Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: “Leaving! [Monthly Ticket Request!]”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan reaches the Innate Zenith and is fully capable of breaking through to Qi Refinement, but deliberately postpones the breakthrough.
• He plans to leave Golden Horn City and understands that departing as an Innate cultivator will attract less attention than leaving after advancing to Qi Refinement. Traveling through teleportation arrays will also be safer because weaker cultivators produce smaller teleportation fluctuations, reducing the risk of detection by demon beasts.
• After five years at the Golden Spear Talisman Workshop, Chen reflects on the place that served as his first home in Wu River Star. He then prepares to leave, packing his belongings and arranging his escape.
• Meanwhile, Huang Xuan gathers his entire family and announces that he has accidentally offended a powerful noble. Remaining in Golden Horn City could result in the family being imprisoned or killed, so they must leave immediately.
• The Huang family departs at dawn and travels through three teleportation arrays, eventually arriving in Wu-Slaying City, a satellite city near Ning City in southern Sea Province Continent.
• Chen Jichuan waits for them there and greets the family. He is nearly unrecognizable compared with the frail and broken Xu Ning they once knew.
• After settling into a residence purchased earlier by Chen and Huang Xuan, Huang Xuan, Huang Quan, and Chen meet privately.
• Chen explains that he escaped smoothly by using invisibility, avoiding the watchers sent by Duan Zhengming, and traveling through Zheng City and Celebration City before reaching Ning City.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan demonstrates patience, caution, and strategic judgment. Despite being ready to advance, he delays his breakthrough to avoid drawing attention and to make his departure safer.
• His five years of cultivation have transformed him physically and spiritually. He now possesses a refined appearance, powerful cultivation, and an imposing presence, making him almost impossible for Feng Heng to recognize as Xu Ning.
• Chen remains emotionally controlled. Although he feels nostalgic about the talisman workshop, years of cultivation have taught him to keep sentiment from interfering with his plans.
• Huang Xuan has become financially successful through the pill and magical-artifact businesses he established with Chen. Freed from dangerous demon-beast hunting, he can focus on cultivation and hopes to reach Qi Refinement.
• Huang Quan has advanced rapidly to the fourth layer of the Innate Realm and has become an intermediate talisman apprentice. He is portrayed as exceptionally talented and respectful toward Chen.
• The rest of the Huang family have benefited from the family’s growing wealth, though they are less gifted than Huang Quan.
• Feng Heng and the younger Huang family members are shocked and confused by Chen’s relationship with Huang Xuan and Huang Quan, as well as by Chen’s changed appearance and status.

Significant Themes

• Strategic patience: Chen’s refusal to rush his breakthrough shows that cultivation is not merely about power but also timing, concealment, and survival.
• Transformation and identity: Xu Ning’s former weakness contrasts sharply with Chen Jichuan’s current strength and dignity. His changed appearance symbolizes his rebirth and escape from his former life.
• The dangers of power and status: Offending a powerful noble can threaten an entire family, demonstrating the oppressive hierarchy of the cultivation world.
• Family and loyalty: Huang Xuan’s family prospers because of his alliance with Chen, while Chen repays their past kindness by arranging their escape and a new place to live.
• Freedom versus surveillance: Duan Zhengming’s continued monitoring emphasizes that Chen’s enemies remain a threat, making secrecy and careful movement essential.

Character Interactions

• Chen privately reflects on his connection to the Golden Spear Talisman Workshop before leaving it behind.
• Huang Xuan warns his family of the danger and orders them to prepare for an immediate evacuation, causing panic but demonstrating his authority and protectiveness.
• Upon arrival in Wu-Slaying City, Chen greets Huang Xuan, Feng Heng, Huang Quan, Huang Biao, Huang Jiao, Huang Dong, and Huang Liang.
• Huang Quan treats Chen with deep respect despite being slightly older, revealing Chen’s elevated status.
• Feng Heng fails to recognize Chen as Xu Ning, while Huang Xuan’s familiar behavior toward him leaves the younger family members bewildered.
• In private, Huang Xuan anxiously asks whether Chen escaped safely. Chen reassures him and describes how he evaded Duan Zhengming’s watchers, confirming that their relocation plan succeeded.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• After five years of concealing their movements, Chen Jichuan, Huang Xuan, Huang Quan, and the rest of their household successfully escape Golden Horn City. They use three consecutive mortal-level teleportation arrays to make tracking them extremely difficult.
• Chen Jichuan and Huang Xuan expect Duan Zhengming to discover their disappearance eventually, but believe that by then the trail will have gone cold. They warn Huang Xuan’s family not to return to Golden Horn City or reveal their origins.
• In Wu-Slaying City, the group plans to establish a new base. Huang Xuan will build connections through the local Academy, while Huang Quan and the younger children will focus on studying and cultivation.
• Chen Jichuan intends to use the surrounding wilderness and demonic beasts to practice formations in real combat, improving his ability to adapt and control them.
• Huang Xuan asks Chen Jichuan to take responsibility for teaching Huang Biao and the other younger children. Chen readily agrees.
• Chen Jichuan also offers to help Huang Xuan overcome his long-standing cultivation bottleneck. Three days later, Huang Xuan successfully breaks through from the Innate Zenith Realm into the Qi Refinement Realm.
• Six months later, the narrative returns to Golden Horn City, where Duan Zhengming reviews files on people he has manipulated. He comes across Xu Ning’s file and recalls both Xu Ning and Xiao Lan.
• Xiao Lan’s history is revealed: she was once a gifted student and Xu Ning’s former fiancée, later suffered a mysterious illness that crippled her cultivation, and was mocked and abandoned by many. She eventually recovered, broke through to the Innate Realm, entered the Advanced Academy, and rapidly reached the Innate Second Realm.
• Xiao Lan is now renowned for her alchemy talent, ranking among the “Three Geniuses of East River” alongside Huang Quan and Jia Ming, and has become the favored disciple of Deputy Academy Head Chen Jue.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Remains cautious and strategically minded, prioritizing concealment and long-term planning. He assumes a mentor and protector role toward the Huang family, agrees to teach the younger generation, and demonstrates his ability to help Huang Xuan break through.
• Huang Xuan: Moves from years of restraint and anxiety to optimism about their new freedom in Wu-Slaying City. His successful breakthrough greatly strengthens his position and future influence.
• Huang Quan: Continues to regard Chen Jichuan as a teacher and despises Duan Zhengming for persecuting Chen. He is eager to see Duan’s reaction to their escape.
• Duan Zhengming: Is portrayed as cruel and psychologically sadistic, taking pleasure in manipulating and emotionally destroying ambitious people rather than simply killing them. He still keeps records of his former targets and remains interested in Xu Ning’s fate.
• Xiao Lan: Emerges as a resilient and exceptionally talented figure. Despite losing nearly all her cultivation and being ridiculed, she recovers dramatically and becomes a prominent student, alchemist, and disciple of a powerful academy leader.
• Huang Biao and the other younger children: Are placed under Chen Jichuan’s direct guidance, marking the beginning of their formal development under his mentorship.

Significant Themes

• Patience and long-term strategy: The escape succeeds because Chen Jichuan and the others endure years of concealment and act only when their preparations are complete.
• Freedom versus constraint: Leaving Golden Horn City allows the group to act openly, expand their ambitions, and pursue cultivation without constant fear of the Yuanchen Merchant Guild or Duan Zhengming.
• Mentorship and legacy: Chen Jichuan’s influence expands from Huang Quan to the entire Huang family, emphasizing the transmission of knowledge and cultivation.
• Resilience after humiliation: Xiao Lan’s rise after illness, failure, and social rejection highlights perseverance and the possibility of reversing one’s fate.
• Cruelty and psychological control: Duan Zhengming represents a form of sadism based on breaking people’s hopes and ambitions, contrasting with Chen Jichuan’s supportive cultivation philosophy.
• The danger of underestimating the weak: Both Huang Xuan’s breakthrough and Xiao Lan’s recovery demonstrate that apparent weakness or stagnation may conceal significant future potential.

Character Interactions

• Chen Jichuan and Huang Xuan discuss their escape plans, security precautions, and how to establish themselves in Wu-Slaying City.
• Huang Quan joins in mocking the reaction Duan Zhengming will have when he realizes the household has disappeared.
• Chen Jichuan advises Huang Xuan to build connections through the Academy and to keep his family away from Golden Horn City.
• Huang Xuan asks Chen Jichuan to teach Huang Biao and the other children, and Chen accepts without hesitation.
• Chen Jichuan privately tells Huang Xuan that his low cultivation may cause powerful people in Wu-Slaying City to look down on him, then offers personal guidance.
• Huang Xuan initially doubts that Chen can help him break through but accepts out of respect; his breakthrough three days later proves Chen’s extraordinary cultivation insight.
• Duan Zhengming’s recollection of Xu Ning and Xiao Lan connects their past relationship to his own history of manipulation and reveals Xiao Lan’s remarkable rise.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Duan Zhengming discovers that Xu Ning has disappeared from the Golden Spear Talisman Workshop, while Huang Quan and his family also vanished around the same time.
• Realizing that Xu Ning and the Huang family may have deceived him for years, Duan Zhengming becomes furious. He orders a massive investigation and commands that the guards who failed to notice Xu Ning’s disappearance be executed.
• Despite years of searching across the vast Sea Province Continent, Duan Zhengming cannot locate Xu Ning or the Huang family.
• In Wu-Slaying City, Huang Xuan establishes the White Tiger Merchant Association and a monster-hunting team. He arranges for Huang Quan and the other family members to change their names and appearances and enroll in different academies, effectively concealing them.
• Chen Jichuan secretly guides Huang Quan, Huang Biao, Huang Jiao, Huang Liang, and the others in cultivation. He also establishes a successful cultivation “cram school,” helping talented students advance from intermediate to advanced academies and from advanced academies to grand academies.
• Through the students’ connections and Chen Jichuan’s resources, the White Tiger Merchant Association gains a strong foothold in Wu-Slaying City and begins expanding rapidly.
• Chen Jichuan supplies pills, treasures, talismans, and other resources while personally improving his cultivation, talisman-making, and formation skills. He repeatedly tests formations in demon-beast territories.
• Seventy-seven years later, a powerful Forty-Nine Heavenly Tribulation gathers over Prison Mountain. The cultivators of Wu-Slaying City recognize that Xu Ning is undergoing a breakthrough.
• Xu Ning is widely regarded as the strongest candidate on the local “Ascension List” and is expected to become a Second-Order True Person.
• City Lord Fan Jinren and his friend Zhang Yiming arrive to observe the tribulation. Fan reveals that Xu Ning is only around one hundred years old and has advanced extraordinarily quickly, reaching the Qi-Refinement Apex at ninety and now attempting his next breakthrough.

