Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan, True Martial Patriarch, and Galaxy Ancestor travel openly across the East Sea and confront Di Xu, the East Sea Dragon King and one of Wu River Star’s remaining Demon Emperors.
• True Martial Patriarch demands that Di Xu leave Wu River Star, warning that refusal will result in his death. Di Xu mocks the three Ancestors and relies on the East Sea’s terrain to protect him.
• True Martial Patriarch attacks first, but Di Xu uses his mastery of water and the Dragon-Serpent Illusory Demon Movement Technique to evade dozens of powerful axe strikes.
• Galaxy Ancestor joins the battle, using the Azure Grain Sword to turn seawater into a vast rain of sword Qi. Di Xu counters by controlling enormous quantities of seawater.
• Although Di Xu is difficult to defeat in his own territory, the combined strength of the two Ancestors—greatly enhanced by the inheritance from Nine Peaks Hall—gradually overwhelms him.
• When Di Xu attempts to flee into the deep sea, Chen Jichuan finally intervenes. His Seven-Star Sword Diagram seals the surrounding area and prevents Di Xu from escaping.
• Chen Jichuan’s Ten Thousand Leaf Sword River proves far more dangerous than either Ancestor’s attacks. Its sharp sword Qi repeatedly tears through Di Xu’s flood-dragon body and leaves him heavily wounded.
• Desperate, Di Xu uses the Heavenly Demon Form-Rending Technique, severing and detonating his own tail to create blood mist that breaks through the Sword Diagram. He escapes into the sea, but his injuries are severe.
• The three conclude that their objective has been achieved: Di Xu will likely flee Wu River Star and will no longer threaten them.
• They enter the East Sea Dragon Palace and spend three days plundering its treasury. They acquire vast quantities of spirit materials, medicines, Standard Spirit Stones, and 3.2 million Spirit Crystals. The Dragon Palace’s wealth exceeds the Ancestors’ expectations, though it remains less valuable than the unique treasures Chen Jichuan obtained from Nine Peaks Hall.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Demonstrates that, despite being the newest Spirit Transformation cultivator, he is the most dangerous combatant of the three. His Seven-Star Sword Diagram decisively changes the battle and reveals the terrifying sharpness of his cultivated sword Qi. He also shows restraint by abandoning the pursuit once Di Xu is no longer a threat.
• True Martial Patriarch: Displays overwhelming physical strength and aggressive fighting spirit through his Xuanhua Axe and Nine-Cosmos Battle Body. He accepts Chen Jichuan as an equal partner and openly praises his contribution.
• Galaxy Ancestor: Shows improved combat ability with the newly refined Azure Grain Sword. He supports True Martial Patriarch effectively but recognizes that Chen Jichuan’s attack is the decisive factor.
• Di Xu: Initially arrogant and confident because of his home-ground advantage, he becomes shocked and frightened by the Ancestors’ improvement and Chen Jichuan’s power. His willingness to mutilate himself to escape highlights both his survival instincts and the formidable abilities of a Spirit Transformation expert.

Significant Themes

• Power gained through inheritance: The improvements of True Martial Patriarch and Galaxy Ancestor demonstrate how obtaining powerful legacies can dramatically alter the balance of power.
• Home-ground advantage versus overwhelming strength: Di Xu’s mastery of the East Sea allows him to evade and resist the two Ancestors, but even his territorial advantage cannot overcome their combined growth.
• The danger of Spirit Transformation cultivators: Even when defeated, Di Xu remains capable of escaping through a desperate secret technique, showing why such experts are difficult to kill.
• Cooperation and complementary abilities: True Martial Patriarch provides direct physical force, Galaxy Ancestor controls the battlefield with wide-ranging sword attacks, and Chen Jichuan specializes in precise, lethal suppression.
• Victory through strategic objectives: The three do not need to kill Di Xu to succeed. Wounding and driving him away is enough to remove his threat and secure the Dragon Palace’s resources.

Character Interactions

• True Martial Patriarch and Di Xu exchange hostile taunts before and during the battle, with Di Xu ridiculing the human Ancestors and True Martial Patriarch responding with direct violence.
• Galaxy Ancestor backs True Martial Patriarch when his attacks cannot reach Di Xu, creating a coordinated assault.
• Chen Jichuan initially observes rather than intervenes, allowing the two senior Ancestors to engage Di Xu before revealing his superior trapping and offensive techniques.
• After Di Xu escapes, Galaxy Ancestor expresses regret that they failed to kill him, while True Martial Patriarch praises Chen Jichuan for preventing Di Xu’s safe escape.
• Chen Jichuan modestly attributes the victory to the efforts of his two “elder brothers,” reinforcing the camaraderie among the three.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan, True Martial Patriarch, and Galaxy Ancestor travel from the East Sea to the North Sea after their victory over Di Xu. Using the same ambush strategy, they lure North Sea Demon Emperor Li Luan into fleeing and kill him with the Innate One-Qi Demon-Subduing Lock-Bone Shrinking Body Method and the Seven-Star Sword Diagram.
• Humanity gains enormous treasures, including a Spirit Transformation flood-dragon corpse, Li Luan’s possessions, and the North Sea Dragon Palace’s wealth.
• A historical transition follows:
  • Xu Ning advances to Spirit Transformation, forcing the remaining Demon Emperors to flee.
  • Humanity comes to dominate Wu River Star.
  • The True Martial Immortal Sect and Silver River Sword Sect merge into the Wu River Immortal Sect.
  • Galaxy Ancestor and True Martial Patriarch eventually enter seclusion, beginning Xu Ning’s era of leadership.
• By the year 1370, Xiao Lan and Huang Quan both survive the Sixty-Nine Heavenly Tribulation and become the fourth and fifth human Spirit Transformation Patriarchs of the Wu River Immortal Sect.
• Wu River City develops into the sect’s political, cultural, economic, and cultivation center, while the identities of the former two sects gradually fade.
• Chen Jichuan finishes refining the Third-Rank Three-Flower Divine Shuttle, a powerful defensive treasure modeled after the Five Elements Sect’s legendary artifact. He has also refined multiple treasures for the sect and accumulated nine Third-Rank treasures personally.
• Xiao Lan and Huang Quan visit Chen Jichuan. He advises Xiao Lan about the Fire-Refining Heart Sutra and warns her that the more powerful Nine-Turn Astral Flame method is connected to Fallen Star Pavilion and could bring danger.
• Chen Jichuan then discovers that Xiao Lan possesses a human clone and a far more powerful true body: an Immortal Vine subspecies known as a Cloudveil Vine.
• Granny Gan explains that Xiao Lan likely inherited the secret Soul-Splitting Body-Seizure Art from the remnants of Granny Gan’s former spirit-separation avatars. Xiao Lan may have used it to seize the body of the Cloudveil Vine that later became the Cloudveil Demon Emperor—or another related Immortal Vine.
• The chapter ends with the revelation that the Cloudveil Vine’s Supreme Bone may have originally belonged to a twin Immortal Vine. One twin was born with the Supreme Bone and an extraordinary destiny, while the other was a lesser Cloudveil Vine that apparently took the bone and evolved. Xiao Lan’s true body may be the nearly dead twin who later survived through body seizure.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan becomes the central leader and master of the Wu River Immortal Sect. His artifact-refining abilities advance greatly, and he prepares powerful treasures both for himself and for future sect Patriarchs.
• Xiao Lan is revealed to be far more mysterious and powerful than previously believed. Her human form is only a clone, while her true body is an Immortal Vine at the Second Layer of the Celestial Being Realm. She also possesses dangerous body-seizure knowledge and may have obtained a Supreme Bone.
• Huang Quan, Xu Ning’s senior disciple, advances to Spirit Transformation and becomes one of the sect’s new generation of Patriarchs.
• Galaxy Ancestor and True Martial Patriarch withdraw from the world after establishing the Wu River Immortal Sect’s dominance.
• Granny Gan provides crucial information about Xiao Lan’s origins, the Soul-Splitting Body-Seizure Art, Fallen Star Pavilion, and the possible history of the Cloudveil Vine twins.

Significant Themes

• The rise of humanity: The deaths and expulsions of the Demon Emperors mark humanity’s transition from survival to complete dominance over Wu River Star.
• Institutional unification: The merger of the two major sects symbolizes the replacement of old divisions with a unified human civilization.
• Hidden identities and transformation: Xiao Lan’s clone, true body, and possible body-seizure history emphasize that appearances conceal deeper origins.
• Power gained through danger: Xiao Lan’s advancement and Chen Jichuan’s treasures both result from dangerous inheritances, seized opportunities, and morally perilous techniques.
• Inheritance and destiny: The Supreme Bone and the Immortal Vine twins raise questions about whether greatness comes from birth, possession, or the ability to seize another’s destiny.
• Preparation for the future: Chen Jichuan’s refining of defensive treasures and attention to cultivation methods show the sect preparing for threats beyond Wu River Star.

Character Interactions

• Chen Jichuan, True Martial Patriarch, and Galaxy Ancestor cooperate closely in the East and North Sea campaigns, combining traps, secret techniques, and sword formations to defeat the Demon Emperors.
• Chen Jichuan later acts as mentor to Xiao Lan and Huang Quan, advising them on cultivation and sect resources.
• His calm response to Xiao Lan’s revelation contrasts with his private shock and investigation through Granny Gan.
• Granny Gan and Chen Jichuan work together to reconstruct Xiao Lan’s hidden past, linking her abilities to Granny Gan’s failed attempt at body seizure and to the mysterious origins of the Cloudveil Demon Emperor.

Chapter Summary: “Great Fortune, the Flame Passes On!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan realizes that Xiao Lan’s possession of the Cloudveil Vine is an extraordinary stroke of fortune. As a subspecies of the Immortal Vine, the Cloudveil Vine can support powerful spiritual recovery and make spirit-splitting and body-seizing far safer than for ordinary cultivators.
• Xiao Lan’s life is revealed to have been shaped by three major opportunities:
  1. Obtaining the Fire Phoenix Ring in her youth, which began her rise.
  2. Surviving Granny Gan’s betrayal and acquiring Granny Gan’s Spirit Separation essence and the Soul-Splitting Body-Seizure Art.
  3. Seizing the body of the weakened Cloudveil Vine, allowing both her main body and avatar to reach Spirit Transformation.
• At only five hundred years old, Xiao Lan has become exceptionally powerful, surpassing figures such as Galaxy Ancestor, the True Martial Patriarch, and even Granny Gan at the same stage. Huang Quan privately admits that he cannot compare with her.
• Xiao Lan chooses the Nine-Turn Astral Flame cultivation method. Chen Jichuan gives it to her and warns her to beware not only of Medicine King Star and the Fallen Star Pavilion, but also of enemies of Granny Gan.
• Chen Jichuan reveals that Galaxy Ancestor and the True Martial Patriarch did not truly enter seclusion. One hundred and twelve years earlier, they entrusted the Wu River Immortal Sect to him and left Wu River Star to explore the starry skies and pursue the Immortal Dao.
• Now that Huang Quan and Xiao Lan have both reached Spirit Transformation, Chen Jichuan decides to pass responsibility for the Wu River Immortal Sect to them and leave Wu River Star himself.
• He explains that the former True Martial Immortal Sect merged with the Silver River Sword Sect before the two patriarchs departed, creating the unified Wu River Immortal Sect under his stewardship.
• Chen Jichuan entrusts Huang Quan and Xiao Lan with protecting the sect, nurturing younger disciples, and cultivating new Spirit Transformation successors. He also gives them a hand-drawn star map to help them navigate the surrounding starry skies.

