Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Hongyuan Daoist attempts to break Chen Jichuan’s Plowhead Curse using the Golden Blade and Sharp Scissors Talisman-Curse Method.
• Chen sits on the ritual platform, guarding his “true heart” while reciting a Daoist scripture as the Jade-Faced God returns with its plow.
• A supernatural Golden Shearing Scissors descends and strikes at the plowhead three times, but the plowhead destroys it each time. The ritual fails, Hongyuan Daoist is severely injured, and Chen again suffers the curse’s effects and faints.
• The following day, Chen awakens surrounded by Miaofa Daoist, Jin Shenggu, Ban Zhua, Sun Sihai, and others. He learns that Hongyuan is recovering from his damaged vital energy.
• Believing the curse may soon kill him, Chen proposes one final confrontation with Qizhenzi. Miaofa Daoist instead offers to try Embrace Unity Temple’s Copper Nanwood and Iron-Bucket Rod Talisman Method.
• The temple constructs a large grid of talisman-covered rods around Chen. During the ritual, each grid transforms into a seemingly bottomless pit meant to trap the Jade-Faced God and exhaust the plowhead’s power.
• The Jade-Faced God initially falls into the pits, but the “ten-thousand-zhang” abysses collapse one after another. The curse continues advancing, defeating Miaofa Daoist’s method as well.
• Miaofa is injured and spits blood, while Chen cries out and faints once more. The chapter ends with the hall again thrown into panic.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Shows remarkable endurance and determination. Despite repeated agony and physical weakness, he maintains his composure by guarding his inner self and reciting scripture. He is willing to sacrifice himself to defeat Qizhenzi and rid the world of evil, but accepts help when another possible solution is offered.
• Hongyuan Daoist: Demonstrates courage and willingness to risk himself for Chen, but his forceful ritual is decisively overcome. Its failure leaves him injured and underscores the curse’s terrifying strength.
• Miaofa Daoist: Acts as a confident protector and problem-solver, presenting a different, more strategic ritual method. His confidence is shattered when even his elaborate trapping formation collapses, leaving him injured and disbelieving.
• The Jade-Faced God: Remains a relentless and sinister manifestation of the Plowhead Curse. Its lewd smile and repeated advance make it both physically threatening and psychologically disturbing.
• The surrounding disciples and allies: Their repeated alarm and concern emphasize Chen’s importance to the group and the growing desperation caused by the curse.

Significant Themes

• Endurance against overwhelming evil: Chen cannot stop the curse through physical strength, but he continues resisting through spiritual discipline and unwavering resolve.
• Limits of ritual power: Both the Golden Shearing Scissors and the Copper Nanwood formation fail, suggesting that the Plowhead Curse is far more powerful than ordinary Daoist techniques.
• Sacrifice and responsibility: Chen feels guilty for implicating Hongyuan and is prepared to burn away his remaining life if necessary to oppose Qizhenzi.
• Faith and inner integrity: The instruction to “guard your true heart” is central. Chen’s ability to preserve his inner self is his main defense while others fight externally.
• Hope amid despair: The characters repeatedly attempt new strategies rather than surrender, though each failure brings them closer to catastrophe.

Character Interactions

• Hongyuan personally instructs Chen to remain spiritually steadfast and risks his own vitality to protect him.
• After Hongyuan’s defeat, Chen expresses remorse for involving him and discusses his intention to make a final stand.
• Miaofa reassures Chen and proposes his temple’s alternate method, persuading him to continue fighting rather than give up.
• Chen responds respectfully and gratefully, accepting Miaofa’s assistance.
• The surrounding companions gather around Chen after each collapse, reinforcing the group’s concern and the communal stakes of his survival.

Chapter Summary: “Life Hanging by a Thread!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• On the fourth day after being struck by Qizhenzi’s Plowhead Curse, Chen Jichuan awakens surrounded by Ban Zhua, Ban Ya, Jin Shenggu, Sun Sihai, and the injured Daoists Miaofa and Hongyuan.
• Chen realizes that his previous confidence was misplaced: despite reaching the Transformative Force Realm and advancing the Five-Ghost Yin Soldier Method, he is powerless against Qizhenzi’s curse.
• Miaofa reveals that he has summoned several powerful Daoist allies from the north, who may arrive in a few days and possibly break the curse. Chen refuses to wait, believing the curse will kill him before they arrive and suspecting that Qizhenzi may also be weakened.
• Rather than spend his remaining time helplessly awaiting death, Chen asks Miaofa and Hongyuan to teach him the secret Daoist arts of White Cloud Temple and Embrace Unity Temple. They agree, moved by his unwavering devotion to the Dao.
• Over the next two days, Chen memorizes their profound scriptures, including the White Cloud Immortal’s Song of Spirit Herbs and Embryonic-Breathing Embrace-One Song. Though he cannot fully comprehend them yet, he intends to study them after reincarnation.
• On the fifth day, Chen’s condition worsens, while Miaofa and Hongyuan also need to return and heal. Chen leaves Ban Ya to protect them and returns to Precious Fungus Grove on Jin Shenggu’s back.
• At Precious Fungus Grove, Chen gathers his surviving disciples and trusted companions to arrange his affairs. He announces that he has only one day left to live.
• Chen plans one final confrontation with Qizhenzi, hoping either to die together with him or at least severely injure him. He orders his disciples to join White Cloud Temple and Embrace Unity Temple afterward, kill Qizhenzi if possible, and seize Divine Communion Temple’s scriptures.
• He also instructs them to merge White Jade Capital into Precious Fungus Grove as the Arts Bureau, with major decisions shared among the three bureaus and the organization continuing its mission of protecting the people, punishing evil, and relieving suffering without encouraging idleness.
• Before dismissing everyone, Chen gives an unusual order: after his death, no outsider is to enter or disturb his courtyard. He then enters the underground secret chamber alone, hinting that he has prepared something unknown.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: His overconfidence gives way to sober recognition of Qizhenzi’s overwhelming strength. Despite facing certain death, he remains calm, decisive, and devoted to learning. He accepts death while secretly preserving hope for survival, likely connected to reincarnation or a hidden plan.
• Miaofa and Hongyuan: Though badly injured and unable to break the curse, they remain loyal and compassionate. They teach Chen their sects’ treasured methods and come to admire his dedication and courage.
• Chen’s disciples: Guan Yi, Lin Sheng, and Hua Dafang are shown as elderly but capable leaders deeply devoted to their master. Their grief at seeing Chen dying reinforces the long bond between them.
• Ban Ya and the other companions: They accept Chen’s orders and prepare to carry out his final wishes, even though they are emotionally devastated by his impending death.

Significant Themes

• Facing death with dignity: Chen does not deny his fate or waste his remaining time in despair. He chooses meaningful action and prepares to meet Qizhenzi in battle.
• Devotion to the Dao and pursuit of knowledge: Even while dying, Chen prioritizes acquiring and preserving profound Daoist teachings, demonstrating that spiritual learning transcends life and death.
• Legacy and succession: Chen organizes Precious Fungus Grove’s future, ensuring that his ideals and institutions will survive him.
• Life within death: The chapter repeatedly suggests that apparent defeat may conceal a chance for survival. Chen’s calm behavior and secret preparations imply that his “certain death” may not be the end.
• The cost of evil and power: Qizhenzi’s curse has devastated both Chen and the Daoists who opposed him, setting up a final battle where Chen hopes to make the demon pay a comparable price.

Character Interactions

• Chen apologizes to Miaofa and Hongyuan for implicating them, while they reassure him that opposing Qizhenzi is a righteous duty.
• Miaofa and Hongyuan try to persuade Chen to wait for reinforcements, but he firmly rejects their advice and instead requests their secret teachings.
• The two Daoists teach Chen despite the emotional pain of watching him die, developing respect and admiration for his steadfastness.
• Chen reunites with Guan Yi, Lin Sheng, and Hua Dafang, who react with grief and disbelief to his condition. He responds by calmly explaining his final plans and insisting that they remain composed.
• His disciples promise to avenge him and destroy Qizhenzi, accepting their role in the coming assault.
• Chen’s final solitary entry into the secret chamber creates suspense and suggests that he may possess a concealed method or contingency plan.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan, suffering under Qizhenzi’s soul-targeting Plowhead Curse, reaches the Yin Altar despite his rapidly declining condition.
• He reviews the three cultivation paths:
  • External cultivation, focused on strengthening the body.
  • Internal cultivation, focused on inner breath and force.
  • Dao Arts, focused on strengthening and projecting the soul.
• Chen realizes that although he is only at the Visualization stage of Dao Arts, he must forcefully attempt Spirit Projection to retaliate against Qizhenzi.
• Using talismans, ritual steps, incantations, and the Five-Ghost Yin Soldier Method, he summons his various ghost servants and Yin soldiers.
• He offers them a ritual feast, then stabs his own heart to spill heart’s blood, providing the catalyst for the Five Soul-Seizing Ghosts to forcibly extract his spirit from his body.
• Chen successfully enters a temporary state of Spirit Projection, seeing his physical body collapsed and bleeding on the altar.
• He commands the Five Ghost Generals and Yin soldiers to attack Qizhenzi at Divine Communion Temple on Qian Mountain, ordering them to seize Qizhenzi’s souls and spirits and drive him into madness, confusion, and fiery torment.
• The Yin soldiers borrow a path into the mortal world and march toward Qian Mountain. Several talismans activate and transform into yellow lights that follow them.

Character Development

• Chen Jichuan demonstrates exceptional resolve and willingness to sacrifice himself. Although his cultivation is insufficient for Spirit Projection, he risks soul dispersal and death rather than passively await the curse’s effects.
• He gains a clearer understanding of his own cultivation strengths and limitations. His physical and internal cultivation are solid, but his Daoist attainment is not yet advanced enough to safely project his spirit.
• Chen also shows increasing mastery over his supernatural forces: he has refined numerous types of five ghosts and commands a substantial contingent of Yin soldiers.
• Qizhenzi remains offstage but becomes the direct target of Chen’s desperate counterattack. The chapter emphasizes his vulnerability to soul-seizing and mental attacks.

Significant Themes

• Desperation and sacrifice: Chen’s self-inflicted heart wound symbolizes the extreme price he is willing to pay for revenge and survival.
• The dangers of power: Spirit Projection grants enormous strength but threatens Chen’s soul with rapid disintegration because he has forced the technique prematurely.
• Different paths to strength: The chapter contrasts physical, internal, and Daoist cultivation, showing that combat power depends not only on formal realm but also on preparation, techniques, and circumstances.
• Life, death, and the soul: The ritual blurs the boundary between the living and the dead, with Chen temporarily becoming spirit-like and commanding ghosts as one of their own.
• Borrowed power and limited time: Chen’s attack relies on dangerous shortcuts and summoned forces, reflecting his increasingly narrow window of survival.

