Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• With the Embrace-Origin Pill, Pei Ze’s long-standing injuries and chronic ailments are completely cured. He regains the ability to cultivate and breaks through directly into the Innate Realm.
• After resolving Pei Ze’s situation, Chen Jichuan searches the western Profound Nether Sea for a suitable location to establish Echo Valley overseas.
• He selects the Four Spirits Islands, a region about 1,800 nautical miles northwest of White Jade Island. The area contains many rogue cultivators and small sects but no Qi Refinement Realm Immortal Master, making it difficult but promising for development.
• Echo Valley establishes itself on Cold Smoke Island, one of the smaller islands in the Four Spirits Islands. Over the next ten years, the sect gradually secures its territory and begins developing its infrastructure.
• Wu Shouyang and Zhong Dahai arrange a route between Three Realms Pass and the Four Spirits Islands so that talented disciples from inland can join the overseas branch and maintain ties with Echo Valley’s original base.
• Zhong Dahai and Wang Wenqing travel inland and return two years later with eight promising disciples. Their journey is long and dangerous, involving overland travel, multiple ships, and extended waits.
• Upon returning, they find Echo Valley beginning a major waterworks project involving dredging rivers and digging canals to benefit Cold Smoke Island’s residents.
• The chapter concludes with Wu Shouyang revealing that Chen Jichuan has spent the past year at Jade Spring Mountain because Immortal Master Wuyuan is nearing the end of his lifespan, strongly suggesting an important impending event.

Character Developments

• Pei Ze experiences a major transformation, recovering his cultivation and entering the Innate Realm. His former weakness and illness are replaced by renewed potential and confidence.
• Chen Jichuan demonstrates his role as both protector and long-term leader. He cares for Pei Ze while also planning Echo Valley’s overseas expansion and building a sustainable foundation.
• Zhong Dahai continues to develop as a powerful body-refinement cultivator and reliable leader. His ability in close combat allows him to escort the new disciples safely.
• Wang Wenqing proves his value through swordsmanship, spells, and especially his expertise in water- and earth-element techniques. He is expected to contribute heavily to the waterworks project.
• Wu Shouyang has become the central administrator of Echo Valley’s overseas branch. The absence of Zhong Dahai and Wang Wenqing has increased his workload, but he remains responsible and relieved by their return.
• The eight new disciples symbolize Echo Valley’s growth beyond its original eleven founding disciples and suggest the beginning of a second generation.

Significant Themes

• Recovery and renewed potential: Pei Ze’s healing represents the restoration of talent that had been buried under illness and misfortune.
• Building a legacy: Echo Valley is shifting from a small inland sect into an expanding organization with overseas territory, infrastructure, and new disciples.
• Hardship as growth: The difficult voyage and the challenges of settling Cold Smoke Island strengthen the disciples’ resolve and give them a renewed sense of purpose.
• Community and belonging: Echo Valley seeks legitimacy not merely through strength but by improving local life through waterworks and integrating itself with the island’s residents.
• The passage of time and mortality: Ten years of development contrast with the approaching end of Immortal Master Wuyuan’s life, hinting at changes in the balance of power around Jade Spring Island.

Character Interactions

• Chen Jichuan consults his disciples about where Echo Valley should settle, showing a collaborative but decisive leadership style.
• Zhong Dahai and Wang Wenqing share friendly banter about their respective responsibilities, particularly Wang Wenqing’s unavoidable role in the waterworks project.
• The two warmly greet the eight new disciples and introduce them to their new home, reflecting their pride in Echo Valley’s progress.
• Zhong Dahai and Wang Wenqing reunite enthusiastically with Wu Shouyang, exchanging news about their journey and Three Realms Pass.
• Their reunion is interrupted by the revelation that Chen Jichuan is absent because of Immortal Master Wuyuan’s declining lifespan, setting up the chapter’s next major development.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan practices swordsmanship on Jade Spring Island at sunrise, combining the Ink-Splash Hemp-Draped Sword Method with the Seven-String Immortal-Shocking Sword Technique. After reaching a high level in both, he begins learning the Thirty-Six Ailao Mountain Swords, a technique renowned for its overwhelming offensive power.
• Wuyuan Immortal Master and his friend Shi Tongwei observe Chen’s training. Shi urges Wuyuan to give Chen the Origin Seed, believing Chen has the greatest chance of reaching the Qi Refinement Realm.
• Wuyuan refuses because he feels Chen previously used false humility and “petty tricks” to manipulate him. Even though Wuyuan knows Chen is talented, he would rather keep his word—and deny Chen’s supposed scheme—than give him the Origin Seed.
• Wuyuan reflects on his approaching death after more than three hundred years of cultivation. He accepts his fate calmly and encourages Shi Tongwei to seek a path to transcendence by traveling east after reaching a higher cultivation level.
• Fifty years after Chen entered the Jade Spring World, Wuyuan dies at the age of 315. Chen leaves Jade Spring Island and spends the next decade traveling through the Profound Nether Sea.
• During this period, Chen fights numerous cultivators, improves his swordsmanship and combat ability, and advances his alchemy. He also sells or trades excess spoils from his battles for pills, talismans, techniques, formulas, and other useful treasures.
• Chen becomes a regular participant in underground trading gatherings, using them both to acquire rare resources and to practice detecting ambushes and countering cultivators who attempt to rob others.
• At a gathering on Hundred Flowers Island, Chen unexpectedly recognizes the Qian Brothers, who are still disguised and pretending not to know one another. He realizes they remain stuck at the Innate Zenith, as he is.
• Chen reflects on the difficulty of advancing to the Qi Refinement Realm. Despite years of training, combat, travel, and alchemy, he has gained no insight into comprehending mana or the laws of nature.
• He recalls that Wuyuan never gave him the Origin Seed. However, even the cultivator who received it failed to reach Qi Refinement, suggesting that the seed alone cannot overcome the realm’s immense difficulty.
• The chapter ends as the informal trading meeting begins in earnest, with cultivators offering treasures and negotiating direct, three-way, or four-way exchanges.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan demonstrates exceptional sword talent and discipline. He has perfected two advanced sword arts and begins studying a third, showing his continued ambition and methodical approach to cultivation.
• His combat experience has made him more capable, cautious, and observant. He has developed strong skills in identifying concealed identities, recognizing traps, and exploiting underground markets.
• Chen remains pragmatic rather than greedy. He did not covet Wuyuan’s Origin Seed and was able to accept its denial without resentment.
• Wuyuan Immortal Master appears stubborn and prideful but also independent and honest in his own way. Facing death, he refuses to compromise his personal will and accepts his fate with composure.
• Shi Tongwei is loyal and practical. He worries about Wuyuan’s death and hopes Jade Spring Mountain’s legacy will continue, while also harboring his own desire to pursue transcendence.
• The Qian Brothers remain cautious and secretive but have made no visible progress in cultivation after twenty years, reinforcing the difficulty of breaking through from the Innate Realm.

Significant Themes

• The difficulty of cultivation and transcendence: Reaching the Qi Refinement Realm requires more than resources or talent; it demands genuine comprehension of mana, nature, and deeper principles.
• Mortality and acceptance: Wuyuan’s approaching death contrasts with the cultivators’ pursuit of immortality. His calm acceptance suggests that long life does not eliminate the inevitability of death.
• Pride, stubbornness, and personal will: Wuyuan’s refusal to give Chen the Origin Seed is driven less by practical judgment than by his unwillingness to let Chen’s perceived manipulation succeed.
• Continuous self-improvement: Chen’s decision to master another sword technique after already achieving great skill reflects the importance of accumulation, persistence, and broad foundations.
• Caution and survival in the cultivation world: Underground markets are both opportunities and dangers. Chen’s experience illustrates the need for concealment, observation, and preparation.
• Fate and chance: Chen’s unexpected encounter with the Qian Brothers emphasizes the unpredictable connections created by travel and cultivation.

Character Interactions

• Shi Tongwei praises Chen’s swordsmanship and tries to persuade Wuyuan to support him with the Origin Seed.
• Wuyuan dismisses Chen’s apparent loyalty as manipulation, revealing his resentment and refusal to reward what he considers deceit.
• Despite disagreeing, Shi and Wuyuan share a deep friendship. Shi is saddened by Wuyuan’s decline, while Wuyuan comforts him and encourages him to seek a higher path.
• Chen has no direct interaction with the Qian Brothers in this excerpt, but he secretly observes and recognizes them while they attempt to conceal their relationship.
• At the trading gathering, the cultivators interact through negotiations and flexible exchanges, establishing a tense but cooperative atmosphere in which alliances and indirect trades are possible.

Chapter Summary: “Daoist Friend, Please Stay!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• At a secret trade fair, Chen Jichuan presents two top-grade magical artifacts: the Light-Splitting Treasure Mirror, which can see through formations, and the Yellow Spirit Bell, which can defend against flying swords and spells.
• The artifacts attract considerable attention, including from the brothers Qian Jibang and Qian Jimin.
• Qian Jibang first attempts to trade a mysterious bluish-black metal fragment. Chen’s Insight Art identifies it as a remnant of an Innate Puppet, but he declines the offer without exposing the deception.
• Qian Jibang then offers the Rising Sun Pill formula, but Chen already possesses it and considers it insufficient compensation. Several additional offers also fail to interest him.
• Qian Jimin offers the movement art Wind-Thunder Wings, which greatly increases speed and can be cultivated progressively from the Innate Realm to the Qi Refining Realm.
• Chen is genuinely interested in the technique, but negotiations fail because he is willing to exchange only the Light-Splitting Treasure Mirror, while Qian Jimin demands both top-grade artifacts.
• Chen ultimately keeps both treasures, though he exchanges some high-grade artifacts and pills for the Fire Sun Pill formula, a valuable formula that produces yang fire to temper a cultivator’s inner force, true qi, and true essence.
• After the trade fair, Chen sells other artifacts and Spirit Stones at Hundred-Blossom Market and purchases pills, manuals, and supplies for the impoverished disciples of Echo Valley, viewing them as an investment toward eventually founding a sect.
• As Chen leaves the sinister Hundred Flowers Island, Qian Jimin follows him through the mist and asks him to “borrow” the Light-Splitting Treasure Mirror, setting up a suspicious new encounter.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan demonstrates caution, confidence, and strong bargaining ability. He uses his Insight Art to identify valuable or deceptive items and refuses to overpay for things he wants.
• His priorities are made clear: he values cultivation techniques and pill formulas far more than ordinary artifacts, pills, or material wealth.
• Chen also reveals his long-term ambition to build a sect. His support of Echo Valley’s disciples is strategic investment rather than simple charity.
• Qian Jibang is shown to be calculating and opportunistic, attempting to pass off a difficult-to-identify puppet remnant and repeatedly trying to secure Chen’s treasure at a favorable price.
• Qian Jimin appears more measured but equally determined. His Wind-Thunder Wings technique is genuinely valuable, yet his insistence on receiving both top-grade artifacts prevents a deal.

