Chapter Summaries

Chen Changsheng discovered that the Black Lake was made of nightmares and drew Lu Mingyu and Bai Ze out of it. He began refining the lake water, believing its visions might help him break his shackles, while Lu Mingyu admitted that dreams were kinder than his family’s indifference.

• Chen Changsheng failed to purify the Black Lake and found white fur on his Fishing Rod, realizing Bai Ze was trapped inside too.
• Chen Changsheng told Lu Mingyu that someone had cursed him from the womb with a hundred lifetimes of Reincarnation, weakening his body, and might be seeking control of the Cui and Lu Families.
• Chen Changsheng sent Lu Mingyu into the nightmare lake as a scout, then fished him and Bai Ze out after an hour.
• Chen Changsheng used his Bronze Life Lamp to draw the black water from Lu Mingyu and Bai Ze, then announced he would absorb and refine the lake water himself.
• Bai Ze explained that the lake could show Chen Changsheng the person he most wished to see, and said that living had always been an ordeal for him.
• Lu Mingyu said no nightmare could match his family’s indifference, then reached his hand into the lake.

Lu Mingyu relived the memory of discovering that his father had poisoned him, then awakened beside the lake after enduring the painful dream. Bai Ze explained that Lu Mingyu’s strength of will kept the dream from trapping him.

• Lu Mingyu entered the dream and found himself back in his family home, where Lu Siyuan urged him to drink medicine for his illness.
• Lu Mingyu recognized the medicine’s strange scent and remembered that he had been poisoned twenty years earlier.
• Lu Mingyu drank the medicine, and Lu Siyuan accused him of bringing the family to ruin before the dream shattered.
• Lu Mingyu awakened beside the lake and asked Bai Ze why he had remembered everything within the dream.
• Bai Ze explained that Lu Mingyu had endured a reality far more painful than a nightmare, so the dream could not trap him.

Lu Mingyu and Guan Ping entered Black Lake to revisit painful memories in nightmares, while Bai Ze explained Guan Ping’s hidden hurt to Chen Feng. Chen Feng swallowed black water to join them, and Chen Changsheng finally prepared to leave his dream.

• Lu Mingyu jumped into Black Lake, hoping to see the people from his memories again.
• Guan Ping also jumped into the lake after Bai Ze explained that its nightmares awakened deep memories.
• Bai Ze told Chen Feng that Guan Ping’s parents had likely abandoned her and that he had chosen not to search for them.
• Chen Feng swallowed a mass of black water so he could share the others’ path, and asked Bai Ze to guard him.
• Chen Changsheng crouched beside the Fox-Ear Girl and said goodbye to Potato.

Chen Changsheng rejected a dream of Hu Tudou and plunged into a deeper one as his Life Lamp absorbed black water. Lu Mingyu relived the poisoning that exposed his father’s betrayal, and his memories synchronized with the dream as he demanded to know why he had been poisoned.

• Chen Changsheng recognized that the dying Hu Tudou was a fake, accepted the dream as a chance to fulfill a wish, and asked for a deeper dream.
• Chen Changsheng’s Life Lamp drew in black water while Lu Mingyu and Guan Ping formed whirlpools in the lake, and Bai Ze watched from the shore.
• Lu Mingyu awoke in the dream beside his grieving mother and reassured her that he would stay with her as long as she wanted him to live.
• After his mother left to make Peach Blossom Cake, Lu Mingyu told Lu Siyuan that he was dreaming and asked why he had poisoned him.
• Lu Mingyu recalled feeling like a burden to his family, accused Lu Siyuan of wishing him dead, and roared as his memories synchronized with the dream.

Lu Mingyu was overwhelmed by despair when his mother stabbed him, and Guan Ping begged her subconscious to let her see her parents in a dream. The dream turned into a series of painful failures and lost hopes, ending with a black cat wounding the child Guan Ping as Bai Bingyang vanished.

