and Lanting blocked her water serpents after escaping outside with Song Yuanwai.
• The Painted Woman turned the three cultivators into figures inside her scroll and separated them.
• The Painted Woman offered Lanting a wish in exchange for sparing her, and Lanting asked her to confess to Lu Yang on her behalf.
• The Painted Woman also impersonated Tao Yaoye, then had both women approach Lu Yang and confess to him.
• Lu Yang mistook their confessions for a request to become his disciples, and the Painted Woman failed to fulfill the wish and spat the three cultivators out of the painting.

Lu Yang subdued the painted woman and kept her trapped in his palm until he could take her to the Grounded Fortune Merchant Guild. The guild appraised her scroll and offered six million spirit stones, leaving Lu Yang to decide whether to accept the deal.

• Lu Yang defeated the painted woman and stopped her scroll from escaping, then used Palm-Sized Village to trap it in his palm.
• Tao Yaoye and Lanting failed to contain the scroll with their identity jade tablets, while Lu Yang explained that his spatial divine ability could hold it longer with Great Restoration Pills.
• Lu Yang brought the trapped scroll to the Grounded Fortune Merchant Guild in Qingshui Commandery to sell it and protect Master Song's family.
• The painted woman tried to flee when Lu Yang released her, but she crashed into the guild's warded wall and was captured by the appraiser.
• The appraiser identified the scroll as a rare spirit-bearing magic treasure, and the guild raised its offer from three million to six million spirit stones after Lu Yang named his connections.

Lu Yang and his junior sisters left Yuanhe County with their new spirit stones, but a Spirit Transformation cultivator ambushed them over the magical treasure. Spirit Transformation Huo captured the attacker and brought them to Shi Huagu, who revealed he wanted Tao Yaoye to promote the Nine Nether Sect’s barbecue shop through Dreamlike Bubble.

• Lu Yang gave Squire Song a small share of the spirit stones and distributed two million each to Tao Yaoye and Lanting.
• As Lu Yang flew toward Qingshui Commandery, a sinister Spirit Transformation cultivator attacked, claiming Lu Yang had sold his magical treasure.
• Spirit Transformation Huo defeated the attacker and ordered Lu Yang, Tao Yaoye, and Lanting to meet his boss.
• Spirit Transformation Huo brought the three disciples to Shi Huagu, a vice-master of the Nine Nether Sect, who greeted Tao Yaoye as Mr. Peach, creator of Dreamlike Bubble.
• Shi Huagu asked Tao Yaoye to use Dreamlike Bubble to advertise the Nine Nether Sect’s barbecue shop.

Vice Cult Master Shi proposed using Dreamlike Bubbles to advertise Another Barbecue Shop, and Lu Yang negotiated a deal with Tao Yaoye on the publicity rights. Shi Huagu agreed to pay fifty million spirit stones for a year of ads, including a one-minute promotion and a scene featuring the shop.

• Vice Cult Master Shi introduced himself as the owner of Another Barbecue Shop and explained that he wanted to advertise through Dreamlike Bubbles.
• Shi Huagu offered Tao Yaoye ten million spirit stones for one year of publicity rights, then raised the offer to thirty million.
• Lu Yang countered with a fifty-million-spirit-stone deal that included a one-minute promotion and a scene showing people eating at Another Barbecue Shop.
• Shi Huagu accepted the fifty-million-spirit-stone deal.

Tao Yaoye received a ten-million-spirit-stone down payment from the Nine Nether Cult for publicity rights, while Vice Cult Master Shi faced a dangerous Debt-Repayment Thunderbolt tribulation. On the way home, Tao Yaoye’s wealth attracted a group of men who tried to lure her into depositing it with their money house.