Character Developments

• Duan Zhengming: His arrogance and cruelty are exposed. He takes pleasure in Xu Ning’s supposed humiliation, but his confidence collapses when he realizes he has been deceived. His rage leads him to order the execution of his own incompetent watchers.
• Xu Ning/Chen Jichuan: He develops from a seemingly crippled and secluded figure into a hidden cultivation genius. Over decades, he masters cultivation, talisman-making, alchemy, artifact refinement, and formations while building influence through the Huang family.
• Huang Xuan: He becomes a capable organizer and businessman, founding the White Tiger Merchant Association and monster-hunting team. He successfully establishes the Huang family in Wu-Slaying City under new identities.
• Huang Quan and the Huang family: They grow rapidly under Chen Jichuan’s guidance, entering academies and cultivating safely while remaining hidden from Duan Zhengming.
• Fan Jinren and Zhang Yiming: They serve as observers of Xu Ning’s breakthrough. Fan already trusts Xu Ning’s ability, while Zhang becomes increasingly astonished by his exceptional talent.

Significant Themes

• Concealment and deception: Xu Ning and the Huang family successfully hide their true movements and identities, turning Duan Zhengming’s surveillance against him.
• Long-term cultivation and patience: Decades of steady effort allow Xu Ning to accumulate overwhelming strength and expertise.
• Reversal of fortune: The supposedly ruined Xu Ning rises into a respected genius, while Duan Zhengming’s apparent advantage becomes meaningless.
• Power through networks and education: Chen Jichuan builds influence not only through personal strength but also by teaching others and cultivating useful relationships.
• The danger of arrogance: Duan Zhengming’s contempt for Xu Ning prevents him from recognizing the hidden truth until it is too late.

Character Interactions

• Duan Zhengming’s subordinates report Xu Ning’s and Huang Quan’s disappearances, triggering his furious reaction.
• Xu Ning and Huang Quan’s past conflicts are revealed to have been at least partly an act designed to conceal their cooperation.
• Chen Jichuan mentors the Huang family and selected academy students, forming a network of disciples and allies.
• Huang Xuan manages the organization and business operations while Chen Jichuan provides the cultivation resources and technical expertise.
• Fan Jinren explains Xu Ning’s background and achievements to Zhang Yiming, who reacts with surprise at the possibility of such a young Second-Order True Person.
• The wider cultivation community gathers to watch Xu Ning’s tribulation, confirming his reputation as Wu-Slaying City’s foremost hidden genius.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Xu Ning/Chen Jichuan successfully survives the Forty-Nine Heavenly Tribulation and advances to the Second Rank, becoming a True Person.
• His reputation is reaffirmed: he is renowned as the “Four-Arts True Person” for his mastery of alchemy, artifact refinement, talisman-making, and formations, and as the “Immortal Tutor” for producing numerous Qi Refinement cultivators.
• To celebrate his breakthrough, Chen Jichuan uses sword intent to kill demon beasts and distributes their corpses to the cultivators gathered near Prison Mountain.
• City Lord Fan Jinren and Zhang Yiming of Yuan City congratulate him. The three True Persons return to Wu-Slaying City and celebrate at the City Lord’s Manor.
• Fan Jinren explains the Silver River Sword Sect’s regulations: newly advanced True Persons generally must serve in an official position for one hundred years. Chen Jichuan may become a city lord, deputy city lord, instructor, or join one of the sect’s specialized institutions because of his exceptional talents in the four arts.
• After the celebration, Chen Jichuan returns to Linchuan Ward, where his disciples, household members, and associates welcome and congratulate him.
• His advancement becomes known throughout Wu-Slaying City, Ning City, and the surrounding guardian cities. Numerous city lords and True Persons send congratulations.
• One month later, the sect issues Chen Jichuan a transfer order requiring him to report to Sword City, the Silver River Sword Sect’s main city.
• Before going to Sword City, Chen Jichuan decides to detour to Golden Horn City to settle old grievances.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan/Xu Ning reaches a major milestone by entering the Second Rank. His transformation from an obscure cultivator into a renowned True Person is recognized across the region.
• His influence now extends beyond cultivation: his mastery of multiple immortal arts, his disciples, and his network of businesses make him an important figure in the Silver River Sword Sect’s territory.
• Fan Jinren is delighted by Chen Jichuan’s breakthrough, both because it brings honor to Wu-Slaying City and because it strengthens his relationship with a promising future powerhouse.
• Zhang Yiming initially reacts with shock at Chen Jichuan’s accomplishments but soon treats him as an equal after his advancement.
• Huang Xuan is deeply moved by Chen Jichuan’s success. Having witnessed his rise from a disgraced newcomer, Huang Xuan feels that his own family’s decision to follow Chen Jichuan has been richly rewarded.
• The Huang Family has prospered under Chen Jichuan’s protection: all seven family members have reached the Qi Refinement Realm.
• The White Tiger Trading Company and White Tiger Monster-Hunting Team have expanded significantly, now operating across nine cities and enjoying considerable influence.
• Chen Jichuan’s disciples and subordinates gain confidence and status now that their master stands among the region’s strongest cultivators.

Significant Themes

• Recognition and social elevation: Chen Jichuan’s breakthrough confirms that his earlier titles were not empty praise; he has truly reached the upper ranks of the cultivation world.
• Accumulated effort and long-term growth: His success is presented as the result of decades of cultivation, teaching, experimentation, and institution-building.
• Power benefiting associates: Chen Jichuan’s rise lifts the Huang Family, his disciples, and his commercial organizations, showing how a powerful cultivator can transform an entire network of followers.
• Freedom versus obligation: True Persons possess great freedom, but the sect requires them to serve for one hundred years, creating tension between personal cultivation and institutional responsibility.
• Settling the past: Despite his new status, Chen Jichuan has not forgotten the humiliation and betrayal he suffered in Golden Horn City. His impending return signals a transition from building his reputation to confronting old enemies.

Character Interactions

• Fan Jinren and Zhang Yiming discuss Chen Jichuan’s extraordinary abilities and celebrate his success together.
• Chen Jichuan respectfully exchanges greetings with Zhang Yiming, while Zhang insists that they address each other as equals.
• Fan Jinren humorously interrupts their formal exchange and urges them to continue the conversation over wine.
• At the City Lord’s Manor, Fan Jinren advises Chen Jichuan about the career paths available to newly advanced True Persons.
• At Linchuan Ward, Huang Xuan and the others greet Chen Jichuan as both master and newly elevated True Person.
• Huang Xuan reflects with Feng Heng on how dramatically their family’s fortunes have changed, and the two share a quiet sense of relief and gratitude.
• The chapter ends with Chen Jichuan preparing to leave for Sword City—but first returning to Golden Horn City to resolve the grudges of his past.

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Xu Ning, now a newly advanced Second-Rank True Person, arrives in Golden Horn City with ten companions while traveling from Wu-Slaying City toward Sword City.
• He visits City Lord Ma Yizhen, who warmly welcomes him and reveals that he has long heard of Xu Ning’s reputation as an Immortal Tutor and Four-Arts True Person.
• Xu Ning explains that Golden Horn City was his birthplace and that his family was destroyed decades earlier after being persecuted by the Yuanchen Merchant Guild.
• Ma Yizhen, eager to establish a relationship with such a promising True Person, offers to help Xu Ning take revenge and immediately agrees to act against the merchant guild.
• Xu Ning gives Ma a list of people involved in his family’s downfall, along with a forged promissory note claiming that the Yuanchen Merchant Guild owes him five hundred thousand Spirit Crystals, with accumulated interest bringing the debt to one million.
• Understanding Xu Ning’s plan, Ma uses his authority to arrest members of the Yuanchen Merchant Guild, seal its shops, and confiscate its assets. The guild’s wealth is far below the amount demanded, ensuring that it will be ruined even if everything is liquidated.
• Ma considers the guild’s connection to True Person Ye but decides that offending her is worthwhile in order to gain Xu Ning’s favor.
• News of the crackdown spreads throughout Golden Horn City. A proclamation and the forged debt contract are posted publicly, revealing that the guild has offended a powerful True Person.
• In East River Ward, Wang Yong sees the seized shops and recognizes the name “Xu Ning.” He begins to suspect that this True Person is the same Xu Ning connected to the old Xu family tragedy.

2. Character Developments

• Xu Ning/Chen Jichuan: Demonstrates his transformation from a persecuted exile into a powerful and calculating True Person. Rather than attacking the Yuanchen Merchant Guild directly, he uses Ma Yizhen’s authority and a forged contract to destroy it through legal and financial means.
• Ma Yizhen: Reveals himself to be sociable, perceptive, and politically shrewd. He sincerely admires Xu Ning but also recognizes the value of befriending a young True Person with enormous potential. He quickly becomes Xu Ning’s ally.
• Wang Yong: Reappears as an older talisman maker who remembers Xu Ning from his youth. His recognition links the present revenge to the long-buried history of the Xu family and leaves him shocked by Xu Ning’s rise.
• True Person Ye: Though absent, she becomes an important background figure. Her past support of the Yuanchen Merchant Guild suggests that Xu Ning’s actions may eventually provoke conflict with another True Person.

3. Significant Themes

• Revenge and delayed justice: Xu Ning waits decades to return to his birthplace and punish those responsible for destroying his family.
• Power and status: Xu Ning’s new identity as a True Person completely changes how others treat him. The same enemies who once oppressed his family are now helpless before his influence.
• Law as a weapon: Instead of relying solely on violence, Xu Ning manipulates official authority, debt, and confiscation to bring about the guild’s destruction.
• The passage of time: Golden Horn City has changed little physically, but its people and circumstances have changed dramatically. Old grudges survive even as those involved grow old or die.
• Political calculation and alliance-building: Ma Yizhen’s support is motivated both by genuine sympathy and by recognition of Xu Ning’s future potential.
• Identity and revelation: The public knows Xu Ning only as a powerful True Person, while a few surviving residents may gradually realize that he is the same abandoned figure from the past.

