Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Song Shuhang reads Gao Moumou’s developing movie story and initially loves its new female character—until she turns out to be a ghost who must leave the male lead behind and ascend. Shuhang suspects Gao deliberately chose a plot that would upset him.
• Gao says the story is only beginning and asks Shuhang to choose a cultivation-ranking system. Shuhang picks Bronze/Silver/Gold, and Gao plans to finish the original story in about a month. Yu Jiaojiao offers to arrange for a professional screenwriter to adapt it.
• Yu Jiaojiao questions whether the story is cheerful, but Gao assures her it will be interesting. She celebrates the finished opening with another drinking session; the group gets drunk, though Gao and Mei Yi do not produce the extra writing she had hoped for.
• On Friday morning, Shuhang wakes with severe headaches and insomnia caused by his rapidly growing mental energy. Unable to sleep, he decides to cultivate.
• He discovers that his dantians are full of powerful energy that is slowly becoming his own true qi. Energy from the Spirit Beast Crystals is therefore wasted at a bottleneck—but each crystal still adds its animal phantom to the technique’s formation.
• Shuhang swallows all thirty-three crystals. Their phantoms combine into a monstrous beast, which consumes his Proto-Innate True Qi and forms the perfected Thirty-Three Beasts Innate True Qi.
• The innate energy rapidly transforms all the true qi in his body. Just as Shuhang celebrates his achievement, the bottleneck of his eighth dantian—the Dragon Horn Dantian—finally breaks.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Shuhang is both wary of Gao’s emotionally painful story choices and eager to help shape the script. In cultivation, his resourcefulness turns the wasteful use of the crystals into an opportunity to complete his technique quickly.
• Gao Moumou enjoys teasing Shuhang through his fiction and works enthusiastically on the story, while accepting Yu Jiaojiao’s offer of professional help with adaptation.
• Yu Jiaojiao supports the film project and uses celebrations to encourage Gao’s writing, though her hope of getting him drunk enough to write more fails.
• Shuhang and Gao banter over the story and cultivation ranks; Yu Jiaojiao and Gao coordinate the screenplay, while the group’s drinking brings everyone together.

Significant themes

• Fiction reflecting real emotional pain: Gao’s ghost-romance plot deliberately echoes the kind of heartbreak Shuhang fears.
• Ingenuity in the face of imperfect circumstances: Shuhang makes progress even when much of the crystals’ energy cannot be retained.
• Rapid advancement and its costs: Shuhang achieves a major cultivation milestone, but his powerful mental energy causes painful insomnia, and his success immediately triggers a new breakthrough.

Plot points and events

• Song Shuhang’s newly completed Thirty-Three Beasts Innate Unity Qi Technique drives a surge of True Qi through his eight dantians. The Dragon Horn Dantian fills immediately, and the overflowing energy attracts a Heavenly Tribulation.
• Unable to stop the process, Shuhang rushes away from Yu Jiaojiao’s villa to protect his ordinary friends, Gao Moumou and Tubo. Jiaojiao flies him to a deserted valley and helps him prepare with the limited pills and equipment he has.
• Shuhang’s unusually high-quality True Qi and powerful mental strength make him expect a severe, ten-wave tribulation. He begins to undergo it with Jiaojiao watching from a safe distance.
• The first five waves are surprisingly easy to block with his Reverse Scale Saber Technique. Each wave has fewer, weaker bolts than the last, leaving Shuhang and Jiaojiao puzzled.
• The apparent pattern proves deceptive: the final bolt of the sixth wave transforms into a lightning dragon. It shatters Shuhang’s saber defense and Jade-Green Kasaya. Shuhang counters with his body-hardening techniques, Merit Light, and Vajra Foundation Fist, striking the dragon as it explodes and engulfs him.

Character developments

• Song Shuhang is thrust into an unexpected breakthrough through his own cultivation choices. Though frightened and poorly prepared, he remains resourceful and fights cautiously—until the tribulation’s deceptive weakness tempts him to relax.
• Yu Jiaojiao shifts from half-asleep to urgently protective. She guides Shuhang to safety and prepares to intervene if he is about to die, despite knowing interference could worsen the tribulation.

Significant themes

• Cultivation’s risks and consequences: Shuhang’s powerful technique rapidly advances him but leaves him facing a tribulation before he can prepare.
• False security and strategy: The increasingly weak waves conceal a devastating attack, turning the tribulation into a tactical opponent.
• Friendship and protection: Shuhang prioritizes keeping his ordinary friends safe, while Jiaojiao risks herself to help him.
• Humor amid danger: Shuhang’s complaints about bad luck and a tribulation using military strategy lighten the otherwise perilous scene.

Character interactions

• Shuhang explains his breakthrough to Jiaojiao, who scolds him for cultivating recklessly but still takes him to a remote valley.
• Jiaojiao questions his supplies and equipment, then worries over his lack of defensive treasures and urges him not to speak as though he will die.
• During the tribulation, Shuhang repeatedly looks to Jiaojiao for reassurance, but neither can explain the weakening waves. She can only watch from a distance as the concealed lightning-dragon attack overwhelms his defenses.

Chapter 623 Summary: “Deception Is Never Out of Place”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Song Shuhang’s sixth tribulation wave takes the form of a Thunder Dragon that explodes before he can strike it. Its Heavenly Tribulation Power bypasses his defensive equipment and directly attacks his body.
• The lightning destroys his Unmoving Vajra Body and Steel Hand defenses, dissolving his true qi and invading his eight Dantians.
• Onion Lady, trapped inside the Inch-Shrinking Bag, is also injured. Her newly regrown onion tip is destroyed, though her roots survive because they are protected by the Enlightenment Stone.
• Using his powerful mental strength, Song Shuhang guides his Thirty-Three Beasts Innate True Qi against the invading tribulation energy.
• The lightning’s stimulation completes the evolution of his physique into the Third-Grade Battle King Body, even though his cultivation realm has not yet formally advanced.
• His strengthened body and true qi expel the remaining Thunder Dragon energy. The Overlord Shatter Saber absorbs the expelled tribulation power, becoming slightly brighter.
• Song Shuhang survives the sixth wave and cuts apart the seventh, eighth, and ninth waves with powerful saber strikes.
• He confronts the supposed tenth and final wave with the Heaven-Burning Flame Saber. The Thunder Dragon appears weak and is instantly destroyed by the attack, leading Song Shuhang to believe he has successfully completed the tribulation.
• However, the tribulation clouds do not disappear. A hidden eleventh wave descends in the form of an enormous lightning pillar.
• Song Shuhang’s Flame Blade is swallowed effortlessly, and the lightning overwhelms him, leaving him unable to move as the Tribulation Power once again invades his body.
• The chapter ends with Song Shuhang fearing death, while a mysterious masked senior on a Floating Island senses the situation and awakens.

