Chapter Summaries

Plot and events

• After escaping the underground chamber, Chen Lin emerges in the wilderness with his mana gone, exhausted and nearly naked. He survives on wild fruit, makes crude clothes, and eventually reaches a road.
• A passing family mistakes him for a monster and flees. Later, a merchant caravan accepts him after he claims to be an herb gatherer. Its leader, Yu Lianhai, brings him to Yibugan City and recruits him as a pharmacist for the Four Seas Trading Firm.
• Chen Lin passes the firm’s medicine-making test and receives credentials, giving him a legal place in the region. He hopes to reach the Jade Frog Kingdom’s capital and reunite with Luo Qinglan, but remains wary that the skeletal old man may pursue him.
• His escape has cost him his cultivation, possessions, and most of his soul power. After six months of recovery and cultivation, however, he regains nearly all his physical condition and reaches the first layer of Qi Condensation. His innate thunder pattern allows him to sense lightning spiritual energy and gives him a possible means of defense.
• When the local firm delays his transfer to headquarters, Chen Lin reveals that he can make Crystal-Refining Liquid Medicine. Its value forces the branch to arrange passage for him.
• Before they depart, Chen Lin encounters Yu Lianhai accused of losing a shipment. Facing punishment and worried for his daughter, Yu asks Chen Lin to take her as a medicine apprentice. Chen Lin agrees to help, while making clear that the decision is the deacon’s.

Character developments

• Chen Lin remains cautious and resourceful, concealing his true identity while using his medical skill and bargaining power to secure safety and mobility. Though devastated by his losses, he resolves to rebuild and resumes cultivation.
• Yu Lianhai changes from a helpful caravan leader and recruiter into a desperate father facing blame for a missing shipment. He seeks protection for his daughter.
• Yu Tianming, the local deacon, appears pragmatic and self-interested: he tries to keep Chen Lin at the branch because the pharmacist is useful, but yields when Chen Lin’s rarer skill becomes known.
• Yu Lianhai’s daughter is introduced as a nervous teenager who may become Chen Lin’s apprentice.

Themes

• Survival and resilience: Chen Lin loses nearly everything but adapts, finds shelter, and begins rebuilding his strength.
• Caution and concealment: He invents a background, avoids probing into his pursuers, and carefully limits his involvement in others’ troubles.
• Power and usefulness: The trading firm’s treatment of Chen Lin shifts when he demonstrates a skill valuable to the Crystal Clan.
• Loss and renewal: Chen Lin mourns his treasures and diminished abilities, yet reframes the losses and focuses on what remains.

Character interactions

• Chen Lin’s frightening appearance causes ordinary travelers to flee, while his later, more presentable clothing allows him to join the caravan.
• He earns Yu Lianhai’s trust through his medical knowledge, then uses his pharmacist status to enter the firm.
• Chen Lin negotiates with Yu Tianming for transfer to headquarters, overcoming the deacon’s reluctance by demonstrating his ability to produce Crystal-Refining Liquid Medicine.
• When Yu Lianhai asks Chen Lin to protect his daughter, Chen Lin agrees without openly challenging the deacon, helping the family while protecting himself from responsibility for the shipment dispute.

Key plot points and events

• In Frog City, Chen Lin joins the Four Seas Trading Firm as a pharmacist, hoping to rebuild his strength and locate Luo Qinglan and the Space Node he believes lies in the Jade Frog Kingdom.
• He takes in Yu Jiuer, the daughter of someone who once helped him. He promises to protect her for now and teaches her medicine refining, while urging her to become self-reliant.
• More than a year passes without word from Luo Qinglan or any sign of the Space Node. Chen Lin advances rapidly in cultivation thanks to his improved aptitude, but sparse spiritual energy prevents him from reaching Foundation Establishment.
• Xuan Qingyun, a Crystal Clan merchant aligned with the kingdom’s powerful Xuan faction, brings Chen Lin two rare Thunder Roar Beast crystal cores. In exchange, Chen Lin agrees to refine liquid medicine from ingredients Xuan supplies.
• Chen Lin discovers the cores can recharge his innate thunder pattern. The pattern now absorbs energy autonomously and lets him release it in controlled amounts without manifesting the pattern itself. He tests a small discharge, which destroys a boulder.

Character developments

• Chen Lin remains cautious and independent, refusing a free gift to avoid owing Xuan Qingyun a favor. He also balances his need for resources against his obligations to the Four Seas Trading Firm. The thunder pattern’s transformation gives him a powerful new capability and renewed hope.
• Yu Jiuer has grown during her year with Chen Lin, but her cultivation and medicine refining remain slow. Chen Lin has provided an opportunity, yet accepts that her progress depends on her own effort.
• Xuan Qingyun displays a strong interest in recruiting Chen Lin, using scarce treasures and generous terms to build a relationship with him.

Character interactions

• Chen Lin reassures Yu Jiuer, takes her on as a student, and checks her progress, though he is frank about her shortcomings.
• Chen Lin and Xuan Qingyun negotiate a transaction that benefits both: Chen gains the crystal cores, while Xuan secures Chen’s refining services. Their exchange also reveals the political tension between the Xuan clan and the Yu-aligned trading firm.

Significant themes

• Self-reliance and responsibility: Chen Lin helps Yu Jiuer but insists she must ultimately make her own way.
• Caution and obligation: Chen Lin prefers fair exchanges over gifts that might create hidden debts or political ties.
• Adaptation and resourcefulness: Despite a hostile environment and scarce materials, Chen Lin finds ways to advance through trade, craft, and experimentation.
• Power through transformation: The thunder pattern’s new ability marks a major shift in Chen Lin’s combat potential.

Chapter Summary: “Reunion”

