Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: “No Sense of Responsibility, and a Sense of Responsibility”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Xuanyuan Buqi explains that Vast Sea Venerable’s reluctance to confront the Golden Crow Sect is not due to fear, but because directly entering a Seven Gates Lower Sect to arrest a minor cultivator could create a major political incident.
• Feng Jun is asked to travel to the Insectoid World and invite an Advanced Stage cultivator from the Golden Crow Upper Sect. He finds Youxuan Venerable instead of Venerable Luanxiong.
• Youxuan refuses to come, claiming he is too busy and that the presence of two True Lords makes his attendance unnecessary. He gives Feng Jun a token authorizing them to act and asks that the matter be handled discreetly.
• Xuanyuan Buqi criticizes Youxuan for avoiding responsibility and disguising his unwillingness to intervene as a favor. Qian Zhong, however, points out that the token at least prevents them from openly causing trouble with the Golden Crow Sect.
• Fan Qiu’an proposes luring out True Immortal Qingye, the Golden Crow cultivator suspected of belonging to the Thief Lineage. He uses his local connections to arrange an expedition involving Qingye’s beloved nominal disciple.
• Fan Qiu’an recruits an old friend, an itinerant Early Gold Core cultivator whose cultivation was crippled after once being a renowned prodigy. He claims to have discovered a nearby ruin and asks the man to invite Qingye’s disciple.
• The friend suspects the situation may be dangerous but agrees on the condition that Qingye not be harmed unjustly. He values acting according to his conscience and refuses to participate in a scheme that would deliberately injure Qingye.
• Qingye’s nominal disciple agrees to investigate the ruin and brings another junior cultivator. Once the group assembles, Vast Sea Venerable manifests his True Nascent Soul and directly calls Qingye out.
• Qingye appears, immediately recognizing the seriousness of the situation. The three Gold Core cultivators are terrified when they realize they have become involved in a confrontation between powerful True Lords and a suspected Thief Lineage member.

Character Developments

• Feng Jun acts as the practical intermediary between the various factions. Though reluctant to become involved in the Golden Crow Sect’s internal problems, he accepts the responsibility and quickly completes his task.
• Youxuan Venerable is portrayed as evasive and concerned with reputation. Rather than personally dealing with a traitor from his sect, he uses the presence of the True Lords as an excuse to stay away while offering a token and a vague favor.
• Xuanyuan Buqi becomes increasingly irritated by Youxuan’s lack of responsibility. His harsh comments also reveal his realistic understanding of power: admiration for a junior does not mean he is willing to spend valuable resources protecting them.
• Fan Qiu’an proves resourceful, bold, and morally confident. He understands the local relationships of the Golden Crow Garrison and uses them effectively without believing himself to be acting dishonestly.
• Fan Qiu’an’s old friend is characterized as blunt, principled, and emotionally hardened by past misfortune. Although suspicious, he agrees to help because he trusts Fan Qiu’an and insists on not harming an innocent person.
• Qingye’s disciple demonstrates her status and confidence by arranging the expedition herself and bringing a junior companion, reflecting her position as a steward and her reliance on Qingye’s protection.
• True Immortal Qingye appears arrogant and dangerous, but his vicious expression suggests he immediately understands that the situation may concern his hidden identity and the Thief Lineage.

Significant Themes

• Responsibility versus self-preservation: Youxuan avoids an embarrassing duty, while Fan Qiu’an and his friend accept personal risks to accomplish what they believe is right.
• Reputation and political face: Youxuan’s refusal is driven largely by embarrassment and fear of public humiliation. The chapter emphasizes how powerful sects often prioritize appearances over direct justice.
• Moral integrity: Fan Qiu’an’s friend insists that he will not violate his conscience, even when offered a potentially lucrative opportunity.
• The cold hierarchy of cultivation society: Xuanyuan Buqi’s reflections show that powerful cultivators may appreciate capable juniors without offering them meaningful protection. Respect, affection, and practical support are separate things.
• Trust and personal connections: Fan Qiu’an succeeds not through overwhelming strength but through old friendships and a detailed understanding of local relationships.
• Power imbalance and unintended danger: Ordinary Gold Core cultivators become pawns in a confrontation involving Great Venerables. Their terror highlights the vast distance between their level and that of the people manipulating events around them.

Character Interactions

• Feng Jun consults with Xuanyuan Buqi, Qian Zhong, and Vast Sea Venerable before traveling to the Insectoid World.
• Youxuan’s token creates tension: Qian Zhong sees it as a useful restraint, while Xuanyuan Buqi considers it an empty gesture.
• Fan Qiu’an carefully works through his network, relying on a trusted former prodigy to reach Qingye’s disciple.
• The former prodigy challenges Fan Qiu’an’s intentions, making clear that friendship does not override his moral boundaries.
• Xuanyuan Buqi expresses admiration for the man’s integrity but also cynically predicts that such honest people rarely survive long.
• The chapter ends with Vast Sea Venerable confronting Qingye directly, while the three Gold Core cultivators realize they have unknowingly entered an extremely dangerous conflict.

Chapter Summary: “Failure”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Qingye True Immortal reveals himself after being exposed as a member of the Thief Lineage. Vast Sea Venerable Hanhai immediately attempts to trap him with Ice Seal, but the attack fails because Qingye’s apparent body is only a reflection within the Illusory-Heaven Reflection Formation.
• Qingye smugly explains that the meeting place was deliberately chosen to protect him through the formation. He challenges Hanhai, believing a Soul Emergence Venerable cannot capture him through a reflection.
• Hanhai reveals that the Golden Crow Sect’s Upper Sect has already been informed and that several powerful cultivators are prepared to seize Qingye. He offers Qingye a chance to surrender and promises that he may survive.
• Qingye’s composure collapses when he realizes that neither his sect nor the Upper Sect will protect him. He attempts to stall for time by asking about Hanhai’s identity and affiliations.
• During the conversation, Xuanyuan Buqi uses the Character-Setting Art, locking onto Qingye’s true body. Qingye immediately self-detonates, destroying his body and Nascent Soul. Qian Zhong True Lord attempts to preserve clues from the remains but finds very little.
• The group debates whether Qingye may have possessed a rare Soul-Splitting Secret Art and left behind another consciousness. Qian Zhong eventually concludes that he did not.
• Feng Jun suggests that Qingye may have committed a crime so serious that even his sect could not protect him. Xuanyuan Buqi speculates that he might have massacred fellow disciples, while Hanhai criticizes the lack of evidence.
• Hanhai questions the three witnesses present at the scene, including an Earth Cultivator and two Gold Core cultivators. He orders them to accompany the group as witnesses while they investigate the Golden Crow Sect’s resident grounds.
• At the Golden Crow Mountain Gate, two Nascent Soul cultivators greet Hanhai. Feng Jun presents the aura of Great Venerable Youxuan, proving that the Upper Sect authorized their actions and establishing their right to investigate Qingye’s connection to the sect.

Character Developments

• Vast Sea Venerable Hanhai demonstrates confidence, restraint, and adherence to sect principles. He offers Qingye a genuine chance to live, showing that he is not needlessly cruel, but his authority and investigative role become more pronounced after Qingye’s suicide.
• Qingye True Immortal shifts from arrogant confidence to panic. His reliance on the reflection formation gives him false security, but once he realizes that the Upper Sect has abandoned him and his true body has been found, he chooses self-destruction over capture.
• Xuanyuan Buqi displays his aggressive and outspoken personality. He is dissatisfied with Hanhai’s prolonged conversation with Qingye but uses the opportunity to decisively locate and kill him. He also voices blunt theories that Hanhai is unwilling to state without proof.
• Qian Zhong True Lord remains analytical and practical. She examines Qingye’s remains, considers the possibility of a split soul, and urges the group to investigate the Golden Crow Sect rather than continue speculating.
• Feng Jun contributes an important deduction: Qingye’s suicide may indicate a hidden atrocity rather than merely fear of punishment. His lower cultivation lets him express suspicions more freely than the Venerables.
• The Earth Cultivator and Gold Core cultivators become frightened witnesses rather than active participants. Their submission reflects the overwhelming authority of Hanhai and the other higher-level cultivators.

Significant Themes

• False security and exposure: Qingye believes the reflection formation makes him untouchable, but superior cultivation and coordinated methods eventually overcome his protection.
• Sect protection versus personal guilt: The chapter explores how sect affiliation can shield cultivators, but only within social and moral limits. Qingye’s desperation suggests he may have committed crimes even his own sect could not excuse.
• The limits of knowledge: Despite Qingye’s death, the investigators cannot determine his motives or whether he left behind a split soul. The chapter emphasizes how secret arts and hidden crimes complicate investigations.
• Authority and restraint: Hanhai balances overwhelming power with formal conduct, offering mercy and demanding evidence, while Xuanyuan Buqi represents a more direct and unrestricted approach.
• Failure of escape: Qingye’s elaborate preparations, formation, and stalling tactics all fail. His final self-detonation prevents the investigators from learning the truth, but it does not erase the evidence of his affiliation with the Thief Lineage.

Important Character Interactions

• Hanhai and Qingye: Their exchange is a battle of intimidation and deception. Qingye attempts to provoke and stall Hanhai, while Hanhai calmly reveals that Qingye has been abandoned and offers conditional mercy.
• Hanhai and Xuanyuan Buqi: Buqi criticizes Hanhai for speaking too long, while Hanhai silently recognizes that the conversation was necessary to help locate Qingye’s true body.
• Hanhai and Qian Zhong: Hanhai asks whether Qingye can still be Soul Searched, and Qian Zhong explains that the self-detonation destroyed most usable information.
• Feng Jun and the others: Feng Jun’s speculation about Qingye’s possible unforgivable crime leads Xuanyuan Buqi to suggest fratricide, while Hanhai insists that accusations require evidence.
• Hanhai and the witnesses: Hanhai reassures the frightened Earth Cultivator that she will not be punished if she was genuinely ignorant, but requires her and the Gold Core cultivators to act as witnesses.
• Feng Jun and the Golden Crow Sect: Feng Jun presents Great Venerable Youxuan’s aura, directly proving that the investigation has Upper Sect authorization and placing the Golden Crow resident grounds under scrutiny.

