Chapter Summaries

After breaking through to Foundation Establishment Second Layer, Chen Mobai found himself lonely as friends secluded themselves, left school, or faced failed Foundation Establishment. Haunted by dreams of outliving everyone he knew, he learned that the visions could be a chance to improve his state of mind and began considering how to focus through them.

• Chen Mobai returned the formation equipment, found his classmates unavailable, and learned that Meng Huang'er had failed Foundation Establishment and left on a journey with Bian Yiqing.
• After returning to the Sky River Realm, Chen Mobai taught Zhuo Ming and Luo Yixuan, strengthened Luo Yixuan's Lamp Burning Technique, and learned that materials for Foundation Establishment Pills had been gathered.
• Chen Mobai went back to Vermilion Cloud City, heard that Cao Yaling had nearly reached the Foundation Establishment threshold, and said goodbye to Chan Si as she enlisted after her failed attempt.
• Chen Mobai began dreaming that a thousand years had passed and his friends had died, so he called Che Yucheng, who advised him to focus on a task and overcome the state of mind himself.
• Chen Mobai considered what he could do to focus after Che Yucheng shared how completing an aircraft-carrier Puppetry model had helped him through the same experience.

Chen Mobai focused on talisman making to steady his unsettled mind, using Soaring Heavens Talisman Factory to produce supplies for his Second-tier Talisman Master exam. After spending time with his younger sister Wang Xinying, he found peace and finished an Ice Crystal Talisman, ending the day content and sleeping without dreams.

• Chen Mobai registered for the Second-tier Talisman Master exam and received ten talismans as his test assignments.
• He restarted production at Soaring Heavens Talisman Factory, made standardized Talisman Ink and Paper, and saved six rejected ink sticks for practice.
• Chen Mobai began practicing talisman making at Green Mountain Village, but the crowds of villagers drove him back to Vermilion Cloud City.
• Wang Xinying visited Chen Mobai to get his signature on photos, and he signed them while drawing an Ice Crystal Talisman.
• Wang Xinying helped grind ink, calming Chen Mobai, who completed the talisman and gave it to her as a New Year's gift.
• Chen Mobai shared a cheerful family meal and slept soundly without dreaming.

Chen Mobai considered ways to obtain Core Formation pills and asked Che Yucheng which Five Elements pills suited his Wood-Fire spiritual power. After returning to the dormitory, he learned Wang Xingyu had comprehended the Critical Point Method and was entering seclusion, leaving Chen without his help refining pills.

• Chen Mobai guided Wang Xinying's cultivation during the Spring Festival holiday, helping her understand the Spiritual Power Vortex and improve her grasp of the Five Elements Technique.
• Chen Mobai weighed civil service seniority, Golden Liquid Jade Return Pills, and Five Elements Golden Core Pills against the danger he anticipated in the Sky River Realm.
• Chen Mobai asked Che Yucheng which Golden Core Pill he should use with the Wood-Fire spiritual power of the Two Aspects Technique, and Che Yucheng recommended preparing both pills if possible or choosing the Fire Element pill otherwise.
• Chen Mobai recalled Venerable Qingping's path from Five Elements Technique practitioner to Nascent Soul Venerable.
• Wang Xingyu told Chen Mobai he had comprehended the Critical Point Method and would enter seclusion until reaching Foundation Establishment, so he could no longer help with alchemy.

Chen Mobai asked Zhuang Jialan to tutor him for the Second-tier Talisman Master exam, and her advice led him to buy a complete Heavenly Script Talisman Brush Set. He then invited her to join the Student Union, but she left the offer under consideration while continuing to tutor him.

• Chen Mobai learned that Zhuang Jialan had reached Foundation Establishment while Si Guanyu had failed at Spiritual Sense Projection and would be delayed before trying again.
• Chen Mobai asked Zhuang Jialan and Si Guanyu for advice on the Second-tier Talisman Master exam, and Zhuang Jialan agreed to tutor him as Si Guanyu focused on Foundation Establishment.
• After seven days of guidance from Zhuang Jialan, Chen Mobai finally learned to draw the Water Mirror Talisman and discovered how many specialized brushes she used.
• Chen Mobai had Tang Pancui use Soaring Heavens Talisman Factory funds to order a complete Heavenly Script Talisman Brush Set, which impressed Zhuang Jialan when it arrived.
• Chen Mobai explained how he acquired the Talisman Factory and offered to help Zhuang Jialan buy supplies, then invited her to join the Student Union with the promise of extra Credits.
• Zhuang Jialan said she would think about joining the Student Union and continued tutoring Chen Mobai on a failed Vacuum Talisman.