Significant Themes

• Knowledge is more valuable than material possessions: Chen willingly trades artifacts and pills for rare formulas and cultivation arts.
• Caution and discernment in the cultivation world: The trade fair is filled with hidden motives, stolen goods, inflated values, and attempts at deception.
• Bargaining and unequal desire: Both sides want what the other possesses, but differing evaluations of worth prevent agreement.
• Long-term investment and ambition: Chen’s aid to Echo Valley reflects his plan to establish a future sect and benefit from the disciples’ eventual growth.
• Danger beneath apparent order: Although the trade fair is orderly, it takes place in a black market populated by lawless cultivators, and the eerie Hundred Flowers Island offers both concealment and peril.

Character Interactions

• Chen’s exchanges with Qian Jibang are marked by skepticism and restrained hostility. Chen rejects each proposal without revealing that he has seen through Qian’s attempted deception.
• His negotiation with Qian Jimin is more serious because Chen genuinely wants Wind-Thunder Wings, but both men refuse to concede enough, causing the deal to collapse.
• Their final interaction is unresolved and potentially threatening: after the market closes, Qian Jimin secretly pursues Chen and asks to borrow the Light-Splitting Treasure Mirror, suggesting that he may have another motive beyond ordinary trade.

Chapter Summary: “Rage from Humiliation!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan agrees to lend Qian Jimin the Light-Splitting Treasure Mirror, but demands that the Wind-Thunder Wings be left as collateral. Qian Jimin suspects he is being mocked and instead offers the wings plus the Yellow Spirit Bell as payment.
• Qian Jimin suddenly attacks with a powerful Wind-Summoning Fan, blowing Chen Jichuan into a prearranged Wind-Thunder Grand Formation controlled by his brother, Qian Jibang.
• Although the formation unleashes violent wind and lightning, Chen Jichuan uses his Insight Art to understand it and escapes without fighting directly.
• Chen reveals his true appearance and identity, hoping their former friendship will make the brothers reconsider. However, Qian Jibang recognizes him and continues the attack, confirming that the brothers intend to kill him and seize his treasures.
• Chen scatters numerous paper doubles to confuse the brothers, then returns to a prepared ritual site. Furious at nearly being ambushed, he decides to abandon all restraint and kill them.
• Using the Rice-and-Meat-Cooking Curse, Chen secretly curses both brothers. Rather than killing them instantly, he chooses a slower method that allows their deaths to appear gradual and difficult to prevent.
• The Qian Brothers fail to catch him and convince themselves that Chen was the true schemer, claiming he deliberately lured them into conflict. They plan to capture him and use the Light-Splitting Treasure Mirror to enter the Cloud-Leaving Immortal Abode, their hoped-for path to advancing beyond the Innate Zenith Realm.
• After seven days of deliberately exposing their movements to lure Chen out, the brothers become anxious when he does not appear. Qian Jibang decides to retreat, despite Qian Jimin’s reluctance to abandon the treasure.
• Just as they prepare to leave, the curse takes effect. Both brothers experience overwhelming internal “heart fire,” causing their true essence to run wild and making them vomit blood. Realizing Chen is attacking them invisibly, they flee toward their heavily fortified home.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan shifts from restrained and conciliatory to ruthless. He initially honors his past friendship with Qian Jimin, offers fair terms, and even gives the brothers chances to stop. Their betrayal and attempt on his life convince him that mercy is no longer appropriate.
• Chen’s anger is intensified by humiliation: despite carefully preparing his own traps, he nearly falls into the brothers’ ambush. His response demonstrates his cautious nature, strategic intelligence, and willingness to retaliate decisively once pushed too far.
• Qian Jimin, once kindhearted, has become suspicious and morally hardened through years of cultivation-world scheming. He immediately interprets Chen’s actions maliciously and helps justify the brothers’ betrayal.
• Qian Jibang is more decisive and controlling, directing the formation and later choosing retreat when he senses danger. Nevertheless, he is arrogant and self-righteous, believing Chen is the villain even after the brothers initiate the attack.
• The brothers’ shared greed for the Light-Splitting Treasure Mirror and their desire to enter the Cloud-Leaving Immortal Abode outweigh their former relationship with Chen.

Significant Themes

• Betrayal and the destruction of friendship: Past bonds cannot survive when one side replaces trust with suspicion and greed.
• The difficulty of remaining virtuous: Chen reflects that being good in the cultivation world is difficult because kindness is often exploited.
• Retribution and justified ruthlessness: Chen’s retaliation is presented as a response to repeated betrayal rather than an unprovoked act of cruelty.
• Self-deception and moral hypocrisy: The Qian Brothers initiated the ambush but convince themselves that Chen was secretly plotting against them.
• Caution versus overconfidence: Chen’s preparations and Insight Art save him, while the brothers’ confidence in their formation and treasures blinds them to his hidden counterattack.
• Ambition and desperation: Their hope of breaking into the Qi Refinement Realm drives the brothers to risk their lives for the Light-Splitting Treasure Mirror.

Character Interactions

• Chen and Qian Jimin begin with a tense negotiation shaped by their former friendship, but Qian Jimin’s sudden attack turns the exchange into open hostility.
• Qian Jibang supports his brother’s ambush and refuses to stop even after recognizing Chen, proving that the brothers value his treasures more than their past connection.
• Chen gives both brothers multiple opportunities to withdraw, but their continued aggression permanently ends his restraint.
• After the failed pursuit, the brothers reinforce each other’s distorted interpretation of events, blaming Chen for the conflict and planning to exploit his formation-breaking artifact.
• The chapter ends with Chen’s invisible curse striking both brothers simultaneously, forcing them to flee together while fearing an enemy they cannot locate.

Chapter Summary: “Get Rich! Get Rich! We’re Rich!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After more than ten days at sea, the Qian Brothers return to Carefree Island and seal themselves inside their cave abode.
• Chen Jichuan’s Rice-and-Meat-Cooking Curse, maintained for forty-nine days, finally kills both brothers. Their bodies are reduced to ashes, though their belongings remain intact.
• Chen gathers their ashes and sends them away using paper figures, treating their deaths as a final farewell despite their past conflict.
• He thoroughly searches the cave abode and discovers that the Qian Brothers possessed an enormous collection of treasures, books, jade slips, formation materials, artifacts, and spirit stones.
• Their library contains records of the Profound Nether Sea, references on pills, talismans, ores, and artifacts, cultivation methods, technical manuals, and a particularly extensive collection of formation texts.
• Chen discovers two especially valuable inheritances:
  • Wind-Thunder Wings, a mid-tier movement art that grants tremendous speed.
  • Wind-Thunder True Scripture, an Exquisite Grade cultivation method capable of reaching the Aperture-Opening Realm.
• His Insight Art now assigns grades to cultivation methods and arts, allowing him to distinguish their value quickly. He learns that the Sword Diagram and Commentary on the Water Classic are also Exquisite Grade, while most of his existing techniques are only low-tier.
• Chen finds the Wind-Summoning Fan and Thunder-Drawing Fan, two top-grade artifacts that can combine into the powerful magical treasure known as the Wind-Thunder Fan.
• He also discovers other top-grade artifacts, including the Wind-Stilling Pearl and Azure Cloud Umbrella, as well as numerous defensive artifacts and talismans.
• The chapter ends with Chen wondering why the Qian Brothers possessed so many defensive items despite specializing in wind-and-thunder techniques, leading him to form a new theory.

Character Development

• Chen Jichuan demonstrates his growing strength and confidence. His tenth-level Dao Arts allow him to kill two Fourth Innate Stage cultivators through a slow, nearly undetectable curse.
• He remains cautious and analytical, carefully inspecting every treasure rather than rushing to claim only the most obvious rewards.
• Chen’s philosophy develops as he reflects on the Qian Brothers’ deaths. He concludes that specializing exclusively in one discipline can make a cultivator vulnerable to counters and that, given his immense time advantage, he should pursue broad mastery.
• His excitement over the graded treasures reveals his increasing ambition. He begins thinking strategically about using the Insight Art to locate overlooked high-level techniques and artifacts in the future.
• Though he has defeated the Qian Brothers, Chen still acknowledges their endurance and gives them a respectful final send-off, showing that he is not entirely without sentiment.

Significant Themes

• Power and preparation: The Qian Brothers’ considerable wealth and formation expertise prove useless because they misjudged Chen’s abilities and had no chance to prepare a countermeasure.
• The danger of specialization: Their mastery of formations and wind-thunder techniques could not save them against an unfamiliar method of attack. Chen uses this as a warning against relying too heavily on a single path.
• The value of knowledge and versatility: The chapter emphasizes that books, manuals, and broad learning may be more valuable than immediate combat power.
• Opportunity after victory: Chen’s defeat of his enemies becomes a major turning point, granting him access to superior cultivation methods, rare artifacts, and new possibilities for advancement.
• Hidden value and proper evaluation: The newly revealed grading system allows Chen to recognize the true worth of items that might otherwise appear ordinary.

Character Interactions

• Chen and the Qian Brothers never meet directly in the chapter, but their earlier conflict determines everything that follows.
• Chen’s curse slowly destroys the brothers while giving them false hope that they might survive the forty-nine-day period.
• His respectful handling of their ashes contrasts with the ruthless manner of their deaths and reflects their former acquaintance.
• The Wind-Thunder Twin Fans remind Chen of his earlier confrontation with Qian Jimin, who once used the Wind-Summoning Fan to blast him more than ten li away.
• Chen realizes that if the brothers had been able to combine the fans and fight together, they might have seriously injured or even endangered him. Their failure to coordinate ultimately becomes one of the reasons he survives and claims their treasures.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan discovers a Minor Teleportation Talisman hidden inside an ore. The talisman, refined by Li Yun Zi, can locate and teleport its user to the Cloud-Leaving Immortal Abode.
• From the talisman, the Wind-Thunder Twin Fans, and the Qian Brothers’ research, Chen deduces that the brothers had previously found the immortal abode and obtained several of Li Yun Zi’s inheritances.
• Rather than immediately entering the abode, Chen spends three years refining the Wind-Thunder Twin Fans, studying the Wind-Thunder True Scripture, and mastering the Wind-Thunder Wings.
• He eventually uses the talisman to teleport to a dangerous abyss filled with raging wind and lightning. Using the Wind-Stilling Pearl and Azure Cloud Umbrella, he advances toward the immortal abode.
• At the entrance, Chen encounters a powerful wind-and-thunder formation that had previously blocked the Qian Brothers. Using his Insight Art, he discovers and retrieves the hidden Li Yun Token, which controls the abode’s entrances, protects against wind and thunder, and grants access to every area within.
• The Cloud-Leaving Immortal Abode proves to be an exceptional spirit land, containing powerful spiritual energy, ruined medicinal gardens, surviving ancient herbs, a Wind-Thunder Fan Palm Tree, and a Wind-Thunder Immortal Apricot Tree. Chen decides to make it his permanent cultivation base.
• Over the following decades, Chen cultivates, practices swordsmanship, refines pills, studies techniques, and occasionally travels to gain experience. His alchemy improves greatly, eventually making him a Grand Apothecary.
• His Thirty-Six Ailao Mountain Swords reach the Divine Mastery Realm, allowing him to divide his Sword Qi into thirty-six strands.
• By age 111, Chen reaches the peak of the Innate, Transformative Force, and Out-of-Body realms, though he still cannot break into the Qi Refining Realm.
• In the Jade Spring World, Chen oversees the rapid development of the Li River Water Palace. Administrative systems are organized, troops are trained, and powerful aquatic spirits throughout the Li River are subdued or recruited.
• The Water Palace grows to approximately 8,000 soldiers, including shrimp, crab, yellow croaker, hairtail, and other aquatic troops. Three hundred can assume human form and serve as commanders or squad leaders.
• Chen prepares to reward and promote Liu Baohua, whose military leadership has transformed the Water Palace’s forces into a disciplined navy.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan becomes more cautious and methodical, choosing to strengthen himself before exploring the immortal abode rather than acting impulsively. His long-term cultivation produces major advances in alchemy, swordsmanship, combat ability, and spiritual attainment.
• He demonstrates greater strategic judgment by recognizing the importance of the Cloud-Leaving Immortal Abode as both a cultivation sanctuary and a valuable inheritance.
• Chen’s leadership abilities also become more apparent in the Jade Spring World. He delegates civil administration, military training, and military expansion to capable subordinates while maintaining overall control.
• Liu Baohua proves himself an exceptional commander. Despite his ordinary origins and somewhat limited personal strength, his discipline, integrity, and military talent allow him to build the Water Palace’s army rapidly.
• The Qian Brothers are further characterized as greedy and violent. Their refusal to trade fairly for Chen’s Light-Splitting Treasure Mirror ultimately contributed to their downfall.

