Chapter Summaries

Chen Mobai attended Immortal Sect Fifth High School’s entrance-exam gathering, where the principal announced that Chen had scored Top of the School. Yan Bingxuan learned of his result and was surprised, while Chen invited her to dinner to thank her for helping him with the Ice Spell.

• Chen Mobai, Song Zheng, and Mo Simin arrived at Classroom 203 and met other high-scoring students, including Xu Yuan, Shi Yuanqing, Cao Yaling, and Shi Jingjing.
• Yan Bingxuan arrived to handle her student-record transfer and help publicize her admission to Natural Academy, then sat beside Mo Simin.
• Principal He Jingshan arrived and addressed the 36 students gathered for the entrance exam.
• He Jingshan asked Chen Mobai to stand, revealing that Chen had scored Top of the School and surprising Xu Yuan, Shi Jingjing, and Yan Bingxuan.
• Chen Mobai messaged Yan Bingxuan to invite her to dinner so he could thank her for teaching him the Ice Spell and apologize.

He Jingshan explained the spell-duel rules and helped students review their academy applications, while Chen Mobai chose his preferred schools and was assured of admission to Pure Yang Academy. After class, Chen Mobai invited Yan Bingxuan and Mo Simin to eat, and Yan explained why Song Zheng disliked her.

• He Jingshan announced that students could use a limited set of Talismans in spell duels, then advised them to choose combinations suited to their cultivation.
• Chen Mobai selected Goumang Dao Academy, Pure Yang Academy, and Supreme Origin Academy on his application form.
• He Jingshan told Chen Mobai that his score made admission to Pure Yang Academy nearly certain.
• Chen Mobai invited Yan Bingxuan and Mo Simin to eat, but Song Zheng declined and left.
• Yan Bingxuan explained that Song Zheng had lost to her repeatedly in practical spell classes before catching up after she began cultivating the Frost Condensation Method.

Chen Mobai shared a meal with Qing Nü, Yan Bingxuan, and Mo Simin, then took Qing Nü home to collect ingredients for her Qi Replenishing Spirit Water refining. Mo Simin was left baffled by his behavior, while Yan Bingxuan insisted she and Chen Mobai were only classmates.

• Chen Mobai treated Qing Nü, Yan Bingxuan, and Mo Simin to Black Sturgeon at the Grilled Fish Shop, and the women enjoyed the meal while he grabbed a share of the second fish.
• Qing Nü gave Chen Mobai twelve tubes of Grade 1 Upper Rank Qi Replenishing Spirit Water and said she could refine a hundred more before leaving for Goumang Dao Academy.
• Chen Mobai invited Qing Nü to his home to collect more medicinal ingredients and left with her, bidding farewell to Mo Simin and Yan Bingxuan.
• Mo Simin angrily questioned Chen Mobai’s boldness, while Yan Bingxuan calmly said she and Chen Mobai were just classmates.
• Mo Simin reconsidered her assumptions about Yan Bingxuan and Qing Nü, then resolved to avoid future group outings with Chen Mobai.

Chen Mobai planned his Spell Duel talisman set and studied Divine Wood Sect Talisman Crafting Insights, discovering the sect’s healing talismans and how talisman crafting could earn a Foundation Establishment Pill. He left intending to look for a Crimson Flame Three Sword Talisman and practice against a Black Armored Turtle.

• Chen Mobai failed to order a Pulse Protecting Pill but cultivated on Green Light Island after taking Qing Nü’s Qi Replenishing Spirit Water.
• Chen Mobai reviewed battle talismans and found the Crimson Flame Sword Talisman described in Divine Wood Sect Talisman Crafting Insights, learning that three sword lights could form a small Sword Formation.
• Chen Mobai provisionally selected the Crimson Flame Three Sword Talisman, Green Arrow Talisman, Wood Armor Talisman, Wood Shield Talisman, Wood Prison Talisman, Entangling Talisman, and Detox Talisman for the Spell Duel.
• Chen Mobai decided to visit the Divine Wood Sect talisman shop for the Crimson Flame Three Sword Talisman and practice against a Black Armored Turtle.
• Chen Mobai read about the Divine Wood Sect’s healing talismans and learned that Rogue Cultivators could earn a Foundation Establishment Pill by accumulating ten thousand Sect Contribution from talisman crafting.

