Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Outside Martial Victory City, Chen Jichuan and his brother Chen Shaohe watch former Black Prison mine slaves being released.
• The prisoners are systematically processed:
  • Those with families are returned home by the Three Mountains Army.
  • Those without homes receive land and food in Liding, Yongfeng, or Litchi Bank County.
  • Those unable or unwilling to farm are assigned work by the Martial Alliance’s developing Ministry of Works, such as road construction, housebuilding, and river dredging.
• Chen Jichuan explains that only prisoners who were not guilty of especially heinous crimes were released. The worst offenders remain imprisoned to protect public order.
• Black Prison is also beginning to recruit paid workers during the farming off-season, allowing mining operations to continue while maintaining sufficient Yantie Ore reserves for the allied sects’ reduced needs.
• The Martial Alliance continues to develop in an organized manner under Chen Jichuan’s careful planning.
• At Jadegreen Cliff in Linhe Commandery, the leadership discusses the astonishing political reversal in Shian Commandery: the three formerly hostile sects have suddenly made peace and formed the Martial Alliance.
• Jadegreen Cliff’s leaders suspect that a hidden force manipulated the deaths of Wu Guangquan, Mo Qingdi, and Chu Nan, as well as the suspicious “accidental” death of Wu Guangquan while supposedly breaking up a fight between lower-ranking Wusheng Sect members.
• Elder Meng Zhou proposes going to Shian Commandery to capture one of the alliance leaders and interrogate him.
• Sect Master Tushan Ji rejects this reckless plan, warning that an unknown and potentially dangerous power may be controlling events. He instead sends everyone away to handle Jadegreen Cliff’s unstable administrative affairs.
• Tushan Ji then enters a mysterious staircase descending deep beneath Jadegreen Cliff, suggesting that he is pursuing hidden information or meeting someone important.

2. Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan is shown as a thoughtful and highly capable leader. His plans for releasing, resettling, and employing the Black Prison prisoners demonstrate foresight, organization, and concern for social stability. His policies were developed over years and carefully reviewed before implementation.
• Chen Shaohe has grown deeply loyal to and admiring of Chen Jichuan. His own past as a Black Prison miner makes him emotionally affected by the prisoners’ release, while his gratitude toward his brother has intensified. He also looks forward to personally punishing those who persecuted their family.
• Tushan Ji appears cautious, patient, and politically mature. Unlike Meng Zhou, he recognizes that the unexplained deaths in Shian Commandery signal a threat beyond ordinary sect conflict. He also understands that conquering territory is easier than governing it.
• Meng Zhou, the “Star-Kicking Foot,” is established as a powerful and aggressive Jadegreen Cliff elder. His confidence borders on arrogance, but his willingness to confront the Martial Alliance highlights his martial strength and boldness.
• The Jadegreen Cliff leadership is revealed to be suspicious and unsettled. Their intelligence network in Shian Commandery has given them detailed knowledge of the three sects, but they cannot explain the sudden change in events.

3. Significant Themes

• Reform and responsible governance: Chen Jichuan’s treatment of the former prisoners emphasizes that liberation must be accompanied by food, land, employment, and supervision. Simply freeing people without supporting them could create new suffering and disorder.
• The transformation of victims: Chen Shaohe’s memories of Black Prison show how trauma shapes a person’s appreciation of freedom and loyalty to those who helped them.
• Order versus chaos: While the Martial Alliance organizes society methodically, Jadegreen Cliff remains troubled by administrative disorder despite its military victories.
• Hidden manipulation and uncertainty: The unexplained deaths of powerful grandmasters and the sudden alliance among former enemies suggest that a concealed mastermind or force is directing events.
• The limits of martial power: Jadegreen Cliff’s conquest of two commanderies does not guarantee effective rule. The chapter stresses that governing people and maintaining stable institutions require abilities beyond combat.
• Suspicion beneath apparent peace: The formation of the Martial Alliance looks like reconciliation on the surface, but outside observers view it as unnatural and potentially dangerous.

4. Character Interactions

• Chen Shaohe praises Chen Jichuan for arranging humane resettlement and employment for the released prisoners. Chen Jichuan responds by explaining the careful filtering and planning behind the policy.
• The brothers’ shared observation of the former miners connects Chen Shaohe’s painful past with Chen Jichuan’s current efforts to create a better system.
• Jadegreen Cliff’s elders debate the meaning of the Martial Alliance’s formation. Their discussion reveals widespread distrust and concern.
• Meng Zhou urges Tushan Ji to take direct action against the alliance, but Tushan Ji restrains him and emphasizes caution.
• Tushan Ji’s dismissal of the gathering shows his authority, while his secret descent beneath Jadegreen Cliff creates a new mystery and hints at a deeper plot.

Summary

This chapter is an author’s update and appeal to readers rather than a story chapter.

Key events and announcements

• The author reports receiving 3,800 first-day subscriptions, 400 monthly tickets, and approximately 600 in tips.
• These results created an obligation of eight extra chapters: two from monthly tickets and six from tips, including support from three author friends.
• The day’s five scheduled chapters remain unchanged; the current chapter is a bonus and does not reduce the owed total.
• The author plans to begin repaying the eight extra chapters the following day, publishing at least two updates—or 6,000 words—daily.
• Because of travel, only two updates will be posted the next day. Afterward, one additional chapter will be released per day, allowing the eight owed chapters to be completed over eight days. Any new obligations will extend the repayment period.
• The author promises that all owed chapters will be 3,000 words rather than the original 2,000 words.

Character development

• There are no fictional character developments. The author presents themself as anxious but determined, especially about meeting reader expectations, word counts, and repayment promises.
• The author’s gratitude and insecurity are emphasized, particularly regarding criticism over chapter length and subscription numbers.

Themes

• Reader support and financial pressure: Subscriptions, tickets, tips, and fan rankings directly affect the author’s workload and release schedule.
• Accountability and gratitude: The author openly explains how reader support translates into extra chapters and promises to repay the accumulated obligation.
• Anxiety over public judgment: The author worries about criticism, misunderstandings, and losing readers.
• Misinterpretation and online conflict: The author clarifies that the large fan-point increase did not mean they personally received or kept the entire amount of money suggested by some readers.

Character interactions

• The main interaction is between the author and the readership. The author thanks supportive readers, appeals to those who have not yet subscribed or voted with monthly tickets, and asks readers to help reach at least 4,000—and ideally 4,500—first-day subscriptions.
• The author also describes conflict with readers who accused them of profiting excessively from tips and threatened to drop both books.
• The chapter ends with repeated pleas for first-day subscriptions and monthly-ticket votes.

Chapter Summary: “Ghost Sparrow!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Martial Alliance now governs Mu Transformation County town, with the Golden Sun Sect controlling the west and the Wusheng Sect controlling the east. The county yamen serves as the Alliance’s temporary headquarters.
• Chen Jichuan operates under the identity of Yang Xiu, claiming to be the sixty-ninth Earthly Fiend member of White Jade Capital’s Liang Tower. He has used this identity to intimidate and control the three alliance leaders—Mu Junxiong, Wang Quan, and Xue Zhong.
• Over the past five months, Chen has secretly eliminated many of the strongest members of the former sects, leaving the Martial Alliance heavily dependent on him.
• He directs the Alliance’s organization:
  • Establishing the Three Mountains Army to merge the military forces of the three sects.
  • Creating Six Bureaus, including the Martial Bureau to regulate martial artists.
  • Implementing a detailed legal system designed to control martial violence while still granting martial artists special privileges.
• Chen focuses on consolidating resources rather than expanding territorially. He wants to secure Black Prison and the Li River Water Mansion as reliable sources of Origin Force.
• Mu Junxiong reports that Black Prison produces only about two Spirit Stones per day, while the Water Mansion yields around fifty Clam Pearls every ten days. Chen suspects widespread corruption and orders a thorough investigation.
• Chen commands that all Clam Pearls be collected for Alliance use rather than being used to increase grain production. He orders the Revenue and Works Bureaus to improve farming in Peach Haven and compensate for the reduced food supply.
• While discussing the search for more Spirit Stone mines in Black Prison, Chen senses that he is being watched.
• He identifies the observer as a Ghost Sparrow, a spirit beast disguised as a thrush. After a brief pursuit, he captures it.
• Insight reveals that the Ghost Sparrow possesses the talents Reconnaissance and Ghost Face, allowing it to spy, reproduce sights and sounds, emit black clouds, and frighten enemies with a ghost-like face.
• Chen takes the bird to Begonia Mountain, uses the Root-Fixing Method to immobilize and protect it, then performs a Spell-Dispelling Rite to remove the Beast-Taming Art controlling it.
• On Azure Sky Mountain, Tushan Ji realizes that the Beast-Taming Art has been broken, implying that the Ghost Sparrow belonged to or was controlled by her faction.

Character Developments

Chen Jichuan/Yang Xiu

Demonstrates his growing control over the Martial Alliance and his ruthlessness toward corruption. He is increasingly focused on institutional organization, resource extraction, and long-term consolidation. His sharp senses also allow him to detect hidden surveillance.

Mu Junxiong, Wang Quan, and Xue Zhong

Once leaders of powerful sects, they now act cautiously and deferentially toward Yang Xiu. Their fear reflects Chen’s dominance and the destruction of much of their former power.

Mu Junxiong and Wang Quan

Accept responsibility for investigating corruption in Black Prison and the Water Mansion, seeking to prove their loyalty to Chen.

Tushan Ji

Appears briefly but importantly recognizes that her control over the Ghost Sparrow has been severed, suggesting she may respond against Chen.

Significant Themes

• Centralization and political control: Chen transforms rival sects into a unified administration through armies, laws, and bureaucratic institutions.
• Order versus martial freedom: The Martial Bureau and new legal system aim to prevent powerful martial artists from placing themselves above ordinary law.
• Corruption and exploitation: Chen condemns the theft of Spirit Stones and Clam Pearls, even though his earlier schemes helped create the same corrupt networks he now seeks to destroy.
• Pragmatism over morality: His policies prioritize stability, agricultural output, military readiness, and the accumulation of cultivation resources.
• Surveillance and counter-surveillance: The Ghost Sparrow introduces a hidden struggle between Chen and outside forces observing the new Alliance.
• Power and deception: Chen’s fabricated White Jade Capital identity continues to serve as the foundation of his authority.

