Chapter Summaries

• Key events: Wu Yu swiftly kills the monster with a flying-sword technique, earning the group’s praise. As they collect the dropped Cards, the Twilight Witch warns him that Lin Xiaomo is radiating intense malice. Wu Yu recognizes that something is wrong and warns the others, but Lin Xiaomo destroys her gourd, releases a vast cloud of black mist, and begins to self-destruct. The group’s attacks cannot stop her in time: the explosion of her spirit veins and qi sea combines with the mutating winter spirit qi, creating a devastating frost blast. Wu Yu and Chen Lingling escape relatively well, while Liu Yu, Liu Zheng, Bai Xiaotian, Yu Tiezhu, and Wang Yan are injured to varying degrees. The black mist then suppresses spirit energy, disabling Liu Zheng’s cannon. An Da emerges and reveals that he manipulated Lin Xiaomo’s subconscious, planting the urge to self-destruct.
• Character developments: Wu Yu’s perception and caution prove crucial: he detects Lin Xiaomo’s danger early and protects himself, though he cannot prevent the blast. Liu Yu’s claim to possess the [Future Diary] is exposed as a lie, but Wu Yu recognizes that he has also concealed information and does not challenge him. An Da shows himself to be a calculating opponent who exploited the group’s confidence in their investigative methods. Lin Xiaomo’s apparent composure is revealed as the result of mental control, rather than a clear indication of her intentions.
• Character interactions: The group celebrates Wu Yu’s victory and praises his skill, then turns suspicious and alarmed when he warns them about Lin Xiaomo. Liu Yu and Liu Zheng attack her, but too late to stop the explosion. Afterward, the wounded group confronts the consequences while An Da taunts them, explaining how their physical and soul-based checks missed his mind-control ability.
• Themes: The chapter emphasizes the danger of false confidence and incomplete investigation: the group checked Lin Xiaomo’s body and soul but overlooked mental control. It also highlights the lethal unpredictability of the changing spirit qi, the value and limits of vigilance, and how a hidden enemy can turn an ally into a weapon.

Key plot points and events

• An Da reveals himself as a company mole who has infiltrated Liu Zheng’s group. He knows Liu’s armor systems and equipment because his company supplies the Inspection Bureau.
• An Da uses his Platinum Hand cybernetic arm to form a black-mist domain that suppresses Spirit Energy and traps the group.
• Liu Zheng, Liu Yu, Bai Xiaotian, and Chen Lingling fight back, while An Da uses a psychic afterimage and a breach in the field to target Wu Yu, whom he considers the greatest threat.
• An Da expects Wu Yu to be helpless without Spirit Energy, but Wu Yu catches his mechanical hand with sheer physical strength and destroys him with a star-infused, Blood Qi attack.
• The apparent battle is revealed to be a Psychic Delusion: the Twilight Witch confirms that nothing has changed in the Real World.
• In reality, An Da approaches the immobilized group with a Psychic Rifle. Wu Yu’s forehead opens into a vertical eye, which fires a golden beam that pierces the black mist and sets An Da ablaze. Wu Yu then opens his eyes and looks directly at him.

Character developments

• An Da is exposed as a calculating traitor who relies on preparation, technology, and psychic powers. His confidence in his ability to neutralize others proves misplaced.
• Wu Yu demonstrates that he is more than a Cultivator: he can fight without Spirit Energy, and he appears capable of recognizing or countering the psychic illusion.
• The Twilight Witch confirms the nature of the illusion and helps reveal what is happening in the real world.
• The others show trust in Wu Yu by working together to protect him while he prepares to act.

Significant themes

• Deception and perception: The dramatic fight is an illusion, while the real danger unfolds unseen.
• Underestimating opponents: An Da assumes Wu Yu is powerless without Spirit Energy and is caught off guard by his other abilities.
• Preparation versus adaptability: An Da’s careful plan gives him an advantage, but Wu Yu’s unexpected strength and perception overturn it.
• Teamwork and trust: The group coordinates under pressure, with the others shielding Wu Yu.

Character interactions

• An Da taunts Liu Zheng and identifies his hidden equipment, revealing both his knowledge and his confidence.
• Liu Zheng and the others respond by attacking together, while Chen Lingling tries to intercept An Da’s strike at Wu Yu.
• Wu Yu’s calm defiance contrasts with An Da’s certainty; after the illusion is exposed, Wu Yu turns the tables on him in the real world.

Key plot points and events

• Wu Yu sees through An Da’s convincing illusion with the Profound Spirit Heavenly Eye, recognizing it as monster sorcery rather than mind-based Transcendent power.
• He ignites An Da’s monster aura with True Flame, then uses the Fire Crow Bow and Great Sun Archery before finishing him with Dusk Torrent. The Twilight Witch confirms there is no escaping soul, nearby trap, or surviving puppet.
• Wu Yu briefly worries the fight may itself be another illusion, but the Twilight Witch points him toward the Silver Token as a check. The surrounding monster power then fades, freeing the others from separate illusions caused by the purple gourd.
• The group realizes Lin Xiaomo’s apparent self-destruction was only the beginning of the attack. Lin Xiaomo and An Da, like a previous stallholder, had visited the Spirit Void Ancient Realm.
• They resume their journey and reach the Market District. After registering and receiving Spirit Plaques, they attempt to enter—but a guard singles out Chen Lingling as a suspected monster spy and orders her searched.

