Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Chen Jichuan returns to Wu River Star near the end of a life spanning more than eight thousand years. Still stuck at Spirit Transformation Peak and nearing the end of his lifespan, he decides to use Liberation by Violence—destroying his body so his Primordial Spirit can pursue the Rogue Immortal path.
• His body has withered, and green hair marks the accumulated karmic consequences of the powerful cultivators he cursed to death. Chen fears this “sin” may prevent him from becoming a Rogue Immortal.
• He destroys his body, but the karmic burden overwhelms his Primordial Spirit and begins pulling him toward the Netherworld. Before losing consciousness, he spends his cultivation on deducing the Black Tortoise Blackwater Scripture, bringing the deduction to twenty percent of its tenth round.
• Chen awakens in reality, having completed his life in the Starry Sky World. He reflects that he failed both to break through to the Fourth Rank and to become a Rogue Immortal—but can return to the world in a new life after a hundred years there, or three months in reality.
• He reviews his substantial gains: Spirit Transformation Peak, strong mastery of all four arts, three Orthodox-grade cultivation methods, and twenty-six fifth-level transcendent spells. He is optimistic that the resources he left behind will help him progress quickly next time and that he will eventually break through.

Character development and interactions

• Chen ends this life wiser and more powerful, but also more aware that his reliance on curses carried a long-term karmic cost. His final attempt at the Rogue Immortal path shows both his resolve and the limits of his choices.
• He credits his progress to hard work, luck, and help from others—especially Xiao Lan. Her connections and support helped him obtain the Immortal Vine Fruit, Nine Peaks Daoist’s legacy, entry to the Sumeru Immortal Sect’s opportunities, and the Qilin Treasure Elixir.
• Chen looks back on having been mocked as a man who relied on Xiao Lan. He accepts that her help spared him years of struggle, while noting that he later rose to prominence on his own and defeated the Ten Star Lords who had once belittled him.

Significant themes

• Time, mortality, and renewal: A long life ends, but Chen sees death as a pause before another chance.
• Karma and consequences: Curses once used without apparent cost eventually return as a burden.
• Perseverance and preparation: Even after failing to reach his goal, Chen leaves resources and knowledge to make the next attempt stronger.
• Luck, friendship, and ambition: Chen’s rise comes from both sustained effort and opportunities made possible by Xiao Lan and others.

Chapter Summary: “Fifty Years Old: At Last, Spirit Transformation!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan leaves his secluded cave and travels to White Spirit Mountain in Crane Ridge Realm, Dragon Tail Domain.
• He establishes the Lesser Sumeru Upright-Reverse Nine-Palace Immortal Formation and prepares to undergo the Sixty-Nine Heavenly Tribulation required to advance to Spirit Transformation.
• His cultivation has advanced dramatically over the past decade:
  • He was only at the fourth level of Aperture Opening Realm ten years earlier.
  • Through his experiences and resource exchanges in the Starry Sky World, he reached Second-Rank Peak.
  • After thirty-two years in reality and thirty-two thousand years in the Dao Fruit World, he is finally ready to break through.
• The tribulation clouds gather for six days, attracting cultivators from throughout Dragon Tail Domain. Everyone is shocked because Coiling Dragon Mountain has not produced a new Spirit Transformation cultivator in a thousand years.
• Wu Ming, patriarch of the Myriad Swords Sect and a third-layer Spirit Transformation cultivator, arrives to observe the tribulation. Recognizing Chen Jichuan as the mysterious “Martial River Adept,” he offers him pills to restore his magic power and heal injuries.
• Chen Jichuan accepts the pills as a gesture of goodwill, despite not needing them.
• The Sixty-Nine Heavenly Tribulation descends. Rather than passively defend himself, Chen Jichuan flies directly into the tribulation clouds.
• He withstands all fifty-four lightning strikes without injury. His physical body remains completely unharmed, while a Vermilion Bird-like manifestation absorbs and devours the tribulation lightning.
• After the clouds disperse, Chen Jichuan calmly returns to the mountaintop and reveals his identity as “Wu He,” formally greeting Wu Ming.

Character Development

• Chen Jichuan reaches a major milestone by successfully advancing from Aperture Opening to Spirit Transformation in reality.
• His composure demonstrates his immense confidence and preparation. Having already endured a similar tribulation in the Starry Sky World, he treats the event almost casually.
• He has developed a balanced cultivation philosophy: he wants rapid progress but also intends to maintain a one-rank gap between his reality cultivation and Dao Fruit World cultivation. This will allow him to use the higher realm as guidance while avoiding irreversible mistakes.
• Chen Jichuan is becoming more strategic and future-oriented. He recognizes that future advancement will depend not only on cultivation but also on acquiring rare high-rank spirit herbs, refining materials, and information about the Maze Realm.
• Wu Ming is introduced as a powerful and experienced Spirit Transformation cultivator. He is generous and pragmatic, offering assistance because he hopes Chen Jichuan will survive and become an ally in exploring the Maze Realm.
• Wu Ming also becomes increasingly intrigued by Chen Jichuan’s hidden abilities, especially his ability to produce more than a hundred High-Tier Arts. He suspects Chen possesses an extraordinary secret.

Significant Themes

• Perseverance and long-term progress: Chen Jichuan’s advancement is the result of thirty-two years of cultivation in reality and tens of thousands of years in the Dao Fruit World.
• Speed versus stability: Chen understands that blindly pursuing rapid advancement may cause permanent errors. His goal is to progress quickly while consolidating each realm properly.
• Preparation overcoming danger: The feared Sixty-Nine Heavenly Tribulation is powerless against Chen because of his previous experience, strong foundation, and powerful techniques.
• Scarcity of resources: Despite his exceptional abilities, Chen is limited by the shortage of high-quality materials in Coiling Dragon Mountain. This motivates him to seek cooperation with Spirit Transformation cultivators and explore the Maze Realm.
• Alliance and mutual benefit: Wu Ming’s assistance marks the beginning of a potentially valuable relationship. Both men may benefit from cooperation in acquiring resources and searching for a route beyond Coiling Dragon Mountain.
• Hidden identity and mystery: Chen continues to conceal his true origins and abilities by presenting himself under the names Martial River Adept and Wu He, while Wu Ming begins to suspect that he possesses a major secret.

Character Interactions

• Chen and Wu Ming have their first meaningful encounter during the tribulation.
• Wu Ming offers valuable pills out of goodwill and practical interest, hoping Chen will survive and become a useful ally.
• Chen accepts the gift respectfully, recognizing the goodwill behind it and anticipating future dealings with Wu Ming.
• Wu Ming watches in astonishment as Chen directly enters the tribulation clouds and survives effortlessly, greatly revising his assessment of Chen’s strength.
• The chapter ends with Chen formally greeting Wu Ming, setting the stage for cooperation, information exchange, and possible exploration of the Maze Realm.

