Chapter Summaries

Wang Mu despaired over his family’s enemies and his own inability to cultivate until the Supreme Investment System removed his curse and bound itself to him. He learned he could grow stronger by investing in talented people and considered using twelve Sea Stabilizing Dragon Pearls to awaken his pet Golden-Winged Peng’s potential.

• Wang Mu reviewed the Wang Family’s powerful background and the many Protagonists his relatives had antagonized through failed attempts to cure his inability to cultivate.
• Wang Mu heard rumors of attacks against the Langya Merchant Association, the Northern Darkness Sacred Ground, and the Wang Family, and feared the family’s downfall would leave him defenseless.
• The Supreme Investment System removed the mysterious curse in Wang Mu’s body and bound itself to him, offering returns based on investments in talented individuals.
• Wang Mu examined his pet Golden-Winged Peng, Wang Fugui, and learned its depleted origin and Devour Dragons trait made it suitable for investment.
• Wang Mu produced twelve Sea Stabilizing Dragon Pearls made from the vital essence of peak Nascent Soul Realm dragons and considered using them to help Wang Fugui awaken its bloodline.

Wang Mu fed Wang Fugui ten Sea Stabilizing Dragon Pearls, triggering the golden sparrow’s transformation and a huge cultivation breakthrough. The system returned purified spiritual power and new abilities to Wang Mu, leaving him with a Golden-Winged Peng bloodline and the Heaven-Peng Dragon-Smite Technique.

• Wang Mu explained that the Wang Family’s lavish birthday gifts had left him with an immense fortune, then fed Wang Fugui a Sea Stabilizing Dragon Pearl.
• Wang Fugui awakened its true form and grew stronger as Wang Mu invested nine more Dragon Pearls, reaching Nascent Soul Early Stage and completing a 100% investment.
• Wang Mu challenged the system over his small amount of spiritual energy, and the system explained that it had compressed and purified his cultivation returns.
• Wang Mu realized his spiritual power was exceptionally pure and difficult for powerful cultivators to detect, while giving him strength beyond his apparent realm.
• Wang Fugui awakened its bloodline to Immortal Grade, and Wang Mu gained the Golden-Winged Peng bloodline, inherited techniques including Heaven-Peng Dragon-Smite Technique, and improvements to his abilities.

Wang Mu went to Azure Cloud Island to seek Lin Yan as a new investment target and found him enduring brutal labor while secretly recovering with help from his teacher. Lin Yan mistook Wang Mu’s arrival for a threat, while Wang Mu recognized him as a Protagonist with exceptional talent and an old mentor.

• Wang Mu decided to invest in more people and chose Lin Yan, hoping to reduce the hostility between them.
• On Azure Cloud Island, Lin Yan carried out punishing work in the herb fields under the fat steward’s threats.
• Lin Yan’s teacher reminded him that he had awakened his Saint Physique and urged him to reach Foundation Establishment so he could escape.
• Lin Yan saw Wang Mu arrive on the Golden-Winged Peng and suppressed his rage, fearing Wang Mu had come to kill him.
• Wang Mu met Lin Yan and confirmed that he had a Protagonist template, extraordinary talent, and an old grandpa as his teacher.

Wang Mu confronted Lin Yan after discovering his Great Emperor Potential and Emperor Flame Saint Physique, then tried to justify stealing Lin Yan’s Dao Companion and crippling his cultivation as preparation for awakening it. When Lin Yan questioned how Wang Mu knew about the physique before its recent awakening, Wang Mu claimed that the world would soon face a calamity of utter destruction.

• Wang Mu realized Lin Yan had reached Qi Refining Ninth Heaven and had an old remnant-soul mentor, Dan Xuan, advising him.
• The Fat Manager boasted that he had mistreated Lin Yan on Wang Mu’s orders, deepening Lin Yan’s hatred before Wang Mu sent him away.
• Wang Mu told Lin Yan that stealing his Dao Companion and crippling his cultivation had been meant to temper his Dao Heart and protect him from the dangers of his Emperor Flame Saint Physique.
• Lin Yan asked Dan Xuan whether Wang Mu’s explanation was true, and Dan Xuan confirmed the physique’s dangers but questioned Wang Mu’s methods.
• Lin Yan asked how Wang Mu had known about his physique three years earlier, and Wang Mu claimed that a world-ending calamity was approaching.