• Verification of Qingye’s identity: Qinghan True Immortal recognizes the aura of the Golden Crow Method on Feng Jun and confirms that it comes from Youxuan Venerable. He identifies Feng Jun as the famous Mountain Lord Feng of Kunhao and accepts that Feng is acting under Youxuan’s authority.
• Explanation of Qingye’s death: Feng Jun’s group explains that Qingye joined the Thief Lineage and died through Self-Detonation while resisting capture. The evidence is strong enough that Golden Crow could verify it through Deduction, and Qinghan accepts that the death was legitimate rather than fabricated.
• Feng Jun’s requests: Feng Jun asks to investigate Qingye’s background and obtain some of his belongings for further Deduction, hoping to determine how Qingye became involved with the Thief Lineage. Qinghan initially objects, viewing this as an intrusion into Golden Crow’s affairs and a challenge to the sect’s ability to investigate itself.
• Vast Sea Venerable’s pressure: Vast Sea Venerable supports Feng Jun by reminding Qinghan of the earlier Wanqing incident, when he personally confronted the Myriad Illusions Sect. Feng Jun further implies that he could seek support from Venerable Luanxiong, leaving Qinghan with no practical choice but to comply with Youxuan’s decree.
• Investigation outside the Mountain Gate: To preserve Golden Crow’s dignity and avoid allowing outsiders to conduct a formal investigation inside the sect, Feng Jun’s party remains outside the Mountain Gate. Golden Crow brings out several of Qingye’s possessions, including treasures and an obsidian record containing a rough account of his life.
• Deduction and suspicious history: Qian Zhong and Feng Jun perform Deduction on Qingye’s belongings. Vast Sea Venerable and Xuanyuan Buqi examine the obsidian record, focusing on Qingye’s relationships with Heiming, Tan Feng, and Shanyang. Tan Feng left to establish his own family, while the other two died. The timing and circumstances of their conflicts with Qingye become important clues.
• Revelation of Qingye’s possible crimes: A closer review shows that two powerful rivals died under suspicious circumstances while Qingye was advancing through the Gold Core Realm. He also displayed resentment toward Upper Realm cultivators and complained about the advantages they possessed, despite having received substantial support from Golden Crow’s Upper Sects. His arrogance, isolation, and history of unexplained rival deaths suggest that his involvement with the Thief Lineage may have begun much earlier than suspected.
• Golden Crow’s response: Qinghan admits that Golden Crow had overlooked several warning signs and promises that the sect will investigate Qingye thoroughly. However, he insists that there is no evidence of other Thief Lineage members in the garrison and asks Feng Jun’s group not to inspect the remaining disciples, stressing that Golden Crow must preserve the dignity of one of the Seven Upper Sects.
• Character interactions and development: Feng Jun demonstrates increasing confidence and political skill, using his connections with powerful Venerables to secure cooperation without openly provoking Golden Crow. Qinghan shifts from defensive resistance to reluctant cooperation as he recognizes the seriousness of the evidence. Vast Sea Venerable acts as Feng Jun’s intimidating backer, while Qian Zhong contributes key analytical insight into the importance of timing in Deduction. Xuanyuan Buqi remains suspicious of Golden Crow’s ability to investigate itself, questioning why Qingye escaped detection for so long.
• Themes: The chapter explores sect authority versus outside justice, the political weight of powerful patrons, and the difficulty of uncovering corruption within respected institutions. It also emphasizes how envy, resentment, arrogance, and unchecked authority can lead a cultivator toward betrayal. Finally, it suggests that institutions often fail not because evidence is absent, but because they are unwilling—or unable—to examine their own people closely.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Xuanyuan Buqi questions whether Venerable Youxuan had approved Qingye’s arrangements, causing Qinghan True Immortal to realize that Qingye’s actions may have involved deeper conspiracies.
• While examining Qingye’s possessions, Feng Jun notices that several pills were refined by Kuxin, a Gold Core alchemist stationed at the Golden Crow Garrison. Although Kuxin and Qingye were supposedly enemies, Kuxin had supplied him with many pills.
• A garrison cultivator confirms that Kuxin and Qingye had a notoriously bad relationship, making their connection suspicious. Qinghan orders Kuxin brought in for questioning.
• Feng Jun immediately deduces that Kuxin belongs to the Thief Lineage. Kuxin is found to possess a powerful restriction in his Sea of Consciousness, likely placed through a True Artifact or Talisman Treasure rather than personally by a True Immortal.
• Qian Zhong removes the restriction. Once freed from its control, Kuxin confesses that Qingye recruited and coerced him into the Thief Lineage.
• Qinghan learns that Kuxin may not be the only hidden Thief Lineage member within the Golden Crow Garrison. He asks Feng Jun to investigate the entire garrison, but Feng Jun explains that his deduction ability requires a target to be within a limited range, while the garrison is enormous and difficult for outsiders to enter.

Character Developments

• Feng Jun continues to demonstrate the frightening accuracy of his deduction ability. He uses it strategically, revealing enough to pressure the Golden Crow Sect while concealing the true extent of his range and capabilities.
• Qinghan True Immortal becomes increasingly troubled as evidence exposes corruption within his garrison. Though powerful and experienced, he had overlooked the private conflicts and hidden arrangements surrounding Qingye.
• Kuxin is revealed to be a coerced participant rather than a willing criminal. He joined the Thief Lineage to protect himself from Qingye, endured exploitation, and attempted to minimize his involvement by refusing to kill during robbery operations.
• Qingye True Immortal is shown to be deeply possessive and insecure. He feared that Kuxin’s talent and rapid cultivation might eventually surpass his own status, so he suppressed Kuxin’s growth and manipulated him into becoming a tool.
• Qian Zhong displays his ability to remove the restrictive seal and plays an important role in allowing Kuxin to speak freely.
• Xuanyuan Buqi contributes by exposing the need to question whether Qingye’s actions had higher approval.

Significant Themes

• Power, insecurity, and control: Qingye’s abuse of authority stems from fear that Kuxin could surpass him. His need to preserve his position leads him to manipulate, threaten, and exploit a talented subordinate.
• Institutional corruption and hidden criminal networks: The Thief Lineage has infiltrated the Golden Crow Garrison, showing that criminal organizations can operate within respectable sect structures through coercion and secrecy.
• Appearances versus reality: Kuxin and Qingye publicly appear to be enemies, yet Qingye secretly controls him. The chapter repeatedly emphasizes that outward relationships cannot be trusted.
• Coercion and moral ambiguity: Kuxin is technically part of the Thief Lineage, but his involvement is forced. His limited participation and refusal to kill complicate the distinction between criminal and victim.
• Concealed power and strategic trust: Feng Jun deliberately understates his abilities, demonstrating that even allies should not be given complete knowledge of one’s capabilities.

Character Interactions

• Feng Jun’s probing questions force Qinghan to reconsider long-ignored details about Qingye’s relationships.
• Qinghan initially dismisses the connection between Kuxin and Qingye but changes his attitude after hearing the garrison cultivator’s testimony.
• Feng Jun identifies Kuxin’s affiliation, while Qinghan handles the interrogation and Qian Zhong removes the mental restriction.
• Kuxin’s confession reveals the manipulative private relationship between himself and Qingye: Qingye publicly distanced himself from Kuxin while privately threatening, recruiting, and exploiting him.
• After hearing Kuxin’s suspicion that other Thief Lineage members may remain in the garrison, Qinghan turns to Feng Jun for help, but Feng Jun points out the practical limits of investigating such a vast area.

Chapter Summary: “Dragged Out of the Mud”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Feng Jun identifies flaws in the group’s original plan to gather Golden Crow Sect disciples for investigation. Qinghan True Immortal devises a cover: summon the disciples in batches to experience the aura of Vast Sea Venerable.
• Vast Sea reluctantly agrees to release only a trace of his aura. Over three days, tens of thousands of Golden Crow cultivators gather in reverence, while weaker Qi Refining disciples are excluded for safety.
• The neighboring Azure Lotus Sect asks whether its disciples may also experience the Venerable’s aura. Qinghan refuses diplomatically, warning them not to interfere unless the Venerable himself intends to grant them the opportunity.
• The gathering successfully conceals the investigation. Feng Jun identifies three additional members of the Thief Lineage, whom Qinghan later captures secretly.
• The suspects include:
  • Qingye’s nominal disciple, who has secretly reached the Sixth Layer of Gold Core and refuses to betray the organization.
  • A garrison steward and inspector, who joined the Thief Lineage after Qingye exploited their weaknesses but later participated willingly in raids.
• Under Soul Search, the cultivators reveal that Qingye had taken them to an unknown location where someone placed restrictions on them while they were unconscious.
• The investigation reveals that Qingye had cultivated four subordinates and operated with great discipline. The Earth Cultivation woman he valued most, however, had no knowledge of the Thief Lineage and may survive the investigation, though she will likely be expelled or punished.
• The Upper Sects decide to investigate ascended cultivators from the Instant Domain’s Upper Realm, fearing that more members of the Thief Lineage may be concealed among them.
• Qian Zhong uses her superior karmic and destiny-based deductions to identify two suspicious regions that may contain the Thief Lineage’s stronghold.
• The group investigates the first location, an abandoned grassland that was once a prosperous settlement and transportation route. They conclude that the Thief Lineage likely used the former population and activity as cover.
• Qian Zhong narrows the connection to an old town but decides further deduction there would waste time. The group proceeds toward the second location, a wilderness region containing only two villages.

Character Developments

• Qinghan True Immortal demonstrates flexibility and political awareness. Though initially unable to arrange a lecture by Vast Sea, he creates an effective alternative and personally captures the three suspects.
• Vast Sea Venerable is irritated by Qinghan’s bold request but ultimately cooperates out of concern for the Golden Crow Sect and the reputation of the Seven Upper Sects.
• Feng Jun continues to identify hidden members of the Thief Lineage but also becomes increasingly aware of the dangers of deduction and the need to conceal his own actions from heavenly calculations.
• Qian Zhong proves that her abilities, while less spectacular than Feng Jun’s, are exceptionally powerful in matters of karma, destiny, and long-term connections. She becomes central to locating the hidden stronghold.
• Qingye emerges as a meticulous and highly capable criminal organizer. He carefully separated his subordinates, monitored suspicion after raids, and protected the woman he genuinely cared about while keeping her uninvolved.
• Qingye’s disciple, steward, and inspector show different forms of loyalty: the disciple is fanatically devoted, while the other two joined under coercion but later embraced the profits and privileges of crime.
• Xuanyuan Buqi contributes his powerful perception and confirms that the abandoned region had been unused for many years.

Significant Themes

• Concealment and deception: The investigation relies on disguising a serious operation as a religious or educational gathering, while the Thief Lineage similarly hides within ordinary institutions.
• The dangers of power and status: Even Qinghan, a True Immortal of a major sect, cannot casually summon or command a Venerable.
• Karma and the reach of deduction: Qian Zhong’s abilities show that hidden actions can leave traces detectable centuries later, creating anxiety about the impossibility of fully concealing one’s past.
• Order within corruption: Qingye is morally corrupt but highly organized, showing that criminal networks can operate through discipline, compartmentalization, and personal leverage.
• Human attachment amid wrongdoing: Qingye’s genuine concern for the Earth Cultivation woman contrasts with his manipulation of his other subordinates, suggesting that even deeply corrupt people may retain selective loyalty or affection.
• Change and decline: The abandoned settlement reflects the impermanence of prosperity: a once-thriving region becomes empty when trade routes shift, providing an ideal hiding place.

Character Interactions

• Qinghan and Vast Sea exchange tense but humorous dialogue, with Vast Sea criticizing the audacity of asking a Venerable to provide an aura demonstration.
• Qinghan firmly rejects the Azure Lotus Sect’s request, maintaining proper respect for Vast Sea’s authority.
• The captured cultivators’ confessions reveal Qingye’s relationships with his subordinates and his methods of control.
• Qian Zhong leads Feng Jun, Qinghan, Xuanyuan Buqi, and the two compromised cultivators in the search for the hidden base, combining her deductions with their perception and local knowledge.
• Feng Jun privately questions whether Qian Zhong can truly trace events from nearly two centuries earlier, only to recognize the frightening depth of her abilities.

