Recaps

Chen Lin learned that the True Martial Marquis may have been an outsider whose ascension and illusions could reveal how to increase his own power. After three years of preparation, Chen Lin and Tianxuan arrived at White Bird River, where he planned to investigate the North Six Prefectures and help her master Sword Will.

• Chen Lin bought four girls, named them Tianxuan, Tianji, Tiquan, and Yuheng, and told them they would study rather than serve as maids.
• Old Lu revealed his smithing ability and recounted how Zhao Wanxing, the True Martial Marquis, used illusion techniques before gaining Grandmaster-level strength and ascending.
• Chen Lin sent Old Lu to retrieve the mother and son who knew the treasure’s location, then questioned them and learned where it was hidden.
• Chen Lin left Old Lu in charge of the household and went to check on the Fighter Jet Armor and continue his deal with Xuanyuan Yu.
• Three years later, Chen Lin and Tianxuan reached White Bird River, and Chen Lin said he would help her achieve Man and Sword as One and comprehend Sword Will.

Chen Lin used his upgraded fighter jet to kill the bandits Fat and Thin Impermanence, while Tianxuan survived a perilous fight in the river and awakened Sword Will. He then began his campaign to seize territory in the North Six Prefectures, revealing the power of four fighter jets by destroying Black Peak Stronghold.

• Chen Lin took Tianxuan onto the White Bird River, where she risked her life against aggressive fish and awakened Sword Will as he fought off and killed Fat and Thin Impermanence with his fighter jet.
• After Tianxuan recovered, Chen Lin decided to seize Fat and Thin Impermanence's territory and explained his plan to Lu Xiu.
• Chen Lin and his party crossed the river aboard a ship, then traveled to Zuoning Prefecture to prepare an attack on Black Peak Stronghold.
• Chen Lin ordered Tianxuan and the other three women to attack the stronghold with four fighter jets, and they destroyed it and eliminated its bandits.
• Tianxuan reported that imprisoned women had been found, and Chen Lin ordered that they could stay and train as soldiers or leave freely.
• After witnessing the fighter jets' power, Lu Xiu said Chen Lin could establish a nation, and Chen Lin led the party up the mountain.

Chen Lin and Silver Fairy explored the True Martial Marquis’s treasure site and found a letter from Mo Siyi, a powerful cultivator trapped in a Nightmare Realm Scenario who claimed he could help them overcome cultivation restrictions. Chen Lin refused to rush to rescue him, leaving the group with the treasure and an unresolved question about the letter’s purpose.

• Chen Lin brought Silver Fairy to the Subduing Demon Mountain Range to investigate the True Martial Marquis’s treasure, while she urged him to consider exploring beyond the range.
• Silver Fairy found the entrance to the treasure site, and Chen Lin sent a Mechanical Puppet ahead to check the route before they entered.
• They deciphered the formations and opened a mechanism that revealed a golden chest containing a model boat, a token, three Five-Color Nightmare Coins, a sphere, and a letter.
• The letter identified its writer as Mo Siyi, an Upper Eternal Stage cultivator from Hanging Axe Star who had been trapped in a Nightmare Realm Scenario for several thousand years.
• Mo Siyi claimed he possessed an item that could let lower-order beings learn higher-order dharmic formulas if they rescued him, but Chen Lin declined to act on the letter without knowing whether it was trustworthy.

Chen Lin and the Silver Fairy explored the sealed edge of the Seven-Star Realm, where Chen Lin glimpsed higher-level beings, before Quiet Fire awarded him a better-than-excellent rating and a Ship Ticket. Back in the Life Ferry, Chen Lin learned how Life Coins and Life Letters worked, then confirmed he could return to reality and sensed his Fiefdom more clearly.

• Chen Lin and the Silver Fairy divided the True Martial Marquis's treasures and continued north until the Fighter Jet failed and they reached an impassable, snow-covered boundary.
• Chen Lin used the Heaven-Opening Eye Divine Ability to glimpse indistinct white figures, and the Silver Fairy concluded they were higher-level beings beyond the sealed region.
• The Life Ferry returned Chen Lin to the corridor, where Quiet Fire's letter awarded him three Life Coins and a soul-bound Ship Ticket for his better-than-excellent rating.
• Chen Lin met Yan Li at the Tavern, learned that Life Coins were the Life Ferry's currency, and heard that Life Letters could replicate a recipient's achievements for the issuer.
• Chen Lin opened his reward chest, confirmed he could return to reality, and found that his connection to his Fiefdom had grown stronger.

