Chapter Summaries

Lin Chen recorded his early experiments to apply modern scientific knowledge to cultivation, only to find that the world's natural laws differed from those of his previous life. He concluded that spiritual energy shaped those differences and decided to investigate its laws, leaving his proposed Spiritual Energy Law still to be developed.

• Lin Chen described becoming an orphan, selling his inherited spirit fields, and joining the Azure Cloud Sect's Lower Court to cultivate.
• Lin Chen decided that his modern scientific thinking was his unique advantage and resolved to pursue Science Cultivation.
• Lin Chen's experiments found differences in gravity and failures in gunpowder, electromagnetic induction, and familiar microscopic properties.
• Lin Chen attempted to make a steam engine and realized that he could not assume his previous world's scientific laws applied to this cultivation world.
• Lin Chen concluded that science meant discovering each world's own natural laws and began planning a theory of spiritual energy, which he tentatively called the Spiritual Energy Law.

Lin Chen used scientific observation and experimentation to decipher cultivation and investigate Spiritual Energy, eventually formulating two laws about its role in the world. He left himself poised to study the cultivation system and the soul alongside proving those laws.

• Lin Chen struggled to understand the sect's cultivation texts until a neighboring cultivator explained the Qi Refining stages and helped him interpret the method.
• Lin Chen secretly used Internal Observation Talismans to examine cultivators and concluded that Qi Refining transformed bodily primordial qi into True Qi that could absorb and refine Spiritual Energy.
• After reaching Qi Refining, Lin Chen tested Spiritual Energy fireballs and found that Spiritual Energy could temporarily transform into combustible material and then return to Spiritual Energy.
• Using experiments and records in the Azure Cloud Sect's Scripture Repository, Lin Chen concluded that all things consisted of Spiritual Energy, whose differing activity levels distinguished mundane objects from cultivation resources.
• Lin Chen summarized two Spiritual Energy Laws and named proving them, exploring cultivation, and researching the soul as his three great subjects.

Over ten years, Lin Chen used scientific knowledge from his past life to develop soul-nourishing methods and improve spells, turning his research into an unconventional path to cultivation. He placed among the top three in the Outer Sect Grand Competition, though he believed a mysterious protagonist had outmatched him, and ended the night resolved to keep working toward immortality.

• Lin Chen investigated how spiritual energy and the soul worked, then developed Soul Nurturing Incense and the Spirit Nourishing Art to strengthen himself.
• After reaching the middle Qi Refining Stage, Lin Chen used real-world scientific principles and materials to create a powerful improved Fireball Technique, a High-Pressure Water Blade, and other combat spells.
• Lin Chen struggled to afford research materials, took sect missions, and experimented on Demonic Cultivators, while preparing for the Outer Sect Grand Competition.
• Lin Chen placed among the top three in the competition and credited his success to years of Science Cultivation research, though he said a man who seemed like the Protagonist had beaten him.
• Lin Chen reflected on pursuing immortality without a Golden Finger, then closed his book and went to sleep before another day of earning Spirit Stones.

Lin Chen secured a lucrative medicine garden mission at the Comprehensive Affairs Hall and discovered that books could provide a steady source of spirit stones. He decided to copy works from his previous life and build a literary business after reaching the Late Qi Refining Stage.

• Lin Chen traveled to the Comprehensive Affairs Hall and used his connections to obtain a six-month C-Grade Medicine Garden No. 6 mission.
• Lin Chen caught the Management Elder reading Flower Shadows Behind the Curtain and warned him that his books were outdated, then realized the elder had paid ten spirit stones for one.
• Lin Chen accepted the medicine garden mission and left the hall with a Bronze Token.
• Lin Chen considered the growing cost of his cultivation research and concluded that conventional cultivation trades offered little autonomy or profit.
• Lin Chen decided to copy works from his previous life, recruit writers, and build a literary marketplace after advancing to the Late Qi Refining Stage.

