Chapter Summaries

Plot and events

• Ji Yuan returns to Zengtou City and learns that the Qin Household has been destroyed by a coalition of people it had bullied. Rumors say Qin Long and other cultivators who joined the Water Dragon Sect were sent to fight the Joy Palace as expendable troops.
• Reflecting on revenge, Ji Yuan concludes that survival and patience can be more effective than risking his life in a direct confrontation: living long enough may let him watch his enemies fall on their own.
• He decides to move to Mist Island, where the Giant Toad has apparently accepted him. He packs his livestock, spirit fish, Tu Yue, and the slowly growing, unidentified spirit plant.
• Rather than surrender his lakeside home, Ji Yuan pays to keep its courtyard for seven more months, leaving himself a place to return to and a way for friends to reach him.
• Before leaving, he tells Lin Hu and Wen Lin that he will be hunting demon beasts in Cloud-Rain Marsh. He also asks Wen Lin to pick the peaches from his trees for Wen Ling’er and Lin Hu’s family.
• Ji Yuan says goodbye to Du Wanyi at Taian Ward, declining her offer to accompany him so he can keep Mist Island secret.
• He reaches the island, feeds the Giant Toad, and finds the cabin he built still standing. With the toad’s apparent approval, he feels ready to make the island his home.

Character developments and interactions

• Ji Yuan shows greater patience and long-term thinking, choosing to preserve his safety and prepare a private refuge rather than pursue revenge recklessly. Though reluctant to leave his old courtyard, he makes practical arrangements and gives those close to him a reassuring explanation.
• Lin Hu is delighted by the Qin Household’s downfall but saddened by Ji Yuan’s impending absence. Ji Yuan asks him to pass along messages from anyone seeking him.
• Wen Lin accepts Ji Yuan’s plan and is relieved that Ji Yuan still intends to honor a promise before joining the Water Dragon Sect. Wen Ling’er is affectionate and reluctant to see him go, though she believes his promise that he will return.
• Du Wanyi offers to travel with Ji Yuan for mutual protection, but he declines to protect the island’s secrecy.
• The Giant Toad eagerly follows Ji Yuan after being fed, reinforcing the impression that it accepts him and his presence on the island.

Significant themes

• Patience over vengeance: Ji Yuan believes surviving long enough can be a safer and more effective answer to injustice than direct violence.
• Impermanence and shifting fortunes: The Qin Household’s collapse shows how quickly power can disappear and how former victims may unite against an oppressor.
• Home, attachment, and new beginnings: Ji Yuan feels the pull of the courtyard and its relationships, but chooses to establish a home of his own on Mist Island.
• Affection and separation: His farewells reveal the quiet bonds he has built with Lin Hu, the Wen family, and Du Wanyi, even as he conceals his true destination.

Key plot points and events

• Ji Yuan plans to expand Mist Island’s facilities: livestock buildings and a fish pond on the island, while giving the cave abode, Talisman Chamber, and alchemy room separate chambers. For now, practical construction and cultivation take priority.
• He discovers a natural lake and persuades Big Clam to claim it as his level-two fish pond. Its panel-enhanced waters will speed fish growth and may help half-spirit fish become spirit fish.
• Over the next six days, Ji Yuan establishes a chicken coop, pigsty, and spirit field, stocking them with spirit pigs, chickens, and fish. One chicken disappears; Tu Yue indicates Big Clam ate it.
• Ji Yuan rebukes Big Clam and signals that he cannot keep feeding him. Big Clam protests, then leaves.
• Ji Yuan upgrades the spirit field to level two. It now repels insects, shortens crop growth cycles by 40%, and has a 20% chance of doubling a harvest. The level-three version promises even better yields and one stalk of millennial illusion spirit grass annually.
• After buying darkglow stones and a better alchemy furnace, Ji Yuan returns to find Big Clam missing. Near the shore, he discovers that Big Clam has returned badly wounded, carrying the corpse of a second-order demon beast—apparently a gift for Ji Yuan.

Character developments and interactions

• Ji Yuan shows growing confidence as a planner and cultivator, investing in the island’s long-term productivity while remaining focused on strength and practical gains. He also tries to set boundaries with Big Clam over the livestock.
• Big Clam is revealed as both mischievous—he steals a chicken—and loyal. Despite Ji Yuan’s scolding, he risks injury to bring back a powerful demon beast as a meal or offering.
• Tu Yue remains a quiet, dutiful helper, watching over the animals and identifying the culprit behind the missing chicken.
• Ji Yuan and Big Clam’s relationship has a playful, transactional edge, but Big Clam’s wounded return hints at genuine attachment and gratitude.

Significant themes

• Steady cultivation and resource-building: Ji Yuan values incremental gains, treating every harvest and upgrade as something worth accumulating.
• Prosperity and self-sufficiency: He turns Mist Island into a productive base, balancing ambition with the limits of his current labor and resources.
• Companionship expressed through deeds: Big Clam’s gift suggests loyalty beneath the comic squabbling.
• The promise and risk of growth: Better facilities bring valuable rewards, but the final appearance of a second-order beast—and Big Clam’s injuries—signals that progress may come with danger.

Key plot points and events

• Big Clam returns from a dangerous fight with a Second-Order Demon Beast, badly wounded but carrying its carcass as a gift for Ji Yuan. Ji Yuan discovers the creature’s valuable Demon Core; since cultivators cannot safely absorb it, he gives it to Big Clam, helping the beast recover.
• Ji Yuan cooks the creature’s meat, then spends the following days eating and cultivating. He also feeds Big Clam, whose wounds steadily heal. Big Clam comes to prefer cooked food and begins bringing back First-Order Demon Beasts instead of challenging opponents of his own rank. Ji Yuan sells the surplus materials.
• After six months on Mist Island, Ji Yuan prepares to pursue Millennium Green Hui Grass, a rare ingredient for Foundation Establishment Pills, before the coming Water Dragon Sect Selection.
• In Zengtou City, Ji Yuan asks Wen Lin for details about the matter he had promised to help with. Wen Lin reveals that his real name is Yue Lin and that he is an illegitimate son of the Yue Household of Spirit Mountain Market.
• Yue Lin says his mother was killed when he was ten by his father’s principal wife, Wang Shan—the first person he wants to kill. He identifies Yue Zhu, head of the household and his grand-uncle, as the second target. Yue Zhu secretly supported Wang Shan’s cultivation, and Ji Yuan is shocked to learn that she became involved with her husband’s grand-uncle.

Character developments and interactions

• Ji Yuan grows more considerate toward Big Clam, recognizing the beast’s sacrifice and sharing food with him. He continues advancing his cultivation and alchemy, though upper-tier pill-making remains difficult.
• Big Clam shows loyalty by risking his life to bring Ji Yuan a prized kill. He heals with the Demon Core and Ji Yuan’s food, adapts to Ji Yuan’s advice about hunting weaker prey, and develops a close, cooperative routine with him.
• Yue Lin (formerly Wen Lin) drops his assumed identity and explains the family history behind his revenge. His controlled manner contrasts with his intense feelings about his mother’s death.
• Ji Yuan listens as an ally and prevents Yue Lin’s family from kneeling to him. Zhao Yuechan and her daughter, Wen Ling’er, withdraw so the men can discuss the most painful details.

Significant themes

• Loyalty and reciprocal care: Big Clam’s gift prompts Ji Yuan to care for him in return.
• Prudence and growth: Ji Yuan advises Big Clam to use his strength strategically, while Ji Yuan himself works toward greater cultivation and Foundation Establishment.
• Hidden identities and family injustice: Yue Lin’s concealed name and the abuse within the Yue Household reveal the personal history driving his desire for revenge.
• Power and corruption: Wang Shan’s cultivation was advanced through Yue Zhu’s resources and an illicit relationship, raising questions about influence and morality within the household.