Character Developments

• Song Shuhang: Demonstrates determination and resilience, refusing to surrender despite his defenses failing and his body being paralyzed by lightning. His physical body evolves into the Third-Grade Battle King Body, giving him strength beyond his current realm. His confidence rises after defeating several waves, but the unexpected eleventh wave leaves him helpless and terrified.
• Onion Lady: Suffers collateral damage from the Thunder Dragon and loses her newly regrown onion tip. Her resentment toward the nun and Song Shuhang deepens, though she narrowly survives because of the Enlightenment Stone.
• Yu Jiaojiao: Remains vigilant and prepared to intervene if Shuhang’s life reaches a critical point. She is relieved by his apparent success but quickly recognizes that the tribulation has not ended and warns him.
• The masked senior: Shows awareness of Song Shuhang’s crisis, suggesting that he may become involved in the aftermath.

Significant Themes

• Deception and unpredictability: The Heavenly Tribulation repeatedly defies expectations, using apparent weakness and unconventional attacks. The “final” wave is revealed to be a deception, emphasizing that assumptions can be fatal.
• Perseverance under extreme pressure: Song Shuhang survives through willpower, mental strength, and adaptation despite overwhelming pain and a nearly impossible chance of survival.
• Accelerated growth: His body advances to the Third-Grade level in the middle of the tribulation, reflecting his extraordinary, abnormal cultivation speed.
• Luck versus preparation: Shuhang begins the tribulation poorly prepared, yet survives several deadly attacks. His success appears miraculous, but his lack of preparation becomes dangerous when the hidden eleventh wave arrives.
• The limits of confidence: After repeatedly overcoming the tribulation, Shuhang assumes victory too soon, allowing the Heavenly Tribulation’s final trick to catch him off guard.

Character Interactions

• Song Shuhang and Onion Lady remain physically linked through the Inch-Shrinking Bag, causing her to suffer from the same Thunder Dragon attack and intensifying her anger toward him.
• Yu Jiaojiao watches over Shuhang from a distance, prepared to break the tribulation to save him. She congratulates him after the apparent victory, but immediately warns him when she notices the tribulation clouds remain.
• Song Shuhang’s battle with the Heavenly Tribulation is treated almost like an opponent’s contest of strategy: he recognizes the Thunder Dragon’s apparent weakness as a possible trick, only to discover that the real deception was the hidden eleventh wave.

Key plot points and events

• The great senior senses Song Shuhang’s unprecedented eleventh wave of Second-Grade Heavenly Tribulation through the mark on his Inch-Shrinking Bag. Worried her mark may have attracted the New Heavenly Dao’s attention, she hides Heavenly Island and prepares a covert spell to strengthen Shuhang’s resistance to lightning.
• In Nine Netherworld, the mad scholar inhabiting Shuhang’s Spirit Ghost learns of the tribulation. He opens a Space Gate, intending to divert part of the lightning into Nine Netherworld.
• In the underwater ruins, Soft Feather makes a breakthrough in her cultivation while studying Cheng Lin’s profound self-healing technique. Venerable White senses Shuhang’s danger through an old mark and sends his Meteor Sword to help.
• Shuhang’s Appraisal Technique activates against the Heavenly Tribulation, inflicting five hundred wounds and severe blood loss. Its appraisal explains that the eleventh wave is an extraordinarily rare event, triggered when one of his attributes reaches Third-Grade strength. Its advice is simply to endure the pain and survive.
• As Yu Jiaojiao prepares to attack the lightning, the mad scholar’s Space Gate draws away roughly half the tribulation. At the same time, the great senior’s concealed intervention makes Shuhang more resistant to lightning—though he assumes the effect is from being shocked so often.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Shuhang is pushed to the brink by the unexpected tribulation and the Appraisal Technique’s damaging cost, but remains focused on finding a way to survive.
• The great senior accepts responsibility for the danger and secretly acts to protect Shuhang, while taking care to conceal her involvement from the New Heavenly Dao. She also acknowledges that she is acting on Jiudeng’s behalf.
• The mad scholar exploits his connection to Shuhang to redirect the lightning, despite his violent, unstable nature.
• Venerable White responds to Shuhang’s peril by sending his trusted Meteor Sword as aid.
• Yu Jiaojiao tries to rescue Shuhang directly, but is immobilized by the aura emerging from the Space Gate.
• Soft Feather advances to the threshold of Fourth-Grade, having made the final step beyond her Third-Grade bottleneck.
• Jiudeng silently thanks the great senior, suggesting awareness of her intervention.

Significant themes

• Loyalty and intervention: Several powerful allies act to save Shuhang, each through a different connection or method.
• Risk and absurdity: Shuhang’s dangerous appraisal produces a brutally literal—and nearly useless—answer, blending high stakes with dark humor.
• Hidden power and secrecy: The great senior’s aid must remain concealed from the New Heavenly Dao.
• Growth amid crisis: Soft Feather’s breakthrough contrasts with Shuhang’s desperate struggle to survive.

Plot points and events

• A mysterious senior on Heavenly Island secretly casts a spell that greatly improves Song Shuhang’s resistance to lightning, then withdraws to avoid detection by the New Heavenly Dao.
• In the Nine Netherworld Realm, the Glazed Scholar draws off part of Shuhang’s tribulation and feeds a sage’s scripture into it. The scripture transforms the lightning into Purple-Gold Lightning, boosting the attack to Ninth-Grade power. The Scholar leads it on a destructive chase through the Nine Netherworld, where it purges the land but leaves dangerous, lingering effects.
• Shuhang’s own tribulation weakens, and his new resistance makes him hopeful. Yu Jiaojiao, unaware that he is actually gaining ground, mistakes his weakening aura for imminent death and rushes to destroy the tribulation cloud to save him.
• Shuhang cannot get through to Jiaojiao and fears her intervention will ruin his progress. Venerable White’s semi-sentient Meteor Sword arrives, spins Jiaojiao out of the tribulation’s range, then returns to Shuhang.
• The sword absorbs and filters the lightning, protecting Shuhang while channeling enough energy into him to complete the tribulation’s advancement process. His eight dantians transform, his True Qi forms a new circulation loop, and he breaks through to the Third-Grade realm.
• As the tribulation condenses into its final Purple-Gold strike, Daoist Horizon arrives, mistakenly announcing that he will disperse Shuhang’s eleventh wave.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Shuhang moves from pain and uncertainty to confidence, then faces comic despair when Jiaojiao nearly interrupts his tribulation. He ultimately advances and experiences the intoxicating exhilaration of breakthrough.
• Yu Jiaojiao demonstrates fierce loyalty and willingness to risk herself for Shuhang, though her lack of information makes her rescue attempt counterproductive.
• The Glazed Scholar shows both ingenuity and malicious delight, turning Shuhang’s tribulation into a weapon against the Nine Netherworld.
• Venerable White’s Meteor Sword displays emerging independent spirit and instinctively protects Shuhang, while also safeguarding the tribulation area by removing Jiaojiao.
• Daoist Horizon’s well-intentioned but poorly timed offer sets up a new complication just as Shuhang reaches the final stage.

