Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: “The Second Academy”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Feng Jun and Yi Jue arrive at Xinxuefang Academy, expecting the academy to refuse their request for books because of its status as one of the continent’s greatest Wizard academies.
• True Witch Xizong emerges from the academy and reveals that the academy had deliberately left books and records behind as part of contingency plans for negotiation.
• Xizong explains that the academy’s decision depends on the cultivators’ behavior. Because Feng Jun and Yi Jue acted reasonably and primarily wanted books rather than Wizard cultivation techniques, he is willing to cooperate.
• Xizong produces more than eight hundred books, mostly encyclopedic works on society and other subjects, with very few Martial Cultivation texts and no novels.
• He additionally offers a book on Replication Witchcraft, which Feng Jun recognizes as particularly useful.
• Yi Jue insists that they also obtain basic Wizard cultivation manuals and theoretical materials, since Feng Jun is studying and deducing cultivation techniques.
• After some hesitation, Xizong provides around twenty low-level manuals for Wizard Apprentices and Wizards, while withholding Xinxuefang’s unique secret arts.
• Feng Jun asks Xizong to duplicate the books, but Xizong reveals that the books are already replicated copies and allows them to take them directly.
• Feng Jun offers eighteen gold ingots as payment, but Xizong declines the gold and instead requests several basic cultivator techniques in exchange.

Character Developments

• Feng Jun shows increasing flexibility and diplomacy. Although he initially assumes the academy will resist, he quickly accepts Xizong’s offer and is willing to compromise for basic Wizard manuals rather than resort to force.
• Yi Jue demonstrates that she values practical gains over pride when necessary. She insists on obtaining foundational Wizard knowledge and accepts the idea of taking replicated books, despite her concern for status and dignity.
• True Witch Xizong is revealed to be pragmatic rather than blindly loyal or antagonistic. He is prepared to die fighting if necessary, but he recognizes when negotiation is wiser. He also possesses a broad, relatively nuanced view of the historical conflict between Wizards and cultivators.
• Xizong develops respect for Feng Jun and Yi Jue after observing their restraint, particularly their willingness to consider Yika’er’s situation. He also regrets the trouble caused by the old woman from Black Well City, whom he blames for escalating the conflict.

Significant Themes

• Pragmatism over hostility: The chapter emphasizes that former enemies can cooperate when their immediate goals are limited and reasonable.
• Knowledge as a bargaining tool: Books and cultivation manuals function as valuable resources, but their worth depends on what each side needs. Xizong prefers basic cultivator techniques to gold.
• Foundational knowledge versus specialization: Xizong argues that basic techniques broaden one’s understanding, while advanced secret arts are more specialized and restrictive. This supports Feng Jun’s effort to deduce and create new cultivation paths.
• Misunderstanding between factions: Xizong questions whether Wizards and cultivators are truly mortal enemies, suggesting that historical assumptions and limited information have sustained unnecessary hostility.
• Mercy and restraint: Feng Jun and Yi Jue’s willingness to negotiate, rather than immediately use force, changes Xizong’s perception of cultivators and makes peaceful exchange possible.

Character Interactions

• Feng Jun and Xizong: Their exchange begins with mutual suspicion but develops into a respectful negotiation. Feng Jun refuses to overexplain himself, while Xizong carefully tests his intentions before offering resources.
• Yi Jue and Xizong: Yi Jue presses Xizong for basic Wizard techniques, making clear that Feng Jun’s research requires more than general books. Xizong ultimately respects the request and provides limited materials.
• Feng Jun and Yi Jue: They work cooperatively, with Yi Jue advocating for valuable technical references and Feng Jun accommodating her publicly. Their shared glance over the already-replicated books reflects their surprise and growing coordination.
• Xizong and the absent academy authorities: Xizong acts as the academy’s negotiator, balancing its survival against the protection of its most valuable secret arts. He provides common materials but refuses to surrender Xinxuefang’s unique techniques.

Chapter Summary: “Thinking Too Highly of Yourself”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Xizong asks Feng Jun for basic Wizard cultivation manuals, arguing that Feng Jun had previously requested books from the Wizards. Feng Jun rejects the request, explaining that he only obtained books by overpowering them and challenging Xizong to do the same.
• Feng Jun agrees to exchange the books for healing pills instead, though initially offering only low-level Wizard pills. Xizong bargains by citing the deaths in Skyhawk City and successfully obtains two Great Wizard-level pills along with ten Wizard-level pills.
• Yika’er follows Xizong’s example and negotiates a reward for her academy, which was the first to provide books on a large scale. Feng Jun grants her one Great Wizard-level pill and ten Wizard-level pills.
• Seeing that surrender and cooperation bring rewards, many Wizard academies begin sending over their books. Feng Jun and his companions spend three days collecting materials from numerous towers.
• One stubborn Five-Story Tower refuses to submit because it had been an affiliate of the destroyed Eleven-Story Tower. Its old guardian asks Feng Jun to spare the tower, but Feng Jun refuses. Yi Jue collapses the tower while deliberately leaving the Great Wizard alive to witness its destruction.
• Other Wizards attempt to buy or trade for Yika’er’s Great Wizard-level pill, but she refuses, keeping it for herself and mocking the quality of Wizard healing medicine.
• The group gathers over three thousand books from more than twenty towers. Because everyone needs copies, the books must be duplicated repeatedly and converted into obsidian records, taking several days.
• After resting, the group moves on to another small city, Muddy Water City, to observe whether the academy city’s change in behavior is representative. Before reaching it, they discover a banner announcing that all Wizards in the city have already evacuated.

Character Developments

• Feng Jun remains arrogant, practical, and uncompromising, but he is also willing to reward reasonable bargaining. He treats negotiations as transactions rather than emotional exchanges and accepts the academies’ low-level books despite knowing they are mostly obscure or duplicated.
• Xizong proves resourceful and bold. Though initially embarrassed by Feng Jun’s refusal, he quickly adapts, bargains intelligently, and uses the destruction of Skyhawk City to justify requesting additional pills.
• Yika’er becomes more assertive after witnessing Xizong negotiate. She confidently demands compensation for her academy’s cooperation and later protects her valuable Great Wizard pill from other Wizards.
• Yi Jue displays overwhelming power and emotional detachment by destroying the defiant tower without even bothering to kill its guardian.
• The Wizard academies shift from resistance to pragmatic cooperation. Many recognize that surrendering books can earn valuable healing pills and begin preparing materials in advance.

Significant Themes

• Negotiation through strength: Feng Jun’s ability to offer rewards comes from having already demonstrated overwhelming power. Cooperation is encouraged, but only after resistance has been made clearly futile.
• Pragmatism versus pride: The academies weigh survival and material gain against loyalty, tradition, and resentment toward the forces that destroyed them.
• The value of knowledge: Even basic cultivation manuals are treated as precious resources. The Wizards’ willingness to exchange them reveals both their desire to expand their system and the weakness of their inherited traditions.
• Arrogance and humiliation: Feng Jun’s disdain, the old Great Wizard’s helplessness, and the academies’ anxious bargaining all reflect the shifting balance of power.
• Preservation versus destruction: The stubborn Five-Story Tower seeks to preserve a “Fire Seed” of its legacy, but Yi Jue’s destruction demonstrates that institutions unable to adapt may be erased.
• Cultural imbalance: Wizard potions and cultivation pills are compared repeatedly, emphasizing the cultivators’ more systematic inheritance and superior medicinal tradition.

Character Interactions

• Feng Jun and Xizong engage in a tense but ultimately productive negotiation, with Feng Jun accepting Xizong’s arguments when they are logically useful.
• Yika’er imitates Xizong’s bargaining strategy and successfully obtains rewards, showing that Feng Jun responds favorably to direct and rational negotiation.
• Feng Jun and Yi Jue jointly confront the defiant Five-Story Tower. Yi Jue acts decisively while Feng Jun rejects the guardian’s attempt to impose conditions.
• Other Wizards approach Yika’er after Feng Jun’s departure, hoping to purchase or trade for her rare pill. She refuses and remains suspicious of Wizard medicine.
• The larger group collaborates in collecting, duplicating, and converting the books, demonstrating increasing coordination as the campaign progresses.
• The evacuation of Muddy Water City suggests that Feng Jun’s reputation has spread and that future encounters may involve preemptive flight rather than open resistance.

Chapter Summary: “Decisive Battle”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Feng Jun and his companions arrive at Muddy Water City and find a banner declaring that Wizard-system cultivators are forbidden from entering. The message is deliberately insulting, suggesting that the Wizards have abandoned the city.
• Locals confirm that the Wizards’ Association evacuated completely after ordering all Wizards and Apprentices to leave. The abandoned towers have become a curiosity for ordinary citizens.
• Suspecting a trap, the group sends Qian Zhong to investigate. Disguised first as a Wizard Apprentice, she is turned away because of the banner, then secretly changes her appearance and enters the city using a Flash Step.
• Qian Zhong explores Muddy Water City, purchases books, scans the city with Divine Sense, and confirms that its alarm formations are inactive. She then disguises herself as Yi Jue and visits the City Lord’s Manor.
• The frightened city lord gives her the manor’s books and explains that the Wizards withdrew because several smaller cities had been destroyed and their forces were being systematically eliminated by the visiting cultivators.
• The Wizards and Martial Cultivators have formed opposing hunting teams. Martial Cultivators are taking advantage of the chaos to seek revenge and opportunities to travel to the Divine Martial Continent, while Wizards are increasingly forced to travel in groups for protection.
• The Wizards’ Association has abandoned small and medium-sized cities and concentrated its strength around four major cities.
• Qian Zhong demands maps of the continent. The city lord provides three crude maps, which disappoint her, though she leaves without killing him.
• After hearing her report, the group debates whether to follow the Wizards’ apparent arrangement for a final confrontation. Qing Yao and Jing Nian argue that the Wizards are not worthy of being accommodated.
• Feng Jun decides to investigate two medium-sized cities. Both have also been abandoned by the Wizards and are now under Martial Cultivator control. The group acquires additional books and better maps.
• Xuanyuan Buqi proposes skipping further investigations and attacking a major city directly. The group agrees to target Sea Capital, intending to kill enough opponents to force the remaining Wizards into action.

Character Developments

• Qian Zhong demonstrates her resourcefulness, acting ability, stealth, and willingness to take risks. She investigates the city without violence, gathers valuable intelligence, and successfully intimidates the city lord into providing books and maps.
• Feng Jun continues to act as the group’s practical decision-maker. He balances caution with momentum, first ordering reconnaissance and later approving a direct strike against a major city.
• Xuanyuan Buqi reveals his enthusiasm for combat but also shows strategic thinking. His proposal to attack a major city is not merely reckless; he recognizes that prolonged city-by-city investigation is inefficient.
• Qing Yao and Jing Nian both assert the group’s independence, arguing that they should not allow the Wizards to dictate the terms or location of the conflict.
• The Wizards are shown to be increasingly defensive and fragmented. Their withdrawal reflects strategic contraction rather than confidence.
• The city lord is portrayed as frightened but cooperative, using his authority and resources to protect himself from Qian Zhong’s overwhelming power.

Significant Themes

• Power imbalance and intimidation: Ordinary rulers and citizens are helpless before high-level cultivators, while the Wizards’ former dominance has been undermined.
• Strategic withdrawal versus decisive confrontation: The Wizards retreat to major cities, while Feng Jun’s group debates whether to pursue a methodical investigation or force a final battle.
• Factional conflict and opportunism: Martial Cultivators exploit the Wizards’ weakened position for revenge, personal advancement, and access to the Divine Martial Continent.
• Information and maps as strategic resources: Books, city reports, and geographical maps are essential for understanding and navigating the continent.
• Independence and defiance: Feng Jun’s group refuses to accept the Wizards’ attempt to control the battlefield and instead chooses its own target.
• The cost of constant vigilance: Wizards who once valued privacy and solitary travel are forced into groups because of ambushes and hunting teams.