Character developments and interactions

• Wu Yu demonstrates keen judgment and decisive strength, while remaining cautious even after defeating An Da. He credits power, rather than elaborate plotting, as the decisive factor.
• The Twilight Witch supports Wu Yu by scanning for dangers, checking for survivors, and gently teasing him when his caution turns into needless doubt.
• Liu Zheng is visibly shaken by the illusion and admits he had believed he killed An Da within it. Liu Yu thanks Wu Yu for saving him; Wu Yu brushes off the gratitude and urges the group onward.
• Yu Tiezhu and Wang Yan remain confused by the illusion’s aftermath. The group travels by different means, then disguises itself in period clothing to blend into the Market District.
• Chen Lingling stays composed when challenged by the guard, while the rest of the group reacts with alarm and prepares for possible trouble.

Significant themes

• Discernment versus deception: supernatural illusions can distort both reality and memory, making perception and reliable checks essential.
• Power and preparation: An Da’s elaborate scheme fails against Wu Yu’s ability and the Heavenly Eye’s counter to monster sorcery.
• Trust and teamwork: the group depends on Wu Yu and the Twilight Witch’s abilities, then cooperates to continue toward safety.
• Lingering danger: reaching the Market District does not end the threat; suspicion and possible conflict meet them at its gate.

Plot points and events

• Chen Lingling uses an unseen psionic technique to humiliate the market guard who threatened her group. The other guards are too frightened to intervene, and the group enters the market.
• Liu Yu, Bai Xiaotian, and the others explore Little South Mountain Market, comparing its ordinary, busy trade to the Daoist temple’s wealth and detachment. Wu Yu studies the market, then splits off to shop.
• The market is backed by the Golden Core Feather Heaven Sect but largely run by cultivation clans, with independent cultivators supplying much of its bustling trade.
• A group of investigators confirms that Wu Yu’s companions are human Qi Refining cultivators. Their captain decides to stop the investigation rather than risk offending a powerful clan or sect.
• Wu Yu notices the investigators withdrawing. He refuses the Twilight Witch’s offer to curse them, judging their caution understandable.
• After discovering that most street-stall goods are fake or worthless, Wu Yu shops at the reputable Hidden Heaven Pavilion. He buys a large quantity of pills and spirit liquids—about 100,000 spirit stones’ worth—astonishing the shop attendant.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lingling demonstrates formidable, unsettling power while remaining socially composed after dealing with the guard.
• Wu Yu is cautious and practical: he avoids needless retaliation, assesses the market’s goods, and spends freely when he finds reliable supplies.
• Liu Yu and the others relax into the market’s ordinary bustle and separate to pursue their own shopping.
• The market investigators show restraint, recognizing that the newcomers may be too influential to confront. The captain prioritizes the sect’s reputation over a risky show of force.
• The Twilight Witch urges Wu Yu to curse the investigators, but he declines.

Significant themes

• Power and intimidation: Reputation and apparent strength shape how people behave, sometimes more than formal authority.
• Trust and deception: The market’s open stalls are rife with counterfeit goods, making reliable merchants valuable.
• Pragmatism and restraint: Wu Yu avoids unnecessary conflict and directs his resources toward cultivation.
• Commerce and hierarchy: The market’s prosperity comes from cooperation among the sect, clans, and numerous independent cultivators.

Plot points and events

• Wu Yu makes an unusually large purchase of cultivation pills at the Hidden Heaven Pavilion, spending about a hundred thousand spirit stones. His lavish spending astonishes Zheng, a gray-robed shop attendant, and helps Wu Yu gain access to goods normally reserved for an upcoming auction.
• Zheng shows Wu Yu a treasure box containing pills, techniques, magical artifacts, and spirit herbs. Many have Transcendent-grade Status Panels, but their prices are steep: for example, an Iron Rain Blade costs 120,000 spirit stones and a Foundation Establishment Pill costs 200,000.
• The shopkeeper, a beautiful woman in palace dress, arrives and offers Wu Yu Enlightenment Spirit Tea. Wu Yu drinks it immediately; even its twelfth infusion increases his maximum spirit and mental power.
• Wu Yu asks to buy Foundation Establishment pills, but the shopkeeper refuses because he is not yet a Foundation Establishment cultivator. She then offers him a 20% discount on auction goods, and he accepts.
• As Wu Yu considers making another large purchase, a cultivator interrupts to tell the shopkeeper that someone is looking for her. He calls her “Shopkeeper Wang,” prompting Wu Yu to wonder if he recognizes the name.

Character developments

• Wu Yu continues to use conspicuous spending strategically, both to obtain resources and to win special treatment. He is practical about value, recognizes the auction goods’ high prices, and readily accepts a discount.
• Zheng is initially bewildered by Wu Yu’s spending but becomes accommodating, offering him a preview of auction items.
• Shopkeeper Wang is courteous and commercially savvy, but enforces the pavilion’s rules. Her sharp response to the interruption reveals a more forceful side beneath her gracious manner.

Character interactions

• Wu Yu teases Zheng about his reaction to the spending, then persuades him to show the auction stock.
• The shopkeeper welcomes Wu Yu with tea and negotiates a discounted sale, while declining his request to access Foundation Establishment pills.
• The shopkeeper reprimands the cultivator who interrupts her meeting with Wu Yu.

Significant themes

• Wealth as influence: Wu Yu’s spending earns access and favorable treatment.
• Rules and status: The pavilion’s restrictions prevent Wu Yu from buying certain goods despite his wealth.
• Value and discernment: Wu Yu compares the shop’s offerings with better resources elsewhere and weighs their high costs.
• Hidden potential in ordinary-seeming items: Even a repeatedly infused tea retains powerful benefits.

