Chapter Summaries

Wang Qi explained why seeking the Dao was like treading on thin ice, while Divine Lord Bai Ze and Feng Luoyi discussed concealing the true nature of his Flame of Life and the possibility of Feng Luoyi taking him as a disciple. Feng Luoyi then revealed that Yang Ziping’s testimony had produced a very serious result.

• Wang Qi told Divine Lord Bai Ze that uncertainty about unobserved phenomena made seekers of the Dao cautious, like people crossing thin ice toward an unknown shore.
• Divine Lord Bai Ze met Feng Luoyi in an illusion and questioned why he had been asked to conceal that Wang Qi’s holy light was a variant of the Flame of Life.
• Feng Luoyi said Wang Qi’s naturally awakened Flame of Life was too weak to convince his enemies that he was not an Exiled Immortal, and he connected the matter to the Yangshen Pavilion.
• Feng Luoyi admitted that he was considering taking Wang Qi as a disciple because Wang Qi’s strengths in mathematical logic and probability suited him.
• Feng Luoyi told Divine Lord Bai Ze that Yang Ziping had given his testimony, then said the result was very serious.

Feng Luoyi and Divine Lord Bai Ze investigated why Ancient Method geniuses were sent to the God Continent and uncovered signs of a larger crisis involving the West Sea Demon Race. Divine Lord Bai Ze proposed crushing the distant seas and the West Sea in a single campaign.

• Feng Luoyi explained that Yang Ziping had guarded the Outer Dao demon idol and had contact with an unidentified superior, while the Ancient Method Cultivators Wang Qi killed had been used as pawns.
• Divine Lord Bai Ze noted that all four Ancient Method Cultivators were exceptional geniuses, and Feng Luoyi and Divine Lord Bai Ze discussed the possibility that Ancient Method Cultivators were growing stronger.
• Feng Luoyi said Yang Ziping could not identify his superior because a Misty Palace technique obscured their mana aura, and he connected the unknown cultivator to the day Li Ziye died.
• Feng Luoyi revealed that Chi Lianxue likely obtained an already activated Outer Dao demon idol in the West Sea, where living evil demons had driven the entire Demon Race mad.
• Divine Lord Bai Ze proposed crushing the distant seas and the West Sea together to confront the Ancient Method Cultivators and the Demon Race.

Feng Luoyi calculated how the Immortal Alliance could prepare for war without crippling its research and resources. Meanwhile, Wang Qi reached Lower Capital to deliver a family letter to the Feng clan and identified himself at their gate.

• Feng Luoyi assessed the Immortal Alliance’s military weaknesses and rejected training low-level cannon fodder because it would consume too many resources.
• Feng Luoyi planned to convert existing technologies into military strength, improve the Western Sea Border Guards’ treatment, and have sects train their disciples for combat.
• Wang Qi traveled to Lower Capital after visiting his family and followed Feng Luoyi’s instructions to deliver a letter to the Feng clan.
• Wang Qi sensed the laws and principles of the Myriad Dharmas within the Feng residence and confirmed it was the correct estate.
• A late Qi Refining servant challenged Wang Qi for probing the courtyard, and Wang Qi introduced himself as Feng Luoyi’s student bearing a family letter.

Wang Qi delivered Feng Luoyi’s family letter to the Feng clan and was told to wait until the next day to give it to Feng Shouji’s father. While staying in the family residence, Wang Qi considered how the Immortal Alliance might use satellites to track people and wondered why Shenzhou had no recorded spaceflight.

• Wang Qi arrived at the Feng residence with a family letter from Feng Luoyi and was welcomed by Feng Shouji, Feng Luoyi’s eldest grandson.
• Feng Shouji led Wang Qi through the family garden and explained that his father had designed it as a topology problem for the children to explore.
• Feng Shouji told Wang Qi that his father was absorbed in mathematics and would receive the letter the following day.
• Wang Qi noticed that the calculating artifact connected strongly to the Myriad Immortal Illusion Realm and wondered whether the Immortal Alliance used satellites for precise positioning.
• Wang Qi realized that there were no records of spaceflight in Shenzhou’s modern cultivation history.

Wang Qi delivered Feng Luoyi’s letter to his second son, Feng Xianglun, and learned that Xianglun’s dejection came from a lifelong struggle to match his father’s mathematical genius. Xianglun warned Wang Qi that becoming Feng Luoyi’s disciple could bring the same painful comparisons.

• Feng Shouji brought Wang Qi to meet Feng Xianglun, who welcomed him and invited him to breakfast before discussing the letter.
• After the Feng family disciples left, Feng Xianglun struggled to breathe steadily and read Feng Luoyi’s letter four times before putting it away.
• Feng Xianglun told Wang Qi that he had loved mathematics and once dreamed of surpassing his father, but found that Feng Luoyi could easily solve problems that stumped him.
• Feng Xianglun explained that being Feng Luoyi’s son made him feel he could not be considered a failure, even though he believed his own mathematical work was inadequate.
• Feng Xianglun warned Wang Qi not to become his father’s disciple if he truly loved mathematics.

