Ch. 681Hitching a Ride

Chapter Summary: “Hitching a Ride”

Key Plot Points and Events

  • Feng Jun explains why he cannot bring Tang Wenji, the Little Celestial Master, into Luohua Manor. He fears Green Mountain would use her presence to demand access to Luohua’s cultivation resources.
  • Tang Wenji asks whether he believes she can abandon Green Mountain’s Daoist lineage. Feng Jun acknowledges that she cannot, revealing the conflict between personal cultivation and responsibility to one’s sect.
  • Tang requests permission to cultivate inside the Black Colt Tower for several days. Feng Jun refuses, explaining that its spiritual energy is too violent for her Martial Master-level cultivation. He also avoids revealing his own cultivation level or the tower’s owner.
  • Feng Jun and Tang dismantle their cultivation setup, leave the mountain, and head toward civilization. An old Daoist later arrives to investigate why the mountain-protecting formation had become unstable but fails to find their hidden cave.
  • After resting at an inn, Feng Jun retrieves his SUV and drives through the snowy roads with Tang. Their journey leads to several encounters with stranded travelers.
  • They first pick up a young woman at Tang’s insistence. The woman repeatedly flirts with Feng Jun and proposes spending the night with him, provoking Tang’s anger. Feng Jun dismisses her advances harshly, saying he would only consider it for one billion yuan.
  • Later, they encounter two men with a broken SUV. The men ask Feng Jun to tow them for two thousand yuan. The rescued woman claims they had previously charged her excessively and abandoned her in the wilderness.
  • The men defend themselves by saying they merely ended their agreement and left her beside the road. Tang recognizes that their conduct was dangerous and exploitative.
  • At Tang’s suggestion, Feng Jun agrees to tow the SUV for seven thousand yuan, while Tang pointedly echoes the men’s own claim that “goodwill should remain.”

Character Developments

  • Feng Jun: Becomes more open about the practical limits of Luohua Manor and his concerns about sect politics. He remains cautious about revealing secrets concerning his cultivation and the Black Colt Tower. His cultivation has reached Qi Refining Level Nine Peak, giving him enough strength to fly while carrying Tang and travel easily.
  • Tang Wenji: Shows loyalty to Green Mountain despite her unconventional personality. She is direct, perceptive, protective, and strongly affected by injustice. Her initial sympathy for the stranded woman leads her to insist on giving her a ride, while her later outrage reveals her strong sense of fairness.
  • The young woman: Appears opportunistic and shameless, using flirtation and exaggerated claims to obtain help. Although her behavior is irritating, her account of being abandoned in dangerous weather raises legitimate concerns.
  • The two stranded men: Present themselves as businessmen following ordinary roadside customs, but their willingness to leave a woman in freezing wilderness makes them appear callous and morally questionable.

Significant Themes

  • Sect loyalty versus individual advancement: Tang’s inability to abandon Green Mountain illustrates the importance of lineage and collective Daoist revival, even when personal opportunities lie elsewhere.
  • Limits of cultivation and resources: Feng Jun’s refusal to let Tang enter the Black Colt Tower emphasizes that power and spiritual energy must match one’s cultivation level.
  • Practical morality and reciprocity: The chapter contrasts genuine assistance with transactional behavior, especially through the roadside disputes over fares and towing fees.
  • Trust and suspicion: Feng Jun is wary of strangers, while Tang is more compassionate. Their contrasting instincts shape how they respond to travelers.
  • Justice through irony: Tang uses the men’s own words about “goodwill” against them, requiring them to pay a higher but still reasonable fee for help.

Character Interactions

  • Feng Jun and Tang argue indirectly over whether she can join Luohua Manor, revealing mutual respect but differing priorities.
  • Tang presses Feng Jun about his cultivation and the Black Colt Tower, while Feng Jun maintains secrecy without openly offending her.
  • Tang repeatedly acts as a moral counterbalance to Feng Jun’s suspicion and bluntness, especially when she persuades him to help travelers.
  • The flirtatious passenger’s attempts to attract Feng Jun create comic tension and provoke Tang’s jealousy and anger.
  • Tang and Feng Jun cooperate in dealing with the stranded men, with Tang negotiating the seven-thousand-yuan towing fee and Feng Jun agreeing to follow her decision.

Ch. 682When a Deal Falls Through, Friendship Remains

Concise Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

  • Tang Wenji, Feng Jun, and a stranded woman agree to tow two men’s broken SUV to the county town for 7,000 yuan, with the men also responsible for any damage.
  • The men initially pay 2,000 yuan through Liaoliao, promising to withdraw the remaining 5,000 yuan after reaching town. Tang Wenji records the agreement to protect herself from later accusations.
  • After a slow, difficult journey, they reach a repair shop in the county town. Once there, the two men refuse to pay the balance and suddenly become hostile.
  • The men enlist two repair-shop workers, threaten Tang Wenji and the stranded woman, and demand the return of the 2,000 yuan already paid.
  • Feng Jun attempts to de-escalate, but the men insist on keeping the group’s money and leaving Tang Wenji behind. Tang Wenji responds by revealing her Nine-Section Whip, demonstrating extraordinary martial ability and smashing a large stone with it.
  • While the men are intimidated, Feng Jun cuts the tow rope with hydraulic cutters. He, Tang Wenji, and the woman escape, leaving the four aggressors behind.
  • Shortly afterward, all four men develop a mysterious illness: intense, persistent chills, vomiting, loss of appetite, and severe weakness despite normal temperatures and medical treatment.
  • Hospitals fail to identify the cause. A ritualist claims they have angered evil spirits, but an expensive ritual involving cattle and sheep does nothing.
  • An old Daoist priest examines them and concludes they were harmed by external energy after offending a powerful being. He links their illness to Feng Jun and Tang Wenji and warns that they may be connected to the mysterious Jade Ruins.
  • The men finally recognize that their greed and bullying of outsiders may have brought about their punishment, though the shorter man stubbornly insists the travelers were the ones extorting them.

2. Character Developments

  • Tang Wenji begins as cautious, practical, and assertive, carefully recording the agreement and refusing to accept a discounted price. When threatened, her anger and courage emerge, along with her formidable martial prowess.
  • Feng Jun remains calm and controlled throughout the confrontation. Rather than escalating immediately, he tries to negotiate, then efficiently frees the car and leads the group to safety.
  • The stranded woman is initially frightened and vulnerable, especially when insulted and threatened. Tang Wenji and Feng Jun protect her, and she escapes with them.
  • The two stranded men reveal themselves as dishonest and cowardly. The shorter man changes from apologetic negotiator to violent bully, while the taller man supports his threats. Their later suffering forces them to confront the consequences of their actions, though the shorter man remains defensive.
  • The Daoist priest is portrayed as perceptive and knowledgeable about hidden supernatural forces. His warning greatly frightens the men by associating their attackers with Jade Ruins.

3. Significant Themes

  • Greed and moral consequences: The men’s attempt to cheat and intimidate the travelers leads to mysterious punishment.
  • Goodwill despite failed business: The title contrasts Tang Wenji’s fair, documented agreement with the men’s betrayal; the travelers initially help them even after the deal becomes difficult.
  • Hidden power and supernatural retribution: Feng Jun and Tang Wenji appear ordinary at first but possess abilities far beyond what the men understand.
  • Outsiders versus local protection: The men exploit their local connections, assuming they can bully travelers without consequences.
  • Appearances can be deceptive: The seemingly vulnerable woman and the calm travelers are not helpless, while the apparently ordinary local men may have provoked powerful enemies.
  • Pride and denial: Even after becoming seriously ill, the shorter man refuses to admit wrongdoing and continues blaming the victims.

4. Character Interactions

  • Tang Wenji and Feng Jun work as a coordinated team: she handles negotiation and intimidation, while he manages logistics and keeps the situation from escalating prematurely.
  • Tang Wenji protects the stranded woman when the shorter man threatens her, and Feng Jun physically moves Tang Wenji out of danger when the confrontation begins.
  • The two men shift from superficially polite negotiation to open hostility, exposing their true character.
  • Tang Wenji’s weapon display and Feng Jun’s calm intervention reverse the power dynamic, leaving the aggressors unable to act.
  • The Daoist’s diagnosis forces the four men to connect their illness with their encounter, creating a final contrast between the travelers’ restraint and the locals’ continuing refusal to accept responsibility.

Ch. 683Huahua's Promise

Chapter Summary: Flower Flower’s Promise

Key Plot Points and Events

  • Feng Jun and Tang Wenji continue their long drive back from the county town. They briefly detour to drop off the woman they had picked up, then resume their journey despite difficult road conditions.
  • Upon reaching Funiu Province, Feng Jun changes vehicles to avoid attracting attention. He and Tang Wenji restore their outside communications and return to Luohua Manor.
  • Luohua Manor and the Green Mountain Sect remain peaceful during their absence. Gazi stayed behind at the manor instead of returning home, while Zhuang Zesheng remained in his hometown for social obligations.
  • Feng Jun inspects the manor and finds that the backyard Spirit-Gathering Array has accumulated sufficient spiritual energy. Various members continue cultivating in the backyard and Bamboo Grove.
  • Gu Jiahui remains fascinated by Flower Flower and brings her expensive food from Long City, though the powerful butterfly is only mildly interested in it.
  • Feng Jun and Tang Wenji discover Flower Flower violently disciplining Crow King. The crow had recently flown away to court other crows despite making progress in cultivation.
  • Feng Jun stops Flower Flower’s punishment and explains that she is extraordinarily powerful—stronger than Tang Wenji, who is nearing the Intermediate Martial Master stage.
  • Gu Jiahui reminds Feng Jun that her promise from before the New Year still stands, apparently referring to her willingness to offer herself or fulfill an earlier agreement. Feng Jun does not respond directly and instead summons Flower Flower.
  • Feng Jun brings Flower Flower to the backyard and reveals the small Black Tower. After enlarging it, he instructs Flower Flower to enter and cultivate, promising that she can reach the Intermediate Qi Refining Stage there.

Character Developments

  • Feng Jun: Continues to display patience and generosity, helping the woman despite disliking her. His authority over Flower Flower becomes even clearer, as she obeys him immediately while ignoring most others. He also takes responsibility for advancing her cultivation.
  • Tang Wenji: Shows compassion toward the stranded woman and increasing astonishment at the supernatural creatures and resources around Feng Jun. She realizes that Flower Flower is more powerful than herself, which motivates her to cultivate harder.
  • Flower Flower: Is revealed to be intelligent, verbally communicative, fiercely dominant, and deeply attached to her own standards of loyalty. She supervises Crow King’s cultivation and punishes him for pursuing other crows. Her obedience to Feng Jun demonstrates their unusual bond.
  • Crow King: Has begun cultivating seriously but becomes distracted by romantic instincts. He is terrified by Flower Flower’s punishment and obeys her commands without resistance.
  • Gu Jiahui: Remains strongly attracted to Feng Jun and highly interested in Flower Flower. Her gift of food and request to accompany Feng Jun show her desire to grow closer to both of them. She also reiterates her earlier promise to Feng Jun.
  • Gazi: Demonstrates loyalty by remaining at Luohua Manor throughout the holiday rather than visiting his parents, though his family supports his decision.
  • Tang Wangsun: Protects Tang Wenji’s whereabouts by misleading others into believing she traveled to Qiong City.