Significant themes

• Help can be dangerous when it is given without understanding the situation: Jiaojiao’s brave intervention nearly undoes Shuhang’s progress.
• The chapter contrasts protection and interference: the sword’s careful filtering makes advancement possible, while the Scholar’s manipulation makes the tribulation far more destructive.
• Perseverance and transformation are central: Shuhang’s suffering culminates in a major physical and spiritual breakthrough.
• Comic timing undercuts high stakes, especially in Shuhang’s pleas to be left alone and Horizon’s arrival at the moment of the final strike.

Key plot points and events

• Daoist Horizon watches Song Shuhang’s tribulation from Yu Jiaojiao’s villa, holding back because he is close to facing his own. When an unexpected eleventh wave appears, he rushes to help, but Jiaojiao stops him: the dangerous lightning has passed, and only the final Heavenly Thunder Tempering remains.
• Shuhang completes the tempering and survives the Second-Stage tribulation. His dantians form a True Qi River, his body becomes far stronger, and his constitution approaches that of a Third-Stage Starlight cultivator. His spiritual energy also improves, though it still causes him pain.
• Lightning from the tempering reaches the Enlightenment Stone where Onion Lady’s roots are planted. Her onion sprout grows back, allowing her to transform into a woman again. She is delighted, but remains a weak First-Stage cultivator and still resents being tied to Shuhang.
• Daoist Horizon’s cultivation becomes unstable after exposure to the tribulation’s remnants. Unable to pass his power to Jiaojiao or Shuhang, he offers ten years of cultivation to Onion Lady. She accepts, hoping to grow stronger and improve her chances of escaping Shuhang. The chapter ends as Horizon begins the transfer in an unusual upside-down posture.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Shuhang emerges from a perilous tribulation stronger and relieved, while remaining cautious about his lingering spiritual pain. He congratulates Jiaojiao and Horizon and maintains a teasing, controlling rapport with Onion Lady.
• Daoist Horizon reveals that he had intended to be the first to pass power to Shuhang, but his earlier choice to help was motivated by goodwill rather than deep loyalty. His own impending tribulation now forces him to seek a recipient for his power.
• Yu Jiaojiao acts as the practical voice of caution: she prevents Horizon from disrupting Shuhang’s final tempering and later declines his offer of cultivation power.
• Onion Lady gains her human form back, but her joy turns to frustration when she realizes she remains far weaker than Shuhang. Her desire for freedom leads her to accept Horizon’s offer despite warnings about his reputation.

Significant themes

• Risk and good fortune: Shuhang survives an exceptionally dangerous tribulation, while Horizon’s attempt to help risks triggering his own.
• Power and unequal relationships: Shuhang’s rapid advancement widens the gap between him and Onion Lady, sharpening her dependence and desire for independence.
• Choice and opportunity: Onion Lady voluntarily accepts power as a possible route to greater strength, despite uncertainty about its consequences.
• Humor amid danger: The chapter balances life-threatening cultivation trials with comic exchanges, Onion Lady’s complaints, and Horizon’s bizarre method of transferring power.

Key events

• Daoist Horizon begins transmitting power to Onion Lady by pressing their heads together. His controlled, orthodox spiritual energy is gradually converted into the Blood Qi she can absorb.
• With the help of the Enlightenment Stone, Onion Lady quickly opens her fourth and fifth apertures. Her Mouth Aperture grants her the talent Phantom Voice, which can induce hallucinations through speech.
• Horizon guides her through the First-Grade Dragon Gate bottleneck. He spins atop her head while transmitting power, creating a comical “bamboo copter” image, but the technique works: Onion Lady leaps the Dragon Gate and reaches the Second-Grade True Master realm.
• Horizon has used three years of power to secure her breakthrough, with more than six years still available. He tells her to keep cultivating, hoping to advance her further.
• Song Shuhang compares her easy breakthrough with his own arduous path to Second Grade, which involved numerous dangerous and humiliating ordeals.

Character developments and interactions

• Onion Lady goes from a long-stalled First-Grade cultivator to a Second-Grade demon in minutes. She is thrilled by her rapid progress and excited about Phantom Voice’s potential, especially when paired with her charm techniques.
• Daoist Horizon demonstrates skill and careful control, while privately lamenting the cost of helping a weak First-Grade cultivator advance. He remains focused and instructs Onion Lady at each critical stage.
• Song Shuhang watches in disbelief, amused by Horizon’s ridiculous spinning posture and envious of Onion Lady’s effortless-seeming advancement.
• Yu Jiaojiao explains the risks and precision required in power transmission, reassuring Shuhang that Horizon’s experience makes the process safe.

Significant themes

• The chapter contrasts patient, difficult cultivation with shortcuts and external assistance: Onion Lady’s centuries of effort are suddenly accelerated by Horizon’s power.
• It mixes comedy with genuine danger and expertise: the spinning “bamboo copter” looks absurd, but the breakthrough requires precise control and substantial energy.
• Onion Lady’s new talent hints at the creative combination of abilities, as she imagines pairing Phantom Voice with her existing techniques.

Key events

• Daoist Horizon resumes transferring power to Onion Lady, hoping to give her the rest of his spiritual energy and reduce the danger of his looming Heavenly Tribulation.
• The transfer stalls when he realizes Onion Lady never learned a Second-Grade qi-circulation technique. Without one, absorbing more energy could destroy her Dantian.
• Horizon offers the remaining energy to Song Shuhang and Yu Jiaojiao, but both decline: Shuhang has just advanced, and Jiaojiao does not need it.
• Shuhang considers teaching Onion Lady a technique. He cannot freely share his own cultivation method, and Jiaojiao’s technique requires Flood Dragon blood. He remembers the Heaven’s Weeping Canon and contacts its co-creator, Senior Sister Ye Si, for permission.
• Ye Si readily agrees that Shuhang may teach the canon to anyone. She also says she will visit Earth in a few days.
• Ye Si explains that Fairy Lychee’s visit to Jadewater Pavilion stirred a powerful, mother-like familiarity in her. But Shuhang checks the group chat and sees Lychee posting from Africa, casting doubt on who visited Ye Si with Doudou.

Character developments and interactions

• Onion Lady is thrilled by her advancement and eager for more power, but her lack of a Second-Grade technique exposes a major gap in her cultivation.
• Daoist Horizon shifts from confident generosity to frustration and concern when he realizes the transfer could injure Onion Lady. He still needs to rid himself of enough power to avoid the Heavenly Tribulation.
• Song Shuhang shows concern for Onion Lady and considers ways to help, while respecting the rules around sharing cultivation techniques. He also notices the contradiction in Ye Si’s account.
• Ye Si reveals a strong, unexplained emotional connection to Fairy Lychee and an Obsession with preserving Jadewater Pavilion’s techniques. Her easy permission lets Shuhang move forward.
• Yu Jiaojiao declines the power transfer, and Shuhang recognizes that her inherited technique is unsuitable for Onion Lady.

