Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• The Immortal Chef Banquet unveils Fairy Bie Xue’s new dish, “Like a Painting,” made with Netherworld Demon Eyes. Demon Eyes can heal eye injuries and, unusually, enhance the inspiration needed to complete the final stroke of a Golden Core Diagram.
• After observing the powerful “Star River” manifestation, many guests awaken with painful or impaired vision. The Nine Provinces Number One Group is among the last to recover because its members watched from near Song Shuhang, who was the manifestation’s main target.
• Song Shuhang explains that he has returned to his normal appearance after reviving and clearing his negative effects. He regrets missing the Star River experience while he was away.
• The guests receive “Like a Painting” early so they can recover their sight. Song Shuhang restores his own eyes, then eagerly tastes the dish, hoping it will help him finish the last stroke on his Second Golden Core’s diagram.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Shuhang remains focused on advancing his cultivation and is excited by the possibility that the dish can help complete his Golden Core Diagram.
• Senior White, temporarily in his childlike form after a time reversal, becomes the target of affectionate teasing. Mad Saber Three Waves asks to hug him and even wishes he would stay small; Senior White silently threatens him with his meteor umbrella.
• Three Waves is unusually excitable and keeps speaking impulsively. Northern River’s Loose Cultivator tries to rein him in but accidentally elbows Nameless Lay Buddhist, who is still blind.
• Soft Feather notices Song Shuhang’s restored appearance, while Su Clan’s Sixteen checks that he is unharmed. Senior Huangshan keeps the group orderly and suggests they take a group photo after the meal.

Significant themes

• The chapter blends cultivation with food: “Like a Painting” is both a restorative meal and a potential aid to spiritual advancement.
• The characters’ banter and concern for one another provide comic relief after the intense, vision-damaging Star River manifestation.
• Song Shuhang’s ambition and anticipation underscore the chapter’s focus on progress—and on opportunities he has sometimes missed.

Key plot points and events

• Song Shuhang eats Fairy Bie Xue’s Like a Painting Immortal Delicacy, hoping it will inspire him to complete the final stroke of a Golden Core Diagram. The dish restores his eyes, but its effect only increases the chance of inspiration rather than guaranteeing it.
• Several peak Fifth-Grade cultivators receive the inspiration they need and leave the banquet to complete their diagrams and prepare for tribulations.
• Dharma King Creation nearly sings aloud to celebrate the food. Soft Feather joins in briefly, alarming nearby guests, but Creation ultimately hums a melody instead. Creation Fairy joins him, and her heavenly voice sparks inspiration in Song Shuhang.
• Song Shuhang’s consciousness enters his Dantian, expecting to work on his unfinished Second Golden Core Diagram. Instead, he finds himself before his Seven-Colored Demon Core.
• Though unsure whether Demon Cores can be diagrammed, Song Shuhang follows the powerful impulse to draw. He depicts the Sword of the End, then himself, and begins adding a sprawling scene of spatial rifts and invading forces.

Character developments

• Song Shuhang’s unusual cultivation continues to blur the boundaries between realms and cores: his Second Dantian’s little Golden Core behaves like a conventional Golden Core, while his Natal Golden Core remains undeveloped.
• His creativity takes over as he draws on the Demon Core, and the scene quickly expands beyond his original plan.
• Dharma King Creation shows that, despite his fearsome reputation as a singer, he is also a talented composer and arranger when he sticks to humming.

Significant themes

• Cultivation through inspiration: The delicacy offers an opportunity, not a sure result; advancement still depends on each cultivator’s insight.
• Unconventional growth: Song Shuhang’s multiple cores and unexpected Demon Core diagram challenge ordinary cultivation rules.
• Creativity and loss of control: Song’s artistic impulse turns a planned image into an ever-expanding, unpredictable tableau.

Character interactions

• Song Shuhang jokes with Mad Saber Three Waves and reassures Young Master Phoenix Slayer that his Natal Golden Core is not ready for its final stroke.
• The cultivators praise Fairy Bie Xue’s cooking, while Northern River’s Loose Cultivator worries that its success will make future banquet invitations even more expensive.
• Fellow cultivators plead with Dharma King Creation not to sing; Sixteen stops Soft Feather from continuing her song.
• Creation Fairy’s humming accompanies Dharma King Creation’s melody and provides the spark that sends Song Shuhang into his Dantian.

Plot points and events

• While forming his Seven-Colored Demon Core Evolution Diagram, Song Shuhang loses control of his drawing. A battlefield fills the core: the Netherworld’s forces gather behind him and the Sword of the End, while humans and many other races appear as their enemies.
• The image’s name comes to him as “The Sword That Brings the End to the World,” a destructive sword that brings all things to an end. He suspects the sword’s connection to Senior White Two, a Netherworld Ruler, may explain the scene’s allegiance.
• The diagram stops just short of completion because Song Shuhang has left too little space for its final “Stroke of Illumination.” The Seven-Colored Demon Core compresses and becomes rounder, but remains seven-colored.
• Back at the Immortal Chef Banquet, the seniors notice the energy fluctuations. Song Shuhang insists he did not advance his Natal Golden Core, explaining only that he has not started a diagram on it.
• The guests discuss the banquet’s tradition: diners who leave to pursue breakthroughs vacate their seats, which are then redistributed among the hosts, a paid lottery, and other channels.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Shuhang is increasingly practiced at forming cores, but his spontaneous, uncontrollable artistry still leaves him frustrated by an incomplete final stroke. He keeps the nature of his new diagram secret from the others.
• Young Master Phoenix Slayer questions Song Shuhang about the fluctuations. Song Shuhang jokes that Phoenix Slayer can pass along his borrowed-CPU favors to Song Shuhang’s disciple; Phoenix Slayer responds irritably.
• Three Waves urges Phoenix Slayer to pursue a breakthrough so Song Shuhang will not outpace them. When Dharma King Creation announces he plans to perform a new song, Three Waves immediately considers fleeing into seclusion.
• Fairy Lychee redirects the conversation away from Creation’s singing, while Northern River explains the banquet’s vacant-seat custom to Song Shuhang and little Shi.

Significant themes

• Power shaped by identity and allegiance: Song Shuhang’s core depicts him fighting for the Netherworld, raising questions about how the Sword of the End influences his cultivation.
• Progress and incompletion: His core evolves despite the missing final stroke, continuing a recurring pattern in which advancement is real but not yet fully realized.
• Cultivation amid comedy and community: Major breakthroughs, rivalries, and banquet customs are interwoven with teasing, eccentric personalities, and social ritual.

Key plot points and events

• The Immortal Chef Banquet is producing vacant seats unusually quickly this year, thanks to the banquet’s effects and guests’ new insights into the Great Dao. The Southern Everlasting Sword Sect distributes its seven seat quotas, while the remaining seats are reserved for a lottery and a later selection process.
• The Sect offers seats to Song Shuhang and Sage White in gratitude for saving the guests and Fairy Bie Xue and helping restore the Secret Realm. Sage White gives his seat to Shuhang, who uses the two quotas to bring Li Yinzhu and Chu Chu to the banquet.
• Shuhang’s other companions decline: Pavilion Master Chu is only a head, Senior Turtle and Onion Lady refuse, and Little Cai prioritizes cultivation over food.
• The lottery begins. Sage White draws a seat for Copper Trigram, who wants to give it to Iron Trigram. Copper Trigram appears in a glamorous disguise designed to resemble Northern River’s Loose Cultivator’s ideal type, provoking his embarrassment and irritation. Several other members of the Nine Provinces Number One Group join the lottery for fun.
• The rules for the final eight seats are announced: guests nominate and vote for candidates, but each seat-holder must then accept four challenges of their choosing.
• An unknown Fairy nominates Shuhang specifically so she can challenge him with Child-Mother River spring water as the prize. The crowd immediately votes him into a seat.