Significant Themes

  • Loyalty and discipline: Flower Flower’s punishment of Crow King reflects her belief that progress and comfort should not lead to betrayal or distraction.
  • Power and hierarchy: The chapter emphasizes Feng Jun’s superior status and Flower Flower’s overwhelming strength, even compared with a powerful martial artist like Tang Wenji.
  • Cultivation and opportunity: The Spirit-Gathering Arrays and Black Tower represent rare resources that allow the manor’s residents and spiritual creatures to advance rapidly.
  • Belonging and devotion: Gazi’s loyalty to Feng Jun and Flower Flower’s attachment to Crow King and Feng Jun show how personal bonds shape the characters’ decisions.
  • The extraordinary hidden within the ordinary: A normally harmless-looking butterfly is revealed to be a terrifyingly powerful, intelligent being, reinforcing the mysterious nature of Luohua Manor.

Character Interactions

  • Feng Jun and Tang Wenji discuss the stranded woman and Flower Flower’s strength, with Tang Wenji repeatedly questioning Feng Jun about the butterfly.
  • Flower Flower dominates Crow King, chastising him for leaving the manor to court other crows. Feng Jun acts as the mediator and orders her to stop.
  • Gu Jiahui admires Flower Flower, offers her food, asks whether she can understand human speech, and seeks Feng Jun’s permission to accompany him.
  • Feng Jun firmly refuses Gu Jiahui’s request but treats Flower Flower with unusual trust, allowing her to enter the Black Tower for cultivation.
  • The residents of Luohua Manor admire Flower Flower but remain aware that only Feng Jun can command her reliably.

Ch. 684Tang Wenji's Little Scheme

Chapter Summary: “Tang Wenji’s Little Scheme”

Key Plot Points and Events

  • Flower Flower, despite being only a butterfly, is revealed to be at the Qi Refining Stage and possesses an unusually tough body. It tries repeatedly to enter Black Colt Tower but cannot fit through the small door because its rigid wings cannot fold.
  • Feng Jun decides to bring Flower Flower to Green Mountain Sect, where the sect’s Earth Vein may be strong enough to enlarge Black Colt Tower and provide Flower Flower with a suitable place to cultivate.
  • Zhang Caixin asks about the tower’s requirements and learns that only cultivators at the Qi Refining Stage or above can enter it. Feng Jun explains that those below the Gold Core Realm can benefit from cultivating inside, although he must soon return the tower.
  • Feng Jun reflects on his own cultivation plans. Black Colt Tower could help him reach the Dust-Free Realm, but it would not be enough to help him break through to the Gold Core Realm, so he must carefully plan his future resources and opportunities.
  • Tang Wenji presses Feng Jun about the tower’s origin, but he dismisses her questions rather than reveal sensitive information.
  • Feng Jun prepares to leave Luohua Manor for Green Mountain Sect. Tang Wenji insists on accompanying him because her motorcycle is stored there, while Sister Hong hints that her presence is not entirely welcome.
  • The traveling group includes Feng Jun, Gao Qiang, Yang Yuxin, Gu Jiahui, Tang Wenji, Flower Flower, and Crow King. Crow King follows the group obsessively after seeing Flower Flower leave, despite having previously been bullied by the butterfly.
  • Guan Shanyue arrives at Luohua Manor after Feng Jun’s departure. Upon learning that he has gone to Green Mountain Sect, she decides to wait for him there.
  • Feng Jun’s group stops in Chaori County to inspect a mountain-road construction project near his family’s property. His parents secretly leave home to meet him, accompanied by Dou Jiahui.
  • While viewing the mountain scenery, Tang Wenji suggests that the area may contain an Earth Vein. Feng Jun becomes interested because he hopes to develop the region into a beautiful cultivation retreat and an alternate base for himself and his parents.
  • The group travels through the developing mountain road, past forests and the Sun-Moon Lake Reservoir, eventually reaching a broad flat area intended to house construction workers.

Character Developments

  • Feng Jun demonstrates responsibility toward Flower Flower by seeking a stronger cultivation environment for it, even though doing so requires another journey. He also shows long-term strategic thinking about his own cultivation and the preservation of Earth Veins.
  • Flower Flower is established as powerful, physically durable, and somewhat prideful. Its inability to enter the tower frustrates it, and it responds with resentment toward Feng Jun.
  • Tang Wenji becomes increasingly knowledgeable about Earth Veins and cultivation resources after traveling with Feng Jun. Her concern about damaging Green Mountain Sect’s weak Earth Vein reveals both loyalty to her sect and a self-serving hope that Feng Jun might find another location instead.
  • Zhang Caixin is anxious about her stalled breakthrough despite already cultivating rapidly by ordinary standards. Her questions show her desire to improve and make use of the black tower.
  • Crow King displays an unexpectedly strong attachment to Flower Flower, following it despite their earlier unequal relationship.
  • Feng Jun’s parents appear more involved in the mountain development project and maintain friendly relations with the workers, suggesting that the area is becoming an important family base.
  • Guan Shanyue continues pursuing Feng Jun, showing persistence and eagerness to meet him.

Significant Themes

  • Cultivation resources and strategic planning: The black tower is powerful but temporary, forcing Feng Jun to think beyond immediate gains and prepare for higher realms.
  • The limits of power: Even extraordinary abilities have practical restrictions, as shown by Flower Flower’s inability to fit inside the tower and Feng Jun’s inability to rely on it for a Gold Core breakthrough.
  • Responsibility and resource conservation: Tang Wenji worries that using Green Mountain Sect’s Earth Vein could further deplete it, raising the conflict between personal advancement and protecting shared resources.
  • Development versus destruction: The mountain road requires cutting down trees, yet the plan includes replanting them later. The chapter presents construction and environmental damage as interconnected parts of development.
  • Belonging and relationships: Tang Wenji’s growing closeness to Feng Jun, Crow King’s attachment to Flower Flower, and the family’s involvement in the mountain project all show relationships forming around Feng Jun’s expanding world.
  • Planning for the future: Feng Jun’s plans for Chaori County reflect his desire to create a secure, beautiful, and sustainable alternate cultivation base.

Character Interactions

  • Feng Jun teases and negotiates with Flower Flower, ultimately agreeing to seek a better cultivation location for it.
  • Zhang Caixin questions Feng Jun about the tower, while he answers cautiously because Tang Wenji is present.
  • Tang Wenji challenges Feng Jun about the tower’s origin and later subtly raises the possibility of an Earth Vein near Chaori County.
  • Sister Hong and Tang Wenji exchange lightly antagonistic remarks about Tang Wenji’s departure and possible extended stay.
  • Gao Qiang takes responsibility for driving so Feng Jun can sleep, while Yang Yuxin proposes stopping in Chaori County.
  • Crow King forces its way into the traveling party by pursuing the bus after Flower Flower leaves.
  • Feng Jun’s parents reconnect with him privately and inspect the mountain project alongside the group, interacting warmly with the workers.

Ch. 685Discovery of an Earth Vein

Chapter Summary: “Discovery of an Earth Vein”

Key Plot Points and Events

  • Feng Jun visits the mountain construction site that will eventually become part of his parents’ planned residential compound, modeled partly after Luohua Manor.
  • He inspects the ongoing work and stays overnight at the site with his parents, Yang Yuxin, Gu Jiahui, Dou Jiahui, and others.
  • During the evening, Dou Jiahui drinks with Feng Jun and reveals that he plans to marry Lin Xiaojia during the National Day holiday. His ability to move comfortably between being a businessman and a laborer reflects his uncomplicated attitude toward life.
  • After midnight, Feng Jun secretly leaves the camp by flying through the air to search for an Earth Vein in the contracted mountain region.
  • He discovers that an unusually powerful Earth Vein runs through the land. Its strength exceeds even the Earth Vein at Green Mountain Sect, and the Little Black Pagoda can grow nearly three meters tall there.
  • Feng Jun searches the surrounding mountains until dawn but finds no stronger Earth Vein, confirming that his property contains the most concentrated spiritual-energy source in the area.
  • His parents notice his absence and warmly welcome him back, demonstrating their concern for his safety.
  • Feng Jun explains the discovery to them and decides that the Earth Vein must be incorporated into the development plans. He intends to exploit it moderately for the first thirty years of his fifty-year usage period, preserving the resource rather than exhausting it.
  • The next morning, Feng Jun, Gao Qiang, Tang Wenji, Dou Jiahui, Yang Yuxin, and Gu Jiahui trek deep into the mountains. After more than three hours, they reach a stream near the Earth Vein and begin clearing the surrounding grove for development.

Character Developments

  • Feng Jun continues to take responsibility for both the construction project and the supernatural resources connected to it. His discovery makes him more cautious and strategic, since he recognizes the Earth Vein’s value and the danger of overusing it.
  • Zhang Junyi displays strong intelligence, insight, and confidence in her son. Rather than blindly celebrating the powerful Earth Vein, she immediately questions whether it has a stable foundation and warns against assuming that strength equals permanence.
  • Feng Wenhui and Zhang Junyi are shown as caring parents who stay awake waiting for Feng Jun and keep the air conditioner running to prevent him from becoming cold.
  • Dou Jiahui demonstrates his practical, easygoing philosophy. He is comfortable with both wealth and hard labor and prefers to live according to his own wishes. His planned marriage to Lin Xiaojia shows his personal commitment and contentment.
  • Yang Yuxin becomes increasingly eager to follow Feng Jun’s activities. Her decision to join the mountain expedition reflects both her curiosity and her desire to participate in Feng Jun’s important undertakings despite the restrictions of Luohua Manor.
  • Flower Flower and Little Crow/Crow King continue acting as loyal companions and protectors. They remain obedient on Feng Jun’s shoulders and later protect the group by killing or removing a snake and a large spider.

Significant Themes

  • Responsible use of power and resources: Feng Jun refuses to exploit the Earth Vein recklessly. He considers both his limited fifty-year ownership and the need to preserve the mountain’s spiritual foundation for future generations.
  • Family trust and affection: Feng Jun’s parents trust his judgment while still offering practical observations. Their concern for his health reinforces the warmth of their relationship.
  • Luck versus judgment: Feng Jun acknowledges that discovering such a powerful Earth Vein is a matter of extraordinary luck, but Zhang Junyi emphasizes that luck must still be managed intelligently.
  • Freedom and contentment: Dou Jiahui’s lifestyle represents the value of living freely and accepting both comfort and hardship without being consumed by ambition.
  • Exploration and hidden potential: The trek into the uncharted mountains symbolizes the discovery of resources and opportunities concealed within seemingly ordinary land.

Character Interactions

  • Feng Jun and Dou Jiahui share a relaxed drinking session, during which Dou discusses his upcoming marriage and life philosophy. Feng Jun respects rather than challenges his choices.
  • Feng Jun discusses the Earth Vein with his parents. Zhang Junyi corrects Feng Wenhui’s misunderstanding of it as a “dragon vein” and offers a more thoughtful assessment of its long-term stability.
  • Zhang Junyi immediately supports Feng Jun’s plan to alter the construction design, showing complete confidence in his expertise.
  • During the expedition, Feng Jun and Gao Qiang take the lead in cutting through vegetation, while Tang Wenji and Dou Jiahui try—unsuccessfully—to match their efforts.
  • Yang Yuxin firmly rejects the client staff’s concerns about entering unexplored territory, insisting that Feng Jun’s local knowledge makes additional guides unnecessary.
  • Flower Flower and Crow King help protect the group from wildlife, reinforcing their unusual but dependable bond with Feng Jun and the others.