Chen Lin mastered Black Tiger Steals Heart, discovered it replaced his innate law origin without costing him his divine abilities, and tested its power against Yan Li. After securing three Five-Color Nightmare Coins from Yan Li, Chen Lin left the city and returned to his fiefdom, where Wushuang welcomed him and he summoned Leng Yue.

• Chen Lin studied his rewards, chose to cultivate Black Tiger Steals Heart despite its apparent consumption of his innate law origin, and reached the Grandmaster Realm after a month.
• Chen Lin discovered that he could still use his divine abilities after his law origin vanished, and his new energy made them slightly more powerful.
• Chen Lin tested Black Tiger Steals Heart against Yan Li, whose Divination Art pouch could not stop the Black Tiger Phantom.
• Chen Lin questioned Yan Li about Ship Tickets and negotiated an agreement to join the Yan Lineage in exchange for three Large Coins.
• After obtaining enough Three-Color Nightmare Coins, Chen Lin used the Fiefdom Token to return and summoned Leng Yue after Wushuang greeted him.

Chen Lin returned to the Boundless Realm, reunited with his companions, and arranged for several hundred people to leave for the Outer World. At Gambling Fortune Lake, he defeated the Golden Toad, revealed as the Frog Prince, and began refining him with the Star Toad.

• Chen Lin reunited with Grass and Wen Xinzhao, learned that Outer World powerhouses had entered the Boundless Realm, and ordered preparations to evacuate those who qualified.
• Chen Lin found Chen Bao in Myriad Forms City and learned how the rooster had traveled through several realms before reaching the Boundless Realm.
• Chen Lin sent several hundred people to the Outer World in batches, then traveled to Gambling Fortune Lake to investigate the toad and search for the Blind Girl.
• Chen Lin discovered that Shirina had been trapped at the upgraded golden scenario and learned that the Golden Toad had become a Gold Guardian.
• The Golden Toad attacked Chen Lin, but Chen Lin used Black Tiger Steals Heart to defeat and capture him.
• Chen Lin had the Star Toad swallow the Golden Toad and attempted to refine him with the Great Fusion Technique.

After killing the Golden Toad, Chen Lin discovered that Muddled Fruit could replenish his internal energy and learned how to free the Luxurious-Robed Matron by removing all the Beauty Flowers from Beauty Valley. While preparing to take the remaining flowers, he found a hidden, extraordinarily high-level bud that even the valley’s Manager could not perceive, then asked about the Blind Girl he had fished up before.

• Chen Lin absorbed the Golden Toad into the Star Toad, invited the Cat-headed Monster to find him later, and dredged the lake for Colorful-Winged Phoenix-Tail Shrimp.
• The Luxurious-Robed Matron explained that removing every Beauty Flower would close Wanhuagu Valley and free her, and said only fifteen visible flowers remained because a Marquis had previously taken the male beauties.
• Chen Lin used his Heaven Opening Eye Divine Ability and spotted a hidden flower bud between two rocks that the Luxurious-Robed Matron could not see or sense.
• Chen Lin forced his way past the valley’s entrance rules and showed the Luxurious-Robed Matron where the hidden bud was, but she could not find it.
• Chen Lin hesitated to take the unusually powerful flower and asked the Luxurious-Robed Matron where the Blind Girl he had fished up before had grown and whether she had left anything behind.

Chen Lin collected the remaining beauty flowers in Wanhuagu Valley, freed Zhan Zijun, and took the fifteen beauties to the Pipe Scenario. There, he tested their abilities by defeating the Red-Armored General’s force and prepared to seek Grand General Shu Shu.