Significant Themes

• Preparation before opportunity: Chen’s decision to cultivate for three years before entering the immortal abode reflects the importance of strengthening oneself before pursuing dangerous opportunities.
• Inheritance and legacy: Li Yun Zi’s artifacts, formations, trees, talismans, and immortal abode continue shaping later generations, while Chen gradually claims and builds upon that legacy.
• The value of a proper cultivation environment: The Cloud-Leaving Immortal Abode demonstrates how spiritual energy, isolation, and natural defenses can dramatically accelerate cultivation.
• Talent and recognition: Liu Baohua’s rise shows that ability can emerge from humble origins and that true talent eventually earns recognition.
• Order versus chaos: Chen converts both the immortal abode and the Li River region into organized, controlled territories, contrasting with the danger and disorder that existed before his arrival.
• Greed and consequences: The Qian Brothers’ robbery and unwillingness to compromise serve as a warning about the destructive results of excessive greed.

Character Interactions

• Chen’s interaction with the Qian Brothers is indirect in this chapter, but his reflections on their greed contrast their methods with his own careful approach.
• Chen uses the inheritance left by Li Yun Zi, especially the Li Yun Token, to overcome the same obstacle that defeated the Qian Brothers.
• In the Water Palace, Chen works with Liu Baohua, the Tortoise Chancellor, the Crab General, the Shrimp General, and the newly recruited aquatic spirits to establish an effective government and military.
• Chen questions Liu Baohua about the army’s strength and openly acknowledges his achievements, signaling that a promotion or formal reward is imminent.
• The chapter closes with Chen preparing to recognize Liu Baohua’s service, emphasizing the developing relationship between a capable ruler and a loyal, talented subordinate.

Chapter Summary: “Rewards and Plans”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• The Li River Navy has been successfully established after months of work clearing and organizing the river. Chen Jichuan formally rewards those who contributed.
• Liu Baohua worries that, now that the navy is operational, he will be sent back to the Martial Alliance and lose his place in the Water Palace. Chen Jichuan reassures him that he intends to keep him and rely on his future service.
• Liu Baohua receives:
  • The Water Dragon Chant cultivation method, which can reach the Innate Zenith and is especially powerful underwater.
  • An Innate Pill.
  • Qi-Combining Pills, Azure Jade Pills, and Qi-Moving Powder.
• The Innate Pill gives Liu Baohua a realistic chance to break into the Innate Realm, greatly exciting him and making the other officials envious.
• The Shrimp and Crab Generals, who helped clear the Li River, receive Water Dragon Chant and Qi-Moving Powder.
• Chen Jichuan distributes cultivation methods and pills to the remaining civil and military officials, including the Tortoise Chancellor, Fang Dong, and Tan Zhang.
• Fang Dong and Tan Zhang also receive Innate Pills, while many others receive resources suited to their cultivation levels.
• Chen Jichuan explains that White Jade Capital’s organizations are being reorganized:
  • Yan Tower will focus on covert intelligence, recruitment, and talent discovery.
  • Beam Tower will openly control institutions such as the Martial Alliance and Water Palace.
• Liu Baohua, Fang Dong, and Tan Zhang are transferred from Yan Tower to Beam Tower. Chen Jichuan promises to recommend them for the prestigious Earthly Fiend Sequence once they reach the Innate Realm and help consolidate the Li River.
• After they leave, Chen Jichuan reflects on his increasing responsibilities and the need to delegate authority.
• He then travels to Begonia Mountain, where sixteen youths are being trained as the first members of Jade Tower, an organization focused on pill refinement.

2. Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Demonstrates strategic leadership by rewarding loyalty, investing in the cultivation of his subordinates, and restructuring White Jade Capital. He recognizes that his expanding responsibilities require him to delegate rather than personally manage everything.
• Liu Baohua: Moves from insecurity and fear of being discarded to renewed confidence and determination. His reward, especially the Innate Pill, gives him hope of entering the Innate Realm and securing a permanent, influential role in the Water Palace.
• Fang Dong and Tan Zhang: Become important administrative and military talents within the Water Palace. Their rewards and potential promotion to the Earthly Fiend Sequence motivate them to work harder, though Chen Jichuan warns them against becoming complacent.
• Shrimp and Crab Generals: Receive recognition for their dangerous and exhausting work clearing the Li River. Their joy reinforces their loyalty to Chen Jichuan.
• The Tortoise Chancellor and other officials: Gain cultivation resources that will strengthen both themselves and the Water Palace.
• Chen Shaohe and Xie Tao: Assist with training the new Jade Tower recruits, taking on supporting roles in Chen Jichuan’s larger organization.

3. Significant Themes

• Merit and reward: Chen Jichuan uses carefully selected rewards to recognize service and encourage continued loyalty.
• Cultivation as power and administration: Strengthening individual subordinates is presented as a direct way to strengthen the entire Water Palace and White Jade Capital.
• Delegation and organizational growth: As Chen Jichuan’s influence expands, he must build institutions and entrust capable people with authority.
• Ambition and social advancement: The Innate Realm and Earthly Fiend Sequence represent dramatic increases in status, making them powerful incentives for Liu Baohua and the others.
• Talent cultivation: Since skilled alchemists are rare, Chen Jichuan begins training them himself, showing his long-term approach to building self-sufficient organizations.
• Balancing generosity with limits: Chen Jichuan gives valuable rewards but withholds rarer resources such as the Exquisite-grade Commentary on the Water Classic, emphasizing his careful management of assets.

4. Character Interactions

• Chen Jichuan reassures Liu Baohua that his service is still needed, then rewards him generously. Liu Baohua responds with humility and vows to continue serving faithfully.
• Chen Jichuan publicly rewards the Shrimp and Crab Generals and offers them encouragement after their efforts in the Li River.
• The officials’ visible envy of Liu Baohua’s Innate Pill highlights the enormous prestige of Innate cultivation.
• Chen Jichuan privately explains the organizational transfer and future promotion prospects to Liu Baohua, Fang Dong, and Tan Zhang. Their gratitude shows their acceptance of his leadership and ambitions.
• Chen Jichuan tempers their excitement with a warning not to become arrogant or complacent.
• At Begonia Mountain, Xie Tao and Chen Shaohe work together to educate the young recruits who will form Jade Tower’s first generation of alchemists.

Summary of “Chen Shaohe and Dream Fox”

Key Plot Points and Events

• By late May, the world’s spiritual revival has transformed the landscape. Vegetation has grown wildly, roads have been destroyed, and travel between counties has become difficult. The Martial Alliance is working to restore transportation.
• Chen Jichuan meets his younger brother, Chen Shaohe, at Begonia Mountain and escorts him back to Mingtang Mountain.
• Chen Shaohe is now responsible for several demanding roles: studying alchemy under Jiang Wei, overseeing Peach Haven, and managing the Martial Alliance’s Medicinal Affairs Bureau.
• During the journey, Chen Shaohe proudly demonstrates his newly learned Levitation Art and Wind-Riding Art. Although he can only fly a short distance and for a brief time, he is thrilled to have achieved his childhood dream of flight.
• Chen Shaohe’s cultivation has advanced rapidly during the spiritual revival. He has reached the fifth layer of the Sword Diagram and the second layer of the Primordial Unity Technique, aided by Chen Jichuan’s pills and guidance.
• Chen Jichuan reflects on why he chose the Sword Diagram for Chen Shaohe rather than other cultivation methods. The Sword Diagram offers better long-term prospects because Chen Jichuan can continue helping him through sword-related Dao Fruits and insights.
• After returning home, the brothers pay respects to their deceased father, mother, and older brothers on their father’s death anniversary.
• Chen Shaohe then returns to Peach Haven to manage the medicinal fields. He discovers that large quantities of precious spiritual herbs have mysteriously disappeared.
• He secretly waits in the medicinal field and catches a small blue fox-like beast eating the herbs. Following it to its nest, he takes the sleeping creature and brings it to Chen Jichuan for examination.
• Chen Jichuan identifies the animal as a juvenile Dream Fox, a rare spirit beast capable of locating and refining spiritual resources. The pellets found in its nest are the purified remnants and impurities produced after the fox consumes spiritual herbs.
• The Dream Fox’s blue fur is caused by fear and pain: its ears were previously bitten off by a Double-Pupil Mouse. Chen Shaohe, initially furious over the stolen herbs, becomes delighted and fond of the creature after learning its true nature.

Character Development

• Chen Shaohe has grown from a survivor of tragedy into a capable and fulfilled young cultivator. He balances administrative duties, alchemy studies, medicinal cultivation, and sword practice with remarkable enthusiasm.
• His successful first attempts at flight reveal his youthful excitement and show that he is beginning to realize long-held dreams.
• Chen Shaohe’s cultivation progress demonstrates both the benefits of the spiritual revival and the value of Chen Jichuan’s careful instruction and resources.
• His reaction to the Dream Fox shows his practical but compassionate nature. He shifts quickly from anger over the destroyed herbs to affection once he realizes the creature is valuable and frightened.
• Chen Jichuan acts as an older brother, mentor, protector, and strategic guide. He is proud of Chen Shaohe’s progress and carefully considers his long-term cultivation before choosing the Sword Diagram for him.

Significant Themes

• Renewal and transformation: The spiritual revival reshapes the natural world, strengthens cultivators, and creates new opportunities and dangers.
• Brotherly love and family loyalty: Chen Jichuan continues to guide and protect Chen Shaohe, while both brothers maintain rituals honoring their deceased family.
• Long-term cultivation and planning: Chen Jichuan emphasizes sustainable progress over short-term advantages when choosing Chen Shaohe’s cultivation path.
• Dreams fulfilled after suffering: Chen Shaohe’s ability to fly symbolizes how far he has come since the hardships of Black Prison.
• Unexpected value in nature: What initially appears to be a pest destroying medicinal herbs turns out to be a rare and potentially invaluable spirit beast.
• Compassion overcoming anger: Chen Shaohe’s view of the Dream Fox changes once he understands its nature, pain, and potential.