Character Interactions

• Chen interacts with his summoned Five Ghosts and Yin soldiers as their commander, providing them with offerings before issuing his orders.
• The Five Soul-Seizing Ghosts forcibly pull Chen’s spirit from his body, enabling his premature Spirit Projection.
• After Chen completes the summoning command, the ghosts and Yin soldiers obey him and begin their supernatural march toward Qizhenzi.
• Though Chen and Qizhenzi do not meet directly, Chen’s spell establishes a confrontation between them through soul-seizing, talismans, and Yin soldiers.

Chapter Summary:

Great Liang Arc, To Be Continued

Key Plot Points and Events

• Old Monk Huifeng arrives in Dai County with his disciples Liao Zhi and Liao Zheng to investigate the disappearance of Liao Jue and Liao Tong. He suspects either Chen Jichuan of Precious Fungus Grove or the more powerful demonic Daoist of Divine Communion Temple.
• Huifeng reveals that his true objective is the Jade Dragon Fruit Tree in Divine Communion Temple, a treasure capable of greatly strengthening cultivators and potentially helping White Horse Temple surpass the Dao Sect.
• Chen Jichuan mobilizes his entire Five-Ghost Yin Soldier formation—hundreds of Yin soldiers, ghost generals, and powerful Five Ghosts—and marches openly toward Qian Mountain.
• At Divine Communion Temple, Qizhenzi realizes that Chen intends to make a final assault before dying from the Plowhead Curse. Qizhenzi seals the temple with the Thousand-Jin Mountain-Dragging Press Method, preventing the Yin soldiers from entering.
• As Chen’s soul rapidly weakens, he moves the Yin Altar to Divine Communion Temple, intending to trap or restrain Qizhenzi even after his own death.
• Hongyuan Daoist assists Chen from White Cloud Temple by using the Nine-Ox Mountain-Collision Technique to break through Qizhenzi’s protective seal. The effort severely worsens Hongyuan’s injuries, causing him to collapse unconscious.
• Chen’s Yin soldiers finally enter the temple, beginning a massive battle against Qizhenzi’s paper figures, clay statues, wooden puppets, giant ghosts, and the Five Spirit Gods.
• The Golden Eagle King, Jin Shenggu, arrives and attacks Qizhenzi, but Chen’s soul reaches its limit and disperses before he can witness the outcome.
• After Chen’s death, the Yin soldiers retreat. Jin Shenggu, Ban Zhua, Sun Sihai, and more than a hundred fighters from Precious Fungus Grove and Meishan’s forces enter the temple and continue fighting Qizhenzi.
• Miaofa Daoist observes the battle through a well and, recognizing Qizhenzi’s overwhelming strength, begins performing rituals to intervene.
• The chapter formally records Chen Jichuan’s death in the ninth year of Xianchun: he dies at eighty-four after exhausting himself in an attempt to destroy Qizhenzi.
• The broader Great Liang crisis intensifies as the emperor’s sons struggle for succession, the Dao Sect fractures internally, and the empire descends into chaos.
• One year later, in the tenth year of Xianchun, a hunchbacked youth emerges from an underground chamber at Precious Fungus Grove, strongly implying that Chen Jichuan—or something connected to him—may have returned.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Demonstrates his willingness to risk everything to eliminate Qizhenzi. Though he knows death is inevitable, he continues fighting and even moves the Yin Altar to ensure Qizhenzi cannot escape easily after his death. His final actions establish him as determined, self-sacrificing, and unwilling to surrender.
• Qizhenzi: Becomes increasingly isolated but remains terrifyingly powerful. His preparation, defensive techniques, and vast arsenal of supernatural servants allow him to withstand Chen’s army, Jin Shenggu, and Precious Fungus Grove’s forces.
• Huifeng Monk: Reveals that his interest in Dai County is motivated less by Chen than by the Jade Dragon Fruit Tree. His perspective also confirms how much Chen’s Five-Ghost Yin Soldier Method has improved over twenty years.
• Hongyuan Daoist: Risks his life to help Chen break through Qizhenzi’s seal. His intervention is crucial, but the exertion causes him to lose consciousness, highlighting his loyalty and willingness to aid a dying ally.
• Jin Shenggu: Attacks Qizhenzi despite suffering severe injuries. After Chen’s death, his grief and hatred become clear, and he continues fighting in Chen’s memory.
• Ban Zhua and Sun Sihai: React with profound grief to Chen’s death but suppress it in order to lead the forces of Precious Fungus Grove into battle.
• Miaofa Daoist: Moves from mourning Chen as an old friend to actively preparing to confront Qizhenzi, showing that Chen’s death may unite opposing factions against the demonic Daoist.

Significant Themes

• Sacrifice and defiance: Chen knows he cannot survive, yet chooses to spend his remaining life attacking Qizhenzi rather than passively await death.
• The limits of cultivation and preparation: Chen’s defeat is partly caused by his insufficient cultivation and incomplete mastery of the Five-Ghost techniques. His lack of time prevents him from using stronger methods that might have overcome Qizhenzi’s seal.
• Friendship and loyalty: Hongyuan’s ritual support, Jin Shenggu’s continued assault, and the grief of Chen’s followers emphasize the bonds Chen formed despite his reputation as an “old ghost.”
• Power struggles and succession: The conflict at Divine Communion Temple mirrors the larger political and religious upheaval in Great Liang, where imperial succession, Daoist authority, and Buddhist influence are all being contested.
• The transition from hidden conflict to open warfare: The struggle between the Dao Sect, Buddhist sects, demonic cultivators, and regional powers is no longer concealed. Great Liang has become a battlefield for both the empire and competing Dao lineages.
• Death and possible continuation: Chen’s death appears definitive, but the emergence of the hunchbacked youth creates a major mystery and suggests resurrection, reincarnation, inheritance, or another continuation of his legacy.

Important Character Interactions

• Huifeng and his disciples discuss Chen’s dominance over Dai County and the threat posed by Divine Communion Temple.
• Chen and Qizhenzi engage in a final indirect contest: Chen launches his Yin soldiers while Qizhenzi seals the temple and prepares his supernatural forces.
• Hongyuan supports Chen from afar, sacrificing his own health to open a path through Qizhenzi’s defensive formation.
• Chen’s Yin soldiers battle Qizhenzi’s spiritual army, with both sides suffering heavy losses.
• Jin Shenggu joins the battle at a critical moment, directly targeting Qizhenzi and briefly creating hope for Chen’s side.
• After Chen’s death, Jin Shenggu, Ban Zhua, Sun Sihai, and the Meishan and Precious Fungus Grove forces unite against Qizhenzi.
• Miaofa watches the battle, mourns Chen, and prepares to intervene personally.
• The final appearance of the hunchbacked youth at Precious Fungus Grove leaves Chen’s fate unresolved and sets up the continuation of the Great Liang Arc.

Chapter Summary — “May Season”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• After dying in the Liang World, Chen Jichuan spends 10,000 Origin Force to return there, reverting to the body of an eighteen-year-old. He has only 4,040 Origin Force left and must rebuild his cultivation from scratch.
• Because Great Liang is unstable and he is temporarily vulnerable, Chen decides to remain hidden in reality and focus on cultivation.
• Despite losing his former strength, Chen retains the knowledge and techniques gained during his sixty-six years in the Liang World, including:
  • The Grand Yin Body-Refining Method
  • The Five-Ghost Yin Soldier Method
  • The Circle-Light Technique
  • The Form-Change Method
  • Improved mastery of the Seventy-Two Chen Sect Arts
• Over two months in reality, he reaches Level Seven, perfects his Hidden Force, and prepares to advance toward Transformative Force and the Innate Realm.
• Chen has established informants inside both the Li River Gang and the Wusheng Sect, allowing him to gather Spirit Stones, Clam Pearls, and intelligence.
• After studying the upper ranks of both organizations, Chen concludes that he is now strong enough to seek revenge. However, he learns that the Wusheng Sect has developed a secret method for extracting spiritual energy from Spirit Stones, allowing its leaders to rapidly strengthen themselves.
• Intelligence indicates that the Wusheng Sect will soon conduct another major transaction with Jadegreen Cliff. Chen decides he must strike before the sect’s leaders complete their breakthroughs.
• He summons his ghost forces—five ghost generals, twenty Yin Soldiers, the Five Soul-Seizing Ghosts, and the Wealth-Seizing City-Taking Five Ghosts—and uses the Hundred-Ghost Feast Technique to strengthen them.
• By spending enormous amounts of Origin Force, Chen has raised the newly refined ghost groups to Level Six, though the cost has exceeded 28,000 Origin Force.
• Believing his current Yin Soldiers may not be strong enough to guarantee victory against the Wusheng Sect’s Deputy Sect Master, elders, and escorts, Chen disguises himself and travels toward Yongfu County to prepare for the coming operation.

2. Character Development

• Chen Jichuan demonstrates patience and strategic restraint. Although eager for revenge, he recognizes the danger of acting too soon and initially chooses to cultivate in secret.
• His time in the Liang World has transformed him into a far more capable cultivator. He retains not only advanced techniques but also extensive combat experience, investigative skill, and knowledge of how to exploit his abilities.
• Chen becomes increasingly willing to spend vast resources for immediate strength. His heavy investment in the Five-Ghost Yin Soldier Method reflects his belief that converted Origin Force is valuable only when turned into practical power.
• His personality remains cautious and calculating: he gathers intelligence, cross-checks reports, conceals his identity, and seeks overwhelming certainty before attacking.
• The Wusheng Sect’s leaders are also developing. By learning to extract spiritual energy from Spirit Stones, they are becoming a more dangerous threat and forcing Chen to accelerate his plans.

