Chapter Summaries

Aaron’s second Nascent Soul awoke in the body of Xin Chen, a young cultivator in the Five Poisons Mountain, and discovered that he had been cast into a new cultivation world after a failed Ascension. As the Stomach Monster Gu tormented him, Golden Daoist diagnosed Xin Chen’s damaged foundation and declared his cultivation path cut off.

• Aaron recovered Xin Chen’s memories and realized he had survived the failed Ascension by possessing Xin Chen’s body.
• Aaron examined his status panel and learned about the new world’s cultivation realms and Xin Chen’s limited abilities.
• The Stomach Monster Gu in Aaron’s abdomen awakened and caused him intense pain after Xin Chen’s cultivation deviation.
• Aaron rang a bell to summon his master, Golden Daoist, who examined him and blamed his damaged foundation on reckless cultivation.
• Golden Daoist warned that Xin Chen’s foundation was damaged beyond repair and that he had no hope of advancing further.

Aaron regained Golden Daoist’s favor only enough to be taken to the other disciples, where he lost his position as senior eldest brother and was burdened with a punishing quota. Back in his cave, he realized his meridians were already open and began refining his inner qi while recovering instead of forcing an immediate breakthrough.

• Golden Daoist suppressed the Stomach Monster Gu in Aaron’s dantian and took him to meet the other disciples.
• Golden Daoist appointed Lu Meizi senior eldest brother because Aaron had lost his Innate True Qi.
• Golden Daoist announced he would refine the Mysterious Female Pearl in seclusion and ordered Lu Meizi to oversee the daily Five Poisons contributions.
• Lu Meizi ordered Aaron to deliver five creatures of the five poisons each day, and Aaron accepted before returning to his cave.
• Aaron examined his cultivation and found that his Ren and Du meridians were already open, so he refined his inner qi and nourished his injured acupoints rather than attempting an immediate breakthrough.

Aaron recovered from his injuries, reached the Innate realm, and began preparing to defeat Golden Daoist with a weapon made from poisonous creatures. Meanwhile, Wei Feiniang and Lu Meizi plotted to frame Xin Chen while stealing Golden Daoist’s Dao book and antidote, and Wei Feiniang arrived at Aaron’s cave as he finished making his weapon.

• Aaron gave Wei Feiniang five jade snakes for Golden Daoist, then returned to his cave to take medicine and cultivate.
• After a month, Aaron broke through to the Innate realm and discovered his Hundred Poisons True Qi was extremely low-grade.
• Wei Feiniang and Lu Meizi planned to steal Golden Daoist’s Dao book and antidote, using Xin Chen as a scapegoat after Wei Feiniang seduced him.
• Aaron used Poison-Luring Incense to attract poisonous creatures and captured a black-scaled, two-headed snake.
• Aaron refined the snake into a single-use Five Poisons Needle designed to pierce Killing Intent, then heard Wei Feiniang call from outside his cave.

Aaron exposed Lu Meizi and Wei Feiniang’s attempt to frame him, regained his position as Eldest Senior Brother, and was brought by the Golden Daoist into the artifact-refining chamber. He agreed to help refine the Mysterious Female Pearl while secretly eyeing the Golden Silkworm Gu and the incomplete formula.

• Wei Feiniang tried to frame Aaron by staging an accusation of assault, but Aaron struck her down and defeated Lu Meizi with his recovered innate cultivation.
• Aaron rang the bell to summon the Golden Daoist, and the other disciples testified that Lu Meizi had planned the frame-up.
• Wei Feiniang revealed her hatred of the Golden Daoist, who killed her and Lu Meizi with the gu insects planted in their bodies.
• The Golden Daoist restored Aaron as Eldest Senior Brother and took him to see the trapped Golden Silkworm Gu.
• The Golden Daoist brought Aaron to the artifact-refining chamber, taught him an incomplete sacrificial-refinement formula, and ordered him to tend the fire and supply true qi.

Aaron secretly prepared to kill Golden Daoist while helping him refine the Mysterious Female Pearl, but just as the artifact neared completion, a sword-wielding man burst into the cave and confronted Golden Daoist.

• Aaron fed the Golden Silkworm Gu and secretly tried to tame it while serving Golden Daoist.
• Aaron completed the Five Poisons Needle, subtly altered the artifact-refining formation, and continued cultivating his Gu Arts.
• Golden Daoist prepared to blood-sacrifice Xin Chen to finish refining the Mysterious Female Pearl, while Aaron readied the Five Poisons Needle.
• A golden sword streak smashed through the cave gates, and a man declared that Golden Daoist's day of reckoning had come.