• Lu Mingyu confronted Lu Siyuan over his father's attempt to have him killed, then said he would leave and die alone.
• Lu Mingyu's mother confessed that she had poisoned him and stabbed him, leaving him with no hope as his consciousness sank into confusion.
• Guan Ping asked the dream versions of Chen Changsheng and the Silver Moon Wolf to let her see her parents, and they changed the scene to an arena where her parents watched a pill-refining attempt fail.
• Guan Ping chased after her parents but could no longer refine pills, fell, and became a crying four-year-old girl calling for her master.
• Bai Bingyang appeared to beckon Guan Ping, but a Two-Tailed Black Cat scratched her hand and Bai Bingyang disappeared.

Bai Ze rescued Guan Ping and Lu Mingyu from the black lake and waited while Chen Changsheng used its water to revisit painful memories in a dream. Chen Changsheng recognized the dream as both a nightmare and a beautiful dream, faced his regret, and freed himself from the subconscious that had suppressed his pain.

• Bai Ze pulled Guan Ping and Lu Mingyu from the black lake, then stood guard as Chen Changsheng absorbed its water.
• Chen Changsheng dreamed that his old friends, including Desolate Heaven Emperor Wu Li and Bai Ze, died during a disastrous war, and he slaughtered the enemies in revenge.
• Fu Yao told Chen Changsheng that the dead could not return and urged him either to wake from the nightmare or remain in it.
• Chen Changsheng recognized the conflicting figures as his subconscious and Fu Yao, and resolved to face the dream rather than flee or sink into it.
• Chen Changsheng explained that he regretted not fighting alongside his friends, and his subconscious acknowledged that its task was complete.

Chen Changsheng escaped the nightmare by confronting Fu Yao with the pain of his immortality, then rescued Qian Ya and Li Huo from the dream. Back in reality, he revealed that the Pill Domain would not provide the pill formula without a war and began entering Guan Ping and Lu Mingyu’s dreams.

• Chen Changsheng told Fu Yao that his immortality made him a lonely wretch whose time would never end, then disappeared beneath the corpses as Fu Yao raged.
• Chen Changsheng found Qian Ya and Li Huo trapped in a dream, explained their predicament, and sent Qian Ya out with the unconscious Li Huo.
• Chen Changsheng asked the system why his separated consciousnesses could not detect it, and the system explained that immortality made nightmares feel like sweet dreams to him.
• Chen Changsheng collapsed the chaotic dream realm, forming its fragments into a transparent drop of water, and returned to reality.
• Qian Ya emerged from the black water with Li Huo, while Bai Ze confirmed that Chen Changsheng had been trapped in a dream.
• Chen Changsheng said the Pill Domain would not yield its pill formula without a war, then entered Guan Ping and Lu Mingyu’s dreams with his Divine Sense.

Guan Ping and Lu Mingyu escaped their dreams with Chen Changsheng’s help, while Chen Feng and Li Huo were awakened by slaps. Li Huo ended Chen Feng’s apprenticeship, urged him to accept guidance from Chen Changsheng as a benefactor, and gave him a Jade Slip of pill formulas and refining insights.

• In her dream, little Guan Ping was chased by a man with a rattan cane until her memories returned, while Chen Changsheng encouraged Lu Mingyu to wake and keep living.
• Guan Ping and Lu Mingyu awoke, and Chen Changsheng reprimanded them for sinking too deeply into their dreams.
• Chen Changsheng took the others away, then a golden palm slapped Chen Feng and Li Huo twice each, waking them from their dreams.
• Li Huo declared that Chen Feng had completed his apprenticeship and urged him to accept Chen Changsheng’s guidance as a benefactor rather than view it as disloyalty.
• Chen Feng accepted Li Huo’s advice, and Li Huo gave him a Jade Slip containing pill formulas and pill-refining insights as a graduation gift.

Chen Changsheng decided to leave the Pill Domain with his disciples and planned to make the Pill Tower pay before he went. Qian Ya agreed to emerge from seclusion and support Lu Mingyu, while Chen Changsheng prepared to exploit tensions between the Beast Race and the Beast Taming Sect.