Important Character Interactions

• Chen gives strategic orders to the three alliance leaders, reinforcing their subordinate relationship to him.
• Mu Junxiong and Wang Quan report the Alliance’s resource production and pledge to investigate embezzlement.
• Chen confronts and captures the spying Ghost Sparrow, ignoring its supernatural intimidation.
• Through his rituals, Chen breaks the spell controlling the bird, directly challenging the unknown master behind it.
• Tushan Ji senses the broken connection from afar, setting up a likely future conflict between her and Chen.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Tushan Ji discovers that his connection to the Ghost Sparrow has been forcibly severed. Although the backlash only causes minor damage to his vitality, he is deeply troubled because the Ghost Sparrow served as his eyes and ears throughout Shian Commandery.
• He concludes that a powerful, hidden expert is operating in Shian Commandery and is likely responsible for the strange events of recent months. However, he decides to stop worrying about the matter and focus on his cultivation.
• Tushan Ji travels through ancient mountain ruins to an eagle’s nest, where a terrifying golden-crowned eagle is sealed inside a massive ice crystal. He approaches the crystal and begins interacting with it, though the chapter does not reveal his purpose.
• At Begonia Mountain, Chen Jichuan attempts to use the Circle-Light Technique to locate the person behind the Ghost Sparrow, but the technique fails.
• Rather than kill the Ghost Sparrow, Chen Jichuan treats its injured wings with Sinew-Repair Paste, feeds it, and offers it the choice to remain and serve him or leave once healed. He hopes to gain another reliable scouting tool alongside Far-Sight, Wind-Hearing, and Circle-Light.
• Chen Jichuan later speaks with his younger brother, Chen Shaohe, who has been experimenting with medicinal herbs using the Plant Growth technique.
• Chen Jichuan encourages Shaohe to join the Martial Alliance through its upcoming Talent-Recruitment Proclamation. Shaohe agrees, and once the recruitment begins, he enters the alliance under the name “Jade Qilin” Chen Shaohe.
• With Shaohe’s future secured, Chen Jichuan is relieved and devotes himself more fully to cultivation. His progress is supported by his experience in the Liang World, the four-hundredfold time difference, and the use of Origin Force.

Character Developments

• Tushan Ji: Suffers the loss of his Ghost Sparrow and realizes that an unknown expert is influencing events in Shian Commandery. Despite his concern, he demonstrates strong mental discipline by quickly putting the matter aside and returning his attention to cultivation.
• Chen Jichuan: Shows both strategic caution and compassion. He recognizes the value of the Ghost Sparrow but does not blindly kill it, instead attempting to win its loyalty through kindness. He also acts as a protective older brother, carefully planning Chen Shaohe’s future.
• Chen Shaohe: Develops from an isolated youth dependent on Chen Jichuan into someone beginning to pursue his own path. Though uncertain about entering society, he accepts the opportunity to work in the Martial Alliance and develop his interests in herbs, cultivation, and artifact refinement.
• Ghost Sparrow: Shifts from being Tushan Ji’s enslaved spy to a possible ally of Chen Jichuan. Its future loyalty remains uncertain, but Chen’s treatment gives it the chance to choose its own fate.
• The golden-crowned eagle: Remains mysterious and imposing, introduced as a powerful sealed creature connected to Tushan Ji’s plans.

Significant Themes

• Control versus loyalty: Tushan Ji loses control of the Ghost Sparrow through force, while Chen Jichuan attempts to earn its allegiance through care and choice.
• Compassion as strategy: Chen Jichuan’s kindness is genuine but also practical; helping the Ghost Sparrow may create a valuable intelligence asset.
• Family responsibility: Chen Jichuan seeks to give Shaohe independence, meaningful work, and protection rather than allowing him to remain isolated on Begonia Mountain.
• Talent and social organization: The Martial Alliance’s open recruitment policy allows hidden or overlooked talents to find useful positions, reflecting the value of ability over background.
• Cultivation and perseverance: Chen Jichuan’s advancement depends not only on talent and time advantages but also on relentless effort, especially in arts that cannot simply be copied from his Liang World experience.
• Exploration versus established knowledge: Shaohe’s herb experiments reflect youthful curiosity, while Chen Jichuan tries to guide that imagination with reliable medical knowledge.

Important Character Interactions

• Tushan Ji and the Ghost Sparrow: Their connection is forcibly broken, highlighting the vulnerability of relying on enslaved spiritual creatures.
• Chen Jichuan and the Ghost Sparrow: Chen treats and feeds the bird while offering it freedom, establishing a potential relationship based on gratitude rather than coercion.
• Chen Jichuan and Chen Shaohe: Chen encourages Shaohe’s enthusiasm for experimentation, then persuades him to join the Martial Alliance so he can gain experience, resources, and a future outside Chen’s shadow.
• Chen Shaohe and the Martial Alliance: His recruitment marks the beginning of his public career and earns him the identity and status of “Jade Qilin.”

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Over five months, Chen Jichuan acquires more than eighty thousand Origin Force through Spirit Stones and Clam Pearls. He uses it to cultivate his ghosts, paper effigies, Divine Pounce Blade, Grand Yin Body-Refining Method, and Transformative Force Realm.
• In the real world, Chen advances along three cultivation paths simultaneously:
  • Innate Realm inner power
  • Transformative Force external martial arts
  • Spirit Projection Dao Arts
    He becomes an exceptionally powerful Eighth-Rank Grandmaster.
• Chen reflects on how he eliminated the three Eighth-Rank leaders of the Wusheng Sect, Li River Gang, and Golden Sun Sect. By manipulating their conflicts and secretly using the Golden Flying Knife Method to incapacitate them at critical moments, he caused them to kill one another before eliminating the final survivor through an internal uprising.
• With his current strength and Spirit Projection abilities, Chen believes he has reached a level where no one in the world can rival him, especially in endurance and secret assassination.
• The Martial Alliance continues consolidating power:
  • The Three Mountains Army is deployed throughout the outlying counties.
  • The Six Departments reorganize internal affairs and purge corrupt or dangerous figures.
• Chen Shaohe personally executes Qian Lai, a former Black Prison overseer who had brutally whipped him, Chen Jichuan, and other mine slaves. Shaohe burns Qian Lai alive, ensuring he is dead by kicking off his head afterward.
• Watching from the mountains, Chen Jichuan approves of Shaohe’s decisiveness and reflects that assassins must avoid unnecessary speech or hesitation.
• Chen Jichuan returns to the county yamen, where he attends an emergency meeting with Wang Quan and Xue Zhong.
• The meeting concerns a challenge issued by Yang Qiu of Ironleaf Island to Tushan Ji of Jadegreen Cliff. Their duel is scheduled for Wolong Ridge and will be witnessed by several major powers.
• Wang Quan and Xue Zhong suspect the duel may be a trap intended to draw the Martial Alliance and the Zhou Family into an ambush, leaving Shian and Wenyang Commanderies vulnerable to division between Ironleaf Island and Jadegreen Cliff.
• Chen advises the Martial Alliance leaders not to attend, though he privately considers observing the battle through Dao Arts and possibly taking advantage of any injuries suffered by the two rival leaders.
• Mu Junxiong then arrives in a disheveled and unusually grave state, suggesting that a major crisis has occurred. The chapter ends as he prepares to reveal the bad news.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Has grown immensely in power and confidence. He now combines martial strength, endurance, and Dao Arts, preferring indirect assassination and manipulation over dangerous direct combat. His increasing influence is reflected in the respect shown to him within the Martial Alliance.
• Chen Shaohe: Has transformed from a weak, oppressed mine slave into a physically strong, disciplined martial artist and Martial Alliance official. Executing Qian Lai marks the end of his trauma and symbolizes his emotional liberation from the past.
• Qian Lai: Once a cruel overseer, he is reduced to a terrified prisoner begging for mercy. His death demonstrates the reversal of power between former oppressors and their victims.
• Wang Quan: Remains an honest, cautious leader who relies on Chen’s judgment and supports the Martial Alliance’s stability.
• Xue Zhong: Reveals his suspicious and calculating nature by assuming the duel conceals a larger political conspiracy.
• Mu Junxiong: Normally composed and refined, he appears distressed and disordered, signaling the seriousness of the impending news.
• Yang Qiu and Tushan Ji: Both are portrayed as powerful, restrained leaders whose sudden decision to duel creates uncertainty and political tension.

Significant Themes

• Power and reversal of status: Former slaves and victims now command authority, while former oppressors kneel and beg for mercy.
• Secret warfare and manipulation: Chen’s success comes less from open confrontation than from exploiting conflicts, striking at moments of weakness, and concealing his involvement.
• The cost of revenge: Shaohe’s execution of Qian Lai grants him closure, but the scene also shows how deeply violence has shaped his transformation.
• Political consolidation: The Martial Alliance is evolving from a newly formed coalition into an organized regional power with armies, departments, and centralized authority.
• Caution amid ambition: The possible duel demonstrates that political events may conceal traps, and even powerful factions must avoid reckless involvement.
• Cultivation and superiority: Chen’s simultaneous advancement in multiple systems reinforces the novel’s theme of overwhelming, unconventional growth.