Key plot points and events

• Chen Lin’s Natal Flying Sword develops a new thunder pattern, revealing greater power and giving him confidence that he can challenge stronger opponents.
• Unable to find any sign that Luo Qinglan has reached Yibugan City, Chen Lin worries she may be in danger—especially if the skeletal old man survived. He decides to stay put rather than risk missing her.
• Over the next three months, Chen Lin completes the second-rank medicine he promised Xuan Qingyun and trades extra batches for a Thunder Roar Beast core. When the Four Seas Trading Firm discovers his dealings with its rival, Chen Lin calms Yu Baifeng by revealing that he can refine third-rank Crystal-Transforming Liquid Medicine, though his current success rate is low.
• Chen Lin asks the firm to search for Luo Qinglan. Soon afterward, Yu Baifeng brings her to him, accompanied by Mu Xingchen and Zhuge Hengyun. The couple are joyfully reunited.
• Chen Lin tells Luo Qinglan about the skeletal old man and his own ordeal. After spending the night together, he reaches Foundation Establishment through their Dual Cultivation Secret Art.
• Chen Lin and Luo Qinglan discuss their next goals: locate the Nightmare Realm Node and search for the Crystal Clan members Chen Lin previously met. They also confront the unresolved dangers facing their companions.
• Over the following years, Mu Xingchen’s medical expertise wins Yu Baifeng’s respect, while Chen Lin focuses on cultivation and Luo Qinglan and Zhuge Hengyun search for Yu Gongyuan, the others, and traces left by Frog.
• Ten years later, Grass awakens after recovering from severe overexertion. Chen Lin urges her to protect her life, but she insists she is willing to risk herself for him. Luo Qinglan arrives and asks whether the little figure is Grass.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin becomes more confident after his sword’s improvement, but remains deeply anxious about Luo Qinglan and his scattered companions. He strategically reveals his third-rank medicine-making ability to secure the trading firm’s help, and reunites with Luo Qinglan with evident relief and affection.
• Luo Qinglan is devoted and supportive. She is relieved that Chen Lin survived and that his hidden dangers have eased, while also teasing him about his past romantic escapades. Despite her own security, she is troubled by Mu Xingchen’s deteriorating condition.
• Yu Baifeng shifts from accusing Chen Lin of helping a rival to enthusiastically supporting him once he learns the value of Chen Lin’s third-rank medicine. He also notices that Luo Qinglan and her companions are unusually powerful.
• Mu Xingchen impresses Yu Baifeng with his medical knowledge, allowing Chen Lin to step away from medicine-making. However, Mu’s limited lifespan and dependence on a treasure fragment threaten his chance of advancing further.
• Grass awakens after another dangerous exertion. Her loyalty is clear, while Chen Lin’s concern shows how strongly he feels responsible for her.
• Chen Lin also worries about Qin Lingyu, Sun Caiyi, and their daughter, who were sent to another plane, though Luo Qinglan reassures him that the others may have a good chance of survival and advancement.

Significant themes

• Love, reunion, and loyalty: Chen Lin and Luo Qinglan’s reunion centers the chapter, while Grass’s devotion and Chen Lin’s concern for her reinforce its focus on bonds and responsibility.
• Cultivation’s costs and uncertainties: Advancement may restore strength, but companions face aging, bodily transformation, and the risk of death or being stranded.
• Pragmatism and mutual benefit: Chen Lin uses his rare medical skill to win the trading firm’s support, while the firm’s resources and connections serve his larger goals.
• Hope amid separation: The reunion brings joy, but the fate of other companions and the search for the Nightmare Realm Node remain unresolved.

Key plot points and events

• Luo Qinglan meets Grass and thanks her for protecting Chen Lin. Grass remains guarded, but returns Luo’s bow—a first sign of acceptance. Luo invites her to treat them as sisters, though Grass continues calling her “Matriarch.”
• Chen Lin’s group compares what they have learned. Zhuge Hengyun’s divinations are blocked, while Mu Xingchen suspects the Nightmare Realm node lies beneath the imperial palace. Chen Lin warns him to investigate discreetly because a powerful expert guards it.
• The group remains trapped in the strange world: they have lost key treasures, cannot leave without finding a Nightmare Realm node, and cannot advance normally because this world lacks the spiritual tribulation lightning needed for breakthroughs.
• Chen Lin checks on Fat Tiger in the Nightmare Realm, but Fat Tiger has recovered poorly and remembers little. Chen Lin leaves him watching for the Cat-headed Monster, Shirina.
• Determined not to let his cultivation stagnate, Chen Lin devises a way to imitate a lightning tribulation using the Thunder God Sword, lightning-attribute monster cores, and a formation. With Luo Qinglan and Grass assisting, he builds the array and successfully uses its lightning to advance from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core.
• During the breakthrough, Yuguang Yan and Crystal Clan Great Elder Yu Gongyuan arrive. Grass blocks them at first, then recognizes Yuguang Yan. Chen Lin and Luo Qinglan reunite with the pair, who may be connected to their way out.

Character developments and interactions

• Grass remains fiercely protective of Chen Lin, but her respectful bow to Luo Qinglan signals the beginning of trust. She later stands guard against the newcomers.
• Luo Qinglan shows humility and gratitude toward Grass, and supports Chen Lin’s risky plan despite her concerns.
• Chen Lin acts decisively under pressure, prioritizing advancement and readiness for future dangers. He reunites warmly with Yuguang Yan and respectfully greets Yu Gongyuan.
• Yuguang Yan is astonished by Chen Lin’s apparent regression in cultivation and compliments Luo Qinglan. Yu Gongyuan is intrigued by the impossible-looking tribulation.

Significant themes

• Loyalty and gratitude: Luo Qinglan acknowledges Grass’s sacrifices, while Grass’s guarded affection for Chen Lin shapes her attitude toward Luo.
• Adaptation and perseverance: Chen Lin finds an unconventional solution when the world’s rules block ordinary cultivation.
• Uncertainty and danger: The obscured celestial secrets, suspected Nightmare Realm node, missing treasures, and powerful local figures keep escape uncertain.
• Reunion and connection: Chen Lin’s reunion with Yuguang Yan offers renewed hope of finding a way out.

Key plot points and events

• Newly advanced to Golden Core, Chen Lin reunites with Yu Gongyuan and Yuguang Yan. They explain that the Crystal Clan lost its earlier conflict with the Gu Family but secured protection and compensation through the Moon Reflection Palace. The clan has since settled in the Jingguang Realm and concealed its connecting node.
• Chen Lin and Luo Qinglan worry that the Crystal Clan might silence them to protect the realm’s secrecy. Chen plans to speak privately with Yuguang Yan and secure a spirit pact, while they quietly prepare safeguards and avoid alerting the Four Seas Trading Firm.
• Chen inspects the Fourth Prince’s Spirit Treasure spoils and prepares his strongest countermeasure: an Immobilization Talisman for Luo Qinglan to use if danger arises.
• The pact is signed, and Yu Gongyuan and Yuguang Yan escort Chen’s group out through the hidden node. Chen leaves the Four Seas Trading Firm without saying goodbye, entrusting his courtyard and Crystal Clan assets to Yu Jiuer and asking Yuguang Yan to look after her.
• Rather than establish a base in the politically volatile Myriad Stele Forest, Chen decides to return to Liangyi City and seek help with the group’s bodily problems.
• Their departure is interrupted by Lan Zhihan of the Black Demon Sect, who tries to detain them after noticing Luo Qinglan’s Divine Phoenix Body. Chen bluffs by presenting a genuine token of the powerful Murong Lineage, and Lan lets them go—but secretly orders a subordinate to investigate them.
• A scantily clad Spirit Transformation woman, watching from a nearby mountain, recognizes Chen and reveals that he nearly killed her in the lower realm. She intends revenge, especially after noticing his cultivation is now only Golden Core. Chen, unaware of her, heads toward Tongtian City and plans to visit Baimu City to check on Zhang Tianyue’s family.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen remains cautious despite his good fortune, balancing trust in old acquaintances with practical preparations against betrayal. He also takes responsibility for Yu Jiuer and relies on his reputation and quick bluffing to protect the group.
• Luo Qinglan shares Chen’s caution, helps plan their departure, and is designated to use the Immobilization Talisman because of her ability to travel through space.
• Yuguang Yan and Chen renew their old connection; their frank conversation enables both sides to sign a pact. Yu Gongyuan acts as the clan’s senior representative and escorts the group safely out.
• Lan Zhihan’s interest in Luo Qinglan is predatory, but Chen’s Murong token forces him to treat the group politely. His apparent retreat conceals continued surveillance.
• The mysterious woman treats two former acquaintances of Chen as her servants and frames their loyalty as repayment for saving them. Her encounter with Chen sets up a new threat.

