Chapter Summaries

Chen Lin investigated the origin of a Spirit Food Recipe and learned that its Wish Noodles might grant wishes, with prayer grass and the origin essence of the destiny rule among its ingredients. He arranged for others to guard his interests while he entered seclusion to pursue a breakthrough to the Void Refinement Mid-Stage.

• Chen Lin questioned Dong Yunqiu about the Yucai Sect, told her to cooperate with Xue Honglan, and laughed off her news that Yue Tianyi had feelings for Xue Honglan.
• Shi Youping explained that Wang Tianqing had left him the Spirit Food Recipe, which Wang had found in an ancient book; Chen Lin gave Shi a Three-Stripe Seven-Star Pill and ordered him to keep the recipe secret.
• Chen Lin told Liu Shengyuan to stop pursuing the All-Direction Trading Firm, arrange new guards, collect delicacies and ingredients, and leave information in the Myriad Realms Alliance Scenario while Chen Lin was away.
• At White Cloud Pasture, Chen Lin left the Five-Star Universal Food Voucher with Fat Tiger for Gege Yun and found prayer grass, an ingredient in the wish-granting Wish Noodles recipe.
• Chen Lin suspected Nian Kong or Niuniu had arranged for the recipe to reach him, then gathered ingredients, instructed Zhou Shiwu, and entered seclusion.

Chen Lin strengthened the Thunder God Sword with the lightning fruit core, prepared Ruyi Island for cultivation, and watched Zheng Xuanqing advance to the Golden Core Stage. After arranging contact with the Myriad Realms Alliance, Chen Lin entered the Nightmare Realm and met Lu Yingnan.

• Chen Lin used the lightning fruit core to enlarge the Thunder God Sword's innate thunder pattern, then ended his seclusion and considered cultivating the remaining core.
• Grass told Chen Lin that Zhou Shiwu had found a vast, low-level floating island, and Chen Lin chose to wait for news rather than visit it.
• Chen Lin inspected Ruyi Island and set up defensive and tribulation-neutralizing formations for Zheng Xuanqing's Golden Core tribulation.
• Zheng Xuanqing survived the tribulation and advanced to the Golden Core Stage, and Chen Lin rewarded him with a Pseudo Spirit Treasure flying sword.
• Wang Tianlin reported that contact with the Myriad Realms Alliance had been arranged, so Chen Lin entered the Nightmare Realm and met Lu Yingnan from the second layer of the Black Pagoda in the Northern Star Realm.

Chen Lin arranged for Lu Yingnan to find Princess Qinghua and Luo Xiaoyu in Qianyuan City, then gave up waiting when no reply came. He raised Ruyi Island to a higher layer and began secluded cultivation, while Grass kept the island safe from threats.

• Chen Lin gave Lu Yingnan a Level Two Road Guide in exchange for secretly finding Princess Qinghua and Luo Xiaoyu in Qianyuan City and bringing back their reply.
• After two years without news, Chen Lin raised Ruyi Island to the next layer, where he warned everyone to hide from Human-Faced Mosquitoes in the Snail Shell Immortal Cave.
• Chen Lin told Zhou Shiwu to keep consolidating his cultivation instead of attempting the risky breakthrough to Spirit Transformation.
• Wang Tianlin reported that Lu Yingnan had left no sign and that no other cultivators from the Northern Star Realm had appeared, so Chen Lin stopped waiting and entered secluded cultivation.
• Over ten years, Ruyi Island endured minor Void Beast attacks and a swarm of Human-Faced Mosquitoes, which Grass destroyed before they could reach the island.

After fifty years of seclusion, Chen Lin failed to break through to mid-stage Void Refinement and tested Grass’s greatly improved sword qi. He reviewed his companions’ progress and prepared Yuan Zhenhai to investigate the deadly Black Finger Scenario, leaving the mystery of the scenario unresolved.

• Chen Lin ended his seclusion after three failed attempts to break through, then asked Grass whether fishing in Wanhuagu Valley might help him complete his peerage mission.
• Grass struck Chen Lin’s Cyan Vine Shield with sword qi powerful enough to exceed the Dao Rhyme seventh stage, and he praised her progress.
• Chen Lin reviewed his companions’ cultivation: Zhou Shiwu had reached Spirit Transformation, Qiaoniang and Shi Jian had advanced to Golden Core, and Chouya remained at Foundation Establishment middle stage.
• Chen Lin gave Chouya a Greater Realm-Breaking Pill and encouraged her not to lose heart over her aptitude.
• After Zheng Xuanqing reported no progress in the Black Finger Scenario, Chen Lin sent Yuan Zhenhai, whose soul was nearly silver, to explore it and promised to help him reach Nascent Soul if he returned alive.