Lin Chen visited Cloud Arrival Market under the alias Zhang Ping to sell spirit talismans to Wu Xueting and noticed their prices had risen despite stable supply. He concluded that the pattern in talisman demand pointed not to a new land-clearing campaign but to the prelude to war.

• Lin Chen entered Cloud Arrival Market in disguise, avoided the stalls, and went to the Treasure Talisman Shop after checking that no one was following him.
• Lin Chen sold Wu Xueting one thousand spirit talismans for two thousand one hundred Spirit Stones and questioned the rising prices.
• Lin Chen studied Wu Xueting’s market records and reasoned that rising talisman demand alongside stable pill prices suggested a specific change in cultivators’ needs.
• Lin Chen considered a possible Hengduan Mountain Range land-clearing campaign but ruled it out because healing, defensive, and escape talismans had risen more than offensive ones.
• Lin Chen told Wu Xueting that he believed the market trends signaled the prelude to war.

Lin Chen warned Wu Xueting that rising talisman prices could signal escalating conflict between the Azure Cloud Sect and the Mysterious Yin Gate, then decided to stockpile supplies and strengthen himself. He sought defensive artifacts and second-tier talismans at Hundred Treasures Tower, where Manager Fang Mingyuan told him the talismans were contraband.

• Lin Chen explained to Wu Xueting how rising talisman prices in Cloud Arrival Market could reflect growing tensions between the two sects and advised preparing for the worst.
• Lin Chen decided to stop supplying talismans and store them for his own protection, while Wu Xueting hesitated over whether to follow his advice.
• Lin Chen considered how to survive a possible war and concluded that he needed more strength, defensive artifacts, healing pills, and a counterattack trump card.
• Lin Chen went to Hundred Treasures Tower to seek defensive spirit artifacts and second-tier talismans.
• Manager Fang Mingyuan told Lin Chen that the shop could sell defensive spirit artifacts but could not sell second-tier talismans because they were contraband.

Lin Chen tried to buy defensive spirit artifacts at Hundred Treasures Tower after learning that Azure Cloud Upper Sect restricted the sale of second-tier spirit talismans. He bargained Fang Mingyuan down to 1,500 Spirit Stones, then revealed a jade slip that shocked the shopkeeper as an improved Magic Trick Template.

• Fang Mingyuan explained that shops in Cloud Arrival Market could not sell second-tier items without an Azure Cloud Upper Sect Spirit Token Identity Proof.
• Lin Chen examined three defensive spirit artifacts and was especially interested in the Spirit Turtle Heart Protection Mirror, which could automatically protect its holder from danger.
• Fang Mingyuan quoted 2,500 Spirit Stones for the artifacts, and Lin Chen bargained the price down to 1,500 by threatening to shop elsewhere.
• Lin Chen placed a jade box on the table, and Fang Mingyuan read the jade slip inside and recognized it as an improved Magic Trick Template.

Lin Chen offered Hundred Treasures Tower an improved Golden Spear Art, claiming he had found it in a senior’s Cave Mansion. After testing its power, Fang Mingyuan and Wang Ping recognized its strengths and limitations, and Fang asked Lin Chen what price he wanted.

• Fang Mingyuan asked whether Lin Chen had created the improved Magic Trick, but Lin Chen said he had obtained it from a senior’s Cave Mansion.
• Fang Mingyuan summoned Wang Ping, the captain of Hundred Treasures Tower’s guards, to test the trick with Lin Chen.
• Lin Chen used the improved Golden Spear Art, making the spear explode into flames and a golden flash that struck Wang Ping and cracked his shield.
• Wang Ping assessed the trick’s speed, power, and limitations, while Lin Chen pointed out how its spreading flames could disrupt an opponent.
• Fang Mingyuan acknowledged the trick’s strengths and weaknesses and asked Lin Chen what price he wanted; Lin Chen left the offer to him.

Lin Chen negotiated with Fang Mingyuan over the sale of his improved trick and accepted a reduced payment in spirit leaves, pills, and copied techniques. After Lin Chen left, Fang Mingyuan plotted to have rogue cultivators ambush him and ordered Wang Ping to arrange the attack while concealing Hundred Treasures Tower’s involvement.