Wang Mu convinced Lin Yan that he had crippled him and taken his Dao Companion to prepare him for a future calamity, then gave him the Sea Spirit Flame. Lin Yan accepted the gift, and Wang Mu received an investment reward tied to Lin Yan’s future cultivation.

• Wang Mu claimed that visions foretold a calamity that would destroy the Azure Yuan Realm and that Lin Yan would become Emperor Yan, a hero who died defending the Human Race.
• Wang Mu told Lin Yan that he had ruined Lin Yan’s life and drawn close to his Dao Companion to free him from distractions and prepare him for the future battle.
• Wang Mu presented Lin Yan with a millennium cold jade box containing the Sea Spirit Flame, which Dan Xuan explained was a valuable, relatively gentle spirit flame suited to Lin Yan.
• Lin Yan accepted the Sea Spirit Flame and thanked Wang Mu, while Wang Mu received a thirty-percent return on Lin Yan’s subsequent cultivation achievements.

Wang Mu gave Lin Yan the Sea Spirit Flame and invited him to Everlasting Island, but Lin Yan remained wary and escaped after refining the flame and reaching Foundation Establishment. Wang Mu received fragments of the Sea Spirit Flame and Solar Emperor Scripture as returned benefits, then chose not to pursue Lin Yan.

• Wang Mu offered Lin Yan the Sea Spirit Flame and invited him to Everlasting Island, but Lin Yan claimed he needed to say farewell to his friends first.
• Lin Yan consulted Dan Xuan, who warned him not to trust Wang Mu and advised him to leave the North Sea; Lin Yan decided to refine the Sea Spirit Flame and raise his cultivation first.
• Wang Mu returned to Everlasting Island and received a Sea Spirit Flame fragment and a Solar Emperor Scripture fragment after Lin Yan refined the flame and reached Foundation Establishment.
• A manager reported that Lin Yan had escaped from Azure Cloud Island, and Wang Mu dismissed the manager’s offer to retrieve him, deciding to let Lin Yan go.

Wang Mu tested whether investing in ordinary people could generate cultivation gains by rewarding the people on Everlasting Island with spirit stones and making them cultivate. After one night of returned gains, his cultivation reached the ninth level of Qi Refinement.

• Wang Mu dismissed the Fat Manager with a High-Grade Spirit Stone and warned him not to pursue Lin Yan without permission.
• The system reported that Wang Mu had completed his investment in Zhang Wanquan with one High-Grade Spirit Stone, prompting Wang Mu to consider investing in ordinary people.
• Wang Mu gathered everyone on Everlasting Island, including the chief steward Zixia, and gave her a Nirvana Pill as a reward.
• Wang Mu distributed High-Grade Spirit Stones to more than five hundred servants, maids, and guards, maxing out their investment progress.
• Wang Mu ordered everyone to cultivate, and after a night of returned cultivation gains, he reached the ninth level of Qi Refinement.

Wang Mu decided to invest in ordinary people as well as Children of Luck, hoping to grow stronger quickly, and traveled to Heavenly Severing Island. His arrival caused panic among the islanders, while Li Yuanhua emerged from seclusion determined to use Wang Mu as a whetstone.

• Wang Mu concluded that investing broadly in ordinary people could help him grow quickly, despite the risks, and resolved to pursue the strategy.
• Wang Mu rode the Golden-Winged Peng toward Heavenly Severing Island, with Zixia and other powerful followers following him.
• Wang Mu’s Golden Lion Carriage arrived over the island, frightening the residents into fleeing as they repeated rumors about his wicked reputation.
• The King of Liang told Li Yuanhua that Wang Mu had arrived after the gray-robed ancestor emerged from seclusion.
• Li Yuanhua declared that he would use Wang Mu as a whetstone, and the King of Liang became excited.

