Chapter Summaries

Daoxuan and Tian Buyi arranged for Xiao Yicai and Zeng Shushu to help manage Sanfu Town, while Luo Yunji slipped away on Long Zi and vanished. Zheng Dali found Luo Yunji near Heyang City, but was carried off with him as Luo Yunji continued toward Xiaochi Town.

• Tian Buyi persuaded Daoxuan to consider sending Xiao Yicai to Sanfu Town, and Zeng Shuchang asked for Zeng Shushu to join Luo Yunji’s group.
• Xiao Yicai and Zeng Shushu traveled with Luo Yunji to Sanfu Town, where Zhang Xiaofan put them to work; Luo Yunji then disappeared with the Quadruplets and Long Zi.
• Zhang Xiaofan organized a search, while Zheng Dali realized he had seen Luo Yunji in Heyang City and went back down the mountain to look for him.
• Luo Yunji and the Quadruplets searched for Long Zi outside Heyang City, summoned Dahei, and were found by Zheng Dali, whom Luo Yunji pulled onto the snake’s back.
• Luo Yunji told Zheng Dali he was heading to Xiaochi Town and refused to return first, despite learning that Zhang Xiaofan was worried sick.

Luo Yunji was caught by Tian Buyi while heading to Xiaochi Town to refine swords from Nine Heavens Meteorite Iron, and the group instead traveled to Black Stone Cave. They arrived at Magma Lake, where Daoxuan and Zeng Shuchang recognized the fox demons and prepared to attack them.

• Long Zi, Tian Buyi, and Zeng Shuchang caught up with Luo Yunji and Zheng Dali, and Tian Buyi scolded and spanked Luo Yunji for leaving without telling anyone.
• Luo Yunji explained that he wanted to refine swords for the Quadruplets, and their bundles revealed a large supply of Nine Heavens Meteorite Iron.
• Tian Buyi persuaded Luo Yunji to return to Big Bamboo Peak for supplementary materials, then Daoxuan joined the group as they set out for Black Stone Cave.
• Luo Yunji greeted Xiao San and Xiao Liu at Magma Lake, while the fox demons became frightened by the powerful cultivators arriving around them.
• Daoxuan and Zeng Shuchang recognized Xiao San and Xiao Liu as fox demons and gathered spiritual power in their magic treasures, ready to attack.

Luo Yunji accompanied his companions from Black Stone Cave to Sanfu Town while Zheng Dali used deep Earth Fire to refine Meteorite Iron. The chapter ended with Tian Linger and Bi Yao enjoying Sanfu Town together as Luo Yunji and his escort followed them.

• Luo Yunji asked the fox demons for their tails while Tian Buyi began refining the Meteorite Iron at Black Stone Cave.
• Zheng Dali showed Tian Buyi and the elders how to draw hotter fire from deep within the Magma Lake, and they handed him the materials to refine.
• After waiting through Zheng Dali’s slow progress, Luo Yunji took Su Ru, Tian Linger, and the fox demons to Sanfu Town aboard Long Zi.
• Luo Yunji met Zhang Xiaofan in Sanfu Town and went to eat with him, while Su Ru and Tian Linger explored the town afterward.
• Bi Yao joined Tian Linger in exploring Sanfu Town, with Luo Yunji, the Quadruplets, and soldiers following them.

Zhang Xiaofan arranged for Six-Tailed Fox and Three-Tailed Fox to settle at Two Mountains and help keep Sanfu Town's loose cultivators in check before he left for the Imperial City. At Black Stone Cave, Su Ru brought food and Spirit Wine to the hungry sect leaders, and Zeng Shuchang noticed the Cooling Pearl in Tian Buyi's cup.

• Zhang Xiaofan invited Six-Tailed Fox and Three-Tailed Fox to live at Two Mountains and asked them to help manage Sanfu Town after his departure.
• Six-Tailed Fox and Three-Tailed Fox accepted Zhang Xiaofan's offer and decided to make Two Mountains their home.
• Zhang Xiaofan introduced Six-Tailed Fox to Old Prime Minister and the other elder statesman, who welcomed him and agreed to support Luo Yunji.
• Su Ru remembered that Tian Buyi and the others were at Black Stone Cave without food, so she asked Zhang Xiaofan to prepare a meal and took Luo Yunji and Tian Linger there.
• Tian Buyi recognized Zhang Xiaofan's cooking in the food Su Ru brought, then enjoyed Spirit Wine chilled with Luo Yunji's Cooling Pearl.
• Zeng Shuchang spotted the Cooling Pearl in Tian Buyi's cup and looked to Su Ru for an explanation.