Important Character Interactions

• Chen Shaohe confronts Qian Lai, rejects his pleas for mercy, and kills him without allowing further excuses.
• Chen Jichuan observes Shaohe’s execution and approves his decisiveness, while recognizing the symbolic importance of Shaohe overcoming his past.
• Chen Jichuan meets with Wang Quan and Xue Zhong to discuss the dangerous challenge between Yang Qiu and Tushan Ji.
• Wang Quan offers a cautious, uncertain interpretation of the duel, while Xue Zhong argues that it may be a calculated trap.
• Chen Jichuan overrides their uncertainty by advising the Martial Alliance not to attend.
• Mu Junxiong’s abrupt arrival interrupts the discussion and introduces an unresolved emergency that drives the chapter’s cliffhanger.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Martial Victory City is infiltrated, and the corpses of Wu Guangquan, Mo Qingdi, Chu Nan, and others are stolen. Elder Cao Zheng is also abducted. The culprit leaves a letter claiming to be Zhou Mingchuan of the Wenyang Zhou Family.
• Chen Jichuan and his allies realize the situation is connected to their earlier scheme. They had falsely used the Zhou Family’s name while having Cao Zheng control corpses, helping create the Martial Alliance and implicate the Wusheng Sect.
• The Wenyang Zhou Family is revealed to be an ancient and mysterious clan of corpse drivers. Its corpse-driving art is considered one of the “Three Evils of Yong Prefecture,” alongside the Five Immortals Sect’s gu poison and the barbarian Flower-Falling Cave Maidens.
• A corpse hidden beneath the yamen suddenly attacks Chen Jichuan. He detects it in advance and destroys it effortlessly, tearing off its head. Examination confirms that it is a refined corpse prepared through Zhou Family corpse-driving methods.
• Using a bronze mirror technique and a fragment of the corpse, Chen Jichuan spies on Zhou Mingchuan and Cao Zheng. Zhou believes Cao was genuinely imprisoned by the Martial Alliance and invites him to join the Zhou Family, claiming their corpse-driving arts complement Cao’s corpse-control ability.
• Cao Zheng accepts the invitation, apparently out of gratitude and self-preservation. Chen Jichuan, however, views his entry into the Zhou Family as advantageous: Cao can act as an undercover agent and gather intelligence.
• Chen Jichuan ends plans for his allies to attend the upcoming battle at Wolong Ridge and instead travels to Mingtang Mountain, where he maintains hidden bases and communicates with the Ghost Sparrow.
• After nursing the Ghost Sparrow back to health, Chen Jichuan has turned it into a loyal intelligence-gathering beast. Through its reports, he observes Ironleaf Island Lord Yang Qiu drawing a powerful talisman.
• Chen realizes that talisman-making, beast taming, and corpse driving may all be systematic, cultivable arts rather than innate Altered Abilities. He suspects Great Chu is entering a new era resembling an “immortal-hero” age after the world’s recent great change.
• Feeling increasing pressure from the emergence of supernatural cultivation methods, Chen resolves to conquer the Liang World quickly while remaining cautious and low-profile in reality.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Demonstrates overwhelming combat ability, sharp perception, and mastery of surveillance techniques. He becomes increasingly strategic and views Cao Zheng’s abduction as an opportunity rather than a crisis. His awareness of the world’s supernatural transformation also creates a stronger sense of urgency.
• Cao Zheng: Continues playing the role of a disgraced prisoner and willingly follows Zhou Mingchuan. His apparent loyalty to the Zhou Family is likely an act, making him a valuable spy for Chen.
• Zhou Mingchuan: Appears confident and skilled in corpse driving but misunderstands Cao Zheng’s actual situation. He sincerely believes he is rescuing and recruiting a talented outsider.
• Ghost Sparrow: Fully recovers from its injuries and becomes attached to Chen because of his calculated kindness. It now serves as a reliable intelligence source.
• Mu Junxiong, Wang Quan, and Xue Zhong: Recognize both Chen’s terrifying strength and the danger posed by the Zhou Family. They act as advisors, discussing the political and strategic implications of Cao Zheng’s recruitment.

Significant Themes

• Consequences of deception: The Martial Alliance’s fabricated use of the Zhou Family’s name unexpectedly attracts the real family’s attention.
• Strategy and manipulation: Chen treats every development—including Cao Zheng’s kidnapping—as a potential advantage, manipulating events through spies, disguises, and hidden plans.
• Emergence of cultivation systems: Talisman-making, corpse driving, and beast taming suggest that the world is developing structured supernatural arts beyond martial techniques and innate Altered Abilities.
• Power and preparation: Chen’s fear that his strength may be insufficient drives him to accelerate his plans while hiding his true capabilities.
• Trust and control: Cao Zheng’s apparent loyalty, the Ghost Sparrow’s attachment, and Chen’s intention to ensure Cao cannot escape all highlight the blurred line between alliance and coercion.

Important Character Interactions

• Mu Junxiong explains the Zhou Family’s history and reputation to Chen, warning that they are not a force to provoke.
• Chen questions why Cao Zheng was abducted, while his allies assume Zhou Mingchuan rescued him to gain his gratitude.
• Chen observes Zhou Mingchuan persuading Cao to join the Zhou Family; Cao responds with immediate acceptance.
• Chen and his allies discuss whether Cao’s decision is genuine, while Chen privately plans to exploit his new position as an insider.
• Chen interacts with the Ghost Sparrow as both caretaker and master, feeding it medicinal pellets and using its loyalty to obtain intelligence.
• Through the Ghost Sparrow’s surveillance, Chen studies Yang Qiu’s talisman-making and begins connecting the various supernatural arts emerging throughout Great Chu.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• After defeating and intimidating Mu Junxiong and Wang Quan, Chen Jichuan becomes more cautious and redirects his attention toward cultivation and strengthening White Jade Capital.
• With control of the Martial Alliance, he recruits talented and morally reliable members into White Jade Capital. Iron Lotus Seeds, medicinal aids from Liang World, and the four-hundredfold time difference allow these recruits to advance rapidly.
• Chen Jichuan tightens control over Black Prison and the Li River Gang’s Water Mansion. Executions suppress theft and corruption, increasing the production of Spirit Stones and Clam Pearls.
• His monthly Origin Force income rises to roughly 16,000–17,000 points, greatly benefiting his cultivation and future plans.
• To prevent resentment among the Martial Alliance’s upper ranks, he reluctantly distributes two Spirit Stones per month to Mu Junxiong, Wang Quan, and Xue Zhong. Chen Shaohe receives one per month because his lower cultivation makes that amount sufficient.
• On the second day of the eleventh month, Chen Jichuan uses the Circle-Light Technique to observe the long-awaited duel at Wolong Ridge between Yang Qiu of Ironleaf Island and Tushan Ji of Jadegreen Cliff.
• Before the formal duel begins, a Golden-Crowned Divine Eagle suddenly attacks Yang Qiu. Yang Qiu survives by activating a Golden Light Talisman.
• Tushan Ji is revealed to be riding the divine eagle. He had secretly learned of Yang Qiu’s talisman abilities through Ghost Sparrow and spent years preparing by taming the powerful beast.
• Tushan Ji attacks from the air with a bow, repeatedly firing arrows at Yang Qiu while taunting him. Yang Qiu blocks the arrows with his powerful saber but becomes increasingly furious.
• Realizing he cannot defeat an opponent with such overwhelming aerial superiority, Yang Qiu retreats into the mountains. The Ironleaf Island forces scatter as well, while Tushan Ji celebrates his apparent victory.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan becomes more disciplined and strategically minded after his earlier success. He prioritizes long-term growth, resource management, and the construction of a dependable inner faction.
• He also demonstrates political awareness by sharing a limited portion of his resources with key Martial Alliance leaders, recognizing that hoarding all benefits could destabilize his authority.
• Yang Qiu is revealed to have secretly cultivated ancient immortal techniques and Talisman Arts from Fushengzi’s inheritance. Although confident enough to challenge Tushan Ji, he is caught off guard by the divine eagle and ultimately forced to flee.
• Tushan Ji is exposed as far more ambitious and flamboyant than he previously appeared. His earlier humility was largely an act of restraint while he prepared to overcome Yang Qiu. Once he gains the divine eagle, his suppressed arrogance and mischievous nature emerge.
• Ghost Sparrow has become more cautious after Chen Jichuan previously discovered and punished it, but it remains an important spy and source of intelligence for Tushan Ji.
• Chen Shaohe, Mu Junxiong, Wang Quan, and Xue Zhong become dependents within Chen Jichuan’s resource-based power structure, receiving enough Spirit Stones to maintain their loyalty and cultivation.

Significant Themes

• Power requires preparation and information: Tushan Ji’s victory depends not merely on strength but on years of patience, intelligence gathering, and taming the divine eagle.
• The dangers of overconfidence: Yang Qiu believes his newly acquired Talisman Arts make him invincible, but his confidence collapses when Tushan Ji reveals an unexpected countermeasure.
• Resource control and political stability: Chen Jichuan’s management of Spirit Stones shows that material benefits are essential for maintaining alliances and preventing internal dissatisfaction.
• Hidden strength and changing identities: Both Tushan Ji and Yang Qiu have concealed abilities, while Tushan Ji’s apparently humble personality gives way to his true, more aggressive character.
• Strategic superiority over direct combat: Chen Jichuan, Tushan Ji, and the faction leaders all rely on surveillance, preparation, and positioning rather than simply confronting enemies head-on.

Character Interactions

• Chen Jichuan maintains a controlled relationship with Mu Junxiong, Wang Quan, and Xue Zhong, rewarding them with limited resources while ensuring that he retains the overwhelming share.
• Tushan Ji openly humiliates Yang Qiu by attacking from the safety of the divine eagle and mocking his reliance on talismans.
• Yang Qiu responds with anger and violence, using his Yin-Yang Reversal Blade to deflect Tushan Ji’s arrows, but he cannot reach or threaten his airborne opponent.
• Ghost Sparrow’s espionage indirectly shapes the duel, since it allowed Tushan Ji to learn about Yang Qiu’s hidden abilities and prepare a surprise counterattack.
• Chen Jichuan observes the entire confrontation remotely through the Circle-Light Technique, positioning himself as an informed spectator and potential beneficiary of the conflict.

Chapter Summary: “Major Discovery!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Martial Alliance has existed for a month, but Chen Jichuan believes war with Jadegreen Cliff is imminent. Tushan Ji’s acquisition of the Golden-Crowned Divine Eagle has made him especially dangerous, since he can attack from the air and eliminate commanders and experts.
• Chen considers striking first but rejects the idea because Tushan Ji’s Beast-Taming Art may come from a powerful immortal sect or hidden master. If Chen’s techniques were traced back to him, he could face devastating retaliation.
• Chen becomes increasingly suspicious of the origins of both Tushan Ji’s Beast-Taming Art and Yang Qiu’s Talisman Art. Their existence suggests either a hidden immortal cultivation sect or scattered ancient inheritances. Chen realizes the world may be far more dangerous than he understood and wishes to find a powerful protector or ally.
• A communication talisman from Martial Victory City suddenly activates. Chen initially assumes that a new Spirit Stone mine has been discovered, but upon arriving, he finds Mu Junxiong injured yet excited.
• Mu Junxiong explains that multiple exploration teams vanished in Black Prison. When he and Deputy Alliance Leader Chu Sanyang investigated, they discovered a dangerous mountain hollow filled with invisible Sword Qi.
• The Sword Qi killed the initial explorers and numerous animals sent in to test the danger. After the scattered Sword Qi weakened, the Martial Alliance established a crude outpost and began investigating the area.
• Chen travels with Mu Junxiong and Sheng Dayang into Black Prison, where they meet Chu Sanyang struggling through a strange stone forest. The region is filled with sword-shaped stones and powerful pressure.
• The pressure grows stronger the farther one advances. Even Fourth-Rank martial artists can go only a few steps, while Chu Sanyang, a Sixth-Rank expert, has reached roughly twenty steps and Mu Junxiong about thirty.
• Chen enters the stone forest and easily surpasses them, reaching forty steps before finally beginning to feel the full weight of the pressure. He then emerges into an open area beyond the forest, implying that the hollow contains a deeper and potentially revolutionary secret.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Becomes more cautious and strategic. Although worried about Tushan Ji’s growing strength, he refuses to act recklessly without understanding the possible immortal forces behind his enemies. He also recognizes his own ignorance of the world’s hidden powers and begins seeking stronger backing. His excitement over the Sword Qi suggests he hopes the discovery can provide both power and answers.
• Tushan Ji: His arrogance and new alliance with the Golden-Crowned Divine Eagle position him as an imminent military threat. His strength could potentially destroy the Martial Alliance before Chen has time to develop further.
• Mu Junxiong: Shows loyalty and initiative by investigating the disappearances in Black Prison. Though injured by the Sword Qi, he is energized by the discovery and immediately brings Chen to see it.
• Chu Sanyang: Reveals ambition and determination despite his age. Having been stuck at the Sixth Rank for years, he believes the mountain hollow’s pressure may loosen his bottleneck and allow him to reach the Innate Realm.
• Sheng Dayang: Has risen from White Jade Capital’s Divine Strategist to a commander in the Martial Alliance’s Three Mountains Army. Despite his elevated status, he remains deferential toward Chen and Mu Junxiong.