Character Development

• Xiao Lan: Her status rises dramatically. Once a vulnerable cultivator connected to Granny Gan and Chen Jichuan, she is now a confident Spirit Transformation expert with both a powerful main body and avatar. Her possession of the Cloudveil Vine remains a carefully guarded secret, and her confidence makes her eager to face former enemies.
• Chen Jichuan: He moves from being the sect’s long-term guardian to preparing for his own departure into the wider universe. He demonstrates generosity by not coveting Xiao Lan’s fortune and shows a more mature, non-romantic relationship with her based on shared origins and mutual responsibility.
• Huang Quan: Though proud and grateful to have become a Spirit Transformation patriarch, Huang Quan recognizes that his advancement depended heavily on Chen Jichuan’s guidance and external assistance. He accepts that his talent and foundation are inferior to Xiao Lan’s, but proves his loyalty by willingly agreeing to remain and protect the sect.
• Galaxy Ancestor and the True Martial Patriarch: Their earlier departure is clarified. Both chose to abandon worldly burdens and pursue greater cultivation in the starry skies, with the True Martial Patriarch first merging his sect into Chen Jichuan’s organization to ensure its continued survival.

Significant Themes

• Fortune and destiny: Xiao Lan’s extraordinary rise is portrayed as the result of repeated, almost miraculous opportunities, emphasizing how fate can shape a cultivator’s path.
• Inheritance and continuity: The chapter centers on the passing of responsibility from one generation of patriarchs to the next. The sect’s survival depends on successors accepting both power and obligation.
• Duty versus freedom: Chen Jichuan, like Galaxy Ancestor and the True Martial Patriarch before him, must choose between remaining responsible for the sect and pursuing the greater possibilities of the starry skies.
• Trust and mutual support: The former sects merge, cultivators leave behind successors, and those traveling outward continue to support those remaining at home. The sect’s strength depends on cooperation across generations.
• Hidden strength and restraint: Xiao Lan keeps her Cloudveil Vine body secret, while Chen Jichuan notices but deliberately does not expose or exploit it. Their relationship reflects mutual discretion and respect.
• The pursuit of the Immortal Dao: Leaving Wu River Star represents the next stage of cultivation, while remaining behind is framed not as weakness but as a necessary contribution to the future.

Character Interactions

• Chen Jichuan and Xiao Lan discuss her cultivation choice and her connections to Granny Gan. He gives her the Nine-Turn Astral Flame and warns her about the dangers surrounding her past associations.
• Xiao Lan remains reserved but respectfully accepts Chen Jichuan’s guidance, showing that their relationship has evolved beyond their former romantic connection into one of shared sectarian roots.
• Huang Quan silently observes the complicated history between Chen Jichuan and Xiao Lan, deliberately avoiding interference or questions.
• Chen Jichuan formally addresses Huang Quan and Xiao Lan as the new guardians of the Wu River Immortal Sect. Huang Quan responds with solemn loyalty, while Xiao Lan promises not to fail the responsibility.
• The chapter ends with Chen Jichuan preparing the two for his departure, trusting them to preserve the sect until future Spirit Transformation cultivators can continue the cycle of inheritance.

Chapter Summary: “This Is the Starry Sky!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• With Huang Quan and Xiao Lan reaching Spirit Transformation, Chen Jichuan begins preparing to leave Wu River Star and explore the starry sky.
• He reviews his current cultivation, abilities, treasures, and wealth. He is a Third-Rank immortal with Spirit Transformation cultivation at the Second Layer of the Heavenly Man Realm.
• Over the past two centuries, Chen Jichuan has improved significantly in alchemy, artifact refining, talisman-making, and formations, all reaching the Third Rank.
• His Dao Fruit advances to the Third Rank, awakening a new passive talent: Dominion of All Arts.
• This talent allows him to cultivate multiple unrelated cultivation methods simultaneously without them interfering with one another. He uses it to cultivate both the metal-aligned White Tiger Sword-Prison Scripture and the fire-aligned Vermilion Bird Glazed Scripture.
• Chen Jichuan recognizes that cultivating multiple cardinal-beast techniques could greatly enhance his power. He plans to improve the Vermilion Bird method and eventually develop corresponding Azure Dragon and Black Tortoise techniques.
• After completing his preparations, Chen Jichuan tours the Wu River Immortal Sect, visits old acquaintances, and then announces that he is entering seclusion.
• His departure marks the end of the sect’s “Era of Patriarch Xu” and the beginning of the Huang-Xiao Era, under Huang Quan and Xiao Lan’s leadership.
• On the second day of the second month in Wu River Calendar 1371, Chen Jichuan leaves Wu River Star aboard the Cosmic Spirit Shuttle and enters the starry sky for the first time.
• The vastness and darkness of the universe initially overwhelm him, but his shock transforms into awe and ambition as he realizes the scale of the world beyond his home planet.

Character Development

• Chen Jichuan has matured from a powerful cultivator focused on building his foundation into someone ready to explore the wider universe.
• He remains cautious about his cultivation speed, recognizing that Spirit Transformation becomes increasingly difficult at higher realms and that he cannot rely on optimistic calculations.
• His understanding of cultivation has become more sophisticated. He realizes that closed-door cultivation alone is insufficient and intends to exchange knowledge and compete with cultivators from other worlds.
• His new talent, Dominion of All Arts, gives him an unusual advantage over ordinary cultivators by allowing him to cultivate multiple systems at once.
• Despite his great wealth and strength, Chen Jichuan retains humility and uncertainty about the dangers of the starry sky. His first reaction to the universe is fear and astonishment, followed by rising ambition.

Significant Themes

• Expansion beyond familiar boundaries: The chapter marks the transition from a contained world to the immense and dangerous starry universe.
• Preparation versus uncertainty: Chen Jichuan has accumulated tremendous power, wealth, and knowledge, but he understands that none of these guarantees safety in the unknown.
• The limits of isolated cultivation: His decision to seek fellow cultivators and exchange knowledge emphasizes the importance of interaction, experience, and cooperation.
• Growth and specialization: The development of Dominion of All Arts represents Chen Jichuan’s unique path and his effort to combine multiple forms of cultivation.
• Human smallness and cosmic grandeur: His first view of the universe emphasizes the contrast between individual power and the overwhelming scale of existence.
• Legacy and succession: Chen Jichuan’s departure closes one era of the Wu River Immortal Sect while entrusting its future to Huang Quan and Xiao Lan.

Character Interactions

• Chen Jichuan and Huang Quan/Xiao Lan: Their advancement to Spirit Transformation makes Chen Jichuan’s departure possible and allows him to leave the sect in capable hands.
• Chen Jichuan and the Wu River Immortal Sect: He makes a final tour, visiting disciples and old acquaintances before retreating and departing, symbolically closing his era of leadership.
• Huang Xuan and Feng Heng: Chen Jichuan observes the married pair during his farewell tour, reinforcing his connection to the sect’s people and history.
• Chen Jichuan and past patriarchs: He compares his cultivation progress with Galaxy Ancestor and True Martial Patriarch, acknowledging both his advantages and the foundations laid by earlier generations.
• Chen Jichuan and Granny Gan: He reflects regretfully on her tragic fate after the Bloodcloud Prison Lord destroyed her body and took her possessions, highlighting the dangers awaiting him beyond Wu River Star.

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Wu River Star is introduced as a remote, obscure planet in the Ninth District of the Nine Dragons River System. Its existence is beginning to attract attention because Chen Jichuan, Galaxy Ancestor, and True Martial Patriarch have entered the wider starry world.
• Chen Jichuan travels toward Demonic Sound Mountain aboard the Cosmic Spirit Shuttle. Although the journey will take roughly twenty years—forty years including his offline cultivation time—he is not in a hurry to reach the prosperous core region.
• Demonic Sound Mountain is described as the domain of the legendary Demon-Sound Ten Ancestors. These ten martial brothers entered the Spirit Transformation Realm together; five died before advancing far, while the remaining five reached Divine Metamorphosis and later became powerful Rogue Immortals.
• The mountain is a peaceful refuge where fighting is forbidden. Because many rogue cultivators gather there, it has developed into an important center for trade and business.
• Granny Gan is released from the Fire Phoenix Ring and explains the major powers operating in the Nine Dragons River System:
  • Four Directions Gate, a vast commercial superpower.
  • Fallen Star Pavilion, an organization dominated by alchemists.
  • Azurefirmament Palace, a loose alliance of Immortal Dao cultivators.
  • Myriad Immortals Alliance, a powerful female-only organization defending oppressed female cultivators.
  • Beast Spirit Palace, which hunts, tames, and sells spirit beasts.
• Chen Jichuan considers joining one of these major forces. Although his expertise in alchemy, artifact refinement, talismans, and formations makes him valuable, his background prevents him from easily entering most of them.
• Fallen Star Pavilion is his preferred choice because of his alchemy skills and Granny Gan’s assistance, but its strict investigations could expose Wu River Star. He therefore decides that Azurefirmament Palace is his safest option, while remaining cautious because some members know Nine Peaks Daoist and might uncover his origins.
• During the journey, Chen Jichuan begins intensive cultivation, using his vast supply of Spirit Crystals to strengthen his magic power while continuing to improve his cultivation attainment.