Character Interactions

• Feng Jun, Yi Jue, and the others discuss whether Muddy Water City’s abandonment is genuine or a trap.
• Yi Jue argues for caution, while Qian Zhong volunteers to investigate in place of Feng Jun.
• Qian Zhong deceives the city guards, frightens the city lord by assuming Yi Jue’s appearance, and pressures him into surrendering books, information, and maps.
• The city lord explains the Wizards’ retreat and the conflict between Wizards and Martial Cultivators, giving the group a broader understanding of the continent’s political situation.
• After Qian Zhong returns, Xuanyuan Buqi advocates a violent direct challenge, while Qing Yao and Jing Nian reject the idea of following the Wizards’ plans.
• Feng Jun resolves the debate by choosing Sea Capital as the site of their next and potentially decisive confrontation.

Chapter Summary: “Ambush”

Plot Points and Events

• Feng Jun’s group approaches Sea Capital, a prosperous seaport surrounded by numerous satellite cities and noble estates.
• Six hundred li from the city, they encounter a warning formation that suppresses or forbids the use of spiritual energy. Yi Jue suggests killing the defenders, but Feng Jun advises restraint to avoid damaging their Dao hearts. Qing Yao supports him.
• The group goes directly to Earl Shallow River’s residence, demanding that the earl surrender the books stored there.
• The residence’s defenses activate, revealing that a Wizard is present. Yi Jue destroys most of the estate with a palm strike, but the enemy’s formation resists.
• The attackers are trapped in the Heaven-Earth Spirit-Extinction Formation, a Wizard formation specifically designed to counter Cultivators. A giant feminine male face appears and identifies Yi Jue as a Soul Emergence Venerable, revealing that the Wizards are prepared for their arrival.
• The enemy summons several powerful reinforcements:
  • The Black Left Witch Ancestor, appearing as a hand formed from black smoke.
  • Sky Witch, who manifests an enormous chessboard-like formation.
  • Other hidden forces using spatial techniques.
• Yi Jue, Qing Yao, and Jing Nian confront the Wizards. Jing Nian identifies Sky Witch’s technique as resembling Chess Dao and breaks through the descending chessboard with sword-light, shocking the enemy by revealing that the group comes from the Cultivator Ancestral Star.
• Wei Sancai uses the Disturbance Technique to interfere with the enemy’s spatial escape, while Xuanyuan Buqi reveals himself as a True Lord and imprisons a centaur-like monster.
• The monster claims that the Cultivators are violating the Treaty of Non-Aggression, which forbids Cultivators from invading the continent. Xuanyuan Buqi denies knowing of the treaty and argues that agreements unknown to them cannot bind them.
• Qian Zhong arrives unexpectedly, concealing her aura so completely that the centaur mistakes her for an existence above the True Lord realm. She expresses interest in taking the centaur away for study.
• The enemy becomes alarmed at the number and strength of the invading Cultivators, asking whether they intend to launch a full-scale invasion of the Ghost Shaman World.

Character Developments

• Feng Jun demonstrates leadership and restraint, prioritizing the group’s Dao hearts over immediate revenge or slaughter.
• Yi Jue remains aggressive and confident, but willingly follows Feng Jun’s decision to investigate before killing indiscriminately. She also shows her skill by severely damaging the Earl’s Residence.
• Qing Yao reveals a thoughtful and disciplined side, agreeing that decisive action must be balanced with reverence and moral restraint.
• Jing Nian displays his formidable swordsmanship and willingness to confront powerful enemies directly.
• Wei Sancai proves that his apparently modest strength conceals exceptional tactical skill, using deception and spatial interference to hinder the enemy.
• Xuanyuan Buqi acts arrogantly and forcefully, relying on overwhelming strength rather than diplomacy. His behavior also highlights the Cultivators’ unfamiliarity with local laws.
• Qian Zhong appears mysterious and potentially stronger than the other Venerables. Her interest in studying the captured centaur reinforces her unusual curiosity and detached attitude.
• The Wizards and their allies are shown to be cautious and well-prepared, but they become increasingly frightened as more Cultivator powerhouses appear.

Significant Themes

• Restraint versus slaughter: The group must balance decisive action with preserving their Dao hearts and avoiding excessive bloodshed.
• Strength and authority: Xuanyuan Buqi’s claim that “the bigger fist has reason” reflects the chapter’s emphasis on power as the ultimate source of authority.
• Cultural and legal misunderstanding: The conflict is intensified because the Cultivators know nothing of the local Treaty of Non-Aggression, while the Ghost Shaman World views their arrival as an invasion.
• Hidden strength and deception: Multiple characters conceal their true abilities, and seemingly less prominent figures such as Wei Sancai prove highly dangerous.
• First contact and escalating conflict: The encounter suggests that the Cultivators’ arrival may trigger a much larger war between outside invaders and the forces of the Ghost Shaman World.

Character Interactions

• Feng Jun persuades Yi Jue and Qing Yao to restrain their killing intent.
• Feng Jun and Yi Jue confront the Earl’s Residence together, with Yi Jue taking the lead in destroying it.
• Yi Jue verbally challenges the feminine-faced Witch Ancestor and dismisses the supposed superiority of the anti-Cultivator formation.
• Qing Yao questions the Black Left Witch Ancestor about the existence of a Black Right Witch Ancestor, deliberately probing the enemy’s organization.
• Jing Nian clashes with Sky Witch, breaking his chessboard formation and exposing the presence of the Cultivator Ancestral Star.
• Wei Sancai and Xuanyuan Buqi coordinate indirectly to prevent the enemy’s escape and capture the centaur.
• Xuanyuan Buqi argues with the centaur over the Treaty of Non-Aggression, while Qian Zhong’s arrival further intimidates and unsettles the enemy.

Chapter Summary: “Guardians Come to Aid”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Qian Zhong dismisses the Centaur’s assumption that she is beyond the True Lord realm, though her strength clearly intimidates the Witch Ancestors.
• She recognizes the Centaur as a Wizard-made, stitched-together creation and expresses disgust toward the Wizards’ cruel experimental methods.
• Xuanyuan Buqi threatens to destroy the Chessboard, which is revealed to be linked to the continent’s stability. The Centaur warns that destroying it could cause the entire continent to collapse.
• Yi Jue forces the Chessboard to reveal itself using the Sweet Rain of Thought. It transforms from an effeminate young face into a young man and explains the ancient agreement between cultivators and Wizards.
• After an ancient war nearly destroyed the world, cultivators and Wizards divided the Ghost Shaman World: cultivators received two continents, Wizards four, and Martial Cultivation one. An oath forbade either side from invading the other.
• The Witch Ancestors had assembled to oppose Yi Jue and Feng Jun because they had massacred their way through Wizard territory. The human-faced Witch Ancestor had summoned the Centaur, the Black Left and Black Right Witch Ancestors, and the powerful Xiaotian Witch.
• The Wizards had prepared a grand formation and believed they could at least severely injure Yi Jue, but the cultivator group brought far more powerful figures than expected—enough to destroy the entire world. The Witch Ancestors therefore retreat from confrontation and frame the incident as a misunderstanding.
• Xuanyuan Buqi questions the Witch Ancestors about cultivators from beyond the heavens who had previously visited the Wizard continents. The Centaur knows of two, including one True Lord, but admits they merely passed through and avoided major conflict.
• Feng Jun asks about the first cultivator to arrive from beyond the heavens. The Witch Ancestors do not know his name, though they believe he was beyond the True Lord realm.
• The Wizards claim to possess True Lords, but most are dormant or hidden, and even the Witch Ancestors know little about them. They imply that the historical arrival of a being beyond a True Lord remains a forbidden and dangerous subject.
• Qing Yao doubts that the Wizard system truly possesses many True Lords. The young Witch Ancestor concedes that a full-power attack by someone beyond the True Lord realm would likely destroy the entire Ghost Shaman World.

Character Developments

• Qian Zhong demonstrates overwhelming authority and sharp judgment. Her reaction to the Centaur’s stitched body reveals her moral disgust toward Wizard experimentation.
• The Centaur shifts from fear and defensiveness to reluctant cooperation. He protects the Chessboard because he understands the catastrophic consequences of destroying it and provides important historical information about the cultivator-Wizard conflict.
• Xuanyuan Buqi remains aggressively confident, threatening to destroy the Chessboard and questioning the Witch Ancestors about hidden True Lords and past cultivator arrivals.
• Yi Jue establishes control over the situation. Her use of the Sweet Rain of Thought forces the Chessboard to appear, and her displeasure at being treated as the aggressor highlights that the conflict was not entirely her choice.
• Feng Jun acts as an investigator, focusing on the history of cultivators from beyond the heavens and the possible disappearance of powerful figures.
• Qing Yao displays growing confidence in her understanding of cultivation realms and openly challenges the Wizards’ claims about their strength.
• The Witch Ancestors are revealed to be powerful but politically divided, fearful of the cultivators, and uncertain about their own ancient history.

Significant Themes

• Power imbalance and survival: The Witch Ancestors’ planned ambush becomes meaningless when confronted with a vastly stronger cultivator force. Their willingness to abandon principles and avoid responsibility reflects the instinct to survive.
• Historical conflict and fragile treaties: The ancient oath prevented open invasions but did not eliminate hostility. Both sides have violated boundaries individually, while avoiding full-scale expeditions because past attempts ended disastrously.
• The limits of knowledge: Even the Witch Ancestors lack reliable information about their own True Lords, ancient events, and visitors from beyond the heavens. History has become fragmented, secretive, and taboo.
• Cultural prejudice: Qian Zhong’s disgust toward Wizard methods and the Wizards’ fear of cultivators show the deep mistrust between the two systems. Each side views the other as dangerous or morally suspect.
• The danger of transcendent power: Beings beyond the True Lord realm are portrayed as forces capable of threatening the existence of the entire world, making their history both politically important and terrifying.
• Internal division among allies: The Wizards share a common enemy in the cultivators but do not truly trust one another. Their rivalries and poor relationships weaken their collective position.

Character Interactions

• Qian Zhong intimidates and interrogates the Centaur, while he anxiously tries to explain his origin and avoid being taken captive.
• Xuanyuan Buqi confronts the Chessboard directly, threatening its destruction and forcing it to submit.
• Yi Jue uses her power to compel the Chessboard’s appearance, then questions it about the ancient agreement.
• The Chessboard and the Centaur cooperate in explaining the history of the world and the division between Wizards and cultivators.
• Feng Jun questions the Witch Ancestors about earlier visitors from beyond the heavens and the first cultivator to arrive.
• Qing Yao challenges the young Witch Ancestor’s claims about the number and strength of Wizard True Lords, emphasizing the growing confidence of the cultivator side.

Chapter Summary: “Inheritance?”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The group learns that the cultivators from beyond the heavens, particularly those above the True Lord realm, had not used their full strength during the ancient conflict with the Wizards. This explains why the Wizard True Lords managed to survive.
• Qing Yao asks about rumors of an opportunity to advance beyond the True Lord realm. The Witch Ancestors admit that such rumors originated from the Cultivation Continent, but they refuse to provide reliable information.
• Feng Jun exposes the Wizards’ historical exaggerations. The cultivators had occupied only two continents not because the Wizards had successfully resisted them, but because the cultivators had chosen not to conquer more territory. They merely wanted a place to settle without destroying the world.
• The group questions the Witch Ancestors about the cultivator inheritance they possess, the identity of the person who taught it to them, and the meaning of the “Cultivator Ancestral Star.” The Wizards evade the questions and repeatedly direct Feng Jun toward the Cultivation Continent.
• Feng Jun threatens to take the Witch Ancestors away for interrogation. His pressure reveals divisions among them, especially the hostility between Black Left, the chessboard-like Sky Witch, and the other Witch Ancestors.
• The chessboard’s reaction to the name “Mountains and Rivers State Map” strongly suggests that it is connected to that mysterious inheritance, despite its denials. Feng Jun decides to investigate the Cultivation Continent first rather than force the issue.
• The group agrees to travel to the Immortal Martial Continent, taking the Sky Witch with them. The remaining Witch Ancestors are left behind under supervision until the truth of the ancient agreement is confirmed.
• Feng Jun and the others cross the dangerous Sea of Raging Waves with ease, aided by their powerful cultivation. They arrive in a gorge on the Immortal Martial Continent and discover that it was carved by an extraordinarily powerful sword strike.
• They encounter a Nascent Soul cultivator from a local Sword Sect guarding the gorge. The cultivator is alarmed by the group’s overwhelming strength and objects when Jing Nian says they came to investigate the sword intent.