Significant Themes

• Caution versus ambition: Chen must balance the need to act against powerful enemies with the danger of exposing himself to unknown immortal forces.
• Hidden inheritances and a larger world: The Beast-Taming Art, Talisman Art, and Sword Qi suggest that the world contains ancient or immortal powers beyond ordinary martial arts.
• The search for protection and greater strength: Chen realizes that independent power may not be enough and considers finding a powerful patron or organization.
• Opportunity amid crisis: The Martial Alliance faces possible destruction, but the discovery in Black Prison may provide a means to change the balance of power.
• Persistence and late-life ambition: Chu Sanyang’s willingness to endure severe pressure reflects the desire to overcome long-standing limits, even when age and past failure suggest little hope.

Character Interactions

• Chen internally assesses Tushan Ji as a major threat but chooses not to confront him directly.
• Mu Junxiong urgently reports the Black Prison disappearances and guides Chen to the discovery, demonstrating trust and cooperation.
• Sheng Dayang respectfully briefs Chen on the Sword Qi’s dangers and the failed attempts to explore the hollow.
• Chen and Chu Sanyang exchange a brief but significant conversation: Chen advises Chu to retreat, while Chu explains his hope of breaking through to the Innate Realm. Chen ultimately respects his decision.
• The chapter ends with Chen advancing beyond the limits reached by the others, positioning him to uncover the mountain hollow’s deeper secret.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan advances through the mysterious stone forest, whose increasing pressure proves capable of stopping cultivators below the eighth rank. Mu Junxiong surpasses Chu Sanyang but is eventually slowed near the forest’s deeper reaches.
• He discovers a collapsed cave containing the Primordial Star Sword, a low-grade magic treasure belonging to Li Jiye, a former cultivator of the Myriad Swords Sect.
• The sword contains:
  • A powerful strand of Sword Qi cultivated by Li Jiye over his lifetime.
  • The Myriad Swords Sect’s supreme art, the Sword Diagram.
  • The ability to divide into twelve swords and form the Primordial Star Sword Formation.
• Upon touching the sword, Chen experiences intense pain and a vision of Li Jiye unleashing devastating Sword Qi. He uses the Liang World to record the Sword Diagram, gradually copying it despite exhausting most of his Innate True Qi.
• Chen disguises his true objective, telling Mu Junxiong that the area is merely a cultivation ground and claiming he intends to use it to break through. He orders Sheng Dayang to seal the site for two days and prevent anyone from entering or leaving.
• After spending a day recording the Sword Diagram and a year studying it inside the Liang World, Chen derives a method to retrieve the sword and successfully takes it.
• The sword’s removal causes the pressure in the stone forest to vanish, interrupting Chu Sanyang’s cultivation just as he is nearing an Innate Realm breakthrough.
• Chu angrily questions Chen, but Mu Junxiong quickly rebukes him and urges him to apologize. Chen ignores the confrontation and leaves Black Prison with the sword.
• Back at Mingtang Mountain, Chen tests the Primordial Star Sword, easily slicing through bluestone, and begins studying the Sword Diagram in the Liang World.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Becomes even more confident and calculating after obtaining the Primordial Star Sword. He prioritizes powerful treasures over maintaining relationships, accepts that Chu Sanyang may resent him, and plans to use alternate identities to avoid future consequences. His excitement also reveals his growing ambition and appreciation for higher-level cultivation techniques.
• Mu Junxiong: Remains cautious and politically perceptive. He recognizes the danger of Chu Sanyang offending Chen and immediately attempts to smooth things over. His distracted observation of Chen also suggests curiosity or suspicion about what Chen found.
• Chu Sanyang: Nearly reaches the Innate Realm after two days of cultivation, only to have his opportunity abruptly destroyed when the sword is removed. His frustration causes him to challenge Chen, but fear and awareness of Chen’s ruthless reputation force him to apologize.
• Sheng Dayang: Demonstrates loyalty to Chen and accepts his orders to guard the stone forest, choosing the White Jade Capital and Chen’s faction over the Martial Alliance.

Significant Themes

• Power outweighs personal loyalty: Chen considers the Primordial Star Sword far more important than Chu Sanyang’s breakthrough or possible resentment.
• Strategic deception and identity: Chen conceals the sword’s existence, misleads others about his intentions, and plans to switch identities to erase future grudges.
• Inheritance and cultivation: The sword serves as a vessel for Li Jiye’s legacy, showing how powerful cultivators preserve their techniques and influence beyond death.
• Endurance and determination: Chen withstands extreme physical and spiritual pain to obtain the Sword Diagram, using the Liang World to overcome limitations of time and memory.
• Political calculation: Characters constantly weigh strength, future prospects, and factional allegiance. Mu Junxiong and Sheng Dayang both understand that Chen’s power and potential make him the safest person to support.

Important Character Interactions

• Chen and Mu Junxiong discuss the stone forest, with Chen deliberately hiding the sword’s existence and presenting the site as a cultivation opportunity.
• Chen orders Sheng Dayang to guard the area and gives him a Mother-Child Resonance Talisman as an emergency signal.
• Chu Sanyang confronts Chen after the pressure disappears, but Mu Junxiong intervenes to prevent the situation from escalating.
• Chu eventually follows Chen to apologize, though Chen remains indifferent because he is focused on studying his newly acquired treasure.

Chapter Summary: “Nurturing a Breath of Sword Qi!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Forty years pass in the Liang World. Great Liang has fallen, replaced by the Zhuang family’s Great Xiang, which has existed for forty years.
• Chen Jichuan is now 222 years old. Despite his extraordinary cultivation, his aging cannot be stopped, and his inner and external power remain stuck at the Eighth Layer. His Dao Arts continue progressing slowly through the Seventh Layer.
• While studying the Sword Diagram, Chen examines the Myriad Swords Sect’s supreme sword cultivation method, which offers two paths:
  • Sealed-Mouth Sword Qi: Concentrates all power into one devastating breath of Sword Qi, but requires lifelong dedication, tremendous endurance, and constant physical and spiritual torment.
  • Hundred-Thousand Sword Diagram: Divides Sword Qi into countless strands, sacrificing individual power for flexibility and versatility. At twenty thousand strands, it can rival Sealed-Mouth Sword Qi, while the theoretical maximum is 108,000 strands.
• Chen chooses the Hundred-Thousand Sword Diagram, believing that his ability to travel between worlds makes it unwise to devote his entire life to a single breath of Sword Qi. His four-hundredfold time differential will allow him to practice sword techniques efficiently in the Dao Fruit World.
• He orders Clear Wind and Bright Moon to compile a list of the world’s notable sword masters.
• Chen abandons the Divine Pounce Blade to avoid conflicts between different cultivation methods. He retains the Primordial Unity Technique, whose gentle energy nourishes and strengthens his meridians and can complement other arts.
• His new routine includes fist practice, Sword Qi cultivation, Primordial Unity circulation, and intensive swordsmanship study.
• For six years, he focuses on basic sword foundations under the guidance of famous sword masters. Afterward, he begins learning advanced sword arts from both the Liang World and the Sword Diagram, while gaining practical experience through repeated sparring.
• Twenty years pass as Chen continuously cultivates and refines his swordsmanship.

Character Development

• Chen Jichuan becomes increasingly mature and deliberate in his cultivation choices. Rather than pursuing the most destructive technique, he selects the path that best suits his long-term advantages and broad cultivation goals.
• His patience and self-awareness are emphasized. He accepts that breakthroughs cannot be forced and relies on accumulation, discipline, and sustained effort.
• Though he begins as a novice in swordsmanship, his existing mastery of multiple disciplines allows him to rapidly transform basic techniques into powerful attacks.
• His swordsmanship develops from that of a beginner into a highly refined and increasingly sophisticated art, strengthened by his deep combat experience and exceptional understanding.

Significant Themes

• Patience and accumulation: True breakthroughs require persistent practice and sufficient foundation rather than haste.
• Choice between power and versatility: Sealed-Mouth Sword Qi represents concentrated, overwhelming strength, while the Hundred-Thousand Sword Diagram represents adaptability, complexity, and broader potential.
• Discipline and sacrifice: The chapter contrasts extreme single-minded dedication with a more flexible approach that preserves the ability to learn other techniques.
• The limits of mortality: Even immense cultivation cannot completely halt aging, reinforcing the natural limits of life.
• Time as an advantage: Chen’s time differential allows him to compensate for the complexity of the Sword Diagram through repeated practice and long-term refinement.
• Foundations before mastery: Chen deliberately begins with basic sword movements rather than rushing into advanced techniques.

Character Interactions

• Chen instructs Clear Wind and Bright Moon to identify the world’s swordsmanship experts. They obey without questioning his sudden interest in swordsmanship.
• Clear Wind and Bright Moon are shown practicing with two respectful Canglan Beasts, whose clumsy but endearing salutes add a lighthearted moment.
• Chen studies under and spars with various sword masters, using their instruction to establish his fundamentals and develop practical combat ability.
• His interactions with other practitioners become part of his long-term training, helping him improve not only technique but also adaptability in real battles.