Character Interactions

• Chen Jichuan praises Chen Shaohe’s first flight, strengthening the younger brother’s confidence and happiness.
• The brothers discuss cultivation, family memories, and their shared past while traveling to Mingtang Mountain.
• They pay respects together at the family memorials, reinforcing their bond and connection to their lost relatives.
• Chen Shaohe excitedly presents the Dream Fox and the contents of its nest to Chen Jichuan, seeking his judgment.
• Chen Jichuan uses his Insight Art to identify the creature and explains its abilities, transforming Chen Shaohe’s anger into excitement and affection.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan recognizes the Dream Fox’s extraordinary value: it can locate spiritual lands and treasures, while also refining pills, talismans, and magical artifacts into higher-quality items.
• He binds the Dream Fox with the Tightening Hoop Curse after it attempts to flee. Frightened but intelligent, the creature submits after receiving medicinal pills and agrees to follow him.
• Chen Shaohe grows fond of the Dream Fox and humorously tries to pose like a protagonist with it perched on his shoulder, though the frightened animal clings awkwardly to his clothing.
• Suspecting that the Double-Pupil Mouse that injured the Dream Fox may still be in Peach Haven, the brothers travel there to search for it.
• They find the Dream Fox’s former burrow near the medicinal fields. Chen Jichuan uses the Greased Mountain Technique to trap the mouse when it attempts to escape.
• The Double-Pupil Mouse is revealed to be a Grade 0 spirit beast with double pupils, a violent temperament, and the ability to locate spiritual lands and spiritual items. Unlike the Dream Fox, it only eats spiritual treasures.
• Chen Jichuan subdues it with the Tightening Hoop Curse. Chen Shaohe decides to keep it as a discreet guardian for the Medicinal Affairs Bureau and its fields.
• The mouse repeatedly tries to escape and resist, but Chen Shaohe curses it each time until it finally submits. Medicinal powders and the promise that it might evolve into a “Godslayer Rat” further encourage its obedience.
• The chapter ends with Chen Shaohe taking the Double-Pupil Mouse to rest while Chen Jichuan plans to explore Peach Haven with the Dream Fox in search of hidden treasures.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan demonstrates practical judgment and firm control. He quickly recognizes the Dream Fox’s usefulness, subdues both spirit beasts, and plans to exploit Peach Haven’s potential treasures.
• Chen Shaohe becomes increasingly enthusiastic and playful. He treats the spirit beasts affectionately, wants the Dream Fox as a storybook-style companion, and eagerly adopts the Double-Pupil Mouse as a practical guardian.
• The Dream Fox is shown to be intelligent, timid, obedient, and highly food-motivated. Though terrified of Chen Jichuan and the Double-Pupil Mouse, it gradually bonds with the brothers and takes obvious pleasure in seeing its former tormentor punished.
• The Double-Pupil Mouse is aggressive, stubborn, and fiercely independent. Despite repeated escape attempts, it eventually learns to obey Chen Shaohe after being disciplined and rewarded.

Significant Themes

• The value of spiritual resources: The chapter emphasizes that cultivators require methods, companions, wealth, and suitable lands. The Dream Fox is especially precious because it can provide both treasure and spiritually rich locations.
• Control balanced with reward: Chen Jichuan and Chen Shaohe use both coercion and food to tame the spirit beasts, showing a practical approach to forming bonds with powerful creatures.
• Temperament and strength: The contrast between the timid Dream Fox and the aggressive Double-Pupil Mouse supports the observation that excessively gentle beings are often bullied, while fiercer personalities command respect.
• Turning danger into advantage: The brothers transform former threats and nuisances into useful allies—one as a treasure-finder and the other as a field guardian.
• Exploration and hidden opportunity: Peach Haven’s growing farms and unexplored terrain suggest that the brothers’ search for spiritual treasures is only beginning.

Character Interactions

• Chen Jichuan controls the Dream Fox with the curse but softens his treatment by feeding and reassuring it.
• Chen Shaohe tries to interact playfully with the Dream Fox, though his enthusiasm unintentionally frightens it.
• The Dream Fox alerts the brothers to the Double-Pupil Mouse’s presence and later celebrates its capture.
• The Double-Pupil Mouse repeatedly challenges Chen Shaohe, attempting to bite or flee, while Chen Shaohe responds with a mixture of amusement, punishment, and rewards.
• The two spirit beasts remain natural enemies: the Double-Pupil Mouse intimidates the Dream Fox, while the Dream Fox stays close to Chen Jichuan for protection.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Before dawn, Chen Jichuan and Dream Fox search Peach Haven and the Water Mansion for anything suspicious.
• Dream Fox discovers a dense patch of aquatic grass concealing a hidden space. Inside is a vast, ruined palace complex protected from the surrounding water.
• Chen Jichuan explores the ruins and finds that most valuable items have already been removed. Dream Fox uncovers ordinary pearls, Spirit Stones, and broken weapons.
• A shattered stone stele reveals that this was the original Li River Water Mansion. It explains that spiritual qi rises and falls in cycles: flourishing eras are followed by the Age of Dharma’s Decline, when cultivation becomes extremely difficult.
• The former Water Mansion Lord evacuated eastward with his disciples to escape the coming decline. Chen Jichuan realizes the current era may be at the beginning of a new spiritual qi revival, though the full revival could still be decades or centuries away.
• Dream Fox accidentally activates a hidden long-distance teleportation array using a Cosmic Light Crystal. The array can transport up to three Innate Realm cultivators tens of millions of li.
• Expecting danger, Chen Jichuan hides Dream Fox and seals the array with the Heaven-and-Earth Net before concealing himself.
• A young Daoist named Han Jin arrives through the array. He is only twenty-seven but has reached Innate Zenith and cultivates the Commentary on the Water Classic.
• Chen Jichuan introduces himself as the current Li River Water Mansion Lord. Han Jin makes the same claim, causing initial confusion.
• Han Jin demonstrates the Water Mirror Art, a signature inheritance of the Li River Water Palace, to prove his identity. Chen Jichuan explains that his branch retained only the Commentary on the Water Classic, while many other techniques were lost.
• They confirm that both are descendants of the same lineage: Han Jin’s branch migrated to Coiling Dragon Mountain’s Seven Emotions Water Marsh roughly ten thousand years earlier.
• The chapter ends with both men beginning a mutually beneficial conversation about their respective worlds and branches of the Water Mansion.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Gains a major answer about the history of the Water Mansion and the cyclical nature of spiritual qi. He becomes more aware that Great Chu may be isolated from a broader cultivation world and begins planning for the future. He also demonstrates caution by preparing an ambush around the teleportation array, but chooses diplomacy once he recognizes Han Jin as a potential fellow disciple.
• Dream Fox: Proves highly useful in exploration, locating the hidden ruins and valuable objects. Its curiosity also causes trouble when it accidentally activates the teleportation array, after which it becomes frightened but obedient.
• Han Jin: Introduced as a talented young cultivator at Innate Zenith. He is cautious when arriving in an unknown location but friendly once Chen Jichuan establishes their shared lineage. His Water Mirror Art serves as both a powerful technique and a means of identifying members of the Water Mansion tradition.

Significant Themes

• Cycles of spiritual rise and decline: The world’s spiritual qi follows a tide-like cycle, creating alternating flourishing eras and periods of cultivation decline.
• Migration and preservation of inheritance: The original Water Mansion fled to survive the Age of Dharma’s Decline, but its techniques were gradually lost over thousands of years.
• Isolation and expanding horizons: Chen Jichuan realizes that Great Chu may be only one part of a much larger cultivation world, raising questions about other realms and surviving sects.
• Identity and lineage: Shared cultivation methods and inherited techniques allow Chen Jichuan and Han Jin to recognize their common roots despite their branches having developed separately.
• Caution versus cooperation: Chen Jichuan initially prepares for combat but ultimately chooses communication, showing his growing ability to balance suspicion with strategic diplomacy.

Character Interactions

• Chen Jichuan relies on Dream Fox during the search, while Dream Fox repeatedly presents its discoveries to him.
• After Dream Fox activates the teleportation array, Chen Jichuan protects it by ordering it to hide.
• Chen Jichuan and Han Jin initially mistake each other for possible threats, but their conversation quickly shifts to cautious cooperation.
• Their confusion over the Water Mirror Art and the title of “Li River Water Mansion Lord” creates a humorous misunderstanding before they clarify their shared heritage.
• Both men are eager to exchange information: Chen Jichuan wants to learn about the world beyond Great Chu, while Han Jin wants to understand what happened to the Water Mansion’s original homeland.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan invites Han Jin to his Water Mansion, and Han accepts without hesitation. Chen admires Han’s courage but remains cautious, secretly keeping Dream Fox out of sight.
• At the Water Mansion, Chen introduces Han to the Tortoise Chancellor and hosts him with wine and food.
• Chen probes Han about Coiling Dragon Mountain, hoping to learn whether it is a declining region like Great Chu or a thriving cultivation center.
• Han explains that Coiling Dragon Mountain is an extremely prosperous cultivation land, summarized by the saying: “Ninety-nine thousand peaks; Innate is worse than a dog, Qi Refinement walks everywhere, and only Aperture Opening can strut a little.”
• Han reveals that the Li River Water Palace’s branch in Coiling Dragon Mountain has declined severely. Its higher-level experts have died, and its core cultivation inheritance, the Commentary on the Water Classic, is incomplete. Han is its last surviving disciple and fled to the Ancestral Land through an ancient teleportation array.
• Chen offers Han the Qi Refinement portion of the Commentary on the Water Classic. In return, Han gives Chen several jade slips containing Water Mansion techniques, especially the renowned Water Mirror Art.
• Han describes Coiling Dragon Mountain’s enormous size, its eighty-thousand-li Seven Emotions Waters, the abundance of Qi Refinement and Aperture Opening cultivators, and the rarity of Spirit Transformation Patriarchs.
• He names the Four Great Immortal Gates and their famous patriarchs: the Seven Treasures Sect, Heaven-Turning Mountain, Rakshasa Sea, and Myriad Swords Sect.
• The mention of the Myriad Swords Sect reminds Chen of the Primordial Star Sword and Sword Diagram he acquired earlier. Chen realizes that Li Jiye may have had a powerful connection to that sect and considers using the connection in the future.
• Han remains at the Water Mansion. In private, he studies the cultivation manual but reveals that he already possesses more of the inheritance than he admitted.
• Han’s true purpose is exposed: he intends to collect Great Chu’s ancient inheritances and treasures before returning to Coiling Dragon Mountain. He hopes to obtain a connection to one of the Four Great Immortal Gates and escape pursuit from the Gui Water Sect.
• Chen secretly observes Han through the Circle-Light Technique and realizes that Han lied about the condition of his inheritance. However, Chen understands Han’s caution and begins considering a partnership with him to explore Great Chu’s hidden inheritances.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: Becomes increasingly interested in Coiling Dragon Mountain and the wider cultivation world. He remains generous by sharing the Qi Refinement method, but he is also observant and suspicious, using his bronze mirror to investigate Han. Rather than treating Han as a simple guest, Chen begins viewing him as a potential guide and expedition partner.
• Han Jin: Presents himself as a desperate, declining Water Mansion master seeking lost cultivation texts, but his private thoughts reveal him to be calculating and ambitious. He is not truly focused on rebuilding the Water Mansion immediately; instead, he plans to exploit Great Chu’s treasures and inheritances to secure his future and evade enemies.
• Dream Fox: Displays intelligence and discretion by following Chen and Han from a distance without revealing herself.
• Tortoise Chancellor: Continues serving Chen faithfully, preparing the reception for Han.
• Li Jiye: Though absent, his possible connection to the Myriad Swords Sect becomes more significant through Chen’s discovery of the Sword Diagram.

