Recaps

After Fat Dragon recruited Chen Qiu for his supposed Sky-Blasting Gang, the two transmigrators recognized each other and discussed the sham sect’s dangerous scheme. Chen Qiu left the bamboo forest knowing Fat Dragon had no real sect, money, or mountain gates, and recruited disciples to send into a deadly secret realm.

• Chen Qiu avoided the Sky-Blasting Gang’s recruitment until Fat Dragon chased him down and demanded to know whether he wanted to cultivate immortality.
• Fat Dragon snatched Chen Qiu’s braised pig’s head meat, then recognized Chen Qiu through shared Blue Star catchphrases.
• Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon introduced themselves and confirmed that they had both transmigrated from Blue Star.
• Fat Dragon admitted that the Sky-Blasting Gang consisted only of himself and that he had no money to pay the promised joining bonus.
• Fat Dragon explained that he sent new disciples into a highly lethal secret realm and planned to take any treasures they brought back.

Fat Dragon explained the cultivation world and helped Chen Qiu reach the First Level of the Qi Refining Realm, where Chen Qiu obtained the Rainbow Trait Rise at Every Step. The Heavenly Dao then announced a secret realm near Windward City that cultivators at the Sixth Level of the Qi Refining Realm and below could enter.

• Fat Dragon explained that people gained random Traits through cultivation breakthroughs and described how those Traits shaped their careers and prospects.
• Fat Dragon revealed his White Trait, Strength of Nine Oxen, and explained the dangers of using the city’s free service to obtain a first Trait.
• Fat Dragon gave Chen Qiu medicine and guided him as he looked inward and entered the First Level of the Qi Refining Realm.
• Chen Qiu obtained the Rainbow Trait Rise at Every Step, which granted a Trait for every minor cultivation level advanced.
• The Heavenly Dao announced that a secret realm had appeared in the bamboo forest three li east of Windward City and would admit cultivators at the Sixth Level of the Qi Refining Realm and below until sunset.

Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon entered the Slaughter-type Bean Stalk Small World to escape village thugs pursuing Chen Qiu. Inside, Chen Qiu planned to hunt demon beasts and break through to the Second Level of the Qi Refining Realm, hoping to gain a combat trait.

• The Heavenly Dao announced the Bean Stalk Small World, a Slaughter-type secret realm that allowed cultivators at the Sixth Level of the Qi Refining Realm or below to enter until dawn.
• Fat Dragon warned Chen Qiu that the realm was a deadly slaughterhouse and admitted he lacked offensive skills and equipment.
• A gang of village thugs arrived, led by a man who accused Chen Qiu of killing one of their members; the woman who had witnessed the earlier killing stood with them.
• Chen Qiu entered the secret realm to escape the approaching thugs, and Fat Dragon followed when the gang threatened him.
• The thugs refused to enter and decided to wait outside, expecting either the realm to kill Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon or the pair to emerge badly injured.
• Chen Qiu surveyed the secret realm and planned to kill demon beasts to reach the Second Level of the Qi Refining Realm and possibly gain a combat trait.

Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon entered a deadly Heavenly Dao Secret Realm, where Chen Qiu chose to hunt demon beasts in the south rather than rely on other cultivators’ restraint. After killing more than twenty wolves, Chen Qiu broke through to the Second Level of the Qi Refining Realm and faced a charging Wolf King with Fat Dragon.

• Fat Dragon explained the secret realm’s colored beams, its closing restrictions, and the shrinking boundary, warning Chen Qiu that the southern black beam marked a powerful vicious beast.
• When the entrance closed and the cultivators rushed toward the treasure beams, Chen Qiu led Fat Dragon south to hunt demon beasts instead.
• Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon fought hungry wolves in the forest, and Chen Qiu killed more than twenty First-Level wolves before breaking through to the Second Level of the Qi Refining Realm.
• Chen Qiu received three Trait choices, while Fat Dragon protested that reaching the Third Level in one day was unrealistic.
• A powerful beast charged toward them, and Fat Dragon resolved to face it while Chen Qiu prepared to fight the silver-white Wolf King.

Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon killed a Sixth Level of the Qi Refining Realm Wolf King, and Chen Qiu advanced to the Third Level and gained a new trait. The two rested after the battle, with Fat Dragon agreeing that they made a good team.

• Fat Dragon slowed and wounded the Wolf King with two talismans, then fought it alongside Chen Qiu.
• Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon wore down the Wolf King until Chen Qiu drove his blade into its neck and killed it.
• Chen Qiu absorbed the energy from the Wolf King's corpse, advanced to the Third Level of the Qi Refining Realm, and chose the Vengeful Spirit Summoning trait.
• Chen Qiu thanked Fat Dragon for helping him, and Fat Dragon said their coordination made them good teammates.

Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon reached the secret realm’s central plain, where Huang Shikai tried to claim all the treasures and have them killed. Chen Qiu refused to back down and summoned a pack of wolf Wraiths, leaving the clash about to begin.

• Fat Dragon explained the nine standard trait grades and the risks associated with special Gray Traits as the secret realm’s barrier closed in.
• Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon joined the survivors on the central plain, where a scarred man said the fighting should stop now that the beams of light had vanished.
• Three disguised subordinates attacked the other survivors, leaving Huang Shikai and his men facing Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon.
• Fat Dragon pleaded with Huang Shikai to let them leave, but Huang ordered his men to kill them.
• Chen Qiu told Fat Dragon to get up and summoned more than twenty wolf demons and a Wolf King.

Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon watched the Wolf King kill Huang Shikai’s three thugs, then discovered that Huang Shikai’s initial Trait made him impervious to attacks from behind or the sides. Huang Shikai threatened revenge after the Minor World closed, leaving Chen Qiu unable to harm him.

• Chen Qiu ordered the Wolf King and the other Wraiths to attack Huang Shikai’s three injured thugs, who were killed by the Wolf King.
• Huang Shikai activated his Iron Sand Palm technique and embedded himself in the ground as the Wolf King attacked.
• Chen Qiu struck Huang Shikai’s neck with his woodcutter’s blade, but the blow failed to injure him.
• Huang Shikai revealed his Yellow Trait, “No Attacks from Behind or the Sides,” and threatened to find and kill Chen Qiu after the Minor World closed.
• Fat Dragon reflected on how Traits could complement one another and lamented the difficulty of obtaining a complete set.

After Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon looted the fallen cultivators, Fat Dragon explained the fortune’s value and warned Chen Qiu that surviving mattered more than getting rich quickly. The two prepared to divide the spoils while Huang Shikai remained trapped and doomed.

• Chen Qiu collected the corpses’ storage pouches and sorted the manuals, techniques, spirit treasures, and silver they had found.
• Fat Dragon explained that Heavenly Dao Secret Realm techniques and manuals were exceptionally valuable, estimating the loot at sixty-three Spirit Stones.
• Chen Qiu calculated how many years of woodcutting the fortune represented and joked that killing people paid better.
• Huang Shikai pleaded for his life, but Fat Dragon dismissed him and warned Chen Qiu that most people who pursued sudden wealth died.
• Fat Dragon said he was the only survivor among the dozen people who entered with him, and Chen Qiu asked how they should split the spoils.

Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon escaped a mob waiting outside the Heavenly Dao Secret Realm and headed toward a cultivator market. Along the way, Fat Dragon explained Great Xia Kingdom’s strict official-road law and its unusually severe penalty.

• Chen Qiu learned that he could summon Wraiths of cultivators killed by his Wraiths, adding them to his available fighters.
• Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon emerged from the Minor World and found more than a hundred men waiting to rob them.
• The mob charged after its leader called for everyone to seize the secret realm’s treasures, but Chen Qiu used Earth-Escaping and Illusion Techniques to take Fat Dragon away underground.
• Fat Dragon led Chen Qiu along an official road toward a cultivator market and explained that Great Xia law forbade attacks on anything traveling on the road.
• Fat Dragon said violators faced extermination of their nine clans, then recounted how an emperor’s son once killed a rabbit on an official road.

Chen Qiu learned how Great Xia’s official roads protected travelers and considered how to pursue cultivation without exposing his hidden trait. He decided to found a Heavenly Dao-recognized sect and asked Fat Dragon what it would take.

• Fat Dragon explained that Great Xia had built protected official roads to attract talent and enforced the law harshly after a prince killed a rabbit.
• Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon traveled along a monitored, fortified official road and discussed why one stretch made an unexplained detour.
• Fat Dragon led Chen Qiu to a post station and ordered breakfast while describing how the stations served travelers.
• Chen Qiu ruled out joining a sect because its Spirit-Link Detection could reveal his trait, and considered founding his own faction instead.
• Chen Qiu asked Fat Dragon about the requirements for founding a sect recognized by the Heavenly Dao and eligible for the Great Xia Sect Rankings.

Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon postponed founding a sect after learning it would cost at least two hundred Spirit Stones, then traveled to a mountain market. Chen Qiu paid a bearded man to take him up the mountain in three breaths and arrived at Heaven-Question Market, while the man leaped into the abyss.