2. Character Development

• Chen Jichuan becomes more strategic and cautious about his future in the starry sky. Rather than rushing to the central regions, he plans to establish himself gradually, increase his cultivation, and obtain better travel equipment.
• He demonstrates strong self-awareness by evaluating how his talents and background affect his possible affiliations. Although he possesses broad skills, he recognizes that each major faction has specific requirements and risks.
• Chen Jichuan also shows increasing financial and logistical awareness. He understands that survival and advancement in the starry sky depend not only on talent but also on resources, territory, and access to cultivation environments.
• Granny Gan takes on the role of guide and adviser, providing Chen Jichuan with crucial knowledge about the region’s factions, trade networks, and political dangers.
• The chapter also expands the reputations of the Demon-Sound Five Ancestors, Azurefirmament Daoist, Nine Peaks Daoist, and other powerful figures, establishing the broader hierarchy of the cultivation world.

3. Significant Themes

• The vastness and obscurity of the universe: Even a fertile, life-bearing world like Wu River Star is insignificant within the enormous Cosmic Starfield. Recognition comes only when powerful cultivators emerge from a planet.
• Resources as the foundation of cultivation: Spiritual power cannot be accumulated efficiently through meditation alone. Spirit Crystals, Origin Stones, pills, and spiritually rich lands are essential, reinforcing the idea that “one must either have money or have land.”
• Caution and concealment: Chen Jichuan must balance the benefits of joining a major faction against the danger of revealing his true origins and connections.
• Power through organization: The major factions demonstrate different methods of influence—commerce, alchemy, beast control, mutual protection, and ideological alliance.
• The stages of spiritual advancement: The chapter explains that cultivating magic power is only one part of progress. True advancement requires expanding the sea of consciousness, strengthening the soul, and eventually achieving Origin Unity and the formation of the Primordial Spirit.
• Peace and cooperation amid a violent world: Demonic Sound Mountain’s ban on fighting makes it a rare haven, showing how stability and trade can flourish when powerful figures suppress unnecessary conflict.

4. Character Interactions

• Chen Jichuan and Granny Gan converse during the journey, with Granny Gan explaining the structure of the Nine Dragons River System and the nature of its dominant organizations.
• Their interaction shows mutual trust: Chen Jichuan relies on Granny Gan’s knowledge, while she provides practical advice about which factions are safe or dangerous.
• Chen Jichuan reflects on Galaxy Ancestor and True Martial Patriarch, who have already gone ahead to Demonic Sound Mountain, indicating that their paths remain connected even while they travel separately.
• Nine Peaks Daoist’s legacy continues to influence Chen Jichuan’s decisions. Since Azurefirmament Palace contains people familiar with Nine Peaks Daoist, Chen must be wary of being recognized or having his hidden background exposed.
• The chapter also contrasts the relationships within the Demon-Sound Ten Ancestors—ten brothers who cultivated together—with the broader alliances and organizations that dominate the starry sky.

Overall

The chapter functions as a transition from Chen Jichuan’s local world into the larger cosmic cultivation society. It establishes Demonic Sound Mountain as his next destination, introduces the major factions and their competing interests, and emphasizes the importance of secrecy, resources, and cultivation foundations as Chen begins preparing for life in the wider starry sky.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan continues cultivating alone in the starry sky, still far from reaching the Primordial Unity Realm. He works toward perfecting his Heavenly Person state by expanding his sea of consciousness and condensing his soul.
• The unobstructed starry sky greatly enhances his divine sense. Its range and clarity increase dramatically, allowing him to perceive distant movements and safely travel faster than light.
• Chen occasionally consults Granny Gan, whose experience as a former Spirit Transformation expert helps him understand deeper cultivation principles.
• After ten years of travel, Chen discovers a colorful, cloud-covered star filled with powerful auras. Granny Gan identifies the clouds as Dual-Element Five-Phase Miasma, produced by rare Dual-Element Immortal Spiders.
• Granny Gan explains that these spiders consume five-phase minerals, produce deadly miasma, mine resources rapidly, and inhabit extraordinarily valuable treasure lands. Their mineral byproducts can be refined into powerful Dual-Element Orbs, making the spiders highly prized by the Beast Spirit Palace.
• Rather than sell the information, Chen decides to investigate the star himself. He first considers various escape arts and magical techniques but concludes they are unlikely to withstand or bypass the miasma.
• He sends several Second-Rank Peak Refined Corpses into the miasma as probes. All are destroyed almost instantly, proving that concealment techniques cannot protect against it.
• Chen then relies on the defensive Nine Peaks Hall, activating all its formations and entering it personally. As the hall descends through the miasma, it suffers continuous bombardment and consumes vast quantities of Spirit Crystals.
• The Nine Peaks Hall is severely damaged, and the aftershocks injure Chen despite his defensive methods and the Three-Flower Divine Shuttle. Nevertheless, he successfully passes through the miasma and reaches the star’s surface, revealing a beautiful world of continents, seas, mountains, and rivers illuminated by multicolored sunlight.

Character Development

• Chen Jichuan demonstrates patience and discipline by enduring ten years of isolated cultivation rather than rushing toward an unrealistic breakthrough.
• His divine sense and understanding of cosmic principles improve substantially through starry-sky cultivation.
• He becomes more cautious and methodical when confronting danger, testing the miasma with Refined Corpses before risking himself.
• At the same time, his discovery awakens his opportunistic and adventurous side: instead of selling the information about the immortal spiders, he seeks to claim the treasure for himself.
• Granny Gan remains knowledgeable and useful, but her jealousy grows as she realizes how valuable Chen’s discovery is. Bound by her oath, she is forced to reveal the truth despite her reluctance.

Significant Themes

• Patience and gradual progress: Chen recognizes that cultivation is a long journey and focuses on steady advancement.
• Danger and opportunity: The deadly miasma protects a resource-rich land, demonstrating that immense rewards often require enormous risks.
• Preparation and caution: Chen probes the danger with expendable Refined Corpses and carefully compares his available techniques and treasures before acting.
• Mutual restraint and transformation: The Dual-Element Immortal Spider’s destructive miasma also produces valuable materials, reflecting the idea that destruction and creation are interconnected.
• Knowledge as power: Granny Gan’s expertise allows Chen to understand the significance of the star and evaluate its potential value.

Character Interactions

• Chen and Granny Gan interact as master and bound advisor. He relies on her experience, while she reluctantly provides accurate information because of her oath.
• Granny Gan’s explanation transforms Chen’s discovery from a mysterious star into a potentially priceless treasure land.
• Chen’s interactions with his Refined Corpses are practical rather than emotional: he treats them as expendable tools to test the environment.
• His cautious reliance on the Nine Peaks Hall and defensive treasures highlights the contrast between Chen’s ambition and his awareness of the dangers involved.

Chapter Summary: “Four Years Later!”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan successfully passes through the terrifying Dual-Element Five-Phase Miasma by relying on Nine Peaks Hall, a defensive treasure comparable to the protection of a Divine Metamorphosis expert.
• Severely wounded, he hides in a Temporary Grotto and spends four years recovering, aided by Nine Peaks Daoist’s pills and the Heaven-Mending Seal.
• Once healed, Chen immediately begins searching Colorful Cloud Star for the Third Rank Dual-Element Immortal Spider, intending to subdue it before complications arise.
• He discovers that the spider rules the star through countless Five-Element Spirit Spiders, which mine ores and deliver the valuable materials to their master. The star is filled with complex tunnels organized around the five phases, creating an ideal escape network.
• Using Insight Art, Chen identifies the spider’s main abilities: Dual-Element Traversal, the Five-Element Evasion Art, and the deadly Dual-Element Five-Phase Miasma.
• Chen launches an attack with the Ten Thousand Leaf Sword River, Seven-Star Sword Diagram, Fire Phoenix Ring, and Grand Luo Heavenly Fire. The spider counters with miasma and escapes underground.
• The chase continues through the star’s five-phase terrain. Although the spider attempts to exploit its home-field advantage, Chen’s superior mastery of the Five-Element Evasion Art allows him to pursue it relentlessly.
• After exhausting the spider’s miasma, Chen uses the Six-Ding Mountain-Cleaving Method, the Innate One-Qi Demon-Subduing Lock-Bone Shrinking Body Method, and the Great Luo Heavenly Sleeve to trap and suppress it inside a mountain.
• The spider refuses to voluntarily open its divine soul, so Chen tortures it with Mother-and-Child Primordial Yang Divine Needles. After three hours, it submits.
• Chen plants a spark refined from the Grand Luo Heavenly Fire within the spider’s divine soul, giving him control over it.
• He plans to acquire Beast-Taming Rings from the Beast Spirit Palace in the future to reduce the mental burden of controlling the beast and possibly learn how to forge such treasures himself.

2. Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan demonstrates the value of preparation and powerful treasures. Nine Peaks Hall allows him to survive the miasma, while his healing techniques and pills shorten what would otherwise be decades of recovery.
• His confidence grows as he recognizes that the Dual-Element Immortal Spider’s greatest advantage—its Five-Element Evasion Art—is ineffective against him because his own mastery is superior.
• Chen becomes increasingly pragmatic and ruthless. Rather than risk leaving the spider uncontrolled, he forcibly implants a soul-control method after it refuses genuine submission.
• He also shows self-awareness by recognizing the limitations of his “wild path” cultivation and acknowledging the Beast Spirit Palace’s superiority in beast taming.
• The Dual-Element Immortal Spider is characterized as intelligent, cautious, cunning, and fiercely unwilling to surrender its freedom, but ultimately helpless against Chen’s superior techniques.

3. Significant Themes

• Preparation and accumulated resources: Chen survives because of Nine Peaks Hall, healing pills, the Heaven-Mending Seal, and his wide range of techniques.
• Mastery overcoming home-field advantage: The spider designed Colorful Cloud Star’s underground environment to facilitate escape, but Chen’s superior understanding of the Five-Element Evasion Art neutralizes that advantage.
• Power and control: The spider’s submission is not voluntary; Chen establishes control through overwhelming force and soul manipulation, highlighting the harsh nature of cultivation-world relationships.
• Pragmatism versus morality: Chen views the spider primarily as a dangerous resource that must be controlled before it can threaten Wu River Star’s inhabitants.
• The limits of individual cultivation: Although Chen is powerful, he admits that specialized organizations possess knowledge and tools beyond what a lone cultivator can easily develop.

