Chapter Summaries

Lu Qing settled on a sea-bound spirit island, built a pavilion and formations, and began making the island his home. After White Crane Boy stocked its waters with spirit fish, Lu Qing prepared tea and furnished a place for them to sit.

• Lu Qing chose a flat-topped cliff overlooking spiritual fields and lakes as the site for his cave abode.
• Lu Qing set up Cloud Mist and Spirit-Gathering Formations and built a three-story pavilion with spaces for cultivation and crafting.
• Lu Qing surveyed the island and found little evidence of its former resident or human habitation.
• White Crane Boy returned with hundreds of spirit fish and released them into the island's rivers and lakes.
• Lu Qing planted his tea tree, made tables and chairs from nearby wood and vines, and used the formation's mist to prepare water for tea.

Lu Qing shared tea with White Crane Boy, who explained the competition paths into the Inner Academy and mentioned Spirit Prefecture and Myriad Dragon Lake. Under the full moon, Lu Qing underwent a Heart Inquiry, clarified his Dao, and advanced to the Purple Mansion Fourth Realm.

• Lu Qing brewed tea with White Crane Boy, who cooled its cup with ice and warned that entering the Inner Academy through the grand competition required at least the Eighth Realm of the Purple Mansion.
• White Crane Boy explained that the competition offered a chance to become a Direct Disciple, while reaching the Golden Core Realm provided another path into the Inner Academy.
• White Crane Boy mentioned the Corpse Dragon in Spirit Prefecture and regretted being too far away to visit Myriad Dragon Lake for its Lunar Fish.
• Lu Qing felt his Divine Soul stir beneath the moon and entered a Heart Inquiry, facing visions of possible futures along his cultivation path.
• Lu Qing recognized that he sought cultivation itself, brushed aside the illusions, and broke through to the Purple Mansion Fourth Realm.
• Lu Qing concluded that the Dao, rather than laws or Divine Abilities, was what mattered beyond the Purple Mansion Realm.

After breaking through to the Purple Mansion Middle Realm, Lu Qing understood that cultivation depended on beholding his own Dao Heart rather than studying the laws of heaven and earth. He stabilized his cultivation, then collected orders in Spirit Plant City to grow Purple Moon Fruits and Dragonheart Fruits on his island.

• Lu Qing reflected on his breakthrough and realized that his path toward the Nameless Return Ruins revealed his true Dao Heart.
• Lu Qing stabilized his cultivation over several days and surveyed the Spirit Fields on his island.
• Lu Qing rejected unsuitable commissioned tasks and rode to Spirit Plant City to collect several dozen Spirit Plant orders.
• Lu Qing chose Purple Moon Fruit and Dragonheart Fruit orders, reasoning that the fruits were valuable and that Dragonheart Fruit would be in demand while Lunar Fish grew more common.

Lu Qing planted Dragonheart Fruit and Purple Moon Fruit saplings on his island, improved its defenses, and named it Spirit Leaf Island. While testing a spell at the shore, he glimpsed how to borrow the momentum of nature in combat.

• Lu Qing planted the Dragonheart Fruit and Purple Moon Fruit in separate fields and used the Cloud Rain Technique to water them.
• Lu Qing planted White Crane Boy's feathers around the fields, sensing that they would ward off nearby birds and insects.
• Lu Qing improved the island's illusion formation and carved the name Spirit Leaf Island onto a stone stele.
• Lu Qing tested his palm spell at the shore, raising a massive wave that crashed into the sea.
• Lu Qing realized that he could borrow the momentum of waves and other forces of nature to fight.

Lu Qing cultivated the Profound Heaven Origin Scripture and prepared for the yearly external mission required of Purple Mansion disciples. After Chen Fan delivered Song Wen’s invitation to the Heroes' Gathering, Lu Qing accepted, but a divination sign warned of great misfortune.

• Lu Qing cultivated for seven days, refined his spiritual power, and used the Great Concealment Art to hide his Purple Mansion cultivation aura.
• Lu Qing considered the yearly external missions awaiting him and tended his growing Purple Moon Fruits and Dragonheart Fruits.
• Chen Fan arrived at Lu Qing’s island with an invitation from Song Wen to attend the Heroes' Gathering at Little Cloud Dojo.
• Lu Qing accepted the invitation and watched Chen Fan leave with the White Crane.
• Lu Qing returned to his island and saw a divination sign foretelling great misfortune.

