Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan discovers that the Yong Prince Jujubes have absorbed spiritual energy and become Immortal Jujubes. By draining one, he gains seven points of Origin Force, estimating that the entire harvest could provide roughly four hundred points.
• He recognizes that the jujubes are valuable because they can strengthen ordinary people, cure illness, and potentially help awaken Altered Abilities. He therefore decides not to waste them merely for Origin Force.
• After defeating the Li River Gang members, Chen kills the badly injured Zheng Biao and orders Sheng Dayang to lead him to the Immortal Jujube Tree.
• He frees Sheng Dayang and Sheng Xiaotian from their shackles using keys taken from Xu Lang, then has them clear the area and helps dispose of the corpses by burning them.
• Chen uses his copied Flame Control Technique, which he replicated from Chen Shaohe’s Altered Ability through Insight Art. Unlike the original, his version consumes Origin Force and must be reconstructed every three days.
• The group reaches the Immortal Jujube Tree. Chen confirms through his perception ability that it has genuinely gained spiritual energy: it can gather spiritual energy, bear Immortal Jujubes, extend mortals’ lifespans, and assist cultivators’ training.
• Chen realizes the tree is highly valuable and begins considering how to use or relocate it.
• He warns Sheng Dayang that the Li River Gang will pursue him and his son. Revealing the alias “Yu Jin,” Chen proposes an alliance against the gang and instructs them to meet him in a chaotic stone forest ten days later.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Becomes increasingly strategic and resource-conscious. Rather than consuming the jujubes immediately for cultivation, he recognizes their greater long-term value. He also reveals the successful replication of Flame Control Technique and begins considering how other Altered Abilities—particularly Sheng Dayang’s Blood-Burning ability—could be adapted for healing, martial arts, and strengthening Chen Shaohe.
• Sheng Dayang: His fear and tension lessen after seeing Chen use fire, since he now regards Chen as someone comparable to or greater than an Altered Human. He becomes submissive and respectful, hoping to preserve himself and his son while possibly gaining Chen’s protection.
• Sheng Xiaotian: Remains frightened and overwhelmed by Chen’s strength, especially after witnessing what he assumes is immortal magic. His vulnerability emphasizes the father and son’s desperate situation.
• Chen Shaohe: Does not appear directly, but his Flame Control Ability remains important. Chen Jichuan’s attempt to copy and improve upon it shows his concern for Shaohe’s future development.

Significant Themes

• Value and preservation of spiritual resources: The Immortal Jujubes are useful both as cultivation energy and as life-changing resources for ordinary people. Chen must decide whether immediate personal gain is worth sacrificing their broader value.
• Power through observation and imitation: Chen’s Insight Art allows him to reproduce powerful Altered Abilities, though imperfectly. The chapter highlights both the potential and limitations of copied power.
• Alliance through shared identity: Chen’s use of Flame Control Technique creates a sense of kinship with Sheng Dayang and Xiaotian, who believe he is another powerful Altered Human.
• Strategic revenge and manipulation: Chen offers Sheng Dayang a chance to avenge his mother while also advancing Chen’s own vendetta against the Li River Gang.
• Hidden strength and mistaken perceptions: The Sheng father and son interpret Chen’s abilities as immortal magic, unaware of their true source. Chen deliberately benefits from their misunderstanding.

Character Interactions

• Chen dominates his interactions with Sheng Dayang and Sheng Xiaotian, giving blunt orders while maintaining an intimidating, mysterious persona.
• Sheng Dayang responds with fear, gratitude, and deference, quickly freeing himself and his son and agreeing to follow Chen’s instructions.
• Chen’s display of Flame Control changes the emotional dynamic: the father and son begin to see him not merely as a skilled fighter but as a supernatural powerhouse.
• Chen questions Sheng Dayang about his future plans, using the Li River Gang’s threat to draw him into cooperation.
• By giving the name “Yu Jin” and arranging a future meeting, Chen establishes the beginning of a potential alliance against the Li River Gang.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Sheng Dayang politely refuses Yu Jin’s invitation to help destroy the Li River Gang, explaining that he lacks the strength and must protect his nine-year-old son, Sheng Xiaotian.
• Sheng Xiaotian enthusiastically volunteers, revealing that he possesses immortal arts and expressing his desire to learn martial arts from Yu Jin after witnessing him defeat six gang members.
• Chen Jichuan accepts Sheng Dayang’s refusal without argument. He gives the father and son ten days to reconsider and instructs them to meet him at Rubble Stone Forest if they decide to join him.
• Before leaving, Chen shocks them by single-handedly uprooting the enormous Spirit Jujube Tree, carrying it away on his shoulder.
• Sheng Xiaotian becomes even more determined to seek revenge against the Li River Gang and train under Yu Jin, while Sheng Dayang remains suspicious that Yu Jin intends to use him as a disposable fighter.
• After they leave, Chen secretly observes Sheng Dayang concealing the hole left by the tree, interpreting this as evidence that Sheng still possesses a conscience.
• Chen then drops his disguise, using the Flexible Bone Technique to return from his shortened, stockier “Yu Jin” appearance to his true physique. He retrieves his equipment and weapons, deliberately carries the Spirit Jujube Tree through the surrounding region to shed its leaves, and heads toward Begonia Mountain.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Demonstrates strategic patience rather than forcing Sheng Dayang to cooperate. He intends to investigate Sheng’s background before deciding whether he is trustworthy. His use of the Flexible Bone Technique shows his growing mastery of martial arts, disguise, and soft force.
• Sheng Dayang: Remains cautious and protective of his son. His refusal reflects fear and pragmatism rather than cowardice. His effort to hide the uprooted tree suggests he is still considerate and morally decent, reinforcing Chen’s favorable assessment of him.
• Sheng Xiaotian: Moves from fear of the Li River Gang to admiration for Chen and a strong desire for revenge. His confidence and excitement reveal both his youthful impulsiveness and his potential as a future martial artist.
• The Li River Gang: Though absent from most of the chapter, they remain the central threat. Their murder of Sheng Xiaotian’s grandmother motivates the boy’s hatred and shapes the family’s desperate flight.

Significant Themes

• Trust must be earned: Chen understands that rescuing someone does not guarantee loyalty. He plans to evaluate Sheng Dayang’s character before relying on him.
• The burden of responsibility: Sheng Dayang’s first concern is protecting his son, while Xiaotian’s desire for revenge risks endangering them both.
• Appearance versus reality: Chen’s “Yu Jin” identity is a deliberate disguise, and the Flexible Bone Technique allows him to alter his body and conceal who he really is.
• Strength and restraint: Chen displays overwhelming physical power but does not force Sheng Dayang into service. His patience contrasts with Xiaotian’s impulsive desire for immediate revenge.
• Moral character revealed through small actions: Sheng Dayang’s decision to cover the tree’s pit indicates that, despite his fear and suspicion, he retains a sense of responsibility and conscience.

Character Interactions

• Chen and Sheng Dayang: Their exchange establishes mutual caution. Chen offers an opportunity rather than demanding obedience, while Sheng Dayang respectfully declines because he doubts Chen’s intentions and fears for his son’s safety.
• Chen and Sheng Xiaotian: Xiaotian immediately idolizes Chen after witnessing his combat ability and hopes to become his disciple. Chen does not directly respond to the boy’s admiration but leaves open the possibility of future cooperation.
• Sheng Dayang and Sheng Xiaotian: Their disagreement highlights the contrast between the father’s fear-driven realism and the son’s youthful courage and anger. Sheng Dayang initially scolds Xiaotian but softens when he sees the child’s submissiveness.
• Chen’s silent observation of Sheng Dayang: By watching Sheng cover the pit, Chen gains a small but meaningful indication that the father may be worthy of recruitment.

Chapter Summary: “Unwilling to See It”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Shaohe has spent a month recovering on Begonia Mountain under Chen Jichuan’s care. Regular exercise, Altered Ability training, good food, and nightly practice of the Foundation of Rectification Stretching have improved his posture, health, complexion, and overall spirit.
• Chen Jichuan plants a Spirit Jujube Tree near their residence. Although the tree is currently bare, he expects it to produce Spirit Jujubes the following year and, more importantly, to gather spiritual energy and improve cultivation.
• While searching for jujubes, Chen Shaohe discovers four Ghost-Head Sabers and two iron swords. He is delighted by the weapons, especially because he had developed a fondness for sabers after killing a Black Armor with one and had recently lost his own Goose-Wing Saber.
• Chen Jichuan reveals that the weapons were taken from members of the Li River Gang he killed earlier that day.
• On the way home, Chen Jichuan explains his encounter with Sheng Dayang, the Li River Gang, and the Spirit Jujube Tree. He plans to teach Sheng Dayang martial arts in ten days if Sheng agrees to go to Rubble Stone Forest; otherwise, he will abandon the plan.
• Chen Jichuan concludes that the Li River Gang has experience identifying spiritual objects and nurturing Altered Humans. Their possession of other spiritual trees and objects—and possibly many Altered Humans—makes them a more dangerous and unpredictable enemy.

Character Developments

• Chen Shaohe: His physical condition and confidence continue to improve. He remains innocent and somewhat childlike, becoming distracted by the weapons and eagerly imagining the taste of jujubes. At the same time, news of Chen Jichuan’s killings and the Li River Gang’s activities makes him more aware of the dangers around them.
• Chen Jichuan: He continues acting as Shaohe’s protector and mentor while strengthening his own position. He demonstrates practical judgment by acquiring weapons, cultivating spiritual resources, and considering alliances with people such as Sheng Dayang. His discovery of the Li River Gang’s broader capabilities also makes him more cautious.
• Sheng Dayang: Though absent from the scene, he becomes an important potential ally. His decision about whether to risk going to Rubble Stone Forest will determine whether Chen Jichuan teaches him martial arts.

