Chapter Summaries

Pei Ling entered the Meiyang County Trial, where he had two hours and ten furnace attempts to pass the pill-refining examination. After learning the questions were all formulas he already knew, he started refining a Soul-Cleansing Pill under the System’s control.

• Pill Masters tried to buy Pei Ling’s remaining Death-Defying Fate-Reversing Pill, but he rejected their offers as too low.
• Dou Zhuang announced the County Trial schedule, rewards, and the five-day wait before rankings and travel to the Imperial Capital.
• Pei Ling waited through the first round, then entered the examination with the second group and was assigned to Tu He.
• Tu He explained that Pei Ling had to refine ten pills, each producing at least one top-grade pill, within two hours and ten furnace attempts.
• Pei Ling recognized all ten formulas from the jade slip, set up the Golden Jade Lion Camel Mandarin Duck Treasure Furnace, and began refining a Soul-Cleansing Pill with the System.

Pei Ling passed the County Trial with an unprecedented display of pill-refining skill, then helped Zhou Miaoli plan her own test. Zhou Miaoli entered the Ministry of Works disguised as Fan Jusong, and the examiners noticed that her cultivation was remarkably advanced for a Rogue Cultivator.

• Pei Ling refined ten batches of pills in under an hour, producing only supreme-grade pills, and Master Tu He declared that he had passed the County Trial.
• Pei Ling borrowed the furnace to keep refining and told Shi Wanli that he would learn his ranking in five days.
• Zhou Miaoli contacted Pei Ling, learned that Master Tu He had examined him, and arranged to take her test in the fifth session.
• Zhou Miaoli and Fan Dechang went to the Ministry of Works, where she passed the bone-age and soul checks under the identity of Fan Jusong.
• A senior female cultivator remarked that Fan Jusong had reached Core Formation Peak despite being a Rogue Cultivator.

The chapter explained the Fan family’s wealth and Fan Jusong’s upbringing, then showed Zhou Miaoli enduring poison to pass the County Trial under Fan Jusong’s name. Five days later, Pei Ling returned to the Ministry of Works with Shi Wanli as the County Trial ended.

• An older male cultivator told an older female cultivator how Fan Jusong’s ancestor saved a young Pill Master and how the Fan family inherited great wealth.
• The older male cultivator explained that Fan Jusong had quit the academy as a child and was taught by her father, Fan Dechang.
• Pei Ling finished cultivating in his cave abode, swallowed a poison pill, and began refining pills.
• Zhou Miaoli swallowed a poison pill during the County Trial and refined ten batches despite the worsening effects.
• Zhou Miaoli took a Poison Dispelling Pill, and the examiner announced that Fan Jusong had passed the County Trial.
• Five days later, Pei Ling returned to the Ministry of Works with Shi Wanli as the County Trial ended.

After passing the County Trial, Pei Ling entered the Ministry of Works and sold his two Death-Defying Fate-Reversing Pills to Fifth-Rank Pill Masters Xun Wuyang and Nangong Su for rare ingredients. As the successful Pill Masters gathered and awaited news of their next examinations, Pei Ling recognized Zhou Miaoli arriving in her Fan Jusong identity.

• Pei Ling thanked Shi Wanli and entered the Ministry of Works, where only Pill Masters who had passed the County Trial were allowed inside.
• Pei Ling met Ye Manyue and learned that Xun Wuyang wanted to buy his Death-Defying Fate-Reversing Pill.
• Pei Ling sold Xun Wuyang one pill and Nangong Su his last one, receiving thirty portions of each of eight rare ingredients for each trade.
• Fourteen Pill Masters gathered in the flower hall and talked about the County Trial and the upcoming imperial capital examinations.
• A female cultivator entered, and Pei Ling recognized her as Zhou Miaoli using the identity Fan Jusong.

Tu He announced the Meiyang County Trial rankings, with Pei Ling—competing under the name Wang Gao—taking first place, and escorted the successful Pill Masters to Lanjing. The group arrived safely in the Imperial Capital, where Minister of Rites Lu Zhitai began verifying their identities.

