Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Qiu, a transmigrator in Windward City, has spent thirty days struggling to survive by chopping extremely hard “Ironwood.” After learning to chop people instead on the thirtieth day, he finally earns enough money to rent a small room and buy a long-awaited meal of braised pig’s head, peanuts, and liquor.
• While passing through the city gate, Chen Qiu encounters a man recruiting disciples for the supposedly powerful “Sky-Blasting Gang,” promising new members a cash reward and a path to immortality.
• The recruiter, a fat and vulgar man, chases Chen Qiu down after noticing him. Chen Qiu initially assumes the man is a genuine immortal but quickly realizes that he is physically weak, crude, and suspiciously incompetent.
• The man snatches Chen Qiu’s braised pork and drinks his liquor. Chen Qiu becomes furious and quietly considers killing him, though the crowded city gate prevents him from acting.
• The two men exchange familiar phrases from their former world, Blue Star. Chen Qiu realizes that he and the recruiter are both transmigrators.
• The recruiter introduces himself as “Fat Dragon,” formerly a struggling startup-company owner. He admits that the Sky-Blasting Gang is entirely fabricated: he has no sect, no mountain gate, and no actual disciples.
• Fat Dragon’s recruitment plan is to send disciples into a highly lethal secret realm. If they survive, he promises them a reward, but he intends to seize their treasures if they refuse to hand them over.
• Chen Qiu points out the obvious flaws in Fat Dragon’s scheme, including why Fat Dragon does not enter the secret realm himself. Fat Dragon openly admits that he is afraid of dying.

2. Character Developments

Chen Qiu

Chen Qiu is practical, cautious, and focused primarily on survival rather than cultivating immortality. His difficult first month has made him resourceful and hardened. Although he appears respectful toward “immortals,” he quickly assesses Fat Dragon’s weakness and even considers killing him after his treasured food is stolen. His discovery that another person from Blue Star has transmigrated introduces the possibility of companionship and shared knowledge.

Fat Dragon

Fat Dragon is revealed to be a shameless, opportunistic fraud rather than a genuine sect elder. He invents an impressive identity and uses exaggerated promises to attract disciples, but his “sect” is merely a personal scam. Despite his dishonesty and greed, he is also comical, candid about his cowardice, and immediately treats Chen Qiu as a fellow transmigrator after recognizing their shared cultural references.

3. Significant Themes

• Survival in an unfamiliar world: Chen Qiu’s focus on food, shelter, money, and avoiding danger contrasts with the grand ideal of immortality.
• Appearance versus reality: The “Sky-Blasting Gang” sounds powerful, but it is only a one-man fabrication. Fat Dragon’s supposed status as an immortal elder is likewise misleading.
• Transmigration and shared identity: The discovery that both men came from Blue Star shifts the chapter from a solitary survival story toward a possible partnership between people who share the same origin.
• Satire of cultivation conventions: The chapter humorously undermines familiar xianxia tropes—sect recruitment, immortal elders, secret realms, and miraculous origins—by presenting them through Fat Dragon’s absurdly fraudulent business model.
• Greed and exploitation: Fat Dragon’s recruitment plan treats disciples as disposable adventurers whose deaths cost him nothing and whose treasures become his profit.

4. Character Interactions

• Fat Dragon aggressively pursues Chen Qiu after Chen ignores his recruitment pitch, while Chen responds with exaggerated respect and concealed suspicion.
• Their relationship becomes tense when Fat Dragon steals Chen Qiu’s prized meal and liquor, prompting Chen to contemplate violence.
• After they recognize shared Blue Star expressions, their hostility turns into familiarity. Fat Dragon embraces Chen as a “good brother” and invites him into the bamboo forest to talk privately.
• Chen interrogates Fat Dragon about the Sky-Blasting Gang’s legitimacy, funding, secret realm, mortality rate, and lack of a sect headquarters. Fat Dragon answers openly, revealing that his entire operation is a reckless scam.
• By the end of the chapter, Chen views Fat Dragon as both a potentially useful fellow transmigrator and an outrageous con artist.

Chapter Summary: “Rise at Every Step”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Fat Dragon explains to Chen Qiu that their new world is a fusion of cultivation fantasy and a game-like system. Everyone can cultivate, but their randomly assigned Traits influence their future paths.
• The world contains scheduled secret realms, rankings, regional announcements, and formal decrees for founding sects, cities, and nations. Criminals receive red names above their heads.
• Cultivators obtain their first Trait upon reaching the First Level of Qi Refining. Most first Traits are ordinary, non-combat abilities that determine a person’s occupation. More powerful Traits can be obtained after reaching Foundation Establishment and later major realms.
• Fat Dragon reveals his White Trait, “Strength of Nine Oxen,” whose effect is literally to “possess nine oxen.” Embarrassed by its limited usefulness, he explains that it motivated him to plan on founding a sect.
• He gives Chen Qiu a bottle of medicine and guides him through the process of looking inward to reach the First Level of Qi Refining. The medicine causes Chen Qiu to enter a trance in which he perceives the pathways within his body.
• Chen Qiu successfully breaks through and receives the extraordinary Rainbow Trait “Rise at Every Step.” It grants him one Trait for every minor cultivation breakthrough, with three options from which he can choose each time.
• Chen Qiu’s status panel confirms that he is now a First Level Qi Refining cultivator with no cultivation method, spirit beast, or faction.
• Immediately afterward, a Heavenly Dao Edict announces the appearance of a secret realm in the bamboo forest east of Windward City. It is open only to cultivators at or below the Sixth Level of Qi Refining and will close at sunset.

Character Developments

• Chen Qiu gains a basic understanding of the cultivation world and advances to the First Level of Qi Refining.
• He obtains a potentially enormous long-term advantage through “Rise at Every Step,” though he conceals its true power by describing it as a weak early-stage Trait.
• Despite being newly initiated, Chen Qiu remains physically unimpressive and possesses no formal cultivation technique, relying only on his worn woodcutter’s blade.
• Fat Dragon establishes himself as Chen Qiu’s guide and potential superior. He is knowledgeable about the world but insecure about his mediocre starting Trait and hopes to build a sect to improve his prospects.
• Fat Dragon also attempts to recruit Chen Qiu as a subordinate, offering him medicine and help in exchange for loyalty.

Significant Themes

• Survival through cultivation: Ordinary people must grow stronger because cultivators can easily kill the weak.
• Fate versus choice: Initial Traits are random and often determine a person’s occupation, but later Trait choices allow cultivators to redirect their future.
• Hidden potential: Traits that appear useless may become valuable later, while Chen Qiu’s seemingly unimpressive assessment conceals a rare and powerful ability.
• Game-like reality: System panels, rankings, announcements, timed secret realms, and Heavenly Dao notifications make the world function like both a game and a living cultivation society.
• Class and exploitation: The “free” city service can result in execution or lifelong forced labor, showing how supposedly helpful institutions can determine and restrict the lives of the poor.

Character Interactions

• Fat Dragon gives Chen Qiu an extensive explanation of the world and emphasizes the danger of remaining weak.
• Chen Qiu listens cautiously, questioning Fat Dragon’s claims internally but avoiding unnecessary confrontation.
• Fat Dragon reluctantly displays his own Trait, while Chen Qiu’s reaction unintentionally highlights how absurd and limited it is.
• Fat Dragon offers Chen Qiu medicine and asks him to recognize him as his boss. Chen Qiu accepts the medicine but does not clearly agree to the subordinate relationship.
• During Chen Qiu’s breakthrough, Fat Dragon instructs him to sit, calm his mind, and look inward, acting as his practical mentor.
• After Chen Qiu obtains his Trait, Fat Dragon asks whether it has combat potential. Chen Qiu deliberately withholds the truth, beginning to conceal his exceptional ability from his new companion.

Chapter Summary: Slaughter-Type Heavenly Dao Secret Realm

Key Plot Points and Events

• A mysterious voice announces the appearance of a Heavenly Dao Secret Realm, identified as the Bean Stalk Small World.
• The secret realm permits only cultivators at the Sixth Level of Qi Refining or below and is classified as a “Slaughter”-type realm. Up to one hundred cultivators may enter, and survivors can leave at dawn.
• Fat Dragon initially celebrates finding a Heavenly Dao Secret Realm, explaining that such realms usually follow fixed rules and are safer than artificially created secret realms. However, he becomes frightened after learning that this one is designed for slaughter, with an extremely high death rate.
• A group of village thugs arrives, led by a powerful man who accuses Chen Qiu of killing one of their members. They intend to avenge the dead thug.
• Rather than face the gang outside, Chen Qiu enters the secret realm, believing it offers at least a small chance of survival. Fat Dragon reluctantly follows because remaining outside would leave him at the gang’s mercy.
• The thugs refuse to enter. They plan to wait outside and kill Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon when they emerge—assuming the two survive and are badly wounded.
• Inside the realm, Chen Qiu surveys its varied terrain and decides to hunt demon beasts to improve his cultivation. His immediate goal is to reach the Second Level of Qi Refining, obtain a new trait, and hopefully gain a combat-oriented ability.