Significant themes

• Cultivation requires knowledge as well as power: energy alone can be dangerous without the right technique.
• Tradition and responsibility: cultivation methods cannot casually be passed on, though Ye Si’s desire to preserve her sect’s legacy makes her willing to share.
• Unexplained bonds and identity: Ye Si’s maternal feeling toward Lychee—and the mismatch between her account and Lychee’s location—introduces a mystery.
• Comic frustration: the elaborate power-transfer ritual and the participants’ awkward predicament contrast with the serious danger surrounding Horizon’s tribulation.

Key plot points and events

• Song Shuhang realizes the “Fairy Lychee” at Jadewater Pavilion is likely Copper Trigram Immortal Master in disguise. He considers exposing him in the Nine Provinces Number One Group, but stops himself because doing so could reveal that he is still on Earth and prompt Fairy Flowing Firefly to launch him into space again.
• Shuhang offers to teach Onion Lady the first level of the Heaven’s Weeping Canon. In return, he demands that she stay with him until the Enlightenment Stone embedded in her is removed. Both swear binding oaths, though each privately plans to exploit the agreement: Onion Lady intends to leave by notifying him first, while Shuhang plans to have Venerable White brand her so he can retrieve her.
• Shuhang teaches Onion Lady the technique while Daoist Horizon finishes transferring spiritual power into her. She has only minutes to learn a technique that normally takes days.
• The Heaven’s Weeping Canon advances through sorrow. Onion Lady’s painful memories make her cry uncontrollably, and her grief drives her cultivation forward so quickly that she masters the technique within minutes.
• Her tears produce a strong onion fragrance. Hungry after his tribulation, Shuhang’s stomach growls; Onion Lady imagines him taking her new onion tip for food and cries even harder.
• Fairy Bie Xue’s Immortal Ark approaches. Having sensed Shuhang’s tribulation, she rushed over because she needs him to help her reach Venerable White. She notices the onion scent as she arrives.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Shuhang shows restraint by keeping Copper Trigram’s possible disguise secret, but remains wary and controlling toward Onion Lady because he needs the Enlightenment Stone. Their agreement is marked by mutual distrust and hidden loophole-seeking.
• Onion Lady is torn between wanting freedom and needing a cultivation method. Her improved comprehension, aided by the Enlightenment Stone, helps her follow the technique; ultimately, her accumulated misery becomes the key to mastering it.
• Daoist Horizon questions whether Onion Lady can learn the technique in time and sympathizes with her distress, while Shuhang reassures him that her crying is part of the technique.
• Fairy Bie Xue is motivated by her need to contact Venerable White and arrives to protect Shuhang’s importance to that goal.

Significant themes

• Mutual dependence and mistrust: Shuhang and Onion Lady make sincere-sounding oaths while each quietly prepares to outmaneuver the other.
• Suffering turned into strength: Onion Lady’s painful history, rather than hindering her, fuels rapid cultivation.
• Comic irony: Shuhang avoids revealing Copper Trigram to protect himself, while Onion Lady’s cultivation succeeds through exactly the sorrow that makes her life seem hopeless.

Key plot points and events

• Fairy Bie Xue arrives at the site after sensing an unusually strong onion fragrance. She finds Song Shuhang safe after successfully passing his Heavenly Tribulation.
• She realizes the scent comes partly from Shuhang, whose tribulation has intensified the lingering “scallion-exploded meat” aroma on him, and partly from Onion Lady’s fragrant tears.
• Recognizing Onion Lady as a mature Onion Demon, Fairy Bie Xue asks to buy her newly regrown sprouts. Shuhang refuses, having promised not to pluck them again.
• Onion Lady’s terror at the prospect of being harvested triggers an intense bout of grief. This unexpectedly completes her Heaven’s Weeping Canon, and Daoist Horizon’s transmitted energy begins converting into her own true qi. She then cooperates with him in hopes of growing strong enough to protect her sprouts.
• Fairy Bie Xue notices that Onion Lady’s tears are themselves valuable seasoning and proposes trading for them instead. Shuhang agrees that she can negotiate directly with Onion Lady.
• Elsewhere, Su Clan’s Sixteen emerges from the Heavenly River Secret Realm, nearly recovered from her tribulation injuries. She examines the Dragonbone Withered Vine connected to Shuhang’s earlier efforts to help her, then turns on her phone.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Shuhang remains protective of Onion Lady and honors his promise not to sell or pluck her sprouts. He is also sincerely grateful that Fairy Bie Xue came to help during his tribulation.
• Onion Lady advances dramatically, completing her cultivation method through sorrow and beginning to absorb Daoist Horizon’s energy. Her desire to become strong is now explicitly tied to protecting herself and her sprouts.
• Fairy Bie Xue is kind enough to reassure Onion Lady and respect Shuhang’s refusal, but her Immortal Chef’s instinct keeps viewing the demon as a valuable ingredient. She shifts from pursuing sprouts to proposing a trade for tears.
• Daoist Horizon is astonished by Onion Lady’s rapid progress and encourages her to advance further, partly hoping she will survive his notoriously dangerous instruction and preserve his reputation.
• Yu Jiaojiao witnesses the exchange and briefly wonders whether her own tears might also have market value.
• Su Clan’s Sixteen returns to the story after recovering, with the Dragonbone Withered Vine reminding her of Shuhang’s sacrifice and care.

Significant themes

• Protection versus exploitation: Shuhang sees Onion Lady as someone to protect, while Fairy Bie Xue’s culinary perspective reduces her to potential seasoning.
• Growth through adversity: Onion Lady’s fear and grief unexpectedly become the catalyst for completing her cultivation.
• Care expressed through sacrifice: Sixteen’s recovery and the vine connect back to Shuhang’s past efforts on her behalf.
• Comic contrast: The characters treat Onion Lady’s distress as both a serious cultivation breakthrough and a possible source of gourmet ingredients, creating the chapter’s central humor.

Key plot points and events

• After leaving secluded cultivation, A-Qi checks the Nine Provinces Number One Group and catches up on the months she missed. She learns that Song Shuhang has endured a string of chaotic adventures—including being sent into outer space twice—and has already advanced to the Second-Grade Realm.
• A-Qi decides to try breaking through to the Fourth-Grade Realm again at the end of the month. She hopes to meet Shuhang after her tribulation and surprise him by flying to find him.
• In the group, Lay Buddhist Xian Gong complains that a seller demanded an absurd price for a small amount of Fifth-Grade Dragon Demon Blood. Venerable Seven Cultivations offers to help obtain higher-grade blood if Xian Gong has no luck within three months.
• The group jokes about Fairy Eastern Six’s mysteriously altered nickname, “Lady Driver.” The discussion turns to Doudou’s mocking song about True Lord Yellow Mountain, prompting Yellow Mountain to mute Dongfang Jingxue for 30 days.
• Dharma King Creation recruits Fairies for what he claims will be a video shoot at a new film city. He actually plans a livestream built around singing and dancing, hoping the performers will draw an audience.
• Fairy Eastern Six agrees to dance, Fairy Flowing Firefly agrees to sing, and Su Clan’s Sixteen also volunteers. Creation offers to pick Sixteen up from the Su Clan Lands. When Young Master Phoenix Slayer offers to help, Creation insists he wear women’s clothing; Phoenix Slayer refuses.