• Li Huo took Chen Feng away from the Small World to attend the Pill Domain finals.
• Chen Changsheng punished Guan Ping for complaining about the journey and told Lu Mingyu he planned to leave the Pill Domain for the Cui family of Qinghe Realm.
• Lu Mingyu invited Qian Ya to protect his path by offering her the Lu Family’s connections and a place to build her influence.
• Qian Ya accepted and began discussing improvements to the Lu Family’s business model with Lu Mingyu.
• Chen Changsheng told Bai Ze he would not leave the Pill Domain empty-handed and asked him to connect with the Beast Race to exploit its conflict with the Beast Taming Sect.
• The distant Tower Master suddenly shivered and suspected Chen Changsheng was plotting against him again.

Chen Changsheng began upgrading Portable Herb Gardens for Guan Ping, Chen Feng, and Bai Ze using rare medicinal mud, Vitality Stones, and his unique formations. He explained that the gardens could simulate environments for rare spiritual herbs, then summoned herbs and asked Guan Ping and Chen Feng to help refine pills, which Guan Ping recognized as Transformation Pills.

• Chen Changsheng reassured Qian Ya that his disguise would conceal her identity, and she left with Lu Mingyu.
• Chen Changsheng brought out his Portable Herb Garden and began inscribing new formations onto Guan Ping's and Chen Feng's gardens.
• Chen Changsheng explained that the upgraded gardens could cultivate rare spiritual herbs by simulating their growing environments with Five Elements Power.
• Guan Ping inspected the formation, fainted, and was revived by Bai Ze.
• Chen Changsheng began inscribing a formation onto Bai Ze's garden, then summoned medicinal herbs and asked Guan Ping and Chen Feng to refine pills.
• Guan Ping examined the herbs and asked whether Chen Changsheng planned to refine Transformation Pills.

Chen Changsheng made Guan Ping and Chen Feng confront the debts and costs tied to their training and possessions. The chapter left both of them overwhelmed by the vast sums they would need to earn.

• Chen Changsheng required Guan Ping and Chen Feng to refine at least seven Transformation Pills from ten batches of ingredients, saying they had to pay for any shortfall and repay the Lu Family Auction House's bill.
• Guan Ping and Chen Feng revealed debts of 280,000 and 350,000 Source Pills, respectively, and hoped pill sales would cover them.
• Bai Ze told Guan Ping that Little White's yearly Chaos Qi needs would cost at least thirty million Source Pills, on top of the expenses of improving her alchemy.
• Bai Ze warned Chen Feng that the Fierce Spirit sealed inside his sword would require a pool of Bodhi Holy Water to eliminate.
• Chen Changsheng estimated that Chen Feng would need at least ninety million Source Pills over three years for Bodhi Seeds, the Portable Herb Garden, and cultivation resources, leaving both Chen Feng and Guan Ping despairing over their finances.

Chen Changsheng explained that cultivation required immense resources, and that cultivators without wealth often seized it through dangerous means. After Guan Ping and Chen Feng refined pills for three days, he rejected their plan to earn enough by selling pills and began the final step of completing the medicine garden.

• Chen Changsheng told Guan Ping and Chen Feng that cultivators often gained resources by climbing sects or killing for treasure, though he warned them not to resort to violence unless necessary.
• Guan Ping and Chen Feng refined seven Transformation Pills from nine batches of herbs over three days, leaving one batch and worrying about their expenses.
• Guan Ping proposed growing herbs in the medicine garden and selling pills, but Chen Changsheng calculated that the profits would not cover their cultivation costs.
• Chen Changsheng set down his tea, stood before the four medicine gardens, and produced four precise spheres as Guan Ping asked what they were.

Chen Changsheng gave Guan Ping and Chen Feng Portable Herb Gardens whose rapid growth consumed far more Source Pills than their herbs were worth, then revealed he meant to expose the gardens and test the Pill Tower's leader. Guan Ping and Chen Feng agreed to devise a money-making scheme, while Chen Changsheng and Bai Ze headed into Pill City.