4. Character Interactions

• Chen and the Dual-Element Immortal Spider engage in a prolonged pursuit and battle, with the spider repeatedly attempting to escape and Chen systematically dismantling its defenses.
• Chen verbally threatens the spider and offers it a chance to submit, but the spider tries to feign obedience while refusing to expose its divine soul.
• Their interaction ultimately becomes an unequal contest of wills: the spider resists for three hours under torture before surrendering.
• Chen’s future relationship with the spider is established as one of enforced control, maintained by the divine-soul spark implanted by Chen.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan brings Granny Gan into his temporary grotto on Dual-Element Star to inspect the enormous amount of Five-Ore Essence he has accumulated.
• Granny Gan is shocked to see that Chen has subdued the powerful Dual-Element Immortal Spider. She explains that only the highest-grade Five-Ore Essence can be used to refine Dual-Element Orbs or certain Third Rank magic treasures.
• Chen calculates that his roughly 132,000 jin of high-grade Five-Ore Essence could produce about seventy-three Dual-Element Orbs, worth approximately twenty million Spirit Crystals in total—far more than the alternative of refining a few conventional magic treasures.
• Granny Gan teaches him the Dual-Element Orb refinement method. Chen quickly masters it, improves the process, and eventually produces seventy-nine orbs instead of the expected seventy-three.
• The enhanced orbs can severely threaten, and perhaps even grievously injure, experts in the Third Realm of Spirit Transformation or the Spirit Separation Realm. They give Chen a reliable defense against powerful enemies.
• Each orb takes about half a year to absorb and refine the violent Dual-Element Five-Phase Miasma. Chen allows the embryos to refine themselves while he focuses on cultivation.
• Chen remains on Dual-Element Star for twenty years, recovering his cultivation, comprehending the laws of heaven and earth, and exploiting the star’s dense spiritual energy and abundant resources.
• After sensing an unfamiliar divine sense approach and return to Dual-Element Star, Chen prepares for a possible enemy. He discovers that the visitor is Xiao Lan, an old acquaintance from Wu River Star.
• Recognizing Xiao Lan’s true body as the Cloudveil Vine, Chen hides the Dual-Element Immortal Spider in his sleeve and prepares to meet her, leaving the lesser spirit spiders behind.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Becomes increasingly confident, resourceful, and financially calculating. He improves Granny Gan’s refining method rather than merely following it, creating stronger weapons and transforming the Immortal Spider’s accumulated resources into immense wealth. His twenty years of cultivation also strengthen his foundation and understanding of the world.
• Granny Gan: Reveals her knowledge of Dual-Element Orbs and related treasures, though she remains visibly jealous of Chen’s enormous fortune. Her surprise at his ability to tame the Immortal Spider highlights how far beyond expectations Chen has progressed.
• Dual-Element Immortal Spider: Remains obedient after being subdued and becomes the source of Chen’s greatest material gains. Chen treats her as a valuable long-term resource rather than merely a captured beast.
• Xiao Lan: Reappears after approximately thirty years, traveling from Wu River Star in her Cloudveil Vine true body. Her arrival suggests that she may have followed Chen’s trail or independently discovered the same region.

Significant Themes

• Resource conversion and strategic wealth: Materials that are individually unimpressive become extraordinarily valuable when combined correctly. Chen’s success comes from recognizing the most profitable use of the Five-Ore Essence.
• Preparation and defensive power: Chen’s stockpile of Dual-Element Orbs gives him confidence against much stronger cultivators and allows him to continue cultivating in a dangerous location.
• Innovation through cultivation knowledge: Chen does not simply inherit techniques; he studies, refines, and improves them, increasing both efficiency and power.
• Patience and long-term planning: Rather than rushing to Demonic Sound Mountain, Chen remains on Dual-Element Star to cultivate, refine treasures, and exploit an opportunity already within his grasp.
• Encounters shaped by past connections: Xiao Lan’s return demonstrates that Chen’s departure from Wu River Star has not severed his old relationships or escaped the attention of former acquaintances.

Character Interactions

• Chen and Granny Gan discuss the value and applications of Five-Ore Essence. Chen repeatedly presses her for exact market prices, while Granny Gan tries to hide her envy.
• Chen dismisses Granny Gan’s surprise about the Immortal Spider’s subjugation and later sends her away after obtaining the refining method and financial calculations.
• Chen’s relationship with the Dual-Element Immortal Spider is presented as controlled and practical: she is subdued, concealed, and preserved as a source of future resources.
• Chen identifies Xiao Lan through his secret investigative technique despite her radically altered appearance, setting up a likely reunion or confrontation in the next chapter.

Chapter Summary: “Jealousy Burns Fierely!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After thirty years of traveling through the starry sky, Xiao Lan finally reaches the vicinity of Dual-Element Star and encounters another Spirit Transformation cultivator.
• The cultivator turns out to be Chen Jichuan, whom Xiao Lan knows as Xu Ning. She disguises her identity under the name “Dong He” and pretends to be lost while asking for directions to Demonic Sound Mountain.
• Chen Jichuan immediately recognizes Xiao Lan but pretends not to. He tests her intentions by acting hostile and offering to sell her his Cosmic Spirit Shuttle.
• The shuttle can travel at twice the speed of light, making it vastly superior to traveling through the starry sky by physical flight. Chen Jichuan asks for forty million Spirit Crystals, or three hundred and eighty thousand Origin Stones.
• Xiao Lan haggles aggressively, eventually offering three hundred and twenty thousand Origin Stones. Chen Jichuan is stunned when she produces the full amount, since even his considerable wealth is nowhere near that level.
• Chen Jichuan verifies that Xiao Lan is not attempting to deceive or rob him, demonstrates the shuttle’s capabilities, and completes the transaction.
• Xiao Lan immediately departs to refine and use the shuttle, while Chen Jichuan returns to Dual-Element Star to settle remaining matters before continuing toward Demonic Sound Mountain.

Character Developments

• Xiao Lan: Having spent decades alone in the starry sky, Xiao Lan is relieved and excited to encounter another Spirit Transformation cultivator. Despite disguising herself and acting cautiously, she remains fundamentally honest and avoids taking advantage of Chen Jichuan. Her great wealth reveals that she possesses an extraordinary fortune or destiny, far beyond what Chen Jichuan expected.
• Chen Jichuan: He demonstrates his cautious, suspicious, and opportunistic nature by testing Xiao Lan’s character and considering whether she might attack him for the shuttle. His jealousy at Xiao Lan’s immense wealth highlights his greed and competitive personality, but he ultimately conducts a fair transaction and gains greater trust in her.
• Their relationship: Both characters recognize each other’s identities but maintain the pretense that they are strangers. Their interaction is shaped by mutual suspicion, concealed knowledge, and cautious respect.

Significant Themes

• Jealousy and unequal fortune: Chen Jichuan is envious that Xiao Lan can casually produce hundreds of thousands of Origin Stones despite his own adventures and accumulated wealth.
• Testing human nature: Chen Jichuan deliberately sets a high price to see whether Xiao Lan will betray or attack him, while Xiao Lan worries that he might kill her for her money. Their transaction becomes an unspoken test of trust.
• Caution in the dangerous starry sky: Both cultivators remain constantly alert because unfamiliar Spirit Transformation experts and valuable treasures can quickly become threats.
• Fortune and destiny: Xiao Lan’s enormous wealth suggests that she is a “child of fortune,” someone whose opportunities and resources defy ordinary logic.
• Mutual concealment: The characters’ decision not to expose what they know about each other creates a subtle game of deception and restraint.

Character Interactions

• Xiao Lan approaches Chen Jichuan under the alias Dong He and politely asks for directions.
• Chen Jichuan responds coldly, claiming that Dual-Element Star does not welcome outsiders, then tempts her with the Cosmic Spirit Shuttle.
• Their price negotiation reveals their contrasting attitudes: Chen Jichuan acts like a calculating merchant, while Xiao Lan bargains persistently but remains wary of provoking him.
• After exchanging the shuttle and Origin Stones, both are visibly relieved that the other did not attempt betrayal.
• Xiao Lan leaves with a more favorable impression of Chen Jichuan, while Chen Jichuan gains some trust in her character and hopes her extraordinary fortune may benefit him in the future.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan travels through the Cosmic Starfield aboard the Dual-Element Immortal Spider, which can reach 2.2 times the speed of light—faster than a Cosmic Spirit Shuttle.
• During the journey, he reflects on the remarkable mobility of starry sky beasts such as Xiao Lan and the Cloudveil Vine, recognizing their evolutionary advantages over human cultivators.
• After a total of fifty-seven years since leaving Wu River Star, Chen finally reaches Demonic Sound Mountain, located on Demon Sound Star.
• Demonic Sound Star is heavily defended by ten mountain formations and forty-seven satellite formations, with entry permitted through four gates. The formations were created by the Fourth and Seventh Demon-Sound Ancestors.
• At the Southern Heaven Gate, reception envoys Tao Shan and Liu Shan guide Chen through the process of renting a cave abode.
• Chen chooses the cheapest D-grade cave abode, rejecting the more expensive B-grade option because its special refining flames are rootless and cannot improve his Grand Luo Heavenly Fire.
• The cave costs 30,000 Spirit Crystals per year, forcing Chen to rely on his remaining Origin Stones after exhausting his Spirit Crystals during cultivation and travel.
• Chen learns that Patriarchs Silver River and True Martial, who departed Wu River Star 112 years earlier, have not yet arrived. Their slower travel speed demonstrates the importance of high-grade transportation treasures.
• While waiting, Chen explores Demonic Sound Mountain and studies the Nine Dragons River System using A Brief History of the Nine Rivers.
• He discovers that the system contains more than 93,000 inhabited planets and possibly several million Spirit Transformation cultivators, far exceeding his previous understanding of the wider world.
• Chen begins researching local markets, prices, materials, and treasures. He is particularly interested in items that can improve Dao attainment, not merely magic power.
• He learns about valuable cultivation treasures such as the Three-Pattern Clear Spirit Pill, Purple Heart Pill, Barrier-Breaking Pill, and Blood Lotus Pill.

Character Development

• Chen Jichuan becomes increasingly aware of the scale and complexity of the starry sky. His surprise at the number of Spirit Transformation cultivators broadens his perspective beyond Wu River Star.
• He demonstrates practical judgment by selecting an inexpensive cave abode and refusing to pay for refining flames that offer him little benefit.
• His priorities become clearer: he values resources that strengthen cultivation and Dao comprehension over wealth for its own sake.
• Chen also begins adapting to life in the larger cultivation world by systematically studying markets, goods, prices, and local customs.
• Tao Shan and Liu Shan are introduced as respectful but low-status reception envoys. Their treatment of Chen highlights the strict hierarchy between cultivation realms.
• Silver River and True Martial remain offscreen, but their delayed arrival emphasizes their lack of high-speed travel treasures.