Character Developments

• Feng Jun becomes increasingly skeptical of the Wizards’ claims and takes an assertive role in exposing their lies and omissions. He also demonstrates restraint, choosing investigation over unnecessary coercion when dealing with the Sky Witch.
• The Sky Witch is revealed to be secretive, stubborn, and politically isolated from the other Witch Ancestors. His panic at the mention of the Mountains and Rivers State Map implies that he knows far more than he admits.
• Black Left openly betrays and insults the Sky Witch, showing the deep distrust and hostility within the Wizard faction.
• The Centaur admits that Wizard history has been embellished to preserve their pride, confirming that the Wizards’ version of the ancient conflict is unreliable.
• Yi Jue displays her experience and concern for the consequences of interference. She reminds Feng Jun not to reveal their identities or disrupt the opportunities and arrangements of people in another world.
• Jing Nian shows particular interest in the sword intent, suspecting that it may have originated from his own Azure Lotus Sect.
• The group as a whole becomes more cautious about the hidden rules governing inheritances, opportunities, and the consequences of interfering in another world.

Significant Themes

• Historical distortion and propaganda: The Wizards have exaggerated their past resistance to the cultivators, showing how history is shaped by pride and political necessity.
• Hidden inheritances and suppressed knowledge: The identities of the original teachers, the Cultivator Ancestral Star, and the Mountains and Rivers State Map remain mysterious, suggesting a larger inheritance network spanning multiple continents.
• Internal distrust and betrayal: The Witch Ancestors are united against outsiders but constantly undermine one another, revealing that their alliance is fragile.
• Power and restraint: Although Feng Jun’s group possesses overwhelming strength, they do not immediately destroy or forcibly interrogate everyone. Their choices reflect an awareness that power must be used carefully.
• Respect for fate and opportunity: Yi Jue’s warning emphasizes that cultivators must avoid ruining another person’s chance at advancement, even when they have the power to do so.
• Exploration of a wider cultivation world: The move from the Wizard Continent to the Immortal Martial Continent expands the story’s scope and introduces new sects, inheritances, and powerful historical figures.

Character Interactions

• Qing Yao directly questions the Centaur about advancement beyond True Lord, prompting the discussion of the Cultivation Continent.
• Feng Jun repeatedly challenges the Centaur, the chessboard, and the Sky Witch, exposing their evasions and forcing them to acknowledge the Wizards’ historical weakness.
• Black Left and the Sky Witch trade hostile accusations, with Black Left calling him a possible cultivator spy and the Sky Witch threatening to kill him.
• Feng Jun and Boss cooperate in pressuring the chessboard by invoking the Mountains and Rivers State Map, successfully provoking an unusually emotional reaction.
• Xuanyuan Buqi and the other powerful cultivators debate whether to punish the Witch Ancestors for their ambush. They ultimately leave them under judgment rather than immediately retaliating.
• After arriving on the Immortal Martial Continent, Jing Nian speaks to the Sword Sect guardian, while Yi Jue privately advises Feng Jun to remain discreet.
• The chapter ends with the Sword Sect cultivator defensively challenging their right to investigate the powerful sword intent, setting up a likely confrontation or negotiation.

Summary of “Not Quite Real”

Key plot points and events

• Jing Nian the Venerable confronts a Nascent Soul cultivator from the Sword Sect near a mountain cleaved by powerful sword intent.
• To avoid revealing their origins, Jing Nian claims that the sword intent resembles that of a senior from his sect. The Sword Sect cultivator explains that its Third Patriarch supposedly had a master-disciple relationship with the sword-intent owner, though this is clearly an exaggerated claim.
• Jing Nian realizes the Sword Sect merely obtained the location through an old connection and does not seriously challenge their claim. Instead, he asks about the sword-intent owner and the surrounding continent.
• The Sword Sect cultivator, Wen Jian, discovers that Jing Nian is a Venerable and that the travelers are not from the Immortal Martial Continent. Frightened by their overwhelming strength, he orders two arriving Gold Core disciples to leave and avoid asking questions.
• Jing Nian warns Wen Jian that continued probing may result in memory erasure, though he assures him that the sect’s connection to an ancient senior gives him some protection.
• Wen Jian explains the Immortal Martial Continent’s power structure: the “seven sects, eight schools, and twelve gates,” along with influential clans and martial factions. None correspond to the powers known on Heavenly Zither.
• He then reveals the existence of the Guardian Hall, the continent’s highest authority. It recruits peak Nascent Soul cultivators seeking advancement to the Soul Emergence Realm, requires them to abandon worldly ties, and secretly protects the continent from invasions by the Wizard Continent.
• Rumors that the Guardian Hall drains cultivators’ power are disproven when former applicants, including Soul Emergence Venerables, destroy the organization spreading the claims.
• Jing Nian’s group concludes that the Guardian Hall is likely the destination or power they were seeking. Wen Jian says the Hall’s people will come to receive them.
• Wen Jian courageously asks whether they came from beyond the heavens. Jing Nian confirms this and reveals that the heavens beyond the Immortal Martial Continent contain even greater realms.
• Jing Nian identifies Xuanyuan Buqi and Qian Zhong as True Lords, warning Wen Jian not to spread the information carelessly.
• Wen Jian correctly guesses that Jing Nian belongs to the Azure Lotus Sect. The sword intent is identified as belonging to Bai Qiushui, an Azure Lotus Sect senior who once visited the area.
• The group discusses Bai Qiushui’s death. She survived the battle against the Star-Devouring Demon but later died after attempting to forcibly repair her damaged natal flying sword.

Character developments

• Jing Nian the Venerable demonstrates calm authority, social skill, and controlled intimidation. He uses vague references to a “senior from his sect” to protect the group’s identity, then shifts smoothly between friendliness and threat.
• Feng Jun gains a practical lesson in how powerful cultivators conceal their origins through indirect references to sect seniors.
• Wen Jian begins suspicious and defensive but becomes increasingly respectful and awed after realizing the visitors include a Venerable and two True Lords. His fear gradually turns into excitement and reverence.
• Xuanyuan Buqi and Qian Zhong are revealed to be True Lords, confirming the extraordinary level of the travelers’ group. Qian Zhong also shows knowledge of Bai Qiushui’s history.
• Bai Qiushui, though absent, gains greater historical significance as the likely source of the mountain-splitting sword intent and a former member of the Azure Lotus Sect.

Significant themes

• Concealed identity and strategic ambiguity: The visitors carefully hide their origins, while Jing Nian shows how vague sect references can discourage further questioning.
• The vastness of the cultivation world: The Immortal Martial Continent’s strongest known factions are revealed to be only part of a much larger hierarchy, with realms and powers beyond the heavens.
• Power, fear, and legitimacy: The Sword Sect’s claim to the sacred site rests on an inflated historical connection, while the Guardian Hall’s authority is supported by its ability to defend the continent.
• Knowledge as a dangerous privilege: Information about the Guardian Hall, higher realms, and the visitors’ identities must be carefully controlled; revealing too much can create danger or “karma.”
• Legacy and decline: Bai Qiushui’s sword intent preserves the memory of a powerful senior, while her death after damaging her foundation emphasizes the risks of forcing cultivation beyond one’s limits.
• The unreal becoming real: Wen Jian experiences the visitors and their revelations as almost impossible, resembling stories told by a master rather than events occurring before him.

Character interactions

• Jing Nian and Wen Jian: Their conversation dominates the chapter. Jing Nian alternates between polite questioning, veiled threats, and generous instruction, while Wen Jian moves from suspicion to fear, then admiration.
• Jing Nian and the Sword Sect: Jing Nian sees through the sect’s embellished claim to Bai Qiushui’s legacy but chooses diplomacy rather than confrontation.
• Wen Jian and the Gold Core disciples: He protects the younger disciples by dismissing them and warning them not to interfere.
• Jing Nian, Xuanyuan Buqi, and Qian Zhong: The three reveal information selectively and cooperate in identifying the Guardian Hall and discussing Bai Qiushui.
• The group and Bai Qiushui’s legacy: Their discussion turns the mysterious sword intent into a personal connection to the Azure Lotus Sect, linking the present travelers with an important figure from their sect’s past.

Chapter Summary: Ancestral Star Cultivators

Key Plot Points and Events

• Wen Jian the True Immortal reveals that the Guardian Hall can be contacted through a jade slip containing a simple sensing formation.
• Jing Nian the Venerable notices that some of the formation materials are rare, suggesting that the group has truly arrived in another world. Wen Jian avoids exposing their origins and arranges for the missing materials to be delivered.
• To avoid disturbing the Sword Sect’s territory, Wen Jian leads the group thirty thousand li away to a remote, semi-desert region, where Jing Nian activates the formation.
• The Guardian Hall responds almost immediately. Qing Jia, a True Nascent Soul cultivator and Guardian Hall member, personally appears after sensing the presence of several powerful outsiders.
• Qing Jia questions the group about their origins, but Xuanyuan Buqi firmly refuses to reveal how they entered the world.
• Qing Jia recognizes that the group comes from the Main Plane—Heavenly Zither—and becomes surprised by their strength, especially when he learns that Feng Jun is a Gold Core cultivator who crossed worlds with them.
• Qing Jia considers erasing Wen Jian’s memories because he knows information normally forbidden to local cultivators. However, Jing Nian explains that Wen Jian only learned of the outsiders because they were investigating sword intent connected to the Azure Lotus Sect.
• Because the Azure Lotus Sect belongs to the Seven Upper Sects, Qing Jia feels a degree of kinship and chooses to spare Wen Jian, merely warning him to be cautious about what he says.
• After Wen Jian leaves safely, the group learns that cultivators from worlds besides Heavenly Zither can exist. Qing Jia specifically mentions mysterious cultivators from the “Ancestral Star,” whose origins and cultivation system cannot be traced.
• The chapter ends with the group asking what attitude Ancestral Star cultivators hold toward Heavenly Zither cultivators.

Character Developments

• Wen Jian shifts from nervous intermediary to relieved survivor. He bravely chooses to witness the Guardian Hall’s arrival despite the risk of having his memories erased, and he becomes deeply respectful toward Qing Jia after being spared.
• Jing Nian acts as the group’s diplomatic representative. He protects Wen Jian without openly challenging the Guardian Hall and uses the connection between the Azure Lotus Sect and Qing Jia’s world to secure leniency.
• Qing Jia is introduced as cautious, stern, and dutiful, but also pragmatic. Although he initially considers eliminating or modifying Wen Jian’s memories, he ultimately chooses mercy when he understands the circumstances.
• Xuanyuan Buqi demonstrates his direct and forceful personality by rejecting Qing Jia’s demand to know how the group entered the world.
• Feng Jun’s presence highlights the group’s unusual circumstances: even a Gold Core cultivator has crossed worlds alongside multiple powerful Venerables.
• Qian Zhong contributes through calculation and questions Qing Jia’s lineage, helping reveal the existence of cultivation traditions beyond the known Heavenly Zither system.

Significant Themes

• Secrecy and the danger of knowledge: Local cultivators who discover forbidden information may face memory erasure or worse. Wen Jian’s survival depends on both discretion and the group’s intervention.
• Diplomacy between worlds: The powerful outsiders must respect local rules while concealing their true origins. Their conversation with Qing Jia shows how carefully political relationships must be managed.
• Cultivation systems and origins: The chapter broadens the setting by establishing that not all powerful cultivators come from Heavenly Zither. The mysterious Ancestral Star suggests unknown civilizations and traditions.
• Kinship across sects and worlds: Qing Jia’s connection to the Seven Upper Sects allows him to identify with the Azure Lotus Sect and motivates him to show mercy.
• Power and caution: Despite holding authority as a Guardian Hall member, Qing Jia remains wary of antagonizing the vastly stronger group before him.