Character developments and interactions

• Shuhang uses his banquet access thoughtfully, choosing Yinzhu and Chu Chu, and is mildly exasperated when his other companions reject the opportunity.
• Yinzhu eagerly accepts the invitation; Chu Chu is pleased to attend and can look after her. Little Cai’s dedication to cultivation is played for comic effect.
• Senior White remains generous, offering his seat to Shuhang and helping Copper Trigram enter the lottery. Shuhang, meanwhile, anxiously watches him walk across the slippery floor.
• Copper Trigram teases Northern River about his appearance and taste in women; Northern River can only stew in frustration.
• Shuhang is surprised and embarrassed by his sudden popularity, then realizes the votes are motivated by the chance to challenge him.

Significant themes

• Generosity and reciprocity: The Sect repays Shuhang and Sage White for their earlier help, and Senior White passes along his seat.
• Comic contrasts in priorities: Some characters prize cultivation over a rare feast, while others eagerly pursue food or a chance to compete.
• Popularity with a catch: Shuhang’s overwhelming support is less an endorsement than an opportunity for others to challenge him—and perhaps force him to drink the dangerous spring water.

Chapter Summary: “Divining with His Feet”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Profound Sage Tyrannical Song wins the first seat in the third-round “Seat Ownership Event.”
• Other cultivators plan to challenge him, hoping to force him to drink Child-Mother River spring water. Since challenges can involve anything from combat to games, they expect to exploit the rules rather than fight him directly.
• Song Shuhang avoids the trap by voluntarily forfeiting the seat, explaining that he already has two seats and has no interest in risking the dangerous effects of the challenge.
• Copper Trigram performs a divination for Song Shuhang by stepping barefoot across a rune-covered beast-skin mat.
• He initially announces that Shuhang’s decision brought the Supreme Rune, symbolizing great fortune and prosperity. However, the Nine Provinces Number One Group knows Copper Trigram’s divinations are usually interpreted in reverse.
• They conclude that keeping the seat would actually have brought good fortune, while giving it up could lead to the Ghost Dragon Rune—an ominous sign associated with death.
• Alarmed, especially because he has recently obtained twelve Resurrection Coins and has already revived once that day, Song Shuhang immediately tries to reclaim the seat.
• Although the host explains that forfeited seats normally cannot be reclaimed, the Fairy holding the spring water and several other cultivators support Song Shuhang. The crowd pressures the host into restoring the seat to him.

Character Developments

• Song Shuhang: Demonstrates caution and tactical thinking by abandoning the seat to avoid the planned challenge, but quickly becomes panicked when Copper Trigram’s reversed divination suggests that forfeiting it may be disastrous. He then enthusiastically claims he is ready to accept all four challenges, revealing his willingness to embrace danger when necessary.
• Copper Trigram: Displays his unusual and highly theatrical divination skills. His barefoot ritual and enigmatic prediction reinforce his reputation as a “Black Trigram,” whose prophecies often bring misfortune or must be interpreted oppositely.
• Soft Feather: Remains playful and curious, regretting that Shuhang gave up the opportunity for a challenge and showing interest in learning Copper Trigram’s foot-based divination.
• The Nine Provinces Number One Group: Their reactions reveal their shared fear of Shuhang’s “Pregnancy Gaze” and their familiarity with Copper Trigram’s unreliable—or reverse-reliable—predictions.

Significant Themes

• Avoiding danger versus embracing fate: Shuhang first attempts to outwit the challenge system, but the divination makes him reconsider whether avoiding danger is truly safer.
• Irony and reversed fortune: Copper Trigram’s divination creates comic tension because his supposedly auspicious result is understood by everyone as ominous.
• Reputation and supernatural consequences: Shuhang’s previous abilities and Copper Trigram’s reputation strongly influence how the characters interpret events.
• Collective manipulation and social pressure: The other cultivators, initially hoping to challenge Shuhang, quickly unite to help him regain the seat when doing so serves their own amusement or interests.

Character Interactions

• Soft Feather teases Shuhang for avoiding the challenge, while Shuhang warns her that male pregnancy is not something to treat lightly.
• The group jokes about Copper Trigram’s uncertain gender and mesmerizing appearance while he performs his divination.
• Copper Trigram praises Shuhang’s decision, but the group immediately challenges his interpretation and assumes the opposite meaning.
• Shuhang desperately asks the event host to reverse his forfeiture. The spring-water Fairy and other cultivators intervene, insisting that the seat be returned to him.
• The chapter ends with Shuhang regaining the seat while Copper Trigram calmly drinks his wine, apparently amused by the chaos his divination caused.

Chapter Summary: “The God’s Tongue”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Fairy Caiyun challenges Song Shuhang for ownership of his seat at the Immortal Chef Banquet, insisting that her challenge take place before the remaining seats are confirmed.
• She proposes a tasting competition based on the four immortal dishes served during the banquet. Each competitor must identify the dishes’ ingredients, with the person identifying more ingredients winning each round.
• If the contest is tied after four dishes, the fifth round will involve drinking the Child-Mother River’s spring water.
• Song Shuhang negotiates additional stakes: if he wins, Fairy Caiyun must give him both portions of the spring water. He also replaces her proposed punishment—drinking the water publicly—with allowing him to glare at her once, which frightens her considerably.
• Senior White explains that the spring water not only causes pregnancy but also has medicinal value for Sixth-Grade cultivators attempting to advance to the Seventh Grade.
• To prevent cheating, Senior White blocks Secret Voice Transmission, and both competitors agree to write their answers down after tasting each dish.
• Fairy Caiyun reveals that her First-Grade innate talent, “God’s Tongue,” allows her to analyze flavors and identify even hidden ingredients. She is also known as the “Food Queen.”
• During the first round, involving the Fish Feast Immortal Dish, Fairy Caiyun carefully analyzes the dish while Song Shuhang appears to eat it carelessly.
• In reality, Song Shuhang secretly uses the Appraisal Secret Method to examine the dish’s ingredients and cooking process, then rapidly writes down his answers.

Character Developments

• Song Shuhang uses confidence, psychological pressure, and clever negotiation to conceal his uncertainty about the competition. Although he lacks culinary expertise, he relies on his Appraisal Secret Method to compete with Fairy Caiyun’s specialized talent.
• Fairy Caiyun displays strong confidence in her abilities and openly reveals the source of her reputation as the Food Queen. Her determination to win leads her to accept increasingly risky conditions.
• Senior White continues to support Song Shuhang, providing useful information about the Child-Mother River’s spring water and helping ensure a fair contest.
• Soft Feather and the banquet attendees reinforce the humorous atmosphere by treating Song Shuhang’s intimidating performance and possible pregnancy as entertainment.