Character developments

• A-Qi/Su Clan’s Sixteen is recovering from her previous tribulation, thinking ahead to another breakthrough, and showing renewed interest in seeing Song Shuhang.
• Song Shuhang, though absent, is revealed to have advanced rapidly and experienced an unusually eventful few months.
• Dharma King Creation shows his showman’s instincts, disguising his livestream plan as a video shoot and assembling an appealing cast.
• True Lord Yellow Mountain remains sensitive about Doudou’s song and responds to its mention by muting Dongfang Jingxue.
• Young Master Phoenix Slayer is willing to help Creation, but not at the cost of dressing as a woman.

Significant themes

• Community and continuity: The group chat keeps A-Qi connected to friends and events while she has been secluded.
• Rapid cultivation and personal resolve: Shuhang’s progress inspires A-Qi as she prepares to face another tribulation.
• Humor and eccentricity: Nickname changes, old grudges, teasing, and dramatic reactions shape the group’s social life.
• Performance and publicity: Creation turns a gathering into a planned livestream, using entertainment—and other members’ appeal—to attract viewers.

Character interactions

• A-Qi reads the group’s exchanges and reflects on Shuhang’s progress and her own plans.
• Xian Gong seeks help finding Dragon Demon Blood; Northern River reports on possible sightings, while Seven Cultivations offers a future solution.
• Eastern Six accuses Doudou of changing her nickname, but Yellow Mountain says Doudou is far away in outer space; Yellow Mountain then silences Dongfang Jingxue for reviving the song controversy.
• Creation recruits Eastern Six, Flowing Firefly, and Sixteen for his performance, while Northern River checks on Sixteen’s recovery.
• Creation’s request that Phoenix Slayer wear women’s clothing ends their exchange in comic rejection.

Key plot points and events

• Young Master Phoenix Slayer refuses Dharma King Creation’s request to dress as a woman, then mutes him for a month. Creation turns to his plan to attract an audience by having fairies sing and dance during his livestream debut.
• At Song Shuhang’s tribulation site, Daoist Horizon finishes transferring his power to Onion Lady. She reaches the Second-Grade Third Dantian and nears her next breakthrough; both are safe.
• Shuhang learns that Su Clan’s Sixteen has emerged from seclusion, apparently recovered from her tribulation injuries. He considers visiting her in person, while taking precautions to avoid Fairy Flowing Firefly, who might send him flying with a Repulsion Rocket.
• The group takes a commemorative photo. Shuhang notices that his eyebrows are missing, and Fairy Bie Xue jokingly declines to draw them, calling it an intimate gesture between spouses.
• Creation arrives at the film studio with Fairy Eastern Six, Fairy Flowing Firefly, and Sixteen. The fairies rehearse and film while he starts livestreaming, supported by Battle Buddha Sect disciples who have been secretly arranged to follow his channel.

Character developments and interactions

• Dharma King Creation remains determined to share his singing with a large audience, resorting to fairies’ performances to draw viewers. Phoenix Slayer’s rejection leaves him frustrated, but he proceeds with his livestream plan.
• Onion Lady completes a major cultivation leap through Daoist Horizon’s inheritance, though she remains frightened by Fairy Bie Xue.
• Song Shuhang is relieved that Sixteen has recovered and is eager to see her, but he is wary of Fairy Flowing Firefly discovering his whereabouts. He also endures good-natured teasing about his missing eyebrows.
• Yu Jiaojiao declines to accompany Shuhang, preferring to stay behind with Gao Moumou and pursue her own writing-related schemes.
• Fairy Bie Xue playfully teases Shuhang, while Fairy Eastern Six and the other fairies help Creation prepare his performance.

Significant themes

• Cultivation and sudden advancement: Onion Lady’s rapid progress highlights the extraordinary benefits of receiving another cultivator’s power.
• Friendship and reunion: Shuhang’s joy at hearing Sixteen is safe reflects their meaningful bond.
• Comedy and performance: Creation’s elaborate livestream preparations, the sect’s covert audience-building, and the banter over Shuhang’s appearance provide the chapter’s humor.
• Caution and anticipation: Shuhang’s effort to arrange a discreet reunion sets up the possibility of future encounters, while Creation’s debut livestream begins with a crowd drawn by the fairies rather than his own singing.

Chapter 633 Summary: “Three Hundred Thousand Patients Begging for Treatment!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Dharma King Creation livestreams a rehearsal featuring three fairies: Fairy Eastern Six dancing, while Fairy Flowing Firefly and Su Clan’s Sixteen sing.
• The fairies’ supernatural beauty, mesmerizing dance, and harmonious voices rapidly attract viewers. Battle Buddha Sect disciples enthusiastically promote the stream, causing its audience to rise from thousands to over 300,000.
• During an intermission, Creation sends the three fairies to rest and secretly activates a soundproof defensive array around their room.
• Taking control of the livestream, Creation announces that the fairies will later perform a song from Prelude to Water Melody. The audience eagerly prepares to listen.
• Instead of immediately bringing the fairies back, Creation begins singing “Prelude to Water Melody” himself.
• His infamous “Soul Song King” voice transmits through the livestream as devastating sonic force. Viewers suffer dizziness, nausea, weakness, mental disorientation, and near-collapse. Many desperately beg him to stop, while those who fail to turn off their devices are effectively incapacitated.
• Creation remains unaware of their suffering and becomes increasingly enthusiastic, believing the huge audience is enjoying his performance.
• After finishing the song, he claims that a few notes were imperfect and announces that he will sing it again. The exhausted viewers react with horror.

Character Developments

• Dharma King Creation: Reveals his extreme vanity and enthusiasm for performing. The audience of more than 300,000 makes him feel like a superstar, but he remains completely oblivious to the destructive effect of his singing. His confidence and excitement lead him to repeat the performance.
• Fairy Eastern Six: Demonstrates remarkable dancing ability and supernatural charm, becoming the visual focus of the livestream.
• Fairy Flowing Firefly and Su Clan’s Sixteen: Their voices complement each other beautifully, with one graceful and mature tone and the other clear and ethereal. Their musical synchronization improves throughout rehearsal.
• Livestream viewers: Shift from eager fans expecting a fairy performance to helpless victims desperately trying to escape Creation’s song. Their exaggerated comments provide much of the chapter’s humor.
• Battle Buddha Sect disciples: Act as the initial promoters of the livestream, spreading it rapidly and recognizing Creation’s likely intention before the other viewers do.

Significant Themes

• Power and unintended consequences: Creation’s extraordinary singing ability is so powerful that even a weakened, electronically transmitted version causes mass suffering.
• Celebrity and performance: The enormous audience inflates Creation’s excitement and self-image, turning the livestream into a comedic parody of celebrity culture.
• Beauty versus danger: The fairies’ performance is enchanting and uplifting, while Creation’s equally supernatural singing is terrifying and destructive.
• Comedic dramatic irony: Readers and viewers understand that Creation is harming everyone, while he interprets their continued presence as admiration.
• Technology amplifying supernatural power: The livestream and audio devices transform a cultivation-world ability into a global event affecting hundreds of thousands of people.