Character Interactions

• Wen Jian and Jing Nian: Wen Jian provides the contact method and logistical assistance, while Jing Nian protects him diplomatically.
• Jing Nian and Qing Jia: Their exchange is formal but tense. Jing Nian explains the group’s presence and indirectly pleads for Wen Jian’s safety without openly asking for special treatment.
• Xuanyuan Buqi and Qing Jia: Xuanyuan bluntly refuses to answer questions about their entry point, asserting the principle that everyone has their own opportunities.
• Qing Yao and Qing Jia: Qing Yao rebukes Qing Jia when he shows hostility toward Feng Jun, insisting that Feng Jun’s presence is legitimate.
• Qian Zhong and Qing Jia: Qian Zhong’s questions uncover information about the Profound Yellow Lineage and the existence of cultivators from other worlds.
• The group and Qing Jia: Their conversation establishes a cautious relationship between Heavenly Zither cultivators and the Guardian Hall while introducing the larger mystery of the Ancestral Star cultivators.

Chapter Summary: “Replacement”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Qing Jia the Venerable receives Xuanyuan Buqi and the other visiting cultivators in the Ghost Shaman World, but withholds certain information about the world and the Guardian Hall.
• Xuanyuan Buqi identifies himself as a member of the Xuanyuan Family, one of the foremost clans, and presses Qing Jia about the hidden information. Qing Jia admits that some details are being concealed but insists they concern the world’s secrets.
• Jing Nian of the Azure Lotus Sect asks about rumors that the world contains an opportunity to advance to the Ancestral Venerable Realm. Qing Jia says such opportunities may exist, though those who obtain them would not necessarily report them to the Guardian Hall.
• The visitors offer to replenish the Guardian Hall’s supplies in exchange for access to its records. Qing Jia asks for Ultimate Spirit Stones because the world appears to be approaching a period of decline, although Qingyao argues that the energy of the Sea of Raging Waves may be sufficient.
• The group questions why the Sea of Raging Waves is not being used more freely and why the cultivators of the Ghost Shaman World have not conquered the other continents. Qing Jia explains that ancient agreements and oaths prevent them from doing so.
• Qing Jia reveals that he is bound by an oath to guard the Guardian Hall and asks whether someone else will take over his duty. The replacement must also swear an oath, but in return would gain access to the Guardian Hall’s complete records.
• Yi Jue refuses the position because she does not want to remain trapped in one world while pursuing opportunities for advancement.
• Qing Jia becomes interested in Yi Jue and tries to persuade her by suggesting that the Guardian Hall may help her reach the Spirit Division Realm. He is shocked to learn that she became a Venerable at only six hundred years old, an astonishing achievement by the standards of the Ghost Shaman World.
• Wei Sancai mocks Qing Jia’s limited understanding of the wider cultivation world, prompting Qing Jia to challenge him to reveal more.

Character Developments

• Qing Jia: Initially guarded and formal, he gradually reveals his frustration with his forced duty and his desire to travel. Though he is defensive about his world, he remains practical and willing to negotiate. Xuanyuan Buqi’s criticism causes him to reflect, and he respectfully acknowledges the lesson while still stubbornly seeking a replacement.
• Xuanyuan Buqi: Displays his usual arrogance and forcefulness, questioning Qing Jia’s authority and demanding information. However, his harsh rebuke contains a meaningful lesson about accepting one’s circumstances and recognizing that others suffer even more severe limitations.
• Jing Nian: Acts as a diplomatic intermediary, preventing Wei Sancai from unnecessarily provoking Qing Jia. He also demonstrates the dignity and responsibility expected of a major sect cultivator by offering compensation for access to the Guardian Hall’s records.
• Qingyao: Shows that she possesses strong deductive abilities and offers an alternative explanation for the world’s declining condition, suggesting that the Sea of Raging Waves may provide enough energy.
• Yi Jue: Remains independent and focused on her own cultivation path. She rejects the Guardian Hall position because she values freedom and experience over access to its records.
• Wei Sancai: Speaks bluntly and dismissively, criticizing the weakness of the Ghost Shaman World and exposing the enormous gap between its cultivators and those from the Main Plane.
• Feng Jun: Quietly agrees with Xuanyuan Buqi’s philosophy that people should stop complaining about circumstances they cannot control and instead seek ways to improve themselves.

Significant Themes

• Freedom versus duty: Qing Jia longs to leave the Guardian Hall, while his oath binds him to protect it. Yi Jue’s refusal emphasizes the value the cultivators place on personal freedom.
• Unequal cultivation environments: The visitors’ casual discussion of advanced cultivation contrasts sharply with Qing Jia’s belief that a six-hundred-year-old Venerable is almost unimaginable. The chapter highlights the vast differences between the Ghost Shaman World and the Heavenly Zither Main Plane.
• Secrecy and power: Qing Jia’s reluctance to share information reflects the political sensitivity of the Guardian Hall and the danger of revealing the world’s secrets to powerful outsiders.
• Fate and personal responsibility: Xuanyuan Buqi argues that birth and circumstances cannot be chosen, but one must still strive within those limits rather than complain.
• The cost of opportunity: Advancement may be possible in the Ghost Shaman World, but it requires sacrifice—especially the loss of freedom through an oath-bound guardianship role.

Character Interactions

• Xuanyuan Buqi and Qing Jia clash over authority and secrecy, with Qing Jia maintaining polite resistance despite Xuanyuan’s intimidation.
• Jing Nian and Qing Jia interact respectfully, establishing a more cooperative relationship through discussion of supplies, information, and the ancient agreement.
• Wei Sancai repeatedly challenges Qing Jia’s assumptions, particularly regarding the Sea of Raging Waves, the weakness of the wizard system, and the limitations of the Ghost Shaman World.
• Qingyao offers an intellectual counterpoint to Qing Jia’s concerns, while Vast Sea Venerable reinforces the group’s demand for a valid reason before providing precious Ultimate Spirit Stones.
• Qing Jia tries to recruit Yi Jue as his replacement, partly because of her remarkable cultivation potential and partly because he is clearly impressed by her. Yi Jue remains unmoved, and Wei Sancai openly teases Qing Jia by emphasizing how extraordinary she is.
• The chapter ends with Qing Jia and Wei Sancai entering a more openly competitive exchange, as Qing Jia claims the visitors “know far too little” and Wei Sancai challenges him to explain more.

Summary of “Forced Concessions”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Qing Jia, a Venerable of the Ghost Shaman World, tries to charge the visiting cultivators ten High-Grade Spirit Stones per tome to access the Guardian Hall’s records.
• He explains that cultivation manuals and certain secret historical accounts are restricted, allowing only travel records, information about local specialties, and similar materials to be read.
• Qian Zhong explains to Yi Jue that because their group did not enter through an Anchor Point, they are not considered part of the Guardian Hall’s system and must pay for access. Those who enter through Anchor Points can reduce the cost by completing assigned tasks.
• Frustrated by the restrictions and expense, Yi Jue suggests attacking the Wizard Continent and taking its ancient knowledge by force. Xuanyuan Buqi points out that doing so might fulfill Qing Jia’s original desire to have the Wizards destroyed.
• Qing Jia urgently intervenes, warning them not to attack the Wizards. Because they have already contacted the Guardian Hall, doing so might trigger consequences under the Ancient Pact and cause backlash against the cultivator factions.
• The confrontation escalates when Wei Sancai, Xuanyuan Buqi, and Qian Zhong apply pressure, making it clear that they could kill Qing Jia or even destroy the Ghost Shaman World.
• Qing Jia reveals rumors of an Integration Stage opportunity within the world and warns that the Ancient Pact may have been created by an existence beyond the Integration Stage.
• Xuanyuan Buqi counters that their group could invite an Integration Ancestor to intervene. This alarms Qing Jia, who realizes he has badly underestimated them.
• Qing Jia kneels and offers to reveal all the secret historical records. Xuanyuan Buqi mocks him for abandoning his earlier “principles,” while Qian Zhong pragmatically accepts the offer.
• Qing Jia agrees to waive the Spirit Stone fee, provided the cultivators promise not to spread the contents of the secret accounts.

Character Developments

• Qing Jia: Initially acts confident and rigid in enforcing Guardian Hall rules, but becomes increasingly frightened as he realizes the visitors possess overwhelming power. His attitude shifts from formal refusal to apology, submission, and compromise. He recognizes that his attempt to control access to information has placed the entire world at risk.
• Xuanyuan Buqi: Displays an intimidating, domineering personality, using threats and sarcasm to pressure Qing Jia. However, the narration reveals that his aggression is largely strategic: as a pillar of the Xuanyuan Family, he understands that killing Qing Jia recklessly would create political and institutional consequences.
• Qian Zhong: Acts as the most level-headed member of the group. She explains the Outer World’s rules to Yi Jue, restrains her from escalating unnecessarily, and ends the confrontation by accepting Qing Jia’s practical concession.
• Yi Jue: Shows impatience with restrictions and a willingness to act violently according to her nature. Her readiness to attack the Wizard Continent highlights her direct and uncompromising temperament.
• Wei Sancai: Reinforces the group’s authority through cold threats, emphasizing that the visiting cultivators will not tolerate being treated disrespectfully.

Significant Themes

• Power determines negotiation: Qing Jia’s rules appear firm only while the visitors accept his authority. Once they demonstrate superior strength, his principles quickly become negotiable.
• Information as a commodity and weapon: The Guardian Hall’s records are valuable because they contain knowledge about the world’s history and hidden opportunities. Restricting access allows the Hall to control outsiders, while the visitors consider force as an alternative means of acquiring knowledge.
• The tension between rules and overwhelming strength: The Ancient Pact, Anchor Point system, and Guardian Hall regulations impose limits, but powerful cultivators may still find ways to bypass or threaten those systems.
• Political responsibility versus personal anger: Xuanyuan Buqi wants to intimidate Qing Jia but knows that actually killing him could damage the Xuanyuan Family and provoke wider consequences.
• Underestimation and forced compromise: Qing Jia’s greatest mistake is assuming that the group can be managed through ordinary rules and fees. His misjudgment forces him to abandon his restrictions and reveal secrets he intended to protect.

Character Interactions

• Qing Jia and the visiting cultivators clash over access fees and restricted records, with Yi Jue openly challenging the fairness of the arrangement.
• Qian Zhong educates Yi Jue about Anchor Points and the obligations imposed on outsiders, keeping the discussion grounded in the broader rules of the Outer World.
• Yi Jue and Xuanyuan Buqi briefly debate whether attacking the Wizard Continent is worthwhile; he praises her boldness but warns that it could serve Qing Jia’s interests.
• When Qing Jia tries to stop them from attacking the Wizards, Wei Sancai and the others turn the power dynamic against him, threatening him and the Ghost Shaman World.
• Xuanyuan Buqi repeatedly taunts Qing Jia for hiding information and then offering it only after being threatened. Qing Jia ultimately submits, agrees to reveal the secret accounts for free, and asks only for a promise that their contents will remain confidential.