Chapter Summary: “Rooting Them Out”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Feng Jun’s group investigates two nearby settlements for links to Kuxin True Adept and the Thief Lineage.
• They first eliminate the village controlled by a small family, reasoning that Thief Lineage cultivators usually avoid forming families because attachments create vulnerabilities.
• The second, larger village also proves unrelated after repeated deductions and searches find no Thief Lineage members.
• Xuanyuan Buqi notices an unusual area seventy li away. Feng Jun and Qian Zhong discover an extremely sophisticated concealment array anchored by a naturally formed treasure, hiding an underground cave residence.
• Feng Jun determines that seven people are inside: three Thief Lineage cultivators—two Nascent Soul cultivators and one Gold Core cultivator—and four hostages.
• After carefully analyzing the terrain and defenses, the group launches an assault. The three Thief Lineage members are captured without serious injury, while one hostage’s implanted protective restriction activates and injures him.
• The group rescues the hostages but keeps the discovery secret in case other Thief Lineage members return. Soul Searches reveal that the location is mainly a temporary prison and storage site, not a major headquarters.
• They learn that the Thief Lineage diverted a coordinate protected by the Xuanyuan Family. A Soul Emergence Venerable led the operation, though the captured guards do not know the Venerable’s identity or the coordinate’s destination.
• The group also discovers stored Treasure Artifacts and True Artifacts, which Xuanyuan Buqi claims despite criticizing their quality.
• The chapter ends when Vast Sea Venerable recognizes one of the treasures—the Bitan Nine Flutes—as something apparently stolen from the Fragrant Concubine Lineage.

Character Developments

• Feng Jun demonstrates increasingly impressive deduction and investigative abilities, identifying the hidden cave and accurately determining the number and cultivation levels of those inside. His mysterious “mobile phone” remains a source of amazement to the Golden Crow cultivators.
• Qian Zhong proves cautious and methodical, repeatedly verifying her deductions before accepting the results. She also recognizes the concealment array’s ancient technique and admires the Thief Lineage’s resources.
• Xuanyuan Buqi is eager to confront the Thief Lineage but remains cautious because of their unpredictable methods. He is embarrassed when a hostage’s protective Divine Thought recognizes him and mocks him, though he later feels relieved that the coordinate theft was not a deliberate insult to his family.
• Vast Sea Venerable provides insight into the Thief Lineage’s history and behavior, explaining that they often target sect cultivators and may include former family cultivators.
• The Thief Lineage is shown to be audacious, secretive, and confident in its own invulnerability. Its members abduct cultivators, maintain hidden prisons and storage sites, and even steal from powerful lineages.

Significant Themes

• Secrecy and concealment: The Thief Lineage relies on hidden bases, ancient concealment methods, hostages, and careful manipulation of information.
• The danger of attachments: Family life is portrayed as a weakness for thieves because it creates people and institutions that can be threatened or implicated.
• Robbery and hypocrisy: The Thief Lineage justifies its actions as “stealing on Heaven’s behalf,” yet reacts angrily when others steal from it. The coordinate dispute highlights the irony of thieves objecting to being robbed.
• Caution versus confidence: The group carefully plans its assault to avoid traps and humiliation, while Xuanyuan Buqi’s confidence repeatedly leads to teasing and embarrassment.
• Power hidden beneath appearances: The seemingly ordinary villages conceal nothing, while an apparently unremarkable wilderness contains the real target. The Thief Lineage’s greatest strength lies in remaining unnoticed.
• The criminal underworld’s complexity: The Thief Lineage is not depicted as simply murderous; it usually preserves hostages for ransom and operates according to its own code, even while committing serious crimes.

Character Interactions

• Feng Jun and Qian Zhong collaborate closely in uncovering the concealment array, combining deduction with physical investigation.
• Xuanyuan Buqi jokes about Qian Zhong and Vast Sea’s earlier failures but is later mocked when the hostage’s protective Divine Thought makes him appear to have been outmatched.
• Qian Zhong takes pleasure in Buqi’s embarrassment, while Buqi defensively emphasizes the strength of the enemy’s Divine Thought.
• Buqi and Vast Sea debate the Thief Lineage’s targets and origins, with Vast Sea suggesting many thieves may have betrayed their families and Buqi sarcastically citing Qingye as a counterexample.
• The group works together to rescue and secure the hostages, interrogate the captured thieves, and divide the discovered treasures.
• Vast Sea’s recognition of the Bitan Nine Flutes introduces a possible new conflict with the Fragrant Concubine Lineage.

Chapter Summary: Softsound Court

Key Plot Points and Events

• The group finishes dividing the spoils from the Thief Lineage’s storeroom. Vast Sea Venerable takes a flute artifact connected to Ancestral Venerable Xiang Ji, a legendary pioneer of the nine-hole flute and the Flute Dance branch of the Zither Dao.
• Qinghan True Immortal is allowed to take the captives back, both to reduce the group’s burden and to give him a chance to restore his reputation after the Golden Crow incident.
• Before separating, Fan Qiu’an argues with the stubborn Early Gold Core cultivator whose cultivation foundation has been ruined. The cultivator insists that Fan Qiu’an made him betray a friend, while Fan Qiu’an counters that the man’s association with the Thief Lineage caused his own troubles. Vast Sea acknowledges the man’s principles but warns that he will be killed if he truly embraces evil.
• Feng Jun’s group travels to a large market town in the Instant Domain, where the Thief Lineage operates an intelligence center disguised as an upscale brothel called Softsound Court.
• They examine the establishment without directly attacking it. Fan Qiu’an pretends to be showing foreign guests around, while the group casually discusses the brothel’s luxury, defenses, shapeshifting demon patrons, and clientele.
• Feng Jun secretly uses his internal phone to perform a deduction and discovers that two Gold Core guards are members of the Thief Lineage. He finds no obvious evidence implicating the other personnel.
• The group decides not to attack Softsound Court immediately. Qian Zhong concludes that it is probably an information-exchange hub rather than the Thief Lineage’s true headquarters, and recommends tracing its backing and connections instead.
• The market town is controlled by five major forces: the Artifact Refining Dao, two Secret-Realm Families, and two local Nascent Soul families. Xuanyuan Buqi plans to contact the Jiang Family, while Vast Sea considers approaching the Artifact Refining Dao to determine who supports Softsound Court.
• Vast Sea ultimately favors a direct inquiry to the Artifact Refining Dao, believing that a larger political arrangement might allow them to investigate Softsound Court without causing a leak. Xuanyuan Buqi remains cautious, questioning whether the Artifact Refining Dao can be trusted.

Character Developments

• Vast Sea Venerable displays strong loyalty toward the Zither Dao and anger over the disappearance of Ancestral Venerable Xiang Ji. He also becomes increasingly decisive, advocating a ruthless and efficient approach against the Thief Lineage.
• Feng Jun continues to act cautiously and strategically. Rather than rushing into combat, he observes Softsound Court, gathers intelligence, and uses his hidden technological advantage to identify Thief Lineage members.
• Qian Zhong takes on a pragmatic leadership role, quickly recognizing that Softsound Court is likely only a peripheral branch and arguing against wasting time on an overt assault.
• Xuanyuan Buqi contributes practical knowledge and political connections. His humorous exchange with Feng Jun reveals his worldly experience, while his skepticism toward the Artifact Refining Dao shows his concern about relying on outsiders.
• Fan Qiu’an functions as the group’s local guide and cover. He handles their entry into the market town and convincingly maintains the appearance that they are ordinary visitors.
• The Early Gold Core cultivator remains stubbornly committed to his personal sense of responsibility despite losing his foundation. His refusal to abandon the idea of repaying debts emphasizes both his principles and his lack of judgment.

Significant Themes

• Loyalty and responsibility: Vast Sea’s reaction to Xiang Ji’s flute and the Early Gold Core cultivator’s insistence on settling his debt show how strongly cultivators value loyalty, even when it harms them.
• Pragmatism versus principle: The group focuses on efficiency and strategic investigation, while the Early Gold Core cultivator clings to moral accountability regardless of consequences.
• Power hidden beneath appearances: Softsound Court looks like an elegant brothel but is actually protected by arrays, surveillance, guards, and connections to the Thief Lineage.
• Political influence and indirect power: The group realizes that attacking the brothel itself may be less important than identifying the forces protecting it.
• Cultivation and pleasure: The characters debate whether luxurious entertainment is a wasteful indulgence or a reward for cultivators who endure constant danger and hardship.

Character Interactions

• Vast Sea and Xuanyuan Buqi casually settle the division of Xiang Ji’s flute, with Xuanyuan dismissing the artifact’s value while Vast Sea treats it as personally significant.
• Fan Qiu’an and the Early Gold Core cultivator clash over betrayal, friendship, and responsibility. Vast Sea mediates by acknowledging the cultivator’s principles while warning him against evil.
• Feng Jun, Fan Qiu’an, Vast Sea, and Xuanyuan Buqi maintain a believable public conversation about brothels and cultivator culture while secretly observing Softsound Court.
• Feng Jun jokes about Xuanyuan Buqi’s apparent familiarity with brothels, prompting Xuanyuan to explain that, in his youth, he simply bought anyone he favored rather than frequenting such establishments.
• Qian Zhong and Vast Sea agree that a direct assault would be inefficient, while Xuanyuan Buqi focuses on the reliability and political implications of involving the Artifact Refining Dao and the Jiang Family.

Chapter Summary: “Calling at the Door”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Vast Sea Venerable visits the Artifact Refining Dao market town to investigate the ownership and background of Softsound Court, but conceals his identity at first.
• Fan Qiu’an attempts to request an audience, but an arrogant Artifact Refining Dao disciple dismisses him because his Profound Water Sect credentials are incomplete.
• Xuanyuan Buqi is brought forward as a Nascent Soul cultivator, forcing the disciple to take the visitors seriously. However, neither of the market town’s Artifact Refining Dao True Immortals is available.
• Vast Sea Venerable finally reveals himself as a Soul Emergence Venerable to the High-Tier Gold Core administrator, demanding that the matter be handled discreetly and that the local True Immortals be notified.
• He asks about Softsound Court. The administrator explains that its ownership has changed several times and is currently unclear, though rumors claim it belongs to a shareholder of the powerful Heavenlink Trade Alliance.
• The chapter recounts Softsound Court’s hidden strength: it employs Nascent Soul retainers and once publicly displayed the severed head of a Nascent Soul cultivator who had caused trouble, using “evading payment” as a convenient official explanation.
• Vast Sea Venerable presses the administrator about whether the shareholder comes from an Upper or Lower Realm. The administrator tries to avoid involvement, claiming ignorance.
• Feng Jun intervenes and helps pressure him, revealing detailed information about his family, connections, and secret studies.
• When Feng Jun mentions the administrator’s master, Weiwei True Immortal, the man becomes alarmed and begs him not to say more.
• Feng Jun then claims he can summon Yue Tu Venerable, leaving the administrator shocked and convinced that Feng Jun’s connections are genuine.