Chapter Summary: Ding Mountain Old Demon—Great Liang Arc Complete

Key Plot Points and Events

• Over twenty years, Chen Jichuan travels throughout Great Xiang, studying different sword schools, visiting scenic and spiritually significant locations, and avoiding attachment to any one place.
• He settles at the ruined Dingshan Temple in Guo County to cultivate the Sword Diagram, focusing on dividing and controlling sword qi.
• After three years, he divides one strand of sword qi into four. He then spends another three years nurturing and stabilizing them, followed by many years mastering the Ink-Splash Hemp-Draped Sword Method and learning to control sword qi as naturally as his limbs.
• After roughly forty years of cultivation, Chen reaches a new level of swordsmanship: his sword qi can independently execute sword techniques, marking his transition from ordinary martial arts into genuine sword art.
• His cultivation advances dramatically:
  • Internal cultivation: Sword Diagram reaches the ninth level, entering the True Essence Realm.
  • External cultivation: Grand Yin Body-Refining Method reaches the ninth level, matching the realm once held by Sun Sihai.
  • Dao Arts: His soul advances from the seventh to the eighth level of Spirit Projection.
• Now aged 262, Chen accepts that his remaining lifespan is limited. He prepares to return to Dai County, where he intends to die and leave behind the Sword Diagram and his accumulated insights for future generations.
• Before leaving Dingshan Temple, he discovers that the thousand-year-old sophora tree has awakened as a spirit. The tree has unconsciously learned the Ink-Splash Hemp-Draped Sword Method from watching Chen practice beneath it.
• Chen agrees to protect and guide the newly awakened Sophora Tree Spirit. He teaches it a Concealment Art and a Soul-Seizing Curse, gives it a token identifying its connection to him, and instructs it to protect harmless ghosts while eliminating evil ones.
• Chen leaves behind books and Daoist scrolls for the tree spirit, then departs for Meishan Prefecture.
• The later historical account states that Chen eventually ascends as a Flying Immortal at age 328. Meanwhile, the sophora tree becomes known as a powerful spirit and claims to be Chen’s disciple. Because it shelters many ghosts at Dingshan Temple, people fear it and call it the Ding Mountain Old Demon.

Character Developments

Chen Jichuan

Chen matures into a powerful and highly accomplished cultivator. His long period of wandering gives way to focused cultivation, allowing him to transform the Sword Diagram into a true sword art. Despite his growing strength, he remains humble, reflective, and aware of his mortality. He also becomes more willing to preserve and pass on knowledge rather than keeping his discoveries for himself.

Sophora Tree Spirit

After a thousand years of existence, the old tree finally gains intelligence and becomes a spirit. It begins timid and fearful of being destroyed by orthodox cultivators, but Chen’s guidance gives it protection, responsibilities, and a path toward self-improvement. Its accidental mastery of swordsmanship creates a lasting connection with Chen.

The ghosts of Dingshan Temple

Though not individually developed, they are portrayed as mostly helpless, unfortunate spirits rather than malicious beings. Chen’s concern for them reflects his compassion and willingness to protect the innocent supernatural beings under his care.

Significant Themes

• Accumulation and perseverance: Chen’s breakthroughs result from decades of repetition, patience, and careful experimentation rather than sudden inspiration.
• Transformation from martial arts to immortality: The chapter presents sword qi evolving from a technique into a complete sword art, symbolizing Chen’s movement beyond ordinary human cultivation.
• Mortality and legacy: Although Chen becomes extraordinarily powerful, age and limited lifespan remain unavoidable. His response is to preserve his knowledge for future generations.
• Compassion toward supernatural beings: Chen does not automatically condemn spirits and ghosts. He distinguishes between the good and the evil, offering protection to harmless beings while warning the tree spirit against harming others.
• Cause, effect, and karmic affinity: The sophora tree’s awakening is connected to twenty years of exposure to Chen’s sword practice. Its relationship with him is treated as a meaningful karmic bond.
• Order and responsibility: Chen uses his reputation not merely to intimidate but to prevent unjust persecution of the tree spirit and to establish rules for maintaining peace at Dingshan Temple.

Character Interactions

• Chen and the Sophora Tree Spirit: The central interaction of the chapter. The tree begs Chen for protection, and Chen agrees because it sheltered him during his years of cultivation. He warns it to avoid harming people, teaches it protective techniques, and entrusts it with guarding the temple’s harmless ghosts.
• Chen and the ghosts: Although they do not directly converse, Chen demonstrates paternal concern by refusing to uproot them from their home and arranging for the tree spirit to protect them.
• Chen and future Daoists or monks: Through the token marked “Chen of Precious Fungus Grove,” Chen establishes that the tree spirit is under his protection. He allows the spirit to defend itself only if other cultivators refuse to respect his warning.
• Chen and future generations: His decision to record and transmit the Sword Diagram reflects an indirect relationship with later cultivators, ensuring that his discoveries continue to develop after his death or ascension.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• In the sea of consciousness, Chen Jichuan experiences a complete recollection of his roughly 310 years across two lifetimes in the Liang World. He relives major milestones, including meeting Qizhenzi, saving Erban’s mother, obtaining powerful inheritances, founding Precious Fungus Grove, establishing Longevity Temple, developing the Forty-Eight Chen Ancestor Arts, and ultimately reaching the peak of cultivation.
• His second Dao Fruit successfully forms, preserving his achievements in the Liang World. It records him as a Level Nine cultivator with peak attainments in the Sword Diagram and Seventy-Two Chen Sect Arts, alongside advanced inner and outer cultivation methods.
• The new Dao Fruit greatly exceeds the first Dao Fruit from the Great Yan World. Its Iron Lotus Seeds will be powerful enough to tempt even high-level Innate experts and possibly Great Grandmasters.
• Chen Jichuan plans to reward Mu Junxiong and Chu Sanyang with Iron Lotus Seeds for their assistance in obtaining the Primordial Star Sword and Sword Diagram. He also considers privately rewarding Sheng Dayang.
• A new change appears in the Immortal Register: Chen Jichuan gains Immortal Tier 0, allowing him to create two Subsidiary Dao Fruits. His immortal stipend also increases from one point every ten days to ten.
• He chooses Qizhenzi as his first Subsidiary Dao Fruit, hoping to inherit the old expert’s extensive knowledge of Dao Arts, Spirit Projection, curses, formations, and secret techniques.
• Instead of Sun Sihai, Chen Jichuan chooses An Jishi, a renowned swordmaster and former Great Grandmaster. An’s swordsmanship and internal cultivation will help strengthen Chen’s progress toward the Hundred-Thousand Sword Diagram.
• Creating the two Subsidiary Dao Fruits consumes 20,000 Origin Force, but Chen Jichuan considers the cost worthwhile because he gains the lifelong knowledge and experience of both experts.
• With the Liang World cultivation complete, Chen Jichuan prepares to enter a new world. Two new flower buds appear beside the stalk holding his Great Yan and Great Liang Dao Fruits, ending the chapter on a cliffhanger.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Becomes more composed after experiencing death again and successfully achieves a second Dao Fruit. His ambitions expand from merely surviving and controlling the Great Yan World to strategically collecting the knowledge of powerful experts across different worlds.
• He demonstrates greater confidence and long-term planning, recognizing that personal strength is the foundation of all his schemes. He remains frugal with resources but is willing to spend heavily when the investment directly improves his cultivation.
• His methods also become more pragmatic and opportunistic. He considers befriending dying experts—or even fighting notorious ones to the death—in order to obtain their Subsidiary Dao Fruits.
• Qizhenzi: Though long dead and once an enemy, he becomes an invaluable source of Dao Arts knowledge. Chen Jichuan now views his former foe primarily as a treasure trove of techniques and cultivation experience.
• An Jishi: His past guidance and lifelong sword cultivation make him Chen Jichuan’s ideal second choice. He is honored not only as a deceased elder but also valued for the practical contribution his insights can make to Chen Jichuan’s sword path.
• Mu Junxiong, Chu Sanyang, and Sheng Dayang: Their future loyalty is reinforced through planned rewards, especially now that Chen Jichuan possesses stronger Iron Lotus Seeds.

Significant Themes

• Death and renewal: Chen Jichuan’s repeated experience of death becomes a mechanism for transformation, allowing him to preserve the accomplishments of entire lifetimes.
• Accumulation of knowledge: The chapter emphasizes that the experience of great cultivators is as valuable as their physical strength. Subsidiary Dao Fruits allow Chen Jichuan to convert the wisdom of the dead into future power.
• Strength as the foundation of authority: Chen understands that gifts and political control are secondary. His own cultivation must advance first, or his alliances will eventually collapse.
• Pragmatism and exploitation: Chen’s willingness to manipulate, reward, or even fight others for their Dao Fruits reflects his increasingly strategic and utilitarian outlook.
• The continuation of cultivation: Reaching the peak of one world is not an ending. It becomes the foundation for entering new worlds and pursuing even greater realms.

Character Interactions

• Chen recalls his past relationships and conflicts with Qizhenzi, Erban, Sun Sihai, and others from the Liang World.
• He reflects on his dependence on Mu Junxiong and other Innate experts in the Great Yan World, recognizing that his earlier deception and promises of longevity may eventually lose their power.
• He plans to use Iron Lotus Seeds to reward Mu Junxiong and Chu Sanyang for helping him obtain key sword-related inheritances.
• His selection of Qizhenzi and An Jishi reflects two distinct forms of interaction: one is a former enemy whose secrets Chen now seeks to appropriate, while the other is a respected elder who once guided him and whose legacy can advance his sword cultivation.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan reaches the Immortal Tier, producing two Subsidiary Dao Fruits. This allows him to unlock and cultivate in two worlds simultaneously, giving him greater flexibility: he can choose the more advantageous world and continue progressing even if one becomes problematic.
• However, creating the new Dao Fruits costs 20,000 Origin Force, and unlocking each new world now requires 100,000 Origin Force instead of 10,000. Faced with this enormous burden, Chen decides to keep exploiting Black Prison and the Water Mansion for resources.
• At the Martial Alliance headquarters, Chen—still disguised as “Yang Xiu”—announces that he has been promoted within White Jade Capital and will soon enter a secret realm for cultivation.
• He introduces “Chen Lin,” actually another disguised identity of Chen Jichuan, as his successor in overseeing the Martial Alliance. Yang Xiu formally relinquishes his position and departs.
• After leaving, Yang Xiu’s disguise is removed, revealing that he was actually Chen Shaohe, Chen Jichuan’s younger brother. Shaohe is relieved that he successfully helped maintain the deception and returns to his work at the Medicinal Affairs Bureau.
• As Chen Lin, Chen Jichuan reassures the Martial Alliance leaders by distributing valuable rewards:
  • Mu Junxiong receives an Eighth Rank Enlightenment Lotus Seed containing cultivation insights.
  • Chu Sanyang receives a Seventh Rank Lotus Seed with a chance to help him break through to the Innate Realm.
  • Wang Quan and Xue Zhong each receive a powerful swordsmanship technique.
• These gifts secure the leaders’ loyalty, reduce jealousy, and strengthen the Martial Alliance’s overall stability.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan becomes more powerful after reaching the Immortal Tier, but the increased cost of advancing creates a serious financial and strategic challenge. He responds pragmatically by investing resources in maintaining the Martial Alliance.
• He demonstrates greater political sophistication, using the Chen Lin identity to replace Yang Xiu smoothly while rewarding his subordinates rather than ruling through fear alone.
• Chen Shaohe successfully assists in the identity-switching scheme, gaining confidence after fearing he might undermine his brother’s plans.
• Mu Junxiong and Chu Sanyang recognize that Yang Xiu’s discoveries in Black Prison must have earned White Jade Capital’s approval, though they remain resentful that he kept the benefits for himself.
• Chu Sanyang, previously terrified that Yang Xiu would punish him, becomes sincerely devoted after receiving the Lotus Seed.
• Wang Quan and Xue Zhong initially feel jealous of Chu Sanyang and Mu Junxiong, but their resentment fades once Chen rewards them with valuable sword arts.