• Chen Lin plucked the Blind Girl, who remained a flower bud, and placed her in the Grotto-Heaven Jade Pendant to recover beside the Muddled Fruit Tree.
• Chen Lin paid the Luxurious-Robed Matron tens of thousands of Golden Nightmare Coins and collected the valley’s fifteen remaining beauty flowers.
• The valley began to close, and the Luxurious-Robed Matron revealed her name as Zhan Zijun, gave Chen Lin Beauty Dew, and departed for the Reality Realm.
• Chen Lin visited the other locations in Qi Luck Paradise, found them beneath his level, and traveled to the Pipe Scenario instead of attempting the Earl Mission.
• Chen Lin confronted the Red-Armored General’s troops, and Seductive Beauty used her shadow-stealing and command abilities while the other beauties slaughtered the force.
• Chen Lin assessed the beauties’ abilities and ordered them to dispose of the Red-Armored General as he set out to find Grand General Shu Shu.

Chen Lin killed Grand General Shu Shu after exposing his bluff and defeating his Martial Soul, then discovered a high-dimensional cultivation manual among the spoils. He brought Shu Shu’s corpse to the Hidden King’s Residence and called for the Qing Emperor to appear.

• Chen Lin and the fifteen beauties reached the Grand General’s Mansion, where Shu Shu tried to bribe Chen Lin with Colored Nightmare Coins.
• Chen Lin used his Merit Coin knowledge to conclude that the figure who gave him his mission was the Qing Emperor, then attacked Shu Shu with Black Tiger Steals Heart.
• Shu Shu’s Azure Ring briefly resisted Chen Lin’s first attack, but Hua Yi stopped the reinforcements and Chen Lin’s second Black Tiger Phantom killed him.
• Chen Lin sent Hua Yi and the others to seize the mansion’s possessions, freed its imprisoned women, and learned that Luo Qinglan was known as a rebel leader in the north.
• Chen Lin found the Green Lotus Canon, recognized it as an unmasterable high-dimensional technique, and inferred that Shu Shu had derived his Martial Soul from it.
• Chen Lin carried Shu Shu’s corpse to the Hidden King’s Residence and called for the Qing Emperor to meet him.

Chen Lin learned more about the Lake-Fishing Old Man and the Star Emperor, then helped Chouya choose to keep cultivating in her beetle body. After learning that the Sword Saint had died and the Yu Family was threatening the Left Alliance, Chen Lin set out to confront Yu Dahuang.

• Chen Lin accepted one Merit Coin from the Qing Emperor, learned that Niuniu was the Red Emperor’s daughter, and heard that the Lake-Fishing Old Man could seal even the Seven-Star Realm.
• The Qing Emperor identified the Lake-Fishing Old Man as a power beyond the Seven Sovereigns’ ability to oppose and hinted that the Star Emperor was connected to them before disappearing.
• Chouya chose to retain her beetle body and cultivation, and Chen Lin gave her Abyss items and promised to find her a suitable technique.
• Chen Lin released fifteen beauties in the Kaiyuan Realm and learned from Shen Anning that there was still no news of Yesterday Manor.
• Jin Ruhua told Chen Lin that the Sword Saint had died and the Yu Family was pressuring the Left Alliance, with Yu Dahuang seeking power in Rainbow City.
• Chen Lin rejected Jin Ruhua’s plan to attempt an Eternal Realm breakthrough and asked for Yu Dahuang’s location so he could confront him.

Chen Lin discovered that the Lake-Fishing Old Man he and Grass had killed might have been a clone of the Heavenly Dao, forcing him to conceal his suspicions and reconsider his plans. He then challenged the Yu Family and killed Yu Dahuang, leaving the watching factions wary of his growing power.

• Jin Ruhua told Chen Lin that the Yu Family was probing the Left Alliance to learn whether the Sword Saint could still summon the Star-Plucking Clan, and she shared what she knew about the Lake-Fishing Old Man.
• Chen Lin made a Soul Contract with the Seven Mysteries Heavenly Woman and questioned her about the Lake-Fishing Old Man; when she produced the Green Lotus Canon, he suspected the man Grass had killed was a clone of the Heavenly Dao.
• Chen Lin told Grass his suspicion, decided to act as though he knew nothing, and kept using the Gambling Fortune Lake Fishing Rod and Green Lotus Canon normally.
• Chen Lin went to the Yu Family and challenged Yu Dahuang, who attacked with a dark red flag and a horde of rats.
• Chen Lin repelled the rats and killed Yu Dahuang with Black Tiger Steals Heart as the onlookers watched in shock.
• The seven Deliberating Elders recognized that Chen Lin's technique exceeded the world's limits but did not dare move against him, and he returned to the Left Alliance with Jin Ruhua.