Character Developments

• Vast Sea Venerable displays authority and impatience. He initially tries to handle the visit discreetly but is forced to reveal his identity after repeated obstacles. His concern over Softsound Court suggests the investigation is personally or strategically important to him.
• Fan Qiu’an remains cautious and practical, identifying himself only when necessary. His incomplete official status within the Profound Water Sect creates a temporary disadvantage.
• Xuanyuan Buqi serves as the group’s credible public representative, using his apparent Nascent Soul cultivation to gain access.
• Feng Jun demonstrates his value as an investigator and negotiator. He knows the administrator’s background in detail and uses psychological pressure rather than brute force to break the stalemate.
• The High-Tier Gold Core administrator, initially confident enough to resist questioning, becomes increasingly frightened as Feng Jun exposes his secrets and implies access to powerful elders. His fear reveals how dangerous it is to be caught between influential factions.
• Artifact Refining Dao is portrayed as powerful but detached from worldly affairs. Its higher-ranking cultivators are largely unaware of the complicated political and commercial forces operating beneath their institutions.

Significant Themes

• Hidden power and concealed identities: The group must carefully manage how much of Vast Sea Venerable’s status to reveal, while Softsound Court’s real backing remains deliberately obscured.
• The gap between cultivation and worldly influence: High cultivation does not guarantee awareness of political, commercial, or social intrigues. Conversely, a seemingly ordinary Gold Core cultivator may possess crucial information.
• Authority and intimidation: Status, personal connections, and knowledge are used as weapons. Feng Jun’s ability to invoke powerful names proves more effective than direct threats.
• Institutional detachment: Artifact Refining Dao focuses on its own discipline and avoids mundane disputes, leaving its lower-ranking administrators to navigate complicated external affairs.
• The danger of probing powerful factions: The administrator’s reluctance reflects the risks of becoming entangled in conflicts involving Heavenlink, Softsound Court, and major sect figures.

Character Interactions

• Fan Qiu’an clashes indirectly with the dismissive Artifact Refining Dao disciple, whose attitude changes once Xuanyuan Buqi appears.
• Vast Sea Venerable intimidates the High-Tier Gold Core administrator by revealing his identity and demanding information.
• Feng Jun supports Vast Sea Venerable by challenging the administrator’s evasiveness and exposing his personal history.
• The administrator pleads with Feng Jun to stop mentioning his master, Weiwei True Immortal, showing that Feng Jun has struck a sensitive point.
• Feng Jun’s final mention of Yue Tu Venerable completely overturns the power dynamic, leaving the administrator convinced that Feng Jun possesses extraordinary connections.

Chapter Summary: “Danger and Opportunity”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Feng Jun exposes several of Xiong True Immortal’s hidden secrets, including his unauthorized study of Artifact Refining Ninety-Nine Questions, a text normally restricted to the sect’s true disciples.
• Fearing that his master would be implicated and severely punished, Xiong admits that Feng Jun is right and begs for leniency.
• Under pressure, Xiong reveals that Softsound Court may have fallen under the control of the Seven Emotions Dao. Although the Luo Family’s Heavenlink representatives appear to oversee the establishment, they are apparently only collecting a share of the profits.
• Mi Jin True Immortal arrives and is introduced to Vast Sea Venerable. He recognizes Xuanyuan Buqi but carefully avoids openly identifying him.
• Feng Jun and the others reveal that their investigation concerns the Thief Lineage and that Softsound Court may be one of its strongholds.
• Mi Jin is alarmed because the stronghold lies within his market town, potentially making him responsible for negligence. He agrees to investigate and cooperate, especially by contacting the Seven Emotions Dao and determining the Luo Family’s involvement.
• Xiong explains that the Luo Family is currently focused on refining a Secret Realm and likely has only a few Gold Core cultivators stationed in the market town.
• Xuanyuan Buqi leaves the matter of dealing with the Luo Family to Feng Jun, while Qian Zhong privately envies the Luo Family’s possession of a Secret Realm, recognizing its immense value.
• Mi Jin questions whether the Luo Family can be trusted because of its family-based loyalties. Xuanyuan Buqi rebukes him for judging all family cultivators alike.
• The chapter ends with Mi Jin cautiously asking Feng Jun whether his apparent Gold Core cultivation is truly his current level.

Character Developments

• Xiong True Immortal: His composure collapses as Feng Jun exposes his secrets. He shifts from evasive resistance to cooperation, revealing important information about Softsound Court and the Seven Emotions Dao to protect himself and his master.
• Feng Jun: Demonstrates psychological pressure, confidence, and increasing influence. Though appearing to be only a High-Tier Gold Core cultivator, he commands the respect of powerful figures and is treated as the person capable of handling both the Seven Emotions Dao and the Luo Family.
• Vast Sea Venerable: Remains authoritative and impatient, especially toward Mi Jin, but relies on Feng Jun’s judgment when deciding whom to trust. He confirms that the group’s true purpose is investigating the Thief Lineage.
• Xuanyuan Buqi: Reveals his connection to the powerful Xuanyuan Family and asserts his authority over Mi Jin. He defends the principle that individuals should not be condemned solely because they belong to a family faction.
• Qian Zhong: Shows her practical and acquisitive side through her envy of the Luo Family’s Secret Realm. She acknowledges that she would seize such an opportunity if she possessed the strength to do so.
• Mi Jin True Immortal: Begins wary and defensive, concerned about his responsibility for the Thief Lineage stronghold. He proves politically cautious, recognizing powerful figures and avoiding unnecessary provocation, but remains suspicious of family cultivators.

Significant Themes

• Danger in hidden knowledge: Xiong’s secret reading of a forbidden text shows how dangerous sect restrictions and concealed actions can become when exposed.
• Power and psychological pressure: Feng Jun gains information not through force but by exploiting Xiong’s fears and vulnerabilities.
• Opportunity amid danger: The suspected Thief Lineage stronghold creates a threat, but the Luo Family’s Secret Realm represents a valuable opportunity and a source of strategic influence.
• Factional prejudice: The discussion over sects versus families highlights the dangers of judging entire groups by the actions of a few.
• Hidden identities and underestimated strength: Several characters conceal their true cultivation or background, particularly Feng Jun and Xuanyuan Buqi, creating uncertainty over who truly holds power.
• Political responsibility: Mi Jin’s concern over the stronghold reflects how powerful factions must answer for criminal or dangerous forces operating within their territory.

Character Interactions

• Feng Jun intimidates Xiong into confessing, while Vast Sea Venerable reinforces the pressure by demanding direct answers.
• Xiong provides information about Softsound Court, the Seven Emotions Dao, and the Luo Family’s limited involvement.
• Mi Jin respectfully but cautiously interacts with Vast Sea Venerable and Xuanyuan Buqi, attempting to determine their intentions without offending them.
• Xuanyuan Buqi indirectly places responsibility for handling the Luo Family on Feng Jun and later reprimands Mi Jin for his distrust of family cultivators.
• Mi Jin’s repeated glances toward Xuanyuan Buqi show that he recognizes the danger and status of the group, even while pretending not to know their identities.
• The final exchange between Mi Jin and Feng Jun emphasizes the growing mystery surrounding Feng Jun’s real cultivation and background.

Chapter Summary: “Too Expensive”

Plot Points and Events

• Feng Jun reveals that his current cultivation is genuinely at the Gold Core level and asks Mi Jin for the Luo Family’s location.
• Vast Sea Venerable orders Mi Jin to keep their destination and intentions secret. The group is investigating a Thief Lineage stronghold hidden in a market-town brothel.
• Feng Jun consults Venerable Jiu Si and Luo Seventeen:
  • Jiu Si refuses to go because the situation involves a brothel and would damage his reputation, but gives Feng Jun a token authorizing him to “act as circumstances permit.”
  • Luo Seventeen, disgusted by the Thief Lineage, agrees to accompany him.
• Feng Jun travels with an intimidating group consisting of two True Lords and two Venerables to the Luo Family’s garrison in the Instant Domain.
• The Luo disciples initially assume Luo Seventeen has come to oversee the refinement of their Secret Realm. He clarifies that he instead wants information about the family’s liaison with Heavenlink.
• While waiting, Luo Seventeen boasts about the family’s successful discovery of a Secret Realm. Qian Zhong counters by revealing that her group has found a space capable of becoming a Small Realm, valued at roughly four hundred Ultimate Spirit Stones.
• Luo Seventeen is stunned by the vastly greater treasure and admits, “Too expensive,” ending his attempt to show off.
• The liaison explains that Softsound Court, the suspected Thief Lineage stronghold, had originally been entrusted to the brother-in-law of a former Luo Family liaison. Over generations, it was repeatedly subcontracted and eventually became effectively detached from the family’s direct oversight.
• Although the Luo Family continued receiving its payments, it ignored the establishment’s actual operations. The Thief Lineage exploited this lack of supervision, using the brothel as a base because it attracted many visitors and generated valuable information.
• Luo Seventeen condemns the family’s negligence and strikes the liaison, sending him flying and injuring him.

Character Developments

• Feng Jun demonstrates increased confidence and independence, openly acknowledging his Gold Core cultivation while acting as the group’s point of contact.
• Vast Sea Venerable shows authority and ruthlessness by insisting on secrecy and warning Mi Jin that even old relationships will not protect him if the information leaks.
• Venerable Jiu Si is cautious about reputation and propriety, refusing to become involved in the brothel investigation but still supporting Feng Jun through his token.
• Luo Seventeen shifts from pride in the Luo Family’s achievements to embarrassment and anger. His envy over Qian Zhong’s Small Realm exposes his competitive nature, while the Softsound Court revelation provokes genuine outrage.
• Qian Zhong displays confidence and subtle competitiveness by revealing the enormous value of her group’s discovery, deliberately eclipsing Luo Seventeen’s boast.
• The Luo Family is shown to be powerful but complacent: it prioritizes collecting income and maintaining formal rules while neglecting the actual activities occurring under its authority.

Significant Themes

• Negligence and indirect responsibility: Even though the Luo Family did not directly establish the Thief Lineage stronghold, its failure to supervise Softsound Court allowed the problem to develop under its name.
• Pride and humiliation: Luo Seventeen’s pride in the family’s Secret Realm collapses when compared with Qian Zhong’s far more valuable discovery.
• Power versus accountability: The Luo Family assumes that its strength allows it to collect benefits without investigating the source, but that same power makes it vulnerable when outsiders commit crimes under its banner.
• Reputation and propriety: Jiu Si’s refusal reflects the importance of public image among powerful cultivators, especially when involvement with a brothel could damage a sect’s standing.
• Wealth and opportunity: The value of Secret Realms, Small Realms, and commercial ventures shapes cultivators’ decisions and rivalries.

Character Interactions

• Feng Jun and Mi Jin interact respectfully, but Vast Sea Venerable dominates the exchange with his threat of secrecy.
• Jiu Si supports Feng Jun indirectly, while Luo Seventeen chooses active participation because of his hatred of the Thief Lineage.
• Luo Seventeen and Qian Zhong engage in a lightly antagonistic exchange over luck and family achievements; Qian Zhong’s revelation about the Small Realm leaves him speechless.
• The Luo liaison attempts to justify the family’s inaction by citing the deaths and vulnerable dependents connected to Softsound Court, but Luo Seventeen rejects the excuse and punishes him physically.
• The chapter ends with Luo Seventeen forcing the Luo Family to confront the consequences of treating Softsound Court as a profitable but essentially ownerless business.