Significant themes

• Trust and caution: Past friendship is not enough to guarantee safety, so Chen combines diplomacy with contingency planning.
• Secrecy and departure: The Crystal Clan protects its refuge, while Chen leaves the trading firm quietly to avoid being held back.
• Power, status, and bluffing: The genuine Murong token shows how reputation can avert violence, even when Chen’s personal strength is limited.
• Lingering consequences: Old conflicts and relationships follow Chen into new territory, turning an apparently smooth escape into the beginning of another confrontation.

Plot points and events

• Chen Lin and his companions arrive at Tongtian City, a vast, prosperous city under the Murong Lineage’s control. Its protected territory and abundant spiritual energy impress Luo Qinglan, Mu Xingchen, and Zhuge Hengyun, who have rarely experienced the Upper Realm at its best.
• Chen Lin visits Murong Feng using a token from Murong Qing. Murong Feng recognizes it and is relieved to hear that his younger sister is well and has reached the first layer of Dao Rhyme.
• Chen Lin asks for help traveling to Liangyi City and for an examination of the group’s dangerous assimilation. Murong Feng agrees to arrange the teleportation, though unstable space means they must wait.
• Murong Feng cannot cure the assimilation, which he links to evil demons whose power may rival or exceed that of immortals. He provides a secret art that can suppress their will, allowing the affected to cultivate without worsening the corruption.
• The group is encouraged by the secret art, especially Mu Xingchen, whose remaining lifespan makes his need to advance urgent. Zhuge Hengyun swears an inner demon oath of loyalty to Chen Lin in gratitude.
• While his companions study the art, Chen Lin explores the city and gathers information. He also visits Zhang Tianyue’s family in Baimu City; finding only an elderly, impoverished grandson alive, he helps the man establish his foundation and brings him along.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin and Luo Qinglan reminisce about the Qingyang Sect while traveling by crane. Chen Lin proposes rebuilding it, and Luo agrees, though they prioritize their cultivation problems first.
• Murong Feng shifts from imposing and guarded to warmly welcoming after learning of Murong Qing’s success. His aid reflects both his affection for his sister and gratitude to Chen Lin for bringing news.
• Zhuge Hengyun formalizes his allegiance to Chen Lin, while Chen Lin emphasizes their shared origins and mutual support.
• Chen Lin begins considering whether his Thunder God Sword’s innate power—or the innate treasure fragment linked to it—might counter the assimilation. He keeps this possibility private, aware of the sword’s rarity and the risk of attracting attention.

Significant themes

• Hope amid overwhelming danger: The secret art cannot cure assimilation, but it offers the group a chance to keep advancing.
• Family, memory, and rebuilding: Chen Lin and Luo’s reflections on the lost Qingyang Sect lead toward the possibility of restoring it.
• Loyalty and shared origins: Chen Lin’s bonds with his companions deepen through assistance, gratitude, and vows.
• The limits of power and knowledge: Even Murong Feng and the Dao Monarchs cannot readily overcome the evil demons’ higher-level energy, leaving the group dependent on rare treasures and further discovery.

Key plot points

• Chen Lin discovers that space across the Tianfang Continent is becoming unstable. Teleportation formations and transmission talismans no longer work reliably, trapping him and his companions in Tongtian City for now. He fears the realm is gradually collapsing, as the lower realm he once knew did.
• Luo Qinglan plans to use the Nirvana Rebirth Method during her attempt to break through to Spirit Transformation. She hopes it will eliminate both the assimilation affecting her and the danger that she is a resurrection seed. The method could destroy her body if it fails; she plans to preserve a wisp of her essence in her natal treasure, the Vermilion Bird Feather.
• Chen Lin questions the safety of relying on the feather, whose origins seem suspicious, and offers his split soul from the Resurrection Scroll as a safeguard. Qinglan refuses because dividing her soul would damage the bloodline essence needed for Nirvana. Though uneasy, Chen Lin accepts her decision, and she enters seclusion.
• While Qinglan cultivates, Chen gathers information and supplies, and Mu Xingchen and Zhuge Hengyun prepare for breakthroughs. Chen explores Tongtian City with Grass, but has little desire to settle there: the Murong Lineage’s rules and internal factional conflicts make the city unappealing.
• At a demon-soul shop, Chen considers a rare Yin Xuan Beast soul for refining the Spirit Treasure Scholar but rejects it as too low-ranked and expensive. His high standards are possible partly because the powerful blood spirit he obtained earlier can supply some later restrictions.
• A mysterious woman tells Chen that her young lady, an old acquaintance from Guyuan City, wishes to meet him. Chen refuses to go without a name, but three figures appear and block his way; one teases him for still being quick-tempered.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin shows growing concern about the realm’s instability and about Qinglan’s dangerous breakthrough. He tries to protect her, but ultimately respects her judgment. He is also patient and exacting in his cultivation plans, unwilling to compromise on the souls used for his treasure.
• Luo Qinglan is decisive and prepared to accept extreme risk to remove long-standing threats to her future. Her affectionate reassurance contrasts with Chen’s anxiety, while her refusal of his proposed safeguard shows that she will not let him choose for her.
• The approaching acquaintance hints at Chen’s distant past in Guyuan City and interrupts his routine, setting up a new encounter.

Significant themes

• Decline and uncertainty: worsening spatial instability suggests that even the realm itself may be doomed.
• Love balanced with autonomy: Chen worries deeply for Qinglan, but must accept her informed choice and its risks.
• Long-term ambition and exacting standards: Chen is willing to wait and spend more for a treasure with greater potential.
• The past returning: the unexpected visitor links Chen’s present life to his humble early days.