Significant Themes

• Recovery and transformation: Shaohe’s improvement shows the possibility of rebuilding a life and body damaged by imprisonment and neglect.
• Power through preparation: Chen Jichuan focuses on acquiring weapons, cultivating spiritual resources, training allies, and improving his own strength rather than relying on a single plan.
• Hidden dangers and escalating conflict: The Spirit Jujube Tree reveals that spiritual resources are more widespread than Chen Jichuan realized, while the Li River Gang’s knowledge suggests that the enemy possesses considerable experience and strength.
• Trust versus self-reliance: Sheng Dayang must decide whether to trust Chen Jichuan despite the danger. Chen Jichuan understands the risks but ultimately believes his own strength is the most dependable safeguard.
• Innocence amid violence: Shaohe’s excitement over sabers and forgotten memories of jujubes contrasts with the grim reality of killing and gang conflict.

Character Interactions

• Chen Jichuan and Chen Shaohe share a warm, brotherly relationship. Jichuan cares for Shaohe’s health and teases him about the jujubes, while Shaohe openly admires and depends on him.
• Shaohe’s fascination with the Ghost-Head Sabers provides a lighter moment and reveals how his experiences have shaped his interests.
• During their walk home, Chen Jichuan treats Shaohe as a trusted companion by explaining the day’s events and discussing his plans, showing that Shaohe is gradually being included in serious matters.
• Their conversation also allows them to think through Sheng Dayang’s possible decision and the growing threat posed by the Li River Gang.

Chapter Summary: “Divine Pounce, Ghost Fall!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan reflects on the urgency of comprehending Hidden Force and increasing his strength.
• He and Chen Shaohe inspect the spoils taken from the six Flying Eagle Hall members of the Li River Gang.
• Among the loot are two mysterious pearls taken from Xu Lang, the group’s sole Fourth Rank expert.
• Chen Jichuan identifies them as Li River Clam Pearls, spiritual treasures produced in the Li River Water Palace. They can:
  • Enhance cultivation and internal force.
  • Improve soil fertility and crop yields.
  • Help medicinal herbs grow more quickly.
• Chen realizes these pearls likely explain the Li River Gang’s rumored secret method for increasing grain production.
• He compares the Li River Gang’s Water Palace with the Wusheng Sect’s Black Prison and the Golden Sun Sect’s Peach Haven, recognizing that each major sect possesses unique supernatural resources.
• Two martial arts manuals are discovered among the loot:
  • Divine Pounce Blade, including a blade technique and an accompanying inner cultivation method.
  • Ghost-Fall Sword.
• Chen Jichuan studies the manuals and realizes they belong to a martial arts system based on sensing, circulating, and strengthening internal qi, unlike his primarily body-tempering techniques.
• He decides not to teach the methods immediately. He will first take them to the Great Yan World, test them under safe conditions, and use its accelerated time flow to memorize and study them.
• The chapter closes with Chen Shaohe enthusiastically choosing the blade technique over the sword technique.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan becomes increasingly aware that he must advance quickly, especially in Hidden Force and internal cultivation.
• His discovery of the clam pearls expands his understanding of the Li River Gang’s hidden resources and confirms that the three great sects each possess extraordinary advantages.
• He demonstrates caution and responsibility by refusing to let Chen Shaohe practice an unfamiliar inner cultivation method without supervision.
• Chen Shaohe remains intensely eager to learn martial arts. His recovery has improved, but he is still physically unready for serious cultivation.
• Chen Shaohe’s fear of death and obedience to Chen Jichuan temper his impatience, allowing him to accept the need to wait.

Significant Themes

• Knowledge as power: Manuals, cultivation theories, and information about sect resources are portrayed as valuable treasures.
• Caution versus impatience: Chen Shaohe wants immediate advancement, while Chen Jichuan emphasizes preparation, recovery, and safe experimentation.
• Multiple cultivation systems: The chapter introduces a distinction between body-tempering martial arts and inner-force cultivation.
• Hidden resources behind political power: The major sects maintain dominance because of unique supernatural locations and materials.
• Efficient use of time: Chen Jichuan’s access to the Great Yan World allows him to learn and test techniques far faster than ordinary practitioners.
• Practical value of spiritual treasures: The clam pearls are useful not only for combat and cultivation but also for agriculture and economic development.

Character Interactions

• Chen Shaohe initially hopes the pearls can be sold to improve their finances, but Chen Jichuan explains that their cultivation and agricultural value makes them far more useful than money.
• Chen Shaohe eagerly asks about practicing martial arts, and Chen Jichuan gently restrains him until his damaged body fully recovers.
• The brothers discuss the differences between their martial arts systems, with Chen Jichuan explaining the role of qi and internal force.
• Chen Jichuan protects Chen Shaohe from the danger of practicing incorrectly, while Chen Shaohe reassures him that he will wait and eagerly declares his preference for the Divine Pounce Blade.

Chapter Summary: “Seventy-Two Chen Sect Arts!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Thirty-five years pass, bringing the total time since Chen Jichuan entered the Great Yan World to 111 years. During this period, several generations of the Lu family and other acquaintances grow old and die.
• The Chen Sect reaches the height of its power. The former northern rival, the Tan Sect, collapses due to internal conflict, while the Chen Sect becomes the dominant martial-arts organization across the north and south.
• At a grand gathering on Taiqing Mountain, seventy-two senior members and hundreds of disciples assemble for instruction. The elderly first sect master, Lu Changshou, personally teaches the sect.
• Lu Changshou explains the principles behind the Chen Sect’s martial arts:
  • Three Essentials: deep and steady training, precision and correctness, and restraint of desire while preserving one’s reputation.
  • Five Taboos: idleness, boastfulness, impatience, skipping stages, and indulgence in wine and lust.
  • Seven Harms: behaviors such as lust, rage, excessive thought, worry, drinking, laziness, and impatience damage different aspects of the body and spirit.
• He demonstrates the powerful Wind-Chasing Palm Technique, also called the Eight-Step Wind-Chasing Palm or Seven-Step Life-and-Death Palm. His performance reveals that he has perfected the art’s Manifest Force, though he cannot advance to Hidden Force.
• Chen Jichuan praises Lu Changshou but admits that he too is approaching the limits of physical cultivation. Although he is 129 years old by calendar age, his body is only about forty-eight due to the different passage of time and his health-preserving methods.
• Lu Changshou challenges Chen Jichuan to a friendly martial exchange. Chen uses the Ten-Route Tan Legs, while Lu fights with Wind-Chasing Palm and Crouching Tiger Technique. Their battle is exciting and evenly matched for a time.
• Age eventually overwhelms Lu Changshou. He becomes exhausted and recognizes that his body can no longer keep pace with his spirit.
• After discussing his wishes, Lu Changshou peacefully dies on Taiqing Mountain at the age of seventy-six. Chen Jichuan promises to bury him on the mountain and visit his grave if he ever achieves Hidden Force.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Remains the Chen Sect’s hidden foundation and spiritual ancestor. He continues to preserve his youthful appearance and maintain immense martial knowledge, but begins worrying that he may also miss the chance to break through to Hidden Force before his body declines.
• Lu Changshou: His life reaches its conclusion. Once a young martial artist devoted to Chen Jichuan and the sect, he has become a legendary grandmaster and respected sect leader. Despite his fame and accomplishments, he must finally accept the inevitability of aging and death.
• Mao Li: A newly arrived eighteen-year-old disciple, he represents the younger generation. His successful recitation of the sect’s teachings and excitement at receiving Lu Changshou’s encouragement show the continuing influence and vitality of the Chen Sect.
• The Chen Sect: It has evolved from a newly founded organization into the most powerful and prestigious martial sect in the martial world, surpassing the former dominance of the Tan Sect.

Significant Themes

• The inevitability of aging and death: Even renowned martial masters cannot escape the passage of time. Lu Changshou’s decline contrasts sharply with his legendary reputation.
• Legacy and continuity: The Chen Sect survives and flourishes across generations because its teachings and arts are carefully preserved and passed on to new disciples.
• Discipline and self-control: The Three Essentials, Five Taboos, and Seven Harms emphasize that martial achievement depends not only on technique but also on moral conduct, patience, and bodily discipline.
• The limits of martial cultivation: Lu Changshou’s inability to reach Hidden Force illustrates the difficulty of transcending natural physical limitations, while Chen Jichuan faces the same uncertainty.
• Teacher-student and familial bonds: Chen Jichuan and Lu Changshou share a relationship built on reverence, affection, friendly rivalry, and decades of mutual dependence. Lu Changshou’s final wish to remain buried beside the Chen Sect shows that the sect has become his true home.

Important Character Interactions

• Lu Changshou and Mao Li: Lu tests the young disciple’s knowledge, encourages him, and inspires intense loyalty and admiration.
• Lu Changshou and Chen Jichuan: They exchange praise, discuss the difficulty of Hidden Force, and engage in a final friendly duel. Their interaction reveals both deep affection and the gap between youthful martial potential and the ravages of age.
• Lu Changshou and the Chen Sect disciples: His instruction reinforces the sect’s traditions and gives the younger generation a direct connection to its founding history.
• Chen Jichuan and Lu Changshou at the end: Chen accepts Lu’s final wishes and promises to honor his memory, making their farewell a quiet acknowledgment of mortality and enduring legacy.
  The chapter closes with Lu Changshou’s death and an appendix listing the extensive body of martial arts associated with the Chen Sect, emphasizing the sect’s vast heritage.