Chapter Summary: Hierarchy of Honor and Status

Key Plot Points and Events

• Luo Seventeen disciplines a Nascent Soul cultivator with a palm strike for neglecting Softsound Court, a Luo Family resource.
• The cultivator admits that he wrongly ignored the organization’s operations instead of at least monitoring them, causing the Luo Family to lose control and exposing the family to demands from powerful outsiders.
• Luo Seventeen explains that ancestral rules must not be used as excuses for laziness or favoritism. The family may choose not to interfere in a spouse’s affairs, but it must still maintain adequate information and oversight.
• The investigation reveals that Softsound Court is secretly operated by the Han Brothers, two Nascent Soul cultivators connected to the Thief Lineage and the Seven Emotions Dao.
• The Han Brothers’ true headquarters is discovered in a manor near the Artifact Refining Dao’s headquarters. The manor houses one Han brother, two Thief Lineage Nascent Soul cultivators, and several Gold Core cultivators.
• Feng Jun and Gold-Seeking True Immortal decide that the manor can be attacked even if both brothers are absent. Since it lies within Artifact Refining Dao territory, the Artifact Refining Dao agrees to isolate the area and prevent outsiders from being harmed.
• To conceal the coming operation, the Artifact Refining Dao stages an excavation near the manor, behaving as though it has discovered a valuable treasure.
• The Dao’s disciples enforce the deception aggressively, arresting a cultivator who uses Divine Sense to inspect the site. They later accept a heavy fine instead of the man’s forced labor after another cultivator pleads for leniency.
• The next day, the area is sealed, and Artifact Refining Dao disciples conduct surveys with compasses. Their unusual behavior convinces outsiders—and even the Thief Lineage—that a valuable treasure has been found rather than that an attack is being prepared.

Character Developments

• Luo Seventeen acts not merely as a punitive ancestor but as a responsible leader. He disciplines the negligent cultivator while explaining the reasoning behind the family’s rules, emphasizing long-term survival and information control.
• The Nascent Soul cultivator accepts responsibility and reveals how excessive comfort and inherited habits led him to neglect his duties.
• The surviving spouse and her nephew’s family are shown to have prioritized passive profits over active management. Their complacency reflects how prosperity has weakened their sense of responsibility.
• Feng Jun provides a pragmatic assessment of the Han Brothers’ strategy, recognizing that the Artifact Refining Dao’s central location makes it a natural information-gathering hub.
• Gold-Seeking True Immortal demonstrates both authority and pride. He is angered that the Thief Lineage established a brothel and base near the Artifact Refining Dao, but he also proves capable of organizing a disciplined, effective operation.
• The Han Brothers and the Thief Lineage are characterized by greed, secrecy, confidence, and a tendency to underestimate threats when distracted by the prospect of profit.

Significant Themes

• Hierarchy and responsibility: Seniority grants authority, but true leadership requires explaining rules and preparing younger members to uphold them.
• The danger of complacency: The Luo Family’s loss of control results not from direct betrayal but from laziness, comfort, and failure to gather information.
• Information as power: Monitoring a resource is essential even when the family chooses not to intervene. The Thief Lineage’s strength likewise comes from networks, hidden bases, and intelligence.
• Honor versus self-interest: Family rules meant to protect a surviving spouse are distorted into an excuse for avoiding work, revealing the tension between moral principles and personal comfort.
• Deception and strategic misdirection: The Artifact Refining Dao exploits the Thief Lineage’s greed by creating a false impression of a treasure discovery.
• Pride and status: The Artifact Refining Dao’s forceful behavior reasserts its authority after being treated as harmless, while the Thief Lineage’s arrogance leads it to misread the situation.

Character Interactions

• Luo Seventeen’s confrontation with the negligent cultivator establishes the chapter’s emphasis on hierarchy, discipline, and filial responsibility.
• Luo Seventeen questions the cultivator and then addresses the entire family, turning a private punishment into a public lesson.
• The Luo Family works indirectly through Jiang Family connections and the Xuanyuan Family’s relationships to locate the Han Brothers.
• Feng Jun and Gold-Seeking True Immortal cooperate in planning the attack, with Feng Jun analyzing the enemy’s motives and Gold-Seeking True Immortal coordinating the territorial operation.
• Artifact Refining Dao disciples interact with nearby residents and cultivators in an intentionally hostile manner to make the fake excavation believable.
• A member of the Eighteen Daos intervenes to protect a punished cultivator, creating a humorous clash between the Artifact Refining Dao’s desire for authority and the broader community’s expectation of mutual accommodation.
• The Thief Lineage observes the staged excavation but misinterprets it through its own greed, setting up the impending ambush.

Chapter Summary: The Ascension Path

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Thief Lineage’s hidden manor in the Instant Domain is attacked by four powerful cultivators: Qian Zhong and Xuanyuan Buqi break the formation and prevent escape, while Luo Seventeen and Vast Sea Venerable handle the assault and captures.
• The operation ends almost instantly, with the manor destroyed internally but its outer walls intact. The attackers capture:
  • Three Nascent Soul cultivators
  • Seven Gold Core cultivators
  • More than twenty Dust-Free Realm cultivators
  • Over two hundred Qi Refining cultivators
• The captives reveal that the manor is also a Thief Lineage training camp. It houses promising youths gathered from different planes and indoctrinated from childhood with the Lineage’s ideology.
• Many of the trainees are fanatical and violently resistant to interrogation. Some attempt, and occasionally succeed in, self-detonation during Soul Searches.
• Information obtained from the interrogations exposes much of the Thief Lineage’s network in the Instant Domain, including three more Nascent Soul cultivators and over twenty Gold Core members.
• The Artifact Refining Dao, Profound Water Sect, and Golden Crow Sect begin a widespread campaign of arrests. Luo Family disciples conduct the arrests at Softsound Court, where one Gold Core guard is discovered to be a formal Thief Lineage member.
• The Han Brothers remain a major concern. Their younger brother is captured, but the elder brother is absent. Because the twins share a psychic bond and have cultivated related secret arts, he may already have sensed danger and escaped.
• The captured brother reveals that the twins’ contact point lies near an abandoned mineral belt, a large, chaotic mining region with spatial fluctuations and suitable hiding places.
• After several days of arrests, public opinion shifts. Many cultivators become convinced that the Thief Lineage poses a serious future threat, especially after discovering that some missing family disciples have joined its training camp.
• The Seven Emotions Dao remains passive during the campaign, claiming no responsibility because Softsound Court had already been leased out. Feng Jun’s attempt to use an aura supplied by Procrastinating Venerable also proves unnecessary.

Character Developments

• Feng Jun offers the most penetrating explanation for the Thief Lineage’s fanaticism. He argues that habitual robbery creates dependence on easy rewards, while the blocked ascension path drives people toward illegal and destructive alternatives.
• Gold-Seeking True Immortal is disturbed by the captives’ willingness to die and begins considering why the Thief Lineage inspires such extreme loyalty. He recognizes that sects may lack the cohesion created by family bloodlines and wonders whether the phenomenon can teach them how to strengthen unity.
• Luo Seventeen dismisses the captives’ fearlessness as unremarkable, comparing it to the sacrifices made by family cultivators. His defense of family-based advancement reflects both his pride in the Luo Family and his long-standing resentment of sectarian systems.
• Luo’s personal history is briefly revealed: as a concubine-born child, he experienced discrimination and adopted the name “Luo Seventeen.” Despite this resentment, he still believes the family system—particularly marriage into a powerful family—is fairer than sectarian advancement.
• Vast Sea Venerable and Luo Seventeen regard the Thief Lineage as little more than hidden vermin, believing its resistance will not seriously destabilize Heavenly Zither.
• Qian Zhong had anticipated that the elder Han brother might detect the younger’s capture, but the twins’ special connection makes even concealed heavenly secrets unreliable.

Character Interactions

• The four great powers cooperate efficiently, dividing responsibilities according to their strengths and overwhelming the manor before its defenders can react.
• Feng Jun’s comments challenge Gold-Seeking True Immortal’s belief that talent and effort alone are enough to advance. His example of Kunhao’s mortal world—where cultivation is forbidden under threat of clan extermination—forces Luo Seventeen into silence.
• Luo Seventeen and Gold-Seeking True Immortal debate family and sect systems. Luo favors family strategy and criticizes sects, while Gold-Seeking initially defends the idea that anyone sufficiently talented and hardworking can rise.
• The group discusses the morality and practicality of Soul Searching, self-sacrifice, and the indoctrination of young cultivators. Their reactions differ: the great powers remain pragmatic, while lower-ranked Artifact Refining Dao cultivators are horrified.
• The Seven Emotions Dao avoids direct involvement, preserving its neutrality and preventing an immediate confrontation with Feng Jun and the other powers.

Significant Themes

• Ideological indoctrination and fanaticism: The training camp demonstrates how the Thief Lineage creates loyal, violent followers by shaping their beliefs from childhood.
• The blocked path to advancement: Feng Jun links social inequality and restricted cultivation opportunities to rebellion, crime, and extremism.
• Family versus sect loyalty: The discussion contrasts blood-based belonging, sect solidarity, and ideological commitment as different sources of courage and sacrifice.
• The moral consequences of inequality: The chapter questions whether “hard work and talent” truly provide equal opportunities when institutions control access to cultivation and ascension.
• Pragmatism versus idealism: The powerful characters focus on eliminating threats efficiently, while others struggle to understand why people would willingly die for a cause.
• Imperfection in strategy: Although the campaign succeeds, the escape of the elder Han brother shows that even carefully planned operations cannot eliminate every risk.
• Hidden threats becoming public: Once the training camp is exposed, the Thief Lineage is no longer viewed as merely a secretive criminal group but as a movement capable of influencing and destabilizing future generations.

Chapter Summary: “Blood Resentment Curse Killing”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Feng Jun and several powerful allies travel to the Ore Belt to locate the Thief Lineage’s hidden stronghold, a folded space.
• Luo Seventeen joins the group, claiming he wants to compensate for the Luo Family’s previous failure involving Softsound Court. Feng Jun suspects he may also be interested in the mysterious space within the Fallen Immortal Ancient Battlefield.
• Through Deduction, Feng Jun and Qian Zhong narrow the stronghold’s location to a region within three thousand li.
• Before they can investigate further, Feng Jun and Qian Zhong sense danger and identify an ambush. The group retreats immediately.
• The Thief Lineage deliberately collapses its folded space, transforming it into a massive spatial vortex. Nearby ore prospectors are swallowed and killed, demonstrating the attackers’ willingness to sacrifice outsiders and destroy their own base to avoid capture.
• The spatial vortex eventually collapses into a black hole and disappears. The group concludes that its formation was artificially triggered.
• Feng Jun and Qian Zhong attempt to continue their Deduction using the remaining spatial fluctuations, but the destruction of the folded space has disrupted the relationship between time, space, and karma.
• As Feng Jun approaches the fluctuations, he is targeted by a mysterious dark-red attack. He narrowly evades it by using Footprints to enter the Void.
• The attack is identified as the long-lost Blood Resentment Curse Killing, a powerful karmic technique connected to blood resentment.
• Feng Jun later determines that the curse did not strike him directly. He avoided wasting his powerful Protective Talisman by hiding in the Void, where the attack could not persist indefinitely.

