Chapter Summaries

Ning Fa woke in a cultivation world after taking over the body of a failed alchemist from the Ning Clan. He learned that a wager with the newly promoted Fifth Elder would force him to warm her bed if he failed to become a clan alchemist, and ended the chapter reflecting on his Incomplete Lightning Spiritual Root.

• Ning Fa awoke in a wrecked alchemy hall and absorbed the original owner's memories, realizing he had transmigrated into the Cultivation World.
• Ning Fa avoided answering a knock at the door until Xiao Huan threatened to break it down over his wager.
• Xiao Huan told Ning Fa that he had one month to become a clan alchemist or warm the Fifth Elder's bed for three months, and said the woman had recently been promoted from Seventh Elder to Fifth Elder.
• Xiao Huan gave Ning Fa Fragrant Dew Pills and left with the blue-robed man, who asked whether he could warm the Fifth Elder's bed instead.
• Ning Fa recalled that the original owner had a Lightning Spiritual Root, but it was incomplete.

Ning Fa had been celebrated for his Lightning Spiritual Root until the Ning Clan discovered it was incomplete, leaving him with poor cultivation prospects and little support. After borrowing five hundred spirit stones from the formidable Ning Huarong, he wagered that he would become a formal alchemist within a year or serve as her dual cultivation cauldron for three months.

• The Ning Clan discovered Ning Fa's Lightning Spiritual Root was incomplete and stopped investing in his cultivation.
• Ning Fa tried to restore his standing by studying alchemy, but he lacked the resources to become a formal alchemist.
• Ning Fa borrowed five hundred spirit stones from Ning Huarong and agreed to her wager: become a formal clan alchemist within a year or attend her in bed for three months.
• The chapter described Ning Huarong's battlefield prowess and high rank in the Ning Clan, as well as her cruel, erratic reputation as the Witch.

Ning Fa learned why his predecessor had failed to become a clan alchemist and faced the prospect of becoming Ning Huarong’s cultivation cauldron. A mysterious scroll from his previous life appeared and displayed the five Failed Essence Replenishing Pills he had just picked up, followed by images of spiritual herbs.

• Ning Fa recalled that Ning Huarong had long wanted him as a cultivation cauldron, and that his predecessor had borrowed five hundred spirit stones from her to pursue alchemy.
• Ning Fa recognized that his predecessor had failed the clan alchemist assessment and used up all his spiritual ingredients, leaving him little hope of avoiding Ning Huarong within the remaining month.
• Ning Fa examined five Failed Essence Replenishing Pills and reflected on how close his predecessor had come to refining finished pills.
• A white mark on Ning Fa’s arm burned and transformed into the mysterious scroll he had bought on Blue Star.
• The scroll displayed images matching the five failed pills, then revealed images resembling several kinds of spiritual herbs.

Ning Fa discovered that the Mysterious Scroll could restore Failed Essence Replenishing Pills into their original spiritual herbs, giving him a way to practice pill refinement without wasting materials. He tried refining pills himself, but his first attempt ended in a charred failure.

• Ning Fa touched the scroll’s herb illustrations, and its white light restored five Failed Essence Replenishing Pills into the seven spiritual herbs used to make them.
• Ning Fa realized the scroll could potentially let him reuse pill materials and help him become an alchemist, giving him hope of winning his wager with Ning Huarong.
• Ning Fa summoned the Mysterious Scroll again, confirmed it could return to his arm and be brought back, then prepared to refine pills with the restored herbs.
• Ning Fa reviewed his predecessor’s memories for three hours before beginning to extract the herbs and heat the pill furnace.
• Ning Fa added the spiritual liquids to the furnace, made a mistake with his final hand seal, and found only a charred mass inside.

Ning Fa discovered that the Mysterious Scroll would not activate again, leaving him short of time and spirit stones to continue practicing pill refinement. He remembered inheriting a valuable shop from his father, which might provide the funds he needed to pursue the clan’s alchemist examination.

• Ning Fa tried to use the Mysterious Scroll again but found it unresponsive, and it still had not worked by the next morning.
• Ning Fa decided he needed spirit stones to buy more Essence Replenishing Pill materials and reasoned that five batches would give him a chance to refine a failed pill.
• Ning Fa recalled his branch’s former rise and decline, including Ning Hongye’s disappearance, his father’s failed bid for direct-branch status, and his parents’ deaths in the war with the Qian Family.
• Ning Fa remembered that his father, Ning Zhiyuan, had bought a shop in Jinchang Island Market and that Ning Fa had inherited it.
• Ning Fa considered selling the shop to obtain spirit stones and continue practicing pill refinement for the clan’s alchemist examination.