• Vice Cult Master Shi gave Tao Yaoye ten million spirit stones and promised the remaining forty million, along with a promotional illusion, in half a month.
• Lu Yang and the others watched Shi Huagu face the Debt-Repayment Thunderbolt, while the Undying Celestial explained the tribulation’s origins.
• Huo Huashen escorted Lu Yang, Tao Yaoye, and Lanting to their flying vessel and invited them to visit his barbecue shop.
• Lu Yang told Tao Yaoye to keep her wealth quiet after she mentioned the ten million spirit stones aloud.
• Several burly men surrounded the group and offered to hold Tao Yaoye’s spirit stones in their Luodijin Money House for five percent annual interest.

Lu Yang, Tao Yaoye, and Lanting traveled to the Ask Dao Sect, encountering several mishaps aboard the flying vessel and meeting Senior Sister Jasmine, who helped deliver a baby. After arriving, Tao Yaoye reminded Meng Jingzhou to pretend he had been in seclusion while she and Lu Yang were away on their mission.

• Tao Yaoye refused the trade association members' investment pitches, then watched them subdue a murderer who had threatened the flying vessel.
• A Golden Core cultivator was caught sneaking aboard without paying, and an alchemist saved a pregnant woman and her baby.
• Lu Yang recognized Senior Sister Jasmine, who explained she had accidentally taken the Alchemist Alliance branch president exam and become an honorary branch president.
• The flying vessel arrived safely at the Ask Dao Sect, and Lu Yang and Lanting said goodbye to each other.
• Tao Yaoye reminded Meng Jingzhou that he had been in seclusion during her mission, and he played along.

Lu Yang received news about the Song family before the First Senior Sister selected him and four others to study at the Five Elements Sect. As they prepared to leave, the Everlasting Immortal Fairy explained the Ninefold Immortal’s and Qilin Immortal’s Dao Fruits and why similar Dao Fruits could not both become true Dao Fruits.

• Lu Yang read Master Song’s letter, which thanked him for helping the family and revealed that Zhou Lang was Master Song’s biological son while Song Lian’er was the steward’s daughter.
• The Everlasting Immortal Fairy recalled that her small tribe had been destroyed in a battle between a human and a beast.
• The First Senior Sister told Lu Yang, Meng Jingzhou, Tao Yaoye, Man Gu, and Li Haoran that they would study at the Five Elements Sect, with Meng Jingzhou leading them because no elder could go.
• The Everlasting Immortal Fairy described the Ninefold Immortal’s Yin-Yang Dao Fruit and the Qilin Immortal’s Survival of the Fittest Dao Fruit, including how the Ninefold Immortal defeated him with a recording.
• The Everlasting Immortal Fairy explained that the dragon and phoenix prodigies’ embryonic Dao Fruits conflicted with the Qilin Immortal’s, so only one of them could become a true immortal.

Lu Yang learned more about the Immortal Fairy’s Dao Fruit and her rise to immortality before his senior sister interrupted them. Two days later, Lu Yang and four other young members of Ask Dao Sect arrived at Five Elements Sect, where armed elders waited at the mountain gate.

• The Immortal Fairy explained that closely related Dao Fruits could not both mature and revealed that she had changed her Dao Fruit path, allowing four other half-immortals to become immortals first.
• The Immortal Fairy admitted she had called Ying Tian Immortal and three others to defeat the half-immortals who threatened her, and she explained that Ninefold Immortal held the Yin-Yang Dao Fruit while Qilin Immortal held the Survival of the Fittest Dao Fruit.
• Lu Yang and the Immortal Fairy blamed each other for discussing Dao Fruits, and his senior sister warned him that learning too much about them at Golden Core was unwise.
• Two days later, Meng Jingzhou led Lu Yang, Tao Yaoye, Li Haoran, and Man Gu aboard a flying boat bound for Five Elements Sect; Tao Yaoye arrived just before it departed after collecting a promotional illusion and forty million spirit stones.
• The group reached Five Elements Sect safely and saw several elders waiting at the mountain gate with magical treasures and hungry expressions.