Chapter Summary: “Hidden Force!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ten years pass, and Chen Jichuan continues training deep in Taiqing Mountain.
• He practices the Crouching Tiger, or Sleeping, Technique while carrying a thousand-pound millstone and enduring repeated hammer strikes from the Four Great Vajras.
• After three exhausting hours, Chen releases the accumulated power through his spine and launches the millstone into the air. He then destroys it with a single palm strike.
• Chen realizes that he has finally broken through from Manifest Force to Hidden Force after 120 years of cultivation.
• He tests his new ability by walking across bluestone and leaving deep footprints without appearing to exert himself.
• Chen explains that Hidden Force is driven by the mind rather than merely the muscles, sinews, and bones. It is vastly more powerful but consumes much more physical and mental energy.
• His breakthrough causes his Immortal Register level to rise from Level 5 to Level 6.
• The Four Great Vajras celebrate and propose announcing the achievement to the martial world. Chen rejects a grand public gathering but agrees to hold a smaller celebratory meal for their own people.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan reaches a major milestone, becoming a Hidden Force master after decades of relentless training. Although immensely powerful, he recognizes that his mastery is incomplete: he can currently direct Hidden Force only through his hands and feet.
• He gains a clearer understanding of the path ahead, aspiring to make his entire body function as one unified weapon capable of releasing force from every part.
• The Four Great Vajras remain devoted disciples despite being celebrated grandmasters themselves. Their willingness to assist Chen for hours demonstrates their humility, loyalty, and respect.
• Their own lifelong frustration at being trapped outside the Hidden Force realm turns into joy and renewed inspiration after witnessing Chen’s breakthrough.
• Sun Hanjiu remains enthusiastic and eager for public celebration, but quickly remembers Chen’s dislike of worldly formalities and adjusts his proposal.

Significant Themes

• Perseverance and long-term cultivation: Chen’s breakthrough comes only after 120 years of training, emphasizing that true mastery requires patience and endurance.
• The limits of one realm and the promise of the next: Manifest Force represents the peak of ordinary external martial training, while Hidden Force opens an entirely higher level of power and understanding.
• Knowledge as a new beginning: Chen’s breakthrough does not mark the end of his journey. Instead, it gives him a clear path toward even greater mastery.
• Humility and loyalty: The Four Great Vajras, despite their own reputations, willingly perform physically demanding work for their patriarch.
• Personal achievement versus public recognition: Chen values cultivation itself and dislikes fame, while his disciples wish to publicize his success and strengthen the Chen Sect’s reputation.

Character Interactions

• The Four Great Vajras act as Chen’s training assistants, carefully controlling their hammer strikes while observing and learning from his technique.
• After Chen succeeds, they question him eagerly and marvel at the subtle power of Hidden Force.
• Chen patiently explains the difference between Manifest Force and Hidden Force, teaching them and giving them hope that a higher realm exists beyond their current limits.
• Sun Hanjiu suggests a grand feast for martial artists across the region, but Chen declines the spectacle.
• Lu Qing subtly restrains Sun Hanjiu when he realizes the proposal is irritating Chen.
• Chen ultimately permits a private celebration, allowing his disciples to share in the joy of his breakthrough while preserving his preference for simplicity.

Chapter Summary: “White Jade Capital’s Yan Tower Commander Yu Jin!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After mastering Hidden Force, Chen Jichuan continues training, though his aging body causes his progress to slow. Hidden Force delays his physical decline, giving him hope of eventually advancing further.
• Ten days after publicly uprooting the Immortal Jujube Tree, Chen meets Sheng Dayang and Sheng Xiaotian at Rocky Forest.
• During the waiting period, Sheng Dayang debates whether to hide in the mountains or flee to another commandery. After witnessing the difficult lives of mountain villagers, he decides that running away is not a real solution.
• Sheng Dayang resolves to follow “Hero Yu” and destroy the Li River Gang, seeking revenge for the destruction of his family.
• Chen presents himself in a metal mask and asks whether father and son have made their decision. Both agree to follow him.
• Chen reframes their mission as part of a larger organization devoted not only to revenge but also to cultivating immortality, pursuing the Dao, and achieving longevity.
• He gives them forged iron tokens bearing the name “White Jade Capital” and assigns them the codenames “Divine Strategist” for Sheng Dayang and “Three-Mountain Suppressor” for Sheng Xiaotian.
• Chen falsely claims to be the commander of Yan Tower, one of twelve towers beneath the legendary White Jade Capital, successfully impressing and motivating both recruits.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan / Yu Jin: Becomes more strategic and deliberately cultivates an imposing identity. He realizes that an organization needs a lasting ideal beyond revenge, so he invents White Jade Capital as a unifying cause. He also understands the importance of symbols, titles, and ritual in creating loyalty.
• Sheng Dayang: Shifts from uncertainty and a desire to flee toward determination and ambition. His experiences among poor villagers convince him that hiding would condemn his son to a miserable life. Chen’s promises awaken his belief that he and Xiaotian, as possessors of “immortal arts,” deserve a greater destiny.
• Sheng Xiaotian: Remains enthusiastic and impressionable. The ideas of immortality and heroic titles immediately captivate him. Receiving an adult codename makes him feel respected and important for the first time.

Significant Themes

• Hope versus resignation: Sheng Dayang rejects a life of concealment and poverty, choosing to pursue power, revenge, and a better future.
• The power of belief and propaganda: Chen creates a grand mythology around White Jade Capital to unite people with shared grievances.
• Identity and transformation: Masks, codenames, and tokens allow ordinary or persecuted people to adopt new identities and become part of something larger.
• Ambition and manipulation: Chen’s plan is both inspiring and deceptive; he uses lofty promises of immortality to secure allies for his broader goals.
• Ritual and belonging: The iron tokens and formal titles give the new organization structure and help its members feel valued.

Character Interactions

• Sheng Dayang and Xiaotian anxiously wait together, with Xiaotian openly voicing their fears while his father tries to maintain confidence.
• Chen questions them formally about their decision, prompting both to pledge themselves to his cause.
• Chen deliberately addresses Xiaotian as an equal participant rather than a child, strengthening the boy’s admiration and loyalty.
• Sheng Dayang is initially bewildered by Chen’s grand claims but soon becomes inspired by them, while Xiaotian embraces the fantasy immediately.
• Chen’s controlled, mysterious presentation contrasts with the father and son’s excitement, highlighting his ability to influence and direct them.

Chapter Summary: “A Thousand Martial Arts, Myriad Secret Techniques!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Sheng Dayang formally joins White Jade Capital along with his son, Sheng Xiaotian, and begins addressing Chen Jichuan as “Commander.”
• Chen Jichuan refuses to assign Sheng Dayang immediate missions, warning that his current strength is too low to survive battles against even Third- or Fourth-Rank opponents.
• Sheng Xiaotian eagerly asks to learn martial arts as well. Chen Jichuan agrees, explaining that the boy is too young for the Chen Sect’s physically demanding techniques but can safely study gentler internal arts.
• Chen reveals that he previously conducted extensive experiments in the Great Yan World on the Divine Pounce Blade and Ghost-Fall Sword techniques. Through years of testing across different ages, he mastered their cultivation requirements, dangers, and supporting medicines.
• Using formulas developed through those experiments, Chen created pills such as Small Restoration Pills, Breath-Replenishing Pills, and Qi-Enhancing Pills, which accelerate internal-breath cultivation.
• Chen establishes White Jade Capital’s merit-based reward system: members must earn merit before exchanging it for advanced martial arts, secret techniques, or spiritual items. New members receive only several basic techniques for free.
• Sheng Dayang chooses the Divine Pounce Blade, while both father and son begin martial-arts training suited to their abilities.
• Chen also teaches Divine Pounce Blade to his brother, Chen Shaohe, and continues strengthening his own cultivation.
• By combining internal techniques, medicinal pills, and Origin Force, Chen rapidly improves his internal breath and internal force. However, this consumes Origin Force at an alarming rate, leaving him with just over six thousand units after spending more than half of his reserves.
• Chen recognizes that he must eventually obtain the higher-level portions of Divine Pounce Blade and Ghost-Fall Sword, since the manuals he possesses are incomplete.

Character Development

• Sheng Dayang undergoes a major change in attitude. Having realized that Chen never intended to sacrifice him, he becomes loyal, proactive, and eager to contribute to White Jade Capital.
• Sheng Xiaotian displays youthful enthusiasm and a desire to imitate his father. Though only nine years old, he begins laying the foundation for future martial-arts training.
• Chen Jichuan demonstrates both practical leadership and long-term planning. He protects inexperienced members from dangerous missions, carefully selects techniques for them, and creates a merit system designed to prevent dependence and idleness.
• Chen also becomes more capable as a teacher and martial artist, using knowledge gained from experimentation to train others efficiently.
• Chen Shaohe begins practicing Divine Pounce Blade alongside Chen Jichuan, strengthening the brothers’ shared cultivation and combat potential.

Significant Themes

• Trust and loyalty: Sheng Dayang’s suspicion turns into gratitude and loyalty after Chen protects him from being sent into an unwinnable situation.
• Effort and reward: White Jade Capital’s merit system reflects the principle that members must work for the resources and techniques they receive.
• Knowledge through experimentation: Chen’s mastery comes from systematic testing, even though his experiments involve morally troubling use of prisoners and dangerous medicinal trials.
• Balanced martial development: The chapter contrasts the Chen Sect’s powerful but physically harsh external arts with Divine Pounce Blade and Ghost-Fall Sword, whose internal cultivation is gentler and more beneficial over a lifetime.
• Resource limitations: Despite Chen’s immense abilities and access to accelerated cultivation, Origin Force remains finite. His rapid progress creates a new strategic problem: he must conserve resources or find ways to replenish them.
• Preparation and long-term growth: Rather than rushing into battle, Chen builds a reliable organization by teaching foundational skills, developing members gradually, and planning for their future advancement.