Character Developments

• Feng Jun shows increased caution and independence. Rather than relying on his Protective Talisman, he protects himself by entering the Void and studies the attack afterward to understand its nature.
• Qian Zhong continues to act as Feng Jun’s main Deduction partner and demonstrates both strong perception and intellectual curiosity about karmic techniques.
• Luo Seventeen reveals a pragmatic and ruthless side. He is willing to take part in the pursuit but remains difficult to read, possibly having ulterior motives related to the Fallen Immortal Ancient Battlefield.
• Xuanyuan Buqi displays concern for his family’s future, asking how such a desperate spatial destruction technique works so the Xuanyuan Family might one day use a similar method if necessary.
• Vast Sea Venerable immediately recognizes the destruction of the folded space as an especially ruthless defensive measure.
• The group’s attitude toward Feng Jun has changed: they now recognize not only his ability to escape, but also the protection provided by the powerful figure behind him.

Significant Themes

• Desperation and ruthlessness: The Thief Lineage destroys its own stronghold and sacrifices nearby cultivators rather than allowing the pursuers to discover it.
• The relationship between time, space, and karma: The collapse of the folded space interferes with Deduction, emphasizing that these forces are interconnected rather than independent.
• Self-reliance versus protection: Feng Jun chooses to evade the curse himself instead of depending on a Protective Talisman, showing his desire to become more capable and avoid wasting powerful resources.
• Uncertainty and hidden motives: Several characters, especially Luo Seventeen and the Thief Lineage, appear to have goals beyond what they openly state.
• The persistence of lost techniques: Blood Resentment Curse Killing was believed to have disappeared, but its reappearance suggests that ancient or forbidden methods may still survive.

Character Interactions

• Feng Jun and Qian Zhong cooperate closely in locating the Thief Lineage’s stronghold, though Qian Zhong jokingly criticizes Feng Jun for “slacking.”
• The group debates whether the Thief Lineage’s destruction of the folded space was justified or excessively brutal.
• Xuanyuan Buqi’s curiosity about spatial destruction leads to teasing from Qian Zhong and reassurance from Luo Seventeen that the Xuanyuan Family will not fall into such desperate circumstances.
• The group initially fears that Feng Jun has been struck by the karmic curse, but they quickly conclude that he probably avoided it and preserved his Protective Talisman.
• Feng Jun explains that he escaped through the Void and later confirms that the Blood Resentment Curse Killing could not remain active there for long, clarifying how he survived the attack.

Chapter Summary: “Only Cursing You”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Feng Jun explains that he escaped into the Void to avoid the Blood Resentment Curse Killing cast against him. Bringing the curse into the Void disrupted it and saved one of his Protective Talismans.
• The group discovers that Feng Jun alone was targeted by the curse. The likely caster is the Nascent Soul cultivator from the Han Family who escaped during their pursuit of the Thief Lineage.
• The others point out that, because the caster’s cultivation was higher than Feng Jun’s, Feng Jun was the only viable target. Feng Jun jokes bitterly that having lower cultivation leaves him with no protection.
• The chapter explains the nature of Blood Resentment Curse Killing:
  • It requires the caster to be stronger than the target.
  • It usually consumes the caster’s lifespan or life and involves Causal Law.
  • Demon cultivators historically made it more practical through Blood Sacrifice and Life Substitution, using others’ lives as payment.
  • Because of its cruelty and connection to demon cultivators, it became a forbidden technique.
• Feng Jun wants to perform another Deduction to locate or identify the caster, but Qian Zhong stops him and performs the Deduction herself out of concern for his safety.
• Qian Zhong determines that the curse has altered both space and the Causal Line, preventing her from obtaining a clear result. Feng Jun’s Stone Ring also fails to produce any information.
• Feng Jun reflects on the limitations of the Stone Ring. He accepts that it should not be an absolutely omnipotent “cheat,” since relying on an unknowable higher power would undermine his independence and future growth.
• Qian Zhong performs a much longer Deduction concerning Feng Jun’s karma and discovers that the curse caster is still alive and has suffered surprisingly little damage.
• Since the curse should have inflicted severe backlash on a Nascent Soul cultivator—especially after Feng Jun dragged it into the Void—Qian Zhong concludes that the caster probably possesses demon-cultivator techniques or a substitute treasure such as a Fortune-Substitution Puppet.
• Even with the caster’s younger brother’s essence blood, Qian Zhong cannot locate him. She suggests that, if Feng Jun’s mysterious senior can once again use Causal Law, killing the caster may still be possible.

Character Developments

• Feng Jun: Remains indignant and self-deprecating about being singled out because of his lower cultivation. However, he also demonstrates growing maturity by accepting that the Stone Ring has limits and that he must ultimately rely on his own strength.
• Qian Zhong: Shows strong concern for Feng Jun and takes responsibility for investigating the curse herself. Her protective attitude reveals that her relationship with him involves more than simple cooperation or self-interest.
• Luo Seventeen: Continues his humorously narrow, miserly personality by focusing on the Protective Talisman Feng Jun saved rather than the danger he endured.
• The escaped Han Family cultivator: Becomes a more serious threat. His survival despite the curse’s expected backlash suggests access to forbidden demon-cultivator methods or a powerful substitute artifact.

Significant Themes

• The cost of power: Blood Resentment Curse Killing illustrates how seemingly powerful techniques demand enormous sacrifices and often harm the caster as much as the target.
• Forbidden cultivation and moral boundaries: The use of other people’s lives to fuel curses explains why demon cultivators became universally hated and why the technique was outlawed.
• Dependence versus independence: Feng Jun’s thoughts about the Stone Ring explore whether extraordinary assistance is truly a blessing if it implies the existence of an even greater power controlling or exploiting him.
• Limits of knowledge and prediction: Changes to causality and the Void make even powerful Deduction methods unreliable, emphasizing that cultivation does not grant absolute certainty.
• Hidden enemies and strategic survival: Directly overpowering an enemy is not always possible; curses, concealment, protection, and substitute treasures allow weaker or more distant enemies to remain dangerous.

Character Interactions

• Feng Jun and Luo Seventeen exchange sarcastic remarks over the saved Protective Talisman.
• Xuanyuan Buqi and Qian Zhong tease Feng Jun about being the only person vulnerable enough to curse, while Feng Jun responds with frustration.
• Qian Zhong firmly prevents Feng Jun from recklessly attempting another Deduction, emphasizing her concern for his safety.
• Feng Jun reluctantly trusts Qian Zhong’s judgment and asks her to investigate his karma.
• Qian Zhong’s final suggestion—that Feng Jun’s senior may be able to kill the caster through Causal Law—connects the immediate threat to the mysterious power behind Feng Jun and raises the stakes for the next development.

Summary: “Tacit Coordination”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Qian Zhong assumes Feng Jun can eliminate the Thief Lineage because he previously used external protection to severely injure a Soul Emergence Realm Progenitor God. Feng Jun admits he could destroy the threat through the Guardians’ Causal Art, but refuses to do so.
• Feng Jun explains that cultivators should depend primarily on their own strength rather than repeatedly relying on external protection or personal favors. The failure of Five Rings’ Deduction reinforces his belief that outside assistance may not always work.
• Xuanyuan Buqi and Vast Sea Venerable support Feng Jun’s decision to leave the Thief Lineage alive as a “whetstone” and potential test of his strength. Feng Jun chooses instead to return to Libo Shoal to deduce the Nascent Soul technique for the Primordial Chaos Heaven-Swallowing Art.
• The group discusses obtaining Soul-Replacement Puppets in preparation for Nascent Soul Formation. Vast Sea Venerable offers to trade puppets from the Profound Water Sect for Soul-Nourishing Liquid. Luo Seventeen also offers his family’s puppets and asks to accompany Feng Jun again.
• Feng Jun agrees to send Luo Seventeen back to the Insectoid World, partly because he intends to return a wisp of aura to Procrastinating Venerable.
• Upon returning, Feng Jun finds that the transportation route through the Grindstone Galaxy has opened. Federation supplies and reinforcements are reaching the front lines, although the Insectoids are fiercely counterattacking.
• Heavenly Zither cultivators are also participating in the battle. Their presence has caused the Insectoids to stop using Divine Descent and attempt to contact the cultivators instead.
• Procrastinating Venerable retrieves his aura and explains that Heavenly Zither has not formally allied with either the Insectoids or the Human Federation. Nevertheless, the cultivators and Federation forces have begun tacitly supporting one another in battle.
• Feng Jun decides this cooperation gives him grounds to “collect the debt” from the Federation. He approaches Xuan Gao about receiving Life Potion Production Lines.
• Xuan Gao informs him that the Federation will not provide the previously expected warships because there is no formal cooperation agreement. Feng Jun acts indifferent, though he is privately irritated that a promised benefit was withdrawn.
• The Federation is still willing to provide additional Life Potion Production Lines. Feng Jun agrees to extend the lifespans of as many people as the number of lines supplied, but refuses to commit to a fixed schedule, saying he may not return for at least half a year.

Character Developments

• Feng Jun demonstrates growing independence and self-discipline. Although he has access to powerful Guardians, he refuses to abuse their protection or become dependent on them. He also reveals a long-term strategy of preserving his own world’s interests while preparing for Nascent Soul Formation.
• Xuanyuan Buqi reinforces his position as a pragmatic elder. He supports using the Thief Lineage as a challenge rather than eliminating it through outside intervention.
• Vast Sea Venerable acts generously and practically, offering Soul-Replacement Puppets from the Profound Water Sect and supporting Feng Jun’s cultivation plans.
• Luo Seventeen becomes anxious about being separated from the group after recently joining Feng Jun’s companions. He attempts to remain useful by offering family resources and requesting another journey to the Insectoid World.
• Procrastinating Venerable/Jiu Si displays the pride and confidence of the Heavenly Zither cultivators. He dismisses both the Insectoids and the Federation as inferior, while acknowledging the practical value of battlefield cooperation.
• Xuan Gao is placed in an awkward intermediary role. He must communicate the Federation’s desire for formal recognition while preserving the valuable exchange with Feng Jun, whose unpredictability frustrates him.

Significant Themes

• Self-reliance versus external assistance: Feng Jun believes power obtained through Guardians or favors should not replace personal cultivation.
• Limits and reciprocity in relationships: The chapter emphasizes that even beneficial alliances require moderation, balance, and clear boundaries.
• Pride and hierarchy: The Heavenly Zither cultivators view themselves as superior to the Federation and Insectoids, while Feng Jun similarly treats the Federation as useful but not central to his plans.
• Pragmatic cooperation: Even without formal alliances, opposing forces can coordinate when mutual survival requires it.
• Strategic patience: Feng Jun prioritizes long-term cultivation and preparation over immediately pursuing minor enemies or formalizing political relationships.
• Transactional aid: Exchanges—Soul-Nourishing Liquid for puppets, life extension for production lines, and battlefield assistance for future benefits—shape nearly every interaction.

Character Interactions

• Qian Zhong questions why Feng Jun does not eliminate the Thief Lineage; Feng Jun explains his principles, gaining Xuanyuan Buqi’s and Vast Sea Venerable’s approval.
• Vast Sea Venerable offers resources to support Feng Jun’s advancement, while Luo Seventeen tries to secure a continued place within the group.
• Feng Jun and Procrastinating Venerable discuss the Insectoids’ retreat from Divine Descent and their attempts to negotiate.
• Heavenly Zither cultivators and Federation forces cooperate indirectly in battle, covering one another despite lacking a formal alliance.
• Feng Jun and Xuan Gao negotiate over warships and Life Potion Production Lines. Their exchange reveals the Federation’s desire for formal cooperation and Feng Jun’s refusal to become politically tied to it.