Character Interactions

• The three fairies collaborate in rehearsal, combining Eastern Six’s dance with Flowing Firefly and Su Clan’s Sixteen’s singing.
• Battle Buddha Sect disciples communicate with one another and recruit more viewers to support Creation.
• Creation addresses the audience directly, promising the fairies’ return and soliciting song requests.
• Viewers respond enthusiastically at first, then plead with Creation to stop once his singing overwhelms them.
• Despite the audience’s desperate protests, Creation continues singing and ultimately announces a second performance, setting up the chapter’s cliffhanger.

Key plot points and events

• Dharma King Creation sings again on a livestream, subjecting more than 300,000 viewers to his disastrous performance. The crowd suffers panic and physical symptoms, and the narration jokes that his voice could become an unconventional weapon.
• Song Shuhang leaves Yu Jiaojiao’s villa with Onion Lady, who hides in his bag to escape Fairy Bie Xue’s appetite. He drives toward the New Film City, hoping Fairy Flowing Firefly has left so he can meet Su Clan’s Sixteen.
• Near Senior White’s garage, Shuhang encounters Zheng De of the Immortal Farmer Sect. Zheng De gives him a Seven Radiant Wonderfruit seed to pass to Sixteen, hoping it will help heal her Heavenly Tribulation injuries. He cannot face her family himself because of his past mistake involving her.
• Shuhang also buys 860 batches of medicinal herbs from Zheng De, establishing a useful supply connection for future cultivation and medicinal preparations.
• At the Film City, Shuhang disguises himself with a Transformation Brooch and conceals his aura to avoid being recognized. While reading the Nine Provinces Number One Group’s discussion of Creation’s livestream, his parked car is suddenly struck by another vehicle.

Character developments

• Song Shuhang is now at the Third-Grade Realm, a startling rise that shocks Zheng De. Aware that his earlier advancement left his foundation unstable, Shuhang intends to strengthen it through further cultivation. He is also becoming more resourceful, arranging access to herbs and using disguise techniques.
• Zheng De shows remorse and gratitude toward the Heavenly River Su Clan. Though he still feels unworthy of approaching them, he makes amends by offering Sixteen a healing seed and builds a friendly, practical connection with Shuhang.
• Onion Lady willingly follows Shuhang, but chiefly because she fears being eaten by Fairy Bie Xue.
• Dharma King Creation remains oblivious—or unconcerned—about the havoc his singing causes, turning his performance into a recurring catastrophe.

Character interactions

• Shuhang and Zheng De reconcile their earlier history through a respectful exchange: Shuhang agrees to deliver the seed, and they trade contact information and arrange future herb purchases.
• Shuhang’s thoughts show his concern for Sixteen’s health and his hope to meet her without attracting Fairy Flowing Firefly’s attention.
• In the group chat, Seven Lives Talisman recounts a friend’s near-collapse from Creation’s livestream, while Northern River’s Loose Cultivator reacts with disbelief. Shuhang shares the listeners’ dread.
• The chapter ends abruptly with Shuhang’s car being hit in the parking lot, leaving the accident’s cause and consequences unresolved.

Significant themes

• Cultivation as rapid growth and responsibility: Shuhang’s extraordinary advancement is paired with the need to stabilize his foundation.
• Redemption and gratitude: Zheng De seeks to repay kindness and make amends for his past actions.
• Community and practical cooperation: Relationships between cultivators create access to healing resources and supplies.
• Comedy amid danger: Creation’s singing is treated as a mass calamity, while the final mundane parking-lot accident provides a sudden cliffhanger.

Plot and events

• Song Shuhang’s SUV is rammed from behind by Fairy Eastern Six’s heavily reinforced off-road vehicle. Her notoriously dangerous driving caused the crash; she had accidentally reversed too hard before activating her protective formation.
• Eastern Six recognizes Shuhang despite his altered appearance, explaining that her Demon Eye sees through ordinary disguises. She checks him for injuries and notices that his cultivation has reached the Third Grade.
• Shuhang reassures her that the damaged SUV belongs to Venerable White, who has already wrecked several cars meant for practice, so it can simply be repaired or replaced.
• Shuhang tells Eastern Six that Dharma King Creation apparently livestreamed a performance without the fairies’ knowledge. Discovering the broadcast, Eastern Six angrily threatens to run him over.
• Shuhang learns that Su Clan’s A Sixteen has left for the passenger transport center. He drives there and spots her walking alone beneath an umbrella in the rain.
• Hoping to surprise her, Shuhang hides beside the road and waits for her to approach. The chapter ends as a large, fierce-looking man suddenly jumps out nearby.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Shuhang remains calm and forgiving after the crash, jokes with Eastern Six, and eagerly seeks out A Sixteen.
• Fairy Eastern Six is anxious about her reckless driving and relieved that Shuhang is unharmed. Her good intentions are undercut by her alarming driving and her fierce response to the secret livestream.
• A Sixteen is shown walking alone, seemingly lost in thought; her destination and Shuhang’s planned reunion remain unresolved.
• Shuhang and Eastern Six share a friendly exchange, while Shuhang also reveals that he suspects Senior Copper Trigram was the person sent into space in his place.

Significant themes

• Comedy amid danger: magical powers and elaborate safety measures coexist with everyday mishaps, especially Eastern Six’s driving.
• Trust and camaraderie: Shuhang treats the crash lightly and confides in Eastern Six.
• Unexpected consequences: a supposedly recorded performance becomes a public livestream, and a planned surprise encounter ends on a sudden cliffhanger.

Chapter 636 Summary

Plot and events

Song Shuhang, newly advanced to the 3rd Rank and disguised by a transformation brooch, tries to surprise Su Clan’s A-Sixteen during a rainstorm. Mistaking him for an enemy impersonating Shuhang, A-Sixteen attacks with the powerful Heavenly River Saber Technique. Although she retracts most of the strike after recognizing his voice, the remaining force sends him flying into a puddle.
Even after Shuhang deactivates his disguise, A-Sixteen remains suspicious because she believes the real Shuhang is still in space. Shuhang explains that Senior Copper Trigram had disguised himself as Shuhang and was the one sent into space by Fairy Liuying. A-Sixteen doubts him further because Shuhang’s cultivation has suddenly risen from the 2nd to the 3rd Rank and his appearance has changed. She finally confirms his identity by asking about the Grain Avoidance Pill he once gave her—something only the two of them would know.
After accepting him, A-Sixteen helps dry his rain-soaked clothes using fire-attribute True Qi. When Shuhang asks where she was going, she says she needs new clothes. He eagerly offers to take her somewhere and give her clothes he already has.