Li Yuanhua emerged from seclusion and brought Li Changhe, his family, and hundreds of women to greet Wang Mu, who was lounging on Heavenly Severing Island. Rather than confront him, Li Yuanhua tried to win his favor with flattery and a treasure that improved the island’s spiritual energy.

• Li Yuanhua ordered Li Changhe to gather the island’s beautiful women, the empress, and their daughter to accompany him to meet Wang Mu.
• Wang Mu waited on a jade couch while Zixia told him the island’s people had been stopped from fleeing and warned him that Li Yuanhua was unyielding.
• Li Yuanhua arrived with Li Changhe and the women, announced that Wang Mu should not have come to the island, then knelt and lamented its poor conditions.
• Li Yuanhua slapped Li Changhe for interrupting and secretly explained that he intended to win Wang Mu’s favor and secure the Wang Family’s support.
• Li Yuanhua presented the Hundred Flowers Gathering Immortals Pearl and activated it, spreading dense spiritual energy and floral fragrance around Wang Mu and his companions.

Wang Mu ordered the Li Family to hold a free Ascension Convention for every eligible mortal on Heavenly Severing Island, leaving Li Yuanhua to plan how to make the event please him. News of the convention spread, but ordinary people suspected Wang Mu had ulterior motives.

• Wang Mu told Li Yuanhua he wanted a free Ascension Convention open to all adults whose qualifications had not been tested, and Li Yuanhua agreed to arrange it.
• Li Yuanhua ordered Li Changhe to spread the announcement across the island and rejected his suggestion that the Li Family pay for the testing.
• Li Yuanhua explained that Wang Mu wanted to spend his own money and advised Li Changhe to cater to his preferences.
• Li Yuanhua began considering how to make the convention grand enough to satisfy Wang Mu.
• The announcement spread from Daliang Royal City, and people in a wine shop and among the farmland farmers doubted Wang Mu's motives and speculated that he wanted women.

The Wang Family’s planned free aptitude testing on Heavenly Severing Island frightened most mortals and drew ridicule from rival forces, while Tang Qian advanced his business war against the Langya Merchant Association. At the Northern Darkness Sacred Ground, Luo Xuanshuang defied the Primal Origin Sacred Ground’s demand to humiliate her son, and Li Yuanhua ordered his men to bring reluctant islanders to the testing.

• Tiedan chose not to pursue aptitude testing because he feared leaving his elderly grandmother alone, while a sick girl argued with her father about going to test her aptitude.
• Huang Xiao and other island leaders mocked Wang’s Ascension Convention, while Huang Xiao suggested the Wang Family’s fortunes might be nearing their end.
• Tang Qian celebrated his Golden Core breakthrough and learned that the Penglai Merchant Association had seized over a hundred business deals from the Langya Merchant Association.
• Luo Xuanshuang rejected the demand that her son kneel and crawl to apologize, threatened war with the Primal Origin Sacred Ground, and let him continue his free aptitude testing.
• Li Yuanhua saw that only a dozen people had signed up and ordered Li Changhe to go door to door and bring every eligible mortal to the testing.

Wang Mu began the Ascension Convention, where young people were tested for Spiritual Roots and those who qualified were promised Spirit Stones. The crowd grew eager to see whether their children would qualify, while visiting cultivators speculated about Wang Mu’s purpose.

• Wang Mu learned that Li Yuanhua had used a method to gather the young people and their families, whose fear and anger worsened Wang Mu’s reputation.
• Li Yuanhua announced the Ascension Convention, and the young people began entering the Spiritual Root Testing Formation with Low-Grade Spirit Stones.
• After nine tests showed no Spiritual Roots, Liu Chang’s formation lit up and a host announced that he had an Inferior Metal Spiritual Root.
• Liu Chang’s parents celebrated, then worried that the convention might put their son in danger because Wang Mu had organized it.
• The host announced that Young Master Wang would award ten Low-Grade Spirit Stones to anyone with an Inferior Spiritual Root, exciting the crowd and baffling visiting cultivators.
• The common people eagerly anticipated the remaining tests, hoping their own children would qualify.