Ch. 686Cultivation Captivates the Heart

Chapter Summary: “Cultivation Stirs the Heart”

Key Plot Points and Events

  • Feng Jun and his companions reach the location where an Earth Vein converges beside a stream. They clear nearly twenty square meters by cutting down several trees, leaving the two largest trees intact.
  • Everyone helps with the work, though Little Celestial Master is the most tireless because she is close to advancing to the Intermediate Martial Master realm.
  • After eating, Feng Jun summons the Black Colt Tower, a magical cultivation structure, and places it at the Earth Vein. Flower Flower, the butterfly, is finally allowed inside after Feng Jun excludes Crow King from entering.
  • Little Celestial Master observes that this Earth Vein is even stronger than the one at Green Mountain Sect. Feng Jun explains that Earth Veins are rare but not necessarily more useful than Luohua, which offers better practical conditions and transportation.
  • The group camps overnight. Dou Jiahui gives up the large tent to Yang Yuxin and Gu Jiahui, catches a chill, and is sent back with Gao Qiang and Tang Wenji.
  • Tang Wenji receives a message from her father requesting her return, while Gao Qiang brings Feng Jun news that Xu Leigang has successfully advanced to Martial Master.
  • Gao Qiang reminds Feng Jun of his earlier promise. Feng Jun agrees to accept him as a disciple when they return to Luohua and provide him with cultivation resources, provided he continues managing the estate for the next two years.
  • Yang Yuxin offers to recommend reliable candidates to help manage the estate. Feng Jun questions whether they can keep secrets, and she assures him that her influence and the authorities’ power will discourage betrayal.
  • The chapter ends with Feng Jun recognizing that Yang Yuxin wants Gu Jiahui to become his disciple as well. He says he has an idea and is prepared to discuss it.

Character Developments

  • Feng Jun demonstrates his increasing power and resources by summoning the Black Colt Tower and producing large quantities of camping equipment from his Storage Pouch. He remains practical, preferring Luohua’s convenient environment over isolated cultivation sites.
  • Little Celestial Master/Tang Wenji displays exceptional stamina and cultivation strength. Her complicated reaction to the superior Earth Vein reflects both envy and concern about Feng Jun’s growing influence. She may soon return to Green Mountain Sect because of family and sect matters.
  • Gao Qiang proves loyal, capable, and self-aware. He carefully considers the risks of recommending former comrades and shows that he understands the seriousness of joining Feng Jun’s school. His determination to balance cultivation with estate management earns Feng Jun’s approval.
  • Dou Jiahui remains shamelessly relaxed and thick-skinned, but his willingness to give up the tent causes him to become ill, revealing the limits of his physical endurance.
  • Xu Leigang advances to Martial Master, marking an important milestone for Feng Jun’s earliest disciple, though Feng Jun regrets that Xu’s age has made his progress slower.
  • Yang Yuxin becomes increasingly eager to secure cultivation opportunities for her daughter. She confidently offers her own connections as potential recruits while trying to negotiate Gu Jiahui’s future.
  • Gu Jiahui openly supports Feng Jun’s views and flatters him naturally, showing both her admiration and growing closeness to him. Her mother notices that she now has her own opinions and priorities.

Significant Themes

  • Cultivation versus practicality: Although the Earth Vein is powerful, Feng Jun values Luohua’s convenience, development potential, and comfortable environment. He rejects the idea that stronger spiritual conditions automatically make a place better.
  • Trust and secrecy: Feng Jun’s cultivation resources and supernatural abilities require reliable people. The discussion about recruiting estate managers emphasizes the dangers of betrayal and the importance of discretion.
  • Mentorship and succession: Gao Qiang’s acceptance as a disciple expands Feng Jun’s school, while the need to replace him as estate manager raises questions about building a dependable organization.
  • Ambition and social influence: Yang Yuxin attempts to use her authority and connections to improve her daughter’s prospects, showing how cultivation opportunities intersect with family ambition and political power.
  • Advancement and aging: Xu Leigang’s breakthrough is celebrated but also viewed through the lens of his age, highlighting the different opportunities and limitations faced by cultivators.
  • Changing relationships: Gu Jiahui’s increasing familiarity with Feng Jun and Gao Qiang’s acceptance as a disciple show the group’s relationships becoming more personal and hierarchical.

Character Interactions

  • Feng Jun firmly controls access to the Black Colt Tower, especially by preventing Crow King from entering while allowing Flower Flower inside.
  • Little Celestial Master compares the Earth Vein with Green Mountain Sect’s foundation, prompting Feng Jun to explain his more grounded philosophy about cultivation sites.
  • Gu Jiahui supports Feng Jun against her mother’s preference for developing Chaori County, subtly signaling her loyalty to him.
  • Dou Jiahui’s carefree behavior contrasts with the others’ seriousness, though his illness forces the group to care for him and send him back.
  • Gao Qiang respectfully negotiates his future with Feng Jun, promising to manage the estate while beginning cultivation.
  • Yang Yuxin and Feng Jun engage in a cautious negotiation: she offers trustworthy candidates while he tests her understanding of secrecy and risk. Their conversation ultimately turns toward the possibility of Gu Jiahui becoming Feng Jun’s disciple.

Ch. 687Huahua Advanced

Chapter Summary: Flower Flower Advanced

1. Key Plot Points and Events

  • Feng Jun negotiates with Yang Yuxin to establish a secret, isolated base near Chaori County and Luohua Manor. He wants it remote, free from government interference, and staffed by discreet, non-curious personnel.
  • In exchange for arranging the base, Feng Jun agrees to formally take Yang Yuxin’s daughter, Gu Jiahui, as a disciple. He had already been interested in her because of her rare Yi Wood Physique.
  • After three days inside the Black Colt Tower, Flower Flower emerges having advanced from Early to Intermediate Qi Refining. Her rapid breakthrough confirms her extraordinary mutant potential and gives her confidence that the Dust-Free Realm is attainable.
  • The camping trip ends, and Feng Jun returns to the residential area, where he tells his parents that the site will eventually be properly planned and possibly protected by an array.
  • Feng Jun’s former classmate Yue Pengfei visits, hoping to strengthen ties and offer financial loans. Feng Jun declines, explaining that he does not need outside funding, while Yue’s visit highlights how Feng Jun’s growing wealth has changed their relationship.
  • Tang Wenji warns Feng Jun that Guan Shanyue of Fugu Crimson Cloud Heaven has gone to Green Mountain searching for him. Green Mountain has protected his location, and Feng Jun decides not to reveal himself because he has no obligations to her sect.
  • Tang Wenji also announces that she will enter seclusion to attempt advancement to Intermediate Martial Master, with Innate status likely if she continues receiving adequate resources.
  • Feng Jun and his group return to Luohua Manor, where Zhuang Zesheng and his mother are staying outside because the manor does not permit them to sleep inside. Zesheng briefly wishes for a luxury bus but abandons the idea when he realizes it could not enter the manor.
  • Zesheng’s mother encourages him to remain at the manor longer, partly because he likes Gu Jiahui and may not see her again after returning to school.
  • Feng Jun holds a formal but deliberately modest disciple-taking ceremony for Gao Qiang and Gu Jiahui. The ceremony establishes clearer rules and hierarchy within the increasingly influential Luohua Manor.
  • Gao Qiang presents six jars of rare sixty-year-old liquor, while Gu Jiahui offers Feng Jun a valuable two-courtyard residence in Long City.
  • Feng Jun gives Gao Qiang a cultivation manual, Body-Tempering Pills, and Origin-Nurturing Pills, but restricts him to probationary-disciple status for two years. Gao Qiang must learn cautiously and consult the senior disciples rather than immediately receiving more advanced instruction.
  • Feng Jun tells Gu Jiahui that he will personally teach her cultivation and provide her technique later. This distinction causes Sister Hong and Hao Fengjing to exchange a subtle, displeased glance.

2. Character Developments

  • Feng Jun: Becomes increasingly strategic and authoritative. He delegates practical matters to professionals, establishes reciprocal arrangements with powerful allies, and begins formalizing Luohua Manor’s master-disciple structure. He remains cautious about revealing advanced techniques and refuses to use Gao Qiang as an experimental subject.
  • Yang Yuxin: Demonstrates decisiveness and loyalty by immediately accepting responsibility for arranging the secret base. Her willingness to provide valuable resources also reflects her desire to strengthen her relationship with Feng Jun and secure his guidance for Gu Jiahui.
  • Gu Jiahui: Officially becomes Feng Jun’s disciple. Her rare constitution earns her special treatment: unlike Gao Qiang, she will receive direct personal instruction in cultivation.
  • Gao Qiang: Becomes a formal disciple and accepts a probationary period with humility. He is grateful for even basic cultivation resources and begins addressing Feng Jun as “Master.”
  • Flower Flower: Makes a major breakthrough to Intermediate Qi Refining after centuries of slow progress, revealing both her unusual potential and the effectiveness of the Black Colt Tower.
  • Tang Wenji: Shows growing dedication to cultivation by entering seclusion after reaching an unusually advanced level for her age. Her ambitions and confidence have increased.
  • Zhuang Zesheng: Continues recovering and reveals both romantic feelings for Gu Jiahui and awareness of the social advantages her family represents. His dependence on Luohua Manor also shows how much his family has sacrificed for his recovery.
  • Sister Hong and Hao Fengjing: Their reaction suggests jealousy or concern over Gu Jiahui receiving personal instruction, especially as Sister Hong is interested in defining her own status in relation to Feng Jun.

3. Significant Themes

  • Power and responsibility: Feng Jun’s expanding influence requires him to establish rules, rituals, and organizational structure rather than relying solely on personal authority.
  • Reciprocity and alliances: Important relationships are built through exchanges of resources, protection, and expertise. Yang Yuxin’s assistance earns her daughter access to Feng Jun’s teachings.
  • Secrecy and trust: Feng Jun carefully protects his location, techniques, and supernatural resources. Green Mountain’s refusal to disclose his whereabouts earns his respect and cooperation.
  • Cultivation and innate potential: Flower Flower’s breakthrough and Gu Jiahui’s rare physique emphasize the importance of natural aptitude, while Tang Wenji’s progress shows the role of perseverance and resources.
  • Class and social ambition: Yue Pengfei seeks proximity to Feng Jun because of his wealth, while Zhuang Zesheng views marriage to Gu Jiahui as both a romantic and socially advantageous possibility.
  • Jealousy and unequal treatment: Feng Jun’s decision to personally teach Gu Jiahui, while giving Gao Qiang only basic instruction, introduces possible tension among the disciples and the women closest to him.

4. Character Interactions

  • Feng Jun and Yang Yuxin: They negotiate a mutually beneficial arrangement: she provides a hidden base, and he accepts Gu Jiahui as a disciple.
  • Feng Jun and Flower Flower: Her breakthrough reinforces Feng Jun’s admiration for her abnormal talent, even as he privately compares her progress favorably against his own.
  • Feng Jun and Yue Pengfei: Their meeting reflects the changed balance between them. Yue approaches Feng Jun deferentially, seeking future connection rather than simply conducting ordinary banking business.
  • Feng Jun and Tang Wenji: Tang warns him about Guan Shanyue and shares her plans for seclusion, indicating trust and continuing cooperation.
  • Feng Jun and Zhuang Zesheng: Their interaction is indirect, but Feng Jun’s growing relationship with Gu Jiahui affects Zesheng’s hopes and ambitions.
  • Feng Jun and his disciples: The ceremony formally establishes Feng Jun’s authority. Gao Qiang receives cautious, general instruction, while Gu Jiahui is promised individualized cultivation guidance.
  • Sister Hong, Hao Fengjing, and Gu Jiahui: Their subtle reactions indicate emerging competition or jealousy over Gu Jiahui’s privileged position as Feng Jun’s personally taught female disciple.