Plot points and events

• On White Spirit Mountain, Chen Jichuan—still disguised as the Martial River Adept—survives the Sixty-Nine Heavenly Tribulation and formally advances to Spirit Transformation. He handles the ordeal so effortlessly that Wu Ming, a Spirit Transformation patriarch of the Myriad Swords Sect, is astonished.
• Wu Ming admits he has been curious about the Martial River Adept since hearing of him years earlier. Chen deflects questions about his past, claiming he cultivated in seclusion under different identities.
• The two spend the day discussing cultivation. Chen’s unusually deep knowledge impresses Wu Ming, who receives valuable guidance.
• Chen later asks about the Outer Maze. Wu Ming explains that Coiling Dragon Mountain’s cultivators are effectively trapped in the surrounding Maze Realm: generations of Spirit Transformation cultivators have gone searching for a way out, but none has returned.
• The Maze Realm is dangerous and disorienting. Its main threats include seemingly immortal beasts, unstable Spirit Qi Tides, and storms that bring calamities. Resources are scarce, and even extensive exploration has revealed little about the terrain or a route out. Attempts to escape through the sky or underground have also failed.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Jichuan remains guarded about his origins, but willingly shares his cultivation expertise. He is both repaying an earlier kindness from the Myriad Swords Sect and cultivating a useful relationship for future help and information.
• Wu Ming moves from amazement and curiosity to respect and gratitude. He sees Chen as exceptionally talented and hopes he may one day help the cultivators escape the Maze Realm.
• Their relationship begins cordially: Wu Ming seeks instruction, Chen provides it, and both benefit from the exchange.

Significant themes

• Isolation and confinement: Coiling Dragon Mountain is an oasis surrounded by an apparently endless labyrinth, with no known escape.
• Hope and dependence: Wu Ming and other patriarchs cultivate ties with promising newcomers because stronger allies may offer a chance of survival or escape.
• Hidden strength and knowledge: Chen’s modest outward status conceals exceptional ability, while his expertise quickly earns him influence.
• Reciprocity and strategy: Chen’s generosity is sincere in part, but also serves practical goals, reflecting the value of mutual support in a perilous world.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Jichuan learns that no Spirit Transformation cultivator has escaped the Maze Realm in Coiling Dragon Mountain’s recorded history. Its predecessors have either died inside or vanished, leaving him with no guide and no choice but to rely on himself.
• He thanks Wu Ming for his help with two valuable sword arts. In exchange, Wu Ming supplies rare materials suitable for forging Third-Rank treasures. Chen later trades with the other Spirit Transformation cultivators who visit White Spirit Mountain.
• After Chen’s ascension becomes known, all nine existing Spirit Transformation cultivators gather at White Spirit Mountain. The meetings are convivial, but two guests—Five Poisons Holy Aunt and Flood Dragon Venerable—secretly follow Chen after leaving.
• Chen completes the Myriad Demons Register in his second year as a Spirit Transformation cultivator, drawing on his extensive forging experience from the Starry Sky World.
• He travels to Dark Nether Marsh, apparently to confront a powerful demon, but first sets an ambush for his two pursuers. When they reveal themselves, he attacks with Heaven-One Profound Yin True Qi, turning the marsh’s cold energy and poison against them. The chapter ends as the surrounding space freezes.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Jichuan becomes more self-reliant after learning that the Maze Realm has no known escape route. He is also shrewd in managing favors, offering valuable arts rather than asking Wu Ming for help empty-handed. Though sociable at White Spirit Mountain, he remains ruthless toward those who threaten him.
• Wu Ming acts as a generous ally: he shares what he knows, trades materials for Chen’s arts, and hosts introductions to the other patriarchs. Chen and Wu Ming build a relationship based on mutual benefit and trust.
• Five Poisons Holy Aunt and Flood Dragon Venerable present themselves as friendly acquaintances but secretly pursue Chen, hoping to seize his resources or uncover his secrets. Their betrayal turns the chapter’s warm social gathering into a looming confrontation.
• Chen exchanges cultivation arts and resources with the gathered patriarchs, creating a broad network of contacts even as he recognizes that cordiality does not guarantee loyalty.

Significant themes

• Isolation and self-reliance: The Maze Realm offers no reliable path or precedent; Chen must ultimately face it on his own.
• Trust versus hidden motives: Friendly manners can conceal greed, and Chen’s dealings show that alliances require discernment.
• Reciprocity and strategic relationships: Chen prefers fair exchanges over unearned favors, strengthening ties without becoming indebted.
• Preparation and accumulated skill: His past experience enables him to forge a powerful treasure and turn Dark Nether Marsh’s hostile environment into a weapon.

Plot points and events

• Chen Jichuan kills Five Poisons Holy Aunt outright, destroying her body and soul so she cannot be resurrected. He forces Flood Dragon Venerable to submit his Primordial Spirit to the newly forged Myriad Demons Register, sparing him but placing him under Chen’s control.
• Chen also recruits the White Jade Frost Toad, then gathers more than a hundred promising demons. He plans to cultivate some into Spirit Transformation masters and use them to explore the mysterious Maze Realm.
• Over twelve years, Chen sends successive teams into the Maze Realm: first ten Spirit Transformation demons, then twenty. Their reports and recordings yield only limited clues, while the resources needed to forge additional registers prove scarce.
• Chen concludes that brute-force exploration would require an impractically large number of demons. He therefore pursues a second strategy: improve his Najia Divination Method and use it to interpret the accumulated clues.
• In the Dao Fruit World, Chen’s second life reaches its end. After five thousand years there, he has attained Spirit Transformation Peak but failed to break through to the Fourth Rank. His lifespan expires as the Eight Samadhi Waters in the Seven Treasures Pool runs dry.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen shows both ruthlessness and restraint: he kills the Holy Aunt to establish authority, but spares Flood Dragon Venerable in exchange for obedience, holding out freedom as a future possibility.
• The demons respond differently to his power but ultimately submit. Flood Dragon Venerable offers his Primordial Spirit after witnessing the Holy Aunt’s death; the White Jade Frost Toad surrenders after seeing the same demonstration.
• Chen remains pragmatic and self-reliant. When the demon-led exploration makes little progress, he accepts its limits and turns to his own divination skills rather than abandoning the effort.
• In his starry-sky life, Chen advances rapidly through the early cultivation stages, but spends millennia trying to understand the subtle path from Spirit Transformation Peak to the Fourth Rank. He recognizes that persistence and time are his greatest advantages, even while acknowledging that talent and insight matter.

Significant themes

• Power and coercion: Chen’s register controls demons through the threat of death and the promise of eventual freedom.
• Persistence versus innate talent: Chen believes sustained effort and time can compensate for limited natural insight, though the rarity of Fourth Rank cultivators makes success uncertain.
• Limits of force and resources: More powerful explorers alone cannot solve the Maze Realm, especially when numbers and materials are scarce.
• The cost of cultivation: Chen’s long life is consumed by painstaking refinement of his foundation and repeated attempts to reach a higher realm; even extraordinary longevity does not guarantee a breakthrough.