After defeating Yu Dahuang, Chen Lin let Jin Ruhua manage the Yu Family’s compensation and focused on recovering his strength and investigating his treasures. He discovered that Little Flower Bud responded to an Outer-Heaven Meteorite, then agreed to a cautious settlement with the Yu Family and prepared to meet the Crape Myrtle Palace Master.

• Chen Lin rejected an immediate attack on the Yu Family, and Jin Ruhua proposed announcing Yu Dahuang’s death as self-defense while demanding compensation.
• Chen Lin inspected Yu Dahuang’s treasures, considered possible routes out of the Seven-Star Realm, and found that the Cards and Round Disc remained inactive.
• After a month of cultivation, Chen Lin discovered Little Flower Bud responded to the Outer-Heaven Meteorite and gave it to her.
• Grass reported that the Yu Family had paid compensation and claimed Yu Dahuang had acted alone; Chen Lin decided not to attack the lineage and sent Hua Wu to deliver his token to the rebel army seeking Luo Qinglan.
• Jin Ruhua explained that the Yu Family had hidden gifted members in a Secret Land and gained the Deliberating Elders’ mediation; Chen Lin accepted reconciliation while planning to handle threats secretly.
• When Jin Ruhua said the Crape Myrtle Palace Master had repeatedly asked to meet him, Chen Lin agreed to visit her first.

Chen Lin sought information about routes into the Abyss from the Crape Myrtle Palace, the Bizarre Region, and the Secluded Families. He learned that the Sun Lineage controlled an unstable passage, then asked Sun Chuxue to stay with him.

• Mingyue Shuanghua offered Chen Lin soul ash in exchange for one of three favors, but he refused to reveal the Black Tiger divine ability or Soul-Destroying Finger secrets and would not kill the Purple Emperor.
• Mingyue Shuanghua offered the soul ash for thirty jin each of golden wheat and fluorescent rice and Chen Lin's promise not to help the Purple Emperor against her; Chen Lin agreed to trade once he obtained the rice.
• Chen Lin offered the Red-Robed King Abyssal items for information, learned that the Bizarre cultivators' route required a contract with their Superior Deity, and heard that the Secluded Families had passages into the Abyss.
• Chen Lin visited Hong Tingzhen and the Mist Lord, who again asked him to help obtain rainbow flowers, but he made no commitment.
• Sun Changxing told Chen Lin that the Sun Lineage controlled one unstable passage into the Abyss and gave him a jade talisman to contact Sun Jingning for an escort.
• Chen Lin assured the Sun Lineage he would not hold them responsible for the Yu Family's actions, declined to keep Sun Jingning with him, and asked Sun Chuxue to stay instead.

Chen Lin questioned Sun Chuxue about her unusual talent and hidden origins, then learned that she knew the secrets of the twelve Life Tablets. He agreed to keep her identity secret and promised not to attack the Sun Lineage, while asking her to pass along an offer to trade for its tablets and news of someone who might heal Sun Jingning.

• Chen Lin discovered that Sun Chuxue's danger-sensing talent could perceive present goodwill and malice but could not foresee his future, and he recognized her hidden flower-shaped birthmark as the one sought by an Ant Society bounty.
• Chen Lin used the Heart-Inquiring Seal to expose Sun Chuxue's lie about belonging to the Sun Lineage, and she explained that an Otherworldly Being had left her there with a seal tied to her unknown birth.
• Sun Chuxue asked Chen Lin to conceal her secret and spare the Sun Lineage; he agreed, and she revealed that twelve Life Tablets were linked to a vanished faction and powerful Strange Beasts.
• Sun Chuxue identified the known tablets and their holders, including the Red Mouse, Black Bull, Wildebeest, and Green Snake Cards, and Chen Lin asked her to tell her lineage head he would trade Eternal Grade resources for the Sun Lineage's tablets.
• Chen Lin gave Sun Chuxue three Three-Color Nightmare Coins and asked her to tell Sun Jingning that a mysterious person might resolve her soul problem, but that meeting him could be dangerous.