Significant Themes

• Trust and mutual suspicion: Chen and Han exchange gifts and cultivate a friendly relationship, but both conceal important information and test each other.
• The vastness of the cultivation world: Coiling Dragon Mountain is revealed as a far more advanced realm than Great Chu, expanding Chen’s understanding of the world and his future ambitions.
• Decline and restoration: Han represents a fallen lineage attempting to recover its former glory, while Chen’s Water Mansion is comparatively well managed and rising.
• Strategic alliances: Both men recognize that cooperation can provide access to resources and protection that neither could obtain as easily alone.
• Inheritance and opportunity: Ancient cultivation techniques, sect connections, and lost treasures are treated as the keys to advancement and survival.
• Caution versus ambition: Han risks traveling a million li to seek opportunity, while Chen carefully weighs the dangers before becoming involved.

Important Character Interactions

• Chen and Han establish a polite but probing relationship during their journey and banquet.
• Chen offers Han the Qi Refinement chapter, while Han reciprocates with Water Mansion techniques, deepening their apparent friendship.
• Han’s account of Coiling Dragon Mountain excites Chen and changes his view of the wider cultivation world.
• Chen internally recognizes Han’s deception after observing him with the bronze mirror, but chooses not to confront him.
• By the end, Chen considers allowing Han to lead the search for Great Chu’s hidden inheritances while he follows cautiously and benefits from the discoveries.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan determines that his most urgent goal is to achieve Qi Refinement, believing that reaching this realm will make him nearly invincible in Great Chu. His wider search for information and cooperation with Han Jin is temporarily secondary.
• While residing in the Cloud-Leaving Immortal Abode on Cold Smoke Island, he spends decades cultivating and refining his swordsmanship.
• After fifty years, Chen Jichuan enters seclusion and practices his four major sword techniques:
  • Ink-Splash Hemp-Draped Sword Method
  • Seven-String Immortal-Shocking Sword Technique
  • Thirty-Six Ailao Mountain Swords
  • Four-Line Poetry Sword
• The Four-Line Poetry Sword, despite being the newest technique, becomes the key to his breakthrough. During a final sequence of sword movements, his forty-two strands of Sword Qi divide into forty-eight, generating a baleful sword intent that causes his true essence to boil and transform.
• Chen Jichuan finally breaks through to the First Level of Qi Refinement, gaining his first strand of Magic Power and becoming an immortal master with a lifespan of three hundred years.
• The breakthrough reflects the accumulation of four lives and 262 total years of cultivation across multiple worlds.
• His Immortal Register undergoes major changes:
  • It now separately records Qi cultivation, Body Refinement, and Dao Arts/spirit cultivation.
  • His talents gain a new “Derivation” function in addition to Insight.
• Chen Jichuan learns that the second transformation of his Creation talent can derive and improve existing cultivation methods and Dao Arts, though doing so consumes cultivation.
• He experiments with deriving:
  • Wind-Thunder Wings, using Body Refinement cultivation. Its grade remains intermediate, but its progress toward the next grade increases only slightly, revealing that high-level arts require enormous resources.
  • Form-Change Method, using Dao Arts cultivation. After sacrificing ten levels of spirit cultivation, he successfully upgrades it from low-tier to intermediate-tier.
• The improved Form-Change Method can now deceive cultivators within one major realm of Chen Jichuan’s cultivation and resist low-tier detection techniques, greatly increasing its usefulness.

Character Development

• Chen Jichuan reaches a major milestone, transitioning from an Innate cultivator to a true Qi Refinement immortal master.
• His breakthrough demonstrates that his previous lives, experiences, combat, and sword training have accumulated into profound insight. Rather than advancing solely through brute cultivation, he enters the Dao through swordsmanship and enlightenment.
• He gains a clearer understanding of the cost and limitations of his Creation talent. While it can potentially produce powerful methods, high-grade derivation consumes vast amounts of cultivation.
• Chen Jichuan becomes more confident in his future prospects. Even without immediately creating high-grade arts, possessing several intermediate-grade abilities could already place him above many ordinary Qi Refinement cultivators.
• He also shows greater strategic flexibility, recognizing the value of practical abilities such as disguise and concealment rather than focusing only on offensive power.

Significant Themes

• Persistence and long-term accumulation: Chen Jichuan’s breakthrough is the result of centuries of cultivation across four lives and multiple worlds.
• Enlightenment through practice: His swordsmanship, especially the Four-Line Poetry Sword, serves as the bridge between technical mastery and true Dao comprehension.
• The difficulty of cultivation: Even after reaching Qi Refinement, advancement remains costly. Powerful methods require immense resources, and every improvement involves sacrifices.
• Creation and transformation: The Creation talent symbolizes Chen Jichuan’s ability to turn existing knowledge into something greater, though the process is gradual and resource-intensive.
• Balance between power and utility: The chapter highlights the importance of disguise, detection resistance, and practical survival skills alongside direct combat strength.
• New beginnings: Achieving Qi Refinement gives Chen Jichuan a longer lifespan and a new identity as an immortal master, opening a broader stage for his future ambitions.

Character Interactions

• Chen Jichuan’s cooperation and negotiations with Han Jin remain part of his broader plans, though they are temporarily placed behind his cultivation breakthrough.
• His interactions with the outside world are mostly indirect in this chapter, with the Yan Tower gathering intelligence throughout Great Chu on his behalf.
• The main “interaction” is between Chen Jichuan and his own cultivation system: he tests the Immortal Register’s new Derivation function, evaluates the results, and adjusts his strategy based on the costs and benefits.
• His relationship with his sword techniques also develops significantly, as he integrates all four into a natural, almost effortless style and uses them to achieve enlightenment.

Chapter Summary: “Long Live the Patriarch!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After reaching the Qi Refining Realm, Chen Jichuan studies the Sword Diagram and reflects on the difficulty of cultivation. He realizes that advancement is only the beginning, with the Aperture Opening Realm and higher stages still ahead.
• He learns that Qi Refining consists of ten layers:
  • Layers 1–3:

Magic Power Realm

• Layers 4–6:

Heaven-Soaring Realm

• Layers 7–10:

Foundation Establishment Realm

• Chen understands that his immediate task is to convert his true essence into magic power. He also plans to learn alchemy, particularly the refinement of Essence-Raising Pills, to accelerate future cultivation.
• Seventy-three years after Echo Valley’s founding, Chen returns to Cold Smoke Island. The sect has grown enormously, with several generations of disciples, numerous Innate experts, and strong inner, outer, and alchemy branches.
• Although Echo Valley has become a regional power, none of Chen’s disciples have yet reached Qi Refining.
• Chen presents two newly ripened Wind-Thunder Immortal Apricots to his oldest disciples:
  • The Thunder Apricot is intended for Wu Shouyang, whose Thunder-Chasing Sword Technique may benefit from comprehending thunder intent.
  • The Wind Apricot is intended for Zhong Dahai, whose Six-Gate Sand Palm is closely connected to wind-based force.
• Wu Shouyang and Zhong Dahai initially refuse the fruits because they believe Chen, who has only recently reached Qi Refining, should keep them for himself.
• Chen then releases a trace of his magic power, revealing to everyone that he has already become a Qi-Refining Immortal Master.
• The disciples erupt in celebration, kneeling and congratulating him. The news spreads throughout Echo Valley, Cold Smoke Island, the Four Spirits Islands, and beyond.
• Echo Valley’s people loudly proclaim, “Long live the Patriarch!”
• Chen’s breakthrough draws wider attention, especially because he was formerly connected to the now-declining Jade Spring Mountain.
• The chapter ends with Peng Guanhai, the current Mountain Lord of Jade Spring Mountain, arriving at Cold Smoke Island with three elders, presumably to meet Chen and respond to Echo Valley’s sudden rise.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan officially transitions from a powerful martial cultivator into an Immortal Master. Despite his breakthrough, he remains cautious and recognizes that true cultivation has only just begun.
• He demonstrates strong organizational foresight by planning to develop alchemy and use pills to support his future progress.
• His affection and loyalty toward his disciples are emphasized. Rather than keeping the rare Immortal Apricots for himself, he gives them to Wu Shouyang and Zhong Dahai to help them pursue their own breakthroughs.
• Wu Shouyang and Zhong Dahai are shown to possess deep respect and gratitude toward Chen. Even when offered a chance at immortal advancement, they first worry about their master’s needs.
• The older first-generation disciples are now nearing the ends of their natural lifespans, emphasizing the passage of time and the importance of Chen’s breakthrough for Echo Valley’s future.
• Echo Valley has matured into a powerful, multigenerational sect, with later generations now taking leadership roles.

Significant Themes

• Cultivation is endless: Every breakthrough reveals even greater realms and challenges, making complacency dangerous.
• Loyalty and familial bonds: Chen’s relationship with his disciples has developed into a true master-disciple family bond, strengthened by decades of shared hardship.
• Generational succession: The aging of the first generation and the rise of later disciples show Echo Valley evolving beyond its founders.
• The value of shared joy: Chen openly announces his breakthrough rather than hiding it, believing that happiness is better when shared with the entire sect.
• Legacy and reversal of fortune: Once connected to Jade Spring Mountain, Chen has now founded a sect that surpasses it, transforming Echo Valley from a small lineage into a dominant regional power.
• Hope against mortality: The Immortal Apricots offer Wu Shouyang and Zhong Dahai a final chance to break through and extend their lives, making the fruits symbols of both opportunity and sacrifice.

Character Interactions

• Chen’s meeting with the assembled disciples establishes his authority as Patriarch while also revealing his emotional attachment to the sect’s growth.
• His gift of the Immortal Apricots to Wu Shouyang and Zhong Dahai highlights mutual trust: Chen wants to reward them, while they initially reject the gift out of concern for him.
• Chen’s sudden display of magic power transforms the gathering from a tense discussion over the fruits into a massive celebration of his achievement.
• The disciples’ kneeling congratulations and the sect-wide cries of “Long live the Patriarch!” show their collective devotion.
• Peng Guanhai’s arrival at the end introduces a likely confrontation or diplomatic encounter between the newly ascendant Echo Valley and the declining Jade Spring Mountain.