Chapter Summary: Descending to the Lower Realm Again

Key Plot Points and Events

• Feng Jun spends nearly a month in the Insectoid World overseeing life-extension treatments for six wealthy clients while Xuan Gao completes six additional Life Potion Production Lines.
• With thirteen production lines now available, Feng Jun can produce up to 5.2 million doses of Life Potion per day—enough to supply both Blue Star and the Kunhao Realm for many years.
• After returning to Libo Shoal, Feng Jun begins deducing the Nascent Soul-level portion of the Primordial Chaos Heaven-Devouring Technique.
• Qian Zhong and Xuanyuan Buqi remain at Libo Shoal, hoping to encounter opportunities and gain Feng Jun’s favor by helping him when trouble arises. Xuanyuan Buqi also suggests allowing selected Xuanyuan descendants to learn the technique under Heavenly Way Oaths.
• Over the next six months, Feng Jun continues deducing techniques, earning money through Deduction, crafting Virtual Combat Treasures, and transporting people between realms. Life remains mostly peaceful.
• Feng Jun discovers that Libo Shoal’s Kindred-Path Aura is close to collapsing. He finds a cultivator preparing to enter the Embracing Core Realm, provides her with a free Deduction and two assisting treasures, and helps her succeed at the crucial moment.
• Her successful breakthrough stabilizes the aura. Other clans then send their descendants to form cores at Libo Shoal, both to benefit from the aura and to gain the possibility of helping Mount Feng’s Master.
• Beauty Lin again attempts to press Feng Jun about the Life Potion Production Lines, but he avoids meeting her and has An Hejun claim that he is unavailable.
• Xuanyuan Buqi informs Feng Jun that the Xuanyuan Family has collected nearly all the treasures in the Lower Realm except those in the Waterfall Domain. Feng Jun agrees to accompany him there, partly because he is tired of the difficult technique deduction.
• After arranging Libo Shoal’s affairs, Feng Jun travels to the Waterfall Domain with Xuanyuan Buqi, Qian Zhong, and Hanhai.
• The Waterfall Domain is overwhelmingly aquatic, consisting mostly of islands and inhabited by both human cultivators and the native Merfolk, whose relations remain tense despite a fragile peace.
• Upon arriving near the Clear Rapids Sect, Feng Jun hears a mysterious voice in his mind proclaiming that its “secret treasure” has arrived, setting up the next conflict or discovery.

Character Developments

• Feng Jun demonstrates growing organizational responsibility. He recognizes that leading Libo Shoal requires careful planning and protection of its members, rather than the carefree independence of a lone cultivator.
• His increasing strength and reputation allow him to protect the secrets of his master’s cultivation technique, even from major families such as the Xuanyuan Family.
• Feng Jun also becomes more adept at responding to crises, saving the Kindred-Path Aura through timely Deduction and supporting core-forming cultivators.
• Qian Zhong and Xuanyuan Buqi openly choose to stay near Feng Jun, seeing him as a source of opportunities and possible trouble. Their attitude reflects both confidence in his strength and a desire to build favorable relations with him.
• Xuanyuan Buqi reveals the Xuanyuan Family’s concern about a possible generational gap, as the family considers exposing younger members to the powerful but resource-intensive Primordial Chaos Heaven-Devouring Technique.
• Hanhai joins Feng Jun’s journey to the Waterfall Domain, strengthening the group’s connection with Upper Realm forces.

Significant Themes

• Growth and responsibility: Feng Jun’s rise from an independent cultivator to the leader of a developing force requires him to consider the safety and needs of others.
• Power, resources, and influence: The Life Potion Production Lines greatly expand Feng Jun’s material power, while his cultivation technique and Deduction abilities make him increasingly valuable to powerful clans.
• Favors and alliances: Cultivators increasingly seek opportunities to help Feng Jun, demonstrating how influence is built through mutually beneficial relationships.
• Tradition versus secrecy: The Primordial Chaos Heaven-Devouring Technique is powerful enough to attract major families, but Feng Jun must balance its usefulness against the need to protect his master’s inheritance.
• The Lower Realm’s changing status: Although many cultivators once looked down on the Lower Realm, the possibility of gaining Feng Jun’s favor makes Libo Shoal and other Lower Realm locations more attractive.
• Order versus freedom: Establishing Libo Shoal as a power limits Feng Jun’s former freedom, emphasizing the obligations that accompany leadership.
• Human–Merfolk tension: The Waterfall Domain introduces a broader setting where coexistence between human cultivators and native races remains uneasy and politically sensitive.

Important Character Interactions

• Feng Jun clarifies to Qian Zhong and Xuanyuan Buqi that he cannot freely distribute the deduced cultivation technique. They accept his position, while Xuanyuan Buqi proposes oath-bound instruction for select family members.
• Feng Jun helps a Yao Family descendant form her core, indirectly strengthening ties between Libo Shoal and several cultivation families.
• The success of the core formation encourages other families to send their descendants to Libo Shoal, treating participation as both cultivation assistance and a possible favor to Feng Jun.
• Feng Jun avoids Beauty Lin’s request regarding the Life Potion Production Lines, showing his unwillingness to be pressured by Blue Star interests.
• Xuanyuan Buqi persuades Feng Jun to explore the Waterfall Domain, and Hanhai joins the expedition after learning of their destination.
• The chapter ends with an unknown entity recognizing or claiming a “secret treasure,” creating immediate suspense around Feng Jun’s arrival in the Waterfall Domain.

Chapter Summary: Waterfall Realm Specialties

Key Plot Points and Events

• Feng Jun teases Xuanyuan Buqi about the unreliable “hidden cache” supposedly located somewhere in the Waterfall Realm, though even the cache’s owner has forgotten whether it is above or below the water.
• Xuanyuan Buqi complains that his juniors received very few Waterfall Realm specialties from the Clear Rapids Sect, despite visiting under Vast Sea Venerable’s name.
• Vast Sea explains that the Waterfall Realm’s history is shaped by a truce between humanity and the native Merfolk. The Profound Water and Golden Crow lineages are forbidden from initiating attacks, since doing so could cause humanity to be blamed for breaking the ceasefire.
• The group discusses why family cultivators are discouraged from entering the Realm: they are unwilling to tolerate insults or mistreatment, making conflicts with the hot-tempered Merfolk more likely. The sects, by contrast, favor compromise because Waterfall contains unique resources and the Merfolk may possess the power to destroy the entire Domain.
• Xuanyuan Buqi criticizes the sects for prioritizing resources and peaceful coexistence over pride and retaliation, though he privately understands their pragmatic position.
• Feng Jun interrupts the argument and suggests that they explore the Realm together rather than continue debating about the Merfolk.
• Qian Zhong volunteers to guide the group and explains that most specialties can be purchased, while others must be collected. Xuanyuan Buqi initially assumes his family’s juniors already obtained most of them.
• Vast Sea reveals that Xuanyuan Wang and the others bypassed the markets and went directly to the Clear Rapids Sect to request a complete set of specialties, apparently using Vast Sea’s name as an introduction.
• Xuanyuan Buqi is embarrassed and indignant, insisting that the Xuanyuan Family would never improperly exploit a Venerable’s reputation. Qian Zhong clarifies that local customs make purchasing specialties at the markets difficult, suggesting the juniors may have acted out of ignorance rather than arrogance.
• The chapter ends with Xuanyuan Buqi blaming the sects for creating such troublesome customs, while Vast Sea points out that he has also never visited the Waterfall Realm before.

Character Developments

• Feng Jun remains cautious about the hidden cache and deliberately prevents the group’s discussion from escalating. He also wants to explore personally rather than allow Vast Sea to obtain the specialties first.
• Xuanyuan Buqi displays his usual bluntness, pride, and protectiveness toward his family. However, he is also capable of recognizing the sects’ practical reasoning and is quick to condemn his own juniors when they may have acted improperly.
• Vast Sea Venerable demonstrates patience, pragmatism, and knowledge of the truce’s political background. He does not take Xuanyuan Buqi’s sarcasm personally and carefully clarifies what actually happened with the Xuanyuan juniors.
• Qian Zhong acts as the group’s mediator and local authority. She understands the Realm’s customs and prevents the dispute between Xuanyuan Buqi and Vast Sea from worsening.
• Xuanyuan Wang and the Xuanyuan juniors are revealed to be more resourceful—or at least more aggressive—in pursuing the Realm’s specialties than Xuanyuan Buqi initially realized.

Significant Themes

• Family honor versus sect pragmatism: Family cultivators value pride, justice, and immediate retaliation, while sects prioritize long-term stability, resource access, and controlled compromise.
• Native resentment and outsider politics: The Merfolk view the Waterfall Realm as their homeland and humanity as an invading force, making peaceful relations inherently fragile.
• The cost of peace: The truce prevents large-scale conflict but restricts powerful human lineages and requires them to tolerate provocation.
• Cultural misunderstanding: The Xuanyuan juniors’ difficulty obtaining specialties shows that local customs and unspoken rules can be as important as money or status.
• Protecting one’s own: Both family and sect perspectives acknowledge the importance of defending their people, though they differ over how much humiliation or inconvenience should be endured to preserve broader interests.

Character Interactions

• Feng Jun and Xuanyuan Buqi share a teasing but cooperative relationship; Buqi readily accepts Feng Jun’s suggestion to explore.
• Xuanyuan Buqi and Vast Sea Venerable repeatedly clash over family honor and sect behavior, though their disagreement remains mostly verbal and neither truly becomes hostile.
• Qian Zhong mediates between them, correcting misunderstandings and explaining the Waterfall Realm’s unusual customs.
• Vast Sea’s revelation about the Xuanyuan juniors briefly embarrasses Buqi and turns his criticism inward toward his own family.
• The group ultimately agrees to explore the Waterfall Realm under Qian Zhong’s guidance instead of immediately seeking the Clear Rapids Sect.

Chapter Summary

• Arrival and strategy: Qian Zhong leads Feng Jun, Xuanyuan Buqi, and Vast Sea Venerable into the Waterfall Realm. Because they are unknown outsiders, she advises them to begin in low-tier markets and establish a purchasing record before attempting to buy high-end treasures. Directly visiting elite markets would attract suspicion and likely result in refusal.
• The Waterfall Realm and Merfolk: The group emerges on a rainforest-covered island populated mainly by Merfolk. The Merfolk vary greatly in appearance, including scales, different skin colors, webbed feet, fish tails, and Flood Dragon-like tails among noble bloodlines. Although they share the name “Merfolk,” they encompass many distinct races united under the rule of the Heavenly Zither Cultivators.
• Hostility toward Humanity: Human cultivators are rare and treated with suspicion. Merfolk avoid them, glare at them, and some even spit in their direction. Xuanyuan Buqi reacts angrily and suggests that the Merfolk are provoking a violent response, while Feng Jun attributes the hostility to Humanity’s minority status and the sects’ deliberate restriction of human population in the realm. Qian Zhong is also disturbed that relations have deteriorated so badly.
• Market restrictions: At a coastal market, Qian Zhong explains that only Merfolk may openly sell goods; human cultivators are forbidden from doing so. The rule supposedly protects Merfolk from human enslavement and resource theft, though Feng Jun and Xuanyuan Buqi suspect it mainly serves to preserve the Merfolk’s monopoly over resources. Feng Jun views the policy as an expression of the strong exploiting the weak and feels no sympathy for the Merfolk.
• Shopping experience: The market’s smaller stalls are openly unfriendly, with some vendors pretending not to understand the Heavenly Zither language. Larger shops are more courteous because they are motivated by profit. Feng Jun records information about the available goods in his phone database but refuses to buy anything merely to satisfy the merchants. Qian Zhong, however, purchases low-grade resources to create the credentials necessary for entering higher-level markets. Xuanyuan Buqi complains but ultimately buys items as well, while Feng Jun and Vast Sea refuse to compromise.
• Promising treasure: In a large shop, the group discovers Water-Repelling Pearls, rare natural treasures useful for underwater movement, medicine, and enhancing magical treasures. The shop’s Pearlfolk attendant—an intelligent, human-like affiliated race often employed as high-ranking servants—treats them relatively politely. However, when Qian Zhong attempts to purchase the pearls, the attendant explains that they cannot be sold directly: the group must first prove that they are qualified buyers.