Significant Themes

• Appearances versus reality: Song Shuhang acts like an imposing Profound Sage while secretly depending on unconventional methods to compensate for his lack of expertise.
• Strategy and psychological warfare: Before the contest even begins, Song Shuhang attempts to unsettle Fairy Caiyun through his calm demeanor and threatening gaze.
• Specialized talent versus adaptable ingenuity: Fairy Caiyun possesses the perfect skill for the contest, but Song Shuhang counters with a different ability rather than surrendering.
• Humor through dangerous stakes: The potentially serious effects of the Child-Mother River’s water are treated comically by the spectators and competitors.

Character Interactions

• Song Shuhang and Fairy Caiyun engage in a playful but competitive battle of confidence and negotiation.
• Senior White advises Song Shuhang and agrees to prevent communication-based cheating.
• The banquet participants enthusiastically support the challenge, teasing Song Shuhang about pregnancy and encouraging Fairy Caiyun.
• Fairy Caiyun’s reveal of God’s Tongue establishes the central conflict: her refined tasting ability versus Song Shuhang’s hidden appraisal technique.

Chapter 1466 Summary: “Ah, My Blood Flows Like a River”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Song Shuhang and Fairy Caiyun compete in a four-round ingredient-identification contest at the Food Immortal Feast.
• Using his Appraisal Secret Technique, Song Shuhang quickly identifies the ingredients in the first fish dish, despite eating it crudely and not tasting the soup.
• Fairy Caiyun relies on her Divine Tongue and identifies nearly everything, but cannot name three unfamiliar ingredients. Song Shuhang correctly identifies those three, winning the first round.
• In the second round, the contestants analyze a shrimp dish containing ten different shrimp and various seasonings. Their answers are mostly equal, but two disputed ingredients are resolved in Song Shuhang’s favor. He wins again, bringing the score to 4–2.
• Fairy Caiyun refuses to surrender, determined to win two of the remaining rounds and force Song Shuhang to drink Zi Mu River spring water, despite the threat of Song’s “Pregnancy Gaze.”
• The third dish is a strange, dark, paste-like soup. Before tasting it, Song Shuhang uses the Appraisal Secret Technique.
• The appraisal’s backlash is catastrophically severe: blood erupts from wounds appearing across Song Shuhang’s body, making him look like a human fountain.
• The spectators are shocked, while his friends largely treat the event as another absurdly dangerous but familiar consequence of Song Shuhang’s appraisal ability.
• Song Shuhang heals the wounds and continues the competition. The appraisal reveals that the soup is made from the medicinal liquid of a descendant of an ancient evil dragon from the Nine Netherworld.

Character Developments

• Song Shuhang: Demonstrates that his Appraisal Secret Technique allows him to surpass even Fairy Caiyun’s Divine Tongue. He becomes increasingly confident and deliberately uses his intimidating gaze and psychological tactics against her. However, his appraisal of the third dish exposes him to enormous physical pain and blood loss. Despite this, he remains determined to continue.
• Fairy Caiyun: Initially confident that her Divine Tongue makes her unbeatable, she becomes stunned and unsettled after Song identifies ingredients beyond her knowledge. She recovers her composure, strengthens her resolve, and refuses to give up.
• Biexue Xianji: Remains offstage but is responsible for creating the increasingly unusual and dangerous dishes. Her confirmation establishes Song Shuhang’s answers as correct.
• Su Clan’s A-Sixteen: Notices the likely secret behind Song’s success, recognizing that his apparent tasting ability comes from appraisal rather than culinary expertise.
• Little White and Song’s fellow cultivators: Show concern but remain familiar with Song’s extreme injuries, reassuring others that the blood loss is not immediately fatal.
• Copper Gua Master: Jokes that this is his first fortune-telling session performed with his feet, raising doubts about whether his prophecy of Song’s “great fortune” was interpreted correctly.

Significant Themes

• Appearance versus reality: Song’s crude, exaggerated eating style makes him appear incompetent, but his hidden ability gives him superior results.
• Psychological warfare: Song uses his calm demeanor, intense gaze, and threats of his punishment ability to unsettle Fairy Caiyun.
• Persistence and determination: Fairy Caiyun continues fighting despite repeated defeats and the humiliating consequences awaiting her.
• The absurdity of Song Shuhang’s misfortune: His success is repeatedly accompanied by bizarre physical disasters, turning danger and suffering into comedic spectacle.
• Knowledge versus talent: Fairy Caiyun’s Divine Tongue can detect flavors, but Song’s appraisal ability provides the deeper knowledge needed to identify unknown ingredients.
• Dangerous cultivation and magical abilities: The Appraisal Secret Technique grants valuable information, but its cost increases with the complexity and origin of the target.

Character Interactions

• Song Shuhang taunts and pressures Fairy Caiyun by claiming he has already completed his answers while she is still thinking.
• Fairy Caiyun challenges his confidence and insists that her Divine Tongue should prevail, but later acknowledges that he has defeated her in the first round.
• Song’s friends jokingly comment on his villain-like demeanor, his blood loss, and his apparent “great fortune.”
• Mad Saber Three Waves and Su Clan’s A-Seven exchange insults, reinforcing the group’s humorous camaraderie.
• Little White, A-Sixteen, and Northern River discuss the danger of the dark soup and Song’s injuries, while others consider whether the spilled Mysterious Saint blood could be used as a valuable cultivation material.
• Even after suffering massive blood loss, Song calmly invites Fairy Caiyun to continue, maintaining his intimidating presence and competitive advantage.

Chapter 1467 Summary: “Don’t Blame Me!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Song Shuhang successfully identifies the complete recipe for Biexue Xianji’s “Black Paste,” earning his third consecutive victory over Fairy Caiyun.
• Using the Appraisal Secret Technique causes him to bleed heavily because the technique traces the dish’s main ingredient back to the origin of its bloodline: an enormous, long-dead Ancient Evil Dragon in the Nine Nether.
• Song Shuhang realizes the dragon’s power may have exceeded Grade Nine and decides to ask Senior White Two about it in the future.
• Despite his blood loss, Song Shuhang drinks the Black Paste, finding it delicious and highly nourishing. He writes down the recipe, identifying the main ingredient as medicinal liquid from the Descendant of the Ancient Evil Dragon, deliberately omitting “Nine Nether.”
• Fairy Caiyun concedes after her Divine Tongue fails to identify the main ingredient. The official comparison confirms that her recipe differs from Song Shuhang’s by only that one ingredient.
• As the loser, Fairy Caiyun gives Song Shuhang two bottles of Zi Mu River spring water and prepares to receive his feared “Pregnancy Gaze.”
• Song Shuhang initially intends to spare her, but Fairy Caiyun continues provoking him and threatens to challenge him through several other cultivators.
• He frightens her by claiming that his right eye contains an ability complementary to his left eye’s “Pregnancy Gaze.” After misleading her with guesses such as “Paternal Love” and “Abortion,” he reveals the supposed technique as the “Embryo Gaze.”
• Song Shuhang pretends to activate both techniques, causing the audience and Fairy Caiyun to panic, but the golden light is merely the glow of his accumulated merit. He admits he was only scaring her and returns to his seat with the Black Paste.
• Su Clan’s Sixteen cleans Song Shuhang’s bloodstained clothes, while Yurouzi uses a Druidic healing technique that eases the spiritual pain caused by the appraisal.
• Before Song Shuhang can rest, Winter Melon Saint—whose memories of the previous Food Immortal Feast were erased—challenges him again, renewing their comedic rivalry.