Significant Themes

• The vastness of the cultivation world: The immense number of planets and Spirit Transformation cultivators reveals that Wu River Star is only a small part of a much larger civilization.
• Speed and transportation as strategic advantages: The Dual-Element Immortal Spider and Cosmic Spirit Shuttle dramatically shorten journeys, showing how important mobility is for powerful cultivators.
• Economic inequality and commercial exploitation: Demonic Sound Mountain’s peaceful reputation hides a highly profitable rental business, with even basic cave abodes costing enormous sums.
• Cultivation resources versus true insight: Magic power can be increased through pills and wealth, but Dao attainment remains rarer and more difficult to obtain.
• Practical use of wealth: Chen recognizes that Spirit Crystals and Origin Stones are valuable only when converted into cultivation, treasures, or combat strength.
• Hierarchy within the Immortal Dao: Second Rank cultivators who would hold prominent positions elsewhere are reduced to attendants in Demonic Sound Mountain, emphasizing the gulf between realms.

Character Interactions

• Chen repeatedly consults Granny Gan, who provides him with information about Demonic Sound Mountain, its ancestors, formations, and customs.
• He has a formal exchange with Tao Shan and Liu Shan, who respectfully assist him in renting a cave abode.
• Chen’s thoughts about Xiao Lan and the Cloudveil Vine lead him to compare the natural abilities of starry sky beasts with human transportation artifacts.
• Although he has not yet met Silver River and True Martial at Demonic Sound Mountain, Chen’s observations about their slow journey underline the practical differences between them and cultivators equipped with superior travel methods.

Chapter Summary: “Making Money the Right Way!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan examines the expensive cultivation resources available in Demonic Sound Mountain, including:
  • Third-Rank spirit pills such as the Three-Pattern Clear Spirit Pill, Purple Heart Pill, Blood Lotus Pill, and Barrier-Breaking Pill.
  • Treasures like the Five-Elements Pagoda, Thunder Star, and Black Iron Jottings.
  • Spirit beasts from the Beast Spirit Palace, including the Pond Egret, Horned Eagle, and Yellow Kite.
• He purchases Three-Pattern Clear Spirit Pills, Purple Heart Pills, and a Blood Lotus Pill, spending nearly nineteen thousand Origin Stones.
• After testing the pills through a year of cultivation, Chen Jichuan confirms that they can shorten his advancement from the Second Layer to the Third Layer of the Heavenly Man Realm from roughly 120–140 years to about thirty years.
• He develops an efficient long-term pill regimen:
  • Three-Pattern Clear Spirit Pills every half-month.
  • Twelve Purple Heart Pills per year.
  • One Blood Lotus Pill every ten years.
• This regimen will cost approximately 1.692 million Spirit Crystals annually, making it clear that his financial resources will eventually run out.
• Chen Jichuan therefore decides that earning money is essential. He identifies alchemy as his best opportunity because he possesses several Third-Rank pill formulas and the Derivation Technique.
• He plans to refine and sell:
  • Azure Nether Pills, which increase magic power.
  • Brahma Saint Pills, which restore magic power.
  • Spirit Candle Pills, which heal injuries.
• By optimizing formulas, reducing costs, improving success rates, and increasing pill quality, he estimates that these pills could generate several million Spirit Crystals in annual profit.

Character Development

• Chen Jichuan becomes more committed to rapid cultivation and recognizes that advancing in the Immortal Dao requires investing heavily in resources.
• He demonstrates a practical and calculated approach by testing the pills personally before establishing an optimized dosage schedule.
• His priorities expand beyond cultivation: he must now become an entrepreneur and use alchemy to sustain his long-term progress.
• His confidence in his alchemical abilities grows because the Derivation Technique allows him to compensate for his merely average innate talent.

Significant Themes

• Cultivation requires wealth: Powerful pills and treasures provide major advantages, but their prices make financial resources almost as important as talent.
• Efficiency and optimization: Chen Jichuan carefully balances medicinal benefits against diminishing returns and expenses.
• Long-term planning: Rather than spending recklessly, he calculates his future needs over ten-year periods.
• Self-reliance and adaptability: Since opportunities are uncertain, he chooses a reliable income source—alchemy—to support his cultivation.
• Investment in advancement: Money spent on cultivation is presented as an investment in reaching higher realms and pursuing the Immortal Dao.

Character Interactions

• There are no major direct character interactions in this chapter. Chen Jichuan mainly interacts with the commercial and cultivation environment of Demonic Sound Mountain, purchasing resources from places such as the Fallen Star Pavilion and considering services and treasures offered by the Four Directions Gate and Beast Spirit Palace.
• His past associations also remain relevant: the Origin Stones obtained from Nine Peaks Daoist and the money earned by selling the Cosmic Spirit Shuttle to Xiao Lan provide the financial foundation for his current cultivation and business plans.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan evaluates his income and expenses, deciding to focus on refining and selling Spirit Candle Pills, a third-rank healing pill with an estimated annual revenue of 2.52 million Spirit Crystals.
• Because developing his own market would be troublesome, he plans to sell pills through the Fallen Star Pavilion and Four Directions Gate, accepting slightly lower profits in exchange for convenience. He also intends to purchase medicinal herbs from commercial firms.
• He begins refining Spirit Candle Pills almost exclusively. The pill is highly valuable because it can heal or stabilize both physical and soul injuries, making it especially popular among Heavenly Man Realm cultivators traveling through the dangerous starry sky.
• Chen spends most of his time cultivating and refining pills in his cave residence at Demonic Sound Mountain, occasionally attending discussion gatherings and small trade fairs.
• Using his Insight Art, he can see through cultivators’ foundations and identify the true nature and value of treasures. Although major bargains are rare, he earns additional money and builds useful connections.
• In the tenth year after arriving at Demonic Sound Mountain, Chen encounters Xiao Lan again. She had arrived seventeen years after leaving Dual-Element Star—ten years earlier than Chen—but the two had not met because of the mountain’s size and their secluded lifestyles.
• After twenty-two years of cultivation and two sessions in the Four Directions Gate’s Five-Elements Pagoda, Chen breaks through to the Third Layer of the Heavenly Man Realm in his forty-fourth year at Demonic Sound Mountain.
• He sells his accumulated Five-Ore Essence and 177 Second-Rank Five-Element Pearls, earning 22.23 million Spirit Crystals. Including pill profits and trade-fair gains, his total wealth reaches approximately 420,000 Origin Stones and 26.23 million Spirit Crystals.
• He retains his far more valuable Dual-Element Orbs and Dual-Element Immortal Spider, which are worth tens of millions but are more useful as weapons and wealth-generating assets than as items to sell.
• After sixty-six years at Demonic Sound Mountain—and 123 years since leaving Wu River Star—Chen remains without news from the patriarchs Silver River and True Martial, who have been gone for 235 years.
• His cultivation eventually begins to slow, prompting him to consider leaving Demonic Sound Mountain to seek opportunities, experience combat, and determine the true limits of his strength.
• While reviewing his cultivation insights and writing about realms and techniques, Chen senses someone activating the formation outside his cave. He reacts with clear anticipation, ending the chapter on a cliffhanger.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan becomes financially secure and increasingly established in Demonic Sound Mountain. He demonstrates patience, business sense, and a willingness to build wealth steadily rather than recklessly.
• His cultivation advances to the Third Layer of the Heavenly Man Realm, but his true combat ability far exceeds his apparent realm. Thanks to his Orthodox Grade cultivation method and multiple fourth-level Transcendent Arts, he may overpower mid-stage Heavenly Man cultivators and potentially challenge late-stage opponents.
• Chen grows more socially connected through trade fairs and Dao discussions, gaining a broader understanding of the Ninth District and the general standards of Spirit Transformation cultivators.
• He remains cautious and pragmatic regarding Xiao Lan. Although he hopes to benefit from her powerful background, he understands that he previously overcharged or exploited her and must rebuild trust gradually.
• Xiao Lan is shown to have traveled efficiently and established herself in Demonic Sound Mountain long before Chen. However, she remains distant and does not actively seek a closer relationship.
• Chen’s attitude toward cultivation matures: he values both painstaking practice and reflection, believing that understanding and strategic thought are as important as simply working hard.

Significant Themes

• Wealth as a cultivation resource: Chen’s ability to buy pills, treasures, and access to cultivation facilities allows him to progress far faster than cultivators in poorer regions.
• Self-reliance versus dependence: Although Chen considers cultivating a relationship with Xiao Lan, he recognizes that relying on another person’s influence is inferior to developing his own strength and resources.
• Patience and long-term planning: Chen carefully builds his business, reputation, alliances, and future opportunities instead of pursuing immediate gains.
• The gap between realm and actual strength: His visible cultivation level understates his combat power because of superior techniques, pure Magic Power, and deep comprehension.
• Cultivation as both practice and reflection: Chen’s habit of reviewing his methods and recording insights emphasizes the importance of understanding the Dao rather than blindly accumulating cultivation.
• Opportunity and danger in the wider starry sky: Demonic Sound Mountain offers abundant resources and markets, but it is also a dangerous place filled with powerful cultivators and exotic beasts.

Character Interactions

• Chen conducts business indirectly with the Fallen Star Pavilion and Four Directions Gate, relying on established organizations to sell pills and acquire materials.
• He attends cultivation discussions and trade fairs, exchanging knowledge and forming connections with various Spirit Transformation cultivators.
• His reunion with Xiao Lan is brief and polite. She shows little interest in becoming close, while Chen deliberately avoids appearing overly eager and plans to strengthen their relationship gradually.
• Chen continues to think about Silver River and True Martial, whose prolonged absence creates uncertainty about their fate.
• The chapter closes with an unknown visitor arriving at Chen’s cave residence, suggesting a potentially important encounter or new development.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan welcomes Fairy Dong He, whose true identity is Xiao Lan, into his cave dwelling on Demonic Sound Mountain. They have known each other for decades but have never been especially close.
• Chen observes Xiao Lan’s astonishing cultivation progress. In just over a century, she has risen from the Second Layer to the Fifth Layer of the Heavenly Man Realm, far surpassing his own advancement.
• After extended small talk, Xiao Lan reveals that she has spent years tracking an enemy who once ambushed her and with whom she shares a deadly grudge. She asks Chen to help her kill him.
• Xiao Lan suspects that Chen secretly possesses the Dual-Element Immortal Spider, based on his past actions, his sale of Five-Element materials, and his rapid arrival at Demonic Sound Mountain. Chen denies this, attempting to conceal his true strength.
• To secure his cooperation, Xiao Lan offers an advance payment of 200,000 Origin Stones, worth roughly 20 million Spirit Crystals. She also offers two rare heavenly flames—Seaheart Flame and Fire-in-the-Stone—as well as access to an ancient ruin she has been unable to enter.
• The strange fires are especially valuable to Chen because they can strengthen his Grand Luo Heavenly Fire, while Fire-in-the-Stone is also useful for refining Samadhi True Fire.
• Impressed by the reward and Xiao Lan’s sincerity, Chen agrees to assist her. They decide to depart in half a year.
• After Xiao Lan leaves, Chen prepares for the journey. He plans to upgrade his transportation because the Dual-Element Immortal Spider is too slow and long-distance travel would waste valuable cultivation time.
• At the Four Directions Gate, he investigates faster transportation treasures known as Star-River Walkers. These allow cultivators to transform using strange-beast blood essence and gain part of the beast’s speed.
• Chen learns about the extremely fast Golden Light Walk, which can reach seven times the speed of light, but its price is beyond what he can currently afford.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Remains cautious, humble, and calculating. He hides his true abilities and refuses to openly acknowledge possession of the Dual-Element Immortal Spider. However, Xiao Lan’s generous offer persuades him to accept the dangerous mission. His desire to improve his transportation reflects his practical focus on saving time and advancing his cultivation.
• Xiao Lan/Dong He: Reveals a more vulnerable and determined side by asking Chen for help with a long-standing vendetta. She demonstrates considerable wealth, foresight, and sincerity, carefully preparing rewards that appeal directly to Chen’s interests. Her pursuit of the enemy is connected to recovering the Supreme Bone, though the chapter does not yet reveal the full details.
• Relationship between Chen and Xiao Lan: Their relationship develops from distant acquaintanceship into a mutually beneficial alliance. Xiao Lan trusts Chen’s hidden strength, while Chen recognizes the value of helping her despite their limited personal closeness.