Chapter Summary: “Chronicle (Second Update)”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Feng Jun’s group receives over a hundred records detailing the Ghost Shaman World’s hidden history. Many were written by visiting Venerables, while two came from True Lords who had traveled there.
• Qing Yao and Yi Jue discover records left by predecessors from their own sects. Jing Nian finds no Azure Lotus Sect records, though some unsigned volumes may have been written by its members.
• Xuanyuan Buqi finds a record written by a female Earth Cultivator from the Xuanyuan Family whom he knew. She had traveled to the Outer World as a Nascent Soul cultivator but eventually died. Buqi accepts her fate without anger, reflecting on the solitary nature of cultivation.
• Unable to learn enough from the ordinary records, Feng Jun asks for the world’s complete chronicle. Qing Jia initially hesitates because he is bound by oath, but produces it after Feng Jun specifically requests it.
• The secret chronicle reveals that Ancestral Star cultivators occupied the Ghost Shaman World before the Heavenly Zither Cultivators and established the ancient agreement with the Wizards.
• The historical balance of power is revealed:
  • Of the seven Grand Witch Ancestors, six were erased by Ancestral Star cultivators.
  • The sole survivor remains asleep and can awaken for only one year every thousand years, but could potentially devastate the world during that time.
  • The ancient agreement divided the world among cultivators and Wizards, leaving Wizards four continents and cultivators only two.
• The first Heavenly Zither cultivator to discover the world was Blood Drink, an exceptionally powerful but antisocial explorer. He had discovered five Outer Worlds, though he did not publicly reveal the Ghost Shaman World because Ancestral Star cultivators had already dominated the situation and forced him to accept their agreement.
• The chronicle criticizes the original territorial division, arguing that cultivators should have claimed more land while they possessed the advantage.
• In the present, the cultivators have excellent defenses but too few top-level combatants to launch a successful invasion of the four Wizard Continents. The Wizards, meanwhile, cannot easily attack the heavily fortified Cultivation Continents.
• Qing Jia encourages Feng Jun’s group to disrupt the Wizard Continent, since they have already demonstrated the ability to cause trouble there.
• Feng Jun questions why they should obey Ancestral Star cultivators. The others react silently, aware that Feng Jun may have ties to Ancestral Star. Qing Jia suggests that Ancestral Star cultivators must have had a reason for leaving the Wizards alive, since they could have destroyed them effortlessly.

Character Developments

• Feng Jun becomes increasingly skeptical of the historical agreements and the authority of the Ancestral Star cultivators. Rather than accepting the chronicle’s assumptions, he directly questions why present-day cultivators should continue following an agreement imposed by outsiders.
• Xuanyuan Buqi experiences a personal connection to the world’s history when he discovers the record of a deceased Xuanyuan ancestor. His restrained reaction shows both grief and an acceptance of cultivation’s harsh, individualistic nature.
• Qing Jia demonstrates caution and political awareness. He respects Feng Jun despite his low cultivation realm, recognizes the group’s unusual importance, and struggles to discuss the Ancestral Star cultivators honestly without either condemning or endorsing them.
• Blood Drink is characterized as a powerful, proud, solitary explorer whose bad temper and inability to defeat the Ancestral Star cultivators explain why he concealed his discovery of the Ghost Shaman World.
• The Guardian Hall and the wider cultivator community are shown to possess complicated feelings toward Ancestral Star cultivators: they do not consider them enemies, yet fear their unknown origins and overwhelming strength.

Significant Themes

• The burden of history: Present conflicts and territorial divisions are consequences of decisions made by ancient powers.
• Power versus restraint: Cultivators once had the strength to eliminate the Wizards but were restrained by the ancient agreement; now they remain defensively superior but lack the offensive forces needed for conquest.
• Cultural suspicion and inherited prejudice: The Ghost Shaman World’s hostility toward Ancestral Star cultivators is rooted in genuine historical domination, even though Ancestral Star and Heavenly Zither inheritances are similar and the two groups were not necessarily enemies.
• The dangers of fragmented strength: Heavenly Zither cultivators spread across the Outer World without central coordination, leaving them powerful but thinly distributed.
• Individual responsibility and mortality: Xuanyuan Buqi’s reaction to his ancestor’s death reinforces the idea that cultivators ultimately bear responsibility for their own paths.
• Uncertainty behind ancient decisions: The chapter repeatedly questions whether the current arrangement is truly mistaken or whether the Ancestral Star cultivators had hidden reasons for preserving the Wizard Continents.

Important Character Interactions

• Feng Jun and Qing Jia: Feng Jun presses Qing Jia for increasingly secret information, while Qing Jia cautiously accommodates him because of the group’s importance and Feng Jun’s unexplained significance.
• Xuanyuan Buqi and Qing Jia: Buqi questions Qing Jia about his deceased family predecessor. Qing Jia’s nervous inability to provide answers highlights how little the Guardian Hall knows about the world’s historical visitors.
• Feng Jun and the group: When Feng Jun challenges the authority of the Ancestral Star cultivators, the others silently recognize the possible personal implications of his question.
• Qing Jia and the group: Qing Jia explains the military balance between cultivators and Wizards, emphasizing that the cultivators’ defensive superiority does not translate into an easy offensive victory.

Chapter Summary: The Fragmentary Record

Key Plot Points and Events

• Feng Jun and the others continue investigating the mysterious Ancestral Star cultivators and why they had been wary of something. Qing Jia admits that he does not know their motives and refuses to reveal additional information from the Immortal Martial Continent, claiming that some secrets cannot be shared with outsiders.
• Disappointed by Qing Jia’s secrecy, Yi Jue warns him that he has lost the group’s potential friendship and future assistance. The group then leaves the Immortal Martial Continent for the New Heavenly Continent.
• The New Heavenly Continent is introduced as a family-dominated cultivation world, in contrast to the sect-dominated Immortal Martial Continent. The two continents maintain generally peaceful relations, though regional prejudice exists. Their major factions cooperate because of the external threat posed by the Wizards.
• The New Heavenly Continent is governed by an Elders Council rather than a Guardian Hall. Three great families hold permanent seats, while other positions rotate. The identities and strength of the families’ Venerables are carefully concealed.
• Rather than visiting the Elders Council, Feng Jun’s group goes directly to the Luo Family, the only great family to openly acknowledge possessing a Venerable.
• Venerable Luo Huanzhan, titled Venerable Huanran, personally emerges from secluded cultivation to receive the unusually powerful delegation: five Venerables and two True Lords from Heavenly Zither.
• After a formal but shortened welcome ceremony, Xuanyuan Buqi explains the group’s two goals:
  1. To locate hidden opportunities, especially those capable of helping great powers advance.
  2. To learn more about the Ancestral Star cultivators.
• Huanran reveals that Qing Jia’s demand for Ultimate Spirit Stones may have been connected not merely to energy needs, but possibly to an opportunity related to reaching the Spirit Division Realm. He also hints that an opportunity for the Integration Stage may exist, but refuses to discuss it because doing so could endanger the Luo Family.
• Huanran admits that he knows little about the Ancestral Star cultivators, but believes only a few of them came to this world. Qian Zhong requests secret records, offering compensation.
• Huanran searches not only Luo Family archives but also the records of its vassal families. After two days, a small vassal family produces a fragmentary record stating that three Ancestral Star cultivators once fought the Wizards.

Character Developments

• Feng Jun remains cautious and persistent, continuing to question the incomplete information surrounding the Ancestral Star cultivators.
• Qing Jia is shown to be constrained by political or factional secrecy. Although he claims to have helped as much as possible, his refusal to share information damages his relationship with the group.
• Yi Jue becomes openly displeased with Qing Jia, making clear that withholding cooperation has consequences.
• Xuanyuan Buqi takes the lead in negotiations and uses his family’s prestige confidently. He is direct about the group’s goals, willing to offer compensation, and humorously exaggerates their inability to spare Ultimate Spirit Stones.
• Venerable Huanran is portrayed as straightforward and cautious. He respects the Heavenly Zither delegation, especially its family representatives, and is eager to learn from them. Despite his apparent honesty, he carefully protects his family’s interests and refuses to reveal dangerous secrets.
• Qian Zhong displays distrust toward the Luo Family by emphasizing payment for information, while Huanran responds diplomatically by seeking records from vassal families.
• Jing Nian and Qing Yao show immediate interest in the possibility of a Spirit Division opportunity, though they acknowledge that Huanran may need the opportunity himself.

Significant Themes

• Secrecy and political caution: Powerful cultivators conceal information because revealing it may threaten entire factions. Knowledge is treated as a strategic resource.
• Trust versus self-interest: The group seeks cooperation, but both Qing Jia and Huanran prioritize the survival of their own forces. Even friendly negotiations are shaped by suspicion and bargaining.
• Factional balance: The relationship between sects, families, and continents is governed by mutual restraint. No faction can safely dominate because others would intervene.
• The value of inheritance and records: Ancient fragments and vassal-family archives may preserve knowledge unavailable to the major powers, emphasizing that old, obscure sources can be more valuable than official histories.
• Opportunities and advancement: The possibility of breakthroughs into higher realms motivates the great powers, but such opportunities are dangerous enough that even discussing them can carry consequences.
• External threats fostering unity: Despite internal discrimination and competition, the danger posed by the Wizards prevents the cultivation world from descending into open conflict.

Character Interactions

• Feng Jun questions Qing Jia about the Ancestral Star cultivators, but Qing Jia refuses to provide more information. Yi Jue directly criticizes him for sacrificing a chance at friendship.
• Xuanyuan Buqi leads discussions with Venerable Huanran, combining negotiation, persuasion, and humor.
• Huanran pays special attention to Xuanyuan Buqi because of Heavenly Zither’s powerful family background, revealing his desire to strengthen and advance the Luo Family.
• Yi Jue offers to help the Luo Family convert the Sea of Raging Waves’ energy, creating a potential exchange of knowledge.
• Jing Nian and Qing Yao react strongly to Huanran’s mention of a Spirit Division opportunity, while Huanran downplays his own need for advancement.
• Qian Zhong presses Huanran for Ancestral Star records and offers payment, prompting him to mobilize his vassal families.
• The chapter ends with a major breakthrough: a fragmentary record confirms that three Ancestral Star cultivators—not merely one or two—fought the Wizards, providing a new lead in the group’s investigation.

Summary of “Little Rooster”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The characters examine an old, highly detailed canon describing a legendary battle between three cultivators from the Ancestral Star and the wizards’ forces: six Grand Witch Ancestors and more than thirty Witch Ancestors.
• Although the cultivators deliberately challenged the wizards and faced their full strength, the wizards were completely annihilated. One Ancestral Star cultivator died, another disappeared or was injured, and the surviving cultivator wounded the last remaining Grand Witch Ancestor.
• Afterward, the survivor signed a treaty with the wizards, securing two continents and designating the Divine Martial Continent as a territory for Martial Cultivation. This explains why Martial Cultivators possess their current homeland and why they treat ordinary cultivators more favorably than wizards.
• The canon’s authenticity is uncertain in authorship but not in age. It was discovered by a small vassal family and secretly preserved because both wizard-related materials and discussions of Ancestral Star cultivators are politically dangerous.
• The Luo Family obtains the canon by offering the small family substantial benefits. However, questioning the family patriarch yields little additional information, leaving the historical trail unresolved.
• To honor their agreement, Feng Jun provides the Luo Family with the design for an Energy Conversion Formation. The formation was originally created to convert energy stones from the Insectoid World, not directly to harness the Sea of Raging Waves as the Luo Family had hoped.
• Feng Jun explains that he organized and improved the formation, though its original concept came from an Earth Cultivation practitioner specializing in formations. He can explain most, but not every, technical detail.
• Xuanyuan Buqi insists that the principles may be explained only once. The Luo Family must either ensure its formation masters understand the explanation or use the opportunity to gain another favor; they cannot repeatedly request instruction.

Character Developments

• Feng Jun is revealed to possess exceptional organizational and technical ability despite being only a Gold Core cultivator. He is modest about his expertise and openly acknowledges the contributions of others rather than claiming sole credit.
• Yi Jue strongly defends Feng Jun’s achievements, emphasizing that he has organized Dao Debates attended by more than sixty True Lords, including extremely powerful figures. Her praise highlights how extraordinary Feng Jun is compared with local cultivators.
• True Lord Huanran/You Ran begins by viewing Feng Jun as an insignificant “little rooster” among powerful cultivators. He becomes increasingly shocked by Feng Jun’s accomplishments and by the scale of Heavenly Zither, ultimately feeling dissatisfied with the limitations of his own world.
• Xuanyuan Buqi acts as the group’s blunt negotiator. He prevents the Luo Family from exploiting the promised explanation and makes the terms of the exchange explicit.
• The Luo Family’s patriarch is cooperative because the rewards are substantial and the canon is only a historical secret, not a forbidden cultivation technique.