4. Character Interactions

• Xu Ning and Ma Yizhen: Their meeting is cordial and mutually flattering. Xu Ning carefully presents his tragic past, while Ma responds with sympathy and eagerly offers assistance.
• Xu Ning and the Yuanchen Merchant Guild: They do not confront one another directly in the chapter, but Xu Ning initiates a calculated campaign of financial and legal revenge against them.
• Ma Yizhen and the Yuanchen Merchant Guild: Ma uses the authority of the City Lord’s Manor to arrest guild members and seize their property, treating the guild’s destruction as both justice and a means of supporting Xu Ning.
• Wang Yong and Xu Ning’s past: Although they do not meet, Wang Yong’s memories of the young Xu Ning connect the old Golden Spear Talisman Workshop to the present crisis. He is left stunned by Xu Ning’s transformation and suspects that the revenge is deeply personal.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• The twelve leaders of the Yuanchen Merchant Guild are imprisoned and forced to kneel before Chen Jichuan in the City Lord’s Manor. They realize the absurd promissory note used against them is merely an excuse for Chen Jichuan to abuse his power and settle an old grudge.
• Duan Wenhui hopes that his son, Duan Zhengming, is safe in Sword City and protected by Galaxy Academy. He believes Zhengming may eventually become a True Person and restore the Duan Family’s fortunes.
• Chen Jichuan identifies Duan Wenhui as the father of Duan Zhengming and reveals the source of their conflict: eighty-two years earlier, Duan Zhengming used forged seals to frame and destroy the Golden Spear Talisman Workshop, an act carried out with the Yuanchen Merchant Guild’s support.
• Duan Wenhui remembers the incident and understands that his family’s past crime has returned to destroy them. Chen Jichuan declares Duan Zhengming the chief culprit and the twelve guild families his accomplices.
• Chen Jichuan executes the twelve guild leaders and, over the next seven days, exterminates all direct descendants of the twelve Yuanchen families. He divides the guild’s confiscated wealth with City Lord Ma Yizhen.
• Taking nearly a thousand prisoners or condemned individuals, thirty thousand Spirit Crystals, Huang Quan, Huang Biao, and ten disciples, Chen Jichuan sets out for Sword City.
• The journey takes more than four months. He teleports through numerous cities, visits their city lords, and is repeatedly forced out of teleportation passages by attacking demon beasts. He kills one Second Rank demon beast and narrowly escapes three others, including a swift and powerful Cloud Vulture.
• Chen Jichuan finally reaches Sword City, the central city of the Silver River Sword Sect and the birthplace of the Galaxy Ancestor’s rise.
• Upon arrival, Meng Pu, a steward from the Government Affairs Office, identifies Chen Jichuan as the newly advanced True Person Xu Ning and escorts him toward the office for registration and assignment.
• Chen Jichuan sends Huang Quan and the other accompanying disciples to Galaxy Academy to reunite with his eight disciples already studying there.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Demonstrates his ruthless determination to repay old grievances. He has become powerful enough to destroy an entire merchant guild but remains cautious during dangerous encounters with Second Rank demon beasts. His combat abilities, especially his Great Luo Heavenly Sleeve, Five-Element Escape Art, and concealment techniques, are crucial to surviving the journey.
• Duan Wenhui: Shifts from confidence in his family’s future to despair once he realizes Chen Jichuan is avenging the destruction of the Golden Spear Talisman Workshop. His thoughts reveal that he regrets Zhengming’s failure to eliminate all witnesses rather than regretting the original injustice.
• Duan Zhengming: Though absent, he is exposed as the original cause of the catastrophe. His youthful crime has endangered and effectively destroyed his entire family decades later.
• Ma Yizhen: Although he previously failed to defend the Yuanchen Merchant Guild, he cooperates with Chen Jichuan and shares in the confiscated wealth.
• Huang Quan and Chen Jichuan’s disciples: Their role expands as they accompany Chen Jichuan on his journey and are sent to establish themselves in Sword City and Galaxy Academy.

Significant Themes

• The long reach of karma and revenge: A crime committed eighty-two years earlier eventually brings destruction to an entire guild and its families.
• Power and impunity: The Yuanchen Merchant Guild once used its influence to crush weaker parties through forged accusations and official connections. Chen Jichuan later turns that same imbalance of power against them.
• Family legacy and responsibility: Duan Wenhui places all his hopes in Duan Zhengming, but Zhengming’s actions become the source of the family’s downfall.
• Strength and survival: The journey to Sword City emphasizes that even a True Person must remain wary of powerful demon beasts and unforeseen dangers.
• The spirit of the sword: Sword City embodies the Silver River Sword Sect’s identity—disciplined, sharp, resilient, and continually refined through constant conflict with the Demon Race.

Character Interactions

• Chen Jichuan confronts Duan Wenhui publicly and forces him to recall the Golden Spear Talisman Workshop incident.
• Duan Wenhui and the other guild leaders plead, curse, and rage, but Chen Jichuan refuses to show mercy.
• Chen Jichuan cooperates with Ma Yizhen in dealing with the guild and dividing its wealth.
• At Sword City, Chen Jichuan meets Meng Pu, who represents the Government Affairs Office and begins the formal process of registering him as a True Person.
• Chen Jichuan gives instructions to Huang Quan and the other disciples, directing them to Galaxy Academy while he handles official matters.

Chapter Summary: “Utterly Disappointed!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan and Meng Pu arrive at the Government Affairs Office’s Records Office in Sword City, where they are welcomed by Feng Qingbo, a Fourth-Heaven True Person.
• Feng informs Chen that Su Yuanlang, the Government Affairs Office’s Prefecture Lord, has read his records and wishes to meet him personally because of his reputation as a newly advanced True Person and the “Four-Arts True Person.”
• Chen meets Su Yuanlang and uses his insight to examine the Prefecture Lord’s cultivation. He discovers that Su Yuanlang, despite being a Tenth-Heaven Second-Rank cultivator and one of the Silver River Sword Sect’s highest officials, possesses only an Exquisite Grade cultivation method and High-Tier arts.
• From this, Chen concludes that the Silver River Sword Sect—and perhaps Wu River Star as a whole—likely lacks cultivation methods and arts above those levels.
• Chen is deeply disappointed. He had hoped Wu River Star might contain powerful methods, arts, or experts capable of challenging and surpassing him. Instead, he realizes that his own Orthodox Grade cultivation method and Transcendent Arts give him a major advantage.
• Su Yuanlang praises Chen’s achievements in alchemy, artifact refinement, talisman crafting, and formations. He offers Chen a primary position in one of the four related halls, with concurrent positions in the other three.
• Chen declines the hall positions, explaining that he would rather teach at Galaxy Academy. He believes teaching will help him consolidate his foundations, gain insights, and cultivate steadily.
• His request is approved. Su Yuanlang recognizes Chen not only as the Four-Arts True Person but also as the “Immortal Tutor,” and assigns him to Galaxy Academy.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Demonstrates humility and political awareness by presenting himself as only a newly advanced True Person, while privately evaluating everyone and everything around him. His expectations of the Silver River Sword Sect fall sharply after discovering its limited inheritance. He reaffirms his long-term goal of advancing to Spirit Transformation and learning the sect’s deeper secrets. He also reveals a calculated approach to revenge against Duan Zhengming, intending to cause fear and despair before killing him.
• Su Yuanlang: Shows strong interest in Chen’s talent and treats him warmly. He quickly recognizes Chen’s rarity as both an exceptional cultivator and a master of four auxiliary arts. His favorable impression leads him to support Chen’s placement in Galaxy Academy.
• Feng Qingbo: Acts as Chen’s guide and observes his rising importance within the sect. He is impressed by Chen’s accomplishments and anticipates that Chen may eventually become one of the Silver River Sword Sect’s major leaders.
• Duan Zhengming: Does not appear directly, but remains important through Chen’s ongoing revenge plan. Chen intends to confront him only after building sufficient strength and influence.

Significant Themes

• The limits of inheritance: The chapter contrasts Chen’s powerful cultivation resources with the comparatively limited traditions of Wu River Star. Even the sect’s highest officials possess methods and arts that Chen considers ordinary.
• Long-term ambition over temporary superiority: Chen is not satisfied with being stronger than those around him. He wants challenges that will help him improve and values lasting progress over easy dominance.
• Strategic humility and social positioning: Chen hides his true advantages, accepts praise modestly, and chooses Galaxy Academy because it offers stability, connections, and influence.
• Cultivation through teaching: Teaching is presented not merely as an occupation but as a way to review knowledge, gain new insights, strengthen one’s foundations, and cultivate more effectively.
• Patience and calculated revenge: Chen chooses not to act impulsively against Duan Zhengming. Instead, he plans to cultivate, establish himself, and make his enemy suffer psychologically before delivering final punishment.

Character Interactions

• Chen and Feng Qingbo: Feng warmly welcomes Chen and personally escorts him to the Prefecture Lord, signaling Chen’s elevated status.
• Chen and Su Yuanlang: Su Yuanlang praises Chen’s talent and offers him considerable professional freedom. Chen respectfully but firmly explains his preference for Galaxy Academy, and Su Yuanlang accepts the choice.
• Feng Qingbo and Su Yuanlang: Feng serves as an observer of Chen’s meeting with the Prefecture Lord and recognizes the political significance of Su Yuanlang’s approval.
• Chen and his past enemies: Though not present, Duan Zhengming and the other Yuanchen Merchant Guild disciples remain part of Chen’s plans. Chen intends to use his position at Galaxy Academy to remain near them while preparing a more satisfying revenge.

Chapter Summary: “Xiao Lan and Granny Gan”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Galaxy Academy is introduced as the Silver River Sword Sect’s highest academy, admitting only exceptional cultivators who reach the Seventh Qi-Refining Layer before age seventy. Of Chen Jichuan’s twenty-eight disciples, only eight qualified.
• Xiao Lan, a student of the Alchemy Institute, is shown cultivating the Five-Wheel Departing Fire Method. She has mastered the wolf and leopard forms and is nearing the third transformation, the lion form.
• Granny Gan explains that mastering the lion form will allow Xiao Lan to open her apertures and advance to the Second Rank. Mastering all five transformations could let her challenge the Third Rank Spirit Transformation Realm.
• Xiao Lan’s achievements—reaching the peak of Qi Refining, becoming a Second Rank alchemist, and ranking first on Galaxy Academy’s Ascension List—are largely credited to Granny Gan’s guidance through the mysterious Fire Phoenix ring.
• Granny Gan reveals that Xiao Lan’s talent is extraordinary, but Xiao Lan remains modest and recognizes that alchemy has slowed her cultivation because she must rely on it to fund her resources.
• Xiao Lan learns that the newly advanced Four-Arts True Person, Xu Ning, reached the Second Rank at approximately one hundred years old while also attaining Second Rank mastery in alchemy, artifact refining, talismans, and formations. She compares herself to him and admits that she is currently inferior.
• Xiao Lan promises that once she reaches the Spirit Transformation Realm, she will help Granny Gan return to her homeland and kill Granny Gan’s treacherous former disciple, revealing an unresolved conflict from Granny Gan’s past.
• Two months after arriving in Sword City, Chen Jichuan officially begins working at Galaxy Academy as vice dean of the Alchemy Institute. He will teach alchemy and broader cultivation subjects across the academy, though his teaching schedule is intentionally light.
• On the day of Chen Jichuan’s first lecture, more than eighty Alchemy Institute students gather, while students from other institutes also come to observe. Xiao Lan attends at the front, and Duan Zhengming waits outside.
• Duan Zhengming becomes alarmed after hearing that the Four-Arts True Person is named Xu Ning and is around one hundred years old. He suspects this may be the same Xu Ning who escaped from Golden Horn City decades earlier.
• When Chen Jichuan appears, Duan Zhengming recognizes traces of Xu Ning in his altered appearance and realizes that his suspicion is correct. Terrified, he decides to send the news back to Golden Horn City, but the chapter ends as Chen Jichuan speaks or reacts.