Key plot points

• Chen Lin encounters Blue Butterfly, Ye Jingyun, and Xu Ruolan, old acquaintances from Guyuan City. He recognizes Blue Butterfly as the person whose actions once set off a chain of events that shaped his past.
• The women have changed dramatically: Ye Jingyun and Xu Ruolan have regained youthful appearances and now possess powerful Yin Spirit cultivation, while Blue Butterfly has reached Spirit Transformation.
• Blue Butterfly offers Chen Lin a pill to restore his lost Nascent Soul cultivation. He refuses, preferring to rebuild his cultivation steadily and avoid unknown risks.
• She then asks him to arrange a meeting with Murong Feng. Chen Lin refuses, doubting he has the influence to help and suspecting her request has hidden stakes.
• Blue Butterfly reveals that Lan Zhihan, a Black Demon Sect elder, is still pursuing Luo Qinglan and may be acting with the support of Murong Qianling. She offers to share information and help Chen Lin oppose Lan Zhihan if he assists her.
• Concerned for Luo Qinglan, Chen Lin agrees to consider the proposal, but Blue Butterfly insists he must decide that same day.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin remains cautious and independent. He rejects both the pill and Blue Butterfly’s charms, but becomes more receptive once Luo Qinglan’s safety is threatened. He withholds a final commitment while planning to investigate.
• Blue Butterfly is now a formidable Spirit Transformation cultivator. She uses charm, negotiation, and finally pressure to pursue her goal, but refuses to explain why she wants to meet Murong Feng.
• Ye Jingyun and Xu Ruolan are revealed as Blue Butterfly’s servants and as powerful Yin Spirit cultivators, though they play little direct role in the negotiation.
• Chen Lin’s exchanges with Blue Butterfly are tense: she tries to persuade and recruit him, while he challenges her motives and guards against being drawn into her conflict with Lan Zhihan.

Significant themes

• Old connections and lasting consequences: Past encounters continue to shape Chen Lin’s present.
• Caution versus urgent risk: Chen Lin resists shortcuts and refuses to act blindly, but Luo Qinglan’s danger forces him to reconsider.
• Power and political entanglement: A simple request for an introduction draws Chen Lin into rivalries among sects and powerful lineages.
• Trust and hidden motives: Blue Butterfly offers valuable help but keeps her own purpose secret, leaving Chen Lin to weigh potential alliance against manipulation.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Lin refuses Blue Butterfly’s request to introduce her to Murong Feng, wary of being drawn into her schemes. Grass arrives to protect him, and Blue Butterfly abandons her attempt to pressure him.
• Chen Lin tells Luo Qinglan about Lan Zhihan’s interest in her. Suspecting the matter is serious, he reports the encounter to Murong Feng.
• Murong Feng explains that an Immortal Stele has appeared in the Myriad Stele Forest. Activating it requires exceptionally potent energy, including true-spirit blood; Lan Zhihan likely wants Qinglan’s bloodline origin essence. Murong gives Chen Lin a Jade Talisman and promises protection within Tongtian City.
• Chen Lin researches the stele and learns that it may yield an immortal inheritance. Qinglan’s divine phoenix bloodline could make her an unusually valuable candidate. Though her origin essence would dissipate outside her body, Chen Lin warns that secret methods might preserve it.
• The group moves into a protected inner-city immortal cave and waits. Months pass, but the stele’s manifestation remains incomplete, spatial instability worsens, and powerful cultivators flock to the city.
• Zhuge Hengyun reads ominous changes in the celestial phenomena and predicts a major upheaval. Unable to get another audience with Murong Feng, Chen Lin decides the group must investigate for themselves while keeping Qinglan hidden.
• Blue Butterfly later warns Chen Lin that this stele fragment is part of its core and requires even higher-tier energy. Concluding that Tongtian City may be dangerous despite Murong’s protection, Chen Lin decides they cannot safely remain there.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin becomes increasingly cautious and distrustful. He protects Qinglan, gathers information, and begins searching for escape routes rather than relying entirely on Murong Feng.
• Luo Qinglan recognizes that her divine phoenix bloodline is likely the reason she is being targeted. She tries to reassure Chen Lin that her essence cannot easily be used once extracted, but accepts his caution.
• Blue Butterfly shifts from trying to recruit or coerce Chen Lin to offering a cryptic warning. Her motives remain unclear, leaving him suspicious.
• Murong Feng provides a protective talisman and an explanation, but his later unavailability leads Chen Lin to question whether that protection will hold.
• Grass demonstrates loyalty and readiness to defend Chen Lin, deterring Blue Butterfly from using force.
• Zhuge Hengyun contributes a warning based on his star-reading ability, prompting Chen Lin to take the changing situation more seriously.

Significant themes

• Power and vulnerability: Qinglan’s rare bloodline makes her valuable to powerful factions and places her in danger.
• Caution and self-reliance: Chen Lin refuses to depend blindly on powerful protectors, preparing for betrayal or a sudden change in circumstances.
• Uncertainty and hidden motives: Blue Butterfly’s warning, Murong Feng’s silence, and the delayed stele manifestation make it difficult to know whom to trust.
• The cost of opportunity: The promise of an extraordinary inheritance draws powerful cultivators together, turning a mysterious discovery into a looming threat.

Plot points and events

• Chen Lin weighs the danger posed by Murong Feng and the Immortal Stele. If Murong Feng is harmless, he and Luo Qinglan can remain in their cave; if not, they must flee far away. Returning to the Jingguang Realm seems their best option, despite the danger of reaching its Nightmare Realm Node through Black Demon Sect territory.
• He plans to use a short-range Teleportation Array Disk, secretly set up by a trusted person, to escape Tongtian City. Because Lan Zhihan and others may be watching, he cannot leave openly.
• Chen retrieves replies from the mysterious Listen-Wind Post. Yang Ziqing reports that he and Yang Zishi are well and progressing in cultivation, while Huang Liu has reached spirit transformation and is looking after them.
• Murong Qing’s letter confirms that Murong Feng contacted her, but she will not return to the lineage. It also reveals that Moon Reflection Palace’s master, Lan Ruxue, reached dao integration three years ago and plans to hold a grand ceremony. Murong Qing invites Chen and his companion to attend.
• Murong Qing warns Chen that the Listen-Wind Post’s origins are unknown and advises him not to use it for confidential messages.
• Chen visits Murong Feng, using the news of Lan Ruxue’s advancement as a reason to announce his planned departure for the Xuanyue Continent. He then raises his concern that the Immortal Stele may draw powerful cultivators’ attention to Luo Qinglan.
• Murong Feng recognizes Chen’s underlying suspicion but does not yet reveal his own intentions. Chen redirects the concern toward the Black Demon Sect, saying its members have been monitoring them.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin remains cautious and strategic. He plans an escape, gathers information through trusted contacts, and tests Murong Feng while concealing how wary he is.
• Luo Qinglan remains central to the danger because of her bloodline, though she does not appear directly in the chapter.
• Murong Qing shows measured goodwill toward Chen by sharing important news and inviting him to the ceremony, while maintaining distance and declining to return to her family lineage.
• Murong Feng is perceptive and imposing. He immediately sees that Chen’s visit has a purpose beyond bidding farewell and confronts him about his suspicions.
• The elderly steward initially tries to turn Chen away but changes course when Chen invokes Murong Qing’s message, reflecting the importance of her standing with Murong Feng.
• Chen’s letters also establish that his allies in Liangyi City are safe and that Huang Liu has advanced significantly.