Significant Themes

• Lost history and unreliable records: The canon offers valuable clues about ancient conflicts, but its detailed account is difficult to verify because all the apparent witnesses died.
• Power and political taboo: Knowledge concerning the Ancestral Star and wizard cultivation is dangerous. Possessing or discussing forbidden information can attract suspicion, punishment, or even clan extermination.
• The importance of inheritance: Formation masters often know how to reproduce existing formations without understanding their underlying principles. The loss of foundational knowledge limits local advancement.
• Recognition versus appearance: Feng Jun appears weak compared with True Lords, but his achievements and influence exceed what his cultivation level suggests.
• Differences between worlds: The Ghost Shaman World’s powerful local figures are overwhelmed by the scale and resources of Heavenly Zither, reinforcing the contrast between a small isolated world and a vast Main Plane.
• Fair exchange and direct negotiation: The Heavenly Zither group honors its promises but refuses to let others manipulate the terms, emphasizing efficiency and straightforwardness.

Character Interactions

• The Luo Family questions the vassal patriarch about the canon, but his limited knowledge leaves Feng Jun disappointed.
• Feng Jun presents the Energy Conversion Formation to True Lord Huanran, who initially misunderstands what was promised and expects a direct solution for the Sea of Raging Waves.
• Xuanyuan Buqi corrects Huanran’s interpretation, making clear that the formation is meant to provide principles that can be adapted, not a finished solution.
• Huanran questions whether Feng Jun could truly have created the formation. Yi Jue then intervenes, revealing Feng Jun’s remarkable history of organizing Dao Debates for enormous numbers of True Lords.
• Impressed and humbled by Heavenly Zither’s strength, Huanran asks Feng Jun to explain the formation to his family’s formation masters.
• Xuanyuan Buqi limits the explanation to a single session, blocking Huanran’s attempt to use repeated explanations to accumulate further favors.

Chapter Summary: “New Developments”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Huanran accepts that the Luo Family’s formation masters cannot fully understand the Energy Conversion Formation on their own. After discussing it overnight, they decide to invite formation masters from other major families to hear the explanation.
• The Luo Family carefully expands the invitations:
  • The Hua Family is invited because of its superior Formation Dao expertise.
  • The Huang Family arrives voluntarily, insisting that the three great families should advance and retreat together.
  • Two smaller families with special formation knowledge are also included.
• The news spreads throughout New Heavenly Continent. A sect attempts to demand participation by claiming that converting the Sea of Raging Waves’ energy concerns the entire cultivation world. Huanran refuses to meet them, and a Luo Family junior rebukes the sect for having previously neglected the Heavenly Zither cultivators. Huanran’s cold snort lightly punishes the sect’s High-Tier Nascent Soul representative.
• The formation lecture begins. Feng Jun explains the formation’s overall design and concepts, while Yi Jue handles the technical Formation Dao questions. Other Heavenly Zither great powers, including Wei Sancai, Qian Zhong, Jing Nian, and Qing Yao, contribute when necessary.
• Because New Heavenly Continent’s formation knowledge is incomplete—its practitioners often know how to use formations without understanding their principles—the explanation becomes extremely difficult and lasts for ten days.
• The local formation masters gradually become less intimidated by the Heavenly Zither cultivators. They begin asking broader Formation Dao questions, offering specialties from the Ghost Shaman World as compensation for the additional instruction.
• During the lectures, Xuanyuan Buqi receives a jade slip containing new information and temporarily leaves to retrieve it. Feng Jun immediately pauses the lecture so the group can examine the message.
• The jade slip comes from the Yang Family, which possesses information about the Ancestral Star cultivators. It reports that four such cultivators appeared over time. Three participated in the ancient battle; only one was injured, while the other two remained unharmed.
• The Ancestral Star cultivators may have attempted to transform the Ghost Shaman World. Their power was extraordinary: one injured cultivator reportedly killed six Grand Witch Ancestors and over thirty Witch Ancestors, while preventing the world itself from collapsing.
• The Blood-Drinking Ancestral Venerable later arrived when he was still a True Lord and, by coincidence, severely wounded the last surviving Grand Witch Ancestor.

Character Developments

• Huanran becomes more pragmatic and politically cautious. Although he dislikes sharing the formation, he recognizes that the Luo Family cannot understand or protect the inheritance alone. He also demonstrates authority by refusing the sect’s presumptuous demands and punishing its representative.
• Feng Jun shifts from being the main instructor to a supporting role once the formation’s general principles have been explained. His eagerness to investigate the new intelligence reveals that learning about the Ancestral Star cultivators is a major priority.
• Yi Jue proves her exceptional expertise despite being only a relatively recent student of the Formation Dao. Her status as a six-hundred-year-old Venerable ensures that no one dares underestimate her, and she becomes the primary technical authority during the lectures.
• Xuanyuan Buqi maintains proper conduct as a guest by announcing his departure before responding to the incoming message. His ability to obtain and deliver important intelligence reinforces his role as a trusted intermediary.
• The local formation masters move from anxious outsiders, afraid even to ask the wrong questions, to more confident participants who openly seek guidance from the Heavenly Zither cultivators.
• The Luo, Hua, and Huang Families reveal their competitive but interdependent relationship. Each wants influence over the formation’s future benefits, yet none can afford to exclude the others.

Significant Themes

• Scarcity and preservation of knowledge: The formation is so advanced that even elite local masters fear failing to understand it. Rare inheritances create both opportunity and anxiety.
• Cooperation versus monopolization: The Luo Family initially hopes to control the formation, but the complexity of the inheritance forces it to share the opportunity. Sharing also distributes political pressure and future risks.
• Political maneuvering and factional balance: The three great families use invitations, leaks, family ties, and claims of shared interests to protect their influence.
• Power and legitimacy: The sect’s attempt to invoke righteousness is rejected because it lacks the practical authority and prior relationship necessary to participate. True influence comes from strength, status, and demonstrated respect.
• Knowledge exchange as diplomacy: The formation lectures become more than instruction. The Heavenly Zither cultivators gain access to local specialties and intelligence, while New Heavenly Continent’s forces broaden their understanding of Formation Dao.
• The mystery of the Ancestral Star cultivators: Their actions suggest world-altering power and raise questions about their goals, particularly whether they were attempting to transform the Ghost Shaman World.

Character Interactions

• Huanran and Xuanyuan Buqi clash indirectly over the impracticality of repeatedly explaining the formation, though Huanran ultimately accepts the need for outside help.
• The Luo Family negotiates carefully with the Hua and Huang Families, balancing cooperation against the threat of losing control over future benefits.
• Huanran’s representatives confront the sect envoy, accusing the sects of hypocrisy for seeking access after previously mistreating the Heavenly Zither cultivators.
• Feng Jun and Yi Jue work as complementary instructors: he explains the formation’s conceptual design, while she answers specialized technical questions.
• The other Heavenly Zither great powers support Feng Jun and Yi Jue, occasionally correcting or challenging the local masters and helping clarify difficult points.
• After the local cultivators offer Ghost Shaman World specialties as “tuition,” the relationship between both sides becomes friendlier and more open.
• Feng Jun, Yi Jue, and the other great powers immediately regroup when Xuanyuan Buqi brings the Yang Family’s intelligence, shifting the group’s attention from formation instruction to the investigation of the Ancestral Star cultivators.

Chapter Summary: “The Orthodox Lineage”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After discovering the Ghost Shaman World, True Lord Blood Drink tried to eliminate its hidden dangers. His actions attracted cultivators from the Ancestral Star, leading to a brief clash. Because both sides were cultivators of Humanity, the conflict was restrained and resolved without serious consequences.
• Xuanyuan Buqi explains that the Yang Family possesses additional intelligence but demanded to meet the person who gathered it before revealing everything. Their secrecy raises suspicions among Feng Jun, Yi Jue, and Vast Sea Venerable.
• Yi Jue suggests the Yang Family might be setting a trap, while Vast Sea Venerable notes that local cultivators seem inexplicably hostile toward the Ancestral Star. Qian Zhong advises meeting the family first, confident that their group can handle any danger.
• The group meets three Yang Family members: an elderly Nascent Soul Middle Stage cultivator and two Gold Core Peak cultivators. The elder reveals that the Yang Family claims to be the “orthodox lineage of Heavenly Zither.”
• The Yang Family asserts that its ancestors helped enlighten the Ghost Shaman World and that it has preserved Heavenly Zither bloodlines for generations. However, the family’s definition of “bloodline” is narrow: only descendants of Heavenly Zither Heaven Cultivation cultivators count, while Earth Cultivation descendants and daughters are excluded.
• The family’s true demand is revealed: in exchange for all their information, they want the powerful outsiders to take the entire Yang Family back to Heavenly Zither.
• Xuanyuan Buqi rejects the request, pointing out the enormous cost and uncertainty involved in returning so many people. He also remarks that no notable Yang Family exists among Heavenly Zither’s major families.
• Under pressure, the elder clarifies that their surname uses the character for “poplar tree.” Xuanyuan Buqi then recognizes them as descendants of the Yang Family connected to Ancestral Venerable Blood Drink.

Character Developments

• Feng Jun becomes more cautious about the Yang Family’s hidden motives and notices that their refusal to reveal information may conceal something important.
• Xuanyuan Buqi acts as the group’s practical and authoritative representative. He protects their interests, questions the Yang Family’s credibility, and rejects their unrealistic demand.
• Yi Jue displays her usual impatience and decisiveness. She openly considers capturing the Yang Family if they prove to be plotting a trap. Her discomfort with the family’s bloodline ideology is especially clear because she herself is an exceptional Earth Cultivation cultivator.
• Vast Sea Venerable challenges the Yang Family’s belief in bloodline superiority, arguing that Heavenly Zither influence is spread through cultivation and culture rather than hereditary purity.
• Qian Zhong remains calm and strategic, urging the group to investigate personally instead of acting on suspicion.
• The Yang Family elder is revealed as proud, defensive, and deeply attached to a rigid conception of Heavenly Zither identity. His insistence on bloodline status masks the family’s vulnerable position and desire to return to their ancestral homeland.
• Venerable Huanran is left behind, but his reaction shows that he recognizes the Yang Family as unusually secretive and potentially significant.

Significant Themes

• Bloodline versus cultivation: The Yang Family prioritizes ancestry and hereditary purity, while Vast Sea Venerable and the others emphasize cultivation, ability, and personal achievement.
• Cultural identity and belonging: The Yang Family considers itself superior to Ghost Shaman natives because of its Heavenly Zither origins, revealing tensions between immigrants, descendants, and native populations.
• Pride and insecurity: The family’s boast of being the “orthodox lineage” contrasts with the fact that it is obscure even in Heavenly Zither and has had to compromise its claimed bloodline over generations.
• The burden of heritage: Maintaining a prestigious lineage has become an obligation, particularly through the family’s discriminatory focus on Heaven Cultivation descendants and male heirs.
• Trust and hidden motives: The group must determine whether the Yang Family is genuinely seeking help or using its intelligence as leverage for a trap or political bargain.
• The limits of power and responsibility: Although the visiting cultivators are powerful enough to destroy the Ghost Shaman World, they remain mindful of reputation, future cooperation, and the consequences of mistreating local cultivators.

Character Interactions

• Feng Jun, Yi Jue, Vast Sea Venerable, and Qian Zhong discuss whether the Yang Family’s secrecy signals danger. Yi Jue favors decisive action, Vast Sea supports her suspicion, and Qian Zhong advocates investigation.
• Yi Jue confronts the Yang Family elder about whether he is asking for more information or making a request, forcing him to state his real purpose.
• Vast Sea Venerable disputes the elder’s claim that Heavenly Zither bloodlines are inherently noble, but chooses not to prolong the argument when the elder remains stubborn.
• Yi Jue’s question about how the bloodline was preserved exposes the Yang Family’s selective and sexist definition of ancestry, leaving her visibly uncomfortable.
• Xuanyuan Buqi directly challenges the family’s demand to return thousands of descendants to Heavenly Zither and then questions whether the Yang Family is even recognized there.
• The chapter ends with Xuanyuan Buqi linking the Yang Family to Ancestral Venerable Blood Drink, suggesting that their history—and their connection to the wider conflict—may be more important than they initially admitted.