• Tu He announced the rankings, placing Nangong Su third and Xun Wuyang second before revealing Wang Gao as champion for producing ten batches of exceptional-grade pills.
• Blue-robed servants delivered Wang Gao’s rewards, including a seventh-grade pill furnace and choices from the dynasty’s Secret Treasury.
• Tu He told the Pill Masters that Imperial Capital experts would escort them to Lanjing, and none chose to stay behind.
• The Pill Masters traveled through the Teleportation Array with two high-ranking cultivators, while Pei Ling returned the Golden Jade Lion-Camel Mandarin Duck Treasure Furnace to Tu He.
• The group arrived in Lanjing, where Lu Zhitai received their rankings and asked the fifteen candidates to verify their identities before resting at Xin Cui Pavilion.

Pei Ling and the other Pill Masters arrived at Xin Cui Pavilion and learned that the Palace Examination had already begun, with ten days to answer their individual questions. Enticed by the Nanke Dream Fire among the prizes, Pei Ling entered his lodgings, where the system detected an unfamiliar pill formula.

• Lu Zhitai arranged an armed escort that brought the Meiyang County Pill Masters from the Teleportation Array to Xin Cui Pavilion.
• Officials registered the candidates, explained the examination rules and rewards, and gave them jade tokens for their lodgings.
• Nangong Su explained that the Nanke Dream Fire could improve a cultivator's core grade, and Pei Ling decided to pursue it rather than seek an immediate escape.
• Crane Children guided the fifteen Meiyang County candidates to separate lodgings, and Pei Ling entered his secluded courtyard using his jade token.
• When Pei Ling opened the main hall, the system detected an unfamiliar pill formula and began recording it.

Pei Ling discovered that the Palace Examination required him to complete an incomplete pill recipe, and he considered using the system to refine it after arranging for Zhou Miaoli to interrupt him. Before he could seek her out, Xun Wuyang and Nangong Su arrived with the Nineteenth Prince to discuss their tests.

• Pei Ling found a beast hide, a Storage Pouch, and a jade slip describing the incomplete recipe for the Five Elements Barrier Breaking Pill.
• Pei Ling realized the system had recorded the recipe and could complete and refine it, but he decided to look for the missing ingredients before starting.
• Pei Ling planned to meet Zhou Miaoli indirectly so she could interrupt the system during the pill-refining process.
• After studying the recipe for two hours, Pei Ling stepped outside and encountered Xun Wuyang, Nangong Su, and a powerful Fifth-Rank Pill Master.
• Xun Wuyang introduced the cultivator as the Nineteenth Prince and told him that Wang Gao had won the Meiyang County Trial with ten batches of top-grade pills.

Pei Ling hosted Zhong Kui Xi, Xun Wuyang, and Nangong Su as they discussed ways to complete their incomplete pill formulas, then welcomed Zhou Miaoli, who arrived with an unfamiliar female cultivator. The chapter left Pei Ling facing the unknown woman at his courtyard gate.

• Zhong Kui Xi, Xun Wuyang, and Nangong Su joined Pei Ling to discuss their incomplete pill formulas, and Pei Ling showed them the Five Elements Barrier Breaking Pill formula he had received.
• Zhong Kui Xi, Xun Wuyang, and Nangong Su proposed searching Hundred Herbs Manor for ingredients and consulting the Pill Building's texts to narrow down possible formulas.
• Zhong Kui Xi, Xun Wuyang, and Nangong Su left to test their ideas, while Pei Ling planned to avoid meeting them again.
• Zhou Miaoli arrived at Pei Ling's courtyard with an unfamiliar female cultivator, and Pei Ling opened the gate to greet them.

Pei Ling met Zhou Miaoli’s companion, Jue Xinzi, who believed the world was an illusion and claimed to be an Immortal Venerable from the Upper Realm. Zhou Miaoli explained that Jue Xinzi was a Wushi Villa true disciple who had agreed to help Pei Ling, leaving him wary of her strange beliefs.