Chen Mobai oversaw spring sowing at Little South Mountain and taught Zhuo Ming and Luo Yixuan about cultivation and Spirit Planting. He explained that he planned to improve Jade Bamboo Spirit Rice by crossbreeding its seeds, with Zhuo Ming ready to study the sect’s records and help with the work.

• Chen Mobai mastered three Second Grade Talismans with Zhuang Jialan’s help, and Zhuang Jialan joined the Student Union with Hua Zijing’s guidance.
• Chen Mobai, Zhuo Ming, and Luo Yixuan sowed selected rice seeds into the new segments of the Jade Bamboo across the core ten mu of Spirit Field.
• Chen Mobai asked Luo Yixuan to irrigate the field for the next month and praised Zhuo Ming’s Spirit Planting talent.
• Zhuo Ming asked whether the Jade Bamboo Spirit Rice method was incomplete, and Chen Mobai told her to study the related materials in the Transmission Department.
• Chen Mobai recalled how the Jade Bamboo Spirit Rice inheritance had reached the Divine Wood Sect and explained its costly, slow method of turning Jade Sprout Spirit Rice into Second Tier rice.
• Chen Mobai planned to improve the rice through crossbreeding and had Zhuo Ming cultivate varieties across Little South Mountain’s other fifty mu of Spirit Field.

Chen Mobai oversaw the planting and brewing of new hybrid Spirit Rice while learning that the Divine Wood Sect and Mountain Shaking Peak were nearing war. After Old Ancestor Zhou Shengqing left to fight Ji Zhenshi, Chen Mobai joined the Reward Hall leaders as the sect prepared to respond to killings and attacks in Lei Kingdom.

• Chen Mobai eliminated thirteen hybrid rice varieties, planted the remaining seeds, and worked with Zhuo Ming and Yan Jinye to brew wine from the harvested Spirit Rice.
• Yue Zutao and Yan Jinye told Chen Mobai that Meng Hong was preparing for Core Formation and that two Lei Kingdom Cultivating Families had betrayed the Divine Wood Sect; Chen Mobai suspected a wider conflict.
• Old Ancestor Zhou Shengqing unleashed his spiritual power and headed north, prompting Chen Mobai to prepare Liu Wenbai and Luo Yixuan for possible war while leaving Zhuo Ming to guard Little South Mountain.
• Chu Zuoshu told the Reward Hall that Zhou Shengqing had gone to fight Mountain Shaking Peak's Ji Zhenshi and that the sect might enter an all-out war.
• Chen Mobai learned that Luo Shupin's Soul Lamp had shattered and Yuan Chiye and Fu Xingzhou were gravely endangered after fleeing Lei Kingdom; Chu Zuoshu prepared to lead a force there as Meng Hong warned him to beware Ji Dingjin.

Divine Wood Sect mobilized for war with Mountain Shaking Peak, and Chu Zuoshu led Chen Mobai and the Reward Hall Foundation Establishment Cultivators to Rolling Thunder Mountain. When Ji Dingjin demanded the return of Gong Family and Zheng Family cultivators, Chu Zuoshu refused and declared that he wanted Ji Dingjin dead.

• Meng Hong ordered Divine Wood Sect to mobilize, and Xie Yuntian led a thousand Qi Cultivation Disciples toward Lei Kingdom.
• Yue Zutao explained Mountain Shaking Peak’s rise under Ji Zhenshi, while Chu Zuoshu equipped the Reward Hall group with the Eight Gate Green Light Formation and Azure Sun Tree Seeds.
• Chu Zuoshu’s group traveled to Rolling Thunder Mountain, where Lian Chenghai reported that Gong Wanshan and Zheng Wulü had escaped Lei Kingdom and surrendered thirty-six of their relatives and their remaining treasures.
• Chu Zuoshu learned that the Spirit Stone Mine had sparked the conflict between the local families, Gong Family, Zheng Family, Divine Wood Sect, and Mountain Shaking Peak.
• Ji Dingjin arrived with Gong Wanshan and Zheng Wulü, demanded that Chu Zuoshu return their family cultivators, and was told that Chu Zuoshu wanted him dead.