Character Developments

• Chen Qiu demonstrates calmness, adaptability, and decisiveness. Although he has only recently learned that secret realms exist, he quickly evaluates the situation and chooses the option with the greatest chance of survival.
• His experience with the falsely pregnant woman teaches him that appearances and pleas for sympathy can be deceptive. He now regards the incident as a lesson in being less trusting.
• Chen Qiu’s ambition becomes clearer: he intends to use the secret realm’s dangers as an opportunity to strengthen himself rather than merely hide.
• Fat Dragon is revealed to be timid and poorly equipped. Despite being at the Sixth Level of Qi Refining, he lacks cultivation techniques and spirit weapons, possessing only a few defensive talismans.
• Fat Dragon’s fear contrasts with Chen Qiu’s composure, but he ultimately proves loyal—or at least unwilling to abandon Chen Qiu—by entering the dangerous realm after him.
• The village thugs are characterized as cruel but cowardly. They bully others in ordinary circumstances yet refuse to risk their lives inside the Slaughter-Type Secret Realm.

Significant Themes

• Survival under pressure: Both men are forced into a deadly situation by enemies outside the realm, making the secret realm their least dangerous option.
• Strength versus equipment and experience: Cultivation level alone does not determine combat ability. Fat Dragon’s Sixth-Level cultivation is of limited use because he lacks techniques, weapons, and practical offensive methods.
• Mistrust and deception: The supposedly pregnant woman’s betrayal reinforces the danger of judging people by appearances.
• Opportunity within danger: Chen Qiu views the secret realm not only as a threat but also as a chance to gain power and acquire a combat trait.
• Cowardice versus courage: The thugs’ refusal to enter highlights the difference between their willingness to intimidate others and their unwillingness to face genuine mortal danger.

Character Interactions

• Fat Dragon explains the nature of Heavenly Dao Secret Realms and warns Chen Qiu about the dangers of the Slaughter-type classification.
• Chen Qiu teasingly questions why Fat Dragon is afraid despite being at the highest cultivation level permitted, prompting Fat Dragon to explain the limitations of his actual strength.
• The village thugs confront Chen Qiu over the death of their fellow member. Chen Qiu responds without argument, preparing his woodcutting blade and entering the secret realm.
• Fat Dragon initially tries to distance himself by claiming he does not know Chen Qiu, but when escape becomes impossible, he follows Chen Qiu into the realm.
• Outside, the thugs discuss the situation and choose revenge through ambush rather than entering the realm themselves.
• Once inside, Fat Dragon complains that Chen Qiu’s enemies will still be waiting outside, while Chen Qiu remains focused on exploring the minor world and improving his cultivation.

Chapter Summary: “A Surge in Cultivation, Officially Entering the Second Level of the Qi Refining Realm”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon remain immobilized inside the Heavenly Dao Secret Realm until the entrance closes, as required by a Heavenly Dao restriction.
• Fat Dragon explains the meaning of the secret realm’s colored beams:
  • Red: mental cultivation methods
  • Blue: cultivation techniques
  • Purple: spirit treasures
  • Black: the strongest vicious beast in the realm, rather than an opportunity
• The realm’s white barrier will gradually shrink, turning the trial into a deadly, battle-royale-like survival competition.
• Once one hundred cultivators enter and the entrance closes, everyone rushes toward the red, blue, and especially purple beams. More than forty cultivators head north toward the spirit treasures.
• Rather than compete directly for treasures and risk becoming targets, Chen Qiu chooses to go south, where the demon beasts are located. He intends to strengthen himself through combat.
• Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon fight numerous hungry wolves. Fat Dragon sustains several minor wounds, while Chen Qiu gradually develops practical combat experience and kills more than twenty First-Level Qi Refining beasts.
• After more than an hour of fighting, Chen Qiu finally breaks through from the First Level to the Second Level of the Qi Refining Realm.
• Because of his Trait “Rise at Every Step,” the breakthrough grants him another Trait selection:
  1. Seize the Initiative: Move freely inside a secret realm before its entrance closes.
  2. Alchemy Aptitude: Slightly increase pill-refining success.
  3. Delayed Foundation Establishment: Extend Qi Refining from nine to eleven levels and improve future Foundation Establishment quality and success.
• Before Chen Qiu can comfortably plan his next move, a powerful beast—apparently at least at the Sixth Level of Qi Refining—awakens and charges toward them.
• Fat Dragon realizes they cannot flee and volunteers to face the beast head-on while Chen Qiu attacks from the side. The chapter ends as they prepare to confront a powerful silver-furred Wolf King.

Character Developments

• Chen Qiu: Becomes more strategic and self-reliant. He rejects the safer-looking path of following the crowd and deliberately chooses combat to improve his strength. His fighting ability grows significantly as he adapts from clumsy movements to precise, efficient sword strikes. Despite reaching the Second Level, he remains dissatisfied and aims for an immediate further breakthrough.
• Fat Dragon: Demonstrates practical survival instincts and considerable knowledge of the secret realm. Although anxious and physically worn down, he remains loyal to Chen Qiu and is willing to protect him by taking the stronger enemy head-on. His humor and complaints conceal genuine concern and courage.
• Relationship between Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon: Their relationship develops from an uneasy, transactional encounter into a functional partnership. Chen Qiu acknowledges Fat Dragon as a valuable benefactor because of the information he provides, while Fat Dragon increasingly treats Chen Qiu as a trusted companion and “brother.”

Significant Themes

• Information as power: In a world with limited communication, Fat Dragon’s knowledge gives Chen Qiu an important advantage.
• Strategic survival versus greed: Most cultivators pursue visible treasures, while Chen Qiu avoids the main competition and focuses on building strength through monster hunting.
• Growth through danger: Chen Qiu’s breakthrough is achieved through repeated combat, emphasizing that strength comes from confronting risk rather than waiting passively.
• Fate and adaptation: The Traits system shapes cultivation and destiny, but characters must still adapt quickly to unexpected circumstances.
• Comradeship under pressure: The approaching Wolf King forces Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon to rely on one another, revealing trust beneath their initially antagonistic relationship.
• The harshness of cultivation: Even a successful breakthrough provides only temporary security; a stronger threat immediately appears, reinforcing the realm’s constant danger.

Important Character Interactions

• Fat Dragon educates Chen Qiu about the secret realm’s rules, colored opportunities, and shrinking boundary.
• Chen Qiu questions Fat Dragon about the black beam, prompting the explanation that it marks the realm’s strongest vicious beast.
• Fat Dragon urges Chen Qiu to follow the crowd and appear powerful, but Chen Qiu rejects dependence on others’ hesitation and chooses the southern forest.
• Fat Dragon doubts Chen Qiu can rapidly grow stronger, while Chen Qiu calmly insists that reaching the Third Level may be possible.
• After the powerful Wolf King appears, Fat Dragon accepts responsibility for the frontal assault and asks Chen Qiu to exploit an opening, establishing their combat roles for the coming battle.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• A Sixth Level Qi Refining Realm Wolf King attacks Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon after Chen Qiu has killed many wolf demons.
• Chen Qiu is terrified and nearly freezes, but Fat Dragon intervenes with two talismans:
  • One slows the Wolf King.
  • The other creates a spiritual blade that severely wounds it.
• Fat Dragon drives his sword into the Wolf King’s wound while Chen Qiu circles around it. Working together, they use a mobile siege strategy, repeatedly retreating from its attacks and exploiting its injuries.
• As the Wolf King weakens from blood loss, Chen Qiu delivers the finishing blow with his firewood-chopping blade, ultimately killing it.
• Both men collapse from exhaustion. Fat Dragon is astonished that he helped kill a powerful demon beast, while Chen Qiu discovers that he has suffered only minor injuries.
• The Wolf King’s death causes Chen Qiu to advance from the Second to the Third Level of Qi Refining. Because of his trait “Rise at Every Step,” he receives three new trait choices:
  1. God of Qi Refining: Lose the ability to achieve Foundation Establishment but gain 500 years of lifespan.
  2. Yama’s Personal Edict: Become absolutely immortal for one year, then die.
  3. Vengeful Spirit Summoning: Turn slain creatures into temporary combat wraiths.
• Chen Qiu rejects the first two options because of their extreme drawbacks and chooses Vengeful Spirit Summoning, gaining his first significant active combat ability.

Character Developments

• Chen Qiu: Although initially overwhelmed by fear, he overcomes it and contributes effectively to the battle. His advancement to the Third Level marks rapid growth, and his choice of a combat-oriented trait shows his need to compensate for his limited direct abilities.
• Fat Dragon: Demonstrates strong tactical ability and resourcefulness through his talismans and coordinated attacks. Afterward, he realizes that his combat strength is greater than he believed, though he is secretly upset about using his precious talismans. His insecurity and desire for acceptance are revealed through his history of being rejected by stronger transmigrators.
• Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon: Their partnership becomes more trusting. Chen Qiu openly thanks Fat Dragon, while Fat Dragon acknowledges that their teamwork is highly effective and that having Chen Qiu as a companion is valuable.

Significant Themes

• Cooperation over individual strength: The Wolf King is stronger physically, but coordinated tactics allow the two weaker cultivators to defeat it.
• Fear and courage: Chen Qiu’s terror emphasizes the danger of the world, while his decision to fight despite that fear demonstrates growing courage.
• The cost of power: Each trait offers major benefits paired with severe consequences, forcing Chen Qiu to weigh survival, longevity, and future advancement.
• Companionship and insecurity: Fat Dragon’s outward confidence hides his fear of rejection and feelings of inferiority. His bond with Chen Qiu offers him a more accepting and practical partnership.
• Growth through survival: The battle provides both characters with greater confidence, while Chen Qiu’s cultivation breakthrough and new ability mark a major step in his development.

Character Interactions

• Fat Dragon protects Chen Qiu with his talismans and creates the opening needed to wound the Wolf King.
• Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon coordinate their attacks, alternating between offense and retreat to exhaust the beast.
• After the battle, Chen Qiu expresses sincere gratitude, recognizing Fat Dragon’s contribution and the value of their alliance.
• Fat Dragon responds modestly, presenting their cooperation as mutually beneficial while internally appreciating that Chen Qiu does not look down on him.