Chen Lin visited the Time Cottage to buy a lifespan-extending dish for Xue Wa, whose remaining years were few. The proprietor warned him of death qi in his distant future, and Chen Lin negotiated a discount after finding the dishes prohibitively expensive.

• Chen Lin learned from Black Wa that Xue Wa had returned to cultivate but was unlikely to reach the third rank before her lifespan ran out.
• Chen Lin decided to use a Four-Star Gourmet Voucher to buy Xue Wa a lifespan-extending dish at the Time Cottage.
• The Time Cottage's proprietor recognized Chen Lin and said he saw a streak of death qi in Chen Lin's future about a hundred years away.
• Chen Lin found the dishes far more expensive than expected and asked the proprietor to return his voucher, but the proprietor refused.
• Chen Lin offered to trade Soul Steamed Buns for a discount, and the proprietor agreed to reduce the price by twenty percent.

Chen Lin paid heavily to extend Xue Wa’s life and returned to Gourmet Island to help Yang Zishi leave with him. After learning that ordinary channels for upgrading her Teleportation Token were costly, he sought help from Feng Sanniang and was invited inside.

• Chen Lin gave Black Wa the lifespan-extending dish for Xue Wa and urged her to cultivate so she could repay the debt.
• Chen Lin reunited with Yang Zishi, offered her a three-star dish to submit, and received rewards when two of his dishes qualified as three-star offerings.
• The Management Office told Chen Lin that Yang Zishi needed upgraded teleportation permission to travel with him, obtainable through costly requirements or a Task Exemption Token.
• Chen Lin rejected Yang Zishi’s suggestion to return to Liangyi City and decided to seek a Task Exemption Token through the Music Tavern.
• Chen Lin learned that Qiu Mufan was no longer at the tavern and asked to meet Feng Sanniang, who invited him inside.

Chen Lin obtained a Task Exemption Warrant from Feng Sanniang and upgraded his companion’s teleportation permission before returning to Ruyi Island. There, Yuan Zhenhai woke from the Nightmare Realm with a small Origin Orb, completing his mission alive.

• Chen Lin asked Feng Sanniang for a Task Exemption Warrant, and she gave him one in exchange for a favor.
• Chen Lin used the warrant to upgrade the teleportation permission and save thirty thousand points, then prepared supplies for Zhenzhu and returned to Ruyi Island with Yang Zishi.
• Chen Lin learned that Yuan Zhenhai had entered the Nightmare Realm and found him unconscious under Grass’s watch.
• Yuan Zhenhai woke unharmed and presented Chen Lin with a small Origin Orb he had obtained inside the Nightmare Realm.

Chen Lin learned how the Black Finger Scenario’s tasks worked and discovered that its Origin Orbs carried hidden heterogeneous energy. After Yang Zishi purified the energy in him and Yuan Zhenhai, repeated expeditions claimed every old cultivator sent in, so Yuan Zhenhai entered again with three others.

• Yuan Zhenhai told Chen Lin that the stone stele offered strange tasks, each sending its taker into a separate Task Space and rewarding successful completion with an Origin Bead.
• Chen Lin ordered Zhou Shiwu to recruit more old cultivators to explore the scenario, promising a great reward to anyone who returned with an Origin Orb.
• Yang Zishi detected faint heterogeneous energy in the Origin Orb and purified it, then spent a month cleansing the same energy from Chen Lin’s talent origin.
• Chen Lin had Yang Zishi examine Yuan Zhenhai, found the same energy in his talent origin, and arranged for her to purify it in secret.
• After the old cultivators sent into the scenario vanished without completing tasks, Yuan Zhenhai volunteered to enter again with three old cultivators.

Chen Lin learned that only talent holders could accept missions inside the Stele Guardian’s realm, then met the Traveling Merchant in the Gambling Fortune Lake scenario and heard his account of the wider planes and the Luo. He agreed to owe the merchant a favor and tried to trade that promise for urgently needed items.