Chen Mobai hunted a Black Armored Turtle and returned to Green Light Island, where Ba Jiang arrived gravely wounded with a warning that an army of Demon Beasts was approaching. As the island prepared its defenses, Chen Mobai rescued Ba Jiang and learned that Ba Jiang’s sister was dead.

• Chen Mobai independently hunted a Black Armored Turtle, then sold it at Green Light Island’s dock and kept one leg to cook.
• Ba Jiang crashed into a handcart while carrying a warning about an approaching army of Demon Beasts, and a Divine Wood Sect disciple used a Life Return Talisman to keep him alive.
• Uncle Zheng confirmed the Demon Beast army with Demon Seeking Talismans and ordered everyone onto the island to activate the Grand Array.
• Rogue Cultivators rushed to buy supplies as the island’s defenses were prepared, while those already outside were told to fend for themselves.
• Chen Mobai carried the dying Ba Jiang to safety and asked where his sister was; Ba Jiang answered that she was dead.

After rescuing Ba Jiang, Chen Mobai learned that Demon Beasts were preparing to attack Green Light Island and that the island’s defense might be bloody. Divine Wood Sect issued a paid Mobilization Order that persuaded nearly all Rogue Cultivators to stay and help defend.

• Ba Jiang told Chen Mobai that a flock of Black Plague Birds had killed his younger sister and explained the weakening seal and prior Demon Beast attacks on the islands.
• Chen Mobai considered whether to flee or stay and observe the coming battle, then went to find Qi Hou.
• Qi Hou told Chen Mobai that Divine Wood Sect would pay Rogue Cultivators daily to defend Green Light Island and might recruit those who distinguished themselves.
• Qi Hou gave Chen Mobai a Revival Talisman for Ba Jiang and left to help fortify the island.
• Chen Mobai delivered the talisman and explained the Mobilization Order, and Ba Jiang praised Zheng Deming’s understanding of Rogue Cultivators.
• After Divine Wood Sect announced the order, nearly all Rogue Cultivators abandoned plans to flee and chose to stay.

Chen Mobai accepted the Divine Wood Sect’s mobilization order to defend Green Light Island, then returned to Earth Origin Star to buy battle supplies. He found a defensive Helmet that exceeded his budget and began negotiating with Wu Wan.

• Chen Mobai decided to remain on Green Light Island and found the island’s market stripped of useful supplies.
• Steward Wang delivered a mobilization order, and Chen Mobai signed it and received five Spirit Stones.
• After Steward Wang left, Chen Mobai used the Turtle Treasure to return to Earth Origin Star and collected talismans from the Wood Spirit Talisman Shop.
• Chen Mobai called Wu Wan and went to Wu's Gold Shop to find a defensive artifact before the battle.
• Wu Wan offered Chen Mobai a personally refined Helmet for one hundred thousand Merit Points, but Chen Mobai said his budget was only eighty thousand.

Chen Mobai bought the Five Transformations Umbrella from Luan Jingsheng and joined a Divine Wood Sect squad assigned to guard a formation flag node on Green Light Island. The squad reached the bare tree that served as their node just as an attack approached.

• Chen Mobai chose the Five Transformations Umbrella after Wu Wan explained its defenses, flaws, and potential for customization.
• Chen Mobai bought the umbrella from Luan Jingsheng, then returned home and teleported to Green Light Island with his gear and talismans.
• Chen Mobai arrived late at Steward Wang's office, apologized, and received information about the squad's assignment to guard a Heavenly Wood Divine Light Array node.
• Steward Wang took the twenty-eight cultivators aboard a flying boat to the cliffside formation flag, a transplanted spiritual tree.
• Someone called out that the attackers had arrived.

Chen Mobai and the defenders of Green Light Island used the Heavenly Wood Divine Light to devastate the Black Plague Birds and kill one of their three second grade kings. The surviving flock withdrew to a nearby reef, leaving the defenders to face the casualties of the first assault.