Chapter Summary: “Wells and Rivers Keep to Their Own Waters”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Fat Dragon explains the nine standard trait grades, ranging from White to Rainbow, and introduces Gray Traits as unranked special traits with powerful effects but serious drawbacks.
• Chen Qiu reflects on the two Gray Traits he previously encountered: one grants an extremely long lifespan, while “Yama’s Personal Edict” gives dying cultivators a final year of unrestricted action.
• As the Minor World’s enclosing light begins to contract, Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon leave the forest and return to the central plain.
• Only nine participants remain from the original hundred, meaning eighty-nine people have died competing for the secret realm’s treasures.
• A scarred middle-aged man announces that, according to the rules, fighting must stop once the final light disappears, and everyone should keep whatever treasures they obtained.
• Three supposed participants suddenly betray and kill several others, revealing themselves as subordinates of Huang Shikai, a disguised “young master” who intends to seize every treasure.
• Huang Shikai orders Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon killed after Fat Dragon pretends to submit and asks to leave peacefully.
• Chen Qiu rejects retreat, declaring that they want the treasures and that Huang Shikai’s group cannot defeat them.
• He summons more than twenty wolf-demon Wraiths and a Sixth-Level Wolf King, dramatically shifting the balance of power.

Character Developments

• Chen Qiu: Remains calm and observant despite the mass deaths around him. His compassion and reflection on the dead reveal that he is not simply a battle maniac. However, he becomes decisive when threatened, choosing confrontation over submission and demonstrating the true strength of his Wraith-summoning ability.
• Fat Dragon: Shows his survival-oriented, shamelessly pragmatic nature by immediately kneeling and flattering Huang Shikai. His behavior contrasts with Chen Qiu’s confidence, though it also serves as a deliberate attempt to avoid unnecessary conflict.
• Huang Shikai: Reveals himself as calculating, arrogant, and ruthless. He disguises his subordinates among the crowd, uses surprise attacks, and prioritizes eliminating witnesses to protect his reputation. His confidence rises when he mistakes Fat Dragon’s submission for genuine weakness.
• The remaining cultivators: Initially view Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon with fear because of their apparent battle-maniac reputation. Their suspicion is justified by the pair’s ability to kill the secret realm’s strongest vicious beast.

Significant Themes

• Strength versus deception: The chapter contrasts brute force with strategy. Huang Shikai relies on disguises and surprise attacks, while Chen Qiu conceals overwhelming power until the decisive moment.
• Appearance and misjudgment: Fat Dragon’s cowardly performance causes Huang Shikai to underestimate them, while Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon’s bloodstained appearance makes others mistake them for reckless killers.
• Life and death in cultivation: The deaths of eighty-nine participants emphasize the brutal, disposable nature of treasure-hunting secret realms.
• Fate and moral ambiguity: Gray Traits may be blessings or curses depending on the person, reinforcing the uncertainty surrounding power and destiny.
• Trust and betrayal: The survivors agree to stop fighting, but Huang Shikai immediately violates the spirit of that agreement by having his disguised subordinates attack.

Character Interactions

• Fat Dragon provides Chen Qiu with information about traits and their grading system.
• The scarred middle-aged man attempts to establish a truce and remind everyone of the secret realm’s rules.
• Fat Dragon tries to appease Huang Shikai through exaggerated praise and submission.
• Huang Shikai interprets Fat Dragon’s behavior as proof of weakness and orders their deaths.
• Chen Qiu reassures Fat Dragon, rejects the attempt at intimidation, and counters Huang Shikai’s forces by summoning an army of wolf Wraiths, setting up the chapter’s impending battle.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon confront Huang Shikai and his three injured thugs after killing a pack of wolf demons, including a powerful Sixth Level Qi Refining Realm Wolf King.
• Chen Qiu reveals his new Trait: he can command the Wraiths of enemies he has killed. The translucent wolf Wraiths attack Huang Shikai’s weakened followers and kill all three.
• Huang Shikai faces the Wolf King alone and activates the Yellow Grade, Lower Class cultivation technique Iron Sand Palm. He embeds himself in the ground, becoming completely immune to attacks from behind and the sides.
• The Wolf King’s claws and jaws cannot injure him. Chen Qiu’s full-strength strike with his woodcutter’s blade also fails, leaving his weapon damaged and his arms numb.
• Huang Shikai boasts that his initial Yellow Trait, “No Attacks from Behind or the Sides,” makes him invulnerable to their current attacks. He threatens to find and kill Chen Qiu after the Minor World closes in half an hour.

Character Developments

• Chen Qiu demonstrates increasing strength and tactical confidence. His ability to summon and command Wraiths is revealed as a powerful, growth-oriented Trait that will presumably become stronger with his cultivation.
• Fat Dragon reacts with admiration and envy toward Chen Qiu’s Trait and Huang Shikai’s exceptional defensive Trait. His frustration deepens over his own seemingly poor initial Trait, Strength of Nine Oxen, and the uncertainty of obtaining compatible Traits later.
• Huang Shikai proves that he is more capable than the arrogant “young master” stereotype suggests. He relies on intelligence, cultivation techniques, and a highly advantageous Trait rather than brute force. His confidence becomes increasingly cruel as he threatens Chen Qiu.
• The Wolf King, formerly a dangerous enemy, becomes Chen Qiu’s controlled Wraith and serves as a weapon against Huang Shikai’s men.

Significant Themes

• Luck and aptitude: Initial Traits are permanent and represent a cultivator’s natural potential. Huang Shikai’s powerful Yellow Trait marks him as exceptionally fortunate, while Fat Dragon views his own Trait as a disadvantage.
• Trait synergy and randomness: Traits are not inherently useless; their value depends on combinations. However, acquiring compatible Traits is uncertain, making poor initial abilities especially dangerous.
• Strategy over raw power: Huang Shikai survives not through superior physical strength but through clever use of his defensive Trait and cultivation technique.
• Power and vulnerability: Even Chen Qiu’s newly enhanced forces and the Wolf King’s overwhelming physical strength cannot overcome an ability’s specific defensive conditions.
• Threats beyond the present battle: Huang Shikai’s promise of revenge establishes a future conflict, particularly if he escapes when the Minor World closes.

Character Interactions

• Fat Dragon excitedly questions Chen Qiu about his Wraith-summoning Trait, recognizing its potential as a late-game, growth-type ability.
• Chen Qiu remains calm and commanding, ordering the wolf Wraiths to attack while Fat Dragon observes and comments on his luck.
• Huang Shikai taunts Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon while protected by his Trait, emphasizing his intelligence and threatening future retaliation.
• Chen Qiu tests Huang Shikai’s defenses first through the Wolf King, then personally with a full-power sword strike, confirming that attacks from behind and the sides truly cannot harm him.

Chapter Summary: “Living Long Is the Real Skill.”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Qiu explains that random initial traits give ordinary people a chance to rise in the cultivation world, preventing the social hierarchy from becoming completely rigid.
• He reflects that Huang Shikai’s foolishly revealed trait exposed the secret behind his ability. Had Huang remained silent, Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon might not have discovered it before the Small World closed.
• While the Wolf King digs a grave for Huang Shikai, Chen Qiu searches the corpses and collects their storage pouches and belongings.
• The spoils include:
  • Three Yellow Grade, Lower Class cultivation manuals
  • One Yellow Grade, Middle Class cultivation manual
  • Three Yellow Grade, Lower Class techniques
  • Seven Yellow Grade, Lower Class spirit treasures
  • Nine storage pouches and loose silver
• Fat Dragon calculates that the valuable items are worth sixty-three Spirit Stones, an enormous fortune equivalent to about 6.3 million copper coins.
• He explains that Heavenly Dao Secret Realm techniques are especially valuable because they allow the user to begin at Major Accomplishment and cultivate toward Great Perfection several times faster than with ordinary techniques.
• Chen Qiu compares the fortune to his former income as a woodcutter, realizing that earning the same amount through chopping wood would take over eight hundred years.
• Huang Shikai begs for his life, but Fat Dragon dismisses him, and the Wolf King continues digging toward his death.
• Fat Dragon warns Chen Qiu not to become intoxicated by sudden wealth. He reveals that more than a dozen people entered the realm with him, including someone who reached Foundation Establishment, yet he is the only one still alive after five months.
• The chapter ends with Chen Qiu proposing that he and Fat Dragon divide the treasure, though the method of division remains undecided.

Character Developments

• Chen Qiu demonstrates increasing pragmatism and awareness of human nature. Although he trusts Fat Dragon, he subtly guards against the possibility that greed could turn them against each other.
• Chen Qiu also begins to recognize the enormous rewards of cultivation and violence compared with his former life as a woodcutter, joking that “chopping people” has a better cost-performance ratio than chopping wood.
• Fat Dragon is thrilled by their sudden wealth but quickly reveals his cautious, survival-focused philosophy. He values staying alive above rapid cultivation or temporary gains.
• Fat Dragon’s history shows that he may not be powerful, but his caution and ability to avoid danger have kept him alive when stronger cultivators perished.
• Huang Shikai is portrayed as arrogant yet cowardly. After boasting earlier, he panics when facing death and begs Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon for mercy.
• The Wolf King remains a dependable tool and companion, silently carrying out Chen Qiu’s orders by digging Huang Shikai’s grave.