During the Ascension Convention, Wang Mu gained part of Lin Yan’s Eight Extremes Crushing Heaven Fist and worried that his investment gains were too slow. He ordered Li Yuanhua to give techniques to everyone tested, ending the chapter as cultivators recognized the value of Wang Mu’s gifts.

• Wang Mu received an incomplete Eight Extremes Crushing Heaven Fist through his investment in Lin Yan and grew concerned about Lin Yan’s rising strength.
• Wang Mu decided he needed more people to accept his investments and summoned Li Yuanhua to carry out an order.
• Chu Qing was revealed to have a Mid-Grade Wind Spiritual Root, drawing cheers and envy from the crowd.
• Li Yuanhua announced that everyone with a Spiritual Root would receive a matching basic cultivation technique, while those without one would receive the Primordial Unity Stance Method.
• Wang Mu’s technique manuals flew to the tested youths, and cultivators recognized that they were far better than common breath-regulation arts.

At the Ascension Convention, Wang Mu gave cultivation techniques to aspiring cultivators and martial training to those without Spiritual Roots, then invited other sects to recruit the talented youths. Afterward, news of the convention spread, causing ordinary people to reconsider their fear of attending future tests.

• Wang Mu gave cultivation techniques to youths with Spiritual Roots and the Primal Chaos Stance to those without them.
• Wang Mu encouraged the youths and explained that he held the convention to help people pursue cultivation despite his own inability to cultivate.
• Wang Mu invited cultivators from other sects to take promising youths into their schools, then departed so they could recruit freely.
• Cultivators from smaller sects competed to recruit the youths, valuing the techniques Wang Mu had given them and fearing the Wang Family might take an interest.
• Li Yuanhua and Wang Mu's companions spread word of the convention, and ordinary people began to doubt their previous fears about attending.

Wang Mu’s mass Spiritual Root testing drew thousands of people and sparked a fierce recruitment scramble among nearby sects. He discovered the beggar girl Nannan had an unusual unawakened physique and took her in, while a Jade Slip from Heavenly Severing Island reached the Langya Merchant Association’s founder.

• Thousands of commoners attended the Ascension Convention, and Wang Mu’s testing identified hundreds with Inferior Spiritual Roots and several with Mid-Grade Spiritual Roots.
• Nearby sects competed intensely to recruit the newly revealed Immortal Seeds, especially those with Mid-Grade Spiritual Roots.
• The testing presider discovered that the beggar girl called Nannan had an Inferior Water Spiritual Root, and Wang Mu’s assessment revealed her unawakened Enlightenment Immortal Heart and flourishing luck.
• Wang Mu brought Nannan to him, fed her, and ordered Zixia to bathe her, dress her, and give her a proper meal.
• A Jade Slip left Heavenly Severing Island and arrived at the Langya Merchant Association’s headquarters, where Nalan Rongyun stood with the ten chief stewards.

Nalan Rongyun defended Wang Mu against criticism from Langya Merchant Association’s Chief Managers and ordered rare Enlightenment Tea Leaves sent to him. On Heavenly Severing Island, Wang Mu cared for Little Nannan, who feared someone connected to her older sister, and reassured her that she was safe.

• Ren Pingsheng warned Nalan Rongyun that Penglai Merchant Association was suppressing Langya and proposed limiting Wang Mu’s access to its resources.
• Nalan Rongyun rejected the proposal, declared that she would let Wang Mu spend even the entire merchant association’s wealth if it made him happy, and warned the Chief Managers not to criticize him again.
• After receiving Wang Mu’s message, Nalan Rongyun ordered Ren Pingsheng to send two jin of fresh Enlightenment Tea Leaves to Heavenly Severing Island.
• At the Imperial Palace, Little Nannan ate a full meal and awkwardly accused Wang Mu of wanting to sleep with her because of his lecherous reputation.
• When Wang Mu asked about her older sister, Little Nannan showed fear and hatred, and Wang Mu reassured her that no one there could hurt her.