Character Interactions

• Chen and Sheng Dayang establish a more respectful commander-subordinate relationship, with Chen offering guidance and Dayang accepting his authority.
• Sheng Xiaotian’s earnest imitation of his father creates a lighter, more humorous interaction with Chen, who quietly finds the boy’s behavior amusing.
• Chen teaches the Shengs according to their age and aptitude: Sheng Dayang begins direct cultivation, while Xiaotian starts with fundamentals such as acupoints and meridians.
• Chen and Chen Shaohe train together, turning Divine Pounce Blade into a shared family discipline.
• Through his instructions, Chen defines White Jade Capital’s structure and expectations, emphasizing that membership involves both responsibility and earned advancement.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan has spent three months in Yangshuo County and continues balancing his time between the Great Yan World and Black Prison. At 195 years old, he is finally beginning to show physical signs of aging, though he remains exceptionally vigorous.
• He trains intensely at the Chen Sect’s ancestral grounds, practicing the Golden Blade Exchange Palm Technique while navigating seventy-two swinging blades and a complex arrangement of Plum Blossom Stakes. His movements demonstrate extraordinary martial mastery.
• After training, Zhang Ge, chief of Bright Virtue Hall, informs Chen Jichuan that Sun Dajin, leader of the Iron Palm Gang, has come to seek the Chen Sect’s help.
• Zhang explains that the Iron Palm Gang was founded by Sun Biao, a former lay disciple of the Chen Sect. The gang has maintained a long-standing connection with the sect.
• A powerful new force, the Moon-Worshiping Divine Church, has begun attempting to dominate both the martial world and the rebel armies. Its leader, Dongfang Ping, commands numerous elite experts.
• The church has attacked six major sects—the Tan Sect, Heaven Gate, Eagle Claw Wild-Goose School, Five Tiger Mountain, Golden Snake Sect, and Iron Palm Gang—capturing or killing their leading masters.
• Sun Biao, along with the Iron Palm Gang’s elders and guardians, has been captured. His son, Sun Dajin, escaped and crossed the Ji River to request the Chen Sect’s intervention.
• Before Chen Jichuan and the gathered sect leaders, Sun Dajin kneels and begs the patriarch to rescue his father and the surviving members of the Iron Palm Gang.
• Zhang Ge denounces the Moon-Worshiping Divine Church’s past atrocities and argues that the Chen Sect, as the foremost martial organization, cannot remain passive.
• The chapter ends with the Chen Sect clearly poised to respond to the church’s challenge.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Despite his advanced age, he remains physically powerful and highly disciplined. His training shows that his martial skills have reached an almost legendary level. Although he has withdrawn from worldly affairs, the crisis begins drawing him back into the martial world.
• Zhang Ge: He is shown as both capable and deeply loyal to the Chen Sect. His anger over the church’s actions reflects his strong sense of justice and sect pride.
• Mao Li: Now over eighty, Mao Li remains robust because of his martial cultivation. He has surpassed the traditional lifespan limit of Chen Sect masters and continues to command authority within the sect.
• Sun Dajin: Initially frightened and overwhelmed, he becomes a desperate supplicant, placing his hope in Chen Jichuan and the Chen Sect to save his family and sect.
• Sun Biao: Though absent and captured, his past as a Chen Sect lay disciple establishes the personal and historical bond motivating the Chen Sect’s likely intervention.

Significant Themes

• Duty and responsibility: The Chen Sect’s long-standing connections create an obligation to defend affiliated disciples and allied sects.
• Honor and leadership: As the leading martial sect, Chen Jichuan and the Chen Sect are expected to protect the martial world from tyranny.
• Tradition versus rising power: The established Chen Sect looks down on the newly powerful Moon-Worshiping Divine Church, setting up a confrontation between an old martial authority and an ambitious emerging force.
• Mastery through discipline: Chen Jichuan’s rigorous training emphasizes the importance of patience, endurance, and continual self-improvement.
• Mortality and longevity: Chen Jichuan’s aging body, Mao Li’s extended lifespan, and the sect’s history of masters dying young all highlight the tension between human limitations and martial cultivation.
• Justice against tyranny: The church’s kidnappings, massacres, and attempt to dominate the martial world frame the coming conflict as a struggle against oppression.

Character Interactions

• Chen Jichuan and Zhang Ge interact as patriarch and subordinate, with Zhang showing both respect and urgency while explaining the crisis.
• Zhang Ge recounts the Iron Palm Gang’s origins, reinforcing the relationship between Sun Biao and the Chen Sect.
• Mao Li formally introduces Sun Dajin to Chen Jichuan, emphasizing the patriarch’s supreme authority.
• Sun Dajin’s desperate plea moves the gathered Chen Sect members, especially because of the Iron Palm Gang’s historic ties to the sect.
• Zhang Ge openly calls for action, expressing the collective outrage of the Chen Sect and challenging its leaders to defend their position as the martial world’s foremost sect.

Chapter Summary: Crossing the River on a Reed, Great Yan Arc Complete

Key Plot Points and Events

• Sun Dajin appears to beg Patriarch Chen Jichuan for mercy, claiming that his father, Sun Biao, should be spared. However, his desperation is revealed as a deception: he suddenly draws a dagger and attempts to stab Chen Jichuan in the groin.
• Chen Jichuan effortlessly withstands the attack using his powerful external and internal cultivation, then sends Sun Dajin flying with a forceful strike. Sun Dajin reveals that the Divine Church’s forces are waiting below Taiqing Mountain and falsely claims that Chen Jichuan has been seriously wounded.
• Feng Mingming arrives with numerous experts from the imperial court’s Black Ice Bureau, disguised as the male leader “Dongfang Ming.” She admits that she ordered Sun Dajin’s assassination attempt and challenges Chen Jichuan.
• Chen Jichuan exposes his attackers’ strength and realizes that Feng Mingming is actually Princess Nanping, the daughter of Prince Ji. Despite pretending to be injured, he throws the dagger back at her, proving that he remains unharmed.
• Feng Mingming summons the Divine Church’s Four Protectors and Eight Dharma Kings, along with other elite martial artists, to overwhelm Chen Jichuan. Chen instead chooses to fight them alone, intending to use the battle to seek a final breakthrough beyond the Hidden Force realm.
• Chen kills the “Mad Monk” Yuantong in a single exchange with the Chen Sect’s lethal Marble Fist. He then defeats and kills six more masters in succession, using the Chen Sect’s seventy-two arts, Small Eight Directions Footwork, and a wide range of punches, palms, elbows, knees, and ground-fighting techniques.
• Feng Mingming attempts to flee, but Chen shatters a steel blade and uses its fragments to kill several attackers. He then throws a dagger that pierces Feng Mingming through the heart, killing her.
• The chapter’s epilogue records the consequences:
  • Princess Nanping dies at Taiqing Mountain.
  • Chen Jichuan kills sixteen Black Ice Bureau masters and eight hundred archers while escaping through a rain of arrows.
  • Three days later, he dies in the Chen Sect Ancestral Hall at the age of 195.
  • The following year, the Chen Sect joins forces with the Moon-Worshiping Divine Church, captures Great Yan’s capital, and brings about the fall of the dynasty.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan is revealed to be completely uninjured and vastly more powerful than his enemies expected. His calm response to assassination and his effortless defense demonstrate his mastery of Hidden Force and the Chen Sect’s techniques.
• He also reaches an emotional turning point. Having lived for nearly two centuries and lost all meaningful attachments, he deliberately seeks a final, glorious battle rather than continue slowly declining. His decision reflects both acceptance of death and a desire to surpass the limits of Hidden Force.
• Sun Dajin is exposed as a traitor who has joined the demonic or imperial forces. His betrayal devastates Qian Shi, who trusted him, and his failed assassination attempt ends with him gravely wounded and possibly dead.
• Feng Mingming shifts from confident commander to frightened survivor. Her reliance on superior numbers and status collapses when Chen proves capable of defeating her carefully assembled forces. Although she attempts to preserve her dignity by accusing Chen of bullying a weak woman, she ultimately dies while fleeing.
• Mao Li, Qian Shi, and Zhang Ge display intense loyalty to Chen Jichuan. They are eager to defend or assist him, but Chen orders them to stand aside so that he can complete his final battle alone.
• The assembled imperial and Divine Church experts, initially confident in their numerical advantage, are reduced to panic as Chen kills them one after another.

Significant Themes

• The inevitability and dignity of death: Chen Jichuan embraces death as the culmination of his long life, choosing to die in battle rather than fade away.
• Hidden strength beneath appearances: Sun Dajin’s apparent weakness conceals betrayal, while Chen’s apparent injury conceals overwhelming power. The chapter repeatedly contrasts what characters seem to be with what they truly are.
• Loyalty and betrayal: Sun Dajin’s treachery is set against the unwavering loyalty of Chen’s disciples and sect members.
• The limits of cultivation and human potential: Chen acknowledges that further advancement in Hidden Force is nearly impossible, yet he hopes a life-or-death battle may allow him to glimpse a higher realm.
• The fall of an empire: The battle at Taiqing Mountain becomes the decisive prelude to the collapse of Great Yan. The deaths of the princess and the imperial elites symbolize the weakening of the dynasty.
• Legacy and sacrifice: Chen’s death does not end his influence. His final stand inspires the Chen Sect to lead the martial world in overthrowing Great Yan.

Character Interactions

• Qian Shi and Zhang Ge reprimand Sun Dajin for behaving improperly before Chen Jichuan and Mao Li, then personally subdue him after his betrayal.
• Mao Li supports and praises Chen Jichuan, recognizing immediately that the dagger caused no real injury.
• Chen Jichuan and Feng Mingming exchange polite but hostile words before openly confronting one another. Their conversation reveals Feng Mingming’s identity and Chen’s ability to see through the imperial disguise.
• Chen Jichuan and the attacking masters engage in a brutal, close-range battle in which every technique is intended to kill. His mastery of the Chen Sect’s arts allows him to defeat a large group of elite opponents alone.
• Chen Jichuan and his disciples are divided by contrasting intentions: the disciples want to protect him, while Chen insists on facing death and battle without assistance.
• The chapter closes by linking Chen’s final battle to the broader political struggle, as his death becomes the catalyst for the Chen Sect’s eventual conquest of Great Yan.

