Chapter Summaries

Chen Mobai weighed whether to invest in a woodcutting puppet, then arranged sales of Crimson Sun Firewood and bought a storage bag to conceal his tools. He left for a late-night chopping session reassured that Yuan Chiye would not interfere.

• Chen Mobai rejected the idea of buying a woodcutting puppet after deciding the firewood business had limited buyers and Merit Points were too valuable.
• Yu Lian paid Chen Mobai 100 Spirit Stones to reserve 30,000 pieces of Crimson Sun Firewood, and Luo Yixuan paid a similar amount to secure firewood for herself and Luo Yixiu.
• Chen Mobai noticed people following him on the way to his hidden tools and abandoned his attempt to chop firewood that day.
• Liu Wenbai offered Spirit Stones for the Woodcutting Senior, but Chen Mobai refused his payment and went to speak with Yuan Chiye.
• Chen Mobai bought Yuan Chiye's spare storage bag for 80 Spirit Stones and asked him to overlook the firewood operation; Yuan Chiye agreed.
• After confirming no one was following him, Chen Mobai chopped firewood at night and stored his electric saw and table saw in the new bag.

Chen Mobai learned how Performance Puppets could help tailor cultivation techniques and tracked down Chai Lun to inspect imitation Formless Puppets. He arrived at Chai Lun’s workshop hoping to use one to improve his cultivation, but found the imitations lacked some of the original puppet’s features.

• Chen Mobai finished supplying Crimson Sun Firewood, received Spirit Stones from his customers, bought Yuan Chiye’s storage bag, and took leave to focus on his studies.
• Chen Mobai chose Talisman and Puppetry Technique as his majors and selected several electives, including Agriculture, to keep up with his classmates.
• Che Yucheng explained how a Performance Puppet could test and adjust a cultivation technique, then told Chen Mobai about Chai Lun’s imitation Formless Puppets.
• Chen Mobai contacted Chai Lun and visited his workshop, hoping to test a puppet because his cultivation progress with the Pure Yang Scroll was slow.
• Chai Lun showed Chen Mobai three One-Eyed Puppets and explained that their imitation lacked the original Formless Puppet’s full set of Number Dials.

Chen Mobai negotiated a custom Performance Puppet order with Chai Lun to help refine his cultivation, then obtained his body-model data from Che Yucheng. Che Yucheng arranged for Chai Lun to train Chen Mobai by showing him how to work on Gan Tao’s own Performance Puppet.

• Chen Mobai learned that Formless Puppets were rare and that Chai Lun’s imitation could simulate cultivation only up to Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer.
• Chai Lun advised Chen Mobai to custom-order a Performance Puppet, and they bargained the price down to 180,000 Merit Points.
• Chen Mobai signed the contract and paid the 80% advance, then asked Che Yucheng to provide the data from his Crimson Heart Treasure Mirror examination.
• Che Yucheng gave Chen Mobai a USB Drive containing the data and told Chai Lun to show him the ropes using Gan Tao’s Performance Puppet.

Chen Mobai began apprenticing under Chai Lun to help build a Performance Puppet modeled after himself, learning how exacting Puppetry Technique was. After half a month of observing and practicing, Chai Lun trusted him with more part drawings, and Chen Mobai felt recognized.

• Che Yucheng persuaded Chai Lun to let Chen Mobai assist with the Performance Puppet, and Chen Mobai agreed to work for free.
• Chai Lun harshly corrected Chen Mobai's first mistake, then told him to sit and watch while he worked with extreme precision.
• Chen Mobai returned to the workshop each day, observed Chai Lun's methods, and helped by ordering takeout for a week before being allowed to handle materials.
• Chen Mobai asked about the expensive main controller, and Chai Lun explained its role in controlling the puppet.
• Half a month later, Chai Lun let Chen Mobai file parts again, guided him through correcting three flaws, and handed him twenty more production drawings.
• Chen Mobai felt recognized when he received the new drawings.

Chen Mobai received a mediocre score in talisman class while his classmates saw him as a Sleeper who might someday surpass them. He then finished assembling and testing his Performance Puppet with Chai Lun, leaving with the tool he hoped would speed up his cultivation.