Wang Mu learned that Tang Qian had slaughtered Little Nannan’s family after abandoning her pregnant sister, and he encouraged Little Nannan to pursue revenge despite her Inferior Spiritual Root. He revealed that she possessed an Enlightenment Immortal Heart and gave her Enlightenment Tea, leaving her suspicious of his claim that it would make her smarter.

• Little Nannan told Wang Mu how Tang Qian had married her sister, left to seek immortality, and later returned to kill the family, leaving only her alive.
• Wang Mu recognized Tang Qian as the man who had once escaped his mother, Luo Xuanshuang, and suspected he had murdered Little Nannan’s family to conceal his first marriage from the Penglai Merchant Association.
• Wang Mu condemned Tang Qian and told Little Nannan that she could become strong enough to take revenge because she possessed an Enlightenment Immortal Heart despite her Inferior Spiritual Root.
• A guard delivered a jar of Enlightenment Tea, and Wang Mu brewed some and offered it to Little Nannan, who wondered whether he was trying to trick her.

Wang Mu made Little Nannan drink Enlightenment Tea until she awakened the Enlightenment Immortal Heart, which greatly increased his comprehension as well. He then visited the Ascension Convention and rewarded Li Yuanhua with Enlightenment Tea.

• Wang Mu persuaded Little Nannan to drink large amounts of bitter Enlightenment Tea, and she fell asleep after taking in too much of its energy.
• After Little Nannan woke, Wang Mu continued giving her tea until she reached full investment progress and awakened the Enlightenment Immortal Heart.
• Wang Mu gained the Enlightenment Immortal Heart, used his enhanced comprehension to advance the incomplete Eight Extremes Crushing Heaven Fist, and Little Nannan fell asleep again.
• Wang Mu went to the seventh day of the Ascension Convention, where crowds tested their Spiritual Roots and a gifted young woman with a high-grade Thunder Spiritual Root had joined the Sun-Veiling Sect.
• Wang Mu reclined on a newly built High Platform overlooking the testing grounds, praised Li Yuanhua, and gave him a packet of Enlightenment Tea.
• Li Yuanhua recognized the tea, knelt, and thanked Wang Mu for the gift.

Wang Mu’s Ascension Convention uncovered a genius with a Supreme-Grade Spiritual Root, whom he let the sects compete to recruit so he could protect his reputation. As the seventh day ended, a powerful surge of qi erupted from Wang Mu’s Dantian, startling Li Yuanhua and Zixia.

• Wang Mu reflected on the investment returns from Li Yuanhua and the difficulty of investing in Children of Luck.
• The testing grounds discovered a genius with a Supreme-Grade Fire Spiritual Root after more than five hundred thousand people had been tested.
• Wang Mu told the major sects they could freely compete for the Supreme-Grade Spiritual Root genius, and they offered prestigious positions and training.
• Li Yuanhua explained why the Li Family was holding back, while Wang Mu avoided appearing to direct the family’s actions.
• At the end of the seventh day, Wang Mu returned to the Imperial Palace and felt a vast qi flow burst from his Dantian, frightening Li Yuanhua and Zixia.

Wang Mu reached Foundation Establishment after the Ascension Convention and restored the incomplete Eight Extremes Crushing Heaven Fist. His mother, Luo Xuanshuang, arrived and discovered his cultivation and extraordinary abilities, leaving her astonished and relieved.

• Wang Mu broke through to Foundation Establishment after receiving cultivation from the people he had invested in at the Ascension Convention.
• Wang Mu used the Suspended Void Restriction to protect his courtyard and practiced his techniques, fully restoring the Eight Extremes Crushing Heaven Fist.
• Luo Xuanshuang arrived and learned that Wang Mu could cultivate, then examined his exceptionally pure mana.
• Wang Mu told Luo Xuanshuang that he had derived two techniques by observing Prosperity and had found the incomplete fist technique by chance.
• Luo Xuanshuang recognized the Peng clan essence in Wang Mu's techniques and was shocked by his ability to restore an ancient divine ability.