Significant Themes

• Unequal talent and fortune: Chen reflects on the enormous gap between ordinary cultivators and those blessed with exceptional innate talent or fortune. Xiao Lan’s rapid progress highlights how different cultivation paths and bloodlines can determine advancement.
• Pragmatism and mutual benefit: Trust is not the foundation of Chen and Xiao Lan’s agreement; valuable compensation, shared interests, and complementary abilities are. Both characters carefully evaluate what the other can provide.
• Hidden strength and secrecy: Chen continues concealing his true capabilities and treasures, while Xiao Lan relies on observation and deduction to uncover the truth.
• The cost of time in cultivation: Chen sees travel as a major drain on his limited time and seeks faster transportation so he can focus more effectively on cultivation.
• Ambition and revenge: Xiao Lan’s long pursuit of her enemy illustrates her determination to reclaim what was lost and settle an old grudge.

Important Character Interactions

• Chen and Xiao Lan exchange polite conversation before Xiao Lan finally makes her request.
• Xiao Lan challenges Chen’s modesty by citing his alleged ability to capture the Dual-Element Immortal Spider.
• Chen denies possessing the spider, while Xiao Lan promises not to expose him and offers increasingly valuable rewards.
• The presentation of the Origin Stones and rare flames changes Chen’s attitude, leading him to accept the mission.
• Their planned expedition establishes a new partnership that will likely involve revenge, treasure hunting, and the exploration of the ancient ruin.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan reviews the Four Directions Gate’s forty-eight Star-River Walkers, rejecting the expensive Golden Light Walk and the slower Dual-Element Traversal.
• With 950,000 Origin Stones, he purchases the third-rank magic treasure Sun-Chasing Traversal for 800,000 stones. It transforms him into a Sun-Chasing Demon Ape capable of traveling at three times the speed of light—significantly faster than his Cosmic Spirit Shuttle.
• Chen realizes the treasure is valuable not only for transportation but also because his Insight Art can analyze its construction and innate technique. He intends to cultivate Sun-Chasing Traversal himself, ensuring he will retain the ability even if his treasures or current allies are lost.
• After six months, Chen and Xiao Lan leave Demonic Sound Mountain through the Southern Heaven Gate, marking Chen’s first departure in sixty-six years.
• Xiao Lan warns Chen that wealthy alchemists are prime targets for starry-sky criminals. They initially travel using only their physical bodies to avoid attracting attention before activating their more valuable traversal abilities.
• Chen transforms into a massive Sun-Chasing Demon Ape, while Xiao Lan reveals that she possesses Immortal Vine Traversal, allowing her to move even faster. She deliberately matches Chen’s pace.
• Once outside Demonic Sound Mountain, Chen asks Xiao Lan to explain her connection to her enemy, Dong He. She reveals that Dong He is her blood brother and fellow Twin Immortal Vine, now a Cloudveil Vine known as the Cloudveil Demon Emperor.
• Xiao Lan claims that Dong He once removed the Supreme Bone from her body, nearly killing her. She survived, recovered over a thousand years, and has since pursued him to reclaim it before he fully matures.
• Chen confirms that Xiao Lan’s journey is truly centered on recovering the Supreme Bone. He concludes that Dong He’s strength has rapidly increased since leaving Wu River Star and that Xiao Lan sought his help because she cannot defeat her brother alone.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Demonstrates careful financial planning, prioritizing an efficient long-term investment over flashy or overpriced treasures. His confidence in the Insight Art grows, and he shows foresight by learning traversal techniques that will remain useful even after reincarnation or the loss of magic treasures. He also carefully conceals his prior knowledge of Xiao Lan’s identity and motives.
• Xiao Lan: Reveals more of her history and personal motivations, though she still withholds information about matters such as Wu River Star and possible body possession. Her determination to reclaim the Supreme Bone and stop Dong He becomes clear. She is portrayed as experienced, cautious, wealthy, and strategically manipulative.
• Dong He / Cloudveil Demon Emperor: Though absent, he is established as a major threat. After fusing completely with the Supreme Bone, his strength and potential have begun rapidly increasing.

Significant Themes

• Preparation and self-reliance: Chen values acquiring abilities he can personally cultivate rather than depending entirely on external treasures, transportation, or allies.
• Wealth and power: The prices of Star-River Walkers reflect the enormous gap between different cultivation realms, while Chen’s wealth makes him both powerful and vulnerable.
• Hidden motives and partial trust: Xiao Lan tells Chen a carefully edited version of the truth, and Chen likewise conceals how much he already understands.
• Bloodline, inheritance, and destiny: The Supreme Bone represents rare innate potential and determines the future of both siblings, turning family ties into a struggle for power.
• Urgency and growth: Xiao Lan must act before Dong He fully matures, while Chen recognizes that delay will make the enemy increasingly difficult to defeat.

Character Interactions

• Xiao Lan acts as Chen’s guide to the dangers of the outer starry sky, warning him about bandits and advising him not to display his expensive treasures.
• Chen is impressed and envious when Xiao Lan reveals her superior Immortal Vine Traversal, highlighting the difference in their resources.
• During their journey, Chen cautiously questions Xiao Lan about her enemy. She responds with a selective confession, presenting the conflict as a sibling feud over the stolen Supreme Bone.
• Chen outwardly reacts with sympathy and understanding, while internally analyzing her story and confirming his earlier suspicions about her true objective.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Xiao Lan reveals that her elder brother, Mo Ganshan—now known as the Cloudveil Demon Emperor—is cultivating in an asteroid belt two light-years from Demonic Sound Mountain.
• Because Xiao Lan can sense him through the connection between the Supreme Bone and the Twin Immortal Vines, she and Chen Jichuan travel there to reclaim the Supreme Bone and eliminate him.
• After eight months of travel, they enter the dangerous asteroid belt, where divine sense is severely restricted. Xiao Lan’s resonance ability allows her to locate Mo Ganshan quickly.
• They discover that Mo Ganshan has advanced from the Seventh to the Eighth Heaven of the Heavenly Man Realm, confirming that his strength has grown dramatically over the past twenty years.
• Xiao Lan attacks first, transforming into her true Cloudveil Vine form and unleashing hundreds of powerful talismans and magic treasures. Despite Mo Ganshan’s superior cultivation, her overwhelming resources force him into retreat.
• When Mo Ganshan attempts to escape using the seventh form of Beast God’s Seven Kills, Beast-God Rush, Xiao Lan seals the area with thirteen Lesser Heavens Sealing Immortal Talismans and calls on Chen Jichuan to stop him.
• Chen Jichuan surrounds Mo Ganshan with Grand Luo Heavenly Fire, then uses his transcendent sleeve technique to seize the Demon Core that powers the escape art.
• With Mo Ganshan weakened and unable to flee, Chen Jichuan defeats him, suppresses him inside his sleeve, and seals him using the Innate One-Qi Demon-Subduing Lock-Bone Shrinking Body Method.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan demonstrates major growth and confidence. Although initially viewing Mo Ganshan as a much stronger opponent, he proves capable of decisively restraining an injured Eighth-Heaven Heavenly Man cultivator.
• His mastery of the fourth-level transcendent art allows him to remove Mo Ganshan’s Demon Core before it can detonate, revealing a powerful and unexpected ability.
• Chen also shows personal concern for Xiao Lan, stating that he would help her even without the promised treasures and rewards.
• Xiao Lan becomes more proactive and determined. Rather than waiting for Mo Ganshan to grow stronger, she chooses to strike first.
• Her enormous stockpile of talismans and treasures displays both her wealth and willingness to spend everything necessary to win. However, her usually calm demeanor breaks down when Mo Ganshan attempts to escape, showing how deeply she fears losing him again.
• Mo Ganshan is revealed as an exceptionally rapid cultivator who rose from the Second Heaven to the Eighth Heaven in just over three centuries. Despite his strength and inherited Beast God techniques, he is overwhelmed by Xiao Lan’s preparation and Chen Jichuan’s intervention.

Significant Themes

• Preparation versus raw cultivation: Mo Ganshan possesses the higher cultivation realm, but Xiao Lan’s careful preparation, wealth, talismans, and specialized tactics allow her to suppress him.
• The danger of allowing an enemy to grow: Xiao Lan’s decision to attack first reflects the urgency of preventing Mo Ganshan from becoming even stronger.
• Resourceful combat: The battle emphasizes that magic treasures, talismans, sealing methods, and strategic cooperation can overcome differences in cultivation.
• Family conflict and irreconcilable rivalry: Xiao Lan and Mo Ganshan are connected by their shared Cloudveil Vine origins, yet their struggle over the Supreme Bone has made their relationship a fight to the death.
• Hidden power and unexpected advancement: Chen Jichuan’s ability to neutralize the Demon Core demonstrates that his true capabilities are far greater than Mo Ganshan expected.