Character development

• Song Shuhang is shown becoming stronger, having survived tribulation and advanced to the 3rd Rank, but he remains impulsive and somewhat naïve, particularly in attempting a dramatic surprise without considering how suspicious his altered appearance would seem. He is also frustrated by Copper Trigram’s deception.
• A-Sixteen displays her vigilance and combat readiness, immediately defending herself against a possible impersonator. Beneath her suspicion, she recognizes Shuhang’s personality and secretly tests him before accepting him. Her relief and familiarity return once his identity is proven.
• Senior Copper Trigram remains an off-screen source of trouble, having disguised himself as Shuhang and caused Fairy Liuying to believe Shuhang had been sent into space again.

Themes

The chapter emphasizes mistaken identity, trust, and the difficulty of proving one’s true self. It also highlights the humorous consequences of rapid cultivation growth and disguise techniques. Their reunion combines danger with affectionate familiarity, while A-Sixteen’s practical assistance and Shuhang’s desire to surprise her reinforce their close friendship.

Character interactions

Shuhang and A-Sixteen’s reunion begins with a violent misunderstanding, then shifts into playful interrogation and emotional recognition. A-Sixteen tests him with a private shared memory, helps him dry off, and offers cultivation advice about controlling fire-attribute True Qi. Their banter about Shuhang’s sudden increase in height adds a light, intimate touch before they prepare to go clothes shopping together.

Key plot points and events

• Song Shuhang takes Su Clan’s Sixteen to his car, which has a smashed rear end after Fairy Eastern Six backed into it. He switches to a plain van and leaves the SUV for repairs.
• Since Sixteen has nowhere to stay, Shuhang offers to bring her to Yu Jiaojiao’s villa.
• Senior Three Days calls with news that the Heart Tempering ancient well in Vajra Grotto has erupted into a fountain. The unusual event has helped several cultivators comprehend Vajra Temple’s Vajra Demon-Subduing Fist, but may not last long.
• Shuhang arranges to bring Sixteen and Jiaojiao along, offering to cover Sixteen’s entry fee. Sixteen agrees and acknowledges that she owes him.
• At the villa, Shuhang finds Jiaojiao drinking with his friends, who are once again very drunk. Jiaojiao explains that an illusion makes her appear human to them. She agrees to join the trip after deciding to leave Gao Moumou to sleep.
• Shuhang takes Sixteen aside and retrieves a chest of Immortal Garments, intending to let her choose some clothes.

Character developments and interactions

• Shuhang remains considerate and practical: he shelters Sixteen from the rain, offers her lodging and pays her entry fee, and invites Jiaojiao as a way of repaying her kindness. He also tries to avoid drawing attention by driving an ordinary van instead of one of Venerable White’s luxury cars.
• Sixteen accepts Shuhang’s help and agrees to stay with Jiaojiao and visit the grotto. Their friendly closeness is evident, though she insists on keeping track of what she owes him.
• Jiaojiao is revealed to have been drinking frequently lately. She is hospitable toward Sixteen and readily joins Shuhang’s outing.
• Senior Three Days offers Shuhang access to a rare opportunity, including help securing permission for extra companions.
• Shuhang’s friends remain comic background figures: Gao Moumou is passed out, while Tubo and Yangde are barely steady.

Significant themes

• Friendship and mutual support: Shuhang uses his opportunities and resources to help his companions.
• Cultivation and self-improvement: The grotto’s Heart Tempering fountain offers a chance to confront inner desires and strengthen one’s state of mind, while also aiding martial comprehension.
• Everyday comedy amid the supernatural: A wrecked car, drunken friends, and Jiaojiao’s disguise contrast with the rare cultivation event.

Chapter Summary: “I’ll Grow Up”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Song Shuhang opens a chest left for him at the Three-Life Escort Agency and discovers it is filled entirely with beautiful women’s Immortal Garments.
• He explains to Su Clan’s Sixteen that the chest was a gift from a senior and also contained Spirit Beast Crystals and the Compendium of Hundred-Beast Taming.
• While Sixteen tries on the garments, Song Shuhang studies the compendium and learns that his Thirty-Three Beasts Innate Unity Qi Technique is exceptionally suited to taming and nourishing spirit beasts.
• The manual provides a solution to the technique’s dangerous side effect: excess true qi can be transferred into a tamed spirit beast. The beast grows stronger, while Song Shuhang receives purer energy and physical strengthening in return.
• Song Shuhang realizes he can test the method on the two spirit-beast seahorses he received from the Stud Demon.
• Sixteen finishes trying on the clothes and looks especially good in a red-and-white qipao-style Immortal Garment. Since every outfit in her size fits her, Song Shuhang offers her all of them.
• When Song Shuhang considers giving the remaining garments to Soft Feather and other fairies, Sixteen asks to take the entire chest. She jokes confidently that she will “grow into” the larger sizes, though she admits she can give the biggest ones to her older sisters.
• Sixteen offers to compensate Song Shuhang by helping him acquire aura-concealment methods and useful Third-Grade spells, including the Lightning-Calling Art and Void Flame-Summoning Method.
• Song Shuhang confirms that Venerable White has the next portion of his cultivation technique. He also looks forward to learning a movement technique and eventually meeting Young Master Phoenix Slayer again.

Character Developments

• Song Shuhang gains a major understanding of how to control and benefit from the Thirty-Three Beasts Innate Unity Qi Technique. Taming spirit beasts may resolve his excess-energy problem while improving both his cultivation and physique.
• He continues to be generous and practical, wanting to give away the unwanted Immortal Garments rather than let them go to waste.
• Song Shuhang also recognizes his shortcomings: he lacks enough combat spells, an effective method for hiding his aura, and a movement technique.
• Su Clan’s Sixteen appears more confident and assertive. She readily accepts the garments, claims the entire collection, and confidently declares that she will grow into the larger sizes.
• Sixteen demonstrates concern for Song Shuhang’s cultivation progress by offering advice and possible techniques suited to his lightning and fire attributes.

Significant Themes

• Cultivation through cooperation: The beast-taming manual reveals that Song Shuhang’s growth can be linked with that of spirit beasts, turning a dangerous flaw into a mutually beneficial training method.
• Generosity and practicality: Song Shuhang gives away valuable treasures because they are useless to him, while Sixteen ensures they are put to good use within the Su Clan.
• Growth and potential: Sixteen’s statement that she will “grow into” the garments reflects both literal growth and confidence in her future development.
• Preparation for advancement: The chapter focuses on Song Shuhang preparing for the Third-Grade Realm by seeking better spells, techniques, movement skills, and ways to conceal his identity.

Character Interactions

• Song Shuhang and Sixteen share a warm, comfortable exchange as she models the Immortal Garments and he enthusiastically praises her appearance.
• Sixteen playfully challenges Song Shuhang’s plans to distribute the garments and ultimately takes responsibility for all of them.
• Their conversation shifts from clothing to cultivation, with Sixteen acting as a supportive adviser and Song Shuhang eagerly accepting her suggestions.
• Song Shuhang also reflects on his relationships with Soft Feather, Venerable White, and Young Master Phoenix Slayer, showing his ongoing dependence on and consideration for his fellow cultivators.