Shen Xuexing attacked Golden Daoist, but Aaron exploited their duel to kill both cultivators and complete the Mysterious Female Pearl. After using the pearl to subdue the Golden Silkworm Gu and suppress the Stomach Monster Gu, Aaron planned to leave the cultivation world and enjoy life in the mortal world.

• Shen Xuexing killed Golden Daoist's disciples, broke into his cave, and attacked him with the Golden Snake Hook.
• Golden Daoist lost an arm and released the Golden Silkworm Gu, but Shen Xuexing restrained it with a heavenly-silkworm-thread handkerchief.
• Aaron killed the exhausted Golden Daoist with a Five Poison Palm and kicked his corpse into the furnace, completing the Mysterious Female Pearl.
• Shen Xuexing tried to kill Aaron, but Aaron concealed Five Poisons Needles in his bloody spit and killed him through the eye.
• Aaron used the Mysterious Female Pearl to seal the Golden Silkworm Gu and frighten the Stomach Monster Gu into stillness, then planned to loot the cave before returning to the mortal world.

Aaron looted Shen Xuexing and Golden Daoist’s belongings, then traveled for several thousand li before arriving in Yu Kang Town. He decided to settle there and seek a place to live and practice medicine, but Second Aunt Li doubted his skill because of his youthful appearance.

• Aaron took Shen Xuexing’s Golden Snake Hook, brocade handkerchief, and artifact pouch, then recovered Golden Daoist’s unreadable Daoist scripture from beneath the bed.
• Aaron discovered Shen Xuexing had killed Golden Daoist’s other disciples, made arrangements, and left the mountain as flames consumed the cave abodes.
• Aaron traveled through the wilderness for more than ten days without trouble and reached Yu Kang Town, where he decided to settle.
• At an inn, Aaron met Second Aunt Li and her nephew, Li Xiao, and gave the boy a pine nut pastry.
• Aaron asked Second Aunt Li about finding a house suitable for a home and medical shop, but she laughed at his claim to practice medicine because he looked too young.

Aaron opened Half-Leisure Hall in Yu Kang Town and waited for customers while secretly examining Shen Xuexing’s artifact pouch. He uncovered Shen Xuexing’s many romantic entanglements and incomplete Daoist texts, including a charm-enhancing cultivation method that Aaron memorized.

• Aaron opened Half-Leisure Hall with Second Madam Li’s help, but the shop received almost no customers.
• Aaron removed Shen Xuexing’s magical imprint from the artifact pouch and opened it after nightfall.
• Aaron found letters revealing Shen Xuexing had deceived several female cultivators, including women from Flower Goddess Estate and Spirit Medicine Mountain.
• Aaron discovered Shen Xuexing’s cultivation notes, which recorded details about his lovers and their preferences.
• Aaron studied Shen Xuexing’s incomplete Daoist texts and found a qi-refining method that cultivated charm by gathering women’s primordial yin.
• Aaron memorized the charm-enhancing formula and decided to study the sword-refinement notes to reforge the Golden Snake Hook.

Aaron lived quietly in Yu Kang Town as Doctor Fang while studying local cultivation arts and decoding a Daoist scripture about gu cultivation. He learned that his immortal nature might not protect him from the tribulations faced by Primordial Spirit Loose Immortals, and the chapter ended with Li Xiao returning from Yuanjia City after witnessing immortals fighting.

• Aaron treated an old farmer, then tried to teach Li Xiao medicine by giving him difficult medical texts, but Li Xiao ran off when Lan Lan called.
• Aaron practiced the Spirit Snake Sword Art and continued refining his magical weapons while living under the alias Fang Yuan.
• At Second Aunt Li's inn, Aaron heard that a wandering Daoist had ended the haunting at the Zhao Family in Yuanjia City.
• Aaron studied bird seal script and concluded that he should follow local cultivation arts rather than rely on his own adapted Bright Jade Art.
• Aaron decoded the Myriad Gu True Lord's scripture and learned how gu insects could be used to reach the Outer Gang realm, including that the Stomach Monster Gu he had killed was one of the Six Bowels Gu.
• Aaron worried that his immortality might not spare him from heavenly tribulations, then Li Xiao returned from Yuanjia City and said he had seen immortals fighting.

Aaron learned of a sword hero’s clash with a fraudulent wandering Daoist and chose to avoid trouble in Yuanjia City. After reaching perfected Innate cultivation, he switched to the Book of Myriad Gu to pursue Killing Intent Condensation and considered seeking an orthodox sect in the future.

• Li Xiao told Aaron that a sword hero had exposed and fought a wandering Daoist who staged a haunting to swindle the Zhao Family.
• Aaron resumed meditation, refined his qi, and reviewed the limits of Innate cultivation and his own perfected Hundred Poisons True Qi.
• Aaron decided the Book of Myriad Gu offered a better path than his incomplete Daoist scriptures and changed his technique to its Killing Intent Condensation chapter.
• Aaron recalled the method of refining poisonous essences into Killing Intent and judged that orthodox Mystic Gate inheritances offered a superior path.
• Aaron considered seeking a master from an orthodox Mystical Sect after first learning how to conceal his age and evade divinations.