Chapter Summary: “Jade Spring Mountain!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Peng Guanhai, the master of Jade Spring Mountain, arrives at Echo Valley with three elders to congratulate Chen Jichuan on reaching the Qi Refinement Realm.
• Visitors outside Echo Valley mock Jade Spring Mountain for having once lost Chen Jichuan, assuming the sect foolishly drove away a future Immortal Master. Song Ping is angered by these remarks but cannot openly correct them.
• Jade Spring Mountain’s delegation is brought into Echo Valley and received by Wang Wenqing rather than Chen Jichuan. They learn that Chen is occupied discussing cultivation with other Immortal Masters, while Wu Shouyang and Zhong Dahai are in seclusion.
• Peng Guanhai openly states that they have come both to congratulate Chen and invite him back to Jade Spring Mountain.
• Wang Wenqing recognizes the delegation’s real motive: Jade Spring Mountain is a valuable spiritual site, but its former protector, Shi Tongwei of Iron Ox Mountain, has disappeared and may have died. Other Immortal Masters are beginning to covet the territory.
• The delegation requests permission to remain in Echo Valley for several days, likely to wait for Chen’s response and avoid being obstructed. Wang agrees and arranges lodging for them.
• Meanwhile, Chen receives four nearby Qi Refinement Immortal Masters: the Daoist couple Wu Shanhai and Xun Ru, Huayangzi, and Zhang Wumeng. During their discussion, Huayangzi subtly probes whether Chen has found a suitable cultivation site.
• Zhang Wumeng points out that Chen is originally from Jade Spring Mountain. Chen confirms that he intends to return there now that he has reached the Qi Refinement Realm.
• Huayangzi, who has long coveted Jade Spring Mountain, understands Chen’s intention and abandons the subject without openly challenging him.
• After the guests leave, Chen reflects that Jade Spring Mountain is both a valuable spiritual land and a likely source of conflict. He welcomes the possibility of facing opponents and testing his newly gained power.
• Wang Wenqing then informs Chen that Peng Guanhai and the others have formally requested that he return to Jade Spring Mountain. Chen is pleased that they understand the situation.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: His advancement to the Qi Refinement Realm has dramatically elevated his status. He is now courted by sects and Immortal Masters, and he confidently asserts his claim to Jade Spring Mountain. He also shows growing ambition and eagerness to test his strength.
• Peng Guanhai: Though once master of Jade Spring Mountain, he now acts cautiously and humbly before Chen. His invitation is motivated not only by old connections but also by the need to preserve his sect’s spiritual home.
• Song Ping: He feels deep regret that Chen was never given an Origin Seed. He realizes that Jade Spring Mountain might have possessed another Immortal Master and that his family could have benefited greatly.
• Wang Wenqing: He demonstrates political insight, immediately understanding the delegation’s hidden motives. As Chen’s representative, he handles them courteously but firmly.
• Huayangzi: His interest in Jade Spring Mountain becomes clear. He probes Chen indirectly but retreats once Chen makes his claim unmistakable.
• Zhang Wumeng: He casually exposes the connection between Chen and Jade Spring Mountain, helping force the issue into the open.

Significant Themes

• Power changes relationships: Chen’s former sect now approaches him with humility because his new cultivation level has made him vastly more influential.
• Regret and missed opportunities: Song Ping’s thoughts emphasize how a single past decision—the refusal to grant Chen an Origin Seed—may have cost Jade Spring Mountain an Immortal Master and permanent protection.
• The value and danger of resources: Jade Spring Mountain’s spiritual spring makes it highly desirable, but possessing it also invites challenges from rival Immortal Masters.
• Political maneuvering and hidden motives: The delegation’s stated congratulations conceal their fear of losing their territory, while Huayangzi’s casual question is really an attempt to assess Chen’s intentions.
• Claiming one’s origins: Chen’s return to Jade Spring Mountain represents both a reclaiming of his past and an assertion of his present status.
• Strength inviting conflict: Chen recognizes that becoming powerful does not bring peace; instead, it creates opportunities—and obligations—to confront rivals.

Character Interactions

• The crowd’s gossip humiliates Jade Spring Mountain’s delegation, especially Song Ping, who privately resents the false version of Chen’s departure.
• Wang Wenqing receives Peng Guanhai and the elders with formal courtesy while maintaining Echo Valley’s superior position.
• Peng Guanhai attempts to preserve a relationship with Chen by presenting their request as an invitation rather than an appeal for protection.
• Chen’s meeting with the four Immortal Masters is cordial, but Huayangzi’s questions reveal an underlying contest over Jade Spring Mountain.
• Zhang Wumeng’s remark allows Chen to state his claim directly, and Huayangzi backs down rather than provoke an immediate dispute.
• The chapter ends with Chen and Wang Wenqing aligned: Jade Spring Mountain is becoming Echo Valley’s—or Chen’s—next major objective.

Chapter Summary: “Two Hundred Years! [Monthly Ticket Requested!]”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan returns to Jade Spring Island and reflects on his first encounter with Wuyuan Immortal Master, whose Fourth Qi-Refining Layer once seemed impossibly powerful.
• After taking control of Jade Spring Mountain, he delegates administrative affairs to Wang Wenqing, Bian Cheng, and others, allowing himself to focus entirely on cultivation.
• Because deducing the Wind-Thunder Wings and Form-Change Method had damaged his previous cultivation, Chen rebuilds his external cultivation and Dao Arts from the beginning rather than rushing to recover his former strength.
• He plans a balanced combat system covering offense, defense, movement, pursuit, concealment, scouting, and disguise. His chosen arts include the Wind-Thunder Wings, Form-Change Method, Four-Line Poetry Sword, Body-Protecting Sword Shield, Willow-Floss Movement Technique, Concealment Technique, and Crystal Reflection Method.
• Several First-Level Qi Refinement cultivators challenge him under the guise of “sparring” in an attempt to seize Jade Spring Mountain. Chen defeats them effortlessly, discouraging further provocations.
• Over the following two centuries, Chen becomes known throughout the Profound Nether Sea as a kind and sociable immortal master, a skilled alchemist, and a loyal friend who helps the descendants of deceased acquaintances.
• After two hundred years of cultivation, Chen reaches the Third Qi-Refining Layer, the First Elixir-Embracement Layer in external cultivation, and the First Layer of Night Roaming in Dao Arts. He also cultivates and upgrades the Pure Yang True Flame to mid-grade.
• His hair turns white so that his apparent age matches the three-hundred-year lifespan expected of a Qi Refinement cultivator. At age 331, he must soon “die” or disappear to avoid arousing suspicion about his abnormal longevity.
• Chen has spent more than twenty years waiting for news connected to the Mysterious Gate Technique, hoping to preserve his influence and foundations at Echo Valley and Jade Spring Mountain rather than abandoning them.
• At last, Cen returns from the far north with a nine-foot cube of Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice, fulfilling a crucial part of Chen’s long-awaited plan.

Character Development

• Chen Jichuan becomes more disciplined and strategically minded. Instead of pursuing rapid recovery, he deliberately rebuilds his cultivation carefully, deepening his understanding of every stage.
• He develops from a cautious survivor into a powerful, well-rounded cultivator with multiple perfected methods and a clear long-term cultivation plan.
• His character also becomes more open and compassionate. He actively forms friendships, guides younger cultivators, honors deceased companions, and sincerely protects their descendants.
• Despite his achievements, Chen remains self-aware and refuses to overestimate himself. He recognizes that reaching the Third Qi-Refining Layer does not necessarily make him superior to Wuyuan Immortal Master.
• His growing age and the need to conceal his true circumstances force him to think beyond cultivation, focusing on identity, succession, and preserving his worldly foundations.

Significant Themes

• Patience and steady cultivation: Chen values understanding the foundations of cultivation over rushing toward strength.
• Time and mortality: Two hundred years pass, emphasizing both the vast lifespan of cultivators and the inevitability of aging, death, and separation.
• Appearance versus reality: Chen deliberately allows himself to appear old and decrepit, hiding his actual vitality and strength from the cultivation world.
• Friendship and loyalty: His sincere relationships and willingness to support old friends’ descendants establish his reputation and contrast with the suspicion common among cultivators.
• Balance and preparation: Chen seeks comprehensive strength rather than relying on a single powerful technique, preparing for offense, defense, movement, concealment, and investigation.
• Preserving one’s legacy: His concern over Jade Spring Mountain and Echo Valley shows that cultivation is tied not only to personal advancement but also to maintaining influence and protecting those under his care.

Character Interactions

• Chen entrusts Wang Wenqing, Bian Cheng, and the other sect members with Jade Spring Mountain’s mundane affairs.
• He defeats multiple hostile First-Level Qi Refinement cultivators who attempt to test or take over his territory.
• Chen becomes friendly with cultivators throughout the Profound Nether Sea, discussing scriptures, debating the Dao, and mentoring younger practitioners.
• He maintains deep bonds with old friends, personally attending their funerals and promising to care for their descendants.
• His pill-refinement abilities strengthen his social standing, as his superior pills encourage other cultivators to befriend and respect him.
• Chen’s relationship with Cen proves especially important: after years of waiting, Cen returns from the Arctic Glacier with the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Chen needs for his mysterious long-term plan.

Chapter Summary: “Mysterious Gate Technique!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan finally obtains the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice he needs to use the Mysterious Gate Technique. Rogue cultivator Cen Guanghong brings it from the Arctic after more than twenty years of searching.
• In exchange, Chen gives Cen a bottle of Wind-Thunder Pills, each of which can save a cultivator years of cultivation. Chen also tries to give him the Wind-Thunder Fan, but Cen refuses, considering the pills sufficient.
• When Chen offers Embrace-Origin Pills as an additional token of gratitude, Cen becomes offended, believing Chen is treating him as someone greedy for compensation. He leaves abruptly before Chen can explain.
• Chen moves the profound ice into the underground chamber beneath Jade Spring Mountain and summons his disciple, Lu Qing.
• Chen explains that the Mysterious Gate Technique, also called the Hanging Coffin or Profound Coffin Technique, can place a cultivator into an icy slumber for up to three hundred years. It suspends their lifespan, vitality, and cultivation, allowing them to evade the normal progression of aging.
• Chen intends to use the technique to preserve himself and serve as a hidden protector for Echo Valley. Lu Qing will be able to awaken him if the sect faces a crisis.
• Chen enters the underground chamber and appears to begin the ritual. Lu Qing waits outside, kneels, and kowtows to him before leaving.
• However, on the following day, Chen secretly emerges, conceals his aura, slips out of Jade Spring Mountain, and leaves Jade Spring Island. His supposed slumber is part of a larger plan to disappear from public view.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan is shown as generous, well-connected, and deeply concerned with repaying friends. His reputation for fairness and instruction has earned him the respect of many cultivators, discouraging others from openly attacking him.
• Chen also demonstrates emotional attachment to the artifacts left behind by deceased friends, refusing to casually sell or give them away. At the same time, he is pragmatic enough to sacrifice the Wind-Thunder Fan for the sake of obtaining the profound ice.
• His impending death weighs heavily on him, particularly because Echo Valley’s future strength depends on him. Rather than simply accepting death, he devises a way to remain available as a hidden reserve of power.
• Cen Guanghong is portrayed as honorable and modest. He accepts only the reward he believes he has earned and refuses the artifact. His anger at Chen’s attempted extra compensation reveals his pride and integrity.
• Lu Qing has become Echo Valley’s second Qi Refinement cultivator. His breakthrough after receiving only one Wind-Thunder Pill proves his extraordinary talent, and he has advanced to the Fourth Qi-Refining Layer in just over a century.
• Lu Qing is loyal and responsible, accepting the burden of protecting both Chen and Echo Valley after Chen’s retreat.