• Yuan Zhenhai told Chen Lin that Hu Zhenglai vanished after touching the Stele Guardian and the two other elderly cultivators died when they tried to leave, confirming that non-talent holders could not accept missions.
• Chen Lin told Yuan Zhenhai to halt exploration, distribute spirit stones to those leaving, and send those staying to Xiyun Qiao.
• Chen Lin entered the Gambling Fortune Lake scenario with Grass and encountered the Traveling Merchant, who warned that Chen Lin’s soul and body were poorly matched and that he had little time to become a True Immortal.
• Chen Lin challenged the merchant’s earlier account of the realms’ collapse, and the merchant explained that countless boundary realms existed within higher-level leaves and suggested that the Luo and the power countering them came from beyond those leaves.
• The Traveling Merchant asked Chen Lin for a future favor, and Chen Lin agreed before offering to trade as many favors as needed for items he urgently wanted.

Chen Lin traded with the Traveling Merchant for information about resolving the incompatibility between his soul and body, learning that the River of Forgetfulness in the Netherworld might help. He paid with Four-Star Cuisine and a Temporary Level 4 Road Guide, while the merchant’s reaction to the food left their encounter on an unexpected note.

• Chen Lin asked the Traveling Merchant for an Ascension Pill and other ways to resolve the incompatibility between his soul and body, but the merchant had no suitable treasure or pill.
• The Traveling Merchant offered information about a possible source in exchange for a Qi Luck Treasure Chest or a portion of Chen Lin’s talent origin, and Chen Lin refused both terms.
• The merchant recognized the Gourmet Guardian’s token and agreed to provide the information in exchange for Four-Star Cuisine and a Temporary Level 4 Road Guide.
• The Traveling Merchant identified the River of Forgetfulness in the Netherworld as a possible remedy and said it might be in the Seventh Layer, though he could not verify its location.
• Chen Lin handed over Plum Blossom Colorful Wing Shrimp-Filled Buns, and the Traveling Merchant ate one before tears welled in his eyes.

Chen Lin traded Liu Family Buns with the Traveling Merchant for a Forced Crossing Scroll and learned about Road Guides and peerage ranks. He went to Gambling Fortune Lake to fish, but the Golden Toad turned him away, claiming all the fishing slots were filled.

• Chen Lin told the Traveling Merchant about Li Fuyao and learned that Colored Road Guides could cross between Nightmare Realm regions, while peerage ranks offered freedom that official positions did not.
• Chen Lin asked for endless water and eight-arm circumambulation, but the Traveling Merchant had neither and explained what each substance was.
• Chen Lin traded another basket of buns for a Forced Crossing Scroll that could return him from ordinary scenarios to the Reality Realm.
• Chen Lin went with Grass to Gambling Fortune Lake to fish for Plum Blossom Colorful Wing Shrimp and test his Gourmet Guardian Token.
• The Golden Toad arrived by boat and told Chen Lin that all the day's fishing slots were filled.

Chen Lin used the Gourmet Guardian Token to keep fishing at Gambling Fortune Lake, where he traded with Qimeng Lan and caught two treasure chests before escaping the Golden Toad. He then entered Wanhuagu Valley for his third attempt to fish for a beauty flower, but, unable to make the fate line clear with his current qi luck, opened a Qi Luck Treasure Chest.

• Chen Lin showed the Golden Toad his Gourmet Guardian Token, paid the original fishing fee, and caught fish and shrimp while leaving the forbidden treasure chests untouched.
• Qimeng Lan offered eight-arm circumambulation in exchange for a Gourmet Invitation Letter, and Chen Lin gave her a bird egg as a medium for meeting at an information exchange scenario.
• Chen Lin caught two golden treasure chests in a row, then left Gambling Fortune Lake as the Golden Toad approached; Qimeng Lan later used her Road Guide to depart.
• Chen Lin confirmed that the rules at Wanhuagu Valley had not changed, paid the Luxurious-Robed Woman one thousand Nightmare Coins, and climbed to the innermost fishing platform with Grass.
• Chen Lin ate a Giant Lobster to strengthen his qi luck but found the fate line still too unclear, so he opened a Qi Luck Treasure Chest, which produced an orb of light.