Key events

• Wen Lin reveals that Yue Household Head Yue Zhu was his father’s uncle and had an affair with Wen Lin’s mother, Wang Shan. He blames Yue Zhu for enabling Wang Shan’s role in his mother’s death and asks Ji Yuan to kill him.
• Wen Lin also names Zhou Qingfa, a rogue cultivator sent to the Water Dragon Sect’s front lines, as his third target. Ji Yuan agrees to kill him if they meet again and sets out immediately for Spirit Mountain Market.
• Yue Zhu and Wang Shan are together when Ji Yuan attacks. Ji Yuan kills Wang Shan as she tries to escape, then defeats Yue Zhu with talismans, his flying sword, and his Explosive Charge technique. He takes their heads as proof, along with their valuables—including a medicinal herb he suspects is the Millennium Green Hui Grass.
• Before the assassination, Ji Yuan has discreetly arranged for a Water Dragon Sect cultivator on duty to overlook the killing, offering two High-Grade Talismans in exchange.
• Ji Yuan returns that night and gives Wen Lin the two heads. Wen Lin and Zhao Yuechan weep with relief and gratitude, then bow to him. Ji Yuan returns to Mist Island.

Character developments and interactions

• Ji Yuan proves efficient, cautious, and pragmatic: he plans for possible consequences, fights without theatrics, and secures permission through a bribe before acting. His Ninth-Layer cultivation gives him an advantage over Yue Zhu, but he still treats the fight seriously.
• Wen Lin entrusts Ji Yuan with his revenge and comes to regard him as dependable. He tells his daughter, Wen Ling’er, that Ji Yuan is their family’s benefactor; she insists on calling him “Big Brother Ji.”
• Yue Zhu is portrayed as aging and ambitious. He hopes to reach Foundation Establishment and elevate his household, but his plans—and his promise to make Wang Shan the family matriarch—end with Ji Yuan’s attack.
• Wang Shan is exposed as Yue Zhu’s lover and is killed while attempting to flee. Her death, followed by Yue Zhu’s, completes the revenge Wen Lin requested.
• The chapter also shows Ji Yuan’s transactional relationship with the Water Dragon Sect guard: a future affiliation and talismans persuade the guard to let the killing proceed.

Significant themes

• Revenge and justice: Ji Yuan carries out Wen Lin’s requested vengeance for his mother’s death.
• Power, ambition, and vulnerability: Yue Zhu’s plans to raise his household’s status cannot protect him from a stronger, prepared opponent.
• Pragmatism and worldly dealings: Cultivation involves not just combat but relationships, favors, and corruption; Ji Yuan manages the political risks as carefully as the fight itself.
• Trust and gratitude: Wen Lin’s family places lasting faith in Ji Yuan after he fulfills his promise.

Chapter summary

Key plot points and events

• On the return journey to Mist Island, Ji Yuan searches the Storage Bags of Yue Zhu and Wang Shan. Wang’s bag contains little of value, while Yue’s holds a substantial fortune: Spirit Stones, a damaged protective armor, a cultivation-assisting cushion, talismans, pills, Foundation Establishment ingredients, two High-Grade pill recipes, and an Illusion Talisman art.
• Ji Yuan plans to keep the armor and cultivation cushion, sell Yue’s worn iron rod, and eventually profit from crafting pills and talismans. The recipes for the Life-Burning Pill and Pure Void Pill, along with the Illusion Talisman art, are especially useful to his plans.
• Clearwave Pool has been taken over by the Water Dragon Sect, which controls its mining and has lowered the price it pays local fishermen. Since Ji Yuan is no longer involved in the work there, he settles into a comfortable routine on Mist Island, cultivating, making pills and talismans, and enjoying meals prepared with Big Clam’s catches.
• Ji Yuan prepares an elaborate New Year’s Eve feast with Big Clam and Tu Yue, the corpse he uses as a helper. During the celebration, a tremendous battle erupts above Mist Island, forcing him and Big Clam to flee and hide on a nearby island.
• After the fighting subsides, a wounded cultivator named Li Changhe mentally contacts Ji Yuan. He claims to be a Foundation Establishment cultivator of the Water Dragon Sect, says he was fighting a Demonic Cultivator, and asks for healing pills.
• Ji Yuan briefly considers having Big Clam attack Li Changhe and seize the treasures of both combatants. Remembering past dangers and the risks of provoking the Water Dragon Sect, he instead asks Li Changhe to prove his identity.

Character developments

• Ji Yuan shows his usual pragmatism and resourcefulness, assessing the value of every item he acquires and identifying new ways to earn money. The battle also reveals his caution: although tempted by a potentially enormous reward, he resists a reckless gamble.
• Big Clam is content with the feast preparations and remains loyal to Ji Yuan. Its unusual fear during the battle signals that the unseen combatants are far more powerful than those it normally faces.
• Li Changhe is introduced as a severely injured, apparently desperate Foundation Establishment cultivator, but his identity and intentions remain uncertain.

Significant themes

• Prudence versus greed: Ji Yuan recognizes the opportunity to profit from a wounded cultivator but weighs it against the possibility of a trap, retaliation, or death.
• Survival in a dangerous world: Even a peaceful holiday can be interrupted by conflicts far beyond Ji Yuan’s power, making concealment and caution essential.
• Comfort amid hardship: Ji Yuan’s feast and domestic routine create a brief sense of warmth and contentment against the dangers of cultivation life.
• Power and economic control: The Water Dragon Sect’s takeover of Clearwave Pool illustrates how powerful institutions can control local resources and reduce ordinary people’s bargaining power.

Character interactions

• Ji Yuan and Big Clam share a close, companionable routine: Big Clam gathers ingredients, and both enjoy the food Ji Yuan prepares.
• Ji Yuan relies on Tu Yue to help with preparation and later assigns her the role of guarding the house.
• When Li Changhe asks for aid, Ji Yuan does not immediately trust him. Their exchange ends with Ji Yuan demanding proof that Li is truly a Water Dragon Sect cultivator rather than the Demonic Cultivator.

Key plot points and events

• Ji Yuan receives a dying man’s plea for help in the mist. Though wary of being deceived, he verifies the man’s Water Dragon Sect emblem and rushes to him.
• He finds Li Changhe gravely wounded after a fight with a late-Foundation Establishment demonic cultivator. Ji Yuan treats him with Qi-Blood Pills, restorative pills, and a large supply of blood essence, then moves him to a secluded island to recover.
• After ten days, Li Changhe wakes and explains he had been searching for demonic cultivators on the Water Dragon Sect’s orders. He downplays the sect’s conflict with Joy Palace, describing it as a dispute over spirit veins.
• Grateful for being saved, Li Changhe gives Ji Yuan a Water Dragon Sect Ascension Token, allowing him to join without taking the selection. He also gives Ji Yuan a communication talisman and offers future help, including Foundation Establishment Pills once Ji Yuan reaches peak Qi Refining.
• Ji Yuan declines to meet the sect rescuers, preferring to keep his role in Li Changhe’s rescue private. Before leaving, he asks about the Foundation Establishment Pill recipe; Li Changhe promises to obtain a copy. He then gives Ji Yuan a one-use Talisman Treasure, the Heaven-Escaping Shuttle, capable of helping him escape a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Character development

• Ji Yuan remains cautious and self-protective, carefully verifying Li Changhe’s identity and avoiding unnecessary attention. Yet he acts decisively once he chooses to save him, showing both resourcefulness and a willingness to risk valuable supplies.
• Li Changhe is revealed as a well-connected Water Dragon Sect cultivator—the son of an elder. His gratitude is generous, though his casual confidence highlights the gap between his privileged background and Ji Yuan’s hard-earned progress.

Significant themes

• Caution and trust: Ji Yuan balances suspicion with compassion, trusting Li Changhe only after checking evidence.
• Reciprocity and opportunity: Saving Li Changhe earns Ji Yuan valuable access, protection, and a powerful escape tool.
• Unequal privilege: Li Changhe’s effortless Foundation Establishment contrasts with Ji Yuan’s need to plan around his false spiritual root.
• Self-preservation: Ji Yuan accepts help but avoids exposing himself to the sect’s attention or entangling himself in conflicts he does not understand.