• Lin Chen feigned outrage at Fang Mingyuan’s low offer and bargained for spirit stones, pills, and copies of spirit arts and tricks.
• Fang Mingyuan and Lin Chen settled on three thousand spirit stones, three portions each of several pills, three Hundred Herbs Rejuvenation Pills, one Foundation Establishment Realm spirit art, and ten Qi Refining Stage tricks.
• Lin Chen checked the trade items, stored them, and left Hundred Treasures Tower with the improved trick’s jade slip.
• Fang Mingyuan asked Wang Ping about killing Lin Chen, and Wang Ping warned that Lin Chen’s killing intent made him a dangerous opponent.
• Fang Mingyuan ordered Wang Ping to leak the transaction and Lin Chen’s route to nearby rogue cultivators, capture Lin Chen if possible, and leave no survivors otherwise.
• Spies in Cloud Arrival Market passed Lin Chen’s transaction details and travel route to the rogue cultivators.

Lin Chen was ambushed by Zhang Yuanlong and two hidden accomplices after leaving Cloud Arrival Market, but used his spells and Spirit Silk Technique to turn the attack against them. He killed Zhang Yuanlong’s two companions and faced Zhang Yuanlong with a new Water-Fire Imbuement Spirit Bullet Technique.

• Zhang Yuanlong ambushed Lin Chen with a Flying Needle and revealed that he had been waiting to steal Lin Chen’s Spirit Stones.
• Zhang Yuanlong and a hidden companion attacked Lin Chen from both sides, but Lin Chen blocked the strikes and fled to draw out the remaining attackers.
• Lin Chen used the Spirit Silk Technique to evade attacks from three cultivators and burned the first sneak attacker with his White Phosphorus Flame Technique.
• Lin Chen pursued the Pockmarked Cultivator and pierced his heart with a flame attack before Zhang Yuanlong could reach him.
• Zhang Yuanlong donned an illusory suit of armor and charged Lin Chen, who prepared two water-fire-imbued Spirit Bullets.

Lin Chen defeated Zhang Yuanlong after using illusions, Spirit Thread, and a powerful Water Blade Technique, then tried to learn how the ambush had found him. A hidden observer named Wang Ping appeared after Lin Chen withdrew, realizing that confronting him would be too dangerous.

• Lin Chen used fog and illusions to mislead Zhang Yuanlong, then trapped him in a net and bound him with Spirit Thread.
• Lin Chen froze Zhang Yuanlong with an Ice Bullet and pierced his defenses with a High-Pressure Water Blade, destroying his dantian.
• Lin Chen questioned Zhang Yuanlong about how the ambushers had located him, then killed him when he sensed a presence nearby.
• Lin Chen took Zhang Yuanlong's Storage Bag, detected someone in the woods, and warded off a probing attack with a Second-tier Talisman before retreating.
• Wang Ping emerged from the woods, judged Lin Chen too dangerous to attack, and vanished into the darkness.

After discovering repeated ambushes on his way back to the sect, Lin Chen suspected Fang Mingyuan of leaking information about his trade and setting blood cultivators on him. Rather than attack Hundred Treasures Tower directly, Lin Chen spread rumors about its collusion with blood cultivators, hoping the market’s rival shops and cultivators would turn against Fang Mingyuan.

• Lin Chen found ambushes along several routes back to the sect and concluded that someone had leaked his departure direction and helped the blood cultivators track him.
• Lin Chen suspected Fang Mingyuan of Hundred Treasures Tower of arranging the attacks, but decided that killing him directly would expose Lin Chen to the market’s powerful cultivators.
• Lin Chen paid people in taverns around Cloud Arrival Market to raise questions about how a spirit-herb seller’s private transaction had become known to blood cultivators.
• Lin Chen watched the tavern patrons fall silent after someone linked the robbery to Hundred Treasures Tower.
• Lin Chen reasoned that rumors about Hundred Treasures Tower would threaten its reputation and give rival shops an incentive to act against Fang Mingyuan.