Key plot points and events

• Wu Yu asks Shopkeeper Wang about Wang Juemie and learns that she is remembered as the Extinction Fairy, a legendary sword immortal from several hundred years ago.
• Shopkeeper Wang recounts how Wang Juemie’s clan once flourished under her extraordinary talent. She was eventually killed by traitors allied with monsters in the place now known as the Immortal-Burial Daoist Temple. Legends claim she later ruled a supernatural realm where her enemies were punished.
• The story prompts Wu Yu to reconsider his own visit to the temple. Checking his Inventory, he finds that quest rewards and items Wang Juemie gave him remain, but goods he bought from the temple’s cultivators have vanished.
• Wu Yu concludes that his temple experiences were partly real and partly illusory, orchestrated by Wang Juemie. He suspects she was central to the temple and that the hidden quests were linked to her. He resolves to meet her again and learn what she truly is.

Character developments and interactions

• Wu Yu shifts from curiosity to shock and then understanding as the legend connects to his past. Though he wonders whether Wang Juemie became a monster or ghost, he trusts that she meant him no harm, since she guided and helped him.
• Shopkeeper Wang, initially composed, becomes animated while telling the legend. She admires the Extinction Fairy and hopes to emulate her, though she doubts her own talent despite having a heavenly spiritual root and reaching foundation establishment.
• The Twilight Witch helps Wu Yu interpret the clues, suggesting that the temple may have been sacrificed or transformed. Wu Yu responds cautiously and pieces together the evidence himself.

Significant themes

• Reality and illusion: The temple’s events were neither wholly fabricated nor entirely real; the surviving and vanished items reveal the distinction.
• Legend versus truth: Wang Juemie’s deeds have become exaggerated folklore, while Wu Yu uncovers a more complicated reality behind the stories.
• Hidden power and identity: Wang Juemie’s apparent low status concealed immense influence, leaving Wu Yu uncertain whether she is human, ghost, or something else.
• Legacy and aspiration: The Extinction Fairy inspires admiration across generations, including Shopkeeper Wang, even as her story is shaped by tragedy and myth.

Key plot points and events

• Wu Yu asks a Palace-Dressed Woman at Hidden Heaven Pavilion about the early-arriving Winter Calamity. She explains that the Market District’s protective array makes it relatively safe, while independent cultivators in nearby settlements must face the cold, scarce supplies, and snow-season monsters on their own. Even Foundation Establishment cultivators generally shelter inside the Market District, since prolonged fights with the monsters can be fatal.
• The woman offers Wu Yu a 20% discount on auction services through her Wang Clan’s stake in the auction. Instead, he decides to sell unwanted items from his Inventory in the Great Ruins, where they should be more valuable than in Cyber City or River City.
• Back at the Little Mountain Inn, Wu Yu sorts through hundreds of Cards, keeping useful cultivation resources, medicines, herbs, and monster cores while setting aside miscellaneous items, artifacts, and materials for sale.
• With the Twilight Witch guarding him and a Silent Barrier in place, Wu Yu drinks swordheart spirit liquid and circulates the Nine-Infant Profound Light Sword. Despite the painful, sword-like sensation of swallowing it, he successfully absorbs the sword qi and emerges with a noticeably sharper presence.

Character developments and interactions

• The Palace-Dressed Woman is impressed by Wu Yu and responds with teasing warmth, though she warns him to avoid overly forward compliments. She is patient and forthcoming about the seasonal calamities, and offers practical help with the auction.
• Wu Yu remains cautious and business-minded: he gathers information, avoids expensive auction costs, and carefully selects what to keep or sell. His decision to use the spirit liquid also shows his willingness to endure pain for cultivation.
• The woman later becomes confused about why she visited Hidden Heaven Pavilion, wondering whether something went wrong while practicing the Spirit Invocation Technique. Her sudden memory lapse suggests an unexplained influence or problem.
• Wu Yu relies on the Twilight Witch, who cheerfully guards him while he cultivates.

Significant themes

• Survival and inequality: The Market District’s safety comes at a cost, leaving poorer or independent cultivators exposed to seasonal disasters.
• Caution and adaptation: Wu Yu adjusts to unfamiliar customs and chooses where to trade based on the local economy.
• Pain and cultivation: Advancement demands physical discomfort and discipline.
• Mystery and hidden influence: The Palace-Dressed Woman’s unexplained confusion hints at a deeper disturbance.

• Wu Yu’s swordsmanship advances: Using a drop of Swordheart Spirit Liquid, Wu Yu makes a dramatic leap in the Nine-Infant Profound Light Sword, reaching beginner level at 53/100 and successfully producing lethal Profound Radiance Sword Qi. He is delighted by the liquid’s potency and hopes it will eventually help him perfect the art and grasp sword intent. The Twilight Witch admires his imposing new bearing, but warns him that the change may attract notice; he restores his usual appearance with One Qi Becomes Three Pure Ones.
• A lucrative trade at Hidden Heaven Pavilion: Wu Yu presents a large and varied collection of goods to Shopkeeper Wang Juemie. Because some items are unusual and valuable—including ghost-cultivator techniques, the Nine-Cauldron Demon God Method, and a Netherworld Tree Seed—Wang brings in three veteran shopkeepers to appraise them. She offers 470,000 spirit stones for the ordinary items, then raises the total to one million to acquire the rarer treasures as well. Wu Yu accepts, since he has little time to seek better buyers.
• Wu Yu buys a prized pill: He also purchases a bottle of ten Golden Radiance Yellow Dragon Pills, using the promised 20% first-purchase discount. The high-grade pills can increase maximum spirit power and blood qi, and may grant the power of the Yellow Dragon—possibly completing a missing piece of the Four Sacred Beasts in Wu Yu’s True Martial Arcane Treasury. The transaction leaves him pleased with Wang, whom he lightly flatters; she blushes and playfully reproaches him.
• Plans for departure: After shopping on Commercial Street, Wu Yu encounters Liu Zheng, Liu Yu, Bai Xiaotian, Chen Lingling, Yu Tiezhu, and Wang Yan at the inn near the Evacuation Point. Liu Zheng has bought what he needs but intends to gather more information before returning; Wu Yu says he will leave soon. Their conversation shows Liu Zheng relying on Yu Tiezhu and Wang Yan to do much of the investigative work.
• Closing uncertainty: Back in his room, Wu Yu wonders whether he can trust everything Wang told him and decides to investigate the next day. He then sleeps and reappears in the Cloudborne Immortal Palace, entering the Moon Palace.
  Character and thematic notes: Wu Yu grows more confident as both swordsman and trader, but remains cautious beneath his cheerful demeanor. The Twilight Witch’s affectionate teasing and practical warning show her closeness to him. The chapter emphasizes the rapid rewards of cultivation, the value of information and rare goods, and the tension between lucrative opportunities and the need to leave soon.