Chu Zuoshu and the Divine Wood Sect drove Ji Dingjin’s Mountain Shaking Peak forces away from Rolling Thunder Mountain, then prepared to defend the mine until reinforcements arrived. As Chen Mobai drilled with the gathered fighters, Mountain Shaking Peak’s large army appeared across the border.

• Ji Dingjin and Chu Zuoshu clashed, then led their respective forces in competing formations until Ji Dingjin withdrew toward Yan Kingdom.
• Chu Zuoshu returned to Rolling Thunder Mountain and ordered the Four Great Families of Lei Kingdom to help defend against Mountain Shaking Peak.
• Fu Huakun warned that Mountain Shaking Peak might possess a Pulse Breaking Bead, while Yue Zutao proposed backup plans for defending or retreating from the mountain.
• Chu Zuoshu ordered each family to gather one hundred Qi Cultivation Cultivators, and the families assembled more than four hundred fighters within three days.
• Chen Mobai drilled Battle Formation with Yue Zutao as Flying Boats carrying Mountain Shaking Peak’s army approached Rolling Thunder Mountain.

Chen Mobai and the Divine Wood Sect’s forces defended Rolling Thunder Mountain against Mountain Shaking Peak’s assault, while Chu Zuoshu and Ji Dingjin clashed as the opposing commanders. As the battle spread among the Foundation Establishment Cultivators, a brilliant purple Sword Light killed a Mountain Shaking Peak cultivator, leaving the fight unresolved.

• Chen Mobai and Yue Zutao helped rally the defenders by arranging rewards for enemy kills and Foundation Establishment Pill promises for the Four Great Families of Lei Kingdom.
• Fu Huakun directed Rolling Thunder Mountain’s formation as it endured Mountain Shaking Peak’s flying-boat bombardment, and the attackers blasted three openings in its shield.
• Ji Dingjin led Mountain Shaking Peak’s cultivators through the gaps, while Chu Zuoshu summoned two spirit trees and confronted him in midair.
• Chen Mobai and Yue Zutao engaged the invading Foundation Establishment Cultivators, and Gong Wanshan and Zheng Wulü pressed Yue Zutao with a powerful talisman and flying-sword attacks.
• A dazzling purple Sword Light struck down a Mountain Shaking Peak Foundation Establishment Cultivator in a Golden Robe.

Chen Mobai killed Ji Daoyuan and Zheng Wulü during the battle at Rolling Thunder Mountain, revealing his formidable sword light and drawing Mountain Shaking Peak’s attention. As Mu Hanxiong approached to avenge Ji Daoyuan, Chen Mobai rose to meet him while Yue Zutao realized Chen might be able to break the body cultivator’s defenses.

• Chen Mobai killed Ji Daoyuan with a sword strike, then blocked Mu Hanxiong’s seven-layer palm attack with talismans and the Azure Scale Armguard.
• Chen Mobai helped Yue Zutao fend off Gong Wanshan’s Mysterious Abyss Soul-Breaking Talisman while striking at Zheng Wulü, who escaped with one arm severed.
• Chen Mobai learned that Ji Daoyuan was a renowned body cultivator and one of the Eastern Wasteland’s Five-Colored Immortal Seeds, then killed Zheng Wulü with the Flying Sparrow Hairpin and Azure Sun Fire Seed.
• Gong Wanshan shouted that Ji Daoyuan had been killed by a Divine Wood Sect cultivator and fled, while Chen Mobai collected Zheng Wulü’s storage bag.
• Mu Hanxiong approached Chen Mobai and Yue Zutao, and Chen Mobai warned Yue Zutao that he could not look after him before flying upward to face the Foundation Establishment Late Stage body cultivator.

Chen Mobai fought Mu Hanxiong, a Foundation Establishment Late Stage body cultivator, while Fu Huakun and other Divine Wood Sect cultivators battled the Yan Kingdom attackers. When Chen Mobai’s strongest sword failed to kill Mu Hanxiong, he used the Six Yang Divine Fire Mirror to burn him to ash.