Ch. 688Azure Wood Art

Chapter Summary: “Azure Wood Technique”

Key Plot Points and Events

  • Feng Jun returns from his trip and announces a celebration for Lei Gang’s advancement. He also reveals that Flower Flower has advanced to the Intermediate Qi Refining Stage after only a few days.
  • Zhang Caixin reacts with mixed feelings to Flower Flower’s rapid progress, clearly comparing it with her own cultivation.
  • Zhuang Zesheng asks to join Feng Jun’s sect. Feng Jun refuses to accept him immediately, reminding him that he is currently only a patient and that courage alone is insufficient. Feng Jun is also displeased when Zhuang speaks on behalf of his family despite his mother being present.
  • After the celebration, Flower Flower resumes guarding the manor. Feng Jun privately takes Gu Jiahui to the rear building to give her a cultivation technique and pills.
  • Sister Hong, Zhang Caixin, and Hao Fengjing follow them, partly out of curiosity and partly because they suspect Feng Jun may be developing another romantic relationship.
  • Feng Jun gives Gu Jiahui the Azure Wood Technique, selected because she possesses the Yi Wood Physique. The technique is ordinary by immortal-cultivation standards but has a strong foundation and ultimately traces back to the powerful Azure Radiance Formula.
  • The women question why Zhang Caixin received the less advanced Five-Element Mortal Transcendence technique. Feng Jun explains that he chose it because he currently lacks a more suitable technique for her.
  • Feng Jun reveals that Zhang Caixin possesses an exceptionally rare Innate Water Affinity, which exists beyond the ordinary Five Elements and does not fall neatly into the categories of Ren Water or Gui Water.

Character Developments

  • Feng Jun: Demonstrates both authority and fairness. He refuses to indulge Zhuang Zesheng’s arrogance, while patiently explaining the principles behind his disciples’ cultivation techniques. He remains troubled by the fact that he cannot yet provide Zhang Caixin with a technique suited to her true nature.
  • Flower Flower: Reaches the Intermediate Qi Refining Stage and becomes an increasingly capable and independent guardian of the manor. Her playful, expressive personality remains unchanged.
  • Zhang Caixin: Shows insecurity and frustration over Flower Flower’s rapid advancement and Gu Jiahui’s apparently superior cultivation technique. Her Innate Water Affinity is revealed, establishing that her potential may be greater than her current technique suggests.
  • Gu Jiahui: Officially begins cultivation under Feng Jun with a technique perfectly matched to her Yi Wood Physique. Her knowledge and curiosity are evident when she asks about the distinction between Ren Water and Gui Water.
  • Sister Hong and Hao Fengjing: Become increasingly conscious of Feng Jun’s expanding circle of female companions and hope he will treat them with respect. Sister Hong also reveals a growing understanding of cultivation theory.
  • Zhuang Zesheng: Shows initiative and courage by asking to join the sect, but his impatience, arrogance, and tendency to speak over elders reinforce Feng Jun’s reservations about him.
  • Yang Yuxin: Feels excluded when Feng Jun asks her not to accompany him and Gu Jiahui, though she understands that he is trying to preserve appropriate boundaries now that her daughter is his disciple.

Significant Themes

  • Suitability over apparent power: Feng Jun emphasizes that the best cultivation technique is one that matches a person’s physique. A seemingly ordinary technique can be more valuable than a prestigious one if it provides a strong and compatible foundation.
  • Patience and self-discipline: Zhuang Zesheng’s desire to advance quickly contrasts with Feng Jun’s insistence that courage and eagerness are not enough.
  • Jealousy and comparison: The women compare cultivation progress and techniques, revealing insecurity and competition within Feng Jun’s close circle.
  • Limits of knowledge and resources: Although Zhang Caixin has an extraordinary innate affinity, Feng Jun lacks a suitable technique for her, forcing her to use a less ideal but reliable foundation.
  • Boundaries and respect: Feng Jun’s distancing from Yang Yuxin and his criticism of Zhuang Zesheng both highlight the importance of proper roles, family hierarchy, and personal boundaries.
  • Hidden potential: Zhang Caixin’s Innate Water Affinity suggests that her current cultivation does not reflect her true capabilities and may become important later.

Character Interactions

  • Feng Jun teasingly includes Flower Flower in the celebration after she protests being forgotten.
  • Zhang Caixin reacts sharply to Flower Flower’s advancement, revealing her complicated feelings about her own progress.
  • Zhuang Zesheng respectfully but impulsively asks Feng Jun for sect membership; Feng Jun responds with a firm lesson in humility and patience.
  • Feng Jun excludes Yang Yuxin from his private meeting with Gu Jiahui to maintain a more appropriate relationship after taking Gu Jiahui as a disciple.
  • Sister Hong jokes about the Azure Wood Technique by deliberately calling it the “Spring Technique,” masking her awkwardness and curiosity.
  • Zhang Caixin and Sister Hong challenge Feng Jun over the perceived inferiority of the Five-Element technique, prompting him to explain the logic behind his choices.
  • Gu Jiahui’s questions lead Feng Jun to disclose the rare and unusual nature of Zhang Caixin’s Innate Water Affinity.

Ch. 689Turning the Tables

Chapter Summary: “Turning the Tables”

Key Plot Points and Events

  • Feng Jun discusses Zhang Caixin’s exceptional aptitude with Gu Jiahui, explaining that aptitude only determines one’s starting point; cultivation methods, luck, inheritance, karma, and effort determine eventual achievements.
  • Gu Jiahui accepts this reasoning and affirms her trust in Zhang Caixin. Zhang offers to help teach her cultivation method and instructs her to take a Body-Tempering Pill and change clothes.
  • Luohua Manor celebrates Xu Leigang’s advancement to the Martial Master realm. The core disciples hold a private banquet, while the entire manor celebrates with gifts, food, and an extravagant fireworks display costing 150,000 yuan.
  • Guan Shanyue contacts Feng Jun to request a visit after witnessing how highly Tang Wenji regarded him and seeing Tang prepare to enter seclusion following their return from Luohua Manor.
  • Meanwhile, four men who previously offended Tang Wenji and another martial artist become seriously ill. After spending money on medical care and ritual specialists, they report Tang to the police for extortion, attempting to “turn the tables.”
  • Their efforts fail when they realize Green Mountain Sect has powerful backing. Tang Wenji refuses to answer questions, claiming she has entered seclusion, while her father, Tang Wangsun, rejects mediation and refuses to let the men resolve the matter with a simple ritual.
  • Desperate, the four decide to send two of the less-seriously ill men to Green Mountain Sect to beg for help in person, regardless of the cost.
  • Feng Jun returns to the Phone Plane carrying the Black Colt Tower. Huangfu Wuxia had offered to let him use it under her supervision, but Feng Jun refuses, preferring not to accept conditions that compromise his independence.

Character Developments

  • Feng Jun continues presenting himself as a calm, authoritative master, though he remains cautious about becoming entangled in other people’s affairs. His refusal of Huangfu Wuxia’s terms shows growing confidence and independence.
  • Zhang Caixin demonstrates warmth and loyalty toward Gu Jiahui, taking on a mentoring role and reassuring her about cultivation.
  • Gu Jiahui shows complete trust in Zhang Caixin and indirectly seeks reassurance from Feng Jun about her own potential.
  • Xu Leigang reaches the Martial Master realm after prolonged effort. Although he fears his age may prevent him from becoming an Innate Expert, he regards this breakthrough as one of the greatest achievements of his life.
  • Guan Shanyue becomes more respectful of Feng Jun after seeing Tang Wenji’s reaction to him and recognizing his influence.
  • Tang Wenji and Tang Wangsun act with confidence and severity toward the four offenders, refusing to let them escape the consequences of their actions through money or manipulation.
  • Huangfu Wuxia is disappointed by Feng Jun’s rejection and notices that he seems somehow changed when he returns.

Significant Themes

  • Aptitude versus effort and destiny: Natural talent matters, but it cannot guarantee success. Cultivation depends on opportunity, perseverance, inheritance, and karma.
  • Trust and mentorship: Zhang Caixin and Gu Jiahui’s relationship emphasizes loyalty and mutual confidence within Luohua Manor.
  • Consequences of arrogance: The four sick men refuse to acknowledge their own wrongdoing and suffer increasingly severe consequences as they attempt to manipulate authorities.
  • Growing power and status: Luohua Manor and Green Mountain Sect are no longer organizations that outsiders can casually threaten or exploit.
  • Independence and control: Feng Jun’s refusal to use the Black Colt Tower under supervision reflects his desire to maintain autonomy rather than accept power on restrictive terms.
  • Humor amid cultivation politics: Feng Jun’s comparison of the situation to palace intrigue, along with the exaggerated responses of the sick men and Daoist mediators, adds comic relief to the power struggles.

Character Interactions

  • Feng Jun and Gu Jiahui discuss her aptitude, while Zhang Caixin interrupts and establishes herself as Gu Jiahui’s trusted teacher.
  • Zhang Caixin and Gu Jiahui strengthen their close sister-like bond through cultivation guidance.
  • Feng Jun and Guan Shanyue speak by phone, with Guan adopting a respectful attitude and Feng remaining direct and somewhat distant.
  • The four sick men, ritual specialists, mediators, and Green Mountain Sect become locked in a failed negotiation, with Tang Wangsun repeatedly dismissing their attempts at settlement.
  • Feng Jun and Huangfu Wuxia meet again in the Phone Plane. He refuses her proposed arrangement, leaving her puzzled by both his decision and the apparent change in him.

Ch. 690Teleportation Array (First Update Celebrating Alliance Leader Biyunxuan)

Chapter Summary: “Teleportation Array”

Key Plot Points and Events

  • Feng Jun and Huangfu Wuxia continue negotiating their cooperation on the Mission Management System. Feng jokes that she now finds him more agreeable because he has allowed her to use the system, while Huangfu counters that she is merely trying to earn money and has already suffered losses because of him.
  • Feng urges Huangfu to send people soon to learn the Contribution Point System, claiming that he urgently needs Spirit Stones to fund his cultivation and Spirit-Gathering Array.
  • He offers an additional opportunity: cooperation on the telephone system. Huangfu is surprised by his sudden openness and assumes that seeing her valuable White Colt Pagoda convinced him of her sincerity.
  • Huangfu asks whether Feng plans to use his profits to rent the White Colt Pagoda, but Feng quickly avoids the subject because he secretly used it and fears being exposed.
  • Feng requests two Teleportation Array Discs for analysis, along with several Teleportation Talismans. Huangfu recognizes that successfully reproducing the discs could create a lucrative market, especially because they provide long-range, precise teleportation for escape or transporting supplies.
  • Feng warns that analyzing spatial teleportation technology may be extremely difficult and that counterfeiters could threaten the business. Huangfu confidently promises that Heavenlink Trade Alliance’s protection and sealing methods can prevent such problems.
  • After achieving all his objectives, Feng leaves. Huangfu later notices that his hair looks slightly different, nearly exposing his travel between planes, but she ultimately dismisses the suspicion.
  • Back at his courtyard, Feng resumes his routine: cultivating in the Spirit-Gathering Array in the mornings, practicing Talisman drawing in the afternoons, and studying the teleportation items. After five days, he stops using the array to avoid overtaxing himself and wasting too many Spirit Stones.