• Fat Dragon explained the requirements and costs of founding a sect, and Chen Qiu decided to postpone it.
• Chen Qiu examined his cultivation panel and discussed heart methods and cultivation with Fat Dragon.
• Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon kept useful loot, left the inn on a rented horse, and continued their journey.
• Fat Dragon brought Chen Qiu to a mountain market with several routes to the summit.
• Chen Qiu paid the bearded man two taels of silver, and the man carried him to the summit in less than a breath.
• The bearded man released Chen Qiu at Heaven-Question Market, then ran off the cliff and plunged into the abyss.

Chen Qiu learned about two brothers whose Bloodline Trait let them teleport to each other and considered recruiting them, but they turned him down. He entered Heaven-Question Market with Fat Dragon and encountered a scarred bald cultivator whose sign caught his attention.

• Fat Dragon explained that two blood brothers used their teleportation and fall-proof Traits to run a fast-route business at Heaven-Question Market.
• Chen Qiu offered the brothers three times their current daily earnings, but the older brother dismissed the offer and said they might meet again.
• Chen Qiu realized the brothers were publicizing their abilities to attract a powerful patron, though their fame could also make them targets.
• Fat Dragon guided Chen Qiu through the Immortal-Seeking Gate and explained that District Four was known as the Life-Buying District.
• Chen Qiu noticed the sign in front of a scarred bald cultivator and smiled.

Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon sold their spoils at Heaven-Question Market, where they learned the Huang Family was waiting to avenge Huang Shikai. Chen Qiu stayed inside the market and spent nearly all his spirit stones buying wounded demonic beasts, preparing to use them for cultivation.

• Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon sold their treasures and divided the proceeds, keeping a total of fifty spirit stones between them.
• The shopkeeper warned Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon that the Huang Family was waiting outside Heaven-Question Market to ambush the survivors of the Slaughter-Type Heavenly Dao Secret Realm.
• Chen Qiu told Fat Dragon to investigate the Huang Family's strength while he rented a room and bought adult demonic beasts.
• Chen Qiu spent thirty-two spirit stones on thirty-five wounded demonic beasts and drew Heaven-Slayer, ready to slaughter them.

While killing wounded demon beasts, Chen Qiu advanced through the Qi Refining Realm and gained the Pink Trait Dantian Expansion, which grew his future Dao Foundation with every kill. At the Sixth Level, he regretted missing the prerequisite trait for Sky-Piercing Giant but chose Overwhelming Spiritual Energy to amplify his expanding Dao Foundation’s spell power.

• Chen Qiu reached the Fourth Level of the Qi Refining Realm and chose the White Trait Man with a Missing Heaven.
• After more kills brought him to the Fifth Level, Chen Qiu selected the unique Pink Trait Dantian Expansion, which expanded his Dao Foundation for each demon beast he killed.
• Chen Qiu reached the Sixth Level and saw the Pink Trait Sky-Piercing Giant, but regretted that he had not chosen Seven-Foot Man earlier to unlock it.
• Chen Qiu chose the White Trait Overwhelming Spiritual Energy, which increased spell power as his Dao Foundation grew beyond one hundred li.

After reaching the Seventh Level of the Qi Refining Realm, Chen Qiu gained a new trait and underwent a physical transformation. Fat Dragon arrived with urgent news but was stunned to learn how quickly Chen Qiu had advanced.

• Chen Qiu broke through to the Seventh Level of the Qi Refining Realm and washed away the black sludge expelled from his body.
• Chen Qiu chose the Self-Destruct Trait from the three traits offered by his panel.
• Chen Qiu found he had no clean clothes among his supplies and waited for Fat Dragon to arrive.
• Fat Dragon lent Chen Qiu a set of clothes, then recognized the signs of his breakthrough and was shocked by his rapid cultivation.

Fat Dragon told Chen Qiu that the Huang Family’s revenge plot was a cover for a crisis surrounding a Heavenly Dao Trait in Windward City, where several factions were gathering. Their conversation was interrupted by a woman from the Capital City opera troupe, whom Fat Dragon revealed he knew from a previous arrangement.

• Chen Qiu explained that he had spent nearly all his spirit stones because the Huang Family had blocked the city gates.
• Fat Dragon described how the Huang Family planned to use Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon to eliminate aging thugs, then kill them and conceal its interest in a Heavenly Dao Trait.
• Fat Dragon said other factions, including the Flower-Offering Sect, had learned of the Trait and that a major battle might soon break out in Windward City.
• Chen Qiu questioned how Fat Dragon obtained his intelligence and learned that Fat Dragon had spent all fifteen of his spirit stones buying information.
• A red-veiled woman entered with two brawny men and greeted Fat Dragon, who identified her as the courtesan from the opera troupe.
• Chen Qiu learned that the woman’s courtesan story was a ploy to sell herself at a higher price and that Fat Dragon had helped invent the rumor.

Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon learned that the Flower-Offering Sect’s Walking Celestial Maiden had come to warn them that Windward City would soon face a deadly conflict. Fat Dragon explained how his captivity shaped his ambitions, then admitted he was still afraid of dying.

• The Walking Celestial Maiden revealed that Fat Dragon had been captured by the Flower-Offering Sect and used as a supplement for three months.
• She warned Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon to flee Windward City before a battle between several factions endangered the city and Heaven-Question Market.
• Before leaving, she told Fat Dragon she wanted to experience his self-created technique, Nine Dragons Chasing the Sun, again.
• Chen Qiu realized Fat Dragon’s weakness came from his captivity rather than his cultivation level, and Fat Dragon explained that he invented techniques to keep the sect from draining him dry.
• Fat Dragon vowed to take revenge on the Flower-Offering Sect and explained that his name reminded him he would one day rise to power.
• Fat Dragon admitted he chose a less grand name because he feared being killed, and asked Chen Qiu whether he was afraid of dying too.

Chen Qiu learned why factions coveted the Huang Family’s Heavenly Dao Trait and decided to return to Windward City to compete for it despite Fat Dragon’s warnings. The chapter left them at Heaven-Question Market’s gate, where Chen Qiu promised he had a way to win.

• Fat Dragon explained that he had recruited disciples at Windward City’s east gate when he unexpectedly spotted the girl and used Chen Qiu as cover.
• Fat Dragon told Chen Qiu that Heavenly Dao Traits could be inherited, making them valuable to small lineages but risky to acquire because some carried severe drawbacks.
• Chen Qiu learned that the girl was at the first layer of Foundation Establishment and that several Foundation Establishment cultivators might pursue the Trait.
• Chen Qiu sold demon beast remains to the innkeeper for two Spirit Stones, then headed out of Heaven-Question Market with Fat Dragon.
• Fat Dragon tried to dissuade Chen Qiu from returning to Windward City, but Chen Qiu said he wanted the thousand Spirit Stones and promised to help avenge Fat Dragon against the Flower-Offering Sect.

Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon faced the Huang Family’s ambush outside Heaven-Question Market, where Chen Qiu used Huang Shikai’s Wraith as a shield and slaughtered the attackers. The chapter ended with Chen Qiu looting the fallen and paying the gate guards to clean up.

• Fat Dragon agreed to gamble on Chen Qiu’s plan, and the two left Heaven-Question Market.
• The Huang Family’s Seventh Elder and armed thugs surrounded Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon, accusing them of killing Huang Shikai.
• Chen Qiu revealed Huang Shikai’s Wraith, then charged at the Huang Family while using the Wraith’s defensive Trait to block attacks.
• Chen Qiu killed the Huang Family thugs and defeated the Seventh Elder before Fat Dragon could join the fight.
• Chen Qiu searched the bodies for storage bags and paid the gate guards tea money to clean up.

Chen Qiu took Huang Shikai’s Wraith to a remote hunting ground so he could make use of its ability before it disappeared. Scholar transported Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon there in three breaths, and they arrived at the chasm inhabited by Human-Faced Spiders.

• Chen Qiu hurried away from Heaven-Question Market with Huang Shikai’s Wraith, while Fat Dragon warned that witnesses could expose his ability to summon Wraiths.
• Chen Qiu asked Scholar to take him to an unclaimed place with territorial beasts no stronger than the Qi Refining Realm.
• Scholar described a chasm twenty li away where Human-Faced Spiders lived and agreed to transport Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon for one Spirit Stone.
• Scholar sent his flying sword ahead, then his bearded younger brother teleported Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon to a barren plain in less than a breath.
• Scholar told Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon that the Human-Faced Spiders’ stone cave lay at the bottom of the chasm, and Fat Dragon noticed Scholar could not stand normally.

Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon entered a monster-filled gorge to build their cultivation, while the Scholar considered whether Chen Qiu could help him. The Scholar revealed that he was once Great Xia’s finest sword cultivator, now poisoned and near death, and still searching for someone who would recruit him with a Heavenly Dao Treasure Jade.