At Black Stone Cave, Luo Yunji and Tian Linger bickered while Daoxuan considered how Luo Yunji’s ties to Big Bamboo Peak helped maintain the balance of power around Sanfu Town. The group then discovered that an unknown attacker was ambushing Azure Cloud Sect disciples entering the cave, leaving Daoxuan and Tian Buyi unsure whether the threat was a person or a strange beast.

• Luo Yunji tried to take Tian Linger’s Cooling Pearls, and the two chased and bickered until Su Ru calmed them with food and wine.
• Daoxuan reflected that Luo Yunji’s ties to Tian Buyi and Su Ru helped keep the Ghost King Sect, the imperial court, Loose Cultivators, and the Azure Cloud Sect in balance around Sanfu Town.
• Tian Buyi told Su Ru and Tian Linger to leave Black Stone Cave, while Zeng Shuchang went to visit Sanfu Town as the Meteorite Iron refining continued.
• A Heaven-Reaching Peak disciple arrived in Black Stone Cave and was injured by an unknown attacker as he descended toward the Magma Lake.
• Daoxuan and Tian Buyi wondered whether the hidden attacker was a person or a strange beast.

Tian Buyi and Daoxuan learned that Luo Yunji had terrorized the strange beasts in Black Stone Cave during an earlier visit, while Daoxuan later returned to Heaven-Reaching Peak. In Sub-mountain, Luo Yunji mistook a blacksmith's work for making rice cakes, then hurried home after learning about the difficulty of forging Meteorite Iron.

• Zheng Dali told Tian Buyi and Daoxuan that Luo Yunji and Zhang Xiaofan had plundered fur, horns, and valuables from the strange beasts in Black Stone Cave, leaving the beasts afraid of Luo Yunji.
• A Heaven-Reaching Peak disciple recovered and reported on affairs at Azure Cloud Mountain, while Tian Buyi and Zheng Dali returned to smelting Meteorite Iron.
• Tian Linger and Bi Yao explored Sanfu Town together, and Zhang Xiaofan arranged provisions for the group at Black Stone Cave.
• Daoxuan returned to Heaven-Reaching Peak after discussing the materials with Tian Buyi, while Luo Yunji and Liao Xing went to Sub-mountain to find Liao Xing.
• Luo Yunji claimed a blacksmith was making rice cakes, then asked whether Meteorite Iron needed hammering and hurried off to eat before heading home.
• Liao Xing stopped Luo Yunji from running the wrong way and told the Quadruplets to find a Sedan Chair.

Luo Yunji brought Liao Xing, the Quadruplets, and seven soldiers to Black Stone Cave, where he wanted the soldiers to help forge Meteorite Iron. After Long Zi’s flight left his companions badly shaken, the soldiers tried hammering the heated iron, but their hammers broke without making a mark.

• Luo Yunji traveled with Liao Xing and the Quadruplets to the soldiers’ training grounds and recruited seven soldiers with blacksmithing experience.
• Luo Yunji took the group on Long Zi toward Black Stone Cave, and the passengers plunged into the cave, where Zheng Dali and Tian Buyi helped catch them.
• Luo Yunji gave the overheated group Cooling Pearls and explained that he had brought the soldiers to help forge Meteorite Iron.
• Zheng Dali heated a piece of Meteorite Iron and had the seven soldiers hammer it, but every iron hammer broke while the Meteorite Iron remained unharmed.

Luo Yunji brought Li Li to a magma cave to test whether his hammer magic treasure could forge Nine Heavens Meteorite Iron. After noticing Li Li’s flawed cultivation, Luo Yunji urged him to start over with an improved method, leaving Li Li torn between accepting the advice and abandoning decades of effort.