Chapter Summary: “The First ‘Dao Fruit’!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After the climactic battle atop Taiqing Mountain, Chen Jichuan spends his final days in the Great Yan World. Although he has achieved supreme mastery of Hidden Force, his life force rapidly declines.
• As death approaches, Chen reflects on his two centuries in Great Yan: meeting Lu Peng, building businesses, studying martial arts, establishing the Chen Sect, spreading the Seventy-Two Chen Sect Arts, and becoming known as the “Chen of the Southern Dynasty.”
• Three days after the battle, Chen becomes too weak to sit or remain conscious. Eventually, he enters his sea of consciousness, where he discovers a radiant lotus and a newly formed lotus pod.
• The lotus pod contains his accumulated achievements and experiences from Great Yan, forming his first Dao Fruit. It produces lotus seeds that preserve and convey his martial knowledge.
• Chen realizes that he reached the peak of Hidden Force but could not break into Transformative Force because the Great Yan World’s laws rejected that realm. Transformative Force would have been equivalent to the Innate Realm of inner power.
• He reflects on having spread Hidden Force and inner-power techniques throughout the martial world. This created many new experts, including warriors later recruited by the imperial court, and ultimately gave Chen the opponents necessary to achieve his final breakthrough.
• Chen plans to use the Dao Fruit’s lotus seeds to help his brother Chen Shaohe improve, particularly in mastering the first six layers of the Divine Pounce Blade. However, he intends to let Shaohe build his own foundation before giving him a seed.
• The Dao Fruit also allows Chen to repeatedly review and even re-enter his Great Yan experiences, giving him the opportunity to analyze past mistakes, deepen his understanding, and continue cultivating with the advantage of the four-hundredfold time difference.

Character Development

• Chen Jichuan has matured emotionally through confronting death. Though he naturally fears dying, he remains calm and reflective rather than panicked.
• He recognizes both the limitations and value of his achievements. His failure to reach Transformative Force causes regret, but he accepts that there is no need to rush because he has ample time in reality.
• Chen’s outlook has shifted from personal cultivation toward preserving and transmitting knowledge. His concern for Chen Shaohe shows his continuing sense of responsibility as a teacher and elder brother.
• He also develops a more sophisticated understanding of learning: external assistance can accelerate growth, but true comprehension still requires personal thought and effort.

Significant Themes

• Mortality and acceptance: Chen’s approaching death forces him to confront the terror of mortality, even though death in Great Yan is not permanent.
• Legacy and transmission: The martial arts Chen spread across Great Yan become part of his enduring legacy and contribute to the rise of future experts.
• Limits imposed by the world: The Great Yan World has a natural ceiling that prevents practitioners from reaching Transformative Force, suggesting that cultivation is shaped by the laws of each world.
• Learning through reflection: The Dao Fruit represents the preservation of experience and the ability to revisit the past from a clearer perspective.
• Balance between aid and self-reliance: Chen intends to support Shaohe with lotus seeds without allowing him to become dependent on them.
• Cause and effect: By spreading martial knowledge, Chen unintentionally created the powerful opponents who helped him reach the pinnacle of Hidden Force.

Character Interactions

• Chen Jichuan and Chen Shaohe: Though Shaohe does not appear directly in the present events, Chen’s thoughts focus heavily on him. Chen worries about Shaohe’s progress and plans to use the Dao Fruit to guide him more effectively.
• Chen Jichuan and the martial world: Chen’s teachings transformed the martial world, producing many Hidden Force experts. These practitioners later became both political assets for the imperial court and challengers in Chen’s final battle.
• Chen Jichuan and his past companions: His memories include his first meeting with Lu Peng and the people connected to his rise, emphasizing how his relationships shaped his entire Great Yan life.
• Chen Jichuan and the imperial court: The court, especially Princess Nanping and Prince Ji, benefits from the spread of martial knowledge by recruiting the new generation of experts. This indirectly links Chen’s actions to the political struggle in Great Yan.

Chapter Summary: “Flame Control Technique (5)”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After obtaining his first Dao Fruit, Chen Jichuan discovers that the second lotus bud in his inner world now requires 10,000 Origin Force to bloom, rather than the previous 1,000. His reserve of just over 2,000 Origin Force is therefore insufficient.
• He realizes that Origin Force is needed for many purposes: opening the new world, materializing lotus seeds, using techniques such as the Flame Control Technique and Blood-Burning Art, and advancing his own cultivation.
• Chen identifies the Black Prison in Centipede Mountain as the most reliable source of Origin Force, though he cannot safely occupy or exploit it alone. The Li River Gang’s Water Mansion and the Golden Sun Sect’s Peach Haven may also contain resources, but he lacks sufficient knowledge or confidence regarding them.
• Relying on the lotus seeds as a powerful weapon, Chen returns to reality and continues cultivating at Begonia Mountain with his fifth brother, Chen Shaohe.
• After two months of recovery, the Spirit Jujube Tree has become lush again. Cultivation beneath it proves highly effective, with ten days beneath the tree equaling roughly twelve or thirteen days of ordinary cultivation.
• During their morning practice, Chen Shaohe unexpectedly breathes a flame five feet long. Chen Jichuan uses Insight Art and discovers that Shaohe’s Flame Control Technique has advanced to the fifth level.
• The brothers determine that the breakthrough likely resulted from the Spirit Jujubes, which had previously made Shaohe feel stronger and more energetic. Their spiritual power may have helped improve his Altered Ability.
• Chen Jichuan examines the upgraded ability and sees that its internal rune has become far more complex. Though he cannot yet understand or reproduce it directly, he realizes that copying the improved version could also strengthen his own Flame Control Technique.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan becomes more aware of the severe demands on his Origin Force reserves and the urgency of securing additional resources. He remains cautious, recognizing that he is currently too weak to seize the Black Prison safely.
• He also demonstrates increasing skill in analyzing Altered Abilities, though the fifth-level Flame Control rune is still beyond his ability to fully decipher or independently deduce.
• Chen Shaohe continues to grow physically and mentally through sustained training. He has become stronger, more energetic, and livelier, while retaining his straightforward and enthusiastic personality.
• Shaohe’s Flame Control Technique unexpectedly reaches the fifth level, making him a Fifth Rank expert and giving him a major boost in confidence and strength.

Significant Themes

• Resource scarcity and strategic planning: Origin Force is essential for nearly every major aspect of Chen Jichuan’s development, forcing him to balance cultivation, techniques, and exploration.
• Growth through persistence: Shaohe’s breakthrough comes from consistent daily practice rather than a dramatic event, emphasizing the value of steady effort.
• Hidden causes behind sudden advancement: Although the Flame Control breakthrough initially appears random, Chen searches for an underlying explanation and links it to the Spirit Jujubes.
• Cautious ambition: Chen is eager to advance but understands the dangers of acting before he has sufficient strength, particularly regarding the Black Prison.
• Inheritance and replication: Chen’s ability to copy and benefit from Shaohe’s improved technique highlights the importance of their relationship and cooperation.

Character Interactions

• Chen Jichuan and Chen Shaohe cultivate together beneath the Spirit Jujube Tree, reinforcing their close brotherly bond.
• Shaohe excitedly demonstrates his new fire-breathing ability and seeks Chen’s confirmation, while Chen responds with encouragement and careful investigation.
• Chen’s analysis helps Shaohe recognize that his breakthrough makes him a Fifth Rank expert.
• Their discussion of the Spirit Jujubes shows mutual trust: Shaohe openly shares his observations, and Chen connects them to the likely cause of the advancement.
• Rather than feeling threatened by Shaohe’s improvement, Chen is pleased and immediately considers how his brother’s progress may help them both.

Chapter Summary: “Far-Sight”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan continues training his younger brother, Chen Shaohe, emphasizing that martial training remains essential even though the Flame Control Technique is difficult to improve.
• He equips Shaohe with heavier sandbags and a sand vest. After more than a month of increasingly intense training, Shaohe can run forty to fifty li of mountain roads daily.
• Chen Jichuan uses the copied Blood-Burning Technique to strengthen Shaohe’s blood and qi, greatly accelerating his physical development.
• Shaohe trains four external techniques:
  • Land-Flying Technique, for escape and movement.
  • Iron Bull Technique, which strengthens the abdomen and body.
  • Crouching Tiger Technique, which develops foot strength and may lead to Hidden Force.
  • Wave-Wrapping Technique, or Swimming Technique, which is especially useful for escaping through the many waterways of Shian Commandery.
• After slightly more than a month, all four external arts approach the second level. His Divine Pounce Blade internal cultivation advances more slowly but steadily, helped by daily Spirit Jujubes, and should reach the second level within another two months.
• Chen Jichuan’s own cultivation also progresses rapidly. His real-world physical fitness and Divine Pounce Blade both reach level six, matching his advancement in the Great Yan World. His mastery of Hidden Force allows him to improve his martial techniques and internal arts much more efficiently.
• While searching for Altered Humans among ordinary people, Chen Jichuan discovers Fang Dong, a man whose recovered right eye possesses the Altered Ability Far-Sight.
• Chen Jichuan persuades Fang Dong to join White Jade Capital under the pretense of teaching him martial arts, allowing him to copy Far-Sight.
• Far-Sight lets Chen Jichuan survey everything within a thirty-li radius, though it cannot see through obstructions. He uses it to search the nearby forest and detect a lone middle-aged man more than ten li away.

Character Developments

• Chen Shaohe becomes more disciplined and determined. His desire to avenge himself against the Wusheng Sect and Li River Gang motivates him to endure increasingly difficult training.
• His physical strength and martial abilities improve quickly, giving him greater self-defense capability despite his Flame Control Technique remaining difficult to advance.
• Chen Jichuan develops as both a martial instructor and leader. He balances strict training with concern for Shaohe’s well-being, recognizing how difficult it is for parents or relatives to train loved ones ruthlessly.
• Chen Jichuan’s own cultivation accelerates dramatically because of the time difference between worlds, Origin Force, and his mastery of Hidden Force.
• Fang Dong is revealed as a reformed former peeping voyeur. After becoming blind and enduring public shame, he changes his behavior, studies the Buddhist Brightness Scripture, and eventually regains sight in one eye—awakening Far-Sight.