Character Developments

• Xiao Lan: Demonstrates extraordinary talent, discipline, and humility. Although she is publicly regarded as the academy’s leading candidate for advancement, she recognizes her limitations after hearing of Xu Ning’s achievements. Her emotional warmth toward Granny Gan contrasts with her usual aloofness.
• Granny Gan: Acts as Xiao Lan’s mentor and spiritual guide. Her mysterious existence within the Fire Phoenix ring and her sorrowful references to her homeland suggest a complicated past and a revenge objective involving a former disciple.
• Chen Jichuan/Xu Ning: Has risen from the vulnerable youth who once fled Golden Horn City to a highly respected True Person renowned for mastery of all four cultivation arts. His changed appearance and elevated status conceal his identity from most people.
• Duan Zhengming: His former confidence collapses when he recognizes Xu Ning. The person he once manipulated and regarded as insignificant has surpassed him, leaving him frightened and desperate to warn Golden Horn City.
• Chen Jichuan’s disciples: The fact that only eight of twenty-eight qualified for Galaxy Academy emphasizes both the difficulty of the academy’s standards and the selectiveness of Chen Jichuan’s original disciples.

Significant Themes

• Transformation and reversal of fate: Xu Ning’s rise from a persecuted “trash” to an acclaimed True Person contrasts sharply with Duan Zhengming’s former dominance and present fear.
• Talent versus effort and resources: Xiao Lan’s progress comes from both innate ability and relentless discipline, while her need to earn cultivation resources through alchemy limits her advancement.
• Mentorship and gratitude: Xiao Lan’s bond with Granny Gan is central to her success, showing the importance of guidance, loyalty, and shared purpose.
• Hidden identities and recognition: Chen Jichuan’s altered appearance allows him to move unnoticed, but Duan Zhengming’s intimate knowledge of his past eventually exposes the truth.
• Ambition and unfinished revenge: Granny Gan’s mysterious past and Xiao Lan’s promise to avenge her hint at future conflicts beyond the academy.
• The widening scale of cultivation: Galaxy Academy and the Four-Arts True Person establish a broader world filled with exceptional talents, sect institutions, and increasingly formidable realms.

Character Interactions

• Xiao Lan and Granny Gan share a close mentor-student relationship. Granny Gan praises Xiao Lan’s progress, while Xiao Lan credits Granny Gan for changing her life.
• Granny Gan encourages Xiao Lan to continue studying alchemy, arguing that it will remain valuable when she eventually travels through the starry sky.
• Xiao Lan reassures Granny Gan by promising to help her confront her betrayer once she reaches Spirit Transformation.
• Xiao Lan and Chen Jichuan meet indirectly for the first time in the lecture hall. She senses something familiar about him but cannot identify the connection.
• Duan Zhengming observes Chen Jichuan from outside the hall, recognizes him as the former Xu Ning, and reacts with panic. The chapter closes just as Chen Jichuan appears poised to address or confront him.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• During a lecture in the Scripture Hall, Chen Jichuan—disguised as True Person Xu Ning—magically restrains Duan Zhengming after Duan attempts to leave.
• Duan spends the entire lesson immobilized and terrified, unable to absorb any of Chen Jichuan’s teachings.
• After the students leave, Chen keeps Xiao Lan behind and reveals the severed heads of Duan Zhengming’s family and members of the Yuanchen Merchant Guild, whom he killed while passing through Golden Horn City.
• Chen confronts Duan over the destruction of his household and family. Duan tries to save himself by invoking Galaxy Academy’s protection, but Chen dismisses the threat.
• Chen burns Duan alive with supernatural flames, killing him publicly within the academy. He also destroys the severed heads, leaving no evidence behind.
• Xiao Lan worries that Chen may also punish her for breaking off their former engagement. Instead, Chen suddenly attacks, restrains her, and steals her hidden Fire Phoenix Ring.
• Through his Insight Art, Chen discovers that the ring contains the remnant of Gan Chen, an ancient Alchemy Grandmaster from Medicine King Star. He seals the ring repeatedly, both excited by its value and wary of the powerful being within it.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Demonstrates overwhelming strength, ruthlessness, and confidence. He views Duan’s execution as justified revenge and as the removal of a criminal from Galaxy Academy. His ability to identify and seize the Fire Phoenix Ring also highlights the superiority of his perception and combat skill.
• Duan Zhengming: Reveals himself to be cowardly and selfish. Even after seeing his family’s severed heads, his primary concern is preserving his own life. His terror and helpless death mark the collapse of the arrogant figure he once was.
• Xiao Lan: Becomes deeply wary of Chen. She remains composed and pragmatic, willing to apologize and submit if necessary, but secretly prepares for the possibility of battle. Her confidence is shattered when Chen effortlessly discovers and takes her most precious treasure.
• Gan Chen: Does not directly appear, but the revelation that his damaged Primordial Spirit survives inside the ring establishes him as an important hidden figure.

Significant Themes

• Retribution and justice: Chen frames Duan’s execution as deserved punishment for family extermination and the massacre of innocents.
• Power and helplessness: Duan and Xiao Lan are both shown to be completely powerless before Chen, emphasizing the enormous gap between ordinary cultivators and ancient experts.
• Deception and hidden identities: Chen operates under the identity of Xu Ning, while Xiao Lan conceals the Fire Phoenix Ring and Gan Chen’s presence within it.
• Moral corruption: Duan’s instinct to protect himself rather than mourn his family exposes his lack of humanity.
• Treasure and danger: The Fire Phoenix Ring is valuable not because of its rank, but because it houses a mysterious and potentially powerful remnant soul.

Character Interactions

• Chen publicly humiliates and intimidates Duan during the lecture, then confronts him with evidence of his family’s destruction.
• Duan attempts to threaten Chen through Galaxy Academy, but Chen mocks his dependence on institutional protection before killing him.
• Xiao Lan watches Duan’s execution and recognizes Chen’s identity and motive, realizing that he is the former Xu Ning and that she may also be a target.
• Xiao Lan offers submission and asks Chen to spare her, while Chen silently evaluates her caution and beauty.
• Chen abruptly restrains Xiao Lan and takes the Fire Phoenix Ring, transforming their tense reunion into a direct confrontation over her concealed treasure.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan learns that the Fire Phoenix ring and Gan Chen originated from Medicine King Star in the Nine Dragons River System, a world beyond Wu River Star.
• Although he takes Xiao Lan’s ring, he decides to compensate her rather than simply steal her opportunity.
• Chen Jichuan burns Xiao Lan with Grand Luo Heavenly Fire, apparently attacking her. In reality, he is trying to destroy the hidden Primordial Spirit fragments that Granny Gan planted inside Xiao Lan’s fire spirits.
• Granny Gan reveals her true intentions. She had secretly embedded two of her soul fragments in Xiao Lan and intended to seize Xiao Lan’s body once her cultivation became strong enough.
• When defeat becomes inevitable, Granny Gan attempts to destroy Xiao Lan’s soul along with her own. Chen Jichuan protects Xiao Lan with the Soul-Suppressing Bell and prevents the attack.
• Granny Gan’s remnants are destroyed, and she disappears after threatening Xiao Lan.
• Chen Jichuan confirms that Xiao Lan is free of hidden dangers and exchanges a powerful Third Rank Red Silk Sword for the Fire Phoenix ring.
• To protect the ring’s secrets, he forces Xiao Lan to make a Heart-Demon Blood Oath using a Heart-Illumination Mirror.
• Xiao Lan leaves, and Chen Jichuan returns to his residence to study the ring.
• He discovers that Gan Chen has fallen dormant after losing two Spirit Separations. Since he cannot yet leave Wu River Star, he begins preparing techniques capable of controlling or tormenting Primordial Spirits in case Gan Chen later becomes hostile.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Demonstrates both pragmatism and calculated “benevolence.” He takes advantage of Xiao Lan’s situation but saves her from Granny Gan, compensates her with a valuable treasure, and carefully eliminates future risks. His self-description as wanting to “keep himself pure” is humorous and ironic, as he is already planning ways to deal with Gan Chen if necessary.
• Xiao Lan: Her trust in Granny Gan is completely shattered. She survives the attempted possession and recognizes that the cultivation method she received was designed to prepare her body for takeover. Despite her grief, she accepts Chen Jichuan’s help, the Red Silk Sword, and the blood oath.
• Granny Gan/Gan Chen: Is exposed as manipulative and predatory rather than benevolent. She raised Xiao Lan while secretly preparing to possess her body. After failing to defeat Chen Jichuan, she falls into slumber and leaves behind a threat of future revenge.

Significant Themes

• Betrayal and false benevolence: Granny Gan’s decades of care are revealed to have been part of a long-term scheme, showing how apparent mentorship can conceal exploitation.
• Trust and disillusionment: Xiao Lan’s emotional devastation comes from discovering that the person she trusted most viewed her as a vessel rather than a disciple.
• Power, preparation, and survival: Chen Jichuan survives by anticipating hidden dangers and preparing countermeasures instead of relying on goodwill.
• Moral ambiguity: Chen Jichuan is neither purely heroic nor openly cruel. He protects Xiao Lan, but also takes her treasure, imposes a lethal oath, and plans harsh measures against Gan Chen.
• Cultivation and body possession: The chapter expands the dangers of higher-level cultivation, revealing that Spirit Transformation experts may use soul fragments and long-term preparation to seize another person’s body.