Key plot points and events

• Near the end of his second life, Chen Jichuan returns to the Sumeru Immortal Sect’s Seven Treasures Pool. He strengthens his cultivation and advances the Black Tortoise Blackwater Scripture to Orthodox Grade, but seven rounds of Deduction still do not raise the Najia Divination Method to divine-ability level.
• Still unable to break through to Fourth Rank, he accepts that he must take the Rogue Immortal path. He kills himself with his divine sword through Liberation by Violence, triggering the first Rogue Immortal Tribulation.
• In his next life, he spends five thousand years cultivating and mastering arts. Before becoming a Rogue Immortal, he reaches the sixth level in the Wind-Thunder Heavenly Realms Grand Escape, the Origin-Returning Concealment Method, and the Five-Element Escape Art—an extraordinary achievement for someone below Fourth Rank.
• Concerned about the Maze Realm trapping him in reality, he prioritizes improving his Najia Divination Method over combat arts. He continues studying it through thousands of years as a Rogue Immortal.
• Using the identity Xu Ning, he travels widely, competes for treasures, spars, visits powerful sects, and befriends or challenges prominent figures. Those who provoke or scheme against him are killed, securing him respect and relative peace.
• Chen Jichuan treats Rogue Immortal Tribulations as both trials and opportunities to strengthen himself. After nine rounds—only the ninth of which leaves him notably battered—he faces the Tenth-Round Tribulation, a potential gateway to Fourth Rank.
• With roughly 60–70 percent confidence, he prepares thoroughly and raises the Inverted Eight Gates Immortal-Sealing Formation using eight immortal banners. The chapter ends as the Tenth Tribulation begins.

Character developments

• Chen Jichuan shifts from reluctantly considering the Rogue Immortal path to embracing its challenges. His confidence and appetite for competition grow, though he remains anxious about the unprecedented Tenth Tribulation.
• His cultivation, survival skills, and social influence rise dramatically. He becomes unrivaled beneath the stars, with three sixth-level transcendent escape and concealment arts.
• His lingering fixation on the Maze Realm shapes his priorities: instead of focusing solely on greater combat power, he invests in divination in hopes of finding a way out.

Significant themes

• Persistence in the face of stagnation: When ordinary cultivation fails to yield a breakthrough, Chen Jichuan chooses a demanding alternative rather than give up.
• Risk, preparation, and uncertainty: The Rogue Immortal Tribulations reward preparation but remain unpredictable; even Chen Jichuan cannot know whether he will survive the tenth.
• Power and isolation: Being unmatched makes Chen Jichuan lonely, so he welcomes worthy opponents and turns conflict into a source of excitement.
• Cultivation as both struggle and opportunity: Tribulations that terrify others become, for him, a means to temper his body, spirit, magic power, and arts.

Character interactions

• Chen Jichuan’s fearsome reputation deters challengers and makes major powers more willing to host him, lend him resources, spar, and discuss the Dao.
• He expects friends to include him in their tribulations and uses his status to attend them, though he behaves carefully enough that others tolerate his presence.
• His interactions with rivals are largely violent: he answers attacks and schemes with decisive killing, establishing authority across the Starry Sky World.

Plot points

• Chen Jichuan survives the eighty-one bolts of his Tenth-Round Rogue Immortal Tribulation, becoming a Ten-Tribulation Rogue Immortal. He later survives the Eleventh Round by the narrowest of margins.
• Three major powers secretly gather an enormous coalition to attack him after his eleventh tribulation. Though badly wounded, Chen unleashes his Sword Diagram and kills more than a hundred Rogue Immortals, including five at the eleventh level and twenty-four at the tenth.
• Over the next thousand years, he hunts down the coalition’s remnants, personally killing more than two hundred powerful cultivators. He leads the Wu River Immortal Sect to supremacy across the starry expanse, then disappears. Rumors differ about whether he died, entered seclusion, or ascended.
• On Fire Dragon Star, Gan Chen—now the artifact spirit of the Fire Dragon Immortal Standard—has spent millennia waiting for Chen Jichuan to reach the Upper Realm and free her. When she senses his spirit imprint vanish, she assumes he has died in his twelfth tribulation and erupts in anger.
• Zhang Zheng arrives claiming to carry the ancestor’s order to refine the standard. He repeats Chen’s old promise that a member of the sect may eventually free Gan Chen and restore her body. Realizing the words are the same promise she has waited on for ages, Gan Chen concludes that Xu Ning has deceived her and screams in fury.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Jichuan progresses from cautious tribulation-taker to a near-unmatched force. His survival, preparation, and use of formations, robes, elixirs, techniques, and mental defenses carry him through the tenth tribulation; his later victories establish him as the starry expanse’s dominant figure.
• Gan Chen shifts between hope and despair. Her long confinement has made her emotionally dependent on Chen’s promise of release, while her bitterness and abusive treatment of sect alchemists reveal how resentment has shaped her. Zhang Zheng’s arrival turns her lingering hope into rage.
• Zhang Zheng approaches Gan Chen respectfully but serves as the messenger for the sect’s plan. His repetition of Chen’s promise exposes the painful gap between what Gan Chen was led to expect and what she has actually received.
• Chen and Gan Chen do not meet directly in the chapter; their relationship is presented through his remembered promise and her years of waiting for him.

Significant themes

• Ambition and its cost: Chen’s rise brings power and sect-wide triumph, but the chapter leaves his ultimate fate uncertain.
• Hope sustained by promises: Gan Chen’s endurance depends on the possibility of release; repeated assurances become cruel rather than comforting when they are never fulfilled.
• Power and dependency: The sect flourishes under Chen’s strength, while Gan Chen remains trapped and reliant on others for the freedom she was promised.
• Uncertainty and unresolved endings: Chen’s disappearance and Gan Chen’s future remain open, closing the arc on mystery and frustration.

Plot points and events

• Chen Jichuan relives the end of two extraordinarily long lives in the Starry Sky World—24,445 years in all. In his first life, he rose from a hidden period in Wu River Star to become a renowned Spirit Transformation cultivator, avenged himself on the Yuanchen Merchant Guild, and later reached the peak of Spirit Transformation. In his second, unable to advance before his lifespan ran out, he became an eleven-tribulation rogue immortal and died during the twelfth tribulation.
• Back in his sea of consciousness, he examines the sixth Dao Fruit’s record and recognizes how much the two lives have strengthened him. His cultivation has effectively reached the level of a newly advanced fourth-rank expert, making him confident he can advance directly to fourth rank in a future life.
• His other gains include four thoroughly mastered orthodox-grade cultivation methods, third-rank proficiency in alchemy, formations, artifact-refining, and talisman-making, and many powerful arts raised to the fifth or sixth tier.
• His greatest technical achievement is completing the Evolution-Heaven Method, an exceptionally profound divination method and his first divine power. Its power surpasses his former Najia Divination Method, though his mastery resets to the second tier.
• He then spends Origin Force to form thirty-two subsidiary Dao Fruits, selecting high-level rogue immortals he encountered in the Starry Sky World, and opens a new Dao Fruit World.
• The new world is unusually powerful: the system warns that its level is too high to deploy the Dharma Lord immediately. Chen Jichuan must wait a hundred years in-world, equivalent to three months in reality, before entering.