Significant Themes

• Power brings greater burdens: Chen’s advancement grants him more options, but it also dramatically increases the resources required for future progress.
• Identity and deception: The chapter centers on the successful substitution of Yang Xiu with Chen Lin, showing how disguises and calculated performances allow Chen to control events from behind the scenes.
• Reward as a tool of leadership: Chen balances the fear inspired by Yang Xiu with Chen Lin’s generosity, using gifts to create loyalty and preserve institutional stability.
• Strategic resource management: Even powerful treasures must be spent carefully. Chen sacrifices valuable Origin Force to strengthen key allies and protect the Martial Alliance, which is essential to his continued income and advancement.
• Ambition and unequal opportunity: The Martial Alliance leaders envy one another’s rewards, revealing their desire for advancement, but Chen channels that ambition into motivation and competition.

Character Interactions

• Yang Xiu’s intimidating reputation keeps the Martial Alliance leaders cautious, while Chen Lin’s friendly demeanor immediately creates a contrasting atmosphere.
• Mu Junxiong attempts to persuade Yang Xiu to remain as a joint overseer, but Chen Lin explains that Yang’s promotion and upcoming secret-realm cultivation make his departure necessary.
• Mu Junxiong and Chu Sanyang privately infer that Yang Xiu gained his promotion by turning over treasures from Black Prison, though they conceal their resentment.
• Chen Lin personally addresses each leader, recognizing their achievements and assigning rewards suited to their needs.
• Chu Sanyang’s emotional gratitude contrasts with Wang Quan and Xue Zhong’s initial jealousy, but Chen’s balanced distribution of gifts restores harmony.
• The chapter ends with the Martial Alliance welcoming its “new official” and becoming more cooperative under Chen Lin’s leadership.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• After rewarding the Martial Alliance’s members and securing their loyalty, Chen Jichuan receives a report on the Three Mountains Army.
• The army has grown to 14,800 soldiers, organized into four divisions and twelve battalions. However, roughly sixty percent are recruits, meaning their combat ability remains limited despite two months of training.
• Jadegreen Cliff is preparing to invade Shian Commandery:
  • Its forces are gathering along Linghe Commandery, threatening attacks through Yongfu and Yongfeng Counties.
  • It is also building warships to cross the Li River and attack Lingchuan and Yangshuo.
• The Martial Alliance fears that Tushan Ji’s Golden-Crowned Divine Eagle will give Jadegreen Cliff a decisive advantage. From the air, Tushan Ji could kill commanders with arrows while the eagle itself would be difficult to injure.
• Chen Jichuan reassures everyone that he will handle Tushan Ji and prevent him from flying.
• After returning to Mingtang Mountain, Chen decides that waiting is too dangerous. Having secretly observed Tushan Ji for more than a month, he concludes that Tushan Ji possesses only an isolated immortal inheritance and is not backed by an Immortal Gate.
• Chen launches two supernatural attacks:
  1. The Rice-and-Meat-Cooking Curse, a slow and difficult-to-detect ritual intended to weaken and eventually kill Tushan Ji over fifty-four days.
  2. The Five Ghosts Who Make Waves with Monsters, sent to possess and drain the Golden-Crowned Divine Eagle’s essence and vitality.
• While the curses take effect, Chen continues cultivating, studying his own Dao Fruit and those of Qizhenzi and An Jishi, while also attempting to refine the Primordial Star Sword.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan becomes more decisive and strategically aggressive. Once he confirms that Tushan Ji has no powerful sect backing him, he abandons caution and chooses to strike first through covert sorcery.
• He demonstrates increasing confidence in his abilities, promising to neutralize both Tushan Ji and the divine eagle despite the Martial Alliance’s concerns.
• Chen also shows greater self-awareness as a cultivator. By reflecting on his 155 years in the Liang World from an outside perspective, he identifies weaknesses in his former cultivation and steadily improves.
• Wang Quan, Mu Junxiong, Xue Zhong, and the Martial Alliance leadership remain uneasy. Their loyalty has improved because of Chen’s rewards, but their continued support depends on whether he can neutralize Jadegreen Cliff’s greatest weapon.
• Tushan Ji is established as a powerful but isolated rival whose strength comes from an immortal inheritance rather than support from a larger immortal organization.
• The Golden-Crowned Divine Eagle, previously Jadegreen Cliff’s greatest battlefield advantage, becomes the target of Chen’s weakening curse.

Significant Themes

• Striking first versus waiting passively: Chen embraces the principle that preemptive action is necessary when an enemy has a decisive advantage.
• Hidden strength and strategic deception: Rather than confronting Tushan Ji directly, Chen uses concealed curses and spiritual techniques that are difficult to detect or counter.
• Loyalty secured through both reward and power: Material benefits calm the Martial Alliance, but genuine loyalty depends on Chen’s ability to protect them from Jadegreen Cliff.
• Cultivation through reflection: Chen’s progress comes not only from accumulating power but also from reviewing past experiences, correcting mistakes, and integrating the insights of others.
• Reliability over brutality: Chen favors the Rice-and-Meat-Cooking Curse because it is slow but dependable, avoiding the backlash and danger associated with more immediately vicious techniques.
• The difference between apparent and actual strength: Jadegreen Cliff appears overwhelmingly powerful, but its threat may be manageable once its key assets—Tushan Ji and the divine eagle—are neutralized.

Character Interactions

• Chen meets with Wang Quan and other Martial Alliance leaders to discuss the army’s readiness and Jadegreen Cliff’s military movements.
• Wang Quan openly expresses fear that Tushan Ji and the divine eagle could destroy the Three Mountains Army’s command structure.
• Chen counters their anxiety with confidence, claiming responsibility for dealing with Tushan Ji and preventing him from using aerial attacks.
• The leaders’ reactions reveal their conditional trust: Chen’s rewards have stabilized them, but they still need proof that he can defend the alliance.
• Chen’s subsequent actions occur mostly in secret, replacing direct interaction with covert attacks against Tushan Ji and the divine eagle.
• The chapter ends with Chen balancing warfare and cultivation, gradually increasing his strength while the outcome of his sorcery remains uncertain.

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan reflects on his cultivation strategy. Because his real-world cultivation has limited room for rapid advancement, he chooses balanced development: improving his realm while expanding his knowledge of Dao Arts, martial techniques, and other methods.
• His current cultivation is at the Inner-Power Eighth Layer and Innate Second Realm, the True Qi Realm. He learns that true qi and true essence are insufficient for properly controlling or refining magic treasures, which require magic power.
• Chen tests the Primordial Star Sword by channeling true qi into it. The sword releases tremendous but uncontrollable force, destroying trees and damaging a distant hillock. He concludes that he must continue refining it before it can be used effectively.
• At Jadegreen Cliff, Tushan Ji attempts to tame a massive violent ape trapped in an ice crystal. If successful, the beast would greatly strengthen Jadegreen Cliff’s planned conquest of the remaining six counties of Yong Prefecture.
• Chen Jichuan’s Rice-and-Meat-Cooking Curse suddenly strikes Tushan Ji during the taming ritual. The curse disrupts his concentration, causes him to lose control of his true essence, and throws him to the ground, seriously injuring him.
• Tushan Ji escapes on the Golden-Crowned Divine Eagle and enters seclusion, ordering the eagle to guard him. Neither he nor the eagle appears to realize that the divine eagle is also suffering from the curse.
• Jadegreen Cliff continues preparing for war, but Chen knows it will not dare act while Tushan Ji and the divine eagle remain afflicted. This gives the Martial Alliance valuable time.
• Chen continues cultivating Dao Fruit, practicing Sword Qi, and refining the Primordial Star Sword. He also orders searches of the Water Mansion and Peach Haven for additional treasures and immortal cultivation techniques, though no discoveries are made.
• After twenty-four days, Chen senses the curse’s Stove Fire extinguish. Tushan Ji has successfully broken the curse, likely through his immortal inheritance. Chen suffers no backlash but recognizes that he cannot immediately curse Tushan Ji again.
• Despite the failed assassination attempt, Chen believes Tushan Ji’s prolonged suffering has severely damaged his vitality and will force him into recovery, preventing Jadegreen Cliff from causing trouble in the short term.
• By February, the immediate threat has eased. Chen observes his younger brother Chen Shaohe working in a medicinal garden during heavy snowfall.

2. Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Demonstrates patience, pragmatism, and strategic thinking. Rather than blindly pursuing a higher realm, he values balanced growth and practical combat ability. He also shows increasing confidence in indirect methods such as curses, intelligence gathering, and resource development.
• Tushan Ji: Is revealed to be powerful and resourceful, surviving twenty-four days of the curse and ultimately breaking it through his inherited immortal techniques. However, the ordeal leaves him weakened and forces him into seclusion.
• Golden-Crowned Divine Eagle: Continues to serve Tushan Ji loyally, but the curse has also affected it, leaving black mist around its face and weakening its spirit.
• Chen Shaohe: Has matured considerably over the past year. He has transformed from a childlike younger brother into a dedicated professional leading the Medicinal Affairs Bureau. He is hardworking, methodical, resilient, and deeply invested in researching spiritual medicines.
• Xie Tao: Serves as Chen Shaohe’s principal assistant and collaborator, helping cast Plant Growth spells to accelerate the development of medicinal herbs.

3. Significant Themes

• Balanced cultivation versus specialization: Chen Jichuan believes broad mastery is more valuable than pursuing a single path to an extreme, especially when real-world advancement is constrained.
• Power requires control: The Primordial Star Sword’s overwhelming force is useless without sufficient cultivation and refinement, emphasizing that raw power alone cannot replace mastery.
• Patience and strategic warfare: Chen’s curse does not kill Tushan Ji, but it still achieves a strategic victory by delaying Jadegreen Cliff and weakening its leader.
• Growth through dedication: Chen Shaohe’s transformation highlights how consistent effort and commitment can turn an immature person into a capable adult.
• Practical knowledge and experimentation: The medicinal research storyline emphasizes observation, persistence, and the willingness to investigate difficult problems without jumping to conclusions.
• The passage of time: Chen Jichuan’s memories of Chen Shaohe as a child contrast with his present maturity, reinforcing the chapter’s reflection on change and growth.