Character interactions

• Ji Yuan and Li Changhe’s relationship shifts from wary stranger and rescuer to grateful allies, with Li Changhe inviting Ji Yuan to call him “Brother Li.”
• Li Changhe offers Ji Yuan practical support while setting limits: he will help if Ji Yuan obeys the sect’s rules, but can only protect him from the consequences—not prevent them—if he breaks them.
• Ji Yuan’s questions about Joy Palace and the Foundation Establishment Pill recipe reveal his concern for the sect’s dangers and his own long-term cultivation prospects.

Chapter Summary: “Xu Old Master’s News”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ji Yuan receives the Talisman Treasure: Heaven-Escaping Shuttle from Li Changhe. Unlike ordinary talismans, a Talisman Treasure contains part of a Golden Core Cultivator’s life-bound Dharma Treasure and can serve as a powerful life-saving trump card.
• Li Changhe dismisses Ji Yuan’s attempts to refuse the gift, explaining that he could obtain another himself. He tells Ji Yuan to seek him out after joining the Water Dragon Sect, effectively offering Ji Yuan a powerful ally and backer within the sect.
• After parting from Ji Yuan, Li Changhe reunites with his senior sister, Rou, who humorously claims that her master sent her to “collect his corpse.”
• Ji Yuan spends time admiring the Heaven-Escaping Shuttle before hiding it away. He reflects that his encounter with Li Changhe—and the opportunity to obtain the treasure—was the result of fate.
• Although Li Changhe also gave him an Ascension Token, Ji Yuan decides not to use it. He prefers to enter the Water Dragon Sect through the ordinary Selection so he will not attract unnecessary attention or investigations.
• Ji Yuan returns to his home in Zengtou City. He reunites with Wu Qin, Zhao Yuechan, Wen Ling’er, Lin Hu, and Wen Lin, enjoying the familiar atmosphere after his long absence in Cloud-Rain Marsh.
• Learning that the Water Dragon Sect Selection will begin in ten days, Ji Yuan decides to gather intelligence. He plans to visit Old Master Xu at the Hundred Treasures Pavilion and Du Wanyi in Taian Ward.
• The next morning, Ji Yuan visits the Hundred Treasures Pavilion and is warmly teased by the Water Dragon Sect cultivators there. He gives Xu Fugui a gift box containing Cultivation Pills, talismans, Blood Essence, and other useful resources.
• Xu Fugui reveals confidential information about this year’s Selection: because the sect recruited many people the previous year, it will accept fewer candidates this time.
• More importantly, Late Qi Refining cultivators will be forbidden from using talismans, Cultivation Pills, Water Thunder Pellets, and similar external aids during the Selection. They must rely on their genuine mastery of Magical Artifacts and spells when fighting Late First Tier Demon Beasts.
• Other routes of entry, such as alchemy and artifact refinement, remain unchanged, as does the Spiritual Root examination.
• Ji Yuan is confident that he can defeat Late First Tier Demon Beasts on land, though he admits that fighting them in water without talismans would be extremely dangerous.
• Xu Fugui tells Ji Yuan to find him at House 78 in District B of Young Dragon Island after they both return to the Water Dragon Sect. He then begins explaining what Ji Yuan should do after joining, prompting Ji Yuan to prepare paper and brush to take notes.

Character Development

• Ji Yuan becomes more cautious and strategically minded. Rather than using the Ascension Token and drawing attention to himself, he chooses the safer, less conspicuous path of entering through the regular Selection.
• He also demonstrates growing confidence in his combat abilities, trusting that his training in Cloud-Rain Marsh has prepared him to defeat Late First Tier Demon Beasts under the new restrictions.
• Ji Yuan’s relationships and support network expand significantly. By saving Li Changhe, he gains both the Heaven-Escaping Shuttle and a potentially influential ally inside the Water Dragon Sect.
• Li Changhe shows generosity and loyalty by giving Ji Yuan an exceptionally valuable treasure despite its rarity. His actions confirm that he sincerely regards Ji Yuan as a brother and intends to repay his life-saving debt.
• Xu Fugui continues to act as Ji Yuan’s reliable source of insider information and mentor-like elder. His willingness to share confidential sect news reflects his concern for Ji Yuan’s safety and future.
• Ji Yuan’s return home reveals a more personal side of him: despite his ambition and caution, he misses ordinary human contact and feels comforted by the familiar people and sounds of Zengtou City.

Significant Themes

• Fate and opportunity: Ji Yuan reflects that his encounter with Li Changhe and acquisition of the Talisman Treasure resulted from a chain of unexpected events, emphasizing the role of fate in cultivation.
• Caution versus recognition: Ji Yuan repeatedly chooses discretion over immediate advantage. He refuses to use the Ascension Token because greater visibility could bring suspicion and danger.
• Preparation and genuine strength: The new Selection rules emphasize that cultivators must possess real combat ability rather than relying on family wealth, talismans, pills, or other external resources.
• Reciprocity and relationships: Li Changhe’s gift and Xu Fugui’s information show how favors, trust, and personal connections are vital forms of power in the cultivation world.
• Home and human connection: Ji Yuan’s return to Zengtou City reminds him that prolonged isolation, even for cultivation, can be unhealthy. Familiar relationships provide emotional grounding.

Important Character Interactions

• Ji Yuan and Li Changhe: Li Changhe gives Ji Yuan the Heaven-Escaping Shuttle and promises future assistance through the Water Dragon Sect. Their relationship shifts from chance acquaintances to trusted brothers.
• Li Changhe and Senior Sister Rou: Their brief exchange adds humor. Rou’s deadpan statement that she was sent to collect his corpse contrasts with Li Changhe’s confident return.
• Ji Yuan and the people of Zengtou City: Wu Qin, Zhao Yuechan, Wen Ling’er, Lin Hu, and Wen Lin welcome him back warmly, reinforcing his sense of belonging.
• Ji Yuan and Xu Fugui: Their affectionate, informal relationship resembles that of grandfather and grandson. Ji Yuan presents Xu Fugui with gifts, while Xu Fugui responds by sharing valuable confidential information and practical advice.
• Ji Yuan and Xu Fugui’s fellow cultivators: The Hundred Treasures Pavilion cultivators joke about Xu Fugui missing Ji Yuan and tease Ji Yuan about his increased cultivation, showing the familiarity and camaraderie he has developed there.

Key plot points and events

• Ji Yuan learns from Xu Fugui that the Water Dragon Sect’s selection rules have changed: candidates can no longer rely on talisman drawing or Cultivation Pills and must prove their strength by killing a demon beast.
• Xu explains the rules for those who join through strength: they are assigned to Young Dragon Island, must obey sect rules, and must earn 100 Merit Points each year through missions—or by submitting talismans or pills. Ji Yuan plans to meet the requirement by submitting talismans rather than taking missions, so he can focus on Foundation Establishment.
• Concerned for Du Wanyi, Ji Yuan warns her about the new selection rules. She has advanced to the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining and believes she can kill a Late First Tier demon beast if necessary, though she recognizes the stricter test may deter many candidates.
• Ji Yuan returns to Mist Island to check his animals and tell Big Clam to guard the home. He discovers the Spirit Chickens are gone and half a Spirit Pig has been eaten. Big Clam denies responsibility, but chicken feathers around its mouth give it away. Its body and demonic aura have grown stronger from eating the meat.
• After giving Big Clam instructions and returning to Zengtou City, Ji Yuan spends the remaining days preparing. The chapter ends as he wakes on the day of the selection.