Character Interactions

• Chen Jichuan and Xiao Lan: Their former relationship is distant and strained. Chen saves her life but maintains emotional and physical distance, wary that gratitude or attraction could create complications.
• Chen Jichuan and Granny Gan: They engage in a battle of deception and spiritual power. Chen exposes and destroys Granny Gan’s hidden soul fragments, while she attempts a desperate counterattack and vows revenge.
• Xiao Lan and Granny Gan: Their mentor-disciple bond collapses when Xiao Lan realizes Granny Gan never truly cared for her and intended to possess her.
• Chen Jichuan and Gan Chen: Their future relationship is established as adversarial and conditional. Chen is willing to cooperate if Gan Chen behaves, but he is already preparing methods to control or punish her if she refuses.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• In 971 of the Wu River Calendar, Ye Cunxin returns to Sword City after three years of warfare and discovers that the Yuanchen Merchant Guild—one of the businesses supporting her—has been destroyed by Xu Ning/Chen Jichuan.
• Rather than seek revenge, Ye Cunxin investigates Chen Jichuan’s background and realizes that he is an exceptionally gifted hundred-year-old True Person and Four-Arts cultivator. Fearing his future potential and unwilling to endanger her descendants, she personally visits him, apologizes, and offers compensation.
• The deaths of Duan Wenhui, Duan Zhengming, and the other figures involved in Chen Jichuan’s family tragedy go unpunished. The academy accepts that Chen acted in retaliation for the destruction of his household.
• Chen begins teaching at Galaxy Academy while continuing to cultivate, practice alchemy, artifact refinement, talisman-making, and formations. He also travels into dangerous wildernesses and secret realms to fight demon beasts and acquire resources.
• Over the next century, he advances from the First Heaven to the Sixth Heaven of the True Person realm. His talent and teaching ability make him the Silver River Sword Sect’s greatest genius in a thousand years.
• Seven of his twenty-eight disciples reach the Second Rank, while many others benefit from his lectures and occasional guidance. Although he stops accepting disciples, his reputation continues to grow.
• Chen later becomes dean of Galaxy Academy’s Alchemy Institute. His alchemy and artifact refinement both reach the Third Rank, while his cultivation advances through the Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Heavens.
• After two hundred years, Chen reaches the complete Tenth Heaven of the Second Rank, returning to the peak of his realm. He prepares to attempt the breakthrough into Spirit Transformation.
• Chen awakens Granny Gan, whose consciousness has been trapped inside the Fire-Wind Ring. During her long sleep, Chen reforged the ring and erased her marks, making her existence inseparable from the treasure and placing her life and death under his control.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan/Xu Ning: Develops from a newly advanced True Person into a peerless Sixth Heaven cultivator, then eventually reaches the complete Tenth Heaven in only two hundred years. His cultivation, combat strength, alchemy, artifact refinement, and teaching ability all improve dramatically. His current power surpasses even his previous-life peak because he focuses on the White Tiger Sword-Prison Scripture and cultivates his soul, magic power, and body with greater precision.
• Ye Cunxin: Despite her status as an older Protector True Person, she recognizes Chen’s superior potential and chooses pragmatism over pride. She accepts the loss of the merchant guild, apologizes, and compensates him to protect her family and descendants.
• Granny Gan: Awakens after two centuries to find Chen vastly stronger. Her resentment and hatred remain, but they are mixed with shock and envy. She has lost her freedom because Chen has completely refined the Fire-Wind Ring and bound her to it.
• Chen’s disciples and students: Benefit from his unusual insight and guidance, with several advancing to the Second Rank and many more being inspired to seek instruction at Galaxy Academy.

Significant Themes

• The power of potential and youth: Older cultivators such as Ye Cunxin recognize that a young genius with extraordinary potential can become more dangerous than an established but stagnant expert.
• Pragmatism over pride: Ye Cunxin avoids a futile conflict and uses apology and compensation to resolve the dispute.
• Justice and karma: Chen’s revenge is treated as justified because it answers the destruction of his family rather than constituting indiscriminate slaughter. Once his enemies are dead, his karmic burden is considered settled.
• Diligence combined with talent: Chen’s rapid progress comes from both exceptional ability and relentless effort across cultivation, combat, and the Four Arts.
• Accumulation over time: Two centuries of patient cultivation, teaching, exploration, and refinement transform Chen into a figure whose influence extends throughout the sect.
• Control and reversal of power: Granny Gan once attempted to manipulate Chen through the ring, but Chen ultimately reverses the relationship and makes her dependent on him.

Character Interactions

• Ye Cunxin and Chen Jichuan: Ye approaches Chen respectfully, apologizes for the Yuanchen Merchant Guild’s actions, and offers compensation. Chen’s rising status forces an older True Person to acknowledge his authority and potential.
• Chen and Galaxy Academy: He becomes both teacher and later dean, exchanging knowledge with specialists in alchemy, artifacts, talismans, and formations while guiding students and cultivating future experts.
• Chen and the Sword City True Persons: He occasionally discusses the Dao with them, building relationships and gaining recognition within the Silver River Sword Sect.
• Chen and Granny Gan: Their reunion is hostile. Granny Gan is bitter that Chen has surpassed her expectations, while Chen calmly reveals that he has erased her escape routes and now controls her fate through the Fire-Wind Ring.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan tries to persuade Granny Gan to cooperate by promising that he will eventually reach Spirit Transformation and set her free. Granny Gan mocks his ambition and refuses to help.
• In response, Chen uses the Mother-and-Child Primordial Yang Divine Needles, a torturous technique he developed specifically to control her. Ten needles pierce her Primordial Spirit, causing unbearable pain.
• Unable to endure the torment, Granny Gan agrees to cooperate. Chen forces her to swear an oath to the Fire-Wind Ring that she will answer his questions truthfully and completely.
• Chen asks Granny Gan to recount her origins and experiences, beginning with Medicine King Star and continuing through the starry regions and the Nine Dragons River System.
• Granny Gan reveals that her true name is Gan Chen. She was born into an alchemist aristocratic clan on Medicine King Star, became a Spirit Transformation cultivator, and eventually reached the Spirit Separation Realm.
• She explains that the Nine Dragons River System contains tens of thousands of life-bearing planets, countless powerful cultivators, ancient ruins, predecessor cave abodes, and opportunities for advancement.
• When Chen asks about the disaster that destroyed her body, Granny Gan initially conceals crucial information. The oath activates, causing the Primordial Yang Needles to torment her again.
• Forced to tell the truth, she explains that she and Nine Peaks Daoist fought over the legacy of Moro, a Fourth-Realm Spirit Transformation expert of the Immortal Vine Clan.
• Moro’s corpse, Immortal Vine Fruits, saplings, and other treasures were seized by Nine Peaks Daoist. Both Gan Chen and Nine Peaks Daoist were then ambushed, gravely injured, and cast onto Wu River Star.
• Granny Gan reveals that Wu River Star’s great transformation more than a thousand years earlier was caused by Moro’s corpse. The Cloudveil Demon Emperor is likely an Immortal Vine sapling that became a weaker Cloudveil Vine because it never consumed an Immortal Vine Fruit.
• She also suggests that Nine Peaks Daoist may have left behind a legacy on Wu River Star.
• Chen realizes that the True Person Tree on Inkstone Mountain, whose fruits help cultivators break through to the Second Rank and stabilize their apertures, is actually an Immortal Vine Fruit Tree.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan becomes more decisive and ruthless. After recognizing that persuasion will not work, he uses coercion to secure Granny Gan’s cooperation. At the same time, he shows strategic patience and quickly recognizes the immense value of the information she provides.
• Chen’s ambitions expand after learning about the starry sky, Spirit Transformation experts, Rogue Immortals, ancient ruins, and Immortal Vine Fruits. He becomes eager to explore beyond Wu River Star.
• Granny Gan/Gan Chen is forced to abandon her defiance after experiencing Chen’s divine needle technique. Though she remains resentful and sarcastic, she submits to the oath and reveals the secrets she had intended to hide.
• Gan Chen’s history establishes her as an experienced alchemist, adventurer, and former Spirit Transformation cultivator with extensive knowledge of the Nine Dragons River System.

Significant Themes

• Power and control: Chen’s divine needles demonstrate how knowledge and technique can force cooperation even from a stronger, more experienced individual.
• Ambition and exploration: The chapter broadens the story from Wu River Star to the vast Nine Dragons River System, emphasizing the enormous world beyond Chen’s current environment.
• The cost of cultivation: Advancement through the four Spirit Transformation realms is portrayed as exceptionally difficult, requiring resources, competition, danger, and opportunities found in the wider starry sky.
• Hidden opportunities and legacies: Ancient corpses, cave abodes, Immortal Vine Fruits, and Nine Peaks Daoist’s possible inheritance create several major avenues for Chen’s future growth.
• Truth versus concealment: Granny Gan’s attempt to withhold information fails because of the oath, reinforcing the importance of complete honesty under magical constraints.

Character Interactions

• Chen initially speaks to Granny Gan respectfully and tries to appeal to her self-interest, offering eventual freedom.
• Granny Gan responds with contempt, dismissing Chen as an ignorant “frog at the bottom of a well.”
• Chen shifts from persuasion to torture, then returns to a superficially courteous attitude once she agrees to cooperate.
• Their relationship remains hostile and distrustful: Chen values her knowledge but threatens her with further torment, while Granny Gan obeys only because she has no alternative.
• The chapter ends with Chen testing Granny Gan’s knowledge about the True Person Tree and discovering that it is connected to the Immortal Vine treasures, linking a familiar Wu River Star resource to the larger secrets of the starry sky.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Granny Gan reveals that the Immortal Vine Fruit Tree on Inkstone Mountain Island bears fruits capable of helping a cultivator break through to Spirit Transformation.
• Chen Jichuan becomes determined to obtain one, viewing it as essential insurance for his own Dao path despite already having a strong chance of advancing naturally.
• The tree belongs to the True Martial Immortal Sect and is heavily guarded by a Tenth-Heaven True Person, forty-nine additional True Persons, and multiple powerful formations.
• Meanwhile, the Silver River Sword Sect’s leadership debates who should succeed Peng Zhong as headmaster of Galaxy Academy. Xu Ning—Chen Jichuan’s identity within the sect—is nominated because of his talent, teaching achievements, and cultivation, but Hong Yuan is presented as an equally meritorious alternative.
• Peng Zhong attempts to consult Chen Jichuan about the succession, only to learn that Chen has already left Sword City and gone toward the borderlands.
• Chen travels from Valley City across Bright Continent to Inkstone Mountain Island, deliberately avoiding teleportation formations so the True Martial Immortal Sect will not realize his intentions.
• After arriving, he studies the island’s defenses and uses his exceptional formation knowledge, concealment technique, and Insight Art to pass through every formation without detection.
• He reaches the valley containing the Immortal Vine Fruit Tree and discovers that the tree holds both ordinary fruits and several older ones capable of aiding higher-level breakthroughs.
• Just as Chen prepares to take the tree or its fruit, he discovers a hidden Minor Void-Spirit Transposition Formation beneath the tree.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan shows increasing ambition and decisiveness. Although cautious by nature, he is willing to risk offending the True Martial Immortal Sect to secure a treasure that could guarantee his advancement.
• His mastery of formations has become extraordinary: he can analyze and bypass defenses that would stop even groups of powerful True Persons.
• Chen also demonstrates greater confidence, teasing Granny Gan about his abilities while still keeping his deepest methods hidden from her.
• Granny Gan remains skeptical and amused by Chen’s danger, mocking his chances against the island’s defenses, though her role continues to provide strategic insight.
• Peng Zhong is portrayed as a retiring but thoughtful leader who genuinely favors Chen’s succession to the headmaster position.
• Xu Ning/Chen Jichuan’s identity gains further prestige within the Silver River Sword Sect, with his age, cultivation, and teaching accomplishments making him a leading candidate for leadership.