Significant Themes

• Survival over power: The central lesson is that longevity is more important than fast cultivation. Fat Dragon emphasizes that the strongest person is not necessarily the one who survives.
• The danger of sudden wealth: Great gains can encourage recklessness and greed, making people overlook the risks that produced the fortune.
• Social mobility and opportunity: Random traits and Heavenly Dao Secret Realm rewards provide ordinary people with opportunities to overcome their original status.
• Human nature under pressure: Chen Qiu’s caution toward Fat Dragon and Huang Shikai’s desperate begging show how wealth and death reveal people’s true character.
• The cost of cultivation: The treasures are valuable precisely because countless cultivators risk—and often lose—their lives to obtain them.

Character Interactions

• Chen Qiu explains his view of cultivation and social opportunity while silently judging Huang Shikai’s foolishness.
• He and Fat Dragon cooperate in collecting the spoils, but Chen Qiu remains wary of their relationship being tested by the enormous fortune.
• Fat Dragon educates Chen Qiu about the value of Heavenly Dao Secret Realm techniques and warns him against becoming reckless.
• Huang Shikai interrupts their discussion to beg for mercy, but Fat Dragon responds coldly and refuses to take him seriously.
• The chapter closes with Chen Qiu inviting Fat Dragon to negotiate a fair division of the treasure, setting up a discussion that may test their trust.

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon negotiate how to divide the rewards from the Heavenly Dao Secret Realm. They settle on a seven-three split in Chen Qiu’s favor, with Fat Dragon accepting the arrangement because Chen Qiu’s strength and luck are rapidly improving.
• Huang Shikai is killed by the Wolf King before the secret realm closes. Chen Qiu discovers that any cultivators killed by his summoned Wraiths can also be converted into Wraiths under his control.
• This gives Chen Qiu a useful reserve of power: three Sixth-Level Qi Refining Wraiths and one Fifth-Level Wraith, providing him with an additional defensive trump card.
• At dawn, the secret realm’s exit reappears, and Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon return to the bamboo forest outside Windward City. However, more than a hundred violent cultivators are waiting to ambush anyone who emerges.
• Fat Dragon explains that secret-realm survivors usually hire escorts or rely on a powerful background to survive such ambushes. Neither of them has done so.
• A burly man who previously encountered Chen Qiu incites the crowd by claiming that the two must possess treasures from the secret realm. The surrounding cultivators descend into a chaotic battle, attacking one another in their desperation to seize the supposed loot.
• Chen Qiu uses the newly acquired Earth-Escaping Technique and Illusion Technique, both instantly reaching Major Accomplishment, to take Fat Dragon underground and escape unnoticed.
• Once safely on an official road, Fat Dragon explains that they can travel to a nearby cultivator market, a city-like settlement governed by the powerful Rogue Cultivator known as the Barefoot Immortal.
• The chapter ends with a discussion of Great Xia Kingdom’s strict law protecting official roads: no living creature may be attacked on them, and violators traditionally face extermination of their entire nine clans.

2. Character Developments

• Chen Qiu becomes increasingly powerful and pragmatic. He secures a permanent Wraith-based combat reserve and immediately applies his new techniques to escape danger rather than engaging in an unnecessary fight.
• He also demonstrates a growing sense of fairness and independence by wanting to settle his debt to Fat Dragon instead of remaining indebted.
• Fat Dragon shows loyalty and foresight by accepting a smaller share of the rewards and acknowledging that Chen Qiu may soon surpass him. He also reveals practical knowledge about secret realms, escort services, official roads, and cultivator markets.
• Their relationship develops into a cooperative partnership. Although Fat Dragon remains humorous and somewhat careless—having forgotten to arrange escorts—he and Chen Qiu increasingly rely on one another for survival.
• The unnamed burly leader is portrayed as opportunistic and cowardly: he provokes the crowd but avoids personally leading the attack.

3. Significant Themes

• Power, luck, and mutual dependence: Chen Qiu’s unusual trait and growing strength alter the balance between him and Fat Dragon, but both recognize the value of traveling together.
• Pragmatism over pride: Rather than fight a hundred opponents, Chen Qiu uses stealth and deception to escape efficiently.
• Greed and mob mentality: The ambushers are driven by rumors of treasure and rapidly lose all sense of reason, attacking friends and strangers alike.
• Law and social order: Great Xia’s official roads symbolize the importance of safe transportation, trade, and state authority.
• The tension between justice and excess: The severe punishment for violating road laws raises questions about whether preserving order justifies extreme collective punishment.
• World-building and institutional power: The secret realm, cultivator market, official-road system, and Great Xia’s legal authority reveal a society where cultivation, commerce, and government control are closely connected.

4. Character Interactions

• Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon calmly negotiate their reward division, strengthening their trust and partnership.
• Fat Dragon warns Chen Qiu about the dangers of secret-realm exits and explains how escorts or powerful affiliations normally provide protection.
• Their dry exchange about relying on “fate” highlights their lack of preparation while also reinforcing their shared humor.
• The ambush leader manipulates the surrounding crowd by shouting that the survivors possess treasures, triggering the violent confrontation.
• After escaping, Fat Dragon provides Chen Qiu with food and guidance about the road ahead, while Chen Qiu listens thoughtfully and reflects on the logic behind Great Xia’s road laws.
• Their final discussion about the extermination of nine clans introduces a moral and political question that remains unresolved at the chapter’s end.

Chapter Summary: Great Xia Sect Rankings

Key Plot Points and Events

• The history of Great Xia’s official roads is explained. During a chaotic era, Great Xia declared that anyone traveling on its roads would be protected, regardless of their status or race. After brutally enforcing this policy, surrounding nations and races came to respect the “Great Xia Official Road.”
• The policy attracted talented individuals from conquered or fallen nations, including foreigners and members of the Demon Race, many of whom later became officials in the Great Xia court.
• To preserve the authority of its laws, the emperor once expelled the Third Prince from the imperial clan and executed him by a thousand cuts for killing a rabbit. This established the later version of the law, replacing the punishment of exterminating nine generations with death by a thousand cuts.
• Five hundred years later, the official roads remain universally regarded as places of absolute safety. Their enormous network is protected by formation stones that monitor spiritual fluctuations, transmit images to nearby city lord manors, prevent damage, and activate defensive barriers against attacks below the Golden Core Realm.
• The formations can also cast the Windwalking Art over the roads, increasing travelers’ speed twentyfold when danger arises.
• Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon travel along the road and arrive at a government-supported post station. Fat Dragon eagerly orders a large meal, anticipating the wealth he will gain from selling their treasures.
• While resting, Chen Qiu considers his future. His special Rainbow Trait, “Rise at Every Step,” has convinced him that he should pursue cultivation, but he cannot safely join a sect because Spirit-Link Detection would expose his trait.
• Becoming a Rogue Cultivator would deprive him of the monthly Heavenly Dao Blessing associated with the Great Xia Sect Rankings. Chen Qiu therefore concludes that founding his own recognized sect may be his only viable path.
• The chapter ends with Chen Qiu asking Fat Dragon about the requirements for establishing a sect acknowledged by the Heavenly Dao and eligible for the Great Xia Sect Rankings and Sect Fortune Contest.

Character Developments

• Chen Qiu becomes more determined to pursue the cultivation path. He carefully evaluates the dangers of revealing his talent and begins planning an independent route rather than relying on an existing sect.
• He demonstrates growing strategic awareness, recognizing that his extraordinary trait must remain hidden and that creating a legitimate sect could provide both protection and access to Heavenly Dao benefits.
• Fat Dragon continues to serve as Chen Qiu’s source of practical knowledge about the world. He is relaxed and food-loving, but also excited about becoming wealthy through their upcoming trade.

Significant Themes

• Law as a tool of national power: Great Xia’s protection and harsh punishments transformed its official roads into symbols of authority, stability, and national prestige.
• Order amid chaos: The roads represent a structured and safe system in a dangerous world filled with conflicts between nations, races, and cultivators.
• Protection versus surveillance: The same formations that guarantee travelers’ safety also monitor all spiritual activity on the roads.
• Individual ambition and secrecy: Chen Qiu must conceal his unique talent while finding a way to advance, highlighting the risks of standing out in a world governed by powerful institutions.
• Founding one’s own path: Rather than joining an established faction or accepting the limitations of rogue cultivation, Chen Qiu begins considering the difficult but potentially rewarding option of building his own sect.

Character Interactions

• Chen Qiu listens to Fat Dragon’s explanation of Great Xia’s history and infrastructure, occasionally questioning details such as the official road’s unexplained detour.
• Fat Dragon provides information about the roads, post stations, government systems, sect entry examinations, and the disadvantages of rogue cultivation.
• At the post station, Fat Dragon focuses on ordering food and discussing his future profits, while Chen Qiu remains thoughtful and focused on his cultivation prospects.
• Their conversation shifts when Chen Qiu asks about founding a Heavenly Dao-recognized sect, marking the beginning of his plan to enter the Great Xia Sect Rankings independently.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon discuss the requirements and cost of founding a sect. Establishing even a second-generation sect would require roughly two hundred Spirit Stones, a mountain peak, and five disciples, so Chen Qiu decides to postpone the plan.
• Chen Qiu reviews his current status: he is at the Third Level of Qi Refining, possesses three entries—Rise at Every Step, Delayed Foundation Establishment, and Vengeful Spirit Summoning—and practices the Withered Wood Rejuvenation heart method.
• His Major Accomplishment Earth-Escaping and Illusion techniques, obtained through the Heavenly Dao secret manual, were crucial in helping him escape with Fat Dragon.
• Fat Dragon explains that killing demon beasts can quickly increase cultivation during the early Qi Refining stages, but it becomes impractical at higher realms. Ordinary cultivators must mainly rely on absorbing spiritual energy through a heart method.
• Chen Qiu discovers that his Heavenly Dao heart method allows him to advance from the Third to the Fourth Level of Qi Refining in about three days under normal conditions. Fat Dragon warns him that this speed is exceptional because most ordinary cultivators do not even have access to a heart method, much less one that begins at Major Accomplishment.
• Chen Qiu refuses to replace his existing heart method. He has only two free heart-method changes remaining, and he wants to save them for a significantly better technique.
• After eating at an inn, the pair rent a horse and continue traveling. Since Chen Qiu cannot ride, he sits behind Fat Dragon.
• They arrive at a mountain market called the Heaven-Question Market. Visitors may fly up, climb the mountain path, or pay a bearded man one tael of silver for a supposedly “three-breath” ascent.
• Chen Qiu pays for himself and Fat Dragon. The bearded man grabs Chen Qiu and transports him to the mountaintop almost instantly. Immediately afterward, the man runs to the cliff and jumps into the abyss, leaving Chen Qiu shocked and confused.