Key plot points and events

• Wu Yu spends time with Fairy Chang Xi at the Lunar Immortal Palace, sharing recent events from the Immortal-Burial Daoist Temple and his encounter with Wang Juemie.
• Chang Xi helps him realize that Wang Juemie was the “ghost” in the temple’s first encounter—and is likely a ghost cultivator. The temple may have been shaped by her lingering obsession with betrayal and death.
• Wu Yu wakes in the inn and learns that Bai Xiaotian, Chen Lingling, and their companions are leaving. An early onset of winter, snow-demon attacks, and rising prices are making the Market District increasingly difficult to endure.
• After the group departs, Wu Yu visits a secretive shop called the Soul Pawnshop. Its unusual wares include cursed items, and he discovers a gold-quality transcendent consumable: the Bloodlust Qilin Pill, which can greatly increase his core attributes but inevitably carries a curse.

Character developments

• Wu Yu becomes more perceptive about Wang Juemie’s identity and the supernatural nature of the temple.
• Chang Xi appears increasingly comfortable and affectionate with Wu Yu, while still teasing him.
• Wu Yu acts independently after his companions leave, pursuing the hidden shop and the opportunity it offers.

Significant themes

• Obsession and transcendence: Wang Juemie’s powerful fixation may have become capable of shaping an entire world or illusion.
• Risk and reward: The Qilin Pill promises major gains, but its unavoidable curse makes the benefit dangerous.
• Hardship and scarcity: The approaching winter disrupts cultivation and drives up the cost of essentials.

Character interactions

• Chang Xi teases Wu Yu about his overly familiar touch, then listens as he recounts his adventures and guides him toward understanding Wang Juemie.
• Wu Yu flatters Chang Xi by calling her the strongest person he knows; she recognizes the flattery but enjoys it.
• Bai Xiaotian and the others inform Wu Yu of their departure and explain the worsening conditions.
• At the Soul Pawnshop, a curt attendant presents Wu Yu with its cursed inventory, leading him to the Qilin Pill.

Key plot points and events

• Wu Yu buys the Bloodlust Qilin Pill for 100,000 spirit stones, despite its poor value, because it is the only qilin-related item he can find. He suspects the pill may connect to his True Martial Arcane Treasury talent.
• At the mysterious Soul Pawnshop, an attendant offers valuable goods in exchange for Wu Yu’s lifespan, soul, or body. The Twilight Witch recognizes that the attendant is likely a vessel temporarily inhabited by a descending consciousness.
• Wu Yu considers selling an arm and using the Tower’s free recovery period to restore it, but decides the risk is not worth it.
• He notices Bai Xiaotian entering the pawnshop and guesses that Bai may be selling organs to advance his bodily-mutation path.
• At a market stall, Wu Yu overhears two cultivators plotting to rob him, apparently acting on information from Wang Xiong’s brother at the Hidden Heaven Pavilion. Wu Yu decides not to pursue them beyond the Market District, where the Evacuation Point offers safety.
• As the Winter Calamity worsens and frost spirit qi becomes dangerous, Wu Yu heads to the Evacuation Point. After its countdown, he is transported back to the Tower’s rest area.
• Back in the Tower, the group reappears. Bai looks severely depleted, Liu Yu’s supernatural dark circles have worsened, and Chen Lingling seems thoughtful. Liu Zheng angrily complains that the locals have treated them badly, while Yu Tiezhu and Wang Yan look embarrassed, suggesting they have suffered a serious setback.

Character developments and interactions

• Wu Yu remains cautious despite his ambition and resourcefulness. He considers exploiting the Tower’s recovery system but rejects the idea, and he handles the robbery threat pragmatically rather than chasing the conspirators.
• The Twilight Witch provides insight into the pawnshop’s unusual nature and jokes about Wu Yu retaliating against the would-be robbers.
• Bai Xiaotian’s visit to the pawnshop hints that he may be sacrificing parts of his body for his cultivation.
• The two would-be robbers reveal how Wu Yu’s visible wealth is attracting attention from opportunists.
• The returning group’s contrasting conditions suggest that their experiences in the market have varied sharply; Liu Zheng’s outburst and the embarrassment of Yu Tiezhu and Wang Yan point to trouble.

Significant themes

• The cost of power: The pawnshop’s offers make clear that cultivation may demand extreme sacrifices of body, soul, or lifespan.
• Caution amid ambition: Wu Yu is willing to consider unconventional advantages but ultimately avoids unnecessary danger.
• Human greed and distrust: The market is portrayed as perilous not only because of monsters and supernatural forces, but because people exploit one another.
• Survival through systems and preparation: The Evacuation Point and Tower’s rest period offer protection, but only to those who recognize and use them wisely.