Significant Themes

• Security versus certainty: Chen wants the Immortal Vine Fruit as insurance against the uncertainty of his future breakthrough, emphasizing the dangers of relying solely on talent or luck.
• Power and strategic preparation: The True Martial Immortal Sect’s elaborate defenses contrast with Chen’s concealment, observation, and technical mastery.
• Individual ambition versus institutional interests: The Immortal Vine Fruit Tree can continuously create new True Persons for the sect, but consuming a fruit could provide one individual with a path to Spirit Transformation.
• Hidden danger beneath apparent success: Even after effortlessly bypassing the island’s defenses, Chen discovers that the real threat is not the guards or formations but a concealed mechanism designed specifically to capture someone like him.

Character Interactions

• Chen and Granny Gan exchange a playful but tense conversation: she doubts his ability to infiltrate the island, while Chen confidently boasts of his formation expertise before cutting off her perception to conceal his methods.
• Peng Zhong and Shi Yande represent opposing candidates in the academy succession debate, with Peng supporting Chen/Xu Ning and Shi advocating for Hong Yuan.
• The chapter ends with Chen confronting the hidden formation, which is programmed to detect a Tenth-Heaven True Person under three hundred years old—precisely matching his circumstances—and teleport both him and the Immortal Vine Fruit Tree to a location up to one million li away.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan discovers that Nine Peaks Daoist left a Minor Void-Spirit Transposition Formation beneath the Immortal Vine Fruit Tree. The formation is designed to transport a young Tenth-Heaven True Person with exceptional talent and fortune into Nine Peaks Daoist’s hidden dwelling.
• Taking advantage of the formation, Chen uses the Five-Element Escape Art and Origin-Returning Concealment Method to approach the tree without alerting Cui Yan, the True Martial Immortal Sect’s genius who is cultivating beneath it.
• Chen allows the formation to identify him as a suitable successor—he is only 159 years old yet already a Tenth-Heaven True Person. The formation then transports both Chen and the Immortal Vine Fruit Tree away, leaving behind a massive pit.
• Cui Yan realizes what has happened only after the tree disappears. He mistakenly assumes that the tree has become a spirit and summons forty-nine True Persons to search Inkstone Mountain Island, but they find nothing.
• The narrative shifts to Sumei Isle, where the True Martial Patriarch, Galaxy Ancestor, and six Demon Emperors have spent 520 years trying to enter Nine Peaks Hall. The hall is protected by a powerful nine-mountain formation that even the two human Spirit Transformations cannot overcome.
• Chen’s arrival causes a spatial disturbance inside Nine Peaks Hall, alerting all eight Spirit Transformations outside. They become suspicious and wary that one of their rivals may have entered the hall.
• Inside the hidden world of Nine Peaks Hall, the Immortal Vine Fruit Tree transforms into an Immortal Vine Fruit, which Chen stores rather than immediately consuming.
• Chen meets Granny Gan, who is surprised that he entered Nine Peaks Hall. She explains that the dwelling was refined from Nine Peaks Daoist’s true body and contains an entire internal world.
• Nine Peaks Daoist’s remnant thought appears before Chen and Granny Gan, greeting Granny Gan as “Poison Granny” and praising Chen as an extraordinary genius.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan demonstrates overwhelming stealth, mobility, and strategic ability. Rather than fight Cui Yan directly, he uses the formation to obtain the tree effortlessly. His confidence grows as he realizes that his talent and fortune have made him the intended candidate for Nine Peaks Daoist’s legacy.
• Cui Yan is shown to be powerful but completely outmatched in perception and reaction. His shock and anger reveal how deeply he values the Immortal Vine Fruit Tree and how helpless he is against Chen’s methods.
• Granny Gan remains hostile toward Nine Peaks Daoist because of his connection to the circumstances that caused her suffering. Her contempt is evident when she refuses to acknowledge his greeting.
• Nine Peaks Daoist’s remnant appears calm, genial, and perceptive. He immediately recognizes Chen’s exceptional potential and implies that Granny Gan’s fortune lies in finding him.
• The True Martial Patriarch and Galaxy Ancestor are portrayed as powerful but frustrated pioneers. Despite being the strongest human cultivators on Wu River Star, they have spent centuries unable to breach Nine Peaks Hall and desperately hope to gain guidance from the predecessor’s inheritance.
• The six Demon Emperors remain divided and distrustful, reflecting the internal disunity of the Demon Race.

Significant Themes

• Fate, fortune, and affinity: Nine Peaks Daoist’s selection method depends not only on cultivation talent but also on timing and destiny. Chen’s appearance at precisely the right age and realm makes him the ideal inheritor.
• Overwhelming individual advantage: Chen’s mastery of multiple fourth-layer Transcendent Arts allows him to bypass a renowned genius without a direct confrontation.
• Inheritance and the burden of pioneers: The Spirit Transformations seek Nine Peaks Daoist’s legacy because they have had to develop without guidance from earlier generations.
• Conflict between patience and opportunity: The older powers have struggled for 520 years to enter the hall, while Chen gains access instantly through a formation prepared specifically for someone like him.
• Hidden worlds and transformed identities: The tree becomes a fruit, the hall contains an internal world, and only a remnant of Nine Peaks Daoist remains, emphasizing the chapter’s focus on transformation and concealed power.
• Human unity versus demonic disunity: Humanity’s survival and strength are attributed partly to the Demon Emperors’ pride, rivalries, and lack of cooperation.

Important Character Interactions

• Chen deliberately avoids attacking Cui Yan and instead uses Nine Peaks Daoist’s formation to take the tree, creating a dramatic contrast between Chen’s stealth and Cui Yan’s ignorance.
• Cui Yan’s cry that the tree has “become a spirit” triggers the frantic response of the forty-nine True Persons on Inkstone Mountain Island.
• The True Martial Patriarch and Galaxy Ancestor discuss their centuries-long failure and reinforce their alliance against the Demon Emperors.
• The eight Spirit Transformations react suspiciously to the spatial disturbance caused by Chen’s arrival, each fearing that another faction has gained entry.
• Granny Gan questions Chen about how he entered Nine Peaks Hall, and Chen truthfully explains the role of the transposition formation.
• Nine Peaks Daoist’s remnant greets Granny Gan warmly despite her hostility, then praises Chen and suggests that Granny Gan has found an even greater genius than himself.

Chapter Summary: “Nine Peaks Daoist”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan arrives at Nine Peaks Hall after subduing Poison Granny, Gan Chen, and meets the lingering obsession of the deceased Nine Peaks Daoist.
• Nine Peaks Daoist recognizes that Chen has enslaved Gan Chen and correctly explains that, left unchecked, she would have seized another cultivator’s body after they reached a higher realm.
• He reveals that he and Poison Granny were once betrayed and plotted against by the Bloodcloud Prison Lord, a powerful Spirit Transformation cultivator who may still be alive as a Rogue Immortal.
• Nine Peaks Daoist asks Chen to:
  • Send copies of his inherited techniques to Canghai Star.
  • Return Nine Peaks Hall to Canghai Star once Chen no longer needs it.
  • If possible, damage the Bloodcloud Prison Lord before one of his future tribulations, allowing the heavenly tribulation to kill him.
• Chen agrees, emphasizing that he will act against the Bloodcloud Prison Lord only within his capabilities. No formal oath is demanded because Nine Peaks Daoist lacks a means to restrain Chen.
• Nine Peaks Daoist presents his accumulated inheritance and treasures, including numerous cultivation methods, secret arts, pills, talismans, spirit stones, and four Third Rank magical treasures.
• Chen pretends to be amazed by the cultivation methods, though his own knowledge and collection far surpass Nine Peaks Daoist’s inheritance.
• Chen is genuinely interested in the treasures, particularly the Ten Thousand Leaf Sword River, which perfectly complements his White Tiger Sword-Prison Scripture and enormous reserves of Sword Qi.
• He also obtains the Cosmic Spirit Shuttle, a travel treasure capable of creating a “Warp Bubble” for faster-than-light journeys, and the Hunyuan Instrument, a star-chart-like device that tracks the Nine Dragons River System.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Demonstrates honesty, restraint, and social tact. Although unimpressed by the supposedly precious cultivation inheritances, he hides his true reaction to preserve Nine Peaks Daoist’s satisfaction. His interest in cosmic travel and the Ten Thousand Leaf Sword River reflects his growing preparation for exploration beyond his current world.
• Nine Peaks Daoist: Revealed to be only a remnant of consciousness left after death. Despite his weakened state, he remains perceptive, generous, and attached to his homeland. His final wishes center on restoring his treasures and hall to Canghai Star and avenging the betrayal that led to his death.
• Granny Gan/Poison Granny: Her ruthless reputation is reinforced. She shows no shame when Nine Peaks Daoist exposes her former plans to possess Xiao Lan’s body, confirming her shameless and dangerous nature.
• Bloodcloud Prison Lord: Although absent, he is established as a major future threat and the source of Nine Peaks Daoist and Granny Gan’s past misfortune.

Significant Themes

• Legacy and attachment to homeland: Nine Peaks Daoist’s deepest regret is being unable to return to Canghai Star, showing that even powerful cultivators remain emotionally tied to their origins.
• Promises versus oaths: The chapter explores the limits of magical contracts and the importance of personal conscience. Without a reliable means of enforcement, Chen’s promise rests on his character.
• The vastness of the cosmos: Travel through the starry sky requires specialized treasures and an understanding of warped space, emphasizing the immense scale of the universe.
• Differences in perspective: Treasures considered priceless by ordinary Spirit Transformation cultivators are mundane to Chen because of his unusually vast inheritance and knowledge.
• Preparation for future conflict: The encounter provides Chen with resources, transportation, navigation tools, and a possible long-term enemy in the Bloodcloud Prison Lord.