• Mu Hanxiong escaped the formation and vowed to avenge Ji Daoyuan, but Fu Huakun stepped in to fight him while Chen Mobai turned to face the other Yan Kingdom cultivators.
• Mu Hanxiong’s allies joined the fight against Fu Huakun, who summoned wooden puppets and formed the Heavenly Wood Divine Light Array to hold them off.
• Mu Hanxiong confronted Chen Mobai, caught his Purple Fire Sword Light, and pressed him with powerful close-range attacks.
• Chen Mobai used his defensive tools, a puppet, Heavenly Wood Spiritual Light, and the Profound Fire Divine Thunder Technique to fend off Mu Hanxiong before striking him with the Flying Sparrow Hairpin.
• Mu Hanxiong survived Chen Mobai’s strongest sword strike with four layers of defense, so Chen Mobai poured twelve drops of Longevity Spiritual Power into the Six Yang Divine Fire Mirror and burned Mu Hanxiong to ash.

After Chen Mobai helped defeat Mountain Shaking Peak’s assault on Rolling Thunder Mountain, he discussed the battle’s losses and gains with the surviving cultivators. As the sect’s reinforcements arrived, Yue Zutao warned Chen about revealing his Third Tier mirror and gave him an Azure Sun Fire Seed to aid his cultivation.

• The Yan Kingdom cultivators retreated after Chen Mobai killed Mu Hanxiong, and Chu Zuoshu stopped the defenders from pursuing them.
• Chu Zuoshu cremated Feng Feixiong and Liu Mingjing, while Lian Chenghai presented Bao Qiyuan and asked that he receive a Foundation Establishment Pill; Bao Qiyuan then knelt and asked Chen Mobai to take him as a disciple.
• Chu Zuoshu agreed to let Bao Qiyuan enter Divine Wood Sect, and the cultivators discussed the damaged Wutu Golden Saber Formation and the possibility of further attacks from Mountain Shaking Peak.
• Chu Zuoshu revealed that Quan Shanlin and twenty Foundation Establishment Cultivators were expected to arrive, while Yue Zutao warned Chen Mobai to keep his Third Tier Six Yang Divine Fire Mirror secret.
• Chen Mobai showed Yue Zutao the loot from Ji Daoyuan and Zheng Wulü, and Yue Zutao offered him an Azure Sun Fire Seed after learning Chen wanted to advance his fire seed.

Chen Mobai acquired an Azure Sun Fire Seed and learned of the shortage of Green Wood Sha as Divine Wood Sect pursued Mountain Shaking Peak’s forces in a costly battle. After expressing his wish to end the Eastern Wasteland’s chaos, he saw Yue Zutao’s Liaoran Wine help cultivators confront old grief, then learned Yue had bought Profound Yin Sha at the market.

• Chen Mobai traded the contents of two Storage Bags for Yue Zutao’s Azure Sun Fire Seed and copied the Nine Ren Dharma Body, while Yue warned him that Giant Wood Ridge’s Green Wood Sha was scarce.
• Chu Zuoshu led Divine Wood Sect’s forces in pursuit of Mountain Shaking Peak’s retreating army, and both sides suffered heavy losses before Ji Dingjin’s group took shelter behind a prepared formation.
• Chen Mobai told Yue Zutao he hoped to end the Eastern Wasteland’s chaos, then dismissed his words as drunken talk after Yue praised his ambition.
• Yue Zutao and other cultivators became deeply drunk on Zhuo Ming’s wine, later named Liaoran Wine, and found that confronting painful memories had eased their state of mind.
• Yue Zutao told Chen Mobai he had bought a gourd of Profound Yin Sha for his Profound Yin Thunder Bead, prompting Chen Mobai to consider visiting the market stalls.

Chen Mobai explored Rolling Thunder Mountain’s market with Yue Zutao and bought an Earth Master legacy, several kinds of Earth Sha, and assorted ores. Back in his room, he discovered that four of the ores concealed Sha Qi Crystals whose Yin-Yang and Five Elements properties suggested their former owner had collected them deliberately.