Lu Qing read ominous divinations about Elder Song Wen’s Heroes’ Gathering and weighed whether to attend, while Chen Fan finished delivering the invitations and asked the artifact spirit how to improve his aptitude. White Crane Boy relayed gossip that revealed the gathering’s purpose, leaving Lu Qing with enough information to understand why it had been arranged.

• Lu Qing saw that competing for the Heroes’ Gathering’s top seat would bring disaster, while attending quietly might offer a small benefit.
• Chen Fan delivered the invitations and returned to his room, where he secretly took out a bronze fragment and asked its artifact spirit how to change his aptitude.
• The artifact spirit told Chen Fan it lacked the power to help him and faded into silence.
• Lu Qing continued cultivating while White Crane Boy shared recent gossip about the Heroes’ Gathering.
• Lu Qing learned the purpose behind the Heroes’ Gathering from White Crane Boy’s information.

Lu Qing learned that the Heroes' Gathering was meant to help two powerful Inner Academy elders choose disciples, then arrived at the Little Cloud Dojo and watched prominent Outer Academy figures make lavish entrances. The gathering had just begun, with Yue Jing arriving aboard the Yue Clan's resplendent ship.

• Lu Qing read White Crane Boy's information about the factional motives behind the Heroes' Gathering and decided he could not simply ignore it.
• Lu Qing thanked White Crane Boy and invited him for tea, but White Crane Boy had already left to fish in the White Sea.
• Lu Qing arrived at the Little Cloud Dojo and waited with the other disciples at the shore beneath its cloud-covered peaks.
• Lu Qing watched acclaimed disciples arrive with extravagant displays and overheard others identify the gloomy Senior Brother Lu.
• A Green Robe disciple identified the Yue Clan's arriving figure as Yue Jing and explained that the ship's Merfolk Pearls were valuable treasures.

Lu Qing arrived at the shore for the Heroes' Gathering and avoided a suspicious stranger before learning that most participants would attend by sending out their Divine Souls. He joined the others beneath a tree as they prepared to enter the Daoist Dojo.

• Lu Qing overheard that the Yue Clan had come and that a senior powerhouse might be taking disciples at the Heroes' Gathering.
• Wind and Clouds asked Lu Qing for directions and began introducing himself, but Lu Qing sensed trouble and left when the bells and drums announced the gathering.
• Wind and Clouds stayed behind, puzzled that Lu Qing had left before he could finish, and consulted his booklet on how to chat with others.
• Lu Qing followed Purple Mansion Realm cultivators to the mountain path and learned that participants had to send their Divine Souls out of their bodies to attend.
• Lu Qing spotted Gu Xuantian, Cheng Du, and Su Xinyue among the participants, then chose a place beneath a tree and prepared to connect to the Daoist Dojo.

Lu Qing entered Elder Song’s Little Cloud Dojo through his Divine Soul and attended a Heroes’ Gathering where two Inner Sect elders were seeking disciples. After Elder Song created four enormous battle arenas, Lu Qing watched from the sidelines, intending not to participate.

• Lu Qing projected his Divine Soul into Little Cloud Dojo and found that the jade tablet’s power strengthened his soul slightly.
• Lu Qing arrived at the plaza, tested a cloud couch, and discovered that it helped calm distracting thoughts.
• Song Wen welcomed the disciples and introduced the two Inner Sect elders, Sun and Li.
• Song Wen explained that the first-place contestants could become disciples of either elder and that anyone unwilling to fight could remain in the dojo.
• Song Wen transformed the plaza and raised four battle arenas, whose formations seemed to contain vast inner spaces.
• Lu Qing examined the arenas’ spatial formations and decided he had no intention of competing.

Lu Qing watched the arena battles at Little Cloud Dojo, studied the competitors’ techniques, and explored the surrounding peaks. Meanwhile, Elders Song Wen, Sun Qidao, and Li Luoyang observed the contests and discussed whether the disciples were worth taking as students.

• Lu Qing waited until noon, watched several arena matches, and learned about the competitors’ magic treasures, Gu insects, and combat skills.
• After observing all four arenas, Lu Qing left the crowds and explored Little Cloud Dojo, where he found a lake surrounded by Flying Luans.
• Lu Qing sensed that many Flying Luans had Purple Mansion or possibly Core Formation auras and wondered what realms lay beyond Core Formation.
• Song Wen, Sun Qidao, and Li Luoyang watched the arena battles through a chessboard display and discussed the contestants’ potential.
• Sun Qidao reflected that some disciples had already taken masters, recalling when their masters had been children, while the elders considered taking disciples themselves.