Aaron attended Li Xiao and Lan Lan’s wedding before returning to Half-Leisure Hall to cultivate Hundred Venoms Baleful Qi. He successfully unleashed Daoist Killing Intent, though he recognized its limits and resolved to keep his experiments quiet.

• Aaron gave Second Aunt Li five taels of silver at Li Xiao and Lan Lan’s wedding and watched them complete the ceremony.
• Aaron returned to Half-Leisure Hall and inspected the venomous creatures he was raising to cultivate Hundred Venoms Baleful Qi.
• Aaron considered ways to refine Five Viscera Gu but rejected spreading Gu-based martial arts manuals because the attention would be dangerous.
• Aaron practiced his art and released a powerful burst of Daoist Killing Intent through a wall.
• Aaron recognized that his Killing Intent required preparation and was still weak, then decided to continue cultivating discreetly.

Aaron treated Zhang Chengxiang, a wounded fugitive pursued over a treasure map, and later suspected he had hidden in Yu Kang Town. Li Xiao revealed that a blind Daoist had predicted a deadly trial for him, leaving Aaron concerned about the danger surrounding his newfound opportunity.

• Aaron considered establishing a family in Yu Kang under the name Fang Yuan so he could later claim a legitimate background when seeking entry to an orthodox mystical sect.
• Zhang Chengxiang arrived at Half-Leisure Hall with poisoned wounds, and Aaron recognized him as a fugitive but gave him pills to treat the venom.
• Authorities searched Half-Leisure Hall and Yu Kang Town for Zhang Chengxiang, while Aaron hid his Five Poison Cauldron and other conspicuous items.
• Aaron noticed Li Xiao seemed to be practicing a superior martial art and wondered whether Zhang Chengxiang was hiding nearby.
• Li Xiao told Aaron that a blind Daoist had foretold a deadly trial connected to his recent opportunity and asked Aaron to care for his wife and child if he died.

Aaron learned that Zhang Chengxiang planned to leave Li Xiao in three days, but constables and Zhao Jianchen arrived at the inn before he could go. Aaron secretly watched as Zhao Jianchen sought the treasure map tied to Zhang Chengxiang and Li Qing reported that the search had found no sign of him.

• Li Xiao brought food and wine to Zhang Chengxiang in the hidden cellar and asked for more instruction in the Iron Hand Skill.
• Zhang Chengxiang told Li Xiao that he would leave in three days because staying would endanger the inn.
• Aaron headed to the inn, learned that Zhao Jianchen and a group of constables had taken it over, and secretly watched from the roof.
• Zhao Jianchen revealed his interest in Zhang Chengxiang’s treasure map and the immortal inheritance it might lead to.
• Li Qing told Zhao Jianchen that the Soul-Chasing Divine Constable and Divine Constable Zhuge had found no trace of Zhang Chengxiang.

Li Xiao killed a servant who had attacked his wife, and Zhao Jianchen ordered him and his family killed in retaliation. Zhang Chengxiang intervened, killed Li Qing and Ghost Elder with Aaron’s secret help, then took Zhao Jianchen hostage and prepared to flee town with Li Xiao’s family.

• Li Xiao struck Lai Er dead after catching him molesting his wife, and Zhao Jianchen ordered the constables to kill Li Xiao and his family.
• Zhang Chengxiang emerged from hiding and fought Li Qing, then killed him with a Judge’s Brush after Aaron’s Sleepy Gu made Li Qing yawn.
• Ghost Elder attacked Zhang Chengxiang, but Aaron sent a gu insect into his nostril, leaving him vulnerable to Zhang Chengxiang’s fatal palm strike.
• Zhang Chengxiang seized Zhao Jianchen as a hostage and demanded fast horses and an escort out of town.
• Zhang Chengxiang ordered Li Xiao to gather his valuables and flee with him, and Li Xiao scrambled to obey.

Aaron married and spent twenty years building his life in Yu Kang Town while secretly watching the blind Daoist who had once guided Li Xiao. At Five Connections Temple, Aaron witnessed the Daoist die after entrusting his tortoiseshell treasure and divination legacy to his disciple, Childlike Heart, and chose not to interfere.