Character Developments

• Chen Qiu shows increasing awareness of the limitations of his resources. Although he is curious about founding a sect, he recognizes that he currently lacks the necessary Spirit Stones and infrastructure.
• He remains cautious and strategic, especially regarding his limited opportunities to change heart methods. Rather than pursuing a merely equal replacement, he plans to wait for a superior technique.
• Chen Qiu is also beginning to appreciate how unusual his advantages are, though he still underestimates the difficulty of cultivation.
• Fat Dragon continues to act as Chen Qiu’s guide to the cultivation world. He corrects Chen Qiu’s overly optimistic assumptions and explains the differences between ordinary cultivation and the privileges of powerful clans.
• The bearded mountain porter introduces an eccentric and mysterious figure whose ability to move people nearly instantaneously suggests unusual cultivation or a special technique.

Significant Themes

• Cultivation is difficult despite special advantages: Chen Qiu’s rapid progress is not normal but results from rare Heavenly Dao gifts.
• Resources and social status shape cultivation: Great lineages can provide injured demon beasts and powerful training conditions, giving their heirs enormous advantages over ordinary cultivators.
• Patience and long-term planning: Chen Qiu avoids wasting limited heart-method changes and postpones founding a sect until he can afford it.
• Humor and absurdity in the cultivation world: The “three breaths up the mountain” service appears ridiculous but proves astonishingly effective, ending with the porter casually leaping off the cliff.
• The unknown nature of the Heavenly Dao: Chen Qiu’s entries, techniques, and heart method grant him unusual abilities, but he still does not fully understand how they relate or how much potential they contain.

Character Interactions

• Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon discuss sect establishment, cultivation methods, demon-beast hunting, and the importance of heart methods, reinforcing Fat Dragon’s role as Chen Qiu’s instructor and companion.
• Fat Dragon gently challenges Chen Qiu’s misconception that immortal cultivation is easy, emphasizing how rare Chen Qiu’s opportunities are.
• At the mountain market, Chen Qiu interacts with the bearded porter, whose bizarre but effective transportation method creates the chapter’s final surprise.
• The chapter ends with Chen Qiu stranded at the mountaintop, confronted by the Heaven-Question Market and puzzled by the porter’s sudden leap into the abyss.

Chapter Summary: “Bloodline Traits Between Direct Relatives”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Qiu witnesses a bearded man repeatedly leaping off a cliff while carrying Fat Dragon, only to reappear safely beside his brother moments later.
• Fat Dragon explains that the two men are blood brothers who awakened a rare Bloodline Trait upon entering the Qi Refining Realm. As long as they are within one hundred kilometers of each other, either brother can instantly teleport to the other’s location.
• The bearded brother later awakened the blue Trait “Never Fall to Death,” allowing him to survive falls from any height without injury.
• The brothers use these abilities to operate a mountain-climbing “fast route” at Heaven-Question Market, charging one or two taels of silver per trip.
• Chen Qiu is astonished that such powerful abilities are being used for a modest transportation business. He considers their potential for long-distance transport, commercial expansion, and even covert military or assassination missions.
• Chen Qiu offers to pay the brothers three times their current daily earnings if they work for him. The seated brother dismisses the offer, revealing that other forces have already attempted to recruit them and implying that Chen Qiu’s resources are insufficient.
• Chen Qiu realizes the brothers are deliberately publicizing themselves to attract a powerful and trustworthy faction. However, he also recognizes that their fame makes them vulnerable to assassination by enemies who cannot recruit or control them.
• Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon enter Heaven-Question Market, a huge cultivation marketplace divided into eighteen districts and a central district.
• Fat Dragon introduces the first area as District Four, the Life-Buying District, originally created for assassination contracts but later expanded into various forms of underground cooperation and trade.
• Inside, Chen Qiu notices a scarred, intimidating bald cultivator sitting beside a sign. The chapter ends as Chen Qiu studies the sign and appears amused or intrigued by its contents.

Character Developments

• Chen Qiu: Demonstrates strategic insight and entrepreneurial thinking. He immediately recognizes the brothers’ enormous value and considers how their Traits could be exploited for transportation, commerce, espionage, and assassination. He also shows growing awareness of the dangers of fame and factional conflict.
• Fat Dragon: Acts as Chen Qiu’s guide to Heaven-Question Market, explaining its layout and history. His earlier excitement about the dangerous fast route adds a lighter, more carefree perspective.
• The Two Brothers: Are revealed to be highly capable, pragmatic, and politically savvy. They understand their worth and intentionally use their public business to attract stronger backers rather than accepting the first offer. Their confidence suggests they are not naïve about their abilities, though Chen Qiu believes they underestimate the danger of making themselves famous.
• The Bald Cultivator: Is introduced as a threatening and battle-hardened figure, though the sign before him creates a contrast that piques Chen Qiu’s interest.

Significant Themes

• The value and misuse of extraordinary abilities: The brothers possess nearly unbeatable Traits but use them for a relatively low-profit transportation service, prompting Chen Qiu to reflect on wasted potential.
• Strategic exploitation of talent: Powerful abilities can have commercial, military, and political uses far beyond their original application.
• Fame as a double-edged sword: Publicity can attract powerful allies and improve one’s bargaining position, but it can also invite envy, assassination, and hostile competition.
• Factional politics and self-positioning: The brothers deliberately make themselves desirable to powerful organizations so they can negotiate from a position of strength.
• The cultivation world’s combination of commerce and violence: Heaven-Question Market appears lively and respectable on the surface, yet it openly supports assassination contracts and other dangerous dealings beneath that appearance.

Important Character Interactions

• Fat Dragon explains the brothers’ Bloodline Trait and their transportation business to Chen Qiu.
• Chen Qiu attempts to recruit the seated brother with a lucrative offer, but the brother mocks the offer as inadequate and declines.
• The brother politely ends the conversation while suggesting that Chen Qiu may encounter them again.
• Chen Qiu privately evaluates the brothers’ motives and risks, concluding that their recruitment strategy is clever but dangerous.
• Fat Dragon guides Chen Qiu into Heaven-Question Market and explains the purpose of the Life-Buying District, setting up Chen Qiu’s encounter with the mysterious bald cultivator.

Chapter Summary: “Spirit Stones Are Meant to Be Spent”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon pass through a marketplace where desperate cultivators sell themselves for dangerous work. Fat Dragon explains that two spirit stones—an enormous sum to mortals but reasonable pay for a Sixth-Level Qi Refining cultivator—can attract people willing to risk their lives.
• In the Trading District, the pair sells the treasures and storage pouches obtained from the Heavenly Dao Secret Realm and from Huang Shikai. They receive fifty spirit stones, which they divide according to their agreement: Chen Qiu takes thirty-five, while Fat Dragon receives fifteen.
• Chen Qiu keeps one spiritual treasure, two Yellow Grade Lower-Class cultivation techniques, and one Yellow Grade Middle-Class mental art. He gives Fat Dragon another spiritual treasure and two cultivation techniques.
• The shopkeeper warns them that the Slaughter-Type Heavenly Dao Secret Realm has caused chaos. Of the hundred people who entered, only two survived—one of them a woodcutter and the other an unidentified person. Huang Shikai, the Huang Family’s young master, also died inside.
• The Huang Family is waiting outside Heaven-Question Market to ambush whoever obtained the secret realm’s treasures. The shopkeeper implies that Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon have already been identified as targets.
• Chen Qiu calmly accepts the Huang Family’s desire for revenge but remains determined to retaliate, reasoning that Huang Shikai had tried to kill him first.
• To prepare, Chen Qiu rents an inn room and orders a large number of injured adult demonic beasts. He sends Fat Dragon away to investigate the Huang Family’s forces while he makes his own preparations.
• Chen Qiu spends thirty-two spirit stones—nearly all his remaining wealth—on twenty-seven Red-Eyed Wolves, four Broken-Tail Monkeys, three Armored Crocodiles, and one Porcupine Boar. All are injured and range from the Fourth to the Eighth Level of Qi Refining.
• Alone in the room, Chen Qiu draws his newly acquired Yellow Grade Lower-Class spiritual treasure, the blade Heaven-Slayer. Though it cannot yet release its true power at his current cultivation level, it is still far superior to his old woodcutting knife.