Character Interactions

• Xiao Lan explains Mo Ganshan’s location and weaknesses to Chen Jichuan, trusting him enough to undertake the dangerous journey.
• Before the battle, the two establish a coordinated plan: Xiao Lan will engage and entangle Mo Ganshan, while Chen Jichuan will prevent his escape.
• Xiao Lan repeatedly calls on Chen Jichuan for assistance when Mo Ganshan uses his ultimate escape technique.
• Mo Ganshan recognizes Chen Jichuan but initially underestimates him because of their former disparity in cultivation.
• After being trapped, Mo Ganshan angrily threatens Xiao Lan, promising to return for her, but Chen Jichuan interrupts and decisively captures him.

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Xiao Lan thanks Chen Jichuan for helping her defeat and capture her twin brother, the Cloudveil Demon Emperor, also known as Mo Ganshan.
• She uses the Third-Rank Three-Light Divine Cauldron to suppress the weakened demon emperor, sealing him with Three-Light Divine Fire and preventing his escape.
• Chen Jichuan explains that he intervened because he had promised to help her, though he privately views the arrangement as a professional exchange: he helped her, and expects the rewards she promised.
• Xiao Lan offers Chen Jichuan her gratitude and proposes treating him as an elder brother, but he politely rejects the idea, preferring a more distant relationship.
• Xiao Lan asks to purchase the Cloudveil Demon Emperor’s Crystal Core, which contains immense cultivation power, an internal space, and valuable Essence of the Five Metals.
• Chen Jichuan refuses her initial offer of future Azure Sky Divine Sand, since the Crystal Core is highly useful to him and her promised payment is distant and uncertain.
• Xiao Lan then offers a Pure Yang Immortal Lotus Root in exchange. Chen Jichuan recognizes it as a genuine Fourth-Rank treasure and accepts.
• After the exchange, Xiao Lan explains that she must first remove and re-fuse the Supreme Bone, so their search for the promised strange fires and ancient ruin will be delayed.
• Chen Jichuan readily agrees, now eager to refine the Pure Yang Immortal Lotus Root and create a second body.

2. Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan demonstrates exceptional control and resourcefulness by removing the Cloudveil Demon Emperor’s Crystal Core just before it could self-destruct, while also preserving the demon emperor’s life for Xiao Lan to capture.
• He remains cautious and calculating, refusing vague promises and evaluating every offer based on long-term value.
• His Insight Art allows him to confirm the authenticity of the Pure Yang Immortal Lotus Root, preventing any possibility of deception.
• Chen Jichuan realizes that the treasure likely explains Xiao Lan’s extraordinary cultivation progress despite possessing an avatar: the lotus root allows the creation of a second body without damaging one’s foundation or comprehension.
• Xiao Lan becomes openly grateful and shows a rare degree of warmth, even offering to regard Chen Jichuan as an elder brother.
• Her desperation to reclaim the Supreme Bone and strengthen herself is revealed through her willingness to trade an extremely rare treasure for the Crystal Core.
• The chapter also clarifies that Xiao Lan’s Cloudveil Vine body and human body are both central to her cultivation and survival.

3. Significant Themes

• Exchange and mutual benefit: The relationship between Chen Jichuan and Xiao Lan is built on bargains, favors, and carefully measured rewards rather than unconditional trust.
• Value of information: Chen Jichuan benefits from knowing more about Xiao Lan’s identity and circumstances than she realizes, giving him an advantage during negotiations.
• Power and cultivation foundations: The Crystal Core represents accumulated cultivation, while the Pure Yang Immortal Lotus Root offers the rare ability to create an additional body without harming one’s path to higher realms.
• Caution versus opportunity: Chen Jichuan carefully weighs the risks and value of the exchange but ultimately seizes the chance to obtain a priceless treasure.
• Multiple bodies and survival: The possibility of cultivating two bodies provides greater strength, freedom, and protection from death, emphasizing the importance of preserving one’s life in the dangerous Immortal Dao.

4. Character Interactions

• Xiao Lan repeatedly praises and thanks Chen Jichuan for saving her plans and preventing the Cloudveil Demon Emperor from escaping.
• She attempts to deepen their relationship by asking him to treat her as a younger sister, but Chen Jichuan tactfully avoids becoming sworn siblings.
• Their negotiation over the Crystal Core reveals their differing priorities: Xiao Lan needs it to reclaim her brother’s cultivation, while Chen Jichuan values its materials and potential uses.
• Xiao Lan first offers future Azure Sky Divine Sand, but Chen Jichuan declines because the reward is delayed and uncertain.
• She ultimately offers the Pure Yang Immortal Lotus Root, and both characters leave the exchange satisfied: Xiao Lan obtains the Crystal Core, while Chen Jichuan gains a treasure far more valuable to his future cultivation.

Chapter Summary: “Open Source, Cut Spending! [Monthly Ticket Request!]”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After fleeing Demonic Sound Mountain, Xiao Lan and Chen Jichuan settle separately on an unnamed star and establish cave abodes.
• Xiao Lan reflects on giving Chen Jichuan the Pure Yang Immortal Lotus Root. She views the gift as:
  • Repayment for his past life-saving favor and recent assistance.
  • A practical trade for the Cloudveil Demon Emperor’s crystal core.
  • A way to avoid the dangers of using or selling the lotus root herself.
  • An investment in a promising ally who may eventually attain the Immortal Dao.
• Chen Jichuan analyzes Xiao Lan’s motives and concludes that she may be trying to build a relationship with him, regarding him as an extraordinary prodigy. He jokes that she is “clinging to his thigh,” while recognizing that, from her perspective, his achievements genuinely appear astonishing.
• Chen Jichuan refines the lotus root and places it in his sea of consciousness. After ten years of nurturing, it will produce a Second Primordial Spirit.
• He considers turning the Primordial Spirit into a Lotus-Root Avatar, but prefers to find a powerful fire-attributed starry-sky exotic beast and use it as the avatar’s foundation instead.
• While Xiao Lan remains in seclusion, likely refining the Cloudveil Demon Emperor’s crystal core and Supreme Bone, Chen Jichuan focuses on cultivation.
• His Vermilion Bird Glazed Scripture advances from the twenty-seventh to the thirty-first layer, reaching the Spirit Transformation level.
• His soul can now manifest as either a White Tiger Divine Lord or a Vermilion Bird Divine Lord. The White Tiger remains much stronger, revealing the limitations of the Vermilion Bird Scripture as a Heterodox Grade method.
• Chen Jichuan decides to prioritize cultivation and arts rather than immediately deducing more techniques. His greatest obstacle is a lack of wealth, especially because his Dao Fruit ability, Enlightenment, consumes resources and damages his foundation.
• The chapter ends with him resolving to seek new sources of income while reducing unnecessary spending. The author also adds a request for monthly votes.

Character Developments

• Xiao Lan becomes more strategic and forward-looking. She recognizes Chen Jichuan’s extraordinary potential and deliberately cultivates a mutually beneficial relationship with him.
• Chen Jichuan gains a clearer understanding of how others perceive him. He realizes that although he considers himself ordinary or dependent on future advantages, Xiao Lan sees him as a rare genius with tremendous potential.
• Chen Jichuan also becomes more pragmatic. Despite possessing powerful techniques and abilities, he must now account for the financial cost of cultivation, artifact refinement, pills, and Enlightenment.

Significant Themes

• Mutual investment and strategic alliances: Both characters see the other as a valuable future ally and exchange resources to strengthen their relationship.
• Appearance versus reality: Chen Jichuan knows he is not as naturally gifted as Xiao Lan believes, while Xiao Lan cannot see the hidden limitations behind his apparent achievements.
• The cost of power: Even a character with exceptional techniques and abilities is constrained by wealth, resources, and the need to repair his foundation.
• Pragmatism over extravagance: Chen Jichuan shifts from freely using Enlightenment to carefully preserving resources and using them only when necessary.
• Potential and long-term planning: The Pure Yang Immortal Lotus Root, the Second Primordial Spirit, and the search for an exotic-beast avatar all emphasize preparation for future growth rather than immediate strength.

Character Interactions

• Xiao Lan and Chen Jichuan do not meet directly in the chapter, but their relationship develops through the exchange of the lotus root and crystal core.
• Xiao Lan views Chen Jichuan as a future powerhouse and potential ally.
• Chen Jichuan humorously interprets Xiao Lan’s generosity as an attempt to “curry favor” with him, while also recognizing the genuine value he can offer through his many cultivation methods and arts.
• Their relationship is built on reciprocal benefits, past favors, and the expectation that they will support one another in the wider starry sky.

Chapter Summary: “Scheming!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan considers several ways to increase his wealth: refining pills, artifacts, and talismans; exploiting the Dual-Element Immortal Spider; and potentially selling cultivation techniques and arts.
• He decides that pill refinement should remain his primary source of income. He also plans to acquire a Beast-Taming Ring so the Dual-Element Immortal Spider can be left near Wu River Star under Huang Quan’s supervision, providing a steady supply of valuable materials.
• Chen Jichuan spends thirty-six years cultivating and refining pills on a nameless star. He studies a fourth Third Rank pill formula and steadily improves his cultivation and skills.
• Despite the slow progress of Spirit Transformation cultivation, Chen remains patient and optimistic. He relies on his long lifespan, reincarnation, and access to Dao Fruit Worlds to maintain confidence in eventually reaching higher realms.
• After thirty years of seclusion, Xiao Lan completely fuses with her Supreme Bone. The process produces extraordinary phenomena and immediately raises her cultivation from the Fifth to the Sixth Layer of the Heavenly Man Realm.
• Chen recognizes that Xiao Lan’s talent and prospects now far exceed those of Granny Gan. He predicts that Xiao Lan may eventually reach the Divine Metamorphosis Realm and possibly become a Rogue Immortal.
• After Xiao Lan emerges, she proposes that they travel to retrieve two strange flames and explore a set of ancient ruins.
• Chen learns that the flames and ruins are all located in the same place, thirteen light-years away. This reveals that Xiao Lan had deliberately withheld important information when negotiating his compensation for dealing with the Cloudveil Demon Emperor.
• Chen realizes that Xiao Lan used the promised strange flames and ruins to recruit him not only against Mo Ganshan and the Cloudveil Demon Emperor, but also as an assistant in breaking through the formations guarding the ruins.
• Although annoyed by her manipulation, Chen chooses not to quarrel because he still wants the flames, ruins, and continued cooperation with Xiao Lan.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Demonstrates strategic thinking, financial awareness, patience, and emotional stability. His long-term plans include developing multiple income sources while prioritizing pill refinement. He also becomes more confident in his ability to progress through repeated lives and Dao Fruit Worlds.
• Xiao Lan: Achieves a major breakthrough by fully integrating the Supreme Bone, completing her foundation and advancing to the Sixth Layer of the Heavenly Man Realm. Her immense talent becomes clear, as does her resourcefulness and willingness to manipulate circumstances to achieve her goals.
• Granny Gan: Serves as a comparison point for Xiao Lan’s progress. Although powerful and well connected, her cultivation speed and future potential appear far inferior to Xiao Lan’s.
• Cloudveil Demon Emperor: Though not directly present in the chapter’s events, the consequences of his defeat reveal that Xiao Lan’s original bargain with Chen Jichuan was more calculated than it first appeared.