Ning Fa recalled how his aunt and uncle had taken control of his shop and decided to confront Ning Muchun for unpaid rent. As he traveled across Pingchang Island, he reflected on the Ning Clan’s ruthless traditions and its power across Thousand Wave Lake.

• Ning Fa remembered that Ning Muchun and Meng Jinliang had stopped paying rent and blocked his attempt to reclaim the shop deed.
• Ning Fa decided to visit Ning Muchun and seek fifty spirit stones, leaving the deed dispute for later.
• Ning Fa left home and crossed Pingchang Island, situated in the vast Thousand Wave Lake.
• Ning Fa considered how the Ning Clan’s ruthless competition and harsh laws had helped it become one of the lake’s strongest powers.
• Ning Fa recalled that he had once cultivated on Ningchang Island before losing his qualification and returning to Pingchang Island.

Ning Fa visited his eldest aunt Ning Muchun and found the branch family gathered with a mortal and a young cultivator. He publicly demanded that Ning Muchun return the deed to the shop on Jinchang Island that his father had left him.

• Ning Fa arrived at Meng Jinliang's home, where Meng welcomed him warmly and said the family had been planning to find him.
• Meng Jinliang brought Ning Fa into a hall where the branch family's cultivators and two unfamiliar visitors had gathered.
• Ning Muchun told Ning Fa that an important discussion required his participation.
• Ning Fa interrupted her and demanded the return of his father's shop deed on Jinchang Island.
• The gathering fell silent, and Ning Muchun and Meng Jinliang reacted as though they had expected his demand.

Ning Fa rejected Ning Muchun and Meng Jinliang’s attempt to make him transfer his shop to their branch, challenging their plan to spend the branch’s resources cultivating Ning Furong instead of supporting his alchemy. He left the gathering without yielding, while the others resumed their discussion.

• Ning Muchun claimed Ning Fa’s father had intended the shop to become communal property and asked Ning Fa to amend its registration at the Sect Affairs Hall.
• Ning Muchun explained that the branch hoped to qualify for the coming direct-lineage competition by cultivating someone to Late Qi Condensation, and had chosen Ning Furong for its resources.
• Ning Fa proposed that the branch support his alchemy, saying he was confident he could pass the clan alchemist examination within a month.
• Ning Fa questioned whether Ning Furong could break through to Late Qi Condensation and refused to let Ning Muchun benefit from his shop, even if the clan confiscated it.
• Ning Fa strode away, and Ning Muchun suppressed her anger and resumed the discussion with the others.

Ning Fa received unexpected support from his maternal uncle and Ning Xilin after refusing to help Ning Muchun’s group. They gave him spirit stones, leaving him grateful and determined to repay them.

• Ning Fa woke from a nap and welcomed Xu Changtai, Xu Guanting, Ning Xilin, and Ning Xilin’s granddaughter Xiao Yu into his home.
• Ning Xilin introduced Xiao Yu, who had recently been found to possess a spiritual root and become a cultivator.
• Ning Fa asked Ning Xilin whether he had come to persuade him to agree with Ning Muchun, but Ning Xilin denied it and acknowledged that Muchun had acted inappropriately.
• Xu Changtai gave Ning Fa one hundred spirit stones despite his family’s own hardships, and Xu Guanting urged Ning Fa to accept them.
• Ning Xilin gave Ning Fa thirty more spirit stones, explaining that he had come to help because Ning Zhiyuan had once supported him.

Ning Fa received spirit stones from his maternal uncle and Uncle Xilin, then traveled to Jinchang Island Market to buy ingredients for Essence Replenishing Pills. At a spiritual-material shop, he unexpectedly encountered a beautiful young woman and her seventh-level Qi Condensation elder brother.

• Ning Fa accepted one hundred and eighty spirit stones from his maternal uncle and Uncle Xilin, resolving to repay them.
• Ning Fa took the Ning Clan spirit boat from Pingchang Island to Jinchang Island so he could buy Essence Replenishing Pill ingredients.
• Ning Fa explored the bustling market, then hurried to a large spiritual-material shop.
• Ning Fa entered the shop and saw a beautiful young woman and a young man he had not expected to meet.
• The young man told Qinghui that he would take her to Tianshui Market to find Moon Orchid Flowers.

Ning Fa encountered his former fiancée Liu Qinghui and rival Ning Ruiming at the market, but ignored their taunts and bought materials to keep refining Essence Replenishing Pills. Liu Qinghui suggested he might still achieve a miracle before his wager with the Fifth Elder came due in a month, and she left with Ning Ruiming for Tianshui Market.