Significant Themes

• Legacy and sect survival: Chen’s greatest concern is not his own death but the effect it may have on Echo Valley. The Mysterious Gate Technique offers the sect a hidden guardian who can return during a crisis.
• The importance of foundations: Powerful sects preserve their strength through secret techniques and sleeping elders, allowing them to survive calamities across generations.
• Friendship and repayment: Chen’s dealings with Cen and his memories of deceased friends emphasize the value of loyalty, trust, and emotional bonds among cultivators.
• Aging and the fear of death: The technique does not truly extend life; it merely delays the moment when one must face death. Nevertheless, preserving time can create opportunities for a sect or disciple to grow stronger.
• Deception and hidden plans: Chen presents his actions as a final retreat into slumber, but secretly leaves Jade Spring Mountain, signaling that he intends to pursue another objective while concealing his survival and movements.

Character Interactions

• Chen and Cen Guanghong exchange the profound ice for Wind-Thunder Pills. Their interaction highlights Chen’s generosity and Cen’s upright refusal to exploit the deal.
• Cen’s misunderstanding over the Embrace-Origin Pills creates a brief comic and emotional conflict, ending with him storming away.
• Chen and Lu Qing share a mentor-disciple relationship based on trust and mutual respect. Chen entrusts Lu Qing with the future of Echo Valley, while Lu Qing vows to protect the sect and awaken Chen if necessary.
• Lu Qing’s farewell—kneeling and kowtowing outside the chamber—demonstrates his gratitude and reverence, while Chen’s secret departure reveals that he has not told even his most trusted disciple the full truth.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• After two centuries, Chen Jichuan returns to the Cloud-Leaving Immortal Abode. During his absence, the Wind-Thunder Immortal Apricot Tree produces four more Immortal Apricots. He refines them into eighteen Wind-Thunder Pills, distributing nearly all of them to Cen Guanghong, sect disciples such as Lu Qing, and close friends while keeping none for himself.
• He confirms that his arrangements at Jade Spring Mountain and Echo Valley are secure. Through the Thousand-Li Message Transmission Technique, he can be awakened if a major crisis occurs, while maintaining the appearance of having entered a long slumber.
• Freed from the need to preserve his righteous reputation, Chen decides to seriously cultivate three dangerous or morally questionable arts: the Five-Ghost Yin Soldier Method, the Paper-Cut Soldier Creation Art, and the Corpse Control Formula.
• He upgrades the Paper-Cut Soldier Creation Art and Five-Ghost Yin Soldier Method to Intermediate Grade. The paper soldiers can now potentially reach the Aperture Opening level, while the Five Ghosts can reach Second Rank and the Yin Soldiers First Rank, though the latter carries a risk of backlash.
• He begins studying the Corpse Control Formula, previously obtained from Zhang Zhihe. The technique allows living people to be refined into murderous corpses and remains largely incomplete beyond the sixth Qi Refinement layer.
• Adopting the identity of Qizhenzi, an immortal master of Righteous Qi Island, Azure Spirit Mountain, and Light-Splitting Cave, Chen establishes Righteous Qi Island as his public base and gateway to the Profound Nether Sea.
• Under this disguise, he travels, cultivates, makes friends, discusses the Dao, and deliberately lures greedy cultivators into attacking him so he can kill them and seize their resources. His reputation spreads, with some viewing him as a vicious evil-path monster and others seeing him as kind and refined.
• He becomes known as a figure who is “both righteous and evil,” while secretly continuing to advance his cultivation, Dao Arts, alchemy, and swordsmanship.
• Chen repeatedly improves pill formulas such as the Innate Pill, Rising Sun Pill, and Essence-Nourishing Pill, making them cheaper, more effective, easier to refine, and more profitable.
• When his study of the Four-Line Poetry Sword reaches a bottleneck, he begins cultivating the Eighteen Turns of Qin Mountain and the Soft Cloud Sword Technique to broaden his understanding of swordsmanship and inspire further breakthroughs.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan becomes increasingly strategic, self-reliant, and unconcerned with conventional moral labels. He remains generous toward his allies and disciples, but is willing to use deception, ambushes, and corpse-related techniques when operating under his alternate identity.
• He grows more confident in managing multiple identities and disguises, relying on Concealment, Shapeshifting, and reflection-based techniques to prevent his connection to Echo Valley and Immortal Master Chen from being discovered.
• His combat style becomes more indirect and calculating. Rather than fighting openly, he prefers to prepare traps, conceal his abilities, and strike from the shadows.
• His scholarly and technical abilities continue to expand. He is not only a cultivator but also an increasingly accomplished alchemist and swordsman, capable of improving established formulas and studying many distinct sword traditions.
• His generosity is emphasized through his refusal to keep the Wind-Thunder Pills for himself, contrasting with his ruthless treatment of enemies.

Significant Themes

• Duality of righteousness and evil: Chen’s identity as Qizhenzi allows him to explore techniques and behavior considered evil while still retaining the generosity and benevolence associated with his true identity.
• Appearance versus reality: His reputation varies dramatically depending on who observes him. His disguise demonstrates how easily morality and character can be judged through incomplete information.
• Pragmatism over labels: Chen treats “righteous” and “evil” classifications as tools or reputations rather than fixed truths, using whatever methods best serve his cultivation.
• Long-term cultivation and patience: The chapter emphasizes centuries of gradual progress, repeated study, experimentation, and refinement rather than sudden breakthroughs.
• Knowledge through variety: Chen deliberately studies contrasting sword styles and improves pill formulas through experimentation, showing that progress comes from comparing different methods and drawing connections between them.
• Generosity and ruthlessness in tension: Chen gives away precious pills freely to friends and disciples, yet manipulates and kills hostile cultivators without hesitation. The chapter presents both traits as compatible aspects of his character.

Character Interactions

• Chen maintains indirect ties with Cen Guanghong, Lu Qing, and the Echo Valley disciples, protecting them while ensuring they can contact him during emergencies.
• His past confrontation with Zhang Zhihe remains important. Zhang’s Corpse Control Formula and powerful Refined Corpses once nearly overwhelmed Echo Valley, and Chen now studies the same technique for himself.
• As Qizhenzi, Chen socializes with three or five cultivator friends, discussing the Dao and building a public reputation separate from his true identity.
• He also interacts with hostile Qi Refinement cultivators by intentionally provoking or deceiving them into attacks, then counter-killing them for their treasures and resources.
• His public image is divided: some regard him as cruel and evil, while others compare his temperament to the benevolent Immortal Master Chen, reinforcing the chapter’s central contrast between reputation and reality.

Chapter Summary: “Time Flies Like an Arrow: Two Hundred Twenty-Eight Years!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Over the decades following Chen Jichuan’s “slumber,” his preparations and cultivation steadily progress:
  • In the fortieth year, the forty-nine paper soldiers he had refined for centuries break through to First Rank. Together, they become a formidable force capable of frightening even Second- and Third-Level Qi-Refining cultivators.
  • In the sixty-second year, the Five Soul-Seizing Ghosts reach the Night Roaming level, gaining the ability to resist an Elixir Embracement martial artist’s qi and blood for a short period.
  • In the seventieth year, the Wind-Thunder Immortal Apricot Tree bears fruit. Chen Jichuan obtains two apricots and refines eighteen Wind-Thunder Pills. He gives eight pills, along with Embrace-Origin Pills, to promising sect disciples at the peak of the martial realms, hoping to strengthen Echo Valley’s future.
• Echo Valley’s next generation begins to emerge:
  • Guangyixian becomes the sect’s third Qi-Refining Immortal Master.
  • Ten days later, Sima Pu breaks through as the fourth First Rank cultivator and the first Elixir Embracement Immortal Master of the body-refinement lineage.
  • Their breakthroughs spark celebrations throughout the sect and restore confidence in its future.
• As his life nears its end, Lu Qing, the second-generation patriarch, enters Ancestor’s Cave to sleep and guard the sect, remaining at the Fifth Qi-Refining Level. Chen Jichuan later visits an old friend during that person’s final moments before returning to his own slumber. Guangyixian and Sima Pu thereafter become known as Echo Valley’s third-generation patriarchs.
• By the one hundred tenth year, Chen Jichuan completes the Third Qi-Refining Layer. His Sword Qi reaches 399 strands, one short of the amount needed for a breakthrough. He begins attempting to refine the invisible shackles within his bones, the process required to enter the Fourth Qi-Refining Layer.
• After eighteen years of effort and with the help of an Embrace-Origin Pill, Chen senses and refines the first shackle in his rib. He successfully reaches the Fourth Qi-Refining Layer at age 459, though Lu Qing had achieved the same realm fifty-three years earlier.
• A century later, Chen—now known as Qizhenzi—pursues Wei Yizhen across the Profound Nether Sea. Wei had attempted to seize Chen’s Primordial Yang Pearl after being lured by its apparent exposure. Chen had already placed a curse on him, however, and uses the curse to cripple Wei’s magic power and flying sword.
• Chen performs the Rice-and-Meat-Cooking Curse, causing Wei to vomit blood, lose control of his body, and fall from the sky. He then opens his yellow-hide gourd and captures Wei inside it. Evil-Suppressing Talismans are needed to restrain the Fifth-Level Qi-Refining cultivator within the gourd.
• Chen intends to let Wei dissolve within seven days and use his body as material for a powerful Refined Corpse. The Five Ghosts recover Wei’s discarded flying sword, and Chen departs with his captured enemy.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan: His long-term planning bears fruit. His paper soldiers, ghost techniques, alchemy, curses, magical artifacts, and cultivation all advance substantially. He reaches the Fourth Qi-Refining Layer and becomes increasingly calculating and dangerous, using preparation and layered techniques rather than relying solely on direct combat. His interest in Wei’s corpse also highlights his development as a practitioner of the Corpse Control Formula.
• Lu Qing: Though aging and nearing death, Lu Qing fulfills his role as Echo Valley’s guardian by entering Ancestor’s Cave and continuing the tradition established by Chen Jichuan. His earlier breakthrough to the Fourth Qi-Refining Layer remains a benchmark for Chen.
• Guangyixian and Sima Pu: Their breakthroughs establish them as the sect’s new leaders. Guangyixian represents the continuation of Lu Qing’s lineage, while Sima Pu gives the body-refinement tradition renewed prestige and hope.
• Wei Yizhen: Initially confident in his alliances and personal strength, Wei is exposed as greedy and morally compromised. He underestimates Chen, falls victim to a preexisting curse, and is ultimately reduced from a powerful Fifth-Level Qi-Refining cultivator to a helpless captive destined to become a Refined Corpse.
• Xiang Tian and Ma Tianfang: Though absent from the immediate action, they are revealed to have risen from younger cultivators into powerful patriarchs of the Five Elements Sect and Ink Dragon Sect. Chen remembers having guided them in the past, emphasizing the enormous passage of time.