Significant themes

• Trust and secrecy: Chen must determine whom he can safely rely on, especially when arranging his escape and handling confidential information.
• Power and vulnerability: The Immortal Stele may attract formidable cultivators, leaving Chen and Luo Qinglan exposed despite their precautions.
• Strategic diplomacy: Chen uses news, formal courtesy, and carefully framed explanations to navigate relationships with people far more powerful than himself.
• Distance and uncertain loyalty: Murong Qing’s reply conveys both limited personal warmth and meaningful support, while Murong Feng’s intentions remain unresolved.

Key plot points and events

• Murong Feng tells Chen Lin that the Immortal Stele cannot be activated by extracting someone’s bloodline essence: it chooses eligible people itself. Those chosen cannot escape its reach, and the opportunity may bring deadly trials.
• Chen Lin bribes the elderly steward, Old Lu, for a fuller explanation. According to inherited records, the Stele contains an inner space where selected people undergo trials and may receive inheritances. True-spirit descendants and people with innate talents are believed eligible, though the details remain uncertain.
• Chen Lin shares the information with his companions. They realize several of them may be selected and could face stronger cultivators inside, so everyone prepares as best they can.
• Chen Lin still distributes numbered teleportation array disks and matching talismans as a precaution. Months later, the Immortal Stele manifests in the Myriad Stele Forest, causing immense spatial disturbances and drawing attention from across the region. Factions begin competing to recruit eligible candidates and secure a share of any inheritance.
• Blue Butterfly offers to ally with Luo Qinglan inside the Stele, but Chen Lin refuses because she belongs to the Demon Sect. After a further wait, a voice announces that the Stele is about to activate and tells them they may seek help from the Murong Lineage if they encounter danger.

Character developments

• Chen Lin moves from suspicion and confusion toward a clearer understanding of the Stele, while recognizing that his own talent may make him eligible too. He also reflects on having become too proud to value practical relationships and resources.
• Luo Qinglan’s bloodline is no longer viewed as something others can simply take; instead, she may be chosen for the Stele and face its trials.
• Mu Xingchen identifies the likely danger of competing against powerful candidates, including Spirit Transformation and Void Refinement cultivators.
• The group’s preparations reveal their varied limitations: Zhuge Hengyun may qualify as a talent holder, while Grass may not; Luo Qinglan relies chiefly on her bloodline and Vermilion Bird Feather.

Significant themes

• Uncertainty and preparation: The Stele’s workings remain mostly unknown, so the characters can only prepare broadly and adapt.
• Opportunity paired with danger: An inheritance could be enormously valuable, but surviving the trial is uncertain.
• Power and vulnerability: Chen Lin’s group may qualify, yet their comparatively low cultivation leaves them exposed to stronger rivals.
• Pragmatism and trust: Chen Lin uses spirit crystals to obtain information and refuses Blue Butterfly’s alliance, balancing practical cooperation against factional risk.

Character interactions

• Murong Feng offers guarded guidance and leaves Chen Lin to decide whether to approach him later.
• Old Lu accepts Chen Lin’s spirit crystals and explains what he knows, while cautioning that the records may not be reliable.
• Chen Lin informs his companions and urges them to prepare according to their own abilities.
• Blue Butterfly seeks cooperation with Luo Qinglan; Chen Lin rejects the proposal. The chapter ends with the Murong Lineage’s voice addressing the gathered candidates as activation approaches.

Key plot points and events

• Murong Feng reveals that he has been watching the group, confirming his interest in Luo Qinglan’s divine phoenix body and the Immortal Stele’s inheritance.
• The Immortal Stele Fragments merge into a colossal stele above the Myriad Stele Forest. Its power causes severe spatial tremors that devastate Tongtian City and injure many low-level cultivators, though ordinary mortals appear unharmed.
• The stele seals the surrounding space, disabling transmission talismans and escape techniques. It then sends beams of light across the continent, selecting people and transporting them into its interior.
• Chen Lin, Luo Qinglan, and Zhuge Hengyun are selected. Chen Lin’s beam is unusually massive, while Zhuge Hengyun’s is thin. Once inside, Chen Lin finds Luo Qinglan but cannot locate Zhuge Hengyun.
• The group discovers a vast, dark space beneath a gigantic black stele, surrounded by a sea of bones. Cultivation, mana, and soul power are suppressed, though talent abilities remain usable.
• Chen Lin cannot use his nightmare-realm items to summon Grass, so he abandons the attempt. The gathered people begin organizing by city and faction.
• Chen Lin reunites with Yang Zishi, then meets Liangyi Sect elder Shen Baiquan and cautions him that this unprecedented appearance may be more dangerous than the Immortal Stele’s recorded trials.
• Alan and Ling Qianxue arrive. Alan teases Chen Lin about his past visits to Wuzhen Tower; noticing Luo Qinglan, she pretends to retract the claim. Chen Lin sidesteps the teasing and asks what she knows about the stele.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin stays alert and practical: he tests ways to escape, assesses the stele’s suppression, and warns others not to assume the situation is safe. He also asks Shen Baiquan to look after Yang Zishi.
• Luo Qinglan shows concern for Chen Lin and promises to protect him with her combat-oriented bloodline ability. Their affectionate, trusting relationship is underscored when Chen Lin takes her hand.
• Yang Zishi is delighted to see Chen Lin and appears to harbor feelings beyond those of a subordinate. Luo Qinglan notices, prompting Chen Lin to explain their connection.
• Shen Baiquan moves from confusion to cautious reassurance after learning the group is inside the Immortal Stele, but Chen Lin’s warning makes him reconsider.
• Alan’s teasing reveals familiarity with Chen Lin and creates a brief, playful tension with Luo Qinglan present.