Character development and interactions

• Chen Jichuan’s two lives have made him vastly more capable and knowledgeable, but also more seasoned and emotionally controlled. He feels intense joy at reaching the threshold of fourth rank, yet keeps it in check.
• His path shifts from conventional cultivation to rogue-immortal cultivation when he cannot break through in time. Though he ultimately dies, the repeated tribulations temper his foundation and help him overcome the limits of the third rank.
• His interactions with the Starry Sky World’s experts—studying their techniques, exchanging insights, guiding younger cultivators, and observing or surviving alongside rogue immortals—feed his knowledge and help him select the thirty-two subsidiary figures. The chapter also recalls earlier encounters with Xiao Lan and Gan Chen, but focuses chiefly on the lessons and gains accumulated across those lives.

Significant themes

• Accumulation through time: Long years of study, cultivation, and experience transform into decisive progress.
• Failure as a path to advancement: Chen Jichuan’s death in the twelfth tribulation does not erase his achievement; the ordeal helps prepare him for fourth rank.
• Mastery and innovation: His accomplishments culminate not only in greater power but in creating a divine-level method.
• Ambition tempered by discipline: He celebrates a major breakthrough while calmly accepting the cost and delay of entering the next world.

Chapter Summary: Bewildering Spirit Scroll!

Key Plot Points and Events

• After forty years of investigating the Maze Realm, ninety-year-old Chen Jichuan uses fifty yarrow stalks and his Great Expansion Divination Method to uncover its origin.
• His divination reveals that the Bewildering Spirit Scroll transformed into the Maze Realm and trapped the inhabitants of Coiling Dragon Mountain.
• The Maze Realm serves as both a selection mechanism and a trial. Only exceptional cultivators who reach specific cultivation realms before set age limits can pass through it and enter the Hanging Mirror Sea.
• Those who fail eventually enter the Maze Realm in their later years, lose their sanity, and become immortal-like ancient beasts.
• Chen Jichuan discovers that the Bewildering Spirit Scroll is controlled by the mysterious Hanging Mirror Immortal Palace, which appears to gather talented cultivators from various regions for unknown purposes.
• His divination nearly exposes the deeper truth and triggers a deadly backlash: the yarrow stalks burn to ashes, and Chen Jichuan narrowly avoids danger by concealing himself with his techniques.
• Although he can now easily pass through the Maze Realm, Chen Jichuan decides not to leave Coiling Dragon Mountain yet. He plans to wait until he reaches the Third or Fourth Realm of Spirit Transformation, creates another avatar, and improves his ability to survive potential dangers in the Hanging Mirror Sea.
• He realizes that his previous confidence and increasingly bold behavior were dangerous. The existence of the Hanging Mirror Immortal Palace reminds him that there are always stronger beings and higher powers.
• Returning to Seven Profound Mountain, Chen Jichuan summons his younger brother, Chen Shaohe, and drinks with him.
• Chen Shaohe has advanced to the Eighth Qi-Refining Layer and become a peak First Rank alchemist. With Chen Jichuan’s guidance, he expects to reach the Ninth Layer and Second Rank alchemy within a few years.

Character Developments

Chen Jichuan

His investigation transforms his understanding of the world. He learns that Coiling Dragon Mountain is not truly free but is part of a much larger system of control. His fear and caution return, replacing the confidence he had developed after becoming nearly invincible locally. He resolves to maintain a low profile and strengthen himself before confronting the outside world.

Chen Shaohe

He has matured greatly since his days in the Black Prison. Once simple-minded and inexperienced, he is now calm, disciplined, capable, and emotionally perceptive. He has become both a talented alchemist and a source of comfort for Chen Jichuan.

The brothers’ relationship

Their bond has deepened over the decades. Chen Jichuan deliberately shares certain matters with Chen Shaohe, teaches him about the wider world, and treats him as a trusted companion rather than merely a younger relative.

Significant Themes

• Freedom versus hidden confinement: Escaping the Black Prison did not mean true freedom; Coiling Dragon Mountain itself is revealed to be a larger cage.
• The limits of knowledge: Divination can reveal fragments of truth, but pursuing forbidden knowledge can provoke terrifying consequences.
• Humility and vigilance: Chen Jichuan’s discovery forces him to remember that local supremacy does not make him powerful on a greater scale.
• Cultivation and preparation: Strength, survival ability, and careful planning are more important than rushing toward opportunities that may conceal danger.
• Growth through hardship: Both brothers have been shaped by suffering. Chen Shaohe’s maturity demonstrates how perseverance and experience can transform a person.
• Family and companionship: Their mutual trust helps offset the loneliness of long cultivation and gives both brothers emotional stability.

Important Character Interactions

• Chen Jichuan’s divination reflects his internal struggle between curiosity and self-preservation.
• He later drinks with Chen Shaohe and reflects on how much his younger brother has changed since their escape from the Black Prison.
• Chen Shaohe, slightly intoxicated, reassures Chen Jichuan that their past hardships have prepared them to face future difficulties.
• Chen Jichuan hints that he has learned troubling information but withholds the details because Chen Shaohe’s cultivation is still too low, showing both his trust in and protectiveness toward his brother.

Chapter Summary: “A New World: My Name Is Jiang Xian!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan discusses the mysterious Bewildering Spirit Scroll and Hanging Mirror Immortal Palace with his elder brother, Chen Shaohe, but keeps the details secret because even his Great Expansion Divination Method cannot investigate them safely.
• After a quiet drinking session, Chen Shaohe falls asleep. Chen Jichuan reflects on his past escape from the Black Prison and resolves that he will also escape the dangerous Maze Realm.
• Returning to the Seven Profound Mountain, Chen Jichuan resumes cultivation, instructing Chen Shaohe and disciples such as Wang Cheng while digesting his sixth Dao Fruit and thirty-two Subsidiary Dao Fruits.
• He reviews his weaknesses in the Spirit Transformation realm. Although his combat strength is extraordinary—comparable to or exceeding that of powerful Fourth Rank cultivators—his realm foundation and understanding are less complete because he previously relied on treasures and pills to advance.
• Chen Jichuan recalls failing the Twelfth Rogue Immortal Tribulation. His Dao heart remained firm against demonic illusions, but his insufficient cultivation and understanding left him unable to answer the profound questions contained within the heavenly lightning.
• Rather than dwelling on failure, he adopts a calm attitude and compares himself only with his former self. By studying his new Dao Fruit and comparing it with those of other Rogue Immortals, he rapidly deepens his understanding of Spirit Transformation.
• After three months, Chen Jichuan consolidates his realm and determines that his Spirit Transformation comprehension is complete. He then enters the eighth world.
• The new world has a time-flow ratio of 400:1 compared with the Dharma Lord World.
• Chen Jichuan awakens inside the body of Jiang Xian, standing on a flying sword alongside the youth Zhang Yu and a middle-aged white-robed cultivator.
• From Jiang Xian’s memories, Chen Jichuan learns that Jiang Xian was raised by his mother in Zhang Family Village and recently lost her to illness. A man named Sun Qi, claiming to be a general of King Zichuan, came to take Jiang Xian back as the king’s illegitimate son.
• Before Jiang Xian and Zhang Yu could decide how to respond, Zhang Family Village was destroyed by a massive attack. The two youths survived only because they were hiding in the Ruined Grass Temple.
• They witnessed a battle between powerful cultivators, during which Jiang Xian fainted and died. Chen Jichuan then took over his body.
• Chen Jichuan deduces that Jiang Xian was likely targeted because of his royal bloodline. The attack may have come from enemies of Sun Qi or King Zichuan who wanted to prevent Jiang Xian from returning to the king’s domain.
• The chapter ends with Chen Jichuan examining the so-called Grand Truth Sword Immortal, realizing that this “immortal” is probably only a peak True Person whose abilities are exaggerated by ordinary mortals.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan demonstrates increasing maturity and composure. He keeps dangerous secrets from Chen Shaohe to protect him, maintains confidence regarding the Maze Realm, and refuses to be consumed by his past failure at the Twelfth Rogue Immortal Tribulation.
• His cultivation philosophy changes from simply pursuing power to systematically correcting and perfecting his own foundation. His new observer’s perspective allows him to identify flaws in his former understanding.
• Chen Shaohe is portrayed as a steady, affectionate elder brother. Though curious about Chen Jichuan’s concerns, he respects his boundaries and provides companionship rather than pressure.
• Zhang Yu emerges as Jiang Xian’s loyal childhood friend. Despite losing his entire village, he is primarily relieved that Jiang Xian survived and openly expresses his grief.
• Jiang Xian’s tragic background is revealed: poverty, his mother’s death, the destruction of his village, and his own death create the circumstances for Chen Jichuan’s arrival in the new world.