3. Significant Themes

• Rebirth and rebuilding: Chen has lost his former cultivation and must begin again, but his accumulated knowledge gives him a powerful advantage.
• Time and efficiency: The four-hundredfold time difference between reality and the Liang World allows Chen to advance rapidly, though rebuilding his strength still requires careful planning.
• Knowledge versus cultivation: Even without his former power, Chen’s experience, techniques, intelligence network, and strategic understanding allow him to challenge stronger organizations.
• Resources as power: Origin Force functions as a means of converting wealth into strength. Chen’s lavish spending on ghost forces shows the importance of material resources in cultivation.
• Patience versus urgency: Chen would prefer to wait until he is overwhelmingly strong, but the Wusheng Sect’s progress creates pressure to act before his enemies grow stronger.
• Preparation and deception: Concealment, disguise, intelligence gathering, and indirect action are central to Chen’s survival and revenge strategy.
• Orthodox and unorthodox cultivation: The Five-Ghost Yin Soldier Method draws on orthodox ritual practices but turns them into a powerful “crooked Outer Dao,” emphasizing the moral and practical ambiguity of cultivation methods.

4. Character Interactions

• Chen’s informants within the Li River Gang and Wusheng Sect provide vital intelligence, helping him monitor their activities and obtain cultivation resources.
• Sheng Dayang and other Wusheng Sect spies supply information about the sect’s new Spirit Stone cultivation method and its upcoming transaction.
• Chen interacts with his supernatural forces—the Five Ghosts, ghost generals, and Yin Soldiers—through ritual commands, offerings, and the Hundred-Ghost Feast Technique. Their enthusiastic response to the ritual food illustrates their dependence on him and the strengthening bond created through the Five-Ghost Yin Soldier Method.
• The coming confrontation will likely involve Chen against a Wusheng Sect delegation led by at least one Deputy Sect Master and one elder, making the planned attack a major test of his newly rebuilt forces.

Chapter Summary: “One of Us!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Tan Zhang waits in Yellowstone Gully for his first White Jade Capital mission.
• His background is revealed: once a scholar obsessed with discovering immortality, he practiced the Primordial Unity Technique and eventually developed the supernatural ability Wind-Hearing, allowing him to hear sounds across dozens of miles.
• After others dismissed his early supernatural experiences as madness and confined him in a clinic, Tan Zhang became distrustful, violent, and isolated from his wife, parents, and former community.
• Six months earlier, Cao Xiu recruited him into White Jade Capital, taught him martial arts, and gave him the codename Ugly Prince-Consort. Though suspicious of Cao Xiu and the organization, Tan Zhang remained because of the promise of martial arts and immortality.
• Tan Zhang’s Primordial Unity inner force can be transferred into other techniques. He previously converted it into the sixth-level Divine Pounce Blade, sacrificing his former progress but greatly accelerating his combat strength.
• While waiting, he detects the arrival of four fellow operatives: Wellwood Wolf, Heavenly-Eye General, Hundred-Victory General, and Sick Yuchi, the subordinate of Lord Liao Hua.
• Tan Zhang hides and observes them, but Sick Yuchi detects his presence. The others prepare for a confrontation, forcing Tan Zhang to reveal himself with the declaration, “One of us!”

Character Development

• Tan Zhang is portrayed as patient, highly disciplined, and exceptionally cautious. His traumatic treatment and social rejection have made him suspicious and emotionally guarded, but he remains determined to pursue cultivation.
• His Wind-Hearing ability and strategic use of the Primordial Unity Technique establish him as a potentially powerful and versatile martial artist.
• Despite his distrust, Tan Zhang is gradually participating in White Jade Capital’s activities, suggesting the beginning of his integration into the group.
• Cao Xiu remains an enigmatic recruiter whose demonstrations of supernatural abilities successfully overcame Tan Zhang’s distrust.
• The other operatives are introduced mainly through their contrasting appearances and attitudes: Wellwood Wolf is armed and alert, Heavenly-Eye General appears agile and confident, Hundred-Victory General seems more timid, and Sick Yuchi is perceptive and commanding.

Significant Themes

• Isolation and mistrust: Tan Zhang’s genuine supernatural experiences were treated as insanity, causing him to lose his family and trust in society.
• Persistence and delayed reward: His years of apparently fruitless cultivation eventually produce extraordinary abilities, emphasizing the value of patience.
• Power through adaptation: The ability to transfer inner force between techniques demonstrates the strategic and unconventional nature of cultivation.
• Belonging and identity: Tan Zhang’s final words, “One of us,” highlight his uncertain but growing connection to White Jade Capital.
• Appearance versus reality: Tan Zhang’s “Ugly Prince-Consort” codename does not match his appearance, while Sick Yuchi does not appear sick, reinforcing the organization’s playful and misleading identities.

Character Interactions

• Tan Zhang’s past interactions with his wife, parents, villagers, and doctors show how society rejected and misunderstood him.
• Cao Xiu influences Tan Zhang through a mixture of recruitment, instruction, and displays of supernatural power.
• The arriving operatives verify their identities using White Jade Capital tokens and a passphrase.
• Sick Yuchi immediately detects Tan Zhang’s concealment, while the other three react defensively, creating a tense first encounter.
• Tan Zhang responds not with an attack or retreat, but by asserting his membership in White Jade Capital.

Chapter Summary: “The Target Appeared!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan observes Tan Zhang through the Circle-Light Technique and laughs at his excessive suspicion. Tan Zhang’s qi deviation once caused him great suffering, but it also awakened his altered ability, Wind-Hearing.
• Despite his paranoia and difficult personality, Tan Zhang has remained fundamentally decent. He has not sought revenge against those who mocked or abandoned him and has instead devoted himself to cultivation.
• Tan Zhang possesses extraordinary talent. Without guidance, he has raised the Primordial Unity Technique to the sixth layer and may already have reached the Innate Realm if properly instructed.
• Chen Jichuan has assembled four other cultivators for a mission:
  • Fang Dong, “Sick Yuchi,” possesses Far-Sight.
  • Liu Baohua, “Wellwood Wolf,” possesses Precision and is the group’s main attacker.
  • Peng Yangui, “Heavenly-Eye General,” possesses Swift Travel.
  • Xie Tao, “Hundred-Victory General,” possesses Plant Growth.
• Three days earlier, Chen contacted the group under different identities and assigned their roles. The team has now gathered for the operation.
• Liu Baohua previously served the Li River Gang but abandoned it after witnessing widespread corruption. He later awakened Precision after being bitten by a poisonous snake, transforming his already excellent archery into a deadly long-range weapon.
• Tan Zhang’s mastery of the Divine Pounce Blade has advanced rapidly through his cultivation of the Primordial Unity Technique. Chen is studying Tan Zhang’s ancient Treatise on Primordial Unity and has deciphered most of it, hoping to cultivate the technique himself in the Liang World.
• The group’s assignments are established:
  • Liu Baohua will lead the attack.
  • Tan Zhang and Fang Dong will scout and provide security.
  • Peng Yangui will patrol the perimeter or carry away the Spirit Stones.
  • Xie Tao will use plants and vegetation to conceal the team.
  • Chen Jichuan will remain the principal combat force, since the others cannot yet contend with high-ranking Wusheng Sect experts.
• Using the Circle-Light Technique, Chen locates a caravan outside Martial Victory City transporting Spirit Stones, Yantie Ore, refined Hate-Iron, arrowheads, and spearheads.
• The caravan is heavily guarded by around fifty laborers, fifty Black Armor soldiers, several deacons and protectors, and two powerful Wusheng Sect figures:
  • Deputy Sect Master He Mingli, known as the “Skyshaking Cannon.”
  • Fifth Elder Mu Junxiong, known as the “River-Turning Dragon.”
• After traveling for a day and night, the caravan reaches Yellowstone Gully, apparently becoming the group’s intended target.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan demonstrates patience and strategic foresight. He tolerates Tan Zhang’s suspicious temperament because he recognizes his exceptional potential and wants to recruit him as a useful asset. Chen is also actively researching the Primordial Unity Technique for his own advancement.
• Tan Zhang is shown as both paranoid and morally restrained. Although he easily suspects others of plotting against him, he has not become cruel or vengeful. His cultivation talent and rapid advancement make him one of Chen’s most valuable allies.
• Liu Baohua emerges as a principled former rebel soldier. His disillusionment with the Li River Gang’s corruption led him to withdraw, while his awakened Precision ability has made him an extremely dangerous archer.
• Peng Yangui and Xie Tao are still inexperienced and comparatively weak, but their abilities make them valuable for mobility, escape, concealment, and support.
• He Mingli is responsible and pragmatic, recognizing the importance of protecting the Wusheng Sect’s grain supply. He is also patient with Mu Junxiong’s complaints.
• Mu Junxiong is portrayed as refined, vain, and physically uncomfortable with hardship. He dislikes muddy roads, arduous travel, and unpleasant assignments, though he ultimately follows He Mingli’s orders.

Significant Themes

• Talent versus temperament: Tan Zhang’s suspicious nature makes him difficult to work with, but his extraordinary talent makes him worth protecting and cultivating.
• Strategic cooperation: The mission depends on combining specialized abilities—archery, scouting, speed, concealment, and divination—rather than relying only on direct strength.
• Knowledge as power: Chen’s use of the Circle-Light Technique and his study of the Primordial Unity Treatise show his reliance on information, observation, and accumulated understanding.
• Corruption and disillusionment: Liu Baohua’s departure from the Li River Gang reflects the gap between revolutionary ideals and the corruption that follows political power.
• Preparation before confrontation: The chapter focuses heavily on identifying the target, assessing its defenses, and arranging the team before the actual conflict begins.

Character Interactions

• Chen observes Tan Zhang with amused but protective concern, recognizing both his flaws and his potential.
• Chen has deliberately cultivated a working relationship with Tan Zhang and has personally guarded him while he practiced, preventing others from harming or exploiting him.
• Liu Baohua’s experience and combat ability make him the group’s natural leader during the assault, while the others provide specialized support.
• He Mingli and Mu Junxiong have a familiar relationship: Mu complains constantly, while He responds with weary patience and practical explanations.
• He Mingli deliberately distances himself from Mu Junxiong’s complaints, highlighting their contrasting personalities—He is disciplined and duty-bound, whereas Mu is spoiled and fastidious.
• The chapter ends with the Wusheng Sect caravan arriving at Yellowstone Gully, setting the stage for the planned ambush.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Tan Zhang, Fang Dong, Liu Baohua, Xie Tao, and Peng Yangui hide near the Wusheng Sect convoy, preparing to steal its Spirit Stones.
• They discover that the guards and escort members are mysteriously unconscious. Tan Zhang suspects poison, while the group realizes that the hidden Beam Tower expert has likely acted first.
• At Begonia Mountain, Chen Jichuan performs a costly ghost-summoning ritual, spending 800 Origin Force to summon the Five Ghost Fiends. He orders them, along with his own Five Ghost Yin Soldiers, to attack the Wusheng Sect members at Yellowstone Gully.
• Taking advantage of the sleeping convoy, Peng Yangui sneaks in and steals five sacks of Spirit Stones from He Mingli, the Wusheng Sect’s vice sect master.
• Greed and recklessness overcome Peng Yangui’s caution. He picks up He Mingli’s saber and brutally hacks at the sleeping vice sect master before fleeing with the Spirit Stones.
• He Mingli survives long enough to awaken, but Liu Baohua immediately shoots him through the throat, killing him.
• Fang Dong attempts to kill Mu Junxiong for the large merit reward attached to his life. Liu Baohua fires at Mu Junxiong as well, but Mu somehow senses the attack and narrowly avoids the arrow, apparently aided by an unseen force.
• Mu Junxiong’s cry of “Enemy attack!” awakens the entire convoy. The Black Armor Army quickly forms up, forcing Liu Baohua, Fang Dong, and Tan Zhang to retreat.
• Liu Baohua kills two additional unidentified Wusheng Sect members before withdrawing.
• Mu Junxiong realizes that the attackers are connected to White Jade Capital and recalls the hidden expert’s identity: Beam Tower’s sixty-ninth Earthly Fiend Sequence, “Yang Xiu.”