Significant Themes

• Long-term cultivation and patience: Chen’s steady progress emphasizes that advancement at higher realms is slow and demanding, requiring endurance rather than quick gains.
• Strategic resource management: Wealth, rare materials, cultivation techniques, and powerful creatures are all treated as assets that must be used efficiently.
• Trust and manipulation: Xiao Lan’s concealment of the relationship between the strange flames and the ruins shows how cultivators use incomplete information to secure better arrangements.
• Talent versus effort: Chen relies on persistence and accumulated knowledge, while Xiao Lan’s Supreme Bone grants her extraordinary natural advantages.
• Immortality and perspective: Chen’s belief in reincarnation and his future lives prevents him from falling into despair over slow cultivation progress.

Character Interactions

• Chen congratulates Xiao Lan after her breakthrough, and she warmly acknowledges his support.
• Xiao Lan apologizes for delaying him during her thirty-six-year seclusion, but Chen assures her that he does not mind.
• Xiao Lan asks Chen to accompany her to the ruins and help locate the strange flames. Chen initially responds generously, telling her she may consolidate her cultivation first.
• Once he learns that the flames and ruins are in the same location, Chen recognizes Xiao Lan’s scheme and sarcastically criticizes her.
• Xiao Lan openly justifies her deception by explaining that her flame-seeking treasure and Chen’s alchemical and fire-related abilities are both necessary to overcome the ruins’ formations.
• Despite their subtle contest of wits, neither breaks the relationship. Chen accepts the arrangement, while Xiao Lan’s confidence in his abilities increases after witnessing him subdue the Cloudveil Demon Emperor.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• After deciding to leave, Chen Jichuan and Xiao Lan immediately prepare for their journey. Chen secretly retrieves the Dual-Element Immortal Spider he has been raising and collects thirty-six years’ worth of Five-Ore Essence and Dual-Element Five-Phase Miasma, enough to refine roughly one and a half Dual-Element Orbs.
• Xiao Lan discovers Chen’s secret and teases him about repeatedly finding rare materials. Chen admits only that he has “good luck.” Both understand that the other is hiding secrets—Chen regarding the spider, and Xiao Lan regarding strange fires and the ancient ruins—but neither presses the matter.
• They depart and spend ten years traveling toward the ruins, intending to collect two strange fires along the way: Seaheart Flame and Fire-in-the-Stone.
• During the journey, Chen worries about the patriarchs Silver River and True Martial, who entered the starry sky long before him but still have not reached Demonic Sound Mountain. His divination suggests they are alive, though possibly lost. Chen resolves to search for them later.
• The pair arrive at a barren, lifeless star. Beneath its apparently empty surface lies the hidden ancestral site of the long-vanished Sumeru Immortal Sect.
• The ruins are concealed from divine sense by special materials and an ancient formation. Xiao Lan explains that the sect’s protective formation is extraordinarily dangerous, forcing intruders through successive Sumeru worlds and trials.
• Once they enter, the surroundings transform dramatically. Chen finds himself in a vast world containing nine mountains, eight seas, four continents, the sun, and the moon—the structure of a Buddhist Sumeru world.
• Using his Insight Art, Chen identifies the formation as the Fifth Rank Lesser Sumeru Upright-Reverse Nine-Palace Immortal Formation, once the greatest formation beneath the Vast Sea Starry Sky. Its limitless worlds and endless cycles make it extraordinarily dangerous, even for powerful cultivators.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan remains cautious, calculating, and opportunistic. He continues earning wealth passively through the Dual-Element Immortal Spider while concealing its existence, but he is also concerned about the safety of his old allies.
• His mastery of divination and formations is emphasized. He can determine that Silver River and True Martial are still alive, and he immediately recognizes the nature and rank of the Sumeru formation.
• Chen becomes increasingly excited by the potential of the two strange fires. He believes refining them into his Grand Luo Heavenly Fire will strengthen both its power and his cultivation of the Vermilion Bird Glazed Scripture.
• Xiao Lan is shown to be observant, teasing, and equally secretive. She knows Chen is hiding things but accepts the mutual deception because she also has undisclosed plans concerning the strange fires and ruins.
• Their partnership becomes more balanced: both seek the other’s assistance and protection while preserving their own interests.

Significant Themes

• Mutual trust mixed with suspicion: Chen and Xiao Lan cooperate closely, but their relationship is built on carefully maintained secrets and self-interest.
• The vastness and danger of the starry sky: Travel is slow and uncertain, and even trusted allies can disappear for centuries. Losing one’s direction can be as dangerous as any enemy.
• Accumulation and long-term cultivation: Chen’s thirty-six years of passive resource gathering and his interest in refining powerful flames reflect the patient, systematic nature of cultivation.
• The contrast between apparent emptiness and hidden power: A lifeless, barren star conceals an ancient sect and a terrifying formation, demonstrating that appearances in the cultivation world are deeply deceptive.
• The overwhelming power of ancient civilizations: The Sumeru Immortal Sect has vanished, yet its ruined structures and formation remain potent enough to threaten Fifth Rank experts.
• Formation power and hierarchy: The chapter explains that a formation’s effectiveness depends on its rank, the formation master’s cultivation, and their technical attainments. The Fifth Rank formation is far beyond ordinary Spirit Transformation-level formations.

Character Interactions

• Xiao Lan jokingly exposes Chen’s possession of the Dual-Element Immortal Spider, while Chen responds shamelessly and avoids revealing its true origin.
• Their exchange demonstrates their comfortable but guarded relationship: they recognize each other’s schemes and tacitly accept them.
• Xiao Lan acts as Chen’s guide, explaining the history of the Sumeru Immortal Sect and warning him about the formation’s dangers.
• Chen responds by analyzing the formation independently, confirming Xiao Lan’s explanation and revealing his own superior insight.
• Together, they move from a cooperative search for strange fires into a far more dangerous exploration of the Sumeru ruins, where the true trial is only beginning.

Chapter Summary: “Sevenfold Mountains!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan reflects on his limited formation knowledge. While he has acquired many cultivation techniques, spells, and pill recipes, he possesses only ten ordinary Third Rank formations and lacks access to higher-level formation inheritances.
• He becomes excited after encountering the Lesser Sumeru Upright-Reverse Nine-Palace Immortal Formation, a once-famous Fifth Rank formation known as one of the greatest formations beneath the stars. Although damaged and incomplete, studying it could greatly improve his formation mastery and help him establish powerful defenses on Wu River Star.
• Chen Jichuan and Xiao Lan travel through the formation’s relatively safe outer regions, crossing the Four Domains and the Great Salty Sea before reaching the dangerous Sevenfold Mountains.
• Xiao Lan explains that the mountains contain the strange flame Fire-in-the-Stone, while the Sevenfold Sea beyond them holds another flame, the Seaheart Flame. These flames are essential obstacles to reaching the formation’s central Sumeru Mountain.
• The Sevenfold Mountains are filled with terrifying natural fire that cannot be extinguished by water or ordinary fire-repelling treasures. Xiao Lan previously managed to cross only one mountain before being forced to retreat.
• Xiao Lan asks Chen Jichuan to locate the Fire-in-the-Stone. She plans to subdue it herself once he finds it, hoping to secure the ruins before stronger cultivators discover them.
• Using his Insight Art, divine sense, and Grand Luo Heavenly Fire, Chen Jichuan quickly identifies the Fire-in-the-Stone’s general location.
• The formation begins activating its defensive mechanisms. Xiao Lan is drawn into a Minor Sumeru Realm, followed shortly by Chen Jichuan.
• Inside, Chen encounters an illusory Daoist temple where he appears as a young disciple. He sees through the illusion immediately and destroys the entire realm with Sword Qi.
• After escaping, he receives a degraded Third Rank treasure: the Asura Dharma Ruler, originally a Fourth Rank weapon belonging to a Soul Formation cultivator of the ancient Sumeru Immortal Sect.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Demonstrates growing confidence and exceptional ability in formations. Though he cannot yet fully comprehend the Fifth Rank formation, he can analyze its local structures and easily break through Minor Sumeru Realms that once troubled Xiao Lan. His Insight Art and powerful techniques make him exceptionally well-suited to exploring the ruins.
• Xiao Lan: Reveals her prior failed attempts to conquer the Sevenfold Mountains and explains why she sought Chen Jichuan’s assistance. She is pragmatic and strategic, choosing to seek outside help rather than wait centuries for her cultivation to improve. She also shows concern that Chen might become distracted by lesser treasures.
• Relationship between Chen Jichuan and Xiao Lan: Their cooperation becomes more clearly defined. Xiao Lan provides preparation and specialized treasures, while Chen supplies the decisive investigative and combat abilities needed to advance through the formation.

Significant Themes

• The passage of time and decline: Even powerful sects, treasures, formations, pills, and inheritances deteriorate over the ages. The Sumeru Immortal Sect’s former glory has been reduced to ruins and weakened formations.
• Mortality versus immortality: Chen reflects that without immortality, even the most powerful beings are ultimately fragile before the endless flow of time.
• Knowledge and practical mastery: Formation knowledge cannot be memorized as easily as spells or techniques. True advancement requires analyzing, experiencing, and understanding formations in operation.
• Strategic cooperation: Xiao Lan’s planning and resources complement Chen Jichuan’s perception and power, allowing them to attempt something neither could easily accomplish alone.
• Greater rewards over immediate gains: The treasures hidden in the Minor Sumeru Realms are valuable, but both characters recognize that the true prize lies in reaching Sumeru Mountain.

Important Character Interactions

• Xiao Lan explains the formation’s structure, dangers, strange flames, and hidden inheritances to Chen Jichuan.
• She urges him to focus on finding the Fire-in-the-Stone rather than wasting time collecting lesser treasures.
• Chen reassures her that he understands the importance of the central ruins and will not sacrifice the greater objective for minor gains.
• They enter the Sevenfold Mountains together using Fire-Repelling Pearls supplied by Xiao Lan.
• When the formation separates them, Chen independently demonstrates his superiority in breaking through the Minor Sumeru Realm and resumes the expedition.