Significant Themes

• Discipline and perseverance: Shaohe’s progress comes from consistent effort despite the slow development of his main technique.
• The difficulty of teaching loved ones: Chen Jichuan reflects on why powerful martial artists often entrust their children to outsiders, since affection can prevent them from being sufficiently strict.
• Balance between internal and external cultivation: Physical training, internal energy, medicine, and blood-and-qi circulation work together to produce rapid advancement.
• Transformation and redemption: Fang Dong’s humiliation and disability lead him to reform, suggesting that suffering can become a turning point in a person’s life.
• Resourcefulness and preparation: Chen Jichuan values escape techniques, scouting abilities, and survival skills—not merely offensive power.
• The limits of copied abilities: Far-Sight is useful but restricted by copying rules, including a three-day limitation and the ability to maintain only two copied spells simultaneously.

Character Interactions

• Chen Jichuan personally prepares Shaohe’s training equipment, massages him with the Blood-Burning Technique, treats his injuries, and guides his cultivation.
• Shaohe reassures Chen Jichuan that he will not neglect training, strengthening their fraternal bond and easing Chen Jichuan’s worries.
• Chen Jichuan recruits Fang Dong by presenting himself as a martial teacher, then secretly copies Fang Dong’s Altered Ability.
• The chapter ends with Chen Jichuan using Far-Sight to locate a mysterious middle-aged man in the forest, setting up the next encounter.

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Sheng Dayang meets “Deng Ai,” the sixth member of White Jade Capital’s Heavenly Dipper Sequence, who has been assigned to train him and manage his affairs.
• Sheng Dayang has advanced significantly in two months:
  • He is now a Level 4 martial artist in the Starry Fiend Sequence.
  • He has become a Protector of the Wusheng Sect, a position equivalent to a Hall Master in status, though with little actual authority.
• As part of White Jade Capital’s infiltration mission, Sheng Dayang joined the Wusheng Sect and killed a Li River Gang Protector as proof of loyalty. Vice Sect Master “Vajra” Chen Shengji accepted him and appointed him a Protector.
• Sheng Dayang reports intelligence gathered within the Wusheng Sect and earns three merit points. He has also earned four points by gathering medicinal herbs.
• He plans to exchange merit points for the Five-Poison Sand-Chasing Palm, a powerful palm technique requiring fifty points and extensive practice.
• “Deng Ai” reveals that the Wusheng Sect possesses a valuable spirit ore mine. Each piece of spirit ore can be exchanged for ten merit points in White Jade Capital.
• Sheng Dayang becomes eager to investigate the mine, hoping to obtain enough spirit ore to purchase the palm technique and repay his debt to Deng Ai.
• Just as Sheng Dayang prepares to leave, Deng Ai indicates that he has another instruction for him.

2. Character Developments

• Sheng Dayang has undergone a major transformation from an imprisoned, shackled criminal into a respected Wusheng Sect Protector. He remains cautious and pragmatic, using his hatred of the Li River Gang to support his cover identity.
• His ambition has grown: he now wants to rise through the Heavenly Dipper Sequence, which he views as the greatest possible background and status within White Jade Capital.
• Sheng Dayang demonstrates shrewdness by balancing revenge, infiltration, cultivation, and the accumulation of merit points.
• Chen Jichuan, disguised as Deng Ai, continues manipulating events from behind the scenes. He maintains a deliberately different appearance, voice, personality, and scent from his identity as Yu Jin to prevent discovery.
• Chen Jichuan is portrayed as calculating and opportunistic, charging Sheng Dayang one hundred merit points for assistance while also directing him toward the lucrative spirit ore mission.

3. Significant Themes

• Identity and disguise: White Jade Capital’s members use code names, while high-ranking members may rely on their cultivation rank as their true identity. Chen Jichuan’s two identities emphasize the importance of secrecy.
• Power through cultivation: Advancement to the Heavenly Dipper Sequence is presented as the ultimate source of status and legitimacy.
• Loyalty and infiltration: Sheng Dayang must convincingly join an enemy organization while secretly serving White Jade Capital.
• Revenge and personal ambition: His hatred of the Li River Gang motivates his infiltration, but he also uses the opportunity to improve his martial arts and social position.
• Merit as currency: White Jade Capital’s merit system links intelligence, resources, martial arts, medicine, and status, encouraging members to pursue missions and exploit valuable materials.
• Value of spirit resources: Spirit ore is far more valuable than ordinary silver because it contains Origin Force and can improve martial abilities.

4. Character Interactions

• Sheng Dayang and Deng Ai: Their relationship is respectful but transactional. Sheng Dayang obeys Deng Ai as a superior, while Deng Ai provides assistance in exchange for a substantial merit-point debt.
• Sheng Dayang and Wusheng Sect: He successfully presents himself as a genuine enemy of the Li River Gang, earning the trust of Vice Sect Master Chen Shengji and receiving the rank of Protector.
• White Jade Capital and Sheng Dayang: White Jade Capital treats him as an operative, rewarding intelligence and resources while directing his infiltration.
• Deng Ai and Wusheng Sect: Through Sheng Dayang, Deng Ai seeks information about the sect’s spirit ore mine and other valuable secrets.

Chapter Summary: “Iron Lotus Seed!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan gives Sheng Dayang an Enlightenment Lotus Seed, explaining that it contains the insights of a Sixth Rank expert into the first level of Divine Pounce Blade. The seed normally costs thirty merit points, but he tells Sheng that newly recruited members receive one free.
• Sheng Dayang, who has only seven merit points, is relieved and grateful. When he asks what rank of lotus seed Chen Jichuan received, Chen jokingly claims it is Ninth Rank, leaving Sheng astonished.
• Chen Jichuan travels rapidly to Lingchuan County and distributes Enlightenment Lotus Seeds to several White Jade Capital members while assigning them missions:
  • Fang Dong, “Sick Yuchi,” infiltrates the Li River Gang.
  • Tan Zhang, “Ugly Prince-Consort,” receives one as well.
  • Sheng Xiaotian, Sheng Dayang’s son and the “Suppressor of Three Mountains,” is also given a seed.
• Chen intends to use the seeds, along with martial arts and medicinal pills, to help his infiltrators gain influence and acquire Spirit Stones and Clam Pearls.
• After returning to Begonia Mountain, Chen finds his brother Chen Shaohe studying thirteen paintings intended to teach the Blood-Burning Art. Shaohe has failed to understand them despite days of effort.
• Chen reveals a new method: he has placed his own insights into the Blood-Burning Art inside a Fourth Rank Iron Lotus Seed. He gives it to Shaohe and asks him to meditate upon it.
• Shaohe begins cultivating with the seed, and vast amounts of information immediately surge into his mind.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan continues expanding his influence through White Jade Capital and demonstrates increasing confidence in his ability to distribute cultivation resources and manipulate events.
• He has reached the peak of the Later-Heaven Realm after mastering Hidden Force and is only one step away from the Innate Realm.
• Chen proves to be generous but strategic: he gives away valuable resources for free in order to strengthen his network and encourage his subordinates to gather wealth for him.
• Sheng Dayang becomes more loyal and enthusiastic after receiving the free Enlightenment Lotus Seed. His surprise at Chen’s claimed Ninth Rank seed also reinforces his awe of Chen’s supposed status.
• Chen Shaohe remains devoted to his fourth brother, waiting for him each night and diligently studying the materials Chen provides. His inability to comprehend the copied paintings discourages him, but he willingly tries the new lotus-seed method.

Significant Themes

• Cultivation resources as tools of influence: The Enlightenment Lotus Seeds are not merely treasures; Chen uses them to recruit loyalty, strengthen infiltrators, and advance his larger plans.
• The difference between stored insight and ordinary instruction: The paintings cannot adequately convey the complex Blood-Burning Art, while the lotus seed can transmit direct martial understanding almost instantly.
• Strategic generosity and deception: Chen gives Sheng Dayang a valuable item at no cost while concealing the true origin and limitations of the seed. His false claim of possessing a Ninth Rank seed highlights his willingness to bluff.
• Limits of comprehension and the value of shortcuts: Even earnest study may fail when an ability is too intricate, whereas Chen’s Dao Fruit allows him to create a much more effective method of instruction.
• Family loyalty and dependence: Shaohe trusts Chen completely, follows his instructions without question, and relies on him for both knowledge and direction.

Character Interactions

• Chen and Sheng Dayang interact as superior and subordinate, with Chen reassuring Sheng about the lotus seed’s cost and purpose. Sheng’s gratitude deepens his loyalty.
• Chen distributes seeds to multiple White Jade Capital members, combining mentorship with the assignment of covert missions.
• Chen and Shaohe share a close brotherly relationship. Chen encourages Shaohe when he becomes discouraged, explains the difficulty of the paintings, and offers the lotus seed as a more reliable solution.
• The chapter ends on a moment of suspense as Shaohe begins receiving the Blood-Burning Art’s accumulated insights, leaving open whether he will successfully comprehend and cultivate it.