After wandering through the Dao Field’s four seasonal peaks, Lu Qing gained a small insight into the Dao of Time. When the Heroes’ Gathering ended, he was summoned to the main peak and became a Nominal Disciple under Li Luoyang.

• Song Wen urged Elder Sun and Li Luoyang to keep looking for disciples, and they explained that Nominal Disciples could visit the Inner Academy once a year to hear the Dao.
• Lu Qing crossed peaks representing winter, spring, summer, and autumn, and the changing seasons gave him an insight into time and strengthened his Divine Soul.
• After the Heroes’ Gathering ended, a paper White Crane summoned Lu Qing to the Daoist Dojo’s main peak.
• Elder Sun accepted several people as his Nominal Disciples, then Li Luoyang accepted those who remained, including Lu Qing.
• Lu Qing noted that the Heaven-Grade prodigies were absent and wondered what standards the elders had used to choose their disciples.

Li Luoyang lectured his seven Nominal Disciples on the Dao, and Lu Qing gained profound insights that transformed his cultivation and aptitude. The lecture left him at the Purple Mansion Sixth Realm after breaking through two realms in a row.

• Sun Qidao and Li Luoyang divided the new disciples between them, and Song Wen allowed them to use his Daoist dojo for their lectures.
• Li Luoyang explained the terms of nominal discipleship to his seven disciples, including Lu Qing, then told them to sit and listen to his lecture on the Dao.
• As Li Luoyang lectured, Lu Qing absorbed the Dao Rhyme and advanced the Profound Heaven Origin Scripture to its tenth layer.
• Lu Qing’s Purple Mansion cultivation rose from the Fourth Realm to the Fifth Realm, then broke through again to the Sixth Realm.
• Lu Qing realized the lecture had improved his comprehension, aptitude, and senses, bringing his aptitude to Earth-grade.

Lu Qing left the Daoist Dojo after receiving a private message from his master, then spent a month in seclusion on Spirit Leaf Island refining the Dao Transmission’s gains. He stabilized his Purple Mansion Sixth Realm and gained a clearer view of how divine abilities wielded laws.

• Lu Qing thanked Li Luoyang, recognized two Earth-grade Genius disciples among the others, and left for Spirit Leaf Island to avoid attention and social obligations.
• After Lu Qing departed, Wind and Clouds challenged Fu Wuding, prompting Lin Tiannan to react coldly as the other disciples awakened.
• Lu Qing returned to Spirit Leaf Island and entered closed-door cultivation, reviewing the eighth and ninth layers of the Profound Heaven Origin Scripture.
• One month later, Lu Qing had fully refined the Dao Transmission’s gains and stabilized his Purple Mansion Sixth Realm.
• Lu Qing contemplated his new insight into divine abilities and laws, realizing that cultivators could wield the same divine ability in many different ways.

After consolidating his realm, Lu Qing learned that trouble had followed the Heroes' Gathering, but he chose to stay on Spirit Leaf Island while the situation settled. White Crane Boy contacted him from the White Sea with news of an ice tide, and Lu Qing decided to take the junior Spirit Planter Master examination.

• Lu Qing read rumors that Lin Tiannan and two others had offended the Inner Sect disciple Senior Brother Feng and suffered setbacks.
• Lu Qing decided to remain on Spirit Leaf Island and avoid outside missions until the aftermath of the Heroes' Gathering passed.
• White Crane Boy contacted Lu Qing and said it would return from the White Sea with fish from the rising ice tide.
• Lu Qing tended his growing spirit trees and estimated that their fruit would ripen in about four months.
• Lu Qing received notice of Spirit Plant Academy examinations and decided to prepare for the junior Spirit Planter Master grade.

Lu Qing practiced on Spirit Leaf Island while a battle-hungry Inner Sect disciple named Wind and Clouds went to challenge Ning Shaohua over Heaven Cloud Blessed Land. As Lu Qing continued studying divine abilities and approached Core Formation, he wondered about the Inner Academy and the master he had recently acknowledged.

• Lu Qing practiced his Great Cloud Rain Technique over the sea around Spirit Leaf Island and received occasional messages from Senior Brother Qian.
• Wind and Clouds asked Senior Brother Qian about Heaven Cloud Blessed Land, learned Ning Shaohua wanted it, and immediately left to challenge him.
• Senior Brother Qian warned Lu Qing about Wind and Clouds, and Lu Qing was glad the commotion might draw attention away from the list of Nominal Disciples.
• Lu Qing reached the Purple Mansion Sixth Realm, sensed a fledgling outline of a divine ability, and read other disciples' comments about the difficulty of mastering divine abilities.