• Gao Yu gave Chen Mobai a passing score on his Qi-Guiding Talisman and urged him to focus more on talismans.
• Zhuang Jialan and Si Guanyu watched Chen Mobai closely, believing his untapped potential pushed them to improve.
• Chen Mobai hurried to Chai Lun's workshop to finish the Performance Puppet, while Zhuang Jialan and Si Guanyu planned to cover his class fees.
• Chai Lun assembled the Faceless Puppet, transferred Chen Mobai's physical data, and helped him debug its Pure Yang Scroll cultivation program.
• After confirming the Performance Puppet worked, Chen Mobai paid Chai Lun the remaining balance and carried it away.

Chen Mobai used the Performance Puppet to analyze the Longevity Sutra and discovered that its standard circulation needed substantial changes to suit his spiritual roots. After consulting Che Yucheng, he learned that the techniques resembled methods from the Ancient Evil Dao Tradition, and Che Yucheng asked whether he had cultivated the Critical Point Method.

• Chen Mobai watched the Performance Puppet simulate the Longevity Sutra and observed spiritual power weakening or strengthening as it passed through different meridians.
• Chen Mobai ran the full cultivation sequence and found that nearly one-tenth of the Longevity Sutra needed adjustment for his constitution, leaving him unsure whether to trust the deduction.
• Chen Mobai bought the Divine Wood Sect's version of the Longevity Sutra and confirmed that it matched Liu Wenbai's copy, with additional explanations and examples.
• Chen Mobai took the Performance Puppet's results to Che Yucheng, claiming he had found two ancient books in a cave.
• Che Yucheng studied the results, said the methods resembled techniques from the Ancient Evil Dao Tradition, and asked Chen Mobai whether he had cultivated the Critical Point Method.

Chen Mobai learned that linking the Longevity Sutra and Pure Yang Scroll with the Two Aspects Technique would delay Foundation Establishment, but Che Yucheng used the Formless Puppet to demonstrate a way to establish the Longevity Sutra first and later grow the Pure Yang Scroll from it. Che Yucheng advised Chen Mobai to focus on the Longevity Sutra and decide by age thirty whether he could preserve the Pure Yang seed.

• Chen Mobai told Che Yucheng that he had borrowed the Critical Point Method but had not cultivated it yet.
• Che Yucheng used the Formless Puppet to show that balancing the Longevity Sutra and Pure Yang Scroll with the Two Aspects Technique delayed Foundation Establishment until age fifty-two.
• Che Yucheng inserted another technique as a seal, allowing the Longevity Sutra to establish its foundation before the Pure Yang Spiritual Power grew from it and advanced as well.
• Che Yucheng copied the puppet's results to a USB Drive and advised Chen Mobai to cultivate the Longevity Sutra toward Foundation Establishment at age thirty.
• Che Yucheng told Chen Mobai to preserve the Pure Yang seed only if he could cultivate the Critical Point Method and meet the puppet's prerequisites before age thirty; otherwise, he should give up the Pure Yang Scroll.

Chen Mobai chose to focus on cultivating the Longevity Sutra and took up three mu of Spirit Fields instead of joining a sect department. After settling into his new fields, he returned to Earth Origin Star to seek practical farming advice from Lin Wenkang.

• Chen Mobai followed Che Yucheng's guidance, set aside the Pure Yang Scroll Qi Cultivation Chapter, and advanced the Longevity Sutra to Qi Cultivation Level 3.
• Chen Mobai declined to join a department and claimed three mu of Spirit Fields from the Divine Wood Sect's Spiritual Plant Department.
• Yuan Chiye tried to persuade Chen Mobai to pursue opportunities with E Yun, but Chen Mobai reaffirmed his plan and accepted Yuan Chiye's small weeding Magic Artifact.
• Chen Mobai left New Bud Hall, traveled to his overgrown Spirit Fields, and used Golden Needles and White Jade Bells to clear the pests.
• Chen Mobai returned to Earth Origin Star and asked Lin Wenkang for farming advice, prompting the teacher to take him to the academy's Experimental Field.

After mastering the Nurturing Thought God Forging Technique and reaching Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer Spiritual Sense, Chen Mobai tended his Spirit Rice fields in the Sky River Realm and advanced his Longevity Sutra cultivation. He returned to Earth Origin Star with the storage bag from Green Light Island, ready to try opening it again.