Character Developments

• Song Shuhang: Demonstrates his improved appraisal abilities and continued resourcefulness. He remains willing to use intimidation and elaborate bluffs, but also shows restraint by refusing to actually use the Pregnancy Gaze on Fairy Caiyun. His curiosity about the Ancient Evil Dragon and Druidic techniques suggests growing interest in both powerful mysteries and new systems of cultivation.
• Fairy Caiyun: Accepts her defeat but remains bold and confrontational. Although she is frightened by Song Shuhang’s bluff, she refuses to back down easily and continues treating the contest as an ongoing challenge.
• Su Clan’s Sixteen and Yurouzi: Support Song Shuhang after the contest. Sixteen handles his physical appearance, while Yurouzi helps relieve the consequences of his appraisal technique.
• Winter Melon Saint: Because of his memory wipe, he unknowingly resumes his rivalry with Song Shuhang, setting up another humorous confrontation.

Significant Themes

• Competition and pride: The cooking contest highlights the importance of technical skill, intuition, and pride among cultivators.
• The dangers of power: Song Shuhang’s appraisal reveals that even identifying an ingredient can expose him to terrifying beings and cause severe physical consequences.
• Humor through misunderstanding and bluffing: The invented “Embryo Gaze” and the crowd’s panic turn a potentially threatening confrontation into a comedic performance.
• Friendship and support: Song Shuhang’s companions help him recover, showing the practical care underlying their group’s chaotic interactions.
• Consequences and provocation: Fairy Caiyun’s insistence on continuing the confrontation leads directly to Song Shuhang’s elaborate scare, reinforcing the chapter’s playful “don’t blame me” premise.

Character Interactions

• Song Shuhang and Fairy Caiyun engage in a battle of recipes, followed by a playful psychological confrontation involving the supposed Pregnancy and Embryo Gaze techniques.
• Su Clan’s Sixteen assists Song Shuhang with a Clean Clothes Spell.
• Yurouzi applies a healing technique and introduces Song Shuhang to the Western Druidic system.
• Winter Melon Saint interrupts the aftermath by challenging Song Shuhang, immediately reviving their recurring rivalry.

Chapter 1468: “Drank It All in One Go”

Key plot points and events

• Sage Lord Winter Melon challenges Song Shuhang to settle their rivalry with a single move, confident that he has devised a defense against Shuhang’s Heaven-Burning Flame Blade.
• Winter Melon layers numerous protective techniques together, culminating in the massive Bell of Primordial Beginning. Shuhang initially summons Heavenly Tribulation nuclear weapons, alarming the other sages, but assures them he will not use them.
• Instead, Shuhang shows Winter Melon a phone photograph that supposedly proves Winter Melon already lost to him during the period when everyone’s memories were erased. The image is staged, but Winter Melon cannot remember the earlier encounter and accepts it.
• When Winter Melon asks how Shuhang broke his ultimate defense, Shuhang uses the Ancestral Shaman’s Blessing artifact to jump inside the bell and appear behind him. He reveals no explanation, leaving Winter Melon to mistake the trick for an evasion technique.
• Winter Melon concedes and gives Shuhang the two bottles of Mother-Child River water he had prepared. No other sages challenge Shuhang afterward.
• The Merit Snake Beauty drinks one bottle of the water in a single go.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Shuhang remains composed and resourceful, using a bluff to avoid a fight and a spatial-jump artifact to demonstrate that Winter Melon’s defense has a loophole. He is privately relieved that the deception works.
• Sage Lord Winter Melon is proud of his new defense but eager to learn and improve. Though frustrated by his defeat, he accepts it and vows to challenge Shuhang again.
• Senior White, Su Clan’s Sixteen, and Soft Feather worry about Shuhang’s readiness, while the other sages prepare protections against the nuclear weapons.
• The Merit Snake Beauty assists Shuhang by retrieving his phone, catches the bottles, and displays her unusual ability to consume energy-rich substances.

Significant themes

• Ingenuity over brute force: Shuhang wins through a bluff and an artifact rather than a direct clash.
• Pride, rivalry, and learning: Winter Melon’s defeat fuels his determination to improve rather than ending their contest.
• Unreliable memory and constructed truth: Because Winter Melon’s memories are gone, he accepts a fabricated photograph as proof.
• Humor through anticlimax: The confrontation ends without a real battle, and the chapter closes with the unexpected spectacle of the Merit Snake Beauty gulping down the river water.

Chapter Summary: “Is This an Apology?”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Merit Snake Beauty drinks an entire bottle of Child-Mother River spring water, causing Song Shuhang to worry that either she—or he—might become pregnant.
• Senior White jokes that the spring water could result in Song Shuhang giving birth, while Medicine Master offers to perform a Cesarean section if necessary. Song Shuhang is horrified by the possibility.
• Merit Snake Beauty instead spits out a golden diamond ball made of highly condensed Merit Power. Song Shuhang is relieved that he is not pregnant.
• Merit Snake Beauty becomes fixated on the ball, but eventually gives it to Song Shuhang to keep.
• The Immortal Chef Banquet continues. Song Shuhang gives his remaining seat to the cultivation-obsessed sparrow demon, Xiao Cai, after none of the group’s seniors need it.
• During the banquet, Merit Snake Beauty repeatedly tries to touch Senior White’s hair. Senior White swats her hand away several times and warns that she must not exceed “three waves,” humorously invoking Mad Saber Three Waves.
• Merit Snake Beauty drinks a second bottle of spring water, produces another golden diamond ball, and offers it to Senior White in exchange for one of his hairs.
• Senior White accepts the trade, realizing that the ball can help him create a desired dharma artifact. Merit Snake Beauty pierces the ball with his hair, ties it into a pendant, and wears it around her neck.
• Song Shuhang, feeling that she may be trying to apologize for her earlier behavior, receives a third golden diamond ball after Merit Snake Beauty drinks another bottle of spring water. She then returns to his body to recover.

Character Developments

• Song Shuhang becomes increasingly anxious and exasperated over Merit Snake Beauty’s reckless drinking, strange behavior, and possible pregnancy. He also shows concern for her feelings and interprets her final gift as an apology.
• Merit Snake Beauty displays increasingly sophisticated acting and emotional behavior. She is mischievous and persistent, but also capable of affection, negotiation, and perhaps remorse. She uses the Golden Diamond Balls to compensate both Senior White and Song Shuhang.
• Senior White remains calm and practical, treating the bizarre situation matter-of-factly. He is willing to exchange a strand of hair for the valuable Merit Power artifact.
• Medicine Master offers reassuring but comically alarming medical assistance.
• Xiao Cai is forcibly brought out of solitary cultivation to occupy Song Shuhang’s final banquet seat.

Significant Themes

• Comedy through misunderstandings: The possibility of a male cultivator becoming pregnant is treated as a serious concern, creating absurd tension.
• Personification of Merit Power: Merit Snake Beauty behaves like an independent, emotional being rather than a simple manifestation of power.
• Apology and emotional communication: Merit Snake Beauty cannot speak normally, so she expresses herself through gifts and actions.
• Friendship and group dynamics: The banquet provides a relaxed setting for the Nine Provinces Number One Group to share stories and interact.
• Practicality amid absurdity: The characters respond to supernatural events with surprisingly ordinary reactions—medical planning, trading, and crafting tools.