• Zhou Miaoli brought Qiu Yanshu, whose real identity was Jue Xinzi, to visit Pei Ling and ask for help completing a damaged recipe.
• Zhou Miaoli secretly told Pei Ling that Jue Xinzi was a Wushi Villa true disciple assigned to assassinate the Pill Refining Grand Ceremony champion, and that she had promised Pei Ling a favor in exchange for his help.
• Jue Xinzi told Pei Ling that the world was fake and claimed she was Immortal Venerable Jue Xin, descended from the Upper Realm.
• Pei Ling suspected Jue Xinzi was a transmigrator, then doubted her sanity as she described the powerful immortals of Wushi Villa.
• Zhou Miaoli explained that Wushi Villa disciples believed the world was an illusory cage and that Jue Xinzi would keep her promise if Pei Ling asked something she could do.

Pei Ling recorded Zhou Miaoli and Jue Xinzi’s incomplete pill formulas, then turned away other alchemists seeking his help so he could study his County Trial rewards. He realized the imperial court’s Nascent Soul divine ability reward was meant to keep Rogue Cultivator champions in the capital, and ended by examining his own pill formula.

• Pei Ling agreed to help Jue Xinzi complete her pill formula and recorded both her formula and Zhou Miaoli’s.
• Pei Ling privately asked Zhou Miaoli to visit him alone because he did not fully trust Jue Xinzi, and she agreed.
• Ye Manyue and other alchemists came seeking Pei Ling’s advice, so he claimed he was refining pills and hung a sign telling visitors not to disturb him.
• Pei Ling studied his County Trial rewards, finding a Core Formation spell and a Nascent Soul divine ability that he could not yet cultivate.
• Pei Ling concluded that the imperial court had given champions the high-level divine ability to encourage Rogue Cultivators to settle in the capital, then studied his pill formula.

Disguised as Fan Jusong, Zhou Miaoli learned the Si Hong Clan’s plan for stealing the Medicine Fairy’s Main Body from Lesser Freedom Heaven and erased the Spiritual Sense that had carried the instructions. Si Hong Lunshan then ordered attacks in Meiyang County to distract the Liulan Dynasty while Zhou Miaoli proceeded toward the final round.

• Zhou Miaoli secretly contacted the Si Hong Clan and said she would rely on Pei Ling to solve the Palace Examination question rather than call in hidden agents.
• The clan’s messenger explained that Zhou Miaoli should exhaust the Medicine Fairy’s clones, wait for the Ancestor and Wushi Villa to sever Lesser Freedom Heaven from the main world, then seize the Medicine Fairy’s Main Body and escape with a Five-Element Sky-Net World-Breaking Array Disc.
• After learning the plan, Zhou Miaoli erased the Spiritual Sense hidden in her hair, and Si Hong Lunshan felt it disappear in Meiyang City.
• Fan Dechang reported that Meiyang County remained under lockdown as authorities searched for Demonic Cultivators.
• Si Hong Lunshan ordered Fan Dechang to stage attacks across the county to draw attention away from Zhou Miaoli and gave him Wushi Villa techniques for the attackers to learn.

Zhou Miaoli visited the Pill Building and Hundred Herbs Manor to prepare for the Palace Examination, then went to Pei Ling’s courtyard with medicinal herbs. She found a crowd gathered outside because Wang Gao was rumored to have a method for completing an incomplete pill formula, and Pei Ling opened the gate to face the eager Pill Masters.

• Zhou Miaoli browsed the Pill Building’s texts before visiting Hundred Herbs Manor and collecting medicinal herbs.
• The Hundred Herbs Manor registrar warned Zhou Miaoli that she had nearly exhausted her free herb allowance.
• Zhou Miaoli learned that Pill Masters had gathered at Wang Gao’s courtyard to ask about his method for completing an incomplete formula.
• Zhou Miaoli pushed through the crowd and called to Wang Gao that she had brought the herbs he requested.
• Pei Ling opened the gate and was startled to find a crowd of Pill Masters outside despite his do-not-disturb sign.