Chapter Summary: “Pressure”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Yang Family True Immortal reveals that his family descends from Ancestral Venerable Blood Drink’s collateral relatives, not his direct line. Blood Drink’s ancestor and the family’s ancestor shared a grandfather.
• Blood Drink once discovered the Ghost Shaman World and secretly moved part of his family there after refusing to reunite with the main Secret-Realm Yang Family, which wanted access to his power and resources.
• The Yang branch initially struggled as outsiders but survived through Blood Drink’s reputation and their own aggressive temperament. After Blood Drink’s death was confirmed, other powerful families coerced them into revealing their more complete cultivation techniques.
• Rather than submit, the Yang Family abandoned its properties and valuables and disappeared. It later rebuilt itself into a medium-sized family with several Nascent Soul cultivators.
• The family now faces a serious crisis: its rapid growth has become difficult to conceal, and the emergence of two more Gold Core Peak cultivators could expose its true strength. If the three great families discover that the Yang Family has nearly twenty Nascent Soul cultivators and Blood Drink’s lineage, they may jointly suppress or destroy it.
• The Yang Family asks Xuanyuan Buqi to take two promising Gold Core cultivators back to Heavenly Zither so they can attempt Nascent Soul Formation more safely and potentially establish a branch family.
• When Xuanyuan hesitates, Feng Jun intervenes and suggests that the Yang Family provide more information in exchange for transportation. The Yang Family explains that it has arranged a deceptive formation in the Immortal Martial Continent, though it may not withstand deduction by the Luo Family’s Venerable.
• The chapter ends with Feng Jun asking the Yang Family True Immortal to reveal the rest of the information before any agreement is made.

Character Developments

• Yang Family True Immortal: Presents himself as both a representative of a persecuted family and a negotiator seeking the best possible terms. His urgency reveals how much pressure the Yang Family is under and how willing he is to make long-term sacrifices, including sending elite juniors away.
• Xuanyuan Buqi: Displays his usual bluntness and skepticism. Although sympathetic to the Yang Family’s history and reputation, he refuses to promise assistance casually and worries about the burden placed on Feng Jun.
• Feng Jun: Becomes more assertive and strategically important. He recognizes that his ability to transport cultivators is extraordinarily valuable and is willing to let his abilities become known if doing so advances his goals. He also carefully evaluates whether the Yang Family’s information is worth the risk.
• Yi Jue: Offers a practical alternative by asking whether the two cultivators could form Nascent Souls in the Immortal Martial Continent, highlighting the logistical difficulties the Yang Family faces.

Significant Themes

• Family loyalty versus self-interest: Blood Drink and his collateral branch reject the main Yang Family’s demands, showing that kinship does not necessarily create genuine loyalty.
• Political pressure and survival: The Yang Family’s prosperity makes it vulnerable. Growth, once a blessing, becomes dangerous when powerful rivals begin to notice.
• The cost of hidden strength: The family’s nearly twenty Nascent Soul cultivators must remain concealed, since openly displaying such power would invite a coalition against them.
• Information as currency: Feng Jun’s transportation ability and the Yang Family’s knowledge about the Ancestral Star are both treated as valuable resources in negotiation.
• Protection and responsibility: Xuanyuan’s concern for Feng Jun suggests that extraordinary abilities bring not only opportunities but also exhaustion and danger.
• Unfairness and coercion: The Yang Family’s past was marked by forced demands for its techniques, while its current crisis reflects the broader vulnerability of smaller families before dominant powers.

Character Interactions

• Xuanyuan mocks the Yang Family’s collateral descent from Blood Drink, while the Yang True Immortal defends his connection through the Heavenly Zither Bloodline.
• The Yang representative appeals to Xuanyuan Family prestige and fairness, but Xuanyuan refuses to take the entire family away or immediately accept the proposed rescue.
• Feng Jun challenges the Yang representative to prove that his information justifies the requested transportation, creating a more direct negotiation.
• Xuanyuan warns Feng Jun not to expose or overuse his divine transportation ability, but Feng Jun responds confidently and politely.
• The discussion becomes increasingly serious when the Yang representative explains that the family may face covert assassinations or joint suppression if its true strength is discovered.
• Xuanyuan and Yi Jue recognize the danger of Nascent Soul Formation phenomena and the difficulty of hiding the family’s rapid advancement, while Feng Jun keeps the negotiation open by requesting further information.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Feng Jun negotiates with the Yang Family True Immortal, offering to transport ten of the family’s Gold Core cultivators back to the Heavenly Zither World in exchange for all information the Yang Family possesses about the Ancestral Star.
• The Yang Family reveals that the Ancestral Star contains a mysterious independent space. Its location shifts randomly, and it is likely capable of avoiding both detection and Deduction.
• Even Ancestral Venerable Blood Drink could not determine the space’s nature or force it open. The space may have been created or protected by a being below the Tribulation Transcendence Stage but possessing extraordinary authority over multiple laws.
• At least two of the Ancestral Star’s original three strongest cultivators have apparently died. The remaining one fulfilled an ancient agreement.
• After becoming an Ancestral Venerable, Blood Drink returned to the Ancestral Star to investigate but encountered a mysterious “fourth” Ancestral Star cultivator, who warned him away. Blood Drink subsequently ordered his descendants not to pursue the space.
• Guardian Hall may possess additional clues, but the Yang Family believes its knowledge is also incomplete.
• Feng Jun accepts the limited information and agrees to help transport the Yang Family’s Gold Cores.
• The group divides:
  • Qian Zhong and Yi Jue remain behind to study and explain the formation-related material.
  • Qian Zhong also promises to protect the Yang Family.
  • Xuanyuan Buqi, Feng Jun, and others travel toward the Immortal Martial World.
  • Qingyao accompanies Xuanyuan Buqi to confront Guardian Hall over its possible concealment of Spirit Division Realm opportunities.
• Xuanyuan Buqi lends the Yang Family a powerful Talisman Treasure containing one of his True Lord-level attacks to protect them.
• Huanran and the Hua Family begin suspecting that the Yang Family has revealed information significant enough to warrant investigation.

Character Developments

• Feng Jun demonstrates increased authority and negotiating power. Although initially viewed as less credible than Xuanyuan Buqi, he proves capable of offering the Yang Family an invaluable service.
• Xuanyuan Buqi openly supports Feng Jun’s credibility and uses his influence to protect the Yang Family. He also continues his habit of provoking conflict through sarcastic remarks.
• The Yang Family True Immortal becomes more cooperative, revealing everything he knows despite the information’s incompleteness. His willingness to approach the group shows the family’s desperation and ambition.
• Qingyao the Venerable becomes openly hostile toward Guardian Hall, believing that concealing a Spirit Division Realm opportunity is an insult and a threat to her path of cultivation.
• Yi Jue emphasizes the importance of keeping promises, insisting that the group honor its agreement even though the Yang Family’s information is sparse.
• Qian Zhong takes responsibility for protecting the Yang Family and helps preserve the group’s alliance with them.
• Blood Drink, though absent, is characterized as unusually cautious. His warning to his descendants suggests that even his formidable strength was insufficient to safely challenge the fourth Ancestral Star cultivator.

Significant Themes

• Trust and credibility: Feng Jun’s value is validated through Xuanyuan Buqi’s endorsement, showing that alliances and reputation are crucial among powerful cultivators.
• Hidden power and incomplete knowledge: The independent space and the fourth Ancestral Star cultivator remain mysterious, emphasizing how little even high-level experts understand about the world.
• Cultivation opportunities and rivalry: The possibility of reaching the Spirit Division Realm intensifies tensions between sects, families, and factions. Personal advancement overrides conventional loyalties.
• Protection and risk: The Yang Family risks its survival by approaching powerful outsiders, while Feng Jun’s group offers protection in exchange for information.
• The limits of strength: Blood Drink’s retreat demonstrates that even Ancestral Venerables must recognize threats beyond their understanding.
• Promises and obligations: Yi Jue’s insistence on honoring agreements contrasts with the secrecy and opportunism surrounding the Ancestral Star and Guardian Hall.

Character Interactions

• Feng Jun and the Yang Family True Immortal negotiate through Xuanyuan Buqi’s mediation, establishing a mutually beneficial deal.
• Wei Sancai and Qian Zhong challenge the claim that an independent space exists, applying their understanding of spatial laws.
• Jing Nian questions whether a Tribulation Transcendence cultivator created or controls the space, prompting clarification about the unknown cultivator’s possible level.
• Qingyao condemns Guardian Hall for possibly monopolizing a Spirit Division Realm opportunity, while Xuanyuan Buqi encourages her suspicions by criticizing Guardian Hall’s secrecy.
• Qian Zhong reassures the Yang Family by promising protection, and Xuanyuan Buqi reinforces that protection with his Talisman Treasure.
• Huanran and the Hua Family observe the group’s division and begin considering whether to investigate the Yang Family’s newly revealed secrets.

Chapter Summary: “Twists and Turns”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Huanran the Venerable authorizes the Hua Family to investigate the Yang Family’s meeting with the Heavenly Zither cultivators, while cautioning them to act discreetly.
• The Hua Family sends two Nascent Soul True Immortals to question the Yang Family’s True Immortal, who is staying overnight in a Traveling Residence near a small town.
• The Hua representatives pressure the Yang Family for information about the Heavenly Zither seniors. When the Yang cultivator gives a vague answer, they threaten to bring the matter before the Elders Council.
• Qian Zhong intervenes through Divine Sense, seriously injuring one Hua True Immortal and exposing that she knows exactly what happened. She condemns the Hua Family for prying into their affairs.
• The Hua representatives retreat and submit to Qian Zhong’s judgment. She declares that she will not punish them further, but warns that anyone who targets the Yang Family will face clan extermination and collective punishment.
• Yi Jue and Vast Sea Venerable publicly support Qian Zhong’s protection of the Yang Family. Vast Sea invokes karma and adds an ominous warning, increasing the pressure on the Hua Family.
• The scene shifts to the Immortal Martial World, where Xuanyuan Buqi and several Venerables confront Qingjia at the Guardian Hall. They demand information about the space connected to cultivators from the Ancestral Star.
• Qingjia refuses to reveal what he knows, claiming ignorance and emphasizing that some matters cannot be discussed.
• Qingyao and Jing Nian threaten to Soul Search Qingjia, framing his refusal as “obstructing others’ path” and grounds for a life-and-death battle.
• When Qingjia still refuses to cooperate, Qingyao threatens to destroy the Guardian Hall. Wei Sancai supports her by offering to protect the relevant space.
• Qingyao launches her technique, Extreme Frost, instantly transforming the environment into an ancient, overwhelming cold. Qingjia raises his defenses, but frost immediately coats his protective barrier.

Character Developments

• Qian Zhong demonstrates that she is not merely powerful but politically and strategically astute. Rather than escalating into indiscriminate violence, she uses the Hua cultivator’s excuses to justify punishing the Hua Family and placing the Yang Family under her protection.
• The Hua Family True Immortals are revealed to be arrogant but ultimately cautious. Their confidence in the family’s status collapses once they realize they have provoked a True Lord capable of seeing through their explanations.
• Huanran the Venerable becomes visibly restrained. Although he might normally defend the Hua Family, he chooses silence after recognizing that Qian Zhong’s Deduction could implicate him as well.
• Yi Jue and Vast Sea Venerable openly align themselves with Qian Zhong, showing that the Heavenly Zither group is acting as a unified and intimidating force.
• Qingjia maintains his refusal to reveal sensitive information but becomes increasingly unsettled when the opposing Venerables threaten Soul Searching and destruction of the Guardian Hall.
• Qingyao reveals a direct, aggressive temperament. Unlike more cautious cultivators, she is willing to attack immediately when negotiations fail.
• Xuanyuan Buqi continues to exert psychological pressure through confidence and intimidation, while Jing Nian reinforces the seriousness of the confrontation by invoking a life-and-death grudge.