• Luo Yunji dragged Li Li from Morning Sun Peak after learning he owned a hammer magic treasure, while Chu Yuhong and Shen Tiandou mistakenly feared Luo Yunji meant to punish him.
• Zheng Dali explained that Luo Yunji wanted Li Li’s help forging meteorite iron, and Shang Zhengliang became eager to obtain some for Morning Sun Peak.
• Luo Yunji took Li Li to the magma cave, where seven soldiers used his hammer magic treasure to begin shaping meteorite iron.
• Li Li tried hammering the iron himself and proved more effective than the soldiers, prompting Luo Yunji to point out errors in his cultivation.
• Luo Yunji told Li Li to start over with his improved cultivation method, and Li Li struggled to decide whether to give up decades of progress.

Li Li restarted his cultivation under Luo Yunji’s guidance and learned Big Bamboo Peak’s latest improved method, forcing Tian Buyi and Zheng Dali to decide how to handle the secret. Meanwhile, Luo Yunji and Liao Xing returned from their outing, where Luo Yunji gleefully exposed his younger brother to the Princess Consort.

• Li Li agreed to disperse his cultivation and start over, and Luo Yunji crippled his cultivation before guiding him anew.
• Luo Yunji taught Li Li Big Bamboo Peak’s third version of the Taiji Mystic Purity Dao, and Zheng Dali revealed the method’s origins after discovering what had happened.
• Tian Buyi allowed Li Li to return home after their work was finished, while Li Li diligently cultivated and helped forge iron.
• Zhang Xiaofan deduced that Luo Yunji and Liao Xing had gone to Sub-mountain Town to watch iron forging.
• Luo Yunji and Liao Xing returned three days later, and Luo Yunji tattled to the Princess Consort that Liao Xing had snuck off the mountain.

Luo Yunji and Zhang Xiaofan prepared to travel to the Imperial City with the Prince’s family and the Quadruplets, then arrived to a jubilant welcome. The emperor and several princes saw their return, and the princes decided to visit their royal uncle.

• Liao Xing returned home with Luo Yunji, dodged Zhou Mu’s attempts to grab him, and was saved when the Quadruplets restrained Zhou Mu with their blades.
• Luo Yunji took the Quadruplets to the Spirit Garden while Zhang Xiaofan continued handling his duties after hearing that Luo Yunji had returned.
• After half a month, Zhang Xiaofan finished handing over his work and arranged for Mother Wang, several chefs, and a hundred soldiers to accompany the journey to the Imperial City.
• Zhang Xiaofan and Luo Yunji rode Long Zi ahead with the Prince’s family, while the rest of the group followed under guard.
• Luo Yunji and Zhang Xiaofan descended into the Imperial City on a Taiji diagram, drawing cheers from the people and a smile from the emperor.
• Several princes watched their arrival and agreed to bring gifts and pay a visit to their royal uncle.

The Prince reported to the emperor and then went to arrange Luo Yunji’s Academy admission, while Xiao Liu reunited with the big tabby cat Qiu Shi in Sanfu Town. Zhang Xiaofan set out to find a restaurant to take over, and the Prince’s Mansion steward guided him toward restaurants owned by the family.

• The Prince gave the emperor a booklet about Ming’er’s deeds in Sanfu Town, and they discussed the town’s affairs.
• Xiao Liu recognized the big tabby cat as Uncle Qiu Shi and learned that Qiu Shi had hidden the surviving fox cubs in the Fox Clan Secret Realm after their clan was attacked.
• Xiao Liu told Qiu Shi that he and Xiao San lived at Two Mountains and that Luo Yunji’s group had entrusted him with managing part of Sanfu Town, then carried Qiu Shi away to share the news with Xiao San.
• The Prince went to the Academy to make arrangements for Luo Yunji’s admission.
• Zhang Xiaofan decided to take over a restaurant, and the Princess Consort sent the Prince’s Mansion steward to help him find one of the family’s restaurants.

Zhang Xiaofan bought a site for a restaurant, while rumors about Luo Yunji and Sanfu Town spread through the Imperial City. The six princes visited the Prince's Mansion, where they met Luo Yunji as he ate with Liao Xing.