Chen Lin secured the Yu Family’s Life Tablet and learned more about the Character Cards and the Round Disc before bringing Sun Jingning and Sun Chuxue to the Soulless Patriarch. After leaving them with him, Chen Lin returned to the Sea of Despair to search for Oddity Island.

• Chen Lin sent Tianshu to demand the Yu Family’s remaining Life Tablet and decided to ignore the unseen force that might have guided Sun Chuxue to him.
• Sun Jingning told Chen Lin that her unstable soul was dissipating, and he warned her that the Soulless Patriarch might have ulterior motives while offering to take her to him.
• Sun Jingning gave Chen Lin her lineage’s Life Tablet and explained that the Cards were Character Cards tied to a mysterious ship, while the Round Disc could unlock the Heavenly Ancient Power’s inheritance and might point the way to leaving the Seven-Star Realm.
• Three days later, Sun Jingning returned with the Yu Family’s Card and texts about the Life Tablets, and Chen Lin took her and Sun Chuxue to the Soulless Patriarch.
• The Soulless Patriarch kept the Sun sisters and gave Chen Lin a box containing an abyss crystal; Chen Lin then failed to find Nanmen Lingyue and returned to Rainbow City.
• A year later, Chen Lin reached the Sea of Despair and flew into it to see whether Oddity Island remained.

Chen Lin reached Oddity Island and learned that Pill King Feng Wanding had replaced him as master of the Pill Pavilion and taken his oddity identity. After Liu Yuanling shared information about the island and its upcoming Oddity Convention, Chen Lin began examining the details stored in an Information Treasure Chest.

• Chen Lin reached the Sea of Despair, observed that Oddity Island had moved, and saw a figure emerge from its Light Curtain.
• Chen Lin met Liu Yuanling, who told him that Pill King Feng Wanding had become the new master of the Pill Pavilion and replaced Chen Lin’s oddity identity.
• Liu Yuanling explained that Oddity Island had reopened and was preparing to hold its first Oddity Convention, and Chen Lin decided to enter the island.
• Liu Yuanling warned Chen Lin that Feng Wanding was a formidable fighter and advised him to challenge the Pill King through the Pill Dao rather than force.
• Liu Yuanling gave Chen Lin an Information Treasure Chest in exchange for an abyss crystal, and Chen Lin began absorbing its information about Oddity Island.

Chen Lin returned to Oddity Island to reclaim an Oddity identity and discovered that only Oddities could see Yin-Yang Valley's true form. After collecting the spirit rice Old Servant Qi owed him, he negotiated with Fire Wa for the divine being's flame origin essence.

• Chen Lin learned that Oddity Island had become a cultivation haven and flew there, hoping to regain an Oddity identity and access Yin-Yang Valley.
• At the valley entrance, Fire Wa challenged Chen Lin for lacking an Oddity halo, but Chen Lin used the Heaven Opening Eye Divine Ability to reveal the valley and led him inside.
• Old Servant Qi recognized Chen Lin and paid him about a hundred and fifty jin of fluorescent rice and fifty jin of golden wheat, confirming his promised reward would remain if he regained his status.
• Fire Wa introduced himself as a flame-governing divine being from the Hexagram Vortex and offered Chen Lin his natal fire, which contained pure flame origin essence.
• Chen Lin refused Fire Wa's demand for a hundred jin of spirit rice and offered ten jin of fluorescent rice, so Fire Wa countered with a minimum of sixty jin plus a flame divine ability.

Chen Lin searched for a ruin where he could inherit an Oddity’s position, then visited the Pill King and received a Golden Saint Pill after destroying its dangerous Pill Spirit. The Pill King invited Chen Lin to exchange insights on pill refining, leaving them on friendly terms.