Character Developments

• Peng Yangui is shown to be bold, inexperienced, greedy, and impulsive. Although he initially focuses on completing the mission for twenty merit points, he becomes tempted by the chance to kill He Mingli and nearly jeopardizes everything.
• Liu Baohua demonstrates exceptional composure, tactical awareness, and archery skill. He patiently waits for the right moment, kills He Mingli with a precise follow-up shot, and withdraws only after eliminating two more enemies.
• Fang Dong reveals his ambition and greed. He is eager to claim the two hundred merit points for killing Mu Junxiong, but retreats immediately once the ambush fails.
• Tan Zhang remains cautious and observant, choosing to wait and assess the situation rather than rush into danger.
• Xie Tao appears timid but sensible. Unlike Peng Yangui and Fang Dong, he has no interest in unnecessary killing and focuses only on safely completing the mission.
• Mu Junxiong displays strong instincts and possibly supernatural protection by sensing and avoiding Liu Baohua’s fatal arrow. His fear after the attack deepens his understanding of White Jade Capital’s power.
• Chen Jichuan is established as a powerful and resource-rich occult practitioner. He treats the Five Ghost Fiends as hired forces and is willing to spend heavily to ensure the mission succeeds.

Significant Themes

• Greed versus caution: Peng Yangui and Fang Dong allow merit points and personal ambition to draw them into unnecessary danger, while Xie Tao and Tan Zhang prioritize survival.
• Preparation and hidden power: The apparent ease of the ambush is due to the unseen actions of Chen Jichuan and the mysterious Beam Tower expert, emphasizing that major forces often operate indirectly.
• Merit and moral compromise: White Jade Capital’s reward system encourages its agents to view murder as a source of points, turning a simple theft into an attempted massacre.
• Power and fear: Mu Junxiong’s near-death experience makes him confront the terrifying strength and secrecy of White Jade Capital.
• Occult warfare: Chen Jichuan’s ritual introduces the use of summoned ghosts and Yin Soldiers as strategic weapons, expanding the supernatural dimensions of the conflict.

Character Interactions

• Tan Zhang restrains Peng Yangui’s impatience and reminds the group to wait for the Beam Tower expert’s intervention.
• Liu Baohua acts as the team’s sniper and provides lethal support for the others.
• Peng Yangui’s reckless attack on He Mingli shocks the entire observing group, who are stunned that a seventh-rank expert could be robbed and mutilated so easily.
• Fang Dong’s attempt to kill Mu Junxiong creates the opening for Mu’s awakening and the convoy’s counterreaction.
• Mu Junxiong’s survival and recognition of “Yang Xiu” connect the attack to the larger hierarchy and hidden agents of White Jade Capital.

Chapter Summary: “Ahhhhhhhh!”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• On Begonia Mountain, Chen Shaohe anxiously waits for his fourth brother, Chen Jichuan, to return from an attack on the Wusheng Sect.
• Chen Jichuan returns triumphantly and announces that He Mingli, the Wusheng Sect’s deputy sect master, has been killed.
• The operation is highly successful: Chen Jichuan obtains the Spirit Stones, kills He Mingli, and captures Mu Junxiong, the sect’s Fifth Elder. He estimates a sixty-to-seventy-percent chance of recruiting Mu.
• Chen Shaohe is overjoyed because the attack represents the brothers’ first major act of revenge against the Wusheng Sect, which had enslaved and nearly killed them.
• Chen Jichuan recounts that He Mingli was first severely slashed across the face and then killed when an arrow pierced his throat and pinned him to a tree.
• In Martial Victory City, the Wusheng Sect examines He Mingli’s mutilated body along with the corpses of Protector Chen Shan and steward Wu Jinyang, both killed by arrows through the throat.
• The sect’s investigators conclude that two attackers were involved: a relatively weak Second Rank fighter who wounded He Mingli and a much stronger, exceptionally accurate Fifth- or Sixth-Rank archer who delivered the fatal shots.
• The survivors report that they were mysteriously rendered dazed or unconscious before the attack, leaving the sect confused about how even an Innate Realm Grandmaster could have been ambushed.
• The Wusheng Sect suspects the Li River Gang, Golden Sun Sect, or Jadegreen Cliff, though the use of low-ranking assassins makes the identity of the attackers difficult to determine.

2. Character Developments

• Chen Shaohe shows deep loyalty and affection toward Chen Jichuan. Although he cannot fight alongside his brother, he considers Chen Jichuan’s revenge equivalent to his own.
• His excitement reveals how strongly the brothers’ traumatic imprisonment shaped him. He has moved from fear and helplessness toward hope and emotional release.
• Chen Jichuan appears confident and satisfied after successfully executing the plan. His actions demonstrate strategic ability, combat effectiveness, and growing power.
• Mu Junxiong is left frightened, furious, and humiliated by the mysterious attack. His capture also makes him a potential future ally of Chen Jichuan.
• Shi Zhen, the Wusheng Sect’s Fourth Elder, reacts with exaggerated grief and rage. He is especially outraged that He Mingli was killed through deception and ambush rather than honorable combat.
• Chu Sanyang, Lü Qing, and Cao Zheng respond more analytically, attempting to reconstruct the attack and identify the force behind it.

3. Significant Themes

• Revenge and justice: The brothers’ suffering under the Li River Gang and Wusheng Sect fuels their determination to retaliate.
• Brotherhood and shared trauma: Chen Shaohe experiences Chen Jichuan’s victories as his own, emphasizing their emotional dependence and unity after losing most of their family.
• Strength versus strategy: He Mingli’s death shows that superior cultivation and status do not guarantee safety against planning, deception, and coordinated attacks.
• Humiliation and honor: The Wusheng Sect is disturbed not merely by He Mingli’s death, but by the degrading manner in which a powerful elder was subdued by seemingly inferior opponents.
• Mystery and misdirection: The attackers’ identities remain concealed, and the sect misreads the relationship between the assailants’ apparent strength and their actual abilities.

4. Character Interactions

• Chen Shaohe eagerly questions Chen Jichuan about the attack, and Chen Jichuan humorously confirms that He Mingli died an exceptionally miserable death.
• Their exchange highlights both their close brotherly bond and the cathartic pleasure they take in the Wusheng Sect’s downfall.
• Mu Junxiong reports the attack to the sect elders, carefully describing the strange mental haze that prevented the group from reacting.
• The elders debate the evidence and possible culprits, with Cao Zheng focusing on the physical wounds and Lü Qing struggling to explain the supernatural-like incapacitation.
• Shi Zhen’s hysterical mourning contrasts with the other elders’ attempts to remain composed and reason through the incident.

Chapter Summary: “The Dead Are Dead—Can I Have the Corpse?”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After He Mingli’s death, Elder Cao Zheng immediately asks Sect Master Wu Guangquan for permission to take the corpse. He intends to transform the Innate Realm Grandmaster’s body into a powerful Seventh-Rank Refined Corpse.
• Fourth Elder Shi Zhen erupts in anger, accusing Cao Zheng of disrespecting He Mingli and prioritizing his own twisted interests over justice and mourning.
• Cao Zheng explains his Altered Ability, Corpse Control, which allows him to manipulate and refine corpses. His existing corpses are only around Sixth-Rank strength, so He Mingli’s body represents a rare chance for him to advance.
• First Elder Chu Sanyang and Second Elder Lü Qing oppose Cao Zheng, arguing that He Mingli served the Wusheng Sect faithfully and deserves a dignified burial.
• Cao Zheng attempts to justify his request by claiming that using He Mingli’s corpse would allow the dead vice sect master to “continue serving” the sect, but his argument only unsettles the others.
• Sect Master Wu Guangquan rejects the request and orders that He Mingli be allowed to rest properly. He also warns Cao Zheng and Shi Zhen to set aside personal conflicts while the sect faces an unknown enemy.
• The elders agree that the killer must be identified quickly. Lü Qing takes responsibility for investigating He Mingli’s murder, since even an Innate Realm Grandmaster was killed with ease.
• After the others leave, Cao Zheng raises the issue again. Wu Guangquan still refuses, but Vice Sect Master Chen Shengji subtly hints that although the corpse cannot be given to Cao Zheng openly, it might become accessible after the burial.
• Meanwhile, Mu Junxiong returns to his residence with the bodies of He Mingli and two others. After resting, he reflects on the mysterious White Jade Capital, the Netherworld visions he experienced, and the possibility that immortals and supernatural cultivation truly exist.
• Despite suspecting that White Jade Capital may hold a grudge against the Wusheng Sect, Mu Junxiong resolves to investigate it and seek a path beyond the mortal world.

Character Developments

• Cao Zheng is revealed to be cold, opportunistic, and deeply obsessed with acquiring powerful corpses. His lack of concern for He Mingli’s death highlights his morally disturbing priorities. However, he is also patient and willing to exploit loopholes rather than openly challenge Wu Guangquan.
• Shi Zhen demonstrates fierce loyalty and genuine grief toward He Mingli. His emotional outburst shows that he values brotherhood and honor, though his rage risks worsening the sect’s internal divisions.
• Wu Guangquan acts as a cautious and authoritative leader. He suppresses the dispute, prioritizes unity, and emphasizes the danger posed by the unidentified killer.
• Chen Shengji appears diplomatic and politically perceptive. Publicly, he supports the sect master’s decision, but privately he gives Cao Zheng a possible way to obtain the corpse.
• Mu Junxiong shifts from fear and uncertainty to ambition. His encounter with supernatural forces awakens a desire to pursue immortality and escape the limitations of martial life.