Character Interactions

• Song Shuhang consults Senior White about the effects of the Child-Mother River water and later translates Merit Snake Beauty’s apparent intentions.
• Soft Feather and Su Clan’s Sixteen react curiously and sympathetically to Song Shuhang’s supposed pregnancy.
• Medicine Master reassures Song Shuhang while offering surgery.
• Merit Snake Beauty repeatedly attempts to touch Senior White’s hair, prompting him to slap her hand away.
• Senior White and Merit Snake Beauty complete a mutually beneficial exchange: a Golden Diamond Ball for one of his hairs.
• Merit Snake Beauty ultimately gives Song Shuhang another Golden Diamond Ball, seemingly as an apology for causing trouble.

Key events

• Song Shuhang stores the Golden Diamond Ball and celebrates his breakthrough to the Fifth-Grade Golden Core realm with Senior White and the other guests. He accepts many toasts, gets tipsy, and jokes that he is still far from drunk.
• The Immortal Chef Banquet continues. Senior White wins a lottery spot and gives it to Copper Trigram Immortal Master, who brings Iron Trigram. Guests apply banquet-specific seals to help manage the spiritual energy and preserve their gains; many are expected to advance after the feast.
• The banquet reaches its finale with Fairy Bie Xue’s Whale Sage Banquet, made from part of Melon-Eating Sage’s discarded body. Shuhang is too drunk to taste the dishes, and Medicine Master only offers him a hangover pill after he has finished eating.
• Shuhang sees Merit Light everywhere. When Merit Snake Beauty touches one of its rays, his consciousness enters a vast “Merit Network World.” There he meets Melon-Eating Sage, who is receiving a Longevity Method inheritance and explains that the network contains vast stores of information, though they lack permission to access it.
• Melon-Eating Sage suspects the network was created by a powerful Longevity Immortal—or perhaps an even greater being. Shuhang takes the idea in stride, then agrees to let Melon-Eating Sage take his place in a Dao discussion with Three Cycles Sage Lord.
• Back at the banquet, Three Cycles approaches Shuhang. Melon-Eating Sage speaks through him and eagerly accepts the discussion, catching Three Cycles off guard.

Character developments and interactions

• Shuhang’s Fifth-Grade breakthrough marks his rise from junior cultivator to Spirit Emperor. His strong constitution and Three-Core Golden Core help him recover quickly from the immortal brew.
• Senior White congratulates Shuhang and continues to look after him, even placing a seal on him to prevent overindulgence.
• Shuhang shares warm, casual toasts with Senior White, Su Clan’s Sixteen, Soft Feather, Phoenix Slayer, Three Waves, and others.
• Melon-Eating Sage is curious and talkative after spending time alone in the Merit Network. His connection with Shuhang—through the shared technique and the Merit Snake Beauty—lets him use Shuhang’s opportunity to meet Three Cycles Sage Lord.

Significant themes

• Growth and recognition: Shuhang’s breakthrough brings a major change in his standing among cultivators.
• Knowledge and access: The Merit Network holds immense information, but even powerful beings face limits on what they can access.
• Comic irreverence: Shuhang’s calm response to cosmic-scale speculation contrasts with the grandeur of the revelation, while his drunkenness and Melon-Eating Sage’s blunt jokes keep the banquet lighthearted.

Plot points and events

• At the Immortal Chef Banquet, Song Shuhang unexpectedly announces an impromptu Profound Sage Dao Discussion. Using Merit Light and blooming lotuses, he urges Three Cycles Sage Lord to set aside convention and pursue the path to Ninth Grade and beyond.
• Several Profound Sages gather, and the banquet becomes an elaborate lecture filled with dramatic manifestations of their power. The audience initially expects to learn from the discussion, but the sages speak in the Ancient Language, leaving everyone unable to understand their words.
• The Southern Everlasting Sword Sect recognizes the value of the event: the discussion will leave behind a lasting Profound Sound of the Great Dao in the restored Secret Realm, benefiting the sect’s disciples. Its elders provide Sage Resonance Tea.
• Senior White takes charge of brewing tea, serving the sages and the Nine Provinces Number One Group. The discussion continues for three days, with the sages debating and demonstrating their Dao while the audience listens in awe.

Character developments

• Song Shuhang displays unexpected confidence and broad ambition, speaking about advancing beyond Ninth Grade toward longevity. Despite being newly advanced, his insight impresses Three Cycles Sage Lord, who believes Shuhang has glimpsed his own Dao Embryo.
• Three Cycles Sage Lord is initially concerned about breaking with formal conventions, but Shuhang’s words prompt him to reconsider. He is later deeply impressed by Shuhang and the other younger sages.
• Senior White quietly proves to be the gathering’s most insightful figure. Though he speaks rarely, his remarks resolve disputes and lead the discussion to deeper ideas. Three Cycles concludes that White’s perspective surpasses that of the other sages.
• Sage Seven Cultivator may speak Ancient Language haltingly, but his ideas reveal exceptional vision.

Significant themes

• Breaking from convention: Progress may require abandoning old rules, assumptions, and even familiar forms.
• The limits of understanding: The audience witnesses profound teachings but cannot grasp them without knowing the language in which they are delivered.
• Wisdom beyond status: Newly advanced sages can possess insight that exceeds their rank or experience.
• Shared benefit: A grand spiritual event enriches not only its participants but also the host sect and the wider audience.

Character interactions

• Shuhang challenges Three Cycles to loosen his attachment to convention, setting the discussion in motion.
• The gathered sages debate, disagree, and build on one another’s ideas, while their exchanges produce spectacular supernatural phenomena.
• Senior White supports the sages and his friends by preparing tea, then intermittently guides the debate with concise, decisive observations.
• The Southern Everlasting Sword Sect eagerly supports the gathering, recognizing both its immediate value and its lasting benefit to the sect.

Key plot points and events

• As the Profound Sage Lecture continues, Three Cycles Sage Lord reflects on the extraordinary range of knowledge and talent among the new generation of Sages. He notices that Seven Lives Talisman’s demeanor and shifting apparent cultivation level seem unusual.
• Seven Lives Talisman secretly uses a rune supplied by his family’s ancestor to project the aura of an enlightened Buddhist monk, avoiding scrutiny. He also grows uncomfortable after drinking immortal tea and brew for three days.
• On October 12, Song Shuhang’s lecture finally ends. He is relieved that its length caused him to miss the October 10 Profound Sage Battle appointment, and he is desperate for a bathroom.
• The Sages exchange contact information and depart, eager to enter seclusion and absorb what they learned. Several members of the Nine Provinces Number One Group also prepare to cultivate or break through.
• At Senior Yellow Mountain’s grotto-dwelling, Song Shuhang finally handles his urgent need, then collapses into exhausted sleep. Senior White explains that Shuhang’s lecture was supported by Melon-Eating Sage, whom the group recognizes as the being they had eaten at the Whale Sage Banquet.
• Su Clan’s Seven takes the sleeping Shuhang away to rest properly, with Senior Yellow Mountain guiding them. Soon afterward, an explosion and the smell of blood come from the direction they went, prompting Senior White to rush toward the scene.