• Chen Lin chose the Talisman Ancestor Hall, Myriad Sounds Silence House, and Formless Pavilion as possible ruins, but learned the Talisman Ancestor Hall required dominator-characteristic talismans to conquer.
• Chen Lin met two Eternal Realm experts at the Talisman Ancestor Hall and left after the woman warned him that inheriting Talisman Ancestor Yaoguang Ye’s position would be unrealistic without overwhelming skill.
• Chen Lin visited the Pill Pavilion, admitted he was seeking the secret chamber, and received its contents from the Short-Haired Man, who recognized him as the original master’s successor.
• When the Short-Haired Man retrieved a Golden Saint Pill, its dragon-claw attack threatened them, and Chen Lin used Black Tiger Steals Heart to dispel the attack and frighten the pill.
• The Short-Haired Man gave Chen Lin the Golden Saint Pill, explaining that Chen Lin’s ability could suppress its Pill Spirit, and invited him to discuss the Pill Dao.

Chen Lin learned how to exchange merit for scarce spirit rice, built a temporary residence on Oddity Island, and met the natural divine being Anguzi, who wanted to trade for rice. The chapter ended with Chen Lin preparing to hear Anguzi’s offer.

• Chen Lin gave up on unraveling the Fallen Oddity's Ruins and tested his treasures, but he failed to bring Grass onto Oddity Island.
• Chen Lin overheard three Oddities demanding overdue stipends from Old Servant Qi, who said merit earners would receive priority and crystals were needed to increase the spirit rice supply.
• Wang Cuilan explained the Merit Exchange Catalog, exchanged Chen Lin's abyss crystals for rice and a Residence Token, and told him the island's passages to the Abyss and Star Domain required crystals.
• Chen Lin built a temporary residence in a mountain valley and moved in under the island's rules.
• Anguzi visited Chen Lin and asked to trade for twenty jin of each variety of spirit rice.

Chen Lin traded spirit rice for Anguzi’s growth-accelerating spirit liquid, welcomed visitors to his Temporary Residence, and brought Chen Ling’er to Oddity Island to cultivate. After three years refining the Golden Saint Pill, he reached the third-tier level in bodily strength and decided to establish a new oddity category centered on specialty delicacies.

• Chen Lin tested Anguzi’s spirit liquid on the Muddled Fruit Tree and traded ten jin of each kind of spirit rice plus a Five-Color Nightmare Coin for the bottle.
• Chen Lin turned away Anguzi’s invitation to explore a dangerous Nightmare Realm scenario, then traded with more than a dozen groups of visitors before his spirit rice supply dwindled.
• Chen Lin brought Chen Ling’er from the Kaiyuan Realm to Oddity Island, gave her pills and a Jade Ruyi, and helped her refine the treasure.
• Chen Lin refined the Golden Saint Pill over three years and transformed his body to the third-tier level.
• Chen Lin gave up on inheriting a legacy site and decided to establish a new oddity category based on specialty delicacies.

Chen Lin brought Cheng Lingdie to Oddity Island, studied a soul-nourishing art decoded from an abyss crystal, and decided to seek a culinary Oddity Identity by finding a stronger recipe. He entered the upgraded Gourmet Island and discovered a familiar teahouse sign.

• Chen Ling'er entered her target Nightmare Realm with Chen Lin's supplies to search for her projection.
• Cheng Lingdie finished decoding the abyss crystal, and Chen Lin read the Five-Grain Soul-Nourishing Art but found that learning it required absorbing the inheritance directly.
• Chen Lin brought Cheng Lingdie to Oddity Island for five years of cultivation, then resolved to obtain an Oddity Identity by preparing a Seven-Star delicacy.
• Chen Lin entered Gourmet Island, found it greatly expanded and upgraded, and paid a local cultivator for information.
• Chen Lin followed the cultivator to a teahouse and recognized its sign as Fearless Teahouse.

Chen Lin returned to Gourmet Island, learned about its new Guardian and the island’s updated rules from Miao Yunsheng, and discovered that the Guardian, Big Mouth Marquis, was a Seven-Star Gastronomist. After sampling the Fearless Teahouse’s spirit teas, Chen Lin sought to meet its owner, while Miao Yunsheng realized Chen Lin was a powerful senior.