Chapter Summary: What Is the Deepest Desire in My Heart?

Key Plot Points and Events

• Song Shuhang considers borrowing Senior Phoenix Slayer’s “CPU” again in the future and realizes he must first build a better relationship with him.
• At the villa, Song Shuhang, Su Clan’s Sixteen, and Yu Jiaojiao wait for Senior Three Days, who plans to take them to the Vajra Grotto Abode.
• Daoist Horizon arrives carrying wine. He hopes to recruit Onion Lady as his disciple after witnessing her exceptional talent, but his appearance alarms Sixteen and Senior Three Days because of his infamous nickname, the “Transmission Maniac,” referring to his habit of transmitting cultivation power to others.
• Daoist Horizon joins the group and uses a flying treasure to transport everyone quickly to the Vajra Grotto Abode.
• At the abode, they encounter the Heart Tempering ancient well, whose mysterious power manifests the deepest desires and inner thoughts of cultivators.
• Sixteen and Yu Jiaojiao begin meditating beside the well, while Daoist Horizon also enters the Heart Tempering state. Sixteen is expected to benefit greatly because the process may help her overcome the psychological effects of her previous failed Heavenly Tribulation.
• Song Shuhang studies the Vajra Sect’s teachings and attempts to comprehend the Vajra Demon-Subduing Fist mural, but struggles because abstract, mural-based techniques are not his strength.
• He then approaches the ancient well and allows it to reveal his deepest desire. The well shows him as an exceptionally handsome Confucian scholar surrounded by scriptures and Sage’s Voice, apparently confronting an embodiment of evil and filth.

Character Developments

• Song Shuhang: His thoughts reveal both his practical ambitions and his desire to improve his cultivation connections. At the Heart Tempering well, he begins confronting what he truly wants after entering the cultivation world. His apparent vision suggests an aspiration toward power, justice, and an idealized heroic identity, though he immediately senses that something about the image is abnormal.
• Su Clan’s Sixteen: She remains protective and cautious, reacting aggressively to Daoist Horizon’s teasing and remaining wary of his reputation. Her upcoming Heart Tempering experience is portrayed as important for restoring her mental stability before future tribulation attempts.
• Daoist Horizon: He is in unusually good condition after transferring ten years of cultivation power to Onion Lady. His admiration for Onion Lady’s talent motivates him to seek her as a disciple, while his infamous behavior continues to make others distrust him.
• Senior Three Days: He acts as the group’s guide and organizes the journey to the Vajra Grotto Abode, emphasizing the urgency of reaching the ancient well while it is still erupting.
• Yu Jiaojiao: She participates in the group’s preparations and joins the Heart Tempering trial, though she has no need to study the Vajra techniques.

Significant Themes

• The nature of desire: The chapter explores how even virtuous or powerful people possess personal wants and ambitions. Desire is presented as a normal part of being human rather than an inherent flaw.
• Self-examination and inner demons: The Heart Tempering well forces cultivators to confront their deepest longings and darker thoughts, linking spiritual advancement to psychological growth.
• Cultivation as personal development: Progress is not limited to techniques or realm advancement; maintaining a stable mental state is essential, especially before facing Heavenly Tribulation.
• Comedy amid danger: Daoist Horizon’s reputation and the others’ instinctive fear of him provide comic relief despite the serious cultivation setting.

Character Interactions

• Song Shuhang and Sixteen share a familiar, cooperative relationship, with Shuhang repeatedly calming her and explaining Daoist Horizon’s harmless—for now—condition.
• Daoist Horizon playfully teases Sixteen about being a minor, prompting her to prepare for violence and forcing Shuhang to intervene.
• Senior Three Days recognizes Daoist Horizon immediately as the “Transmission Maniac,” reinforcing the latter’s notorious reputation.
• Sixteen echoes A-Qi’s warning that Horizon should be avoided, leaving Horizon comically wounded by the group’s distrust.
• Daoist Horizon and Senior Three Days cooperate despite their differing personalities, with Horizon providing faster transportation to the grotto.
• The chapter ends with Song Shuhang confronting a mysterious, idealized version of himself in the Heart Tempering well, setting up a revelation about his genuine deepest desire.

Summary

Key plot points and events

• At the Sage Silence Pool, Song Shuhang sees what appears to be a scene from his past: his Spirit Ghost, dressed as a Confucian scholar, fighting a filthy demon in the Nine Netherworld.
• The Glazed Scholar, who had borrowed the Spirit Ghost’s body, explains that the battle is nearing its end. The Nine Netherworld’s power flows into the demon, while the scrolls sustaining the Scholar’s Sage’s Voice burn away.
• The Scholar opens a Space Gate to return the badly wounded Spirit Ghost to Shuhang. Their connection is restored, letting Shuhang feel its pain and understand that the vision depicts a real event, not a hidden desire.
• The Scholar apologizes for being unable to provide a promised reward. Shuhang privately considers the advancement he gained through the Scholar’s energy—reaching the Third-Grade Realm—ample compensation.
• The demon draws on the Nine Netherworld and briefly rises to a higher realm. Its attack destroys the Scholar’s scroll and kills him; his Ninth-Grade glazed brush also shatters.
• The resulting black-sun explosion reaches the Spirit Ghost during teleportation. A fragment of the Scholar’s artifact briefly carries his remaining aura and the cryptic words, “Upside-Down Myriad Books Mountain, Sage Silence Pool.”
• The explosion’s force pulls the Spirit Ghost into an abyss, severing it from Shuhang’s reach. Shuhang collapses from the shock.

Character developments

• Song Shuhang realizes the vision is a genuine memory of the Scholar’s battle, not an expression of his own ambition. He accepts the Scholar’s apology and recognizes the earlier cultivation breakthrough as sufficient repayment.
• The Glazed Scholar fights to the end despite being nearly powerless and already long dead. His regret over failing to return the Spirit Ghost safely reveals his sense of responsibility and attachment to his promise.
• The Spirit Ghost shows humanlike intelligence by cutting its sensory link to Shuhang to spare him the worst of its pain, but it is ultimately unable to resist the explosion.

Significant themes

• Promises and responsibility: The Scholar repeatedly apologizes for failing to fulfill his promise, even as he faces his final battle.
• Sacrifice and endurance: The Scholar confronts the demon without fear, while the Spirit Ghost protects Shuhang from shared suffering.
• The cost of power: The demon’s temporary surge in strength overwhelms the Scholar and destroys both his body and artifact.
• Separation and helplessness: Shuhang regains his bond with the Spirit Ghost only to lose it again, unable to intervene.

Character interactions

• The Scholar directs the Spirit Ghost back toward Shuhang and apologizes to both for its dangerous ordeal.
• Shuhang responds inwardly with understanding, considering the Scholar’s earlier gift enough compensation.
• The Spirit Ghost acts independently to shield Shuhang from its pain, while the Scholar’s final message offers Shuhang a fragment of information before the Spirit Ghost disappears.