• Chen Mobai and the others saw the Black Plague Birds approaching, and Steward Wang explained that the Heavenly Wood Divine Light would be used sparingly against the demon beasts.
• Four beams of Heavenly Wood Divine Light swept through the flock, killing over a thousand birds and badly wounding two of the three second grade bird kings.
• Zheng Deming killed the bird king that fell onto Green Light Island, whose dying sound-wave attack staggered cultivators nearby.
• The Black Plague Birds launched a suicidal assault, and Chen Mobai and the other defenders used artifacts, talismans, and spells to repel them.
• The remaining Black Plague Birds abandoned their assault and settled on a reef west of Green Light Island, while the defenders tended to their dead and wounded.

After the first clash with the Black Plague Birds, Wang Yuanwu organized the defenders into teams and prepared them for another attack. Chen Mobai’s team took its positions as more Demon Beasts advanced on Green Light Island.

• A Divine Wood Sect disciple reattached the arms of two injured cultivators with Regeneration Talismans, and one injured cultivator left while Gao Tuo stayed to fight.
• Wang Yuanwu divided the 27 remaining defenders into five teams, and Chen Mobai joined his team alongside Gao Tuo, Shi Pengyi, and Luo Lin.
• The team members described their weapons and spells, and Chen Mobai admitted he had several dozen Talismans while Wang Yuanwu promised to seek compensation for his losses.
• A message warned that Water Python Oxen and Black Armored Turtles might attack alongside the Black Plague Birds, so the defenders took positions around the spirit tree.
• Five beams of Heavenly Wood Divine Light struck the Water Marsh, and nearly a thousand Black Plague Birds swept toward the island as Chen Mobai prepared 24 azure Spiritual Qi Long Arrows.

Chen Mobai and the other defenders fought off the Black Plague Birds attacking Green Light Island, then faced two Bird Kings and their powerful guards. Wang Yuanwu raised a shield over the cliff with the spirit tree’s power, but as the battle intensified, a defender was killed.

• Chen Mobai, Wang Yuanwu, Gao Tuo, Luo Lin, and Shi Pengyi cleared the ordinary Black Plague Birds from their section of the cliff.
• Two Black Plague Bird Kings appeared, and Wang Yuanwu warned the defenders that powerful guards were approaching.
• A Divine Wood Sect disciple awakened a green leaf from the spirit tree, and Wang Yuanwu used it to create a light shield that resisted the Bird Kings’ tornado.
• Wang Yuanwu assigned the squads to fight the great birds, while Chen Mobai used Green Arrow Talismans to strike the birds accompanying his target.
• Chen Mobai blocked the great bird’s Wind Blades with the Five Transformations Umbrella, then dodged its Gale Arrows after his Wood Shield Talismans broke.
• A defender screamed and died as the squads fought the attacking birds.

Chen Mobai defeated a Black Plague Great Bird by exploiting the Black Feather Shield’s weaknesses, then moved to support a struggling squad. The Island Defense War escalated as eight beams of Heavenly Wood Divine Light erupted around Green Light Island, signaling that more Demon Beasts had arrived.

• Chen Mobai tested the Black Plague Great Bird’s defenses and deduced that its eyes and the centers of its claws were weak points in the Black Feather Shield.
• Chen Mobai used Entangling Talismans and Poison Talismans to immobilize the great bird, then pierced its eyes with ice spears formed from Black Water.
• The wounded great bird exhausted its spiritual power and fell after Chen Mobai struck it with a second volley of ice spears, but its dying sonic attack left the cultivators dizzy.
• Chen Mobai used a Revival Talisman, saw that Wang Yuanwu was still fighting three great birds, and joined a freed cultivator in supporting a squad that had lost three members.
• Eight beams of Heavenly Wood Divine Light erupted from the southern and northern shores of Green Light Island as more Demon Beasts arrived.

Chen Mobai and the defenders repelled the Demon Beasts’ first assault on Green Light Island with help from three Foundation Establishment cultivators, but the victory cost five lives. After the survivors reorganized into new teams, Chen Mobai’s group welcomed Qi Rui.