Key plot points and events

• Liu Zheng returns from the Market District furious after being swindled out of nearly all his spirit stones while trying to buy an unusually promising spirit beast. Yu Tiezhu and Wang Yan explain that their earlier experience at the Immortal-Burial Daoist Temple led them to assume other locals could be trusted.
• The group returns to the Tower and settles its expedition results. Wu Yu earns a Legend rating for completing quests, defeating many kinds of monsters, killing a human fiend, and escaping the Annihilation Ghost Domain. His use of outside equipment barely affects his contribution.
• Wu Yu is pleased despite having hoped for more exploration: he gathered a million spirit stones and valuable cultivation resources, greatly improving his Qi Refinement Path.
• The group compares results. Liu Zheng receives a Low-B rating and wonders why his rewards are reduced by 60%; Liu Yu scores High-B after completing two hidden quests. No one recognizes the Annihilation Ghost Domain mentioned in the settlement notice. Wu Yu conceals his knowledge of “Wang Juemie” and gives the group a lower rating than his own.
• Wu Yu’s Legend reward offers six choices from eleven options, including two red rewards. He selects the red-grade Sky-Piercing Golden Spirit Pill and Enlightenment Tree Seed, and plans to take the sole gold reward, the Phoenixcry Spirit Jade Bracelet. He then considers the purple options, whose descriptions include a frost-compatible spirit liquid, a monster-transformation technique, and meat that causes demonic corruption.

Character developments and interactions

• Liu Zheng is embarrassed and angry about being scammed, but his subordinates help him save face by explaining how the Daoist Temple misled them. He later relaxes and takes pride in his Low-B rating.
• Wu Yu remains pragmatic and satisfied with his gains, while quietly withholding information about his true rating and Wang Juemie. His Legend result gives him access to exceptionally valuable rewards.
• Yu Tiezhu and Wang Yan defer to Liu Zheng as their superior, even when his decisions lead to trouble, then tactfully reassure him.
• Liu Yu jokes about Liu Zheng’s misfortune and later emerges as the group’s strongest scorer through his talent and hidden-quest completions.

Significant themes

• Trust and deception: The group’s trust in one community leads them to underestimate the Market District’s swindlers.
• Risk, reward, and judgment: Wu Yu values the expedition’s material gains over a higher rating, while reward choices require weighing power against danger.
• Hierarchy and face-saving: Liu Zheng’s subordinates protect his dignity rather than openly challenge him.
• Hidden knowledge and unequal recognition: Wu Yu keeps his true achievement and related knowledge to himself, creating a gap between what the group knows and what he has accomplished.

Key plot points and events

• Wu Yu reviews his rewards and finds the three purple options mostly unsuitable. He chooses 1.25 million Great Ruins Source Points, the Frost Spirit Liquid, and Weird Meat.
• He examines his new treasures: a gold-quality Phoenixcry Spirit Jade Bracelet that purifies spirit qi and boosts cultivation; a red Sky-Piercing Golden Spirit Pill that can improve or grant a gold spirit root and spirit body; and a red Enlightenment Tree Seed that could eventually provide valuable cultivation resources.
• Wu Yu plans to plant the seed at home, though he worries the Real World may not meet its demanding growing conditions. He also considers letting the Bronze Tripod consume the bracelet.
• After the group finishes claiming rewards, Yu Tiezhu offers Wu Yu a purple Pig-Blood Boiling Pill because he urgently needs spirit stones. Wu Yu buys it for three thousand.
• Wu Yu gives Bai Xiaotian the Weird Meat to repay an earlier debt. Bai Xiaotian immediately recognizes it as a delicacy.

Character developments and interactions

• Wu Yu shows practical judgment in selecting rewards, choosing resources he can use or trade and reserving the Weird Meat for Bai Xiaotian.
• He is delighted and shaken by the Golden Spirit Pill’s potential to improve or create spirit roots and spirit bodies.
• Yu Tiezhu’s hurried sale hints at financial pressure, though he does not explain it. Wu Yu responds generously, paying the requested price without pressing him.
• Bai Xiaotian’s bodily mutations make the otherwise useless Weird Meat especially suitable for him; he accepts it enthusiastically.
• Wu Yu reflects that Wang Juemie’s bracelet may have been chosen with his needs in mind, and wonders whether she will be angry when she realizes he has disappeared.

Significant themes

• Value depends on the person: Rewards useless to Wu Yu may be valuable to others, as shown by the Weird Meat and the traded pill.
• Cultivation and opportunity: The rare pill and tree seed offer major paths to future advancement, while environmental limits may threaten their usefulness.
• Generosity and obligation: Wu Yu repays Bai Xiaotian and helps Yu Tiezhu, underscoring how exchanges can reinforce relationships.

Key plot points and events

• Bai Xiaotian thanks Wu Yu for the valuable Transcendent Purple-Grade [Weird Meat] card and says his own business has been handled.
• Liu Zheng hints that he may be able to help through his influential father, the director of the Inspection Bureau. Bai Xiaotian answers politely but decides not to rely on him.
• The group pools 15,000 Great Ruins Source Points each to reveal their next destination: the [Five-Element Cultivation Realm], specifically [Four Directions City].
• Before returning, the group discovers that most magical artifacts bought at the [Immortal-Burial Daoist Temple] have vanished. They conclude the temple was the “Annihilation Ghost Domain” and that the Tower’s power removed those items, while rewards from the Demon-Hunting Stone and Hidden Shop remain.
• Wu Yu spends over 300,000 Source Points unlocking every enhancement in his new “Monster Hunter” skill tree. His three branches—Heavenly Eye, Demon-Slaying Golden Light, and Profound Spirit Aura—reach their ultimate upgrades, granting a combined 110% boost. He understands the first two abilities, but remains unsure how to activate Profound Spirit Aura.
• Wu Yu trades crow-drop cards for 20,000 spirit stones. The group then returns through the Ancient Gate.