Significant themes

• The unknown and loss of control: The stele’s continent-wide reach, spatial seal, and mass transportation leave even powerful cultivators unable to choose their fate.
• Power and selection: The beams appear to target talent holders and true-spirit descendants, raising questions about the stele’s purpose and the significance of Chen Lin’s unusually large beam.
• Caution amid apparent opportunity: Old records suggest the stele offers benefits, but its eerie setting and unprecedented destructive power make past assumptions unreliable.
• Loyalty and protection: Chen Lin and Luo Qinglan rely on one another, while Chen Lin also tries to safeguard Yang Zishi through his wider network of allies.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Lin asks Alan about the Immortal Stele, but she knows little. She warns that the surrounding bones may belong to people who died here before.
• Alan reports that the space grows darker and more turbulent farther from the Stele. She has also noticed a possible pattern: people with stronger innate talents were brought closer to it.
• Alan explains that innate talents manifest laws, which are divided into origin laws and branch laws, though she postpones explaining them in detail.
• More cultivators arrive, eventually numbering over ten thousand. None can work out why the Stele brought them there, and it remains black and inert.
• An old cultivator, Elder Qian, flies up and touches the Stele. He becomes trapped, shrivels, and falls apart into dry bones. The crowd realizes that the bones scattered across the ground are likely the remains of earlier victims.
• Li Chenshui, a powerful elder of the Liangyi Sect, advises the group to wait and learn how the Stele’s trial works before taking risks. He offers Chen Lin a shop and possible positions in the sect, but Chen Lin declines joining because his companion is rebuilding her own sect.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin remains cautious and analytical. He is intrigued by the apparent connection between talent and proximity to the Stele, but avoids approaching the Murong Family because its internal factions could make that dangerous. After Elder Qian’s death, he retreats with his companions and favors observation over action.
• Alan is a knowledgeable but guarded source of information. Her playful response to Chen Lin’s questions about laws hints at a possible personal interest or future conversation.
• Li Chenshui shows political awareness: he recognizes Chen Lin’s potential and offers him benefits to secure goodwill and protection. Chen Lin accepts the gesture warmly but maintains his independence.
• Elder Qian acts as a reckless scout for his family, volunteering despite the danger. His death demonstrates the Stele’s lethal threat.
• The gathered cultivators, including Chen Lin’s companions and representatives of several factions, shift from speculation to fearful caution after witnessing what the Stele does.

Significant themes

• The danger of the unknown: The Stele’s purpose and rules remain unexplained, making experimentation deadly.
• Talent and hierarchy: The apparent link between innate talent and landing position suggests that talent may determine a cultivator’s role in the trial.
• Power under constraint: With cultivation suppressed but innate abilities intact, customary rankings may no longer guarantee safety.
• Prudence and political maneuvering: Characters weigh immediate survival against alliances and long-term interests, while factional tensions make even offers of help complicated.

Plot points and events

• Li Chenshui drops his suggestion that Chen Lin’s group join the Liangyi Sect, instead inviting them to establish a base in Liangyi City.
• Chen Lin spots Blue Butterfly and Lan Zhihan among the Murong Family’s people. Both are talent holders, but he and Luo Qinglan avoid approaching them: using his ability could reveal him, and he does not yet know how to escape or whether his talent would prevail.
• After the Murong Family cannot determine how their dead cultivator died, its representative proposes a Temporary Elder Council to organize further testing of the Immortal Stele. The proposal passes, though factions argue over how seats should be assigned.
• The council is formed using cultivation and factional strength as criteria. The Murong Family secures three seats; Li Chenshui represents the Liangyi Sect, while Alan also wins a seat after identifying herself as a fairy of Wuzhen Tower.
• The council divides the crowd into thirty teams and orders them to send participants to test the stele. The first team sends a low-level, elderly cultivator who dies after touching it, just as the earlier victims did.
• A second elderly cultivator is sent. Following a Murong elder’s instruction, he touches the stele at a different height. A sudden change begins, ending the chapter on a cliffhanger.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin remains cautious, withholding his plans regarding Blue Butterfly and Lan Zhihan. He recognizes the Murong representative’s political skill and suspects the first death may have been a deliberate sacrifice to secure influence.
• Luo Qinglan understands Chen Lin’s intentions without needing an explanation and follows his lead.
• Li Chenshui maintains a cordial but pragmatic distance from Chen Lin’s group.
• Alan demonstrates the influence of Wuzhen Tower: several major factions support her council appointment, and other Wuzhen Tower fairies gather around her.
• The Murong Family takes the initiative in shaping the response to the stele and gains a dominant position on the council.

Significant themes

• Power and political maneuvering: The council’s creation is presented as necessary coordination, but it also gives the Murong Family substantial control.
• Collective risk and exploitation: The factions rely on elderly, expendable cultivators to test the stele, offering rewards to secure their cooperation.
• Secrecy and uncertainty: Chen Lin avoids exposing his ability, while the crowd still lacks any explanation for the stele’s deadly effects.
• Hierarchy and inherited status: Council influence reflects cultivation, factional strength, and prestigious affiliations; the stele’s selection process also appears to exclude weaker bloodlines and talents.

Key plot points and events

• A Golden Core elder touches the Immortal Stele. A leaf-shaped mark appears on his forehead, and the stele briefly responds, but the elder soon dies and is reduced to a skeleton. The pattern fades, leaving the crowd with no clear answer.
• Chen Lin theorizes that the stele reacts to powerful or well-mastered talent abilities, though he also suspects it may involve a resurrection seed or other hidden force.
• The Elder Council pauses the dangerous tests and sends groups to search the vast space for another exit. Their search finds only an impassable floor and deadly spatial turbulence; the Immortal Stele remains the sole apparent way out.
• The group notes that the many skeletons have no belongings and remain strangely well-preserved, suggesting the site may not be as old—or as fatal—as it seems.
• Chen Lin uses his fate-reading ability to inspect Yang Zishi’s and his own destiny lines. Both appear intact for now, giving him some hope that they can survive.
• With no alternative route discovered, the Council resumes drawing lots. Team Three selects Ximen Wuxue, the famed Saintess of the powerful Myriad Spirit Sect. He volunteers to test the stele despite warnings, and flies toward it.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin remains analytical and cautious, forming theories about the stele while monitoring risks to his companions. He privately checks the fate lines of Yang Zishi, Luo Qinglan, and himself, but avoids examining others.
• Ling Qianxue explains that she has long been connected to a powerful Otherworld creature with two red horns. Since reaching Foundation Establishment, she can borrow enough of its power to reach Spirit Transformation strength, but doing so is dangerously costly. Chen Lin warns her not to rely on it overmuch.
• Yang Zishi has awakened a talent ability but does not yet understand it. Chen Lin reassures her and advises her to remain calm if she must touch the stele.
• Luo Qinglan helps assess the environment and confirms that spatial turbulence blocks escape.
• Ximen Wuxue’s willingness to volunteer surprises the crowd, including Chen Lin and other knowledgeable cultivators. The Murong representative offers to send someone in his place, but Ximen refuses.