Character Developments

  • Feng Jun demonstrates increasing skill in managing conversations and concealing his secrets. He deliberately steers Huangfu away from the White Colt Pagoda and toward profitable future collaborations, using the telephone system and teleportation technology as incentives.
  • He remains cautious and realistic, repeatedly warning Huangfu not to assume that teleportation technology can easily be analyzed or commercialized.
  • Huangfu Wuxia becomes more trusting and enthusiastic about Feng’s abilities. She interprets his concessions as proof that he respects Heavenlink’s resources and sincerity, while also showing her usual sharp instincts by nearly noticing his changed hairstyle.
  • Her confidence in Heavenlink’s power and commercial influence is emphasized, as she immediately recognizes the potential value of teleportation products and believes the alliance can protect them from counterfeiters.

Significant Themes

  • Negotiation and manipulation: Feng uses humor, diversion, and carefully chosen business opportunities to control the conversation and conceal his true motives.
  • Trust versus suspicion: Huangfu is perceptive enough to sense irregularities, but Feng’s conversational skill and plausible explanations repeatedly redirect her suspicions.
  • Commercialization of cultivation technology: The chapter highlights how powerful arrays, talismans, and cultivation tools can become valuable commodities when adapted for wider use.
  • Risk and innovation: Teleportation technology could be highly profitable, but its analysis is uncertain and potentially dangerous because of its complexity and the threat of counterfeiters.
  • Balance in cultivation: Feng’s decision to alternate intensive array-assisted cultivation with rest reflects the theme that steady, sustainable progress is better than reckless overexertion.

Character Interactions

  • Feng and Huangfu maintain a playful but strategic relationship, exchanging teasing remarks while negotiating major business arrangements.
  • Feng offers Huangfu’s organization access to the Contribution Point System and possible telephone cooperation, while Huangfu provides or seeks rare resources such as the White Colt Pagoda, Teleportation Array Discs, and Teleportation Talismans.
  • Their interaction is mutually beneficial but unequal: Feng hides his deepest secrets, while Huangfu believes she is successfully gaining valuable technology and cooperation from him.

Ch. 691Eye-Popping Maneuvers

Summary of “A Mind-Boggling Move”

Key Plot Points and Events

  • Three days after Feng Jun dismantles his large Spirit-Gathering Array, Yu Changqing’s smaller array is activated again. Chen Junsheng, Mi Yunshan, and others continue benefiting from it, while Feng Jun returns to mining Spirit Stones at Zhige Mountain.
  • Feng Jun realizes he must accelerate his mining because his growing prominence may attract investigations into his true purpose. He has already extracted spiritual energy equivalent to more than three thousand Standard Spirit Stones, but this remains his primary source of power for supporting both himself and the people of the Blue Star Realm.
  • To supplement his resources, Feng Jun begins drawing low-grade Sweet Rain Talismans for Shangguan Yunjin. Though the income is modest—about seven Spirit Stones for ten hours of work—it provides a stable and useful source of funds.
  • Feng Jun also finishes analyzing another defensive formation, the Earth-Wall Array.
  • Seven representatives of the Heavenlink Trade Alliance arrive to study Feng Jun’s technology:
    • Two investigate the Mission Management System.
    • Two, accompanied by Wang Bocai, study generators and electricity.
    • Two focus on the telephone system.
    • An Early Qi Refining cultivator oversees the group.
  • After three days of observing the Mission Management System, the representatives begin studying telephone technology. However, Huangfu Wuxia arrives with major news: the alliance has secured an order from the Ten Directions Platform for a large trial Mission Management System containing twenty-eight terminals and two servers.
  • Feng Jun quotes a price of three hundred Spirit Stones. He is astonished that Ten Directions Platform has placed such a large order, especially since even Carefree Platform’s system is smaller. Huangfu explains that the system is intended for broad use across the East Platform rather than for a limited group.
  • Impressed by Huangfu’s business maneuvering, Feng Jun praises her. She then hints that she plans to sell an even larger system to Carefree Platform.
  • Feng Jun refuses to let Huangfu observe his telephone training, partly because he fears she may notice his increased cultivation or investigate the mysterious Black Colt Tower, which he previously used to advance his power.
  • Huangfu attempts to pressure Feng Jun by refusing to pay the system deposit before delivery, despite knowing he is short on Spirit Stones. Feng Jun accepts the challenge and begins training the two telephone specialists.
  • Over two days, Feng Jun teaches them foundational concepts such as telephone systems, grounding, and anti-static procedures. Although one appears quiet and dull, Feng Jun discovers that both men are intelligent and capable.
  • While training them, Feng Jun secretly begins setting up an Illusion Formation near the equipment room.

Character Developments

  • Feng Jun: Becomes increasingly cautious and aware of the risks posed by his visibility. He balances mining, talisman production, technological instruction, and concealment of his cultivation. His confidence in his own technical abilities grows, though he recognizes Huangfu’s superior connections and commercial reach.
  • Huangfu Wuxia: Demonstrates exceptional commercial skill by expanding the Mission Management System from a limited sale to a potentially massive institutional market. She remains shrewd, withholding payment to maintain leverage over Feng Jun and encourage him to join the Heavenlink Trade Alliance.
  • The Heavenlink representatives: Show the alliance’s willingness to invest in promising technologies. The two telephone specialists begin as contrasting figures—one taciturn and seemingly dull, the other young and outspoken—but both prove capable learners.
  • Shangguan Yunjin: Acts as a practical intermediary and buyer for Feng Jun’s Sweet Rain Talismans, helping establish his secondary income.

Significant Themes

  • Resource scarcity and self-sufficiency: Feng Jun must constantly secure spiritual energy and money to sustain both his own cultivation and his responsibilities to the Blue Star Realm.
  • Technology versus traditional cultivation: Computers, electricity, telephones, and modern management systems are being introduced into a cultivation-based society, creating opportunities for enormous commercial and institutional change.
  • Business strategy and market expansion: Huangfu’s success comes from identifying broader applications and customers, while Feng Jun mainly focuses on technical creation. Their contrast highlights the importance of distribution, connections, and salesmanship.
  • Secrecy and vulnerability: Feng Jun’s concealed cultivation and uncertain use of the Black Colt Tower make him wary of Huangfu and others. His efforts to limit her access demonstrate the dangers of becoming too conspicuous.
  • Knowledge transfer and cultural gaps: Teaching basic concepts such as grounding and static electricity reveals how difficult it is to transfer modern technical knowledge into a society lacking foundational scientific understanding.

Character Interactions

  • Feng Jun cooperates with Yu Changqing’s group while continuing to benefit indirectly from her Spirit-Gathering Array.
  • He works with Shangguan Yunjin to sell Sweet Rain Talismans, turning his technical skills into income.
  • Huangfu Wuxia alternates between boasting about her business achievements, probing Feng Jun’s finances, and attempting to pressure him into cooperation with the Heavenlink Trade Alliance.
  • Feng Jun responds to Huangfu with calculated praise and guarded confidence, while deliberately preventing her from observing his technical instruction.
  • He trains the two Heavenlink specialists directly, patiently explaining unfamiliar concepts and evaluating their abilities.
  • The chapter ends with Feng Jun preparing an Illusion Formation near the equipment room, suggesting that he is taking additional precautions or planning a concealed move.

Ch. 692Huahua’s Dignity

Chapter Summary: “Flower Flower’s Dignity”

Key Plot Points and Events

  • After two days of training, Feng Jun has the two people from the Phone Plane practice basic communication technology by making calls and modifying phone numbers. Amazed by the results, they continue experimenting while Feng Jun returns to the Blue Star Plane.
  • Feng Jun asks Yang Yuxin to locate a suitable base. She quickly secures an abandoned military factory and training facility in Funiu Mountain, between Chaori County and Yang City. The government retains ownership but grants Feng Jun full use of the site.
  • Feng Jun orders Yang Yuxin to clean and renovate the base, arrange guards, and recruit trustworthy communications specialists who understand Spirit World Language. These experts will train the two Phone Plane residents.
  • Feng Jun emphasizes that secrecy is essential. A previous confidentiality failure involving Qin Tian had allowed sensitive medical information to leak. He warns that another breach could cost lives and damage everyone’s cultivation resources, especially those connected to Gu Jiahui and Gao Qiang.
  • Meanwhile, Li Shishi purchases and installs servers, computers, and a Mission Management System at the manor. Hao Fengjing suggests that the system could also benefit her library.
  • Feng Jun spends four days constructing and testing a Spirit-Binding Array in Warehouse Number Three, away from the manor’s existing Spirit-Gathering Array.
  • After completing the array, Feng Jun finds Flower Flower secretly watching a television drama on a phone while hiding in the bamboo. He interrupts her leisure time and orders her to test the new array.
  • Flower Flower initially refuses, arguing that even if the test is not fatal, it may still injure her. Feng Jun persuades her with half a jin of Spirit Beast meat and three power banks. Once she enters the array, she suddenly protests, implying that the test has begun in an alarming way.

Character Developments

  • Feng Jun continues expanding his influence and infrastructure. He is becoming more organized and strategic, establishing a secure base, developing cross-world communications, and carefully controlling access to advanced technology.
  • Yang Yuxin proves highly capable and efficient. She secures the mountain base ahead of schedule and accepts Feng Jun’s strict requirements regarding secrecy and personnel selection. She recognizes that this mission directly affects her daughter Xiao Hui and takes it extremely seriously.
  • Li Xiaobin has grown into a capable public representative, confidently managing affairs in Chaori County. Feng Jun deliberately allows her to remain focused on worldly administration rather than cultivation.
  • Li Shishi begins taking over logistical duties previously handled by Li Xiaobin, successfully managing equipment purchases and installation.
  • Hao Fengjing shows practical interest in modern technology, immediately recognizing the usefulness of the Mission Management System for her library.
  • Flower Flower is revealed to be increasingly absorbed in modern entertainment. Despite her complaints and laziness, she retains a strong sense of personal dignity and insists that she should not accept gifts without compensation. Her willingness to work depends on suitable rewards.

Significant Themes

  • Technology bridging worlds: Phones, data systems, and communication training are becoming tools for connecting the modern world with the Phone Plane and Spirit World.
  • Trust and secrecy: Feng Jun stresses that advanced knowledge must be protected. The success of his plans depends not only on skill but also on absolute reliability and discretion.
  • Responsibility and hierarchy: Yang Yuxin understands that the consequences of failure will fall first on those closest to her, particularly Xiao Hui and Gao Qiang, increasing the personal stakes of her work.
  • Modern comforts changing traditional beings: Flower Flower’s obsession with television and power banks humorously shows how modern technology is reshaping even ancient or supernatural creatures.
  • Dignity and fair exchange: Flower Flower’s insistence on receiving compensation reflects a comic but genuine belief in independence and proper boundaries.

Character Interactions

  • Feng Jun and Yang Yuxin cooperate closely on establishing the new base, with Feng Jun giving strict instructions and Yang Yuxin responding efficiently.
  • Feng Jun’s warning about confidentiality makes Yang Yuxin reflect on her nephew Qin Tian’s previous mistake and strengthens her resolve to personally supervise recruitment.
  • Feng Jun and Hao Fengjing exchange playful remarks about the management system, mixing business opportunity with casual familiarity.
  • Feng Jun teases Flower Flower about wasting time watching dramas, while she defends her right to personal hobbies and later negotiates for food and power banks before agreeing to test the array.
  • Flower Flower’s final cry suggests that Feng Jun’s experiment may be more intense or dangerous than he initially admitted, ending the chapter on a humorous cliffhanger.