4. Character Interactions

• Chen Jichuan and Tushan Ji are locked in an indirect contest: Chen attacks through the curse, while Tushan Ji relies on his immortal inheritance to survive and recover.
• Tushan Ji depends on the Golden-Crowned Divine Eagle for protection and transportation, though neither fully recognizes the extent of the eagle’s own affliction.
• Chen Jichuan works through Wang Quan and Xue Zhong to search the Water Mansion and Peach Haven for resources, showing his ability to coordinate the Martial Alliance’s broader operations.
• Chen Jichuan and Chen Shaohe share a warm, supportive brotherly relationship. Chen encourages Shaohe’s work, asks thoughtful questions about Spirit Stones and spiritual plants, and feels proud of his younger brother’s maturity.
• Chen Shaohe enthusiastically explains his research, including his cooperation with Xie Tao and his plans to transplant spiritual plants from former enemy territories. Their conversation illustrates both mutual respect and Chen Jichuan’s role as a mentor.

Chapter Summary: Withered Trees Meet Spring, the Secret Realm Gates Open!

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan continues cultivating his soul beneath the moon using the Grand Yin Body-Refining Method. His recent insights from Qizhenzi’s Dao Fruit improve his understanding of the Spirit Projection realm, and his soul becomes noticeably stronger.
• Overnight, an astonishing natural phenomenon occurs: despite the snow, trees sprout buds and leaves, while medicinal herbs grow several months’ worth in a single night.
• Chen Shaohe discovers the abnormal growth in his herb garden and excitedly investigates it. Chen Jichuan initially reprimands him for neglecting cultivation, but soon realizes that the phenomenon is genuine and widespread.
• Chen Shaohe leaves to inspect the herbs in Peach Haven and determine whether the growth is local or occurring throughout the region.
• Chen Jichuan is simultaneously summoned by Mu Junxiong, Wang Quan, and Xue Zhong. They report that the entrances to the three Martial Alliance secret realms—Black Prison, the Water Mansion, and Peach Haven—have suddenly expanded or multiplied.
  • Black Prison’s entrance swallows half of Martial Victory City, and another entrance appears in Centipede Mountain.
  • The Water Mansion’s original entrance greatly expands.
  • Peach Haven develops seven new exits near its existing entrance.
  • Several people vanish after accidentally entering the newly appeared passages.
• Chen Jichuan orders the officials to secure and monitor every entrance, restrict unauthorized access, and record all further changes.
• Pretending to leave the county, Chen Jichuan secretly enters Mingtang Mountain and uses the Circle-Light Technique to investigate the cause of the phenomenon.
• His divination reveals visions of the catastrophe that occurred eight years earlier, when meteors fell, the earth split, mountains collapsed, demons appeared, and Great Chu fell into chaos.
• The vision then shows a vast, unstoppable flow of fate or destiny sweeping across the land. Finally, a dark palace-like structure rises from the Li River, suggesting the possible emergence of a mysterious underwater palace or Dragon Palace.
• The chapter ends with Chen Jichuan recognizing the Li River before the vision disappears.

Character Development

• Chen Jichuan grows increasingly perceptive and powerful. His soul cultivation advances smoothly, and he demonstrates the caution and authority expected of a Spirit Projection cultivator.
• He shows both strictness and responsibility toward Chen Shaohe, emphasizing that cultivation must remain the foundation even while pursuing herb research.
• Chen Jichuan remains composed during the secret-realm crisis, quickly organizing containment measures instead of panicking.
• His investigation reveals a deeper connection between the current disturbances and the disaster eight years ago, expanding his understanding of the world’s hidden history.
• Chen Shaohe displays enthusiasm, curiosity, and growing expertise in medicinal cultivation. His careful observations lead him to recognize the abnormal herb growth and pursue further research.

Significant Themes

• The revival of nature: Spring-like growth in the middle of winter symbolizes a major change in the world’s underlying forces.
• Heavenly and earthly upheaval: The altered secret realms and flourishing vegetation suggest that the natural order is shifting.
• Fate and recurring catastrophe: The vision connects the present events to the devastation eight years earlier, implying that the same cosmic or fateful cycle may be returning.
• Hidden realms awakening: The expansion and multiplication of secret-realm gates point toward the reemergence of ancient powers and unknown dangers.
• Mystery and foreshadowing: The palace beneath the Li River hints at a significant future discovery, possibly involving a Dragon Palace or another powerful hidden inheritance.
• Order amid chaos: Chen Jichuan’s efforts to control the entrances contrast with the uncontrollable changes spreading across the world.

Character Interactions

• Chen Jichuan questions and admonishes Chen Shaohe for tending herbs before cultivating, but his attitude changes when Shaohe demonstrates the extraordinary growth of the plants.
• The brothers cooperate indirectly: Shaohe investigates the biological changes in Peach Haven, while Jichuan handles the larger political and supernatural implications.
• Mu Junxiong, Wang Quan, and Xue Zhong urgently report the secret-realm crisis to Chen Jichuan. His calm instructions reassure them, especially when he invokes the authority of the White Jade Capital’s Commander.
• Chen Jichuan acts independently from the officials, secretly using divination to investigate the phenomenon after ordering them to contain the danger.

Chapter Summary: “Who Dares Trespass the Water Mansion?!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Using the Circle-Light Technique, Chen Jichuan discovers that a palace has been exposed beneath the Li River after the previous night’s upheaval. He suspects it may be a Dragon Palace or water god’s residence.
• He travels to the Li River and conducts a prolonged search using paper figures and the Five Ghosts, while monitoring the surrounding military camps and shipyards. He confirms that Jadegreen Cliff is still preparing for a possible war against Shian Commandery, though no conflict seems imminent.
• At night, the bronze mirror reveals the palace drifting beneath the river. Chen sends scouts inside while remaining safely on shore.
• The palace initially produces a powerful illusion of music, feasting, dancing, and celestial splendor. Chen nearly becomes entranced but quickly sees through it because of his strong soul and disciplined will.
• Inside, the scouts discover the Li River Water Palace, guarded by lifelike but apparently lifeless attendants:
  • A civil official whose shouted rebuke summons a devastating heavenly river.
  • Two martial generals who form an impenetrable Ironclad Fortress.
  • A mysterious silver-bearded elder seated beneath a Yellow Gauze Umbrella.
• The civil official’s cry—“Who dares trespass into the Water Mansion?!”—destroys Chen’s paper figures instantly. His Five Ghosts are also burned when they approach the palace.
• Chen uses a Mouth-Sealing Method to prevent the civil official from speaking, then sends paper figures past him. However, the martial generals block the way, and the seal eventually breaks, allowing the official to destroy the intruders.
• He attempts the Iron Loach Method, an art intended to counter and break an Ironclad Fortress, but his cultivation is insufficient. The generals remain unmoved, and another paper figure is destroyed.
• Exhausted and frustrated, Chen decides not to risk confronting the palace personally or expend the precious Sword Qi within the Primordial Star Sword. Instead, he plans to construct a proper altar, perform the necessary rituals and sacrifices, and return later with greater preparation.
• Before leaving, he stations two paper effigies outside the palace to continue watching it.

Character Development

• Chen Jichuan demonstrates initiative, caution, and resourcefulness by investigating the palace indirectly rather than recklessly entering it himself.
• His strong spiritual cultivation allows him to resist the palace’s illusion, highlighting his hardened will and experience with life-and-death trials.
• Despite repeated failures and the loss of many valuable paper figures, Chen remains persistent and experiments with different Dao Arts.
• His frustration reveals the limits of his current cultivation. He recognizes that clever techniques alone are not enough against the Water Palace’s powerful defenses.
• Ultimately, he chooses patience and preparation over reckless confrontation, showing growing strategic maturity.

Significant Themes

• Preparation versus recklessness: Chen understands that powerful relics and ancient residences cannot be conquered without proper ritual preparation.
• The limits of cultivation: Even techniques that naturally counter an enemy’s abilities may fail when the practitioner’s strength is insufficient.
• Illusion versus reality: The palace’s beautiful vision represents temptation and deception, while Chen’s ability to dispel it reflects spiritual discipline and clarity.
• Ancient power and mystery: The Water Palace, its lifeless guardians, and the unknown elder suggest a much greater history and danger still hidden within.
• Persistence amid setbacks: Chen repeatedly adapts after failure instead of abandoning the investigation.

Character Interactions

• Chen interacts mainly with the palace’s magical defenses through his paper figures and Five Ghosts.
• The white-robed messenger attempts to lure him through an illusion by inviting him to meet the palace’s master, but Chen rejects the deception.
• The civil official acts as the palace’s verbal guardian, turning his declaration into a lethal attack that destroys intruders.
• The two martial generals serve as physical gatekeepers, cooperating to form an unbreakable defensive barrier.
• Chen’s spells temporarily suppress the civil official and attempt to overcome the generals, but the guardians’ coordinated defenses ultimately defeat every probe.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Over three days and four nights, vegetation grows at an unnatural speed across the ten counties. Roads, fields, villages, and even cities are swallowed by trees and flowers, terrifying the population and throwing the Martial Alliance into disorder.
• Chen Jichuan helps stabilize the Martial Alliance through its leadership but ultimately focuses on strengthening himself, believing greater upheavals are coming.
• The Li River Water Palace is carried downstream more than forty li by the floodwaters, eventually reaching the Yangshuo County section of the river. Chen locates it and prepares another attempt to enter.
• Using the Mouth-Sealing Method, Chen prevents the palace’s civil officials from speaking. He then uses the Slippery Oil Mountain technique to make the military generals lose their footing and destroy their Ironclad Fortress.
• Chen’s paper man reaches the silver-haired elder beneath the Yellow Gauze Umbrella, but the elder’s mysterious power forces it to revert to its true paper form. Chen realizes he cannot overcome the elder directly.
• He frees two condemned criminals, Zhang Hu and Zhao Jiu, from prison and uses the Tightening Hoop Curse to compel them to enter the Water Palace and push the elder.
• Zhao Jiu reaches the elder, but before he can act, the elder disappears and leaves behind a dragon-carved seal. Zhao briefly considers stealing it, but Chen activates the curse, forcing him to return the seal.
• After killing the two criminals and destroying their souls, Chen examines the treasure and identifies it as the Low-Grade Li River Seal.
• The seal grants authority over the Li River Water Palace, control of the river’s water veins and seasonal rain and snow, access to the Water Palace’s power for cultivation, and the supreme art Commentary on the Water Classic.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan becomes increasingly cautious and pragmatic. Rather than confronting the mysterious elder personally, he adapts his strategy and uses disposable paper men and coerced prisoners.
• He also shows growing awareness of the dangers of the changing world, prioritizing personal strength and preparation over immediate political concerns.
• Chen’s unease about obtaining the seal too easily reveals his developing suspicion and caution. After reviewing the risks and effort involved, he accepts that the treasure was genuinely earned.
• Zhang Hu and Zhao Jiu are portrayed as brutal criminals motivated by fear and self-preservation. Their gratitude toward Chen quickly becomes terror once he reveals his methods of control.
• Zhao Jiu briefly displays greed when he sees the seal, but the Tightening Hoop Curse immediately suppresses his resistance.
• The silver-haired elder remains enigmatic. He effortlessly neutralizes Chen’s final approach, disappears with the palace’s officials, and leaves behind the seal without directly explaining his identity or purpose.