• Chen Mobai used the White Jade Bell to steady his newly advanced Spiritual Sense after taking his 22nd Fire Clearing Pill.
• He inspected his Spirit Rice seedlings, removed weak ones, and fertilized the fields with a flying puppet he had made.
• Chen Mobai meditated and broke through to the seventh layer of the Longevity Sutra, sensing that absorbing the remaining Five Elements Technique vortex would bring him to Qi Cultivation Level 8.
• He activated protective formations around the Spirit Field and returned to Earth Origin Star to retrieve the unopened storage bag from Green Light Island.

Chen Mobai opened the storage bag he had found on Green Light Island and discovered 867 Low-grade Spirit Stones and three Divine Wood Sect cultivation techniques, including the Crimson Flame Sword Art. After considering the Sword Casting Ring’s unexplored functions, he called Ming Yihua for help identifying it.

• Chen Mobai broke the storage bag’s owner brand and counted 867 Low-grade Spirit Stones, bringing his total savings to 1,097.
• Chen Mobai found the Longevity Sutra, the Crimson Flame Sword Art, and the Two Aspects Technique, and suspected the bag had belonged to a Divine Wood Sect True Disciple.
• Chen Mobai read about the Crimson Flame Sword Art’s talisman methods and sword-cultivation realms, but decided to prioritize his cultivation and Foundation Establishment.
• Chen Mobai examined the Sword Casting Ring and called Ming Yihua to ask him to appraise the Magic Artifact.
• Ming Yihua invited Chen Mobai to meet him in the artifact refining room in Building Six.

Chen Mobai had Ming Yihua appraise the Sword Casting Ring and learned that it helped Sword Cultivators cultivate and understand sword energy. After catching up with Ming Yihua and Yun Yangbing, Chen planned to keep advancing his studies and promised to brew wine from the Water Clear Rice he had grown.

• Ming Yihua identified the Sword Casting Ring as a tool that helped Sword Cultivators practice sword energy and understand Sword Qi Transformation.
• Chen Mobai told Ming Yihua he had found the ring on Ancient Treasure Street, then changed the subject and asked about Yun Yangbing.
• Ming Yihua called Yun Yangbing, and the three friends went out to eat and drink together.
• Yun Yangbing said he would focus on Earth Formations before trying to cultivate Heavenly Formations, while Chen Mobai considered waiting before taking his own professional exams.
• Ming Yihua and Yun Yangbing discussed Zhongli Tianyu’s rapid progress with the Cantong Qi and the difficulty of finding a suitable object to comprehend together.
• Chen Mobai promised to brew wine for his friends from the Water Clear Rice growing in his experimental field.

Chen Mobai’s exceptional Jade Sprout Spirit Rice harvest impressed Divine Wood Sect’s Spiritual Plant Department, whose disciples urged him to join. He asked for a Foundation Establishment Pill, and Teng Jie argued that this made joining the department even more worthwhile.

• Chen Mobai told Lu Jun and Teng Jie that he had no Spirit Planter inheritance and was farming because he enjoyed it.
• Lu Jun offered Chen Mobai membership in the Spiritual Plant Department, including free access to the Spirit Planter inheritance and an annual hundred Spirit Stones, but Chen Mobai worried about extra duties.
• Lu Jun and Teng Jie harvested three mu of Jade Sprout Spirit Rice and recorded a yield of 458 catties, breaking the sect record.
• Lu Jun learned that Chen Mobai had privately opened up seven more mu of Spirit Field and became determined to recruit him.
• Lu Jun pressed Chen Mobai to name his request, and Chen Mobai asked for a Foundation Establishment Pill.
• Teng Jie told Lu Jun that Chen Mobai should join the Spiritual Plant Department all the more if he wanted a Foundation Establishment Pill.

Teng Jie explained how joining the Spiritual Plant Department and farming could help Chen Mobai secure Sect Contribution and compete for a Foundation Establishment Pill. Chen Mobai agreed to join, then arrived in Divine Wood City with Teng Jie and Lu Jun, where they were brought into a meeting of the department’s senior disciples.