Character developments and interactions

• Wu Yu stays composed and observant, reads the implications of Liu Zheng’s offer, and quietly invests heavily in his new abilities. He also identifies the likely meaning of the “Annihilation Ghost Domain” warning.
• Bai Xiaotian is pleased with Wu Yu’s gift and confirms his own affairs are settled. Though he responds courteously to Liu Zheng, he remains wary of accepting favors that might carry a price.
• Liu Zheng presents himself as pragmatic and politically connected, offering help without insisting. He also accepts the group’s pooled points and selects their next destination.
• Liu Yu keeps the group moving, organizes the payment for the next destination, and reasons that the Tower’s power caused the missing items.
• Wang Yan discovers his purchased artifacts are gone and anxiously proves he did not keep them.

Significant themes

• Trust and self-interest: The characters cooperate, but recognize that assistance—especially from Liu Zheng—may come with obligations.
• The Tower’s control and uncertainty: The loss of temple-bought artifacts reveals that the Tower can alter what travelers retain, leaving the group to infer its rules.
• Growth through risk and reward: Wu Yu converts his gains into major skill improvements, while the unresolved Profound Spirit Aura hints at abilities still beyond his understanding.
• Cooperation amid loss: Even after discovering their missing purchases, the group continues trading, sharing information, and planning their next journey.

Plot points and events

• After Liu Zheng, Bai Xiaotian, Chen Lingling, and Liu Yu leave, Wu Yu checks his cultivation panel. Advancing to the Seventh Heaven of Qi Refining would require enormous resources, so he decides to build his Spirit Power capacity by taking Cultivation Pills rather than upgrading facilities or buying techniques.
• Back in the real world, Wu Yu is exhausted by the constant danger and intensity of the Great Ruins World. He tells the Twilight Witch to rest, then falls asleep while the Bronze Tripod, [Heaven’s Return], absorbs the Phoenixcry Spirit Jade Bracelet.
• Wu Yu sleeps for thirty-seven hours. The Twilight Witch explains that she needs blood essence to remain in the real world, especially after using her Yellow Cloud cybernetic body. Wu Yu agrees to replenish her, and their exchange continues for several days.
• Wu Yu eventually emerges feeling drained, while the Twilight Witch is fully restored. His mother’s knowing comment about “proper precautions” embarrasses him. The chapter ends with Wu Yu complaining that he is “on his last legs” as he checks on the tripod.

Character developments and interactions

• Wu Yu remains focused on cultivation and resource efficiency, but also reveals how deeply the Great Ruins’ constant vigilance has worn him down. He is comfortable enough at home to sleep for an unusually long time, and he shows affectionate, teasing familiarity with the Twilight Witch.
• The Twilight Witch demonstrates care by arranging Wu Yu comfortably while he sleeps. She also playfully persuades him to replenish her blood essence, shifting from a pitiful appeal to open delight once he agrees.
• Chen Lingling asks Wu Yu to show her around during the Lantern Festival; he refuses, leaving her disappointed.
• Wu Yu’s parents visit while he is asleep. His mother later appears to infer more than Wu Yu intended from his prolonged “seclusion,” teasing him about precautions.

Significant themes

• The cost of cultivation: Wu Yu faces steep resource requirements as he approaches a higher realm and weighs the value of different upgrades.
• Rest and recovery: Home offers a rare refuge from the relentless danger of the Great Ruins World, though Wu Yu’s recovery comes with a cost.
• Dependence and care: The Twilight Witch needs Wu Yu’s blood essence to sustain herself in the real world, creating a bond marked by both affection and playful bargaining.

• Heaven’s Return: The Bronze Tripod absorbs the Phoenix Cry Bracelet’s abilities—passive recovery, emotion-devouring restoration, and spiritual-energy purification—but does not advance in grade. Wu Yu suspects it may need several objects to do so.
• Cultivation progress: Using the Life Circlet and an Ancient Realm Spirit Stone, Wu Yu finds that he can refine five strands of spirit power per Great Heavenly Circuit. He reflects on how essential cultivation resources are and resolves to make use of his plentiful supplies.
• Azure Dragon Phenomenon: On the Twilight Witch’s advice, Wu Yu tests his True Martial Arcane Treasury talent by swallowing a Golden Radiance Yellow Dragon Pill. Its power greatly boosts his blood qi and spirit power, and the talent forms an Azure Dragon Phenomenon inside his organs. Together with the Black Tortoise, Vermilion Bird, and White Tiger, it completes the four sacred beasts. Wu Yu senses that one more may unlock a hidden treasury. His spirit-power limit rises by roughly 3,000 strands, to about 25,300, and his physical strength increases substantially.
• The Enlightenment Tree Seed: Wu Yu sets aside the Bloodlust Qilin Pill because of its side effects and plants an Enlightenment Tree Seed in the garden. As he dismisses the need for expert help, the seed sends information directly into his mind.
  Character developments and interactions: Wu Yu’s fatigue and irritation give way to warmth toward the Twilight Witch, who remains attentive and offers sensible advice. He is excited by his new power and growing cultivation prospects. His parents tease him when he finally comes downstairs, but he and the Twilight Witch quickly head outside to plant the seed.
  Themes: Progress depends on resources and experimentation; powerful gains can come with risks; and cultivation objects may have surprising, even intelligent, properties.