Significant Themes

• Self-comparison and personal growth: Chen Jichuan rejects comparison with others and instead measures his progress against his former self.
• Combat strength versus true cultivation: The chapter emphasizes that battle power alone does not equal profound cultivation, a complete realm, or the ability to overcome tribulations.
• Perseverance after failure: Chen Jichuan accepts his defeat during the Twelfth Tribulation without surrendering his ambition or confidence.
• Perspective and understanding: Stepping outside the “game” gives Chen Jichuan greater clarity, allowing him to recognize errors that were invisible while he was immersed in events.
• Mortality and the path to immortality: The chapter contrasts ordinary people’s exaggerated view of cultivators with Chen Jichuan’s informed judgment, showing how ignorance transforms powerful mortals into “immortals.”
• Fate and hidden identity: Jiang Xian’s royal ancestry draws danger and suggests that his new life will involve political conflict, pursuit, and secrets.

Character Interactions

• Chen Jichuan and Chen Shaohe share a quiet, intimate drinking session. Their interaction reflects mutual trust and brotherly concern, with Shaohe offering companionship without demanding explanations.
• Chen Jichuan later continues guiding Chen Shaohe and his disciples, reinforcing his role as mentor and protector.
• In the new world, Zhang Yu immediately reacts with relief when Jiang Xian awakens, crying over the destruction of their village and revealing the depth of their friendship.
• Chen Jichuan responds outwardly as Jiang Xian, comforting Zhang Yu while inwardly analyzing the situation, the flying-sword cultivator, and the political forces behind the massacre.

Summary

After hearing conflicting legends about the Grand Truth Sword Immortals, Chen Jichuan arrives at Thunderclap Manor with Zhang Yu. The manor’s lord, Wu Quan, has brought them there after rescuing Jiang Xian from an attempted murder.
Wu Quan tells his wife, Zhang Jin, that the rebellion of seven feudal kings against the Zhou Emperor is likely to fail. The Emperor’s Edict of Favor has weakened the lords by turning their own families against them, and five major Immortal Gates—including the Grand Truth Sect—support the throne. Wu Quan had tried to persuade King Zichuan to abandon the rebellion, but the king refused. He did, however, ask Wu Quan to protect his illegitimate son, Jiang Xian. The king’s legitimate heir had already sent an assassin to kill the boy, fearing he might threaten his succession. Wu Quan and Zhang Jin condemn the cruelty of political ambition and praise their fellow disciple, Master Jia, whose political skill helped devise the Edict of Favor. After the rebellion is crushed, Jia becomes prime minister.
Three months later, Chen Jichuan and Zhang Yu are settled among Thunderclap Manor’s outer disciples. Chen learns how the cultivation world and mortal government depend on one another, and that disciples may choose the Immortal Dao, the Nature Path, or the Fate Dao. Zhang Yu plans to pursue the Nature Path, become a Confucian scholar, and eventually emulate Prime Minister Jia. Chen has already chosen the Immortal Dao: he believes the other paths cultivate different aspects of the self and conflict with Immortal Dao practice, while his prior achievements make continued cultivation the obvious choice.

Character developments and interactions

• Wu Quan returns from his mission disillusioned by worldly power. Though he disapproves of King Zichuan’s rebellion, he honors the king’s request by bringing Jiang Xian to safety.
• Zhang Jin shares her husband’s political understanding and admires Master Jia’s achievement, while affirming her pride in the Immortal Dao.
• Zhang Yu is inspired by Jia’s success and eagerly embraces a future in government.
• Chen Jichuan remains reserved and firm in his own ambitions, choosing not to follow the trend toward the Nature Path.
• Wu Quan and Zhang Jin discuss the rebellion, the Edict of Favor, and their junior fellow disciple Jia; Zhang Yu asks Chen about his intended path, but Chen feigns sleep rather than answer.

Significant themes

The chapter contrasts spiritual cultivation with worldly ambition, showing that power can provoke betrayal even within families. It also explores how religious institutions shape political order, and how different paths—Immortal, Nature, and Fate—offer distinct ways to pursue influence, service, or personal advancement.

Plot and key events

• Other outer disciples learn that “Jiang Xian” is the illegitimate son of the former King Zichuan. Zhang Yu admits the information slipped out after Chen Jichuan told him; Chen suspects Zhang’s disclosure was not entirely accidental but keeps his displeasure to himself.
• Rather than feel ashamed of his difficult circumstances, Chen reflects that this life is a comparatively fortunate start: he has no interest in royal power and values the chance to cultivate.
• New outer disciples are asked to choose among Immortal Dao, Nature Path, and Fate Dao. Chen chooses Immortal Dao without hesitation. Zhang Yu, who had intended to choose Nature Path, changes his mind and joins him.
• Chen spends the next three years cultivating, progressing faster than in his previous life and reaching the Mid Qi-Refining Stage. He remains wary that the Zhou court may discover his identity and enforce its order to execute the descendants of the defeated Seven Kings.
• The court’s Directing Office finally sends Jiang Chong, an Embroidered-Clad Inspector, to Thunderclap Mountain to arrest Chen as a surviving member of the Seven Kingdoms. Manor Lord Wu Quan denies that Jiang Xian is King Zichuan’s son and refuses to surrender him. Jiang warns that the Grand Truth Sect may oppose Wu’s protection, but Wu dismisses him and sends him away.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Jichuan stays composed under gossip, hides his resentment toward Zhang Yu, and approaches cultivation with patience and long-term judgment. His growing strength eases his fear of the court, though he remains cautious.
• Zhang Yu appears apologetic when confronted, but Chen doubts his sincerity. His switch from Nature Path to Immortal Dao shows that he may be influenced by Chen—or simply reconsidered his plans.
• Wu Quan takes a clear protective stance toward Chen, using denial and his manor’s ties to the Grand Truth Sect to block the inspector.
• Jiang Chong is restrained out of respect for Wu and the sect, but insists he is carrying out the court’s order. His exchange with Wu reveals the tension between the imperial government and the cultivation world.