Character developments and interactions

• Ji Yuan weighs the freedom and obligations of sect life, prioritizes cultivation and Foundation Establishment, and takes practical steps to prepare for the selection. He also shows concern for Du Wanyi and trust in their relationship.
• Du Wanyi is anxious about the changed test but remains determined; her cultivation has risen to the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining.
• Big Clam has grown stronger after secretly eating Ji Yuan’s livestock, and appears somewhat more intelligent, though still clumsy and mischievous.
• Xu Fugui advises Ji Yuan on sect life and Merit Points, while Ji Yuan and Du Wanyi exchange information and make plans to meet at Mountain Rain Island.

Significant themes

• Freedom versus security: Sect life offers stability but comes with work, quotas, and rules; Ji Yuan values independence.
• Strength and self-reliance: The new selection rules force candidates to depend on their own combat ability rather than purchased or crafted advantages.
• Trust and loyalty: Ji Yuan shares sensitive information with Du Wanyi and reflects on the importance of their surviving brotherly bond.
• Pragmatism and preparation: Ji Yuan plans around the sect’s requirements, protects his home, and prepares for the test while keeping a fallback option in reserve.

Key plot points and events

• Ji Yuan prepares for the Water Dragon Sect Selection. Though he carries talismans, pills, and other supplies, he expects the contest to permit only limited equipment.
• Before leaving, he secretly gives Lin Hu a small Storage Bag containing four talismans and cultivation pills. The gift should help Lin Hu advance and establish himself in Zengtou City. Ji Yuan gives nothing to the Wen Household, judging them less needy and less close.
• Ji Yuan leaves his lakeside home, reflecting on the years and memories tied to it, then flies to the crowded Fish Pen in Zengtou City.
• He meets Du Kang, the city’s only other Late Qi Refining candidate. A Water Dragon Sect Foundation Establishment cultivator announces a new rule: participants in the beast fight may use Dharma Tools and techniques, but not external aids such as talismans, pills, or formations.
• Though the danger makes both candidates hesitate, Du Kang decides to compete rather than wait three more years. Ji Yuan joins him, saying he will try and surrender if necessary.
• The two follow a sect disciple toward Mountain Rain Island, where they will be handed over to Senior Brother Yun. The Selection officially begins.

Character developments and interactions

• Ji Yuan shows care for Lin Hu through a measured, practical parting gift, while acknowledging that his closest ties are not equally strong with everyone. He is also emotionally reluctant to leave his home, but remains determined to pursue the Selection.
• Lin Hu appears anxious about Ji Yuan’s departure and struggles to speak after hearing the contest’s new rules.
• Wen Ling’er is excited about her Spiritual Root test and looks forward to becoming Ji Yuan’s junior sister; Wen Lin brings her and the family to the testing area.
• Du Kang is cautious enough to ask whether candidates can surrender, but ultimately chooses to take his chance.
• The Foundation Establishment cultivator delivers the rules bluntly and appears to enjoy watching the candidates weigh a consequential choice. Ji Yuan’s age, False Spiritual Root, and high cultivation catch his attention.

Significant themes

• Leaving home and moving forward: Ji Yuan’s departure marks the end of a formative period, even as he begins a new path.
• Practical generosity and personal bonds: Ji Yuan helps Lin Hu without giving indiscriminately, balancing affection with judgment.
• Risk, choice, and ambition: The candidates must decide whether the danger of the Selection is worth pursuing a rare opportunity.
• Limits and adaptability: The ban on external aids forces Ji Yuan to rely on his Dharma Tools and techniques rather than his broader stock of resources.

Chapter Summary: “Wen Ling’er’s Spiritual Root”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ji Yuan arrives at Mountain Rain Island for the Water Dragon Sect’s Sui Selection. Only a small number of Qi Refining cultivators have gathered, and the selection’s new rules—prohibiting pills, talismans, and other external aids—have made everyone tense.
• Foundation Establishment Cultivator Yun Shangping announces that participants will fight demon beasts without assistance. He reassures them that surrendering is allowed and that he will intervene before anyone is killed.
• Participants draw lots to determine their groups. Ji Yuan draws Group A, Du Kang draws Group B, and Du Wanyi draws Group D.
• Ji Yuan is placed in the same group as Sang Zhongyuan, a ninth-layer Qi Refining cultivator who assumes Ji Yuan is weak in combat because of his quiet, unassuming manner.
• The group members enter separate, tightly confined arenas. Ji Yuan prepares defensively with his Hundred-Fish Shield and Greenfly Flying Sword as demon beasts are dropped into the arenas.
• The narrative then shifts to Zengtou City, where Wen Ling’er and her parents wait to have her spiritual roots tested. Her parents fear both possible outcomes: poor aptitude could condemn her to a difficult life in Cloud-Rain Marsh, while exceptional aptitude might force her to leave them.
• When Wen Ling’er places her hand on the testing orb, it initially appears to show no spiritual root. A faint pale-blue light then emerges, remaining the only color in the orb.
• The Water Dragon Sect cultivators realize that she may possess an extremely rare wood-element heavenly spirit root, though its unusual pale color leaves them uncertain.
• Jiang Lin immediately seals the testing area with a formation and summons someone using a communication talisman. A mysterious cultivator arrives in a pale-blue streak of light.
• When the mist clears, Wen Ling’er, Wen Lin, Zhao Yuechan, and the original testing cultivator have vanished. The testing continues under a replacement disciple, while Lin Hu and Wu Qin realize that the family has been taken away and quietly flee with their own child.

Character Developments

• Ji Yuan: Remains calm and cautious despite the life-threatening selection. He deliberately presents himself as inexperienced, allowing Sang Zhongyuan to underestimate him. His thoughts reveal both pragmatism and dark humor as he treats the selection like the final stage of an examination.
• Du Kang: Shows significant anxiety after learning that outside aids are forbidden. His preparations had centered on pills and talismans, and he now doubts whether he can survive the trials. He also regrets not joining the sect in an earlier year.
• Du Wanyi: Demonstrates composure and preparedness. She remains attentive to the group arrangements and maintains a cooperative relationship with Ji Yuan.
• Sang Zhongyuan: Displays confidence and competitiveness, challenging Ji Yuan to see who can kill his demon beast first. He quickly accepts Ji Yuan’s false claim of combat weakness, revealing his tendency to judge others superficially.
• Yun Shangping: Is presented as a comparatively humane and reliable authority figure. Unlike harsher cultivators Ji Yuan has encountered, he emphasizes surrender and promises to protect those who yield.
• Wen Lin and Zhao Yuechan: Their parental concern becomes central. They struggle between wanting Wen Ling’er to have a better future and fearing separation from her.
• Wen Ling’er: Shows bravery despite her fear, insisting that she does not want to leave her parents. Her mysterious spiritual root marks her as someone of extraordinary importance.
• Lin Hu and Wu Qin: Their initial nervous curiosity turns into fear when they witness Wen Ling’er’s abduction. They quickly understand the danger and flee to protect themselves and their daughter.
• Jiang Lin: Reacts with extreme alarm to Wen Ling’er’s spiritual root, immediately deploying protective measures and summoning higher authorities. His response confirms that her aptitude is exceptionally rare and politically significant.

Significant Themes

• Talent and destiny: Wen Ling’er’s spiritual root may determine the course of her life, demonstrating how cultivation aptitude controls social status, opportunity, and family relationships.
• Fear of separation: Wen Ling’er’s parents want her to prosper but dread losing her to the sects. The chapter portrays extraordinary talent as both a blessing and a source of danger.
• Preparation versus true ability: Du Kang’s reliance on external aids contrasts with the selection’s demand for genuine combat strength. Ji Yuan’s deliberately understated behavior also shows how appearances can conceal real power.
• The cruelty and uncertainty of cultivation society: The selection resembles a life-or-death trial, while Wen Ling’er’s sudden removal shows how powerful institutions can seize control of ordinary families without explanation.
• Secrecy and hidden significance: The pale-blue spiritual root is not openly explained, and the immediate disappearance of the Wen family suggests that Wen Ling’er’s ability may be more unusual than a normal heavenly spirit root.
• Judging by appearances: Sang Zhongyuan assumes Ji Yuan is weak, while the testing cultivator initially mistakes Wen Ling’er’s faint spiritual response for the absence of talent. Both situations show how dangerous premature judgments can be.