• Chen Lin entered the Fearless Teahouse with Miao Yunsheng, learned that Zhao Lingyi was no longer its proprietor, and paid Miao Yunsheng to answer his questions.
• Miao Yunsheng told Chen Lin that Big Mouth Marquis, also called Yi Yi, was the new Guardian, a kind Seven-Star Gastronomist who had come from another region.
• Chen Lin sampled the tea maidens’ spirit teas and found that Divine Maiden’s Caress strengthened his body, Divine Soul Gathering had little effect on him, and the final tea resembled fearlessness tea.
• Chen Lin learned that returning residents kept their identities but had their ranks reset and their old points and property reclaimed, and he decided he needed to contact Big Mouth Marquis to obtain a Seven-Star Delicacy Recipe.
• Chen Lin asked to meet the teahouse owner, but the tea maiden said the owner was away at the Spirit Tea Garden; after absorbing his tea, Miao Yunsheng bowed and apologized for offending Chen Lin.

Chen Lin returned to Gourmet Island, earned the Food Cauldron’s recognition as a Seven-Star Gastronomist by making transcendental Mother Steamed Buns, and met Guardian Yi Yi. After Yi Yi’s Karma-Dispersing tea eased some of the karma binding Chen Lin’s soul and body, she asked how he had reached the Spirit Infusion Realm.

• Chen Lin received a new jade token with ten points, then visited the Gastronomist Evaluation Office to seek a higher rank.
• Chen Lin’s Soul Steamed Buns earned a Five-Star rating, but the judges warned that his use of Fate Arts left traces that could affect destiny.
• Chen Lin prepared Mother Steamed Buns without Fate Arts, using his internal energy to suppress transcendental ingredients before entering the spirit infusion state.
• The Guardian’s Food Cauldron rang out and appeared above Gourmet Island, recognizing Chen Lin’s dish as Seven-Star quality and granting him Seven-Star Gastronomist status.
• Guardian Yi Yi gave Chen Lin Karma-Dispersing tea, explained its limited effect on his karmic entanglements, and asked how he had reached the Spirit Infusion Realm.

Chen Lin consulted the Gourmet Guardian about cultivation and learned that Fishing Old Man Taihu had raised Starry Sky Stowaways as gu, making Chen Lin one of his targets. The Gourmet Guardian outlined three possible ways to escape Taihu’s perception and urged Chen Lin to seek answers in the Life Ferry before sending him away.

• Chen Lin told the Gourmet Guardian about mastering the Spirit Infusion Realm, and she explained the culinary dao’s path to a dao seal and examined his condition.
• The Gourmet Guardian said Chen Lin’s soul and other abilities carried abnormal karma, then revealed that Fishing Old Man Taihu had turned the Seven-Star Realm into a vessel for raising gu and selected Starry Sky Stowaways as prey.
• The Gourmet Guardian advised Chen Lin to seek the Rainbow Sword, cultivate his destiny talent, or return to the Life Ferry to sever Taihu’s ability to sense him.
• The Gourmet Guardian explained that Guluoqi referred to three ancient beings and said she could not determine whether the Spirit Infusion Realm involved karma.
• The Gourmet Guardian warned Chen Lin not to speak of Fishing Old Man Taihu again, removed the barrier, and sent him away.

After learning more about the Lake-Fishing Old Man’s possible interest in his destiny talent, Chen Lin kept his suspicions hidden and applied to found a new Oddity category. He passed the initial assessment with Mother Steamed Buns and, as challengers failed to defeat him, received Thousand-Flavor Soup from Ninth Miss, whose effects seemed to change him in an unclear way.

• Chen Lin reasoned that the Lake-Fishing Old Man had likely fished him into the Seven-Star Realm to cultivate and claim the Star Emperor’s destiny talent, so he decided to conceal his suspicions and grow stronger.
• Chen Lin asked Old Servant Qi about founding a new Oddity category and learned that the absent envoy was named Wang Sanwu, the master’s thirty-fifth formal disciple.
• Chen Lin paid ten merits, passed Old Servant Qi and his wife’s assessment with Mother Steamed Buns, and received a Reserve Oddity Halo that would activate if he survived challenges for a year.
• The Blue Dwarf and a burly man challenged Chen Lin with their dishes, but the Reserve Oddity Halo did not react to either attempt.
• Ninth Miss challenged Chen Lin with Thousand-Flavor Soup made from a thousand ingredients, but her challenge also failed; Chen Lin drank the soup and asked her to explain its effects after sensing an unfamiliar change within himself.