• Two Second Grade Demon Beasts broke through onto Green Light Island, and one destroyed a spirit tree formation flag before three sword lights killed it.
• The three sword lights and Zheng Deming killed the other Demon Beast as the Heavenly Wood Divine Light Array slowed its attempted escape.
• The Black Plague Bird Kings signaled retreat, and Wang Yuanwu, Chen Mobai, and the other cultivators brought down several birds as they fled.
• Wang Yuanwu ordered the five fallen cultivators cremated, and Chen Mobai mourned Gao Tuo while reflecting on the cost of war.
• Wang Yuanwu reorganized the eighteen remaining cultivators into four teams, assigning Chen Mobai, Shi Pengyi, Luo Lin, and Qi Rui together.
• Qi Rui introduced himself to the team as a Crimson Flame Sword Art cultivator and Talisman Master.

Chen Mobai learned how the Divine Wood Sect allocated orthodox Foundation Establishment Pills and how rare pills made from demon beast inner cores were. He left the conversation searching for a way to obtain a pill sooner, and Qi Rui told him that a Heaven Spirit Root genius had once received one directly from Old Ancestor Fu.

• Chen Mobai asked Qi Rui about the Divine Wood Sect’s Foundation Establishment Pills, and Qi Rui explained their scarce supply, sect contributions, and True Disciple priority.
• Qi Rui explained that peak second-grade demon beasts could provide inner cores for an alternate Foundation Establishment Pill, though the process yielded few pills and Returning Heaven Valley would not refine them.
• Qi Rui said the current batch of orthodox pills would enter the sect storehouse next year, while the inner-core pills would be divided among competing disciples and Golden Light Cliff.
• Chen Mobai asked whether anyone had ever received a pill upon entering the sect, and Qi Rui recalled that Old Ancestor Fu had bestowed one on a Heaven Spirit Root genius recruited ten years earlier.

After buying a Crimson Flame Sword Talisman from Qi Rui, Chen Mobai asked about stronger talismans and the Divine Wood Sect’s cultivation arts. Qi Rui explained the Two Aspects Technique and its connection to the legendary Primordial Dao Fruit, leaving Chen Mobai with much to learn about the sect’s inheritance.

• Chen Mobai bought a One Sword Talisman from Qi Rui for eight Spirit Stones and learned how to use it.
• Qi Rui explained why Two Sword Talismans were poor value and Three Sword Talismans were difficult to refine, then mentioned that Senior Brother Wang might own one.
• Chen Mobai asked why Divine Wood Sect cultivators practiced Fire Attribute techniques, and Qi Rui explained that the sect inherited techniques of all Five Elements.
• Qi Rui described the Primordial Dao Fruit as the Five Elements Sect’s legendary divine ability and the Two Aspects Technique as a method of cultivating two elemental arts together to improve the chance of Core Formation.

Chen Mobai listened as Qi Rui explained the Two Aspects Technique and the Divine Wood Sect’s history, then began planning how its cultivation methods might fit his future path. He ended the night discussing talisman-making and demon-beast combat with Qi Rui and Luo Lin, while still needing to enter the Divine Wood Sect for his plans to begin.

• Qi Rui praised the Two Aspects Technique, saying it increased the chance of Core Formation by thirty percent and had helped Old Ancestor Fu become the Divine Wood Sect’s second Golden Core True Person.
• Qi Rui explained that only True Disciples could cultivate the Two Aspects Technique and that it demanded more time and resources than a single cultivation method.
• Chen Mobai planned to cultivate the Longevity Sutra, seek True Disciple status, and combine the Two Aspects Technique with the Pure Yang Scroll if he entered the Divine Wood Sect.
• Chen Mobai and Qi Rui discussed the Divine Wood Sect, cultivation methods, and talisman-making while Shi Pengyi meditated and Luo Lin listened as she recovered.
• Chen Mobai, Qi Rui, and Luo Lin exchanged ideas about fighting Black Plague Birds and improving their team’s chances in the Island Defense War.
• Wang Yuanwu arrived at sunrise to distribute the day’s spirit stones, interrupting Chen Mobai and Qi Rui’s conversation.