Significant themes

• Hope amid danger: The characters keep searching for answers even as the stele’s tests repeatedly kill their participants.
• Power and its cost: Ling Qianxue’s immense borrowed strength comes at a severe physical price, reinforcing the danger of relying on external forces.
• Uncertainty and sacrifice: With no safe escape and little knowledge of the stele, individuals must decide whether to risk themselves for the group.
• Fate and limited foresight: Chen Lin’s ability offers reassurance, but he recognizes that an apparently safe destiny can still change.

Key plot points and events

• Ximen Wuxue touches the Immortal Stele and is enveloped in intense multicolored light before disappearing, apparently passing its test rather than dying. A sword-wielding cultivator follows and also vanishes, suggesting the stele offers a way out.
• The spatial turbulence beyond the group begins advancing, making the stable area increasingly dangerous. Luo Qinglan urges Chen Lin to act before conditions worsen, and he agrees—but first investigates how the stele chooses who survives.
• Chen Lin uses his Innate Divine Ability to inspect three cultivators’ destinies. The young man and elderly woman, whose fate-lines are severed, die after touching the stele; the middle-aged man, whose lines remain intact, disappears safely.
• Convinced his ability can identify who is likely to survive, Chen Lin sends Yang Zishi to try first. She reaches the stele’s base, touches it, and is transported away.
• The high death toll makes the remaining cultivators hesitate, even as the spatial danger continues to approach.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin balances caution with decisive action. Rather than risk his own life immediately, he tests his prediction ability on others, then confidently advises Yang Zishi to go.
• Luo Qinglan shows keen sensitivity to spatial changes and presses Chen Lin to act before their options narrow.
• Yang Zishi trusts Chen Lin’s guidance, takes a pill, and approaches the stele without hesitation. Her successful departure confirms his judgment.
• Alan, worried for her close friend Yun Xiumian, suspects Chen Lin knows how to escape safely and asks him to share the method. He gives a noncommittal promise, leaving her unconvinced.
• Shen Baiquan and the other cultivators watch Yang Zishi closely, puzzled by Chen Lin’s choice to send a low-cultivation subordinate first. Other weaker cultivators take his stated explanation as practical advice and attempt to go early.

Significant themes

• Risk, uncertainty, and survival: The stele may offer escape, but touching it can also mean death, and the rules remain unclear.
• Trust and secrecy: Chen Lin relies on his private ability while withholding its details from others.
• Judgment under pressure: As the danger closes in, the characters must decide whether to wait for more information or act before the situation deteriorates.

Plot points and events

• Chen Lin examines Zhuge Hengyun’s destiny line and sees it is nearly severed, signaling a likely death in the Immortal Stele trial. He privately warns Zhuge, who admits he has sensed an approaching calamity and decides to wait and observe.
• Chen Lin and Luo Qinglan head for the stele. Their departure prompts Alan, her sisters, Ling Qianxue, and other cultivators to follow, believing Chen Lin knows how to survive.
• Lan Zhihan catches up and taunts the couple, hinting that he plans to settle matters after they leave. He secretly hopes to obtain the essence of Luo Qinglan’s Divine Phoenix Body and use it to suppress demonic thoughts and advance toward Void Refinement.
• Once out of Lan Zhihan’s sight, Chen Lin uses the Fortune Accumulation Orb and his Blade of Destiny to sever Lan’s destiny line. The effort leaves him weakened, but he finds no lasting damage to his own line.
• Chen Lin and Luo Qinglan prepare to touch the stele. He checks Alan’s destiny line and signals that it is safe. Alan immediately touches the stele and disappears in light; at the same moment, several cultivators—including Lan Zhihan—collapse into withered bones.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin shows concern for Zhuge but carefully limits his commitment, offering a warning rather than risking himself to change Zhuge’s fate. He also acts decisively and covertly against Lan Zhihan to protect himself and Luo Qinglan.
• Luo Qinglan remains wary of leaving the group and is quick to notice Chen Lin’s weakened state. She reproaches him for taking risks alone and offers to handle threats herself.
• Zhuge Hengyun recognizes the significance of Chen Lin’s warning and chooses caution, trusting Chen’s judgment.
• Lan Zhihan reveals his ambition and hostility toward the couple, but his confidence proves misplaced: Chen Lin secretly cuts his destiny line.
• Alan is attentive to Chen Lin’s signals and trusts his judgment, touching the stele as soon as he indicates she is safe.
• Chen and Luo’s close understanding is evident in their quick exchanges, while Alan’s conspicuous attention to Chen leaves him awkward, especially with Luo present.

Significant themes

• Fate and agency: Chen Lin can perceive and sever destiny lines, but doing so carries a physical cost and does not guarantee control over every outcome.
• Trust and caution: Characters rely on warnings, observation, and subtle signals when the trial’s rules and dangers remain uncertain.
• Hidden conflict and ambition: Lan Zhihan’s apparent restraint conceals plans to exploit Luo Qinglan, while Chen Lin chooses an unseen attack rather than an open confrontation.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Lin and Luo Qinglan activate the Immortal Stele. Inside, Chen Lin encounters a conscious light orb that appears confused, then attacks it with his Blade of Destiny. He wounds it once, but it escapes, warning that Chen Lin is “a fish that slipped the hook” and promising to return.
• Both return to their original location, though hours passed inside the stele while less than half an incense stick passed outside. The stele has fallen back into the Myriad Stele Forest, where intense spatial turbulence prevents anyone from learning its condition.
• The Murong family’s Enforcement Team orders Chen Lin and Luo Qinglan to report for questioning. Murong Feng intervenes, claims them as under his protection, and summons them to his mountain residence.
• On the way, Chen Lin and Luo Qinglan compare their experiences. Luo gained a powerful inheritance and a major boost to her bloodline, but Chen Lin fears the orb’s intervention may be part of a resurrection scheme involving powerful figures.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin becomes more suspicious of the Immortal Stele after its orb enters his talent screen and seems to search for something. He connects this to the loss of his original destiny line, which he believes once held a resurrection seed. He remains alert and protective, while recognizing that the orb may return.
• Luo Qinglan receives the divine ability Phoenix Dances Through the Nine Heavens, which may approach the level of a dao art. Her awakened bloodline gives her confidence about reaching Spirit Transformation. Though she cannot resist the orb’s influence, she intends to use her Nirvana Technique to cleanse any lingering traces.
• Chen Lin and Luo Qinglan speak candidly about the danger and weigh possible remedies. Chen Lin suggests seeking help from a powerful Dao Integration expert, but respects Luo Qinglan’s decision to try nirvana first.
• Murong Feng protects them from the Enforcement Team’s forced questioning. Chen Lin and Luo Qinglan proceed to meet him, aware they cannot avoid the conversation.