Chapter Summary: “Lying Low, Lying Low, Lying Low”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Shaohe is transported into a strange state through the Iron Lotus Seed, allowing him to perceive the three-dimensional structure of the Blood-Burning Art. This helps him understand the technique more clearly than when studying Chen Jichuan’s abstract diagrams.
• After twelve days of repeated practice, Chen Shaohe successfully constructs the Blood-Burning Art within his body.
• His version is significantly weaker than Chen Jichuan’s:
  • It lasts only three days before dissipating.
  • Activating it consumes physical strength, mental energy, and his limited internal breath.
  • It takes nearly half an hour to construct, making it impractical for combat until he becomes more proficient.
• Despite these limitations, Chen Jichuan is pleased because Chen Shaohe can now cultivate independently. This also suggests that other life-saving Altered Abilities might eventually be passed on to him.
• Chen Jichuan begins compiling knowledge about medicinal herbs, writing an illustrated guide to several hundred common varieties and another work on their cultivation and propagation.
• Because the Wusheng Sect and Li River Gang are engaged in intense conflict, essential goods—including herbs, salt, grain, ironware, Spirit Stones, and Clam Pearls—are tightly controlled. Chen Jichuan must therefore rely on mountain villagers to gather and cultivate medicinal materials.
• Chen Shaohe’s strength improves rapidly under the combined effects of medicine and the Blood-Burning Art. Chen Jichuan also steadily advances from the early stages of Level Six toward Level Seven through martial practice and internal cleansing.
• Sheng Dayang and Fang Dong continue working within the Wusheng Sect and Li River Gang, respectively. Both are determined to earn merit and obtain another Iron Lotus Seed, focusing especially on collecting Clam Pearls because they are more accessible than Spirit Stones.
• Chen Jichuan spends several hours each night in the Great Yan World, refining his martial foundation and earning Origin Force through the Dao Fruit. The accelerated passage of time there allows him to accumulate power steadily.
• Rather than acting rashly, Chen Jichuan resolves to remain hidden and gather information. His long-term plan is to uncover the true strength of the Wusheng Sect and Li River Gang, raise his cultivation to a much higher level, and destroy his enemies in one decisive move.
• More than twenty days after condensing his first Dao Fruit, the Wusheng Sect’s highest-ranking leaders gather in Heavenwave Hall for an important discussion.

Character Developments

• Chen Shaohe makes a major breakthrough by learning the Blood-Burning Art. Though his technique is inefficient and weak, this represents a crucial step toward independent cultivation and greater usefulness to Chen Jichuan.
• Chen Jichuan becomes increasingly strategic and patient. Instead of pursuing immediate revenge or dangerous opportunities, he focuses on preparation, resource accumulation, cultivation, and intelligence-gathering.
• Chen Jichuan also demonstrates his practical knowledge and organizational ability by documenting medicinal herbs and designing a method for their systematic cultivation.
• Sheng Dayang and Fang Dong become more deeply invested in their respective factions after experiencing the value of the Iron Lotus Seed. Their desire to obtain another seed motivates them to pursue merit and collect valuable resources.
• Mu Junxiong, the Fifth Elder of the Wusheng Sect, is introduced as elegant, vain, and unbothered by criticism. His leisurely, refined manner contrasts sharply with the more direct and impatient Shi Zhen.

Significant Themes

• Lying low and strategic patience: Chen Jichuan deliberately avoids unnecessary conflict, choosing to grow stronger and understand his enemies before acting.
• Accumulation over time: The chapter repeatedly emphasizes that small gains—Clam Pearls, Origin Force, medicinal herbs, and daily practice—can eventually produce overwhelming power.
• Knowledge as power: Chen Jichuan’s medical and martial expertise allows him to create valuable guides, improve his resources, and plan for long-term self-sufficiency.
• Inheritance and transmission: Chen Shaohe’s learning of the Blood-Burning Art establishes a method for Chen Jichuan to pass on abilities and protect those close to him.
• Resource scarcity and factional conflict: The war between the Wusheng Sect and Li River Gang affects trade and access to basic necessities, making information, cultivation materials, and connections strategically important.

Character Interactions

• Chen Jichuan supports Chen Shaohe throughout his difficult training and is encouraged by Shaohe’s eventual success. Their relationship remains cooperative and mutually supportive.
• Sheng Dayang and Fang Dong continue acting as Chen Jichuan’s links to the rival factions, helping him obtain resources and information indirectly.
• In the Wusheng Sect gathering, Mu Junxiong arrives late but remains composed and playful, provoking criticism from Fourth Elder Shi Zhen.
• Shi Zhen resents Mu Junxiong’s refined, seemingly self-important behavior, while Mu Junxiong defuses the confrontation with an unruffled smile rather than arguing.
• Once all senior leaders are assembled, Shi Zhen urges Sect Master Wu Guangquan to begin the meeting, signaling that a significant development within the Wusheng Sect is about to be revealed.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Jadegreen Cliff, a powerful sect that has conquered the neighboring Cross Mountain and Linghe Commanderies, proposes that Wusheng Sect merge with it. After Sect Master Wu Guangquan refuses, Jadegreen Cliff offers to trade grain for Wusheng Sect’s Hate-Iron and Spirit Stones.
• Wusheng Sect’s elders debate the proposal. They are willing to trade Hate-Iron, which is plentiful, but resist giving up Spirit Stones because of their potential to strengthen inner cultivation and Altered Abilities.
• Vajra Chen Shengji reveals that Jadegreen Cliff has discovered how to refine Spirit Stones. In exchange for the refining method, Jadegreen Cliff demands half of Black Prison’s Spirit Stone production, with an initial delivery of fifty stones within a month.
• Wu Guangquan explains that Wusheng Sect cannot meet the demand. Hundreds of mining slaves have already died in Spirit Mountain’s caves, producing only sixty-three Spirit Stones in total. Fewer than ten thousand mining slaves remain, and they are also needed to mine Hate-Iron.
• The sect identifies a possible solution: only martial artists who have reached the fourth level of inner cultivation, or Altered Humans, can safely enter Spirit Mountain’s caves without suffering mutations.
• The elders propose sending Fourth Rank-and-above disciples into Black Prison to mine Spirit Stones. Wu Guangquan plans to have the deputy sect masters and elders take turns guarding and leading the mining operations, supported by rewards.
• Despite concerns about resentment and the harsh conditions, the elders ultimately agree to participate. Their hope of obtaining refined Spirit Stones and potentially reaching the Innate Realm persuades them.

Character Developments

• Wu Guangquan demonstrates cautious leadership. He recognizes both the strategic value of Jadegreen Cliff’s offer and the serious manpower crisis facing Wusheng Sect, then presents a practical but risky solution.
• Chen Shengji is shown to be a capable and loyal negotiator. He refuses Jadegreen Cliff’s initial attempt to obtain Spirit Stones cheaply and secures a more valuable exchange: the refining method.
• Cao Zheng becomes increasingly enthusiastic about Spirit Stones. His scientific interest in their properties turns into eagerness to acquire the refining method, especially because it may benefit Altered Humans and inner cultivation.
• Shi Zhen reacts impatiently and optimistically, believing refined Spirit Stones might help him break through to the Innate Realm.
• Chu Sanyang acts as a stabilizing influence. Though he first raises concerns about forcing disciples into Black Prison, he is the first elder to volunteer, encouraging the others to accept the plan.
• Mu Junxiong remains reluctant, particularly because of the harsh environment and its effects on his appearance, but suppresses his objections and follows the group’s decision.
• The elders collectively shift from hesitation to agreement when they realize that Spirit Stones might offer them longer lives and advancement toward the Innate Realm.

Significant Themes

• Power and survival through resource control: Spirit Stones are revealed as a potentially transformative resource, making Black Prison strategically vital despite its deadly conditions.
• The cost of advancement: Wusheng Sect must choose between sacrificing prisoners and disciples to obtain Spirit Stones or losing access to a method that could greatly increase its strength.
• Leadership and shared sacrifice: Wu Guangquan attempts to prevent resentment by requiring the sect’s highest-ranking figures to share the burden rather than forcing ordinary disciples to face the danger alone.
• Knowledge as power: Jadegreen Cliff’s discovery of the Spirit Stone refining method makes it a dangerous competitor and gives it leverage over Wusheng Sect.
• Internal unity versus factional interests: The elders must set aside personal comfort and fear for the sect’s collective survival, though their agreement is motivated partly by hopes of personal cultivation breakthroughs.

Character Interactions

• Wu Guangquan and the elders openly debate whether to trust or trade with Jadegreen Cliff.
• Chu Sanyang supports limited cooperation with Jadegreen Cliff, while Cao Zheng insists that Spirit Stones should not be sold cheaply.
• Chen Shengji explains the details of his negotiations, earning Cao Zheng’s approval for preserving the refining method as the main bargaining point.
• Wu Guangquan challenges Cao Zheng and the elders with the reality of the mining deaths, forcing them to reconsider their enthusiasm.
• Cao Zheng and Wu Guangquan connect the Spirit Mountain restrictions with the possibility of using Fourth Rank martial artists and Altered Humans as miners.
• Chu Sanyang’s willingness to lead by example persuades Lü Qing, Cao Zheng, and the others to accept the plan, while Mu Junxiong reluctantly follows the majority.

Chapter Summary: “Where Interests Lie, Corruption Breeds!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Wusheng Sect launches a major operation to send all Fourth Rank and higher experts, including Altered Humans, into Black Prison to mine Spirit Stones from Spirit Mountain.
• The mission causes widespread fear because Spirit Mountain has already killed nearly all of the 1,500 mine slaves sent there over the previous six months.
• Despite the danger, the sect offers generous compensation: five taels of silver per Spirit Stone, plus twenty taels for surviving two months even without finding any.
• Chen Jichuan, disguised as Deng Ai of White Jade Capital’s Yan Tower, learns of the operation from Sheng Dayang and suspects that Third Elder Cao Zheng may have discovered a method for refining Spirit Stones.
• Chen calculates in the Great Yan World and decides to exploit the situation rather than confront Wusheng Sect directly.
• He rewards Sheng Dayang with thirty merit points for his intelligence, allowing Sheng to exchange his accumulated points for the Five-Poison Sand-Chasing Palm.
• Chen proposes that Sheng secretly arrange for Spirit Stones to be smuggled out of Black Prison. White Jade Capital will offer far more than Wusheng Sect—silver, pills, martial manuals, or Iron Lotus Seeds—in exchange.
• To overcome Sheng’s hesitation, Chen offers five merit points for every Spirit Stone removed from Black Prison. Tempted by the enormous potential reward, Sheng agrees to try.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan demonstrates his strategic and manipulative nature. Rather than risk a direct conflict with Wusheng Sect, he plans to undermine it through economic incentives and corruption.
• He shows increasing confidence in his control over resources, especially merit points, which he can create and distribute freely through White Jade Capital’s system.
• Sheng Dayang continues to rise within Wusheng Sect and gain access to valuable information. His cultivation prospects improve after mastering the first level of the Divine Pounce Blade through an Iron Lotus Seed.
• Sheng chooses the Five-Poison Sand-Chasing Palm over saving for a Second-Rank Iron Lotus Seed, reflecting Chen’s influence and the practical value of external techniques at his current level.
• Sheng is initially reluctant to participate in smuggling because of the danger, but his desire for merit points, power, and the ability to support his son eventually overcomes his caution.