Important Character Interactions

• Ji Yuan and Du Wanyi: They coordinate before the selection and discuss group assignments. Although separated, Ji Yuan intends to lend her the Bronze Armor for protection after his own match.
• Ji Yuan and Du Kang: Their brief exchange highlights Du Kang’s nervousness and Ji Yuan’s steadier demeanor.
• Ji Yuan and Sang Zhongyuan: Sang challenges Ji Yuan, but Ji Yuan responds with feigned modesty, successfully causing Sang to underestimate him.
• Yun Shangping and the contestants: Yun reassures the frightened participants, establishing the rules while presenting himself as a fair and protective overseer.
• Wen Ling’er and her parents: Wen Ling’er expresses her wish to remain with them, while her parents try to comfort her despite their own anxiety.
• The Wen family and the testing cultivator: The cultivator’s reaction changes from routine indifference to shock once Wen Ling’er’s rare spiritual root appears.
• Jiang Lin and the mysterious cultivator: Jiang Lin’s urgent summons and the cultivator’s immediate arrival demonstrate the importance of Wen Ling’er’s discovery.
• Lin Hu and Wu Qin: After witnessing the abduction, they silently communicate their fear and escape together, prioritizing their daughter’s safety.

Chapter summary

Key plot points and events

• Ji Yuan leaves support for the Lin family. After returning home, Lin Hu and Wu Qin find a Storage Bag Ji Yuan has left on their table. It contains talismans and cultivation pills intended to help Lin Hu advance. The gift moves them both deeply.
• The adults learn about Wen Ling’er’s talent. A Water Dragon Sect Golden Core True Person explains that Ling’er has a rare variant wind spiritual root, potentially even more coveted than an ordinary heavenly spirit root. Her father, Wen Lin, immediately agrees to let her join the Water Dragon Sect. The sect’s lightning specialist, Ye Hong, introduces himself and hints at the affinity between wind and lightning.
• Ji Yuan proves himself in the sect’s selection trial. He defeats a late first-tier Earth-Rending Demon Wolf in under ten breaths, coordinating his Hundred-Fish Shield, Greenfly Flying Sword, Water-Splitting Dragon Lance, and powerful Explosive Charge technique. His performance impresses the observers and silences Sang Zhongyuan, who had previously challenged his combat ability. Ji Yuan receives a Water Dragon Sect token.
• The selection is dangerous and selective. Across four groups, several cultivators die or surrender. Sang Zhongyuan, Chu Jingtong, and a few others pass. Ji Yuan’s friend Du Kang is overwhelmed, surrenders, and leaves without speaking to him.
• Ji Yuan helps Du Wanyi succeed. Before her group’s trial, he lends her his Bronze Armor. She takes injuries but defeats her demon wolf and earns a token. She returns delighted, and Ji Yuan reminds her to heal.
• The new disciples depart for the sect. Seven cultivators pass in total. Rather than returning to Zengtou City, they immediately board Yun Shangping’s flying ship for the Water Dragon Sect. During the journey, they receive sect robes, a standard flying boat, and a jade slip containing rules and a map of the sect. After registering their names, cultivation levels, and spiritual roots, Yun Shangping unexpectedly singles Ji Yuan out.

Character developments

• Ji Yuan demonstrates that his combat ability has grown dramatically through his experience in Cloud-Rain Marsh. He is confident but modest, avoids boasting, and quietly helps those close to him. Becoming a sect disciple marks a major transition, though he still hopes to return to Zengtou City to say goodbye and learn about Ling’er’s spiritual root.
• Lin Hu and Wu Qin move from anxiety about their family’s future to gratitude and resolve after discovering Ji Yuan’s provisions. They also recognize that Ling’er’s talent must be kept secret to protect her.
• Wen Lin quickly accepts the Water Dragon Sect’s offer, recognizing both the opportunity for Ling’er and the danger of refusing.
• Du Wanyi shows grit and composure under pressure. Ji Yuan’s armor gives her a final safeguard, but she earns her victory through her own effort.
• Du Kang is shaken by his defeat and withdraws without saying goodbye, while Sang Zhongyuan’s confidence is checked by Ji Yuan’s far superior performance.

Significant themes

• Talent brings opportunity—and danger: Ling’er’s rare root attracts powerful sect interest, making secrecy essential.
• Survival and unequal outcomes: The trials show how quickly cultivators can die, surrender, or succeed, and how preparedness and strength shape their futures.
• Loyalty expressed through practical help: Ji Yuan’s gifts to Lin Hu and his armor loan to Du Wanyi show care through concrete support rather than sentiment.
• A new world of possibility: Leaving Cloud-Rain Marsh for the vast Water Dragon Sect opens a broader future for the new disciples, but also begins a more demanding life.

Character interactions

• Lin Hu and Wu Qin share their emotional reaction to Ji Yuan’s gift and agree to conceal Ling’er’s talent.
• Wen Lin negotiates with Ye Hong and accepts the sect’s invitation for Ling’er.
• Ji Yuan’s decisive victory contrasts with Sang Zhongyuan’s struggle, changing how the others view him.
• Ji Yuan supports Du Wanyi before her trial and encourages her afterward, reinforcing their close family bond.
• Yun Shangping welcomes the successful candidates, explains their new responsibilities, and calls Ji Yuan aside at the chapter’s end, setting up an unresolved development.

Plot

• Newly admitted disciples are summoned by Foundation Establishment cultivators Yun Shangping and Gu Liben. Yun praises the strongest among them and says they must take on greater responsibilities—making Ji Yuan suspect he is about to be sent to the front lines at Liancheng Mountain.
• Ji Yuan quietly produces the Ascension Token given to him by Li Changhe. The token’s connection to a Golden Core elder immediately changes Yun and Gu’s attitude: they treat Ji as a favored insider and exempt him, along with his friend Du Wanyi, from the assignment.
• Sang Zhongyuan and Chu Jingtong are chosen to go instead. Though initially confused, they emerge from the cabin pleased and thank Ji. Gu Liben takes them southeast, toward the conflict near Joy Palace.
• When Fang Jie asks whether they were sent to Liancheng Mountain, Yun explains that Medicine King Valley has also entered the dispute. With three factions involved, open fighting is unlikely; the sect merely needs people there to maintain its presence.
• The group continues to Young Dragon Island. Yun leaves the disciples to collect their cave-abode number plates at Young Dragon Hall and settle in as they please.
• Ji is impressed by the Water Dragon Sect’s enormous islands, busy air and water traffic, plentiful private residences, and stronger spiritual energy. He switches to the sect-issued Scarlet Firmament Boat and standard robe, but keeps his Bronze Armor underneath.

Character developments and interactions

• Ji Yuan is wary of being pressured into dangerous service and uses the Ascension Token strategically rather than boasting about it. He is relieved to avoid the front lines, though he feels some regret for Sang and Chu.
• Yun Shangping and Gu Liben shift from formal recruiters to warm, deferential hosts once they learn Ji’s connection to Li Changhe. They also make clear that the “important responsibility” was, in fact, deployment to the front.
• Sang Zhongyuan and Chu Jingtong go from envy of Ji’s supposed assignment to gratitude after being selected for the mission.
• Fang Jie invokes his family connection to Liu Yuan to gain Yun’s confidence and obtain an explanation of the situation.
• Du Wanyi stays close to Ji and silently questions his conspicuous caution when he arms himself beneath his new robes.