Lin Chen’s rumor campaign damaged Hundred Treasures Tower’s reputation, prompting Fang Mingyuan to spread a wider accusation and scapegoat Wang Ping. Manager Wan moved to arrest Fang, but the confrontation was interrupted by a powerful cultivator demanding to know whether she had the authority.

• Xiao Yu learned that Old Wang had been killed after information about his Centennial Spirit Herb reached Blood Cultivators, then worried that the shops were exploiting Herb Gatherers.
• Lin Chen’s rumors drove customers away from Hundred Treasures Tower, and Fang Mingyuan realized the scandal threatened his position.
• Fang Mingyuan ordered his confidant to spread claims that every shop in the market colluded with Blood Cultivators, hoping to drag his rivals into the crisis.
• Manager Wan arrived with guards and Wang Ping, who had survived and revealed Fang Mingyuan’s role, to arrest Fang.
• Fang Mingyuan produced Elder Li’s token to stop the arrest, but Manager Wan and Wang Ping chose to fight.
• A woman’s voice challenged Manager Wan’s authority as a powerful Spirit Pressure filled the room.

Zhang Mengyao, an Azure Cloud Sect True Disciple and Law Enforcement Hall deacon, exposed Fang Mingyuan’s crimes and ordered his execution. After the sect’s command to eradicate the Blood Cultivators was announced, Lin Chen watched Fang die and quietly left Cloud Arrival Market.

• Zhang Mengyao arrived at the Hundred Treasures Tower and identified herself as a deacon of the Azure Cloud Sect Law Enforcement Hall.
• Wang Ping presented evidence that Fang Mingyuan had colluded with Blood Cultivators and stolen recovered resources, and Zhang Mengyao ordered Fang arrested.
• Zhang Mengyao destroyed Fang Mingyuan’s Market Lord token, ordered the Blood Cultivators around the market exterminated, and commanded Fang’s execution.
• Zhang Mengyao declared that the Azure Cloud Sect’s ancestor demanded absolute safety around Cloud Arrival Market and ordered that any threats be killed without pardon.
• Fang Mingyuan was executed before the crowd, while Lin Chen reflected on the power of strength and then left the market.

Lin Chen examined Fang Mingyuan’s Storage Bag and found the Blood Refining Yuan Returning Great Method, whose promise of rapid advancement concealed dangers to cultivators and potentially the Azure Cloud Sect’s rule. He chose not to report his suspicions and instead adapted the method’s useful ideas for his ongoing research into the Marrow Cleansing Scripture.

• Lin Chen cautiously opened the Storage Bag and found Spirit Stones, artifacts, clothing, and an old cultivation manual.
• Lin Chen studied the Blood Refining Yuan Returning Great Method and concluded that consuming refined essence blood could cause hidden harm despite accelerating cultivation.
• Lin Chen suspected the method might be deliberately spread to tempt exploited cultivators and destabilize the Azure Cloud Sect, but decided reporting it could bring trouble upon him.
• Lin Chen extracted useful ideas from the manual and recorded them in his Marrow Cleansing Scripture notebook.
• Lin Chen reflected that cultivation methods should be adjusted to individual needs, and that accumulated hidden injuries could ruin breakthroughs or endanger a cultivator’s life.

Lin Chen cultivated on Sunlit Cloud Peak and reflected on the risks of his recent dealings before meeting Xu Mengyun, who sold him information about Mid-grade Spirit Stones and Hundred Year Jade Marrow. He left after paying two hundred Spirit Stones in Azure Cloud Spirit Leaf, while Xu Mengyun admitted she had given him a discount because she enjoyed spoiling him.