• Teng Jie told Chen Mobai that the Spiritual Plant Department would have a True Disciple vacancy after Senior Brother Liu’s Foundation Establishment Failure, and that working there could help Chen compete for the position.
• Teng Jie explained that farming missions earned ten times the usual Sect Contribution and offered Chen a share of the rewards if he guided new disciples in tending fields.
• Chen Mobai agreed to join the Spiritual Plant Department and accompanied Teng Jie and Lu Jun to Divine Wood City.
• Lu Jun and Teng Jie handed in Jade Sprout Spirit Rice, completing a mission that earned Chen 458 Sect Contribution points.
• Lu Jun led Chen Mobai and Teng Jie into a hall where department members and senior figures were gathered, and they took seats to listen.

Chen Mobai witnessed a dispute over the Spiritual Plant Department's true-disciple position and was assigned a much larger area of fields to manage. He left with Little Sun Ridge and its scattered Spirit Fields under his responsibility, doubting the promises made to him.

• Liu Guilong argued that he should retain his true-disciple position, but Li Li challenged him and proposed settling the matter with a Spell Duel.
• Lyu Zhiwen ruled that Li Li would temporarily act as the Spiritual Plant Department's true disciple, and Liu Guilong left with only one junior brother following him.
• Sun Gaochang reviewed Chen Mobai's harvest report and praised his knowledge of farming and spiritual plants.
• Sun Gaochang assigned Chen Mobai Little Sun Ridge, its medicinal fields, and nearby scattered Spirit Fields, directing Lu Jun to complete the transfer.
• Teng Jie explained the department's factions and suggested Chen Mobai might become a true disciple later, but Chen Mobai no longer trusted the promise.

Chen Mobai visited Spirit Treasure Pavilion, checked his sect funds, and learned about the scarce Foundation Establishment Pills as he searched for one for his father. A message led him to meet Ding Ying, whose identity left him confused, and he began explaining how he knew someone by that name.

• Lu Jun left to handle the transfer of Little Sun Ridge and its nearby fields while Teng Jie took Chen Mobai to Spirit Treasure Pavilion.
• Chen Mobai collected 77 Spirit Stones and learned that Foundation Establishment Pills were immediately claimed by cultivators with enough contribution points.
• Teng Jie told Chen Mobai that Yin, a Heaven Spirit Root cultivator, might have an extra Foundation Establishment Pill, and suggested contacting Yuan Chiye or Ding Ying for help reaching her.
• Chen Mobai sent Message Talismans to several acquaintances; Yuan Chiye and Wang Yuanwu's messages were returned, while Qi Rui, Qi Hou, and Ding Ying replied.
• Chen Mobai went to Ding Ying's address and found a tall woman in a red dress who said she did not know him and questioned why he had contacted her.
• Chen Mobai realized this Ding Ying was not the young girl he remembered from South Stream Market and began telling her the full story.

Chen Mobai failed to buy the Foundation Establishment Pill from Ding Ying and learned that the pill in Yin's hands had been passed to Fu Xingzhou. Xi Jinghuo revealed that the Divine Wood Sect might refine another Foundation Establishment Pill using a demon beast inner core, leaving Chen Mobai with a possible lead to investigate.

• Ding Ying dismissed Chen Mobai's request to buy the Foundation Establishment Pill from Junior Sister Yin.
• Chen Mobai reunited with Qi Rui and Xi Jinghuo, who told him that Senior Brother Wang and Junior Brother Wu had died during the demon beast attack on Green Light Island.
• Qi Rui said he had reached the Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer and planned to compete for a true disciple position and earn enough contribution points for a Foundation Establishment Pill.
• Xi Jinghuo explained that Old Ancestor Fu had used Junior Sister Yin's Foundation Establishment Pill for Fu Xingzhou, who later succeeded in Foundation Establishment.
• Xi Jinghuo said the Divine Wood Sect might refine a Foundation Establishment Pill with a demon beast inner core and advised Chen Mobai to check whether its auxiliary medicines had been taken from the medicinal fields.

Chen Mobai finished his first year at Wuqi Dao Academy, exchanged Credits for spiritual supplies, and returned to Vermilion Cloud City before reporters drove him to Green Mountain Village. After giving Chen Xinglan Spirit Ascension Powder and reconnecting with acquaintances by phone, he called Qing Nü.