Significant themes

• Rank and connections: A single token tied to a powerful elder outweighs ordinary merit and quickly alters how sect authorities treat Ji.
• Duty versus self-preservation: The sect frames dangerous deployment as a responsibility earned through strength, while Ji looks for a way to avoid it.
• Power politics and conflict: The Liancheng Mountain dispute is shaped by three competing sects, with the Water Dragon Sect maintaining a presence even when battle seems unlikely.
• New beginnings: Arrival at Young Dragon Island marks Ji’s transition from precarious living conditions to life within a prosperous, well-resourced sect.

Key events

• Ji Yuan, Du Wanyi, Fang Jie, and two other new disciples arrive at Young Dragon Hall on Young Dragon Island. Its spiritual energy is far richer than Zengtou City’s, and Ji Yuan is pleased with his choice to join the sect.
• A resident disciple insults the newcomers from Cloud-Rain Marsh, especially mocking their supposed fishy smell. Fang Jie sharply humiliates him and warns that his powerful connections make retaliation unwise. The man leaves after threatening them.
• The newcomers collect Cave Abode tokens. Ji Yuan and Du Wanyi receive D-18 and D-20—the closest available pair, though their residences turn out to be at opposite ends of adjoining rows.
• Fang Jie suggests seeking easy work in the sect’s administrative halls, which could offer useful connections. Ji Yuan has no interest in such duties; Du Wanyi plans to investigate the opportunity and also ask after Yao Jingfeng.
• Ji Yuan explores his new residence. It is spacious, spiritually enriched, and includes a cultivation room and a pill-refining room. He finds unused medicinal ingredients, apparently left by a previous occupant who died recently. In the rear courtyard, he discovers writing carved into a wall, setting up the next revelation.

Character developments and interactions

• Ji Yuan remains pragmatic and cautious: he avoids unnecessary conflict, prefers a quiet cultivation life, and is privately relieved that Du Wanyi’s residence is not actually next door.
• Fang Jie shows himself to be socially confident and verbally aggressive when defending himself and the newcomers. He claims his elder brother is an island lord, suggesting influential family connections.
• Du Wanyi is more willing than Ji Yuan to pursue sect opportunities, while remaining considerate of him. She arranges nearby residences and intends to gather information.
• The exchange with the long-faced disciple exposes the prejudice faced by Cloud-Rain Marsh recruits. Fang Jie answers the insult directly, while Ji Yuan observes rather than joining the confrontation.

Significant themes

• Status and discrimination: New disciples from Cloud-Rain Marsh occupy a low social position, and some sect members express contempt openly.
• Connections and influence: Access to useful posts—and protection from retaliation—depends partly on family ties and networking.
• Different approaches to cultivation: Ji Yuan prioritizes peaceful, independent progress; Du Wanyi is more open to using sect opportunities.
• A hidden past: The abandoned medicinal ingredients and carved writing hint that Ji Yuan’s new residence holds traces of its former occupant’s life.

Summary

• Ji Yuan explores his new residence: He reads inscriptions left by four former occupants. Three died without reaching Foundation Establishment; one, Feng Zhitao, succeeded. The most recent predecessor left alchemical notes in a drawer, hoping they would help whoever came next.
• A new opportunity in alchemy: The worn notes cover lower- and upper-first-tier alchemy, including a useful Core-Condensing Hand Seal. Their final page bears only the heading “Foundation Establishment Pill.” Ji Yuan recognizes that the material may help him overcome his current obstacle: refining upper-first-tier cultivation pills.
• He settles into sect life: Ji Yuan activates the residence’s building effects, increasing spiritual energy by thirty percent at night. He assigns Tu Yue to collect the Fish Pond’s daily benefit and prepare spaces for a Pigsty and Chicken Coop, then cleans and organizes the residence. He plans to reserve larger-scale animal raising for Mist Island.
• Ji Yuan advances as an alchemist: He studies the notes carefully and experiments with the Pure Void Pill, a formula he obtained from Yue Zhu. His first attempt fails at the final pill-forming step, but he identifies his unfamiliarity with the hand seal as the cause. After repeated practice, he successfully produces two pale-blue Pure Void Pills, qualifying as an upper-first-tier alchemist. He now aims to become a second-tier alchemist by refining a Water Spirit Pill.
• Sang and Chu reconsider Ji Yuan: At the Water Dragon Sect’s encampment, Sang Zhongyuan blames Ji Yuan for their dangerous assignment and threatens revenge. Chu Jingtong argues that the Foundation Establishment cultivators were responsible for their predicament and that Ji Yuan was also a victim—one who apparently has powerful backing. Chu urges Sang to survive, gather benefits, and later thank Ji Yuan, since even being associated with Ji Yuan’s backing could improve their standing.

Character developments and interactions

• Ji Yuan is resourceful and methodical: he makes practical use of his new residence, studies inherited knowledge, learns from failure, and quickly turns a promising lead into tangible progress. The predecessors’ inscriptions also prompt him to consider what he might leave behind for future occupants.
• Chu Jingtong shows greater political awareness and caution than Sang. He reads the Foundation Establishment cultivators’ reaction to Ji Yuan’s token as evidence of Ji Yuan’s influence and persuades Sang to treat him as a potential ally.
• Sang Zhongyuan remains hot-tempered and resentful, but Chu’s reasoning leaves him uncertain and eventually makes him ask what they should do.
• Tu Yue helps Ji Yuan establish the residence’s basic routines, while the past occupants’ writings connect Ji Yuan’s present ambitions to the struggles and hopes of those who lived there before.

Significant themes

• Inheritance and remembrance: The inscriptions and alchemical notes preserve the former residents’ lives and knowledge, even though they could not remain.
• Perseverance through failure: Ji Yuan’s failed first batch becomes useful instruction, and deliberate practice leads to success.
• Opportunity within institutions: The sect residence offers resources and knowledge that would be difficult to obtain as a rogue cultivator.
• Power, reputation, and association: Chu understands that perceived connections can provide protection and status, even if Ji Yuan never formally accepts them.

Key plot points and events

• After successfully refining pills, Ji Yuan finds his home cleaned by Tu Yue, who has also built a pigsty and chicken coop. The house’s panel assigns blood essence and spirit soil to the new structures.
• Ji Yuan plans his route to Foundation Establishment. Rather than risk searching for rare ingredients—especially after Luo Tian’s death—he decides to buy them, relying on his growing wealth and trading connections.
• Du Wanyi tells him the Mutual Aid Society’s upper association will meet on Landscape Island in ten days. She also reports that Yao Jingfeng is alive, though his injuries have worsened.
• Du Wanyi has found the complete Foundation Establishment Pill recipe in her assigned house on Young Dragon Island. The recipe requires rare thousand-year-old herbs, several supporting ingredients, a second-order demon core, and spirit spring water, and gives detailed preparation and refining instructions.
• Ji Yuan realizes the seemingly familiar millennial illusion spirit grass is produced by his Spirit Field’s special effect. He resolves to upgrade the field, though doing so requires substantial resources, including spirit stones, demon cores, profound yin soil, and flying locust corpses.
• Du Wanyi warns that millennial illusion spirit grass is exceptionally rare and often found only in dangerous Secret Realms. Ji Yuan decides he would rather pursue it through cultivation and farming than risk joining such expeditions.
• As Du Wanyi leaves, Ji Yuan notices a child emerging from the neighboring courtyard.

Character developments and interactions

• Ji Yuan shifts from weighing dangerous ingredient hunts to a cautious, practical plan: purchase what he can and cultivate the one rare herb he can produce himself. His reaction to the Spirit Field’s potential reveals his growing confidence in his resource-based path.
• Du Wanyi is relieved after joining the Water Dragon Sect and obtaining the recipe. She feels she can finally repay Ji Yuan for his support, and offers to keep watch for Secret Realm news.
• Yao Jingfeng’s survival brings Ji Yuan joy, though his worsening injuries remain a concern.
• Ji Yuan and Du Wanyi exchange news and discuss the recipe. She supplies crucial information, while he quickly connects the recipe’s rarest ingredient to his own cultivation system.
• Tu Yue’s unseen labor supports Ji Yuan’s household, while Ji Yuan accepts the credit for the cleaning.