Character Developments

• Chen Qiu is revealed to be calm, decisive, and highly pragmatic under pressure. Rather than fleeing blindly from the Huang Family, he uses his resources to construct a preparation strategy. His willingness to spend nearly all his spirit stones shows that he values time and immediate survival more than slow cultivation growth.
• He also displays a strong sense of resolve and retaliation. Although he understands the Huang Family’s grief, he refuses to accept blame passively because Huang Shikai attacked him first.
• Fat Dragon continues to serve as Chen Qiu’s source of intelligence. Despite his fear and timid nature, he is knowledgeable about the market and capable of gathering information. His anxiety about the ambush contrasts with Chen Qiu’s composure, but he trusts Chen Qiu enough to follow his instructions.

Significant Themes

• Wealth and survival: Spirit stones are not merely savings; they are tools that can buy information, weapons, allies, animals, and time. Chen Qiu’s actions embody the chapter’s title: wealth is valuable only when spent to solve immediate problems.
• Pragmatism versus caution: Fat Dragon worries about the danger outside the market, while Chen Qiu focuses on preparation and calculated action rather than panic.
• The unequal value of money: Two spirit stones represent years of income for an ordinary mortal family but only a moderate reward in the cultivation world, emphasizing the gap between mortal and cultivator society.
• Revenge and moral responsibility: The Huang Family’s pursuit is understandable from their perspective, yet Chen Qiu sees it as part of the dangerous logic of the cultivation world, where survival often requires answering violence with violence.
• Preparation over cultivation: Chen Qiu chooses practical strength and immediate options over investing all his wealth in techniques or mental arts, emphasizing the importance of time and adaptability.

Character Interactions

• Fat Dragon explains the market’s customs and economic realities to Chen Qiu, reinforcing his role as an informed guide and intelligence gatherer.
• Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon divide their gains according to their prior agreement, demonstrating mutual trust and cooperation.
• The shopkeeper provides a warning about the Huang Family’s ambush, likely while also observing whether Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon are the targets.
• Chen Qiu responds politely by rewarding the shopkeeper but does not allow the warning or the hostile men nearby to delay him.
• Chen Qiu reassures Fat Dragon that he understands the danger and assigns him the task of investigating the Huang Family’s strength.
• The chapter ends with Chen Qiu alone, preparing for the coming confrontation through the purchase of numerous demonic beasts and the use of his new blade.

Chapter Summary: “Pink Trait: Sky-Piercing Giant”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Qiu continues slaughtering severely wounded demon beasts trapped in a steel cage, using his blade to kill them efficiently and trigger rapid cultivation breakthroughs.
• Upon reaching the Fourth Level of Qi Refining, he chooses the White Trait Man with a Missing Heaven, which doubles his non-visual senses when he closes his eyes. He considers the trait especially powerful for someone blind, though he values its relatively minor side effects for himself.
• After killing more beasts, Chen Qiu reaches the Fifth Level of Qi Refining and receives three new traits:
  • Attacked from Both Sides, a harmful defensive trait.
  • Seven-Foot Man, which increases strength with height beyond a certain threshold.
  • An unknown, supposedly unique trait.
• He selects the unknown option and obtains the extremely powerful Pink Unique Trait, Dantian Expansion. Every demon beast he kills will expand his future Dao Foundation by one unit in width, height, and depth, with no limit.
• Chen Qiu realizes that this trait will become most valuable after Foundation Establishment, when spiritual energy is sealed inside the dantian. A massively expanded Dao Foundation would give him immense reserves of spiritual energy, potentially allowing him to cast spells continuously.
• He reaches the Sixth Level of Qi Refining and is offered another Pink Trait, Sky-Piercing Giant, which would increase his height for every demon beast killed. However, he regrets not choosing Seven-Foot Man earlier, since it might have allowed him to obtain this trait as part of a powerful body-cultivation combination.
• Despite this regret, he chooses the White Trait Overwhelming Spiritual Energy, which increases spell power once his Dao Foundation exceeds a certain size. Combined with Dantian Expansion, it could make him an overwhelmingly powerful “spell machine gun.”
• Chen Qiu resolves to survive and reach Foundation Establishment quickly so his late-game traits can begin displaying their full potential.

Character Development

• Chen Qiu becomes increasingly strategic and ambitious in selecting traits. He evaluates not only immediate usefulness but also how traits may combine in the future.
• His understanding of cultivation deepens, particularly regarding the importance of Dao Foundation size, spiritual-energy capacity, and spell power.
• He experiences regret after realizing that an earlier choice of Seven-Foot Man might have unlocked an even more powerful physical-growth path, but he prioritizes the safer long-term combination of Dantian Expansion and Overwhelming Spiritual Energy.
• His confidence grows as he recognizes that his trait combinations could eventually make him a dominant figure in the cultivation world, though he remains aware of the danger of dying before reaching Foundation Establishment.

Significant Themes

• Power through accumulation: The more demon beasts Chen Qiu kills, the more powerful his future cultivation foundation becomes.
• Long-term planning versus immediate gain: Chen Qiu must choose between spectacular but specialized traits and combinations that offer more reliable future growth.
• Regret and opportunity cost: The appearance of Sky-Piercing Giant makes him reconsider a previous decision, highlighting how every trait choice can affect his future path.
• Potential without limits: Dantian Expansion’s uncapped growth introduces the possibility of virtually limitless spiritual energy and extraordinary future strength.
• Survival and preparation: Although Chen Qiu has obtained powerful abilities, they are largely ineffective until Foundation Establishment, making survival his immediate priority.

Character Interactions

• The chapter contains little direct dialogue or interpersonal interaction. Chen Qiu’s main “interaction” is with the wounded demon beasts he executes and the mysterious cultivation-trait panels that appear within his body.
• His internal deliberation over the trait choices functions as the primary dramatic conflict, especially when he weighs Sky-Piercing Giant against Overwhelming Spiritual Energy.

Chapter Summary: “You Fucking Have Cheats?”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After killing the remaining demon beasts in the Minor World, Chen Qiu’s cultivation rapidly advances to the Seventh Level of the Qi Refining Realm, consuming 32 Spirit Stones in the process.
• He completes his breakthrough through a major bodily transformation, expelling black impurities from his body and gaining a dramatic increase in physical strength.
• Chen Qiu realizes that, with his enhanced body, he could likely defeat two cultivators at the Sixth Level of Qi Refining through physical strength alone.
• His mysterious trait panel appears and offers three random traits:
  1. Self-Destruct Trait: Sacrifice a trait to unleash a strike one major realm above his current cultivation.
  2. Unsettled Soul: Slightly enhances his senses when afraid.
  3. In Swarms: Grants potentially powerful mutations to extra organs.
• Chen Qiu selects the Self-Destruct Trait, considering it the most useful and potentially valuable as a future emergency ability.
• After the breakthrough, Chen Qiu discovers that he has no clean clothes, since all his supplies include food, Spirit Stones, silver, and storage pouches—but no spare clothing.
• Fat Dragon arrives urgently with news, but finds Chen Qiu standing naked and surrounded by demon beast corpses and discarded clothes covered in black sludge.
• Fat Dragon realizes Chen Qiu has reached the Seventh Level and reacts with shock, jealousy, and disbelief, since he himself has spent five months scheming and cheating to reach only the Sixth Level.

Character Developments

• Chen Qiu becomes substantially stronger, crossing the threshold between ordinary humans and true cultivators. His confidence and sense of security increase, especially after acquiring the Self-Destruct Trait.
• He remains practical and cautious: although curious about the limits of his new trait, he refuses to test it recklessly because some of his existing traits may be irreplaceable.
• Fat Dragon is portrayed as both resourceful and comically resentful. Despite using theft, deception, and every other available method to advance, he cannot understand how Chen Qiu progressed so quickly.
• Fat Dragon’s reaction establishes Chen Qiu as an apparent anomaly whose growth seems impossibly rapid, leading him to suspect that Chen Qiu possesses some kind of hidden advantage or “cheat.”

Significant Themes

• The cost and value of cultivation: The chapter emphasizes how quickly enormous wealth can disappear when used for advancement, contrasting the effort required to obtain Spirit Stones with the speed at which Chen Qiu spends them.
• Risk and opportunity: The dead cultivators from the Minor World illustrate how people willingly risk their lives for rare opportunities, even when they understand the danger.
• Transformation beyond mortality: Reaching the Seventh Level represents a major physical and existential milestone, separating Chen Qiu from ordinary mortals.
• Luck versus effort: Fat Dragon’s painstaking efforts contrast sharply with Chen Qiu’s seemingly effortless advancement, raising questions about hidden advantages, abnormal luck, and the nature of Chen Qiu’s trait system.
• Pragmatism and survival: Chen Qiu chooses the trait with the greatest long-term utility rather than the most immediately interesting one, reflecting his focus on future survival.

Character Interactions

• Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon’s relationship is marked by casual familiarity and comic contrast. Fat Dragon rushes in expecting to discuss urgent news, only to be interrupted because Chen Qiu is unclothed.
• Fat Dragon lends Chen Qiu a spare set of clothes, showing a practical willingness to help despite his later envy.
• Upon recognizing Chen Qiu’s breakthrough, Fat Dragon responds with outrage and disbelief, humorously questioning why Chen Qiu can advance so quickly when his own efforts have produced much slower results.