Pei Ling used the Intelligent Cultivation System to identify missing ingredients in three incomplete pill formulas, interrupting its control each time with Zhou Miaoli’s help. He sent Zhou Miaoli to Hundred Herbs Manor to gather the ingredients while Pill Masters continued crowding outside his courtyard.

• Pill Masters crowded the courtyard gate to ask Pei Ling about completing the incomplete formula, and he brought Zhou Miaoli inside.
• Pei Ling used the system to refine the Five Elements Barrier Breaking Pill, and Zhou Miaoli interrupted the system when it tried to take him to the door.
• Pei Ling told Zhou Miaoli the four missing ingredients for his formula and asked her to gather as many as possible.
• Pei Ling tested the Thunder Fire Evil Dispelling Pill and Jue Xinzi’s formula, with Zhou Miaoli interrupting the system during each attempt.
• Pei Ling recorded the ingredients needed for all three formulas on a jade slip and sent Zhou Miaoli to Hundred Herbs Manor, then shut the gate against the waiting Pill Masters.

Pei Ling used the system to refine three kinds of pills and supplied Zhou Miaoli with the ingredients needed to complete her and Jue Xinzi’s formulas. Worried that helping Demonic Sect disciples alone would expose him, he decided to demonstrate pill refining for the ordinary Pill Masters gathered outside his courtyard.

• Zhou Miaoli brought Pei Ling the medicinal ingredients, and he used the system to refine fifteen superior-grade Five Elements Barrier Breaking Pills.
• Pei Ling refined pills for Zhou Miaoli’s and Jue Xinzi’s incomplete formulas, completing all three batches in the same amount of time.
• Pei Ling gave Zhou Miaoli jade slips listing the missing ingredients and told her the refinement methods could be passed on to Jue Xinzi.
• Zhou Miaoli left after arranging for Pei Ling to refine another batch of Thunder Fire Evil Dispelling Pills later, and the waiting Pill Masters tried to approach him.
• Pei Ling worried that helping Demonic Sect disciples would draw suspicion, so he decided to demonstrate pill refining for the ordinary Pill Masters outside.

During the Palace Examination, Pei Ling used the Intelligent Cultivation System to refine the Five Elements Barrier Breaking Pill before the other Pill Masters, showing them his method for completing its formula. After producing fifteen top-grade pills, he claimed he was exhausted and withdrew to rest, leaving the others stunned.

• Pei Ling introduced himself as Wang Gao and offered to demonstrate his formula-completion method by refining a batch of pills.
• Pei Ling activated the Intelligent Cultivation System and let it control his body as it expertly refined pills while the Pill Masters watched and exchanged messages.
• When the system stopped because the poison took effect, Pei Ling neutralized the poison and revealed fifteen top-grade pills.
• Pei Ling identified the pills as the Five Elements Barrier Breaking Pill, and the Pill Masters erupted in astonishment that he had completed the formula on the first day.
• Pei Ling said he needed to rest, returned to his courtyard, and changed the sign to read, “Resting. Do Not Disturb.”

Zhong Kui Xi struggled to reconstruct a fragmentary pill recipe, destroying two batches before taking a break. He decided to compare findings with Xun Wuyang and Nangong Su first, leaving open the possibility of offering Wang Gao pointers later.

• Zhong Kui Xi ruined a batch of Pill Liquid and narrowed down possible ingredients and refining methods using the Pill Building’s texts.
• Zhong Kui Xi’s next furnace exploded before he could add the missing ingredient, and he recognized that his concentration was failing.
• Zhong Kui Xi considered consulting Xun Wuyang and Nangong Su or assessing Wang Gao, but judged Wang Gao’s incomplete knowledge unsuitable for the task.
• Zhong Kui Xi left his pavilion to discuss the recipe with Xun Wuyang and Nangong Su, then encountered several Pill Masters in a garden.