• Zhang Xiaofan bought a location and asked Steward Wang to help remodel it like the inn in Sanfu Town.
• Rumors about Luo Yunji studying at the Academy and Zhang Xiaofan opening a restaurant reached the emperor, who expected the Imperial City to become lively.
• The six princes tried to climb over the Prince's Mansion wall and were caught by guards who had trained at Two Mountains.
• Steward Wang led the princes to the Princess Consort, who was dining in the courtyard with Luo Yunji and Liao Xing.
• The Princess Consort invited the princes to share the Sanfu Town cuisine and introduced Luo Yunji as the Imperial Preceptor appointed by His Majesty.

Luo Yunji and Liao Xing ate voraciously at the Princess Consort’s banquet while the princes discovered that the stories about Eight Sage Drinks and the Little State Preceptor were true. The Princess Consort advised the princes about the throne, and the chapter ended with Luo Yunji and Liao Xing settling onto adjoining chaise lounges after overeating.

• Fourth Prince apologized to Luo Yunji, but Liao Xing explained that Luo Yunji ignored everything once food was served.
• The Princess Consort had a banquet brought out, and the princes noticed her Eight Sage Drinks and realized Third Prince’s stories had been true.
• Fifth Prince suggested going to Sanfu Town, but First Prince and Second Prince warned that the Emperor would refuse and recalled the danger of the journey.
• The Princess Consort revealed that the Emperor withheld the palace recipes because the princes refused to become emperor, then urged them to stop avoiding the throne.
• Luo Yunji and Liao Xing admitted they were full and fought over a chaise lounge until the Princess Consort had two pushed together.

Zhang Xiaofan, Luo Yunji, and their companions settled in at the Prince’s Mansion before the Prince sent Luo Yunji and Zhang Xiaofan to the Academy. Luo Yunji showed that he could recite his lessons but struggled to understand them, and he soon fell asleep during the teacher’s explanation.

• Zhang Xiaofan returned to the Prince’s Mansion after choosing a shop, where he found Luo Yunji, Liao Xing, and six princes resting after a feast.
• Luo Yunji woke hungry again, and he and Zhang Xiaofan agreed to visit the streets the next day before the Prince announced they would attend the Academy instead.
• The next day, the Prince brought Zhang Xiaofan and Luo Yunji to the Academy, where Luo Yunji entered Earth Level Class D, Liao Xing joined Heaven Level Class B, and the princes entered Heaven Level Class A.
• Luo Yunji recited passages perfectly when his teacher tested him, so Zhang Xiaofan explained that he memorized the texts but did not understand their meaning.
• The teacher began explaining the lesson, and Luo Yunji soon started snoring.

Zhang Xiaofan brought Luo Yunji to the Imperial City, where teachers struggled to teach the Little State Preceptor until a young top scholar devised a new approach. The chapter ended with Luo Yunji eagerly practicing writing at home while Zhang Xiaofan went to keep watch.

• Zhang Xiaofan explained Luo Yunji's sleeping in class and terrible handwriting to his teachers, who made no progress over two months.
• Zhang Xiaofan welcomed the team from Sanfu Town, arranged for Food Mansion's chefs to prepare the restaurant, and warned Yan Hui not to repeat the events of more than ten years earlier.
• The headmaster and Diding Class teachers discussed the Old Prime Minister's letter and agreed to teach Luo Yunji from the basics, with a young top scholar taking charge.
• The top scholar engaged Luo Yunji with stories and gave him a sandbox to practice writing the character "One," but Luo Yunji only made a shallow pit.
• Luo Yunji returned to the Prince's Mansion determined to practice writing after dinner, and Zhang Xiaofan left to make sure he did not lose his temper.

Luo Yunji struggled to write properly, and Zhang Xiaofan discovered that his strokes were unnaturally powerful, making a single cut behave like several. The Prince agreed to have heavier wrist guards made after the available pair proved too light.

• Liao Xing was sent to study after he complained that Luo Yunji was supposed to play with him, while Luo Yunji kept practicing his writing.
• The Top Scholar Instructor challenged Luo Yunji to explain twelve textbook characters and their origins in exchange for interesting stories.
• Zhang Xiaofan felt unusual vibrations in Luo Yunji's wrist and compared the marks they made with a carving knife, realizing Luo Yunji's single strokes contained several strokes' worth of force.
• Dabai, the Loose Cultivator, Blackheart Elder, Madam Jinling, and the Monk explained that Luo Yunji's brush and weapon movements were unusually powerful, and Madam Jinling suggested adding weight.
• The Prince provided Mu'er's wrist guards, but they were too light to help Luo Yunji, so Zhang Xiaofan agreed to try making heavier ones from Dark Iron.