• Liu Qinghui and Ning Ruiming noticed Ning Fa when he entered the market, stirring memories of his broken engagement and their branches' rivalry.
• Ning Ruiming mocked Ning Fa over failing the pill master assessment three days earlier, but Ning Fa calmly went to the counter.
• Ning Fa bought fourteen sets of Essence Replenishing Pill materials and twenty Grain Abstinence Pills, then left without acknowledging them.
• Ning Ruiming said Ning Fa's pill-refining efforts would fail and that his wager with the Fifth Elder would soon take effect.
• Liu Qinghui said there was still a month and perhaps a miracle could happen, then left with Ning Ruiming for Tianshui Market.

Ning Fa used the Mysterious Scroll to restore the ingredients from failed Essence Replenishing Pills, allowing him to practice pill refinement repeatedly. Three days before his bet with Ning Huarong was due, he successfully refined six flawless pills and fell asleep from exhaustion.

• Ning Fa returned to Pingchang Island and resumed refining Essence Replenishing Pills, discovering that the Mysterious Scroll could restore the ingredients from even an early-stage failed pill.
• After Ning Fa refined a single failed pill, the scroll restored all seven spirit herbs, and he reasoned that it traced ingredients back to their source.
• Ning Fa repeatedly refined pills, steadily improving until he could reliably produce proper Essence Replenishing Pills.
• By the fifteenth day, Ning Fa could reliably make at least two proper pills per batch, but he continued practicing to improve further.
• Three days before his bet with Ning Huarong was due, Ning Fa refined six flawless Essence Replenishing Pills and collapsed into sleep.

Ning Fa traveled to Lingchang Island to retake the Pill Master assessment, but Wei Chengzong refused to examine him until five days later. With his wager against Ning Huarong taking effect in two days, Ning Fa suspected Ning Ruiming had arranged the delay to make him lose.

• Ning Fa traveled to Lingchang Island and passed through the dock inspection after Ning Zonglie recognized him and let him enter.
• Ning Fa reached the Ning Family Pill Hall and waited for Wei Chengzong to arrive.
• Ning Fa asked Wei Chengzong to assess his ability to refine Essence Replenishing Pills, but Wei Chengzong said he was too busy and told him to return in five days.
• Ning Fa realized the delay would come too late to save him from his wager with Ning Huarong and suspected Ning Ruiming had arranged it.
• Ning Fa pleaded for a brief assessment, but Wei Chengzong refused and left.

Ning Fa failed to secure Wei Chengzong’s help after Ning Ruiming blocked his chance to take the clan alchemist assessment. Following Ning Zonglie’s advice, he traveled to Yun Chang Island to ask Ninth Elder Ning Shaohong, his father’s former lover, for help, but guards stopped him at the docks.

• Ning Fa told Ning Zonglie that Ning Ruiming had interfered with his assessment, but Ning Zonglie said he lacked the standing to help.
• Ning Fa resolved to keep the Mysterious Scroll secret and considered earning money from refining Essence Replenishing Pills if he had to accept Ning Huarong’s arrangement.
• Ning Zonglie quietly directed Ning Fa to seek help from Ninth Elder Ning Shaohong and arranged passage on a spirit boat to Yun Chang Island.
• Ning Fa learned that Ning Shaohong was a prominent second-rank Spirit Embroiderer and his father Ning Zhiyuan’s former lover.
• A female guard stopped Ning Fa at Yun Chang Island’s docks and demanded to know who he was and why he had arrived without a travel token.

Ning Fa sought Ning Shaohong’s help after the Alchemy Hall blocked him from taking the alchemist assessment. Ning Shaohong agreed to intervene using the one favor she owed his father, and they set out for Lingchang Island.

• Ning Fa persuaded Ning Xiuying to report his arrival to Ning Shaohong, and she let him into the lakeside pavilion.
• Ning Shaohong challenged Ning Fa about who had sent him, and he said his father had told him to seek her help if he faced trouble.
• Ning Fa explained that someone was preventing him from taking the Alchemy Hall assessment, and he asked Ning Shaohong to let him participate normally.
• Ning Shaohong agreed to help once, and Ning Fa said he was confident he could pass the assessment.
• Ning Shaohong ordered Ning Xiuying to prepare her Crimson Silk spirit vessel so they could travel to Lingchang Island.

Ning Shaohong accompanied Ning Fa to Lingchang Island and ensured that Wei Chengzong would preside over Ning Fa’s alchemist assessment. Ning Fa prepared to refine Essence Replenishing Pills under the watch of Ning Shaohong, Ning Ruiming, and Liu Qinghui.