Significant Themes

• Power and political hierarchy: The Hua Family’s status as a top-tier family gives them authority over ordinary powers, but it offers little protection when they offend beings of even greater stature.
• Protection through intimidation: Qian Zhong protects the weaker Yang Family not only by defeating its interrogators but by issuing a deterrent against anyone who might retaliate.
• Strategic use of momentum: Qian Zhong’s strength lies in combining overwhelming power with careful manipulation of circumstances. She turns the Hua Family’s own words into justification for her actions.
• Secrets and forbidden knowledge: Both conflicts revolve around information that powerful cultivators are unwilling or unable to reveal, particularly concerning the Heavenly Zither and the Ancestral Star.
• The danger of obstructing another’s path: The phrase becomes both a threat and a moral justification for the Immortal Martial World confrontation, showing how cultivators frame personal conflict in terms of destiny, karma, and advancement.
• Escalation from diplomacy to violence: Both plotlines begin with questioning and political maneuvering but rapidly move toward severe punishment, threats of extermination, Soul Searching, and direct combat.

Character Interactions

• The Hua Family attempts to pressure the Yang Family, but Qian Zhong reverses the power dynamic by injuring one interrogator and forcing the others to submit.
• Qian Zhong’s warning receives immediate support from Yi Jue and Vast Sea, effectively isolating the Hua Family and preventing Huanran from intervening.
• Xuanyuan Buqi, Qingyao, and Jing Nian jointly confront Qingjia, combining intimidation, threats, and legalistic language about obstructing one’s path.
• Qingjia tries to maintain secrecy, but Qingyao’s threat to destroy the Guardian Hall forces the confrontation toward open combat.
• The chapter ends with Qingyao’s Extreme Frost attack, leaving Qingjia’s defenses under immediate pressure and setting up the next stage of the conflict.

Chapter Summary: “Coordination”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Qingyao and Jing Nian attack the Guardian Hall’s defensive formation after Qing Jia refuses to let them pass or answer their questions.
• Qing Jia condemns their assault, insisting the barrier protects Humanity’s last defense in the Ghost Shaman World and warning that they will become enemies of all cultivators.
• Jing Nian uses the Azure Lotus Sect’s Rainbow Heart Sword, a powerful formation-breaking weapon capable of damaging grand defensive arrays and disrupting the Divine Thoughts of formation guardians.
• Qing Jia’s barrier cracks under the first strike, but Qingyao reinforces it with her Extreme Frost technique, unintentionally undoing Jing Nian’s damage.
• The two Venerables argue bitterly over their inability to coordinate. Qingyao expects Jing Nian to combine fire and ice using the Crimson Yang Sword Art, while Jing Nian admits he has never learned it and defends the Azure Lotus Sect’s focus on sword intent.
• Their argument escalates until Qing Jia shuts down the formation and challenges Qingyao to kill him. Her anger and pride falter because she cannot bring herself to kill someone who is no longer resisting.
• Venerable Da Chao, a red-haired Guardian Hall elder, appears and takes control of the situation.
• Da Chao explains that he originated in the Ghost Shaman World but once traveled to Heavenly Zither for cultivation. Xuanyuan Buqi recognizes him as a former Nascent Soul cultivator and bluntly judges his cultivation progress as merely “passable” by Heavenly Zither’s standards.
• Da Chao argues that if the Guardian Hall truly possessed a reliable opportunity to reach Spirit Division, he should have discovered it during his long life. He acknowledges that advancement is more difficult in the Ghost Shaman World because its laws differ from those of Heavenly Zither.
• Rather than continue fighting, Da Chao offers to discuss matters and asks what information the visitors seek.
• Jing Nian reveals that they are investigating the mysterious “space of Ancestral Star cultivators.” Da Chao says he has never heard of it but asks them to share what they know.

Character Developments

• Qingyao: Displays her impulsive, prideful temper and willingness to use force, but her hesitation to kill Qing Jia reveals that she is not truly ruthless. Her concern for the Profound Water Sect’s dignity conflicts with her moral reluctance.
• Jing Nian: Shows that beneath his usually refined and gentlemanly exterior lies a fierce and easily provoked temperament. His use of the Rainbow Heart Sword demonstrates his seriousness and technical strength, while his argument with Qingyao exposes his pride in the Azure Lotus Sect’s cultivation tradition.
• Qing Jia: Begins as a rigid defender of the Guardian Hall, invoking duty and moral responsibility. When cornered, he becomes desperate and emotionally overwhelmed, even offering himself to be killed to preserve his dignity.
• Xuanyuan Buqi: Maintains an authoritative and blunt personality. He remembers Da Chao’s past and openly evaluates his cultivation, emphasizing the enormous gap between Heavenly Zither’s strongest cultivators and those of the Ghost Shaman World.
• Da Chao: Emerges as a calm, diplomatic, and experienced intermediary. Though he acknowledges his own limitations, he is rational rather than resentful and seeks to replace violence with negotiation.

Significant Themes

• Coordination and internal conflict: The chapter’s title is literal and ironic, as Qingyao and Jing Nian repeatedly undermine one another despite being powerful allies.
• Pride versus morality: Qingyao’s struggle over whether to kill Qing Jia highlights the conflict between personal honor, sect reputation, and compassion.
• Power and standards: Xuanyuan Buqi’s dismissive assessment of Da Chao illustrates how cultivation achievements vary dramatically between worlds.
• Cultivation limits and environmental laws: The differing laws of Heavenly Zither and the Ghost Shaman World explain why advancement to Spirit Division is so difficult and why powerful cultivators seek opportunities beyond their home world.
• Violence versus diplomacy: The confrontation shifts from direct assault to negotiation, suggesting that information and mutual understanding may be more valuable than force.

Character Interactions

• Qingyao and Qing Jia clash over whether the defensive barrier justifies blocking their investigation.
• Jing Nian attacks the barrier while Qingyao reinforces it, leading to a humorous but serious dispute over their failure to work together.
• Qingyao and Jing Nian trade insults about their cultivation foundations and techniques, revealing mutual frustration and pride.
• Qing Jia pleads for negotiation, then provocatively offers to die when Qingyao refuses to back down.
• Da Chao intervenes peacefully and is treated respectfully by Qing Jia.
• Xuanyuan Buqi and Da Chao exchange formal greetings, followed by a blunt discussion of Da Chao’s origins, age, and cultivation.
• Jing Nian and Da Chao engage in a more serious exchange about cultivation opportunities, ultimately leading to the visitors’ question about the Ancestral Star cultivators’ space.

Chapter Summary: The Unfixed Vortex

Key Plot Points and Events

• Qing Yao tests the truth of Feng Jun’s claim and confirms that the information is genuine, though her behavior irritates the red-haired elder.
• Feng Jun reveals that the Ancestral Star cultivators’ space is mobile rather than fixed. This leads the group to identify it as possibly the legendary Unfixed Vortex.
• Venerable Qing Jia and Da Chao explain the Unfixed Vortex’s history:
  • It has no permanent location and is usually associated with the Sea of Raging Waves.
  • It is extraordinarily dangerous; several Nascent Soul cultivators have disappeared or died after encountering it.
  • One survivor emerged after two hundred years having reached the Soul Emergence Realm, suggesting that the vortex contains a major breakthrough opportunity.
  • The Guardian Hall searched for nearly a thousand years without finding it.
• The group realizes that the rumored opportunity to reach the Spirit Division Realm may lie within the vortex, although that information originated from the Heavenly Zither Main Plane and may not be known to the Ghost Shaman World.
• Da Chao admits that he spent more than eight hundred years searching for the Unfixed Vortex without success.
• Qing Yao questions why the Ghost Shaman World kept the vortex secret. Qing Jia bluntly admits that they concealed it to prevent outsiders from learning about an opportunity to reach the Soul Emergence Realm.
• Feng Jun asks whether the New Heavenly Continent knows about the vortex. The elders claim it does not, though Da Chao suggests New Heavenly may possess similar undisclosed information.
• Feng Jun summons the chessboard, revealing its connection to the Sky Witch and asking whether the chessboard led him to Immortal Martial because of the Unfixed Vortex. The chessboard evasively replies that it was not wrong.
• Da Chao identifies the chessboard as a Sky Witch from the wizard faction. He explains that cultivators maintain intelligence on wizards through Martial Cultivation practitioners, who have also suffered under wizard oppression.
• The elders are alarmed that the Sky Witch previously entered the Immortal Martial Continent without triggering its warning mechanisms. They consider killing or Soul Searching it, though Da Chao warns that wizard Divine Souls are unusual and potentially dangerous.
• When Feng Jun threatens Soul Search, the Sky Witch finally offers to negotiate privately, implying that it knows more about the group’s objectives.
• Qing Jia asks whether the Unfixed Vortex could also be connected to the Ancestral Star cultivators. Feng Jun says this remains unconfirmed and that they must locate the vortex first.
• Qing Jia demands that the Guardian Hall be allowed to participate in any exploration because the vortex may offer a path to Soul Emergence. The Sky Witch rejects this entitlement, arguing that opportunities belong only to those destined to obtain them.

Character Developments

• Feng Jun becomes more open about the Ancestral Star cultivators and takes control of the discussion. He also grows increasingly suspicious of the chessboard and impatient with the Sky Witch’s silence.
• Qing Yao remains blunt and skeptical, openly mocking the Ghost Shaman cultivators’ secrecy while still recognizing that their selfishness is understandable.
• Venerable Da Chao proves knowledgeable and pragmatic. He explains the Unfixed Vortex, reveals his own failed search, and warns Feng Jun about the risks of Soul Searching a wizard.
• Venerable Qing Jia shifts from guarded secrecy to openly acknowledging the Guardian Hall’s desire for the vortex’s opportunity. His concern also reveals how seriously he regards the potential connection to the Ancestral Star.
• The Sky Witch/chessboard finally speaks after being threatened, suggesting that it possesses important information but will only cooperate through negotiation. Its defiant attitude reinforces its independence and mysterious motives.
• Xuanyuan Buqi and the other Heavenly Zither cultivators remain confident and forceful, showing that they are prepared to use overwhelming power if necessary.

Significant Themes

• Secrecy and self-interest: The Ghost Shaman World concealed the Unfixed Vortex to protect its own access to a higher realm. The chapter presents this secrecy as selfish but understandable.
• The danger of knowledge and opportunity: The vortex represents both immense advancement and extreme risk. Its promise of Soul Emergence makes it worth searching for despite the likelihood of death.
• Factional rivalry: The Immortal Martial and New Heavenly Continents, as well as cultivators, wizards, and Martial Cultivation practitioners, distrust one another and withhold information.
• Uncertainty and hidden connections: The relationship between the Unfixed Vortex, Ancestral Star cultivators, and wizards remains unresolved, creating a larger mystery.
• The idea of destiny: The Sky Witch’s final statement challenges the assumption that powerful opportunities should be claimed collectively, insisting that only those “fated” to obtain them have a rightful claim.

Important Character Interactions

• Qing Yao challenges the red-haired elder’s credibility, then mocks the Guardian Hall’s secrecy.
• Jing Nian defers to Feng Jun on matters involving the Ancestral Star, recognizing his special connection to it.
• Feng Jun questions the chessboard directly, linking its guidance to the search for the Unfixed Vortex.
• Da Chao and Qing Jia react with alarm to the Sky Witch’s presence and debate whether it should be killed or interrogated.
• Da Chao warns Feng Jun about the dangers of Soul Searching the Sky Witch, while Xuanyuan Buqi dismisses the danger by suggesting a more powerful expert could perform it.
• Qing Jia asks to join the search for the vortex, but the Sky Witch sharply rejects the Guardian Hall’s claim to the opportunity.