Chen Lin used his talent origin and qi luck treasures to mend a broken destiny line and successfully fished Blind Girl from Wanhuagu Valley. He learned that Hua Ruyu’s apparent escape might only be a temporary result of merging with a clone, then returned to Ruyi Island and sent Blind Girl with Grass to learn about the island.

• Chen Lin absorbed a Fortune Orb, opened a treasure chest containing a White Mist Pill formula, and consumed qi luck creatures while trying to strengthen his Fate Tentacle.
• Chen Lin overdrawed his talent origin and used a Fishing Rod to keep the trembling destiny line intact until he fished up a Snow-White Flower that became Blind Girl.
• Blind Girl told Chen Lin she had always been blind, accepted clothes, and followed him out of the valley.
• Chen Lin asked the Luxurious-Robed Woman about Hua Ruyu’s escape, and she said Hua Ruyu had likely merged with a clone that would eventually be assimilated by Wanhuagu Valley’s rules.
• The Luxurious-Robed Woman refused to explain how to remove Nightmare Realm energy, and Chen Lin returned to Ruyi Island with Blind Girl.
• Chen Lin kept Blind Girl’s chosen name, gave her a mask, and sent her with Grass to explore the island.

Chen Lin tested Blind Girl’s Heart Fire and confirmed that only his innate power could suppress it. As he prepared for the peerage mission, he sought Endless Water and learned that obtaining it could require an Origin Treasure, though the elderly proprietor had no contacts beyond those he encountered at the Carefree Assembly.

• Chen Lin asked Blind Girl to use a weakened Heart Fire on him and discovered that his Thunder God Sword’s innate power could slowly devour it.
• Chen Lin judged Blind Girl’s power of heart to be on a level comparable to Luo’s, then continued preparing for the Task Space and planned to strengthen his cultivation and soul.
• Chen Lin entered the Gourmet Island Scenario, bought a Gourmet Invitation Letter, and asked the Time Tavern’s elderly proprietor about Endless Water.
• The elderly proprietor said he had seen Endless Water traded for an Origin Treasure, a valuable law treasure comparable to an ordinary true spirit-tier spirit treasure.
• Chen Lin considered trading one of his immortal artifacts and asked the proprietor for help finding a contact, but the proprietor said he knew no one and had only seen Endless Water at the Carefree Assembly.

Chen Lin refined White Mist Pills, organized a search for new Black Finger scenario explorers, and gave Yang Zishi a powerful sword talisman before their relationship deepened. In the Myriad Realms Alliance Scenario, he met Qimeng Lan, who arrived with the eight-arm circumambulation for their trade.

• Chen Lin learned about the invitation-only Carefree Assembly, then the elderly shopkeeper praised Drunken God Brew before passing out from drinking the whole pot.
• Chen Lin refined two perfect White Mist Pills on Gourmet Island and returned to Ruyi Island to hear reports from his companions.
• Chen Lin ordered Zheng Xuanqing to recruit willing ability users and tasked Yuan Zhenhai with overseeing their Black Finger scenario explorations.
• Yang Zishi chose to travel to dangerous Huangtian Continent to pursue rule-force comprehension, and Chen Lin gave her a Sword Talisman for protection.
• Chen Lin and Yang Zishi spent the night together, and he later reflected on their relationship after entering the Myriad Realms Alliance Scenario.
• Qimeng Lan arrived in her true body, revealed her Dao Hearing cultivation, and presented the eight-arm circumambulation for their trade.

Chen Lin traded with Qimeng Lan, learned that Dispersed Immortals were stranded by the shattered Immortal Realm, and received a Location Bead linking him to her plane. After returning to reality with the box, he prepared to deal with the Eight-Arm Circumambulation Beast.

• Chen Lin gave Qimeng Lan the Gourmet Invitation Letter and accepted the box, then told her about the Myriad Realms Alliance and its Exchange Meetings.
• Qimeng Lan explained that Dispersed Immortals were tribulation survivors unable to ascend because the Ascension Passage was obstructed, and said Chen Lin's plane might be a fragment of the shattered Immortal Realm.
• Qimeng Lan gave Chen Lin a Location Bead so he could travel to her plane, then left using a Level 4 Road Guide.
• Chen Lin returned to reality with the box, put the White Jade Spirit Centipede in his Spirit Beast Bag, and left the island with Grass and the Blind Girl to prepare for the Eight-Arm Circumambulation Beast.