• Yue Zutao took Chen Mobai through the market, where Rogue Cultivators sold off war spoils as they prepared to leave the battlefield.
• Chen Mobai bought the stall owner’s Earth Master Legacy, three kinds of Earth Sha, and all the ores after spotting unusual spiritual light in some of them.
• Chen Mobai inspected the Fire Yang Sha, Clear Wind Sha, and Peach Blossom Sha, considering how they might support his sword cultivation and Magic Tools.
• Chen Mobai used the Void Glimpse Spiritual Eye to reveal that four ores contained Thousand Rock Sha, Profound Ice Sha, Red Copper Sha, and Jade Mist Sha crystals.
• Chen Mobai noticed that the crystals, together with the Profound Yin Sha and Fire Yang Sha, formed a suspicious set and opened the Earth Master Legacy books to investigate.

Chen Mobai gave Liu Wenbai and Luo Yixuan powerful Magic Tools and shared Earth Master Legacy books with Luo Yixuan, asking her to investigate their former owner, Song Xishun. At a war council, the Divine Wood Sect planned to bypass Ji Dingjin's defenses with a Small Teleportation Array, and Chen Mobai volunteered to escort its formation team into Yan Kingdom.

• Chen Mobai read the Earth Master Legacy books and found a note identifying Song Xishun as a disciple who had thanked his master for transmitting the Dao.
• Liu Wenbai and Luo Yixuan arrived, and Chen Mobai gave them the Divine Wood Sword and Azure Scale Armguard while teaching them how to refine the Magic Tools.
• Chen Mobai gave Luo Yixuan the Earth Master Legacy books to study and asked her and Liu Wenbai to investigate Song Xishun and his lineage.
• At the mobilization meeting, Chu Zuoshu proposed sending a small team into Yan Kingdom to establish a Small Teleportation Array and circle around Ji Dingjin's defensive line toward a spirit stone mine.
• Chu Zuoshu asked Chen Mobai to escort Weng Chuanyou's team, and Chen Mobai agreed without hesitation.

Chen Mobai obtained a Lesser Teleportation Talisman and joined Weng Chuanyou’s team in setting up a Teleportation Array inside Yan Kingdom territory. As the Divine Wood Sect’s army began its assault on Ji Dingjin’s position, the array succeeded, giving Chen Mobai’s group a concealed route back to Rolling Thunder Mountain.

• Chen Mobai formed a four-person infiltration team with Weng Chuanyou, Liao Shiying, and Xi Yisheng, then bought a Lesser Teleportation Talisman from Jing Zuyin.
• Hua Zijing told Chen Mobai he would lead Wuqi Dao Academy’s team at an offline exchange at Goumang Dao Academy, where Xiahou Weihuan and Sima Xingyu might find a way to compete.
• Chen Mobai set the talisman’s teleportation point in a hidden mountain cave away from Rolling Thunder Mountain, then watched his disciples and the Divine Wood Sect army depart by Airships.
• Weng Chuanyou led Chen Mobai and the other two cultivators into Yan Kingdom territory while Chu Zuoshu’s Airships battered Ji Dingjin’s Third Tier Yellow Earth Sand Dance Array and the two armies began fighting.
• Weng Chuanyou spent three days building a Teleportation Array on a First Tier Spiritual Vein, and the team confirmed it worked when a rabbit teleported from Rolling Thunder Mountain to their location.

Chen Mobai and the Divine Wood Sect seized Mountain Shaking Peak’s Small Spirit Stone Mine, prompting Ji Dingjin to retreat and Ji Zhenshi to reveal his Core Formation Late Stage strength. As Ji Zhenshi fought Zhou Shengqing at Mountain Shaking Peak, Nan Shidao left to attack the Divine Wood Sect cultivators in Yan Kingdom.

• Chen Mobai and the Divine Wood Sect forces broke the mine’s defensive array, killed its two Foundation Establishment defenders, and captured nearly three hundred thousand spirit stones despite two Qi Cultivation cultivators escaping.
• Ji Dingjin tried to retake the Small Spirit Stone Mine, but Chu Zuoshu blocked his army and forced him back to the Micro Spirit Stone Mine.
• Ji Zhenshi confronted Zhou Shengqing over the Divine Wood Sect’s occupation of the mine and revealed that he had reached Core Formation Late Stage.
• Zhou Shengqing learned that Ji Zhenshi had killed his internal affairs elder and seized Void Stones, while Ji Zhenshi accused the Divine Wood Sect of hiding a Void Stone Mine.
• Nan Shidao arrived to support Ji Zhenshi, and the two attacked Zhou Shengqing, who used three Golden Sun Spirit Trees to suppress Mountain Shaking Peak’s formation.
• Ji Zhenshi held Zhou Shengqing back while Nan Shidao flew toward Yan Kingdom to attack the Divine Wood Sect cultivators.