Character Developments and Interactions

• Qian Zhong acts as the practical guide, emphasizing caution, concealment, and gradual integration. She repeatedly restrains the others’ reactions and explains the political and commercial rules of the realm.
• Feng Jun remains analytical and defiant. He studies the market for his database, criticizes the discriminatory system, and refuses to reward merchants he dislikes. His loyalty is strongest toward humans from his own world, while he feels little connection to the Merfolk.
• Xuanyuan Buqi is openly hot-tempered and advocates retaliation against the Merfolk, even contemplating sending disciples to destroy the realm. Despite his anger, he reluctantly follows Qian Zhong’s plan and purchases low-grade goods.
• Vast Sea Venerable serves as the more restrained observer, finding Xuanyuan Buqi’s bloodlust excessive but acknowledging that the Merfolk’s behavior is humiliating.
• The group collectively confronts prejudice, commercial exploitation, and the tension between maintaining diplomatic restraint and responding to insult.

Significant Themes

• Population and power: Feng Jun reflects that population is essential to a race’s strength and that Humanity’s minority status has contributed to its vulnerability.
• Prejudice and reciprocal hostility: Both humans and Merfolk view one another with suspicion, while historical oppression and fear have hardened into social and economic discrimination.
• Strength versus justice: The group debates whether the market rules offer genuine protection or simply enable Merfolk monopolization. Feng Jun summarizes the realm’s harsh reality through the idea that “the weak get beaten.”
• Pragmatism versus pride: Qian Zhong advocates patience and strategic compromise, while Feng Jun and Xuanyuan Buqi struggle with the humiliation of being forced to buy inferior goods and prove their legitimacy.
• Controlled access to resources: The Water-Repelling Pearls and the requirement to demonstrate purchasing qualifications foreshadow further obstacles created by the Merfolk’s tightly regulated markets.

Chapter Summary: “Playing Favorites”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Qian Zhong and Feng Jun’s group visit a merfolk shop to establish their purchase qualifications by showing proof of previous purchases.
• Qian Zhong displays a Storage Bracelet, an unusually valuable item in the Waterfall Domain, where spatial treasures are scarce and tightly controlled by Humanity.
• The merfolk shopkeeper recognizes the bracelet’s value and attempts to exploit Qian Zhong by drastically inflating the price of a Water-Repelling Pearl.
• After inspection, the pearl is found to be above fourth grade but below third grade—valuable, yet not worth the demanded five thousand Mid-Grade Spirit Stones.
• Qian Zhong offers three hundred Spirit Stones, refuses to pay more, and asks to inspect another item when the pearl maiden refuses to bargain.
• The sea-serpent shopkeeper accuses Qian Zhong of using cultivation pressure to threaten the staff and loudly summons reinforcements.
• Dozens of merfolk, including Dust-Free and Gold Core cultivators, surround the shop. Despite their numbers, they are clearly outmatched by Feng Jun’s group, which includes a Nascent Soul True Immortal and several Gold Core cultivators.
• Two human cultivators arrive to mediate. Rather than immediately investigate the shopkeeper’s price-gouging, the stronger human cultivator questions Qian Zhong’s identity and whether she is a family cultivator.
• The chapter ends with the mediator criticizing Qian Zhong for “forcing” the purchase, even after hearing that the shop demanded an absurdly high price.

Character Developments

• Qian Zhong demonstrates confidence, wealth, and authority. She is aware of the risks of displaying her Storage Bracelet but considers herself powerful enough not to fear ordinary greed. Although she has a good temper and refuses to bully the weak pearl maiden, the merfolk’s exploitation and accusations gradually anger her.
• Feng Jun remains observant and openly contemptuous of the merfolk’s intimidation tactics. He recognizes that their apparent courage comes from assuming human cultivators will tolerate their behavior.
• Xuanyuan Buqi shows his impatience with disrespect. He refuses to answer the human mediator’s condescending question and releases Nascent Soul pressure when the merfolk accuse the group of bullying.
• The sea-serpent shopkeeper is revealed as manipulative and shameless, deliberately ordering an inflated price and then portraying itself as the victim when Qian Zhong objects.
• The pearl maiden is frightened and clearly acting under the shopkeeper’s instructions. Her weak cultivation leaves her vulnerable to Qian Zhong’s pressure.
• The human mediator displays bias against family cultivators and prioritizes keeping order over determining who is at fault.

Significant Themes

• Resource control and political tension: Humanity’s control of storage equipment and the merfolk’s control of local specialties reflect the broader economic conflict between the two groups.
• Greed and exploitation: The shopkeeper raises the price because Qian Zhong appears wealthy, illustrating how valuable treasures attract predatory behavior.
• Power versus rules: The merfolk rely on local rules and public accusations to compensate for their weakness, while Qian Zhong’s group possesses overwhelming force but chooses not to use it.
• Institutional prejudice: The human mediator assumes family cultivators are likely troublemakers and treats Qian Zhong more suspiciously than the merfolk.
• Dignity and restraint: Qian Zhong refuses to mistreat a weaker cultivator, yet insists that strength and status should not be used to justify humiliating or exploiting her.

Character Interactions

• Qian Zhong negotiates with the pearl maiden, but the shopkeeper manipulates the exchange from behind the scenes.
• The shopkeeper provokes Qian Zhong by accusing her of threatening the shop, turning a commercial dispute into a confrontation.
• Feng Jun and Xuanyuan Buqi verbally challenge the merfolk’s claims and make clear that the group is not intimidated by their numbers.
• The human mediator questions Xuanyuan Buqi and Qian Zhong about their origins instead of first examining the shopkeeper’s conduct, exposing his bias.
• Qian Zhong defends her reaction by explaining that the pearl’s quality did not justify its outrageous price, but the mediator still treats her as the source of the disturbance.

Chapter Summary: Beyond Endurance (Second Update)

Key Plot Points and Events

• Qian Zhong confronts a sea snake shopkeeper who accuses her of trying to forcibly purchase its Water-Repelling Pearl for only 300 Mid-Grade Spirit Stones, despite claiming the pearl is worth 5,000.
• The market’s Intermediate Gold Core administrator attempts to settle the dispute by ordering Qian Zhong’s group to pay compensation and leave. Although he recognizes that the sea snake is extorting them, he prioritizes avoiding conflict with the Merfolk.
• The administrator repeatedly favors compromise with the Merfolk, explaining that higher-ranking sect officials have instructed them to accommodate the Waterfall Realm’s nonhuman inhabitants.
• Vast Sea Venerable challenges this biased treatment and reveals himself as a True Immortal of the Profound Water Sect. His display of Nascent Soul-level pressure immediately frightens both the administrator and the sea snake.
• After Vast Sea’s intervention, the administrator withdraws his demand for compensation, and the sea snake hurriedly claims it wants nothing.
• As Vast Sea, Xuanyuan Buqi, Feng Jun, and Qian Zhong leave the shop, the sea snake suddenly kills the Pearlfolk woman by stabbing her through the forehead with its tongue.
• The administrator refuses to intervene, explaining that Pearlfolk are Merfolk-owned slaves and that their lives fall outside Humanity’s jurisdiction.
• Enraged by the killing and the administrator’s indifference, Feng Jun curses him and launches a white beam at the sea snake, creating a major confrontation at the chapter’s end.

Character Developments

• Qian Zhong remains composed but becomes increasingly disgusted by the arbitrary treatment of Humanity cultivators. She openly questions whether the administrator’s ruling represents genuine fairness.
• Feng Jun shifts from sarcastic observer to active defender. He initially tries to provoke the arrogant sea snake verbally but ultimately loses patience when the Pearlfolk woman is murdered.
• Vast Sea Venerable asserts his authority and reveals a fabricated—or at least false—identity as a True Immortal of the Profound Water Sect. His status exposes the administrator’s weakness and forces him to abandon his earlier stance.
• Xuanyuan Buqi remains restrained, though his anger is evident. He appears ready to respond to the injustice but follows Vast Sea out without escalating the dispute himself.
• The Intermediate Gold Core administrator is shown to be cowardly and politically compromised. He knows the sea snake is behaving dishonestly but tolerates it because of sect policy, fear of Merfolk unrest, and prejudice against family cultivators.
• The sea snake shopkeeper is revealed to be both shameless and vicious. After acting submissive before Vast Sea, it deliberately kills the Pearlfolk woman, apparently to provoke the group.
• The Pearlfolk woman is portrayed as frightened and powerless, caught between the shopkeeper’s extortion and the indifference of the authorities.

Significant Themes

• Institutional injustice and unequal protection: The market authorities claim to maintain order but protect powerful or politically useful groups rather than uphold fairness.
• Racial and social prejudice: Humanity’s sect cultivators discriminate against family cultivators, while the Merfolk enslave and abuse the Pearlfolk.
• Power versus principle: The administrator only changes his position after Vast Sea reveals overwhelming status and strength, demonstrating that authority—not justice—determines outcomes.
• Political compromise and corruption: The sects tolerate Merfolk misconduct to preserve stability, allowing exploitation and murder to continue under the excuse of jurisdiction.
• Hidden identities and deception: Vast Sea’s false Profound Water Sect identity reflects the group’s broader reliance on disguises and fabricated affiliations while operating in the Lower Realm.
• Limits of endurance: The group repeatedly tolerates insults and unfairness for the sake of their larger mission, but the Pearlfolk woman’s murder finally pushes Feng Jun beyond restraint.

Character Interactions

• Qian Zhong and the administrator clash over the legitimacy of the sea snake’s compensation demand.
• Feng Jun challenges the sea snake’s attempt to portray itself as the victim, while the administrator watches without meaningfully intervening.
• Vast Sea directly confronts the administrator over his biased governance and later intimidates the sea snake into silence.
• Feng Jun and Qian Zhong exchange a knowing glance as they recognize the absurdity and corruption of the situation.
• The sea snake’s murder of the Pearlfolk woman transforms the dispute from a commercial argument into a moral and potentially violent conflict.
• Feng Jun’s final attack marks the group’s first decisive retaliation against the Merfolk’s abuse and sets up the next chapter’s confrontation.