Character Interactions

• Nine Peaks Daoist openly mocks and exposes Granny Gan’s sinister nature, while she remains completely indifferent and continues admiring the scenery.
• Chen responds respectfully to Nine Peaks Daoist and accepts his requests without making false promises about what lies beyond his abilities.
• Nine Peaks Daoist entrusts Chen with his legacy because Chen has shown the strength and judgment necessary to inherit it.
• Chen carefully pretends to be astonished by the inherited techniques, allowing Nine Peaks Daoist to enjoy the pride of presenting his life’s accumulated treasures.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan inherits Nine Peaks Daoist’s extensive wealth, including:
  • Four Third-Rank magic treasures.
  • Third-Rank cultivation and healing pills.
  • A precious Fauxuan Pill capable of helping Second-Rank cultivators break into Spirit Transformation.
  • Four hundred thousand Spirit Crystals and twelve thousand Origin Stones.
• Chen realizes the Fauxuan Pill can potentially be analyzed and refined through his abilities, allowing him to reproduce it in this world and future Dao Fruit Worlds for Shao He and his disciples.
• Nine Peaks Daoist’s final remnant fades away after entrusting Chen with his lifetime’s accumulated treasures. Chen feels sorrow and reflects on the harshness of cultivation and the inevitability of death, even for powerful Spirit Transformation cultivators.
• Chen considers whether Nine Peaks Daoist’s final obsession might form a Subsidiary Dao Fruit, but concludes that a Third-Realm Spirit Transformation cultivator is probably not qualified for such treatment.
• Before attempting his breakthrough, Chen decides to refine Nine Peaks Hall, a powerful defensive cave-dwelling palace created from Nine Peaks Daoist’s true body.
• After three months of refinement and another three months spent adjusting its formations, Chen completely takes control of Nine Peaks Hall.
• He swallows the Immortal Vine Fruit and begins his breakthrough into the Spirit Transformation Realm.
• The fruit allows him to resonate with heaven and earth, refine his nine apertures, and harmonize his body, magic power, and soul with the natural world.
• His strength rises dramatically:
  • His flesh becomes stronger.
  • His magic power becomes purer and more abundant.
  • His soul and perception expand from several li to thirty or forty li, far surpassing the senses of True Persons.
• Chen finally senses the arrival of the heavenly tribulation and announces that his Dao is complete. After cultivating through eight lives and seven worlds for 2,166 years, he successfully reaches the First Realm of Spirit Transformation—the Heavenly Person Realm.
• Outside Nine Peaks Hall, Galaxy Ancestor and seven other Spirit Transformation cultivators have waited for seven months. They notice that the hall’s formations have awakened and grown even more formidable, realizing that someone has taken ownership of the palace. Unable to break in, they continue waiting outside.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan becomes vastly wealthier and gains access to resources capable of supporting both his own cultivation and that of his disciples.
• His attitude toward the Fauxuan Pill shows his long-term strategic thinking: rather than merely possessing rare treasures, he values things he can analyze, reproduce, and use across multiple worlds.
• Witnessing Nine Peaks Daoist’s death deepens Chen’s understanding of mortality and the dangers of the immortal path. He becomes more reflective about the meaning of cultivation and the possibility of preserving a cultivator’s legacy through Dao Fruits.
• Chen’s decision to secure Nine Peaks Hall before breaking through demonstrates his cautious and methodical nature. He prioritizes defense and control over reckless advancement.
• His breakthrough transforms him from a powerful Second-Rank cultivator into a genuine Spirit Transformation expert, granting him extraordinary perception, physical strength, magic power, and a closer connection to heaven and earth.
• Nine Peaks Daoist receives a tragic but dignified conclusion. Though he dies with regrets, he leaves behind the resources, techniques, and cave dwelling that enable Chen’s rise.
• Galaxy Ancestor and the other seven Spirit Transformation cultivators shift from confidently besieging Nine Peaks Hall to cautiously observing it, now uncertain about the identity and strength of its new master.

Significant Themes

• Inheritance and legacy: Nine Peaks Daoist’s death is not merely an ending; his possessions, cave dwelling, and accumulated knowledge become the foundation for Chen’s next stage.
• The difficulty of immortality: Even Spirit Transformation cultivators remain vulnerable to death, emphasizing that each realm is only another step toward a distant immortal path.
• Preparation before advancement: Chen’s careful refinement of Nine Peaks Hall reflects the importance of securing one’s position before pursuing greater power.
• Transformation and unity with nature: Spirit Transformation is portrayed as the harmonization of body, soul, magic power, and heaven and earth—the state known as “unity of heaven and man.”
• Time and perseverance: Chen’s breakthrough represents the reward for thousands of years of cultivation across multiple lives and worlds.
• Dawn after dusk: Nine Peaks Daoist’s fading symbolizes the end of an era, while Chen’s breakthrough represents the rising of a new generation and the continuation of the cultivation path.
• Power and perception: The chapter emphasizes that Spirit Transformation cultivators are defined not only by greater destructive strength but also by vastly heightened awareness, making ambushes and survival in the starry sky extremely difficult.

Character Interactions

• Chen Jichuan and Nine Peaks Daoist: Their relationship centers on inheritance and final farewell. Nine Peaks Daoist explains the value of his treasures, while Chen receives them with growing appreciation and later watches the Daoist’s final remnant disappear.
• Chen and the deceased Moro’s legacy: Through Nine Peaks Daoist, Chen acquires Moro’s pills, especially the Fauxuan Pill, and gains resources connected to the Immortal Vine Clan.
• Chen and the outside besiegers: Although Chen does not directly meet Galaxy Ancestor and the other cultivators in this chapter, his refinement of Nine Peaks Hall changes the balance between them. The attackers recognize that the palace now has a master but cannot enter or challenge him directly.
• Chen and heaven and earth: During his breakthrough, Chen enters a state of profound resonance with the natural world, adjusting himself until his body, soul, and magic power approach unity with heaven and earth.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• A Sixty-Nine Heavenly Tribulation descends over Sumei Isle, signaling that someone inside Nine Peaks Hall is advancing to the Spirit Transformation Realm.
• Galaxy Ancestor and True Martial Patriarch, along with six Demon Emperors, evacuate the volcano while watching Nine Peaks Hall closely. They initially assume the person inside is merely a newly advancing cultivator and therefore less threatening than an established Spirit Transformation expert.
• Nine Peaks Hall vanishes, revealing a young blue-robed human cultivator, Xu Ning—also referred to in the narration as Chen Jichuan—who stands atop the volcano without using any visible magic treasures.
• Instead of defending himself conventionally, Xu Ning leaps directly into the tribulation clouds. He withstands all fifty-four lightning bolts across six waves with ease, appearing relaxed while his physical body remains unharmed. Tiger imagery and overwhelming sword intent manifest amid the lightning, hinting at his extraordinary cultivation and techniques.
• After surviving the tribulation, Xu Ning identifies himself as the Dean of Galaxy Academy’s Alchemy Institute and a disciple of the Silver River Sword Sect.
• His breakthrough dramatically shifts the balance of power on Wu River Star. The human race now has three Spirit Transformation cultivators: Xu Ning, Galaxy Ancestor, and True Martial Patriarch.
• The six Demon Emperors recognize that attacking would be futile and withdraw without making a move. They begin considering how to respond to the growing strength of the Human Race Alliance.
• Galaxy Ancestor and True Martial Patriarch escort Xu Ning from Sumei Isle to Red City, where they hold a celebratory feast and discuss his background and experiences.

Character Developments

• Xu Ning/Chen Jichuan reveals overwhelming confidence and physical strength by treating the terrifying heavenly tribulation almost casually. His ability to endure it without treasures establishes him as an exceptionally powerful Spirit Transformation cultivator.
• Galaxy Ancestor and True Martial Patriarch move from caution and concern to intense delight. They welcome Xu Ning as a fellow human Spirit Transformation cultivator and recognize that his emergence greatly strengthens humanity.
• The six Demon Emperors become alarmed and cautious. They realize that the previous balance of power has been broken and that none of them can easily oppose the human race alone.
• Xu Ning shows humility and respect toward the two patriarchs, acknowledging their historical role in protecting humanity. Their formal relationship quickly becomes cordial and fraternal.

Significant Themes

• The overturning of expectations: Xu Ning’s unconventional tribulation completely defies the experiences and assumptions of the older Spirit Transformation cultivators.
• Strength and political balance: His breakthrough is not merely personal; it changes the strategic balance between humanity and the Demon Race.
• Unity within humanity: Galaxy Ancestor, True Martial Patriarch, and Xu Ning immediately recognize the importance of cooperation against their common enemies.
• Respect for pioneers and protectors: Xu Ning honors the patriarchs for having defended humanity from oppression and helped it survive on Wu River Star.
• Power concealed beneath calmness: Xu Ning’s relaxed demeanor masks immense strength, making him both impressive and potentially intimidating to allies and enemies alike.

Character Interactions

• Galaxy Ancestor and True Martial Patriarch privately worry that Xu Ning is being reckless, only to be stunned when he enters the tribulation clouds willingly.
• The Demon Emperors observe the tribulation with shock and fear, realizing that Xu Ning may be even more formidable than a normal newly advanced Spirit Transformation cultivator.
• Xu Ning respectfully greets Galaxy Ancestor and True Martial Patriarch, while they insist that the three should treat one another as peers.
• The three human cultivators quickly develop a warm relationship, joking about Xu Ning’s tribulation and discussing the future of humanity over wine.

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan recounts his extraordinary cultivation progress: reaching Second Rank at one hundred years old and Spirit Transformation at three hundred.
• Galaxy Ancestor and True Martial Patriarch praise him but also discuss how difficult Spirit Transformation—and especially the stages beyond it—truly are.
• Chen reveals that Nine Peaks Daoist’s inheritance contains seven Spirit Transformation-grade cultivation methods:
  • One Divine Metamorphosis-grade method
  • Two Spirit Separation-grade methods
  • Two Origin Unity-grade methods
  • Two Heavenly Man-grade methods
• The revelation shows that Spirit Transformation consists of four realms: Heavenly Man, Origin Unity, Spirit Separation, and Divine Metamorphosis.
• Galaxy Ancestor and True Martial Patriarch realize they are only in the earliest realm despite having cultivated for nearly two thousand years, briefly falling into despair over the immense length of the immortal path.
• Chen offers the seven methods to both Patriarchs so they can copy and study them, presenting this as a contribution to humanity.
• True Martial Patriarch selects the Nine-Cosmos Battle Body, a Spirit Separation-grade method focused on combat and physical cultivation.
• Galaxy Ancestor selects the Drifting Rain Sword Canon, a Divine Metamorphosis-grade sword method compatible with his existing Galaxy Sword Manual.
• Humanity celebrates Chen’s advancement as the third Spirit Transformation cultivator on Wu River Star.
• The celebration is interrupted by alarming news: the True Person Tree has developed sentience and escaped Inkstone Mountain Island.

2. Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan demonstrates humility, emotional intelligence, and generosity. Although his advancement is astonishingly fast, he does not boast and willingly shares priceless cultivation knowledge.
• Galaxy Ancestor and True Martial Patriarch are initially proud of Chen but become shaken when they learn how many realms remain beyond their current cultivation. They quickly recover their composure, replacing despair with renewed hope.
• True Martial Patriarch shows gratitude and integrity, initially hesitating to accept Chen’s gift before recognizing it as an act of solidarity between fellow human cultivators.
• Galaxy Ancestor proves perceptive, immediately understanding Chen’s intention to share the inheritance with True Martial Patriarch.
• The True Person Tree undergoes a major unseen transformation, becoming sentient and independently escaping, establishing a new mystery and potential threat.

3. Significant Themes

• The vastness and difficulty of the immortal path: Even powerful Spirit Transformation cultivators discover that they have only begun their journey.
• Knowledge and guidance as invaluable resources: The lack of systematic cultivation methods has severely limited Wu River Star’s strongest cultivators.
• Generosity and cooperation among humanity: Chen shares his inheritance to strengthen humanity rather than keeping it for himself.
• Hope after despair: Although the Patriarchs are overwhelmed by the newly revealed path, they regain determination by recognizing that they finally possess guidance and future opportunities.
• Destiny and transformation: Chen’s inheritance from Nine Peaks Daoist and the True Person Tree’s sudden awakening both emphasize how individuals and spiritual beings can undergo unexpected breakthroughs.
• Compatibility and continuity in cultivation: Both Patriarchs select methods that align with their existing paths, allowing them to advance without completely abandoning their foundations.