Chapter Summary: “Wasn’t She a Courtesan?”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Qiu reveals that he has spent nearly all of his spirit stones, leaving only three. Fat Dragon criticizes him for spending so decisively, but Chen Qiu explains that the Huang Family has blocked the city gates, making hesitation pointless.
• Fat Dragon shares intelligence about the Huang Family’s supposed revenge mission:
  • The Huang Family is a powerful faction from Windward City, led by a Sixth-Level Foundation Establishment cultivator.
  • Its Seventh Elder, an Eighth-Level Qi Refining cultivator, has brought several older, weaker family thugs to attack Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon.
  • The Huang Family secretly intends for Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon to kill these expendable thugs, allowing the family to eliminate them without appearing disloyal or cruel.
  • The Seventh Elder would then kill Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon and claim revenge.
• Fat Dragon reveals an even larger conspiracy. A rare Heavenly Dao Trait is about to appear in one of the Huang Family’s mines. The Huang Family came to the Heaven-Question Market under the pretense of revenge in order to avoid raising suspicion and to discover whether other factions know about the treasure.
• Several factions have already infiltrated Windward City. The opera troupe that entered the city the previous night was connected to the Flower-Offering Sect, and the famous “courtesan” among them was actually part of this operation.
• The sudden opening of a Heavenly Dao Secret Realm near Windward City was not coincidental; it was triggered by the Heavenly Dao Trait.
• Chen Qiu realizes that Windward City may soon become the site of a major conflict involving the Huang Family, the Heaven-Question Market, the Flower-Offering Sect, and other hidden forces.
• Before Chen Qiu can take advantage of the expected chaos to gain cultivation time, the door is kicked open. The disguised courtesan enters with two strong men and confronts Fat Dragon.

Character Developments

• Chen Qiu remains calm and practical. He accepts the loss of his spirit stones as necessary preparation and recognizes that the political chaos may provide him with time to cultivate. He also displays growing strategic awareness, immediately understanding that the Huang Family’s conflict is more complicated than it appears.
• Fat Dragon demonstrates impressive intelligence-gathering abilities. He has spent all fifteen of his spirit stones purchasing information, observing the Under-Heaven Pavilion, and combining rumors to reach an estimated eighty-percent accuracy. His actions mirror Chen Qiu’s own willingness to spend resources decisively when survival is at stake.
• The courtesan is revealed to be clever and manipulative rather than a genuine prostitute. Her public reputation—including the story that she rejected three spirit stones from a powerful Capital City figure—was fabricated to increase her value and create a believable cover for her affiliation with the Flower-Offering Sect.

Significant Themes

• Survival over sentiment: Both Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon spend their savings without hesitation because retaining resources is meaningless if they are trapped or killed.
• Political deception and hidden motives: The Huang Family’s public revenge mission conceals an internal purge and a strategic attempt to protect its mine’s secret.
• Information as power: Fat Dragon’s intelligence work proves as valuable as cultivation or combat, allowing the pair to understand the forces moving around them.
• Appearance versus reality: The “courtesan,” the revenge operation, and the supposedly accidental Heavenly Dao Secret Realm all conceal deeper truths.
• Approaching conflict: The chapter expands the story from a personal feud with the Huang Family into a broader struggle among multiple factions seeking the Heavenly Dao Trait.

Character Interactions

• Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon argue humorously over their spending habits, with each accusing the other of wasting spirit stones while using the same justification: there was no time to hesitate.
• Fat Dragon explains the Huang Family’s plans and the wider political situation, while Chen Qiu listens skeptically and questions how such detailed information was obtained.
• Their conversation is interrupted by the courtesan’s dramatic entrance. Fat Dragon recognizes her from a previous encounter, and Chen Qiu learns that she is not actually a courtesan.
• Fat Dragon admits that he helped create the false rumor about her rejecting three spirit stones, revealing a prior connection and suggesting that her arrival may be tied directly to the unfolding conflict.

Chapter Summary: “Self-Created Technique, Nine Dragons Chasing the Sun”

Key Plot Points and Events

• A woman from the Flower-Offering Sect arrives at Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon’s guest room, accompanied by two guards. She activates a soundproofing formation to ensure their conversation remains private.
• She reveals herself as the Flower-Offering Sect’s “Walking Celestial Maiden,” whose sect specializes in dual cultivation. She exposes Fat Dragon’s past: after discovering his unusual constitution and the Strength of Nine Oxen trait, the sect captured and used him as a cultivation supplement for three months.
• Fat Dragon admits that the woman personally favored and tormented him many times. To survive, he developed special techniques—including the infamous “Nine Dragons Chasing the Sun”—that made the sect’s cultivators want to keep using him without exhausting him completely.
• The woman clarifies that she has not come to recapture Fat Dragon. Instead, she warns him and Chen Qiu to leave Windward City immediately. Several factions are about to engage in a massive slaughter, and ordinary civilians—including those in Heaven-Question Market—will likely be caught in the conflict.
• Before leaving, she expresses interest in experiencing Fat Dragon’s self-created technique again and urges him to survive.
• After her departure, Chen Qiu realizes that Fat Dragon’s weakness when they first met was not normal for a Sixth Level Qi Refining cultivator; he had been severely weakened by the Flower-Offering Sect.
• Pressed about the technique, Fat Dragon explains that he invented numerous methods to avoid being drained and discarded by the sect. He vows that one day, when he gains power, he will take revenge on everyone who humiliated him.

Character Developments

• Fat Dragon: His comical and cowardly exterior is given a tragic and more complex foundation. He endured prolonged abuse and humiliation, yet used intelligence and creativity to survive. His chosen name reflects his ambition to become powerful despite currently living cautiously and fearfully.
• Chen Qiu: He learns the truth about Fat Dragon’s past and begins to view him with greater respect and sympathy. Rather than seeing him simply as weak or cowardly, Chen Qiu recognizes his endurance and determination.
• Walking Celestial Maiden: She is presented as both provocative and unexpectedly compassionate. Although she participated in Fat Dragon’s suffering, she acknowledges the favor he did for her and risks warning him about the coming conflict.

Significant Themes

• Survival versus dignity: Fat Dragon compromises and endures humiliation in order to stay alive, but he refuses to let those experiences define his ultimate fate.
• Hidden strength: Apparent weakness may conceal resilience, intelligence, and ambition. Fat Dragon survives not through brute force but through adaptability.
• Power and exploitation: The Flower-Offering Sect treats people as disposable resources, highlighting the cruelty and danger of the cultivation world.
• Ambition and revenge: Fat Dragon’s dream of becoming a “true hero” transforms his humiliation into motivation for future success.
• Fear and courage: Fat Dragon openly admits that he fears death, but his fear does not eliminate his aspirations. The chapter suggests that courage can mean continuing to struggle despite fear.

Character Interactions

• The Walking Celestial Maiden teases and embarrasses Fat Dragon while recounting their past, creating a mixture of comedy, tension, and discomfort.
• Chen Qiu acts as a calm observer, questioning both the woman and Fat Dragon in an attempt to understand the situation.
• Fat Dragon angrily defends his choices, explaining that his humiliating survival tactics were necessary under the circumstances.
• Chen Qiu’s final question about Fat Dragon’s name prompts a revealing exchange: Fat Dragon wants to appear modest enough not to attract danger, while still reminding himself that he is a dragon waiting to rise.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Fat Dragon explains why he was at Windward City’s east gate recruiting disciples when the opera troupe arrived. He had not known the dangerous young woman was part of the troupe and only recognized her after reaching the city.
• To avoid being noticed, Fat Dragon grabbed Chen Qiu at random and used him as a shield, which unexpectedly led to the two discovering that they were both transmigrators.
• Chen Qiu reflects that the woman—and indirectly the Huang Family—helped set him on the path toward discovering Traits, entering the Heavenly Dao Secret Realm, and gaining later opportunities. He briefly worries that killing the Huang Family’s young master might bring heavenly retribution.
• Fat Dragon explains Heavenly Dao Traits: rare special Traits that can be inherited by direct descendants. Because they strengthen an entire bloodline, powerful factions may fight and die to obtain them.
• The Great Xia Imperial House possesses eleven Heavenly Dao Traits, helping explain its long-lasting power and the large number of Xia descendants on the Prodigy Rankings.
• The Imperial House and other major lineages are unlikely to pursue the current Trait because Heavenly Dao Traits can also carry severe negative effects. The potential reward is enormous, but the risk is equally great—making it a dangerous gamble.
• Chen Qiu learns that the mysterious girl is only at the first layer of Foundation Establishment, but Fat Dragon insists she is still powerful enough to kill them easily.
• Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon leave Heaven-Question Market and begin returning to Windward City, despite Fat Dragon’s repeated warnings that many Foundation Establishment cultivators will be competing for the Trait.
• Chen Qiu argues that he must seize opportunities to grow stronger, especially after Fat Dragon’s humiliation by the Flower-Offering Sect. He believes obtaining the rumored thousand Spirit Stones could allow them to return and take revenge.
• The chapter ends with Chen Qiu confidently declaring that he has a plan and that they can win.

Character Developments

• Chen Qiu becomes increasingly resolute and ambitious. Rather than avoiding a dangerous conflict, he chooses to gamble his life for the chance to obtain the Heavenly Dao Trait and greatly improve his future prospects.
• His thoughts show that he is becoming more aware of cause and effect, recognizing the Huang Family and the young woman as indirect contributors to his rise while also questioning the morality and consequences of his own actions.
• Fat Dragon is revealed to be cautious and deeply afraid of the young woman, whom he believes can easily overpower them. Despite his fear, he continues accompanying Chen Qiu and voices practical concerns about the enormous gap between Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment.
• Fat Dragon’s desire for revenge against the Flower-Offering Sect remains an important motivation, even though he would normally avoid such a dangerous gamble.