Ch. 693Fair Trade

Chapter Summary: “Fair Trade”

Key Plot Points and Events

  • Feng Jun tests his Spirit-Binding Array on Flower Flower, a Qi Refining Intermediate Stage spirit insect. Although the array successfully restrains her, she cannot break free despite struggling for over half an hour.
  • Feng Jun jokingly promises her an iPad if she escapes, but refuses to reward her when she fails. Flower Flower angrily accuses him of deceiving her and threatens to release field mice into the Spirit Plant Formation.
  • To determine the array’s limits, Feng Jun conducts three additional tests with Flower Flower flying over it at different speeds. She evades the array once by skimming around its central area rather than crossing directly through it.
  • Feng Jun concludes that the Spirit-Binding Array is effective enough for practical use, since wild Spirit Beasts would not willingly fly through its strongest point anyway.
  • After completing the tests, he orders an iPad for Flower Flower online. She also asks for one for Little Crow, but Feng Jun rejects the request, reasoning that Crow can use her phone.
  • Feng Jun returns to the Phone Plane with the Mission Management System and his completed Spirit-Binding Array analysis. He meets Huangfu Wuxia to discuss the delivery.
  • Huangfu Wuxia is surprised that Feng Jun has produced a complete solution so quickly and without visibly studying the array. She insists that the Spirit-Binding Array must be independently tested before the Heavenlink Trade Alliance accepts his claims.
  • Feng Jun refuses to discuss the array further and instead presents the Mission Management System for inspection.
  • When Huangfu Wuxia hesitates to pay the agreed sixty-percent deposit because she is temporarily short on Spirit Stones, Feng Jun firmly refuses alternatives such as being paid through cultivation time in the White Colt Pagoda or deferred payment with interest.
  • He insists that business rules must be respected and leaves with the system. Huangfu Wuxia eventually sends the required Spirit Stones and a Storage Ring two days later, allowing the transaction to proceed.

Character Developments

  • Feng Jun: Demonstrates greater confidence in both his technical achievements and commercial judgment. He remains playful with Flower Flower but is strict about keeping promises conditional on performance. In business, he shows independence and refuses to let Huangfu Wuxia control his cash flow or weaken their agreed terms.
  • Flower Flower: Displays intelligence, competitiveness, and a strong sense of fairness. Though initially fooled and angered by Feng Jun, she accepts the later arrangement and cooperates with further testing. Her interest in technology, including iPads and phones, highlights her increasing adaptation to Feng Jun’s world.
  • Huangfu Wuxia: Reveals herself to be a careful, probing negotiator. She tests Feng Jun’s confidence by delaying payment and offering substitutes, but ultimately recognizes his firm boundaries and honors the agreement. Her slight embarrassment shows that, despite her business skill, she is still somewhat inexperienced in personal confrontation.
  • Little Crow: Is mentioned as becoming increasingly intelligent and interested in technology, though he does not directly appear in the chapter.

Significant Themes

  • Fairness and contractual integrity: The chapter centers on Feng Jun’s belief that business must remain business. He refuses to let personal favors, interest payments, or cultivation opportunities replace the agreed payment.
  • Trust and mutual testing: Both Feng Jun and Huangfu Wuxia probe each other’s abilities and reliability. Their negotiation is as much about measuring confidence and motives as it is about exchanging goods.
  • Adaptation between worlds: Flower Flower and Little Crow’s interest in phones and tablets reflects how modern technology is spreading into the cultivation environment.
  • Practical experimentation: Feng Jun values usable results over perfect theoretical certainty. He accepts that the array may have limitations but judges it effective enough for real-world capture.
  • Power and independence: Feng Jun resists becoming financially dependent on the Heavenlink Trade Alliance, protecting his bargaining position and ensuring that Huangfu Wuxia cannot easily manipulate him.

Character Interactions

  • Feng Jun and Flower Flower engage in a teasing but adversarial exchange, mixing experimentation, bargaining, and accusations of dishonesty.
  • Their relationship shows growing familiarity: Flower Flower trusts Feng Jun enough to cooperate, yet remains suspicious of his promises.
  • Feng Jun and Huangfu Wuxia interact as cautious business partners. She attempts several ways to delay or restructure payment, while he counters with rigid adherence to their original agreement.
  • Their confrontation ends with a clearer mutual understanding: Huangfu Wuxia must respect Feng Jun’s commercial boundaries, while Feng Jun recognizes her as a shrewd but ultimately reliable negotiator.

Ch. 694You Didn't Faint?

Chapter Summary: “You Didn’t Faint?”

Key Plot Points and Events

  • The Heavenlink Trade Alliance sends three additional martial cultivators—a Martial Master and two Martial Warriors—to learn Feng Jun’s Mission Management System, confirming its intention to promote the system extensively.
  • Huangfu Wuxia negotiates with Feng Jun over the Spirit-Binding Array. Rather than accept profit-sharing, Feng Jun sells the analyzed array’s rights outright for 900 Spirit Stones, prioritizing certainty over a potentially larger but unverifiable income.
  • Including his earnings from the system, Feng Jun now possesses more than 1,000 Spirit Stones. Huangfu gives him Storage Pouches and Storage Rings as promised, while Feng Jun agrees to provide an analyzed Earth-Wall Array in return. He also asks her to obtain a teleportation array disk.
  • Feng Jun begins establishing a training center at the abandoned Funiu Mountain factory in the Blue Star Plane. He repairs factory buildings and dormitories, installs grounding wires, and brings in communication equipment and computers. The center is intended to train people from the Phone Plane, helping him transfer modern knowledge without personally handling everything.
  • Feng Jun recognizes that his development in the Phone Plane has reached a bottleneck. Selling boiler-backed engines is no longer enough, and personally disseminating Blue Star knowledge would consume too much time needed for cultivation.
  • Guan Shanyue calls, but Feng Jun learns that she has once again missed him and must return home because her father is critically ill.
  • Feng Jun decides to test whether people can be transported between planes safely. He searches for a suitable subject in his territory and identifies a woman secretly working as a spy for the Masterful Hands Pavilion.
  • He abducts the woman and transports her to the Blue Star Plane. His calculations prove correct: the transfer only causes her to faint temporarily. After sending her back, he considers the experiment successful.
  • Later, Hao Fengjing asks about installing a library management system. Feng Jun jokingly offers it for free in exchange for her boss no longer tracking her attendance, then brings her to the Phone Plane. The chapter ends with Feng Jun shocked that she remains conscious: “You didn’t faint?”

Character Developments

  • Feng Jun becomes increasingly pragmatic and strategic. He rejects arrangements that depend on unverifiable sales reports and prefers a straightforward sale of the Spirit-Binding Array rights.
  • He also moves from individual development toward organized cross-plane expansion, planning to train Phone Plane residents in modern technology.
  • His attitude toward experimentation remains calculated but morally detached. He chooses a spy from the hostile Masterful Hands Pavilion as his test subject, feeling little guilt because of the Pavilion’s past attempts against him.
  • Huangfu Wuxia demonstrates decisiveness and commercial intelligence. Although she initially wants profit-sharing to preserve an ongoing connection with Feng Jun, she adapts quickly and purchases the array rights outright.
  • Guan Shanyue remains comically unlucky in repeatedly missing Feng Jun, though her family situation introduces a more serious personal concern.
  • Hao Fengjing continues to act casually and candidly, joking about avoiding attendance checks. Her unexpected ability to remain conscious during plane transfer suggests she may possess unusual qualities or that Feng Jun’s assumptions about the process are incomplete.

Significant Themes

  • Trust versus certainty: Feng Jun refuses profit-sharing because he cannot verify the Trade Alliance’s sales figures, highlighting the difficulty of cooperating with powerful organizations.
  • Industrial and social transformation: The abandoned factory and growing trade around modern products show how technology stimulates specialized labor, commerce, services, and economic growth in the Phone Plane.
  • Knowledge dissemination and cultivation: Feng Jun realizes that progress requires institutionalizing the transfer of knowledge rather than relying solely on his own efforts.
  • Risk, experimentation, and moral boundaries: His cross-plane transportation tests reveal his willingness to use hostile spies as experimental subjects, while also emphasizing his reliance on calculation and controlled risk.
  • Cross-plane expansion: The chapter marks a transition from merely introducing products to building long-term systems for education, technology transfer, and broader influence.
  • Unpredictability: Feng Jun’s careful calculations succeed with the spy but fail to predict Hao Fengjing’s reaction, ending the chapter on a humorous mystery.

Character Interactions

  • Feng Jun and Huangfu Wuxia engage in extended bargaining over the Spirit-Binding Array, with both recognizing the other’s strategic motives.
  • Feng Jun maintains a friendly but teasing relationship with Huangfu, trading the Earth-Wall Array for her promised storage items while rejecting her hopes for a Teleportation Array.
  • Feng Jun briefly comforts Guan Shanyue over her father’s illness, though his internal commentary treats her repeated missed encounters humorously.
  • Feng Jun interacts indirectly with the residents and merchant networks of his territory, observing how modern products have created new professions and business opportunities.
  • His relationship with Hao Fengjing is informal and playful; he jokes with her before unexpectedly transporting her, producing the chapter’s cliffhanger when she does not faint.

Ch. 695Tourism Expert

Chapter Summary: “Travel Guru”

Key Plot Points and Events

  • Feng Jun brings Hao Fengjing, also known as Manager Mei, from Blue Star to the Phone Plane to test how many Energy Points are required to transport a Mortal Transcendence cultivator.
  • Unexpectedly, Hao Fengjing remains conscious during the transfer. Feng Jun discovers that her spatial attribute greatly reduces the energy cost, leaving him with more than ten Energy Points.
  • He reveals that they are on another plane, explaining that the jade, cultivation manuals, and resources he possesses all originated there.
  • Feng Jun describes the Phone Plane as dangerous, with powerful cultivators and two major immortal-cultivation forces located near his territory. He warns Hao Fengjing to remain extremely cautious.
  • He explains that his mountain territory covers nearly two thousand square kilometers and that roughly ten thousand ordinary people live outside it.
  • Hao Fengjing learns that she is the only person from Blue Star, besides Feng Jun, who knows about the Phone Plane.
  • Feng Jun and Hao Fengjing return to Luohua Manor so she can prepare for a future sightseeing trip. She plans to disguise herself with ancient-style clothing and avoid speaking so that her accent does not reveal her origins.
  • Feng Jun tells her not to inform Sister Hong, Zhang Caixin, or the others, partly because transporting more people may harm them and partly to avoid jealousy.
  • Hao Fengjing decides to prepare within five days and proposes sponsoring the Library Management System. She initially considers fifty thousand, then settles on one hundred thousand while leaving room for her superiors to contribute.

Character Developments

  • Hao Fengjing: Displays remarkable composure upon discovering the existence of another plane. Instead of panicking, she quickly adapts, asks practical questions, and embraces the opportunity to become Feng Jun’s first visitor from Blue Star. Her spatial attribute gives her a unique advantage and boosts her confidence amid competition with the other women around Feng Jun.
  • Feng Jun: Becomes more open with Hao Fengjing, revealing the truth about the Phone Plane and the origins of his resources. He remains cautious about the dangers of the plane but also deliberately flatters Hao Fengjing by presenting her selection as a special honor rather than merely a test.
  • Their relationship: Their mutual familiarity and teasing become more evident. Feng Jun coaxes Hao Fengjing with a flattering explanation, while she responds with excitement, trust, and playful loyalty.