Significant themes

• Power and hidden agendas: The Immortal Stele may be more than an inheritance treasure; it could be a mechanism connected to powerful beings’ attempts at resurrection.
• Agency versus influence: Luo’s inheritance is beneficial, yet the orb’s welcoming energy made resistance difficult, raising doubts about whether the gift came at a cost.
• Trust and partnership: Chen Lin and Luo Qinglan share information, assess danger together, and respect each other’s judgments.
• Unequal time and overwhelming power: The stele’s apparent ability to alter time reinforces its status as an extraordinary artifact beyond Chen Lin’s control.

Key plot points and events

• Murong Feng questions Chen Lin and Luo Qinglan about their experience inside the Immortal Stele. Chen Lin gives a partly fabricated account, claiming his inheritance is qi-luck-based to conceal his true destiny talent.
• Murong Feng reveals that on the next Tianxuan Day, experts from the Southern Star Realm, Northern Star Realm, and Rainbow Realm plan to use a Fusion Formation to reunite the shattered Tianxuan Realm.
• The Rainbow Realm was once the Tianxuan Realm’s center. A Holy Monarch from there proposed the merger twenty years earlier, hoping to restore the world’s damaged laws and reopen the path to higher cultivation.
• Chen Lin realizes the merger could cause catastrophic spatial upheavals and feels pressured to recover his cultivation before Tianxuan Day, which is less than forty years away.
• Luo Qinglan gives Murong Feng a Jade Slip containing her fire-attribute inheritance, Phoenix Dances Through the Nine Heavens, a spell that may become a Dao art.
• In return, Murong Feng gives Luo Qinglan a pendant that conceals her unusual bloodline and gives Chen Lin high-grade, improved pill formulas. He clarifies that their use of the Teleportation Formation to Liangyi City is a separate reward for information about his younger sister.
• Murong Feng sends them away while he deals with Tongtian City’s losses and other business.

Character developments

• Chen Lin continues to guard his secrets, disguising his talent as related to qi luck. The news of the coming merger sharpens his sense of urgency and concern for survival.
• Luo Qinglan willingly parts with a powerful inheritance, apparently preferring to keep its connection to a great figure’s resurrection seed at a distance. She also gains protection against scrutiny of her bloodline.
• Murong Feng shifts from questioning them to rewarding them once he receives a valuable inheritance, though his questions and requests carry considerable authority.

Significant themes

• Secrecy and self-preservation: Chen Lin carefully controls what he reveals, while Luo Qinglan’s unusual bloodline requires concealment.
• Power and sacrifice: Powerful cultivators pursue restored laws and advancement even if a realm-wide merger endangers lesser cultivators.
• Inheritance and ambition: Rare techniques and Dao-art insights carry great value, but can also influence a cultivator’s future potential.
• Uncertainty and urgency: The planned merger may reshape the world, and its dangers force Chen Lin to prioritize rebuilding his strength.

Character interactions

• Murong Feng probes the pair about their inheritances; Chen Lin gives a guarded explanation, while Luo Qinglan openly offers her spell.
• Chen Lin invokes his connection to Lan Ruxue when discussing the Rainbow Realm, subtly reminding Murong Feng of their ties.
• Murong Feng rewards both cultivators for the inheritance, then dismisses them until the spatial disturbances have settled.

Plot and key events

• A month after escaping the Immortal Stele Space, Zhuge Hengyun is still gravely injured, his talent origin destroyed. With Tongtian City becoming unsafe and Murong Feng soon to leave, Chen Lin arranges for the group to depart.
• Murong Feng escorts Chen Lin, Luo Qinglan, Zhuge, and Mu Xingchen safely by teleportation to Liangyi City, then returns to Tongtian City.
• Back at Chen Lin’s residence, Yang Ziqing welcomes the group and earns Luo Qinglan’s approval—and a Pseudo Spirit Treasure—with his tactful greeting. The others settle in, while Luo Qinglan and Zhuge enter secluded cultivation and Mu Xingchen travels in search of a chance to advance.
• Chen Lin questions Yang Zishi about her experience in the Immortal Stele Space. Unlike the others, she seems to have devoured the inheritance’s light orb rather than receiving its inheritance or being consumed by it. She has since awakened a talent ability: Purification, which can cleanse impurities from objects and energy.
• Chen Lin suspects her unusual outcome may be because she began as a mortal without a spiritual root, leaving her less vulnerable to the powerful being’s mark. He cautiously tests her ability on ordinary items and confirms it can even affect nightmare-realm energy, though slowly.
• He then has Yang Zishi try to purify the assimilation inside Luo Qinglan. It works, but at its current strength would take more than a century to remove the danger. Chen Lin believes the process could accelerate as Yang Zishi’s cultivation and talent grow.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin is newly a Golden Core cultivator and remains focused on preparation for the predicted merging of the three realms. He balances concern for his companions with caution about dangerous powers and unknown marks.
• Zhuge Hengyun accepts that recovery will take years but urges the group to leave promptly rather than endanger them.
• Luo Qinglan shows warmth toward Chen Lin’s household, rewarding Yang Ziqing’s respectful welcome. She is also relieved to discover that Yang Zishi’s ability can, however slowly, counter her assimilation.
• Yang Zishi gains confidence and is eager to earn Chen Lin’s approval. Her talent may prove exceptionally valuable, though its limits and possible risks remain uncertain.
• Chen Lin treats Yang Zishi’s discovery carefully, first testing the ability on safer objects rather than risking the precious, potentially marked remnant of the light orb.

Significant themes

• Power and danger: The Immortal Stele’s gifts may be tied to powerful beings’ resurrection seeds and carry hidden threats.
• Unusual origins and potential: Yang Zishi’s mortal beginnings may have protected her from the inheritance’s influence and enabled her extraordinary ability.
• Patience and cultivation: Purification offers hope, but progress is slow and depends on Yang Zishi becoming stronger.
• Protection and responsibility: Chen Lin’s decisions—from leaving Tongtian City to managing Yang Zishi’s ability—are driven by the safety of those around him.