Significant Themes

• The passage of time and immortality: The chapter spans 228 years, showing how cultivation transforms relationships, institutions, and generations. Friends die, patriarchs enter slumber, and former juniors become major figures.
• Legacy and succession: Echo Valley survives because its older patriarchs prepare successors. Guangyixian and Sima Pu’s breakthroughs ensure that the sect will not decline after Chen and Lu Qing withdraw.
• Preparation versus brute force: Chen’s success against Wei comes from planning, curses, magical tools, and strategic deception. His victory demonstrates that accumulated preparation can overcome even a stronger opponent.
• The cost of advancement: Reaching higher cultivation realms requires breaking invisible bodily shackles through painstaking comprehension. Progress is slow, difficult, and dependent on both insight and carefully preserved resources.
• Moral ambiguity and hypocrisy: Wei invokes his friendships with powerful sect leaders while attempting to justify his own treachery. Chen, despite his reputation for righteousness, uses deliberately cruel methods and plans to turn Wei’s corpse into a weapon.

Important Character Interactions

• Chen supports promising disciples by distributing Wind-Thunder Pills and Embrace-Origin Pills, actively shaping Echo Valley’s future.
• Lu Qing and Chen share the responsibility of safeguarding the sect through prolonged slumber, with Chen later witnessing the final stage of an old friend’s life.
• Chen’s past guidance of Xiang Tian and Ma Tianfang contrasts with Wei’s present attempt to exploit their names for protection.
• Wei accuses Chen of deliberately baiting him with the Primordial Yang Pearl and cursing him before he acted. Chen does not deny the deception and instead condemns Wei for his crooked heart and attempted ambush.
• During the chase, Chen uses the Cloud-Wandering Five Ghosts, the Rice-and-Meat-Cooking Curse, and the yellow-hide gourd in succession, methodically breaking Wei’s resistance and capturing him alive for use as a Refined Corpse.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Jichuan imprisons Wei Yizhen and begins refining him alive into a Refined Corpse. Though the process may take longer than Chen’s remaining lifespan, he plans to use Wei Yizhen after reincarnation as a source of strength.
• Wei Yizhen’s greed is explained: he possessed the Yin-Origin Pearl, the counterpart to Chen Jichuan’s Primordial Yang Pearl. Together, the two ancient artifacts can merge yin and yang, greatly accelerating cultivation.
• Chen refines the Yin-Origin Pearl and uses both pearls to break through from the Fifth to the Sixth Qi-Refining Layer. His Sword Qi increases from 520 to 610 strands, and his strength reaches the pinnacle of the Profound Nether Sea.
• With only eight years left to live, Chen accepts death without fear, planning to gain insight into the pearl, stabilize his cultivation, and prepare for reincarnation.
• Sixteen years later, Chen reappears as the mysterious Qizhenzi and begins eliminating the Profound Nether Sea’s demonic rulers.
• He ambushes and kills Fei Yun, the Long-Armed Heavenly Demon, using a curse to destabilize him, the Hundred-Thousand Sword Diagram to sever his arm, and fourteen Refined Corpses to prevent escape.
• Qizhenzi subsequently slays six other demonic overlords, including Dong Yi and Chang Zhouzi, shocking the entire Profound Nether Sea.
• He declares, “First destroy Echo Valley, then exterminate the Five Elements,” and becomes known as the Profound Nether Heavenly Venerable.
• At Jade Spring Mountain, Chen Jichuan rises from his coffin and battles Qizhenzi above the Ninth Heaven. Qizhenzi disappears after the battle, while only Chen returns. The world concludes that Chen defeated him, cementing Chen’s legendary reputation.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan grows from a dying Fifth-Level cultivator into the strongest figure in the Profound Nether Sea after reaching the Sixth Qi-Refining Layer.
• His attitude toward death changes: after obtaining the Yin-Origin Pearl and achieving his breakthrough, he becomes calm and even anticipates reincarnation.
• Chen demonstrates increasing ruthlessness and strategic sophistication. He uses Wei Yizhen’s body, curses, ambushes, Refined Corpses, and overwhelming sword techniques to defeat stronger or notorious enemies.
• Wei Yizhen is reduced from a greedy rival to a helpless captive and future Refined Corpse, suffering the consequences of coveting Chen’s Primordial Yang Pearl.
• Fei Yun is shown to be a terrifying defensive expert, but his arrogance and rage make him vulnerable. Once Chen disables one arm and activates the curse, Fei Yun is unable to reverse the battle.
• Qizhenzi is positioned as Chen’s apparent rival and a major figure in the final confrontation, though his true fate remains uncertain.

Significant Themes

• Preparation across lifetimes: Chen’s actions in the present—refining Wei Yizhen, studying artifacts, and cultivating corpses—are investments in his future reincarnation.
• Life, death, and reincarnation: Chen’s approaching death is not treated as an ending but as part of a longer cultivation strategy.
• Power through inherited treasures: The Yin-Yang Pearls demonstrate how ancient artifacts can shape the fortunes of entire sects and preserve a tradition across generations.
• Strategy over brute force: Chen defeats powerful enemies through planning, curses, surprise attacks, formations, and coordinated servants rather than relying solely on direct strength.
• Legend and misunderstanding: The public believes Chen killed Qizhenzi, allowing his reputation to grow into myth while the truth remains ambiguous.
• The limits of the world: The Profound Nether Sea may be a “cage,” and Chen’s breakthrough raises the possibility of discovering lands or realms beyond the Jade Spring World.

Character Interactions

• Chen and Wei Yizhen’s relationship is defined by exploitation and revenge: Wei wanted Chen’s treasure, while Chen turns him into a future weapon.
• Chen’s interactions with Fei Yun are entirely antagonistic. Fei Yun accuses him of attacking without cause, while Chen treats him as a target to be eliminated and admires the power of his demonic art.
• Chen and Qizhenzi are presented as ideological and martial rivals. Their final battle at Jade Spring Mountain becomes the defining event of the era, with Qizhenzi’s disappearance making Chen appear victorious.
• The conflict between the Hundred-Thousand Sword Diagram and the Heaven-Supporting Demon Art symbolizes the clash between ultimate offense and ultimate defense, with Chen’s sword technique ultimately prevailing.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• In the sea of consciousness, Chen Jichuan relives his entire 575-year life in the Jade Spring World, including:
  • Meeting Wu Yuan and learning alchemy.
  • Founding Echo Valley and developing his cultivation.
  • Treating Pei Ze, defeating Xu Tianfang, and acquiring the Corpse Control Formula.
  • Entering the Dao through the Four-Line Poetry Sword, reaching Qi Refinement, and gaining the respect of others as “Immortal Master Chen.”
  • Becoming Qizhenzi, earning the title “Number One in Curses,” and fighting the True-Yin Heavenly Demon.
  • Slaughtering the seven great Heavenly Demons before finally dying in meditation on Jade Spring Mountain.
• After experiencing the lifetime again through his memories, Chen Jichuan forms his third Dao Fruit.
• The Dao Fruit preserves the highest achievements of that lifetime, even though Chen had reset some of his cultivation before death to advance the Sword Diagram.
• His recorded accomplishments include:
  • Sixth Qi-Refining Layer.
  • Second Layer of Embrace-Dan external cultivation.
  • Third Level of Night Roaming.
  • Several Exquisite Grade cultivation methods.
  • Twenty-three Mid Grade Dao Arts.
  • First Rank alchemy, with introductory knowledge of artifact refining, talisman-making, and formations.
• Chen realizes that future lifetimes will allow him to freely expend his cultivation on deductions before death, since the Dao Fruit will preserve his peak accomplishments.
• His advancement to Immortal Tier One grants him the ability to form four Subsidiary Dao Fruits from deceased Qi Refinement cultivators.
• After reviewing thirty-seven possible candidates, he chooses:
  1. Qingsongzi, a Sixth-Layer Qi Refinement elder and master of the Five-Qi Primordial Unity Technique.
  2. Gan Shisi, the Eight Extremes Heavenly Demon, whose Eight Extremes True Demon Technique and Tribulation-Transforming Method are exceptionally valuable.
  3. Wu Yuan, an outstanding First Rank alchemist and Chen’s former teacher.
  4. Situ Kong, a renowned First Rank artifact refiner.

Character Developments

• Chen Jichuan reaches a major turning point. His third lifetime has transformed him from a talented cultivator into a highly accomplished immortal master with a broad foundation in cultivation, Dao Arts, alchemy, and corpse control.
• He becomes more strategic and confident, understanding how Dao Fruits preserve the results of each lifetime and how to optimize future reincarnations.
• Chen’s emotional attachment to his former companions remains strong. He still mourns Qingsongzi and remembers those who died by his hand or before him, despite his increasing power.
• Qingsongzi is remembered as a dignified elder who refused to live in humiliation and died after returning gravely wounded from the Eastern Extremity Sea Region.
• Gan Shisi is reaffirmed as Chen’s most difficult opponent, forcing him to rely on every available technique, treasure, corpse, and paper soldier to secure victory.
• Wu Yuan is recognized not merely as an old acquaintance but as Chen’s unmatched source of alchemical expertise.
• Situ Kong is introduced as Wu Yuan’s counterpart: a powerful rogue cultivator specializing in artifact refining.

Significant Themes

• Accumulation across lifetimes: Chen’s repeated lives allow him to preserve experience, methods, and achievements, turning death into a stage of long-term advancement rather than an absolute end.
• The value of knowledge over raw power: Chen especially treasures cultivation methods, Dao Arts, alchemy, and artifact-refining expertise, viewing mastery and experience as his most important inheritances.
• Death, memory, and legacy: The Dao Fruit records the summit of a lifetime, allowing Chen to retain the accomplishments of people and eras that have already vanished.
• Respect amid conflict: Chen can kill rivals such as Gan Shisi while still recognizing their abilities and preserving their strengths through Subsidiary Dao Fruits.
• Grief and remembrance: His choice of Qingsongzi reflects loyalty and affection, showing that his rise to power has not erased his personal bonds.
• Optimization and foresight: Chen learns from the limitations of this lifetime and plans to make more efficient use of future lives by investing all possible cultivation into deduction before death.

Character Interactions

• Chen’s formative relationship with Wu Yuan began when Wu Yuan taught him alchemy; Chen now intends to preserve Wu Yuan’s expertise through a Subsidiary Dao Fruit.
• Chen’s connection with Qingsongzi is based on admiration and affection. He rushed to help the dying elder and continues to feel sorrow over his death.
• Chen and Gan Shisi shared a deadly confrontation. Gan Shisi’s superior strength and Tribulation-Transforming Method nearly defeated Chen, making his Dao Fruit particularly valuable.
• Situ Kong has not directly interacted with Chen in the chapter, but his reputation as a master artifact refiner makes him an ideal candidate for Chen’s future development.
• The chapter emphasizes Chen’s relationship with the many cultivators from his former life, presenting them simultaneously as old friends, enemies, teachers, and sources of inherited wisdom.