Significant Themes

• Respect for the dead versus exploitation: Cao Zheng views He Mingli’s corpse as a valuable resource, while others insist that the dead deserve dignity and burial.
• Internal conflict during external danger: The Wusheng Sect must control personal grudges and factional tensions while facing a hidden enemy capable of killing a Grandmaster.
• The supernatural world expanding: References to White Jade Capital, the Netherworld, ghosts, monsters, and immortality suggest that the martial world is connected to a much larger mystical realm.
• Ambition and the pursuit of transcendence: Mu Junxiong’s desire to leave the mortal world contrasts with the sect’s immediate concerns of survival and revenge.
• Political maneuvering and hidden intentions: Characters often conceal their true motives, especially Cao Zheng and Chen Shengji, creating uncertainty about what will happen after He Mingli’s burial.

Character Interactions

• Cao Zheng and Shi Zhen: Their confrontation represents the clash between cold pragmatism and emotional loyalty. Shi Zhen openly condemns Cao Zheng, while Cao Zheng remains indifferent to his outrage.
• Cao Zheng and Wu Guangquan: Wu Guangquan maintains authority and rejects Cao Zheng’s request, but Cao Zheng continues testing the sect master’s resolve.
• Cao Zheng and Chen Shengji: Chen privately offers Cao Zheng a possible opportunity to acquire the corpse, suggesting cooperation based on concealed motives.
• Wu Guangquan and the elders: The sect master urges the leadership to unite, warning that factional disputes will only make them more vulnerable.
• Mu Junxiong and White Jade Capital: Though he has not yet directly confronted the organization, Mu Junxiong becomes determined to investigate it and uncover its connection to immortality and the Wusheng Sect.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• On Begonia Mountain, Chen Jichuan experiments with the Wusheng Sect’s secret method for refining Spirit Stones. He confirms that spiritual energy is highly damaging when absorbed directly into the body, forcing ordinary martial artists to refine it gradually.
• He calculates that Spirit Stones can dramatically accelerate martial cultivation, potentially allowing a Fourth Rank martial artist to reach the Fifth Rank in about two years instead of ten, while also helping Sixth Rank experts overcome the bottleneck to the Innate Realm.
• Chen reflects on his recent manipulation of Mu Junxiong. Using the Five-Ghost Yin Soldier Method, soul torture, and fabricated images of hell, he forced Mu Junxiong to submit. In exchange for promises of advancement, control of the Wusheng Sect, and access to immortal cultivation methods, Mu Junxiong became Chen’s undercover agent within the sect.
• Chen recognizes that eliminating the Wusheng Sect’s leaders would provide only temporary satisfaction and would not help him seize Black Prison. Mu Junxiong’s cooperation gives him a more practical and flexible strategy.
• Inspired by this success, Chen considers using similar supernatural deception to manipulate influential figures in the Golden Sun Sect and Li River Gang, though he decides to proceed cautiously.
• Unlike ordinary martial artists, Chen can use his Dao Fruit to absorb Spirit Stones directly, converting their energy into Origin Force without harming his meridians. He absorbs forty-five of the fifty Spirit Stones he possesses, leaving five behind.
• He takes two Spirit Stones to Chen Shaohe, announcing that he has something valuable for him, implying that he intends to help improve Shaohe’s cultivation.
• The narrative then shifts to Liang World. After his battle with Qizhenzi of Divine Communion Temple, Chen had believed his enemy might have died, but later learned that Qizhenzi escaped using a spell.
• Because Qizhenzi survived, Chen concealed himself in Precious Fungus Grove and cultivated quietly for ten years. During that period, Sun Sihai and the others raided Divine Communion Temple and brought its books back to him.
• By the twentieth year of Xianchun, Chen had studied the temple’s entire collection. Although most of the texts involved demonic rituals, Evil God worship, curses, and harmful techniques, he discovered the orthodox Paper-Cut Soldier Creation Art and became deeply impressed by its ability to create tireless, nearly invulnerable paper soldiers.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan becomes increasingly strategic and politically minded. Rather than relying solely on violence, he begins constructing networks of influence and using enemies as covert assets.
• His confidence grows as he realizes how overwhelmingly efficient his Dao Fruit is compared with conventional Spirit Stone-refining techniques.
• Chen also demonstrates greater patience and caution. He recognizes the danger of prematurely manipulating the Golden Sun Sect or Li River Gang and chooses to plan carefully.
• Mu Junxiong is established as a coerced but potentially useful subordinate. His unusual ability to recover consciousness from Chen’s soul technique suggests he is stronger or more exceptional than ordinary martial artists.
• Chen Shaohe is positioned to benefit from Chen’s resources, though the extent of Chen’s intended assistance is not yet revealed.
• Qizhenzi remains an unresolved threat. His escape prevents Chen from fully securing victory and forces Chen to remain hidden in Liang World.

Significant Themes

• Power through strategy rather than brute force: Chen seeks control of organizations by manipulating key individuals instead of simply killing their leaders.
• The danger and value of spiritual energy: Spirit Stones offer immense cultivation benefits, but their energy is poisonous to ordinary bodies. Chen’s Dao Fruit gives him a unique advantage.
• Deception and the appearance of divine power: Chen’s ability to create convincing supernatural punishments allows him to “play god” and control powerful figures.
• Patience and long-term planning: Chen’s decision to hide and cultivate after Qizhenzi’s escape reflects the importance of avoiding unnecessary risks.
• The contrast between orthodox and demonic cultivation: The texts from Divine Communion Temple contain many sinister techniques, but Chen is especially interested in the legitimate Daoist paper-soldier method.
• The limits of mortal power: Chen is inspired by accounts of Daoists commanding armies of supernatural soldiers, reinforcing his desire to obtain greater and more extraordinary abilities.

Character Interactions

• Chen Jichuan and Mu Junxiong: Their relationship is built on fear, coercion, and calculated promises. Chen threatens Mu Junxiong with eternal torment while offering him power and advancement, turning him into a hidden asset within the Wusheng Sect.
• Chen Jichuan and the Wusheng Sect: Chen shifts from seeking revenge against the sect to planning its gradual infiltration and possible takeover.
• Chen Jichuan and Chen Shaohe: Chen arrives at Shaohe’s door with two Spirit Stones, suggesting a moment of trust and an effort to strengthen or support him.
• Chen Jichuan and Qizhenzi: Their previous life-and-death battle remains unresolved because Qizhenzi escaped, creating a continuing source of tension and caution.
• Chen Jichuan and Sun Sihai’s group: Sun Sihai, Ban Claw, and Jin Sheng follow Chen’s instructions by raiding Divine Communion Temple and preserving its books for his study, demonstrating their loyalty and usefulness.

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• After months of studying the Paper-Cutting Soldiers Technique, Chen Jichuan spends considerable money and effort preparing the required seven-colored paper, cinnabar, and bluestone.
• He performs a forty-nine-day ritual, creating forty-nine paper soldiers and refining them beneath a Ghost-Subduing Spirit Talisman.
• Once completed, the soldiers become animate and can transform into human-sized warriors. Individually, they possess roughly Second Rank strength, but together they could overwhelm a much larger force.
• Chen discovers that his current Dao cultivation allows him to control only seven or eight paper soldiers at once. The soldiers could become far stronger after decades of refinement, but incomplete rituals would cause them to turn into murderous fiends and backlash against him.
• With both the Five-Ghost Yin Soldier Method and the Paper-Cut Soldier Creation Art, Chen gains reliable offensive and defensive abilities. He recognizes, however, that he still lacks protection against curse techniques such as the Plowhead Curse.
• Chen remains hidden within Precious Fungus Grove, concealing the fact that he survived his supposed death. Because he had previously studied the inheritances of White Cloud Temple and Embrace Unity Temple, he feels unable to face those sects again.
• After reaching a level of self-protection, Chen disguises himself and leaves Meishan Prefecture to travel, fight, and broaden his martial experience rather than cultivating in isolation.
• During the political upheavals of Great Liang, the Xianchun Emperor dies and his sons battle for the throne. Fifteen years later, the Eighth Prince, Zheng Nian, reunifies the realm and establishes the Jianyan era.
• Over the following decades, Chen’s cultivation steadily returns to and eventually surpasses the level of his previous life:
  • By Jianyan Year Fourteen, he reaches the fourth level of internal cultivation, fifth-level external cultivation, and fourth-level Dao Arts.
  • By Jianyan Year Thirty-Six, he reaches sixth-level internal cultivation, seventh-level external cultivation, and fifth-level Dao Arts.
• Chen becomes stuck at the peak of the Later-Heaven Realm, unable to understand how to enter the Innate Realm. Traditional explanations—opening the dantian, bringing the spirit into it, and merging it with inner force—remain vague.
• He seeks guidance from the Great Grandmaster An Jishi, who tells him that the secret can only be understood personally. Chen studies the marks left by past Innate experts, then spends years traveling, fighting, and searching for insight.
• In the first year of the Longxing era, while practicing with the Divine Pounce Blade in Dai County, Chen finally opens his dantian and receives a spark of spirit. He successfully breaks into the Innate Realm, reaching the greatest power of his life.

2. Character Development

• Chen Jichuan demonstrates patience, discipline, and growing mastery of both Dao Arts and martial cultivation. He carefully studies unfamiliar techniques and accepts their limitations rather than overestimating himself.
• His survival makes him cautious and secretive. He hides his identity from Precious Fungus Grove and avoids White Cloud Temple and Embrace Unity Temple because of guilt and embarrassment over possessing their teachings after his apparent death.
• Chen evolves from a secluded cultivator into a more experienced martial artist. He realizes that combat, travel, and interaction with other experts are necessary for improving Transformative Force Realm techniques and internal cultivation.
• His failed attempts to understand the Innate breakthrough reveal humility and persistence. Rather than forcing progress, he continues searching through study, observation, travel, and battle until insight finally emerges.
• By the end of the chapter, Chen has not merely restored his former strength; he has surpassed it and entered a completely new realm.