Lu Qing read warnings about the difficulty of cultivating divine powers and realized that acquiring one required contribution points earned through missions. When White Crane Boy returned with a White Sea Swordfish, Lu Qing grilled it, and they discussed the chance of finding a Sword Bone inside.

• Lu Qing read comments cautioning cultivators against pursuing divine powers before mastering ordinary techniques and learned that divine powers were exchanged for contribution points.
• Lu Qing calculated that he would need to complete at least hundreds of missions to afford a divine power and decided to stop reading while he waited for White Crane Boy.
• White Crane Boy returned with a nearly two-foot White Sea Swordfish, and Lu Qing caught it before it fell into the stream.
• Lu Qing prepared and grilled the fish beside a stream while White Crane Boy used Fireball Art to tend the fire.
• White Crane Boy explained that White Sea Swordfish sometimes contained a Sword Bone used in artifact refinement, but their fish had none.

Lu Qing learned about the Spirit Planter Master assessment from White Crane Boy and began preparing for it. After a notice on the intelligence jade slip warned disciples not to cram, Lu Qing flew to the mountaintop cliff.

• Lu Qing ate White Sea Swordfish and felt its spiritual energy nourish his cultivation.
• White Crane Boy congratulated Lu Qing on becoming a Nominal Disciple and hinted that his new master was a powerful elder.
• White Crane Boy explained that the Spirit Planter Master assessment consisted of a written test and an on-site assessment, each worth half the score.
• White Crane Boy admitted that he had failed the assessment after drawing Fish Fruit and trying to taste the fruit he grew.
• Lu Qing checked the intelligence jade slip for assessment materials, but the messages seeking them vanished and an integrity warning appeared.
• Lu Qing put away his jade slip and flew up to the flat cliff at the mountaintop.

Wind and Clouds defeated Ning Shaohua with one punch, while Elder Song studied the new nominal disciples and noticed Lu Qing’s rapid cultivation. Elder Song decided to visit the Spirit Plant Academy’s upcoming assessment.

• Wind and Clouds challenged Ning Shaohua for Heaven Cloud Blessed Land and defeated him with a single punch in the Four-Sided Arena.
• Elder Song watched Wind and Clouds and noticed the golden-dragon providence above him, but could not divine his future.
• Elder Song reviewed the nominal disciples’ records with the Spirit Crane and found Lu Qing’s cultivation speed remarkable.
• Elder Song saw that Lu Qing had chosen the Spirit Planter Master path and decided to attend the Spirit Plant Academy’s assessment.

Lu Qing prepared for the spirit plant master assessment by studying past tests and practicing support spells, including the Crimson Cloud Method. As the assessment date approached, he reflected on his cultivation, a possible divine ability, and his lingering formation bottleneck.

• Lu Qing created an Assessment Trial Plot and bought three records of past assessments from a Disciple Alliance merchant association.
• Lu Qing studied spirit plant spells and tested the Crimson Cloud Method, heating and drying the spirit field before restoring it with cloud rain.
• Lu Qing continued cultivating through the start of spring and sensed the embryonic form of a divine ability, but chose not to enter the mountains yet.
• Lu Qing acknowledged that his formation studies had reached a bottleneck despite improved efficiency in setting formations.
• Lu Qing took out his emerald-green token as the assessment date drew near.

Lu Qing recognized that his Formation Dao progress had reached a bottleneck and planned to attend a Formation Academy class after the upcoming assessment. Meanwhile, Wind and Clouds defeated a series of challengers in the Outer Academy, and Song Wen arrived at the Spirit Plant Academy to discuss the assessment beginning tomorrow.

• Lu Qing realized his improved foundations had exposed a bottleneck in his Formation Dao cultivation and decided to seek a theoretical lesson at the Formation Academy.
• Lu Qing planned to organize Spirit Planter Master knowledge into memory palaces before the assessment in three days.
• Disciples watched Wind and Clouds defeat challengers, including Liu Tianling, and discussed his plan to leave the mountain and challenge experts elsewhere.
• Song Wen arrived at the Spirit Plant Academy, where the dean and elders welcomed him, and an elder asked for his advice about the assessment beginning the next day.