Character developments and interactions

• Three Cycles Sage Lord recognizes the unusual depth of the new Sages and grows aware that Seven Lives Talisman is not an ordinary cultivator, though the rune prevents him from discovering the truth.
• Seven Lives Talisman privately admits that his apparent composure depends on his powerful family’s support.
• Song Shuhang is drained by sustaining his connection with Melon-Eating Sage throughout the lecture. His sleeping complaint about missing classes adds a comic reminder of his ordinary student life.
• Senior White and Seven Cultivations lead a discussion of the banquet’s lessons, while the group reacts with surprise and amusement to learning that Melon-Eating Sage helped Shuhang.
• Su Clan’s Seven and Senior Yellow Mountain take responsibility for Shuhang’s recovery; Su Clan’s Sixteen thanks Yellow Mountain.

Significant themes

• A new era of cultivation: The gathering emphasizes the remarkable talent and diverse expertise of the newly risen Profound Sages.
• Knowledge gained through fellowship: The banquet and lecture inspire Sages and Daoists to share insights and pursue further cultivation.
• Comedy amid grandeur: Spiritual lectures and immortal feasts are interrupted by mundane concerns—thirst, exhaustion, bathroom needs, and Shuhang’s missed classes.
• A sudden shift in tone: The chapter ends on an unexplained explosion and possible injury, breaking the relaxed atmosphere and setting up a new crisis.

Chapter summary

Key plot points and events

• Song Shuhang wakes in a white, dreamlike space and realizes that his Resurrection Coin has activated. He is baffled: he only remembers falling asleep, with no obvious reason for dying.
• The coin’s result determines how long resurrection will take: an edge means ten minutes, heads ten months, and tails ten years. Song Shuhang calls on Senior White for luck, but the coin lands tails, condemning him to a ten-year resurrection.
• He recalls what happened before his apparent death. Exhausted, he fell asleep while overwhelmed by a huge influx of knowledge and experiences—from the Immortal Chef Banquet, a Profound Sage’s Lecture, the 88,888 voices, the Merit Network, Ye Si’s inherited knowledge, his Demon Core, and several of his magical artifacts.
• As he tried to organize all this information, Song Shuhang unexpectedly entered enlightenment. He recognized that his old cultivation technique was designed for a single core, whereas he now had three and might eventually have as many as eight.
• He revised the Thirty-Three Beasts Innate Unity Qi Technique into a multi-core version and tested it while asleep. The technique activated all three cores, producing an explosion that apparently killed him and triggered the Resurrection Coin.
• Meanwhile, at Senior Yellow Mountain’s cave abode, the others find Yellow Mountain and A-Qi covered in blood and Song Shuhang missing. Senior White identifies the blood as evidence that Shuhang’s Resurrection Artifact has activated. To conceal his absence, Senior White plans to keep using the Tree Demon disguised as Shuhang.
• As resurrection begins, Song Shuhang panics at the thought of losing ten years and remembers Time City as a possible way to shorten the wait.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Shuhang makes a major breakthrough by adapting his cultivation method to suit his unusual multi-core body. His impulsive faith in Senior White’s luck provides comic relief, but the unlucky coin toss leaves him desperate to avoid a decade-long absence.
• Senior White remains practical and protective: he recognizes the resurrection process and offers to have the Tree Demon maintain Shuhang’s cover.
• A-Qi and Yellow Mountain are left bloodied and bewildered by Shuhang’s sudden explosion. The gathered seniors, Sixteen, and Soft Feather question what happened and how long he will be gone.
• The scene also underscores the group’s familiarity with Shuhang’s repeated brushes with death: Yellow Mountain wonders why “again” came naturally to mind.

Significant themes

• Growth outpacing old systems: Song Shuhang’s body and abilities have advanced beyond what his original cultivation technique can handle, forcing him to update it.
• Knowledge as both gift and burden: An overwhelming accumulation of insights leads to enlightenment, but also to a catastrophic experiment.
• Luck, fate, and comic misfortune: The Resurrection Coin turns survival into a gamble, and last-minute prayers to Senior White fail.
• Life’s disruption by cultivation: Even though resurrection is possible, a ten-year delay threatens to upend Shuhang’s ordinary relationships and responsibilities.

Plot points and events

• Song Shuhang dies after an experimental revision of the Thirty-Three Beasts Innate Unity Qi Technique causes him to explode. He uses a Resurrection Coin, which normally requires ten years to revive him.
• His Core World successfully transfers him to Time City, where time passes faster. Song Shuhang hopes this will reduce his wait, but realizes the resurrection would still take about ten months.
• Senior White Two learns that Song Shuhang is dead when the Mirage Dragon Clan Leader enters the Core World to summon him. Wanting Song Shuhang’s Merit Light and Holy Light for a trap against Fat Ball, Senior White Two rewrites Time City’s temporal laws and adds a costly “Time Super-Acceleration Mode.”
• Song Shuhang resurrects almost immediately, with no awareness of the elapsed time. He inspects his cultivation and discovers a golden crystal ball—the Yellow Diamond Ball—in his Fourth Dantian, apparently making him “Four-Core.”
• He decides not to try the defective revised technique again until Senior White helps repair it, then returns to the Core World to check on his disciples.
• Song Shuhang meets Senior White Two, who explains that he came for Merit Light and Holy Light and had already shortened the resurrection. Song Shuhang is reassured by Senior White Two’s confidence as Netherworld Ruler.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Shuhang remains curious and impulsive, but recognizes the danger of his revised technique and chooses not to repeat the experiment. His discovery of the Fourth Dantian marks a new, puzzling development in his cultivation.
• Senior White Two shows his practical care for Song Shuhang by immediately modifying Time City to speed up the resurrection. He also intends to use Song Shuhang’s powers to strengthen his planned trap for Fat Ball.
• Pavilion Master Chu senses Senior White Two’s overwhelming presence and reflects on how surprising it is that Song Shuhang is friends with—and so well cared for by—such a terrifying being.
• The Mirage Dragon Clan Leader, now Senior White Two’s pet, quickly reports Song Shuhang’s death and alerts its master.

Significant themes

• Friendship expressed through action: Senior White Two’s intervention demonstrates his concern for Song Shuhang, even while pursuing his own plan.
• Risk and restraint: Song Shuhang’s reckless experiment has consequences, but his decision to stop using the defective technique shows growing caution.
• Cultivation’s unpredictability: The unexplained Yellow Diamond Ball and Fourth Dantian suggest that Song Shuhang’s development continues to defy expectations.
• Comedy amid danger: Song Shuhang’s repeated deaths, unusual cause of death, and casual reaction contrast with the seriousness of resurrection and Senior White Two’s overwhelming power.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Song Shuhang revives in only ten seconds, thanks to Senior White Two. The revival could have been faster, but Senior White Two avoided damaging Time City.
• Time City appears weakened after operating beyond its limits. Senior White Two explains that it consumes spiritual energy and must be replenished with Spirit Stones or another powerful energy source.
• As payment for helping with the revival, Senior White Two asks Song Shuhang to lend him Holy Light and Merit Power to use against Fat Ball.
• Song Shuhang fills a large storage barrel with the Chilling Holy Light produced through his Reverse Whale Warrior Gauntlets. The process takes several hours and requires repeated replenishment of his spiritual energy.
• Senior White Two also plans to take Song Shuhang’s Merit Snake Beauty with him, hoping to use her Merit Power in a trap. During the process, he notices her yellow diamond pendant, which was created through the Child-Mother River.
• Merit Snake Beauty trades a portion of Child-Mother River water and a strand of Senior White Two’s hair for another yellow diamond ball. She then combines Senior White’s and Senior White Two’s hair in the pendant.
• While waiting for the Holy Light barrel to fill, Song Shuhang asks Senior White Two to inspect the revised Thirty-Three Beasts Innate Unity Qi Technique, which caused him to explode after one circulation. Senior White Two refuses, jokingly invoking his status as the Netherworld Ruler.
• After the transaction is complete, Senior White Two leaves with the Holy Light and Merit Snake Beauty.
• Song Shuhang returns to Senior Yellow Mountain’s cave abode, retrieves the artifacts and clothes prepared for him after his revival, and prepares to contact the seniors in the group.
• Before he can call them, his father contacts him with surprising news: Song Shuhang’s mother may be pregnant again.
• His parents anxiously reassure him that they still love him and will not forget him, revealing that they had previously forgotten about him and believed he might have died during his “transparent-person” state.
• Dad Song promises to divide their love equally between Song Shuhang and the new child. When Song Shuhang asks whether they would love a daughter equally, Dad Song falls into an awkward silence.