• After Li Xiao fled, Zhao Jianchen burned down Li Family Inn, and Aaron invited Manager Qian to his upcoming wedding.
• Aaron married a former courtesan, then watched the blind Daoist appear at the wedding and later learned he had visited the Li family ruins.
• Over the next twenty years, Aaron’s wife died, and he raised an abandoned boy named Fang Xi as his son.
• Aaron tracked the blind Daoist to Five Connections Temple and learned the Daoist was nearing the end of his life.
• The blind Daoist gave his tortoiseshell treasure and divination teachings to Childlike Heart, warned him that using it cost lifespan, and died.
• Aaron heard the exchange from outside and decided to wait rather than seize the treasure or inheritance.

Aaron visited his hidden valley to use the Stomach Monster Gu on Zhou Tong and reflected on the dangers and flaws of the Five Viscera Gu. He left believing his own orthodox cultivation method was safer but far too slow, and considered abandoning the valley in a few years.

• Aaron entered the hidden valley and took the Stomach Monster Gu from a sealed vat.
• Aaron planted the Gu in Zhou Tong and ordered him to cultivate the Hundred Poisons True Qi if he wanted to survive.
• Aaron dismissed the idea of using monkeys as Gu hosts after realizing they could not cultivate.
• Aaron judged that refining the Five Viscera Gu could draw tribulation and decided the valley might need to be abandoned.
• Aaron reasoned that cultivating his own viscera would be safer than seizing others’ qi, but would take centuries and create special difficulties because he had lost his primordial yang.

Twenty years later, Aaron encountered Li Yao, the son of Li Xiao, returning to Yu Kang Town with his wife after the Zhao Family fell. Li Yao began rebuilding the Li Family home and prepared to bury his father and master, despite his severe injuries.

• Aaron and Shopkeeper Qian discussed the current emperor and the popular tale of Three Heroes and Seven Gallants.
• Aaron and Shopkeeper Qian went to watch as workers cleared the old Li Family Inn grounds for construction.
• Li Yao arrived with his wife, introduced himself to the townspeople, and announced he had bought the land to build a residence.
• Aaron recognized Li Yao as Li Xiao's son and understood that the Zhao Family's downfall had cleared the way for his return.
• After the crowd dispersed, Li Yao coughed blood, and he told his concerned wife they should find a burial site for their elders.

Aaron learned that Daoist Tongxin’s divination pointed to the Zhao Family of Yuanjia City and followed him there, where he discovered demonic schemes surrounding Zhao Feifeng. Tongxin escaped after being spotted, while Nangong Jie ordered Zhao Jianchen to track him down.

• Aaron calculated that Daoist Tongxin’s opportunity was tied to the Zhao Family and traced the connection to the Li Family.
• Aaron watched Zhao Feifeng arrive at the Zhao residence and sensed that Steward Nangong used magic to control her.
• Daoist Tongxin broke into Dreamscape Courtyard and saw Nangong Jie abusing Zhao Feifeng under the influence of his soul-bewitching arts.
• Nangong Jie noticed Tongxin, who escaped the courtyard despite being struck by hidden projectiles.
• Nangong Jie altered Zhao Feifeng’s memories and ordered Zhao Jianchen to find the intruder.

Zhao Jianchen pursued the person who escaped from Yuanjia City, while Daoist Tongxin passed the Five Connections Temple inheritance to the cowherd Ah Niu before dying. Later, Zhao Jianchen recognized Li Yao as a survivor of the Li Family Inn and attacked his family.

• Zhao Jianchen followed a blood trail to a river, failed to find the fugitive, and prompted Nangong Jie to order a citywide search.
• Aaron watched Daoist Tongxin escape into the river after Nangong Jie struck him with a Mourning Nail.
• A cowherd named Ah Niu pulled Daoist Tongxin ashore, received his tortoiseshell, and fled after the Daoist died.
• Aaron returned Daoist Tongxin's corpse to the river and decided to wait until the tortoiseshell became ownerless.
• Zhao Jianchen attacked Li Yao and his family after they found the corpse, then recognized Li Yao as a survivor of the Li Family Inn.

Li Yao learned that the Zhao Family might possess the other half of the broken jade pendant and used an imperial token to mobilize troops against Nangong Jie. Nangong Jie revealed his demonic transformation arts, escaped the siege, and left Li Yao shaken by how outmatched he would have been alone.

• Li Yao tortured Zhao Jianchen, learned that Nangong Jie had sent him to search the Zhao Family residence for treasure, then killed him.
• Li Yao connected Zhao Jianchen’s story to the broken jade pendant around Li Qi’s neck and told his wife he suspected the other half was at the Zhao Family residence.
• Aaron overheard Li Yao and his wife mobilize the garrison troops to surround the Zhao Family residence and capture Nangong Jie.
• The commanding general ordered arrows fired at Nangong Jie, who blocked them with baleful qi and transformed into an imperfect Crimson Blood Bat.
• Nangong Jie broke through the troops, killed the commander with poisonous mist, and escaped as Li Yao realized how dangerous he was.