Feng Luoyi watched Feng Xianglun and Wang Qi through a hidden computational artifact, hoping Wang Qi would help his son confront his feelings of inferiority. After Wang Qi challenged Feng Xianglun to stop measuring himself against his father, he recognized Feng Luoyi’s presence and requested an audience.

• Feng Shouji found Feng Luoyi in the garden with his daughter Ge'er, where Feng Luoyi admitted that Feng Xianglun feared him and explained why he had come.
• Feng Luoyi showed Feng Shouji a vision of Feng Xianglun speaking with Wang Qi and said he was testing whether Wang Qi could tell his son what he needed to hear.
• Wang Qi urged Feng Xianglun to enjoy mathematics without comparing himself to Feng Luoyi, then criticized him for surrendering to self-pity.
• Wang Qi left the Feng residence and silently addressed Feng Luoyi, asking his teacher for an audience.
• Feng Luoyi realized Wang Qi had detected him and told Ge'er he was not leaving.

Wang Qi showed Feng Luoyi a Hongyuan Sect pamphlet whose sigil carried the same entropy-increasing aura as an Outer Dao idol, raising suspicions that the cult’s apocalypse doctrine was tied to a larger threat. Feng Luoyi said the Immortal Alliance would investigate and hinted that it faced five difficult years ahead, leaving Wang Qi unaware of what those years involved.

• Wang Qi met Feng Luoyi and showed him a pamphlet from the Hongyuan Sect, a cult he had uncovered and destroyed in a village.
• Wang Qi pointed out a blood-drawn sigil that carried the same evil-demon aura as the Outer Dao idol, and Feng Luoyi recognized its significance.
• Wang Qi and Feng Luoyi connected the sigil and the cult’s Devil King doctrine to the Outer Dao idol and considered whether the ancient Demon Race was involved.
• Feng Luoyi said the Immortal Alliance would send qualified people to investigate the Hongyuan Sect and told Wang Qi not to worry about it.
• Feng Luoyi told Wang Qi that the Immortal Alliance would tighten its belt for five years, then urged Feng Shouji to prepare the Feng family’s less scholarly children for combat.

After reaching Divine Capital, Wang Qi explored the city’s relaxed atmosphere and learned that many descendants of Ancient Method Cultivators lived there in comfort. He stopped at a teahouse before reporting to the Immortal Alliance branch altar and heading to the Myriad Dharma Sect’s residence.

• Wang Qi arrived at Divine Capital after traveling on foot for six days and entered through its guarded gate.
• Wang Qi and Zhen Chanzi discussed the city’s noble residents and the Ancient Method Cultivator lineages among them.
• Wang Qi followed the scents of food into a teahouse and ordered every kind of tea and pastry.
• Wang Qi noticed two Myriad Dharma Sect disciples among the cultivators at the teahouse and realized they could guide him to the sect’s residence.

After a month tracking demon beasts, Hou Benli and the Sky Spirit Ridge outer sect disciples rested at the Divine Capital and complained about their work. Wang Qi overheard them praise his examination performance, then Hou Benli turned to Myriad Dharma Sect disciple Mo Zhenzhen.

• Hou Benli and the other Sky Spirit Ridge disciples discussed their exhausting month observing demon beast herds in the Divine Capital's ecological zone.
• Fang Ya cried because she had accidentally killed several of Senior Brother Chen's laboratory mice and he had removed her from the work and threatened to deduct her stipend.
• The disciples complained that modern cultivation involved tedious fieldwork and laboratory tasks rather than exciting demon beast hunts.
• Hou Benli praised Wang Qi's performance in the unified entry examination, and Wang Qi listened without revealing himself.
• Hou Benli recounted famous examination matches and addressed Myriad Dharma Sect disciple Mo Zhenzhen.

Wang Qi listened to Modern Dharma Cultivators discuss the Hongyuan Sect crackdown, then introduced himself to two Myriad Dharma Sect disciples while hiding his true status. When he gave his name, Hou Benli and the others realized it matched the notorious Wang Qi they had heard about.

• Hou Benli asked Mo Zhenzhen how Senior Brother Wang had developed his remarkable techniques, and Fu Xiao mentioned trouble from a heretical sect in the west.
• Fang Ya explained that the Hongyuan Sect had been discovered, its followers were being hunted, and its most important Divine Path cultivator had escaped.
• Wang Qi learned how Divine Path cultivators empowered their followers and recalled the scale of the former Holy Infant Sect.
• Wang Qi approached Mo Zhenzhen and Fu Xiao, concealed his other cultivation methods, and asked for directions to the Immortal Alliance altar and the Myriad Dharma Sect residence.
• Hou Benli asked whether Wang Qi was really called Wang Qi, and Fu Xiao recognized that his name, sect, and cultivation level matched.