Significant Themes

  • Expansion of worldview: Hao Fengjing’s discovery of the Phone Plane radically challenges her understanding of reality and confirms the existence of the myriad worlds.
  • Trust and secrecy: Feng Jun chooses to share an enormous secret with Hao Fengjing because he considers her uniquely suited to travel between planes, while both agree to keep it from the others.
  • Jealousy and competition: Hao Fengjing’s concern about Zhang Caixin and the other women reveals her insecurity, but being chosen as the first Blue Star visitor gives her a strong sense of importance.
  • Adaptability and survival: The chapter contrasts the danger of the Phone Plane with Hao Fengjing’s practical ability to adjust, disguise herself, and “play dumb” when necessary.
  • Humor and everyday pragmatism: Extraordinary interplane travel is treated alongside mundane concerns such as clothing, accents, sponsorship money, office politics, and avoiding work.

Character Interactions

  • Feng Jun repeatedly warns Hao Fengjing about the Phone Plane’s dangers, while she responds with calm curiosity and humor.
  • Hao Fengjing questions whether Zhang Caixin knows about the plane, revealing her jealousy; Feng Jun reassures her that she alone, besides him, has been informed.
  • Feng Jun praises her spatial attribute to encourage her, and she happily accepts the explanation.
  • Their conversation about sightseeing turns playful as Hao Fengjing calls herself a “travel guru” and Feng Jun jokes about creating a tourist route.
  • Back at Luohua Manor, they discuss secrecy, preparation, and the possible physical risks of bringing others across.
  • Their final exchange about sponsoring the Library Management System highlights Hao Fengjing’s practical nature and Feng Jun’s teasing approval.

Ch. 696Difficulty Integrating

Chapter Summary: “Hard to Fit In”

Key Plot Points and Events

  • After five days of preparation, Hao Fengjing accompanies Feng Jun to the Phone Plane, bringing an enormous wardrobe, accessories, wigs, and recording equipment. Her excitement stems not only from her love of travel but also from the prospect of exploring another world alone with Feng Jun.
  • Feng Jun disguises her in local clothing and a wig. Because she knows almost none of the local language, he instructs her to pretend to be mute, though he irritates her by introducing her as his “maid.”
  • From a mountaintop and later within Feng Jun’s territory, Hao observes that Feng Jun commands enormous respect. The locals act submissively toward him, and she realizes that his status here resembles that of an absolute ruler.
  • Two spies from Masterful Hands Pavilion are brought before Feng Jun. The woman has died, while the wounded man is interrogated. Since he provides no useful information, Feng Jun orders him to be hung for half a day and executed if no one claims him. Hao is shocked when he is later killed without hesitation.
  • Feng Jun takes Hao, Mi Yunshan, and Teacher Mei to the cave where the spirit plants removed from Luohua Manor are being cultivated. Both women are surprised by the scale of Feng Jun’s hidden resources.
  • Mi Yunshan attempts to welcome Hao by offering her spirit fruits. Unable to understand her or risk speaking, Hao instead gives her a bottle of perfume. Mi Yunshan is puzzled by the unfamiliar object and by Hao’s seemingly effortless method of producing it.
  • Lang Zhen directly asks Feng Jun who Hao is. Feng Jun again calls her a “maid,” earning a painful jab from Hao because she understands that particular word.
  • The following day, Feng Jun takes Hao around his territory in an all-terrain vehicle, including the county town and a developing communications network. She sees officials and ordinary people anxiously seeking Feng Jun’s favor and gains a deeper understanding of the vast social gap between him and mortals.
  • Although fascinated by the world, Hao decides to return to Blue Star. She believes she should first cultivate to the Qi Refining Stage, after which she can visit openly and safely. She takes several pieces of jade to sell and use the proceeds to support her work unit.
  • After returning to Blue Star, Hao changes clothes and enthusiastically questions Feng Jun about the other plane. Before they reach the villa, however, they sense a sudden surge of spiritual energy from the backyard, setting up the next development.

Character Developments

  • Hao Fengjing: Begins as an enthusiastic, somewhat playful tourist but quickly discovers the practical difficulties of blending into another world. Her inability to speak the language makes her cautious and frustrated, while witnessing Feng Jun’s authority and the plane’s violence leaves her both uneasy and fascinated. By the end, she recognizes the importance of cultivation and becomes determined to reach the Qi Refining Stage.
  • Feng Jun: Displays complete confidence and dominance in his territory. He casually handles spies, commands subordinates, and treats local dangers as insignificant. His teasing treatment of Hao—especially calling her a maid—reveals their familiar, affectionate dynamic, though it also repeatedly annoys her.
  • Mi Yunshan: Shows curiosity and careful hospitality toward Hao. She recognizes that Hao is unusual, wealthy, and possibly connected to Feng Jun in a way she does not understand, but remains restrained because of her position as a maid.
  • Teacher Mei: Quietly observes the other plane and is increasingly astonished by the secrets Feng Jun possesses. After returning, she becomes intensely curious and asks Feng Jun many questions.
  • Lang Zhen: Demonstrates loyalty and directness by questioning Feng Jun about Hao’s identity, though his bluntness unintentionally exposes Feng Jun’s teasing choice of description.

Significant Themes

  • The difficulty of fitting into an unfamiliar society: Hao’s clothing, language barrier, silence, and uncertainty over local customs emphasize how difficult it is to function in another world despite wealth and preparation.
  • Power and social hierarchy: Feng Jun’s authority is so great that officials, servants, and ordinary people treat him with fear and reverence, reinforcing the contrast between cultivators and mortals.
  • Cultural misunderstanding: Simple actions—such as offering spirit fruits or perfume—become awkward exchanges because the characters lack shared language and customs.
  • The moral harshness of the cultivation world: The execution of the captured spy shows that violence and death are treated as ordinary tools of maintaining order.
  • The importance of cultivation and status: Hao realizes that becoming a cultivator would allow her to move through this world freely rather than remain dependent on Feng Jun’s protection.
  • Hidden resources and growing influence: The spirit-plant cave, communications network, and Feng Jun’s expanding territory reveal the breadth of his plans and power.

Important Character Interactions

  • Hao and Feng Jun: Their relationship is playful and intimate but marked by irritation, especially when Feng Jun calls her his maid. She relies on him as a guide and protector while becoming increasingly aware of the gap between his experience and her own.
  • Hao and Mi Yunshan: Their first meeting is tense and awkward. Mi Yunshan offers hospitality, while Hao responds with a perfume bottle because she cannot communicate verbally.
  • Feng Jun and Mi Yunshan: Their familiarity is evident, causing Hao to suspect that Mi Yunshan occupies a special place in Feng Jun’s life.
  • Feng Jun and the spies: Feng Jun treats the captured spy with detached authority, illustrating his lack of fear and his willingness to use brutal punishment.
  • Hao and the local population: Hao mostly observes silently, noticing how everyone defers to Feng Jun and how little she understands of local life.
  • Hao and Teacher Mei: Both women experience the other plane together, though Teacher Mei remains outwardly composed while Hao reacts more openly. Their shared return to Blue Star leads into a renewed exchange of questions and discoveries.

Ch. 697Exchange Students from Another World

Chapter Summary: Exchange Student from Another World

Key Plot Points and Events

  • Gu Jiahui successfully advances to Mortal Transcendence Level One after several days of cultivation.
  • Sister Hong and Zhang Caixin congratulate her, while Feng Jun gives her a Storage Talisman, reminding her not to lend it to anyone—even Manager Yang.
  • Gu Jiahui happily decides to treat everyone to a meal and tell her mother about her breakthrough.
  • Teacher Mei unexpectedly heads off to cultivate, surprising Sister Hong and Zhang Caixin, who regard her as normally lazy.
  • Manager Yang struggles to find qualified Spirit World communications specialists. She eventually hires:
    • Two communications experts familiar with the Spirit World.
    • Four communications engineers who understand the Spirit World Language.
    • Several support workers.
  • The group prepares a communications base at Funiu Mountain, adding security fencing, guards, communications equipment, and computer rooms.
  • Feng Jun and Manager Yang travel to inspect the base. Feng Jun secretly disappears for several hours because he has traveled to the Phone Plane.
  • Without warning, Feng Jun brings back two cultivators: an Intermediate Martial Master and a Transcendent Mortal Ninth Layer expert.
  • He disguises them in Daoist robes and tells them they are inside a Dharma-Ending Secret Realm occupied by his sect and populated by natives.
  • Feng Jun warns them never to reveal that they are outsiders or cause trouble. The two agree, partly because they fear being abandoned by their own organization if they violate the agreement.
  • The chapter ends with one cultivator asking Feng Jun how he transported them to the secret realm and caused them to fall unconscious.

Character Developments

  • Gu Jiahui reaches a major cultivation milestone and becomes more confident and joyful. She continues to address Feng Jun affectionately as “Brother Jun” rather than “Master,” despite his role as her teacher.
  • Feng Jun acts as both mentor and strategist. He rewards Gu Jiahui’s advancement but warns her against complacency. He also demonstrates his willingness to manipulate and intimidate outside cultivators to protect his plans.
  • Manager Yang proves capable and practical, organizing the communications project, recruiting specialists, and establishing strong security measures.
  • Teacher Mei/Hao Fengjing shows an unexpected increase in diligence by going directly to cultivate, surprising the others.
  • The two cultivators from the Phone Plane are cautious and experienced. Though skeptical of Feng Jun’s authority, they understand the danger of disobeying him and agree to cooperate.

Significant Themes

  • Cultivation and progress: Gu Jiahui’s advancement reflects the rewards of persistence, while Feng Jun emphasizes that reaching a new level is only the beginning.
  • Trust and hierarchy: Relationships at Luohua Manor are based on loyalty and personal bonds, while Feng Jun relies on authority, secrecy, and implied threats when dealing with outsiders.
  • Secrecy and deception: Feng Jun conceals the true nature of the modern world and fabricates a story about a Dharma-Ending Secret Realm to prevent the visitors from exposing the manor’s secrets.
  • Cross-world exchange: The chapter develops the practical and political consequences of linking the modern world with the Spirit World and Phone Plane, especially through language, communications technology, and cultivation knowledge.
  • Power and vulnerability: Even powerful outsiders must obey when isolated from their organization and placed under another person’s control.

Character Interactions

  • Gu Jiahui receives congratulations and her Storage Talisman from Feng Jun, then promises to host a celebratory meal for Sister Hong and Zhang Caixin.
  • Sister Hong and Zhang Caixin react with surprise to Teacher Mei’s sudden enthusiasm for cultivation.
  • Manager Yang and Feng Jun coordinate the recruitment and setup of the communications base, with Yang handling logistics and Feng Jun overseeing the larger strategic situation.
  • Feng Jun confronts the two imported cultivators, presenting himself as the representative of a powerful sect and warning them to hide their identities.
  • The two cultivators cautiously negotiate the terms of their cooperation, ultimately accepting Feng Jun’s protection and authority while remaining curious about how he transported them.