Key plot points and events

• Wu Yu discovers that the Enlightenment Tree Seed can communicate its feelings. It rejects ordinary soil and spirit stones, expressing discomfort and displeasure.
• When Wu Yu gives up trying to satisfy it, the seed flies into his body, passes through his Three Purities Spirit Veins, and enters his Hundred-Thousand Mountains spirit realm.
• There it plants itself on a mountain and rapidly grows into a small Enlightenment Tea Tree, clearly content in its new environment. Its emergence also blasts the recovering Winged Mountain Lord several miles away.
• Wu Yu shows the Twilight Witch the tree through his account of what happened. She wishes she could enter the spirit realm and see it herself.
• Wu Yu examines his Dragon-Blood Paper and the powerful Bi Fang Talisman he previously drew on it. He decides to save the rare paper until he advances to a higher cultivation level, when he can create stronger talismans.
• He plans to experiment with special materials based on the Myriad Beasts Manifestation. Later, he visits the Tower Trading Spirit Net, but finds no bargains: experienced climbers have raised prices or hoarded goods, while newcomers are now more cautious.

Character developments and interactions

• Wu Yu learns that the seed is an unusually sentient spiritual treasure and finds a way to cultivate it without knowing what conditions it needs. He remains resourceful but cautious with rare materials, choosing to delay using the Dragon-Blood Paper until he is stronger.
• The Twilight Witch is curious and eager to experience the spirit realm firsthand. She jokes with Wu Yu about the value of seeing things for yourself; he responds affectionately, and their playful, close rapport continues.
• The Enlightenment Tree Seed behaves like a discerning, independent being: it rejects unsuitable offerings, chooses its own planting place, and thrives once it finds a fitting environment.
• The Winged Mountain Lord is caught off guard by the seed’s arrival and is hurled away by the resulting burst of power.

Significant themes

• Sentient treasures and unexpected agency: Powerful items may have desires and act independently rather than behaving like ordinary tools.
• Growth through cultivation and patience: Wu Yu postpones using precious materials until his cultivation improves, aiming for greater results.
• Experience versus knowledge: The Twilight Witch values firsthand experience over learning from books.
• Changing fortunes and competition: The trading network has become less exploitable as veteran climbers adapt and protect their advantages.

Plot points

• Wu Yu visits the Trading Spirit Realm and unexpectedly finds his classmate Chen Feng working in his father’s spirit-beast-material shop.
• He overhears that Chen Feng and his father are both Tower Climbers. Chen Feng’s father has become obsessed with Magnetic-Field Martial Arts and building muscle, even dismantling the family’s mechs and nearly their spaceship.
• Chen Feng pulls Wu Yu outside and asks him to keep their Tower-Climber status from his father, who might otherwise make him work at the shop.
• The two reveal that they are both Tower Climbers, but avoid probing into each other’s experiences.
• Wu Yu asks Chen Feng to watch for high-quality spiritual feathers. Chen Feng brings him a mixed collection of feathers, all blue quality or higher.
• While searching through them, Wu Yu discovers nine unusual red feathers, hot to the touch and surrounded by True Flame.

Character developments and interactions

• Wu Yu remains discreet and respectful of others’ privacy. He recognizes that he has no right to criticize Chen Feng for keeping secrets, since he has also concealed his own status.
• Chen Feng is shown as a playful, somewhat irresponsible rich kid who dislikes working in the shop, but he is also perceptive and careful about respecting Wu Yu’s boundaries.
• Chen Feng’s father is polite with customers but stern with his son. His Tower-climbing experience has sparked an intense interest in physical training and martial arts.
• The reunion is friendly and teasing: Chen Feng regrets losing the chance to show off, while Wu Yu jokes about his pursuit of women.

Significant themes

• Privacy and mutual respect: Both classmates accept that they need not disclose every detail of their Tower experiences.
• Opportunity and transformation: Becoming Tower Climbers can change people’s ambitions and behavior, as seen in Chen Feng’s father’s sudden fixation on strength.
• Discovery and potential: The nine flame-wreathed feathers hint at a valuable find and set up Wu Yu’s next step.

Key plot points and events

• Wu Yu visits Chen Feng’s newly opened shop, whose stock includes numerous spirit materials gathered through Chen Feng’s father’s Tower Climber connections. Wu Yu selects nine fiery feathers suited to Bi Fang and three exceptionally valuable, frost-covered gold-quality feathers.
• Chen Feng’s father offers the materials at cost, and Wu Yu buys them for 24,000 Great Ruins Source Points. The conversation also reveals how Tower Climber organizations trade across worlds and how companies can burden employees with debts and buy their finds cheaply.
• Chen Feng’s father urges the boys to focus on their studies and build useful connections, criticizing Chen Feng for failing to get close to Young Master An. Chen Feng says An repeatedly rejected his attempts.
• Wu Yu later receives his purchases, including cultivation resources such as blood-qi injections and mental-power potions. He decides to buy only what he needs rather than overpaying on the Spirit Net.
• Over eight days, Wu Yu consumes all ten Golden Radiance Yellow Dragon Pills. His blood qi increases by about 70 percent, and his spirit power rises to over 44,000 strands—close to the 50,000 needed for the Seven Heavens. The pills become progressively less effective.
• Wu Yu prepares to take the Sky-Piercing Golden Spirit Pill, which can improve a spirit root, but wonders whether his Sin Immortal curse will prevent him from developing one.