• Ning Fa and Ning Shaohong arrived at Lingchang Island and went to the Alchemy Hall, where they encountered Wei Chengzong.
• Ning Shaohong confronted Wei Chengzong about avoiding Ning Fa’s assessment, and he agreed to preside over it.
• Wei Chengzong explained that Ning Fa had five hours to refine three batches of Essence Replenishing Pills and produce at least six pills to pass.
• Ning Fa chose a pill furnace, but Ning Ruiming rushed in and challenged Wei Chengzong before noticing Ning Shaohong.
• Ning Shaohong told Ning Ruiming to stay and witness the assessment, and he reluctantly sat down as Liu Qinghui arrived and took a seat.

Ning Fa refined pills for his assessment and produced five proper pills across his first two furnaces, bringing him close to passing. He began the third and final round with only one more proper pill needed to succeed.

• At Wei Chengzong’s command, Ning Fa began the assessment while Ning Shaohong, Ning Ruiming, and Liu Qinghui watched.
• Ning Fa extracted the seven ingredients with impressive speed and precision, then struggled somewhat to adjust to the unfamiliar pill furnace.
• Ning Fa opened the first furnace and produced two proper pills and three Failed Pills, earning praise from Wei Chengzong.
• After resting for a quarter of an hour, Ning Fa produced three proper pills and three Failed Pills in his second furnace.
• Ning Fa had five proper pills from two furnaces and needed one more in the final round to pass the assessment.

Ning Fa passed the alchemist assessment and, while continuing to refine pills in a state of absorption, produced a rare One Dao Mark Essence Replenishing Pill. Ning Shaohong recognized his potential and decided to support his advancement in alchemy.

• Ning Fa refined five proper Essence Replenishing Pills and one failed pill in his third assessment round, passing with ten proper pills and a fifty-five percent success rate overall.
• Ning Fa began refining another batch after the assessment ended, and Ning Shaohong recognized that he might have entered the legendary state of entering the Dao.
• Ning Fa produced six unusually excellent pills, including one with a Pill Dao Mark, shocking Wei Chengzong, Ning Ruiming, Liu Qinghui, Ning Shaohong, and Ning Xiuying.
• Ning Shaohong decided to discuss supporting Ning Fa with her elder brother, Ning Weidong, and asked Ning Fa for the One Dao Mark pill.
• Ning Fa agreed to give the pill to Ning Shaohong, who left with Ning Xiuying, while Ning Ruiming crushed his chair's armrest in anger.

Ning Fa learned that he had passed the clan’s Pill Master assessment and officially joined the Alchemy Hall. He received his token and prepared to move to Lingchang Island, while Ning Chuanwei scrambled to curry favor with him.

• After Ning Ruiming stormed out, Wei Chengzong congratulated Ning Fa and offered to help him, while Ning Fa exchanged a few polite words and left.
• Ning Fa returned home exhausted from hours of pill refinement and immediately fell asleep.
• The next morning, Ning Xiuying delivered the elders’ council’s decision and gave Ning Fa his Alchemy Hall Token, telling him to move to Lingchang Island the following day.
• Ning Xiuying explained that the clan wanted Ning Fa to refine two other Low-grade First-grade Pills at a thirty percent formation rate within a year, and Ning Fa agreed to thank Ninth Elder in person.
• After Ning Xiuying left, Ning Chuanwei, stunned by Ning Fa’s new status, fawned over him and called him an honored Clan Pill Master.

Ning Chuanwei spread the news that Ning Fa had become an official clan alchemist, while Ning Muchun’s family pressured their branch to sell Spirit Fields to fund a Spirit Stabilizing Pill for Ning Furong. The meeting turned to Ning Xilin, who arrived visibly shocked and unable to speak.

• Ning Chuanwei tried twice to visit Ning Fa, was turned away, and spread news of Ning Fa’s new position across Pingchang Island.
• Ning Muchun argued that the branch should buy a Spirit Stabilizing Pill to improve Ning Furong’s chance of reaching Late Qi Condensation.
• Ning Zhengqian objected to selling Spirit Fields, but Ning Muchun insisted every family contribute and suggested selling Ning Fa’s shop instead.
• Ning Zhengqian agreed to sell Spirit Fields but demanded that Ning Muchun return Ning Fa’s shop when he came back; she and Meng Jinliang secretly planned to seize it later.
• Ning Xilin arrived at the meeting looking shocked and struggled to explain what had happened.