3. Significant Themes

• Persistence and gradual accumulation: The paper soldiers grow stronger through repeated forty-nine-day refinement cycles, mirroring Chen’s own decades of cultivation.
• The dangers of power: The Paper-Cutting Soldiers Technique is powerful but unstable if performed incorrectly, emphasizing that supernatural abilities carry serious consequences.
• Experience versus theory: Written explanations and verbal instruction cannot fully convey the Innate breakthrough. True advancement requires personal realization and lived experience.
• Secrecy and isolation: Chen’s hidden identity protects him but also separates him from former allies and sects.
• The necessity of action: Cultivation cannot be achieved through stillness alone; travel, combat, and human interaction are essential to maintaining skill and gaining insight.
• Rebirth and surpassing the past: Chen’s return from death gives him another chance to rebuild his power, ultimately allowing him to exceed the peak of his previous life.

4. Character Interactions

• Chen commands the newly created paper soldiers, testing their abilities in a mock battle between a spear-wielding soldier and a saber-wielding soldier.
• He remains in contact with only a few trusted figures, including Sun Sihai, who knows that he is still alive.
• Chen consults many martial experts during his travels, exchanging techniques and gaining insight into internal cultivation.
• He seeks direct instruction from An Jishi on entering the Innate Realm. An Jishi does not explain the process directly, instead guiding him to study the traces left by earlier Innate masters.
• Chen’s interactions with the broader martial world gradually replace isolated study as his main means of advancement.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan successfully breaks through from the Later-Heaven Realm to the Innate Realm.
• Testing his new power, he throws a flying knife and uses Innate inner force to change its direction in midair, demonstrating the Innate ability to control objects from afar.
• His breakthrough astonishes Sun Sihai, who remembers Chen Jichuan’s apparent death and ruined body forty-seven years earlier. Chen has not only survived through an extraordinary method of resurrection but has also regained his youth and surpassed his former limits.
• Chen discusses cultivation and the development of Precious Fungus Grove with Sun Sihai before Sun departs.
• Afterward, Chen studies the principles of the Innate Realm. He learns that the first stage requires filling and expanding the dantian with Innate inner force; later, the force will gradually transform into true essence.
• Chen discovers that the Primordial Unity Technique can now be merged into his Divine Pounce Blade cultivation. Its pure, compatible inner force increases his Innate energy by nearly forty percent.
• He realizes that Primordial Unity Technique can be used as a supplementary method to accumulate power whenever Divine Pounce Blade reaches a bottleneck, allowing him to cultivate efficiently without wasting time.
• Chen spends the next three days cultivating both techniques simultaneously to stabilize his breakthrough.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan reaches the Innate Realm, gaining vastly greater vitality, strength, and spiritual control. He becomes more confident and joyful, while remaining focused on his long-term goal of immortality.
• His understanding of cultivation deepens: he recognizes that reaching the Innate Realm is only the beginning and that sustained effort is still required.
• Chen also demonstrates growing concern for his younger brother, Chen Shaohe. He plans to advise him to specialize in one cultivation path rather than dividing his attention among external arts, internal arts, and Dao Arts.
• Sun Sihai, now ninety-nine and a renowned Level Nine Transformative Force grandmaster, remains deeply respectful of Chen but interacts with him more comfortably than in the past. Their relationship has become less rigid and more familiar.
• Erban, the two elderly tigers, are now one hundred sixty-two years old and nearing the end of their lives. They react lazily to Chen’s breakthrough, emphasizing their old age and peaceful dependence on him.

Significant Themes

• The power of the Innate Realm: The merger of spirit and qi enables abilities previously regarded as legendary, particularly remote manipulation of physical objects.
• Cultivation has no endpoint: Even a major breakthrough does not eliminate the need for patience, endurance, and continued practice.
• Specialization versus divided effort: Sun Sihai’s success illustrates the rewards of dedicating oneself to a single discipline, while Chen worries that Chen Shaohe may accomplish little if he spreads his energy too widely.
• Compatibility and accumulated preparation: The years Chen spent cultivating Primordial Unity Technique are finally rewarded, showing that seemingly fruitless preparation can become crucial once the right breakthrough occurs.
• Longevity and transformation: Chen’s youthful appearance despite his advanced age contrasts with Sun Sihai’s old age and Erban’s decline, reinforcing the extraordinary nature of Chen’s cultivation and resurrection.

Character Interactions

• Chen and Sun Sihai share a warm conversation as grandmaster and disciple-descendant. Chen jokes that Sun has surpassed him in martial arts, while Sun modestly insists that Chen is more like an immortal.
• They discuss Precious Fungus Grove’s development and martial insights, reflecting their mutual respect and increasingly equal relationship.
• Chen interacts affectionately with Erban in the courtyard, while the ancient tigers respond to his breakthrough with only brief, indifferent roars.
• Chen’s internal reflections about Chen Shaohe reveal his protective, instructive role within the family and sect.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan uses the improved Circle-Light Technique to locate Qizhenzi, the evil Daoist responsible for the devastating battle at Qian Mountain forty-seven years earlier.
• The technique reveals a remote, mountainous region in Annam. Jin Shenggu identifies it as Songping County, near Immortal Ascension Mountain.
• Chen confirms that Qizhenzi is hiding there, explaining that their karmic connection makes the divination reliable.
• Motivated by years of anger and grief, Chen and Sun Sihai decide to confront Qizhenzi immediately. Jin Shenggu transforms into his golden eagle form and carries both men toward the mountain.
• At Immortal Ascension Mountain, Qizhenzi is shown living in an isolated Daoist temple beneath a rebuilt Jade-Faced God Statue, attempting to restore his vitality and achieve immortality.
• Qizhenzi sacrifices five captive women in a blood ritual, hoping to borrow life from the gods. The ritual fails once again, leaving him increasingly desperate and mentally unstable.
• Just as Qizhenzi resolves to attempt the ritual again, a storm arrives. Chen Jichuan announces his presence with the taunting words, “Qizhenzi, look who I am?!”

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan has advanced to the Innate Realm, strengthening his Circle-Light Technique and finally finding Qizhenzi after decades of searching. His resentment over the destruction at Qian Mountain remains intense, and he is now prepared to pursue revenge.
• Sun Sihai remains deeply traumatized by Qizhenzi’s past actions, especially the death of his eldest son and one of his disciples. His grief has hardened into a desire for vengeance, and he eagerly joins Chen’s assault.
• Jin Shenggu has recovered considerably from the hidden injuries Qizhenzi inflicted forty-seven years ago, though his martial cultivation has not advanced. By concentrating on body refinement and wind techniques, he has nevertheless become powerful enough to fight opponents above his level and serves as the group’s transport.
• Qizhenzi has grown old, physically frail, and increasingly desperate. His obsession with immortality has consumed him, leading him to repeatedly perform cruel rituals despite continual failure. His fear of death is now mixed with rage and madness.

Significant Themes

• Justice and revenge: The survivors of the Qian Mountain battle have waited decades for the opportunity to punish Qizhenzi.
• The fear of death: Qizhenzi’s pursuit of immortality shows how terror of mortality can corrupt even a powerful cultivator.
• The persistence of evil: Despite his crimes and repeated defeats, Qizhenzi has survived for decades, embodying the idea that dangerous enemies may linger long after justice seems impossible.
• The consequences of obsession: Qizhenzi’s refusal to accept failure drives him toward increasingly horrific acts, while Chen and Sun’s unresolved hatred continues to shape their lives.
• The contrast between civilization and isolation: The remote tribes and inaccessible mountains of Annam provide Qizhenzi with refuge beyond the reach of established religious, martial, and governmental powers.

Character Interactions

• Chen consults Sun Sihai and Jin Shenggu about the location revealed by the bronze mirror.
• Sun immediately expresses his desire to attack Qizhenzi, and Chen agrees, showing that both men share the same long-suppressed anger.
• Chen asks Jin Shenggu whether he can carry them, and Jin confidently transforms into a massive golden eagle to transport them.
• Qizhenzi interacts only with his sacrificial victims and the ritual’s Five Spirit Gods, treating the captives as expendable tools.
• The chapter ends with Chen confronting Qizhenzi directly, setting up the long-awaited clash between them.

Summary

This chapter is an author’s announcement about the upcoming premium launch of Beginning with the Dao Fruit, rather than a continuation of the story’s plot.

• Key events: The author, Demon Monk, announces that the novel will become premium the following day at noon. He promises five chapters at launch, followed by a guaranteed daily update of 6,000 Chinese characters. Additional chapters will be released based on reader tips, first-subscription numbers, and monthly votes.
• Author development: Demon Monk reveals his uncertainty and anxiety about the novel’s performance, explaining that he spent two months preparing it and discarded more than ten opening drafts before settling on the current version. Despite his lack of confidence, he remains determined and hopeful.
• Reader interaction: He directly appeals to readers to support the official release through first subscriptions, regular subscriptions, tips, and monthly tickets. He emphasizes that even readers with limited finances—such as students—can help simply by making a first subscription.
• Community relationships: The author thanks longtime readers who followed him from Lord of the Yellow Court, as well as new readers who discovered Beginning with the Dao Fruit. His relationship with readers is presented as collaborative, with their support influencing the book’s recommendations, rankings, and future updates.
• Themes: The chapter focuses on creative uncertainty, perseverance, reader-author reciprocity, commercial pressures in online publishing, and hope for the future. It closes with a determined message that the journey is still long and the results remain to be seen.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan returns to Divine Communion Temple after forty-seven years, appearing young and vigorous despite having supposedly died when his soul was scattered.
• Qizhenzi immediately recognizes him and becomes obsessed with the possibility that Chen possesses a method of resurrection or immortality. He offers to serve Chen in exchange for it.
• Chen refuses to negotiate and attacks, mocking the aged demon Daoist by asking whether he is still capable of fighting.
• Qizhenzi summons the Five Spirit Gods and forty-nine paper soldiers to defend himself. Chen counters with his own forty-nine paper soldiers, turning Qizhenzi’s technique against him.
• Jin Shenggu creates a powerful gale that overwhelms Qizhenzi’s weakened body and disrupts his spellcasting.
• Sun Sihai joins the assault, using his Transformative Force martial arts to destroy the paper soldiers and severely damage the Five Spirit Gods. His strength reflects his growth and his determination to avenge his dead son and disciples.
• Qizhenzi attempts to escape with the aid of one of the Five Spirit Gods, but Chen anticipates him and fires a prepared arrow directly through his skull.
• Qizhenzi dies, and the Five Spirit Gods retreat into the Jade-Faced God Statue.
• To ensure Qizhenzi cannot survive through a hidden technique or artifact, Chen summons the Five Ghosts to extract and destroy his soul.
• Afterward, the three allies prepare to search Divine Communion Temple for scriptures, talismans, and other valuable items before departing.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Reveals that he survived his former death and has grown immensely stronger. He is confident, tactical, and unwilling to show mercy to Qizhenzi. His use of Qizhenzi’s own Paper-Cutting Soldiers Technique demonstrates both his mastery and his delight in turning the demon’s methods against him.
• Qizhenzi: Once a terrifying and dominant figure, he is now aged, physically weakened, and desperate for immortality. His former arrogance gives way to greed, fear, and frantic attempts to escape. His dependence on the Five Spirit Gods can no longer compensate for his declining body and energy.
• Sun Sihai: Displays the power of a ninth-level Transformative Force grandmaster, easily overpowering the Five Spirit Gods and paper soldiers. Killing Qizhenzi fulfills his long-standing desire for revenge.
• Jin Shenggu: Contributes crucial support by summoning the gale that prevents Qizhenzi from escaping or casting spells effectively. He also gains emotional closure through Qizhenzi’s death.