Significant themes

• Identity and political danger: Chen’s royal parentage turns private history into a threat, despite his lack of interest in the throne.
• Choice and long-term consequences: The chapter stresses that decisions about cultivation paths and disciplines can shape—and potentially ruin—a person’s future.
• Resilience and perspective: Chen measures hardship against earlier lives and finds reason to feel fortunate rather than despair.
• Power and divided authority: The court has formidable reach, but sects and cultivation institutions can resist its demands, leaving Chen caught between competing powers.

Plot points and events

• After the Directing Office’s inspector, Jiang Chong, leaves Thunderclap Mountain, Wu Quan vows to seek help for Jiang Xian, despite the political factions that make intervention difficult. Before departing, he secretly leaves a Golden Light Seal to protect Jiang Xian from curses and other harm.
• Chen Jichuan has secretly watched the exchange using his divine-mirror technique. He recognizes Wu Quan and Zhang Jin’s loyalty and resolves to remember their kindness.
• Zhang Yu, consumed by jealousy of Chen’s rapid progress, is thrilled when he hears the Directing Office may target Jiang Xian. He plans to hand over Chen’s hair and belongings so the authorities can curse him.
• Chen sees through Zhang Yu’s false concern when Zhang embraces him and steals two hairs. He secretly swaps them for Zhang Yu’s own hair, then lets Zhang leave with them.
• Outside the mountain, a fast beast attacks Zhang Yu. A gourd pendant he has worn for two years suddenly activates, transports him away, and saves his life. He realizes it is a powerful treasure with an inner space rich in spiritual energy.
• As Zhang Yu celebrates and turns back toward the mountain, a mysterious attacker kills him instantly and takes the gourd.

Character developments

• Chen Jichuan gains greater respect for Wu Quan and Zhang Jin, while his judgment of Zhang Yu hardens. He remains outwardly composed but is willing to act decisively against betrayal.
• Wu Quan demonstrates steadfast loyalty, risking his own connections in an effort to protect his friend’s son.
• Zhang Yu is revealed as deeply envious and duplicitous: he plots against Chen for personal gain. His discovery of the gourd briefly turns him hopeful, but his sudden death cuts off his chance to use it.

Character interactions

• Wu Quan and Zhang Jin discuss the Directing Office’s reach and the limits of their influence; Wu insists on trying to help regardless.
• Zhang Yu feigns relief and concern for Chen, urging him to flee while secretly stealing his hair.
• Chen plays along while substituting Zhang Yu’s own hairs, turning Zhang’s scheme back on him.
• The unseen attacker’s abrupt killing of Zhang Yu introduces a new threat and removes the gourd from his possession.

Significant themes

• Loyalty versus betrayal: Wu Quan’s quiet generosity contrasts sharply with Zhang Yu’s treachery.
• Jealousy and moral corruption: Zhang’s resentment grows into a plan to harm his companion.
• Political power and vulnerability: The Directing Office’s authority makes even protected cultivators feel exposed.
• Fate and sudden reversal: Zhang’s unexpected treasure and apparent escape from danger are followed immediately by death.

Key events

• Chen Jichuan ambushes Zhang Yu after Zhang reappears from the mysterious space, killing him and taking his gourd pendant.
• Blood binds Chen to the Treasure Gourd, transporting him into a gray inner world. Because Chen is a Qi Refinement cultivator, its land expands from a small plot to a square ten li across.
• The Gourd Space contains a spring, a Hundred Herbs Garden, and a Hundred Insect Court. Touching the latter two reveals incomplete cultivation scriptures and explains their functions.
• Chen discovers that herbs grow and insects mature about ten times faster inside the Gourd Space. He tests the insect court with Musk Orchid Insects and recognizes the garden’s potential for growing rare, long-cycle ingredients.
• After considering the Directing Office’s continued threat and the danger of involving Wu Quan and his wife, Chen decides to leave Thunderclap Mountain. He leaves a letter, conceals himself, and enters the Gourd Space near the mountain’s foot.

Character development and interactions

• Chen shifts from seeing the pendant as an ordinary object to recognizing it as a major treasure. He carefully studies its capabilities and begins planning how to use it.
• He judges the Hundred Herbs and Hundred Insects scriptures too low-grade for his own needs, since his existing Orthodox Grade methods already cover cultivation and body refinement. Nevertheless, he values the garden and insect court as practical resources.
• Chen’s rapid cultivation is both an advantage and a limitation: he expects to outgrow the usefulness of lower-rank herbs and insects before they mature, and lacks access to high-rank specimens.
• Though willing to protect himself, Chen is considerate of others. Rather than risk drawing the Directing Office’s hostility onto Wu Quan and his wife, he chooses to disappear and rely on the Gourd Space for concealment and cultivation.

Significant themes

• Power and opportunity: The Treasure Gourd can greatly accelerate growth and support future cultivation, but its benefits depend on access to suitable seeds and insects.
• Patience and long-term planning: Chen recognizes the treasure’s value while accepting that its greatest rewards will come later.
• Self-reliance and secrecy: The hidden space offers both a refuge from pursuit and a way to cultivate beyond others’ notice.
• Responsibility toward others: Chen’s decision to leave is motivated partly by a desire not to endanger his protectors.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Wu Quan returns to Thunderclap Mountain after spending two months seeking protection for Jiang Xian. He learns Jiang Xian left behind a letter and disappeared without anyone noticing. Wu Quan and Zhang Jin suspect the Directing Office is responsible and, fed up with its pressure, set out to confront it.
• The narration then moves forward in time. The Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms and the conflict between Thunderclap Mountain and the Directing Office gradually fade from public memory.
• Fourteen years before the chapter’s final events, Jia Yi survives the Sixty-Nine Heavenly Tribulation and reaches the Third Rank, or Unity Realm. His achievement inspires Second-Rank cultivators across Great Zhou.
• Twenty years after the rebellion, tribulation clouds gather over Thunderclap Mountain. Wu Quan and Zhang Jin assume one of them is advancing, but discover that neither they nor any of their disciples is responsible. They fear an unknown Second-Rank Peak cultivator has secretly entered their territory.
• As the tribulation begins, the unidentified cultivator leaps into the clouds and faces the lightning with astonishing calm. Jia Yi arrives, watches the spectacle, and sends for help, suggesting even he is uncertain how it will end.
• The cultivator withstands all six waves—fifty-four bolts—using a White Tiger manifestation and formidable sword intent. When the clouds clear, the figure is revealed as Jiang Xian, now a young man in white.

Character developments

• Wu Quan and Zhang Jin are shown as protective, proud, and quick to anger when their authority is challenged. Their concern for Jiang Xian once led Wu Quan to seek help; years later, they are bewildered and embarrassed that a powerful cultivator has been hiding on their mountain.
• Jia Yi has become a restrained, courteous Third-Rank cultivator. Though once a forceful prime minister, he now watches the mysterious tribulation cautiously and calls for reinforcements.
• Jiang Xian has undergone a dramatic transformation: the supposedly weak Innate Realm cultivator who vanished years earlier returns as a powerful cultivator capable of surviving a Third-Rank tribulation.