Wang Qi traveled with Mo Zhenzhen and the other Sky Spirit Ridge disciples through the Divine Capital, where he learned how sect outposts served the Great Lian government while cultivating. He recognized the city as a comfortable place for retirement but a poor environment for research, and the group continued toward the Immortal Alliance branch altar and sect outpost.

• Wang Qi introduced himself as a True Disciple of the Myriad Dharma Sect, and the others mistook him for someone who merely shared the famous senior brother’s name.
• Hou Benli tested Wang Qi with mana, but Wang Qi’s Holy Light absorbed and countered the force until Wang Qi cut off their connection and Hou Benli collapsed from exhaustion.
• Mo Zhenzhen led Wang Qi and the others out of the teahouse toward the Immortal Alliance branch altar and their sect’s outpost.
• Wang Qi remarked that the Divine Capital seemed unsuitable for people seeking the Dao, and Mo Zhenzhen explained that its outpost lacked the resources and scholarly exchanges found elsewhere.
• Mo Zhenzhen described how Myriad Dharma Sect disciples handled statistics and government records while other sects provided medical and engineering services.
• Wang Qi acknowledged the Divine Capital’s comfortable setting and its favorable sea winds as a place suited to retirement.

Wang Qi arrived at the shabby Myriad Dharma Sect residence in Divine Capital and learned how its few disciples shared cramped facilities and chores. After hearing that the Immortal Alliance was preparing for a difficult period, he met Lin Feng, who criticized his swordsmanship.

• Wang Qi found the Divine Capital Immortal Alliance branch poorly equipped and followed Mo Zhenzhen and Fu Xiao to the Myriad Dharma Sect residence.
• Wang Qi met Huangfu Lian, one of the residence's five Foundation Establishment Cultivators, and learned that he studied topology and the Four Color Problem.
• Mo Zhenzhen showed Wang Qi the courtyard's rooms, calculators, books, and shared chores, while Fu Xiao mentioned the Alliance's slogan about getting through a critical period.
• Wang Qi and Zhen Chanzi suspected the Alliance's troubles were connected to the Demon Race's attack on the West Border, but Zhen Chanzi urged him to focus on raising his cultivation.
• Wang Qi met Lin Feng, the residence's only other Geometry Book cultivator, who judged that Wang Qi could not use a sword.

Wang Qi settled into his room in Divine Capital after impressing his fellow disciples with a display of swordsmanship and meeting Liu Yunxiang. He secured his room to examine a seized secret manual and Daoist Buzhun's manuscript, wary that his calculating device might be monitored.

• Wang Qi used sword-inspired footwork to startle Lin Feng and show Mo Zhenzhen and Fu Xiao his skill.
• Liu Yunxiang welcomed Wang Qi, agreed to keep his True Disciple status quiet, and assigned him a room and regular tasks.
• Wang Qi cleaned the dusty room with Tian Ge Xing and discovered its spiritual restrictions were incomplete.
• Wang Qi sealed the room, put away his calculating device, and took out the Jimie Fentian Palm and Daoist Buzhun's manuscript.
• Wang Qi told Zhen Chanzi he suspected Feng Luoyi could have installed a backdoor in his calculating device.

A month after arriving in Divine Capital, Wang Qi complained to Bo Xiaoya about his studies and discussed mathematical logic, fuzzy mathematics, and his Foundation Establishment plans. He then bought several papers with his remaining merit points and left the Myriad Immortal Illusion Realm nearly broke.

• Wang Qi complained to Bo Xiaoya about his assignments and the lectures in Divine Capital.
• Bo Xiaoya recommended Heavenly Completeness Freehand, but Wang Qi refused because it overlapped with his own martial arts and cultivation system.
• Wang Qi told Bo Xiaoya he was studying Old Man Ji's treatises on the mathematical foundations of computation devices to prepare for Foundation Establishment.
• Wang Qi suggested that Bo Xiaoya research probability theory and topology alongside fuzzy mathematics, and she accused him of keeping the most interesting parts for himself.
• Wang Qi bought several papers through the Myriad Immortal Illusion Realm and spent nearly all his merit points.

Wang Qi struggled to afford the books, calculating artifacts, and research materials he needed, then asked Mo Zhenzhen for a quick way to earn merit points without leaving the Divine Capital. She suggested a suitably creepy option: human experimentation.

• Wang Qi realized that pursuing both theory and technological research required expensive blueprints, equipment, textbooks, and study of the Path of Living Beings.
• Wang Qi left the Immortal Alliance's costly calculating-artifact room and worried that his funds and spirit pool were running low.
• Wang Qi considered earning merit points by hunting the Yuan Heretical Cult but decided he needed to remain in the Divine Capital to maintain the impression that he was focused on research.
• Wang Qi told Mo Zhenzhen about his financial troubles and asked her for a quick, well-paying mission that would keep him in the Divine Capital.
• Mo Zhenzhen suggested that human experimentation might meet Wang Qi's requirements.