Significant Themes

• The decline of age versus the strength of youth: Qizhenzi’s defeat shows that even a formerly powerful cultivator becomes vulnerable when age drains his vitality and ability to act.
• Revenge and justice: Chen, Sun Sihai, and Jin Shenggu unite to punish Qizhenzi for his past atrocities, especially the deaths of Sun’s son and disciples.
• Preparation and teamwork: The victory depends not only on strength but also on surprise, coordinated attacks, disruption of Qizhenzi’s spells, and Chen’s prepared killing shot.
• The danger of obsession with immortality: Qizhenzi’s longing for eternal life leaves him vulnerable to manipulation and blinds him to the reality of his own deterioration.
• Cunning and caution: Chen ensures Qizhenzi’s death is absolute by destroying his soul, reflecting the cultivation world’s ruthless rule that enemies must be eliminated completely.

Character Interactions

• Qizhenzi confronts Chen with disbelief and greed, offering lifelong service in exchange for the secret of immortality.
• Chen responds with mockery and immediate violence rather than discussion.
• Chen, Jin Shenggu, and Sun Sihai fight as a coordinated group: Chen provides ranged attacks and tactical planning, Jin controls the battlefield with wind, and Sun overwhelms the enemy through physical martial power.
• Chen’s use of Qizhenzi’s own paper-soldier technique humiliates and enrages him.
• After Qizhenzi’s death, the three share relief and satisfaction, recognizing that they have finally eliminated a dangerous enemy who had haunted them for decades.

Chapter Summary: “Time Is Merciless, Seeking the Dao in Solitude!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Thirty years pass rapidly after Qizhenzi’s death, marking the end of the Longxing era and the gradual decline of the Zheng Dynasty. Although the dynasty eventually collapses after another eighty-seven years, Precious Fungus Grove remains prosperous and influential for over two centuries.
• The chapter recounts the fate of Chen Jichuan’s former companions:
  • Ban Zhua and Ban Ya die peacefully at Precious Fungus Grove.
  • Jin Shenggu returns to meet Chen one final time before passing away.
  • Sun Sihai dies at age 146 after failing to break through to the Transformative Force Realm. Before his death, he demonstrates the Seventy-Two Chen Sect Arts to his disciples.
• Chen continues traveling and studying the secret arts obtained from Divine Communion Temple, including the Nether-Penetrating Formula, Plowhead Curse, and Thousand-Jin Mountain-Dragging Press Method.
• Despite his powerful body and divine soul, Chen remains unable to achieve Spirit Projection because he cannot separate his soul from his physical body. However, his internal and external martial arts continue advancing.
• Chen eventually returns to Longevity Temple in Dai County and enters nine years of wall-facing seclusion. During this period, he organizes and consolidates everything he has learned.
• After meditation, visualization, and repeated martial training, Chen senses that his foundation is finally complete and anticipates breaking through into Spirit Projection that very night.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Becomes increasingly solitary and disciplined. His cultivation progresses unevenly: his martial arts reach the eighth level of Transformative Force and internal force, while his Dao Arts remain at the sixth level. His nine-year retreat represents a period of refinement, patience, and preparation for a major breakthrough.
• Jin Shenggu and Sun Sihai: Their deaths emphasize the passage of time and the limits of mortal cultivation. Both leave behind important legacies—Jin through his long association with Chen, and Sun through his martial teachings.
• Ban Zhua and Ban Ya: Their peaceful deaths reinforce the chapter’s theme of old companions gradually disappearing from Chen’s life.
• Clear Wind and Bright Moon: The two young Daoist boys provide a youthful perspective on Chen’s legendary status. Bright Moon is confident and boastful, while Clear Wind is curious, impressionable, and slightly timid.

Significant Themes

• The merciless passage of time: Decades pass in moments, dynasties rise and fall, and Chen’s friends die one by one.
• Mortality versus longevity: Even powerful cultivators such as Jin Shenggu and Sun Sihai eventually succumb to death, while Precious Fungus Grove and Chen endure.
• Solitude and perseverance: Chen’s path becomes increasingly lonely, but he continues seeking advancement through study, meditation, and martial practice.
• Accumulation before breakthrough: Chen’s eventual progress depends not on sudden insight alone but on decades of experience, travel, study, and the careful consolidation of his foundation.
• The decline of worldly power: The fall of the Zheng Dynasty contrasts with the enduring stability of Precious Fungus Grove and the longer perspective of cultivators.

Character Interactions

• Clear Wind and Bright Moon discuss Chen’s reputation while delivering food to his secluded cave. Bright Moon proudly explains that Chen is respected even by the Temple Master and guarded by two divine beasts.
• The boys encounter the tiger cubs, Little Guard and Little Mountain. Bright Moon feeds them dried meat, and they affectionately lick his face. Clear Wind, initially frightened, becomes envious and decides to bring them food in the future.
• Clear Wind quietly observes Chen meditating and feels an unusual sense of peace from him. Bright Moon later explains Chen’s daily routine of meditation, visualization, and powerful boxing exercises.
• The boys imitate the martial movements Bright Moon demonstrates as they descend the mountain, highlighting how Chen’s influence and legend have spread even among the temple’s youngest disciples.

Chapter Summary: “Forty-Eight Chen Ancestor Arts”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan practices the Lunar Yin Body Refinement Method in an effort to achieve the Third Realm of Dao Arts: Spirit Projection. His powerful martial body makes the breakthrough difficult because it both nourishes and weighs down his soul.
• After sustained effort beneath the full moon, his soul finally separates from his body. He rises above himself, passes through the cave’s opening, and successfully projects his spirit into the outside world.
• Chen experiences immense joy and spiritual enlightenment while viewing the world from outside his body. However, prolonged separation exposes him to dangerous yin winds, forcing him to return quickly to his physical form.
• Afterward, Chen establishes and develops Longevity Temple on Qian Mountain, expanding the Dao Division associated with Precious Fungus Grove. Over more than a century, the temple becomes one of the leading Daoist institutions in Meishan Prefecture.
• Following nine years of seclusion, Chen compiles the Daoist knowledge he has accumulated throughout his life into three yellow-silk scrolls:
  • The upper and middle scrolls contain orthodox Daoist methods.
  • The lower scroll contains dangerous and vicious arts, including the Five-Ghost Yin Soldier Method and the Plowhead Curse.
• Chen entrusts the scrolls to Feixiazi, the temple master, ordering that the evil methods remain secret and be accessible only to the temple master.
• When Feixiazi suggests summoning the other branches of Precious Fungus Grove to greet him, Chen refuses, preferring to avoid ceremony and trouble.
• Zhuang Yu, Emperor of Northern Xiang, arrives at Longevity Temple seeking an audience. The chapter then shifts into a historical account of Chen’s later life and growing legendary reputation.
• In the eleventh year of Xiangxing, after Liang falls and Northern Xiang succeeds it, Chen’s Dao Arts reach great completion. He passes down the Forty-Eight Chen Ancestor Arts, then disappears at the age of 248.
• Later generations call him a Flying Immortal. Legends claim that Zhuang Yu tried to appoint him Imperial Preceptor, but Chen refused, choosing the Dao instead. He supposedly crossed the Dan River on a reed transformed into a boat, accompanied by two tigers. Various landmarks, including Tiger Roar Peak and Chen Ancestor Cave, are said to commemorate him.
• The appendix lists the techniques associated with Chen Ancestor, though it actually enumerates fifty arts rather than forty-eight, while additional vicious curse methods are kept in a separate restricted volume.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan achieves a major Daoist milestone by independently mastering spirit projection rather than relying on external assistance. This demonstrates genuine advancement in understanding and spiritual cultivation.
• His successful projection also reveals his continued caution and experience: he recognizes the threat of yin winds and immediately returns to his body before suffering harm.
• Chen evolves from a powerful wandering cultivator into a teacher, founder, and spiritual patriarch. He preserves his knowledge, organizes it systematically, and creates an institutional legacy through Longevity Temple.
• Despite his elevated status, Chen remains humble and uninterested in public recognition or ceremonial displays. He refuses unnecessary greetings and later rejects the possibility of serving as Imperial Preceptor.
• Feixiazi is shown as a loyal and respectful disciple or successor who follows Chen’s instructions and serves as the guardian of Longevity Temple’s teachings.
• Zhuang Yu is characterized as an ambitious ruler who nevertheless respects Chen’s spiritual reputation enough to seek his guidance personally.

Significant Themes

• Spiritual freedom versus physical limitation: Chen’s powerful body strengthens him but also restrains his soul, making spiritual advancement a struggle between flesh and spirit.
• True cultivation versus shortcuts: Chen insists on achieving spirit projection through personal accumulation and understanding rather than external aid, emphasizing that genuine progress cannot be faked.
• The Dao over worldly power: Chen rejects political authority and imperial appointment, choosing spiritual pursuit over status, influence, and service to the state.
• Transmission and preservation of knowledge: The compilation of the three scrolls and the establishment of Longevity Temple show Chen transforming personal experience into a lasting tradition.
• The danger of knowledge: Orthodox methods are openly preserved, while vicious techniques are sealed away, reflecting the need for discipline and moral responsibility in handling powerful arts.
• History becoming legend: The latter section blurs fact and myth. Chen’s deeds become stories of tiger companions, magical reeds, immortal departure, and sacred landmarks, illustrating how extraordinary cultivators are transformed into cultural legends.
• Impermanence and transcendence: Dynasties rise and fall, but Chen seeks something beyond political change, ultimately disappearing into the Dao and leaving only teachings and legends behind.

