Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Jiang Lu learns that divine beasts need immortal energy from the Upper Realm to become stronger, while spirit beasts can cultivate effectively in her space. She decides to defer questions about the Upper Realm and travel to temper herself now that the domains have stopped supporting the Heavenly Prodigies.
• She heads for the Hundred Blossoms Sacred Ground, hoping to combine Jianmu’s fruit with the vitality of its plant-rich grounds to break through to Nascent Soul.
• Sacred Lord Le Ziyan senses Jiang Lu’s arrival and sends her disciple Hu Meier to escort her.
• Jiang Lu travels by Spirit Boat and arrives at the sacred ground, awed by its endless fields of flowers, spiritual atmosphere, and magnificent floating palaces.
• Hu Meier welcomes Jiang Lu and warns her to remain close, since the sacred ground contains dangerous formations.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Lu shows concern about the cost of supporting her spirit beasts, but they reassure her that cultivating in her space is highly effective. She is practical about delaying plans until she ascends.
• She remains outwardly calm and polite at the welcome, though she privately realizes the jade pendant at her waist may be revealing her location and resolves to destroy it.
• Le Ziyan responds to Jiang Lu’s arrival by arranging a courteous reception. Hu Meier treats Jiang Lu respectfully and offers guidance as her escort.

Significant themes

• Different paths of cultivation: Spirit beasts and divine beasts have distinct needs, reflecting the importance of environment and resources to growth.
• Nature as a source of power: The sacred ground’s abundant plant vitality may help Jiang Lu advance her cultivation.
• Beauty alongside danger: The realm is serene and breathtaking, yet hidden formations make it hazardous.
• Surveillance and exposure: The jade pendant offers a reminder that Jiang Lu’s movements can be tracked even when she changes her appearance.

Jiang Lu met Le Ziyan at the Hundred Blossoms Sacred Ground and learned that the powers were watching changes in the world’s fortune. Le Ziyan warned that they might mistake Jiang Lu for the chaotic aura behind those changes, leaving her vulnerable to attack.

• Shen Meier brought Jiang Lu to the floating main hall, passing Elf cultivators and explaining the Hundred Blossoms Sacred Ground’s ties with the Elves.
• Shen Meier carried Jiang Lu to the hall on glowing spirit vines and introduced her to Le Ziyan.
• Le Ziyan told Jiang Lu that the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion had detected two stars drawing the world’s disordered fortune back into alignment while a chaotic aura subtly guided it.
• Jiang Lu realized the powers believed the Children of Fortune might restore their fortune without outside help, allowing the Ascension Passage to open.
• Le Ziyan warned Jiang Lu that the powers had not revealed whether they considered her a Child of Fortune or the chaotic aura, and that someone might attack her if they believed she was the latter.

Jiang Lu learned that Cen Aotian had broken with his family after humiliating his betrothed, then returned with a powerful legacy and a woman at his side. She planned to enter the Softcore Garden before heading to the Ling Shuo Domain to seize the opportunities along his path, and asked Shen Meier how the Cen Family had reacted.

• Le Ziyan acknowledged Jiang Lu’s secret intervention and told her she could still enter the dangerous Softcore Garden with Shen Meier.
• Shen Meier explained that the Softcore Garden was filled with poisonous creatures and miasma, and offered to help Jiang Lu prepare for the trial.
• Shen Meier told Jiang Lu that Cen Aotian had rejected Wen Xin, insulted both families, and broken with his lineage after years stuck at Qi Refinement.
• Shen Meier recounted rumors that Cen Aotian had rescued a wounded expert, received his legacy, and returned at Foundation Establishment with a powerful woman beside him.
• Jiang Lu resolved to travel to the Ling Shuo Domain and take Cen Aotian’s opportunities for herself, then asked Shen Meier about the Cen Family’s attitude.

Jiang Lu entered the Hundred Blossoms Sacred Ground’s secret realm to train, unaware of its dangers and unable to bring a map. She carefully crossed a hazardous vine passage and neared its exit as the vines began to stir.

• Shen Meier told Jiang Lu that Cen Aotian planned to attend a secret realm trial in the Ling Shuo Domain, and Jiang Lu decided to go there after training.
• Shen Meier brought Jiang Lu to the secret realm’s entrance but refused to accompany her or provide a map.
• Jiang Lu entered the secret realm and found a narrow passage lined with sharp vines and strange black spheres.
• Jiang Lu’s spiritual barrier was cut by the vines, but she chose not to attack them and instead reinforced her protection as she advanced.
• Shen Meier told other disciples that the first stage forbade fighting and trusted Jiang Lu to endure it.
• Jiang Lu spotted light at the end of the passage, but the surrounding vines grew restless and began spreading toward the tunnel’s exit.

Jiang Lu battled a cave’s transformed Man-Eating Flowers and vines with help from her Spirit Beasts. After driving the plants back, she hid in a Concealment Formation Disk to recover before continuing through the Hundred Blossoms Sacred Ground.

• Jiang Lu escaped the cave as its vines transformed into Man-Eating Flowers, but the plants pursued and surrounded her.
• Jiang Lu fought off the vines and a Man-Eating Flower that detached itself and lunged at her.
• Jiang Lu released Cangchen, Chi Li, and Mingyue, whose attacks helped her cut down most of the vines and force the rest back into the cave.
• Jiang Lu hid with the Spirit Beasts inside a Concealment Formation Disk to replenish her spiritual energy before moving on.

Jiang Lu discovered a hidden cave and stored an immature thousand-leaf dewgrass in her space before cultivating in the cave. After following her spirit beasts through a cramped tunnel, she emerged into a chamber filled with immense, translucent roots.

• Lingxi and Cutie found a thousand-leaf dewgrass in the hidden cave, and Jiang Lu carefully transferred it into her space for Lingxi to grow.
• Jiang Lu concealed the cave entrance and cultivated until she had absorbed much of the cave's spiritual energy.
• Jiang Lu noticed that her spirit beasts had gone deeper into the cave and that a strange barrier prevented her Divine Sense from reaching them.
• Jiang Lu followed the spirit beasts' auras through a narrow tunnel they had dug and crawled into a hidden chamber.
• Jiang Lu emerged into a broad chamber filled with a vast network of translucent, pearly roots.

Jiang Lu found the Tree of Life in the underground lair and rescued the four spirit beasts trapped in its roots, but her attack damaged the roots and destabilized the Hundred Blossoms Sacred Ground’s earth veins. She and Shen Meier discovered a vast spatial rift exposed among the roots as the cavern shook.

• Jiang Lu recognized the roots as belonging to the Tree of Life and saw Cutie, Chi Li, Cangchen, and Mingyue bound and drained by them.
• The roots attacked Jiang Lu, who fought them with her Spirit Sword and Sword Qi before breaking through their barrier.
• Jiang Lu freed the four spirit beasts and put them into her space, provoking the Tree of Life’s violent backlash.
• The damaged roots caused the cavern and the secret realm to shake, and Jiang Lu realized she might have harmed the Hundred Blossoms Sacred Ground’s earth veins.
• Shen Meier arrived to investigate the turmoil, and she and Jiang Lu spotted a huge pitch-black spatial rift among the roots.