• The Scholar sent Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon into the gorge, warning them to watch for danger as he and his younger brother left.
• Chen Qiu prepared to fight demonic beasts with Huang Shikai's Wraith, and Fat Dragon stood beside him with Dragon Slayer.
• The Scholar's younger brother urged him to follow Chen Qiu, but the Scholar rejected the idea because Chen Qiu was too weak and lacked influence.
• The Scholar recalled his rise as Great Xia's finest sword cultivator and how three Late Golden Core Realm experts had crippled him and left him with Bone-Eroding Poison.
• The Scholar explained that he sought a faction willing to give him a Heavenly Dao Treasure Jade so he could cure the poison and protect his younger brother, but none had agreed.

Scholar concealed his desperate circumstances from his younger brother while Chen Qiu fought through a gorge full of Human-Faced Spiders and reached the Eighth Level of the Qi Refining Realm. Chen Qiu learned of a Heavenly Dao Retrospection Talisman that could let him reclaim a discarded trait, but Fat Dragon warned that it was costly and limited.

• Scholar reassured his anxious younger brother that he had a plan, while hiding his poverty, his weakened condition, and the danger of revealing his teleportation range.
• Chen Qiu released his Wraiths to provoke the Human-Faced Spiders, then fought them with his saber while using Huang Shikai as a shield.
• Chen Qiu killed the last Human-Faced Spider and advanced to the Eighth Level of the Qi Refining Realm, receiving a choice among three White Traits.
• Chen Qiu lamented that he could choose only one trait and asked Fat Dragon whether anything could restore the traits he discarded.
• Fat Dragon explained that the Heavenly Dao Retrospection Talisman could recover a recently discarded trait, but it was expensive and could select only one trait at a time.

After choosing the trait Every Blade of Grass and Every Tree, Chen Qiu gained Spirit Stones and found a way to replace his wraiths. He recruited Scholar and his brother with an offer of wages, then said they had one problem to address.

• Chen Qiu selected Every Blade of Grass and Every Tree, which produced three Lower-Grade Spirit Stones when he broke through.
• Fat Dragon explained the prices and uses of Heavenly Dao Retrospection Talismans, and Chen Qiu noted that a lower-grade talisman cost fifty Spirit Stones.
• Chen Qiu's Huang Shikai wraith vanished and was replaced by nearly thirty Human-Faced Spider wraiths.
• The bearded brawny man returned Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon to the Scholar, who offered to send them back to Heaven-Question Market.
• Chen Qiu offered the Scholar three thousand Spirit Stones upfront and five hundred a month, with wages rising by five hundred each year; the Scholar accepted on behalf of himself and his brother.
• The Scholar introduced himself as Scholar and his brother as Ren, and Chen Qiu welcomed them before mentioning a problem.

Chen Qiu persuaded Scholar to lend him 100 Spirit Stones so he could regain access to his bonded storage ring and build up his funds. A Challenge-type Heavenly Dao Secret Realm was then announced near Windward City, and Chen Qiu learned it would open in five days as factions gathered to compete for its rewards.

• Chen Qiu claimed he was a fallen young master and asked Scholar and Fat Dragon to lend him 100 Spirit Stones, promising to repay them with 3,000 within seven days.
• After doubting Chen Qiu’s story, Scholar agreed to lend him the Spirit Stones because he was desperate for a chance to escape his situation.
• A Heavenly Dao Blessing announced that a Challenge-type secret realm would appear beside the stream west of Windward City and open in five days.
• Chen Qiu told Scholar that he had heard a Heavenly Dao Trait was about to appear in the Huang Family, while Scholar explained that the secret realm could contain other valuable treasures and that Traits were inherited through bloodlines.
• Scholar concluded that Windward City’s recent blessings were unusual and predicted that factions would flock to the secret realm; Chen Qiu accepted the storage pouch and asked to return to Heaven-Question Market.

Chen Qiu bought two Lower-Grade Heavenly Dao Retrospection Talismans in Heaven-Question Market and left with Scholar and the others. On the way out, they saw Zhao Yishi, a giant cultivator heading toward the Heavenly Dao Secret Realm, prompting Chen Qiu to consider his own Pink Trait and future strength.

• Fat Dragon bargained for the talismans at the Zhao Clan Merchant Association, but Chen Qiu paid the shopkeeper’s price and bought two.
• An elderly fortune-teller warned Chen Qiu of a bloody calamity, but Chen Qiu continued toward the cliff without stopping.
• Chen Qiu and his companions saw Zhao Yishi, a towering cultivator carrying a massive saber, walking through the clouds toward Heaven-Question Market.
• Scholar explained that Zhao Yishi’s Pink Trait, “Sky-Piercing Giant,” increased his height whenever he killed a demonic beast, but required compatible traits to become useful in battle.
• Chen Qiu reflected on his own unique Pink Trait and its compatible White Trait, then departed with Scholar and the others on Azure Edge.