Important Character Interactions

• Chen and his own soul/body: The central “interaction” is Chen’s struggle to separate his soul from his powerful body. This culminates in his first successful spirit projection.
• Chen and Feixiazi: Chen entrusts Feixiazi with the future of Longevity Temple, while also imposing strict rules concerning the secret evil arts. Their exchange establishes a relationship based on authority, loyalty, and responsibility.
• Feixiazi and Chen: Feixiazi proposes a formal reception by the other divisions, but Chen rejects the idea, reinforcing Chen’s dislike of ceremony.
• Chen and Zhuang Yu: Although their direct conversation is not shown in detail, Zhuang Yu’s visit sets up a contrast between imperial ambition and Chen’s devotion to the Dao. Later legend portrays Zhuang Yu pursuing Chen’s instruction while Chen refuses worldly office.
• Chen and later generations: Through his forty-eight arts, institutions, and legendary sites, Chen continues to influence people long after his disappearance, becoming revered as an immortal ancestor.

Chapter Summary: “Martial Alliance!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Over the course of 164 years in the Liang World—equivalent to five months in reality—Chen Jichuan orchestrates a series of operations that reshape Shian Commandery.
• He infiltrates and weakens the major factions:
  • He kills Wusheng Sect deputy master He Mingli and recruits Elder Mu Junxiong.
  • He recruits Wang Quan, a senior member of the Li River Gang, into White Jade Capital and obtains the seventh-layer Martial Victory Saber technique.
  • He acquires the complete Treatise on Primordial Unity and successfully analyzes the Primordial Unity Technique.
  • He recruits Golden Sun Sect Elder Xue Zhong, learning the sect’s secrets and the location of its hidden foundation, Peach Haven.
• Chen repeatedly intercepts the Wusheng Sect’s Spirit Stone shipments, killing several senior figures and intensifying conflict between the Wusheng Sect and Li River Gang.
• The Wusheng Sect attempts to ambush Chen, but he learns of the plot through Mu Junxiong and redirects the conflict, causing the Li River Gang and Wusheng Sect to resume open warfare.
• The Golden Sun Sect joins the war to prevent the Wusheng Sect from becoming too powerful. It captures Mu Transformation County, turning the conflict into a three-sided struggle.
• Major battles follow:
  • Wusheng Elder Shi Zhen defeats Blood Blade Hall Master Meng Dejiu, who later dies.
  • Wu Guangquan kills Li River Gang Leader Mo Qingdi but pretends to be gravely wounded.
  • He then cripples Golden Sun Sect Master Chu Nan, who later dies in Peach Haven.
  • The Golden Sun Sect retaliates with a large-scale offensive.
• The Wusheng Sect later collapses from internal conflict. Shi Zhen and Cao Zheng fight, accidentally killing Wu Guangquan. Shi Zhen also dies from his wounds, while Cao Zheng is captured.
• Rumors that Wu Guangquan ordered He Mingli’s grave to be desecrated destroy Wu’s posthumous reputation and further discredit Cao Zheng.
• As the three factions suffer from prolonged war, their new leaders—Mu Junxiong, Wang Quan, and Xue Zhong—begin peace negotiations.
• A provocation by the Zhou Family of Wenyang Commandery, who attempt to steal corpses and kill people while fleeing, unites the three factions against outside interference.
• On the eighteenth day of the ninth month, the three factions sign the Li River Pact and establish the Martial Alliance. Mu Junxiong, Xue Zhong, and Wang Quan become equal alliance leaders, with deputy leaders, protectors, and future guest elders forming a shared governing structure.
• Shian Commandery enters a new period of stability and coordinated rule after the end of the three-way war.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan becomes the hidden force directing Shian’s political and military transformation. Through manipulation, recruitment, intelligence gathering, and carefully arranged conflicts, he effectively gains control over the region without openly ruling it.
• Mu Junxiong, Wang Quan, and Xue Zhong rise from factional leaders to Innate Realm experts and eventually become the three equal heads of the Martial Alliance. Their shared experience in war and recognition of external threats lead them toward cooperation.
• Wu Guangquan is revealed as ruthless and deceptive. His staged injuries and aggressive tactics bring temporary victories, but his actions and alleged desecration order ultimately ruin his reputation and contribute to the Wusheng Sect’s collapse.
• Shi Zhen and Cao Zheng embody the Wusheng Sect’s internal fragmentation. Their violent dispute destroys the sect’s leadership, with Shi Zhen dying and Cao Zheng losing all authority.
• Chen Shaohe shows increasing maturity and independence. Influenced by Chen Jichuan and Sun Sihai, he chooses to concentrate on internal cultivation and accepts the possibility of relying on his brother’s resources while pursuing a stable life.
• Chen Jichuan and Chen Shaohe’s relationship remains warm and familial. Their conversation beneath the Spirit Jujube Tree reveals their relaxed companionship and Chen Jichuan’s continued guidance of his younger brother.

Significant Themes

• Manipulation behind the scenes: Chen Jichuan shapes major events indirectly, using intelligence, coercion, recruitment, and controlled conflict to achieve long-term goals.
• War driving cooperation: Years of mutual destruction leave the factions exhausted and create the conditions for negotiation. External pressure from the Zhou Family accelerates their alliance.
• The instability of power: Strong leaders such as Wu Guangquan can dominate through violence and deception, but internal rivalries and damaged reputations can rapidly destroy their authority.
• Peace through balance: The Martial Alliance is built on equal leadership and carefully divided authority, suggesting that stability depends on preventing any single faction from becoming dominant.
• Cultivation and personal choice: Chen Shaohe’s decision to focus on internal cultivation reflects the importance of choosing a path suited to one’s strengths rather than following every available avenue.
• Changing circumstances shape people: Chen Shaohe’s newfound preference for high-quality Spirit Jujubes humorously illustrates how comfort and prosperity alter expectations.

Important Character Interactions

• Chen Jichuan recruits Mu Junxiong, Wang Quan, and Xue Zhong separately, building influence within all three factions.
• He celebrates obtaining the Primordial Unity Technique with Chen Shaohe, reinforcing their close brotherly bond.
• Mu Junxiong helps Chen Jichuan expose the Wusheng Sect’s attempted ambush, while Wang Quan’s forces become involved in the resulting war.
• Wu Guangquan clashes with Chu Nan, crippling him through deception, and later dies when intervening in the fight between Shi Zhen and Cao Zheng.
• The deaths and betrayals within the Wusheng Sect destroy its former unity and reputation.
• Mu Junxiong, Wang Quan, and Xue Zhong transition from enemies to equal partners, negotiating and signing the Li River Pact.
• In the closing scene, Chen Jichuan and Chen Shaohe joke about Spirit Jujubes and discuss cultivation before Chen Jichuan invites him to visit Black Prison, where prisoners are beginning to be released.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Sheng Dayang travels toward Martial Victory City with his son, Sheng Xiaotian, after the war among the three sects has ended and the Martial Alliance has been established.
• Along the road, they encounter over a hundred former Black Prison prisoners repairing the official road between Liding and Yangshuo Counties under the supervision of Huang De, a third-rank steward of the Martial Alliance’s Ministry of Works.
• Huang De recognizes Sheng Dayang’s six gold rank lines and treats him with great respect. He explains that the newly unified Martial Alliance is repairing roads, consolidating its administration, and releasing people who were unjustly imprisoned under the former Wusheng Sect.
• Sheng Dayang and his son continue toward Martial Victory City, discussing the city’s size and military-industrial facilities.
• At Martial Victory City, large numbers of mine slaves are escorted out of Black Prison by the Three Mountains Army.
• Lu Chen, after five years imprisoned in darkness, sees sunlight for the first time since his incarceration. Overwhelmed by freedom and emotion, he laughs and cries as he leaves the prison.
• Lu Chen recalls the announcement that the Martial Alliance has pardoned and released those innocently implicated by the old regimes. He begins to believe that he can build “a new life” and look forward to a better future.

Character Developments

• Sheng Dayang has risen substantially in strength and status. During the previous five months of warfare, he advanced to Fifth Rank and became one of the top protectors within the former Wusheng Sect. His contributions and loyalty earned him an influential position in the new Martial Alliance, with the possibility of becoming a protector or ministry leader.
• Sheng Dayang is proud of his accomplishments, particularly when his son admires him. Though he downplays his importance, his confidence and satisfaction are obvious.
• Sheng Xiaotian has grown stronger and more lively during the year apart from his father. He remains close to Sheng Dayang and looks up to him with genuine admiration and excitement about seeing Martial Victory City.
• Huang De represents ordinary officials and citizens who welcome the end of war. His cheerful attitude reflects relief that the new alliance has brought stability.
• Lu Chen undergoes an emotional awakening. Years of imprisonment have left him numb and damaged, but exposure to sunlight, freedom, and the promise of legal protection rekindles his hope and desire to live.

Significant Themes

• Peace after conflict: The formation of the Martial Alliance ends the prolonged warfare among the three sects and creates hope for stability throughout Shian Commandery.
• Rebuilding and social order: Road repairs, administrative rankings, and the integration of former sects show the practical work required to establish a unified government.
• Redemption and correcting past wrongs: The release of innocent prisoners demonstrates the new alliance’s attempt to distance itself from the abuses of the former Wusheng Sect and its allies.
• Freedom and renewal: Lu Chen’s reaction to sunlight symbolizes liberation from oppression and the possibility of beginning life again.
• Family pride and affection: Sheng Dayang’s greatest happiness comes not from official recognition but from seeing his son admire him, emphasizing the emotional rewards of family reunion.
• Hope after suffering: Both the common people and former prisoners begin to believe that their future can improve now that war and arbitrary persecution have ended.

Character Interactions

• Huang De respectfully reports to Sheng Dayang, revealing the latter’s elevated status within the Martial Alliance.
• Sheng Dayang responds kindly but authoritatively, encouraging Huang De and acknowledging the importance of rebuilding the roads.
• Sheng Xiaotian praises his father’s prestige, and Sheng Dayang affectionately enjoys impressing him while pretending modesty.
• Lu Chen interacts mainly with the surrounding prisoners and soldiers through the crowded prison release, but the shared laughter, tears, and excitement create a collective sense of liberation.
• The chapter contrasts Sheng Dayang’s joyful reunion with his son and Lu Chen’s solitary but profound reunion with the outside world, presenting two different forms of “new life” under the Martial Alliance.