• Chen Mobai claimed five sets of Green Light Formations and Dew Condensing Grass seeds, then learned that Uncle-Master Zeng would not refine Foundation Establishment Pills until after the New Year or later.
• Chen Mobai left for vacation after earning 11 Credits, failing his Talismans final but passing his other courses, and exchanging Credits for Spirit Ascension Powder and Qi Condensing Fluid.
• Chen Mobai sold Shen Juanxiu the Qi Condensing Fluid for 1,000,000 Merit Points, then returned to Vermilion Cloud City and found reporters waiting outside his home.
• Chen Mobai visited Chen Xinglan at Crimson Cloud Academy and gave him the Spirit Ascension Powder before leaving with Tang Pancui for Green Mountain Village.
• Chen Mobai called Lu Hongsheng, Song Zheng, and Yan Bingxuan, then called Qing Nü that night.

Chen Mobai received a cultivation technique and a precious pill from Qing Nü, then learned the technique was an improved Forbidden Technique and decided to ask Che Yucheng about it later. He chose a pair of White Jade Bells to send Qing Nü as a return gift.

• Chen Mobai spoke with Qing Nü late into the night about cultivation, studies, and his recent progress.
• Kong Feichen brought Chen Mobai a package from Qing Nü, containing the Spirit Controlling Technique and a Spirit Opening Enlightenment Pill.
• Chen Mobai researched the Spirit Controlling Technique and learned it was an improved version of the Forbidden Technique God Devouring Technique, so he decided to wait and ask Che Yucheng before cultivating it.
• Chen Mobai learned the Spirit Opening Enlightenment Pill was a precious Second Grade pill unique to Goumang Dao Academy, and accepted it after Qing Nü said it could not be returned.
• Chen Mobai asked Qing Nü for her school address and selected a pair of White Jade Bells to send her as a gift.

Chen Mobai took the Spirit Opening Enlightenment Pill and used its effects to master several cultivation techniques, break through to Qi Cultivation Level 8, and separate his linked spiritual powers. With seven hours of the pill’s effects remaining, he turned to studying the Spirit Controlling Technique and talisman textbooks.

• Chen Mobai gave Kong Feichen the White Jade Bell to deliver to Qing Nü.
• Chen Mobai harvested the seven mu of Jade Sprout Spirit Rice and stored seed for the next planting.
• Chen Mobai swallowed the Spirit Opening Enlightenment Pill in seclusion and comprehended the Critical Point Method, the Two Aspects Technique, and his cultivation methods.
• Chen Mobai broke through to Qi Cultivation Level 8 and used the Two Aspects Technique to advance the Pure Yang Scroll to Qi Cultivation Level 6.
• Chen Mobai adapted the Critical Point Method into the Jade Lock Golden Gate Art and separated the Longevity Sutra from the Pure Yang Scroll.
• Chen Mobai began studying the Spirit Controlling Technique alongside thirty talisman textbooks from Wuqi Dao Academy.

After using a Spirit Opening Enlightenment Pill, Chen Mobai comprehended talisman knowledge but suffered exhaustion and slept for seven days. He returned to the Dao Academy after his Qi Cultivation Level 8 breakthrough drew too much attention in Green Mountain Village, and began asking Wang Xingyu for Qi Replenishing Spirit Water.

• Chen Mobai studied intensively under the Spirit Opening Enlightenment Pill, mastered First Grade talismans and gained insight into Second Grade ones, then slept for seven days from the strain.
• Qing Nü learned from her mentor that Chen Mobai's long sleep was normal and warned him not to take another pill for ten years or exhaust his Spiritual Sense for half a year.
• Chen Mobai returned to his family, revealed his Qi Cultivation Level 8 breakthrough, and left Green Mountain Village after neighbors crowded his home hoping he would teach their children.
• Chen Mobai returned to the Dao Academy and met Ming Yihua and other classmates, who enjoyed the Yellow Wine his grandfather had given him.
• Chen Mobai asked Wang Xingyu, an alchemy student, to sell him Qi Replenishing Spirit Water.