Significant Themes

• Risk and opportunity: The central idea is that extraordinary fortune can only be obtained by taking extraordinary risks, though danger may also bring death.
• Inheritance and power: Heavenly Dao Traits demonstrate how power can accumulate across generations, allowing bloodlines and imperial families to become increasingly dominant.
• Gambling with consequences: The Trait is compared to a gamble: the reward may transform a family’s future, but a harmful Trait could ruin it.
• Survival and self-improvement: Chen Qiu believes remaining weak is itself a form of danger. In a violent cultivation world, refusing to take risks may leave him vulnerable to enslavement or death.
• Ambition versus caution: Chen Qiu’s boldness clashes with Fat Dragon’s pragmatism, highlighting two different responses to a dangerous world.

Character Interactions

• Chen Qiu questions Fat Dragon about his actions at Windward City, forcing Fat Dragon to explain how their first meeting occurred.
• Their conversation shifts from humorous embarrassment to serious discussion of Heavenly Dao Traits, family power, and the risks facing them.
• Fat Dragon repeatedly tries to dissuade Chen Qiu from returning to Windward City, emphasizing that Foundation Establishment cultivators could easily kill them.
• Chen Qiu counters with both practical and emotional arguments: gaining the reward could make them stronger and allow them to retaliate against the Flower-Offering Sect.
• Their relationship is defined by contrasting personalities—Fat Dragon provides fear and caution, while Chen Qiu supplies determination and confidence—yet Fat Dragon ultimately follows him into danger.

Chapter Summary: “Fight If You Can, Die If You Can’t”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Fat Dragon finally agrees to Chen Qiu’s high-risk plan, deciding that survival sometimes requires gambling everything rather than merely minimizing losses.
• As Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon leave Heaven-Question Market, the Huang Family ambushes them outside the gates.
• The Huang Family’s Seventh Elder, an Eighth-Level Qi Refining cultivator, accuses them of killing Huang Shikai and boldly provoking the family by walking openly without disguises.
• Fat Dragon assumes Chen Qiu intends to create chaos and escape using the Earth-Escaping and Illusion Techniques.
• Instead, Fat Dragon discovers that Chen Qiu has transformed Huang Shikai’s corpse into a Wraith and is using it as a defensive shield.
• Chen Qiu immediately launches a direct attack, grabbing Huang Shikai’s Wraith in one hand and wielding his Heaven-Slayer blade with the other.
• Huang Shikai’s Trait, No Attacks from Behind or the Sides, completely nullifies attacks from those directions. As a nearly weightless Wraith, he becomes an extremely effective shield.
• Chen Qiu effortlessly kills the surrounding Huang Family fighters, who are mostly at the Fifth and Sixth Levels of Qi Refining.
• He then defeats and dismembers the Seventh Elder, searches the bodies, and collects several storage bags.
• Afterward, Chen Qiu casually pays the market guards to clean up the corpses, leaving Fat Dragon stunned by the simplicity and brutality of the solution.

Character Developments

• Fat Dragon: Overcomes his instinctive caution and agrees to take a major gamble. His survival-oriented philosophy remains intact, but he recognizes that sometimes bold action is necessary. He is also shocked by Chen Qiu’s willingness to fight directly and his overwhelming combat ability.
• Chen Qiu: Reveals a much more ruthless and straightforward side. Rather than relying on deception or escape techniques, he chooses to confront the Huang Family head-on. His confidence, combat skill, practical cruelty, and opportunistic nature become clear as he uses Huang Shikai’s Wraith as a shield, kills the attackers, and loots their bodies.
• Huang Family’s Seventh Elder: Acts as the family’s representative and seeks revenge for Huang Shikai, but his confidence and numerical advantage prove meaningless against Chen Qiu’s superior cultivation and strategy.
• Huang Shikai: Though dead, his Wraith remains crucial to the battle. His former Trait, once limited in life, becomes extremely powerful after death and allows Chen Qiu to turn him into an “absolute-defense” weapon.

Significant Themes

• Risk versus survival: Fat Dragon’s reflections emphasize that survival depends less on potential profit than on limiting catastrophic losses, yet the chapter shows that survival may sometimes require an all-or-nothing gamble.
• Pragmatism and ruthlessness: Chen Qiu treats the confrontation as a practical problem rather than a moral one, using every available advantage—including an enemy’s corpse—to win.
• The value of Traits and adaptability: Huang Shikai’s Trait gains tremendous usefulness after his death, demonstrating that abilities can become powerful when applied in unexpected ways.
• Confidence backed by ability: Chen Qiu’s boldness is not empty arrogance; his superior cultivation, weapon, and tactical use of the Wraith allow him to defeat a larger group with ease.
• Violence as ordinary business: The bystanders and market guards show little surprise at the bloodshed, suggesting that ruthless conflict is an accepted part of this world’s social and commercial order.

Character Interactions

• Fat Dragon relies on Chen Qiu’s plan but misunderstands it, expecting an elaborate escape strategy.
• The Seventh Elder confronts Chen Qiu with threats and accusations, only to have Chen Qiu answer with immediate violence.
• Chen Qiu uses Huang Shikai’s Wraith both to provoke the Huang Family and to block their attacks, turning their grief and anger against them.
• After the battle, Fat Dragon’s disbelief contrasts with Chen Qiu’s casual attitude, highlighting the difference between Fat Dragon’s cautious nature and Chen Qiu’s direct, aggressive approach.
• Chen Qiu maintains a transactional relationship with the market guards, paying them “tea money” to dispose of the bodies as though the massacre were a routine inconvenience.

Chapter Summary: The World Is Vast; Anywhere Can Be Reached in Three Breaths

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Qiu immediately leaves Heaven-Question Market with Huang Shikai’s summoned Wraith, determined to use its remaining one-hour duration effectively.
• Fat Dragon warns that openly displaying the Wraith may reveal Chen Qiu’s ability to convert slain creatures into summons, potentially exposing his supposed “trump card.” Chen Qiu dismisses the concern, implying the Wraith is not meant to remain a secret.
• Chen Qiu reaches the market gate and is briefly shown to have tipped the guard commander. The commander appreciates the gesture and plans to spend his day off drinking and visiting Windward City with his fellow guards.
• The chapter explains Heaven-Question Market’s policies: fighting is forbidden inside the market, and visitors cannot remain overnight unless they have lodging. These rules protect the market from becoming a battlefield for vengeful factions while preserving its business interests.
• Chen Qiu seeks rapid transportation to an unclaimed area populated by dangerous but manageable beasts. He specifically requests a place where the strongest beast is no more powerful than the Qi Refining Realm.
• The scholar-like cultivator identifies a suitable location twenty li away: a deep chasm containing a cave inhabited by Human-Faced Spiders. These creatures live in packs, reproduce quickly, and violently avenge slain companions, but cannot reach Foundation Establishment or develop intelligence.
• For one Spirit Stone, the scholar agrees to transport Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon there and return after an hour.
• The scholar launches his flying sword, teleports to its destination, and has his bearded companion teleport Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon after him. The journey covers roughly twenty li in only three breaths.
• Chen Qiu realizes that the scholar’s technique likely uses the flying sword as an anchor for teleportation, making the scholar’s boast—“The world is vast; anywhere can be reached in three breaths”—quite literal.
• The group arrives at the barren wasteland above the chasm. The chapter ends with Fat Dragon noticing that the apparently powerful scholar has a physical disability affecting his legs.

Character Developments

• Chen Qiu: Demonstrates decisiveness, strategic thinking, and willingness to exploit Huang Shikai’s temporary usefulness. He is unconcerned about revealing his Wraith-summoning ability, suggesting confidence that it is not his only important advantage. His curiosity and analytical nature are evident as he deduces how the scholar’s teleportation technique works.
• Fat Dragon: Acts as Chen Qiu’s practical adviser by warning him about the risks of revealing his abilities. He is also visibly astonished by the scholar’s transportation method, emphasizing how extraordinary it is.
• The Scholar: Is revealed to possess an astonishing spatial-translocation technique involving his flying sword. Though he appears casual and physically impaired, he is highly capable, observant, and confident. His playful comments contrast with the immense power he displays.
• The Bearded Man: Functions as the scholar’s assistant or brother and demonstrates the ability to teleport others directly to the scholar’s location.
• The Guard Commander: Is portrayed as good-natured and generous, sharing Chen Qiu’s tip with his subordinates rather than keeping it for himself.

Significant Themes

• Practical use of limited resources: Chen Qiu treats Huang Shikai’s one-hour Wraith duration as a temporary asset that must be exploited efficiently.
• Hidden strength and misdirection: The scholar’s crippled appearance conceals extraordinary power, while Chen Qiu’s willingness to reveal one ability implies he may possess deeper secrets.
• Speed and mobility: The chapter emphasizes that powerful movement techniques can dramatically change the balance of power. The scholar’s teleportation makes immense distances seem insignificant.
• Law, commerce, and controlled violence: Heaven-Question Market’s rules reveal how institutions profit by regulating conflict rather than eliminating it entirely.
• Appearance versus reality: The scholar looks like an ordinary, physically limited young man, yet commands a technique capable of crossing twenty li in three breaths.

Important Character Interactions

• Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon: Fat Dragon cautions Chen Qiu about exposing his Wraith ability, while Chen Qiu brushes aside the warning and urges him to move quickly.
• Chen Qiu and the scholar: Chen Qiu negotiates directly and specifies exact requirements for his destination. The scholar responds teasingly but provides precisely the location Chen Qiu needs.
• The scholar and his bearded companion: Their coordinated teleportation suggests familiarity and teamwork, likely indicating a close relationship such as brothers or long-time partners.
• The guard commander and his subordinates: The commander shares Chen Qiu’s silver with the guards and invites them to celebrate together, establishing his approachable and generous personality.