Chen Mobai urged the Divine Wood Sect’s Foundation Establishment Cultivators not to abandon their Qi Cultivation Disciples, and Fu Zongjue revealed himself as a hidden Core Formation Ancestor and ordered them to prepare for retreat. After Mountain Shaking Peak’s army drove the Divine Wood Sect forces back, the teleportation array failed, suggesting Rolling Thunder Mountain had fallen.

• Chen Mobai mined spirit stones while the Divine Wood Sect’s forces held the mine against Ji Dingjin’s attacks.
• A Core Formation Cultivator destroyed the teleportation array, and Weng Chuanyou and the others debated whether to abandon the Qi Cultivation Disciples and escape.
• Chen Mobai and Xi Yisheng opposed abandoning the disciples, and six Foundation Establishment Cultivators voted to set up a new teleportation array at the mine.
• Liao Shiying revealed himself as Fu Zongjue, who explained that his true body was with Chu Zuoshu and ordered the group to prepare a retreat while protecting the disciples if possible.
• Fu Zongjue fought Nan Shidao as the Divine Wood Sect army withdrew, while Mountain Shaking Peak’s forces advanced on the mine.
• Weng Chuanyou led the first group into the teleportation array, but it failed to activate, and he concluded that Rolling Thunder Mountain had fallen.

Chen Mobai stayed behind at the Spirit Stone Mine to delay Ji Dingjin while the Divine Wood Sect cultivators escaped, then used a Lesser Teleportation Talisman to flee when Mountain Shaking Peak reinforcements arrived. After sensing a dangerous black flame near Rolling Thunder Mountain, he returned to the Immortal Sect to await the battle’s outcome.

• The Foundation Establishment Cultivators split up to escape, and Chen Mobai chose to head toward Rolling Thunder Mountain while Xi Yisheng flew toward Shuang Country.
• Ji Dingjin arrived at the empty Spirit Stone Mine and attacked Chen Mobai, who blocked his blows with his magic tools and countered with Spiritual Sense Mind Blades and Sword Light.
• Chen Mobai recognized Ji Dingjin’s Void Body technique as resembling the Underworld Great Formation, then saw Mountain Shaking Peak reinforcements and the Yan Kingdom army approaching.
• As Ji Dingjin’s cultivators formed a Battle Formation to surround him, Chen Mobai activated a Lesser Teleportation Talisman and vanished.
• Chen Mobai emerged from a sealed cave, saw ominous black flames near Rolling Thunder Mountain, and decided to return to the Immortal Sect until the battle’s outcome was known.

Chen Mobai took on the student council’s workload, learned how the academy managed its teachers, and helped arrange a trial lesson. Che Yucheng then revealed his plan for the year-end visit to Goumang Dao Academy, leaving Chen Mobai surprised by how he intended to prepare Wuqi Dao Academy’s team to face Xiahou Weihuan.

• Chen Mobai handled the student council’s accumulated work and learned from Hua Zijing how its duties included coordinating courses and teacher assignments.
• Chen Mobai arranged a trial lesson for the Artifact Refining Department’s “History of Magic Artifacts” by inviting Teacher Liu to meet with Teacher Che.
• Che Yucheng explained to Chen Mobai that trial lessons gave new teachers a fair opportunity to earn teaching assignments.
• Chen Mobai asked Che Yucheng about leading the year-end team to Goumang Dao Academy, and Che Yucheng said Xiahou Weihuan and Sima Xingyu would participate.
• Che Yucheng revealed that Lan Haitan had entered death seclusion and that he had arranged for three Foundation Establishment Ninth Layer graduates to join Chen Mobai’s team.
• Chen Mobai realized Che Yucheng had sent Hong Mengkui’s disciple, who cultivated the Cantong Qi, to Vice Principal Duanmu, and questioned whether a Foundation Establishment cultivator could wield a Fourth Tier Magic Tool.