Chen Mobai received Spirit Stones for the Black Plague Birds he had killed, then joined his squad as the renewed attack on Green Light Island began. After the Heavenly Wood Divine Light devastated the leading birds, the defenders fought back while Ning Leshan intercepted a Bird King.

• Wang Yuanwu paid Chen Mobai eleven Spirit Stones, including the squad’s share and compensation for the Black Plague Bird materials.
• Ning Leshan of Golden Light Cliff visited the squad and said he had come to oversee the west-bank defensive line.
• Qi Rui explained Golden Light Cliff’s Sword Cultivator traditions and why Divine Wood Sect valued the Two Aspects Technique.
• Wang Yuanwu redeployed the defenders, and two Bird Kings led more than a thousand Black Plague Birds into a full assault on Green Light Island.
• Junior Liu fired the recharged Heavenly Wood Divine Light, which destroyed more than half of the thirty leading First Grade peak Black Plague Great Birds.
• Ning Leshan intercepted the uninjured Bird King as Heavenly Wood Divine Lights erupted along the island’s other shores and the defenders clashed with the Demon Beast army.

After ten days of brutal fighting on Green Light Island, Chen Mobai asked to return to Vermilion Cloud City for two days to rest and check the Daoist Academy entrance examination match list. Before leaving, he asked Wang Yuanwu to sell him a Crimson Flame Three Sword Talisman.

• Chen Mobai and the remaining squad members endured ten days of fighting, with only twelve still alive and intact.
• Shi Pengyi returned to the team after breaking through to Qi Cultivation Level 6, while Luo Lin and several others had left the battlefield alive.
• Chen Mobai drank wine with Qi Rui and considered the Sky River Realm's vacant Spirit Fields and the possibilities of farming there.
• Chen Mobai asked Wang Yuanwu for two days of rest, explaining that the continuous fighting had exhausted him and that Vermilion Cloud City would announce the examination match list the next day.
• Chen Mobai asked Wang Yuanwu to sell him a Crimson Flame Three Sword Talisman, saying he intended to cultivate the Longevity Sutra and Crimson Flame Sword Art.

Chen Mobai returned from the Sky River Realm to resume school and learned how his classmates had trained and advanced while he was away. Meanwhile, academy representatives debated how to arrange the entrance Spell Duel, leaving the fairness of mixing Dao Academy and academy applicants unresolved.

• Chen Mobai returned Wang Yuanwu’s Spirit Stones, reclaimed his Crimson Flame Three Sword Talisman, and left the Sky River Realm for home.
• Chen Mobai checked messages, reassured his mother, and went to school, where Mo Simin told him Yan Bingxuan had skipped the Spell Duel to cultivate.
• Xu Yuan revealed that he had reached Qi Cultivation Level 8 after army training, while Shi Yuanqing appeared hardened by the same experience.
• At Vermillion Cinnabar Academy, True Person Scarlet Robe and the representatives debated how to handle the uneven number of Dao Academy entrance applicants and a tie for the bye.
• Lan Haitan proposed mixing Four Great Dao Academy and Ten Great Academy applicants in the Spell Duel, prompting objections about fairness.

The Four Great Dao Academies and other schools combined their entrance-exam spell-duel quotas and issued a schedule for the matches in Vermilion Cloud City. Chen Mobai learned that he would face Qiao Xingwen on the first day and considered using unfamiliar Talismans as a feint.

• Lan Haitan suggested letting the first-place spell-duel winner enroll only if their Cutoff Score met the Four Great Dao Academies' standards, giving the academies grounds to reject unqualified candidates.
• True Person Scarlet Robe approved combining the forty-seven Dao Academy places with the two hundred thirty-three academy places and scheduled the spell duels to begin in three days.
• He Jingshan displayed the match schedule to Class 203, where Chen Mobai found out he would face Qiao Xingwen from Third High School on the first day.
• Mo Simin said Qiao Xingwen was a dual-spirit-root genius at Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer, while He Jingshan warned Chen Mobai that his opponent might be close to Qi Cultivation Level 8.
• He Jingshan explained that students could change their Talismans between rounds, and Chen Mobai considered preparing an unfamiliar set to mislead his opponents.