• Lin Chen learned how the sect used formations and spirit plants to produce Purple Sun Warm Jade, then meditated with the Outer Disciples at dawn.
• Lin Chen resolved to avoid Cloud Arrival Market for at least a year and keep his improved techniques hidden until he reached Foundation Establishment.
• Xu Mengyun approached Lin Chen and offered information about Mid-grade Spirit Stones and Hundred Year Jade Marrow.
• Lin Chen bargained over Xu Mengyun's price, then paid two hundred Spirit Stones' worth of Azure Cloud Spirit Leaf and hurried away.
• Xu Mengyun told her maidservant that she was happy to spoil Lin Chen because he was handsome and refined.

Lin Chen entered Medicinal Garden C-6 and took over the profitable liaison post from Li Yuan. After learning the duties and the corruption that accompanied them, Lin Chen planned to steal medicinal herbs to fund his research into Soul Nurturing Incense version 3.0.

• Lin Chen found the garden’s tree guardian away from its assigned spot, and the Tree Elder moved back to the spiritual vein node to activate the formation.
• The Tree Elder verified Lin Chen’s token and opened the illusion concealing the medicinal garden.
• Lin Chen surveyed the garden and its Wood Nurturing Life Great Formation before meeting Li Yuan, the outgoing liaison.
• Li Yuan handed over the liaison duties and warned Lin Chen to watch the Menial Disciples and avoid taking too much.
• Lin Chen decided that stealing a dozen or several dozen herbs would be inconspicuous enough to help fund his research.

Lin Chen completed a new version of Soul Nurturing Incense and reflected on the Spirit Refining method he had developed from years of experiments. He kept the valuable scripture secret while planning further tests and considering how the soul might relate to spiritual energy.

• Lin Chen refined herbs with a fire-control formation, wasting Spirit Stones through repeated failures before completing Soul Nurturing Incense Version 3.0.
• Lin Chen recalled how he had developed successive versions of Soul Nurturing Incense and a Spirit Refining practice that strengthened his soul.
• Lin Chen combined his incense and training methods into the [Spirit Incense Soul Nurturing Scripture], which he considered a valuable part of his [Spirit Nourishing Art].
• Lin Chen decided not to reveal the scripture until he was strong enough to withstand the dangers and keep any rewards.
• Lin Chen planned to test Version 3.0 and study the soul during Foundation Establishment breakthroughs, then wondered whether the spirit in soul referred to spiritual energy.

Lin Chen returned to his hidden mountain cave after ensuring no one had followed him, then navigated its traps and concealed passages to reach his laboratory. He reviewed research documents and descended to the facility, where rows of jars held specimens, demonic-beast remains, and cultivator torsos.

• Lin Chen used illusions to mislead pursuers, then watched the cave entrance from the forest until he was sure no one had followed.
• Lin Chen entered the cave in disguise, checked for intruders with Spirit Thread, and avoided the trapped passage behind the Stone Wall.
• Lin Chen unlocked the concealed entrance to his study and selected three research documents from his shelves.
• Lin Chen bypassed a false passage and took the hidden staircase down to protect the laboratory's valuable equipment and specimens.
• Lin Chen reached the laboratory and saw its many glass jars containing specimens, demonic-beast remains, and cultivator torsos.

Lin Chen tested the revised Soul Nurturing Incense on Spirit Monkeys, finding that it helped repair soul damage but made healthy subjects drowsy. He then turned to investigating the Foundation Establishment Realm, wondering whether spiritual energy had different energy levels.

• Lin Chen brought unconscious and healthy Spirit Monkeys to his heavily secured Laboratory to test Soul Nurturing Incense 3.0.
• Lin Chen repeatedly tested the incense on soul-damaged Spirit Monkeys and found that it showed the desired medicinal effect more quickly than earlier versions.
• Lin Chen tested healthy Spirit Monkeys, observed that the incense made them drowsy, and dissected a subject to investigate the cause.
• Lin Chen concluded that the incense’s strong calming effects could induce harmless sleep and might also make it useful against enemies in battle.
• Lin Chen paused his soul research and placed Qi Condensing Liquid and a Mid-grade Spirit Stone on another Laboratory’s table to investigate the Foundation Establishment Realm.