Significant Themes

• Greed and corruption: Chen believes that large enough rewards can compromise almost anyone, even members of a powerful sect.
• Economic warfare: The conflict is fought through incentives rather than force. Chen seeks to drain Wusheng Sect’s Spirit Stones while strengthening White Jade Capital.
• Risk versus reward: The Spirit Mountain expedition is deadly, but the rewards are so high that experts are willing to accept the danger.
• Pragmatism in cultivation: Chen recognizes that external techniques currently provide Sheng with better returns than slower internal cultivation methods.
• Power through information and networks: Chen’s influence comes from intelligence gathering, merit-based rewards, and indirect manipulation rather than direct intervention.

Character Interactions

• Sheng reports Wusheng Sect’s plans to Chen and expresses his fear about entering Black Prison.
• Chen questions Sheng about the sect’s motives, then rewards him for continuing to gather information.
• Chen advises Sheng on how to spend his merit points and provides him with the Five-Poison Sand-Chasing Palm.
• Chen pressures Sheng to organize Spirit Stone smuggling but reduces the personal danger by promising rewards for every stone brought out.
• Sheng ultimately accepts the proposal, setting up a covert operation that could weaken Wusheng Sect and greatly benefit Chen.

Chapter Summary: “Snow Falls!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• In January, Chen Jichuan and his younger brother Chen Shaohe experience snowfall in Black Prison. Shaohe is delighted because he has not seen snow since entering the prison and repeatedly asks to build a snowman.
• Although the snowfall is initially too thin, Shaohe improvises by making two crooked snow figures on a stone slab. Chen Jichuan, touched by his brother’s innocence and enthusiasm, joins him and promises to demonstrate how to build a proper snowman.
• While Shaohe waits, Chen Jichuan continues cultivating. His Divine Pounce Blade has advanced to the sixth level after he acquired additional techniques from Xu Lang and the Li River Gang conflict.
• Chen reflects on the relationship between external martial arts, internal arts, and mental cultivation:
  • Manifest Force generally covers the first three levels.
  • Hidden Force develops from the fourth through sixth levels, though talented practitioners may begin comprehending it at the third level.
  • External arts strengthen the body but can damage it over time.
  • Internal arts and mental cultivation improve endurance, vitality, and longevity as practitioners grow older.
• Because Chen cultivates both internal and external methods and has already comprehended Hidden Force, he believes his combat ability is exceptional among practitioners of the same level.
• Chen uses Origin Force to accelerate his inner-force cultivation. His internal power is approaching the peak of the sixth level, bringing him closer to the Innate Realm.
• By February, nearly a month has passed since Sheng Dayang entered Black Prison. During this period, Fang Dong has acquired many Clam Pearls through trade and missions for White Jade Capital. He profits by buying them cheaply with merit points and selling them for silver.
• The chapter ends with Fang Dong meeting Liao Hua and bringing thirty-one Clam Pearls, along with an important but unrevealed piece of news.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Continues growing stronger through disciplined cultivation and the use of Origin Force. His understanding of martial theory deepens, allowing him to recognize that his former training involved unnecessary detours. He also displays a gentler, more affectionate side toward Chen Shaohe.
• Chen Shaohe: Remains childlike, energetic, and easily delighted. His excitement over the snow reveals how deprived he has been in Black Prison, while his crude snow figures show his desire to share a simple moment with his brother.
• Fang Dong: Demonstrates increasing cleverness and commercial skill. He turns Clam Pearls into a profitable business and becomes more industrious and financially successful.
• Sheng Dayang: Does not appear directly, but his continued hardship in Black Prison contrasts sharply with Fang Dong’s prosperity.

Significant Themes

• Hope and innocence amid hardship: Shaohe’s joy over the snow provides a warm, human moment within the bleak environment of Black Prison.
• Brotherly affection: Chen’s willingness to interrupt his cultivation and build a snowman shows his protective love and emotional bond with Shaohe.
• Martial cultivation and refinement: Chen’s reflections present cultivation as a developing system in which internal and external schools may eventually be integrated and improved.
• Balance of strengths and weaknesses: External and internal arts each have advantages and limitations; combining them allows Chen to compensate for their individual flaws.
• Resourcefulness and opportunity: Fang Dong’s success with Clam Pearls illustrates how intelligence and persistence can turn limited resources into wealth.
• Contrasting fortunes: Chen’s steady advancement, Shaohe’s brief happiness, Sheng Dayang’s suffering, and Fang Dong’s prosperity highlight the varied experiences of those connected to Black Prison and White Jade Capital.

Character Interactions

• Chen Jichuan and Chen Shaohe share a tender exchange over building a snowman. Shaohe eagerly seeks Chen’s approval, while Chen responds with amusement and affection.
• Chen’s internal reflections are shaped by his relationship to the broader martial world, including the techniques obtained from Xu Lang and the Li River Gang.
• Fang Dong’s dealings with Liao Hua demonstrate his growing connections within White Jade Capital and set up the arrival of potentially important news.

Chapter Summary: “After Three Months: The Second Bloom, Here I Am Again!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Fang Dong reports that the Wusheng Sect has allied with Jadegreen Cliff, a much stronger faction. Jadegreen Cliff had first attempted to absorb the Li River Gang, then offered military assistance in exchange for the Wusheng Sect’s Black Prison and the Golden Sun Sect’s Peach Haven. After being rejected, it instead reached an agreement with the Wusheng Sect.
• The likely terms of the alliance involve the Wusheng Sect supplying Yantie Ore and Spirit Stones. The Wusheng Sect has been secretly moving ore toward the Golden Sun Sect and sending Fourth Rank experts—including senior leaders—into the Black Prison to mine Spirit Stones.
• The Li River Gang is internally divided and politically unstable. Its fourteen branches remain dissatisfied with the central leadership, and the gang has already lost most of its territory to the Wusheng and Golden Sun Sects. Fang Dong predicts that it will eventually collapse.
• Chen Jichuan recognizes the gang’s instability as an opportunity and orders Fang Dong to obtain more pearl oysters, which can be converted into Origin Force. The Li River Gang begins urgently harvesting pearl oysters, possibly to trade resources or prepare an escape route.
• Fang Dong earns substantial Merit Points from his intelligence and pearl-oyster deliveries. He uses them to purchase healing and Qi-enhancing pills, as well as the deadly Cinnabar Palm, a highly poisonous martial art.
• Chen Jichuan deliberately avoids interfering with the Wusheng Sect–Jadegreen Cliff transaction. Instead, he focuses on gathering Origin Force, recruiting Altered Humans, copying their abilities, and strengthening White Jade Capital.
• Over three months, Chen Jichuan’s efforts finally produce enough Origin Force. At nineteen, he reaches 10,024 Origin Force, allowing him to activate the second Dao Fruit.
• He enters his sea of consciousness, where a second flower bud blooms into another world. Chen Jichuan’s consciousness is transported there, beginning a new phase of his journey.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan becomes increasingly patient and strategic. Rather than involving himself directly in dangerous factional conflicts, he concentrates on long-term growth and waits until his strength is sufficient to dominate those threats.
• His growing confidence is evident in his belief that once he reaches the Innate Realm and surpasses the Hidden Force stage, factions such as the Li River Gang and Wusheng Sect will no longer matter to him.
• Fang Dong proves himself a reliable intelligence agent and resource gatherer. His investigation reveals important details about the regional power struggle, while his aggressive methods greatly increase the supply of pearl oysters.
• Fang Dong also advances his own capabilities by purchasing the sinister Cinnabar Palm, showing that he is actively preparing for future conflict.
• The Li River Gang is characterized as weakened and fragmented. Its leadership has failed to unify the organization, leaving it vulnerable to both external enemies and internal betrayal.

Significant Themes

• Political instability and opportunism: The collapse of a weakened faction creates opportunities for others to profit, especially Chen Jichuan, who takes advantage of the Li River Gang’s desperation without directly exposing himself.
• Patience and long-term strategy: Chen Jichuan prioritizes cultivation and accumulation over immediate action, trusting that overwhelming strength will eventually make current threats insignificant.
• Information as power: Intelligence gathered through spies and informants reveals the hidden resource negotiations between major factions and allows Chen Jichuan to act advantageously.
• Strength through accumulation: Pearl oysters, Merit Points, Origin Force, martial arts, and Altered Abilities all contribute to Chen Jichuan’s gradual rise.
• Renewal and transition: The blooming of the second Dao Fruit symbolizes a major transformation and the beginning of a new world and new stage of development.

Character Interactions

• Fang Dong briefs Chen Jichuan on the alliance between Jadegreen Cliff and the Wusheng Sect, explaining the Li River Gang’s failed negotiations and internal crisis.
• Chen Jichuan questions Fang Dong closely, testing the reliability and completeness of his intelligence before deciding how to respond.
• Chen Jichuan gives Fang Dong instructions to exploit the Li River Gang’s instability by increasing pearl-oyster acquisitions.
• Fang Dong receives rewards for his work and uses them to improve his own health, cultivation, and combat abilities.
• Their relationship reflects a practical partnership: Fang Dong gathers information and resources, while Chen Jichuan provides direction, rewards, and access to valuable techniques and medicines.