Luo Yunji made progress in his studies and began writing legible characters, while Mr. Top Scholar’s lively teaching transformed Diding Class. Meanwhile, Killing Monk struggled to find Zhang Xiaofan and arrived in the Imperial City, where Zhang Xiaofan’s family took him in without Zhang Xiaofan knowing.

• Zhang Xiaofan beat the students who resented Luo Yunji until they stopped provoking them, and the classmates gradually befriended Luo Yunji.
• Mr. Top Scholar’s engaging lessons helped Luo Yunji and Diding Class thrive, drawing students and teachers from other classes to listen and prompting transfer requests.
• After a month, Luo Yunji wore the Dark Iron wrist guards and managed to write a barely legible character, pleasing the Academy Dean and the Prince.
• Killing Monk traveled from Azure Cloud Mountain toward Two Mountains, learned Zhang Xiaofan had gone to the Imperial City, and collapsed from hunger outside Zhang Xiaofan’s restaurant, where the Quadruplets’ mother sheltered him.
• The Prince celebrated being able to read Luo Yunji’s homework and stocked the mansion’s pools with live fish so Luo Yunji could fish with him and Liao Xing.

Luo Yunji and Zhang Xiaofan prepared four new dishes representing the sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy flavors of life, which the Prince, Princess Consort, and Emperor sampled. As the Emperor and Prince discussed Two Mountains’ highly prized crops and Sanfu Town’s growing popularity, the Princess Consort went to the kitchen.

• Luo Yunji and Liao Xing did their homework outside the kitchen while waiting for Zhang Xiaofan to cook.
• Luo Yunji directed the kitchen staff as Zhang Xiaofan helped prepare four new dishes for the Princess Consort.
• The Prince returned with the Emperor, and the Princess Consort invited them to try the dishes served on the Four Seasons Plate.
• The Prince and Emperor praised the four flavors and shared rice and diluted Spirit Wine.
• The Prince told the Emperor that Two Mountains’ Spirit Rain made its grain, vegetables, and fruit especially desirable in Sanfu Town.

The Emperor complained that his sons wanted to escape the throne and visit Sanfu Town, while the students at the Academy took a monthly exam. Afterward, Luo Yunji demonstrated a talismanic script that set the teacher’s desk ablaze, leaving his classmates eager to get some of their own.

• The Emperor lamented that the princes did not want the throne and envied the Third Prince for escaping to Sanfu Town, while the Prince doubted Ming'er would return willingly.
• Mr. Top Scholar announced the monthly examination, and Liao Xing urged Luo Yunji to study for it.
• Luo Yunji finished the exam quickly and wrote talismanic scripts on spare paper; Zhang Xiaofan tore up his own answers after glimpsing Luo Yunji's papers.
• Luo Yunji asked Liao Xing to throw one of his scripts, and it landed on the teacher's desk and set it ablaze.
• The students scrambled to collect Luo Yunji's remaining scripts, and Liao Xing asked him to write more when they returned.

Luo Yunji taught his classmates and Liao Xing to use talismans, leading them to burn desks at the Academy and a rockery at the Prince's Mansion. The Prince and Princess Consort heard the Academy teacher's complaint and went to talk seriously with the two brothers.

• After the teacher criticized the students' handwriting, Luo Yunji revealed he had tricked them into practicing talismans and demonstrated one that set the teacher's desk on fire.
• Luo Yunji fled with Zhang Xiaofan, then visited Liao Xing's class and urged him to use talismans, where Liao Xing burned several desks.
• Liao Xing returned to the Prince's Mansion and confronted Luo Yunji, while the guards reported that his talismans had burned the rockery.
• The Prince and Princess Consort learned that Luo Yunji had tricked Liao Xing into getting punished at the Academy and that the talismans worked with spirit stones.
• The Academy teacher told the Prince that Luo Yunji had skipped class and the brothers had destroyed desks, and asked him to stop them bringing dangerous items to school.
• The Prince and Princess Consort decided to speak seriously with the brothers about playing with dangerous talismans.