Significant themes

• The passage of time and changing reputations: conflicts and legends quickly fade, while new achievements reshape the cultivation world.
• Hidden growth and mistaken assumptions: Wu Quan and Zhang Jin believe they know everyone on their mountain, yet Jiang Xian’s return overturns their understanding of both his strength and their own security.
• Ambition and inspiration: Jia Yi’s advancement motivates others to pursue the Third Rank, while Jiang Xian’s extraordinary feat raises the stakes further.
• Power and uncertainty: even renowned cultivators cannot fully predict or control what the tribulation will bring.

Character interactions

• Wu Quan and Zhang Jin share their suspicions about Jiang Xian’s disappearance and unite against the Directing Office.
• The cultivators gathered at Thunderclap Mountain speculate about who is undergoing the tribulation, while Wu Quan and Zhang Jin struggle to conceal their embarrassment.
• Jia Yi reassures them, then silently signals for reinforcements as he observes the unknown cultivator.
• The chapter ends with Wu Quan and Zhang Jin recognizing the triumphant figure as Jiang Xian.

Plot points and events

• At age thirty-eight, Chen Jichuan reaches Spirit Transformation after only twenty years of cultivation, faster than in any of his previous lives.
• Wu Quan and Zhang Jin arrive at Thunderclap Mountain. Chen accuses them of abandoning him, despite Wu Quan having repeatedly protected him. He also blames Prime Minister Jia Yi for the fall of Zichuan Kingdom and the pursuit that drove him into hiding.
• Chen attacks Wu Quan and Zhang Jin, prompting Jia Yi to intervene. He fights Jia Yi, then freezes Jia Yi and two arriving Spirit Transformation cultivators. He takes all three captive and gives Wu Quan a jade slip demanding a collection of treasures in exchange for their release.
• Chen heads to Great Zhou’s Divine Capital. He intends both to settle accounts with the emperor, who pursued him, and to acquire the wealth and resources needed for further cultivation.
• In the imperial palace, Chen appears before Emperor Jiang Heng and Directing Office Gold Envoy Jiang Chong. He freezes Jiang Chong, takes him captive, and forces Jiang Heng to mark the locations of the imperial treasury and major collections of texts.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Jichuan emerges from years of hiding confident and ambitious. He is willing to use force and ransom to fund his cultivation, but his accusations against Wu Quan are knowingly unfair: he had planned his confrontation to give Wu and Zhang a way to avoid blame for what follows.
• Wu Quan is devastated by Chen’s betrayal. He recalls ignoring warnings from Jiang Chong and others, regrets saving Chen, and rushes with Zhang Jin to alert their sect and rescue the captives.
• Jia Yi condemns Chen’s ingratitude and defends Wu Quan’s conduct, then fights to protect the couple before being captured.
• Jiang Heng tries to warn Chen that the Divine Capital is protected by powerful cultivators and backed by immortal sects, but Chen dismisses the danger and threatens him into cooperation.
• The chapter contrasts Chen’s cold treatment of his former protectors with his pragmatic self-justification: he does not seek revenge for his birth family or fallen kingdom, but considers the emperor’s pursuit a debt to repay.

Significant themes

• Power and restraint: Chen’s new strength frees him from the cautious life he has endured, and he intends to use it boldly.
• Betrayal and gratitude: Wu Quan’s genuine sacrifices are met with Chen’s deliberately harsh accusations, exposing the gap between loyalty and perceived obligation.
• Revenge and self-interest: Chen frames his actions as settling a score, but openly admits that wealth and cultivation resources are major motives.
• The limits of authority: Even the emperor’s influence and the Divine Capital’s defenses prove ineffective against Chen’s overwhelming power.

Plot points and events

• Emperor Jiang Heng gives Chen Jichuan a map of Great Zhou’s treasuries and Scripture Repositories, warning him that the sites are guarded. Chen seals the emperor and hides him in his sleeve.
• Before striking the capital, Chen secretly captures all fifteen Third Rank cultivators stationed there by the Five Immortal Sects.
• He then openly uproots and carries away the capital’s treasury and Scripture Repository buildings, including underground structures. The city’s officials and cultivators are too intimidated—and too slow to act—to stop him.
• By the time the sects respond, Chen has escaped with the wealth and texts. He kills Jiang Heng and sends the five sects a message: their captured people will be returned only for ransom, and he demonstrates his threat by killing two captives.
• The sect ancestors discover that even their strongest tracking and divination treasures cannot locate Chen.
• They identify him as Jiang Xian, a thirty-eight-year-old survivor of Zichuan Kingdom who achieved Spirit Transformation in only twenty years. Believing a powerful treasure or opportunity enabled his rapid rise, the sects are both furious and eager to seize it.
• The ancestors debate whether the Grand Truth Sect knows more about Jiang Xian’s whereabouts. Peach Blossom Immortal Aunt defends the sect’s members, rejecting Dadu Luo Mountain’s suspicions.
• With no way to find Chen and the Grand Truth Sect facing the loss of six captured experts, Peach Blossom Immortal Aunt urges the sects to prepare ransom. The others agree reluctantly.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Jichuan/Jiang Xian acts with confidence and calculated ruthlessness. He uses Jiang Heng for information, removes the capital’s defenders before making his move, and turns the captured cultivators into leverage.
• Jiang Heng cooperates candidly, hoping to survive, but Chen later kills him, making clear that the emperor’s assurances offered no protection.
• The sect ancestors shift from outrage to wary pragmatism. Their anger is tempered by fear of Chen’s strength, frustration at being unable to track him, and greed for the secret behind his cultivation.
• Peach Blossom Immortal Aunt protects the Grand Truth Sect’s reputation and its members, calmly countering Jiang Feng’s attempt to implicate Wu Quan and his wife.
• Jiang Feng presses that Wu Quan and his wife may know more, while the other ancestors watch the exchange for clues and leverage.

Significant themes

• Power and vulnerability: Imperial authority and the sects’ prestige prove ineffective against a stronger individual.
• Information as leverage: Chen’s success depends on gathering intelligence and using captives to force negotiations.
• Ambition alongside resentment: The sects condemn Chen’s actions but are fascinated by the treasure that may have made him powerful.
• Institutional self-interest: Even amid a crisis, sect leaders protect their standing and pursue their own advantage.