Character Developments

• Song Shuhang demonstrates improved abilities and confidence as a Fifth-Grade cultivator, successfully producing large amounts of high-level Holy Light and hearing conversations from a distance. Despite his power, he remains vulnerable to bizarre situations and continues to be bewildered by the actions of those around him.
• Senior White Two is shown to be practical, mischievous, and transactional. He helps Song Shuhang revive quickly but immediately demands compensation. His unusual “Holy Light toilet” and willingness to trade his hair for a pendant highlight his eccentric personality.
• Merit Snake Beauty becomes more assertive and protective of her possessions. She guards her pendant carefully and negotiates successfully with Senior White Two, showing clear preferences and independent judgment.
• Song Shuhang’s parents are portrayed as loving but comically awkward. Their repeated assurances reveal guilt over having forgotten Song Shuhang and their determination to prevent him from feeling replaced by a younger sibling.

Significant Themes

• Family love and insecurity: The chapter humorously explores Song Shuhang’s fear of being forgotten or replaced, while his parents emphasize that their love will remain constant.
• The costs of power: Time City and Song Shuhang’s Holy Light both require substantial energy, reminding him that powerful abilities and artifacts are not effortless.
• Transactions and cooperation: Much of the chapter revolves around exchanges—revival for Holy Light, hair and water for a pendant, and family reassurance in response to emotional uncertainty.
• Absurdity in everyday life: Grand supernatural events coexist with mundane family concerns, creating comic contrast between fighting powerful entities and discussing a possible younger sibling.
• Identity and belonging: Song Shuhang’s “death,” revival, and his parents’ mistaken belief that he was gone emphasize his continuing struggle to remain connected to ordinary family life.

Character Interactions

• Song Shuhang and Senior White Two interact through a mixture of cooperation and teasing, with Senior White Two helping him while refusing to provide free assistance.
• Senior White Two and Merit Snake Beauty establish a humorous barter relationship centered on hair, Child-Mother River water, and yellow diamond pendants.
• Song Shuhang attempts to involve Senior White Two in solving the problems with his cultivation technique but is rebuffed.
• Song Shuhang’s conversation with Dad Song shifts from concern over practical family matters to awkward reassurance about parental love. Mom Song repeatedly prompts Dad Song to express affection, making the exchange both touching and comedic.

Chapter Summary: “Come on, let’s hurt each other’s feelings”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Song Shuhang’s parents reveal that Mom Song may be pregnant. Dad Song’s hesitation makes it clear that he would prefer a daughter and might favor her over Shuhang.
• Mom Song tries to reassure Shuhang that he will always be loved, though Shuhang overhears their private conversation and realizes her comforting claims may not be entirely sincere.
• Shuhang accepts the possibility of a younger sibling, even joking that he would prefer a quieter younger sister over a mischievous younger brother. He also expresses concern for his mother’s health during pregnancy.
• Doudou appears in human form for the first time, deliberately resembling Song Shuhang. He explains that this is his temporary “State 1,” created through a Transformation pill and influenced by members of the Nine Provinces Number One Group.
• Shuhang immediately retaliates against Doudou’s boasting by pointing out that he has already reached the Fifth-Grade Realm while Doudou remains at the Fourth Grade. Doudou angrily transforms back into a giant Pekingese and bites Shuhang, though he cannot injure him because of Shuhang’s powerful defensive techniques.
• Doudou reveals that he is preparing to undergo his Fifth-Grade tribulation, with Yellow Mountain having prepared a Tribulation-Transcending Formation for him. Shuhang promises to celebrate with an Immortal Treasure Banquet afterward.
• Shuhang reunites with Yellow Mountain and the other cultivators. He explains that he revived early by using a Resurrection Coin combined with the effects of Time City.
• He recounts how he died: while asleep, he entered a state of enlightenment, modified the Thirty-Three Beasts Innate Unity Qi Technique, and immediately circulated the unfinished version, causing himself to explode.
• Shuhang writes out the modified technique for the seniors to examine. The group is shocked because it strengthens not only his Natal Dantian and Natal Golden Core but also several minor Dantians.
• Little Senior White reveals that Shuhang possesses more than one Golden Core—or core-like object—including a small Golden Core in his Dragon Tail Dantian, a Demon Core above it, and another unidentified presence. The group turns their attention to Shuhang, leaving him feeling exposed.

Character Developments

• Song Shuhang: Shows emotional maturity by accepting the possibility of a younger sibling, despite realizing his parents may favor a daughter. He continues to develop recklessly but creatively as a cultivator, modifying techniques during enlightenment. His unusual body and cultivation structure are becoming increasingly complex.
• Mom Song and Dad Song: Their desire for another child reveals a comical but genuine shift in their family dynamic. Dad Song’s obvious preference for a daughter creates Shuhang’s anxiety, while Mom Song attempts—somewhat dishonestly—to protect his feelings.
• Doudou: Debuts his human form and displays considerable pride in his appearance. His playful rivalry with Shuhang remains strong, and his upcoming Fifth-Grade tribulation marks important cultivation progress.
• Little Senior White: Demonstrates his exceptional perception by identifying the multiple cores within Shuhang and providing the key insight into why Shuhang’s modified technique affects his minor Dantians.
• The Nine Provinces Number One Group: Continues to serve as both a support network and a source of teasing, criticism, and technical expertise for Shuhang.

Significant Themes

• Family affection and insecurity: Shuhang worries that a new child—especially a daughter—could replace him in his parents’ affections, though he handles the situation with humor and restraint.
• Honesty versus comforting lies: The chapter opens with the contrast between Dad Song’s blunt honesty and Mom Song’s attempts to reassure Shuhang with statements she may not fully mean.
• Mutual teasing and emotional retaliation: Shuhang’s pain over his father’s comments leads him to “hurt” Doudou by reminding him of their cultivation gap, creating a comedic cycle of exchanged insults.
• Recklessness and innovation: Shuhang’s cultivation advances through unconventional methods, but his habit of experimenting without proper precautions repeatedly causes dangerous consequences.
• Identity and transformation: Doudou’s human form, modeled partly on Shuhang, and Shuhang’s multiple cores both raise questions about physical identity, transformation, and the abnormal nature of Shuhang’s cultivation path.