Ch. 698The Trainees' Adjustment Period

Chapter Summary: The Advanced Students’ Adjustment Period

Key Plot Points and Events

  • Feng Jun brings two Heavenlink/Spirit World cultivators—a Transcendent Mortal Ninth Layer and an Intermediate Martial Master—to the refurbished factory on Blue Star, where they will study communications technology.
  • To conceal their foreign origins, he dresses them in Daoist robes and warns them not to speak unnecessarily, since their accents and vocabulary could attract suspicion.
  • Yang Yuxin and the training staff accept the two visitors without questioning their identities, following strict instructions to focus only on their assigned work.
  • During their introduction to the facility, the Transcendent Mortal Ninth Layer mistakes Flower Flower, Feng Jun’s butterfly, for a Qi Refining cultivator. Flower Flower slaps him, and he immediately shows respect, reflecting the power hierarchy of the Phone Plane.
  • The two visitors begin lessons with two experts and four interpreters. They struggle with differences in language, accents, terminology, and the complexity of communications technology.
  • Feng Jun provides notebooks and pens, encourages them to record questions, and asks the experts to explain concepts more simply and patiently.
  • After classes, the two students study intensely. The interpreters practice alongside them, while the experts occupy themselves with chess and academic work because the isolated facility offers little entertainment.
  • One interpreter is dismissed after remarking that the Daoists’ accents are not standard. The incident reinforces the secrecy surrounding the visitors and makes the remaining staff more cautious.
  • After three days, both sides become accustomed to one another’s behavior, communication styles, and social boundaries. The students also begin learning Blue Star writing, while everyone deliberately avoids discussing the implications of cross-plane written language.
  • Feng Jun prepares to leave, as his primary mission is not to become a communications specialist. The experts estimate that the two students will need another half month to master the material but praise their intelligence, comprehension, and dedication.
  • Before departing, Feng Jun arranges for Flower Flower to remain involved as a deterrent and safeguard, since the two powerful cultivators could potentially cause trouble if left insufficiently supervised.

Character Developments

  • Feng Jun remains pragmatic and discreet, relying on others’ assumptions rather than explaining his secrets. He acts as mediator between the two planes, recognizing the difficulties of cultural and technological exchange while keeping focused on his larger objectives.
  • The two visiting cultivators demonstrate humility and adaptability. They quickly learn the Phone Plane’s power conventions, especially after Flower Flower’s slap, and approach their studies with extreme seriousness because their success affects the Huangfu Family and their own futures.
  • Yang Yuxin continues to manage the training operation efficiently and enforces strict standards regarding secrecy and discipline.
  • The experts and interpreters gradually shift from surprise and uncertainty to cooperation. Their initial curiosity is restrained by orders, while the interpreters also recognize the opportunity to learn from the unprecedented exchange.
  • Flower Flower serves as both comic relief and a powerful guardian. Its casual attack exposes the gulf between the visitors’ cultivation level and the Phone Plane’s supposedly “ordinary” creatures.
  • The dismissed interpreter illustrates the consequences of violating the secrecy surrounding the students, even through an apparently harmless comment.

Significant Themes

  • Cross-cultural and cross-plane adjustment: Even with mutual cooperation, differences in language, customs, dress, writing, and technical knowledge create a necessary adjustment period.
  • Secrecy and controlled information: Everyone is instructed not to question or discuss the visitors’ identities. The chapter emphasizes how dangerous careless speech can be.
  • Hierarchy and power: The visitors’ reaction to Flower Flower highlights the radically different standards of power between the two planes.
  • Humility and learning: The two advanced cultivators must become beginners in an unfamiliar technological field, while the Blue Star instructors must accommodate their weak foundation.
  • Duty and pressure: The students study relentlessly because they carry the expectations of the Huangfu Family and understand that their performance affects their future.
  • Pragmatism over curiosity: Both sides suppress their questions and personal interest to preserve the larger mission.

Character Interactions

  • Feng Jun and Yang Yuxin interact professionally, with Feng Jun giving her only the information necessary to manage the operation.
  • Feng Jun warns the two students to limit their speech and later advocates for more accessible instruction on their behalf.
  • The students interact respectfully with Flower Flower after being reminded of the Phone Plane’s cultivation hierarchy.
  • The experts teach through interpreters, while the students ask for clarification and use written notes to compensate for language and technical barriers.
  • The interpreters gradually become study partners, practicing alongside the students and helping them review lessons.
  • The dismissal of one interpreter demonstrates the strict boundaries governing all interactions with the visitors.
  • By the end of the chapter, cooperation has become more natural, but the fundamental secrets of the cross-plane exchange remain deliberately unspoken.

Ch. 699Daoist Beihe

Summary

Feng Jun prepares to leave the Dharma-Ending Plane and warns the two Daoists staying behind not to wander or interfere with the outside world. He emphasizes that the plane is being used by his sect for “Red-Dust Tempering of the Heart” and that no unauthorized outside influence is allowed. He orders Butterfly, whom he calls Flower Flower, to guard the area and kill anyone who enters or leaves without permission.
Butterfly protests its assignment, especially because Feng Jun’s signal jammer prevents it from using Wi-Fi or mobile data. Feng Jun offers it a Storage Ring in exchange for guarding the Daoists and helping with ten additional tasks. Butterfly eagerly agrees, revealing its attachment to the idea of possessing a ring and its particular fondness for Gu Jiahui. Feng Jun refuses to let it wear the ring openly, explaining that the cultivator among the two Daoists—or powerful figures behind him—might recognize its value and expose the ring’s origins. Butterfly therefore accepts the arrangement but remains frustrated.
On returning to Luohua Manor, Feng Jun receives Guan Shanyue, who has arrived with two people from Fugu Crimson Cloud Heaven. Her father’s condition has improved, and she is ready to discuss matters with him. As Feng Jun brings them into the manor, they encounter a large crowd visiting the site because of its growing reputation for miracles.
A Daoist from the Jade Sect approaches Feng Jun and identifies himself indirectly as a high-level cultivator. Feng Jun recognizes him as a Transcendent Mortal Seventh Layer expert he previously saw cultivating inside Lesser Pure Void Grotto-Heaven. Guan Shanyue identifies him as Daoist Beihe, an elder of the Jade Sect who began cultivating in childhood and commands great respect—even from prominent sect leaders. Despite Beihe’s status, Feng Jun treats him formally but casually, asking whether he has an appointment. Beihe is slightly offended but remains diplomatic, explaining that Feng Jun is difficult to meet and that he came simply to try his luck. When onlookers begin crowding around and filming Feng Jun, he postpones the discussion and promises to have someone bring Beihe inside later.

Character Development and Interactions

  • Feng Jun becomes increasingly cautious and authoritative. He takes responsibility for protecting the Blue Star Plane and strictly controls access to the Dharma-Ending Plane. At the same time, he uses humor and bargaining to manage Butterfly, while maintaining secrecy about his resources.
  • Butterfly/Flower Flower shows its childish, materialistic, and phone-addicted side, but also proves useful and highly vigilant. Its enthusiasm for the Storage Ring exposes an old lingering obsession with jewelry and its emotional attachment to Gu Jiahui.
  • The two Daoists have become more accepting of the technological but spiritually barren Dharma-Ending Plane and are intimidated enough by Feng Jun to obey his instructions without protest.
  • Guan Shanyue acts as a bridge between Feng Jun and the wider Daoist world. She recognizes Daoist Beihe and provides the background that establishes his importance.
  • Daoist Beihe is introduced as an elderly but youthful-looking and highly respected Jade Sect expert. Though accustomed to receiving deference, he suppresses his irritation at Feng Jun’s informal treatment and remains courteous.

Major Themes

  • Control and responsibility: Feng Jun’s strict restrictions reflect his fear that outsiders could disrupt the plane or endanger the larger Blue Star Plane.
  • Secrecy and hidden power: The Storage Ring, Feng Jun’s knowledge of Beihe’s cultivation, and the concealed strength of the various sects show how important information and discretion are.
  • Modern technology versus cultivation: The advanced but spiritually empty Dharma-Ending Plane contrasts with the Daoists’ cultivation background, while Butterfly’s distress over losing internet access adds humor to the conflict.
  • Status and humility: Beihe’s prestigious reputation clashes with Feng Jun’s refusal to be intimidated, highlighting Feng Jun’s growing influence within the Daoist world.
  • Humor amid serious conflicts: The negotiations over a Storage Ring, Butterfly’s complaints, and Feng Jun’s “Do you have an appointment?” remark lighten an otherwise tense encounter.

Ch. 700Do I Need to Explain?

Chapter Summary: “Do I Need to Explain?”

Key Plot Points and Events

  • Li Xiaobin returns to Luohua Manor from Chaori County and is reminded that, despite her growing status elsewhere, she remains subject to Feng Jun’s strict rules.
  • She is sent to pick up Daoist Beihe from Jade Sect, but refuses to let Beihe’s disciple enter because only Feng Jun-approved individuals may enter the manor.
  • Beihe feels insulted by the restriction and arrives before Feng Jun already resentful.
  • Feng Jun deliberately refuses to indulge Beihe’s anger, asserting that Luohua Manor is his domain and that he alone sets its rules.
  • Their conversation becomes openly confrontational, with Feng Jun mocking Beihe’s age, Jade Sect, and its failure to maintain a Spirit-Gathering Array.
  • Beihe makes two requests:
    1. He asks Feng Jun to spare Qingcheng, the sect involved in Feng Jun’s earlier conflict.
    2. He questions Feng Jun about allegedly accompanying Tang Wenji to Leaning Mountain and harming innocent civilians.
  • Feng Jun refuses to apologize or explain himself, insisting that he does not bully the weak and that anyone who targets him must bear the consequences.
  • Beihe explains the background of four seriously ill civilians, who believe Tang Wenji and her male companion were responsible for their condition. Their families traced the incident to Tang Wenji and inferred that the unidentified man was likely Feng Jun.

Character Developments

  • Li Xiaobin: Her time in Chaori County has given her influence and attendants, but returning to Luohua Manor makes her feel powerless again. She becomes more conscious of her subordinate position and considers avoiding the manor.
  • Daoist Beihe: Initially indignant and easily provoked, Beihe gradually regains his composure and shifts from emotional confrontation to serious negotiation and investigation. His formal address toward Feng Jun becomes more distant, signaling rising tension.
  • Feng Jun: Displays increasing confidence and authority. He is unapologetic, protective of Luohua Manor, and unwilling to tolerate disrespect or threats. He also shows little concern about rumors or accusations, relying on his own judgment and influence.
  • Guan Shanyue: Though supportive of Feng Jun, Beihe’s accusations cause her to question what truly happened, revealing her cautious and analytical nature.
  • Tang Wenji: Although absent, she becomes central to the conflict through the allegations surrounding the four civilians and her suspected involvement in the Leaning Mountain incident.

Significant Themes

  • Authority and boundaries: Feng Jun emphasizes that Luohua Manor operates according to his rules, regardless of a visitor’s status or sect affiliation.
  • Pride and humiliation: Beihe interprets the manor’s restrictions as an insult to Jade Sect, while Feng Jun treats his defiance as an unacceptable challenge.
  • Justice versus retaliation: Feng Jun views his actions against Qingcheng as legitimate self-defense and punishment for those who threatened him, while Beihe raises concerns about harm to civilians.
  • Reputation and secrecy: The chapter highlights the difficulty of concealing Feng Jun’s activities, as Tang Wenji’s public identity, vehicle records, and online presence allow others to connect him to the incident.
  • Sect rivalry and distrust: The exchanges reveal tension between Luohua Manor, Jade Sect, Qingcheng, and Green Mountain Sect, with each side protecting its own interests and interpreting events differently.

Character Interactions

  • Li Xiaobin and Beihe: Their encounter begins with mutual irritation. Li Xiaobin strictly enforces the manor’s entrance rules, while Beihe sees her refusal as disrespectful.
  • Beihe and Feng Jun: Their meeting is a battle of status and temperament. Beihe uses indirect criticism and formal questioning, while Feng Jun responds with blunt sarcasm and unapologetic dominance.
  • Feng Jun and Guan Shanyue: Feng Jun remains composed during the accusations, but Guan Shanyue’s unease shows that his refusal to explain himself can create doubt even among allies.
  • Beihe and the wider sect world: Beihe acts as an intermediary for Jade Sect and the victims, attempting both to negotiate Qingcheng’s safety and to hold Feng Jun accountable for the Leaning Mountain incident.
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