Chen Lin tested the Eight-Arm Circumambulation’s rule aura, refined the creature into a single Soul Refining Pill, and spent fifty years absorbing it. He emerged having formed a distinct soul body marked with golden energy.

• The Blind Girl demonstrated how her power of heart let her fly at tremendous speed, and Chen Lin escorted her and Grass to the Spirit Boat.
• Chen Lin approached the Eight-Arm Circumambulation while protected by innate power and confirmed that the Thunder God Sword’s energy could purge its aura from his soul.
• Chen Lin crushed the golden-marked Circumambulation Beast and refined it, obtaining only one pill, which he swallowed after verifying it matched the formula.
• Chen Lin spent fifty years in seclusion, periodically checking with Grass, as he absorbed the pill’s effects.
• Chen Lin’s body split from a newly formed, partially solid soul body whose dantian held golden-marked energy, and he merged with it before leaving seclusion.

After fifty years refining an Authentic Soul Refining Pill, Chen Lin gained Dao Integration-level soul strength and reviewed the island’s progress, his disciples, and the shortage of Black Finger Space explorers. He prepared to help Chouya break through to the Golden Core Realm and remained worried because Yang Zishi had stopped sending messages.

• Chen Lin completed the Authentic Soul Refining Pill, strengthened his soul seed with golden patterns, and found that his Soul-Destroying Finger could potentially injure a Dao Integration Realm Expert.
• Chen Lin distributed pills to the people on Ruyi Island, learned that Wang Tianlin and Zhang Xuanwang had died, and noted that the island lacked willing talent-holder explorers for the Black Finger Space.
• Chen Lin promised Zheng Xuanqing that he would become a formal disciple if he formed a Nascent Soul, then warned Yuan Zhenhai not to risk himself while overseeing the Black Finger Space missions.
• Chen Lin reviewed his disciples’ cultivation, found that Qiaoniang had reached Nascent Soul, and promised to help the failing Chouya achieve Golden Core the next day.
• Chen Lin asked Zhou Shiwu about Yang Zishi and learned that no news had arrived since her messages stopped twenty years earlier.

Chen Lin learned that the Teleportation Passage to the Huangtian Continent was unreachable and sent Zhou Shiwu to search for another route. In the Zhiwu County Scenario, he met the outsider Zhang Zitong, who explained how he became county magistrate and described the examination mission; Zhang then revealed he came from the Tianxuan Realm.

• Chen Lin ordered Zhou Shiwu to search nearby Floating Islands for a way to reach the Huangtian Continent and hire as many informants as needed.
• Chen Lin entered the Zhiwu County Scenario and learned from the Old Butler and Liu Sanniang that a mysterious outsider had become county magistrate and had asked about him.
• Chen Lin met county magistrate Zhang Zitong, who asked for help finding the mission that would let him leave the scenario.
• Zhang Zitong explained that he had earned his post through a Task Invitation Letter and an examination involving theory and practical tests, then failed the final round before succeeding with a treasure.
• Chen Lin questioned Zhang Zitong about his mission and background, and Zhang said he came from the Tianxuan Realm, delighting Chen Lin.

Chen Lin struck a bargain with Zhang Zitong: Zhang would search Qianyuan City for Princess Qinghua and Luo Xiaoyu, while Chen revealed the mission that would let Zhang leave the scenario. After Zhang escaped the scenario, Chen went to the sealed Li Family residence, where the constables let him pass without protest.

• Chen Lin confirmed Zhang Zitong came from the Northern Star Realm and questioned him about the Tianyun Sect, Medicine God Valley, and Qianyuan City.
• Zhang Zitong explained that unstable space nodes prevented him from bringing anyone out of the Tianxuan Realm, so Chen asked him to locate Princess Qinghua and Luo Xiaoyu and give them a steamed bun as a medium.
• Chen Lin and Zhang Zitong signed a contract, and Chen gave Zhang portraits and details identifying Sima Qing and Luo Xiaoyu.
• Chen Lin told Zhang that he could leave by disguising himself as a beggar and begging for buns at the Liu Family Steamed Bun Shop.
• Zhang Zitong obtained the buns, escaped the scenario, and returned to the County Office while Chen Lin went to the sealed Li Family residence.
• An older constable stopped a younger one from challenging Chen Lin and went to report his arrival to the magistrate.