4. Character Interactions

• Chen speaks modestly with Galaxy Ancestor and True Martial Patriarch about his achievements, while they acknowledge the hardship behind his success.
• The three discuss the limitations of their current cultivation manuals and the bleakness of advancing without guidance.
• Chen comforts the Patriarchs after revealing the four realms of Spirit Transformation.
• Galaxy Ancestor privately confirms that Chen intends to share the methods with True Martial Patriarch.
• Chen formally offers True Martial Patriarch access to the inheritance, emphasizing mutual support among humans.
• True Martial Patriarch bows in gratitude, while Galaxy Ancestor reinforces their unity as the three Spirit Transformation cultivators of Wu River Star.
• Their moment of celebration is abruptly disrupted by the report that the True Person Tree has become sentient and fled.

Chapter Summary: “Far-Reaching Plans!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Galaxy Ancestor and True Martial Patriarch suspect that the Demon Race may have produced another Spirit Transformation cultivator after someone escaped Inkstone Mountain Island undetected. This alarms them because humanity currently has only one such cultivator.
• Chen Jichuan knows the escape was unrelated to the True Person Tree, which is secretly inside him, but he cannot reveal the truth. He downplays the danger and allows the misunderstanding to continue.
• The True Martial Patriarch announces that Xu Ning—Chen Jichuan’s public identity and president of the Alchemy Institute—has reached Spirit Transformation, then enters seclusion to master newly obtained cultivation methods and High-Tier Arts.
• Xiao Lan and Huang Quan return to Sword City after leading demon-slaying operations. Xiao Lan is now a Sixth Heaven True Person, while Huang Quan is a Fifth Heaven True Person with combat strength comparable to hers.
• Sword City is embroiled in a dispute over the next president of Galaxy Academy. Xu Ning is the strongest candidate, but his sudden rise has caused the various halls and academies to resist placing him above their own candidates.
• Huang Quan reassures his fellow disciples that Chen Jichuan likely has his own plans and that there will be future opportunities even if Xu Ning does not obtain the position immediately.
• Chen Jichuan returns and summons his seven True Person disciples. Instead of discussing the academy presidency, he evaluates their progress and reveals his larger concern: preparing the Silver River Sword Sect to survive after he and the Galaxy Ancestor eventually leave Wu River Star.
• Chen Jichuan possesses a Fauxuan Pill capable of greatly increasing a Peak True Person’s chance of advancing to Spirit Transformation. He selects Huang Quan, Zhang He, and Yao Xingyu as candidates, promising the pill to whichever reaches Second-Rank Peak first.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Demonstrates caution, strategic patience, and long-term planning. He conceals the truth about the True Person Tree and focuses on building a reliable successor for the Silver River Sword Sect rather than pursuing the academy presidency for himself.
• Galaxy Ancestor and True Martial Patriarch: Become concerned about the possible emergence of another Demon Race Spirit Transformation cultivator. The True Martial Patriarch begins seclusion to improve his strength.
• Huang Quan: Has grown into a powerful Fifth Heaven True Person and a dependable leader. He understands Chen Jichuan’s temperament and discourages his siblings from panicking over the academy dispute.
• Xiao Lan: Has become a renowned and battle-hardened Sixth Heaven True Person known as the “Life-Risking Fairy Lan.” Her relentless dedication to cultivation has left no room for personal attachments.
• Huang Family: Has risen from an insignificant household to a prominent lineage with seven True Persons, largely because of its connection to Chen Jichuan. Its growing influence may eventually become politically dangerous.
• Zhang He and Yao Xingyu: Stand out among Chen Jichuan’s original disciples and are now being considered alongside Huang Quan as possible future Spirit Transformation cultivators.

Significant Themes

• Secrecy and misunderstanding: Chen Jichuan must allow others to believe an incorrect explanation about the True Person Tree because revealing the truth would expose his greatest secret.
• Long-term preparation: The chapter emphasizes planning for future dangers rather than reacting only to present conflicts.
• Succession and legacy: Chen Jichuan recognizes that Wu River Star needs another Spirit Transformation cultivator before he and the Galaxy Ancestor depart.
• Power and balance: Although the Huang Family is loyal and capable, giving it too much influence could destabilize the Silver River Sword Sect. Chen Jichuan therefore considers both personal trust and institutional balance.
• Merit through cultivation and battle: Xiao Lan and Huang Quan’s rapid advancement reflects the value of combat experience, personal guidance, and inherited opportunities.
• Influence without formal authority: Chen Jichuan does not openly seek the academy presidency, yet his disciples, students, and achievements already give him enormous potential influence within the sect.

Character Interactions

• Chen Jichuan privately observes Cui Yan’s mistaken suspicions but chooses not to correct them, balancing secrecy against the need to calm the Patriarchs.
• Xiao Lan and Huang Quan return together but maintain a distant relationship because Huang Quan knows about her past with Chen Jichuan’s identity, Xu Ning.
• Huang Quan discusses the academy controversy with Huang Jiao and Huang Biao, urging patience and trust in their master.
• Chen Jichuan gathers his seven disciples, reviews their achievements, and provides individual guidance, but deliberately withholds his plans regarding the academy presidency.
• His decision to choose Huang Quan, Zhang He, and Yao Xingyu as Spirit Transformation candidates reveals both his personal trust in them and his concern that no single family should dominate the sect.

Chapter Summary: “Forty-Eight Years: Advancement! Advancement!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The dispute over Galaxy Academy’s leadership ends when Galaxy Ancestor appoints Hong Yuan of Four Seas Hall as the new Academy Head.
• A gathering is held in Star River Hall to formalize the appointment. The sect’s seventeen Tenth-Heaven True Persons attend, including Hong Yuan and the former Academy Head, Peng Zhong.
• Xu Ning/Chen Jichuan suddenly appears beside Galaxy Ancestor, shocking everyone by taking a seat above the assembled True Persons.
• Galaxy Ancestor announces that Chen Jichuan has advanced to Spirit Transformation and is now the second Patriarch of the Silver River Sword Sect.
• The revelation stuns the entire sect, as Chen Jichuan is only around three hundred years old and had reached Tenth Heaven merely twenty years earlier.
• The news spreads across Wu River Star and beyond, causing the Human Race’s cultivators on Bright and Cang Continents to celebrate the emergence of their third Spirit Transformation Patriarch.
• After receiving advanced Spirit Transformation cultivation methods, Galaxy Ancestor, True Martial Patriarch, and Chen Jichuan withdraw from ordinary affairs and focus on cultivation, teaching their disciples, and preparing to eventually leave Wu River Star.
• Over the next forty-eight years, Chen Jichuan steadily improves his cultivation, divine sense, combat arts, alchemy, artifact refinement, talisman-making, and formations.
• His divine sense reaches a radius of roughly one hundred li, far surpassing that of Galaxy Ancestor and True Martial Patriarch, demonstrating the superiority of his Orthodox Grade cultivation method.
• His previously restricted fourth-level Transcendent Arts begin advancing again after his breakthrough to Spirit Transformation.
• Forty-eight years later, True Martial Patriarch reaches the Fourth Layer of the Heavenly Man Realm after fully converting to the Nine-Cosmos Battle Body.
• The Human Race has taken control of six continents after four Demon Emperors leave Wu River Star. Only two Demon Emperors—the Dragon Kings of the East Sea and North Sea—remain.
• True Martial Patriarch proposes that the three human Patriarchs join forces to drive out the remaining Dragon Kings and bring the Four Seas under human control.
• Galaxy Ancestor and Chen Jichuan agree. Chen Jichuan emphasizes that the Demon Race need not be exterminated, but Wu River Star’s Spirit Transformation cultivators should belong exclusively to the Human Race.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan makes an unprecedented leap from Tenth-Heaven True Person to Spirit Transformation, becoming the Silver River Sword Sect’s second Patriarch. His rapid progress confirms his extraordinary talent and gives him authority equal to the sect’s founders.
• His breakthrough also allows him to resume improving techniques such as the Great Luo Heavenly Sleeve, Wind-Thunder Heavenly Realms Grand Escape, Seven-Origin Calamity-Dispelling Sword Art, and Three-Unity Indestructible Golden Light Bodyguarding Method.
• Chen Jichuan’s understanding of alchemy and artifact refinement matures naturally after entering Spirit Transformation. His talisman and formation abilities also advance rapidly as he absorbs the accumulated insights of high-level Dao Fruits.
• Hong Yuan becomes Academy Head and initially worries that Chen Jichuan may resent losing the position. He later realizes that Chen’s appointment was never a rejection but a sign that Chen had already surpassed the role entirely.
• Galaxy Ancestor and True Martial Patriarch abandon most administrative responsibilities to cultivate and guide promising disciples. Their conversion to superior cultivation methods greatly strengthens their foundations and combat power.
• True Martial Patriarch progresses to the middle stage of the Heavenly Man Realm and becomes the driving force behind the plan to eliminate the remaining Demon influence on Wu River Star.

Significant Themes

• Extraordinary advancement and hidden strength: Chen Jichuan’s sudden breakthrough overturns everyone’s expectations and highlights the gap between his potential and that of ordinary geniuses.
• The superiority of cultivation methods: His Orthodox Grade method gives him vastly greater divine sense, physical strength, magical power, and future potential than the older methods used by the other Patriarchs.
• The transition from authority to cultivation: Once the Human Race gains multiple Spirit Transformation experts, worldly leadership becomes secondary to secluded cultivation, succession, and preparation for leaving Wu River Star.
• Expansion of human dominance: The Human Race gradually takes control of Wu River Star, transforming the balance of power after the Demon Emperors retreat.
• Mentorship and succession: The Patriarchs cultivate their disciples and prepare the next generation, while Chen Jichuan seeks to produce future Spirit Transformation experts through his methods and guidance.
• Power without needless extermination: Chen Jichuan advocates driving the Demon Race away from Wu River Star rather than annihilating it, suggesting a strategic rather than purely vengeful approach.

Character Interactions

• Hong Yuan and the other True Persons react with disbelief when Chen Jichuan appears above them and is revealed as a new Patriarch.
• Galaxy Ancestor publicly establishes Chen’s authority by ordering everyone to pay respects to “Patriarch Xu.”
• Chen Jichuan, Galaxy Ancestor, and True Martial Patriarch later meet in Southern Mountain Hall to discuss cultivation and the remaining Demon Emperors.
• True Martial Patriarch proposes the joint campaign against the East Sea and North Sea Dragon Kings, while Galaxy Ancestor immediately supports the plan.
• Chen Jichuan agrees but sets the strategic principle that the Human Race should secure dominance without necessarily destroying every member of the Demon Race.