Zhong Kui Xi learned that Wang Gao had completed the Five Elements Barrier Breaking Pill recipe and confirmed its top-grade quality for himself. He escorted Wang Gao to the Worship Hall to apply for the examination, while Pei Ling had prepared to secure the Nanke Dream Fire.

• Pill Masters told Zhong Kui Xi that Wang Gao had completed the fragmentary recipe and refined fifteen top-grade Five Elements Barrier Breaking Pills.
• Pei Ling finished refining Thunder Fire Evil Dispelling Pills, prepared his poison pills, and left his courtyard to seek the Nanke Dream Fire.
• Zhong Kui Xi met Pei Ling and asked to inspect the completed pill; he verified that it was top-grade and praised Wang Gao's mastery.
• Zhong Kui Xi told Pei Ling that the examination application was handled at the Worship Hall and offered to escort him there.
• As they walked, Zhong Kui Xi described Worship Official Zhu and advised Pei Ling to answer his questions normally.

Pei Ling passed the Palace Examination by refining the Five Elements Barrier Breaking Pill and chose the Nanke Dream Fire as his reward. Worship Official Zhu sent him into Lesser Freedom Heaven, while Zhong Kui Xi returned to his lodgings to work on his own examination question.

• Zhong Kui Xi brought Pei Ling to Worship Official Zhu and explained that Pei Ling had completed the missing recipe for his examination answer.
• When Worship Official Zhu asked him to describe the missing steps, Pei Ling used the system to refine the Five Elements Barrier Breaking Pill instead.
• Worship Official Zhu approved Pei Ling's pills, declared that he had passed, and gave him the Nanke Dream Fire after Pei Ling chose it as his reward.
• Worship Official Zhu stamped Pei Ling's examination document, and its light transported Pei Ling into Lesser Freedom Heaven.
• Worship Official Zhu sent Zhong Kui Xi out of the pine forest and told him to focus on solving his own examination question.

Pei Ling, appearing as Wang Gao in a Dream Realm, repeatedly rescued the vulnerable and refused rewards, impressing Worship Official Zhu, who was testing his true nature before the Pill Refining Grand Ceremony. Over the following days, the Fifth-Rank Pill Masters made progress on their examination recipes, and Zhong Kui Xi completed his on the sixth day.

• Pei Ling rescued mortals and cultivators in a series of Dream Realm scenes, refusing a rescued woman’s advances and a cultivator’s heirloom.
• Worship Official Zhu observed Wang Gao’s conduct and judged him to be free of greed and suitable for the dynasty’s expectations.
• Worship Official Zhu noted that the Palace Examination’s successful Pill Masters would undergo the same true-nature examination before entering the Lesser Freedom Heaven.
• Over five days, the Fifth-Rank Pill Masters and some talented Sixth-Rank Pill Masters made progress on their incomplete recipes, while many Seventh-grade Pill Refining Masters gave up and studied in the Pill Building.
• On the sixth day, Zhong Kui Xi completed his recipe and refined Profound Light Calamity Suppressing Pills, then set out to share what he had learned with Xun Wuyang and Nangong Su.

On the final day of the Palace Examination, Zhou Miaoli and Jue Xinzi passed and entered Lesser Freedom Heaven, where their conduct in the Illusion Realms revealed their contrasting natures. As the examination ended and thirty candidates were named, a mysterious woman in a vine-covered valley began to awaken.

• Zhou Miaoli submitted her Thunder Fire Evil Dispelling Pills formula and documents to Attendant Zou, passed the examination, and was transported into Lesser Freedom Heaven.
• In the Illusion Realms, Zhou Miaoli watched people die without intervening, while Jue Xinzi saved those who bowed to her and killed those who did not show her deference.
• Attendant Zou judged both women harshly but allowed them to remain eligible for Lesser Freedom Heaven because they had passed and committed no demonic atrocities.
• Attendant Zou declared the Palace Examination over, announced that thirty candidates had passed, and opened Lesser Freedom Heaven.
• Golden light illuminated a valley in Lesser Freedom Heaven, where tiny winged figures emerged from a snow-white woman lying among the vines and dressed themselves in leaves and flowers.