• Chen Changsheng explained that the Portable Herb Gardens could simulate growing environments but needed energy, and Guan Ping harvested herbs worth eight hundred thousand Source Pills after spending eight million to grow them.
• Chen Changsheng refused to refill Guan Ping's garden, and Chen Feng also declined to lend her money.
• Guan Ping proposed that she and Chen Feng partner to make money, and they agreed to split their earnings equally.
• In Pill City, Bai Ze questioned Chen Changsheng's decision to give them the gardens, and Chen Changsheng said he expected the gardens to attract greed and make the Pill Tower's leader deal with the fallout.

Chen Changsheng planned to use a growing conflict between the Beast Race and the Beast Taming Sect to pressure the Pill Tower, while Guan Ping and Chen Feng enlisted Lu Mingyu to help sell pills and protect Guan Ping. Chen Changsheng then arrived at the Beast Race Residence to discuss serious business with Bai Feng.

• Chen Changsheng told Bai Ze that his Portable Herb Garden scheme would secure benefits and protection for Guan Ping and the others, and said he intended to provoke conflict between the Beast Race and the Beast Taming Sect to earn travel expenses.
• Guan Ping persuaded Lu Mingyu to find customers for her pills, and Lu Mingyu agreed to help despite concerns about the trouble counterfeit pills might cause.
• Lu Mingyu admitted to Chen Feng that he had fallen for Guan Ping and asked him to look out for her; Chen Feng said Guan Ping would need time and promised to help if she faced danger.
• Chen Changsheng and Bai Ze entered the Beast Race Residence, where Bai Feng accused them of making a fool of him, and Bai Ze said they had come to discuss serious business.

Chen Changsheng tried to persuade Bai Feng and the Beast Race to undermine the Beast Taming Lineage through strategy rather than force. His proposals provoked anger but began to sway the gathered leaders, and he left the question of protecting the Vajra Bear Clan’s interests to its own leadership.

• Bai Feng refused Bai Ze’s request to discuss business, but Chen Changsheng stopped Bai Ze and began challenging the Beast Race’s approach to its problems.
• Chen Changsheng argued that the Beast Race could weaken the Beast Taming Lineage by giving its Spiritual Beasts a better life and a reason to leave.
• When a Dark-faced Real Man objected that the Beast Race lacked resources to shelter the beasts, Chen Changsheng proposed that the Vajra Bear Clan sell its gallbladders openly.
• The Dark-faced Real Man attacked Chen Changsheng, but Bai Ze shattered the bear phantom, and Bai Feng ordered the others to let Chen Changsheng continue.
• Chen Changsheng argued that open trade in bear bile could reduce poaching and protect Vajra Bears, then said the clan’s leaders were responsible for fairly distributing the proceeds.

Chen Changsheng and Bai Ze explained how the Beast Race’s tribute system excluded lower-ranked members and drove talented ones toward the Human Race, proposing reforms to weaken the Beast Taming Lineage. Chen Changsheng admitted he wanted to exploit conflict between them, then left after telling Bai Feng to relay their discussion to the elders; Bai Feng called after him to stay.

• Bai Feng asked whether richer resources would bring Beast Race members back from the Beast Taming Lineage, and Chen Changsheng argued that reform and basic support for lower-ranked members were necessary.
• Chen Changsheng proposed replacing the Beast Race’s tribute system with the Human Race’s group model, giving middle- and lower-ranked members more paths to advance.
• Bai Ze explained that the Beast Race’s powerful families monopolized resources and opportunities, driving talented members toward the Human Race, where even some humble-born disciples could compete.
• Chen Changsheng said he wanted to drive a wedge between the Beast Taming Lineage and the Beast Race so he could profit from the resulting conflict.
• Chen Changsheng told Bai Feng to report the conversation to the elders and walked out, but Bai Feng called after him to stay.

Chen Changsheng explained why the Beast Race had failed to reform and devised a way to give it the opportunity it needed. After Lu Mingyu sent his findings, Chen Changsheng concluded that Nine-Headed Xiang Liu had once contracted with a future Supreme Pill Master to repay a debt of gratitude.