Chapter summary

• After seventeen years, Chen Jichuan’s Gourd Space has expanded enormously. He has spent his spare time cultivating herbs and breeding spirit insects, treating both as a diversion.
• Newly advanced to Spirit Transformation, Chen Jichuan emerges from hiding and raids Great Zhou’s Divine Capital. He returns with immense wealth: sixty-four treasuries of Spirit Stones, along with stores of herbs, materials, pills, treasures, talismans, and books.
• He also captures eighteen Third-Rank cultivators from the Five Immortal Sects and plans to demand ransoms—especially Origin Stones and rare resources that will help him advance. He views the demand as compensation for the sects’ role in the death of King Zichuan, whose body he inherited, and considers himself restrained for sparing their lives.
• Chen Jichuan intends to consolidate his new cultivation and use his plunder to reach Fourth Rank, avoiding needless risks until then. He studies the seized texts and questions the hostages to learn more about the world.
• His research clarifies the cultivation paths: Nature Path’s Fourth Rank is the Numinous Light Realm, while Fate Dao’s is the Purple Abode Realm. This helps him understand the origins of his Purple Abode Immortal Gourd, a Fourth-Rank immortal treasure forged from thirty-six Purple Abodes and refined with immortal qi.
• Chen Jichuan learns that his world is called the Brightwing Realm, comprising ten mortal continents and nine heavenly layers. Fourth-Rank cultivators may ascend to the Four Directions Heaven, the realms of Wind, Rain, Thunder, and Lightning. Most are said to dwell there, leaving few Fourth-Rank cultivators in the mortal world.
• Concluding that the Five Immortal Sects have no Fourth-Rank protector, Chen Jichuan decides to begin ransom negotiations sooner than planned.

Character developments and interactions

Chen Jichuan shifts from cautious newcomer to a confident, resource-rich Spirit Transformation cultivator. His ambition expands as he learns about immortal realms and the treasure he possesses, though he remains wary of dying before reaching Fourth Rank. He treats the eighteen hostages as both a source of information and leverage; their testimony, alongside the books, shapes his understanding of the world.

Significant themes

The chapter emphasizes patient cultivation and strategic risk, the way knowledge broadens ambition, and the importance of wealth and resources in advancement. It also explores revenge framed as compensation: Chen Jichuan justifies extracting riches from the sects as payment for their past crimes, while his restraint in sparing them highlights the gap between his self-image and his coercive methods.

Plot and key events

• After exchanging the Five Immortal Sects’ hostages for ransom, Chen Jichuan expects the sects to keep pursuing the secret behind his rapid rise to Spirit Transformation. Rather than risk their schemes, he decides to leave Great Zhou and explore the wider world.
• Before departing, he visits Thunderclap Mountain to repay Wu Quan and Zhang Jin for once protecting him. The couple are anxious about the harm Jiang Xian’s actions have caused the Grand Truth Sect and fear the captured patriarchs may blame them.
• Chen reveals two nine-aperture Fauxuan Pills, said to help Second Rank cultivators reach Spirit Transformation. When Wu Quan and Zhang Jin hesitate, he makes them swallow the pills and urges them to refine the medicine. After he leaves, a heavenly tribulation begins over Thunderclap Mountain, indicating their breakthroughs.
• With his final obligation in Great Zhou settled, Chen travels west. Along the way, he brings villages and towns into his thousand-li-wide Immortal Gourd Space, eventually adding more than fifty thousand people. He also cultivates, observes local customs, and refines pills and artifacts using the abundant materials he acquired.
• The chapter closes on the challenge of advancing those crafts: First- and Second-Rank work is manageable, but Third-Rank pills and treasures demand far greater expertise.

Character developments

• Chen Jichuan is cautious about the Five Immortal Sects but increasingly adventurous, choosing travel and broader experience over remaining in Great Zhou. He also shows gratitude by helping Wu Quan and Zhang Jin, and begins building a population in his Immortal Gourd Space in hopes of finding future talents.
• Wu Quan regrets having brought Jiang Xian into cultivation and fears the consequences for himself and his wife. His longing to reach Spirit Transformation is intensified by his sense of vulnerability.
• Zhang Jin remains more charitable toward Jiang Xian, recognizing that he showed restraint despite his power. Though wary of the pills, she comes to suspect that they may explain his extraordinary cultivation.

Themes and interactions

• Prudence and freedom: Chen avoids a dangerous political struggle by leaving, choosing to learn through travel rather than remain confined to one region.
• Gratitude and reciprocity: He repays the couple’s past kindness with a rare opportunity to advance.
• Power and vulnerability: Wu Quan and Zhang Jin’s fear of sect politics underscores how even respected cultivators can be at the mercy of stronger forces.
• Cultivation as long-term endeavor: Chen’s journey, resource gathering, and practice in pill refining and artifact forging emphasize that advancement requires time, experience, and accumulated skill.
• The reunion is marked by mixed feelings: Wu Quan greets Chen angrily, Zhang Jin warns him that his visit is reckless, yet both are ultimately drawn by the promise of the pills.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Jichuan reflects on the immense difficulty of advancing from Third Rank to Fourth Rank. He believes time, practice, wealth, and his Subsidiary Dao Fruit can eventually help him improve his alchemy, artifact refining, talismans, and formations.
• Traveling on foot across Tu Continent, he studies its people, cultivation traditions, techniques, treasures, and resources. He finds that Fourth-Rank inheritances and high-level arts are more common here than in the Starry Sky World, and eagerly anticipates encountering divine abilities and stronger methods.
• His travels reveal gaps in his preparation for the Fourth-Rank Cauldron-Claiming Realm. He wants to raise his Transcendent Arts to divine abilities, master them further, and acquire several combat-oriented Fourth-Rank treasures; his Purple Abode Immortal Gourd is powerful but primarily supportive.
• Chen spends roughly a century journeying west, trading his wares for rare materials, spirit-herb seeds, and spirit insects. At Flat-Topped Mountain’s marketplace, he meets Ji Cong, an elder and patriarch of the Nanyang Sect, who offers two Golden-Backed Mantis eggs and information about Moka Celestial Venerable.
• Ji Cong recounts that Moka was a renowned Fourth-Rank cultivator who rose to prominence through insect control, later became invincible in Four Directions Heaven, and died after failing on the path to immortality. Moka’s Purple Abode Immortal Gourd—now possessed by Chen—is said to be a supreme Fourth-Rank treasure. Chen bargains with Ji Cong and buys the eggs and a rough account of Moka’s life for 1.82 million Origin Stones.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen becomes more aware of his limitations and shifts from relying mainly on his existing strengths to deliberately preparing for Fourth-Rank opponents. He remains confident, curious, and willing to learn, even when others’ achievements surpass his own.
• Despite his strength, he travels modestly, treats people kindly, studies with experts, and selectively fights formidable cultivators.
• Chen’s interest in spirit insects grows because of their potential as a weapon and the Purple Abode Immortal Gourd’s ability to support their cultivation.
• Ji Cong presents himself as a knowledgeable, immortal-like elder but proves to be a shrewd, high-priced seller. Chen recognizes the salesmanship yet pays for the information and eggs after bargaining.

Significant themes

• Progress through long-term effort: Advancement depends on sustained practice, time, and accumulated experience.
• Learning from stronger worlds and opponents: Chen welcomes discovering that others possess superior methods, seeing it as an opportunity to improve and eventually surpass them.
• Preparation and adaptability: Travel exposes weaknesses in his arts, methods, and equipment, prompting him to plan ahead for the next realm.
• Knowledge and commerce: Rare information and resources have high value, and acquiring them requires negotiation.
• Power through specialization: Moka’s rise demonstrates how a distinctive discipline—in his case, insect control—can overcome opponents and support advancement.