Wang Qi sought low-risk work to earn money and learned that private data-processing jobs could suit his skills. Mo Zhenzhen arranged a job for him with an eccentric senior brother from Sky Spirit Ridge, whom Wang Qi was ready to meet.

• Wang Qi asked Mo Zhenzhen about human-experiment jobs but rejected testing new cultivation methods or divine abilities.
• Mo Zhenzhen explained that some verification-department leaders hired cultivators directly to process experimental data, and Wang Qi eagerly welcomed the work.
• Mo Zhenzhen said station researchers had recently lost much of their funding, leaving few assistant jobs available.
• The next day, Mo Zhenzhen arranged private work for Wang Qi with a senior brother from Sky Spirit Ridge whom others avoided because of his strange personality.
• Wang Qi accepted the prospect, thinking of other unusual people he had gotten along with.

Wang Qi learned that Shenjing residents had received guides on countering Ancient Methods after rumors spread about a serial killer, and Hou Benli planned to teach an Ancient Method defense class. As Wang Qi and the Sky Spirit Ridge disciples discussed the dangers of the city, an ominous voice challenged him to prove his skill.

• Mo Zhenzhen sent Wang Qi to Sky Spirit Ridge’s C-Character Base, where Ai Zhenwu and Hou Benli met him.
• Ai Zhenwu explained that funding cuts had made Chen’s research project difficult to support, and Wang Qi asked what Hou Benli had been reading.
• Hou Benli gave Wang Qi booklets about countering Ancient Methods and demon beasts, explaining that Shenjing had rumors of a serial killer and Jingxiang had an evil cult.
• Ai Zhenwu said murders had been reported in Shenjing for three months, while the Immortal Alliance kept details secret.
• Hou Benli declared that the killer must be an Ancient Method demonic cultivator and planned to open an Ancient Method defense class.
• A sinister voice challenged Wang Qi to demonstrate his skill before paying Hou Benli’s tuition.

Wang Qi and his companions were confronted by a Foundation Establishment Ancient Method Cultivator in Divine Capital, and Wang Qi defeated him with a single blow. Ai Zhenwu stayed behind to explain the incident while Hou Benli led Wang Qi onward to work.

• A white-clad Foundation Establishment cultivator challenged Wang Qi and attacked Ai Zhenwu and Hou Benli with the Floating Cloud Sect's technique.
• Wang Qi blocked the attack, disrupted its currents, and struck the white-clad cultivator in the face with his sheathed sword.
• Ai Zhenwu warned Wang Qi that leaving could make him look guilty, then stayed behind to explain the incident to the Enforcement Officer.
• Hou Benli escorted Wang Qi out of the crowd and thanked him for intervening.
• Hou Benli wondered whether they should have looted the cultivator's storage pouch, and Wang Qi thought about the spoils he already possessed.

Wang Qi found that the ancient cultivators’ loot was nearly worthless to modern cultivators, then followed a bell to meet a missing senior brother. He traced the man’s belongings and signs of a struggle to a muddy field, where he found Bei Feng wrestling a demon bull naked.

• Wang Qi assessed the four ancient cultivators’ belongings and found their Spirit Stones, pills, treasures, and runes of little use in the Modern Dharma.
• Hou Benli gave Wang Qi a bell-shaped magical artifact to help him locate the senior brother he was meant to meet.
• Wang Qi followed the bell’s resonance north but found no one at the meeting place.
• Wang Qi found the senior brother’s belt, storage pouch, Immortal Registry Token, and bell in the bushes, then spotted traces of a struggle and faint demon energy.
• Wang Qi followed the trail and discovered Bei Feng wrestling a demon bull in the mud without clothes.

Wang Qi stumbled upon Bei Feng wrestling a bull and mistook the scene for something indecent, then fought the Sky Spirit Ridge disciple when he tried to stop him from leaving. Bei Feng subdued Wang Qi with the Light of Qi and Blood and asked how Wang Qi had used the Flame of Life.

• Wang Qi found Bei Feng wrestling a bull and assumed he had caught him in a bizarre sexual encounter.
• Bei Feng tried to explain himself, but Wang Qi refused to listen and attempted to flee.
• Bei Feng blocked Wang Qi's escape, and Wang Qi attacked him with Sword Qi and the Kunshan Sword.
• Bei Feng used the Light of Qi and Blood to weaken Wang Qi and force him to stop fighting.
• Bei Feng introduced himself as a True Disciple of Spirit Beast Mountain and asked whether Wang Qi had used a lesser divine ability of the Flame of Life.