Significant themes

• Caution over ambition: Ji Yuan avoids dangerous searches and Secret Realms, preferring steady, lower-risk progress.
• Preparation and self-reliance: Wealth, cultivation, careful planning, and the Spirit Field offer alternatives to relying on luck or combat.
• Mutual aid and gratitude: Du Wanyi’s achievement strengthens her bond with Ji Yuan and helps ease her sense of indebtedness.
• Opportunity hidden in ordinary places: Both siblings discover valuable inheritances in their assigned houses, suggesting the sect’s environment quietly passes down its legacy.

Plot and key events

• Ji Yuan settles into the Water Dragon Sect and meets two quarrelsome neighbors on Young Dragon Island: Tang Ran, a childlike-looking cultivator who is actually over sixty and at peak Qi Refining, and Pi Fangzhi, an elderly artifact refiner. They trade insults and unflattering stories about each other, then each separately apologizes to Ji Yuan—Pi with a magical artifact, Tang with spirit stones and an offer to introduce him to women. Ji Yuan refuses both gifts and matchmaking.
• Ji Yuan explores the enormous sect, discovering its abundance of advanced Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators, its beast tamers and Azure Sky Eagles, and the busy commercial center, the Island of All Things.
• He buys the materials needed to upgrade his Spirit Field: two second-order demon cores, three Flying Locust corpses, and five jin of Profound Yin Soil. He sells the remains of a second-tier mid-stage Kuiwater Tiger Prawn for forty middle-grade spirit stones, explaining that his “master” took the core. This invented master impresses the shop staff, who give Ji Yuan a discount token.
• At the Hundred Treasures Pavilion, Ji Yuan learns that Foundation Establishment Pills are scarce and expensive, while Millennial Illusion Spirit Grass is worth 150 middle-grade spirit stones per stalk. A Level Three Spirit Field can produce one stalk a year, offering him a potential path to Foundation Establishment.
• Back at his home, Ji Yuan upgrades his Spirit Field to Level Three. It immediately produces a mature stalk of Millennial Illusion Spirit Grass. When he harvests it, the field’s bonus triggers, doubling the crop to two stalks. He stores them safely and looks forward to checking the new building’s possible higher-level effects.

Character developments and interactions

• Ji Yuan remains cautious and practical, avoiding his neighbors’ feud and carefully bargaining over materials. He also uses a disguise and the fiction of a powerful master to protect himself and improve his standing.
• Tang Ran and Pi Fangzhi are introduced as comic, antagonistic neighbors whose insults reveal their eccentric reputations and mutual contempt. Despite their feuding, both make peace with Ji Yuan in their own self-serving styles.
• Ji Yuan’s concern about the cost and difficulty of Foundation Establishment gives way to optimism once he understands that his Spirit Field can supply the rarest ingredient. His surprise at receiving two stalks turns that hope into a major breakthrough.
• The shopkeeper at the Suspended Demon Shop treats Ji Yuan deferentially because of his supposed master, while the white-robed Profound Yin Soil seller helps him locate a rare cultivation material.

Significant themes

• Cultivators are still ordinary people: The sect’s prestige does not erase greed, vanity, or petty rivalries.
• Preparation over risk: Ji Yuan relies on exploration, trade, careful spending, and his cultivation system rather than dangerous hunts.
• Scarcity and ambition: The steep cost and limited supply of Foundation Establishment resources make his Spirit Field’s steady production exceptionally valuable.
• Luck and system rewards: The crop-doubling effect unexpectedly grants Ji Yuan a second stalk, accelerating his progress toward Foundation Establishment.

Chapter Summary: “Elixir Creation”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ji Yuan examines the upgraded spiritual farmland. It now has two Spirit Effects:
  • Crops mature 60% faster, with chances of yielding double or triple harvests.
  • Elixir Creation: one Dan Yuan Fruit can be harvested every ten years.
• Ji Yuan suspects the Dan Yuan Fruit may be connected to Golden Core Formation and resolves to investigate its value and purpose.
• He harvests two Millennial Illusion Spirit Grass plants, each worth roughly 150 Spirit Stones. Although this repays his initial investment, he decides not to sell them until after reaching Foundation Establishment.
• After two days of cultivation, Ji Yuan and Du Wanyi travel to Landscape Island for a Water Dragon Sect Mutual Aid Society gathering.
• The meeting begins with exaggerated praise for Ji Yuan’s defeat of the Earth-Rending Demon Wolf. Ji Yuan responds diplomatically and gains a favorable social impression.
• Han Feiyu reveals that the sect is offering three Foundation Establishment Pills as rewards for military merit at the Liancheng Mountain front lines.
• Many cultivators immediately consider risking their lives to compete for the pills. Han Feiyu invites Ji Yuan to join him, but Ji Yuan declines, claiming he prefers peaceful cultivation and dislikes combat.
• Han Feiyu and Dong Qian decide to go, while Du Wanyi also refuses, choosing instead to familiarize herself with the sect and complete safer assignments.
• Ji Yuan learns about Feng Yichen, a legendary False Spiritual Root cultivator who has killed a Foundation Establishment cultivator while still at Qi Refining. One of the three pills is assumed likely to be intended for him.
• The gathering ends with a new revelation: someone claims to possess unofficial information about the Nine Nether Grotto-Heaven.

Character Developments

• Ji Yuan: Becomes more cautious and strategic. He values his hidden resources, especially the Millennial Illusion Spirit Grass, and refuses to risk his life for uncertain rewards. He also begins taking note of powerful figures such as Feng Yichen.
• Du Wanyi: Shows growing caution and independence. Influenced perhaps by Ji Yuan’s conservative approach, she rejects the dangerous front-line opportunity and plans to begin with simple sect missions.
• Han Feiyu: Demonstrates ambition and a willingness to risk himself for Foundation Establishment. He actively tries to recruit Ji Yuan and later joins Dong Qian in planning a trip to Liancheng Mountain.
• Dong Qian: Acts as a socially skilled and encouraging senior sister. She supports Han Feiyu’s decision and provides Ji Yuan with information about Feng Yichen.
• Feng Yichen: Though absent, his reputation is established as an exceptionally powerful False Spiritual Root cultivator and a likely contender for one of the Foundation Establishment Pills.

Significant Themes

• Risk versus security: The chapter contrasts Ji Yuan’s cautious, long-term approach with cultivators willing to gamble their lives for Foundation Establishment.
• Scarcity and hidden value: The Dan Yuan Fruit and Millennial Illusion Spirit Grass represent resources whose true worth may be far greater than their immediate market value.
• The difficulty of cultivation advancement: False Spiritual Root cultivators face immense barriers to Foundation Establishment, making rare pills and opportunities extraordinarily desirable.
• Social diplomacy and reputation: Ji Yuan navigates the gathering through modesty, compliments, and careful observation while avoiding commitments that could endanger him.
• Foreshadowing and opportunity: The Dan Yuan Fruit, Feng Yichen, the Liancheng Mountain campaign, and the Nine Nether Grotto-Heaven all introduce possible future paths for Ji Yuan’s advancement.

Character Interactions

• Ji Yuan and Du Wanyi travel together and discuss cultivation versus leisure, revealing their differing attitudes toward relaxation and exploration.
• At the gathering, Ji Yuan exchanges polite flattery with the other cultivators and forms a warmer connection with Han Feiyu.
• Du Wanyi introduces Ji Yuan to Dong Qian, who later explains Feng Yichen’s reputation.
• Han Feiyu repeatedly encourages Ji Yuan to pursue the Foundation Establishment Pills, but Ji Yuan politely refuses.
• Du Wanyi and Dong Qian discuss their plans, with Du Wanyi declining Dong Qian’s invitation to join the front-line expedition.
• The chapter concludes as an unnamed participant captures everyone’s attention by offering information about the Nine Nether Grotto-Heaven.