Significant Themes

• Chaos and the return of primordial nature: The explosive growth of vegetation suggests civilization is being overwhelmed and the world is reverting to a savage, ancient state.
• Preparation amid uncertainty: Chen cannot stop the changes in heaven and earth, so he concentrates on cultivating power and acquiring resources to survive future disasters.
• Ingenuity over brute force: Chen succeeds through layered techniques, experimentation, and indirect tactics rather than direct combat.
• Authority and inheritance: The Li River Seal represents both political and supernatural control, while also carrying the Water Palace’s highest cultivation legacy.
• Moral ambiguity and coercion: Chen uses criminals as expendable tools, demonstrating his willingness to employ ruthless methods when pursuing power and survival.
• The deceptive appearance of ease: Although the seal appears to fall into Chen’s hands effortlessly, he reflects that discovery and acquisition required rare abilities, careful planning, and significant losses.

Character Interactions

• Chen reassures the Martial Alliance’s leaders, who pass his confidence down through the organization to calm the frightened population.
• He confronts the Water Palace’s civil and military officials, silencing the former and defeating the latter through specialized techniques.
• His paper man attempts to approach the silver-haired elder but is exposed and neutralized.
• Chen dominates Zhang Hu and Zhao Jiu through fear and supernatural punishment, ordering them to retrieve the seal.
• Zhao’s encounter with the elder emphasizes the elder’s overwhelming authority: with a single gesture, he makes the palace’s inhabitants vanish and causes the seal to appear.
• The chapter ends with Chen holding both the Primordial Star Sword and the Li River Seal, symbolizing his growing power and expanding access to ancient legacies.

Chapter Summary: “Tortoise Chancellor, Crab General, Shrimp General!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan explores the abandoned Li River Water Mansion after the previous illusions and officials disappear.
• He discovers that the grand hall’s civil and military officials, as well as the silver-bearded elder, were manifestations of the Yellow Gauze Umbrella, a low-grade defensive artifact created by Mu Qianshan, former Lord of the Water Mansion.
• The Yellow Gauze Umbrella can summon powerful phantom officials, erase techniques near it, and provide strong defensive protection. However, Chen Jichuan cannot move it, leading him to suspect that it must first be refined—or may be permanently fixed in place.
• Although disappointed, Chen realizes the immovable umbrella can still serve as a powerful refuge inside the Water Mansion.
• He begins worrying about how to relocate or conceal the enormous Water Mansion, especially since the opposing armies on both riverbanks might notice any attempt to tow it away.
• Three aquatic spirits—a thousand-year-old turtle, a crab, and a shrimp—approach the palace. They are drawn inside after being confused by the Water Mansion’s illusions and separated from their physical bodies.
• Chen discovers that the three are newly awakened spirits, each possessing strength roughly equivalent to an Eighth-Level Innate expert but lacking cultivation knowledge, spells, and intelligence.
• Mistaking Chen for the Water Mansion’s ruler, they bow before him. Chen takes advantage of the situation and recruits them as his first officials.
• He teaches them cultivation methods: the turtle receives the Grand Yin Body-Refining Method, while the crab and shrimp receive the first eight levels of the Seventy-Two Peerless Arts.
• Chen names them Tortoise Chancellor, Crab General, and Shrimp General, leaving their personal names for them to choose later after gaining greater wisdom and literacy.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan becomes the acknowledged master of the Li River Water Mansion after obtaining the Li River Seal. He begins thinking like a ruler, considering defenses, territory, transportation, recruitment, and methods of controlling subordinates.
• His resourcefulness and ambition grow as he recognizes the strategic value of combining the Martial Alliance on land with the Water Mansion in the river.
• Chen also demonstrates caution: although he welcomes the three spirits, he limits the cultivation techniques he teaches them so that their future strength remains under his control.
• The turtle, crab, and shrimp spirits gain intelligence and direction for the first time. Their immediate acceptance of Chen’s authority reflects their naivety, gratitude, and instinctive attachment to the Water Mansion.
• The three spirits are physically powerful but inexperienced, making them useful potential guardians and soldiers while also leaving them dependent on Chen’s guidance.

Significant Themes

• Power and legitimacy: Chen’s possession of the Li River Seal and his connection to the Yellow Gauze Umbrella establish him as the Water Mansion’s new lord, even though the spirits’ loyalty initially comes from misunderstanding and instinct.
• Decline and lost glory: The contrast between the magnificent illusions of the former Water Mansion and its ruined, abandoned state suggests the collapse of a once-powerful aquatic domain.
• Pragmatism and control: Chen balances kindness with suspicion. He offers the spirits cultivation and positions but withholds advanced techniques, reflecting the political principle of rewarding allies while guarding against betrayal.
• Awakening and civilization: The three monsters have only recently developed intelligence. Names, language, cultivation, and official roles mark their gradual transition from beasts into organized, civilized beings.
• Land and water authority: Chen hopes to establish influence in both the human world and the river, expanding from an individual cultivator into the leader of a broader power.

Character Interactions

• Chen attempts to command the summoned civil and military officials as “loyal ministers,” but they ignore him, showing that he does not yet fully understand or control the Yellow Gauze Umbrella’s manifestations.
• The turtle, crab, and shrimp approach the Water Mansion together, displaying different personalities: the shrimp is aggressive, the crab forceful, and the turtle cautious and ancient.
• Once brought before Chen by the white-clad envoy, the three spirits respectfully greet him as the Water Mansion’s lord.
• Chen recruits them by offering official positions, and they eagerly accept without recognizing that he is also evaluating and managing them.
• Their gratitude deepens when Chen gives them cultivation methods and names, creating the beginnings of loyalty toward both Chen and the Water Mansion.

Chapter Summary: “Grain in Hand, Calm at Heart”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan realizes that Tortoise Chancellor, Crab General, and Shrimp General—newly recruited aquatic monsters with strength comparable to Eighth-grade Innate Realm experts—can command underwater creatures.
• He orders them to relocate the Water Mansion Secret Realm. After the secret realm is cleared of fishermen and Martial Alliance personnel, hundreds of thousands of aquatic creatures tow the entire palace through the Li River and into the Su River.
• The Water Mansion is successfully hidden roughly ten li upstream, where it is anchored to the lakebed with chains and becomes a secluded fallback base.
• Chen Jichuan brings Fang Dong, Tan Zhang, and Liu Baohua to help establish the Water Mansion’s internal administration:
  • Tan Zhang will teach literacy, classical learning, and moral principles.
  • Fang Dong will study Daoist scriptures with Tortoise Chancellor.
  • Liu Baohua will teach military knowledge and underwater warfare.
• Chen orders Crab General and Shrimp General to search the rivers for aquatic monsters, recruit intelligent creatures, organize shrimp and crab laborers, mine Clam Pearls, and locate all entrances to the Water Mansion.
• Over the following month, an unexplained surge in vegetation and animal growth transforms the land. Roads become overgrown, farmland is threatened, pests multiply, and predators begin attacking civilians.
• Despite these dangers, the Martial Alliance benefits greatly from the accelerated growth. Medicinal herbs mature in days or overnight, while Peach Haven produces thirty-four grain harvests in one month, giving the alliance several years of food reserves.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan becomes more strategic and institution-minded. Rather than treating the Water Mansion merely as a treasure, he develops it into a long-term military, educational, and administrative base.
• Tortoise Chancellor demonstrates caution and responsibility by offering the support of his turtle clan rather than making an overly broad claim.
• Crab General and Shrimp General show enthusiasm and loyalty, readily accepting orders and taking responsibility for the aquatic mobilization and future recruitment efforts.
• Fang Dong, Tan Zhang, and Liu Baohua transition from their previous roles into trusted specialists serving the Water Mansion. Their assignments reflect their individual expertise in surveillance, scholarship, Daoism, and military affairs.
• Chen Shaohe capitalizes on the accelerated plant growth, dramatically expanding the Martial Alliance’s medicinal reserves.

Significant Themes

• Preparation and strategic depth: Chen builds the Water Mansion as a secure retreat and future power center in case land-based operations fail.
• Institution-building: The chapter emphasizes that power requires organization—education, military training, resource production, intelligence, and control of territory.
• Adaptation to upheaval: The sudden transformation of nature creates both disasters and opportunities. The Martial Alliance survives by responding flexibly rather than panicking.
• Resources create stability: The abundant harvests embody the chapter’s central idea, reflected in its title: possessing sufficient grain and supplies gives people confidence and prevents panic.
• Balance between danger and opportunity: The flourishing natural world threatens roads, farms, and civilians while simultaneously providing unprecedented agricultural and medicinal abundance.

Character Interactions

• Chen consults Tortoise Chancellor, Crab General, and Shrimp General about their authority over aquatic life, then trusts them with the relocation and development of the Water Mansion.
• He introduces the three aquatic leaders to Fang Dong, Tan Zhang, and Liu Baohua, creating cooperation between humans and transformed aquatic beings.
• Chen assigns each human subordinate a specific teaching or administrative role, establishing a structured partnership rather than leaving the monsters to develop independently.
• Fang Dong is paired with Tortoise Chancellor for Daoist study, while Liu Baohua works with Crab General and Shrimp General on military organization and underwater warfare.
• Wang Quan reports the worsening conditions in Yangshuo County to Chen, highlighting Chen’s role as a leader balancing public danger against the Martial Alliance’s unexpected gains.
• The chapter ends with the alliance reassured by its overflowing grain stores: although the natural upheaval is alarming, its reserves provide the confidence to endure it.