Character developments and interactions

• Wu Yu is practical and increasingly confident in his rapid cultivation progress, but remains cautious about spending. His next step could test whether his curse limits his potential.
• Chen Feng is familiar and comfortable with Wu Yu, while also feeling frustrated by his father’s pressure to cultivate social connections.
• Chen Feng’s father is generous toward Wu Yu, but stern and status-conscious, believing education and powerful relationships are essential.
• The Twilight Witch appears supportively, offering to help Wu Yu search for what he needs.

Significant themes

• Resourceful commerce across worlds: Tower Climbers exploit differences in what each world produces to trade and profit.
• Money, power, and social status: Companies can exploit their workers, while influential connections are treated as a route to future success.
• Measured ambition and steady cultivation: Wu Yu prefers purposeful purchases and disciplined progress over rushing.
• Potential versus limitation: His extraordinary growth contrasts with the uncertainty of whether the Sin Immortal curse will block his spiritual development.

Key plot points and events

• Wu Yu receives the red-grade Sky-Piercing Golden Spirit Pill, an extraordinarily potent pill whose sword qi is so fierce that its bottle was designed to contain it.
• When released, the pill unleashes sword qi that destroys much of the room and tries to fly away. Wu Yu and the Twilight Witch contain it, with his True Essence Hand shield protecting him.
• Wu Yu swallows the pill, confident that his powerful martial body and psionic organs can withstand it. Though his body suppresses its sword qi, he cannot initially digest the pill—even after activating his external Spirit Root Chip.
• He realizes the pill’s sword nature may be the key. He sends his Blackfeather Flying Sword into his stomach and practices the Nine-Infant Profound Light Sword. The pill’s sword qi gathers around the blade, calming down and dissolving.
• Wu Yu refines the released medicinal power. After half an hour, his spirit power transforms and opens another aperture in his Three Purities Spirit Veins: he reaches the Seven Heavens stage.

Character developments

• Wu Yu’s confidence in his unusual combination of cultivation, martial strength, and cybernetic enhancements is reinforced, though the pill exposes a limit his physical toughness alone cannot overcome.
• His resourcefulness proves decisive: rather than force the pill or rely on his Mythic Avatar, he connects its sword nature to his Sword Dao cultivation and finds a solution.
• The Twilight Witch remains attentive and protective, helping contain the pill’s sword qi and cautioning Wu Yu about the danger of refining it.

Significant themes

• Adaptation and ingenuity: Wu Yu succeeds by matching the pill to his Sword Dao practice, not by relying solely on brute strength or technology.
• The fusion of cultivation and technology: His external Spirit Root Chip, psionic organs, and martial body enable his cultivation, while also illustrating that technology cannot solve every obstacle.
• Power and risk: The pill’s tremendous potency makes it both a valuable breakthrough and a genuine physical hazard.
• Cultivation through integration: Wu Yu advances by combining his body, sword, and spiritual techniques.

Character interactions

• The Twilight Witch supports Wu Yu throughout, first shielding the room from the pill’s rampage and later questioning whether he should attempt to refine it.
• Wu Yu reassures her, dismisses the need to use his Mythic Avatar, and ultimately solves the problem through his own insight—while her vigilance underscores the danger of his experiment.

Key plot points and events

• While refining the Sky-Piercing Golden Spirit Pill, Wu Yu’s spirit veins and qi sea expand dramatically. His spirit-power capacity rises from just over 5,000 strands to more than 56,000.
• The pill’s intended gold spirit root cannot form because of Wu Yu’s curse. Instead, the remaining medicinal power strengthens his spirit body, creating the Dawnfall Sword Body—a transcendent, red-quality postnatal spirit body.
• Wu Yu tests its new abilities. His solar aura now carries sword qi, his presence can harm weaker monsters and evil spirits, and his skin is exceptionally tough: it takes transcendent blood qi and a transcendent gold weapon to cut him.
• His breakthrough leaves his room wrecked. He and the Twilight Witch clean up and replace the furniture, but Wu’s Mother misreads the damage and the Witch’s torn clothes as evidence of an intense sexual encounter. Wu Yu’s attempts to correct her only make the misunderstanding worse.
• A week later, Wu Yu attends an open lecture at the Higher Academy on the history of psionics and cybernetics. The prosthetic-armed lecturer leaves early, and the students begin chatting.

Character developments

• Wu Yu gains a major increase in cultivation capacity and a powerful new spirit body. He is pleased that the pill’s failed spirit-root effect was converted into a benefit, and he begins experimenting with his enhanced abilities.
• The Twilight Witch remains attentive to Wu Yu and helps with the cleanup, though she becomes embarrassed when Wu’s Mother misinterprets the situation.
• Wu’s Mother shows practical concern by bringing fresh bedding, but jumps to a comic, mistaken conclusion about what happened in Wu Yu’s room.

Significant themes

• Adaptation and unexpected gains: The curse prevents the pill from producing a spirit root, but its power is redirected into Wu Yu’s spirit body.
• Transformation and mastery: Wu Yu’s advancement is not just numerical; his existing abilities grow more versatile, and he actively tests their limits.
• Comedy through misunderstanding: The wrecked room and torn clothes lead Wu’s Mother to assume something very different from the truth.

Character interactions

• Wu Yu discusses his breakthrough with the Twilight Witch, who congratulates him and helps move debris.
• Wu’s Mother brings bedding, sees the destruction and the Witch’s clothes, and privately admonishes the Witch while Wu Yu is left confused and unable to explain.
• At the academy, Wu Yu listens to the lecturer before the class’s quiet atmosphere gives way to conversation.