Important Character Interactions

• Song Shuhang and his parents: A humorous but emotionally awkward phone conversation about the possible pregnancy and the parents’ future favoritism.
• Song Shuhang and Doudou: Friendly rivalry develops into mock insults and a playful biting attack. They also discuss Doudou’s upcoming breakthrough and the possibility of holding a celebratory banquet.
• Song Shuhang and the cultivation group: Shuhang confesses how he accidentally caused his own death, while the seniors criticize his reckless technique modification.
• Little Senior White and the group: White’s discovery of Shuhang’s multiple cores shifts the group’s attention from the failed technique to the much more mysterious structure of Shuhang’s cultivation.

Plot points and events

• Seven Cultivations examines Song Shuhang’s improvised cultivation technique and recognizes that it combines ideas he has encountered recently, including healing, body-strengthening, and Manifestation of Laws. He and the group conclude that Shuhang’s original technique failed because it skipped too many developmental stages—like trying to build the fifth floor of a house before constructing the floors below.
• The Nine Provinces Number One Group decides to turn the technique into a gradual, testable progression. To avoid risking Shuhang’s life, Little Senior White recommends using Shuhang’s clone, whose destruction will not kill the main body.
• After hours of collaborative work, the group creates Revision 1. The clone completes its first cycle safely, but suffers internal injuries during its third. Seven Cultivations identifies where the error emerged, and the group begins revising the technique again.
• Revision 2 survives four cycles, but the clone explodes on the fifth. The group discovers that the technique’s cycles push Shuhang’s multiple cores toward their limits: the first four cycles correspond to his four cores, while the fifth has no core to support it.
• The group realizes that its revisions have been shaped by cultivation traditions built around a single core. Shuhang’s unusual, multiple-core constitution requires a fundamentally different approach.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Shuhang jokes about his earlier death and is relieved to have a safer way to test the technique. He also considers Soft Feather’s suggestion that he could earn Spirit Stones by testing unfinished techniques—a tempting prospect given his debts and future expenses.
• Seven Cultivations acts as the group’s expert observer, carefully tracking the clone’s progress and diagnosing both failures.
• Little Senior White offers the clone-based safety plan and uses the experiments to highlight how assumptions can limit innovation.
• Venerable Yellow Mountain, Northern River’s Loose Cultivator, and the other group members contribute to the revisions and learn from the testing process.
• Soft Feather worries about Shuhang’s safety, then reflects on the effort her father must have invested in creating his own techniques. Doudou continues teasing Shuhang while stubbornly biting his arm, and White Dragon Sister stays with Su Clan’s Sixteen as an earring.

Significant themes

• Experimentation and risk: A technique’s promising prototype is not necessarily safe; repeated testing and revision are essential.
• The limits of conventional wisdom: Experience can guide progress, but familiar assumptions—especially the assumption that cultivators have one core—can become obstacles.
• Learning through failure: The clones’ injuries and destruction provide information that helps the group understand the technique and Shuhang’s unusual cultivation.
• Collective effort and teaching: The group’s work improves the technique while also teaching its members about creating and refining cultivation methods.

Key plot points and events

• Song Shuhang’s clone explodes, and he briefly feels its pain through their connection. Doudou gloats, while the newly warm-hearted Medicine Master offers him painkillers.
• Medicine Master and Jiang Ziyan give Shuhang a newly developed spiritual-energy recovery pill, the Purple Master Pill. It works well but tastes extremely bitter inside its candy coating and leaves him painfully full for about two days. Shuhang uses three pills to restore energy after spending a great deal of it to revive his clone.
• Several hours later, the Nine Provinces Number One Group completes the third revision of the Thirty-Three Beasts Innate Unity Qi Technique. Shuhang tests it with another clone.
• The clone completes 132 cycles—four sets of 33—then reaches a limit without injury or explosion. The seniors suspect this stopping point is tied to Shuhang’s four cores and may protect him, but they cannot yet confirm that the technique is safe.
• Little Senior White asks Shuhang to stay with him and accompany him to Tiantian Island for further observation.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Shuhang endures the clone’s pain, accepts the pill despite its side effects, and continues volunteering clones to test the dangerous technique.
• Medicine Master appears unusually gentle after changing his hairstyle. He and Jiang Ziyan support Shuhang with the recovery pills and then leave together affectionately.
• Doudou teases Shuhang, while Soft Feather jokingly interprets his bloated stomach as a pregnancy symptom—a result of her fixation on Pregnancy Gaze. Su Clan’s Sixteen offers a digestive tablet, which Shuhang cannot stomach.
• Little Senior White, Sage Seven Cultivator, and the other group members collaborate on the technique and discuss what the 132-cycle limit means.

Significant themes

• Experimentation and uncertainty: The cultivators revise and test a risky technique, making progress without yet knowing whether it is fully safe.
• Endurance and mutual support: Shuhang bears pain and bodily discomfort while his seniors and friends help him recover and investigate.
• Humor amid danger: The clone explosions, bitter pills, excessive fullness, and pregnancy jokes lighten the tense cultivation experiments.

Key events

• Song Shuhang worries that the revised version 3 of the Thirty-Three Beasts Innate Unity Qi Technique might still make him explode. Sage Seven Cultivator says the technique should be safe in theory, but Little Senior White says they can only confirm it after Shuhang reaches the Sixth-Grade Realm.
• Shuhang’s resurrection artifact is still cooling down, leaving him especially vulnerable for the next ten days. His friends joke about death and burial arrangements, then turn their attention to Northern River’s feud with Copper Trigram, who has apparently reserved a grave and insulting epitaph for him.
• Senior White explains that a huge passage to an unknown world has appeared on Tiantian Island amid the changing “Heaven” and the approaching Power Tide. He and Shuhang will investigate first and summon the group if help is needed.
• The group hears that the Limitless Demon Sect may be planning to establish a Demon Cultivator Nation. The details are unclear, but the sect is expected to make a major move.
• Curious about Shuhang’s Golden Core, Fairy Eastern Six enters his Dantian to inspect its Dragon Patterns. She sees eight unusual patterns linked to his magical artifacts and merits—then discovers the ninth depicts her.

Character developments and interactions

• Shuhang remains anxious about his explosive cultivation technique and reluctant to risk his life, despite his unusually rapid advancement.
• Little Senior White takes charge of the Tiantian Island reconnaissance plan, while Soft Feather and Su Clan’s Sixteen decline to join for personal obligations.
• Northern River’s normally mild temperament gives way to a determination to kill Copper Trigram after another provocation. The group enthusiastically encourages him and offers support.
• Fairy Eastern Six moves from curiosity about Shuhang’s cultivation to stunned disbelief when she recognizes herself among his Dragon Patterns. Soft Feather and Sixteen already know enough about the unusual patterns to find the reveal amusing.

Significant themes

• Uncertainty and danger: Shuhang’s safety remains unproven, while portals to unknown worlds may bring either threats or opportunities.
• Found family and comic camaraderie: The cultivators support one another, though their teasing about death and Copper Trigram’s antics often derails serious discussion.
• Unconventional growth: Shuhang’s Golden Core reflects his connections, accumulated treasures, and extraordinary experiences as much as his own cultivation.