Key plot points and events

• At a cultivators’ gathering, Ge Yang reports a rumor that the Nine Nether Grotto-Heaven will open in three years. The ancient secret realm is said to contain rare treasures, including Millennial Illusion Spirit Grass.
• Ji Yuan initially has no intention of entering such a dangerous place, since he already has another way to obtain the grass. He learns, however, that only Qi Refining cultivators can enter, while the sects wait outside to protect returning disciples from being robbed.
• After the gathering, Ji Yuan reunites with Lu Wan, now a disciple of the Water Dragon Sect’s Talisman Hall. She reveals that she developed a talisman-drawing method that helped her gain entry and has taken a Foundation Establishment cultivator as her master.
• Lu Wan confesses that she blames herself for her parents’ deaths. She refused the Wu Family’s demand that she become Wu Yan’s Dao companion, though she had relied on their support. She says she has dealt with Qin Long and He Laosan, removing a danger Ji Yuan need no longer worry about.
• Lu Wan offers to help Ji Yuan if he needs her. Their meeting ends as a quiet farewell to their former lives in Zengtou City and the beginning of their new roles as senior and junior sect members.
• Ji Yuan rejoins Han Feiyu, Dong Qian, and Du Wanyi. They share news and discuss the grotto-heaven, then agree to keep one another informed. At Dong Qian’s suggestion, they travel together to Thousand Mechanisms Island to look for worthwhile tasks.

Character developments

• Ji Yuan remains cautious about risk but is intrigued by the grotto-heaven’s opportunities. He also reflects on the prospect of someday forging a powerful life-bound Dharma Treasure.
• Lu Wan has become more capable and self-assured, but her parents’ deaths still weigh heavily on her. By speaking openly with Ji Yuan, she confronts her past and signals that she is moving forward.
• Han Feiyu, Dong Qian, and Du Wanyi continue to build a supportive friendship with Ji Yuan, sharing information and offering practical help.

Significant themes

• Risk and ambition: The grotto-heaven promises rare rewards, but entering it means facing serious danger.
• Regret and responsibility: Lu Wan’s refusal to surrender her autonomy to the Wu Family came at a terrible cost, leaving her to wrestle with guilt.
• Moving on and changing identities: Lu Wan’s farewell marks her transition from her past in Zengtou City to her place in the sect.
• Trust and mutual support: Ji Yuan’s companions exchange knowledge, offer help, and form a network for future opportunities.

Character interactions

• Ge Yang shares the grotto-heaven rumor with the gathering; Ji Yuan listens and later learns more from his companions.
• Lu Wan and Ji Yuan have a private, emotionally candid reunion. She entrusts him with her guilt, updates him on her circumstances, and offers her assistance; he accepts her words without pressing her for details.
• Han Feiyu, Dong Qian, and Du Wanyi tactfully give the pair privacy, then welcome Ji Yuan back without demanding an explanation.
• The four friends end the chapter by agreeing to share future news and heading to Thousand Mechanisms Island together.

Chapter Summary

• Mission Hall: Han Feiyu explains that Thousand Mechanisms Hall missions are ranked from D to A, with risk and rewards rising by grade. He advises Ji Yuan to start with safer missions and warns that shared missions can lead to competition or deception between disciples. Ji Yuan chooses not to take a field mission.
• Merit Points: Ji Yuan submits ten Upper First Tier talismans, completing his annual Merit Point requirement. He learns that Merit Points can buy sect resources unavailable elsewhere, though valuable items such as Foundation Establishment Pills cost a great deal. Dong Qian and Du Wanyi accept a humorous Grade D mission to serve as onlookers at a proposal.
• Cultivation: Back at his cave abode, Ji Yuan successfully refines an Upper-Grade Spirit-Gathering Pill with help from his Dao Comprehension Chamber. He later asks Old Master Xu why he cannot master the final three waves of the Surging Waves Sword Art. Xu explains that Ji Yuan needs to reach Peak Qi Refining to have enough spiritual energy for all nine waves.
• Li Changhe and sect politics: Ji Yuan tells Xu about saving Li Changhe and shows him the Ascension Token. Xu explains that Li Changhe’s father, Elder Li Gang, belongs to the First Elder’s faction, while the sect’s Golden Core elders are divided among three competing factions. Accepting the Li family’s support could bring Ji Yuan benefits as well as political risks. Ji Yuan decides to keep a measured distance for now and seek Li Changhe’s help later, when he approaches Foundation Establishment.
• A new introduction: After their meal, Xu offers to introduce Ji Yuan to someone important. The chapter ends with the reveal that this person is Xu’s master.

Character Developments and Interactions

• Ji Yuan shows practical judgment: he fulfills his yearly Merit Point requirement without taking unnecessary risks, seeks guidance on his cultivation, and carefully weighs the advantages and dangers of associating with Li Changhe.
• Han Feiyu acts as an experienced guide, patiently teaching Ji Yuan and the others how the mission system works.
• Old Master Xu is proud of Ji Yuan and gives him candid advice, combining personal warmth with knowledge of the sect’s internal power struggles.
• Ji Yuan and Xu share wine and food in Xu’s courtyard, strengthening their mentor-like bond. Their conversation shifts from sword technique to factional politics and ends with Xu preparing to introduce Ji Yuan to his own master.

Significant Themes

• Risk, reward, and planning: Missions and political alliances both demand careful consideration rather than impulsive ambition.
• Merit and resources: The sect’s Merit Point system rewards contribution while giving disciples access to valuable cultivation supplies.
• Cultivation as a process: Ji Yuan’s difficulty with the sword art comes from his current limits in spiritual energy, not a lack of talent.
• Factional politics: Even personal favors can carry broader consequences within a sect divided by competing interests.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Fugui takes Ji Yuan to meet his master, the Iron Hammer Island Lord, an irascible Foundation Establishment cultivator and skilled artifact refiner. Ji Yuan brings the Thunder-Gathering Boat, hoping the elder can improve it.
• Xu Fugui had intended to introduce Ji Yuan as a potential final disciple. The Island Lord initially says he is not qualified to be Ji Yuan’s master—but reveals that Ji Yuan has nearly reached body-refining completion, surpassing his own achievement in that discipline.
• The Island Lord diagnoses Ji Yuan’s stalled progress: although Ji Yuan has developed exceptional physical strength, he has never truly exerted himself. He promises to help Ji Yuan reach completion in ten days.
• Rather than formally taking Ji Yuan as a disciple, the Island Lord calls the arrangement a chance to make a friend. He sends Xu Fugui to copy books, then brings Ji Yuan to the forge and orders him to train by hammering an iron ingot down to palm size.
• As Ji Yuan questions the harsh assignment, the Island Lord suddenly swings a hammer at his forehead.

Character developments and interactions

• Ji Yuan is cautious and polite, but receptive to the prospect of having a powerful mentor. He admits his unusual strength has never been tested at full capacity and eagerly asks the Island Lord for guidance. He remains wary of the senior’s explosive manner, yet trusts Xu Fugui’s judgment.
• Xu Fugui is revealed to have hoped his master would take Ji Yuan as a disciple. He is surprised by Ji Yuan’s level of body refinement and pleased when the Island Lord agrees to train him, though he becomes the target of his master’s teasing and orders.
• The Iron Hammer Island Lord is loud, blunt, and intimidating, but recognizes Ji Yuan’s rare talent and is willing to help him. His rough mentorship begins immediately and physically.

Significant themes

• Untapped potential: Ji Yuan’s progress has stalled not from lack of strength, but because he has never pushed himself to his limits.
• Mentorship and connection: The Island Lord declines a formal master-disciple bond yet still offers substantial instruction, valuing talent and friendship over convention.
• Different paths to cultivation: The Island Lord compares body refinement with spiritual cultivation, acknowledging both its formidable strength and its uncertain prospects beyond the known stages.