• Bai Feng asked the Beast Race leaders what they thought of Chen Changsheng’s call to break with old conventions, but most rejected it.
• Chen Changsheng told Bai Ze that the Beast Race had recognized the need for change but lacked an opportunity to act against the Beast Taming Lineage without alienating its powerful old allies.
• Chen Changsheng proposed that Nine-Headed Xiang Liu leave the Beast Taming Lineage, noting its contract with one of the Supreme Pill Masters.
• Chen Changsheng traced the Supreme Pill Master’s origins to a town near a destroyed sect whose ancestors had helped Nine-Headed Xiang Liu.
• Lu Mingyu sent Chen Changsheng evidence that Nine-Headed Xiang Liu had contracted with the young man to repay the sect’s kindness, not because of his talent.

Chen Changsheng persuaded Bai Ze to use the True Dragon Dragon Pearl to formulate pills that could help Nine-Headed Xiang Liu purify its bloodline and secure its neutrality. After Chen Changsheng and Bai Ze left the Pill Domain, letters went out to major Beast Race clans while Guan Ping and Lu Mingyu’s scheme made money at a steep cost to Lu Mingyu.

• Chen Changsheng explained that Nine-Headed Xiang Liu’s neutrality could trouble the Beast Taming Lineage and that a pill to purify its bloodline might earn its favor.
• Chen Changsheng revealed that the Supreme Pill Master lacked the Dragon Race materials needed to help Nine-Headed Xiang Liu, and he proposed using Bai Ze’s True Dragon Dragon Pearl.
• Bai Ze resisted giving up the Dragon Pearl, but Chen Changsheng persuaded him that refining it into pills could bring out its power and give them a taste of a True Dragon bloodline.
• Chen Changsheng planned to have the Tower Master refine the Dragon Pearl pills and offer Nine-Headed Xiang Liu only scraps from the batch.
• After Chen Changsheng and Bai Ze left, more than a dozen letters were sent from the Pill Domain to major Beast Race clans.
• Guan Ping and Lu Mingyu made a fortune through their cooperation, though Lu Mingyu’s valuable connections were worth far more than the pills Guan Ping produced.

Qian Ya urged Lu Mingyu to recognize the business opportunity in his Teacher’s dealings with the Beast Race and advised him about his feelings for Guan Ping. Lu Mingyu brought Guan Ping to the flower-covered barren mountain he had prepared, but she mistook it for an abandoned patch of herbs and harvested everything.

• Qian Ya explained that her Teacher’s outreach to the Beast Race could reshape the conflict with the Beast Taming Lineage and create a chance to profit.
• Qian Ya realized Lu Mingyu was distracted by his feelings for Guan Ping and suggested he take her to see the flowers he had planted before consulting his Teacher.
• Lu Mingyu revealed the hidden flower garden to Guan Ping, who ran past his embrace and began eating and harvesting the rare plants.
• Guan Ping gave Lu Mingyu a dirt-stained, bitten flower as a reward for keeping her harvesting secret.
• Lu Mingyu accepted the flower happily, then rolled up his sleeves and claimed his share of the harvest.

Lu Mingyu visited Chen Changsheng to ask how to win Guan Ping’s affection, and Chen Changsheng told him that sincerity meant giving her his time and companionship. Lu Mingyu was left questioning whether he loved Guan Ping herself or only imagined a future with her.

• Guan Ping returned from the mountain with rare flowers and herbs, while Lu Mingyu arrived filthy after helping with the outing.
• Chen Changsheng welcomed Lu Mingyu into the secret chamber, and Lu Mingyu asked for advice about Guan Ping.
• Chen Changsheng explained that Guan Ping already knew Lu Mingyu liked her and would not be won over by expensive gifts or grand displays.
• Chen Changsheng told Lu Mingyu that time was the most precious thing he could give Guan Ping and challenged him to examine his feelings.
• Lu Mingyu fell silent as he considered whether he loved Guan Ping or merely wanted a future with her.