Meng Jingzhou and the other Ask Dao Sect disciples visited the Five Elements Sect, where Qiu Jin'an and the elders welcomed them while hoping to lure Ask Dao Sect elders into a confrontation. Bai Ming showed them around and discovered that Lu Yang’s command of magic across all five elements could make him a suitable disciple of the Sect Master.

• Qiu Jin'an and five elders welcomed Meng Jingzhou, Lu Yang, Man Gu, and Li Haoran with fireworks and a banner, then left when they learned no Ask Dao Sect elders had come.
• The Five Elements Sect disciples gathered around the visitors, asking about Lu Yang, Yunluo, and Man Gu and discussing their reputations.
• Bai Ming explained that he had stayed at his own sect because the other sects were already hosting his friends or were unsuitable for him.
• Bai Ming described the Five Elements Sect’s five branches and recounted old tricks and fights between its elders and Ask Dao Sect.
• Lu Yang listed magic techniques he knew for four elements, and Bai Ming said his talent could make him a good fit for Qiu Jin'an’s lineage.

Lu Yang and his companions toured the Five Elements Sect, where Meng Jingzhou explained the Meng family’s notorious ways of fighting. The group reached the Fire branch’s cultivation ground, but Bai Ming warned Li Haoran that the Fire branch disciples might resent him because of his master’s history with their elders.

• Bai Ming showed the visitors the Scripture Depository, lecture hall, and Martial Arts Hall, where Senior Brother Zhang combined two Metal branch spells to attack with waves of golden power.
• Meng Jingzhou said his family forbade Spend a Fortune in One Throw after one member used it to spend his father’s spirit stones and anger the whole Imperial City.
• Meng Jingzhou described the Meng family’s method of throwing spirit stones to an opponent and threatening them with Debt Must Be Repaid with Life Thunder if they did not return them.
• Bai Ming brought the group to the Fire branch’s cultivation ground, where Li Haoran’s Fire Spirit Root made his technique circulate and begin cultivating on its own.
• Bai Ming warned Li Haoran against cultivating there alone because his master, Zhou Xin, had obtained true flames from Fire branch elders through dishonorable methods.

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou joined Li Haoran in a contest against Yuan Gang to compare their artifact-refining skills. The contest was set to begin over scarce materials, with true flames at stake for the visitors and a ban from the Fire Vein's territory if they lost.

• Bai Ming explained that Elder Zhou Xin had a strong reputation and connections in the artifact-refining world.
• Lu Yang learned that Fire Vein disciples used sunscreen and a Fusang Tree branch while seeking insight into the sun's intent.
• Yuan Gang confronted Li Haoran and challenged him to an artifact-refining contest, which Li Haoran accepted.
• Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou joined the contest, and Yuan Gang set a test to measure the damage their magic treasures could inflict on molten lava essence stones within one hundred breaths.
• Yuan Gang offered the visitors a choice of true flames if they won and barred them from the Fire Vein's territory if they lost.

Yuan Gang, Li Haoran, and Meng Jingzhou demonstrated their creations in the artifact-refining competition, while Lu Yang used his wooden sword to impersonate the Unspeaking Daoist. The elders gave in to the imitation and obliterated an essence stone, leaving the competition’s result unresolved.

• Yuan Gang completed his Meteor Cannon and cracked a molten-lava essence stone with its spiritual-power projectile.
• Li Haoran used a cow-hair needle accelerated by an inscribed disk to pierce through three essence stones, but Yuan Gang disputed that his damage was greater.
• Meng Jingzhou tied an essence stone with a rope, lifted it high into the sky, and dropped it until it shattered the stone and gouged a pit in the Fire Branch.
• Lu Yang revealed that he had refined a wooden sword and danced with it, then transformed into the Unspeaking Daoist and mocked the hidden elders.
• The Fire and Metal Branch elders attacked the apparent Unspeaking Daoist, and their combined fire and metal qi erased an essence stone.